The behavior and natural history of Chartergellus, a little-known genus of neotropical social wasps (Vespidae Polistinae Epiponini)

This study reviews published data on the behavior and natural history of Chartergellus and presents the first observations on social interactions in this genus of tropical swarm-founding wasps. Observations of Chartergellus golfitensis in Costa Rica and C. punctatior in Colombia showed that queens perform a post-oviposition egg-guarding vigil, and a bending display like that characteristic of epiponine social wasps that lack consistent morphological differences between workers and queens and have caste determination in the adult stage. Young, old, and queen (egg-laying) females of C. golfitensis showed small differences that indicate color changes with age, and structural differences that could be due to seasonal or colony-cycle changes in developmental conditions, but do not rule out the possibility of pre-adult caste determination, a phenomenon that needs to be carefully distinguished from pre-adult caste bias. Sexual dimorphism and the behavior of males at the nest in C. golfitensis is described, as well as the aggressive and avoidance behavior of females toward males. Nest structure in both species is as described previously for Chartergellus species, but some anomalies and their possible evolutionary significance are discussed. Cell initiation by an egg-laying queen, a behavior never seen by workers, and by a young female with slightly developed ovaries, may be vestiges of ancestral solitary reproductive traits where developed ovaries are associated with cell construction. © 2010 Dipartimento di Biologia Evoluzionistica dell'Università, Firenze, Italia.

Genetic Diversity in the Modern Horse Illustrated from Genome-Wide SNP Data

Horses were domesticated from the Eurasian steppes 5,000-6,000 years ago. Since then, the use of horses for transportation, warfare, and agriculture, as well as selection for desired traits and fitness, has resulted in diverse populations distributed across the world, many of which have become or are in the process of becoming formally organized into closed, breeding populations (breeds). This report describes the use of a genome-wide set of autosomal SNPs and 814 horses from 36 breeds to provide the first detailed description of equine breed diversity. FST calculations, parsimony, and distance analysis demonstrated relationships among the breeds that largely reflect geographic origins and known breed histories. Low levels of population divergence were observed between breeds that are relatively early on in the process of breed development, and between those with high levels of within-breed diversity, whether due to large population size, ongoing outcrossing, or large within-breed phenotypic diversity. Populations with low within-breed diversity included those which have experienced population bottlenecks, have been under intense selective pressure, or are closed populations with long breed histories. These results provide new insights into the relationships among and the diversity within breeds of horses. In addition these results will facilitate future genome-wide association studies and investigations into genomic targets of selection. © 2013 Petersen et al.

Insights on the HLA-G Evolutionary History Provided by a Nearby Alu Insertion

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Association between interleukin-6 polymorphism in the-174 G/C region and hearing loss in the elderly with a history of occupational noise exposure

Introduction: The biological processes involved in noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) are still unclear. The involvement of inflammation in this condition has been suggested.Objective: To investigate the association between interleukin - 6 (IL-6) polymorphism and susceptibility to NIHL.Methods: This was a cross-sectional study with a sample of 191 independent elderly individuals aged >60 years of age. Information on exposure to occupational noise was obtained by interviews. Audiological evaluation was performed using pure tone audiometry and genotyped through PCR by restriction fragment length polymorphism - PCR-RFLP. Data were analyzed using the chi-square test and the odds ratio (OR), with the significance level set at 5%.Results: Among elderly with hearing loss (78.0%), 18.8% had a history of exposure to occupational noise. There was a statistically significant association between the genotype frequencies of the IL-6 - 174 and NIHL. The elderly with the CC genotype were less likely to have hearing loss due to occupational noise exposure when compared to those carrying the GG genotype (OR = 0.0124; 95% CI 0.0023-0.0671; p<0.001).Conclusion: This study suggests there is an association of polymorphisms in the IL-6 gene at position - G174C with susceptibility to noise-induced hearing loss. (C) 2014 Associacao Brasileira de Otorrinolaringologia e Cirurgia Cervico-Facial. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

The De-Totalization of History in Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried

This paper aims at discussing how Tim O’Brien, a veteran of the Vietnam War, reviews the American involvement in the conflict in his novel The Things They Carried (1990). The author shows the perspective of the soldiers in the stories and, therefore, presents other possibilities to analyze that historical fact. The interplay of fiction and truth is essential for O’Brien to reach the objective of reevaluating official history in order to make the readers rethink the past.