Avaliação preliminar da viabilidade de produção in vitro de um isolado brasileiro de baculovírus Spodoptera frugiperda MNPV

In vivo production of viral biopesticides is the major source of viral insecticides currently in the marketplace. However, this system presents limitations during production scale-up. For the Spodoptera frugiperda nucleopolyhedrovirus (SfMNPV), the insect used for replication has cannibalistic characteristics, thus production is even more difficult. Insect cells are commonly used for in vitro baculovirus production. Most of these cell lines are derived from Lepidoptera species. The Sf21 cell line is derived from Spodoptera frugiperda caterpillar ovarian tissue, and its clonal isolate Sf9 has been used for biopesticide production due to its ease of growth in suspension cultures. In this work, the in vitro production capabilities of a Brazilian SfMNPV isolate obtained from cornfields was evaluated. Comparison of polyhedra production was carried out using both Sf21 and Sf9 cells, based on volumetric and specific yields. Both cell lines were cultivated in Hyclone medium supplemented with different fetal bovine serum concentrations (2,5 and 5%). The best results were obtained using Sf9 cells supplemented with 5% serum. These results were further confirmed quantitively through kinetic parameter estimation for both cells lines and different serum concentrations. After seven successive passages, this system still presented high specific polyhedra production

Percepção do mercado romântico e influência do contexto nas preferências românticas entre universitários

Men and women express different preferences for ideal romantic partners. These preferences seem to vary with the level of involvement and commitment expected for the relationship and the perceptions people have about themselves. The current work was developed to expand the findings related to this subject, investigating the market perception of romantic relationships and the effect of context on self-assessment and preferences for romantic partners. For this purpose, 753 undergraduate, Brazilian and American, were enrolled between March 2010 and November 2012 and took part in at least one of the four studies that compose this research, performing the assessment of specific stimulus-subject descriptions. Studies one and two addressed Brazilian and American samples to respectively describe female and male expectations on human mating market. It was observed that individuals from both the genders expect positive assortative mating within couples, that each trait is not evaluated independently, and, in addition to biological predispositions, factors as environmental local constrains and cultural values may also affect mating expectations. The contrasts between the samples showed that Americans valued physical-attractiveness and social-status in describing the same-gender subjects and their expected partners, while Brazilians valued social-skills. Another expectation was also identified for both genders: physically attractive women and men of high-status were expected to be paired to each other. Study three addressed males and females expectations regarding which characteristics are most relevant in ensuring desirable partnerships for same-gender individuals. The results showed that men and women can be grouped together by having similar expectations. However, the group mainly composed of men considered status characteristics as the most important attributes, while the groups mostly composed of women indicated that social skills or physical characteristics as the most important in appealing to a desirable partner. Finally, study four investigated the effect of social comparison on self-perception and mate preferences, revealing that individuals were aware of the attributes valued by the opposite-gender and that self-perception was affected by the attributes of other people. In sum, this work evidenced that romantic relationships can be interpreted as a biological market and that the value of the attributes in the romantic mating marketplace are associated with reproductive relevance of the characteristics.

Feira livre de Macaíba/RN : um estudo das modificações na dinâmica socioespacial (1960/2006)

The objective of the current piece of research is to reflect upon the diverse changes that have occurred in the social and spatial dynamics of the Macaíba fair in the period between 1960 and 2006. During the second half of the 19th century, Macaíba had in the commerce one of this principle economic base a contribution for which the city became one of the main commercial warehouses of the East coast of the Rio Grande do Norte region. This helped lead to the growth of Macaíba s fair, which proved to be one of the most important existing in the state until the 1970 s. In the last two decades of the 20th century, certain elements represented challenges to the fair at Macaíba. These challenges stimulated substantial changes in the fair s dynamics which include the growth and expansion of the commercial and service sector, primarily though supermarkets; consolidation among the commercial and distribution networks, represented by the Central Office of Supply of the Rio Grande do Norte S/A (Ceasa/RN), by the wholesale and refrigeration companies; and the modernization of transportation methods, which permitted an expanded reach for these networks. Even with all these changes, the fair continues to be one of the strongest aspects of the city being the center of resistance against the surge of new forms of commerce and consumption in the city (notable the supermarkets) and the diffusion of other aspects of globalization. The fair has economic importance, as it offers a popular marketplace for the commercialization of very different products and a means for supplying goods to the residents of the city and the rural communities of Macaíba and the surrounding municipalities; and socio-cultural importance in that the fair is a place where popular tradition is expressed, a place where a great number of parallel activities occur, a place for meeting again and again, of conversations, of manifestations of culture and art, and of socialization in all of its dimensions