HBT interferometry: historical perspective

I review the history of HBT interferometry, since its discovery in the mid 1950's, up to the recent developments and results from BNL/RHIC experiments. I focus the discussion on the contributions to the subject given by members of our Brazilian group.

Camponeses Brazil's Peasant Movement in Historical Perspective (1946-2004)

Comparison of the histories of three leading peasant organizations in the Pontal do Paranapanema region of Brazil-the Partido Comunista do Brasil (PCB) from 1945 to 1964, the Confederacao Nacional de Trabalhadores na Agricultura (CONTAG) from 1964 to 1984, and the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem-Terra (MST) from 1984 to 2004-suggests that continuity is as important as change in understanding Brazilian peasant movements. The MST has been considered a "new social movement" in that it has eschewed partisan politics, incorporated families as members rather than just male heads of household, had a national scope and a participatory decision-making structure, and been attuned to the international struggle over globalization. Placing it in historical perspective makes it clear, however, that this is not the first time that militants have organized around the concept of peasants as a political identity; that while the representation of peasants in the leadership of contemporary rural labor organizations may be greater than in the past, earlier peasant leaders also struggled on behalf of their class; that earlier peasant organizations had, if not a national presence, a substantial presence in the agricultural states of the time; and that attempts at international organization to unite peasant struggles around the globe are not entirely new. This is not to deny the innovative features of contemporary movements but to suggest that the investigation of past achievements will contribute to a fuller appreciation of these movements' conditions and prospects.

Leishmania spp. in Didelphis albiventris and Micoureus paraguayanus (Didelphimorphia: Didelphidae) of Brazil

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Ceramic materials in dentistry: historical evolution and current practice

Dental ceramics are presented within a simplifying framework allowing for facile understanding of their development, composition and indications. Engineering assessments of clinical function are dealt with and literature is reviewed on the clinical behaviour of all-ceramic systems. Practical aspects are presented regarding the choice and use of dental ceramics to maximize aesthetics and durability, emphasizing what we know and how we know it.

Biogeography of common dolphins (genus Delphinus) in the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Growth and home range size of the gracile mouse opossum Gracilinanus microtarsus (Marsupialia: Didelphidae) in Brazilian cerrado

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Estudo populacional de gambás, Didelphis albiventris (Mammalia, Didelphidae), em um pequeno fragmento florestal

Population study of white-eared-opossum, Didelphis albiventris (Mammalia, Didelphidae), in a small forest fragment. The white-eared-opossums are habitat generalist animals and occur in high abundance in forest fragments. Therefore these animals are important to understand the dynamics of this landscape. The population of Didelphis albiventris in a 7 ha stational semidecidual forest fragment and its agricultural surroundings was studied during one year. The population abundance, age structure and sex ratio were estimated monthly. Two movements between the fragment and the surrounding area were detected. The population dynamics showed an annual pattern with a high peak during the dry season.

Constitutive heterochromatin, G-bands and nucleolus-organizer regions in four species of Didelphidae (Marsupialia)

Chromosomes of Didelphis albiventris, D. marsupialis, Philander opossum and Lutreolina crassicaudata, four species of marsupials with very similar karyotypes and 2n=22 were studied. All the chromosomes were acrocentrics except the X in L. crassicaudata, which is a metacentric. The G-band patterns of these species are similar but the distribution of constitutive heterochromatin differs among them as shown by C-banding. The hypothesis that the X in L. crassicaudata might be an isochromosome derived from the acrocentric X in the other species is discarded since G-and C-banding patterns differ in the two arms. In D. marsupialis the Ag-NORs are terminal and located in both arms of one pair and in the long arms of two pairs of medium-sized autosomes. In P. opossum the NOR-bearing chromosomes could be precisely identified through simultaneous silver staining and G-banding. The Ag-NORs are terminal and located at the short arm of pair 5 and the long arm of pair 7. © 1982 Dr W. Junk Publishers.

Open urban spaces quality: A study in a historical square in Bath - UK

The quality of open urban spaces is very important for urban vitality. Nowadays urban designers have to face the great challenge of designing urban spaces able to respond to people's need for liveable spaces. The success of these spaces depends on various aspects and the microclimatic condition has been recognized as one of the most influential. However, studies on thermal comfort in open space have shown that the user's thermal sensation does not depend only on microclimate parameters but also on other local qualitative aspects. Thus, environmental quality evaluation of successful public spaces can contribute to understand this issue. This paper focuses on a case study regarding Queen Square's environmental quality, a public space of historical importance in Bath-UK. The first stage of the research, a study on local characteristics and people observations, allowed a preliminary evaluation of the space performance, their social aspects, while it characterized and quantified the hourly variation of the space use in different days and seasons. In the second stage, short microclimatic surveys were carried out simultaneously with a perception survey through a questionnaire. The results show the strong vitality of the square and socioenvironmental significance, not only for its location in the urban context, but also for its historical value. The environmental quality of the square contributes to the users' sensation of comfort even in adverse climatic conditions. This research is part of a project that aims to investigate the impact of the environmental stimuli in the use of open spaces and intend to develop design strategies that aim to maximise the use of open spaces in different weather conditions.

Consumo de crías de didélfidos por Micoureus paraguayanus (Didelphimorphia: Didelphidae) en el sudeste de Brasil

In a study aiming to describe the diet of Micoureus paraguayanus in a southeastern Brazilian Cerrado (savannah-like) remnant, we found young didelphid remains in fecal samples from live-trapped adults. These findings uncovered either events of scavenging on dead young didelphids or infanticide adding to the knowledge on the dietary breadth and behavioral ecology of M. paraguayanus. © SAREM, 2010.

Historical and recent biological markers of exposure to fluoride

Recent and historical biomarkers assess chronic or subchronic exposure to fluoride. The most studied recent biomarkers are nails and hair. Both can be non-invasively obtained, although collection of nails is more accepted by the subjects. External contamination may be a problem for both biomarkers and still needs to be better evaluated. Nails have been more extensively studied. Although the available knowledge does not allow their use as predictors of dental fluorosis by individual subjects, since reference values of fluoride have not yet been established, they have a strong potential for use in epidemiological surveys. Toenails should be preferred instead of fingernails, and variables that are known to affect nail fluoride concentrations - such as age, gender and geographical area - should be considered. The main historical biomarkers that could indicate total fluoride body burden are bone and dentin. Of these, bone is more studied, but its fluoride concentrations vary according to the type of bone and subjects' age and gender. They are also influenced by genetic background, renal function and remodeling rate, variables that complicate the establishment of a normal range of fluoride levels in bone that could indicate 'desirable' exposure to fluoride. The main issue when attempting to use bone as biomarker of fluoride exposure is the difficulty and invasiveness of sample collection. In this aspect, collection of dentin, especially from 3rd molars that are commonly extracted, is advantageous. However, mean values also span a wide range and reference concentrations have not been published yet. © 2011 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Titanium in Dentistry: Historical development, state of the art and future perspectives

Titanium is a metallic element known by several attractive characteristics, such as biocompatibility, excellent corrosion resistance and high mechanical resistance. It is widely used in Dentistry, with high success rates, providing a favorable biological response when in contact with live tissues. Therefore, the objective of this study was to describe the different uses of titanium in Dentistry, reviewing its historical development and discoursing about its state of art and future perspective of its utilization. A search in the MEDLINE/PubMed database was performed using the terms 'titanium', 'dentistry' and 'implants'. The title and abstract of articles were read, and after this first screening 20 articles were selected and their full-texts were downloaded. Additional text books and manual search of reference lists within selected articles were included. Correlated literature showed that titanium is the most used metal in Implantology for manufacturing osseointegrated implants and their systems, with a totally consolidated utilization. Moreover, titanium can be also employed in prosthodontics to obtain frameworks. However, problems related to its machining, casting, welding and ceramic application for dental prosthesis are still limiting its use. In Endodontics, titanium has been used in association to nickel for manufacturing rotatory instruments, providing a higher resistance to deformation. However, although the different possibilities of using titanium in modern Dentistry, its use for prostheses frameworks still needs technological improvements in order to surpass its limitations. © 2012 Indian Prosthodontic Society.

The functional biogeography of species: Biogeographical species roles of birds in Wallacea and the West Indies

Biogeographical systems can be analyzed as networks of species and geographical units. Within such a biogeographical network, individual species may differ fundamentally in their linkage pattern, and therefore hold different topological roles. To advance our understanding of the relationship between species traits and large-scale species distribution patterns in archipelagos, we use a network approach to classify birds as one of four biogeographical species roles: peripherals, connectors, module hubs, and network hubs. These roles are based upon the position of species within the modular network of islands and species in Wallacea and the West Indies. We test whether species traits - including habitat requirements, altitudinal range-span, feeding guild, trophic level, and body length - correlate with species roles. In both archipelagos, habitat requirements, altitudinal range-span and body length show strong relations to species roles. In particular, species that occupy coastal- and open habitats, as well as habitat generalists, show higher proportions of connectors and network hubs and thus tend to span several biogeographical modules (i.e. subregions). Likewise, large body size and a wide altitudinal range-span are related to a wide distribution on many islands and across several biogeographical modules. On the other hand, species restricted to interior forest are mainly characterized as peripherals and, thus, have narrow and localized distributions within biogeographical modules rather than across the archipelago-wide network. These results suggest that the ecological amplitude of a species is highly related to its geographical distribution within and across bio geographical subregions and furthermore supports the idea that large-scale species distributions relate to distributions at the local community level. We finally discuss how our biogeographical species roles may correspond to the stages of the taxon cycle and other prominent theories of species assembly. © 2013 The Authors.