Tabanidae (Diptera) of Amazônia XX: description of Tabanus pseudonebulosus n.sp.

Tabanus pseudonebulosus, new species, is described based on 217 female specimens and 5 males collected in Venezuela (Guarico, Aguaio, Santa Elena, and Palmarito) and in Brazil (Pará: Santana do Araguaia, Serra das Andorinhas in São Geraldo do Araguaia, Serra Norte Carajás and Gorotire; Amazonas: Canutama; Mato Grosso do Sul: Corumbá), mostly in open vegetation, scrub forest and in rocky environments. Observed intraspecific variation in the specimens is presented and related to collection localities, and morphological differences are diagnosed in relation to the similar species Tabanus nebulosus DeGeer 1776 and T. importunus Wiedemann 1828. Morphometrical data and indices for specimens in different localities are provided. Drawings and photo of the new species are presented.

The girl from the Church of the Sacrament: a case of congenital syphilis in XVIII century Lisbon

Syphilis is a sexually or congenitally transmitted infectious disease with an impact on the health of human populations that has undergone important cycles in different countries and periods of history. Its presence was first diagnosed in Europe in the late XIV century. In Portugal, although there are various written records of the infection in the last centuries, there are rare references to it in archeological findings (mummified bodies are also rare in Portugal). The current study describes a probable case of congenital syphilis in an 18-month-old girl buried in the Church of the Sacrament in Lisbon. Her body, dating to the XVIII century, was found mummified together with dozens of others, still not studied. Symmetrical periostitis of the long bones, osteitis, metaphyseal lesions, left knee articular, and epiphyseal destruction, and a rarefied lesion with a radiological appearance compatible with Wimberger's sign all point to a diagnosis of congenital syphilis. The diagnosis of this severe form of the infection, possibly related to the cause of death in this upper-class girl, calls attention to the disease's presence in XVIII century Lisbon and is consistent with the intense mobilization at the time in relation to the risks posed by so-called heredosyphilis. It is the first case of congenital syphilis in a child reported in archeological findings in Portugal, and can be correlated with other cases in skeletons of adults buried in cemeteries in Lisbon (in the XVI to XVIII centuries) and Coimbra (XIX century). Finally, this finding highlights the need to study the entire series of mummified bodies in the Church of the Sacrament in order to compare the paleopathological findings and existing historical documents on syphilis, so as to expand the paleoepidemiological knowledge of this infection in XVIII century Lisbon.

Paleoparasitologic, paleogenetic and paleobotanic analysis of XVIII century coprolites from the church La Concepción in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain

We present the results of a paleoparasitologic, paleogenetic and paleobotanic analysis of coprolites recovered during the excavation of the church La Concepción in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Coprolites (n = 4) were rehydrated and a multidisciplinary analysis was conducted. The paleobotanic analysis showed numerous silicates, seeds and fruits of the family Moraceae. In the paleoparasitologic study, Ascaris sp. eggs (n = 344) were identified. The paleogenetic results confirmed the Ascaris sp. infection as well as the European origin of human remains. These findings contribute to our knowledge of ancient helminthes infections and are the first paleoparasitological record of Ascaris sp. infection in Spain.

Trabalho de mulheres executivas no Brasil no final do século XX

O artigo tece considerações sobre o trabalho das mulheres executivas no Brasil, no final do século XX. Na primeira parte, com base em estatísticas oficiais (Censos e Pesquisas Domiciliares, dados do Ministério do Trabalho, Ministério da Educação e outros), apresenta algumas tendências gerais da inserção laboral das brasileiras nesse período, visando compor o cenário no qual o trabalho das executivas surge e se consolida. Na segunda parte, é realizada breve análise da presença de executivas em cargos de diretoria em empresas brasileiras do setor formal, no ano 2000, com base em dados do Ministério do Trabalho. Na terceira e última, são apresentados resultados de entrevistas realizadas com 10 executivas de empresas diversas do mercado de trabalho.

A reversão do hiato de gênero na educação brasileira no século XX

A redução do hiato de gênero e o maior acesso das mulheres à educação são objetivos explícitos da IV Conferência da Mulher (1995), do Fórum Mundial de Educação (2000) e da Cúpula do Milênio (2000). As conferências internacionais promovidas pela Organização das Nações Unidas recomendam ações para eliminar as discriminações contra o sexo feminino em todos os campos de atividade, especialmente na educação. O hiato de gênero e o déficit educacional das mulheres sempre fizeram parte da realidade brasileira. Contudo, as mulheres conseguiram eliminar e reverter esse hiato ao longo do século XX. Este artigo tem como objetivo principal analisar quando se deu a reversão do hiato de gênero na educação no Brasil. Para isso, apresentaremos as informações educacionais dos censos demográficos de 1960 a 2000, segundo níveis de escolaridade, desagregadas por sexo e por coortes de nascimento. Essa metodologia nos permitirá acompanhar a evolução do hiato de gênero das coortes nascidas após 1890 até o ano 1995.

A influência da Química nos saberes médicos acadêmicos e práticos do século XVIII em Portugal e no Brasil

At the dawn of the eighteenth century chemistry was establishing itself as a physical science on its own right, after a long ancillary relationship with medicine and pharmacy, which had began two centuries before. This association, and the many changes that came along the scientific revolution spread into many walks of life. The Luso-Brazilian world, apparently so removed from the new developments, could not help to be touched by them, as this study shows, in which two contemporary medical authors are analysed. Both were Portuguese who had long lived in Brazil; both practised and wrote extensively on Medicine; both felt the influence of the new times, albeit in quite different ways.

O ensino de aspectos históricos e filosóficos da Química e as teorias ácido-base do século XX

In this paper, an overview about philosophy of science, the concept of "theory" and some characteristics of a"good"theory (1- ordination and explanation of the facts, 2- proposal of problems, and 3- simplicity and funcionality) are initialy introduced. Following, some historical landmarks of acidity and basicity and a summary of the main acid-base theories of the XX century (Arrhenius, solvent systems, protonic, electronic, Lux, Usanovich and ionotropic) are presented. Historical and conceptual relations between these theories are discussed and the three characteristics of a "good" theory are applied. The results showed that the protonic and eletronic theories are the "best". Some discussion of the implications to chemical education are presented too.

O fabrico e uso da pólvora no Brasil colonial: o papel de alpoim na primeira metade do século XVIII

Gunpowder played a significant role in colonial Brazil. This reached a climax in the eighteenth century, when the country's large gold output enticed the greed of many. The French invasion of Rio de Janeiro in 1711 made the city's defense even more pressing to the metropolis. Brigadier Alpoim symbolized this reaction. He was a leading Luso-Brazilian engineer of that century, whose multiple activities set him apart in colonial life. These activities included a pioneer role in teaching the manufacture and use of gunpowder, about which he wrote extensively during the first half of the eighteenth century. His work is thus among the first to treat chemical technology in the colony at such an early age.

Johann Andreas Cramer e o "ensaio químico mineral" no século XVIII

In this research, we seek to corroborate the contributions of Chemistry to the identification, extraction and classification of minerals in the XVIII century, as well as, to approach the discussion that History of Chemistry shouldn't be understood in terms of a tight line of thoughts. For that, we analyze the work of Johann Andreas Cramer (1710-1777), Elements of the Art of Assaying Metals. Cramer proposed a method of mineral assaying based on the chemical behavior of the bodies, which allowed him to identify, extract and classify the minerals with more assertiveness.

ANÁLISE DA ABORDAGEM HISTÓRICA PARA A TABELA PERIÓDICA EM LIVROS DE QUÍMICA GERAL PARA O ENSINO SUPERIOR USADOS NO BRASIL NO SÉCULO XX

The aim of this paper was to analyze the historical approaches to the periodic table in general chemistry textbooks used in Brazilian universities in the twentieth century. Textbooks were qualitatively analyzed according to the following criteria: position of the discussion about the periodic table in the book; presence or absence of a specific chapter on the subject; presentation of attempts to classify chemical elements before Mendeleev; presentation of the construction process of the periodic table by Mendeleev; identification of problems in the original table; discussion of Mendeleev's predictions about unknown elements; organization of the periodic table; periodic properties presented and discussed; and the enunciation of the periodic law. The analysis revealed different approaches at specific periods of the twentieth century, from more descriptive approaches to emphasis on attempts to explain the periodic table in terms of atomic orbitals. These changes point to different ways of understanding chemistry during the period studied.

The dawn of paraconsistency: Russia's logical thought in the turn of XX century

The paper deals with the factors which enabled N. A. Vasiliev to put forward in 1910 - 12 the idea of logics free of the laws of contradiction and excluded middle, the idea of metalogic and to construct his imaginary logic as novel non-classical system. It is shown that background of Vasiliev's ideas lies deeply in Russia's culture and particular approach to logical discourse. Several Russian scholars expressed ideas similar to Vasiliev's though not in such explicit form. This period might be called the prehistory of paraconsistency. Real history of paraconsistency starts with N.C.A. da Costa's works.

Pequena história da ideia de fetiche religioso: de sua emergência a meados do século XX

A ideia de fetiche religioso, fruto do encontro afro-europeu na costa da Guiné há cerca de quatro séculos percorreu um longo caminho, desde seu uso por viajantes e comerciantes, passando pela sua apropriação pela filosofia iluminista, sua radicalização e popularização no positivismo e no evolucionismo, até ser criticada, entrar em declínio e ser considerada estéril pela antropologia modernista. O objetivo deste artigo é lançar uma luz sobre tal trajetória, não de maneira desinteressada, mas dentro de um contexto contemporâneo de reavaliação da ideia de fetiche enquanto ferramenta heurística, o que sugere uma paralela reavaliação da história do conceito.

Collagen XVIII/endostatin expression in experimental endotoxemic acute renal failure

Acute renal failure (ARF) is a frequent complication of Gram-negative sepsis, with a high risk of mortality. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced ARF is associated with hemodynamic changes that are strongly influenced by the overproduction of nitric oxide (NO) through the cytokine-mediated up-regulation of inducible NO synthase. LPS-induced reductions in systemic vascular resistance paradoxically culminate in renal vasoconstriction. Collagen XVIII is an important component of the extracellular matrix expressed in basement membranes. Its degradation by matrix metalloproteases, cathepsins and elastases results in the formation of endostatin, claimed to have antiangiogenic activity and to be a prominent vasorelaxing agent. We evaluated the expression of endostatin/collagen XVIII in an endotoxemic ARF model. ARF was induced in C57BL/6 mice by intraperitoneal injection of LPS (10 mg/kg) followed by sacrifice 4 and 12 h later. Kidney tissue was the source of RNA and protein and the subject of histological analysis. As early as 4 h after LPS administration, blood urea, creatinine and NO levels were significantly increased compared to control. Endostatin/collagen XVIII mRNA levels were 0.71 times lower than sham-inoculated mice 4 h after LPS inoculation, returning to normal levels 12 h after LPS inoculation. Immunohistological examination revealed that acute injury caused by LPS leads to an increase of endostatin basement membrane staining in association with the decrease of CD31 endothelial basement membrane staining. These results indicate that in the early phase of endotoxemic ARF the endostatin levels were not regulated by gene expression, but by the metabolism of collagen XVIII.

Análise: indicadores de pesquisa do XX Congresso Brasileiro de Ciência e Tecnologia de Alimentos

Em outubro de 2006, a Regional do Paraná sediou em Curitiba o XX Congresso Brasileiro de Ciência e Tecnologia de Alimentos (XX CBCTA) com o tema Alimentos e Agroindústrias Brasileiras no Contexto Internacional. O objetivo deste Congresso foi discutir o desenvolvimento científico e tecnológico e a inovação na indústria de alimentos no cenário nacional e internacional. O programa científico foi abrangente e diversificado, com Conferências, Palestras, Mesas-Redondas, Curso de Atualização, Clínicas Tecnológicas, Visitas Técnicas e Apresentações de Trabalhos Científicos em oito áreas definidas pelo Congresso. Como resultado da realização do XX CBCTA, esta análise visa uma apresentação e discussão dos indicadores da pesquisa da área de Ciência e Tecnologia de Alimentos do País e contribuição ao desenvolvimento científico e tecnológico da área, bem como subsídios para órgãos de fomento para decisão de investimentos na pesquisa e na formação de recursos humanos. No XX CBCTA, foi apresentado um total de 2066 trabalhos científicos de todo o Brasil, com exceção do Estado de Rondônia. Os trabalhos foram registrados no banco de dados e utilizados para esta análise. As inscrições foram escolhidas de acordo com a área da pesquisa de cada trabalho, sob responsabilidade de cada autor. As áreas definidas pela Comissão Científica do Congresso foram: Embalagem (EB); Método Analítico (MA); Microbiologia, Micotoxicologia e Biotecnologia (MB); Nutrição, Saúde e Alimentação (NA); Processo e Desenvolvimento de Produto (PD); Qualidade de Alimentos (QA); Química e Bioquímica (QB); e Resíduo Agroindustrial e Meio Ambiente (RM). Foi utilizado o Programa da Microsoft® Office Excel para a composição dos gráficos, versão Windows XP.

As famílias na abordagem Minskyana: aspectos e desdobramentos do endividamento das famílias americanas no século XX e início do XXI

RESUMO Este artigo busca retratar a inserção financeira das famílias e suas implicações para a dinâmica do sistema econômico, tendo em vista a importância assumida pelo endividamento das famílias norte-americanas nas últimas décadas, em particular, na crise de 2007 nos EUA. Frente às transformações da economia norte-americana e de seu sistema financeiro, é proposto o resgate das contribuições da economia monetária de Keynes e da visão financeira de Minsky para compreender de forma adequada o comportamento das famílias, tanto na dimensão dos fluxos de renda e gastos, quanto nas decisões sobre estoques de ativos e passivos sujeitos à volatilidade e incerteza.