Karyological analysis of Proechimys cuvieri and Proechimys guyannensis (Rodentia, Echimyidae) from central Amazon

The aim was to characterize the karyotype of rodents of the genus Proechimys from three localities in the central Brazilian Amazon, in the search for new markers that might shed light on our understanding of the taxonomy and evolutionary history of this taxon. Two karyotypes were found, viz., 2n = 28, FN = 46 in individuals from the NRSP (Cuieiras River) and REMAN (Manaus), and 2n = 46, FN = 50 in individuals from the Balbina Hydroelectric Plant. While individuals with the karyotype with 2n = 28 chromosomes were morphologically associated with Proechimys cuvieri, their karyotype shared similarities with those of the same diploid number in two other regions. Although three karyotypes are described for Proechimys cuvieri, no geographic distribution pattern that defined a cline could be identified. Based on the morphological examination of voucher specimens and additional results from molecular analysis, the karyotype with 2n = 46 and FN = 50 could be associated with P. guyannensis

Senior tourists´ tours´ experiences: the case of Portugal

This is an innovative study to understand the objectives and motivations of senior tourists, based on their past experiences as tourists. It involves the data of a study undertaken with nine senior tourists, aged between 69 and 84, who frequent a senior university in the northern region of Portugal. The collected data was used for category analysis. The results show that senior tourists described with detail and authenticity the tourism destinations, constitute a heterogeneous segment and are intrinsically motivated by cultural enrichment.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Resonant Lepton-Gluon Collisions at the Large Hadron Collider

We study the lepton-induced resonant production of color-adjoint leptons (leptogluons) at the LHC employing the lepton parton density function of the proton. We demonstrate that this production mechanism can be useful to extend the LHC ability to search for leptogluons beyond purely quark/gluon initiated production processes up to ~ 3.5 TeV leptogluon masses and O(1) TeV compositeness scales. Discerning leptogluons from scalar and vector leptoquarks is also possible in this channel, given a data sample containing the order of 100 signal events. We argue that the resonant channel can be combined with leptogluon pair and associated leptogluon-lepton productions to boost exclusion limits and discovery prospects at the LHC.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figure

REDES SOCIAIS COMO FERRAMENTA DE COMUNICAÇÃO INSTITUCIONAL

Os softwares web conhecidos como redes sociais virtuais funcionam como mediadores sociais que favorecem a criação de redes de relacionamentos através de espaços onde o usuário pode juntar pessoas do seu círculo de relacionamentos, conhecer outras que compartilhem os mesmos interesses e discutir temas variados, construindo diferentes elos entre os “eus” privado e públic

It’s Tea Time: Interference of Ayahuasca Brew on Discriminative Learning in Zebrafish

Ayahuasca is a psychoactive brew traditionally used in shamanistic and vegetalistic rituals and has recently received lot of attention due to potential cognitive benefits. Ayahuasca effects are caused by the synergistic interaction of β-carbolines (harmine, harmaline and tetrahydroarmine) contained in Banisteriopsis caapi stalks combined with the N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) from Psychotria viridis leaves, a potent agonist to serotonin (5-HT) receptors. The present study approaches the effects of chronic and acute exposure to two Ayahuasca concentrations (0.1 and 0.5 ml/L) on the cognitive ability to discriminate objects in a one-trial learning task in zebrafish. Based on the combination of concentrations and exposure regimens, we divided adult zebrafish in five treatment groups: acute 0.1 and 0.5 ml/L, chronic 0.1 and 0.5 ml/L, and control 0.0 (n = 20 for each group). Then we tested them in a memory task of object discrimination. Acute Ayahuasca exposed groups performed similarly to the control group, however chronically treated fish (13 days) presented both impaired discriminative performance and locomotor alterations. Overall, these results indicate that Ayahuasca is a potent psychoactive drug that, in chronic exposure, negatively affects mnemonic parameters in zebrafish. In single exposure it does not affects cognitive performance, but the higher concentration (0.5) affected locomotion. Moreover, we reinforce the importance of the zebrafish for behavioral pharmacological studies of drug screening, in special to psychedelic drug research

The Analyticity of a Generalized Ruelle's Operator

In this work we propose a generalization of the concept of Ruelle operator for one dimensional lattices used in thermodynamic formalism and ergodic optimization, which we call generalized Ruelle operator, that generalizes both the Ruelle operator proposed in [BCLMS] and the Perron Frobenius operator defined in [Bowen]. We suppose the alphabet is given by a compact metric space, and consider a general a-priori measure to define the operator. We also consider the case where the set of symbols that can follow a given symbol of the alphabet depends on such symbol, which is an extension of the original concept of transition matrices from the theory of subshifts of finite type. We prove the analyticity of the Ruelle operator and present some examples

Dengue no Estado do Paraná, Brasil: distribuição temporal e espacial no período 1995-2007.

RESUMO   Objetivo: Analisar a distribuição espacial e temporal da dengue no Estado do Paraná e sua relação com o incremento de número de casos das áreas de fronteira entre 1995 e 2007. Métodos: Dados de ocorrência dos casos de dengue autóctones e importados em cada município paranaense foram georreferenciados com ArcView GIS 3.2. Foi realizada também uma análise de correlação de Pearson (r), relacionando o número de casos do Estado de Paraná com os Estados do Mato Grosso e São Paulo, Brasil, Argentina e Paraguai. Resultados: A análise dos mapas permitiu reconhecer áreas com maior incidência da virose e a direção da dispersão no Estado. É notável a ocorrência de três ondas epidêmicas, com picos nos biênios 1995/96, 2002/03 e 2006/07. Destacam-se as Regiões Metropolitanas de Londrina e Maringá e a cidade de Foz do Iguaçu, como grandes centros urbanos e com elevado número de casos da dengue. A área formada pelas mesorregiões Oeste, Centro-Oeste, Noroeste, Norte-Central e Norte Pioneiro contribuíram com 98,47% do total de casos, sendo 99,98% autóctones. Conclusões: A ocorrência de ondas epidêmicas e a contínua notificação de casos de dengue, com confirmação sorológica, é um indício de que este agravo se tornou endêmico no Estado. É observado que o maior número de casos no Estado do Paraná ocorre nas áreas de fronteira com o Paraguai e divisa com o Estado do Mato Grosso do Sul. Salud UIS 2010; 42: 113-122 Descritores: Epidemiologia, dengue, distribuição espacial, Aedes aegypti.   RESUMEN   Objetivo: Analizar la distribución espacial y temporal del dengue en el Estado de Paraná y su relación con el incremento de los casos en las áreas de frontera 1995-2007. Métodos: Datos de la ocurrencia de los casos autóctonos e importados en cada municipio paranaense fueron geo-referenciados con ArcVier GIS 3.2 fue también realizado un análisis de correlación de Pearson (r), relacionando el número de casos del Estado de Paraná con los Estados de Mato Grosso y São Paulo, Brasil, Argentina y Paraguay. Resultados: El análisis de los mapas permitió reconocer áreas con mayor incidencia de virus y la dirección de la dispersión en el Estado. Se notaron tres olas epidémicas, con picos en los bienios 1995/96, 2002/03 y 2006/07. Se destacan las regiones metropolitanas de Londrina y Maringá y la ciudad de Foz do Iguaçu, como grandes centros urbanos y con elevado número de casos del dengue. Las áreas formadas por las mesoregiones Oeste, Centro-Oeste, Noroeste, Norte-Central y Norte Pionero contribuyeron con 98,47% del total de casos, siendo 99,98% autóctonos. Conclusiones: La ocurrencia de olas epidémicas y la continua notificación de casos de dengue, con confirmación serológica, es un indicio de que este problema se ha transformado en endémico en el Estado. Es observado que el mayor número de casos en el estado de Paraná ocurre en las fronteras con Paraguay y límites con el Estado de Mato Grosso do Sul. Salud UIS 2010; 42: 113-122 Palabras clave: Epidemiología, dengue, distribución espacial, Aedes aegypti  ABSTRACT   Objective: To analyze the spatial and temporal distribution of dengue in the Paraná state and its relationship to the rising of number of cases in the border areas from 1995 to 2007. Methods: Data of occurrence of autochthonous and allochthonous dengue cases in Paraná were georeferenced whit ArcView GIS 3.2. It was also performed an analysis of the Pearson correlation (r) between the total number cases to State of Paraná with Mato Grosso and São Paulo states, Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. Results: The maps’ analysis allowed the recognition of areas with higher dengue incidence and the direction of dispersion within the State. It is outstanding the occurrence of three epidemical waves with peaks in 1995/96, 2002/03 and 2006/07. It highlights the metropolitan regions of Londrina and Maringá and the city of Foz do Iguaçu, as large urban centers, present a high number of dengue cases. The area that comprises the West, Mid-west, Northwest, Mid-north and the so-called “Pioneer North” mesoregions contributed with 98.47% of the total number of cases and with 99.98% of solely the autochthonous ones. Conclusions: The occurrence of epidemic waves and the notification of continuous cases of dengue, with serologic confirmation, it is an indication that this disease has become endemic in the state. It is observed that the largest number of cases in the Parana state occurs in the border areas with Paraguay and currency with the Mato Grosso do Sul state. Salud UIS 2010; 42: 113-122 Keywords: Epidemiology, dengue, spatial distribution, Aedes aegypt

Development of an automatic identification algorithm for antibiogram analysis

Routinely, diagnostic and microbiology laboratories perform antibiogram analysis which can present some difficulties leading to misreadings and intra and inter-reader deviations. An Automatic Identification Algorithm (AIA) has been proposed as a solution to overcome some issues associated with the disc diffusion method, which is the main goal of this work. AIA allows automatic scanning of inhibition zones obtained by antibiograms. More than 60 environmental isolates were tested using susceptibility tests which were performed for 12 different antibiotics for a total of 756 readings. Plate images were acquired and classified as standard or oddity. The inhibition zones were measured using the AIA and results were compared with reference method (human reading), using weighted kappa index and statistical analysis to evaluate, respectively, inter-reader agreement and correlation between AIA-based and human-based reading. Agreements were observed in 88% cases and 89% of the tests showed no difference or a o4 mm difference between AIA and human analysis, exhibiting a correlation index of 0.85 for all images, 0.90 for standards and 0.80 for oddities with no significant difference between automatic and manual method. AIA resolved some reading problems such as overlapping inhibition zones, imperfect microorganism seeding, non-homogeneity of the circumference, partial action of the antimicrobial, and formation of a second halo of inhibition. Furthermore, AIA proved to overcome some of the limitations observed in other automatic methods. Therefore, AIA may be a practical tool for automated reading of antibiograms in diagnostic and microbiology laboratoriesinfo:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio