CROCODYLOMORPH EGGS and EGGSHELLS FROM THE ADAMANTINA FORMATION (BAURU GROUP), UPPER CRETACEOUS of BRAZIL

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Biological aspects of Orius insidiosus (Say) feeding on eggs of Plutella xylostella (Linnaeus) and Anagasta kuehniella (Zeller).

The objective of this work was to evaluate the biology of Orius insidiosus fed on eggs of Plutella xylostella and Anagasta kuehniella. The eggs used were obtained from the Laboratorio de Biologia e Criacao de Insetos, Departamento de Fitossanidade, FCAV/UNESP. The experiment was carried out with a total of 50 12-to-24-hour-old O. insidiosus nymphs, 1 per Petri dish (50 replications). P. xylostella or A. kuehniella eggs were places into each Petri dish daily, along with a small cotton pad moistened with distilled water. The evaluations were carried out daily. The adults were separated in couples, and placed in Petri dishes. The following biological aspects were evaluated: duration, survival rate and consumption of the nymph instars and of the nymph period; longevity of males and females; consumption per day and adult longevity; eggs per day; female fecundity; egg viability; embryonic period; preoviposition period, oviposition period, post-oviposition period. The fertility life table parameters were also evaluated. The predator O. insidiosus did not present significant differences for its biological characteristics, when feeding on P. xylostella and A. kuehniella eggs, however it showed improved fertility life table parameters when fedo n eggs of P. xylostella, suggesting the possibility of using these eggs in the mass rearing of this insect.

NEST and EGGS of THE MARSH ANTWREN (STYMPHALORNIS ACUTIROSTRIS): THE ONLY MARSH-DWELLING THAMNOPHILID

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Bioinsecticide action of the venom of Africanized bees Apis mellifera Linnaeus 1758 (Hymenoptera: Apidae): I - The most susceptible age of Diatraea saccharalis Fabricius 1794 (Lepeletier: Pyralidae) eggs to the venom action

The present paper aimed at testing the action of non-lyophilized venom of Africanized bees Apis mellifera through topical applications on Diatraea saccharalis egg masses. The CL50, DL50 and the most susceptible age of eggs to the venom topic application were also determined. Three-day-old eggs were the most susceptible to the venom action with CL50 equal to 8.6 mg/ml and DL50 equal to 0.173 mg/mass. The venom loses its action after being stored for 15 days.

Trophic eggs in the foam nests of Leptodactylus labyrinthicus (Anura, Leptodactylidae): An experimental approach

The South American pepper frog, Leptodactylus labyrinthicus, is a large species that lays eggs in foam nests in holes dug out of the banks of different bodies of water. Recently, it was reported that only 6-10% of eggs are fertilized in foam nests of L. labyrinthicus and the remaining unfertilized eggs are consumed by the tadpoles inside the nest. Here we tested experimentally the influence of the ingestion of trophic eggs on the survivorship and growth of L. labyrinthicus tadpoles. Tadpoles fed on trophic eggs and subsequently fed on dry fish food grew larger than those fed only on dry fish food, and this suggests that the ingestion of trophic eggs is an adaptation to improve tadpole growth. The ingestion of trophic eggs also seems to be important for the maintenance of tadpoles in environments with unpredictable rainfall, as they were able to survive for about 70 days feeding only on these trophic eggs and one tadpole managed to complete metamorphosis feeding on trophic eggs only. Details of the spawning behaviour observed in the field, occurrence of multiple mating, and predation on eggs by terrestrial invertebrates and vertebrates are also reported.

Studies on carbon-13 turnover in eggs and blood of commercial layers

This paper aimed at evaluating the influence of diets containing different isotopic values of carbon-13 turnover on the half-life of egg (yolk + albumen), yolk and albumen individually, and blood of poultry using δ‰ 13C isotopic variation. Commercial layers fed four experimental isocaloric and isonitrogenous diets (RC 4, RC 3, RMC 4 and RMC 3) containing different isotopic values, during an experimental period of 56 days. Turnover of the studied tissues was influenced by the experimental diets. Blood and albumen were more influenced by dietary treatments as compared to egg and yolk. The RMC 3 diet induced better performance (better feed intake and higher egg production) due faster rate of carbon substitution than the RC 4 diet, and lower half-life for egg (yolk + albumen), yolk, and albumen.

Initial concentration profile influence on migration measurements from plastic packaging: A simulation study

Migration of components from plastic packaging into foodstuffs or into medicines is a very important issue, concerning public health. Using experimental techniques, like gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, these essays measure total migration and specific migration of components from plastic packaging. This work presents an explanation and applications of a numerical technique tool for this measurement, allowing the comprehension of the diffusion process and the estimate of component migration in difficult or impractical measurements. As an application example, the non-uniform influence of initial concentration profile on the migration is presented, demonstrating the necessity of this profile determination for high quality considerations on involved metrology.

Description of eggs and nymphal instars of Triatoma baratai Carcavallo and Jurberg, 2000 based on optical and scanning electron microscopy (Hemiptera: Reduviidae: Triatominae)

Triatoma baratai Carcavallo & Jurberg, is a wild (i.e., nonperidomestic) species found in the State of Mato Grosso do Sul (Bodoquena region, county of Bonito), Brazil. Its eggs and nymphs are described here based on optical and scanning electron microscopy. The operculum and exochorion have pentagonal, hexagonal, and heptagonal cells, with small cracks and small random pits. Differences in the eggs and five nymphal instars of T. baratai allow them to be distinguished from the sympatric species Triatoma williami Galvão, Souza & Lima, and from six of the nine members of the Triatoma oliveirai complex. The most useful differentiating characters are in the color, shape of the abdomen, head, and total body length. Keys are provided to separate the eggs and nymphal instars of six of the nine members of the Triatoma oliveirai species complex. Copyright ©2009 Magnolia Press.

Hematological and incubation parameters of chicks from young breeders eggs: Variation with sex and incubation temperature

This experiment analyzed the effect of sex and incubation temperature on daily mass loss and eggshell conductance, embryo mortality rates, incubation duration, hematological parameters and body, liver, heart and bursa weights of neonatal chicks from young breeders. The daily mass loss was higher at incubation temperature of 39°C. The eggshell conductance rate increased with the temperature. The total and partial duration of incubation were lower for eggs incubated at 39°C. The time taken by the chick to leave the eggshell did not differ below and above the thermoneutral temperature. The total and intermediate embryo mortality rates increased with the incubation temperature, whereas the early and late embryo mortality rates were higher at incubation temperature of 39°C. Sex did not influence the analyzed parameters, while the incubation temperature did not affect the body and bursa weight and the erythrocytes characteristics. The liver weight of chicks incubated at 36°C was higher than the incubated at 39°C, however there were no differences among the liver weight from chicks incubated at 36 and 39°C and those incubated at 37.5°C. The number of heterophils and the heterophil/lymphocyte ratio (H/L ratio) increased following the temperature, whereas the number of lymphocytes decreased at high temperatures. The other leukocyte parameters did not suffer influence of temperature. Males and females presented similar response to variation of incubation temperatures (36, 37.5 and 39°C) and demonstrated higher sensibility to temperatures above the thermoneutral. Moreover, temperatures below the thermoneutral demonstrated to be better for improvement of hatchability and development of chicks from light eggs. © Asian Network for Scientific Information, 2010.

Comparison of intestinal response of chicks from light and heavy eggs to posthatch fasting

The effects of posthatch fasting on villi height and number, crypt depth and number of globet cells in duodenum, jejunum and ileum of broiler chicks from heavy and light eggs were compared. The 2×3×3 factorial design (egg weight: light and heavy eggs; treatments: with water and feed, with water, without water and feed; treatment duration: 24, 48 and 72 h) was used. The villi presented higher size in chicks from heavy than from light eggs. The fasting resulted in lower villi in duodenum (at 48 h), jejunum and ileum (at 72 h). The villi number increased in duodenum and jejunum of chicks from light eggs and only in jejunum of chicks from heavy eggs, but the increase was more accented in chicks from light ones. The fasting reduced the globet cells number in jejunum. Water intake avoided the fasting effects on villi height but had no effect on villi number. Chicks from heavy eggs fed with water and ration presented deeper crypts in all regions of the small intestine. The duodenum and ileum crypt depth of the chicks from heavy eggs reduced when they were submitted to fasting and when they were fed only with water. The results showed that chicks from light eggs were more affected than chicks from heavy eggs. The water intake partially avoided the fasting effects. © Asian Network for Scientific Information, 2011.

Development of starch biobased and biodegradable plastics for their use in trays for food-packaging

This research work develops new methods to produce biodegradable starch-based trays for the purpose of replacing expanded polystyrene in the food packaging market. The starch based biopolymers present several drawbacks like poor mechanical properties and very high density. In order to overcome these drawbacks two research lines have been set up: blending thermoplastic starch with biobased reinforcements from agricultural wastes like barley straw and grape wastes, and testing the foamability of these materials with a Microwave-foaming method.

Packaging controlled experiments using an evolutionary approach based on ontology

A body of knowledge in Software Engineering requires experiments replications. The knowledge generated by a study is registered in the so-called lab package, which, must be reviewed by an eventual research group with the intention to replicate it. However, researchers face difficulties reviewing the lab package, what leads to problems in share knowledge among research groups. Besides that, the lack of standardization is an obstacle to the integration of the knowledge from an isolated study in a common body of knowledge. In this sense, ontologies can be applied, since they can be seen as a standard that promotes the shared understanding of the experiment information structure. In this paper, we present a workflow to generate lab packages based on EXPEiiQntology, an ontology of controlled experiments domain. In addition, by means of lab packages instantiation, it is possible to evolve the ontology, in order to deal with new concepts that may appear in different lab packages. The iterative ontology evolution aims at achieve a standard that is able to accommodate different lab packages and, hence, facilitate to review and understand their content.

Blood parameters of chicks from eggs injected with ascorbic acid and subjected to thermal stress

This study was aimed to verify if chicks from eggs injected with ascorbic acid and subjected to thermal stress would have higher immunity than chicks from incubation at thermoneutrality without injection of ascorbic acid. The parameters evaluated were temperature on oxygen saturation in hemoglobin, glucose, number of erythrocytes, hematocrit rate and number of hemoglobins of newly hatched male chicks, hatched from eggs injected with ascorbic acid (AA) and subjected to thermal stress during incubation. The experimental design was completely randomized in factorial scheme 5 (application levels of ascorbic acid) x 2 (incubation temperatures). The data were subjected to analysis of variance using the General Linear Model procedure (GLM) of SAS ®. For the parameters (number of erythrocytes, rate of hematrocit and values of hemoglobin), there was significant interaction (p <0.05) between treatments in egg and incubation temperatures. Analyzing the interactions for these parameters, it was observed that the application of 0% ascorbic acid in egg minimized the effect of heat stress when compared with treatment without injection. The application of ascorbic acid levels in eggs incubated under heat stress failed to maximize the immunity of newly hatched chicks. It is assumed that the increased liquid in the amniotic fluid, in those embryos injected with water, favored the lower heat conductance for these embryos, thus helping in their development in relation to immunity. Considering that hemoglobin is related to the transport of gases, these data suggest that increasing the concentration of AA solution inoculated may influence the respiratory rates of eggs.