Ecologia alimentar e reprodutiva da piaba-do-rabo-amarelo, Astyanax cf. lacustris (Reinhardt, 1874) (Osteichthyes: Characidae) na Lagoa do Piató, Assu, Rio Grande do Norte, Brasil

The feeding habits and biological aspects of the reproductive cycle of two-spot astyanax, Astyanax cf. lacustris (Reinhardt, 1874) were investigated. Fish samples were captured on a monthly basis, using gillnets of 4 cm mesh size, from the Piató Lake, Assu, Rio Grande do Norte, during the period of September, 2006 to August, 2007. Physico-chemical parameters, such as, temperature, electrical conductivity and dissolved oxygen of the lake were registered. The monthly values of rainfall also were obtained. The 360 individuals captured, were measured, weighed, dissected, and stomach weight and the stage of gonadal maturity were registered. The stomach contents analyses were carried out based on volumetric method, points, frequency of occurrence and applying the Index of Relative Importance. The degrees of repletion of the stomachs were determined besides the Index of Repletion relating to feeding activity variations and frequency of ingestion with limnological parameters and rainfall. The food items identified were separated into distinct groups according to their origin. Sex ratio and Gonadosomatic Relation of females were verified to determine the spawning period and fecundity. The physico-chemical parameters presented the following annual mean values: temperature = 28.8ºC, electrical conductivity = 992.5 µS.cm-1; dissolved oxygen = 4.9 mg.L-1 during the study period. The annual mean of the rainfall was 63.5 mm. The results indicate that this species present an omnivorous feeding habit with a tendency towards insectivory, with an increase in feeding activity during the dry season. The aquatic oxygen to interfere very importance in the feeding activity than the others factors physico-chemicals of water and rainfall. There was a predominance of females, with a sex proportion of 1M:7F. The macroscopic characteristics of the ovaries and testicles revealed four stages of gonadal development: immature, maturing, mature and spent. A temporal variation was observed for the gonadal development of males and females. There was reproductive activity through out the year, with peaks in the months of February, April and June to correspond with the rain of precipitation of the region. The mean fecundity was 7.681 mature oocytes, varying from 4.476 to 12.036, with mean of 7.681. There was positive relation between fecundity and body mass. Condition Factor is not an efficient indicator of the reproductive period of this species. The species A. cf. lacustris is an opportunist and is well adapted to the conditions of the semi-arid Caatinga Biome

Desenvolvimento de um sistema de nitretação por plasma em fonte pulsada e sua influencia sobre a nitretação do titânio

The pulsed plasma nitriding is a solution currently used in the metallurgical industry to resolve problems earlier in the processing of parts by using plasma DC voltage. These problems consisted mainly of edge effect and opening arches caused due to non-uniformity of electric fields on uneven surfaces. By varying the pulse width can reduce these effects. However, variations in pulse width can drastically affect the population of the plasma species and hence the final microstructure of the nitrided layer. In literature, little is known about the effect of process parameters on the properties of the plasma species and, consequently, the surface properties. We have developed a system of nitriding with pulsed source with fixed period of 800  pulse width is variable. Examined the variation of these parameters on the properties of nitrided surface when keeping constant temperature, gas composition, flow, pressure and power. It was found that the values of width and pulse repetition time of considerable influence in the intensities of the species present in plasma. Moreover, we observed the existence of the edge effect for some values of pulse widths, as well as changes in surface roughness and hardness

Construção de um aparato experimental para monitoramento in situ da deposição de filmes finos de titânio por magnetron sputtering

The technique of surface coating using magnetron sputtering is one of the most widely used in the surface engineering, for its versatility in obtaining different films as well as in the micro / nanometric thickness control. Among the various process parameters, those related to the active species of the plasma are of the most fundamental importance in the mechanism and kinetics of deposition. In order to identify the active species of the plasma, parameters such as gas flow, pressure and density of electric power were varied during titanium coating on glass substrate. By flowing argon gas of 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 sccm (cubic centimeters per minute) for each gas flow a sequential scan of the electric current of 0.10, 0.20, 0.30, 0.40 , 0.50 A. The maximum value of 0.50 A was chosen based both on literature data and on limitations of the equipment. The monitoring of plasma species present during the deposition was carried out in situ by the technique of optical emission spectroscopy (OES) through the spectrometer Ocean Optics USB2000 Series. For this purpose, an apparatus was developed to adapt the OES inside the plasma reactor to stay positioned closest to the target. The radiations emitted by the species were detected by an optical fiber placed behind the glass substrate and their intensities as a function of wavelength were, displayed on a monitor screen. The acquisition time for each condition of the plain parameters was related to the minima of spectral lines intensities due to the film formed on the substrate. The intensities of different emission lines of argon and titanium were then analyzed as a function of time, to determine the active species and estimate the thickness of the deposited films. After the deposition, the coated glasses thin films were characterized by optical transmittance through an infrared laser. It was found that the thickness and deposition rate determined by in situ analysis were consistent with the results obtained by laser transmittance

Metodologias estatísticas aplicadas a dados de análises químicas da água produzida em um campo maduro de petróleo

Produced water is characterized as one of the most common wastes generated during exploration and production of oil. This work aims to develop methodologies based on comparative statistical processes of hydrogeochemical analysis of production zones in order to minimize types of high-cost interventions to perform identification test fluids - TIF. For the study, 27 samples were collected from five different production zones were measured a total of 50 chemical species. After the chemical analysis was applied the statistical data, using the R Statistical Software, version 2.11.1. Statistical analysis was performed in three steps. In the first stage, the objective was to investigate the behavior of chemical species under study in each area of production through the descriptive graphical analysis. The second step was to identify a function that classify production zones from each sample, using discriminant analysis. In the training stage, the rate of correct classification function of discriminant analysis was 85.19%. The next stage of processing of the data used for Principal Component Analysis, by reducing the number of variables obtained from the linear combination of chemical species, try to improve the discriminant function obtained in the second stage and increase the discrimination power of the data, but the result was not satisfactory. In Profile Analysis curves were obtained for each production area, based on the characteristics of the chemical species present in each zone. With this study it was possible to develop a method using hydrochemistry and statistical analysis that can be used to distinguish the water produced in mature fields of oil, so that it is possible to identify the zone of production that is contributing to the excessive elevation of the water volume.

Avaliação da espécie vegetal Croton cajucara Benth como inibidor de biocorrosão em aço carbono Aisi 1020

Actually in the oil industry biotechnological approaches represent a challenge. In that, attention to metal structures affected by electrochemical corrosive processes, as well as by the interference of microorganisms (biocorrosion) which affect the kinetics of the environment / metal interface. Regarding to economical and environmental impacts reduction let to the use of natural products as an alternative to toxic synthetic inhibitors. This study aims the employment of green chemistry by evaluating the stem bark extracts (EHC, hydroalcoholic extract) and leaves (ECF, chloroform extract) of plant species Croton cajucara Benth as a corrosion inhibitor. In addition the effectiveness of corrosion inhibition of bioactive trans-clerodane dehydrocrotonin (DCTN) isolated from the stem bark of this Croton was also evaluated. For this purpose, carbon steel AISI 1020 was immersed in saline media (3,5 % NaCl) in the presence and absence of a microorganism recovered from a pipeline oil sample. Corrosion inhibition efficiency and its mechanisms were investigated by linear sweep voltammetry and electrochemical impedance. Culture-dependent and molecular biology techniques were used to characterize and identify bacterial species present in oil samples. The tested natural products EHC, ECF and DCTN (DMSO as solvent) in abiotic environment presented respectively, corrosion inhibition efficiencies of 57.6% (500 ppm), 86.1% (500 ppm) and 54.5% (62.5 ppm). Adsorption phenomena showed that EHC best fit Frumkin isotherm and ECF to Temkin isotherm. EHC extract (250 ppm) dissolved in a polar microemulsion system (MES-EHC) showed significant maximum inhibition efficiency (93.8%) fitting Langmuir isotherm. In the presence of the isolated Pseudomonas sp, EHC and ECF were able to form eco-compatible organic films with anti-corrosive properties

Redução carbotérmica de TiO2 por descarga em cátodo oco

In this study we used the plasma as a source of energy in the process of carbothermic reduction of rutile ore (TiO2). The rutile and graphite powders were milled for 15 h and placed in a hollow cathode discharge produced by in order to obtain titanium carbonitride directly from the reaction, was verified the influence of processing parameters of plasma temperature and time in the synthesis of TiCN. The reaction was carried out at 600, 700 and 800˚C for 3 to 4 hours in an atmosphere of nitrogen and argon. During all reactions was monitored by plasma technique of optical emission spectroscopy (EEO) to check the active species present in the process of carbothermal reduction of TiO2. The powder obtained after the reactions were characterized by the techniques of X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The technique of EEO were detected in all reactions the spectra CO and NO, and these gas-phase resulting from the reduction of TiO2. The results of X-ray diffraction confirmed the reduction, where for all conditions studied there was evidence of early reduction of TiO2 through the emergence of intermediate oxides. In the samples reduced at 600 and 700˚C, there was only the phase Ti6O11, those reduced to 800˚C appeared Ti5O9 phases, and Ti6O11 Ti7O13, confirming that the carbothermal reduction in plasma, a reduction of the ore rutile (TiO2) in a series of intermediate titanium oxide (TinO2n-1) where n varies between 5 and 10

Descarga em barreira dielétrica: construção de um reator DBD e caracterização mediante análises ópticas e elétricas do plasma produzido

The plasma produced by Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD) is a promising technique for producing plasma in atmospheric pressure and has been highlighted in several areas, especially in biomedical and textile industry, this is due to the fact that the plasma generated by DBD not reaches high temperatures, enabling use it for thermally sensitive materials. But still it is necessary the development of research related to understanding of the chemical, physical and biological interaction between the non-thermal plasma at atmospheric pressure with cells, tissues, organs and organisms. This work proposes to develop equipment DBD and characterize it in order to obtain a better understanding of the process parameters of plasma production and how it behaves under the parameters adopted in the process, such as distance, frequency and voltage applied between electrodes. For this purpose two techniques were used to characterize distinct from each other. The first was the method of Lissajous figures, this technique is quite effective and accurately for complete electrical characterization equipment DBD. The second technique used was Optical Emission Spectroscopy (EEO) very effective tool for the diagnosis of plasma with it being possible to identify the excited species present in the plasma produced. Finally comparing the data obtained by the two techniques was possible to identify a set of parameters that optimize the production when combined DBD plasma atmosphere in the equipment was built precisely in this condition 0.5mm-15kV 600Hz, giving way for further work

Diversificação cariotípica em cinco espécies de moréias do Atlântico Ocidental (Anguilliformes)

The Anguiliformes is constituted by 15 families, 141 sorts and 737 species. In this group eight families possess at least one karyotyped species, where a prevalence of karyotypes with 2n=38 is evidenced chromosomes and high NF, apparently basal for the Anguiliformes. The only family who shows a different karyotypic pattern from the others is the Muraenidae family. In this, of the eight species already described, all of them present 2n=42 chromosomes. Despite the dimension of this Order, few species present karyotypics descriptions. In the present work, a species of Ophichthidae, Myrichthys ocellatus (2n=38, 8m+14sm+10st+6a, NF=70) and three species of Muraenidae, Enchelycore nigricans (2n=42, 6m+8sm+12st+16a, NF=68), Gymnothorax miliaris (2n=42, 14m+18sm+10st, NF=84), Gymnothorax vicinus (2n=42, 8m+6sm+28a, NF=56) and Muraena pavonina (2n=42, 6m+4sm+32a, NF=52), collected in the coast of the Rio Grande do Norte state, Saint Peter and Paul Rocks and in the coast of Bahia state were analyzed. Mitotics chromosomes had been gotten through mitotic stimulation with yeasts. Among the analyzed species, it is observed the presence of characteristic large metacentric chromosomic pairs (≅10µm). As for the structural standard, heterochromatics regions in these species in centromeric position of the majority of the chromosomic pairs and simple ribosomal sites had been evidenced. For the Ophichthidae family, the gotten data corroborate the hypothesis of karyotypic diversification mediated by the occurrence of pericentrics inversions and robertsonians rearrangements, while in the Muraenidae, the identification of larger chromosomic values (2n=42), suggests derived karyotypes, possibly caused by possible chromosomic fissions

Aplicação da parafina e do óleo de linhaça como hidrofobizantes da vermiculita, para remoção de derivados de óleo diesel resentes em água produzida sintética

Produced water has lately aroused interest due to their high degree of salinity, suspended oil particles, chemicals added in various manufacturing processes, heavy metals and radioactivity sometimes. Along with oil and due to its high volume production, water production is one of the pollutants of most concern in the process of oil extraction. PAHs due to their ubiquity and their characteristics carcinogenic or mutagenic and teratogenic even have attracted the attention of every scientific society. Formed from the incomplete combustion of organic matter may be natural or anthropogenic. Some materials have been researched with the goal of cleaning up environmental matrices that may be contaminated by hydrocarbons. Among these materials researched various clays have been employed, of which highlights the vermiculite. The family of phyllosilicates, vermiculite for its potential and its high hydrophobic surface area has been a tool widely used in the decontamination of water in processes of oil spills. However, when it loses its capacity expanded hydrophobic having the necessity of using a hidrofobizante to make it organophilic. Among the numerous hidrofobizantes researched and used the linseed oil was the pioneer. In this study sought to evaluate the capacity of removal of PAHs using the vermiculite hydrofobized with linseed oil and wax also, for it was made use of the 24 full factorial design as the main tool for the experiments. We also evaluated the clay grain size (-20 +48 and -48 +80 #), the percentage of hidrofobizante applied (5 and 10%) and salinity of the water produced synthesized in our laboratory (35,000 and 55,000 ppm). The molecular fluorescence spectroscopy due to its sensitivity and speed was used to verify the adsorption capacity of clay, as well as gas chromatography served as an auxiliary technique to identify and quantify the PAHs in solution. In order to characterize the vermiculite was made use of X-ray fluorescence and X-ray diffraction. The infrared and thermogravimetry were essential to note hydrophobization and the amount of coating of clay. According to the fluorescence analysis showed that the test 12 was the best result in about 98% adsorption of fluorescent compounds, however the high salinity, the smallest particle size, the highest percentage of hidrofobizante and the use of linseed oil showed greater efficiency in the removal capacity of these hydrocarbons, in accordance with the trend followed by the analysis of the major factors of the factorial design. To verify the adsorption capacity of clay using a fixed volume of water produced synthetically, used as the test base 12, at their respective levels and factors. Thus, it was observed that after adding about 1 ½ liters of water solution produced synthetically, about 300 times its volume in mass, the vermiculite was able to adsorb 80% of fluorescent species present in solution

Estudo integrado do potencial fitorremediador da Eichhornia crassipes em ambientes naturais e sua utilização para obtenção de extratos proteicos

This study aimed to analyze the phytoremediation potential of Eichhornia crassipes in natural environments, optimize the extraction process of crude protein from plant tissue and, obtain and characterize this process in order to determine its viability of use instead of the protein sources of animal and/or human feed. For this, it has been determined in Apodi/Mossoró river water the concentration of ammonium ions, nitrite, nitrate, calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron, copper, manganese, zinc, nickel, cobalt, sodium, aluminum, cádmium, lead, and total chromium; It was determined in plant tissue of aquatic macrophytes of Eichhornia crassipes species present in Apodi/Mossoró River the moisture content, ash, calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron, copper, manganese, zinc, nickel, cobalt, sodium, aluminum, cadmium, lead, total chromium, total nitrogen and crude protein. It was also determined the translocation factor and bioaccumulation of all the quantified elements; It was developed and optimized the extraction procedure of crude protein based on the isoelectric method and a factorial design 24 with repetition; It was extracted and characterized the extract obtained by determining the moisture content, ash, magnesium, potassium, iron, copper, manganese, zinc, nickel, cobalt, sodium, cadmium, total nitrogen and crude protein. And finally, it was also characterized the protein extract using Thermogravimetric Analysis (TG), Derived Thermogravimetric (DTG), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) and jelly-like electrophoresis of polyacrylamide (SDS -PAGE) to assess the their molecular weights/mass. Thus, from the results obtained for the translocation and bioaccumulation factors was found that the same can be used as phytoremediation agent in natural environments of all quantified elements. It was also found that the developed method of extraction and protein precipitation was satisfactory for the purpose of the work, which gave the best conditions of extraction and precipitation of proteins as: pH extraction equal to 13.0, extraction temperature equals 60 ° C, reaction time equals to 30 minutes, and pH precipitation equals to 4.0. As for the extract obtained, the total nitrogen and crude protein were quantified higher than those found in the plant, increasing the crude protein content approximately 116.88% in relation to the quantified contente in the vegetal tissue of macrophyte. The levels of nickel and cadmium were the unique that were found below the detection limit of used the equipment. The electrophoretic analysis allowed us to observe that the protein extract obtained is composed of low polypeptide chains by the molecular and phytochelatins, with 6 and 15 kDa bands. Analysis of TG, DTG, DSC and FT-IR showed similarities in protein content of the obtained extracts based on different collection points and 9 parts of the plant under study, as well as commercial soy protein and casein. Finally, based on all these findings, it was concluded that the obtained extract in this work can be used instead of the protein sources of animal feed should, before that, test its digestibility. As human supplementation, it is necessary to conduct more tests associated with the optimization process in the sense of removing undesirable components and constant monitoring of the water body and the raw material used

Sistemática integrativa de Cichlasoma orientale Kullander 1983 e Crenicichla menezesi Ploeg 1991 (Teleostei: Cichlidae) das bacias hidrográficas do Nordeste do Brasil

Understanding the historical and ecological relationships which are influent in current biological diversity is one of the most challenging tasks of evolutionary biology. Recent systematics emphasizes the need of integrative approaches to delimit different lineages and species. The northeastern Brazil, mostly placed in Caatinga biome, is characterized by a semi-arid weather, low precipitation and seasonal behavior of rivers. This region is regarded lacking as ichthyological knowledge and one of the most threatened by anthropic activities. Further, will be affected by a massive water diverpsion work that will transfer waters from São Francisco basin, to other major four basins: Jaguaribe, Apodi-Mossoró, Piranhas-Açu and Paraiba do Norte. Loss of diversity and richness, hibridizitation, community interactions changes, population homogenization, changes in water quality and flow regime, are examples of environmental impacts already related with similar works. The present study aims to investigate morphological and molecular variation of Cichlasoma orientale Kullander 1983 and Crenicichla menezesi Ploeg 1991, two cichlid species present in northeastern Brazil basins. Further, the study aims to evaluate the influence of geomorphological and climatic processes in this variation, and point some possible impacts of the artificial connectivity which can be brought by São Francisco interbasin water transfer to their population dynamics. Geometric morphometrics and phylogeographical analysis were used to investigate the populations from three different hydrological regions. Our results showed a significant morphological variation of populations from basins that are involved in the São Franscisco s diversion project, not related to an ancient separation between populations, emphasizing morphological variation which could represent a set of plastic responses to the variable hydrological regime in Northeastern Brazil. The role of plastical responses in naturally variable habitats as well as the potential disturbs that could be brought by the interbasin water transfer works are discussed here. Further, our molecular data allowed us to make inferences about species distribution and their taxonomy, and identification of a potential new species of Crenicichla for São Francisco river basin. Our data also allowed to identify some shared haplotypes for both species, which could be related to lineage sorting scenarios or recent gene flow between populations. However a strong structure in most of the pairwise comparisons between populations for both species was revealed. Climatic events such as Atlantic forest regression during the Pleistocene, sea level fluctuations and dispersion by paleorivers in the mouth of Apodi-Mossoró river, and neotectonic events regulating the connection between drainages are likely to have had a contribution for the actual lineages distribution in northeastern Brazil. Further, analysis of molecular variation (AMOVA and SAMOVA) showed that the actual basin s isolation is an important factor to molecular variation, in spite of the signal of recent contact between some basins. Different genetic diversity patterns between species could be related to multiple historic events of colonization, basins landscapes or biological differences. The present study represents the first effort of integrative systematics involving fish species of northeastern Brazil, and showed important morphological and molecular patterns which could be irrecoverably affected by the artificial connection that might be caused by the São Francisco interbasin water transfer

Biomonitoramento da qualidade da água e ações em educação ambiental em dois açudes da bacia hidrográfica Apodi-Mossoró, RN

Water scarcity is a reality for the inhabitants of the Brazilian semiarid region. The problem, in quantitative terms , is caused due to local climatic conditions due mostly to a water deficit. Qualitatively, results of multiple uses and resulting contamination by human activities. Eutrophication is presented as a threat to the sustainable use of water resources, in order to favor the predominance of dense populations of cyanobacteria, which can be potentially harmful to human health. The aim of this study is to understand the population dynamics of phytoplankton and cyanobacteria to assess water quality of reservoirs Santa Cruz do Apodi and Pau dos Ferros belonging to bacia Apodi Mossoró-RN . Water samples were collected monthly between October 2011 and May 2012 in reservoirs Santa Cruz do Apodi and Pau dos Ferros, in this latter , in Jan/12 we performed a diel profile . The abiotic variables obtained in the field and in the laboratory were: water temperature , dissolved oxygen , pH , turbidity , transparency , total nitrogen and total phosphorus . Phytoplankton samples were collected with a plankton net and bottle of Van dorn . Were performed : identification , quantification , calculation of biovolume , classification into functional groups and index calculation phytoplankton assembly ( Q ) , cyanotoxins were quantified by ELISA . Statistical analyzes supported the evaluation of the dynamics between biotic and abiotic factors. A questionnaire was conducted to examine the conceptions of the population, education professionals and students. The reservoir of Pau dos Ferros, shallow , turbid and eutrophic showed dominance of the functional group SN throughout the sample period . The phytoplankton biomass ranged from 20 to 70 mm ³ . L - 1, the lowest values coincided with the increase of the mixing zone and transparency, which contributed to the occurrence of a change in species composition phytoplankton . The application of the index Q proved relevant, the reservoir of Pau dos Ferros , depending on the species present , was classified ecologically as bad for almost the entire sample period . The reservoir Santa Cruz do Apodi showed low biomass ( 0.04 and 4.31 mm ³ . L - 1 ) and greater diversity in the phytoplankton composition . According to the index assembly (Q ), it showed moderate condition during most of the period influenced by different functional groups of typical meso- eutrophic environment (K S0, H1, C, F , J , E, D and N) . Associations of diatoms and green algae D and X1 succeeded populations of cyanobacteria in periods marked by greater instability in the system , caused by wind or rain. In summary , the occurrence of drought has a direct influence on the hydrological conditions of the reservoirs , in general, these events, reducing the reservoir level is directly related to decreased water quality and increased density of phytoplankton occurring predominance of cyanobacteria , the index Q reflected well to changes in phytoplankton composition , being a good indicator for biomonitoring of reservoirs in this study and survey of previous conceptions showed the need to work on environmental awareness for the preservation of water resources by conducting workshops for Environmental Education

Modelagem e simulação da solubilidade de sais em sistemas aquosos com Monoetilenoglicol

Primary processing of natural gas platforms as Mexilhão Field (PMXL-1 ) in the Santos Basin, where monoethylene glycol (MEG) has been used to inhibit the formation of hydrates, present operational problems caused by salt scale in the recovery unit of MEG. Bibliographic search and data analysis of salt solubility in mixed solvents, namely water and MEG, indicate that experimental reports are available to a relatively restricted number of ionic species present in the produced water, such as NaCl and KCl. The aim of this study was to develop a method for calculating of salt solubilities in mixed solvent mixtures, in explantion, NaCl or KCl in aqueous mixtures of MEG. The method of calculating extend the Pitzer model, with the approach Lorimer, for aqueous systems containing a salt and another solvent (MEG). Python language in the Integrated Development Environment (IDE) Eclipse was used in the creation of the computational applications. The results indicate the feasibility of the proposed calculation method for a systematic series of salt (NaCl or KCl) solubility data in aqueous mixtures of MEG at various temperatures. Moreover, the application of the developed tool in Python has proven to be suitable for parameter estimation and simulation purposes

Avaliação dos efeitos do extrato de Passiflora cincinnata Masters em camundongos: efeito na ansiedade e potencial neuroprotetor

Anxiety disorders and Parkinson’s disease (PD) affect a large portion of the world population. Indeed, therapeutic alternatives available do not contribute to improve most clinical conditions and/or are linked with undesirable side effects. Thus, there is a great demand for the development of new drugs to treatment of these diseases. Passiflora cincinnata Mast. is a native species present in several Brazilian states, popularly known as “maracujá do mato”, “maracujá tubarão” or “maracujá mochila”. Additionally, species of Passiflora genus are traditionally known for their exotic flowers, edible fruits with pronounced flavor and for their sedative, tranquilizer and anxiolytic properties reported by folk medicine. These plants possess important organic compounds such as phenols, cyanogenic glycosides, flavonoids and alkaloids, which are responsible for the anxiolytic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antihyperglycemic, among others activities when tested in mammals. Despite this fact, only a few studies have been conducted to investigate the possible in vivo biological effects of Passiflora cincinnata Mast extracts. Thereby, in this study we evaluated the effects of the alcoholic extract of this plant in anxiety and PD animal model. Mice acutely or chronically administered with ethanolic extract of P. cincinnata do not showed any anxiogenic- or anxyolitic-like effect in elevated plus maze (EPM). In order to reproduce PD symptom’s in mice, we administered repeated injections of reserpine which progressively induced motor impairments such as increase in catalepsy, oral movements, and reduction of the average speed of the animals in the open field, as well as depleted dopamine prodution in SNpc cells. Furthermore, this treatment resulted in the loss of aversive memory recall in mice when undergoing PMDAT. Yet, passiflora group also show this amnesic profile. However, animals treated concomitantly with the alcoholic extract of Passiflora cincinnata Mast. showed higher latency for the onset of motor impairment evaluated by catalepsy. Thus, our results shows that the alcoholic extract of the plant P. cincinnata was able to delay the onset of the catalepsy induced by reserpine administration, plus reverted the depletion of dopamine production in SNpc cells.

Ecologia alimentar e reprodutiva da piaba-do-rabo-amarelo, Astyanax cf. lacustris (Reinhardt, 1874) (Osteichthyes: Characidae) na Lagoa do Piató, Assu, Rio Grande do Norte, Brasil

The feeding habits and biological aspects of the reproductive cycle of two-spot astyanax, Astyanax cf. lacustris (Reinhardt, 1874) were investigated. Fish samples were captured on a monthly basis, using gillnets of 4 cm mesh size, from the Piató Lake, Assu, Rio Grande do Norte, during the period of September, 2006 to August, 2007. Physico-chemical parameters, such as, temperature, electrical conductivity and dissolved oxygen of the lake were registered. The monthly values of rainfall also were obtained. The 360 individuals captured, were measured, weighed, dissected, and stomach weight and the stage of gonadal maturity were registered. The stomach contents analyses were carried out based on volumetric method, points, frequency of occurrence and applying the Index of Relative Importance. The degrees of repletion of the stomachs were determined besides the Index of Repletion relating to feeding activity variations and frequency of ingestion with limnological parameters and rainfall. The food items identified were separated into distinct groups according to their origin. Sex ratio and Gonadosomatic Relation of females were verified to determine the spawning period and fecundity. The physico-chemical parameters presented the following annual mean values: temperature = 28.8ºC, electrical conductivity = 992.5 µS.cm-1; dissolved oxygen = 4.9 mg.L-1 during the study period. The annual mean of the rainfall was 63.5 mm. The results indicate that this species present an omnivorous feeding habit with a tendency towards insectivory, with an increase in feeding activity during the dry season. The aquatic oxygen to interfere very importance in the feeding activity than the others factors physico-chemicals of water and rainfall. There was a predominance of females, with a sex proportion of 1M:7F. The macroscopic characteristics of the ovaries and testicles revealed four stages of gonadal development: immature, maturing, mature and spent. A temporal variation was observed for the gonadal development of males and females. There was reproductive activity through out the year, with peaks in the months of February, April and June to correspond with the rain of precipitation of the region. The mean fecundity was 7.681 mature oocytes, varying from 4.476 to 12.036, with mean of 7.681. There was positive relation between fecundity and body mass. Condition Factor is not an efficient indicator of the reproductive period of this species. The species A. cf. lacustris is an opportunist and is well adapted to the conditions of the semi-arid Caatinga Biome