A new species of Constrictotermes from central Brazil with notes on the mandibular glands of workers (Isoptera: Termitidae: Nasutitermitinae)

Constrictotermes rupestris, new species, is described from central Brazil, with illustrations of the imago, soldier, worker head, worker mandibles, worker mandibular gland, and nest. The new species lives in a dry forest, on rocky terrain, building its nest always on rocks. In the colonies examined, all castes showed a striking reddish coloration due to something accumulated in the fat tissues. Inquilinitermes microcerus was present in most examined nests. The worker of C. rupestris has an enlarged mandibular gland. Workers also show an aggressive behavior, which suggests that the mandibular glands may produce defensive secretions.

Insulina pancreática de ratos diabéticos tipo 1 submetidos a um protocolo de treinamento físico individualizado

Since diabetes mellitus is considered a world public health problem, the present study aimed to evaluate oral glucose tolerance (TTGo) and pancreatic insulin concentration (PIC) of type I diabetic rats subjected to an individualized exercise training protocol. A total of 40 adult Wistar rats were used, half of which induced to diabetes by alloxan (32 mg/kg) endovenous injection, and divided into four groups (10 per group): Sedentary Control (SC), Trained Control (TC), Sedentary Diabetic (SD) and Trained Diabetic (TD). The physical training consisted of swimming, 1 h/day, 5 days/week during 8 weeks, supporting overload equivalent to 90% of the individual anaerobic/aerobic metabolic transition determined at the beginning of the experiment. The rats of SD and TD groups presented body weight reduction in relation to controls, which was less accentuated in TD group. Water and food ingestion increased in the diabetic groups in relation to controls. The areas under the serum glucose curve during the GTTo of diabetic groups were higher than the controls. Physical training attenuated this elevation. The diabetic groups showed reduced PIC when compared to both control groups. The physical training protocol employed improved glucose homeostasis and attenuated the body weight loss of diabetic animals but did not alter pancreatic insulin concentration. © FTCD/FIP-MOC.

Perceived quality of life and physical activity in Brazilian older adults

The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between self-perceived quality of life and physical activity in Brazilian older adults. We investigated 199 individuals (117 men and 82 women) aged between 60 to 70 years old, employees of a public university. Physical activity was estimated by the short version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). Self-perceived quality of life was assessed using the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-Bref) questionnaire composed of four domains: physical, psychological, social relationship and environment. There was no difference in self-perceived quality of life between men and women. In contrast, quality of life was associated with physical activity even after adjustment for gender, schooling and income. The physical domain presented the strongest association with physical inactivity (Odds Ratio = 2.70, 95% CI 1.87-3.52). Only the environment domain evaluated by WHOQOL-Bref was not associated to physical inactivity. Among the older, improved self-perceived quality of life is positively associated to physical activity. © FTCD/FIP-MOC.

Autoeficácia para a prática de atividade física por indivíduos adultos

Self-efficacy to regular practice of physical activity (PA) can be defined as the ability to keep practicing exercises even with some obstacles that could appear. It is constituted through the influence of 4 main sources: mastery experiences, vicarious experiences, social persuasion and physiological and affective states. The aim of the study was to measure the level of self-efficacy to the regular practice of PA, its construction sources and correlate the level of self-efficacy with each one of the sources. An amount of 196 practitioners of PA took part in this study. The results showed that the level of self-efficacy was 111.19 points in scale that can range from 18 to 162 points. The most prominent source in the construction of self-efficacy was the social persuasion, with an average of 27.64 points in scale that can range from 4 to 36 points. For the correlations, it was used the Pearson coefficient (r). Mastery experiences stood out among the other sources (r = .30). The results agree with the literature, establishing the importance of the encouragement of close people in the maintenance of the behavior to practice PA, as well as to observe positive models, success experiences and feel comfortable during the exercises. © FTCD/FIP-MOC.

Lesão esportiva: Um estudo sobre a síndrome dolorosa femoropatelar

The patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS) is defined as a retropatellar or anterior knee pain, without another disease. It affects until 25% of the population, being more common in women and trained persons. As others pathologies, PFPS have been affected the training of elite and amateurs athletes. Thereby, the general purpose of this study was discuss the occurrence of PFPS as a sports injury, there prevention possibilities and the appropriate recovery training after injury. It had been developed a literature review addressing the specific characteristics of the syndrome, its diagnosis, its target population, its development, how it affects the training and which are their possibilities of prevention and treatment. © FTCD/FIP-MOC.

Análise do equilíbrio postural de indivíduos diabéticos por meio de baropodometria

Objective of this study was to analyze the postural balance of neuropathic diabetic individuals through baropodometry, related to losses in the sensorimotor system. Twenty-eight healthy and 25 diagnosed with diabetic neuropathy were subjected to static evaluation (measurement of displacement of body center of pressure) and dynamic (temporal analysis of the stance phase of gait cycle). The tactile sensitivity of the feet was assessed by Semmes Weinstein monofilaments and isometric muscle strength of ankle dynamometry. Analyses of multivariânvia (MANOVAs) and variance (ANOVAs) indicated lower performance in tactile sensitivity, muscle strength and dynamic balance, but showed no difference for static equilibrium of diabetic neuropathy. With this study by regression analysis, one can infer that the equilibrium differences in gait of neuropathic insensitivity may result from tactile and muscle strength. © FTCD/FIP-MOC.

Perfil antropométrico e fisiológico de atletas de futsal da categoria sub-20 e adulta

The aim of this study was to determine the anthropometrical and physiological profile of futsal players and compare between under-20 and adults categories. Twenty four male athletes futsal participated in the study. They played in two teams of futsal-level state: a team with players under-20 (12 athletes); and another with players of the adults category (12 athletes). The participants performed a routine assessment involving anthropometric measurements (body mass, size, thickness of skin folds, perimeter body and bone diameter) and tests to estimate the aerobic and anaerobic capacity. The results did not indicate differences in relation to the anthropometrical and physiological profile between the under-20 and adults categories. We concluded that the promotion of athletes from the under-20 category for the adult's category taking into account the anthropometrical profile and aerobic and anaerobic performance indicators is recommended. However, other indicators, such as the technical, tactical and psychological aspects are important to help in understanding this promotion phase and in the training. © FTCD/FIP-MOC.

Preconceito e esportes de aventura: A (não) presença feminina

Participation in adventure sports have increased recently, perhaps because of its appealing and emotional aspects. Despite this overall increase, women's participation is restricted due to ingrained gender prejudice in society, however, there are some initiatives aimed at expanding women's participation in several adventure sports. In scientific literature there is a lack of studies on adventure sports, especially on gender issues, prejudice and female athletic performance. These aspects motivated this study, which aims to investigate from the female athletes' perspective; the prejudice and behaviors of male athletes when in their presence and the male athletes' acceptance of them. This exploratory research consists of a qualitative study developed through an open on-line questionnaire. This tool was posted on web logs and websites of sixteen well-known female Brazilian adventure sports athletes. The questionnaire answers were analyzed based on the Thematic Content Analysis Technique and indicate that, although most female athletes do not report the prejudice and rejection of men, these attitudes appear subliminally, deserving more attention in future studies. © FTCD/FIP-MOC.

A influência da dança na percepção de estruturas rítmicas monotônicas em adolescentes surdos

Dance activities were administered to a group of deaf adolescents via visual and auditory stimuli in order to improve their perceptions of monotonic rhythmic structures. Status of psychomotor development was also assessed before and after participation in the program. Twenty deaf adolescents (ages between 12 and 13 years) were divided into two groups, experimental (EG) and control (CG). Before and after participating in the program for 26 weeks, participants were evaluated in rhythmical tasks adapted from the classical test of M. Stambak. The tasks included the perception of drum beats, actually viewed hit movements, or heard via a sound amplifier. Psychomotor tests were administered only to the EG. The period of practice with dance activities changed the individuals' performance in the monotonic rhythmic test. Also, the success rate improved in both, visual and auditory input tasks. Individuals in the CG showed no changes in performance. For the EG, in the post-test, the status of psychomotor development was six months below the target age of the tests (i.e., 11 years). Findings suggested that dance activities can change deaf individuals' auditory perception of rhythmic structures. Participation in such a program can also positively affect psychomotor development. © FTCD/FIP-MOC.

An analysis of the Hygiea asteroid family orbital region

(10) Hygiea is the fourth largest asteroid of the main belt, by volume and mass, and it is the largest member of its family, that is made mostly by low-albedo, C-type asteroids, typical of the outer main belt. Like many other large families, it is associated with a 'halo' of objects, that extends far beyond the boundary of the core family, as detected by traditional hierarchical clustering methods (HCM) in proper element domains. Numerical simulations of the orbital evolution of family members may help in estimating the family and halo family age, and the original ejection velocity field. But, in order to minimize the errors associated with including too many interlopers, it is important to have good estimates of family membership that include available data on local asteroid taxonomy, geometrical albedo and local dynamics. For this purpose, we obtained synthetic proper elements and frequencies of asteroids in the Hygiea orbital region, with their errors. We revised the current knowledge on asteroid taxonomy, including Sloan Digital Sky Survey-Moving Object Catalog 4th release (SDSS-MOC 4) data, and geometric albedo data from Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) and Near-Earth Object WISE (NEOWISE). We identified asteroid family members using HCM in the domain of proper elements (a, e, sin (i)) and in the domains of proper frequencies most appropriate to study diffusion in the local web of secular resonances, and eliminated possible interlopers based on taxonomic and geometrical albedo considerations. To identify the family halo, we devised a new hierarchical clustering method in an extended domain that includes proper elements, principal components PC1, PC2 obtained based on SDSS photometric data and, for the first time, WISE and NEOWISE geometric albedo. Data on asteroid size distribution, light curves and rotations were also revised for the Hygiea family. The Hygiea family is the largest group in its region, with two smaller families in proper element domain and 18 families in various frequencies domains identified in this work for the first time. Frequency groups tend to extend vertically in the (a, sin (i)) plane and cross not only the Hygiea family but also the near C-type families of Themis and Veritas, causing a mixture of objects all of relatively low albedo in the Hygiea family area. A few high-albedo asteroids, most likely associated with the Eos family, are also present in the region. Finally, the new multidomains hierarchical clustering method allowed us to obtain a good and robust estimate of the membership of the Hygiea family halo, quite separated from other asteroids families halo in the region, and with a very limited (about 3 per cent) presence of likely interlopers. © 2013 The Author Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Automated determination of the orientation of dust devil tracks in mars orbiter images

The paper presents and evaluates three methods for automatically estimating the main orientation of Martian dust devil tracks in MOC and HiRISE images. Inferring such information about dust devils from their tracks is important to better understand the near surface wind. The methods considered were based on gradient direction, directional openings and morphological granulometry. The accuracy of the methods was asserted by comparing the results to a set of directions estimated visually and assumed to be the ground truth. The higher accuracy was reached using directional openings. Besides, the directions inferred by this method were compared to those predicted by the GCM and the results agreed. © 2013 COSPAR.

Detecção automática de rastros de Dust Devils na superfície de Marte

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Contribuição ao estudo dos metabólitos secundários do gênero Casearia e de algumas de suas atividades biológicas

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Matéria orgânica do solo em rotações de culturas sob sistema semeadura direta

Pós-graduação em Agronomia (Agricultura) - FCA

Foraging Activity and Seasonal Food Preference of Linepithema micans (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), a Species Associated With the Spread of Eurhizococcus brasiliensis (Hemiptera: Margarodidae)

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)