Belvosia sp (diptera: tachinidae) parasitizing halysidota sp (lepidoptera: arctiidae) caterpillars on ficus benjamina (moraceae) in Brazil

Ficus benjamina L. (Moraceae) is an exotic ornamental plant in Brazil. The aim of this study was to identify a defoliator and its parasitoid on F. benjamina plants in Vicosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil and to determine the number of pupae and the emergence of lepidopteran and a dipteran. Four Halysidota sp. (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae) groups, with 158, 144, 137 and 129 last-instar caterpillars aggregated on the trunks of 4 F. benjamina trees. These caterpillars were collected, held in plastic containers with ficus leaves until development and emergence were completed. Adults of 1 undescribed lepidopteran species (Halysidota) and 1 dipteran species [Belvosia (Tachinidae)] emerged from the Halysidota pupae. An average of 118 viable Halysidota pupae per group were formed, and an average of 62.5 Belvosia individuals emerged from these host pupae per Halysidota group. From a grand total of 472 Halysidota pupae only one adult emerged. Halysidota sp. damaged F. benjamina plants in Vicosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil, but this defoliator was parasitized by Belvosia sp. The findings reported here indicate that Belvosia sp. appears to have the potential to reduce populations of Halysidota sp. and possibly protect F. benjamina in ornamental plantings.

The aesthetic movement in Oscar Wilde's plays

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Una grande narrazione del capitalismo: potere e scienze sociali nel pensiero politico di Daniel Bell

Questa tesi punta a ricostruire il pensiero politico di Bell tra il secondo dopoguerra e la metà degli anni Settanta. In tale arco cronologico, la riflessione politica di Bell si profila, per usare una formula di Jean-François Lyotard, come una «grande narrazione» del capitalismo. Nel complesso, cioè, l’opera di Bell appare come una storia sociologica del capitalismo, che nella fine delle ideologie registra l’apogeo del fordismo e, in seguito, ne mette in luce le trasformazioni in senso post-industriale, indagando le ricadute che tali mutamenti implicano sul piano dei rapporti di potere e della legittimazione del sistema. Nell’ottica di Bell, pertanto, il capitalismo non costituisce soltanto un sistema economico, ma la forma specifica attraverso cui si dispiega la società nel suo complesso, attivando una serie di rapporti di potere mediante i quali gli individui vengono coordinati e subordinati. Una siffatta concezione del capitalismo agisce immediatamente la questione del potere e solleva un interrogativo a esso connesso: «che cosa tiene insieme una società?». Una domanda che attraversa la traiettoria intellettuale di Bell e, sia pure declinata mediante una terminologia sociologica, riflette in realtà l’ambizione delle scienze sociali di farsi teoria politica. Esse si presentano quindi come teoria politica della modernità, nella misura in cui distinguono il potere sociale dal potere politico e, al tempo stesso, instaurano tra i due poli una tensione dialettica produttiva. Mettendo a fuoco la concettualizzazione del potere nell’opera di Bell si analizzeranno le mutazioni nel rapporto tra Stato e società negli Stati Uniti durante la Golden Age del capitalismo. In particolare, si metterà in luce nella grande narrazione di Bell l’ascesa e il declino di un ordine istituzionale che, alla metà degli anni Settanta, appare percorso da molteplici tensioni politiche e sociali che preannunciano l’avvento dell’età globale e il bisogno di una nuova “scala” di governo.

Atrial remodeling, autonomic tone, and lifetime training hours in nonelite athletes

Endurance athletes have an increased risk of developing atrial fibrillation (AF) at 40 to 50 years of age. Signal-averaged P-wave analysis has been used for identifying patients at risk for AF. We evaluated the impact of lifetime training hours on signal-averaged P-wave duration and modifying factors. Nonelite men athletes scheduled to participate in the 2010 Grand Prix of Bern, a 10-mile race, were invited. Four hundred ninety-two marathon and nonmarathon runners applied for participation, 70 were randomly selected, and 60 entered the final analysis. Subjects were stratified according to their lifetime training hours (average endurance and strength training hours per week × 52 × training years) in low (<1,500 hours), medium (1,500 to 4,500 hours), and high (>4,500 hours) training groups. Mean age was 42 ± 7 years. From low to high training groups signal-averaged P-wave duration increased from 131 ± 6 to 142 ± 13 ms (p = 0.026), and left atrial volume increased from 24.8 ± 4.6 to 33.1 ± 6.2 ml/m(2) (p = 0.001). Parasympathetic tone expressed as root of the mean squared differences of successive normal-to-normal intervals increased from 34 ± 13 to 47 ± 16 ms (p = 0.002), and premature atrial contractions increased from 6.1 ± 7.4 to 10.8 ± 7.7 per 24 hours (p = 0.026). Left ventricular mass increased from 100.7 ± 9.0 to 117.1 ± 18.2 g/m(2) (p = 0.002). Left ventricular systolic and diastolic function and blood pressure at rest were normal in all athletes and showed no differences among training groups. Four athletes (6.7%) had a history of paroxysmal AF, as did 1 athlete in the medium training group and 3 athletes in the high training group (p = 0.252). In conclusion, in nonelite men athletes lifetime training hours are associated with prolongation of signal-averaged P-wave duration and an increase in left atrial volume. The altered left atrial substrate may facilitate occurrence of AF. Increased vagal tone and atrial ectopy may serve as modifying and triggering factors.

Long-term cardiac remodeling and arrhythmias in nonelite marathon runners

Long-term endurance sports are associated with atrial remodeling and atrial arrhythmias. More importantly, high-level endurance training may promote right ventricular (RV) dysfunction and complex ventricular arrhythmias. We investigated the long-term consequences of marathon running on cardiac remodeling as a potential substrate for arrhythmias with a focus on the right heart. We invited runners of the 2010 Grand Prix of Bern, a 10-mile race. Of 873 marathon and nonmarathon runners who applied, 122 (61 women) entered the final analysis. Subjects were stratified according to former marathon participations: control group (nonmarathon runners, n = 34), group 1 (1 marathon to 5 marathons, mean 2.7, n = 46), and group 2 (≥6 marathons, mean 12.8, n = 42). Mean age was 42 ± 7 years. Results were adjusted for gender, age, and lifetime training hours. Right and left atrial sizes increased with marathon participations. In group 2, right and left atrial enlargements were present in 60% and 74% of athletes, respectively. RV and left ventricular (LV) dimensions showed no differences among groups, and RV or LV dilatation was present in only 2.4% or 4.3% of marathon runners, respectively. In multiple linear regression analysis, marathon participation was an independent predictor of right and left atrial sizes but had no effect on RV and LV dimensions and function. Atrial and ventricular ectopic complexes during 24-hour Holter monitoring were low and equally distributed among groups. In conclusion, in nonelite athletes, marathon running was not associated with RV enlargement, dysfunction, or ventricular ectopy. Marathon running promoted biatrial remodeling.

Siberian Wooden Churches: Reality and Symbolics

The preservation of Siberia's cultural heritage poses a serious problem. Many Siberian churches were destroyed or reconstructed, without their original form being carefully described. Mainicheva studied the question of Siberian wooden churches of the 17th-18th centuries, producing a complex analysis of their symbolism, phenomenology and morphology. Published and archival materials show that such unique churches as the Sophia Cathedral in Tobolesk (1621), the Trinity Church in Tomsk (1654) and the Church of Kazan Holy Mother in Ilimsk (1679) directly reflected the main features of medieval Russian culture combined with new perceptions of Man and the Universe. These Russian Orthodox churches have considerable significance for understanding the natural development of Russian architecture as a part of the Russian culture of permanently moving people. All these churches, which no longer exist in their original form, were built by unknown folk builders and represented a good example of non-professional architecture. Mainicheva developed full descriptions of the churches, including graphic reconstructions of their original plans and facades.

Colour Symbolism, Colour Preference in Hungarian Folklore and Folk Architecture"

The Hungarian way of decoration has certain characteristics which are rooted in the deep symbolism of ancient Hungarian mythical thinking. The ancient heritage of the Hungarians' former homeland somewhere in the Urals included eastern elements. During their migrations, the Hungarian tribes met other eastern peoples and their culture of decoration became mixed with elements drawn from these new contacts. These diverse influences mean that the Hungarian way of thinking, building and ornamentation show a certain dualism of Puritanism and rationalism in the creation of space and manufacturing, and rich fantasy in decoration and ornamentation. The Hungarians use coloured ornamentation to emphasise the symbolic importance of details. The colouring system of the built environment shows the same dualism: the main colour of the facades and inner walls is white, while the furniture, textiles, gates and windows, and sometimes the gable and fireplace are richly decorated. In Hungarian symbolism, the house and settlement are a model of the universe, so their different parts also have a transcendent meaning. The traditional meanings of the different colours reflect this transcendence. Each colour has ambivalent meanings: RED - the colour of blood - means violence and love. YELLOW - means sickness, death and ripeness (golden yellow). BLUE - means innocence, eternity (light blue) and old age, death (dark blue). BLACK - can be both ceremonial and mourning. WHILE - can have sacred meaning (bright white), while yellowish white fabric is the most common garb of both men and women in village society. GREEN - the only colour without a dual meaning, symbolises the beginning of life. Until the late 18th and early 19th centuries Hungarian folk art used one or two-coloured decoration (red, black, blue, red-blue or red-black), and from the early 19th century it moved to multi-coloured decoration. Colours are characteristically used in complementary contrast, with bright colours on a plain ground and an avoidance of subtle shadings.

La ciudadanía en el pensamiento de Esteban Echeverría : El gobierno de los capaces como orden político posrevolucionario

Este artículo sostiene que la ciudadanía política es formulada por Esteban Echeverría como un producto histórico- institucional del progreso que, gradualmente, con la labor pedagógica de los capaces se ampliará a toda la sociedad. La ciudadanía política, escala meritocrática entre el municipio y el gobierno nacional, es una solución al problema del desajuste producido entre la ley electoral de 1821 implementada en el Estado de Buenos Aires y la inexperiencia del Río de la Plata en materia de gobierno representativo. Para enmendarlo propondrá "organizar la democracia" en base a la "soberanía de la razón" o el gobierno de los capaces

La ciudadanía en el pensamiento de Esteban Echeverría : El gobierno de los capaces como orden político posrevolucionario

Este artículo sostiene que la ciudadanía política es formulada por Esteban Echeverría como un producto histórico- institucional del progreso que, gradualmente, con la labor pedagógica de los capaces se ampliará a toda la sociedad. La ciudadanía política, escala meritocrática entre el municipio y el gobierno nacional, es una solución al problema del desajuste producido entre la ley electoral de 1821 implementada en el Estado de Buenos Aires y la inexperiencia del Río de la Plata en materia de gobierno representativo. Para enmendarlo propondrá "organizar la democracia" en base a la "soberanía de la razón" o el gobierno de los capaces

La ciudadanía en el pensamiento de Esteban Echeverría : El gobierno de los capaces como orden político posrevolucionario

Este artículo sostiene que la ciudadanía política es formulada por Esteban Echeverría como un producto histórico- institucional del progreso que, gradualmente, con la labor pedagógica de los capaces se ampliará a toda la sociedad. La ciudadanía política, escala meritocrática entre el municipio y el gobierno nacional, es una solución al problema del desajuste producido entre la ley electoral de 1821 implementada en el Estado de Buenos Aires y la inexperiencia del Río de la Plata en materia de gobierno representativo. Para enmendarlo propondrá "organizar la democracia" en base a la "soberanía de la razón" o el gobierno de los capaces

Rotten Symbol Mongering: Scapegoating in Post-9/11 American War Literature

A rhetorical approach to the fiction of war offers an appropriate vehicle by which one may encounter and interrogate such literature and the cultural metanarratives that exist therein. My project is a critical analysis—one that relies heavily upon Kenneth Burke’s dramatistic method and his concepts of scapegoating, the comic corrective, and hierarchical psychosis—of three war novels published in 2012 (The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers, FOBBIT by David Abrams, and Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain). This analysis assumes a rhetorical screen in order to subvert and redirect the grand narratives the United States perpetuates in art form whenever it goes to war. Kenneth Burke’s concept of ad bellum purificandum (the purification of war) sought to bridge the gap between war experience and the discourse that it creates in both art and criticism. My work extends that project. I examine the symbolic incongruity of convenient symbols that migrate from war to war (“Geronimo” was used as code for Osama bin Laden’s death during the S.E.A.L team raid; “Indian Country” stands for any dangerous land in Iraq; hajji is this generation’s epithet for the enemy other). Such an examination can weaken our cultural “symbol mongering,” to borrow a phrase from Walker Percy. These three books, examined according to Burke’s methodology, exhibit a wide range of approaches to the soldier’s tale. Notably, however, whether they refigure the grand narratives of modern culture or recast the common redemptive war narrative into more complex representations, this examination shows how one can grasp, contend, and transcend the metanarrative of the typical, redemptive war story.

Abiel Holmes's book: bought Decem'r 23'd anno domini 1780 : manuscript, 1780-1783 and undated

Commonplace book containing excerpts on religion, philosophy, geometry and other subjects; with two fold-out tables, one concerning the "partition of sciences" and the other "grand divisions of Europe."

Balancing Priorities and Emergency Measures: Luxembourg’s Council Presidency. EPIN Commentary No. 30/15 January 2016

The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg held the reins of the EU Council presidency between 1 July and 31 December 2015. This was the 12th time that the second-smallest and the richest EU member state1 held the rotating Council presidency. As one of the founding members of the EU, Luxembourg has sound experience to bring to this role. It was, however, their first presidency since the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty and its introduction of the trio presidency format, this time including Italy and Latvia. Under the slogan ‘A Union for the Citizens’, Luxembourg had the task of concluding certain major dossiers before the end of the trio’s term and was able to contribute to its overarching agenda, especially regarding the priorities of financial stability, growth stimulation and the digital agenda.

Information Guide: Luxembourg. May 2015

A guide to information sources on the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, with hyperlinks to information within European Sources Online and on external websites.

Margaret Scisney-Matlock

Scene showing a group of men, women, and children. The men appear to be members of the Grand Army of the Republic, possibly the Gov. Crapo Post #145