Preliminary checklist of the Cerambycidae, Disteniidae, and Vesperidae (Coleoptera) of Peru

A preliminary checklist of the Cerambycidae, Disteniidae, and Vesperidae (Coleoptera) of Peru is presented. Within Cerambycidae, we record five subfamilies, 55 tribes, 345 genera and subgenera, and 714 species. Within Disteniidae, we record one tribe, six genera, and 11 species. We also record one subfamily, one tribe, one genus, and two species within Vesperidae. Four new country records are recorded: one species in the tribe Anacolini (Cerambycidae: Prioninae): Cycloprionus flavus Tippmann, 1953; and three species in the tribe Onciderini (Cerambycidae: Lamiinae): Cacostola simplex (Pascoe, 1859); Marensis simplex (Bates, 1865); Trachysomus cavigibba Martins, 1975. In addition, 161 species recorded are known only from Peru

Evaluating susceptibility of karst dolines (sinkholes) for collapse in Sango, Tennessee, USA

Dolines or sinkholes are earth depressions that develop in soluble rocks complexes such as limestone, dolomite, gypsum, anhydrite, and halite; dolines appear in a variety of shapes from nearly circular to complex structures with highly curved perimeters. The occurrence of dolines in the studied karst area is not random; they are the results of geomorphic, hydrologic and chemical processes that have caused partial subsidence, even total collapse of the land surface, when voids and caves are present in the bedrock and the regolith arch overbridging these voids is unstable. In the study area, the majority of collapses occur in the regolith (bedrock cover) that bridges voids in the bedrock. Because these collapsing dolines can damage property and cause even the loss of lives, there is a need to develop methods for evaluating karst hazards; such methods can be used by planners and practitioners for urban and economic development, especially in regions with a growing population. The purpose of this project is threefold: 1) to develop a karst feature database, 2) to investigate critical indicators associated with doline collapse, and 3) to design a doline susceptibility model for potential doline collapse based on external morphometric data. The study revealed the presence of short range spatial dependence in the distribution of the dolines’ morphometric parameters such as circularity, geographic orientation of the main doline axes and the length-to-width doline ratios; therefore, geostatistics can be used to spatially evaluate the susceptibility of the karst area for doline collapse using the probability of occurrence of these critical parameters. The partial susceptibility estimates were combined into final spatial probabilities enabling the identification of areas where undetected dolines may cause significant hazards

Propostas alternativas de construção de políticas públicas em educação: novas esperanças de solução para velhos problemas? Alternative proposals for constructing public education policies: new hope for solving old problems?

Discute-se a possibilidade de construção de políticas públicas alternativas no campo da educação, não apenas como proposições teóricas, mas aquelas construídas na perspectiva oposta à da tradição brasileira, qual seja, a de verticalização das relações entre Estado e sociedade civil. Ainda que se considere os recuos, obstáculos e entraves que caracterizam as mudanças de paradigmas em políticas públicas educacionais, é de se ressaltar que, nos últimos anos, tem-se construído, em várias cidades do país, novas formas de fazer política pública em educação. Tais experiências refletem projetos que trazem consigo a concepção de democratização das relações entre Estado e sociedade, e podem representar novas esperanças de solução para velhos problemas.<br>This paper examines the possibility of constructing alternative public education policies, not only theoretical proposals, but also educational policies that have been constructed in opposition to the Brazilian tradition of vertical relations between the state and civil society. Even taking into account the difficulties that characterise paradigm shift in education policies, it can be seen that new approaches to such policies have been constructed in a number of brazilian cities in recent years. These experiences reflect forms of government that involve the concept of democratisation of the relations between state and society, which may represent new hope for solving old problems