Dinâmica sazional de fungos micorrízicos arbusculares (Glomeromycota) em cerradão e brejo de altitude na Chapada do Araripe, CE

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are obligatory symbiotic organisms that associate with roots of a large number of plant taxa, and are found in all terrestrial ecosystems. These fungi promote greater tolerance to environmental stresses to associated plant, favoring the establishment of plant communities, especially where soil fertility is a limiting factor, as in the Caatinga, an exclusively Brazilian domain that has been focus of research due to its great biodiversity that can help clarify the history of vegetation in South America. Because of the ecological importance of AMF, the limited number of jobs and the potential diversity of the Caatinga, this work aims to inventory the diversity and determine AMF communities in areas with different faces occurrent in FLONA Araripe, Ceará (CE). The sample collection occurred in four periods at the beginning and end of the dry season (August and December 2011, respectively) and rainy (February and June 2012, respectively) in an area of marsh and woodland altitude of the Araripe, Crato, CE. The glomerosporos were extracted by wet sieving and centrifugation in water and sucrose (50%) mounted between slide and coverslip using PVLG and PVLG + Reagent Melzer. In total, we found 46 species of AMF distributed in eight families and 16 genera: Acaulospora (6), Ambispora (1), Cetraspora (2), Dentiscutata (5), Fuscutata (2), Gigaspora (6), Glomus (13) Intraornatospora (1), Kuklospora (1), Orbispora (1), Paradentiscutata (1), Quatunica (1), Racocetra (1), Scutellospora (2), Septoglomus (2) and a new genus. analysis showed that ecological each area of study has its own seasonal dynamics, with an area of woodland with a greater diversity of species throughout the year, while the marsh elevation showed greater variation in species found among the collection periods, showing that vegetation and rainfall has strong influence on the seasonal dynamics of AMF, as well as the availability of nutrients and soil pH so

Prevalence of the metabolic syndrome and its components in Brazilian women with polycystic ovary syndrome

SOARES, Elvira Maria Mafaldo et al. Prevalence of the metabolic syndrome and its components in Brazilian women with polycystic ovary syndrome. Fertility and Sterility, v.89, n.3, p.649-655, mar. 2008

Dream characteristics in a Brazilian sample: an online survey focusing on lucid dreaming

During sleep, humans experience the offline images and sensations that we call dreams, which are typically emotional and lacking in rational judgment of their bizarreness. However, during lucid dreaming (LD), subjects know that they are dreaming, and may control oneiric content. Dreaming and LD features have been studied in North Americans, Europeans and Asians, but not among Brazilians, the largest population in Latin America. Here we investigated dreams and LD characteristics in a Brazilian sample (n=3,427; median age=25 years) through an online survey. The subjects reported recalling dreams at least once a week (76%), and that dreams typically depicted actions (93%), known people (92%), sounds/voices (78%), and colored images (76%). The oneiric content was associated with plans for the upcoming days (37%), memories of the previous day (13%), or unrelated to the dreamer (30%). Nightmares usually depicted anxiety/fear (65%), being stalked (48%), or other unpleasant sensations(47%). These data corroborate Freudian notion of day residue in dreams, and suggest that dreams and nightmares are simulations of life situations that are related to our psychobiological integrity. Regarding LD, we observed that 77% of the subjects experienced LD at least once in life (44% up to 10 episodes ever), and for 48% LD subjectively lasted less than 1 min. LD frequency correlated weakly with dream recall frequency (r =0.20,p< 0.01), and LD control was rare (29%). LD occurrence was facilitated when subjects did not need to wake up early (38%), a situation that increases rapid eye movement sleep (REMS) duration, or when subjects were under stress (30%), which increases REMS transitions into waking. These results indicate that LD is relatively ubiquitous but rare, unstable, difficult to control, and facilitated by increases in REMS duration and transitions to wake state. Together with LD incidence in USA, Europe and Asia, our data from Latin America strengthen the notion that LD is a general phenomenon of the human species.