Potencialidades de cultivo de macroalgas no litoral do Rio Grande do Norte (NE, Brasil): uma perspectiva de integração de dados ambientais em sistemas de informação geográfica (SIG)

Since centuries ago, the Asians use seaweed as an important source of feeding and are their greatest world-wide consumers. The migration of these peoples for other countries, made the demand for seaweed to increase. This increasing demand prompted an industry with annual values of around US$ 6 billion. The algal biomass used for the industry is collected in natural reservoirs or cultivated. The market necessity for products of the seaweed base promotes an unsustainable exploration of the natural banks, compromising its associated biological balance. In this context, seaweed culture appears as a viable alternative to prevent the depletion of these natural supplies. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) provide space and produce information that can facilitate the evaluation of important physical and socio-economic characteristics for the planning of seaweed culture. This objective of this study is to identify potential coastal areas for seaweed culture in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, from the integration of social-environmental data in the SIG. In order to achieve this objective, a geo-referred database composed of geographical maps, nautical maps and orbital digital images was assembled; and a bank of attributes including physical and oceanographical variables (winds, chains, bathymetry, operational distance from the culture) and social and environmental factors (main income, experience with seaweed harvesting, demographic density, proximity of the sheltered coast and distance of the banks) was produced. In the modeling of the data, the integration of the space database with the bank of attributes for the attainment of the map of potentiality of seaweed culture was carried out. Of a total of 2,011 ha analyzed by the GIS for the culture of seaweed, around 34% or 682 ha were indicated as high potential, 55% or 1,101 ha as medium potential, and 11% or 228 ha as low potential. The good indices of potentiality obtained in the localities studied demonstrate that there are adequate conditions for the installation of seaweed culture in the state of Rio Grande do Norte

Avaliação do potencial genotóxico e citotóxico associado a queima artesanal da castanha de caju no Município de João Câmara

The Brazil is the third largest producer of cashew nuts in the world. Despite the social and economic importance of the cashew nut, its production is still carried out artisanally. One of the main problems encountered in the cashew production chain are the conditions under which the roasting of the nut occurs to obtain the kernel from the shell. In the present study was conducted a biomonitoring of the genotoxic and cytotoxicity effects associated with the elements from the cashew nut roasting in João Câmara - RN, semi-arid region of Brazil. To assess the genotoxic was used the bioassay of micronucleus (MN) in Tradescantia pallida. In addition, it was performed a comparative between the Tradescantia pallida and KU-20 and other biomarkers of DNA damage, such as the nucleoplasmic bridges (NBP) and nuclear fragments (NF) were quantified. The levels of particulate matter (PM1.0, PM2.5, PM10) and black carbon (BC) were also measured and the inorganic chemical composition of the PM2.5 collected was determined using X-ray fluorescence spectrometry analysis and the assessment of the cytotoxicity by MTT assay and exclusion method by trypan blue. . For this purpose, were chosen: the Amarelão community where the roasting occurs and the Santa Luzia farm an area without influence of this process. The mean value of PM2.5 (Jan 2124.2 μg/m3; May 1022.2 μg/m3; Sep 1291.9 μg/m3) and BC (Jan 363.6 μg/m3; May 70.0 μg/m3; Sep 69.4 μg/m3) as well as the concentration of the elements Al, Si, P, S, Cl, K, Ca, Ti, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Se, Br and Pb obtained at Amarelão was significantly higher than at Santa Luzia farm. The genotoxicity tests with T. pallida indicated a significant increase in the number of MN, NBP and NF and it was found a negative correlation between the frequency of these biomarkers and the rainfall. The concentrations of 200 μg/mL and 400 μg/mL of PM2.5 were cytotoxic to MRC-5 cells. All together, the results indicated genotoxicity and citotoxicity for the community of Amarelão, and the high rates of PM2.5 considered a potential contributor to this effect, mainly by the high presence of transition metals, especially Fe, Ni, Cu, Cr and Zn, these elements have the potential to cause DNA damage. Other nuclear alterations, such as the NPBs and NFs may be used as effective biomarkers of DNA damage in tetrads of Tradescantia pallida. The results of this study enabled the identification of a serious occupational problem. Accordingly, preventative measures and better practices should be adopted to improve both the activity and the quality of life of the population. These measures are of fundamental importance for the sustainable development of this activity.

Estrutura da população de Microcerotermes exiguus ( Isoptera: Termitidae) e sua partuicipação no consumo de madeira em uma área de caatinga, Nordeste, Brasil

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior

A transformação da Associação de Professores do Rio Grande do Norte (APRN) em Sindicato dos Trabalhadores em Educação (1986-1990)

El estudo que ahora apresentamos habla a respecto ala transformaçión de la Asociación de maestros del Rio Grande del Norte (APRN en sindicato de los trabajadores en educación (SINTE) en el período de 1986 1990. Tratase basicamiente de las razones que llebaran historicamente la APRN la reorganizar sus luchas, su cultura política y el su movimiento reivindicatório; que impulsionaran la construción del próprio sindicato el único de la categoria, após el regime militar em el país especialmente en el gobierno Sarney, y en el ánbito estadual com la resistência la política econômica y la repreción policial del gobierno Geraldo Melo, la época. El estudo también apunta algunas caraterísticas marcantes del contexto histórico de la educación nacional, enfatizando la asención de la escuela nueva en el Brasil en las décadas de 1920 y 1930, inclusive delante del movimiento sindical, controlado por el gobierno Vargas que tênia uma praetica corporativista. Es importante decir que esas características estavan juntas del contexto local, en el rato en que se percebia la primer gestan del prof Anfilóquio Cámara, como el primer presidente de la APRN, al partir de la su fundación (1920), y que tênia um relacionamento bastante estrecho com el poder público estadual de caráter liberal. Habia una discución sobre la abertura política y la atuación política de las clases médias brasileñas ya em 1979, y al mismo tiempo analisabase el desencandeamiento del nuevo sindicalismo en el ABC Paulista, mientras uno movimiento sindical, autônomo y democrático que tênia el objetivo de juntar lãs luchas de los operários dentro y fuera de las fábricas reivindicando basicamiente: la redución de la jornada del trabajo, reajuste de sueldo y condición del trabajo, bien como lãs sus consecuencias para el movimiento de los educadores potigurares. Al hacer en septembre de 1989, el sindicato de los trabajadores en educación del Rio Grande del Norte se desvincula definitivamiente de uma estructura sindical vertical (tradicional), que la ex-APRN herdo al longo de su História del gobierno Vargas, siempre controlada pelo Estado y que en las décadas de 1980 y 1990 fue fortalecido por la CNTE (Confederación Nacional de los Trabajadores en la, educación), principalmente, a partir del Congreso Nacional de Unificación de los Trabajadores en la Educación, realizado en Aracaju/SE em el período de 25 a 28 de enero de 1990 en el sentido tambien de las sus principais reivindicaciones: escuela pública, gratuita y de cualidades en todos los pasos, verbas públicas solamiente para las escuelas públicas, reposición de los reajustes de sueldo, condición del trabajo, sueldo unificado nacional y la eradicación del analfabetismo

Novas fronteiras petrolíferas no Brasil : uma análise da necessidade de nova regulamentação da área do pré-sal sob a ótica constitucional

The Oil industry in Brazil has gone through several stages during the economical, political and social historical process. However, the significative changes have happened in the last fifteen years, due to market opening arising from the relaxation of the state monopoly over the Oil deposits and its derivatives. The edition of the Constitutional Amendment #9, changing the first paragraph of the 177th item of the Federal Constitution, marked the end of a stiffness about the monopoly that the Brazilian state kept in relation to the exploration and research of Oil and Gas. The economical order was fundamental to actualize the idea contained in the #9 Amendment, since its contents has the power to set up measures to be adopted by public power in order to organize the economical relations from a social viewpoint. The new brazilian Oil scenery, called pre-salt, presents itself in a way to amaze the economical markets, in addition to creating a new perspective to the social sector. This work will identify, in this new scenario, the need for change in the legal system. Nevertheless, this subject must not be treated in a thoughtless way: being an exhaustible good, we shall not forget that the future generations also must benefit from the exploration of natural resources recently discovered. The settlement of a new regulatory mark, including the change in the concession contract model to production and sharing is one of the suggested solutions as a bill in the National Congress, in an attempt to ensure the sovereignty of the nation. The constitutionality of a new regulatory mark is questioned, starting from an analysis of the state monopoly, grounding the comprehnsions in the brazilian constitutions, the relevance of the creation of Petrobras for self-assertion of the state about the monopoly of Oil and derivatives, and its posture after the Constitutional Amendment nº 9 (1995), when a company stops having control of the state monopoly, beginning to compete in a fairly way with other companies. The market opening and private initiative are emphasized from the viewpoint of the Constitutional Principles of the Economical and Social Order. The relaxation of the monopoly regarding the exploratory activity in the Federal Constitution doesn't deprive from the Union the ownerships of underground goods, enabling to this federal entity to contract, directly or by concession of exploration of goods, to state-owned or private companies. The existing oil in the pre-salt layer transforms the scenario from very high risk to low risk, which gives the Union the possibility of defining another way of exploring this resources in the best interests of the Public Administration

Avaliação do desempenho reprodutivo do Cavalo-Marinho Hippocampus reidi (GINSBURG 1933) do estuário do Rio Potengi (Rio Grande do Norte, Brasil) com vistas ao seu cultivo em bases sustentáveis

Os cavalos-marinhos têm cativado a imaginação e a curiosidade dos seres humanos por centenas de anos. No entanto, nos dias de hoje, esses animais correm um sério risco de extinção por fatores como a pesca desordenada para suprir os mercados de peixes ornamentais e da medicina tradicional chinesa e principalmente, a destruição do seu habitat. Nesse contexto, é crescente o número de estudos sobre a ecologia, a biologia (reprodutiva, especialmente) e o cultivo de várias espécies do gênero Hippocampus, inclusive para fins conservacionistas e de recomposição de estoques. Duas espécies de cavalos-marinhos são encontradas no Brasil: Hippocampus reidi Ginsburg 1933 e Hippocampus erectus Perry. No entanto, as informações sobre essas espécies estão basicamente restritas ao seu grau de ocorrência ou a sua área de ocupação. No presente estudo, foi avaliado o desempenho reprodutivo de Hippocampus reidi do estuário do rio Potengi (05° 47' 42'' S; 35° 12' 34'' W), em Natal, Rio Grande do Norte. Para tanto, cavalos-marinhos grávidos (n = 38) foram coletados no referido estuário nos meses de setembro, outubro e novembro de 2008 e julho, agosto, setembro e outubro de 2009 e mantidos em laboratório até que liberassem os filhotes. O comprimento padrão (CPA), altura (ATA), volume da bolsa (VB) e peso úmido (PuA) dos adultos, bem como o comprimento padrão (CPF), altura (ATF), peso úmido (PuF) e peso seco (PsF) dos filhotes foram determinados. Os resultados obtidos mostraram que houve correlações significativas entre o CPA e a ATA (r²=0,171), CPA e PuA (r²=0,624), CPA e VB (r²=0,256), ATA e PuA (r²=0,788), PuA e VB (r²=0,211), CPF e ATF (r²=0,903) e CPF e PsF (r²=0,163). A análise de correspondência (AC) que associou as classes do comprimento padrão dos adultos (CPA) e o volume da bolsa de H. reidi ao número de filhotes mostrou que animais entre 19 cm e 21 cm e com volume de bolsa entre 3 mL e 4 mL foram os que liberaram o maior número de filhotes. Os resultados do presente estudo também indicam que o tamanho mínimo de captura recomendado pela CITES (10 cm de altura) para H. reidi deve ser revisto, uma vez que não foram encontrados animais menores que 13,5 cm que estivessem grávidos. Finalmente, o número médio de filhotes por desova obtido no presente estudo (n = 775 ± 398 filhotes) realçou o potencial reprodutivo de H. reidi e a necessidade de estudos adicionais com esta espécie

Avaliação da atividade turística sobre a composição e a distribuição das macroalgas marinhas nos recifes de Pirangi (Rio Grande do Norte, Brasil)

The reef area of Pirangi beach has been experiencing antropogenic actions, mainly due to tourism activity. In order to evaluate these effects, surveys on seaweeds were conducted at nine stations located over the fringing reef. Benthic community (seaweeds/corals) were identified using the photoquadrat method, with 50 meters random transects located paralleled to the coast. The general categories evaluated in each transect were: rock, sand, seaweeds, corals and mollusks. Data achieved were processed at Coral Point Count with Excel Extensions software. A total of 30 seaweed species, 5 coral species and 1 mollusk species were identified. There was a high dominance of short algae at stations with high tourism pressure, whereas frondose algae usually occurred at places without human interference. Seaweeds with the highest percent cover were composed by Sargassum vulgare (59%), Caulerpa racemosa (47%) and Dictyopteris delicatula (33%). Cluster analyses considering benthic organisms revealed five benthic features: (1) submersed area characterized by a diversified marine flora; (2) area with dominance of Caulerpa racemosa and presence of Millepora alcicornis; (3) area with high cover of Sargassum vulgare; (4) trampling area characterized by bare rocks, short algae and Zoanthus sociatus and (5) area with high coverage of Palythoa caribaeroum. Obtained data suggest that the studied area has been damaged by tourism activities. Furthermore, observed differences in algal communities may be a good indicator of ecosystem health of Pirangi reefs

Efeitos das variáveis ambientais locais sobre a abundância, a riqueza e a biomassa da macrofauna de solo em um ecossistema semiárido no estado do rio grande do norte, nordeste do brasil

The soil macrofauna is influenced to several biotic and abiotic environmental factors, from changes in the physical environment to a variety of interactions among the species involved, affecting the patterns of biodiversity of soil fauna. The power and specificity of the mechanisms that act on soil organisms vary greatly depending on environmental conditions at different scales of space and time. The Caatinga has great spatial heterogeneity of vegetation, climate and soil, so the soil macrofauna would follow this local spatial variation in the environment? This study aimed to investigate the effects of local environmental variables on biological parameters (taxa richness, total abundance and biomass) of soil macrofauna in a fragment of caatinga in João Câmara, Rio Grande Norte, Northeast Brazil. The study was conducted in the Cauaçu farm, where a grid of 2000m x 500m was drawn, and later, 30 sampling points were randomly selected. The methodology used to collect the macrofauna was the TSBF method. We tested the effects of 10 environmental variables on macrofauna across the plots and across the layers of soil. The hypothesis that macrofauna soil responds to changes in the environment was not supported throughout the plots, but was confirmed to soil layers. The soil macrofauna shows a pattern of concentration in the surface layer and decreases considerably in the deeper layers. This pattern had significant and positive relationship with the aerial plant biomass and fine root stock. The aerial plant biomass releases plant necromass that accumulates in the surface layer, providing an important source of resource and shelter for soil macrofauna, explaining their greater abundance in this layer. The roots are used as a means for the arrival of nutrients to the soil from the primary production, thus a greater amount of root conditions higher food intake for macrofauna, especially the herbivores

A Formação de Padres no Nordeste do Brasil (1894-1933)

The Nossa Senhora da Conceição Seminary, installed in 1894, by Dom Adauto Aurélio de Miranda Henriques, first Paraíba Bishop, and the Episcopal Seminary of the Sagrado Coração de Jesus, implanted in 1913, by Dom José Thomas Gomes da Silva, first Aracaju s Bishop diocese, were created as a result of lack of an official religious process proposed by the Brazilian Republic Proclamation, in 1889. With the appoint to enlarge the number of priests and change the image of the priest married and unrolled who used to identify the Catholic Church in the colonial and imperial Brazil. Such bishops developed into intellectuals in the government, dioceses and formation priest houses. I take as a study object, for this doctorate paper, the academic formation and priesthood developed in theses seminaries, from 1894 to 1933, once 1894 the year of João Pessoa Creation Seminar that was implied the Minor Course (preparation) and the Major one (built by Philosophy and God related studies) and the research limit year of 1933, is concerned about the Major Sergipe Seminary ending, which was created and has worked offering the Minor and Major courses, from 1913 to 1933. Showing the teaching models that guided and leaded the priest formation, referred as Seminaries, and the application result is the objective of this investigation. To comprehend the teaching models seminaries studied, my research line is the Catholic Church theme and priest formation in Brazil. In front of the object and the objective desired, I chose the historical comparative method and the scholars modals notions of Araujo de Barros (2004) and the Sirinelli intellectuals (1996). Such references allowed me to analyze the formation given in the seminary and seminarian participation and actions, included the sequence after the scholars formation. The thesis defended is that the teaching model developed in the Brazilian Seminaries, created after a non official religious process in the Brazilian government, deal with a model of one unique center (Seminary formation and aim pre arranged by Santa Sé), although adapted, presuming the local reality and formation structure (privileged not only spiritual and moral speaking, but intellectual also), was it responsible for intellectuals generations (teachers priests, educationalist priest, journalists priests and so on) that boost the education in Brazil. During the Republic first three decades, when, in thesis, the Government was becoming free religion, i.e., the government did not subsidize the Church anymore, and the Government, among others aspects, did not received any Church care to help the public teaching in the country. The investigation reveled accede, by bishops and their followers, such as by the Concílio de Trento pre concept, or by the others ideas, leading by the priests formation in Seminaries. By creating and stalling diocese Seminary, Bishop Dom Adauto and Dom José went further their functions, by the time they built inside themselves a teaching model thought from the main pedagogic logic, based on several religious exercises, moral and ethic, considered by themselves several knowledge connected to humanity, philosophy and God related studies). Following clearly rationalism principle (the way of teaching, which each subject has its own teacher and this class get together students with the same knowledge, regardless of age) and efficiency (trying to teach the whole content in each class), the Seminaries researched developed a whole education, allowed the structure of a spiritual education, moral and intellectual, for a quality developed by priests, including different levels that they used to performance. Their bottom line, actions and priest matter achievement allowed their broad fulfillment, in the way that priests matter were associated with cultural, educational, welfare assistance, at last, intellectuals

Aí eu era Antônio Brasil: contribuições de situações didáticas com conhecimentos históricos para a construção da identidade pessoal da criança na educação infantil

L'objectif de cette étude est de comprendre la relation entre les situations didactiques faisant appel aux connaissances historiques et la construction de l'identité personnelle pour les enfants dans l'éducation de la petite enfance. Sa question centrale se demande si les connaissances sont offrent des contributions à la construction de l'identité personnelle par les enfants de la petite enfance. Se distingue, lui aussi, entend contribuer à élargir le débat sur l'enseignement et l'apprentissage des thèmes historiques dans l'éducation des enfants, et permettre un dialogue avec d'autres enseignants dans cette étape de l'éducation. Ont été analysés par des principes théoriques et méthodologiques de qualité et a assumé les orientations méthodologiques de la recherche collaborative. Il a été constaté que la systématisation des situations didactiques impliquant la connaissance historique dans l'éducation de la petite enfance contribue à la construction de l'identité personnelle de l'enfant. Ceci, pour prendre possession de ces connaissances, ils recueillent des renseignements qui permet le plus large éventail de relations, afin de comparer les pratiques culturelles de son temps avec des pratiques à d'autres moments. Ainsi orientée, l'enfant cherche à raconter son histoire avec le thème historique à laquelle elle a eu accès, d'organiser et de construire des réponses des explications sur leur environnement et de lui-même. Tout cela montre à la réalisation que le processus d'internalisation des connaissances historiques de l'enfant est construit comme un sujet et, par conséquent, cette connaissance peut être conçu comme un médiateur dans la formation de l'identité personnelle

O memorial autobiográfico: uma tradição acadêmica do ensino superior no Brasil

The thesis has as object of study the autobiographical memmorials. The general objective is to describe the history of the memmorial as an academic tradition of higher education in Brazil. Considered a hybrid genre, memmorials are known for focusing on life stories from a scientific perspective. The investigation revolves around three intertwined branches: History of Education, educational practices and language usages, which allow us to conduct a dialogue with multiple theoretical-methodological references with a view to supporting our analyses. The corpus used for the analysis was made up of 40 autobiographical memmorials, distributed as follows: 16 academic memmorials, dated from 1935 to 1970; 07 academic memmorials, dated from 1980 to 2007; and 17 formation memmorials, dated from 1995 to 2000. In this corpus, we also included official documents, which relate to legislation contained in edicts, resolutions, ordinances, regulations, which we used with a view to: 1) getting to know and understanding the big picture of higher education regulation in Brazil and the aspects related to the higher education teaching career; 2) investigating the text of memmorials in the light of the injunctive discourse characteristic of the edicts and resolutions in which they were based. The analysis of the memmorial supported by the legislation which regulates it allowed us to reconstitute the image of the professor throughout 80 years in the Brazilian public university. For this purpose, the study was conducted in the theoretical-methodological perspective of the (auto)biographical research in Education and of the sociolinguistic studies on discourse genres and discursive traditions. The investigations reveal the memmorial as an academic genre in which the professor's academic-professional history and the history of the higher education teaching career in Brazil intertwine. Anchored in the Bakhtinian perspective on discourse genres, according to which the memmorials evolve and become more complex as their contexts of usage also evolve and become more complex themselves, the results of our analyses allowed us to correlate genre changes to the sociohistorical context and to its usage as an educational practice in the university, in the decades under study. Therefore, the analyses showed that these self-writings: go from latent subjectivity to pure objectivity from the 1930s to 1960s; they show total annulment of the subject from the 1960s to the 1970s; they reappear in the 1980s, having Professor Magda Soares' memmorial as perspective; they expand and diversify from the 1990s onwards, taking on a formative role and a perspective of future as well. So far as language usages are concerned, we investigated the relationship of the subject with the language, especifically the manifestation of alterity on the discursive tissue of the memmorials. In this branch, the analyses pointed to the influence of the authoritative discourse on the formation of the professor and of the injunction and reinventing discourses on the authorship process. Therefore, the autobiographical memmorial reveals itself as a specific expression of the Brazilian academy's cultural sphere and allows us to confirm the hypothesis that each memorial tackles a singular-plural situation, by presenting a dialectical articulation between private and public, according to the institutional structures, in which and with which the professor has already formed him/herself and with which he/she dialogues

Guiando almas femininas: a educação protestante da mulher em impressos confessionais no Brasil e em Portugal (1890-1930)

This paper treats confessional printings as a non formal space for the female education. It reflects on the importance of the woman s role to the diffusion of Protestantism in general, and its Presbyterian trend in particular, besides commenting on the proliferation of printings at the First Republic and its relation with education. In this study, Brazilian Northeastern is seen as a relevant space to the diffusion of Protestantism in Brazil; especially on what concerns the relations between Rio Grande do Norte and Pernambuco. Thereby some fountains were fundamental, as the confessional printings, that is, newspapers, magazines, prospects and other materials recollected in archives located in Natal/RN and Recife/PE, and São Paulo. It was also provided a brief incursion on Portuguese confessional printings kept in Oporto, PT. New Cultural History was chosen as theoretic-methodological guide, franchising ways inside the history of book and reading with the help of concepts like Interdependence, Social Configuration (ELIAS, 1993, 1994) and Representation (CHARTIER, 1990), considering that the survey worked out culture-manufactured products that is, intentional materials. It is well known that publishing, or better, the dissemination of printed material used to be associated to Protestants missionary practices since Reform began and, as what concerns the investigated period, in Portuguese and Brazilian lands indistinctly. Printing material in general books, booklets, fragments, as well as the press itself played a central role in divulging reformed ideas, their social options and the means of being and intervening in the world. In this regard, the confessional printings established themselves as an educative, although non schooled, informal space, but, all considered, relevant, seen that they dialogue with another important demand of that social group: formal, literate education. Because it dealt with the diffusion of a printed culture supported by the written word, it required of that group a different modus operandi: formal education. The first letters schools at first, then the high schools later represented spaces established for the circulation of printing material in order that they should be read, divulged and comprehended. This survey intends at last to take a look at Protestantism which, in this context of self-affirmation, reserved a specific place to woman by working out a non formal educational proposal disseminated by printing material. Three models were highlighted in the reformed proposal: Christian education in itself, household education, whose references of motherhood and care towards the neighbor were present and, at last, education to the public space, with emphasis on the practice of teaching. This study also offers a brief dialogue between Brazil and Portugal because, when some periodic printing, book or something like that got to be published in one margin of the Atlantic Ocean, the other margin surely was affected by that feat, received it, divulged it, corroborating the argument in support of the circulation of these printings. It was not only the same language that survived in both maritime coasts; some protestant specificities also crossed out along that sea

Caracterização estatística de processos sísmicos via Distribuição Generalizada de Pareto. Estudo de caso: João Câmara-RN

The work is to make a brief discussion of methods to estimate the parameters of the Generalized Pareto distribution (GPD). Being addressed the following techniques: Moments (moments), Maximum Likelihood (MLE), Biased Probability Weighted Moments (PWMB), Unbiased Probability Weighted Moments (PWMU), Mean Power Density Divergence (MDPD), Median (MED), Pickands (PICKANDS), Maximum Penalized Likelihood (MPLE), Maximum Goodness-of-fit (MGF) and the Maximum Entropy (POME) technique, the focus of this manuscript. By way of illustration adjustments were made for the Generalized Pareto distribution, for a sequence of earthquakes intraplacas which occurred in the city of João Câmara in the northeastern region of Brazil, which was monitored continuously for two years (1987 and 1988). It was found that the MLE and POME were the most efficient methods, giving them basically mean squared errors. Based on the threshold of 1.5 degrees was estimated the seismic risk for the city, and estimated the level of return to earthquakes of intensity 1.5°, 2.0°, 2.5°, 3.0° and the most intense earthquake never registered in the city, which occurred in November 1986 with magnitude of about 5.2º

Dinâmica reprodutiva e parasitária de quatro espécies de peixes das águas costeiras do Sudoeste do Oceano Atlântico, Brasil

The present study investigated the reproductive dynamics and parasitism of four species of marine fishes: serra Spanish mackerel, Scomberomorus brasiliensis, Atlantic leatherjacks, Oligoplites saurus and O. palometa,, and Atlantic bumper, C. chrysurus, during the period of August, 2005 to July, 2007, in the coastal waters of Southwest Atlantic Ocean, Brazil. The collected fish samples were measured, weighed, dissected, the gonads were weighed and examined to separate the sex. The gonadosomatic index (GSI), fecundity, type of spawning, the breeding season, the macro and microscopic characterization of the gonads were determined. The ectoparasites from the branchial chambers and bucal cavity of the fish were collected, measured, weighed and identified. The sex ratio of the study fish species were approximately 1M:1F, however, there was a predominance of males of O. palometa (3M:2F). The GSI of fishes varied according to their reproductive cycle and the stage of gonadal maturation. The highest values of GSI and the spawning period coincided with the rainy period of the region. The females presented total spawning and the fecundity was positively correlated with the weight of the ovary and the body. Four stages of development of the gonads immature, maturing, mature and spent were identified macroscopically and histological analyses of ovaries revealed the different phases of oocyte development. Three species of isopod parasites were identified in the study fishes: Livoneca redmmanni, Rocinela signata and Cimothoa spinipalpa. The first two species occurred in the branchial cavities of C. chrysurus and S. brasiliensis. The isopod C.spinipalpa (a new species) was registered for the first time in the bucal cavity of O. saurus and O. palometa. The parasitic isopods preferred the branchial chambers and the bucal cavity of the host fishes as these were protected microhabitats. The isopods parasitized the immature, maturing and mature fishes. The prevalence of infection of isopods in the hosts varied from 16 to 21%, though in O. palometa it was 60%. In the rainy period the highest isopod parasitic occurrence was registered, however, this did not prejudice the normal reproductive cycle of the host fish.

Variação temporal e descrição de novas espécies de collembola (arthropoda, hexapoda) em uma área de caatinga do nordeste do Brasil

Collembola is one of the most abundant and diverse group of terrestrial arthropods, being at the base of the food chain operating in the decomposition process. They have a wide distribution in the world and can be found in practically all habitats. The knowledge of this distinctive fauna is still deficient in brazilian territory, especially in semi-arid region. The aim of this study was to investigate which climatic variables may act as predictors of species richness, abundance of individuals and compositional structure of the taxocenose of Collembola over 12 months in an area dominated by semi-arid Caatinga vegetation, northeastern Brazil and describe new species of the genus Seira found, more diverse taxon of Collembola in Brazil. Samples were collected in João Câmara, Rio Grande do Norte. Ten plots of 20 x 20 meters were established and the specimens were collected with collection effort of one hour/people using entomological aspirator. The identification and description of the species was carried out by studying the morphology and chaetotaxy. Was performed a multiple regression analysis between species richness and abundance of individuals with climatic variables. A total of 1231 individuals belonging to 15 species, 12 genera and nine families. The greatest richness and abundance of Collembola were found during the rainy season. The genus Seira was the most abundant. Rainfall explained the temporal variation in species richness and abundance of Collembola in the semi-arid region, which is consistent with the biology of these animals. The populations of Collembola showed grouped distribution. Three new species of Seira were described and illustrated and all show similarities with species already registered in the national territory