DECOMPOSITION RATES OF SPENT FUNGAL REFUSE OF ATTA-SEXDENS (HYMENOPTERA, FORMICIDAE) AND IMPLICATIONS FOR ESTIMATING FORAGE INTAKE BY LEAF-CUTTING ANTS

Using simulated ceramic refuse chambers, field decomposition studies were performed on the spent fungal refuse of the lead-cutting ant Atta sexdens rubropilosa. Refuse half life was estimated at 40 days, with complete decomposition at 100 days. These results suggest that the conversion-factor method used to estimate forage input into leaf-cutting ant colonies must be corrected for decomposition, or serious estimation errors will occur.

RAPD genomic fingerprinting differentiates Thiobacillus ferrooxidans strains

The PCR-based technique, involving the random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD), was optimized and used for assessing genomic variability among eight Thiobacillus ferrooxidans strains. RAPD fingerprints presented variation for the thirty primers used, giving a total of 269 polymorphic bands. Similarity coefficients between the strains were calculated, and UPGMA cluster analysis was used to generate a dendrogram showing relationships among them. Most primers divided T. ferrooxidans strains in two distinct groups - Group 1: S, SSP, V3, AMF and Group 2: CMV, FG-460, I-35, LR. We observed that the T. ferrooxidans strains used in this work have a high degree of genomic diversity and that RAPD is a powerful method to differentiate them.

Care arrangements for people with dementia in developing countries

Background: Rapid demographic ageing will soon lead to large increases in the numbers of persons with dementia in developing countries. This study is the first comprehensive assessment of care arrangements for people with dementia in those regions. Methods: A descriptive and comparative study of dementia care; caregiver characteristics, the nature of care provided, and the practical, psychological (Zarit Burden Interview, General Health Questionnaire) and economic impact upon the caregiver in 24 centres in India, China and South East Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean and Africa. Results: We interviewed 706 persons with dementia, and their caregivers. Most caregivers were women, living with the person with dementia in extended family households. One-quarter to one-half of households included a child. Larger households were associated with lower caregiver strain, where the caregiver was co-resident. However, despite the traditional apparatus of family care, levels of caregiver strain were at least as high as in the developed world. Many had cutback on work to care and faced the additional expense of paid carers and health services. Families from the poorest countries were particularly likely to have used expensive private medical services, and to be spending more than 10% of the per capita GNP on health care. Conclusions: Older people in developing countries are indivisible from their younger family members. The high levels of family strain identified in this study feed into the cycle of disadvantage and should thus be a concern for policymakers in the developing world. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A santa, a prostituta e a amante infeliz: as imagens simbólicas do feminino de Edvard Munch, sob abordagem da psicologia analítica de C.G. Jung

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

A Psicologia organísmica, a psicologia junguiana e a utilização de desenhos: uma reflexão para a educação física

Pós-graduação em Ciências da Motricidade - IBRC

Sándor Ferenczi e a psicanálise: pela errância das experimentações

O húngaro Sándor Ferenczi (1873-1933) tornou-se um dos mais importantes discípulos de Freud, quando as bases da ciência psicanalítica ainda se encontravam em desenvolvimento. Fiel ao mestre, ele fazia parte do núcleo próximo do fundador da psicanálise, formado por psicanalistas como Carl Gustav Jung, Alfred Adler e Otto Rank. E assim como eles, no transcurso da prática terapêutica, desenvolveu divergências teóricas em relação aos preceitos freudianos, embora não tenha se tornado oficialmente um dissidente, uma vez que sua morte se deu antes do cisma. As teorias ferenczianas são tidas até hoje como importantes contribuições à ciência psicanalítica. Associado aos chamados casos difíceis, Ferenczi colaborou para uma melhor compreensão das psiconeuroses, do desenvolvimento do aparelho psíquico e das técnicas com as quais se busca facilitar o processo de cura por meio da psicanálise. Nesse livro, o mestre em Psicologia e professor Marcos Mariani Casadore discorre sobre a trajetória de Sándor Ferenczi em suas relações com a teoria freudiana e o movimento psicanalítico, expõe aspectos biográficos e analisa seus principais escritos produzidos entre as décadas de 1910 a 1930. Casadore destaca ainda a errância - no sentido de desviar-se do caminho, como as tribos nômades que vagavam por territórios segundo suas necessidades - como distintivo da construção teórica de Ferenczi. O autor procura revelar novas leituras e posicionamentos sobre as postulações teórico-clínicas de Ferenczi, que ainda permanecem adequadas e incisivas para a atuação clínica e o pensamento a respeito das demandas subjetivas e sociais da contemporaneidade.

O ensino de estatística na ESALQ/USP: personagens, abordagens e problemáticas (1936 - 1959)

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Amoras e jabuticabas: raízes e frutos de uma Pedagogia Profunda para todos

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

Adaptations to salinity and osmoregulation in the frog Thoropa-miliaris (Amphibia, Leptodactylidae)

The leptodactylid frog Thoropa miliaris, from SE Brazil, may live on rocky marine shore, where it thrives on terrestrial and marine invertebrates, and often moves into the intertidal zone. The osmotic concentration of plasma, muscle homogenate and urine of the frogs freshly captured on the rocky shore was higher than those collected far from the sea, or kept in captivity for 6-8 months on a diet free of marine items. Increase in body urea and sodium concentrations, reported in amphibians as a response to hyperosmotic environment, was not found in T. miliaris. Osmotic concentration of the frogs from rocky shore was variable though, ranging from 400 to 980 mOsm/l. Such variation in the osmotic concentration may reflect a territorial behavior for foraging sites, which would result in higher intake of marine items by individuals living closer to intertidal zone.

Ultrastructure of the parotid and submandibular glands of the Old World marten (Carnivora; Mustelidae)

The morphology of the parotid and submandibular glands in the marten, a carnivore, were studied and analyzed under a transmission electron microscope. The nature of the granules in both glands, as well as in the acini and in the secretory tubules, is rather mucous. The structure of the secretory tubules is very characteristic, especially the striated ones. The myoepithelial cells are close to the acini and tubules and covered by the basement membrane separating them from the connective tissue, which enhances its epithelial origin. The cytoplasm of the basal parts of the acinar and tubular cells is abundant and separates the nucleus from the secretion granules. Although the morphology of the salivary glands of many carnivores is known, those of the parotid gland of the marten present peculiar characteristics, since they produce a rather mucous saliva and the granules, when forming, are far from the base as well as from the apex of the secretory cells. The submandibular gland contains granules of different densities, an aspect that in general resembles that of other animals.

Morphometric evaluation of the rat testis, epididymis and vas deferens following chemical sympathectomy with guanethidine

Selective chemical sympathectomy of the internal sex organs of adult male rats was undertaken by long term administration of low doses of guanethidine. The spermatogenic activity of the testis was unaffected by treatment. Examination of the vas deferens using morphometric methods revealed a marked increase in luminal area in contrast to a decrease in muscle layer area and in epithelial height. This is morphological evidence of sperm accumulation caused by a disorder in ductal contractile activity. No structural changes were observed in the epididymis. However, the concentration of spermatozoa in the sperm suspension stored in the cauda epididymidis was significantly increased in denervated rats. This result is discussed in terms of a sympathetic control of resorption mechanisms in the epididymis.

O arquétipo da grande mãe na representação da bruxa em contos fantásticos hispânicos contemporâneos

Pós-graduação em Letras - IBILCE