O gato doméstico (Felis catus) responde à sinais gestuais? possíveis implicações do convívio social

The cats (Felis catus) were domesticated about 9,500 years ago due to the advent of agriculture, being used to control the pests that devastated the food harvested. These animals went through an artificial selection and over generations and millennia had their behavior and morphology changed by humans. This process of domestication by man gave rise to a special ability, the understanding of human pointing gestures, clearly noticed while we feed our pets. Our goal in this study was to assess the comprehension of pointing gestures by cats and also verify the influence that social interactions exerts on the development of this ability. We found that experimental subjects from both groups, solitary animals and social animals, were able to follow human indication in order to find hidden food. However, social interaction had no effect on cats performances. The ability tested here probably evolved during the process of domestication of this species, and social interaction seems to exert little or no influence upon its expression

Imagens mí(s)ticas do gato

La valeur évocative, magique ou my(s)thique attribuée à la relation homme/animal peut être observée dans la culture depuis les époques lointaines. Dans la symbologie animale on trouve une immense charge sémantique justifiant les croyances les plus anciennes que les êtres humains ont déjà eues. Les animaux sont à la base du symbolisme mythique et ils se constituent en tant qu une source pour la riche production artistique englobant une grande variété iconographique et des textes de nature diverse. Ayant comme référence de la symbologie animal l image my(s)thique du chat, on observe la façon par laquelle le langage poétique contemple les profils mythiquesymboliques qui ont un rapport avec ce langage, tout en mettant en relief ceux qui ont des rapports aux relations entre le monde humain et le félin. À partir de l antologie tématique Assinar a pele ; des concepts théoriques ; et des abordages mitocritiques, nous cherchons à analyser les façons par lesquelles les différentes images mythiques associées au chat ont été explorées par la poésie. La définition d une typologie englobant des catégories telles : chat domestique, chat de rue, chat femme, chat nocturne, chat démoniaque et chat divin, parmi d autres, soutient la reconnaissance d identités possibles entre ces poèmes et signale la répétition d un répertoire symbolique divers en soi, mais, cohérent avec la présence du chat dans la société humaine à travers les temps

Da cozinha ao terreiro em Mutamba da Caieira (RN) : cotidiano, espaço doméstico e sociabilidade

In this work we thought about the social use of the domestic space and, specifically, the space destined to the preparation of food. The kitchen is a creative space of social relationships. There the families exchange daily interaction with the neighbors, in a collective of the space reserved to the making of food. Our empiric research was in the Mutamba da Caieira community, located in the county of Assu (RN). The data was collected through the etnographic method aided by the photographic resources. In the discussion, we delimitated at the house three types of kitchens: one reserved to the family, another kitchen in the terrace and yet another kitchen in the yard. They are kitchens that link amongst themselves with activities and differentiated temporalities. In the daily social exchange, the kitchen imposes itself as a social space through the conditions that it offers for the production of the foods, the circulation of domestic objects, the communication of knowledge around the cookery, operating a group of symbolic and ritual actions combined with appropriate techniques for the transformation of the foods. The study reveals that the domestic chores accomplished amon relatives and friends form webs of intracommunitary relationships in the use of the three kitchens, and that the social network is updated in a singular moment that usually happens in the community, the Game of Pacará

O trabalho doméstico de adolescentes: naturalização da exclusão e submissão

This work demonstrates important aspects of domestic work performed by adolescents between 16 and 18 years in residential spaces. This is to highlight the process of naturalization of invisibility, their source of insecurity and social exclusion, in view of the strong personal relationship of domination. Pointing out the relations of pseudo-affection that can obscure the exploitation of domestic labor. Highlight a preliminary discussion on the composition of social relations embedded in the context of domestic work, with emphasis on reflection on the condition of subordination of young domestic workers as a result of a process of socialization consists of relations of domination - gender and social class, resulting in formation of social identity-forming negative stigma. This paper results from a survey of the work of young maids, held in the city of Aracaju, whose main objective was to understand how they operated the differences and inequalities in the relations of domestic based, including information on adolescents' own. Fieldwork was conducted from August 2009 to January 2010 and data collection techniques were used oral history / life history, questionnaires and use of semi-structured interviews, as well as secondary data from PNAD / IBGE which formed the basis of comparative national situation and local context. It emphasizes the links of domestic work involving teenagers question the lifestyles of working class who are confronted by the various "systems" for each home, which leads to the development of adaptation strategies that make possible the coexistence of a stranger the house at the other. It focuses on how the work goes into their lives in terms of socialization offered by working families to their children's, and as this class habitus is adequate for the job market in domestic employment through a socialization process that sometimes opposes and now reinforces the practices and values seized in family socialization

Performance comparativa entre R290/R600a (50:50) e R134a para drop-in em refrigerador doméstico

This research this based on the seminar on Use of Natural Fluids in Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Systems conducted in 2007 in Sao Paulo. The event was inserted in the National Plan for Elimination of CFCs, coordinated by the Ministry of Environment and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The objective of this research is analyze the performance of the hydrocarbons application as zeotropic mixtures in domestic refrigerator and validate the application of technical standards for pull down and cycling (on-off) tests to the mixture R290/R600a (50:50) in domestic refrigerator. It was first developed an computational analysis of R290/R600a (50:50) compared to R134a and other mass fractions of the hydrocarbons mixtures in the standard ASHRAE refrigeration cycle in order to compare the operational characteristics and thermodynamic properties of fluids based on the software REFPROP 6.0. The characteristics of the Lorenz cycle is presented as an application directed to zeotropic mixtures. Standardized pull down and cycling (on-off) tests were conducted to evaluate the performance of the hydrocarbons mixture R290/R600a (50:50) as a drop-in alternative to R134a in domestic refrigerator of 219 L. The results showed that the use of R290/R600a (50:50) with a charge of refrigerant reduced at 53% compared to R134a presents reduced energy performance than R134a. The COP obtained with hydrocarbon mixture was about 13% lower compared to R134a. Pull down times in the refrigerator compartments for fluids analyzed were quite close, having been found a 4,7% reduction in pull down time for the R290/R600a compared to R134a, in the freezer compartment. The data indicated a higher consumption of electric current from the refrigerator when operating with the R290/R600a. The values were higher than about 3% compared to R134a. The charge of 40 g of R290/R600a proved very low for the equipment analyzed

Bio-óleo e biogás da degradação termoquímica de lodo de esgoto doméstico em cilindro rotativo

The objective of this study was to produce biofuels (bio-oil and gas) from the thermal treatment of sewage sludge in rotating cylinder, aiming industrial applications. The biomass was characterized by immediate and instrumental analysis (elemental analysis, scanning electron microscopy - SEM, X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy and ICP-OES). A kinetic study on non-stationary regime was done to calculate the activation energy by Thermal Gravimetric Analysis evaluating thermochemical and thermocatalytic process of sludge, the latter being in the presence of USY zeolite. As expected, the activation energy evaluated by the mathematical model "Model-free kinetics" applying techniques isoconversionais was lowest for the catalytic tests (57.9 to 108.9 kJ/mol in the range of biomass conversion of 40 to 80%). The pyrolytic plant at a laboratory scale reactor consists of a rotating cylinder whose length is 100 cm with capable of processing up to 1 kg biomass/h. In the process of pyrolysis thermochemical were studied following parameters: temperature of reaction (500 to 600 ° C), flow rate of carrier gas (50 to 200 mL/min), frequency of rotation of centrifugation for condensation of bio-oil (20 to 30 Hz) and flow of biomass (4 and 22 g/min). Products obtained during the process (pyrolytic liquid, coal and gas) were characterized by classical and instrumental analytical techniques. The maximum yield of liquid pyrolytic was approximately 10.5% obtained in the conditions of temperature of 500 °C, centrifugation speed of 20 Hz, an inert gas flow of 200 mL/min and feeding of biomass 22 g/min. The highest yield obtained for the gas phase was 23.3% for the temperature of 600 °C, flow rate of 200 mL/min inert, frequency of rotation of the column of vapor condensation 30 Hz and flow of biomass of 22 g/min. The non-oxygenated aliphatic hydrocarbons were found in greater proportion in the bio-oil (55%) followed by aliphatic oxygenated (27%). The bio-oil had the following characteristics: pH 6.81, density between 1.05 and 1.09 g/mL, viscosity between 2.5 and 3.1 cSt and highest heating value between 16.91 and 17.85 MJ/ kg. The main components in the gas phase were: H2, CO, CO2 and CH4. Hydrogen was the main constituent of the gas mixture, with a yield of about 46.2% for a temperature of 600 ° C. Among the hydrocarbons formed, methane was found in higher yield (16.6%) for the temperature 520 oC. The solid phase obtained showed a high ash content (70%) due to the abundant presence of metals in coal, in particular iron, which was also present in bio-oil with a rate of 0.068% in the test performed at a temperature of 500 oC.

As condições e o sentido do trabalho doméstico realizado por adolescentes que residem no local de emprego

The house work is a reality for girls of humble class and one of the most found forms of work among adolescent workers. Moreover, it is a mean of work which reproduces poverty and gender relations within the society. The purpose of this essay in to understand the house work in the life of adolescent workers, emphasizing the meaning produced by these teenagers concerning the job they perform. In order to achieve such goal, questionnaires were applied to 332 adolescents, under 18 years old from public schools (from EJA-supletivo) in Natal, with the purpose of mapping the registration of this activity among young students. Next, 14 adolescents were interviewed in order to recognize the meaning of this work and its repercussions over the teenagery, such as school education, socialization, relations with employers and adolescent s self-image. Later we have noticed most workers among the students from public schools are housemaids. Furthermore, this work is used as a form of social ascension and it contributes for the search for better opportunities in the state capital for adolescents who leave the countryside trying to agree to education and remuneration. This work plays an important role, which is to reproduce gender relations, as a woman works to maintain the private space as a female space and maintains the man out of this relation. Besides it reproduces class relations, ethny and generation conflicts, in which the employer replaces the control the parents have in the adolescent s life. Summing up, this study about house work have negative aspects, related to exploitation, humiliation and mistreat, as well as positive ones, for it permits the adolescent to improve his life conditions. The most important thing is to look for a mean of work in which human and workers rights are respected

Análise da eficácia de um refrigerador doméstico com condensador modificado: revestimento com meio poroso dissipativo

The development of home refrigerators generally are compact and economic reasons for using simplified configuration. The thermodynamic coefficient of performance ( COP ) is limited mainly in the condenser design for reasons of size and arrangement ( layout ) of the project ( design ) and climatic characteristics of the region where it will operate. It is noteworthy that this latter limitation is very significant when it comes to a country of continental size like Brazil with diverse climatic conditions. The COP of the cycle depends crucially on the ability of heat dissipated in the condenser. So in hot climates like the northeast, north, and west-central dispel ability is highly attenuated compared to the south and southeast regions with tropical or subtropical climates when compared with other regions. The dissipation in compact capacitors for applications in domestic refrigeration has been the focus of several studies, that due to its impact on reducing costs and power consumption, and better use of the space occupied by the components of refrigeration systems. This space should be kept to a minimum to allow an increase in the useful storage volume of refrigerator without changing the external dimensions of the product. Due to its low cost manufacturing, wire on tube condensers continue to be the most advantageous option for domestic refrigeration. Traditionally, these heat exchangers are designed to operate under natural convection. Not always, the benefits of greater compactness of capacitors for forced outweigh the burden of pumping air through the external heat exchanger. In this work we propose an improvement in convective condenser changing it to a transfer mechanism combined in series with conductive pipes and wire to a moist convective porous medium and the porous medium to the environment. The porous media used in the coating was composed of a gypsum plaster impregnated fiber about a mesh of natural cellulosic molded tubular wire mesh about the original structure of the condenser , and then dried and calcined to greater adherence and increased porosity. The proposed configuration was installed in domestic refrigeration system ( trough ) and tested under the same conditions of the original configuration . Was also evaluated in the dry condition and humidified drip water under natural and forced with an electro - fan ( fan coil ) convection. Assays were performed for the same 134- refrigerant charge e under the same thermal cooling load. The performance was evaluated in various configurations, showing an improvement of about 72 % compared with the original configuration proposed in humidification and natural convection.

Influência dos odores de gato e de cobra no comportamento defensivo e expressão de fos do sistema hipotalâmico de defesa de camundongo

Studies using neuronal tract-tracer in rat have shown that the anterior hypothalamic nucleus, dorsomedial division of the ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus and dorsal premammillary nucleus are highly connected. When the rat is exposed to predator or its odor these nuclei have shown a expression of Fos and their lesion reduces defensive behavior against predator. This set of nuclei was named the Hypothalamic Defense System. However, little is known about the response of this system to the odor of different predators or its role in mice. In this work, we exposed Swiss mice to two different predators odor (cat and snake) to verify the Fos expression in the Hypothalamic Defense System, as well as the defensive behaviors displayed. The analysis showed that the mice exposure to cat odor had an increased expression of Fos protein compared to control, while those exposed to snake odor showed no rise in Fos expression, which was corroborated by the behavioral data. Our results indicate that this distinct circuit in mice seems to act differentially to odorous stimuli of different predators, causing distinct behavioral responses of mice and that the odor of snake seems not to be perceived by Swiss mice as a threatening stimulus.

Análise do desempenho de um refrigerador doméstico funcionando com uma válvula de expansão micrométrica

Household refrigerators are equipments that represent a significant portion on the eletricity consumption of Brazilian homes. The use of these devices with low energy efficiency contributes to increase the energy consumption. The energy efficiency of a refrigerator is a function of the interaction between the coolant fluid and the components of the thermodynamic cycle. Changes in load and/or nature of the coolant may modify the condensing and/or evaporation pressures. The volumetric capacity of the compressor, the mass flow of coolant and the compression power are dependent parameters of the condensation and evaporation pressures. Thus, the expansion devices exert an importante role in the balance of these pressures, being fundamental for the better performance of the refrigeration cycle. This experimental research aims to investigate the sensitivity of the performance parameters of a household refrigerator operating with R134a and at different evaporation pressures. Therefore, a small refrigerator was instrumented with temperature, pressure sensors and other variables of interest, installed along the cooling circuit, in order to allow the thermal mapping and the evaluation of the equipment performance parameters. The variation of pressure loss in the coolant fluid resulting from the operation of the expansion valve with micrometric adjustment that modifies the evaporation temperature, influencing significantly the performance parameters of the thermodynamic refrigeration cycle.

Gato-do-mato-pequeno (Leopardus tigrinus) na Caatinga: ocupação e padrão de atividade de um felídeo ameaçado e pouco conhecido na floresta tropical seca do nordeste do Brasil

While the carnivores are considered regulators and structuring of natural communities are also extremely threatened by human activities. Endangered little-spotted-cat (Leopardus tigrinus) is one of the lesser known species from the Neotropical cats. In this work we investigate the occupancy and the activity pattern of L. tigrinus in Caatinga of Rio Grande do Norte testing: 1) how environmental and anthropogenic factors influence their occupation and 2) how biotic and abiotic factors influence their activity pattern. For this we raised occurrence data of species in 10 priority areas for conservation. We built hierarchical models of occupancy based on maximum likelihood to represent biological hypotheses which were ranked using the Akaike Information Criterion (AIC). According to the results the feline occupancy is more likely away from rural settlements and in areas with a higher proportion of woody vegetation. The opportunistic killing of L. tigrinus and in retaliation for poultry predation close to residential areas can explain this result; as well as more complex vegetation structure can better serve as refuge and ensure more food. Analyzing the records of the species through circular statistics we conclude that the activity pattern is mostly nocturnal, although considerable crepuscular and a small diurnal activity. L. tigrinus activity was directly affected by the availability of small terrestrial mammals, which are essentially nocturnal. In addition, the temperatures recorded in the environment directly and indirectly affect the activity of the little-spotted-cat, as also influence the activity of their potential prey. Generally, the cats were more active when possible prey were active, and this happened at night when lower temperatures are recorded. Moreover, the different lunar phases did not affect the activity pattern. The results improve the understanding of an endangered feline inhabiting the Caatinga biome, and thus can help develop conservation and management strategies, as well as in planning future research in this semi-arid ecosystem.

Da cozinha ao terreiro em Mutamba da Caieira (RN) : cotidiano, espaço doméstico e sociabilidade

In this work we thought about the social use of the domestic space and, specifically, the space destined to the preparation of food. The kitchen is a creative space of social relationships. There the families exchange daily interaction with the neighbors, in a collective of the space reserved to the making of food. Our empiric research was in the Mutamba da Caieira community, located in the county of Assu (RN). The data was collected through the etnographic method aided by the photographic resources. In the discussion, we delimitated at the house three types of kitchens: one reserved to the family, another kitchen in the terrace and yet another kitchen in the yard. They are kitchens that link amongst themselves with activities and differentiated temporalities. In the daily social exchange, the kitchen imposes itself as a social space through the conditions that it offers for the production of the foods, the circulation of domestic objects, the communication of knowledge around the cookery, operating a group of symbolic and ritual actions combined with appropriate techniques for the transformation of the foods. The study reveals that the domestic chores accomplished amon relatives and friends form webs of intracommunitary relationships in the use of the three kitchens, and that the social network is updated in a singular moment that usually happens in the community, the Game of Pacará

Saudosa Maloca, Maloca querida: um estudo morfológico da relação forma/usos do espaço em moradias autoconstruídas e construídas pelo poder público após um ano de ocupação

This study intends to enhance the existing knowledge concerning the patterns of the uses of space for low cost housing in Parnamirim, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, by way of comparative morphological studies in spatial arrangements and articulations regarding three distinct, however inter-related, sets of social housing: (1) a development comprising 21 self-built houses erected on public routes and illegal plots within a tract of land originally designed to be an industrial development: (2) architect-designed houses built by the public authority in order to accommodate the previous 21 (plus a few additions) families occupying the self-built dwellings, and (3) modifications performed by dwellers on a total of those 24 houses built by the public authority after an occupation period of one year. The predominant uses of each room within the self-built and modified houses were represented in ground plan, based on empirical observation, surveys with dwellers and the use of analytical procedures of morphologic analysis of nature predominantly geometric (specific) and topology (space syntax analysis). A scale of priorities was identified in relation to the uses of each room, its geometrical arrangement (adjacency, front/back relations etc), and underlying structures (connectivity, depth and spatial integration) in order to establish congruencies and non-congruencies between a social-cultural order embedded in the self-built domestic space and the design logic contained in the houses offered by official agencies. The comparative analysis points towards the convivial existence of two tendencies: one that seems to reinforce a design logic inasmuch as the additions and modifications performed by the dwellers do not alter but even emphasize the original configuration of the designed houses, and another one in which those patterns are subverted in accordance with a logic which, to a lesser or greater degree, coincides with that of the self-built dwellings

Aparências da forma e forma do espaço: análise da configuração espacial de residências unifamiliares dos anos 1970 em João Pessoa PB

Assuming that the form of a building shell and its content the spatial form are distinct dimensions of architecture - however indivisible and interdependent -, this study focus, in the light of the Social Logic of Space (HILLIER; HANSON, 1984), on the intrinsic properties through which domestic space was structured in a sample of single-family dwellings built in João Pessoa (PB) during the 1970s - when the vocabulary of modern architecture still prevailed in Brazil though sharing the urban scene with other architectural trends -, in order to investigate regularities or divergences underlying their conception. These dwellings were originally classified (ARAÚJO, 2010a) in five categories defined according to the form of their building shells and to their prevailing construction techniques: (1) Brazilian modern legacy (considered as truly Brazilian modern style); (2) Paulista architecture (that refers to the modern production of São Paulo, Brazil, from the 1950s through the 1970s); (3) experiences of rationalization and prefabrication ; (4) experiences of adaptation to the climate (referring to a design strongly influenced by the hot and humid climate of North-eastern Brazil); and (5) hybrid (to account for a kind of stylistic hybridism that includes formal attributes, which evoke our colonial past). This study aims to determine, through the analyses of nineteen cases that represent each category, whether this taxonomy corresponds to distinct modes of spatial configuration. This research therefore proposes an approach to the classification of domestic architecture based on topological properties. The dwellings spatial organization was represented, quantified and analyzed, their spatial properties explored in consonance with one another and with the literature. Results pointed out that there is no evidence of a reciprocal relationship between the formal look of the built shells and their respective spatial structures

Estudo sobre a participação de rodedores na cadeia de transmissão de Leishmania infantum (Protozoa: Trypanosomatidae) no Rio Grande do Norte

American visceral leishmaniasis is a zoonosis caused by Leishmania infantum and transmitted by the bite of the sand flies Lutzomia longipalpis.The main domestic reservoir is the dog, while foxes and opposums are the known wild reservoirs. However, identification of natural infections with L. infantum in rodents appears for need of investigating the participation of these rodents how source of infection of the parasite. In the present work the Leishmania infantum infection was investigated in rodents captured in Rio Grande do Norte, aiming at to offer subsidies to the understanding of the epidemic chains of LVA in the State. Thirteen Galea spixii were distributed in four groups, being G1 the group control with four animals and the others, G2, G3 and G4, with three animals each. Those animals were intraperitoneally inoculated with 107 promastigotas of L. infantum and accompanied for, respectively, 30, 90 and 180 days. Weekly the animals were monitored as for the corporal weight and rectal temperature. At the end of each stipulated period the animals were killed. Blood were used for determination of the parameters biochemical and haematological, PCR, ELISA, microscopic examination and cultivation in NNN medium. Liver, spleen and lymph node were used in Giemsa-stained impression and cultivation in NNN medium. Liver and spleen fragments were still used in PCR and histopathological, respectively. At the same time 79 rodents of the species Rattus rattus, Bolomys lasiurus, Oligoryzomys nigripis, Oryzomys subflavus and Trichomys apereoides were captured in the Municipal districts of Brejinho, Campo Grande, Coronel Ezequiel, Passa e Fica and Vázea for identification of natural infection with L. infantum. Evidence of infection was checked by direct examination of Giemsa-stained impression of liver, spleen and blood and culture of these tissues in NNN medium. Antibodies were researched by ELISA. They were not found differences among the weigh corporal final, rectal temperature and biochemical and haematological parameters of the Galea spixii controls and infected. The rectal temperature of the animals varied from 36OC to 40OC. For the first time values of the haematocrit (33,6% to 42,8%), hemoglobin (10,2 to 14,5g/dl), erythrocyts number (4,67x106 to 6,90x106/mm3), total leukocytes (0,9x103 to 9,2x103/mm3), platelets (49x103 to 509x103/mm3) total proteins (1,56 to 6,06 g/dl), albumin (1,34 to 3,05 g/dl) and globulins (0,20 to 3,01 g/dl) of the Galea spixii were determined. The lymphocytes were the most abundant leucocytes. Infection for L. infantum was diagnosed in two animals euthanasied 180 days after the infection. In one of the animals was also identified antibodies anti-Leishmania. The parasite was not found in none of the five other species of rodents captured. Galea spixii are resistant to the infection for L. infantum and they are not good models for the study for visceral leishmaniose, although they can act as infection sources. More studies are necessary to determine the paper of the rodents in the epidemic chain of transmission of the visceral leishmaniose in the State of Rio Grande do Norte