MORPHOLOGICAL CASTE DIFFERENCES IN POLYBIA AEQUATORIALIS (HYMENOPTERA: VESPIDAE: POLISTINAE: EPIPONINI), A SOCIAL WASP OF THE HIGHLANDS OF COSTA RICA

Many aspects of the biology and organization of Neotropical social wasps in the highlands are unknown. Polybia aequatorialis is a highland wasp of Costa Rica distributed between 1, 150 and 3,200 m in altitude, and little information on this species is recorded. We investigated the size of a colony of P. aequatorialis in the Cerro de la Muerte region of Costa Rica, and studied the morphological differences between queens and workers. Measures were taken from 248 reproductive and non-reproductive females, and caste differentiation was analyzed by Discrimination Function Analysis. We did not find a highly pronounced caste distinction in P. aequatorialis, even though ANOVA showed that queens and workers differed in all morphometric measures. The morphological differences between the reproductive and non-reproductive females probably results from a developmental switch, which is a characteristic caste syndrome of Polybia.

First isolation and molecular characterization of Ehrlichia canis in Costa Rica, Central America

The present study investigated Ehrlichia species in blood samples from dogs suspected of clinical ehrlichiosis, using molecular and isolation techniques in cell culture. From a total of 310 canine blood samples analyzed by 16S rRNA nested PCR, 148 (47.7%) were positive for Ehrlichia canis. DNA from Ehrlichia chaffeensis or Ehrlichia ewingii was not detected in any sample using species-specific primers in separated reactions. Leukocytes from five PCR-positive dogs were inoculated into DH82 cells; successful isolation of E. canis was obtained in four samples. Partial sequence of the dsb gene of eight canine blood samples (including the five samples for in vitro isolation) was obtained by PCR and their analyses through BLAST showed 100% of identity with the corresponding sequence of E. canis in GenBank. This study represents the first molecular diagnosis, isolation, and molecular characterization of E. canis in dogs from Costa Rica. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Infeccion natural de Ptychophallus tristani (Crustacea: decapoda) con metacercarias de Paragonimus mexicanus (Trematoda) en Tabarcia de Mora, Costa Rica

Se determinó el grado de infección de los crustáceos Ptychophallus tristani presentes en una área endémica de Paragonimus mexicanus, encontrándose que de un total de 182 cangrejos, 161 resultaron positivos (88,5%) por metacercarias. Al comparar la infección entre machos y hembras no se encontró diferencias estadísticamente significativas y en relación a su tamaño se observó una relación directa entre tamaño y porcentaje y grado de infección. Se estableció que no existen diferencias significativas en relación a la época del año en que los cangrejos fueron capturados lo que epidemiológicamente es importante pues indica que las fuentes de infección permanecen potencialmente activas durante todo el año.

O Partido Comunista Português e a Guerra Fria: “sectarismo”, “desvio de direita”, “Rumo à vitória” (1949-1965)

Dissertação apresentada para cumprimento dos requisitos necessários à obtenção do grau de Doutor em História Institucional e Política Contemporânea

Determination of human cytomegalovirus genetic diversity in different patient populations in Costa Rica

Seroprevalence of HCMV in Costa Rica is greater than 95% in adults; primary infections occur early in life and is the most frequent congenital infection in newborns. The objectives of this study were to determine the genetic variability and genotypes of HCMV gB gene in Costa Rica. Samples were collected from alcoholics, pregnant women, blood donors, AIDS patients, hematology-oncology (HO) children and HCMV isolates from neonates with cytomegalic inclusion disease. A semi-nested PCR system was used to obtain a product of 293-296 bp of the gB gene to be analyzed by Single Stranded Conformational Polymorphism (SSCP) and sequencing to determine the genetic polymorphic pattern and genotypes, respectively. AIDS patients showed the highest polymorphic diversity with 14 different patterns while fifty-six percent of HO children samples showed the same polymorphic pattern, suggesting in this group a possible nosocomial infection. In neonates three genotypes (gB1, gB2 and gB3), were determined while AIDS patients and blood donors only showed one (gB2). Of all samples analyzed only genotypes gB1, 2 and 3 were determined, genotype gB2 was the most frequent (73%) and mixed infections were not detected. The results of the study indicate that SSCP could be an important tool to detect HCMV intra-hospital infections and suggests a need to include additional study populations to better determine the genotype diversity and prevalence.

Ecoturismo e Estratégias de Comunicação – Interacções em Contexto de Experiência Pedagógica. . O Caso de El Remanso Lodge, Costa Rica

Dissertação apresentada para cumprimento dos requisitos necessários à obtenção do grau de Mestre em Ecologia Humana, e Problemas Sociais Contemporâneos

Manual de plantas de Costa Rica /B.E. Hammel ... [et al.] editores ; Silvia Troyo, ilustraciones.

v.1 (2004) [ser. v.97]

Manual de plantas de Costa Rica /B.E. Hammel ... [et al.] editores ; Silvia Troyo, ilustraciones.

v.2 (2003) [ser. v.92]

Manual de plantas de Costa Rica /B.E. Hammel ... [et al.] editores ; Silvia Troyo, ilustraciones.

v.3 (2003) [ser. v.93]

Medición del nivel de orientación empática en alumnos de facultades o carreras de odontología de Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Panamá y Perú.

Las investigaciones, tanto a nivel médico como odontológico, indican que la empatía ha estado relacionada, teóricamente o empíricamente, a diversos atributos, tales como el comportamiento prosocial, habilidad para recabar la historia clínica, aumento del grado de satisfacción del paciente y del médico, mejores relaciones terapéuticas y buenos resultados clínicos. El objetivo del proyecto es determinar y describir el nivel de empatía de los alumnos que cursan Odontología de algunas Universidades de Latinoamericana, según el nivel de enseñanza y el género. Esta investigación corresponde a un estudio no experimental y de carácter exploratorio. Este tipo de diseño es transversal, descriptivo y ex post facto causa y efecto (potencialmente correlacional). Este proyecto dará origen a un trabajo que se especializará en recolectar datos en un momento temporal determinado para describir en él las variables que se estudiarán, y analizar su comportamiento y posibles asociaciones existentes entre estas variables. La población comprende a los estudiantes pertenecientes a los niveles 1º a 5º de la carrera de Odontología de cada una de las Facultades o Carreras comprometidas en el estudio. La unidad de análisis es el sujeto estudiante de cada nivel antes señalado y en cada una de las poblaciones estudiadas. Se aplicará la Escala de Empatía Médica de Jefferson a todos los estudiantes comprometidos en este estudio, previa explicación detallada de los propósitos de esta investigación y de los objetivos de la misma, incluyendo su carácter confidencial.

Flora of Costa Rica ... by Paul C. Standley ...

v.18:pt:4(1938)

Flora of Costa Rica ... by Paul C. Standley ...

v.18:pt.3(1938)

Flora of Costa Rica ... by Paul C. Standley ...

v.18:pt.1(1937)

Flora of Costa Rica ... by Paul C. Standley ...

v.18:pt.2(1937)