Reproductive aspects of Meloetyphlus fuscatus a meloid beetle cleptoparasite of the bee Eulaema nigrita (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Euglossini)

This study investigated the reproductive biology of the meloid beetle Meloetyphlus fuscatus Waterhouse, a cleptoparasite of Eulaema nigrita nests. New E. nigrita nests had rates of cell parasitism by meloids ranging from 3.7% to 15.8%, while in re-used nests the rate of cell parasitism ranged from 1.4% to 18.7%. The adult parasites were never observed trying to leave the host nests. Both sexes mated more than once. Females had a high fecundity (more than 8,000 eggs), and in most cases, deposited their eggs into the empty, old cells of the host. The triungulins (the first larval instars) hatched from eggs 18-20 days after oviposition and dispersed from the host nest by attaching themselves to males as they emerged. The triungulins most likely transfer to female bees during mating and are transported to the nests of their hosts. Within an attacked cell, the triungulin consumes the bee egg and completes its development by consuming the larval food stored in the cell.

Robotic Resection of Intraductal Neoplasm of the Pancreas

Background: Minimally invasive techniques have been revolutionary and provide clinical evidence of decreased morbidity and comparable efficacy to traditional open surgery. Computer-assisted surgical devices have recently been approved for general surgical use. Aim: The aim of this study was to report the first known case of pancreatic resection with the use of a computer-assisted, or robotic, surgical device in Latin America. Patient and Methods: A 37-year-old female with a previous history of radical mastectomy for bilateral breast cancer due to a BRCA2 mutation presented with an acute pancreatitis episode. Radiologic investigation disclosed an intraductal pancreatic neoplasm located in the neck of the pancreas with atrophy of the body and tail. The main pancreatic duct was enlarged. The surgical decision was to perform a laparoscopic subtotal pancreatectomy, using the da Vinci (R) robotic system (Intuitive Surgical, Sunnyvale, CA). Five trocars were used. Pancreatic transection was achieved with vascular endoscopic stapler. The surgical specimen was removed without an additional incision. Results: Operative time was 240 minutes. Blood loss was minimal, and the patient did not receive a transfusion. The recovery was uneventful, and the patient was discharged on postoperative day 4. Conclusions: The subtotal laparoscopic pancreatic resection can safely be performed. The da Vinci robotic system allowed for technical refinements of laparoscopic pancreatic resection. Robotic assistance improved the dissection and control of major blood vessels due to three-dimensional visualization of the operative field and instruments with wrist-type end-effectors.

Is sympathectomy at T4 level better than at T3 level for treating palmar hyperhidrosis?

Purpose: We compared the results from a video-assisted thoracoscopic sympathectomy (VTS) at the T4 denervation level with those from a VTS at the T3 level for the treatment of palmar hyperhydrosis (PH). Methods: Seventy patients with PH were prospectively followed for VTS at the T3 or T4 denervation levels for 6 months. The end points of this study were: absence of PH, compensatory hyperhydrosis (CH), and quality-of-life assessment. Results: Sixty-seven patients reported a complete resolution of PH after surgery. One failure occurred in the T3 group and 2 in the T4 group. When anhydrosis was obtained, we noticed totally dry hands in 26 patients in the T3 group and 6 patients in the T4 group. The other 27 patients in the T4 group and 8 in the T3 group maintained a small level of sweating and were also considered to be therapeutic successes. At 6 months, 25 patients in the T4 group had some degree of CH (71.42%) and all patients in the T3 group (100%), though the T4 group had a lower degree of severity of CH at the 6-month follow-up (P < 0.05). After the operation, quality of life was improved similarly in both groups. Conclusions: VTS at either the T3 or T4 level provides an effective treatment for PH. VTS at the T4 level is associated with a less severe form of CH. Despite the occurrence of CH, patients' quality of life is significantly improved following VTS at the T3 or T4 levels. For this reason, the T4 resection can now be used as a treatment for PH.

Prospective and Randomized Comparison of Two Techniques of Staple Line Reinforcement During Open Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass: Oversewing and Bioabsorbable Seamguard (R)

Aims: Surgical staple line dehiscence usually leads to severe complications. Several techniques and materials have been used to reinforce this stapling and thus reduce the related complications. The objective was to compare safety of two types of anastomotic reinforcement in open gastric bypass. Methods: A prospective, randomized study comparing an extraluminal suture, fibrin glue, and a nonpermanent buttressing material, Seamguard (R), for staple line reinforcement. Fibrin glue was excluded from the study and analysis after two leaks, requiring surgical reintervention, antibiotic therapy, and prolonged patient hospitalization. Results: Twenty patients were assigned to the suture and Seamguard reinforcement groups. The groups were similar in terms of preoperative characteristics. No staple line dehiscence occurred in the two groups, whereas two cases of dehiscence occurred in the fibrin glue group. No mortality occurred and surgical time was statistically similar for both techniques. Seamguard made the surgery more expensive. Conclusion: In our service, staple line reinforcement in open bariatric surgery with oversewing or Seamguard was considered to be safe. Seamguard application was considered to be easier than oversewing, but more expensive.

Allopatric speciation in ticks: genetic and reproductive divergence between geographic strains of Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus

Background: The cattle tick, Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus, economically impact cattle industry in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. The morphological and genetic differences among R. microplus strains have been documented in the literature, suggesting that biogeographical and ecological separation may have resulted in boophilid ticks from America/Africa and those from Australia being different species. To test the hypothesis of the presence of different boophilid species, herein we performed a series of experiments to characterize the reproductive performance of crosses between R. microplus from Australia, Africa and America and the genetic diversity of strains from Australia, Asia, Africa and America. Results: The results showed that the crosses between Australian and Argentinean or Mozambican strains of boophilid ticks are infertile while crosses between Argentinean and Mozambican strains are fertile. These results showed that tick strains from Africa (Mozambique) and America (Argentina) are the same species, while ticks from Australia may actually represent a separate species. The genetic analysis of mitochondrial 12S and 16S rDNA and microsatellite loci were not conclusive when taken separately, but provided evidence that Australian tick strains were genetically different from Asian, African and American strains. Conclusion: The results reported herein support the hypothesis that at least two different species share the name R. microplus. These species could be redefined as R. microplus (Canestrini, 1887) (for American and African strains) and probably the old R. australis Fuller, 1899 (for Australian strains), which needs to be redescribed. However, experiments with a larger number of tick strains from different geographic locations are needed to corroborate these results.

Decreased fertility in poor responder women is not related to oocyte morphological status

Introduction: In women showing impaired fertility, a decreased response to ovarian stimulation is a major problem, limiting the number of oocytes to be used for assisted reproduction techniques (ART). Despite the several definitions of poor response, it is still a matter of debate whether young poor responder patients also show a decrease in oocyte quality. The objective in this study was to investigate whether poor ovarian response to the superstimulation protocol is accompanied by impaired oocyte quality. Material and methods: This study included 313 patients younger than 35 years old, undergoing intracytoplasmic sperm injection. Patients with four or fewer MII oocytes (poor-responder group, PR, n = 57) were age-matched with normoresponder patients (NR, n = 256). Results: A higher rate of oocyte retrieval and a trend towards an increase in MII oocyte rate were observed in the NR group when compared to the PR group (71.6 +/- 1.1% and 74.1 +/- 1.0% vs. 56.3 +/- 2.9% and 66.5 +/- 3.7%; p < 0.0001 and p = 0.056, respectively). A trend toward increased implantation rates was observed in the NR group when compared to the PR group (44 and 24.5 +/- 2.0% vs. 28.8 and 16.4 +/- 3.9%; p = 0.0305 and p = 0.0651, respectively). Conclusions: Low response to ovarian stimulation is apparently not related to impaired oocyte quality. However, embryos produced from poor responder oocytes show impaired capacity to implant and to carry a pregnancy to term.

Melatonin reduces LH, 17 beta-estradiol and induces differential regulation of sex steroid receptors in reproductive tissues during rat ovulation

Background: Melatonin is associated with direct or indirect actions upon female reproductive function. However, its effects on sex hormones and steroid receptors during ovulation are not clearly defined. This study aimed to verify whether exposure to long-term melatonin is able to cause reproductive hormonal disturbances as well as their role on sex steroid receptors in the rat ovary, oviduct and uterus during ovulation. Methods: Twenty-four adult Wistar rats, 60 days old (+/-250 g) were randomly divided into two groups. Control group (Co): received 0.9% NaCl 0.3 mL + 95% ethanol 0.04 mL as vehicle; Melatonin-treated group (MEL): received vehicle + melatonin [ 100 mu g/100 g BW/day] both intraperitoneally during 60 days. All animals were euthanized by decapitation during the morning estrus at 4 a. m. Results: Melatonin significantly reduced the plasma levels of LH and 17 beta-estradiol, while urinary 6-sulfatoximelatonin (STM) was increased at the morning estrus. In addition, melatonin promoted differential regulation of the estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), androgen receptor (AR) and melatonin receptor (MTR) along the reproductive tissues. In ovary, melatonin induced a down-regulation of ER-alpha and PRB levels. Conversely, it was observed that PRA and MT1R were up-regulated. In oviduct, AR and ER-alpha levels were down-regulated, in contrast to high expression of both PRA and PRB. Finally, the ER-beta and PRB levels were down-regulated in uterus tissue and only MT1R was up-regulated. Conclusions: We suggest that melatonin partially suppress the hypothalamus-pituitary-ovarian axis, in addition, it induces differential regulation of sex steroid receptors in the ovary, oviduct and uterus during ovulation.

Genetic parameters for productive life traits and reproductive efficiency traits at 6 years in Nellore cattle

The objective of the present study was to estimate (co)variance components for length of productive life (LPL) and some alternative reproductive traits of 6-year-old Nellore cattle. The data set contained 57,410 records for age at first calving from Nellore females and was edited to remove animal records with uncertain paternity and cows with just one piece of calving information. Only animals with age at first calving ranging from 23 to 48 months and calving intervals between 11 and 24 months were kept for analysis. LPL and life production ( LP) were used to describe productive life. LPL was defined as the number of months a cow was kept in the herd until she was 6 years old, given that she was alive at first calving and LP was defined as total number of calves in that time. Four traits were used to describe reproductive traits: two breeding efficiencies on original scale were estimated using Wilcox and Tomar functions (BEW and BET, respectively), and two breeding efficiencies transformed (ASBEW and ASBET, respectively), using the function [arcsine (square root (BEi/100))]. Estimates of heritability for measures of LPL and LP were low and ranged from 0.04 to 0.05. Estimates of heritability for breeding efficiencies on original and transformed scales oscillated from 0.18 to 0.32. Estimates of genetic correlations ranged from -0.57 to 0.79 for LPL and other traits and from 0.28 to 0.63 for LP and other traits.

Production of workers, queens and males in Plebeia remota colonies (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Meliponini), a stingless bee with reproductive diapause

Queen, male and worker production was studied during one year in three Plebeia remota colonies from Atlantic Rainforest in Cunha, Sao Paulo State, and two from a subtropical Araucaria forest in Prudentopolis, Parana State. All the colonies were kept in Sao Paulo city during our study. Plebeia remota has reproductive diapause during autumn and winter, which makes its biology of special interest. Brood production begins before spring, renewing the colony cycle. We sampled brood combs monthly in these five colonies. The number of cells in each comb varied significantly with time of the year; the smallest brood combs appear to be a consequence of reduced food availability. However, worker, queen and male frequencies did not differ significantly in time, and this presumably is due to the fact that they all are necessary for the growth, maintenance and reproduction of the colony. Although some molecular, morphological and behavioral differences have been detected in several studies comparing populations from Cunha and from Prudentopolis, we did not find significant differences between the colonies from these two localities in number of brood cells and worker, queen and male production.

REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY IN FEMALES OF AEGLA STRINATII (DECAPODA: ANOMURA: AEGLIDAE)

Females of Aegla strinatii (n = 466) were sampled monthly (September 2003 to September 2005) by means of sieves and traps from Rio das Ostras (24 degrees 38'16.2 '' S; 48 degrees 24'05.2 '' W), at Jacupiranga State Park, South of Sao Paulo State, Brazil. The reproductive period was markedly seasonal (from May to September) encompassing the Austral late autumn through late winter. This is in accordance to the pattern of reproductive period variations in relation to the latitudinal climate variability verified in species of Aegla. The proportion of adult females exhibiting the ovigerous condition was higher in young/small specimens as compared to old/large ones, and suggests the occurrence of senescence in the latter group. Average size at the onset of functional maturity in females was estimated as 16.66 mm of carapace length (rostrum excluded). The number of eggs per ovigerous females ranged from 1 to 325. Eggs are slightly elliptical and average size varied according to embryonic stage. Mean (+/- standard deviation) carapace length of juveniles (n = 118) was 1.50 +/- 0.05 mm (range: 1.40-1.65mm).

The number of reproductive workers in highly eusocial Hymenoptera: monogyny and monandry

Haplodiploidy results in relatedness asymmetries between colony members of highly eusocial Hymenoptera. As a consequence, queen and reproductive workers are more related to their own sons than to each other's male offspring. Kin selection theory predicts multiple optima in male parentage: either the queen or the workers should produce all the males. Nevertheless, shared male parentage is common in highly eusocial hymenopterans. An inclusive fitness model was used to analyze the effect of the number of reproductive workers on male parentage shared by the queen and laying workers by isolating the male component from an inclusive fitness equation using the equal fitness through male condition for each pairwise combination of the three female classes comprised of the queen, laying workers and non-laying workers. The main result of the theoretical analyses showed that the fraction of males produced by workers increases asymptotically with the number of laying workers at an increasingly diminishing rate, tending to an asymptotic value of 0.67. In addition, as the number of laying workers increases, the share of male parentage converges to that of non-laying workers. The diminishing return effect on male parentage share depending on the number of reproductive workers leads us to expect the number of reproductive workers to be relatively small in a stingless bee colony, even in the absence of productivity costs. The available data confirms this hypothesis, as there is an unusually small number of reproductive workers in stingless bee colonies.

Comparative analysis of two sampling techniques for pollen gathered by Nannotrigona testaceicornis Lepeletier (Apidae, Meliponini)

Pollen counts from samples taken from storage pots throughout one year (from October to September) were adjusted by Tasei's volumetric correction coefficient for the determination of pollen sources exploited by two colonies of Nannotrigona testaceicornis in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The results obtained by this sampling technique for seven months (December to June) were compared with those from corbicula load samples taken within the same period. This species visited a large variety of plant species, but few of them were frequently used. As a rule, pollen sources that appeared at frequencies greater than 1% were found with both sampling methods and significant positive correlations (Spearman correlation coefficient) were found between their values. The pollen load sample data showed that N. testaceicornis gathered pollen throughout the external activity period.

REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY AND FUNCTIONAL MATURITY IN FEMALES OF AEGLA FRANCA (DECAPODA: ANOMURA: AEGLIDAE)

We describe the reproductive period. fecundity, and average size at the onset of functional maturity of female Aegla franca, the northernmost distributed aeglid species. The reproductive period is markedly seasonal and takes place front May (austral mid-autumn) to August (late winter). Ovigerous females appear quite abruptly in the population by May, and this condition is observed in all adult females sampled regardless of their size. The average size at the onset of functional maturity in females, at which 50% of the females sampled during the reproductive period were considered adults, was 12.75 mm CL. The smallest post-ovigerous female measured 12.06 mm carapace length (CL). Mean fecundity (+/- S.D.) from 41 females bearing early and intermediate eggs was 129.1 +/- 32.2 and corresponded to a mean female CL of 14.11 mm. The elliptical-shaped eggs exhibited significant increase in size along the development stages. The third pair of pleopods bore higher number of eggs than the others. Compiled information regarding the reproductive period reported for aeglids revealed all increase in the breeding period length with latitude. The reproductive period tends to be shorter in localities under larger rainfall variation and smaller temperature variability than in sites with opposite climate conditions. Eggs tend to be fewer in number and larger in size towards lower latitudes. We present an hypothesis that stream water velocity might act as a major selective pressure during the early life history of fluvial aeglids with direct effect on the reproductive pattern.

Supergraph techniques for D=3, N=1 broken supersymmetric theories

We enlarge the usual D = 3 N = 1 supergraph techniques to include the case of (explicitly or spontaneously) broken supersymmetric gauge theories. To illustrate the utility of these techniques, we calculate the two-loop effective potential of the SQED(3) by using the tadpole and the vacuum bubble methods. In these methods, to investigate the possibility of supersymmetry breaking, the superfields must be shifted by theta(alpha) dependent classical superfields (vacuum expectation values), what implies in the explicit breakdown of supersymmetry in the intermediate steps of the calculation. Nevertheless, after studying the minimum of the resulting effective potential, we find that supersymmetry is conserved, while gauge symmetry is dynamically broken, with a mass generated for the gauge superfield.

Short-range structure of Pb(1-x)Ba(x)Zr(0.65)Ti(0.35)O(3) ceramic compounds probed by XAS and Raman scattering techniques

Ti K-edge x-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopy (XANES) and Raman scattering were used to study the solid solution effects on the structural and vibrational properties of Pb(1-x)Ba(x)Zr(0.65)Ti(0.35)O(3) with 0.0 < x < 0.40. Compared with x-ray diffraction techniques, which indicates that the average crystal symmetry changes with the substitution of Pb by Ba ions or with temperature variations for samples with x=0.00, 0.10, and 0.20, local structural probes such as XANES and Raman scattering results demonstrate that at local level, the symmetry changes are much less prominent. Theoretical XANES spectra calculation corroborate with the interpretation of the XANES experimental data.