Dynamics of cell and tissue genesis in the male reproductive system of ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) Amblyomma cajennese (Fabricius, 1787) and Amblyomma aureolatum (Pallas, 1772): a comparative analysis

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

Do nobre ao patético: o herói de Victor Hugo e o anti-herói de Machado de Assis

This article analyses how Victor Hugo embodied his heroes and Machado de Assis his anti-heroes. Three Assis´s short stories and three Hugo´s novels are compared: “O caso da Vara” and the chapter “L‟affaire Champmathieu” from the book Les Misérables; “Noite de Almirante” and Les Travailleurs de la Mer; “Um incêndio” and Quatre-Vingt-Treize. These texts present similar situations, but each author shows an outcome that reveals their literary proposal. For this reason, Comparative Literature and Intertext had been used as base of reflection for this article.

Victor Hugo: sobretudo, poeta

Victor Hugo was one of the most important writers of the French litterature. He publishied novels and plays, but he dedicated himself especially to the poetry. This article aims to describe the poetic journey of Victor Hugo and analyses how the History of France, the life of the writer and the discussions about Romantism combined and formed a work that traverses the century.

A recepção crítica das peças de Victor Hugo na França e no Brasil

Les premières pièces de Victor Hugo ont été les responsables d'une v��ritable révolution dans l'histoire de las Litterature Française, mais elles n'ont pas eu une acceptation immédiate de la part de la critique, qui s'est partagée entre les partidaires des romantiques et, par conséquent, de nouvelles idées diffusées par le Cénacle et les classiques, les adversaires des jeunes écrivains qui ont embrassé les concepts hugoliens, Au Brésil, la réacrion a été postérieure, mais identique. Qualqu'on ne trouve pas dans les journaux des discussions à propos de la nouvelle école, des nouvelles idées ont été, au début, rejetées par les intellectuels brésiliens et, quelque temps plus tard, adoptées par les écrivains désirant créer un théâtre national basé sur les prinipes défendus par Victor Hugo, le porte-parole du mouvement romantique.

Taxonomic validity of Mesoclemmys heliostemma (McCord, Joseph-Ouni & Lamar, 2001) (Testudines, Chelidae) inferred from morphological analysis

Mesoclemmys heliostemma (Testudines: Chelidae) was described based on five vouchered specimens and nine live specimens from the western Amazon basin. Some authors questioned its status as a valid species, suggesting that it represents a junior synonym of M. raniceps. Here, we report on eight additional specimens from eastern Peru and northern Brazil, and provide descriptive statistics of morphological characters for hatchlings, juveniles, and adults of M. heliostemma, M. raniceps, and M. gibba. We also test for group differences through univariate and multivariate statistical analyses, and discuss some advantages of this methodology. Our data suggest that all three taxa are morphologically divergent, and that M. heliostemma is a valid species.

Elections and Democracy in Brazil: Victor Nunes Leal and the 1945 Transition

This article discusses the necessary conditions for a democratic government to prevail, with the study Coronelismo: the Municipality and Representative Government in Brazil as the point of departure. The article seeks to identify the book's causal explanations for the emergence of democracy, and more precisely for regimes in which governments lose elections. Why were elections not truly competitive over the course of the Empire and the First Republic? Why did they change after the fall of the Estado Novo? Nunes Leal was one of the few Brazilian authors to explicitly tackle this challenge.

Repression of osteocyte Wnt/beta-catenin signaling is an early event in the progression of renal osteodystrophy

Chronic kidney diseasemineral bone disorder (CKD-MBD) is defined by abnormalities in mineral and hormone metabolism, bone histomorphometric changes, and/or the presence of soft-tissue calcification. Emerging evidence suggests that features of CKD-MBD may occur early in disease progression and are associated with changes in osteocyte function. To identify early changes in bone, we utilized the jck mouse, a genetic model of polycystic kidney disease that exhibits progressive renal disease. At 6 weeks of age, jck mice have normal renal function and no evidence of bone disease but exhibit continual decline in renal function and death by 20 weeks of age, when approximately 40% to 60% of them have vascular calcification. Temporal changes in serum parameters were identified in jck relative to wild-type mice from 6 through 18 weeks of age and were subsequently shown to largely mirror serum changes commonly associated with clinical CKD-MBD. Bone histomorphometry revealed progressive changes associated with increased osteoclast activity and elevated bone formation relative to wild-type mice. To capture the early molecular and cellular events in the progression of CKD-MBD we examined cell-specific pathways associated with bone remodeling at the protein and/or gene expression level. Importantly, a steady increase in the number of cells expressing phosphor-Ser33/37-beta-catenin was observed both in mouse and human bones. Overall repression of Wnt/beta-catenin signaling within osteocytes occurred in conjunction with increased expression of Wnt antagonists (SOST and sFRP4) and genes associated with osteoclast activity, including receptor activator of NF-?B ligand (RANKL). The resulting increase in the RANKL/osteoprotegerin (OPG) ratio correlated with increased osteoclast activity. In late-stage disease, an apparent repression of genes associated with osteoblast function was observed. These data confirm that jck mice develop progressive biochemical changes in CKD-MBD and suggest that repression of the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway is involved in the pathogenesis of renal osteodystrophy. (C) 2012 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

Dynamics of cell and tissue genesis in the male reproductive system of ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) Amblyomma cajennense (Fabricius, 1787) and Amblyomma aureolatum (Pallas, 1772): a comparative analysis

Ticks are classified into three families: Argasidae, Ixodidae, and Nutalliellidae. The taxonomy and phylogeny within Ixodidae are still discussed by the specialists, thus requiring further studies. Amblyomma cajennese and Amblyomma aureolatum (Brazil) belong to two species complexes known as “cajennese” and “ovale”, respectively, and are directly related to the transmission of the Brazilian spotted fever. This confirms the medical and veterinary significance of these species, as well as the need for further morphological studies that will bring a better understanding of their taxonomy, phylogeny, and control. In this context, the present study aimed to characterize the morphology of the male reproductive system of A. cajennese and A. aureolatum when unfed and after 4 days of feeding, thereby seeking to: (a) distinguish the two species or “complexes”, and (b) study an internal system which has the potential to be targeted by acaricides. Therefore, males from both species (unfed and after 4 days of feeding) were cold-anesthetized, dissected, and had their reproductive systems removed for histological analysis. The results showed that the morphology of the male reproductive system is generally similar between both species, like in other Ixodidae ticks, exhibiting a multilobed accessory gland complex related to seminal fluid secretion, a pair of vasa deferentia and a pair of testes housing germ cells (spermatocytes) in different stages. The main differences were found in the development of the accessory gland complex cells and germ cells, showing that the maturation of the male reproductive system starts later in A. aureolatum, when compared to A. cajennese. However, during the blood meal, A. aureolatum development is increased, thus making germ cell maturation and gland complex activity higher than in A. cajennese. This study shows the differences in the development of the male reproductive systems of both species, while providing information that can assist in the establishment of new control methods.

Natural variations at position 93 of the invariant V��24-J��18 α chain of human iNKT-cell TCRs strongly impact on CD1d binding

Human invariant natural killer T (NKT) cell TCRs bind to CD1d via an "invariant" V��24-J��18 chain (iNKTα) paired to semi-invariant V��11 chains (iNKTβ). Single-amino acid variations at position 93 (p93) of iNKTα, immediately upstream of the "invariant" CDR3α region, have been reported in a substantial proportion of human iNKT-cell clones (4-30%). Although p93, a serine in most human iNKT-cell TCRs, makes no contact with CD1d, it could affect CD1d binding by altering the conformation of the crucial CDR3α loop. By generating recombinant refolded iNKT-cell TCRs, we show that natural single-nucleotide variations in iNKTα, translating to serine, threonine, asparagine or isoleucine at p93, exert a powerful effect on CD1d binding, with up to 28-fold differences in affinity between these variants. This effect was observed with CD1d loaded with either the artificial α-galactosylceramide antigens KRN7000 or OCH, or the endogenous glycolipid β-galactosylceramide, and its importance for autoreactive recognition of endogenous lipids was demonstrated by the binding of variant iNKT-cell TCR tetramers to cell surface expressed CD1d. The serine-containing variant showed the strongest CD1d binding, offering an explanation for its predominance in vivo. Complementary molecular dynamics modeling studies were consistent with an impact of p93 on the conformation of the CDR3α loop.

The Amplifier - v. 8,(a-12) no. 12

In this issue...Ingersoll-Rand Company, Joseph Weindl, Sports Staff, M Club, Mother's Tea, religious history, Al Huizanga, Photo Club, mining engineering

The Amplifier - v. 10, no. 3

In this issue...Hilbilly Hop, Thanksgiving, Dorothy Nile, student elections, Glee Club, Chemical Rubber Company, Victor Burt, student employees, Montana Coal Symposium

Bericht über die unter Leitung des V. z. Bef. d. G. i. d. Kgl. Pr. Staaten auf den Riesenfeldern der Stadt Berlin zu Blankenburg ausgef��hrten Versuchen im Jahre 1885

zusammengestellt von J��rns und Joseph Klar

Bijdrage tot de Geschiedenis der Joden in Amsterdam : Joseph Athias

door S. Seeligmann

Das heilige Land, nach seiner ehemaligen und jetzigen geographischen Beschaffenheit, nebst kritischen Blicken in das Carl v. Raumer'sche "Palästina"

von Joseph Schwarz. Deutsch bearb. von Israel Schwarz