RESUMO: Herbicidas são insumos com grande volume de utilização nos sistemas de produção agrícola para o manejo de plantas daninhas; no entanto, a contaminação ambiental causada é uma realidade. Objetivou-se com esta pesquisa avaliar a tolerância de espécies arbóreas fitorremediadoras de herbicidas no solo, aos herbicidas atrazine, clomazone e 2,4-D, através da avaliação de índices fotossintéticos. Dessa forma, um experimento em delineamento de blocos casualizados foi montado com quatro repetições, em esquema fatorial 4 x 5. O primeiro fator representou os herbicidas atrazine, clomazone e 2,4-D e o tratamento controle sem herbicida (água). O segundo fator consistiu no uso de espécies arbóreas pré-selecionadas para fitorremediação de solos com resíduos dos produtos [Eremanthus crotonoides DC. (candeia) - Richeria grandis Vahl (richéria), Protium heptaphyllum (Aubl) Marchand (breu-branco), Kielmeyera latrophyton Saddi, Kew Bull (pau-santo), Calophyllum brasiliense Cambess (landi)]. Os herbicidas foram aplicados em pratos de contenção sob os recipientes de cultivo das plantas, quando estas apresentavam oito meses de desenvolvimento. Quinze dias após o termino da aplicação dos herbicidas, foram avaliadas a intoxicação visual, condutância estomática (Gs), taxa de transpiração (E), concentração de CO2 na câmara subestomática (Ci), taxa fotossintética (A) e eficiência do uso da água (EUA). Os herbicidas afetaram de forma diferenciada as características fisiológicas das espécies arbóreas, sendo o atrazine o produto mais prejudicial. Indivíduos sob efeito de 2,4-D e clomazone apresentaram menor variação para as características fisiológicas, comparados às respectivas testemunhas. O breu-branco, apesar de mostrar baixa intoxicação visual proporcionada pelos herbicidas, foi a espécie mais afetada pelos produtos. De maneira contrária, a candeia foi a espécie mais tolerante à ação dos herbicidas.

ABSTRACT: Herbicides are inputs with a high volume of use in agricultural production systems for weed management; however, the environmental contamination they cause is a reality. The objective of this research was to evaluate the tolerance of tree species used for the phytoremediation of herbicides in the soil, to atrazine, clomazone and 2,4-D, through the evaluation of photosynthetic indices. Thus, a randomized block design experiment was conducted with four replications, in a 4 x 5 factorial arrangement, where the first factor represented the herbicides atrazine, clomazone and 2,4-D and the control treatment without herbicide (water). The second factor consisted in the use of pre-selected tree species for the phytoremediation of soils with residues of the products [Eremanthus crotonoides DC. (candeia), - Richeria grandis Vahl (richeria), Protium heptaphyllum (Aubl) Marchand, (breu-branco) Kielmeyera latrophyton Saddi, Kew Bull, (pau-santo) Calophyllum brasiliense Cambess (guanandi)]. The herbicides were applied through dishes placed under the culture containers of the plants, when they presented eight months of development. After 15 days from the herbicide application, the visual intoxication, stomatal conductance (Gs), transpiration rate (E), CO2 concentration in the substomatal chamber (Ci), and water use efficiency (WUE) were evaluated. The herbicides affected differently the physiological characteristics of the tree species; atrazine was the most harmful product. Individuals under the effect of 2,4-D and clomazone presented lower variation for their physiological characteristics, compared to the respective control treatments. Breu-branco, despite showing low visual intoxication provided by the herbicides, was the most affected species by the products. On the other hand, candeia was the most tolerant species to the action of the herbicides.

Descreveram-se os valores hematológicos de bugios pretos (Alouatta caraya) e estabeleceram-se diferenças entre sexo e idade, de 36 animais aparentemente saudáveis, de vida livre da região do Alto Rio Paraná, sul do Brasil. Os animais foram capturados e contidos quimicamente com cloridrato de tiletamina e cloridrato de zolazepam, na dose média de 5,5mg/kg, por via intramuscular. Na comparação entre os sexos, houve diferença para número de hemácias (4,48±1,36 e 3,58±0,91 x10(6)/mm³), maior nas fêmeas, e volume globular médio (90,99±27,65 e 118,36±44,63fL) e número de eosinófilos (0,30±0,24 e 0,76±0,85 x10³/mm³), maior nos machos. O volume globular (39,46±3,53 e 36,69±3,54%) e a proteína total plasmática (7,91±0,53 e 7,40±0,63g/dL) foram significativamente mais baixos nos animais jovens.

The hematologic values and the influence of gender and age were described in 36 free-ranging healthy black-and-gold howler monkeys (Alouatta caraya) from the region of Paraná river, Southern Brazil. The animals were caught with trap models and intramuscularly anesthetized with 5.5mg/kg tilitamine/zolazepam hydrochlorides. The red blood cells were higher in females (4.48±1,36 vs. 3.58±0.91x10(6)/mm³) while mean corpuscular volume (90.99±27.65 and 118.36±44.63 fL) and eosinophils (0.30±0.24 and 0.76±0.85x10³/mm³) were significant higher in males. The packed cell volume (39.46±3.53 and 36.69±3.54%) and plasma total protein (7.91±0.53 and 7.40±0.63g/dL) were lower in juveniles.

The aim of this study was to monitor early gestation in Santa Ines ewes by ultrasound in order to determine embryo and foetal loss, and to identify foetal sex. Ewes (n = 132) were submitted to controlled natural mating. For the purpose of pregnancy diagnosis and embryo monitoring we used transrectal ultrasound with a linear transducer (6.0 and 8.0 MHz). Pregnancy was diagnosed on day 30. On day 35 ultrasound examination was performed to determine embryo viability or loss. On days 40, 50 and 60 ultrasound examination was used to monitor foetal loss and to determine foetal sex, through identification of the genital tubercle or any external genital structure. Out of 118 pregnant ewes, 76 (64.4%) presented single pregnancy and 42 (35.6%) multiple pregnancy. Embryonic deaths occurred in 10.0% of the 160 monitored embryos: 5.6% (9/160) occurred during the embryonic phase and 4.4% (7/160) during the foetal phase, with no significant difference between them. Embryo loss was significantly lower in single pregnancies (3.9%, 3/76) compared to multiple pregnancies (15.5%, 13/84). Sexing accuracy on day 40 was significantly lower than on day 60. There was no difference between days 40 and 50, and between days 50 and 60. This study on Santa Ines sheep shows that ultrasound is a highly effective method for diagnosis of early pregnancy, determination of embryo and foetal loss, as well as foetal sexing after day 50 of pregnancy.

The aim of this study was to compare testosterone concentration, body weight, scrotal circumference and age to penis detachment from days 30 to 240 in young Boer goat males (n = 22) born during the dry (n = 11) and the rainy (n = 11) seasons. In the dry season the parameters varied as follows: body weight from 3.7 ± 1.1 to 34.0 ± 4.7 kg, scrotal circumference from 7.9 ± 0.8 to 25.7 ± 2 cm, and testosterone concentration from 259.4 ± 172.4 to 4613.4 ± 2892 pc/mL. In the rainy season parameters varied as follows: body weight from 9.7 ± 2.3 to 28.1 ± 6.9 kg, scrotal circumference from 9.5 ± 1.5 to 22.0 ± 3.0 cm and testosterone from 521.9 ± 311.3 to 3417.9 ± 2021.8 pc/mL. At three months of age, 70% of animals born during the rainy season presented with penis detachment, compared to 67.6% of animals born during the dry season at five months of age. Penis detachment occurred in all males at four and seven months for animals born in the rainy and dry seasons, respectively. There was a positive correlation between testosterone concentration and body weight in the dry (r = 0.30) and rainy (r = 0.43) seasons, between testosterone and scrotal circumference in the dry (r = 0.42) and rainy (r = 0.52) seasons, and between body weight and scrotal circumference in the dry (r = 0.93) and rainy (r = 0.88) seasons. The animals born during the rainy season showed earlier development in all the evaluated parameters than animals born during the dry season. It was found that scrotal circumference is directly correlated to body weight and testosterone concentration.

Immunohistochemistry was used to evaluate the effects of neonatal handling and aversive stimulation during the first 10 days of life on the number of corticotrophs in the anterior lobe of the pituitary of 11-day-old male Wistar rats. Since adult rats handled during infancy respond with reduced corticosterone secretion in response to stressors and with less behavior inhibition in novel environments, we assumed that neonatal stimulation could affect pituitary morphology during this critical period of cell differentiation. Three groups of animals were studied: intact (no manipulation, N = 5), handled (N = 5) and stimulated (submitted to 3 different aversive stimuli, N = 5). The percentage of ACTH-immunoreactive cells in the anterior lobe of the pituitary (number of ACTH-stained cells divided by total number of cells) was determined by examining three slices per pituitary in which a minimum of 200 cells were counted by two independent researchers. Although animals during the neonatal period are less reactive to stress-like stimulation in terms of ACTH and corticosterone secretion, results showed that the relative number of ACTH-stained cells of neonatal handled (0.25 ± 0.01) and aversive stimulated (0.29 ± 0.03) rats was not significantly different from intact (0.30 ± 0.03) animals. Neonatal stimulation may have a differential effect on the various subpopulations of corticotroph cells in the anterior pituitary