The Phlebotominae sand fly (Diptera: Psychodidae) fauna of two Atlantic Rain Forest Reserves in the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

During two consecutive years, studies on the sand fly fauna in Poço das Antas and Fazenda Bom Retiro, two Atlantic Rain Forest Reserves from the State of Rio de Janeiro, were performed using Shannon traps, CDC light traps and human bait collections. Eleven species were identified; Lutzomyia longipalpis, L. migonei, L. edwardsi, L. intermedia, L. whitmani, L. fischeri, L. shannoni, L. ayrozai, L. hirsuta, L. monticola and L. misionensis (first occurrence in the State of Rio de Janeiro). L. intermedia and L. whitmani were the predominant anthropophilic species around houses, while L. hirsuta predominated in the forest.

Le code-switching comme ressource stratégique pour la gestion de l'interaction multilingue : coordination et leadership dans un groupe de travail

In this article, we analyze a multilingual interaction in a students' working group and hypothesize a correlation between management of languages in interaction and leadership. We consider Codeswitching as one of the most relevant observables in multilingual interaction and attempt to analyze how it is used by speakers. After a brief presentation of three theoretical and analytical conceptions of Code-switching in interaction (Auer, Mondada & Myers Scotton), we define Code-switching as an interactional, strategical, multilingual resource exploited by speakers to achieve various interactional and non interactional goals. We then show in two CA-like analysis how multilingual strategical resources occur in the interactional practices of the analyzed working group, and how they are exploited by speakers in order to organize interaction, work, tasks, and to construct one's leadership. We also consider the metadiscourses of the students about their own practices and multilingualism in general, in order to confront them to their actual multilingual practices. We draw the hypothesis that discrepancies observed between metadiscourses and practices can be explained through the development of (meta)discourses showing a unilingual conception in describing multilingual practices.

Characterization of Triatoma guasayana biotopes in a hardwood forest of Santiago del Estero, Argentina

Triatoma guasayana is a silvatic triatomine species distributed in Argentina, Bolivia and Paraguay. The study was performed in a secondary forest of Santiago del Estero, Argentina. The abundance of T. guasayana was evaluated by census in the following wild biotopes: quimiles (Opuntia quimilo), chaguares (dry bromeliads), logs and underground burrows. Ten biotopes of each type were dismantled in winter (August) and another 40 in summer (January); all fauna was recorded. The biotopes most infested by T. guasayana were quimiles (65%), followed by chaguares (55%), and logs (25%). Quimiles and chaguares were infested in both seasons, whereas logs were positive only in summer and burrows were never infested. Infestation and abundance were higher in summer than in winter. The biotope structure is a key factor for T. guasayana colonization. The larger number of refuges, the constant presence of blood sources and suitable inner microclimatic conditions offered by quimiles may favour the persistence of T. guasayana colonies. The richness of invertebrate fauna per type of biotope was ranked in the same order as that of T. guasayana, suggesting similar microhabitat requirements for all studied arthropods.

Search for Borrelia sp. in ticks collected from potential reservoirs in an urban forest reserve in the State of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil: a short report

A total of 128 ticks of the genus Amblyomma were recovered from 5 marsupials (Didelphis albiventris) - with 4 recaptures - and 17 rodents (16 Bolomys lasiurus and 1 Rattus norvegicus) captured in an urban forest reserve in Campo Grande, State of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. Of the ticks collected, 95 (78.9%) were in larval form and 22 (21.1%) were nymphs; the only adult (0.8%) was identified as A. cajennense. Viewed under dark-field microscopy in the fourth month after seeding, 9 cultures prepared from spleens and livers of the rodents, blood of the marsupials, and macerates of Amblyomma sp. nymphs revealed spiral-shaped, spirochete-like structures resembling those of Borrelia sp. Some of them showed little motility, while others were non-motile. No such structures could be found either in positive Giemsa-stained culture smears or under electron microscopy. No PCR amplification of DNA from those cultures could be obtained by employing Leptospira sp., B. burgdorferi, and Borrelia sp. primers. These aspects suggest that the spirochete-like structures found in this study do not fit into the genera Borrelia or Leptospira, requiring instead to be isolated for proper identification.

Code of Practice on Fluoridation of Drinking Water 2007

Code of Practice on Fluoridation of Drinking Water 2007 Fluoridation of drinking water, the main aim of which is the prevention and control of dental caries (dental decay), commenced in Ireland in 1964 after the introduction of the Health (Fluoridation of Water Supplies) Act 1960. The Act provides that health authorities shall arrange for the fluoridation of public piped water supplies. The Act also provides that sanitary (local) authorities may act as the agents of health authorities in fluoridating public piped water supplies. Currently approximately 73% of the population receives fluoridated water from public water supplies. Click here to download PDF 195kb

Horizontal stratification of the sand fly fauna (Diptera: Psychodidae) in a transitional vegetation between caatinga and tropical rain forest, state of Bahia, Brazil

A study about the horizontal stratification of the sand fly fauna in two distinct ecosystems, caatinga area, endemic for visceral leishmaniasis, and the tropical rain forest area, endemic for cutaneous leishmaniasis, was performed in the state of Bahia, Brazil. Lutzomyia longipalpis was predominant in the caatinga, and following it came the species L. capixaba and L. oswaldoi. In the tropical rain forest other species were found, such as L. intermedia, L. migonei, L. whitmani, L. yuilli, L.fischeri, L. damascenoi, L. evandroi, L. monticola, and L. lenti. It was found that the geographical limits of the vector species of visceral and cutaneous leishmaniasis are clearly defined by the biological and phytogeographic characteristics.

Host-ectoparasite specificity in a small mammal community in an area of Atlantic Rain Forest (Ilha Grande, State of Rio de Janeiro), Southeastern Brazil

The analyses of the ectoparasite species associated with a small mammal community on Ilha Grande, a coastal island in southern of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, evaluated the level of host-ectoparasite specificity. Was used the Jaccard index for qualitative data to analyse the similarity. The lowest value of similarity occurred between Proechimys iheringi and Marmosops incanus and between Sciurus aestuans and Nectomys squamipes (Cj = 0.08) and the highest between P. iheringi and Oxymycterus sp. (Cj = 0.33). This index showed a low value of similarity across the ectoparasite community. The only exception from this pattern of high host specificity occurred with P. iheringi and Oxymycterus sp., which shared five species of ectoparasites. The similarity values, for most of the cases, is smaller than 0.2.

Siphonaptera parasites of wild rodents and marsupials trapped in three mountain ranges of the Atlantic Forest in Southeastern Brazil

A study of the associations between small mammals and fleas was undertaken in three areas of the Atlantic Forest in Souhtheastern Brazil: Serra da Fartura, SP, Serra da Bocaina, SP, and Itatiaia, RJ. Trapping of small rodents and marsupials was done every 3 months during 2 years, from June 1999 to May 2001. A total 502 rodents (13 species) and 50 marsupials (7 species) were collected, and 185 hosts out of 552 (33.5%) captured in the traps were parasitized by 327 fleas belonging to 11 different species. New host records were determined for several flea species, and 5 significant associations between fleas and hosts were also found.

Simulium (Chirostilbia) bifenestratum (Diptera, Simuliidae), a new black-fly species from the Atlantic forest, State of São Paulo, Brazil

The larva, pupa, male, and female of Simulium bifenestratum n. sp. are described and illustrated. The pupae of the new species have 10 gill filaments, thick at their base and arranged in a three-dimensional way, surrounding the head and thorax. Its pupal cocoon is peculiar, not found in any of the known Brazilian black-fly species; it is very thick and hard with two openings in the anterior region. S. bifenestratum n. sp. was collected in one stream in the Bocaina mountain chain, Atlantic forest, in São José do Barreiro county, state of São Paulo, in a high (1500 m) natural grassland. Larvae and pupae were collected on the edges of small waterfalls and in places with-high speed laminar water flow, attached to the bedrock.

Feeding preference of the sand flies Lutzomyia umbratilis and L. spathotrichia (diptera: Psychodidae, Phlebotominae) in an urban forest patch in the city of Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil

Precipitin tests were performed on blood meals of 199 sand flies (161 Lutzomyia umbratilis, 34 L. spathotrichia, two Lutzomyia of group shannoni, one L. anduzei) in a non-flooded upland forest on the Campus of the Universidade Federal do Amazonas. This is the second largest forest fragment in an urban setting in Brazil. Results on L. umbratilis, which is considered to be the principal leishmaniasis vector in this region, indicated rodents as its predominant blood source in contrast to previous reports in which blood meal analysis indicated that this species fed principally on Xenarthra (particularly sloths)

The Holiness Code between D and P. Some Comments on the Function and Significance of Leviticus 17-26 in the Composition of the Torah.

(Résumé de l'ouvrage) Das Deuteronomium nimmt sowohl in der Literaturgeschichte der alttestamentlichen Geschichtsbücher Josua bis Könige eine Schlüsselstellung ein als auch für die Entstehung des Pentateuchs. Wie lassen sich diese beiden Funktionen vereinbaren? Mit der Verhältnisbestimmung haben sich namhafte Wissenschafter der Arbeitsgruppe »Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Law« im Rahmen der Internationalen Treffen der Society of Biblical Literature in Berlin (2002) und Cambridge (2003) befasst. Der Band präsentiert die neuesten Forschungsergebnisse. Er enthält Vorträge von E. Otto, K. Schmid, H.-C. Schmitt, T. Römer, W.M. Schniedewind, G.N. Knoppers, R. Achenbach, M.M. Zahn und C. Nihan.

Caamembecaia gratiosus n. gen., n. sp. (Acari: Trombiculidae), from Trinomys gratiosus (Gunter) (Rodentia: Echimydae), of Atlantic Forest in Southeastern Brazil

From June 1999 to May 2001, small mammals were captured in three areas of the Atlantic Forest in Southeastern Brazil and examined for ectoparasites. Analysis of ectoparasites revealed the presence of a new chigger genus and species, Caamembecaia gratiosus, from Trinomys gratiosus. This is the first record of a chigger from T. gratiosus.