Morphological and physiological specialization for digging in amphisbaenians, an ancient lineage of fossorial vertebrates

Amphisbaenians are legless reptiles that differ significantly from other vertebrate lineages. Most species dig underground galleries of similar diameter to that of the animal. We studied the muscle physiology and morphological attributes of digging effort in the Brazilian amphisbaenid Leposternon microcephalum (Squamata; Amphisbaenia), which burrows by compressing soil against the upper wall of the tunnel by means of upward strokes of the head. The individuals tested (<72 g) exerted forces on the soil of up to 24 N. These forces were possible because the fibres of the longissimus dorsi, the main muscle associated with burrowing, are highly pennated, thus increasing effective muscle cross-sectional area. The muscle is characterized by a metabolic transition along its length: proximal, medial and distal fibres are fast contracting and moderately oxidative, but fibres closer to the head are richer in citrate synthase and more aerobic in nature. Distal fibres, then, might be active mainly at the final step of the compression stroke, which requires more power. For animals greater than a given diameter, the work required to compress soil increases exponentially with body diameter. Leposternon microcephalum, and probably some other highly specialized amphisbaenids, are most likely constrained to small diameters and can increase muscle mass and effective muscle cross-sectional area by increasing body length, not body diameter.

Cytogenetic Mapping of 5S and 18S rRNAs and H3 Histone Genes in 4 Ancient Proscopiidae Grasshopper Species: Contribution to Understanding the Evolutionary Dynamics of Multigene Families

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

Species composition and plant use in old urban homegardens in Rio Claro, Southeast of Brazil

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Leishmanial antigens in the diagnosis of active lesions and ancient scars of American tegumentary leishmaniasis patients

Cutaneous biopsies (n = 94) obtained from 88 patients with American tegumentary leishmaniasis were studied by conventional and immunohistochemical techniques. Specimens were distributed as active lesions of cutaneous leishmaniasis (n = 53) (Group I), cicatricial lesions of cutaneous leishmaniasis (n = 35) (Group II) and suggestive scars of healed mucosal leishmaniasis patients (n = 6) (Group III). In addition, active cutaneous lesions of other etiology (n = 24) (Group C1) and cutaneous scars not related to leishmaniasis (n = 10) (Group C2) were also included in the protocol. Amastigotes in Group I biopsies were detected by routine histopathological exam (30.2%), imprint (28.2%), culture (43.4%), immunofluorescence (41.4%) and immunoperoxidase (58.5%) techniques; and by the five methods together (79.3%). In Group II, 5.7% of cultures were positive. Leishmanial antigen was also seen in the cytoplasm of macrophages and giant cells (cellular pattern), vessel walls (vascular pattern) and dermal nerves (neural pattern). Positive reaction was detected in 49 (92.5%), 20 (57%) and 4 (67%) biopsies of Groups I, II and III, respectively. Antigen persistency in cicatricial tissue may be related to immunoprotection or, on the contrary, to the development of late lesions. We suggest that the cellular, vascular and neural patterns could be applied in the immunodiagnosis of active and cicatricial lesions in which leishmaniasis is suspected.

Myths and facts in the chronicles of the conquest of Ancient Peru

The chronicles of historical sources are difficult because they are a mix of myths and facts experienced by their authors. Starting from this premise, this study analyzes some of the Spanish and indigenous sources on the conquest of the Inca people and the description of this world and people who were so different. Among the chroniclers chosen, the article highlights the reports by Jose de Acosta on the Mundus Novus and by Cieza de Leon and Garcilaso de la Vega on the myths of the first Inca chief; finally, Francisco de Xerez, Juan de Betanzos, among others, on the event of the imprisonment and murder of Atahualpa, which resulted in the conquest of the "Tahuantinsuyu" by the Spanish.

The discovery of Foxl2 paralogs in chondrichthyan, coelacanth and tetrapod genomes reveals an ancient duplication in vertebrates

The Foxl2 (forkhead box L2) gene is an important member of the forkhead domain family, primarily responsible for the development of ovaries during female sex differentiation. The evolutionary studies conducted previously considered the presence of paralog Foxl2 copies only in teleosts. However, to search for possible paralog copies in other groups of vertebrates and ensure that all predicted copies were homolog to the Foxl2 gene, a broad evolutionary analysis was performed, based on the forkhead domain family. A total of 2464 sequences for the forkhead domain were recovered, and subsequently, 64 representative sequences for Foxl2 were used in the evolutionary analysis of this gene. The most important contribution of this study was the discovery of a new subgroup of Foxl2 copies (ortholog to Foxl2B) present in the chondrichthyan Callorhinchus milii, in the coelacanth Latimeria chalumnae, in the avian Taeniopygia guttata and in the marsupial Monodelphis domestica. This new scenario indicates a gene duplication event in an ancestor of gnathostomes. Furthermore, based on the analysis of the syntenic regions of both Foxl2 copies, the duplication event was not exclusive to Foxl2. Moreover, the duplicated copy distribution was shown to be complex across vertebrates, especially in tetrapods, and the results strongly support a loss of this copy in eutherian species. Finally, the scenario observed in this study suggests an update for Foxl2 gene nomenclature, extending the actual suggested teleost naming of Foxl2A and Foxl2B to all vertebrate sequences and contributing to the establishment of a new evolutionary context for the Foxl2 gene. © 2013 Macmillan Publishers Limited All rights reserved.

O teatro experimental do negro -: estudo da personagem negra em duas peças encenadas (1947-1951)

Pós-graduação em Artes - IA

Sobre a teleoformidade na formação humana: um olhar genealógico

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Figuratividade na poesia bucólica de Virgílio

Pós-graduação em Estudos Literários - FCLAR

Constructos identitários entre os conceitos de realeza de Temístio e Amiano Marcelino ( Século IV D.C

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

Capoeira Angola: saberes, valores e atitudes na formação do mestre

Pós-graduação em Ciências da Motricidade - IBRC

A periodization of Latin American development in the Robinsonian tradition

This paper analyzes Joan Robinson's growth model and then adapts it in order to provide an explanatory taxonomy of Growth Eras. The Growth Eras or Ages were for Robinson a way to provide logical connections between output growth, capital accumulation, the degree of thriftiness, the real wage and illustrate a catalogue of growth possibilities. This modified taxonomy follows the spirit of Robinson's work, but it takes different theoretical approaches. which imply that some of the classifications do not fit perfectly the ones here suggested. Latin America has moved from a Golden Age in the 1950s and 1960s to a Leaden Age in the 1980s, having two traverse periods, one of which the process of growth and industrialization accelerated in the late 1960s and early 1970s, which is referred to as a Galloping Platinum Age, an one in which a process of deindustrialization and reprimarization and maquilization of the productive structure took place, starting in the 1990s, which could be referred as the Creeping Platinum Age.

A mulher na mitologia e dramaturgia irlandesa: o feminino no mito de Deirdre, em peças de John M. Synge e Vincent Woods

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

A representação do desejo nos epigramas eróticos helenísticos: estudo do masculino e do feminino nos livros 5 e 12 da Antologia Palatina

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Música do Norte: intelectuais, artistas populares, tradição e modernidade na formação da “MPB” no Pará (anos 1960 e 1970)

A presente dissertação trata da atuação de intelectuais (poetas, jornalistas, militantes, estudantes, folcloristas, antropólogos) e artistas populares na formação da chamada “MPB”, Música Popular Brasileira, no Pará. Entre meados da década de 1960 e de 1970, setores intelectualizados da classe média paraense iniciaram uma grande mobilização no sentido de atualizarem a música popular produzida em Belém aos debates políticos e estéticos que a MPB realizava no restante do país. Festivais foram realizados, grupos de poesia e música surgiram, atuações políticas se misturavam com posturas boemias e grande atividade artística. A nova intelectualidade buscava ao mesmo tempo fazer uma música moderna, mas pautada em elementos da cultura popular paraense ou amazônida. Em meio a novos artistas advindos destes setores da sociedade uma revisão da memória da música popular se fazia e antigos nomes eram incorporados a uma tradição. Concomitantemente a isso, o carimbó, que até então estava restrito às cidades e comunidades interioranas, surge em Belém como uma explosão musical e torna-se música consumida pelas rádios, TVs e indústria do disco. A urbanização deste gênero do folclore regional leva a um amplo debate sobre autenticidade, mercado e identidade cultural da região amazônica e do Pará em particular. Neste processo, artistas de extratos populares entram em cena dando sua contribuição à música popular do Norte. O amplo debate nos jornais sobre o carimbó (sua autenticidade ou sua degeneração frente ao mercado) se soma as atuações da jovem intelectualidade. Neste complexo contexto de múltiplas atuações surge uma MPB de feições regionais.