Social organization of the eusocial wasp Mischocyttarus cerberus styx (Hymenoptera, Vespidae)

The present study was carried out under field conditions in Rio Claro, Southeastern Brazil. The following average life-spans of adults of Mischocyttarus cerberus styx were observed: queens 191.1 days, workers 14.0 days, and males 10.7 days. The short longevity of workers is attributed to the early foraging activity which was performed since the first week of adult age. The life table of the workers revealed high mortality rates during the first three weeks of life. Twenty-four behavioral categories were reported for these wasps and a comparative behavioral catalogue showed that the solitary foundresses (pre-emergence stage) are significantly more active than the queens (post-emergence stage) because they have to perform all the tasks for the nest maintenance. On the other hand, the queens were highly active even in the presence of the workers. The small number of individuals on the nest was the probable cause of the high activity of the queens in the post-emergence colonies. There was no clear division of tasks among workers according to their age (in weeks), so that most of the behavior categories were potentially performed by any worker of any age. Dead queens were replaced by their daughters.

Foraging Behavior and Subtask Hierarchical Structure in Acromyrmex spp. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

This study considers the function and complexity of tasks during foraging of three Acromyrmex species. Foraging was classified as a team task composed of 2 or 3 processes: recruitment, selection, and collection. Each process was subdivided into different subtasks. Points were attributed to subtasks considering their hierarchical level to compare the complexity of foraging among species. Total scores obtained were 19 for A. balzani and 14 for A. crassispinus and A. rugosus, indicating different degrees of social complexity for grass-cutting and leaf-cutting ant species. Acromyrmex balzani, a grass-cutting ant species, shows a behavioral repertoire composed of more variable subtasks during foraging.

Anti-poverty policies in Brazil: Reviewing the past ten years

This article reviews the main anti-poverty policies implemented in Brazil from the early 1990s to the early 2000s. These include focused and universal policies - such as education and health care - as well as the rural development, a 'middle ground' policy. Though the inter-municipal consortium, a new institutional arrangement gathering municipalities together, has emerged as a promising policy implementation tool, anti-poverty policies have faced implementation difficulties. Lack of coordination between different programs, even within the same policy area, has impaired their effectiveness. As a consequence, compensatory programs, based on monetary transfers to poor families, which face fewer implementation problems, have become the dominant type of anti-poverty policies in Brazil. Despite these shortcomings, a small Brazilian state, Santa Catarina, was able to reduce by 46 percent the number of individuals living in poverty in just ten years. This is a sign that fighting poverty can, after all, be a feasible endeavor. © 2004 IIAS, SAGE Publications (London, Thousand Oaks, CA and New Delhi).

Acoustic repertoire and calling behavior of Scinax fuscomarginatus (Anura, Hylidae)

Vocalizations are important in anuran communication, especially during the breeding season. Calling affects spatial organization of males at breeding sites, promotes attraction of new individuals to the chorus, and attracts mature females for reproduction. We describe four distinct vocalizations (advertisement calls, sporadic calls, and two types of aggressive calls) emitted by adult males of Scinax fuscomarginatus. With the exception of the advertisement call, the remaining descriptions are novel. We also describe calling sites, calling season, and nightly calling activity. Fieldwork was made in a fragment of Cerrado (Estação Ecológica de Itirapina), Municipalities of Itirapina and Brotas, State of São Paulo, southeastern Brazil. At this ecological station, S. fuscomarginatus exhibits a complex acoustic repertoire, social interactions and a prolonged reproductive pattern similar to observations of congeneric species at other localities. Copyright 2005 Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles.

Gluon saturation and proton - Anti-proton cross sections

We study proton - anti-proton cross sections in the framework of an updated minijet eikonal model. We propose a different scheme for fixing the parameters, in which we make use of the measured minijet cross section. We compare the results obtained with the GRV98, MRST98, CTEQ6-L and KLN gluon distributions. The latter includes gluon saturation effects. We conclude that in the very high energy regime the use of the KLN distribution improves significantly the behavior of the cross sections. However this improvement is due to the shape of the KLN gluon density and has little to do with saturation effects.

Foraging behavior and colony cycle of agelaia vicina (Hymenoptera: Vespidae; Epiponini)

The neotropical Agelaia vicina has the largest nest built among social wasps, yet little is known about nest construction, growth and structure. In this work, the development of two nests of A. vicina was followed. Studies were done through analysis of images to estimate the growth of nests. The material collected below the nests was examined to estimate colony productivity. Nests were collected to analyze their architecture and structure. Colony cycle was similar in the two colonies. Colonies increase in size throughout the dry season and into the rainy season, with a sudden drop in production at the end of the rainy season. The colonies doubled in size in about six months.

Las redes de protección social: modelo incompleto

Incluye Bibliografía

Anti-nociceptive effects of Carpolobia lutea G. Don (Polygalaceae) leaf fractions in animal models

Leaves from Carpolobia lutea (Polygalaceae) were screened to establish the antiulcer ethnomedicinal claim and to quantitatively isolate, elucidate the active compounds by semi-preparative HPLC. The anti-nociceptive effects of Carpolobia lutea (CL) G. Don (Polygalaceae) organic leaf extracts were tested in experimental models in mice. The anti-nociceptive mechanism was determined using tail-flick test, acetic acid-induced abdominal constrictions, formalin-induced hind paw licking and the hot plate test. The fractions (ethanol, ethyl acetate, chloroform, n-hexane) and crude ethyl acetate extract of CL (770 mg/kg, i.p.) produced significant inhibitions of both phases of the formalin-induced pain in mice, a reduction in acetic acid-induced writhing as well as and an elevation of the pain threshold in the hot plate test in mice. The inhibitions were greater to those produced by indomethacin (5 mg/kg, i.p.). Ethyl acetate fraction revealed cinnamic and coumaric acids derivatives, which are described for the first time in literature. These cinnamalglucosides polyphenols characterised from CL may in part account for the pharmacological activities. These findings confirm its ethnomedical use in anti-inflammatory pain and in pains from gastric ulcer-associated symptoms. © 2011 Springer Basel AG.

Bait and habitat preferences, and temporal variability of social wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) attracted to vertebrate carrion

In addition to feeding on carrion tissues and fluids, social wasps can also prey on immature and adult carrion flies, thereby reducing their populations and retarding the decomposition process of carcasses. In this study, we report on the occurrence and behavior of social wasps attracted to vertebrate carrion. The collections were made monthly from September 2006 to October 2007 in three environments (rural, urban, and forest) in six municipalities of southeast Brazil, using baited bottle traps. We collected Agelaia pallipes (Olivier, 1791) (n = 143), Agelaia vicina (Saussure, 1854) (n = 106), Agelaia multipicta (Haliday, 1836) (n = 18), and Polybia paulista Ihering, 1896 (n = 3). The wasps were observed feeding directly on the baits and preying on adult insects collected in the traps. Bait and habitat associations, temporal variability of social wasps, and possible forensic implications of their actions are discussed. © 2011 Entomological Society of America.

Ubiquity of virtual disguisers and potential impact on ethical behavior

The widespread availability of wirelessly connected portable computers, smartphones and other mobile devices, and the pervasive presence of computer services in our everyday environment, has brought the prediction of Mark Weiser of future ubiquitous computer systems closer to reality. Some of these - ever-present, anywhere, anytime - ubiquitous computer services mean easier and pleasant lifestyles for many people, but the generalized availability of some classes of these softwares and computer services, known as virtual disguisers and Virtual Robots, can pose new ethical problems in a world of explosive growth of social networking sites. The objective of the present article is to investigate some of these problems, from an interdisciplinary philosophical perspective. Special emphasis shall be given to the potential impact on human conduct caused by disguisers and Virtual Robots. © 2011 IEEE.

Environmental factors influencing foraging activity in the social wasp Polybia paulista (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Epiponini)

Foraging behavior in social wasps is important in the development of the colony and reflects an important ecological interaction between the colony and the environment. Although the social traits of the colony play a role in the foraging activities, the conditions that establish the space and time limits are mainly physical. Here, we evaluate colonies of Polybia paulista throughout one year in order to verify the foraging activities and the items collected, as well as the importance of temperature, relative humidity, and solar radiation on motivating foraging. Collection of liquids was always higher than that of solids; preys were collected all year long, and nests showed two annual episodic expansions. The linear mixed effects (LME) model used to analyze which weather factors influence the foraging showed temperature as the most influencing factor on the collection of materials. © 2011 Naila Cristina de Souza Canevazzi and Fernando Barbosa Noll.

Responsabilidade social empresarial na indústria de calçados paulista: Uma análise dos pólos de franca e Birigui

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

Comparative study of the behavior of p53 immunoexpression in smoking associated lesions: Reinke's edema and laryngeal carcinoma

Objective: To assess the behavior of the immunoexpression of protein p53 in Reinke's edema and laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma. Study design: retrospective. Methods: we recovered the histological paraffin blocks of patients who were subjected to Reinke's edema and laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma surgery in 2000-2011. The paraffin blocks were cut into 3-μm sections; the specimens were prepared in silanized slides (one slide for each paraffin block) and subjected to immunohistochemical reaction according to the Avidin Biotin Peroxidase method. Monoclonal primary anti-p53 antibodies were used at 1:50 dilution. Slides were examined under a light microscope at different magnitudes and results were interpreted based on the degree of brown staining in the nuclei of epithelial cells and in the extent of the fragment by using a semi-quantitative score from 0 to 3. Results: 67 slides of Reinke's edema and 60 slides of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma were included. Scores 2 and 3 for staining of the nuclei of epithelial cells were recorded for 46 slides of Reinke's edema (68.65%) and for 57 slides of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (95%). As to the extent of the fragment, scores 2 and 3 were recorded for 74% slides of Reinke's edema and for 95% slides of carcinomas. Conclusion: the positive immunoexpression for protein p53, positive in 95% carcinomas and 74% Reinke's edemas, makes us aware of the possible preneoplastic condition of the latter lesion. Further studies are needed to identify and reveal the genetic changes that lead to these results. © 2013 Informa Healthcare USA, Inc.

Building community social capital

Includes bibliography

Actividades de los gobiernos de América Latina y el Caribe para la superación de la pobreza = Anti-poverty activities of the governments of Latin America and the Caribbean

Incluye Bibliografía