Vocal Cysts: Clinical, Endoscopic, and Surgical Aspects

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

Abortamento na adolescência: um estudo epidemiológico

O presente trabalho foi desenvolvido no Hospital Maternidade Santa Izabel da cidade de Bauru, São Paulo, Brasil, e teve como objetivo investigar o abortamento na adolescência e compará-lo com o das mulheres adultas. Os indicadores buscaram traçar o perfil epidemiológico das mulheres internadas, por meio de dados coletados em prontuários, entre aquelas com diagnóstico de aborto, independente da forma clínica, entre os anos de 2000 a 2003. O total de abortamentos registrados foi de 2.286, sendo 459 (20,08%) na faixa etária da adolescência e a forma completa foi significativamente maior nas adolescentes quando comparada às das mulheres adultas; segundo o ano de análise, constatou-se decréscimo de ocorrência entre as adolescentes, com maior incidência em 2000 (30,50%), seguida dos anos de 2001 (25,05%), 2002 (23,53%) e 2003 (20,92%), sendo que as adolescentes apresentaram tendência a permanecer dois ou mais dias hospitalizadas. Enfatiza-se a implementação de políticas e programas direcionados à saúde sexual e reprodutiva e suas co-morbidades.

Population structure and reproductive period of whitebelly prawn Nematopalaemon schmitti (Holthuis 1950) (Decapoda: Caridea: Palaemonidae) on the southeastern coast of Brazil

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

Morphological and biochemical analysis of the stored and larval food of an obligate necrophagous bee, Trigona hypogea

Trigona hypogea, T. crassipes, and T. necrophaga are obligate necrophagous bees that differ from the majority of bees by using animal material instead of pollen as a protein resource. Since T. hypogea does not store protein in cerumen pots, it was thought that glandular secretions were its only larval protein source. This is in contrast to T. necrophaga which stores a yellowish proteinaceous jelly in the pots. Our results show that the larval food of T. hypogea has a higher protein content than the food stored in the pots and that it presents an electrophoretical protein pattern similar to that of the hypopharyngeal gland, indicating that workers add glandular secretions to the larval food while provisioning the brood cells. Thus, it can be suggested that T. hypogea has a provisioning behavior similar to other Meliponinae. The presence of several bands of proteins in the food stored in the pots shows that this species stores carrion mixed with honey in storage pots. Morphological data suggest that both larvae and adults make use of the same foodstuffs. These results also suggest that T. hypogea is more similar to other necrophagous species than it is to T. necrophaga (a more specialized bee).

NESTLING BEHAVIOR and PARENTAL CARE of THE COMMON POTOO (NYCTIBIUS GRISEUS) IN SOUTHEASTERN BRAZIL

We recorded and quantified the nocturnal activity and parental care of a brooding Common Potoo (Nyctibius griseus) using an infrared camera in southeastern Brazil. Parents alternated care of the nestling and decreased their presence as the nestling grew. Nestling feeding on passing insects while sitting on the nest, movements on the nest, wing exercising, preening, and defecating were recorded primarily while it was alone. The frequency of begging calls per hour was higher when the nestling was accompanied by one of the parents. Nocturnal recordings of this species on the nest revealed behaviors that were not cited in past studies, including: feedings bouts on passing flies performed by the nestling and adults, nestling defecation, and nestling plumage maintenance. The well-known plus newly quantified behaviors of the Common Potoo reinforce their value to survival during the long nestling period. Received 24 May 2010. Accepted 14 September 2010.

Relationship between number of ovipositions of Cotesia flavipes (Cam.) and number of descendants emerged from its host Diatraea saccharalis (Fabr.)

Fêmeas de Cotesia flavipes (Cam.) foram introduzidas, individualmente, em placas de Petri contendo uma larva de seu hospedeiro Diatraea saccharalis (Fabr.). Permitiu-se que cada fêmea de C. flavipes realizasse posturas uma ou duas vezes em uma mesma larva. O período de emergência das larvas e dos adultos, a razão sexual, o número de larvas e pupas inviáveis e a longevidade dos adultos de C. flavipes registrados nas duas condições experimentais (uma ou duas posturas) foram comparados. Os resultados revelaram que duas oviposições sucessivas no hospedeiro não alteraram a razão sexual na descendência, mas aumentaram o número de parasitóides e também o número de larvas e pupas inviáveis.

Use of monocular and binocular visual cues for postural control in children

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

Food resource utilization of the skates Rioraja agassizii (Müller & Henle, 1841) and Psammobatis extenta (Garman, 1913) on the continental shelf off Ubatuba, South-eastern Brazil

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Description of the Immature and Adult Stages of Ectatomma vizottoi (Formicidae: Ectatomminae)

We estimated the number of larval instars of the ant Ectatomma vizottoi (Ectatomminae), by measuring the maximum width of the head capsules of 208 larvae and the morphology of the immature stages (eggs, larvae and pupae) and adults. There are three larval instars during the post-embryonic development. The reproductive eggs are dark brown. Hairs are present beginning with the first instar, are uniformly distributed over the larval body, and do not vary in length in the three instars. Pupae are protected by a light-brown silk cocoon. Adults of the worker and queen castes can be differentiated by size.

Morphometric changes associated with sex and development in the Malpighian tubules of Aedes aegypti

The Malpighian tubules of Aedes aegypti showed significant differences in their diameters between male and female larvae, male and female pupae, male larvae and male adults and male pupae and male adults. in every case, female values were greater than in males. Measurements of mean nuclear areas of the principal and stellate cells from Malpighian tubules, taken in males and females during development, showed that this parameter in both types of cell was significantly greater in females than in male larvae, pupae and adult stages. In males, significant differences between developmental stages were observed only in comparison with the nuclear area of larvae and adults in the principal cells, but in females, every comparison between stages showed significant differences except between pupae and adults in stellate cells. The frequency distribution of nuclear area values, in development, for male stellate and principal cells, were mostly concentrated in the first seven classes among the 30 classes considered in every stage, while for females, the frequency dropped drastically in the same classes from larvae to pupae and adults, moving to classes of higher values. Considering the importance of Malpighian tubules in insect physiology, the meaning of the differences detected are discussed on the basis of different metabolic levels, between sexes and developmental stages.

DEVELOPMENT OF BLOOD-PRESSURE AND CARDIAC REFLEXES IN THE FROG PSEUDIS-PARADOXSUS

Systemic arterial blood pressure and heart rate (f(H)) were measured in unanesthetized, unrestrained larvae and adults of the paradoxical frog, Pseudis paradoxus from São Paulo State in Brazil. Four developmental groups were used, representing the complete transition from aquatic larvae to primarily air-breathing adults. f(H) (49-66 beats/min) was not significantly affected by development, whereas mean arterial blood pressure was strongly affected, being lowest in the stage 37-39 larvae (10 mmHg), intermediate in the stage 44-45 larvae (18 mmHg), and highest in the juveniles and adults (31 and 30 mmHg, respectively). Blood pressure was not significantly correlated with body mass, which was greatest in the youngest larvae and smallest in the juveniles. In the youngest larvae studied (stages 37-39), lung ventilation was infrequent, causing a slight decrease in arterial blood pressure but no change in heart rate. Lung ventilation was more frequent in stages 44-45 larvae and nearly continuous in juveniles and adults floating at the surface. Bradycardia during both forced and voluntary diving was observed in almost every advanced larva, juvenile, and adult but in only one of four young larvae. Developmentally related changes in blood pressure were not complete until metamorphosis, whereas diving bradycardia was present at an earlier stage.

Reading, equivalence, and recombination of units: A replication with students with different learning histories

First graders, preschoolers, special education students, and adults received a reading program in which they learned to match printed to dictated words and to construct (copy) printed words. The students not only learned to match the training words but also learned to read them. In addition, most of the students learned to read new words that involved recombinations of the syllables of the training words. The results replicate and extend the generality of a prior analysis of a reading program based on stimulus equivalence and recombination of units.

Tests to determine LC50 and discriminating doses for macrocyclic lactones against the cattle tick, Boophilus microplus

Laboratory tests were carried out on larvae and adults of the cattle tick Boophilus microplus to determine the toxicity of macrocyclic lactone acaricides (MLs). Technical and commercial MLs were used in larval packet test (LPT), larval immersion test (LIT) and adult immersion test (AIT). Tn LIT and AIT the toxicity of MLs was much higher than for LPT. In the AIT, diluting the injectable formulation of MLs in water was as effective as dilution in ethanol + Triton X-100. LC50, LC99.9 and 95% confidence limits were determined so that a discriminating dose (DD) could be set for larval and adult tests in order to diagnose potential resistance to MLs in field samples of the tick. These DDs are for Australian strains of B. microplus and may not be suitable for other strains until further work is carried out.The value of these diagnostic tests can only be verified if or when resistance to MLs emerges in ticks. (C) 2001 Elsevier B.V. B.V. All rights reserved.

Visual timing and adaptive behavior in a road-crossing simulation study

In this road-crossing simulation study, we assessed both participant's ability to visually judge whether or not they could cross a road, and their adaptive walking behavior. To this end, participants were presented with a road inside the laboratory on which a bike approached with different velocities from different distances. Eight children aged 5-7, ten children aged 10-12, and ten adults were asked both to verbally judge whether they could cross the road, and to actually walk across the road if possible. The results indicated that the verbal judgments were not similar to judgments to actually cross the road. With respect to safety and accuracy of judgments, groups did not differ from each other, although the youngest group tended to be more cautious. All groups appeared to use a strategy to cross the road based both on the distance and the velocity of the approaching bike. Young children waited longer on the curb before crossing the road than older children and adults. All groups adjusted their crossing time to the time-to-arrival of the bike. These findings are discussed in relation to the ecological psychological approach and the putative dissociation between vision for perception (i.e. verbal judgment) and vision for action (i.e. actual crossing). (c) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

4 SPECIES OF BRAZILIAN POISON FROGS RELATED TO EPIPEDOBATES-PICTUS (DENDROBATIDAE) - TAXONOMY AND NATURAL-HISTORY OBSERVATIONS

We present morphological and natural history data on Epipedobates pictus and three additional taxa currently regarded as synonyms of the former: Epipedobates braccatus, E. flavopictus, and E. hahneli. Topotypes of the four species were examined. Morphological data on tadpoles and adults, in addition to distribution patterns and vocalizations, indicate that the four taxa represent distinct species. Two groups are evident within them: (1) the slender-bodied, Amazonian E. hahneli with small flash marks on the thighs and a low-finned tadpole, and (2) the robust bodied, almost extra-Amazonian E. braccatus, E. flavopictus, and E. pictus with large flash marks on the thighs and tadpoles with fins of moderate height.