Investigações em torno do antropocentrismo e da atual crise ecológica

Many environmental ethics thinkers bear the existing ecological crisis is resultig from the fact that both, our thoughts and our actions would be antropocentric. It means that they (our thoughts and our actions) would have the human needs and wishes satisfaction as their only goals. However, a careful investigation about the relationship among humans could perhaps unveil that we are not antropocentric yet. The aim of this work is to enlighten this: whether we think and act in an antropocentric way as it seems to be largely accepted. It seems that we have found a satisfatory answer to the question

Adsorption and detection of DNA dendrimers at carbon electrodes

Dendritic nucleic acids are highly branched and ordered molecular structures, possessing numerous single-stranded oligonucleotide arms, which hold great promise for enhancing the sensitivity of DNA biosensors. This article evaluates the interfacial behavior and redox activity of nucleic acid dendrimers at carbon paste electrodes, in comparison to DNA. Factors influencing the adsorption behavior, including the adsorption potential and time, solution conditions, or dendrimer concentration, are explored. The strong adsorption at the anodically pretreated carbon surface is exploited for an effective preconcentration step prior to the chronopotentiometric measurement of the surface species. Coupled with the numerous guanine oxidation sites, such stripping protocol offers remarkably low detection limits (e.g., 3 pM or 2.4 femtomole of the I-layer dendrimer following a 15 min accumulation). The new observations bear important implications upon future biosensing applications of nucleic dendrimers.

Sistema especialista fuzzy para dimensionamento de bombeio mecânico

Despite the emergence of other forms of artificial lift, sucker rod pumping systems remains hegemonic because of its flexibility of operation and lower investment cost compared to other lifting techniques developed. A successful rod pumping sizing necessarily passes through the supply of estimated flow and the controlled wear of pumping equipment used in the mounted configuration. However, the mediation of these elements is particularly challenging, especially for most designers dealing with this work, which still lack the experience needed to get good projects pumping in time. Even with the existence of various computer applications on the market in order to facilitate this task, they must face a grueling process of trial and error until you get the most appropriate combination of equipment for installation in the well. This thesis proposes the creation of an expert system in the design of sucker rod pumping systems. Its mission is to guide a petroleum engineer in the task of selecting a range of equipment appropriate to the context provided by the characteristics of the oil that will be raised to the surface. Features such as the level of gas separation, presence of corrosive elements, possibility of production of sand and waxing are taken into account in selecting the pumping unit, sucker-rod strings and subsurface pump and their operation mode. It is able to approximate the inferente process in the way of human reasoning, which leads to results closer to those obtained by a specialist. For this, their production rules were based on the theory of fuzzy sets, able to model vague concepts typically present in human reasoning. The calculations of operating parameters of the pumping system are made by the API RP 11L method. Based on information input, the system is able to return to the user a set of pumping configurations that meet a given design flow, but without subjecting the selected equipment to an effort beyond that which can bear

Efeito do ácido zoledrônico em tíbias de ratas ooforectomizadas: estudo prospectivo e randomizado

OBJETIVO: Investigar as repercussões clínicas, biomecânicas e histomorfométricas do ácido zoledrônico em tíbias de ratas osteoporóticas, após ooforectomia bilateral. MÉTODOS: Foram estudadas, prospectivamente, 40 ratas da linhagem Wistar (Rattus novergicus albinus). Com 60 dias de vida, os animais foram aleatorizados em dois grupos de acordo com o procedimento cirúrgico: ooforectomia bilateral (O) (n=20) e pseudo-cirurgia (sham) (P) (n=20). Após 30 dias, os animais foram divididos em quatro subgrupos, de acordo com a administração de 0,1mg/kg de ácido zoledrônico (AZ) ou água destilada (AD): OAZ (n=10), OAD (n=10), PAZ (n=10) e PAD (n=10). Após 12 meses, os animais foram eutanasiados e suas tíbias analisadas. No estudo clínico foi considerado o peso dos animais; no estudo biomecânico foram realizados ensaios compressivos e na análise histomorfométrica foi determinada a área trabecular óssea. RESULTADOS: Os grupos O tiveram aumento de peso significativamente maior que os grupos P (p=0,005). Os grupos OAZ e PAZ tiveram aumento, não significativo, de peso quando comparados aos grupos OAD (p=0,47) e PAD (p=0,68). Os grupos com ácido zoledrônico e com água destilada suportaram carga máxima, semelhante (p=0,2), no momento em que ocorreu fratura. Nos grupos com ácido zoledrônico verificou-se o aumento não significante da área trabecular óssea quando comparados aos grupos com água destilada (p=0,21). Houve correlação positiva entre a área trabecular e a carga máxima (p=0,04; r=0,95). CONCLUSÃO: O ácido zoledrônico não influiu significativamente no peso dos animais. Os resultados mostraram aumento, não significante, tanto da resistência óssea diafisária tibial, como da área trabecular óssea.

Clues to the presence of pathogenic fungi in certain environments

The presence of various pathogenic fungi in rather unsuspected hosts and environments has always attracted the attention of the scientific community. Reports on the putative role of animals in fungal infections of humans bear important consequences on public health as well as on the understanding of fungal ecology. Fungi are ubiquitous in nature and their great capacity for adaptation allows them to survive and indeed, to thrive, in plants, trees and other natural substrata. Nonetheless, we are just beginning to learn the significance that these diverse fungal habitats have on the increasing number of immunosuppressed individuals. The accidental or permanent presence of fungi in animals, plants, soils and watercourses should not be taken too lightly because they constitute the source where potential pathogens will be contracted. If those fungal habitats that carry the largest risks of exposure could be defined, if seasonal variations in the production of infectious propagules could be determined, and if their mode of transmission were to be assessed, it would be possible to develop protective measures in order to avoid human infection. Additionally, unsuspected avenues for the exploration of fungal survival strategies would be opened, thus enhancing our capacity to react properly to their advancing limits. This paper explores several ecological connections between human pathogenic fungi and certain animals, trees, waterways and degraded organic materials. The occurrence of such connections in highly endemic areas will hopefully furnish more precise clues to fungal habitats and allow the design of control programs aimed at avoiding human infection.

Utilização de contrairritante no tratamento da fixação dorsal de patela intermitente em equinos: relato de casos

Em nove equinos atendidos por apresentarem fixação dorsal de patela intermitente, optou-se pela aplicação de 2mL de contrairritante na região subcutânea, ao longo dos ligamentos patelares medial e intermédio. No período de 12 a 48h após a aplicação, os animais apresentaram aumento de volume e de temperatura local, sensibilidade dolorosa à palpação e relutância à locomoção. Após esse período, os sinais clínicos de inflamação e fixação dorsal de patela foram gradativamente diminuindo até o sétimo dia, em sete dos nove animais avaliados. Após a remissão dos sinais de inflamação, dois animais não responderam ao tratamento, sendo necessária a repetição em um dos casos e realização de desmotomia patelar medial no outro. A aplicação de contrairritante foi eficaz na remissão do sinal clínico de fixação dorsal da patela intermitente. Comparativamente às técnicas cirúrgicas para a correção da enfermidade descritas na literatura, o tratamento promoveu melhora precoce dos sinais, curto período de convalescência e praticidade na realização.

Large segmental radius and ulna defect treated by bone transportation with the Ilizarov technique

An 8-year-old male Boxer with a severely contaminated open fracture of the left radius and ulna fracture, produced by a helicopter propeller, was treated using bone transport by the Ilizarov method. Extensive diaphyseal bone loss and soft-tissue vascular damage were present. The radius and ulna were stabilised with an Ilizarov ring external fixator. The bone defect was partially shortened and restored by gradual transport of a bone segment created from proximal segments of the radius and ulna. The external fixator was removed 4fi months after the beginning of the latency period, due to instability caused by osteolysis around the wires. A cast was placed for 3 weeks. Although the bone transport had resulted in formation of approximately 4 cm of bone, the antebrachium showed approximately 50% shortening when compared to the contralateral limb. The infection was eradicated, and the dog was able to bear weight on the operated limb when walking.

Description of the immatures of the ant, Myrmelachista catharinae

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Nectaries and reproductive biology of Croton sarcopetalus (Euphorbiaceae)

Flower morphology, nectary structure, nectar chemical composition, breeding system, floral visitors and pollination were analysed in Croton sarcopetalus, a diclinous-monoecious shrub from Argentina. Male flowers have five receptacular nectaries, with no special vascular bundles, that consist of a uniserial epidermis with stomata subtended by a secretory parenchyma. Female flowers bear two different types of nectaries: inner (IN) and outer (ON) floral nectaries. IN, five in all, are structurally similar to the nectaries of male flowers. The five ON are vascularized, stalked, and composed of secretory, column-shaped epidermal cells without stomata subtended by secretory and ground parenchyma. In addition, ON act as post-floral nectaries secreting nectar during fruit ripening. Extrafloral nectaries (EFN) are located on petioles, stipules and leaf margins. Petiolar EFN are patelliform, stalked and anatomically similar to the ON of the female flower. Nectar sampled from all nectary types is hexose dominant, except for the ON of the female flower at the post-floral stage that is sucrose dominant. The species is self-compatible, but geitonogamous fertilization is rarely possible because male and female flowers are not usually open at the same time in the same individual, i.e. there is temporal dioecism. Flowers are visited by 22 insect species, wasps being the most important group of pollinators. No significant differences were found in fruit and seed set between natural and hand pollinated flowers. This pattern indicates that fruit production in this species is not pollen/pollinator limited and is mediated by a wide array of pollinators. (C) 2001 the Linnean Society of London.

TAXONOMY, ONTOGENY and PALEOECOLOGY of TWO SPECIES of HARBINIA TSAO, 1959 (CRUSTACEA, OSTRACODA) FROM THE SANTANA FORMATION, LOWER CRETACEOUS, NORTHEASTERN BRAZIL

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

Chromatic alteration in Arenaeus cribrarius (Lamarck) (Crustacea, Portunidae): an indicator of sexual maturity

Some individuals of the species Arenaeus cribrarius (Lamarck, 1818) bear a characteristic pink abdomen, which is notably different from the usual white coloration. The incidence of this chromatic alteration was determined for a single population and its relation with other individual variables were examined. The individuals were monthly collected from May, 1991 to April, 1993, in Ubatuba, São Paulo, with the aid of a shrimp fishery boat provided with double-rig trawling nets. All specimens were sexed, measured (CW = carapace width), distributed in 10-mm size classes and classified according to growth phase (juvenile and adult), molting condition and development stage of gonads. The occurrence of pink-colored morphs was also recorded. From a total of 2,096 collected individuals, only 60 females (nine of those ovigerous) presented a pink-colored abdomen, which represents 2.9% of the whole sample and 5.2% of the females. Almost all of them were intermolt individuals (96.6%) and 63.3% showed mature gonads. According to published data, size at the onset of functional maturity in A. cribrarius females is around 60 mm CW, from which the incidence of pink morphs and ovigerous crabs were recorded. The obtained results suggest that such a chromatic alteration is associated to sexual maturity in these females. This characteristic may enhance the attraction potential for mating, shortly after the puberty molt.

B-chromosomes in two Brazilian populations of Dendropsophus nanus (Anura, Hylidae)

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

Karyotype characterization, constitutive heterochromatin and nucleolus organizer regions of Paranaita opima (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Alticinae)

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Early Miocene bivalves from the Cape Melville Formation, King George Island, West Antarctica

Seven species of marine bivalves, including six new taxa, are described from the Cape early Miocene Melville Formation which crops out on the Melville Peninsula, King George Island, West Antarctica. The bivalve assemblage includes representatives of the families Nuculidae, Ennucula frigida sp. nov., E. musculosa sp. nov.; Malletidae, Neilo (Neilo) rongelii sp. nov.; Sareptidae, Yoldia peninsularis sp. nov.; Limopsidae, Limopsis psimolis sp. nov.; Hiatellidae, Panopea (Panopea) sp. cf. P. regularis; and Pholadomyoida (Periploma acuta sp. nov.). Species studied come from four sedimentary sections measured in the upper part of the unit. Detailed morphologic features of nuculoid and areoid species are exceptionally well preserved and allow for the first time reconstruction of muscle insertions as well as dentition patterns of Cenozoic taxa. Known geological distribution of the species is in agreement with the early Miocene age assigned to the Cape Melville Formation. The bivalve fauna from Cape Melville Formation is the best known from Antarctic Miocene rocks, a time of complex geologic, paleogeographic and paleoclimatic changes in the continent. The new fauna introduces new taxonomic and palaeogeographic data that bear oil the question of opening of sea gateways and distribution of Cenozoic biota around Antarctica.

Development of the inverted visceral yolk sac in three species of caviids (rodentia, caviomorpha, caviidae)

Guinea pig related rodents possess numerous derived placental characters. We attempt to identify diversity within the visceral yolk sac and its association with the chorioallantoic placenta in three species of caviids, two of them possessing a capsule formed by the decidua that covers the chorioallantoic placenta. The results verify that in early pregnancy all three species have in inverted yolk sac placenta. In advanced pregnancy the species differ: Galea spixii, as representative without a capsule, bear a yolk sac in apposition to the chorioallantoic placenta with signs of exchange activity until term. Galea is similar to other caviomorphs in this respect. In Dasyprocta leporina and Cuniculus paca, the representatives possessing a capsule, the yolk sac endoderm lacks signs of substance exchange. Evidently, the presence of a capsule prevents such ail interaction. The variations established here must be considered if animal models for human placentation are required which have restricted access to the chorioallantoic placenta from the outside. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.