Biologia de Plutella xylostella L. (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae) em cultivaresde couve-flor

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Desenvolvimento ninfal de Myzus persicae (Sulzer, 1776) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) sobre berinjela em diferentes temperaturas

Este trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar o efeito de diferentes temperaturas no desenvolvimento ninfal de Myzus persicae sobre folhas de berinjela (Solanum melongena). O experimento foi desenvolvido em câmaras climatizadas, sob condições controladas de temperatura de 15, 20, 25 e 30 ± 1 ºC, umidade relativa do ar de 70% ± 10% e fotofase de 12 horas. A biologia de M. persicae foi acompanhada sobre discos foliares de berinjela (3 cm de diâmetro) mantidos em placas de Petri contendo solução ágar-água a 1% geleificada. Foram estimadas as curvas mais ajustadas à duração dos estádios ninfais de M. persicae, suas equações de regressão e os respectivos coeficientes de determinação (R²). O número de estádios ninfais foi afetado pela temperatura; a 15 e 20 ºC, respectivamente, em 30,4% e 4,2% das ninfas observou-se um estádio adicional. Afídeos mantidos a 30 ºC apresentaram a menor viabilidade na fase ninfal (8%). A duração da fase ninfal foi de 9,4; 7,6; 5,9 e 7,0 dias, respectivamente, a 15, 20, 25 e 30 ºC. As temperaturas de 15 e 20 ºC foram as mais favoráveis para o desenvolvimento ninfal de M. persicae sobre discos de folha de berinjela.

Biologia de aphis gossypii em plantas infectadas pelo vírus do mosaico das nervuras do algodoeiro

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Biologia de Agistemus brasiliensis Matioli, Ueckermann & Oliveira (Acari: Stigmaeidae) e sua potencialidade de predação sobre Brevipalpus phoenicis (Geijskes) (Acari: Tenuipalpidae)

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

Desenvolvimento de Planococcus citri (Risso, 1813) (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) em cafeeiros

A cochonilha Planococcus citri (Risso, 1813) suga a seiva dos botões florais e frutos do cafeeiro, atacando as rosetas desde a floração até a colheita. Embora seja relatada há alguns anos na cafeicultura, são escassas as informações sobre o desenvolvimento dessa cochonilha em cafeeiros. Assim, o presente trabalho teve por objetivos avaliar alguns aspectos biológicos da fase ninfal de P. citri em plantas de café. Ovos dessa cochonilha foram retirados de uma criação em laboratório, isolados em placas de Petri contendo discos foliares de Coffea arabica L., das cultivares Acaiá Cerrado, Mundo Novo e Catuaí Vermelho e de C. canephora Pierre & Froenher, cultivar Apoatã. As placas foram mantidas em câmara climatizada a 25 ± 1ºC, 70 ± 10% de umidade relativa e 12h de fotofase. Constatou-se que a cultivar Catuaí Vermelho foi a que proporcionou maior duração do período ninfal das fêmeas, porém, não foram constatadas diferenças na mortalidade. Essa cochonilha se desenvolveu satisfatoriamente em todas as cultivares de café estudadas e os resultados não mostraram diferenças claras de susceptibilidade.

Efeito de extratos aquosos de Azadirachta indica, Melia azedarach e Aspidosperma pyrifolium no desenvolvimento e oviposição de Plutella xylostella

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

Efeito de cultivares de algodoeiro sobre a biologia e capacidade predatória de Orius Insidiosus (say, 1832) (hemiptera: anthocoridae) predando Aphis Gossypii Glover, 1877 (Hemiptera: Aphididae)

The objective of this research was to determine the survival, reproduction and predaceous capacity of Orius insidiosus on cotton aphid Aphis gossypii. Cotton plants of Antares, CNPA7H and Acala 90 cultivars (respectively, without tricome, medium tricome density and high tricome density) were individualized and infested with 15 third/fourth instar nymphs of A. gossypii, and then first-instar nymphs of O. insidiosus were released on the plants. The evaluations were made daily, quantifying survival and nymphal development; the number of cotton aphids A. gossypii per day and total; the number of eggs and the population of the predator (number of insects by female); and the conversion efficiency of A. gossypii predaceous. The nymphal development did not differ according to the cotton cultivars. The Antares cultivar favored a higher daily predation rate for the 1st, 2nd and 4th instars and adults of O. insidiosus. The number of eggs and nymphs was smaller when O. insidiosus females were confined on the Acala 90 cultivar. According to the predation rate of O. insidiosus, the efficiency of alimentary conversion was determined for the Antares, CNPA7H and Acala 90 cultivars, being respectively, 4.28, 3.00 and 2.75 cotton aphid predation for each egg of the predator.

Biologia do psilídeo-de-concha Glycaspis brimblecombei Moore (Hemiptera, Psyllidae) em Eucalyptus spp.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Estudo Comparativo da Biologia de Meloidogyne enterolobii (= M. mayaguensis) e Meloidogyne javanica em tomateiros com gene Mi

Visando conhecer a relação parasito hospedeiro de M. enterolobii em plantas com resistência a nematoides das galhas, estudos comparativos da biologia de M. enterolobii e M. javanica em tomateiros com o gene Mi foram conduzidos. O experimento foi conduzido em esquema fatorial 2x2, composto de dois porta-enxertos de tomateiro ('Magnet' e 'Helper M') e duas espécies de nematoides das galhas (M. enterolobii e M. javanica) com cinco repetições. As plantas foram inoculadas com 500 juvenis infectantes (J2) de M. enterolobii ou M. javanica. As raízes foram coletadas aos 3, 10, 17, 24 e 31 dias após a inoculação, coloridas com fucsina ácida, e dissecadas sob microscópio estereoscópico para a localização e contagem dos diferentes estádios de desenvolvimento dos nematoides. Os dados foram submetidos à análise de variância e as médias comparadas pelo teste de Tukey a 5% de probabilidade. Os resultados obtidos mostraram que, embora ambas as espécies tenham sido capazes de penetrar as raízes dos porta-enxertos de tomateiro, somente M. enterolobii conseguiu desenvolver-se normalmente, com as fêmeas maduras realizando suas posturas, a partir de 24 dias após a inoculação.

Atração e desenvolvimento de Leptoglossus gonagra (Fabr.) (Hemiptera: Coreidae) em cultivares de abóbora e moranga

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

Atividades experimentais no ensino de biologia em escolas públicas do estado do Rio Grande do Norte, Brasil: caracterização geral e concepção de professores

Recent research has revealed that the majority of Biology teachers believe the practice of experimental activities as a didactical means would be the solution for the improvement of the Biology teaching-learning process. There are, however, studies which signal the lack of efficiency in such practice lessons as far as building scientific knowledge is concerned. It is also said that despite the enthusiasm on the teachers‟ part, such classes are rarely taught in high school. Several studies point pedagogical difficulties as well as nonexistence of a minimal infrastructure needed in laboratories as cause of low frequency in experimental activities. The poor teacher performance in terms of planning and development of classes; the large number of students per class; lack of financial stimulus for teachers are other reasons to be taken into account among others, in which can also be included difficulties of epistemological nature. That means an unfavorable eye of the teacher towards experimental activities. Our study aimed to clarify if such scenario is generalized in high schools throughout the state of Rio Grande do Norte Brazil. During our investigation a sample of twenty teaching institutions were used. They were divided in two groups: in the first group, five IFRN- Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Rio Grande do Norte schools. Two of those in Natal, and the other three from the country side. The second group is represented by fifteen state schools belonging to the Natal metropolitan area. The objectives of the research were to label schools concerning laboratory facilities; to identify difficulties pointed by teachers when performing experiment classes, and to become familiar with the conceptions of the teachers in regarding biology experiment classes. To perform such task, a questionnaire was used as instrument of data collecting. It contained multiple choice, essay questions and a semi-structured interview with the assistance of a voice recorder. The data analysis and the in loco observation allowed the conclusion that the federal schools do present better facilities for the practice of experimental activities when compared to state schools. Another aspect pointed is the fact that teachers of federal schools have more time available for planning the experiments; they are also better paid and are given access a career development, which leads to better salaries. All those advantages however, do not show a significantly higher frequency regarding the development of experiments when compared to state school teachers. Both teachers of federal and state schools pointed infra-structure problems such as the availability of reactants, equipments and consumption supplies as main obstacle to the practice of experiments in biology classes. Such fact leads us to conclude that maybe there are other problems not covered by the questionnaire such as poor ability to plan and execute experimental activities. As far as conceptions about experimental activities, it was verified in the majority of the interviewees a inductive-empiric point of view of science possibly inherited during their academic formation and such point of view reflected on the way they plan and execute experiments with students

Ensino por investigação: contribuições de um curso de formação continuada para a prática de professores de ciências naturais e biologia

Normally initial teacher training has not been sufficient to provide all the tools for an updated and efficient teaching practice. It is presented here one of the ways of working the completion of the initial training through a course of continuing education. This course is based on inquiry teaching which is considered an important teaching strategy for science education. This kind of teaching enables improvement of students reasoning and cognitive skills, the cooperation among them, the understanding of the nature of scientific work, and the motivation to think about the relationship between science, technology, society and environment. For this dissertation a course of continuing education based on this approach was followed in order to evaluate which contributions it can bring to the teaching practice. The course was followed based on three stages: on the first there was a questionnaire and an informal interview; next it happened through participant observation with audio and visual aid; the third stage happened through semi structured interview. The collected information was analyzed based on Content Analysis. An inquiry teaching pedagogical material was produced for the course including some examples and applications of this approach. The aim of the material is that it can be a support for the teachers after de course. The results allowed seeing that the course was very useful, different from the traditional and the teachers that put the approach to use found it to be very positive. Thus it can be said that some of the teachers who participated will try again to apply it, try to contextualize more the teaching situations with the students day to day life, as well make them more active and critic. We can also gather from the study, that the inquiry teaching is a very different tool from what the teacher was taught and is accustomed to use and the theoretical comprehension, acceptance and practice change is a complicated process and demands time

Desenvolvimento de sistemas farmacêuticos emulsionados para veiculação gênica

Broadly speaking, the concept of gene therapy involves the transfer of a genetic material into a cell, tissue, or organ in order to cure a disease or at least improve the clinical status of a patient. Making it simple, gene therapy consists in the insertion of functional genes into cells containing defective genes by substituting, complementing or inhibiting them. The achievement of a foreigner DNA expression into a population of cells requires its transfer to the target. Therefore, it is a key issue to create systems able to transfer and protect the DNA until it reaches the target, the vectors. The disadvantages related to the use of viral vectors have encouraged efforts to develop emulsions as non-viral vectors. In fact, they are easily produced, present controllable stability and enable transfection. The aim of this work was to develop an emulsion for gene therapy and evaluate its ability to compact nucleic acids by the development of a complex with the plasmid pIRES2-EGFP. The first step was to determine the Hydrophilic Lipophilic Balance (HLB) of the Captex® 355 (oily internal phase of the emulsion) through long and short term stability assays. Based on the results, emulsions composed of Captex® 355, Tween 20® and Span 60® with 10.7 HLB were produced by three different methods: phase inversion, spontaneous emulsification and sonication. The results showed that the lowest diameter and best stability of the emulsions were achieved by the sonication method. The cationic emulsions were made by adding DOTAP to the basic emulsion. Its association with pIRES2-EGFP was evaluated by electrophoresis. Several rates of emulsion and DNA were evaluated and the results showed that 100% of the complex was formed when the rate DOTAP/DNA(nmol/µg) was 130. In conclusion, the overall results show the ability of the proposed emulsion to compact pIRES2-EGFP, which is a requirement to a successful transfection. Therefore, such formulation may be considered a promising candidate for gene therapy

A memória de curto prazo e a síndrome de down: a relação entre contextos de desenvolvimento

Down syndrome (DS) is one of the most frequent causes of intellectual disability, affecting one in every 600 to 1000 live births. Studies have demonstrated that people with DS have a lower capacity for short-term memory (STM) and working memory (WM), which affects their capability to learn new words and to follow spoken instructions, specially when they involve multiple information or consecutive orders/orientations. It seems that the basis of the learning process, as it happens with language and mathematics comprehension and reasoning, relies in the STM and WM systems. Individuals with DS are increasingly included in mainstream education, and yet, very few researches have been conducted to investigate the influence of memory development and the type of enrollment (regular school and special school). This study investigated the relationship between the type of school enrollment with the performance on STM tests and also, the relationship of this performance with early stimulation (ES). The tests used in the first research were the digit span, free recall, word recognition and subtests of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children Third Edition (WISC-III). Individuals enrolled in the regular schools group had higher scores on the digit span test and the subtests of the WISC-III. In the free recall and recognition tests, no differences were found. This study indicates that the type of enrollment might influence the memory development of individuals with DS and clearly points the need for future investigations. In the second research, the tests used were the digit span, free word recall and subtests of the WISC-III. The test results showed better performance by adults that received ES before six months of age. The studies showed improvement in STM both in people who attended or were attending regular school, as well as those who benefited from ES before six months of age. However, some issues still need to be better understood. What is the relation between this stimulation with the individual s education? Since ES may reflect a greater family involvement with the individual, what is the role of emotional components derived from this involvement in the cognitive improvement? These and other questions are part of the continuity of this study

Ausência do pai ao longo do desenvolvimento ontogenético e indicadores de desconto de futuro: uma contribuição da psicologia evolucionista

The new Evolutionary Psychology (E. P.) paradigm has been trying to understand how the human beings make their decisions over time regarding the most diverse variables, always bearing in mind that such a cognitive process is due to a complex natural selection process that occurred millions of years ago. One of the main topics discussed by this new paradigm is the issue of parental investment, i.e., the care the parents provide to an offspring at the expense of the investment into a new one. The present work sought to integrate these two topics, trying to understand how some variables modulate the process of decision making in a sample of the city of Natal, Rio Grande do Norte state. It was investigated the hypothesis that the presence of both parents, along the individual development, could signal a more favorable environment, providing clues to the individual that he could assume a competitive position at the socio-biological market. His decisions, therefore, could be guided by long-term investments with aims to obtain more robust rewards. On the contrary, those who has suffered for some moment the absence of one the parents could develop theirselves in a not so competitive way, starting to choose immediate benefits - but lesser ones -, since the future would be less predictable due to their worse development conditions. This study involved 152 individuals from three higher education institutions, one of them being public and the others being private ones. In the results found, there was no difference between children of coupled parents and children of deceased or divorced parents concerning discount rates. The levels of hopelessness did not affect the discount rates of children of single parents when compared to children of coupled parents. Not having one of the parents because of divorce made the child to tend to present lower scores in the domain of social relations of WHOQOL - Bref, whilst the absence of the father by death made the scores lower in the domain of environment. The results indicate that loosing one of the parents along the development influences the individual's quality of life perception, but the measurement method of future discounting rates by means of financial choices is not sensitive to this variation