Is rainfall seasonality important for reproductive strategies in viviparous Neotropical pit vipers? A case study with Bothrops leucurus from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest

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

A influência do ciclo estral no comportamento das linhagens de ratos congênica SLA16 e isogênica SHR

Several studies use only male rats in their experiments, even with all the evidence of differences between the sexes, not only in the reproductive behavior but also in the development of diseases. This absence of studies using female rats is due in part to the estrous cycle. It is known that one estrous cycle lasts four to 5 days and consists of four phases: proestrus, estrus, metestrus and diestrus. Ramos et al. (1999) identified and mapped a QTL in an F2 population derived from interbreeding of strains of SHR (spontaneously hypertensive rats) and Lewis (LEW) rats and found, on chromosome 4, the first QTL of the world related to anxiety in rats. After several backcrosses between SHR and LEW strains, it was developed a congenic strain called SLA16, to refine the study of this QTL. This QTL corresponds to a large genomic region, approximately 75 million basepairs (Mb), and was first called Ofil1 (inner open field locomotion 1). Currently it is called Anxrr16 (anxiety-related response region 16) according to the rat genome database (RGD). Izidio et al. (2011) suggested that the natural fluctuation of the hormones in the estrous cycle of female rats could influence the effects of this locus on behavior. That is, females in DP (diestrus-proestrus) present the QTL in the same genomic region that males, while females in EM (estrus-metestrus) do not present it. The effects of the estrous cycle in the SLA16 strain and its isogenic control SHR were analyzed on the elevated plus maze (EPM), black and white box and on the open field test (OF). In the open field test, the SLA16 strain had higher central locomotion (F=5.0, p <0.05) and peripheral locomotion (F=12.6, p <0.01) compared to the SHR strain. In the elevated plus maze test, the SLA16 strain had the higher number of entries (F=9.5, p <0.01) and time spent in the open arms (F=10.3, p <0.01) compared to the SHR strain. Finally, in the black and white box test, the SLA16 lineage spent more time ...

Áreas degradadas pela explotação de cassiterita: avaliação das condições dos agregados e atividades biológicas

Pós-graduação em Ciências Ambientais - Sorocaba

Programa informativo sobre deficiência mental e inclusão: mudanças nas atitudes socias de crianças sem deficiência

This article presents part of a study that analyzed the concepts, feelings and attitudes of children without disabilities about mental retardation and inclusion and evaluated the effects of an informative program that deals with the issue. The study included forty children from two first grade classrooms in a public school in Marília-SP. One classroom participated as a control group. All children underwent pre and post tests in the form of interviews on the subject and a scale of children's social attitudes towards inclusion was applied. The experimental group participated in the informative program, composed of thirteen weekly meetings, in which the limitations and possibilities of people with mental retardation, specialized care, their schooling and family and social aspects, were discussed, using various educational and recreational strategies. The data collected in the interviews were categorized and content analysis was conducted. With the scale, individual scores were obtained. Statistical calculations were performed to verify the significance of differences between groups. In this paper we discuss the data obtained with the scale which were crossed with interview data. The results of the interviews and the scale indicated several changes in children's attitudes towards inclusion, but relations between many of these data could not be statistically confirmed. These results indicate the importance of expanding the research on the relationship between the phenomena presented.

Stay out (almost) all night: contrasting responses in flight activity among tropical moth assemblages

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

Sports practice is related to parasympathetic activity in adolescents

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

Relaxação e decaimento para pontos de equilíbrio em mapeamentos não lineares unidimensionais

We investigate in this work the behaviour of the decay to the fixed points, in particular along the bifurcations, for a family of one-dimensional logistic-like discrete mappings. We start with the logistic map focusing in the transcritical bifurcation. Next we investigate the convergence to the stationary state at the cubic map. At the end we generalise the procedure for a mapping of the logistic-like type. Near the fixed point, the dynamical variable varies slowly. This property allows us to approximate/rewrite the equation of differences, hence natural from discrete mappings, into an ordinary differential equation. We then solve such equation which furnishes the evolution towards the stationary state. Our numerical simulations confirm the theoretical results validating the above mentioned approximation

Topografia convencional na aferição de áreas obtidas por georreferenciamento e Google Earth

Pós-graduação em Agronomia (Energia na Agricultura) - FCA

Reatividade e tolerância ao calor de fêmeas ovinas de diferentes grupos genéticos

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Metodologia da criação de Galleria mellonella para uso como modelo de infecção e efeitos de Lactobacillus rhamnosus inativado pelo calor in vivo e in vitro, desafiados por Staphylococcus aureus e Escherichia coli

Pós-graduação em Biopatologia Bucal - ICT

Pertencer e deslocar virtualmente: Teletandem como espaço antropofágico

Pós-graduação em Estudos Linguísticos - IBILCE

Equações de diferenças: aplicações no ensino médio

Pós-graduação em Matemática em Rede Nacional - IBILCE

Biometry and fetal weight estimation by two-dimensional and three-dimensional ultrasonography: an intraobserver and interobserver reliability and agreement study

Objective To evaluate and compare the intraobserver and interobserver reliability and agreement for the biparietal diameter (BPD), abdominal circumference (AC), femur length (FL) and estimated fetal weight (EFW) obtained by two-dimensional ultrasound (2D-US) and three-dimensional ultrasound (3D-US). Methods Singleton pregnant women between 24 and 40 weeks were invited to participate in this study. They were examined using 2D-US in a blinded manner, twice by one observer, intercalated by a scan by a second observer, to determine BPD, AC and FL. In each of the three examinations, three 3D-US datasets (head, abdomen and thigh) were acquired for measurements of the same parameters. We determined EFW using Hadlock's formula. Systematic errors between 3D-US and 2D-US were examined using the paired t-test. Reliability and agreement were assessed by intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs), limits of agreement (LoA), SD of differences and proportion of differences below arbitrary points. Results We evaluated 102 singleton pregnancies. No significant systematic error between 2D-US and 3D-US was observed. The ICC values were higher for 3D-US in both intra- and interobserver evaluations; however, only for FL was there no overlap in the 95% CI. The LoA values were wider for 2D-US, suggesting that random errors were smaller when using 3D-US. Additionally, we observed that the SD values determined from 3D-US differences were smaller than those obtained for 2D-US. Higher proportions of differences were below the arbitrarily defined cut-off points when using 3D-US. Conclusion 3D-US improved the reliability and agreement of fetal measurements and EFW compared with 2D-US.

Relação entre inteligência emocional, satisfação com a vida e práctica desportiva

[POR] Este estudo tem por objectivo verificar a existência de diferenças entre grupos de praticantes, de idade e de género na inteligência emocional ena satisfação com a vida, assim como descrever a relação entre estas duas variáveis. [ES] Este estudio tiene como objetivo verificar la existencia de diferencias entre los grupos de profesionales, la edad y el género en la inteligencia emocional y la satisfacción con la vida, así como describir la relación entre estas dos variables. [EN] This study aims to verify the existence of differences between groups of practitioners, age and gender on emotional intelligence and satisfaction with life, as well as describe the relationship between these two variables.

Central autonomic control in spontaneously hypertensive rats: a study on phasic phenomena during rapid-eye-movement sleep

The cardiovascular regulation undergoes wide changes in the different states of sleepwake cycle. In particular, the relationship between spontaneous fluctuations in heart period and arterial pressure clearly shows differences between the two sleep states. In non rapid-eye-movement sleep, heart rhythm is under prevalent baroreflex control, whereas in rapid-eye-movement sleep central autonomic commands prevail (Zoccoli et al., 2001). Moreover, during rapid-eye-movement sleep the cardiovascular variables show wide fluctuations around their mean value. In particular, during rapid-eyemovement sleep, the arterial pressure shows phasic hypertensive events which are superimposed upon the tonic level of arterial pressure. These phasic increases in arterial pressure are accompanied by an increase in heart rate (Sei & Morita, 1996; Silvani et al., 2005). Thus, rapid-eye-movement sleep may represent an “autonomic stress test” for the cardiovascular system, able to unmask pathological patterns of cardiovascular regulation (Verrier et al. 2005), but this hypothesis has never been tested experimentally. The aim of this study was to investigate whether rapid-eye-movement sleep may reveal derangements in central autonomic cardiovascular control in an experimental model of essential hypertension. The study was performed in Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats, which represent the most widely used model of essential hypertension, and allow full control of genetic and environmental confounding factors. In particular, we analyzed the cardiovascular, electroencephalogram, and electromyogram changes associated with phasic hypertensive events during rapid-eyemovement sleep in Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats and in their genetic Wistar Kyoto control strain. Moreover, we studied also a group of Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats made phenotypically normotensive by means of a chronic treatment with an angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor, the Enalapril maleate, from the age of four weeks to the end of the experiment. All rats were implanted with electrodes for electroencephalographic and electromyographic recordings and with an arterial catheter for arterial pressure measurement. After six days for postoperative recovery, the rats were studied for five days, at an age of ten weeks.The study indicated that the peak of mean arterial pressure increase during the phasic hypertensive events in rapid-eye-movement sleep did not differ significantly between Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats and Wistar Kyoto rats, while on the other hand Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats showed a reduced increase in the frequency of theta rhythm and a reduced tachicardia with respect to Wistar Kyoto rats. The same pattern of changes in mean arterial pressure, heart period, and theta frequency was observed between Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats and Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats treated with Enalapril maleate. Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats do not differ from Wistar Kyoto rats only in terms of arterial hypertension, but also due to multiple unknown genetic differences. Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats were developed by selective breeding of Wistar Kyoto rats based only on the level of arterial pressure. However, in this process, multiple genes possibly unrelated to hypertension may have been selected together with the genetic determinants of hypertension (Carley et al., 2000). This study indicated that Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats differ from Wistar Kyoto rats, but not from Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats treated with Enalapril maleate, in terms of arterial pH and theta frequency. This feature may be due to genetic determinants unrelated to hypertension. In sharp contrast, the persistence of differences in the peak of heart period decrease and the peak of theta frequency increase during phasic hypertensive events between Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats and Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats treated with Enalapril maleate demonstrates that the observed reduction in central autonomic control of the cardiovascular system in Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats is not an irreversible consequence of inherited genetic determinants. Rather, the comparison between Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats and Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats treated with Enalapril maleate indicates that the observed differences in central autonomic control are the result of the hypertension per se. This work supports the view that the study of cardiovascular regulation in sleep provides fundamental insight on the pathophysiology of hypertension, and may thus contribute to the understanding of this disease, which is a major health problem in European countries (Wolf-Maier et al., 2003) with its burden of cardiac, vascular, and renal complications.