Alterações morfofisiológicas em células dos túbulos de Malpighi durante o desenvolvimento de Myrmeleon sp (Neuroptera, Myrmeleontidae)

Pós-graduação em Genética - IBILCE

Terra e vida: a geografia dos camponeses no norte do Paraná

Pós-graduação em Geografia - FCT

Valor alimentício da folha de amoreira (morus sp.) para o bicho-da-seda (bombyx mori l.) em função de sistemas de armazenagem dos ramos no pós-colheita

Pós-graduação em Zootecnia - FMVZ

Análise estrutural das proteínas da seda da teia da aranha Nephila clavipes por uma abordagem proteômica

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

Desenvolvimento e produção de seda do Bombyx mori L. exposto a análogos do hormônio juvenil

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

Effects of neem oil (Azadirachta indica A. Juss) on the replacement of the midgut epithelium in the lacewing Ceraeochrysa claveri during larval-pupal metamorphosis

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

Nucleolar activity during larval development of Myrmeleon uniformis Navas, 1920 (Neuroptera, Myrmeleontidae)

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

Review: Malpighian Tubule, an essential organ for insects

We did an overhaul on morphophysiology characteristics, cryptonephric system and secondary specializations in the Malpighian tubules of the class Insecta. This review grouped the most important information about this important organ that has different functions essential for insects.

Big, bad, and beautiful: phylogenetic relationships of the horned frogs (Anura: Ceratophryidae)

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

Umidade na folha de amoreira (Morus sp.) em ambientes de armazenamento

Mulberry leaves (IZ 56/4 cultivar) in the pos-harvest, had been taken to the laboratory and submitted to six storage environments (8 hours in open ambient-O, 8 hours in cover ambientC, 1hO/7hC, 2hO/6hC, 3hO/5hC and 4hO/4hC), aiming to evaluate moisture exchange capacity . It was utilized the experimental design split plot with five replications (blocks), six principal treatments (parcels) and nine secondary treatments (sub parcels, weighing of hour in hour, of 08h00min. until 16h00min.). In the period of eight hours of experimentation mulberry leaves moisturedevreased in all the ambients evaluated. However, for cover leaves with wet cloth, for all periods, the water purport (74,63%) was maintained close to the original value (08h00min.- 76,07%), demonstrating the efficiency technique in the conservation of the humidity of leaves for feeding silkworm.

Suco integral de amora (Morus nigra L.) obtido através de prensagem e despolpamento: rendimento e caracterização físico-química

Mulberry (Morus nigra L.) is a fruit with a great potential for technological uses, which could be employed to manufacture of syrups, ice cream, candies, yoghurts, beverages, jam, etc. Only the leaf from mulberry trees is commercially used for silkworm feeding. This tree is cultivated on many agricultural environments such as small rural proprieties and settlements. Small farmers waste a great amount of their production for not knowing about mulberry technology. Thus, the objective of this work was to access extraction yield and physical-chemical properties of mulberry whole juice from ripe, green and a mixture of both by using press and depulper. Statistical analysis of results was carried by media and standard deviation calculations. 173 kg of mulberry were picked being 49.31% ripe and 50.68% green. Press delivered greater extraction yield of whole juice (80.50% to 81.60%) when compared to press (71.43% to 77.50%). Whole juice obtained from both equipments has shown the following values: soluble solids 7.45% - 12.11%, titrable acidity 0.45 – 1.23%, ratio 6.03 – 26.84, pH 3.69 – 4.35, total reducing sugar 4.05% – 9.96%, reducing sugar 3.95% - 9.15%, sucrose 0.00% - 0.04%, turbidity 221.25 NTU - >4,000 NTU. Whole juices obtained from both equipments has shown similar physical-chemical characteristics except turbidity. The authors concluded that press was the best extraction equipment due to its greater yield and whole juice quality regarding turbidity

Molecular characterization of a mariner-like element in the Atta sexdens rubropilosa genome

Mobile elements are widely present in eukaryotic genomes. They are repeated DNA segments that are able to move from one locus to another within the genome. They are divided into two main categories, depending on their mechanism of transposition, involving RNA (class I) or DNA (class II) molecules. The mariner-like elements are class II transposons. They encode their own transposase, which is necessary and sufficient for transposition in the absence of host factors. They are flanked by a short inverted terminal repeat and a TA dinucleotide target site, which is duplicated upon insertion. The transposase consists of two domains, an N-terminal inverted terminal repeat binding domain and a C-terminal catalytic domain. We identified a transposable element with molecular characteristics of a mariner-like element in Atta sexdens rubropilosa genome. Identification started from a PCR with degenerate primers and queen genomic DNA templates, with which it was possible to amplify a fragment with mariner transposable-element homology. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that this element belongs to the mauritiana subfamily of mariner-like elements and it was named Asmar1. We found that Asmar1 is homologous to a transposon described from another ant, Messor bouvieri. The predicted transposase sequence demonstrated that Asmar1 has a truncated transposase ORF. This study is part of a molecular characterization of mobile elements in the Atta spp genome. Our finding of mariner-like elements in all castes of this ant could be useful to help understand the dynamics of mariner-like element distribution in the Hymenoptera.

Description of immature stages of Phelypera schuppeli (Boheman, 1834) with comments on natural history (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Hyperinae)

Immatures of the Phelypera schuppeli (Boheman, 1834) (Curculionidae; Hyperinae; Cepurini) are described, illustrated and compared with available descriptions of larvae and pupae of Hyperini. Immatures and adults from midwest (Dourados, Mato Grosso do Sul; Pirenopolis, Goias) and southeast Brazil (Bauru, Sao Paulo) were found on leaves of the host plant, Pachira aquatica Aubl. (Malvaceae, formerly Bombacaceae), a tree used as an ornamental plant in many Brazilian frost-free cities. Larvae of P. schuppeli are exophytic, brightly colored, eruciform and possess abdominal ambulatory ampullae, resembling larvae of Lepidoptera. Mature larvae can spin globular lattice-like cocoons where pupation takes place. Data in the field and under laboratory conditions confirmed previously published biological observations on P. schuppeli. Additional information about defensive behaviors, process of cocoon construction and natural enemies, such as the larval predator Supputius cinticeps (Stal, 1860) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) and the prepupal and pupal parasitoid Jaliscoa nudipennis Boucek, 1993 (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae), are reported.

Origin and Nature of Radio-Loud Broad Absorption Line Quasars

The origin of Broad Absorption Line Quasars (BAL QSOs) is still an open issue. Accounting for ~20% of the QSO population, these objects present broad absorption lines in their optical spectra generated from outflows with velocities up to 0.2 c. Nowadays, the hypotheses about their nature are principally related to orientation or evolutionary scenarios. In the first one, absorption lines are produced by outflows originated by the accretion disk, basically present in all QSOs, but seen only when they intercept the line of sight. In the second hypothesis, BAL QSOs would be young or recently re-fueled QSOs, still ejecting their dust cocoon. In this case orientation would not play a role, since the absorption features would be produced by spherically ejected matter. In this work we present the results of a multi-frequency study of a Radio-Loud BAL QSO sample, and a comparison sample of Radio-Loud non-BAL QSOs. We performed observations from radio to Near-Infrared, aiming at collecting useful informations about the orientation, the age, and the morphologies of these objects. Various techniques have been applied, including local and continental radio interferometry, single dish observations and spectroscopy. The comparison with the non-BAL QSO sample allows us to conclude that no particular orientation is present in BAL QSOs. Moreover, various morphologies and ages can be found, analogously to "normal" QSOs. Thus, the solution to this astrophysical problem seems not to reside in a peculiarity of the BAL QSO subclass with respect to non-BAL QSOs, since both the studied models do not completely explain the observed characteristics. Further experiments with future instrumentation will allow us to underline useful differences and test the physical conditions in BAL QSOs.

Solving the cooling flow problem through mechanical AGN feedback

A fundamental gap in the current understanding of collapsed structures in the universe concerns the thermodynamical evolution of the ordinary, baryonic component. Unopposed radiative cooling of plasma would lead to the cooling catastrophe, a massive inflow of condensing gas toward the centre of galaxies, groups and clusters. The last generation of multiwavelength observations has radically changed our view on baryons, suggesting that the heating linked to the active galactic nucleus (AGN) may be the balancing counterpart of cooling. In this Thesis, I investigate the engine of the heating regulated by the central black hole. I argue that the mechanical feedback, based on massive subrelativistic outflows, is the key to solving the cooling flow problem, i.e. dramatically quenching the cooling rates for several billion years without destroying the cool-core structure. Using an upgraded version of the parallel 3D hydrodynamic code FLASH, I show that anisotropic AGN outflows can further reproduce fundamental observed features, such as buoyant bubbles, cocoon shocks, sonic ripples, metals dredge-up, and subsonic turbulence. The latter is an essential ingredient to drive nonlinear thermal instabilities, which cause cold gas condensation, a residual of the quenched cooling flow and, later, fuel for the AGN feedback engine. The self-regulated outflows are systematically tested on the scales of massive clusters, groups and isolated elliptical galaxies: in lighter less bound objects the feedback needs to be gentler and less efficient, in order to avoid drastic overheating. In this Thesis, I describe in depth the complex hydrodynamics, involving the coupling of the feedback energy to that of the surrounding hot medium. Finally, I present the merits and flaws of all the proposed models, with a critical eye toward observational concordance.