Avaliação anatômica e tomografica das estruturas abdominais do Alouatta guariba clamitans (Bugio-Ruivo – Cabrera,1940)

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Efeitos do atipamezol e da ioimbina isolados ou em associação com a naloxona nda reversão anestésica de macacos bugios (Aloautta guariba clamitans) (CABRERA, 1940) anestesiados com metadona, dexmedetomidina e cetaminha S(+)

Pós-graduação em Biotecnologia Animal - FMVZ

Book Review of <i> Twilight of the Mammoths: Ice Age Extinctions and the Rewilding of America</i> by Paul S. Martin

Applying ecological studies to the adaptations of prehistoric human hunter-gatherer groups has greatly increased our abilities to interpret effects of an ever-changing environment and our access to critical resources on these populations. The Pleistocene/Holocene transition, its climate and human genesis in the new world, draws intensive interest from a number of scientific communities. In Twilight of the Mammoths, Paul Martin adds his views, which are of no surprise, on the megafaunal extirpations during a cultural period referred to in North America as Clovis.

Avaliação anatômica e tomografica das estruturas abdominais do Alouatta guariba clamitans (Bugio-Ruivo – Cabrera,1940)

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Efeitos do atipamezol e da ioimbina isolados ou em associação com a naloxona nda reversão anestésica de macacos bugios (Aloautta guariba clamitans) (CABRERA, 1940) anestesiados com metadona, dexmedetomidina e cetaminha S(+)

Pós-graduação em Biotecnologia Animal - FMVZ

Stone tool use by adult wild bearded capuchin monkeys (Cebus libidinosus). Frequency, efficiency and tool selectivity

Chimpanzees have been the traditional referential models for investigating human evolution and stone tool use by hominins. We enlarge this comparative scenario by describing normative use of hammer stones and anvils in two wild groups of bearded capuchin monkeys (Cebus libidinosus) over one year. We found that most of the individuals habitually use stones and anvils to crack nuts and other encased food items. Further, we found that in adults (1) males use stone tools more frequently than females, (2) males crack high resistance nuts more frequently than females, (3) efficiency at opening a food by percussive tool use varies according to the resistance of the encased food, (4) heavier individuals are more efficient at cracking high resistant nuts than smaller individuals, and (5) to crack open encased foods, both sexes select hammer stones on the basis of material and weight. These findings confirm and extend previous experimental evidence concerning tool selectivity in wild capuchin monkeys (Visalberghi et al., 2009b; Fragaszy et al., 2010b). Male capuchins use tools more frequently than females and body mass is the best predictor of efficiency, but the sexes do not differ in terms of efficiency. We argue that the contrasting pattern of sex differences in capuchins compared with chimpanzees, in which females use tools more frequently and more skillfully than males, may have arisen from the degree of sexual dimorphism in body size of the two species, which is larger in capuchins than in chimpanzees. Our findings show the importance of taking sex and body mass into account as separate variables to assess their role in tool use. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cone photopigment variations in Cebus apella monkeys evidenced by electroretinogram measurements and genetic analysis

We investigated the color vision pattern in Cebus apella monkeys by means of electroretinogram measurements (ERG) and genetic analysis. Based on ERG we could discriminate among three types of dichromatic males. Among females, this classification is more complex and requires additional genetic analysis. We found five among 10 possible different phenotypes, two trichromats and three dichromats. We also found that Cebus present a new allele with spectral peak near 552 nm, with the amino acid combination SFT at positions 180, 277 and 285 of the opsin gene, in addition to the previously described SYT, AFT and AFA alleles. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Characterization of Opsin Gene Alleles Affecting Color Vision in a Wild Population of Titi Monkeys (Callicebus brunneus)

The color vision of most platyrrhine primates is determined by alleles at the polymorphic X-linked locus coding for the opsin responsible for the middle- to long-wavelength (M/L) cone photopigment. Females who are heterozygous at the locus have trichromatic vision, whereas homozygous females and all males are dichromatic. This study characterized the opsin alleles in a wild population of the socially monogamous platyrrhine monkey Callicebus brunneus (the brown titi monkey), a primate that an earlier study suggests may possess an unusual number of alleles at this locus and thus may be a subject of special interest in the study of primate color vision. Direct sequencing of regions of the M/L opsin gene using feces-, blood-, and saliva-derived DNA obtained from 14 individuals yielded evidence for the presence of three functionally distinct alleles, corresponding to the most common M/L photopigment variants inferred from a physiological study of cone spectral sensitivity in captive Callicebus. Am. J. Primatol. 73:189-196, 2011. (C) 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Ethnicity and Cutaneous Melanoma in the City of Sao Paulo, Brazil: A Case-Control Study

Background: Over the last century the incidence of cutaneous melanoma has increased worldwide, a trend that has also been observed in Brazil. The identified risk factors for melanoma include the pattern of sun exposure, family history, and certain phenotypic features. In addition, the incidence of melanoma might be influenced by ethnicity. Like many countries, Brazil has high immigration rates and consequently a heterogenous population. However, Brazil is unique among such countries in that the ethnic heterogeneity of its population is primarily attributable to admixture. This study aimed to evaluate the contribution of European ethnicity to the risk of cutaneous melanoma in Brazil. Methodology/Principal Findings: We carried out a hospital-based case-control study in the metropolitan area of Sao Paulo, Brazil. We evaluated 424 hospitalized patients (202 melanoma patients and 222 control patients) regarding phenotypic features, sun exposure, and number of grandparents born in Europe. Through multivariate logistic regression analysis, we found the following variables to be independently associated with melanoma: grandparents born in Europe-Spain (OR = 3.01, 95% CI: 1.03-8.77), Italy (OR = 3.47, 95% CI: 1.41-8.57), a Germanic/Slavic country (OR = 3.06, 95% CI: 1.05-8.93), or &gt;= 2 European countries (OR = 2.82, 95% CI: 1.06-7.47); eye color-light brown (OR = 1.99, 95% CI: 1.14-3.84) and green/blue (OR = 4.62; 95% CI 2.22-9.58); pigmented lesion removal (OR = 3.78; 95% CI: 2.21-6.49); no lifetime sunscreen use (OR = 3.08; 95% CI: 1.03-9.22); and lifetime severe sunburn (OR = 1.81; 95% CI: 1.03-3.19). Conclusions: Our results indicate that European ancestry is a risk factor for cutaneous melanoma. Such risk appears to be related not only to skin type, eye color, and tanning capacity but also to others specific characteristics of European populations introduced in the New World by European immigrants.

A revision of Evaniscus (Hymenoptera, Evaniidae) using ontology-based semantic phenotype annotation

The Neotropical evaniid genus Evaniscus Szepligeti currently includes six species. Two new species are described, Evaniscus lansdownei Mullins, sp. n. from Colombia and Brazil and E. rafaeli Kawada, sp. n. from Brazil. Evaniscus sulcigenis Roman, syn. n., is synonymized under E. rufithorax Enderlein. An identification key to species of Evaniscus is provided. Thirty-five parsimony informative morphological characters are analyzed for six ingroup and four outgroup taxa. A topology resulting in a monophyletic Evaniscus is presented with E. tibialis and E. rafaeli as sister to the remaining Evaniscus species. The Hymenoptera Anatomy Ontology and other relevant biomedical ontologies are employed to create semantic phenotype statements in Entity-Quality (EQ) format for species descriptions. This approach is an early effort to formalize species descriptions and to make descriptive data available to other domains.

Descrição morfológica do diafragma do sagui-de-tufo-branco (Callithrix jacchus)

O músculo diafragma, encontrado apenas nos mamíferos, é o principal músculo no processo respiratório, servindo de fronteira entre as cavidades torácica e abdominal. Sua importância também ganha destaque em pesquisas realizadas no âmbito dos enxertos, empregando-se diversos tipos de membranas biológicas para o reparo de defeitos diafragmáticos, os quais podem gerar hérnias diafragmáticas. Apesar de muitos estudos já conduzidos para com os primatas não humanos, especialmente no que tange a espécie do novo mundo Callithrix jacchus (Sagui-de-tufo-branco), oriundo do nordeste brasileiro, as pesquisas envolvendo o uso do diafragma em tal espécie é inexistente. Deste modo objetivou-se caracterizar a morfologia e a biometria do diafragma na espécie Callithrix jacchus de ambos os sexos, analisando possíveis divergências estruturais entre machos e fêmeas. Para tal foram utilizados quatros animais, 2 machos e 2 fêmeas, adultos, que vieram a óbito por causas naturais, provenientes de um criadouro comercial. Após fixação em solução de formaldeído 10% os animais foram devidamente dissecados para fotodocumentação e em seguida o diafragma coletado para efetuação da biometria (comprimento e largura) com o uso de um paquímetro e para o processamento histológico por meio da coloração de hematoxilina-eosina e tricrômio de masson, da porção muscular. As mensurações feitas permitiram concluir que não houve diferenças signifcativas entre machos e femeas. A topografia e a presença de três aberturas (forame da veia cava caudal, hiato aórtico e esofágico) na extensão do diafragma corroboram com descrições na literatura classica para outros mamíferos. A presença de um centro tendíneo em "V" difere do encontrado para animais como o peixe-boi e porquinho-da-india, mas é similar ao encontrado para o gambá-de-orelhas-brancas e rato albino. No que diz respeito aos achados histológicos conclui-se que as fibras musculares estão dispostas de forma organizada, apresentam diâmetro grande e núcleos basais, tendo, portanto, características similares do músculo estriado esquelético tanto nos animais machos como nas fêmeas.

Feasibility of Using a Caribbean Screwworm for SIT Campaigns in Brazil

The screwworm, Cochliomyia hominivorax (Coquerel), remains one of the most damaging parasites of livestock in South America, causing millions of dollars in annual losses to producers. Recently, South American countries demonstrated interest in controlling this pest using the Sterile Insect Technique, and a pilot-project was conducted near the Brazil-Uruguay border in 2009. Since molecular studies have suggested the existence of C. hominivorax regional groups, crossing tests were conducted to evaluate mating competitiveness, mating preference and reproductive compatibility between a C. hominivorax strain from the Caribbean (Jamaica-06) and one from Brazil. Mating rates between Jamaican males and Brazilian females ranged between 82 and 100%, and each male inseminated from 3.3 to 3.95 females. Sterile males, regardless of the strain, competed equally against the fertile males for Brazilian females. Jamaican sterile males and Brazilian fertile males mated randomly with fertile or sterile females. No evidence of genetic incompatibility or hybrid dysgenesis was found in the hybridization crosses. Mating barriers should not compromise the use of Jamaican sterile males for Sterile Insect Technique campaigns in Brazil.

General biochemical and immunological characteristics of the venom from Peruvian scorpion Hadruroides lunatus

This communication describes the general biochemical properties and some immunological characteristics of the venom from the Peruvian scorpion Hadruroides lunatus, which is the most medically relevant species in Peru. The soluble venom of this scorpion is toxic to mice, the LD50 determined was 0.1 mg/kg and 21.55 mg/kg when the venom was injected intracranial or intraperitoneally, respectively. The soluble venom displayed proteolytic, hyaluronidasic, phospholipasic and cardiotoxic activities. High performance liquid chromatography of the soluble venom resulted in the separation of 20 fractions. Two peptides with phospholipasic activity were isolated to homogeneity and their molecular masses determined by mass spectrometry (MALDI TOF). Anti-H. lunatus venom sera were produced in rabbits. Western blotting analysis showed that most of the protein content of this venom is immunogenic. H. lunatus anti-venom displayed consistent cross-reactivity with venom antigens from the new World-scorpions Tityus serrulatus and Centruroides sculpturatus venoms; however, a weaker reactivity was observed against the venom antigens from the old World-scorpion Androctonus australis Hector. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

MODULARITY, NOISE, AND NATURAL SELECTION

Most biological systems are formed by component parts that are to some degree interrelated. Groups of parts that are more associated among themselves and are relatively autonomous from others are called modules. One of the consequences of modularity is that biological systems usually present an unequal distribution of the genetic variation among traits. Estimating the covariance matrix that describes these systems is a difficult problem due to a number of factors such as poor sample sizes and measurement errors. We show that this problem will be exacerbated whenever matrix inversion is required, as in directional selection reconstruction analysis. We explore the consequences of varying degrees of modularity and signal-to-noise ratio on selection reconstruction. We then present and test the efficiency of available methods for controlling noise in matrix estimates. In our simulations, controlling matrices for noise vastly improves the reconstruction of selection gradients. We also perform an analysis of selection gradients reconstruction over a New World Monkeys skull database to illustrate the impact of noise on such analyses. Noise-controlled estimates render far more plausible interpretations that are in full agreement with previous results.

Cutaneous and Mucocutaneous Leishmaniasis

Tegumentary leishmaniases are caused by approximately 15 species of protozoa of the genus Leishmania. They prevail in tropical and subtropical areas of the Old and New World but human mobility also makes them a medical problem in nonendemic areas. Clinical manifestations may comprise cutaneous and mucocutaneous forms that may be localized, disseminated, or diffuse in distribution and may differ in Old and New World leishmaniases. Diagnosis and treatment vary according to the clinical manifestations, geographic area, and Leishmania species involved. This article highlights the diversity and complexity of tegumentary leishmaniases, which are worsened by human immunodeficiency virus/Leishmania coinfection.