Morphological Study of the Larval Spiracular System in Eight Lutzomyia Species (Diptera: Psychodidae)

The morphology of the spiracles of fourth instar larva in eight sandfly species were examined by light and scanning electron microscopy. Species studied were: Lutzomyia longipalpis (Lutz & Neiva), L. ovallesi (Ortiz), L. youngi Feliciangeli & Murillo, L. evansi (Nuñez-Tovar), L. trinidadensis (Newstead), L. migonei (França), L. absonodonta Feliciangeli, and L. venezuelensis (Floch & Abonnenc). In larvae of all eight species both thoracic and abdominal spiracles are located at the top of a globular bulge. Their structure consists of a spiracular plate with a sclerotized central portion and a rose-like peripheral portion. The latter has circularly arranged papillae, separated from each other by elongated septa. Each papilla is longitudinally crossed by a fine cleft dividing it into two identical parts. The taxonomic and adaptative value of spiracular morphology is discusse

A arte civil de Mestre Valentin: um programa de sombra e de água fresca

Relate the Bhazilian artistic process of the colonial period to the practices applied by the absolutist Portuguese se state to enforce its domination on the colonial society's production system. The city of Rio de Janeiro in the XVIII century is emphasized inasmuch as it became the viceroyal Government's site. Within that city it is focused the civil works os Mestre Valentin, the generator of new dimensions in the Brazilian visual arts. The analysis is carried out through critical research of the History of Art, a study open to interdisciplinarity, approximating the concept of production relations of the artistic evente, proposed by Damisch, Duvignaud and Panofsky, within the notion of discontinuous time contained in the thinking of Braudel, Deleuze, Foucault and Nietzsche.Relaciona o processo artístico brasileiro do período colonial às práticas de dominação do Estado Absoluto Português no sistema produtivo daquela sociedade, priorizando a cidade do Rio de Janeiro no século XVIII, tornada sede do governo dos vice-reis e, em particular a obra civil de Mestre Valentim, gerador de novas proposições no campo da visualidade brasileira. A análise é feita através de uma investigação crítica da História da Arte, um estudo aberto à interdisciplinariedade, que aproxima as relações de produção do acontecimento artístico propostos por Damisch, Duvignaud e Panofsky com a noção de tempo descontínuo, contida nas linhas de pensamento de Braudel, Deleuze, Foucault e Nietzsche

BAÍA DE GUANABARA: OS ITINERÁRIOS DA MEMÓRIA

BAÍA DE GUANABARA: OS ITINERÁRIOS DA MEMÓRI

Early treatment with Lactobacillus delbrueckii strain induces rise in intestinal T cells and granulocytes and modulates immune related genes of larval Dicentrarchus labrax (L.)

Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. delbrueckii (AS13B), isolated from the gut of adult Dicentrarchus labrax, was administered live to developing sea bass using rotifers and Artemia as live carriers. Immune-related gene transcripts were quantified in post-larvae at day 70 post-hatch (ph) and histology, electron microscopy and immunocytochemistry of the intestinal tissue were performed at day 74 ph. Since the probiotic was orally administered the studies were focused on intestinal immunity. In treated fish gut integrity was unaffected, while the density of T-cells and acidophilic granulocytes in the intestinal mucosa was significantly higher than in controls. Probiotic-induced increases in intestinal T-cells and total body TcR-beta transcripts are first reported in fish. Significantly lower IL-1beta transcripts and a trend towards lower IL-10, Cox-2 and TGF-beta transcription were found in the treated group. Evidence is provided that early feeding with probiotic-supplemented diet stimulated the larval gut immune system and lowered transcription of key pro-inflammatory genes.L'articolo è disponibile sul sito dell'editore http://www.sciencedirect.com

A tool for the automatic calculation of rainfall thresholds for landslide occurrence

Abstract Empirical rainfall thresholds are commonly used to forecast landslide occurrence in wide areas. Thresholds are affected by several uncertainties related to the rainfall and the landslide information accuracy, the reconstruction of the rainfall responsible for the failure, and the method to calculate the thresholds. This limits the use of the thresholds in landslide early warning systems. To face the problem, we developed a comprehensive tool, CTRL–T ( C alculation of T hresholds for R ainfall-induced L andslides− T ool) that automatically and objectively reconstructs rainfall events and the triggering conditions responsible for the failure, and calculates rainfall thresholds at different exceedance probabilities. CTRL−T uses a set of adjustable parameters to account for different morphological and climatic settings. We tested CTRL−T in Liguria region (Italy), which is highly prone to landslides. We expect CTRL−T has an impact on the definition of rainfall thresholds in Italy, and elsewhere, and on the reduction of the risk posed by rainfall-induced landslides

The protein pheromone Er-1 of the ciliate Euplotes raikovi stimulates humanT-cell activity: Involvement of interleukin-2 system

Water-soluble protein signals (pheromones) of the ciliate Euplotes have been supposed to be functional precursors of growth factors and cytokines that regulate cell–cell interactionin multi-cellular eukaryotes.This work provides evidence that native preparations of the Euplotes raikovi pheromone Er-1 (a helical protein of 40 aminoacids) specifically increases viability, DNA synthesis, proliferation, and the production of interferon-g, tumor necrosis factor-a, interleukin (IL)-1b, IL-2, and IL-13 in human Jurkat T-cells. Also, Er-1 significantly decreases them RNA levels of the b and g subunits of IL-2 receptor(IL-2R), while them RNA levels of the a subunit appeared to be not affected. Jurkat T-cell treatments with Er-1 induced the down-regulation of the IL-2Ra subunit by a reversible and time-dependent endocytosis, and increased the levels of phosphorylation of the extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERK). The cell-type specificity of these effects was supported by the finding that Er-1, although unable to directly influence the growth of human glioma U373 cells, induced Jurkat cells to synthesize and release factors that, in turn, inhibited the U373 cell proliferation. Overall, these findings imply that Er-1 coupling to IL-2R and ERK immuno-enhances T-cell activity, and that this effect likely translates to an inhibition of glioma cell growth