Repositório RCAAP

This paper proposes a new interpretation for primary thickening in monocotyledons. The anatomy of the vegetative organs of the following species was examined: Cephalostemon riedelianus (Rapataceae), Cyperus papyrus (Cyperaceae), Lagenocarpus rigidus, L. junciformis (Cyperaceae), Echinodorus paniculatus (Alismataceae) and Zingiber officinale (Zingiberaceae). The endodermis with meristematic activity was observed in the root of all the species, in the stem of Cyperus, Cephalostemum and Lagenocarpus rigidus, and in the leaf trace of Cyperus and leaf of Echinodorus. Considering the continuity of tissues through the root, stem and leaf, the authors conclude that in the stem the pericycle remains active throughout the life of the plant as the generator of the vascular tissue. The "Primary Thickening Meristem" is in fact the pericycle plus the endodermis and its derivatives (or only the pericycle). Close to the stem apex, the assemblage of seems to be a unique meristem, giving rise to the inner cortex and vascular tissues.

The high specificity of blood coagulation proteases has been attributed not only to residues surrounding the active site but also to other surface domains that are involved in recognizing and interacting with macromolecular substrates and inhibitors. Specific blood coagulation inhibitors obtained from exogenous sources such as blood sucking salivary glands and snake venoms have been identified. Some of these inhibitors interact with exosites on coagulation enzymes. Two examples are discussed in this short revision. Bothrojaracin is a snake venom-derived protein that binds to thrombin exosites 1 and 2. Complex formation impairs several exosite-dependent activities of thrombin including fibrinogen cleavage and platelet activation. Bothrojaracin also interacts with proexosite 1 on prothrombin thus decreasing the zymogen activation by the prothrombinase complex (FXa/FVa). Ixolaris is a two Kunitz tick salivary gland inhibitor, that is homologous to tissue factor pathway inhibitor. Recently it was demonstrated that ixolaris binds to heparin-binding exosite of FXa, thus impairing the recognition of prothrombin by the enzyme. In addition, ixolaris interacts with FX possibly through the heparin-binding proexosite. Differently from FX, the ixolaris-FX complex is not recognized as substrate by the intrinsic tenase complex (FIXa/FVIIIa). We conclude that these inhibitors may serve as tools for the study of coagulation exosites as well as prototypes for new anticoagulant drugs.

Lymphocytes activated by mitogenic lectins display changes in transmembrane potential, an elevation in the cytoplasmic Ca2+ concentrations, proliferation and/or activation induced cell death. Low concentrations of ouabain (an inhibitor of Na+,K+-ATPase) suppress mitogen-induced proliferation and increases cell death. To understand the mechanisms involved, a number of parameters were analyzed using fluorescent probes and flow cytometry. The addition of 100nM ouabain to cultures of peripheral blood lymphocytes activated with 5µg/ml phytohemagglutinin (PHA) did not modify the increased expression of the Fas receptor or its ligand FasL induced by the mitogen. However, treatment with ouabain potentiated apoptosis induced by an anti-Fas agonist antibody. A synergy between ouabain and PHA was also observed with regard to plasma membrane depolarization. PHA per se did not induce dissipation of mitochondrial membrane potential but when cells were also exposed to ouabain a marked depolarization could be observed, and this was a late event. It is possible that the inhibitory effect of ouabain on activated peripheral blood lymphocytes involves the potentiation of some of the steps of the apoptotic process and reflects an exacerbation of the mechanism of activation-induced cell death.

Glycoconjugate vaccines, in which a cell surface carbohydrate from a micro-organism is covalently attached to an appropriate carrier protein are proving to be the most effective means to generate protective immune responses to prevent a wide range of diseases. The technology appears to be generic and applicable to a wide range of pathogens, as long as antibodies against surface carbohydrates help protect against infection. Three such vaccines, against Haemophilus influenzae type b, Neisseria meningitidis Group C and seven serotypes of Streptococcus pneumoniae, have already been licensed and many others are in development. This article discusses the rationale for the development and use of glycoconjugate vaccines, the mechanisms by which they elicit T cell-dependent immune responses and the implications of this for vaccine development, the role of physicochemical methods in the characterisation and quality control of these vaccines, and the novel products which are under development.

Alexander von Humboldt's expedition from 1799 till 1804 to the "equinoctial regions of the new world" led through Venezuela, Cuba, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Mexico. In Europe an increased knowledge of the "New World" was connected with the privately funded journey, which served purely scientific purposes and had nothing to do with the exploration and exploitation of natural resources. Besides the research results, which were based on new measuring methods and the quantitative ascertainment of scientific basics, the journey also made possible detailed descriptions in matters of regional studies including social, socio-economic, political, and economic-geographic circumstances, which were based on empirical field studies. The expedition took place shortly before the political change in Latin America. Humboldt, who still experienced the feudal character of global economy based on slave labor in the colonies, vehemently criticized this economic structure - although he was a noble - and its unbearable social conditions. This is the reason why Humboldt is still admired in Latin America till this day. In Europe the scientific insights of his journey to the tropics and his innovative impulses in geog raphy as well as in many other disciplines brought him fame and lasting recognition as a universal scholar, who had crucial influence on the development of the sciences during the first half of the 19th century.

Holocene beachrocks of the Jaguaribe beach, State of Pernambuco, northeastern Brazil, consist of horizontal, cemented layers approximately 40 cm thick. The cement shows three textural varieties: (a) calciferous, surrounding siliciclastic grains, (b) micritic, with an acicular fringe; and (c) cryptocrystalline calcite in pores. Early cementation took place at the water table below beach ridges, where geochemical, hydrodynamic and, perhaps, also microbiological conditions favored rapid precipitation of aragonite and/or high-Mg calcite. delta13C values range from -1.8 to +1.5‰ for dissolved carbonate in interstitial water and from +0.2 to +2.1‰ for bioclastic components. delta18O values range from -2.8 to +0.5‰ for seawater, freshwater and interstitial water. delta13C values and diagenetic features suggest that cementation occurred in meteoric-vadose and/or marine-phreatic water by loss of CO2 during evaporation of the interstitial water. Locally, superimposed low-Mg calcite cements point to subsequent freshwater influence. Total-rock cement composition of vertically stacked beachrock beds at the Jaguaribe beach shows that the highest beachrock bed is older than the one (of same petrographic composition) situated at the current groundwater level. This implies a downward progression of cementation, which probably followed the sea-level fall after a local high stand.

A review of published papers and results of analysis of new material have allowed improvements on the palynostratigraphy of the Permian strata of the Paraná Basin in Rio Grande do Sul State. Based on first and last occurrences of certain species of pollen taxa, two palynozones are formalized, these are the Vittatina costabilis and Lueckisporites virkkiae Interval Zones, in ascending order. The Vittatina costabilis Interval Zone is subdivided into two units, in ascending order the Protohaploxypinus goraiensis and the Hamiapollenites karrooensis Subzones, and is recognized from the glacial (Itararé Group) and post-glacial sequence (Rio Bonito Formation and the base of the Palermo Formation). The Lueckisporites virkkiae Interval Zone occurs from the uppermost Rio Bonito Formation, through the Palermo and Irati formations, and into the Serra Alta and Teresina formations. The main characteristics and reference sections are established, as well as additional criteria to recognize biostratigraphical units, in accordance with the International Stratigraphic Guide. Palynostratigraphical correlation suggests that the Vittatina costabilis Zone concerns the Early Permian (early Cisuralian), while the Lueckisporites virkkiae is regarded as late Early Permian to early Middle Permian (late Cisularian to early Guadalupian).

Striae and furrows found on the upper surfaces of three stratigraphically superposed decimetric beds of late Paleozoic lodgement tillite of the Itararé Subgroup in the northern Paraná Basin were engraved by ploughing of clasts and possibly also ice protuberances at the base of the glacier, on unconsolidated to partially consolidated sediment. Associated features indicate that the rheology of the bed varied from stiff during lodgement to soft and deformable during ploughing. Poor drainage of meltwater at the glacier-bed interface may have contributed to lower the strength of sediment to deformation. The deformed interval was probably generated during a single glacial phase or advance of a glacier grounding in a marine or lacustrine water body. Changes in the dynamics of the glacier involving slow and fast flow were correlated respectively with alternation of deposition and erosion. The proposed model is analogous to that of lodgement till complexes from the Pleistocene of the northern hemisphere. Retreat of the glacier was probably fast, followed by settling of muds on top of the upper striated and furrowed surface, and progradation of deltaic sands during post-glacial time.

On this note we prove that a holomorphic foliation of the projective plane with rich, but finite, automorphism group does not have invariant algebraic curves.

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No summary/description provided

This review outlines aspects on the developmental stages of Trypanosoma cruzi and Trypanosoma rangeli in the invertebrate host, Rhodnius prolixus. Special attention is given to the interactions of these parasites with gut and hemolymph molecules and the effects of the organization of midgut epithelial cells on the parasite development. The vector insect's permissiveness to T. cruzi, which develops in the vector gut, largely depends on the host nutritional state, the parasite strain and the molecular interactions with trypanolytic compounds, lectins and resident bacteria in the gut. T. rangeli invades the hemocoel and once in the hemolymph, can be recognized and activates the defense system of its insect vector, i.e., the prophenoloxidase system, phagocytosis, hemocyte microaggregation, superoxide and nitric oxide activity and the eicosanoid biosynthesis pathway. Taken together, these findings not only provide a better understanding of the interactions parasite - insect vector, but also offer new insights into basic physiological processes involved in the parasites transmission.

In triatomines, as well as in other insects, accumulation of yolk is a process in which an extra-ovarian tissue, the fat body, produces yolk proteins that are packed in the egg. The main protein, synthesized by the fat body, which is accumulated inside the oocyte, is vitellogenin. This process is also known as vitellogenesis. There are growing evidences in triatomines that besides fat body the ovary also produces yolk proteins. The way these yolk proteins enter the oocyte will be discussed. Yolk is a complex material composed of proteins, lipids, carbohydrates and other minor components which are packed inside the oocyte in an organized manner. Fertilization triggers embryogenesis, a process where an embryo will develop. During embryogenesis the yolk will be used for the construction of a new individual, the first instar nymph. The challenge for the next decade is to understand how and where these egg proteins are used up together with their non-protein components, in pace with the genetic program of the embryo, which enables cell differentiation (early phase of embryogenesis) and embryo differentiation (late phase) inside the egg.

Observations on the ecology of silvatic Triatominae are still fragmentary, principally because target species in control process are almost exclusively domestic. Report of silvatic species invading human dwellings must lead research to be focused on their original ecology, in order to assist in understanding their process of domestication and devising strategies for surveillance.

Chagas disease control initiatives are yielding promising results. Molecular research has helped successful programs by identifying and characterizing introduced vector populations and by defining intervention targets accurately. However, researchers and health officials are facing new challenges throughout Latin America. Native vectors persistently reinfest insecticide-treated households, and sylvatic triatomines maintain disease transmission in humid forest regions (including Amazonia) without colonizing human dwellings. In these scenarios, fine-scale vector studies are essential to define epidemiological risk patterns and clarify the involvement of little-known triatomine taxa in disease transmission. These eco-epidemiological investigations, as well as the planning and monitoring of control interventions, rely by necessity on accurate taxonomic judgments. The problems of cryptic speciation and phenotypic plasticity illustrate this need - and how molecular systematics can provide the fitting answers. Molecular data analyses also illuminate basic aspects of vector evolution and adaptive trends. Here we review the applications of molecular markers (concentrating on allozymes and DNA sequencing) to the study of triatomines. We analyze the suitability, strengths and weaknesses of the various techniques for taxonomic, systematic and evolutionary investigations at different levels (populations, species, and higher taxonomic categories).

The erythrocytic cycle of Plasmodium falciparum presents a particularity in relation to other Plasmodium species that infect man. Mature trophozoites and schizonts are sequestered from the peripheral circulation due to adhesion of infected erythrocytes to host endothelial cells. Modifications in the surface of infected erythrocytes, termed knobs, seem to facilitate adhesion to endothelium and other erythrocytes. Adhesion provides better maturation in the microaerophilic venous atmosphere and allows the parasite to escape clearance by the spleen which recognizes the erythrocytes loss of deformability. Adhesion to the endothelium, or cytoadherence, has an important role in the pathogenicity of the disease, causing occlusion of small vessels and contributing to failure of many organs. Cytoadherence can also describe adhesion of infected erythrocytes to uninfected erythrocytes, a phenomenon widely known as rosetting. Clinical aspects of severe malaria, as well as the host receptors and parasite ligands involved in cytoadherence and rosetting, are reviewed here. The erythrocyte membrane protein 1 of P. falciparum (PfEMP1) appears to be the principal adhesive ligand of infected erythrocytes and will be discussed in more detail. Understanding the role of host receptors and parasite ligands in the development of different clinical syndromes is urgently needed to identify vaccination targets in order to decrease the mortality rates of this disease.

A bibliographic search has been performed in MEDLINE using cortisol and panic as key-words, occurring in the title and/or in the abstract. Human studies were selected, with no time limit. The following publications were excluded: reviewarticles, case reports, panic attacks in disorders other than panic disorder, and studies on changes that occurred in-between panic attacks. The results showed that real-life panic attacks as well as those induced by selective panicogenic agents such as lactate and carbon dioxide do not activate the hypothalamicpituitary- adrenal (HPA) axis. Agonists of the colecystokinin receptor B, such as the colecystokinin-4 peptide and pentagastrin, increase stress hormones regardless of the occurrence of a panic attack and thus, seem to activate the HPA axis directly. The benzodiazepine antagonist flumazenil does not increase stress hormones, but this agent does not reliably induce panic attacks. Pharmacological agents that increased anxiety in both normal subjects and panic patients raised stress hormone levels; among them are the alpha2-adrenergic antagonist yohimbine, the serotonergic agents 1-(m-chlorophenyl) piperazine (mCPP) and fenfluramine, as well as the psychostimulant agent caffeine. Therefore, the panic attack does not seem to activate the HPAaxis, in contrast to anticipatory anxiety.

Many prograded barriers and some dunefields in theworld have been termed 'beach ridge' plains, but the actual genesis of the 'ridges' is often unknown. Use of the terms, berms, beach ridges and foredunes is also confusing in the literature because their definitions are highly variable and are commonly used interchangeably. Thus, the formation and definition of sand berms, beach ridges and foredunes is briefly reviewed. Beach ridges are re-defined as entirely wave formed deposits which are most commonly formed during high wave conditions and/or elevated water levels (e.g. storm surges). Foredunes are formed by aeolian sand deposition in vegetation on the backshore. Some dunefields in Brazil have been called beach ridge plains when they are, in fact, foredune plains, transgressive dunefields, or complex barriers (i.e. barriers comprising two types of dunes). The Holocene barrier extending from Torres to Tramandaí in southern Brazil has been regarded as a beach ridge plain. The landforms of this Holocene barrier comprise wide, relatively linear, widely spaced (400-600m), shore parallel ridges on the landward half, and more closely spaced (80-400m), lobate and crescentic, discrete ridges on the seaward half. Low, rolling dunefields, sand sheets, nebkha fields and deflation plains occur between the ridges. The barrier is re-interpreted as a prograded, transgressive dunefield barrier.

This article presents an automatic methodology for extraction of road seeds from high-resolution aerial images. The method is based on a set of four road objects and another set of connection rules among road objects. Each road object is a local representation of an approximately straight road fragment and its construction is based on a combination of polygons describing all relevant image edges, according to some rules embodying road knowledge. Each one of the road seeds is composed by a sequence of connected road objects, in which each sequence of this type can be geometrically structured as a chain of contiguous quadrilaterals. Experiments carried out with high-resolution aerial images showed that the proposed methodology is very promising in extracting road seeds. This article presents the fundamentals of the method and the experimental results, as well.

An important drawback of the electron microprobe is its inability to quantify Fe3+/Fe2+ ratios in routine work. Although these ratios can be calculated, there is no unique criterion that can be applied to all amphiboles. Using a large data set of calcic, sodic-calcic, and sodic amphibole analysis from A-type granites and syenites from southern Brazil, weassess the choices made by the method of Schumacher (1997, Canadian Mineralogist, 35: 238-246), which uses the average between selected maximum and minimum estimates. Maximum estimates selected most frequently are: 13 cations excluding Ca, Na, and K (13eCNK - 66%); sum of Si and Al equal to 8 (8SiAl - 17%); 15 cations excluding K (15eK - 8%). These selections are appropriate based on crystallochemical considerations. Minimum estimates are mostly all iron as Fe2+ (all Fe2 - 71%), and are clearly inadequate. Hence, maximum estimates should better approximate the actual values. To test this, complete analyses were selected from the literature, and calculated and measured values were compared. 13eCNK and maximum estimates are precise and accurate (concordance correlation coefficient- r c <FONT FACE=Symbol>»</FONT> 0.85). As expected, averages yield poor estimates (r c = 0.56). We recommend, thus, that maximum estimates be used for calcic, sodic-calcic, and sodic amphiboles.