Technological dimensions of economic diversification and development in the Caribbean with specific reference to the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS)

Includes bibliography

The development of services in the Caribbean

Includes bibliography

Scattered organization of the histone multigene family and transposable elements in Synbranchus

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Intrinsic organization of the suprachiasmatic nucleus in the capuchin monkey

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

Evolution and genomic organization of muscle microRNAs in fish genomes

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Organization of Sporulated Oocysts of Eimeria funduli in the Gulf Killifish, Fundulus grandis

Oocysts of Eimeria funduli were studied by transmission electron microscopy in naturally-infected livers of the Gulf killifish, Fundulus grandis. Tissues were cryo-processed because membranous structures in the oocyst appear to hinder routine fixation and embedment. The oocyst wall (about 25 nm thick) was adjacent to the host cell and consisted of an outer membrane that limited the host cell cytoplasm and an inner membrane separated from the outer membrane by a narrow space. In some specimens, dense material was applied to the inner face of the inner membrane. Individual sporocysts were surrounded by a membranous "veil" (about 25 nm thick) that consisted of two unit membranes. Sporopodia, projections of the sporocyst wall, supported the veil. The sporocyst wall (130-150 nm thick) consisted of two layers, a thin electron-lucent outer layer (about 10 nm thick) and a thick electron dense inner layer (about 130 nm thick). Depending on the plane of section, the inner layer had transverse striations with periods of 3 to 4 nm or 12 to 15 nm. A narrow fissure, broadest at the anterior pole of the sporocyst, extended about one-third the length of the sporocyst wall. The posterior pole of the sporocyst was characterized by a bulbous swelling. Although this swelling resembled a Stieda body in light microscopic preparations, ultrastructurally, the swelling was a knoblike thickening in the sporocyst wall and did not plug a gap in this wall

The People's Hour and the Social Gospel: George Howard Gibson's Gilded Age Search for an Organization of the Kingdom of God

Previous studies of the Social Gospel movement have acknowledged the fact that Social Gospelers were involved in multiple social reform movements during the Gilded Age and into the Progressive Era. However, most of these studies have failed to explain how the reform experiences of the Social Gospelers contributed to the development of the Social Gospel. The Social Gospelers’ ideas regarding the need to transform society and their strategies for doing so were largely a result of their personal experiences as reformers and their collaboration with other reformers. The knowledge and insight gained from interaction with a variety of reform methods played a vital role in the development of the ideology and theology of the Social Gospel. George Howard Gibson is exemplary of the connections between the Social Gospel movement and several other social reform movements of the time. He was involved in the Temperance movement, was a member of both the Prohibition Party and the People’s Party, and co-founded a Christian socialist cooperative colony. His writings illustrate the formation of his identity as a Social Gospeler as well as his attempts to find an organization through which to realize the kingdom of God on earth. Failure to achieve the changes he desired via prohibition encouraged him to broaden his reform goals. Like many Midwestern Social Gospelers Gibson believed he had found “God’s Party” in the People’s Party, but he rejected reform via the political system once the Populists restricted their attention to the silver issue and fused with the Democratic Party. Yet his involvement with the People’s Party demonstrates the attraction many Social Gospelers had to the reforms proposed in the Omaha Platform of 1892 as well as to the party’s use of revivalistic language and emphasis on producerism and brotherhood. Gibson’s experimentation with a variety of ways to achieve the kingdom of God on earth provides new insight into the experiences and contributions of lay Social Gospelers. Adviser: Kenneth J. Winkle

CHALLENGES TO THE ORGANIZATION OF A CERVICAL CANCER SCREENING PROGRAM IN MANAUS-AM

The purpose was to investigate sociodemographic characteristics of women who underwent a Pap smear test in Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil, and identify the reasons why the women had the test. This exploratory study was performed with 281 women who had taken the Pap smear test within the last five years in Manaus. Most participants were between 18 to 34 years old (54%), had 5 to 11 years of education (54.4%), had a monthly income of less than three minimum wage salaries (84.3%) and were in a stable relationship (72.2%), with an onset of sexual activity between the ages of 15 to 19 years (69.4%). The reasons for their taking the Pap test were personal choice (66.2%), recommendation by a physician (23.5%) and gynecological symptoms (10.3%). Women who received information about the Pap test from health professionals had a greater chance of being tested within the last three years (p=0.008). Women choosing to have the exam (personal choice) are prevalent, and the opportunistic service is provided to younger women, thus not reaching the group at greater risk for cancer. It is necessary to implement active recruitment strategies to reach women in situations of socioeconomic disadvantage.

Repertoire, Genealogy and Genomic Organization of Cruzipain and Homologous Genes in Trypanosoma cruzi, T. cruzi-Like and Other Trypanosome Species

Trypanosoma cruzi, the agent of Chagas disease, is a complex of genetically diverse isolates highly phylogenetically related to T. cruzi-like species, Trypanosoma cruzi marinkellei and Trypanosoma dionisii, all sharing morphology of blood and culture forms and development within cells. However, they differ in hosts, vectors and pathogenicity: T. cruzi is a human pathogen infective to virtually all mammals whilst the other two species are non-pathogenic and bat restricted. Previous studies suggest that variations in expression levels and genetic diversity of cruzipain, the major isoform of cathepsin L-like (CATL) enzymes of T. cruzi, correlate with levels of cellular invasion, differentiation, virulence and pathogenicity of distinct strains. In this study, we compared 80 sequences of genes encoding cruzipain from 25 T. cruzi isolates representative of all discrete typing units (DTUs TcI-TcVI) and the new genotype Tcbat and 10 sequences of homologous genes from other species. The catalytic domain repertoires diverged according to DTUs and trypanosome species. Relatively homogeneous sequences are found within and among isolates of the same DTU except TcV and TcVI, which displayed sequences unique or identical to those of TcII and TcIII, supporting their origin from the hybridization between these two DTUs. In network genealogies, sequences from T. cruzi clustered tightly together and closer to T. c. marinkellei than to T. dionisii and largely differed from homologues of T. rangeli and T. b. brucei. Here, analysis of isolates representative of the overall biological and genetic diversity of T. cruzi and closest T. cruzi-like species evidenced DTU- and species-specific polymorphisms corroborating phylogenetic relationships inferred with other genes. Comparison of both phylogenetically close and distant trypanosomes is valuable to understand host-parasite interactions, virulence and pathogenicity. Our findings corroborate cruzipain as valuable target for drugs, vaccine, diagnostic and genotyping approaches.