Evolutionary history of Scinax treefrogs on land-bridge islands in south-eastern Brazil

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

Fundamentos e aplicações ambientais dos processos fenton e foto-fenton

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

Uma área de relevante interesse biológico, porém pouco conhecida: a Reserva Florestal do Morro Grande

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

Qualidade de um sistema latossolo-argissolo como receptor de efluentes no município de Lins(SP)

Este trabalho objetivou caracterizar um sistema de solos, evidenciando a propriedades que possam esclarecer sua dinâmica e contribuir para a definição de critérios que condicionem a aptidão destes solos como receptores de efluentes. Trata-se de uma área experimental de estudos, contígua à Estação de Tratamento de Esgoto do município de Lins (SP), onde o efluente é gerado a partir do tratamento de esgoto por sistema de lagoas de estabilização. Os solos, situados ao longo de uma vertente com ligeira inclinação, foram caracterizados por meio de análises, morfológica, granulométrica, química, mineralógica e micromorfológica, realizadas em amostras coletadas em cinco trincheiras em toposseqüência. Os solos são desenvolvidos a partir dos sedimentos arenosos da Formação Adamantina (Grupo Bauru) e constituem um sistema Latossolo - Argissolo onde a transição Bw - Bt ocorre lateralmente do topo para a base da vertente. Foram identificadas três fases pedogenéticas nesta associação de solos. A primeira, argiluviação e adensamento de partículas, responsável pela formação dos horizontes texturais, foi superposta pelos processos de latossolização e hidromorfismo, atuantes na dinâmica atual destes solos. Análises micromorfológicas mostraram tratar-se de solos com intensa porosidade, caracterizada pelo empilhamento dos grãos do esqueleto quartzoso amplamente predominante e pelo arranjo entre os microagregados granulares. A permeabilidade é ainda favorecida pela intensa ação da mesofauna. Os solos são distróficos e compostos por caulinita e óxidos de Fe na fração argilosa. Por constituírem um sistema frágil, a disposição de quaisquer tipos de resíduos nestes solos requer o monitoramento constante de suas propriedades, tanto para a manutenção, quanto para a recuperação da qualidade desta cobertura pedológica.

Thermal-biological aspects on the seed germination of Cucumis anguria L.: influence of the seed coat

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

Geografia: o olhar e a imagem pictórica

Este artigo objetiva apresentar, de forma introdutória, a possibilidade e a necessidade de diálogo entre a linguagem pictórica e o discurso científico da Geografia. Para tal, apresenta alguns elementos do alfabeto das pinturas de imagens a partir tanto da semiótica quanto da gestalt, analisadas por Fayga Ostrower e Donis Dondis. O exercício interpretativo dá-se a partir do conceito de paisagem aplicado sobre as imagens elaboradas artisticamente por grandes pintores da humanidade, contextualizando-as a partir dos elementos técnicos e tecnológicos que existiam na época e no lugar, e da forma como esses interferem nos processos de elaboração e interpretação das obras. Para exemplificar isso, utilizam-se três pinturas elaboradas em diferentes períodos, a partir da Europa medieval até o mundo moderno, apresentando, assim, os aspectos gerais que levavam à mudança de leitura espacial do território produzido a partir da consolidação do mundo urbano, industrial e baseado na lógica da mercadoria.

Concepções pedagógicas e método de ensino: o manual didático Processologia na Escola Primária

Esse artigo analisa o manual didático Processologia na Escola Primária, de autoria de Caio de Figueiredo Silva, publicado em 1956, com o objetivo de compreender o processo de incorporação das concepções pedagógicas da Escola Nova nas prescrições para a prática pedagógica. O método empregado foi a análise do discurso expresso na fonte primária aliada a um conjunto de referências bibliográficas de cunho historiográfico que possibilitaram comentar o processo de inovação e permanência na educação, ressaltando as influências de tradições já estabelecidas e a importância dos textos didáticos como instrumentos mediadores para a difusão e circulação de idéias.

Melanocytes in the testes of Eupemphix nattereri (Anura, Leiuperidae): Histological, stereological, and ultrastructural aspects

Ectothermic vertebrates have a well-developed system of melanin-containing cells, which localize in several organs and tissues and compose an extracutaneous pigmentary system. This research aimed at characterizing histological and ultrastructural patterns of pigmented cells in the testes of the anura Eupemphix nattereri (Steindachner, 1963), including the stereological and quantitative evaluation of this cell type in the gonads. Ten adult males were collected in Nova Itapirema, São Paulo, Brazil, and submitted to morphological studies with light and transmission electron microscopy. The testis presents a great number of large cells with many brown granules and long cytoplasmic processes. The pigmented cells found in the testis are structurally similar to melanocytes, characterized by large amounts of melanosomes. The cells may be in intimate contact with the same cell type, with myoid cells surrounded by a large amount of collagen fibers, Leydig cells, and next to fibroblasts. The distribution and amount of extracutaneous melanocytes is variable when other organs and membranes are analyzed, allowing the establishment of species-specific patterns for the extracutaneous pigmentary system.

Anatomical aspects of the lacrimal gland of the tufted capuchin (Cebus apella)

In the tufted capuchin (Cebus apella) the main lacrimal gland is composed of 2 distinct portions with an intraorbital and extraorbital localisation, interconnected by a bridge of glandular tissue which crosses the lateral orbital wall through the lateral orbital fissure located in the sphenozygomatic suture. The intraorbital lacrimal gland is flattened and extremely thin, with a variable outline. It lies on the upper and outer third of the globe of the eye, and the aponeurosis and the belly of the lateral rectus muscle, extending antero-posteriorly from the upper lateral angle of the orbit midway along the orbital cavity. The extraorbital lacrimal gland is compact, halfmoon-shaped, with 3 surfaces, 3 borders and 2 extremities. It lies in the temporal fossa between the temporalis muscle and the temporal surface of the zygomatic bone, fitting into a depression in this bone, and totally surrounded by adipose tissue. The secretory cells have a flocculent appearance and either low or high density. They possess a basal region containing the nucleus and rich in granular endoplasmic reticulum, and an apical region filled with secretory granules varying in size, form and density.

Kinetic aspects of ion exchange in KhFek[Fe(CN)(6)](l)center dot mH(2)O compounds: A combined electrical and mass transfer functions approach

The present paper quantifies and develops the kinetic aspects involved in the mechanism of interplay between electron and ions presented elsewhere(1) for KhFek[Fe(CN)(6)](l)center dot mH(2)O (Prussian Blue) host materials. Accordingly, there are three different electrochemical processes involved in the PB host materials: H3O+, K+, and H+ insertion/extraction mechanisms which here were fully kinetically studied by means of the use of combined electronic and mass transfer functions as a tool to separate all the processes. The use of combined electronic and mass transfer functions was very important to validate and confirm the proposed mechanism. This mechanism allows the electrochemical and chemical processes involved in the KhFek[Fe(CN)(6)](l)center dot mH(2)O host and Prussian Blue derivatives to be understood. In addition, a formalism was also developed to consider superficial oxygen reduction. From the analysis of the kinetic processes involved in the model, it was possible to demonstrate that the processes associated with K+ and H+ exchanges are reversible whereas the H3O+ insertion process was shown not to present a reversible pattern. This irreversible pattern is very peculiar and was shown to be related to the catalytic proton reduction reaction. Furthermore, from the model, it was possible to calculate the number density of available sites for each intercalation/deintercalation processes and infer that they are very similar for K+ and H+. Hence, the high prominence of the K+ exchange observed in the voltammetric responses has a kinetic origin and is not related to the amount of sites available for intercalation/deintercalation of the ions.

Thermodynamic aspects of ion intercalation in KhFek[Fe(CN)(6)](l)center dot mH(2)O compounds: Application to the Everit's salt/Prussian Blue transition

The K+ reversible processes for ion exchange in KhFek[Fe(CN)(6)](l)center dot mH(2)O host compounds (Prussian Blue) were thermodynamically analyzed. A thermodynamic approach was established and developed based on the consideration of a lattice-gas model where the electronic contribution to the chemical potential is neglected and the ion-host interaction is not considered. The occupation fraction of the intercalation process was calculated from the kinetic parameters obtained through ac-electrogravimetry in a previous paper. In this way, the mass potential transfer function introduces a new way to evaluate the thermodynamic aspect of intercalation. Finally, based on the thermodynamic approach, the energy used to put each K+ ion into the host material was calculated. The values were shown to be in good agreement with the values obtained through transient techniques, for example, cyclic voltammetry. As a result, this agreement between theory and experimental data validates the thermodynamic approach considered here, and for the first time, the thermodynamic aspects of insertion were considered for mixed valence materials.

Ceramic materials in dentistry: historical evolution and current practice

Dental ceramics are presented within a simplifying framework allowing for facile understanding of their development, composition and indications. Engineering assessments of clinical function are dealt with and literature is reviewed on the clinical behaviour of all-ceramic systems. Practical aspects are presented regarding the choice and use of dental ceramics to maximize aesthetics and durability, emphasizing what we know and how we know it.

Human development and distance education: how are interactivity and interaction articulated?

Currently the achievements of technology have not been enough to overcome the misery, in which are numerous human groups. Relegated to its background, the human being sees those scenarios, which brings out discussions about its formation, in which values are regarded as the scientific and technological aspects. The educational research inspired by this framework involving the theme of human development, update and re-frame concepts related to the linkage between interactivity and interaction, two important features presented in the process of Distance Education (DE). The research inquired about how these features have been articulated. It conducted a field study in which two professors were interviewed. The results showed that the integration between interactivity and interaction, involving aspects such as autonomy, critical awareness, relationships among students, the sharing of values and worldviews, is at the base of the educational processes of the DE. They also showed that, on these processes, there are shortcomings regarding the development of values and having to be thought the tutor training strategies from an interdisciplinary view.

Expression, purification and spectroscopic analysis of an HdrC: An iron-sulfur cluster-containing protein from Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Morphological aspects of the mid-palatal suture in the human foetus: A light and scanning electron microscopy study

Morphological features of the mid-palatal suture were studied in human foetuses from 4 to 9 months of intra-uterine life. The foetuses were divided into three age groups, GI (16-23 weeks), GII (24-31 weeks) and GIII (32-39 weeks). The mid-palatal suture in GI foetuses is rectilineal in form with a wide space between the palatal processes of the maxilla. The suture has a sinuous nature in GII and GIII foetuses due to growth of the bone processes crossing the mid-line. A wide zone of cellular proliferation observed in GI narrows in GII and GIII foetuses. The imbricating nature of the suture in GII and GIII is caused by bone growth adjacent to the mid-palatal suture. Sharpey's fibres, emerging from the bone processes, run to the median region of the mid-palatal suture and are observed from GI foetuses onwards. The collagen fibres of the mid-palatal suture are orientated transversely under the oral epithelium and exhibit a regular meshwork with a predominance of sagittal fibres in the median region of the suture. These fibres are orientated transversely and obliquely at the junction with the nasal septum.