Building the «true evolutionism»: Darwin's impact on Henri Bergson's thought

The paper focuses on the importance of Darwin’s work for the shaping of Henri Bergson’s philosophy, bearing on mind that the two authors first intercepted symbolically in 1859, when On the Origin of Species was published and Bergson was born. Bergson studied the biological sciences of his time, whose results were integrated in a metaphysical thought. He belonged to spiritualistic positivism, a philosophy that goes from the positive data of sciences and finds the ultimate explanation of reality in a spiritual principle. He was interested in the positive evolution of the natural world and in the works of naturalists such as Lamarck, De Vries or Eimer. Darwin was among these authors, being responsible for a vision of evolution that went from the scientific level to other domains. Bergson defends the “insufficiency of pure Darwinism” by pointing out the necessity to compensate scientific evolution with an internal metaphysical reading of the real, which he considered to be “true evolutionism”. This criticism is the most visible aspect of the relations between both works. However, an attentive look verifies that Darwin’s influence overcomes the divergence of positions concerning the extent of “evolution”. The French philosopher knew not only the 1859’s bestseller, but also studies by Darwin about ethology, entomology and botany, which contributed to the fact that the naturalist’s impact gained fundamental importance in Bergson’s philosophical perspective.

Reproductive dynamics of Sterna hirundinacea Lesson, 1831 in Ilha dos Cardos, Santa Catarina, Brazil

In this work, we intend to describe the reproductive dynamics of Sterna hirundinacea in an island fromSouth Brazil.We studied the reproductive biology of this species in its natural environment and provide data on their growth, survival, and reproductive success in Ilha dosCardos, SantaCatarina, South Brazil. Samplingswere carried out daily on the island throughout the reproductive seasons of 2003, 2005, and 2006 and the different stages of development of the chicks were characterized according to age, length of the beak, and plumage characteristics.We provide a basic equation Lm = 167.91 (1 – e −0.062t−(−0.23)) to determine the approximate age of individuals using their body mass. The main cause of chick mortality on the island was natural (63.17% in 2003, 81.41% in 2005, and 79.96% in 2006), whereas predation contributed to mortality in a proportion of 38.83% in 2003, 18.59% in 2005, and 20.04% in 2006.The absence in the area of the chicks’ main predator, Kelp gull (Larus dominicanus), the large number of chicks that reached the final stages of development, and their reproductive success demonstrate that Ilha dos Cardos is an important breeding site for the species in southern Brazil.

Edible Azorean macroalgae as source of rich nutrients with impact on human health

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Saúde e segurança residual : um estudo comportamental dos trabalhadores da recolha de resíduos de Ponta Delgada

Dissertação de Mestrado em Ambiente, Saúde e Segurança.