Biological cycle of Tenuipalpus heveae Baker (Acari, Tenuipalpidae) on leaflets of three rubber tree clones

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Fertility tables of two populations of the parthenogenetic species Poratia salvator (Diplopoda, Polydesmida, Pyrgodesmidae)

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Genetic trends in the expected progeny difference of the asymptotic weight of Nelore females

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Life-cycle inventory for hydroelectric generation: a Brazilian case study

Representative Life-Cycle Inventories (LCIs) are essential for Life-Cycle Assessments (LCAs) quality and readiness. Because energy is such an important element of LCAs, appropriate LCIs on energy are crucial, and due to the prevalence of hydropower on Brazilian electricity mix, the frequently used LCIs are not representative of the Brazilian conditions. The present study developed a LCI of the Itaipu Hydropower Plant, the major hydropower plant in the world, responsible for producing 23.8% of Brazil's electricity consumption. Focused on the capital investments to construct and operate the dam, the LCI was designed to serve as a database for the LCAs of Brazilian hydroelectricity production. The life-cycle boundaries encompass the construction and operation of the dam, as well as the life-cycles of the most important material and energy consumptions (cement, steel, copper, diesel oil, lubricant oil), as well as construction site operation, emissions from reservoir flooding, material and workers transportation, and earthworks. As a result, besides the presented inventory, it was possible to determine the following processes, and respective environmental burdens as the most important life-cycle hotspots: reservoir filling (CO(2) and CH(4) emission: land use); steel life-cycle (water and energy consumption; CO, particulates, SO(x) and NO(x) emissions); cement life-cycle (water and energy consumption; CO(2) and particulate emissions); and operation of civil construction machines (diesel consumption; NO(x) emissions). Compared with another hydropower studies, the LCI showed magnitude adequacy, with better results than small hydropower, which reveals a scale economy for material and energy exchanges in the case of ltaipu Power Plant. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Morphological Characterization of the Testicular Cells and Seminiferous Epithelium Cycle in Six Species of Neotropical Bats

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Interaction of equatorial waves through resonance with the diurnal cycle of tropical heating

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Morphometry and sexual maturity of the tropical hermit crab Calcinus tibicen (Crustacea, Anomura) from Brazil

Ontogenetic changes in relative growth were studied in the hermit crab Calcinus tibicen in order to determine its growth phases with sexual maturity. Specimens were collected at 2-month intervals for two consecutive years. A total of 570 individuals was collected and analysed. Total mean animal size in terms of shield length was 5.14±1.23mm for males, 4.23±0.79mm for females and 4.53±0.60mm for ovigerous females. Sexual dimorphism in chela dimensions was stronger in males than in females. Differences between males and females were found in left propodus length (LPL) and height (LPH) versus shield length (SL) and wet weight (WW) versus SL relationships. Males showed a high positive allometry, while juveniles and adult females were isometric for the LPL/SL relationship. Negative allometry was observed in adult females in the LPL/SL relationship. The size at which a differentiation occurred in the growth of the chelipeds and in the weight gain of males and females was between 3.0 and 3.2mm SL, suggesting that sexual maturity occurs in small-sized individuals in the life cycle of C. tibicen.

Temporal polyethism and life expectancy of workers in the eusocial wasp polistes canadensis canadensis Linnaeus (Hymenoptera: Vespidae)

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

The influence of cage farming on infection of the corvine fish Plagioscion squamosissimus (Perciformes: Sciaenidae) with metacercariae of Austrodiplostomum compactum (Digenea: Diplostomidae) from the Chavantes reservoir, Sao Paulo State, Brazil

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Involvement of the cholinergic pathway in glucocorticoid-induced hyperinsulinemia in rats

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Ecological aspects of helminth fauna of Magellanic penguins, Spheniscus magellanicus (aves: Spheniscidae), from the Northern Coast of the State of São Paulo, Brazil

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Reproductive cycle of Hepatus pudibundus (Herbst, 1785) (Crustacea, Decapoda, Calappidae) in Ubatuba, SP, Brazil

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Synganglion histology in different stages of Rhipicephalus sanguineus ticks (Acari: Ixodidae)

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Social organization of the eusocial wasp Mischocyttarus cerberus styx (Hymenoptera, Vespidae)

The present study was carried out under field conditions in Rio Claro, Southeastern Brazil. The following average life-spans of adults of Mischocyttarus cerberus styx were observed: queens 191.1 days, workers 14.0 days, and males 10.7 days. The short longevity of workers is attributed to the early foraging activity which was performed since the first week of adult age. The life table of the workers revealed high mortality rates during the first three weeks of life. Twenty-four behavioral categories were reported for these wasps and a comparative behavioral catalogue showed that the solitary foundresses (pre-emergence stage) are significantly more active than the queens (post-emergence stage) because they have to perform all the tasks for the nest maintenance. On the other hand, the queens were highly active even in the presence of the workers. The small number of individuals on the nest was the probable cause of the high activity of the queens in the post-emergence colonies. There was no clear division of tasks among workers according to their age (in weeks), so that most of the behavior categories were potentially performed by any worker of any age. Dead queens were replaced by their daughters.

Landscape reshaping of the asylum of san francisco de paula, located in jaboticabal, Sao Paulo State, Brazil

It is a commonly known fact that there are elderly who have no family or who do not receive any kind of help from their relatives, as the family does not normally have good financial conditions to help them. These elderly live in private or public shelters and generally, they do not have enough money to cover all the necessary costs, and are forced to survive from donations. Those shelters are based, primarily, on nutrition and health. Leisure and wellbeing are usually treated with little attention, but it could be obtained in a simple and effective way: green areas, which normally exist at the site, are often misused, so they can become rest areas through simple landscape projects. It is important to mention that a garden is not just a beautiful place, but it becomes important for the daily life of older people. The objective of this work was to study the need for contemplative leisure and labor in order to improve the life quality of the elderly that live at the San Francisco de Paula Asylum, in Jaboticabal City, Sao Paulo State, Brazil. In this study, a topographic and a photographic survey was conducted and an analysis of the local ground was done. The preferences of the employees and the visitors of the building were also recorded, as well as the critical points of the area. After this primary analysis, the landscape planning was done, with the help of the AutoCAD 2004 software, prioritizing the use of plants that are not dangerous and that are easy maintained. An orchid nursery was also created in order to provide weekly workshops of orchid cultivation.