Birds of Parque Estadual do Tainhas, an important protected area of the highland grasslands of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Parque Estadual do Tainhas – PET (Tainhas State Park) is a protected area with significant extensions of natural grasslands located in highland grasslands of northeastern Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, and recognized as an Important Bird Area. Our aim was to record the bird species richness of PET with a greater sampling effort than previous studies at the site, including unpublished data such as occurrence status of most species and evidence of breeding of some of them in the park. We surveyed birds between 2012 and 2018 performing aleatory trails covering mainly the central portion of PET (1,500 ha). We also added records from published studies. We listed 208 species, of which 203 were recorded during our fieldwork (including 18 species of conservation concern). The estimated richness was 222.22 (SD = 10.91) species, according to Jackknife 1 method. This result represents a 58% increase in the species richness of the park and shows that long-term monitoring of the bird community allows to access more accurate richness and to identify the regular species (core avifauna) of the park. The presence of 55 breeders and threatened species shows the importance of this protected area for breeding and conservation of grassland birds, such as Urubitinga coronata, Cinclodes pabsti, Xolmis dominicanus, Anthus nattereri, Xanthopsar flavus, and Sporophila melanogaster

Repeated divergent selection on pigmentation genes in a rapid finch radiation

Instances of recent and rapid speciation are suitable for associating phenotypes with their causal genotypes, especially if gene flow homogenizes areas of the genome that are not under divergent selection. We study a rapid radiation of nine sympatric bird species known as capuchino seedeaters, which are differentiated in sexually selected characters of male plumage and song. We sequenced the genomes of a phenotypically diverse set of species to search for differentiated genomic regions. Capuchinos show differences in a small proportion of their genomes, yet selection has acted independently on the same targets in different members of this radiation. Many divergent regions contain genes involved in the melanogenesis pathway, with the strongest signal originating from putative regulatory regions. Selection has acted on these same genomic regions in different lineages, likely shaping the evolution of cis-regulatory elements, which control how more conserved genes are expressed and thereby generate diversity in classically sexually selected traits.Fil: Campagna, Leonardo. Cornell University; Estados Unidos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Repenning, Márcio. Pontificia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul. Museu de Ciências e Tecnologia; BrasilFil: Silveira, Luís Fábio. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Fontana, Carla Suertegaray. Pontificia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul; BrasilFil: Tubaro, Pablo Luis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; ArgentinaFil: Lovette, Irby. Cornell University; Estados Unido

Management of Port Solid Waste Framework

One of contemporary environmental issues refers to \ud progressive and diverse generation of solid waste in urban areas or \ud specific, and requires solutions because the traditional methods of \ud treatment and disposal are becoming unviable over the years and, \ud consequently, a significant contingent of these wastes presents \ud final destination inappropriate. The diversity of solid waste \ud generated as a result of human activities must have the appropriate \ud allocation to specific legislation in force, such as landfill, \ud incineration, among other procedures established by the competent \ud bodies. Thus, also the waste generated in port activities or \ud proceeding vessels require classification and segregation for proper \ud disposal later. This article aims at presenting a methodology for the \ud collection, transportation, treatment and disposal of solid waste \ud port and also application of automation technology that makes \ud possible the implementation of the same

Construção da identidade coletiva na prática do processo estratégico : um estudo na aplicação da metodologia da prospectiva estratégica

Orientadora : Profa. Dra.Yára lúcia Mazziotti BulgacovDissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal do Paraná, Setor de Ciências Sociais Aplicadas, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Administração. Defesa: Curitiba,26/08/2010Bibliografia: fls. 114-116Resumo: O objetivo desta pesquisa é tratar da construção da identidade coletiva na prática do processo estratégico, por meio de um estudo na aplicação da metodologia da prospectiva estratégica, dentro da abordagem da estratégia enquanto uma prática social. Esta é uma pesquisa de caráter exploratório, de base epistemológica interpretativa; que sob uma ótica mais ampla ressalta que a administração estratégica consiste daqueles processos dos quais os padrões de organização e ambientes são criados, sustentados e modificados. Desta maneira, um trabalho com esta base epistemológica coloca em foco explícito o conhecimento pelo qual os membros das organizações constroem suas situações e exploram os múltiplos sistemas de conhecimento de uma determinada situação. A abordagem utilizada é qualitativa, e o método está baseado no estudo de caso; que foi realizado a partir de observação direta, com base nos documentos primários (atas, estudos oficiais do grupo, parecer técnico) e documentos secundários (notícias e publicações do setor industrial). Assim, a perspectiva temporal é de corte longitudinal; a principal unidade de análise é a prática social da estratégia com foco nos processos de constituição da identidade coletiva; sendo que os dados são analisados através da técnica de análise de discurso segundo Fairclough. Pode-se destacar como resultado significativo desta pesquisa que o grupo do Comitê Gestor assumiu uma identidade coletiva e que apresentou interlocução coletiva. Ficou registrada no grupo a passagem do "eu" para o "nós", através do entendimento de um projeto comum e da assimilação de uma identidade coletiva pressuposta. Assim, o resultado demonstra que a aplicação de uma metodologia como a Prospectiva Estratégica fornece um aparato bastante significativo para a construção de uma identidade coletiva dentro de um processo estratégico setorial. Com o crescente advento da globalização, as mudanças e os impactos do desenvolvimento industrial exigem maior compreensão das interações sociais e dos produtos advindos destas interações.Abstract: The goal of this research is to deal with the construction of the collective identity regarding the practice of the strategic process, taking into consideration a study about the application of the strategic prospective methodology in the field of the strategic approach as a social practice. This is an exploratory research, with epistemological interpretative origin, that in a broader perspective emphasizes that the strategic management consists of those processes in which the organization patterns and environments are built, sustained and modified. In this way, a paper with this epistemological base focuses the attention into the knowledge by which the organizations members build their situations and explore the multiple systems of knowledge in a particular situation. The approach is qualitative and the method is based on case study, which was realized through direct observation, based on primary documents (minutes, the group's official studies, technical advice) and secondary documents (reports and announcements from the industrial sector). Thus, the temporal perspective is longitudinal, the main unit of analysis is the social practice of the strategy focused on the formation of the collective identity processes, and the data is analyzed using the technique of discourse analysis according to Fairclough. It can be highlighted as a significant result of this research that the group of the Steering Committee assumed a collective identity and presented a collective dialogue. It was very well noted the passage from "I" to "we" in the group, through the understanding of a joint project and the assimilation of a collective identity for granted. Therefore, the result shows that the application of a methodology like the Prospective Strategic provides an apparatus quite significant for building a collective identity within a sectoral strategic process. Considering the growing advent of globalization, the changes and impacts of the industrial development require greater understanding of the social interactions and the products resulted from these interactions

AS CONTRIBUIÇÕES DE OLIVEIRA VIANNA PARA A ANÁLISE DA FORMAÇÃO DOS PARTIDOS POLÍTICOS NO BRASIL

As concepções de Oliveira Vianna são amplamente analisadas devido sua relevância para o pensamento social e político brasileiro. Contudo, notamos que as teorizações deste pensador sobre os partidos políticos brasileiros são pouco evidenciadas, tanto para alcançar a compreensão de Oliveira Vianna acerca da constituição de nossos partidos políticos, quanto para abalizar se as ideias deste intelectual possuem continuidade e/ou semelhança com outras análises sobre o desenvolvimento dos partidos no Brasil. Diante dessa lacuna, propomos a realização de um artigo que versará sobre tais questões. Nesse sentido, após discutir a percepção de Oliveira Vianna sobre o processo de formação dos partidos políticos brasileiros, cotejaremos sua interpretação com perspectivas clássicas acerca deste tema, tais como as de Victor Nunes Leal, José Murilo de Carvalho, Rachel Meneguello, Bolivar Lamounier e Maria do Carmo Campello de Souza. Para a realização desse trabalho, utilizaremos como método a análise bibliográfica das principais obras destes autores. Partimos da ideia de que há importantes similitudes, ligações e vínculos entre a leitura de Oliveira Vianna sobre a formação dos partidos políticos brasileiros com as interpretações de alguns autores que tratam desse caro e importante tema sociológico e político

Genetic Signatures of Dairy Lactobacillus casei Group

Lactobacillus casei/Lactobacillus paracasei group of species contains strains adapted to a wide range of environments, from dairy products to intestinal tract of animals and fermented vegetables. Understanding the gene acquisitions and losses that induced such different adaptations, implies a comparison between complete genomes, since evolutionary differences spread on the whole sequence. This study compared 12 complete genomes of L. casei/paracasei dairy-niche isolates and 7 genomes of L. casei/paracasei isolated from other habitats (i.e., corn silage, human intestine, sauerkraut, beef, congee). Phylogenetic tree construction and average nucleotide identity (ANI) metric showed a clustering of the two dairy L. casei strains ATCC393 and LC5, indicating a lower genetic relatedness in comparison to the other strains. Genomic analysis revealed a core of 313 genes shared by dairy and non-dairy Lactic Acid bacteria (LAB), within a pan-genome of 9,462 genes. Functional category analyses highlighted the evolutionary genes decay of dairy isolates, particularly considering carbohydrates and amino acids metabolisms. Specifically, dairy L. casei/paracasei strains lost the ability to metabolize myo-inositol and taurine (i.e., iol and tau gene clusters). However, gene acquisitions by dairy strains were also highlighted, mostly related to defense mechanisms and host-pathogen interactions (i.e., yueB, esaA, and sle1).This study aimed to be a preliminary investigation on dairy and non-dairy marker genes that could be further characterized for probiotics or food applications

how liquid based microbiology can change the workflow in the microbiology laboratories

Liquid-based microbiology (LBM) is the future for the technological development of microbiology laboratories. In particular, the Eswab system (by Copan) simplifies and streamlines specimen collection and represents the only liquid system supporting the recovery of all types of bacteria (aerobic, anaerobic, and fastidious bacteria). In addition, LBM offers advantages in the efficiency of microorganism recovery and ease of sampling, transport, and storage. LBM also allows the introduction of true automation in the laboratory: either by using Copan ? (Walk-Away Specimen Processor) or any other commercially available specimen processor that utilizes LBM. In this paper, we illustrate how LBM can positively change laboratory workflow by illustrating several years of our experience with LBM. LBM allows clinical specimen optimization and has several important advantages: cost reduction (due to the smaller number of different devices used), time savings for medical or nursing staff (less confusion in collection device selection and fewer samples being collected), time savings for laboratory staff (fewer samples to access and handle for individual investigations), and patient comfort improvement (multiple sample collection can be avoided). A unique collection device for several investigations also guarantees quality due to the uniformity of the sample and standardization of procedures

Bird surveys in grasslands: do different count methods present distinct results?

We compared two methods routinely used to conduct bird community surveys: point counts and transects. Our aim was to look for differences between these two methods regarding detection of bird richness and abundances. Additionally, we analyzed if one of the methods provided higher correlation of bird data with vegetation structure as an important habitat descriptor. From September 2014 to January 2015, we surveyed birds in 264 point counts and 258 transects spread across the southern Brazilian grasslands. We conducted one method in direct sequence of the other, in the same place with the same observers and at the same weather conditions. We standardized data to eliminate the effort bias caused by area covered and time employed in each method. Total abundance of birds recorded by the two methods did not differ (point counts 4753 and transects 4436, P = 0.31), but we found a significant difference in species richness (point counts 187 and transects 173, P = 0.01). Abundance of birds sampled with the transect method showed a slightly higher correlation with vegetation height (r2 = 0.07; P = 0.004) than the point counts method (r2 = 0.03; P = 0.05). While results from both methods were similar, richness detection was more effective in point counts, indicating that this method might be more useful than it currently is. We discuss potential factors that may influence effectiveness of both methods and suggest issues that should be addressed in further research in order to develop standardized sampling methods for bird communities

From phenotyping to the study of clonal relationship of microbial isolates

The term "typing" is generally used with two meanings: a methods to establish the correct taxonomic collocation of a genus/specie/biotype, b methods for discriminating different bacterial isolates of the same species in order to establish the genetic relationship among the microorganisms involved in a possible outbreak. In this paper we focus our attention on the second aspect, that represents a relevant epidemiological tools in infection prevention and control. Typing systems are traditionally based on two steps workup: the first is the study of phenotypes such as serotype, biotype, phage-type, or antimicrobial susceptibilities of the isolates and this can be easily performed in every microbiology laboratory; the second, examines the relatedness of isolates at a molecular level. Over the years many molecular methods have been developed and efficiently applied in several hospital settings. The large panorama of methods put the microbiologists in trouble to operate the proper choice. Thus, in the present paper, we have reviewed old as well new molecular typing methods in order to provide a useful guide that can represent an overview on molecular methods and particularly of their specific pro and cons