Diversos estudos observaram uma correlação entre doenças na idade adulta e o ambiente durante a vida fetal. O estudo realizado por Barker e colaboradores foi um dos primeiros a relatar a hipótese de um possível envolvimento do ambiente intra-uterino com o desenvolvimento de doenças cardiovasculares, mas os mecanismos responsáveis por esta associação ainda não são totalmente conhecidos. Estudos demonstraram uma associação entre baixo peso ao nascimento com resistência à insulina e intolerância à glicose na vida adulta. Recentemente, verificamos que o consumo de dieta hipossódica, conhecido modelo de resistência à insulina, durante a gestação e lactação está vinculado a menor sensibilidade à insulina na prole adulta. Visto que a presença de resistência à insulina durante a gestação leva a diversas alterações metabólicas na prole adulta, pode-se supor que a sobrecarga de sacarose, um modelo de resistência à insulina, durante a gestação e lactação influencie no desenvolvimento da prole. Assim, o objetivo do presente estudo foi verificar a repercussão da resistência à insulina, durante a gestação sobre a prole adulta. Para tanto, ratas Wistar foram alimentadas com dieta hipo (HO) ou normossódica (NR) suplementadas ou não com sacarose (NR+SAC - 20g/dL) ou maltodextrina (NR+MALTO - 20g/dL) desde a oitava semana de vida até o final da gestação e amamentação. Na prole resultante destes animais foi observado menor peso ao nascimento nos grupos HO, NR+SAC e NR+MALTO. Esta alteração resultou no desenvolvimento de maior insulinemia, pressão arterial e maior captação de glicose na prole de fêmeas das mães do grupo NR+SAC. Os machos apresentaram menor índice de adiposidade e maior expressão gênica renal dos componentes do sistema renina-angiotensina. Tais resultados nos permitem concluir que a sobrecarga de carboidratos durante a gestação e lactação está associada a alterações no peso ao nascimento e no metabolismo da insulina na idade adulta. É possível que a ativação do sistema renina-angiotensina materno induzido pela sobrecarga de carboidrato esteja associada a alterações deste mesmo sistema observado na prole adulta. / Many studies observed a correlation between diseases in adult subjects and the environment during the fetal life. Barker and coworkers hypothesized that there is a possible intrauterine enviroment association with cardiovascular diseases in adulthood. The mechanisms responsible for this association are still not very well known. Recently, we have verified that low-salt diet consumption, a well-known model of insulin resistance, during pregnancy and lactation is associated with a lower insulin sensitivity in the adult offspring. Since insulin resistance during pregnancy leads to many metabolic alterations in the adult offspring, we suppose that sucrose overload during pregnancy and lactation could influence the offspring development. The aim of this study was to verify the effects on adult offspring of insulin resistance during pregnancy and lactation. Female Wistar rats were fed low (LSD) and normal-salt diet (NSD) supplemented or not with sucrose (SUC - 20 g/dL) or maltodextrin (MALTO - 20 g/dL) until the end of pregnancy and lactation. Lower birth weight was observed in offspring of LSD, SUC and MALTO groups. Higher plasma insulin level, blood pressure and glucose uptake was detected in the adult SUC female offspring. SUC male offspring had lower adiposity index and higher gene expression of the renal renin-angiotensin components. These results show that carbohydrate overload during pregnancy and lactation is associated with alterations in birth weight and in insulin metabolism at adult life. It is possible that the maternal renin-angiotensin system activation by the carbohydrate overload is associated with alterations in the same system observed in the adult offspring.

A informação sobre o tipo de herança de um caráter considerado para fins de seleção é de extrema importância para o sucesso dos programas de melhoramento. O caráter senescência retardada, usualmente chamado de stay-green, tem sido relacionado em diversas culturas à tolerância a estresses abióticos, principalmente ao estresse devido à seca. Embora a maioria dos híbridos de milho comerciais sejam stay-green, as informações sobre o seu tipo de herança são muito limitadas. Assim, este trabalho teve como objetivo estudar a herança do caráter stay-green em milho tropical. O material genético utilizado incluiu 55 linhagens de diversas origens, a fim de representar a variabilidade genética em milho tropical. Foram realizados cruzamentos dialélicos parciais, onde 50 linhagens foram cruzadas com outras 5 linhagens utilizadas como testadoras, originando 250 cruzamentos. Os 250 cruzamentos e seis híbridos comerciais foram avaliados em 8 ambientes no delineamento de látice simples 16x16 com duas repetições. O caráter stay-green foi avaliado em cinco plantas competitivas por parcela, 120 dias após a semeadura, através de uma escala de notas visual de 1 a 5, onde a nota 1 se referia às plantas verdes e a nota 5 às plantas secas. Foi necessário tomar dados de florescimento feminino para utilizá-los como covariável nas análises estatísticas e corrigir as diferenças de maturação entre os cruzamentos. A análise de variância dialélica foi realizada de acordo com o método 4 do modelo 1 de Griffing (1956), adaptado para dialelos parciais em múltiplos ambientes. A capacidade geral de combinação (CGC), tanto para as linhagens como para os testadores, e a capacidade específica de combinação (CEC) foram altamente significativas )01,0(<=P, mostrando que tanto a CGC como a CEC contribuíram significativamente para a expressão do caráter. Porém a contribuição da CGC foi de 69,06% e a da CEC foi de 30,94% para a variação entre cruzamentos, indicando que os efeitos aditivos, relacionados à CGC, são mais importantes que os efeitos não aditivos (dominância e epistasia), que são relacionados à CEC, na variação dos cruzamentos. Tanto a CGC como a CEC interagiram significativamente com o ambiente, evidenciando que estes parâmetros não são consistentes nos diversos ambientes. Então, a seleção para o caráter stay-green deve ser baseada em médias de experimentos avaliados com repetições em diversos ambientes. / Information on the inheritance of traits to be selected is of paramount importance for the success of breeding programs. The trait delayed senescence, usually named \"stay-green\" trait, has been related to tolerance to abiotic stresses, mainly drought stress, in several crop species. Although the majority of commercial maize hybrids are \"stay-green\", limited information are available on its inheritance. Thus, this research was conducted to study the inheritance of the stay-green trait in tropical maize. The genetic material included 55 inbred lines from several sources to represent the genetic variation of tropical maize. Fifty inbred lines were crossed to 05 inbreds as testers following the partial diallel cross design, giving rise to 250 single crosses. The crosses and six commercial hybrids, 256 entries, were evaluated at eight environments using a 16 x 16 lattice design with two replications per environment. The stay-green trait was recorded 120 days after sowing, in five competitive plants per plot, following a visual note scale, i.e., from 1 to 5, where 1 refers to green plants and 5 to no-green plants. Also, the trait days to mid-silking was recorded and used as covariate to correct for differences of maturing among crosses. The analysis of variance of the diallel crosses was computed following the method 4 model 1 of Griffing (1956) extended to multiple environments. The general combining ability (GCA) for both the inbreds and the testers, and the specific combining ability (SCA) were all highly significant (P<=0.01), showing that GCA as well as SCA contribute significantly for the expression of the trait. However, the contribution of the GCA was 69.06% and of the SCA was 30.94% for the variation among the crosses, indicating that the additive effects, which are related to GCA, are more important than the non-additive effects (dominance and epistasis), which are related to SCA, for the variation of the crosses. Both GCA and SCA interacted significantly with the environments, showing that these parameters were not consistent across the environments. Thus, selection for the stay-green trait should be based on the means of experiments evaluated in several environments.

Diversas pesquisas têm reportado que o aumento da produtividade da cultura do milho se deve muito mais à tolerância a estresses abióticos do que a aumentos per se. O déficit hídrico é um dos mais importantes fatores envolvidos na redução de produtividade nessa cultura, mas devido à dificuldade de seleção direta para tolerância à seca, são empregados caracteres secundários como o caráter stay green ou senescência retardada de folhas e colmos. Todavia, estudos sobre a herança desse caráter são escassos na literatura. Em vista disso, este trabalho teve como objetivo estudar a herança deste caráter em milho tropical, utilizando o delineamento III (Comstock e Robinson, 1952). A partir do cruzamento entre as linhagens endogâmicas L08-05F e L38-05D, foram obtidas 100 progênies F2:3, as quais foram retrocruzadas com cada um dos parentais, resultando em 200 progênies de retrocruzamento. Estas progênies foram avaliadas em dez ambientes, com duas repetições por ambiente, em Piracicaba SP, utilizando o delineamento ?-látice. A avaliação do stay green foi feita em dez plantas competitivas por parcela, 120 dias após a semeadura, utilizando uma escala de notas variando de 1 a 5, em que 1 correspondeu às plantas com todas as folhas acima e pelo menos duas folhas verdes abaixo da espiga e 5 à planta com todas as folhas secas. O caráter florescimento feminino foi avaliado e utilizado como covariável para ajuste das variações de maturação das progênies, e as médias das parcelas foram utilizadas para as análises. A estimativa da variância aditiva foi muito superior à de dominância e a variância da interação aditiva por ambiente apresentou maior magnitude que a variância aditiva. O tipo de ação gênica foi de dominância parcial, mas devido ao desequilíbrio de ligação da população, este pode estar superestimado. O coeficiente de herdabilidade em nível de plantas apresentou baixa magnitude (~25%) enquanto que em nível de médias a magnitude foi elevada (~70%). Estes resultados indicam que os efeitos aditivos são mais importantes que os dominantes no controle do caráter stay green e que os efeitos aditivos não são consistentes nos diversos ambientes de avaliação. Assim, o nível de heterose deve apresentar baixa magnitude, e a seleção fenotípica não pode ser realizada em nível de plantas, mas baseada em médias de experimentos com repetições, conduzidas em diversos ambientes para minimizar os efeitos destes e suas interações com os genótipos. A linhagem L08-05F apresentou maior nível de stay green que a linhagem L38-05D e, portanto, pode ser utilizada como fonte de alelos favoráveis para serem transferidos para outras linhagens visando aumentar o nível deste caráter em linhagens que apresentarem baixos níveis de senescência retardada. / Several researches have reported that the increase in maize productivity could be attributed to the tolerance to abiotic stresses rather than to an increase on a plant productivity per se. Moisture stress is one of the most important stresses that reduce the maize productivity, but because of the difficulties for the direct selection for tolerance to moisture stress secondary traits as delayed senescence, also known as stay green trait, has been employed for this purpose. However, there is limited information reported on the inheritance of this trait. Thus, the objective of this research was to study the inheritance of the stay green trait in maize using the design III (Comstock and Robinson, 1952). One hundred F2:3 progenies were developed from a population derived from the cross between the inbred lines L08-05F and L38-05D; and these progenies were backcrossed to the inbred parents giving rise to 200 backcrossed progenies. These progenies were evaluated in ten environments, with two replications per environment, in Piracicaba City, São Paulo State, using the experimental design ?-lattice. The stay green trait was recorded in ten competitive plants per plot 120 days after sowing, using a scale with scores from 1 to 5, where score 1 was assigned to the plants with all leaves above the ear and at least two leaves below the ear green, and score 5 was assigned to plants with all leaves senescent. The trait days to silking was also recorded and used as covariate to adjust the maturation variation of the backcrossed progenies, and the mean of the plots was used for analysis. The estimate of the additive variance was quite larger than the dominance variance, the additive x environment variance was quite larger than the additive variance, and the average level of dominance was partial dominance, but since the population was in linkage disequilibrium the level of dominance may be overestimated. The heritability coefficient on a plant level was of low magnitude (~25%) while that one on a mean level presented high magnitude (~70%). These results indicated that the additive effects were more important than the dominance effects for the control of the stay green trait, and that the additive effects are not consistent across the environments. Therefore, the level of heterosis should present low magnitude, and the phenotypic selection should not be conducted on a plant level; instead selection should be based on the means of replicated experiments assessed in several environments to minimize their effects and the genotype by environment interactions. The inbred line L08-05F presented higher level of stay green than the inbred L38-05D and thus the former inbred could be used as a source of favorable alleles to be transferred to others inbreds to increase the level of this trait in inbreds that have low levels of delayed senescence.

O Hipogonadismo hipogonadotrófico isolado (HHI) congênito é uma síndrome clínica rara causada por defeito na produção ou secreção do hormônio liberador de gonadotrofinas (GnRH) pelo hipotálamo ou por resistência hipofisária à ação do GnRH. O HHI é mais prevalente em homens e cerca de 50% a 60% dos indivíduos afetados apresentam anosmia ou hiposmia associada, caracterizando a síndrome de Kallmann. Diversos genes já foram associados à patogênese do HHI congênito, porém, a maioria dos casos ainda permanece sem diagnóstico molecular definido. Até recentemente, a identificação das causas genéticas dos pacientes com HHI era realizada por sequenciamento de genes candidatos, empregando a técnica de Sanger. No entanto, com o número crescente de genes descritos nos últimos anos, esse processo vem se tornando impraticável. Novas metodologias de sequenciamento (sequenciamento paralelo em larga escala) foram desenvolvidas permitindo a genotipagem simultânea de diversas regiões, com maior velocidade e menor custo relativo. O atual projeto foi desenvolvido com o objetivo de rastrear genes candidatos em pacientes portadores de HHI congênito utilizando-se o sequenciamento paralelo em larga escala, visando ampliar o conhecimento genético do HHI. Realizamos o sequenciamento paralelo em larga escala (SPLE) de 130 pacientes com HHI congênito utilizando um painel contendo 36 genes relacionados ao HHI. Inicialmente, identificamos 104 variantes, potencialmente patogênicas em 77 pacientes (59,2%). Após a filtragem inicial, foi realizada uma análise individualizada de cada variante e com isso foram mantidos 41 (31,5%) pacientes com variantes classificadas como patogênicas ou provavelmente patogênicas. Os genes KAL1, FGFR1, CHD7 e GNRHR foram os mais frequentemente afetados. Esses resultados confirmam a importância dos genes classicamente associados ao HHI congênito. Destaca-se a alta prevalência de variantes no CHD7 (10,8%), gene bastante extenso, levando à dificuldade técnica de sequenciá-lo pelos métodos tradicionais, até então sem estudos nessa coorte. O CHD7 é um gene originalmente associado à complexa síndrome de CHARGE, porém, nos últimos anos vem sendo cada vez mais associados ao HHI congênito. Dentre os resultados, ressaltamos a identificação de uma mutação inédita no gene GNRH1, causa rara de HHI, e a identificação de variantes deletérias no gene IGSF10, recentemente descrito associado ao atraso puberal, mas sem papel claro no fenótipo de HHI, em dois pacientes que tiveram reversibilidade do hipogonadismo. Variantes provavelmente patogênicas em genes com poucas descrições ou até mesmo sem relatos de associação ao fenótipo de HHI (SPRY4, FLRT3, IGSF1, NSMF, SOX10 e OTX2) também foram identificadas nessa coorte, ampliando nosso conhecimento genético do HHI. A oligogenicidade, previamente descrita com prevalência de 2,5% a 7%, em nosso estudo esteve presente em 22% dos pacientes, demonstrando uma ampliação das descrições de oligogenicidade quando comparados aos estudos prévios utilizando somente a técnica de Sanger. A nova técnica de sequenciamento genético (SPLE), utilizada em nosso estudo, foi capaz de ampliar de 22% para 31,5% (41 em 130 pacientes) a porcentagem de pacientes com diagnóstico molecular definido, quando comparado aos dados prévios utilizando a técnica de Sanger, mostrando-se rápida, confiável e eficaz / Congenital isolated hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (IHH) is a rare condition caused by GnRH deficiency, due to defective hypothalamic gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) production or secretion, or by pituitary resistance to the GnRH action. Congenital IHH is more prevalent in men and about 50% to 60% of affected individuals present with associated anosmia or hyposmia, characterizing Kallmann\'s syndrome. Several genes have already been associated with the pathogenesis of congenital IHH, but most cases still remain without a molecular diagnosis. Until recently, identification of the genetic causes of IHH was performed by sequencing candidate genes using the Sanger technique. However, with the growing number of genes and the genetic complexity of IHH, it has become almost impossible to keep the screening of all candidate genes updated using the traditional techniques. The advent of next-generation sequencing (NGS) has allowed the simultaneous genotyping of several regions, faster and with lower relative cost. The present project was developed with the objective of tracking candidate genes in patients with congenital IHH using large-scale parallel sequencing, in aiming to increase the genetic knowledge of this rare condition. A total of 130 unrelated patients with IHH was studied by targeted NGS, using a panel containing 36 IHH associated genes. Initially, 104 potentially pathogenic variants were identified in 77 patients (59.2%). However, after an individualized analysis of each variant, the number of patients considered to carry pathogenic or probably pathogenic variants dropped to 41 (31.5%). The genes KAL1, FGFR1, CHD7 and GNRHR were the most frequently affected and these results confirm the importance of genes classically associated with IHH. It is noteworthy the high prevalence of variants in CHD7 (10.8%), a rather extensive gene, leading to technical difficulty of sequencing by traditional methods, which had not been studied in this cohort. CHD7 is the causative gene of CHARGE syndrome, however it has been recently identified in a growing number of congenital IHH patients with or without additional features of the syndrome. Among the results, we emphasize a novel mutation in the GNRH1 gene, a rare cause of IHH, and the identification of deleterious variants in the IGSF10 gene, recently associated with pubertal delay but without a clear role in the IHH phenotype, in two patients with reversible hypogonadism. Probably pathogenic variants in genes with few descriptions or even no reports of association with the IHH phenotype (SPRY4, FLRT3, IGSF1, NSMF, SOX10 and OTX2) were also identified in this cohort, increasing the genetic knowledge of IHH. Oligogenicity, previously described with a prevalence of 2.5% to 7%, was observed in 22% of our patients, demonstrating an increase in oligogenicity cases when compared to previous studies using only the Sanger sequencing. In conclusion, targeted NGS was able to increase the percentage of patients with molecular diagnosis from 22% to 31.5% in our cohort when compared to the previous data using the Sanger sequencing, and has been shown to be a fast, reliable and effective tool in the molecular diagnosis of congenital IHH

Os tumores pediátricos diagnosticados em apresentação avançada necessitam de tratamentos mais intensivos, que causam morbidade aguda e tardia, acrescido de redução das chances de cura. O objetivo deste estudo foi o de avaliar a associação entre variáveis sociodemográficas com o estadiamento de tumores malignos. Foi realizada uma análise retrospectiva de casos com diagnóstico de tumores malignos admitidos no Hospital Sarina Rolim Caracante (HSRC), entre janeiro de 1998 a dezembro de 2008. A variável dependente foi o estadiamento do tumor. Foram consideradas variáveis independentes: idade, sexo, procedência, tempo de sintomatologia, diagnóstico histológico, idade materna, escolaridade materna, número de irmãos, empregabilidade dos pais, disponibilidade de serviço de emergência pediátrica, urbanização, distância, Índice de Desenvolvimento Humano (IDH) e Índice de Exclusão Social (IES) dos municípios de origem do paciente. Foram avaliados 246 casos com exclusão de 25 pacientes por não preencherem os critérios de inclusão. A maioria foi do sexo masculino (61,6%), com média de idade de 7,3 anos. O percentual dos estádios III e IV foi de 60,1% dos casos. O tempo médio de sintomatologia foi de 103,25 dias. Os tipos histológicos mais comuns foram: linfoma de Hodgkin, neuroblastoma e linfoma não Hodgkin. Os neuroblastomas, carcinomas e retinoblastomas apresentaram maior percentual de doença avançada. Não foi observada associação estatisticamente significante do estadiamento dos tumores malignos com as variáveis: idade, sexo, procedência, tempo de sintomatologia, diagnóstico histológico, idade materna, escolaridade materna, número de irmãos, empregabilidade dos pais, disponibilidade de ix serviço de emergência pediátrica, urbanização, distância, Índice de Desenvolvimento Humano (IDH) e Índice de Exclusão Social (IES) / The early diagnosis of cancer is a fundamental goal in pediatric oncology because it allows an opportunity for timely treatment while the disease is still in its earliest stages. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between sociodemographic variables and stage disease. Retrospective analysis was performed in malignant tumors patients admitted in the Hospital Sarina Rolim Caracante (HSRC) between January 1998 and December 2008. Dependent variable was considered the stage of the disease at diagnosis. Independent variables were age, gender, referral geographic region, lag time, histological diagnosis, mothers education level, number of siblings, employ status, pediatric emergency unit availability, urbanization, distance, Human Developing Index (HDI) and Social Exclusion Index (SEI). Two hundred and forty six cases were evaluated. Twenty-five were excluded because of missing data. Sixty-one per cent were male and 7.3 years median age. Sixty per cent were stage III and IV and the median lag time of all patients was 103.25 days. The commonest histological subtypes were: Hodgkins lymphoma, neuroblastomas and non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Neuroblastoma, carcinoma and retinoblastoma had the highest percentual of advanced disease. There was no statistical correlation between lag time and stage (p=0.49). The patient and parent variables such as age, gender, mothers age, mothers education level, parental employee status were not associated with risk of advanced disease. Variables related with the place of residence: region, distance, pediatric emergency unit availability, urbanization, SEI and HDI were not associated with increased risk of advanced stage either. Despite a high incidence of advanced disease in xi these small series we could not demonstrate that sociodemographic factors are responsible for advanced disease

Submitted by Renata Lopes (renatasil82@gmail.com) on 2016-07-15T12:20:21Z No. of bitstreams: 1 victoreustaquiotosteszidirich.pdf: 1142000 bytes, checksum: 2b246de219ef265a66f3c21f0381b817 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Diamantino Mayra (mayra.diamantino@ufjf.edu.br) on 2016-07-19T15:50:40Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 victoreustaquiotosteszidirich.pdf: 1142000 bytes, checksum: 2b246de219ef265a66f3c21f0381b817 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-19T15:50:40Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 victoreustaquiotosteszidirich.pdf: 1142000 bytes, checksum: 2b246de219ef265a66f3c21f0381b817 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-03-18 / O ácido linoléico conjugado, do inglês “Conjugated Linoleic Acid” (CLA) é uma mistura de isômeros de posição e geométricos do ácido linoléico (C18:2 n-6), comumente encontrado em maiores concentrações na carne bovina e em produtos lácteos de ruminantes. Numerosas atividades biológicas têm sido atribuídas aos isômeros C18:2 cis-9, trans-11(c9t11) e ao C18:2 trans-10, cis-12 (t10c12) dentre as quais destacam-se: propriedades anticarcinogênica, antiaterogênica, antiobesogênica, incluindo aumento da massa magra em animais, retardo do aparecimento de diabetes tipo II e também nas respostas imunes humoral e celular. O presente trabalho focou na utilização do c9t11 na dieta em camundongos da linhagem BALB/c, avaliando efeitos na resposta imune humoral como a produção anticorpos específicos para ovalbumina (OVA), bem como a síntese de citocinas e respostas à hipersensibilidade tardia (HTT). O trabalho mostrou que o CLA na dieta reduziu efeitos nas respostas de HTT em 24 horas nos animais e estes apresentaram altos níveis de Ac anti- IgG1 e supressão no perfil Th1 de citocinas como IFN-γ e TNF-α. Com base nesses resultados foi possível perceber que o CLA foi um importante fator no controle do processo inflamatório do modelo e que seu uso poderia ser considerado como uma importante intervenção profilática para muitas doenças de natureza inflamatória. / Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) is a mixture of positional and geometrical isomers of linoleic acid (C18:2 n-6), commonly found in high concentrations in bovine meat and lacteous products from ruminants. Numerous biological activities have been attributed to C18:2 cis-9, trans-11(c9t11) and C18:2 trans-10, cis-12 (t10c12) isomers, among which anti-carcinogenic, anti-aterogenic, anti-obesity properties must be highlighted, including increase of thin mass in animals, delay in type II diabetes emergence and also in humoral and cellular immune responses. This work focused on the use of c9t11 in the diet of BALB/c mice, evaluating effects on humoral immune response by means of production of ovalbumin (OVA) specific antibodies, cytokine production and responses to delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH). The results showed that using CLA in the diet of BALB/c mice decreased effects on DTH responses in a 24h period after animals had been challenged. They exhibited high levels of Ab anti-IgG1 and suppression of Th1 profile cytokines such as IFN-γ and TNF-α. Based on these results, it was possible to say that CLA was an important factor of control in the inflammatory process of the model and that its use could be considered as an important prophylactic intervention for many diseases of inflammatory nature.

Please read the section 05chapter5 (General summary and conclusions, especially p168-170) of this document / Thesis (DSc (Agriculture))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development / unrestricted

The problem of this study was to examine the effect of text structure and signaling devices on immediate and delayed recalls of freshman Arabic-speaking students after reading a text. Subjects for the study were forty-five freshman Arabic-speaking students enrolled in three freshman English courses at a state university. All subjects were male students. The subjects-were chosen on a voluntary basis. The subjects were given the Reading Comprehension Section of the TOEFL. They were then divided into groups of good, average, and poor readers according to their performance on the TOEFL. Two well—organized passages of expository text with clearly identifiable top-level structure of problem/solution and appropriate reading levels were selected for the study. Two versions of each passage were adapted — one with the signaling devices included in the passage and the other with the signaling devices deleted. Each subject read one version of each of the two passages. The immediate and delayed recalls of the subjects were scored by an unbiased scorer. The scorer was an expert teacher of English to foreign students. Hypothesis I stated that good readers would be able to utilize the writer's rhetorical mode of the text at a significantly higher level than average and poor readers. This hypothesis was supported. The results of Chi square analysis was significant at the .03 level for immediate recall, and at the .01 level for the delayed recall. Hypothesis II stated that readers of each of the three groups who followed the original rhetorical mode of the text would recall significantly more information than those who failed to do so. This hypothesis was also supported. The results of the Two-way Analysis of Variance were significant at the .01 level for both immediate and delayed recalls. Hypothesis III stated that the students of all three groups would recall significantly more information from the passage with signaling devices than from the passage without signaling devices. This hypothesis was not supported. Signaling devices helped good and average readers to recall significantly more information, while the group of poor readers was not affected by the presence of these signaling devices. The findings suggest that training non-native speakers in identifying and utilizing different rhetorical structures might facilitate their reading comprehension. There is also a parallel need in writing instruction so that writers can . offer this facility to their readers.

Triple A syndrome, formerly known as Allgrove syndrome, is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized clinically by adrenal insufficiency, alacrima, achalasia, and neurological abnormalities. We report a 17-year-old boy presented to the endocrine clinic with delayed puberty and a 4-year’s history of fatigue and muscle weakness. He had achalasia, alacrima, and skin and mucosal hyperpigmentation. Hormonal assessment revealed isolated glucocorticoid deficiency. Clinical diagnosis of triple A syndrome was confirmed by sequencing the entire coding region including exon-intron boundaries of the AAAS gene. Analysis revealed a homozygous novel indel mutation encompassing intron 7 to intron 10 of the gene (g.16166_17813delinsTGAGGCCTGCTG; NG_016775). This is the first report of triple A syndrome in Jordan with a novel indel mutation and presenting with delayed puberty.

The primary purposes of this dissertation were to explore relationship between cell free DNA (cf-DNA), creatine kinase (CK), C-reactive protein (CRP), vertical jump testing delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) in response to a high-volume resistance training protocol, and to assess the sensitivity of cf-DNA to different resistance training volume loads. The secondary purpose was to examine the relationship between cf-DNA and relative strength. Study 1 was an exploratory attempt to discover relationships between cf-DNA, CK, CRP, delayed onset muscle soreness, and performance variables. Seventeen resistance trained males were recruited, 9 were randomly assigned to receive BCAAs while 8 received a placebo. Participants performed a high-volume resistance training session consisting of the back squat and bench press. Blood was drawn to measure serum cf-DNA, CK, and CRP levels prior to the training session, with cf-DNA collected immediately post, and CK and CRP at 24hr and 48hrs post. Self-reported DOMS on a scale of 1 to 10 was collected prior to training on day 2, day 3, and day 4. SJH, CMJH, and BOSCO were collected on day 1, day 3, and day 4. Fifty-seven correlations were run to explore the relationships between variables. Only the correlation between %Δ DOMS 48hr and %Δ CRP 48hr in the non-supplement group was significant (p = 0.02). The second study, designed to assess the sensitivity of cf-DNA to different resistance training volume loads, consisted of a high-volume resistance training protocol. Blood was drawn immediately before the resistance training session (T1), immediately after the third lifting set (T2), and immediately after the sixth lifting set (T3). cf-DNA increased significantly from T1 to T2 (p < 0.01) and T1 to T3 (p < 0.01). The linear regression model used to examine the capabilities of relative strength to predict %Δ cf-DNA from T1 to T3 was significant (p = 0.04). The results of this study demonstrate the short response time of cf-DNA in relation to variations in resistance training volume-load, suggesting it may be a valuable marker in monitoring the immune response to volume-load. Results also demonstrated the positive relationship between relative strength and %Δ cf-DNA.