RCAAP Repository

Nymphs and adults of the lace bug (Hemiptera: Tingidae) have been found in cassava crops (Manihot esculenta) in Mato Grosso do Sul State, Brazil. The insects were collected in the field and taken to the laboratory where they were identified based on some morphological traits of the species Vatiga manihotae (Drake) and V. illudens (Drake), which are first reported in the aforementioned state.

In Amazon secondary forests are dominated by pioneer species that typically produce large amounts of small and dormant seeds that are able to form a persistent soil seed bank. Seed dormancy in this group of species is overcome by environmental conditions found in open areas, such as high irradiation or alternating temperatures. Nevertheless, a variety of germination responses to environmental factors is known among pioneers; some of them may germinate in diffuse light or in darkness condition at constant temperature. Seed mass can be considered as one of the factors that promotes this variety. Regarding species with very small seeds, it seems that the trigger for germination is light and for larger seeds temperature alternation may be a more important stimulus. In this study we established a relationship between seed mass and germination response to light and alternating temperature for a group of seven woody pioneer species from the Amazon forest. We found that an increase in seed mass was followed by a decrease in the need for light and an increase in the tolerance to alternating temperatures. Understanding germination strategies may contribute with the knowledge of species coexistence in high diverse environments and also may assist those involved in forest management and restoration.

The knowledge on ovigeny in parasitoids is important for basic studies on physiology and applied biological control. The ovigeny pattern and type of ovariole of the parasitoid Palmistichus elaeisis Delvare & LaSalle (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) were studied in newly-emerged females at seven, 14, 24 and 48 h intervals after their emergence from Tenebrio molitor L. pupae (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae). Females of P. elaeisis presented ovaries composed by four ovarioles of the meroistic polytrophic type. The yolk accumulation and chorionogenesis in P. elaeisis were concluded 24 h after the female emergence. The 48 h-old females show a high quantity of egg ready for oviposition. These findings can help to improve the mass production of P. elaeisis and the augmentative biological control by using this natural enemy.

The development stages of male and female gonads in the freshwater crab Sylviocarcinus pictus (H. Milne Eduards, 1853) were described through macroscopic and microscopic (histology) examinations. The histological description was based on 40 specimens (20 each sex). Four gonadal development stages were found for females: immature, ripening, mature and spawned. The following female cells were found: ovogonia, oocytes in initial vitellogenesis, oocytes in advanced vitellogenesis, follicular cells and post-ovulatory follicles. Three development stages were found for males: immature, maturing and mature, with the indication of: spermatogonia, spermatocytes, spermatids, spermatozoids and spermatophores. These data suggest the pattern described in the literature. Size at sexual maturity was 32.3 mm of carapace width for males and 31.5 mm for females. The gonadal stages observed macroscopically by volume and color were validated through histological analysis and proved to be useful method for the rapid identification of sexual maturity in the species. The present study offers previously unpublished data on the reproductive biology of Sylviocarcinus pictus.

The aim of this study was to determine changes in composition, abundance and richness of species along a forest gradient with varying soils and flood regimes. The forests are located on the left bank of the lower Jucu River, in Jacarenema Natural Municipal Park, Espírito Santo. A survey of shrub/tree species was done in 80 plots, 5x25 m, equally distributed among the forests studied. We included in the sampling all individuals with >3.2 cm diameter at breast height (1.30 m). Soil samples were collected from the surface layer (0-10 cm) in each plot for chemical and physical analysis. The results indicate that a significant pedological gradient occurs, which is influenced by varying seasonal groundwater levels. Restinga forest formations showed significant differences in species richness, except for Non-flooded Forest and Non-flooded Forest Transition. The Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA) showed that some species are distributed along the gradient under the combined influence of drainage, nutrient concentration and physical characteristics of the soil. Regarding the variables tested, flooding seems to be a more limiting factor for the establishment of plant species in Restinga forests than basic soil fertility attributes.

Cereus jamacaru, a Cactaceae found throughout northeast Brazil, is widely used as cattle food and as an ornamental and medicinal plant. However, there has been little information about the physiological and biochemical aspects involved in its germination. The aim of this study was to investigate its reserve mobilization during germination and early seedling growth. For this, C. jamacaru seeds were germinated in a growth chamber and collected at 0, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8 and 12 days after imbibition for morphological and biochemical analyses. Dry seeds had wrinkled seed coats and large, curved embryos. Lipids were the most abundant reserve, comprising approximately 55% and 65% of the dry mass for cotyledons and the hypocotylradicle axis, respectively. Soluble sugars and starch were the minor reserves, corresponding to approximately 2.2% of the cotyledons' dry mass, although their levels showed significant changes during germination. Soluble proteins corresponded to 40% of the cotyledons' dry mass, which was reduced by 81% at the final period of germination compared to dry seeds. C. jamacaru seed can be classified as an oil seed due to its high lipid content. Moreover, lipids were the main reserve mobilized during germination because their levels were strongly reduced after seed germination, while proteins were the second most utilized reserve in this process.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) are present in specialized niches in perivascular regions of adult tissues and are able to differentiate into various cell types, such as those committed to repairing. Bone marrow derived MSC from eight young mice C57BL/ 6 gfp+ were expanded in culture for repairing critical defects in calvarial bone produced in twenty-four young isogenic adult C57BL/6 mice. The animals were subjected to a cranial defect of 6.0mm diameter and divided into two equal experimental groups. Control group did not receive any treatment and the treated group received a MSC pellet containing 1.0 x 10(7) cells/mL into the defects. The group treated with MSC showed increased angiogenesis and amount of new bone deposited on the defect limits than that observed in the control group. The results demonstrated that transplantation of bone marrow-derived MSC of C57BL/6 gfp+ mice to bone critical defects produced in mice calvarial contributes positively to the bone repair process. MSC presets ability to influence the correct functioning of osteoblasts, increases the amount of mobilized cells for the repairing process, speeds up growth, and increases deposition of bone matrix.

Recently, non-destructive techniques such as the Vis / NIR spectroscopy have been used to evaluate the characteristics of maturation and quality of pears. The study aims to validate the readings by the Vis / NIR spectroscopy as a non-destructive way to assess the qualitative characteristics of pear cultivars 'Williams', 'Packams' and 'Carrick', produced according to Brazilian conditions. The experiment was conducted at the Pelotas Federal University, UFPel, in Pelotas / RS, and the instrument used to measure the fruit quality in a non-destructive way was the NIR- Case spectrophotometer (SACMI, Imola, Italy). To determine pears' soluble solids (SS) and pulp firmness (PF), it was established calibration equations for each variety studied, done from the evaluations obtained by a non-destructive method (NIR-Case) and a destructive method. Further on, it was tested the performance of these readings by linear regressions. The results were significant for the soluble solids parameter obtained by the Vis / NIR spectroscopy; however, it did not achieve satisfactory results for the pear pulp firmness of these cultivars. It is concluded that the Vis / NIR spectroscopy, using linear regression, allows providing reliable estimates of pears' quality levels, especially for soluble solids.

In this note we announce some results in the study of groups of formal or germs of analytic diffeomorphisms in several complex variables. Such groups are related to the study of the transverse structure and dynamics of Holomorphic foliations, via the holonomy group notion of a foliation's leaf. For dimension one, there is a well-established dictionary relating analytic/formal classification of the group, with its algebraic properties (finiteness, commutativity, solvability, among others). Such system of equivalences also characterizes the existence of suitable integrating factors, i.e., invariant vector fields and one-forms associated to the group. Our aim is to state the basic lines of such dictionary for the case of several complex variables groups. Our results are applicable in the construction of suitable integrating factors for holomorphic foliations with singularities. We believe they are a starting point in the study of the connection between Liouvillian integration and transverse structures of holomorphic foliations with singularities in the case of arbitrary codimension. The results in this note are derived from the PhD thesis "Grupos de germes de difeomorfismos complexos em várias variáveis e formas diferenciais" of the first named author (Martelo 2010).

Ethnomedicinal informations point to some Aspidosperma species (Apocynaceae) as antimalarial plants in Brazil and have motivated the evaluation of six species which were collected in the state of Minas Gerais: A. cylindrocarpon Müll. Arg., A. parvifolium A. DC., A. olivaceum Müll. Arg., A. ramiflorum Müll. Arg., A. spruceanum Benth. ex Müll. Arg. and A. tomentosum Mart.. A total of 23 extracts of different plant parts in different solvents were assayed in vitro against chloroquine-resistant (W2) and chloroquine-sensitive (3D7) strains of Plasmodium falciparum. All the extracts were shown to be active with IC50 values in the range of 5.0 ± 0 2.8 µg/mL to 65.0 ± 4.2 µg/mL. TLC profile of the extracts revealed the presence of alkaloids in the six species assayed. These results seem to confirm the popular use of Aspidosperma species to treat human malaria in Brazil and seem point to alkaloids as the putative active compounds of the assayed species.

Streamwater is affected by several processes in the watershed including anthropogenic activities that result in changes in water quality as well as in the functioning of these stream ecosystems. Therefore, this work aims to evaluate the concentration of major ions (Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, K+, NH4+, NO3-, NO2-, Cl-, SO4(2-), PO4(3-), HCO3-) in streams in the state of São Paulo (southeast Brazil). The sampling sites are located at undisturbed (ombrophilus dense forest, semideciduous forest and savanna - cerrado) and disturbed areas (pasture, urbanization and sugar cane crops). Streamwater chemistry varied according to land use change and, in general, was higher in disturbed sites. Streams located in undisturbed sites at Ribeira de Iguape/Alto Paranapanema watershed (streams 1, 2 and 3) seem to be regulated by soil characteristics, as the disturbed streams located at the same watershed covered by pasture (stream 7) showed high concentration for the most of the variables. Exception to streams located at Pontal do Paranapanema watershed where both disturbed (stream 8) and undisturbed streams (stream 4 and 5) presented similar patterns for almost all variables measured.

This paper presents a comparison of descriptive statistics obtained for brittle structural lineaments extracted manually from LANDSAT images and shaded relief images from SRTM 3 DEM at 1:100, 000 and 1:500, 000 scales. The selected area is located in the southern of Brazil and comprises Precambrian rocks and stratigraphic units of the Paraná Basin. The application of this methodology shows that the visual interpretation depends on the kind of remote sensing image. The resulting descriptive statistics obtained for lineaments extracted from the images do not follow the same pattern according to the scale adopted. The main direction obtained for Proterozoic rocks using both image types at a 1:500, 000 scale are close to NS±10, whereas at a 1:100, 000 scale N45E was obtained for shaded relief images from SRTM 3 DEM and N10W for LANDSAT images. The Paleozoic sediments yielded the best results for the different images and scales (N50W). On the other hand, the Mesozoic igneous rocks showed greatest differences, the shaded relief images from SRTM 3 DEM images highlighting NE structures and the LANDSAT images highlighting NW structures. The accumulated frequency demonstrated high similarity between products for each image type no matter the scale, indicating that they can be used in multiscale studies. Conversely, major differences were found when comparing data obtained using shaded relief images from SRTM 3 DEM and Landsat images at a 1:100, 000 scale.

The aim of this work is to study the morphological characteristics of the trachea of Saimiri sciureus through quantification and measurement of the cartilaginous rings, providing information to facilitate the election of more appropriate endotracheal tube, laryngeal mask or tracheostomy tube for anesthetic and emergency procedures, as it is a species of Neotropical primates most commonly used as biological models, and little is known about their morphology. Nine animals were investigated, being 4 adults and 5 young acquired from the Centro Nacional de Primatas (National Primate Center - CENP) - Ananindeua - PA, which died from natural causes and then fixed in aqueous buffered formalin 10%. Saimiri sciureus trachea comprises an average of 32.8 incomplete rings and an average length of 3.74 cm in young animals, while in adults it demonstrated an average of 30.25 rings and average length of 3.67 cm. The shape of the light and its proportion varied along the trachea. Endotracheal tube with a diameter the 2.0 - 2.5mm, laryngeal mask number 1.0 or tracheostomy tube neonatal Shiley number 3.0, can be placed in animals weighing 600g - 1.2 Kg. Given the great importance of the species studied, which is widely used as a biological model, the detailing on the morphology and morphometry of tracheal animal studies provides new approaches needed in respiratory emergency, as well as, facilitates the development of future anesthetic protocols.

The present study focus on the mitochondrial control region to investigate phylogeographic patterns and population structure in Lutjanus purpureus, and to evaluate the genetic similarity between L. purpureus and L. campechanus. For the initial analysis, 810 base pairs sequence from control region were obtained from 239 specimens of L. purpureus collected from four localities off the Brazilian coast. The results revealed the presence of a single panmictic population characterized by high values of genetic diversity. The 299 base pairs hypervariable portion were used for the combined analysis of L. purpureus and L. campechanus, being 275 haplotypes identified in the 414 specimens. Phylogenetic tree and haplotype network did not indicate phylogeographic substructuring between the two species, but rather an intense intermingling of individuals. Considering their marked morphological similarity, the molecular data presented here indicate that only one species of red snapper exists in the western Atlantic.

The objective of this work was to evaluate the acute toxicity of formalin and histopathological effects on the Amazon ornamental fish, bluespotted coridora (Corydoras melanistius). A randomized design was used, with ten concentrations of formalin (40%) (0, 3, 6, 12, 25, 50, 100, 150, 200 and 250mg.L-1) with four replicates and five fish per container (3L) in static system for 96 hours. The moribund fish were killed and fixed in 10% formalin to proceed the histopathological analysis of gill, liver and kidney. At the end of this experiment the following mortality rates (%) were obtained in increasing order of exposure: 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 65, 85, 100, 100 and 100%. The lethal concentration 50% (LC50-96h (I)) estimated was 50.76 mg.L-1 with regression of y = 0.51x, and r² = 0.80. Further, in higher concentrations morphological changes as gill hyperplasia, with filling of interlamellar spaces, disorganization of liver arrangement, and necrosis in kidney were observed. In this study, the formalin can be considered slightly toxic to bluespotted corydora, and cause morphological changes when exposed to high concentrations. The use of formalin to treat of ornamental fish in the inner river of capture with wrong concentration can provoke negative environmental and biological effects.

Morphological and morphometric variability of the small-sized coastal squid Lolliguncula brevis was assessed along the largest part of its latitudinal range in the southern hemisphere, off the Brazilian coast (8º S - 27º S). A general homogeneity in form was found throughout the entire latitudinal range. In terms of body proportions, no latitudinal gradients were evident, but a few local "morphotypes" could be distinguished. The distinctive egg mass morphology, and size and form features, including a hectocotylus 20-40% longer than the opposing ventral arm and the presence of suckers on the buccal membrane, indicated that Lolliguncula from northern and southern hemispheres might comprise two different taxa.

Carajathemis simone n. gen., n.sp. from the state of Pará, Brazil, is described and illustrated based on 22 specimens collected in a "canga" (laterite) lake within the forest at the Flona de Carajás, Parauapebas Municipality. The new libellulid genus fits in the subfamily Sympetrinae and the male keys out to Erythemis in Garrison et al. (2006). The new taxon has a combination of characters that makes it different from all genera of Sympetrinae including Erythemis. The species is remarkable by its large size, pleural striping and especially by the complex and strongly dimorphic leg armature. It seems to be restricted to shallow, rainfall-dependent, iron-rich lakes.

In our previous work (Fabri et al. 2009), we showed that different extracts of Mitracarpus frigidus had significant antibacterial, antifungal and leishmanicidal activities. In order to increase our knowledge about this species, this work assesses the chemical composition and the in vitro biological activity of its essential oil. Thus, the essential oil obtained by hydrodistillation of the aerial parts of M. frigidus was analyzed by GC/MS. Among several compounds detected, 11 were identified, being linalool and eugenol acetate the major components. The essential oil exhibited a moderate antibacterial effect against Staphyloccocus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Enterobacter cloacae (MIC 250 µg/mL). On the other hand, it showed a strong antifungal effect against Cryptoccocus neoformans (MIC 8 µg/mL) and Candida albicans (MIC 63 µg/mL). Expressive activity against L. major and L. amazonensis promastigote forms with IC50 values of 47.2 and 89.7 µg/mL, respectively, were also observed. In addition, the antioxidant activity was investigated through DPPH radical-scavenging and showed a significative activity with IC50 of 38 µg/mL. The cytotoxicity against Artemia salina was moderate with LC50 of 88 µg/mL. The results presented here are the first report on the chemical composition and biological properties of M. frigidus essential oil.

This work aimes to evaluate the interspecific interaction between Trichogramma pretiosum and Telenomus remus, two biological control agents of fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) eggs. Eggs of Spodoptera frugiperda previously parasitized by Telenomus remus were offered to Trichogramma pretiosum, and those parasitized by Trichogramma pretiosum were offered to Telenomus remus. The previously parasitized eggs were tested at different embryonic development stages for each parasitoid. In addition, to evaluate the competition between species, Spodoptera frugiperda eggs were offered to the parasitoids simultaneously. The behavior of the insects was recorded under a stereomicroscope. When Spodoptera frugiperda eggs were previously exposed to either parasitoid, there was no emergence of the other parasitoid. When the Telenomus remus and Trichogramma pretiosum females were placed together with Spodoptera frugiperda eggs, Telenomus remus had a greater parasitism rate. Except searching time, all Trichogramma pretiosum behaviors took a longer time than Telenomus remus behaviors. Thus, despite belonging to different families, each of these parasitoids is able to recognize host eggs previously parasitized by the other. So, this suggests that the recognition mechanism involved is not exclusively specific.

This paper discusses a number of aspects concerning the analysis, interpretation and reporting of correlations in agricultural sciences. Various problems that one might encounter with these aspects are identified, and suggestions of how to overcome these problems are proposed. Some of the examples presented show how mistaken and even misleading the interpretation of correlation can be when one ignores simple rules of analysis.