Nature's Swiss Army Knives: Ovipositor Structure Mirrors Ecology in a Multitrophic Fig Wasp Community

Background: Resource partitioning is facilitated by adaptations along niche dimensions that range from morphology to behaviour. The exploitation of hidden resources may require specially adapted morphological or sensory tools for resource location and utilisation. Differences in tool diversity and complexity can determine not only how many species can utilize these hidden resources but also how they do so. Methodology and Principal Findings: The sclerotisation, gross morphology and ultrastructure of the ovipositors of a seven-member community of parasitic wasps comprising of gallers and parasitoids developing within the globular syconia (closed inflorescences) of Ficus racemosa (Moraceae) was investigated. These wasps also differ in their parasitism mode (external versus internal oviposition) and their timing of oviposition into the expanding syconium during its development. The number and diversity of sensilla, as well as ovipositor teeth, increased from internally ovipositing to externally ovipositing species and from gallers to parasitoids. The extent of sclerotisation of the ovipositor tip matched the force required to penetrate the syconium at the time of oviposition of each species. The internally ovipositing pollinator had only one type of sensillum and a single notch on the ovipositor tip. Externally ovipositing species had multiple sensilla types and teeth on their ovipositors. Chemosensilla were most concentrated at ovipositor tips while mechanoreceptors were more widely distributed, facilitating the precise location of hidden hosts in these wasps which lack larval host-seeking behaviour. Ovipositor traits of one parasitoid differed from those of its syntopic galler congeners and clustered with those of parasitoids within a different wasp subfamily. Thus ovipositor tools can show lability based on adaptive necessity, and are not constrained by phylogeny. Conclusions/Significance: Ovipositor structure mirrored the increasingly complex trophic ecology and requirements for host accessibility in this parasite community. Ovipositor structure could be a useful surrogate for predicting the biology of parasites in other communities.

The impacts of leadership in the quality of municipal public services: case study of a portuguese municipal council

[EN]The present research work, based on some of the components of the Common Assessment Framework, sets to analyse the influence held by leadership in specific factors that constitute the organisational climate, and also the impact that these factors have on the quality of municipal public services. For the purposes of this study, we propose Likert’s exploitative autocratic and participative leadership styles to explain the genesis, structure and workflow. As far as the organisational climate is concerned, the variables used are motivation, satisfaction, empowerment, conflict and stress. The main conclusions that arose was that a participative leader confers higher relevance to the quality of service, through motivation, satisfaction, empowerment and human resources positive results, than an exploitative autocratic leader. Performed contributions are based on the empiric research hereby presented, and new research guidelines are proposed. The research methodology used was qualitative, based on the case study.

O gênero militar parte: aplicações para o ensino acadêmico de língua portuguesa

Este trabalho tem por objetivo apresentar o gênero textual parte e suas implicações para o ensino. Para isso, fizemos uma descrição do gênero, tendo por base a perspectiva de Mikhail Bakhtin de análise do discurso em um diálogo com a perspectiva de análise do discurso de Patrick Charaudeau. A parte segundo as Instruções Gerais para a Correspondência, as Publicações e os Atos Administrativos no âmbito do Exército (IG 10-42), é a correspondência que tramita no âmbito de uma OM, por meio da qual o militar se comunica com um de seus pares ou superior hierárquico, em objeto de serviço, podendo ser utilizado suporte eletrônico (...), ou ser substituída por mensagem eletrônica, sempre que houver meios físicos adequados. (BRASIL, 2002, p. 18). Portanto, ele é um documento oficial de circulação interna que exige uma linguagem formal para relatar, solicitar ou informar algo a alguma autoridade, dentre outras possibilidades, ou seja, o propósito comunicativo da parte, de maneira genérica, é relatar uma ocorrência, solicitar algum direito, informar dados necessários para a confecção de algum outro documento etc. Por estar inserido no domínio discursivo militar, em que as formas padronizadas orientam a produção dos gêneros que neles estão circunscritos, deve seguir regras para a sua escrita. Por essa razão, o ensino da parte está presente no currículo da Academia Militar das Agulhas Negras, que forma o oficial combatente de carreira do Exército Brasileiro em bacharel em Ciências Militares. Dessa forma, apresentamos neste trabalho uma proposta para o ensino do gênero, tendo como aporte teórico as sequências didáticas postuladas pela Escola de Genebra. Apesar de essa Escola trazer uma proposta didática para o ensino de gêneros no ensino fundamental, observamos que a teoria é adequada ao ensino de um gênero em qualquer nível de escolaridade àquele que está sendo inserido em um domínio discursivo

Systematic liquidity: commonality and inter-temporal variation in the Portuguese stock market

[EN] The aim of this paper is to study systematic liquidity at the Euronext Lisbon Stock Exchange. The motivation for this research is provided by the growing interest in financial literature about stock liquidity and the implications of commonality in liquidity for asset pricing since it could represent a source of non-diversifiable risk. Namely, it is analysed whether there exist common factors that drive the variation in individual stock liquidity and the causes of the inter-temporal variation of aggregate liquidity. Monthly data for the period between January 1988 and December 2011 is used to compute some of the most used proxies for liquidity: bid-ask spreads, turnover rate, trading volume, proportion of zero returns and the illiquidity ratio. Following Chordia et al. (2000) methodology, some evidence of commonality in liquidity is found in the Portuguese stock market when the proportion of zero returns is used as a measure of liquidity. In relation to the factors that drive the inter-temporal variation of the Portuguese stock market liquidity, the results obtained within a VAR framework suggest that changes in real economy activity, monetary policy (proxied by changes in monetary aggregate M1) and stock market returns play an important role as determinants of commonality in liquidity.

A estranha nação de Moacyr Scliar: a ficcionalização de lugares, identidades e imaginários judaicos e brasileiros

Esta tese trata da ficcionalização das questões de identidades, lugares e imaginários judaicos e brasileiros nos romances contos e novelas de temática judaica escritos pelo gaúcho Moacyr Scliar. Na introdução, apresento os objetivos e pressupostos gerais do trabalho, bem como proponho uma divisão da obra em questão em duas fases. No primeiro capítulo, analiso os romances A Guerra no Bom Fim (1972) e O Exército de um Homem Só (1973), sob o ponto de vista da testagem de lugares judaicos clássicos enquanto fontes de inspiração para a resolução dos dilemas que emergem na diáspora brasileira e o início de um processo de dotação de legitimidade ao viver judaico na diáspora sul-americana. No segundo capítulo, analiso o conto A Balada do Falso Messias (1976) e o romance Os Voluntários (1979), sob o ponto de vista da tematização do Messianismo, do Sionismo e do papel que Jerusalém exerce no imaginário judaico moderno e de sua adequação ou não para alimentar o imaginário judaico na contemporaneidade. No terceiro capítulo, trato da ficcionalização das construções identitárias das personagens judias da primeira fase da obra scliariana (1972 a 1980), sob o ponto de vista das noções de hibridismo, aculturação e assimilação. Neste capítulo, analiso as personagens centrais dos romances A Guerra no Bom Fim, O Exército de um Homem Só, Os Deuses de Raquel (1975), (O Ciclo das Águas) (1975), Os Voluntários e O Centauro no Jardim (1980). No quarto capítulo, analiso o romance A Estranha Nação de Rafael Mendes (1983), tentando demonstrar que esta narrativa representa um divisor de águas na obra do autor, por tematizar as raízes judaicas da cultura brasileira através dos marranos, cristãos-novos e cripto-judeus que aqui aportaram com os portugueses em 1500. No quinto e último capítulo, analiso os romances da Segunda fase scliariana: Cenas da Vida Minúscula (1991), A Majestade do Xingu (1997) e A Mulher que Escreveu a Bíblia (1999). Neste capítulo, tento demonstrar que nestas narrativas dá-se o início de uma tentativa de construção de um imaginário judaico-brasileiro próprio, formado por uma fusão de motivos tipicamente brasileiros e outros especificamente judaicos, o que seria o corolário do já mencionado processo de dotação de legitimidade e viabilidade da diáspora judaico-brasileira frente à concretude e a reificação do Israel moderno. Na conclusão, teço algumas considerações sobre o todo do trabalho e levanto algumas questões relativas à construções de imaginários coletivos nas diásporas judaicas, mais especificamente na brasileira

Drawn to the Sea: Charles Bradford Hudson (1865-1939), Artist, Author, Army Officer, with Special Notice of His Work for the United States Fish Commission and Bureau of Fisheries

The biography of Charles Bradford Hudson that follows this preface had its seeds about 1965 when I (VGS) was casually examining the extensive files of original illustrations of fishes stored in the Division of Fishes, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. I happened upon the unpublished illustration of a rainbow trout by Hudson and was greatly impressed with its quality. The thought occurred to me then that the artist must have gone on to do more than just illustrate fishes. During the next 20 years I occasionally pawed through those files, which contained the work of numerous artists, who had worked from 1838 to the present. In 1985, I happened to discuss the files with my supervisor, who urged me to produce a museum exhibit of original fish illustrations. This I did, selecting 200 of the illustrations representing 21 artists, including, of course, Hudson. As part of the text for the exhibit, Drawn from the Sea, Art in the Service of Ichthyology, I prepared short biographies of each of the artists. The exhibit, with an available poster, was shown in the Museum for six months, and a reduced version was exhibited in U.S. and Canadian museums during the next 3 years.

Elasmobranch Landings for the Portuguese Commercial Fishery From 1986 to 2001

Portuguese commercial elasmobranch landings were analyzed for the period 1986–2001. An average of 5,169 (± 795 t) were landed yearly, representing 18 families, 29 genera, and 34 confirmed species. However, annual landings for the fishery generally decreased over time, with a corresponding increase in price per kilogram. The most important group, Raja spp., accounted for 33% of the landings or 26,916 t. They were followed by Centroscymnus coelolepis, Scyliorhinus spp., Centrophorus granulosus, and Centrophorus squamosus (accounting for 12%, 12%, 11%, and 9% of the landings, respectively). In the absence of CPUE data, the comparative trends of landings and price were employed as an indicator of the “status” of specific elasmobranch species. Raja spp., Centrophorus granulosus, Mustelus spp., Torpedo spp., and Squatinidae displayed indications of possible overexploitation, and they merit the focus of future research.

Toward a European Army: A Military Power in the Making?

Shepherd, Alistair, and T. C. Salmon, Toward a European Army: A Military Power in the Making? (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2003), pp.x+237 RAE2008

Soldiers, Peasants, Industry and Towns. The Roman Army in Britain: A Welsh Perspective

Davies, Jeffrey. 'Soldiers, Peasants, Industry and Towns. The Roman Army in Britain: A Welsh Perspective', In: The Roman Army and the Economy (Amsterdam: J.C. Gieben, 2002), pp.169-203 RAE2008

The contribution of warlordism to the disintegration of the western Roman army (c. AD 395-480)

My thesis investigates the dynamics behind the changing nature of the leadership of the western Roman army in the fifth century through the concept of ‘warlordism’. I carried this out by analyzing those cases of insubordination and military unrest in the officer class of the western Roman army, which can be shown to be linked to the slow decline of central authority and the imperial office in the period 395-480. My thesis demonstrates that theories of ‘Warlordism’, as developed in social sciences, can be useful for both the late Imperial west as for other eras of ancient history, such as the late Roman republic. Warlordism was a way of continuing politics, if necessary by military means, when commanders found themselves outside the legitimate framework. Unlike the case of usurpation of the imperial office, when there was little hope of achieving permanent recognition and acceptance, it offered insubordinate officers a chance of returning to the ruling imperial regime depending on circumstances and the success of their resistance. I propose that warlordism functioned as an alternative to usurpation, a tool for military dissidence, fuelled by an economy of violence. Contrary to modern warlordism, the warlordism of the fifth century AD represented a transient phase which no imperial commander was willing to prolong indefinitely. At some stage, given the means, warlords in the western Roman army wanted to become part of the imperial echelon again. Yet these alternative methods of violent opposition, and the acquisition of force through private means, ensured the breakdown of the state’s monopoly on violence and the disintegration of centralized armies. What started as an accidental revolution became a new form of military rule.