Fishes associated with pelagic Sargassum and open water lacking Sargassum in the Gulf Stream off North Carolina

The community structure of fishes associated with pelagic Sargassum spp. and open water lacking Sargassum was examined during summer and fall cruises, 1999–2003, in the Gulf Stream off North Carolina. Significantly more individual fishes (n= 18,799), representing at least 80 species, were collected from samples containing Sargassum habitat, compared to 60 species (n=2706 individuals) collected from openwater habitat. The majority (96%) of fishes collected in both habitats were juveniles, and planehead filefish (Stephanolepis hispidus) dominated both habitats. Regardless of sampling time (day or night), Sargassum habitat yielded significantly higher numbers of individuals and species compared with open-water collections. Overall, fishes collected by neuston net tows from Sargassum habitat were significantly larger in length than fishes collected from open-water habitat with neuston nets. A significant positive, linear relationship existed between numbers of fishes and the quantity of Sargassum collected by neuston net. Underwater video recordings indicated a layered structure of fishes among and below the algae and that smaller fishes were more closely associated with the algae than larger fishes. Observations of schooling behaviors of filefishes (Monacanthidae), dolphinfish (Coryphaena hippurus), and jacks (Carangidae), and fish-jellyfish associations were also recorded with an underwater video camera. Our data indicate that Sargassum provides a substantial nursery habitat for many juvenile fishes off the U.S. southeast coast.

Inferring Population Genetic Structure in Widely and Continuously Distributed Carnivores: The Stone Marten (Martes foina) as a Case Study

The stone marten is a widely distributed mustelid in the Palaearctic region that exhibits variable habitat preferences in different parts of its range. The species is a Holocene immigrant from southwest Asia which, according to fossil remains, followed the expansion of the Neolithic farming cultures into Europe and possibly colonized the Iberian Peninsula during the Early Neolithic (ca. 7,000 years BP). However, the population genetic structure and historical biogeography of this generalist carnivore remains essentially unknown. In this study we have combined mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequencing (621 bp) and microsatellite genotyping (23 polymorphic markers) to infer the population genetic structure of the stone marten within the Iberian Peninsula. The mtDNA data revealed low haplotype and nucleotide diversities and a lack of phylogeographic structure, most likely due to a recent colonization of the Iberian Peninsula by a few mtDNA lineages during the Early Neolithic. The microsatellite data set was analysed with a) spatial and non-spatial Bayesian individual-based clustering (IBC) approaches (STRUCTURE, TESS, BAPS and GENELAND), and b) multivariate methods [discriminant analysis of principal components (DAPC) and spatial principal component analysis (sPCA)]. Additionally, because isolation by distance (IBD) is a common spatial genetic pattern in mobile and continuously distributed species and it may represent a challenge to the performance of the above methods, the microsatellite data set was tested for its presence. Overall, the genetic structure of the stone marten in the Iberian Peninsula was characterized by a NE-SW spatial pattern of IBD, and this may explain the observed disagreement between clustering solutions obtained by the different IBC methods. However, there was significant indication for contemporary genetic structuring, albeit weak, into at least three different subpopulations. The detected subdivision could be attributed to the influence of the rivers Ebro, Tagus and Guadiana, suggesting that main watercourses in the Iberian Peninsula may act as semi-permeable barriers to gene flow in stone martens. To our knowledge, this is the first phylogeographic and population genetic study of the species at a broad regional scale. We also wanted to make the case for the importance and benefits of using and comparing multiple different clustering and multivariate methods in spatial genetic analyses of mobile and continuously distributed species.

Estudo exploratório das iniciativas acerca da segurança do paciente em hospitais do Rio de Janeiro

Trata-se de um estudo descritivo e exploratório, que se apoiou na estatística descritiva para abordagem dos resultados produzidos. Tem como objeto as iniciativas para segurança do paciente, implementadas pelos gerentes de risco em hospitais do município do Rio de Janeiro. O estudo teve como objetivo: analisar as iniciativas implementadas pelos gerentes de risco para garantir a segurança do paciente, considerando as iniciativas nacionais e mundiais existentes. Foi desenvolvido em cinco hospitais do Rio de Janeiro, com quatorze gerentes de risco. A técnica utilizada foi a aplicação de um questionário semiestruturado, composto por questões fechadas e abertas sobre as iniciativas para segurança do paciente. Foi verificado que todos realizam atividades voltadas para educação continuada. As menos desenvolvidas são ações de tecno, hemo e farmacovigilância (29%). A maioria informou que se orienta pela Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária, assim como implementa quatro programas para segurança do paciente: a identificação dos pacientes (100%), seguida da assistência limpa é uma assistência mais segura (86%), controle de infecção da corrente sanguínea associada ao cateter (64%) e cirurgia segura, salva vidas (64%). A maior parte dos gerentes de risco desconhece os cinco protocolos operacionais padronizados da Joint Comission on Acreditation of Healthcarecare Organizations e o conteúdo da campanha dos 5 milhões de vidas do Institute for Healthcare Improvement. Os eventos adversos cujo monitoramento é prioritário para os gerentes de risco, são queda do leito (43%) e infecções (36%). A maior parte deles (57%) informa utilizar a análise de causa raiz e análise do modo e efeito da falha como ferramentas de monitoramento de eventos adversos. Conclui-se que grande parte das iniciativas para segurança do paciente são implementadas pelos gerentes de risco, o que vai ao encontro do que é sugerido atualmente, no entanto as iniciativas mais citadas são as iniciativas já divulgadas pelas instituições de referência para segurança do paciente, e que exigem poucos investimentos para serem implementadas, logo é essencial mais ações de capacitação dos gerentes de risco e de desenvolvimento de uma cultura de segurança no ambiente hospitalar.

Reducing feed costs in semi-intensive finfish culture: an update on mixed feeding schedules and an idea for enhancing endogenous food supply in ponds

Some interesting ideas on improving the cost-effectiveness of feeding in semi-intensive finfish aquaculture are presented.

Anisotropic expansion and SNIa: An open issue

We review the appropriateness of using SNIa observations to detect potential signatures of anisotropic expansion in the Universe. We focus on Union2 and SNLS3 SNIa datasets and use the hemispherical comparison method to detect possible anisotropic features. Unlike some previous works where nondiagonal elements of the covariance matrix were neglected, we use the full covariance matrix of the SNIa data, thus obtaining more realistic and not underestimated errors. As a matter of fact, the significance of previously claimed detections of a preferred direction in the Union2 dataset completely disappears once we include the effects of using the full covariance matrix. Moreover, we also find that such apreferred direction is aligned with the orthogonal direction of the SDSS observational plane and this suggests a clear indication that the SDSS subsample of the Union2 dataset introduces a significant bias, making the detected preferred direction unphysical. We thus find that current SNIa surveys are inappropriate to test anisotropic features due to their highly non-homogeneous angular distribution in the sky. In addition, after removal of the highest in homogeneous sub-samples, the number of SNIa is too low. Finally, we take advantage of the particular distribution of SNLS SNIa sub- sample in the SNLS3 data set, in which the observations were taken along four different directions. We fit each direction independently and find consistent results at the 1 sigma level. Although the likelihoods peak at relatively different values of Omega(m), the low number of data along each direction gives rise to large errors so that the likelihoods are sufficiently broad as to overlap within 1 sigma. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http:// creativecommons. org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Corpo em festa: Juventude, sociabilidade e produção de sentidos nos bailes cariocas

A presente pesquisa consiste em um estudo da representação do corpo jovem a partir de dois bailes: o baile coletivo de debutantes promovido pela Unidade de Polícia Pacificadora (UPP) para as moradoras de algumas comunidades cariocas, e o baile do passinho, vertente do funk carioca, que atrai os meninos das comunidades e ressignifica seu papel social dentro das favelas onde vivem. O recorte para o estudo parte, inicialmente, de questões de gênero atribuídas a ambos os bailes. O fim dos bailes funk no processo de pacificação das favelas tem desdobramentos significativos na rotina dos jovens. De um lado, a reivindicação das jovens deu origem ao baile coletivo de debutantes como estratégia de aproximação da polícia com o público feminino; por outro, levou o passinho para as lan houses e fez dos cômodos das casas cenário para a gravação de vídeos e a sua divulgação e compartilhamento em rede. O objetivo do trabalho é observar nos jovens que participam dos bailes supracitados a maneira pela qual seus corpos são "adequados" para tais festas e quais os aspectos que influenciam e afetam a construção da identidade juvenil. A estratégia metodológica desenvolvida contemplou a pesquisa documental disponível em mídia impressa e digital sobre os bailes e suas danças, a realização de entrevistas abertas e semi-estruturadas, a observação dos jovens participantes nos bailes, e a pesquisa bibliográfica para embasamento teórico - sendo considerado o referencial sócio-antropológico de David Le Breton, Michel Maffesoli, Roberto DaMatta e Hermano Vianna, a sociologia de Émile Durkheim e Marcel Mauss, os estudos culturais de Raymond Williams, Peter Burke, Néstor Garcia Canclini e Stuart Hall, além das pesquisas em comunicação de Denise Siqueira e Christine Greiner. Para a presente pesquisa as projeções no corpo impelem um olhar crítico e o analisar das referências que circundam os jovens moradores das comunidades cariocas. Desta forma, questionar as representações do corpo em festa move este estudo.

18S rRNA V9 metabarcoding for diet characterization: a critical evaluation with two sympatric zooplanktivorous fish species

The potential of the 18S rRNA V9 metabarcoding approach for diet assessment was explored using MiSeq paired-end (PE; 2 9 150 bp) technology. To critically evaluate the method's performance with degraded/digested DNA, the diets of two zooplanktivorous fish species from the Bay of Biscay, European sardine (Sardina pilchardus) and European sprat (Sprattus sprattus), were analysed. The taxonomic resolution and quantitative potential of the 18S V9 metabarcoding was first assessed both in silico and with mock and field plankton samples. Our method was capable of discriminating species within the reference database in a reliable way providing there was at least one variable position in the 18S V9 region. Furthermore, it successfully discriminated diet between both fish species, including habitat and diel differences among sardines, overcoming some of the limitations of traditional visual-based diet analysis methods. The high sensitivity and semi-quantitative nature of the 18S V9 metabarcoding approach was supported by both visual microscopy and qPCR-based results. This molecular approach provides an alternative cost and time effective tool for food-web analysis.