Rickettsia bellii in ticks Amblyomma varium Koch, 1844, from birds in Peru

Amazonian birds were caught and examined for the presence of ectoparasites in the Allpahuayo Mishana National Reserve near Iquitos, Peru, from 13 to 16 August 2011. A total of 40 birds representing 16 species were examined. Two birds (5%) were infested with 2 larvae of Amblyomma varium Koch, 1844, and one nymph of A. calcaratum Neumann, 1899. The 2 larvae of A. varium were infected with Rickettsia bellii. This is the first report of R. bellii in A. varium and also the first record of this rickettsia in Peru. In addition, an immature A. calcaratum is reported from Peru for the first time. (c) 2012 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Rickettsial Infection in Ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) Collected on Birds in Southern Brazil

The aim of the study was to evaluate rickettsial infection in ticks from wild birds of the Semidecidual and Atlantic Rainforest remnants of three municipalities of the State of Parana, southern Brazil. Overall, 53 larvae and nymphs collected from birds were checked for the presence of Rickettsia DNA by molecular tests. Five tick species were tested: Amblyomma aureolatum (Pallas), Amblyomma calcaratum Neumann, Amblyomma longirostre (Koch), Amblyomma ovale Koch, and Amblyomma parkeri Fonseca and Aragao. A. longirostre ticks were infected with the spotted fever group agents Rickettsia amblyommii strain AL (32.3% infection rate) and Rickettsia parkeri strain NOD (5.9% infection rate). A new rickettsial genotype was detected in the tick A. parkeri (50% infection rate), which had never been reported to be infected by rickettsiae. Through phylogenetic analysis, this new genotype, here designated as strain ApPR, grouped in a cluster composed by different strains of Rickettsia africae, Rickettsia sibirica, and R. parkeri. We consider strain ApPR to be a new genotype of R. parkeri. This study reports for the first time rickettsial infection in ticks from birds in southern Brazil. The role of migrating birds in the dispersal of these rickettsial strains should be considered in ecological studies of spotted fever group agents in Brazil.

On the use of 10-minute point counts and 10-species lists for surveying birds in lowland Atlantic Forests in southeastern Brazil

Due to rapid and continuous deforestation, recent bird surveys in the Atlantic Forest are following rapid assessment programs to accumulate significant amounts of data during short periods of time. During this study, two surveying methods were used to evaluate which technique rapidly accumulated most species (> 90% of the estimated empirical value) at lowland Atlantic Forests in the state of São Paulo, southeastern Brazil. Birds were counted during the 2008-2010 breeding seasons using 10-minute point counts and 10-species lists. Overall, point counting detected as many species as lists (79 vs. 83, respectively), and 88 points (14.7 h) detected 90% of the estimated species richness. Forty-one lists were insufficient to detect 90% of all species. However, lists accumulated species faster in a shorter time period, probably due to the nature of the point count method in which species detected while moving between points are not considered. Rapid assessment programs in these forests will rapidly detect more species using 10-species lists. Both methods shared 63% of all forest species, but this may be due to spatial and temporal mismatch between samplings of each method.

Occurrence of organochlorine compounds in Euphausia superba and unhatched eggs of Pygoscelis genus penguins from Admiralty Bay (King George Island, Antarctica) and estimation of biomagnification factors

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides are compounds that do not occur naturally in the environment and are not easily degraded by chemical or microbiological action. In the present work, those compounds were analysed in unhatched penguin eggs and whole krill collected in Admiralty Bay, King George Island, Antarctica in the austral summers of 2004-2005 and 2005-2006. The compounds found in higher levels (in a wet weight basis) were, in most of the egg samples, the PCBs (2.53-78.7 ng g(-1)), DDTs (2.07-38.0 ng g(-1)) and HCB (4.99-39.1 ng g(-1)) and after Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA, the occurrence seemed to be species-specific for the Pygoscelis genus. In all of the cases, the levels found were not higher than the ones in Arctic birds in a similar trophic level. The krill samples analysis allowed estimating the biomagnification factors (which resulted in up to 363 for HCB, one order of magnitude higher than DDTs and chlordanes and two orders of magnitude higher than the other groups) of the compounds found in eggs, whose only source of contamination is the female-offspring transfer. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Risk Assessment of the Introduction of H5N1 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza as a Tool to be Applied in Prevention Strategy Plan

Risks of the introduction of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 through migratory birds to the main wintering site for wild birds in southern Brazil and its consequences were assessed. Likelihoods were estimated by a qualitative scale ranging from negligible to high. Northern migrants that breed in Alaska and regularly migrate to South America (primary Charadriiformes) can have contact with birds from affected areas in Asia. The likelihood of the introduction of HPAI H5N1 through migratory birds was found to be very low as it is a probability conditioned to successful transmission in breeding areas and the probabilities of an infected bird migrating and shedding the virus as far as southern Brazil. The probability of wild species becoming exposed to H5N1-infected birds is high as they nest with northern migrants from Alaska, whereas for backyard poultry it is moderate to high depending on proximity to wetlands and the presence of species that could increase the likelihood of contact with wild birds such as domestic duck. The magnitude of the biological and economic consequences of successful transmission to poultry or wild birds would be low to severe depending on the probability of the occurrence of outbreak scenarios described. As a result, the risk estimate is greater than negligible, and HPAI H5N1 prevention strategy in the region should always be carefully considered by the veterinary services in Brazil.

Tropical, de Anita Malfatti

A partir da análise de Tropical, tela pintada por Anita Malfatti em 1917, este artigo propõe que a artista procedia a uma mudança em sua linguagem pictórica, afastando-se das concepções de vanguarda que adotara até então para, aderindo ao clima de retorno à ordem internacional, aproximar-se das discussões sobre o nacionalismo na arte, presentes na cena paulistana. Assim, a imagem de mulher insegura que mudou sua perspectiva por causa da crítica de Monteiro Lobato adquire outra conotação. Os modernistas teriam preferido essa interpretação a efetuar uma análise da obra de Anita Malfatti, por meio da qual se poderia desvelar uma deserção do programa vanguardista feita de forma consciente pela artista

Digestible tryptophan:lysine ratio for laying hens

The objective of this study was to evaluate the requirement of digestible tryptophan for white laying hens in the production stage fed diets of different digestible tryptophan: digestible lysine ratios, as well as animal performance and histological alterations in their reproductive and digestive systems. A total of 280 white laying hens at 29 weeks of age were distributed in a completely randomized design with five treatments and seven replications with eight birds in each. The treatments consisted of a base feed, formulated with corn, soybean meal and corn gluten meal, and supplemented with the synthetic amino acids L-lysine, DL-methionine, L-threonine, L-isoleucine, L-arginine, and L-valine, so as to meet the nutritional requirements for laying hens, except for digestible tryptophan. The basal diet was supplemented with 0.00; 0.017; 0.035; 0.052; and 0.069 g/kg of L-tryptophan in substitution for corn starch with the objective of reaching the levels of 0.151; 0.167; 0.183; 0.199; and 0.215 g/kg of digestible tryptophan in the feed. For the ratio between digestible amino acids and lysine, the recommendation of Brazilian Tables for Poultry and Swine was followed, except for the digestible tryptophan: digestible lysine ratios, which were 19, 21, 23, 25 and 27 for each treatment. The variation in the digestible tryptophan: digestible lysine ratio promoted changes in performance and in the histological characteristics, improving the results. The digestible tryptophan: digestible lysine ratio of 24.5% in the feed of white laying hens in production stage promotes better animal performance and histological results.

Hematologic and Plasma Biochemical Values of Hyacinth Macaws (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus)

The hyacinth macaw (Anodorhyncus hyacinthinus), considered the largest psittacine bird species in the world, is an endangered species, with a remaining population of approximately 6500 birds in the wild. To establish hematologic and plasma biochemical reference ranges and to verify differences related to sex, samples from 29 hyacinth macaws (14 males. 15 females) were obtained from birds apprehended from illegal wildlife trade and subsequently housed at the Sorocaba Zoo, Brazil. No significant differences in hematologic or plasma biochemical values were found between females and males. Compared with published reference values, differences were found in mean concentrations of total red blood cell count, corpuscular volume, corpuscular hemoglobin level, total white blood cell count, aspartate aminotransferase level, creatine kinase concentration, alkaline phosphatase concentration, and phosphorus level. Baseline hematologic and plasma biochemical ranges were established, which may be useful as reference values for clinicians working with this endangered species in captivity or rehabilitation centers.

A surrogate life cycle of Amblyomma ovale Koch, 1844

As ticks spend most of their time off-host, the environment is a major selective force of these parasites. In fact, human impact on landscapes has favored a minority of tick species which became well-known pests. However, this is an ongoing process and novel pests may arise. We herein report a surrogate life cycle of a neotropical tick species. Amblyomma ovate, and which may be related to an increased risk of human rickettsiosis. Under natural conditions, adults of this tick species feed on carnivores and exhibit non-nidicolous ambush behavior, whereas larvae and nymphs feed on small rodents and birds. In an anthropized spot within an Atlantic rainforest reserve of Brazil, an A. ovate population exhibited a nidicolous behavior with all 3 tick stages feeding on the dog. This dog's infestation was outstandingly high, and it displayed the highest anti-Rickettsia titers and harbored Rickettsia-infected ticks. (c) 2012 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Associations of Forest Cover, Fragment Area, and Connectivity with Neotropical Understory Bird Species Richness and Abundance

Theoretical and empirical studies demonstrate that the total amount of forest and the size and connectivity of fragments have nonlinear effects on species survival. We tested how habitat amount and configuration affect understory bird species richness and abundance. We used mist nets (almost 34,000 net hours) to sample birds in 53 Atlantic Forest fragments in southeastern Brazil. Fragments were distributed among 3 10,800-ha landscapes. The remaining forest in these landscapes was below (10% forest cover), similar to (30%), and above (50%) the theoretical fragmentation threshold (approximately 30%) below which the effects of fragmentation should be intensified. Species-richness estimates were significantly higher (F = 3715, p = 0.00) where 50% of the forest remained, which suggests a species occurrence threshold of 30-50% forest, which is higher than usually occurs (<30%). Relations between forest cover and species richness differed depending on species sensitivity to forest conversion and fragmentation. For less sensitive species, species richness decreased as forest cover increased, whereas for highly sensitive species the opposite occurred. For sensitive species, species richness and the amount of forest cover were positively related, particularly when forest cover was 30-50%. Fragment size and connectivity were related to species richness and abundance in all landscapes, not just below the 30% threshold. Where 10% of the forest remained, fragment size was more related to species richness and abundance than connectivity. However, the relation between connectivity and species richness and abundance was stronger where 30% of the landscape was forested. Where 50% of the landscape was forested, fragment size and connectivity were both related to species richness and abundance. Our results demonstrated a rapid loss of species at relatively high levels of forest cover (30-50%). Highly sensitive species were 3-4 times more common above the 30-50% threshold than below it; however, our results do not support a unique fragmentation threshold.