First report of schistosomiasis on Serrambi beach, Ipojuca, State of Pernambuco

Abstract: INTRODUCTION : The expansion of schistosomiasis to previously unaffected areas is being monitored by identifying new cases and georeferencing outbreaks of vector snails. METHODS : In 2014, the Laboratório de Esquistossomose began an epidemiological survey in Serrambi and registered 2,574 people living there. RESULTS : Of these subjects, 1,414 (54.9%) underwent feces examination and 63 (4.5%) were diagnosed with Schistosoma mansoni infection. At this locality, seven breeding sites each were identified for Biomphalaria straminea and Biomphalaria glabrata. At two sites, B. glabrata were shedding cercariae. CONCLUSIONS : Implementing preventive measures is necessary to avoid the establishment of schistosomiasis in yet another tourist locality, Pernambuco.

Lixiviação de nitrato de colunas de solo tratado com sulfato de amônio (NH4)2SO4 e N-Serve 24E (Nitrapirina)

Foram montadas colunas de solo contendo 0, 100 e 200 ppm de sulfato de amônio e 0, 1, 2, 4 e 8 ppm de N-Serve. Utilizou-se um solo TRE, o qual foi incubado durante 160 dias a temperatura entre 26ºC-30ºC e à 75% do seu poder de embebição. Após cada lixiviação com água, foram determinados os teores de nitrato nos percolados. Verificou-se que os teores de nitrato obtidos nos tratamentos com N-Serve, foram significativamente menores que aqueles dos tratamentos sem N-Serve. Por outro lado a eficiência do N-Serve aumentou com o aumento da dose do produto. O sulfato de amônio destacou o efeito do inibidor da nitrificação. O tempo de ação do N-Serve no solo aumentou com o aumento da dose do produto. Após os 80 dias de incubação o N-Serve deixou de ser ativo no solo, restabelecendo-se o nível da nitrificação.

Seasonal abundance of the shipworm Neoteredo reynei (Bivalvia, Teredinidae) in mangrove driftwood from a northern Brazilian beach

Shipworms are important decomposers of wood, especially in mangrove forests where productivity is high. However, little emphasis has been given to the activity of shipworms in relation to the export of nutrients from mangroves to adjacent coastal areas. As a first step to obtaining such information, the frequency of colonized mangrove driftwood as well as shipworm density and length were studied by collecting washed up logs during a year at Ajuruteua beach, state of Pará, northern Brazil. A single species, Neoteredo reynei (Bartsch, 1920), was found colonizing driftwood. Although large colonized logs were most common on the beach, shipworm density was higher in small logs, especially during the dry season. In general, however, density was higher during the wet season (January to April) and lowest in July. Overall shipworm mean length was 9.66cm. In large logs, mean length increased between the wet and dry seasons. However, there was no difference in length among log size categories. Mean shipworm length was similar throughout most of the year but tended to be greater in July. Although salinity varied between 10.9 and 40 during the year, no relationship was found between salinity and density or length. The results suggest that shipworm activity in driftwood logs is relatively constant throughout the year. Increased air humidity and rainfall may promote survival during the wet season. Large logs may take longer to colonize and thus have lower densities than small ones which are scarce probably because they are destroyed rapidly by shipworm activity. However, data on the disintegration of logs would be necessary to test this hypothesis. Larger size of shipworms in the dry season may be related to growth after an earlier recruitment period. Shipworms in large logs during the dry season may be better protected from dessication and high temperatures by the insulating properties of the larger volume of wood.

Temporal variability of benthic macrofauna on Cassino beach, southernmost Brazil

The temporal variability of benthic macrofauna on Cassino beach, southernmost Brazil, was studied for a period of one year (June 2004 to May 2005) based on monthly sampling. Three sites were selected distant 50m from each other. At each site, 3 transects were established, 2m equidistant from one another. Each transect extended from the base of the primary dunes to the inner surf zone at approximately 1m in depth, with 7 or 8 sampling levels. Within transects, the distance between the levels was 20m until the upper swash zone, from which distance was 10m until the 1-meter isobath. The temporal variation in the abundance of benthic macrofauna observed in the present study can be attributed to (1) the positive effects of the recruitment peaks and migration of particular species to the swash zone and (2) negative effects of the migration of some species to deeper waters, as well (3) as mortality through natural causes (stranding and action of predators) and (4) human causes (harvesting and vehicle transit). We attribute the expressive abundance increase of benthic macrofauna to recruitment. The stranding, that is, the trapping of the organisms on the upper parts of the beach, is likely the main cause of abrupt drops in benthic macrofauna abundance.

Para que serve a pesquisa em educação?

Constatada uma crescente insatisfação, por parte de gestores da escola pública diante das pesquisas desenvolvidas na universidade, o artigo analisa as relações entre a pesquisa e as práticas educativas, procurando mostrar as diversas influências cruzadas existentes. Com base nos escritos de Charlot, Rayou, Dubet, Tardif e Zourhlal, o texto examina as diferentes formas como os atores sociais incorporam e reinterpretam resultados de pesquisa em suas concepções sobre a educação e, também, como a produção acadêmica é marcada por disputas que se originam na dinâmica social mais ampla. Um comentário crítico específico é feito sobre o movimento em favor de "práticas e políticas baseadas em evidências", tendência que tem prosperado nos meios educacionais de fala inglesa, defendendo um modelo experimental de pesquisa que, baseado em amostras aleatórias, é considerado como o único que poderia oferecer resultados confiáveis para subsidiar políticas públicas de educação. O artigo sugere, em lugar da pergunta "para que serve?", uma indagação a respeito de como circulam conhecimentos e opiniões entre os dois campos. Conclui enfatizando o fato de que a pesquisa é uma atividade humana como as outras, pois a universidade e os centros de pesquisa não estão fora da sociedade. Nesse sentido, o artigo aponta para a potencialidade de um diálogo aberto entre os dois modos de conhecer e agir, aquele da investigação e da reflexão crítica e aquele da ação política e profissional.

Modeling temporal variations of Gracilaria Greville and Hypnea J.V. Lamouroux (Rhodophyta) assemblages on a midlittoral reef platform at Piedade Beach, Pernambuco State, Brazil

The diversity of algal banks composed of species out the genera Gracilaria Greville and Hypnea J.V. Lamouroux have been impacted by commercial exploitation and coastal eutrophication. The present study sought to construct dynamic models based on algal physiology to simulate seasonal variations in the biomasses of Gracilaria and Hypnea an intertidal reef at Piedade Beach in Jaboatão dos Guararapes, Pernambuco State, Brazil. Five 20 × 20 cm plots in a reef pool on a midlittoral reef platform were randomly sampled during April, June, August, October, and December/2009 and in January and March/2010. Water temperature, pH, irradiance, oxygen and salinity levels as well as the concentrations of ammonia, nitrate and phosphate were measured at the sampling site. Forcing functions were employed in the model to represent abiotic factors, and algal decay was simulated with a dispersal function. Algal growth was modeled using a logistic function and was found to be sensitive to temperature and salinity. Maximum absorption rates of ammonia and phosphate were higher in Hypnea than in Gracilaria, indicating that the former takes up nutrients more efficiently at higher concentrations. Gracilaria biomass peaked at approximately 120 g (dry weight m-2) in March/2010 and was significantly lower in August/2009; Hypnea biomasses, on the other hand, did not show any significant variations among the different months, indicating that resource competition may influence the productivity of these algae.