Libellulidae (Insecta: Odonata) from Itapiracó reserve, Maranhão, Brazil: new records and species distribution information Libellulidae (Insecta: Odonata) da Reserva Itapiracó, Maranhão, Brasil: novos registros e informações sobre distribuição de espécies

In this work, I apply a simple protocol to species occurrence inventory of Odonata in a region of Maranhão state which has very few distributional records. Some relations between species occurrence and environmental characteristics are discussed, mainly in relation to the high occurrence of Erythemis. Eighteen new records are presented discussing the role of this approach to generate useful information for conservation purposes.<br>Nesse trabalho eu aplico um protocolo simples para o levantamento da ocorrência de espécies de Libellulidae em uma região no estado do Maranhão, que possui pouquíssimas informações. Algumas relações entre ocorrências de certas espécies e características do ambiente além de padrões de co-ocorrência são discutidas, principalmente em relação à elevada ocorrência do gênero Erythemis. Dezoito ocorrências novas são listadas e é discutido o papel desse tipo de abordagem para gerar informações de interesse para conservação de espécies

Darwin’s progress and the problem of slavery

Legendary as a ‘genius’ out of time, Charles Darwin is said to have revolutionized our understanding of life on earth by explaining nature-history as the purposeless product of directionless variation naturally selected through a chancy struggle for existence. Yet, whatever may be deduced from his theory of natural selection as understood today, Darwin himself was not bound by any such conclusions. His vision of nature-history, for all its haphazardness, was directional, meliorative and hopeful. In the 1830s he went out of his way to develop privately a subversive theory of human evolution, and he pursued the subject with tenacity for three decades before publishing The descent of man in 1871. Underpinning his research was a belief in racial brotherhood rooted in the greatest moral movement of the age, for the abolition of slavery. Darwin extended the abolitionists’ common-descent image to the rest of life, making not just the races, but all races, kin. Human slavery, however, did not evolve into or out of existence. To Darwin it was a ‘sin’ to ‘expiate’ by moral action, and the Origin of species was written with a view towards undermining slavery’s creationist ideologues, most notably the Harvard professor Louis Agassiz. Intractable slavery collided with Darwin’s post-Christian progressivism in the US Civil War, clouding his hopes for humanity, but the Northern victory in 1865 enabled him to carry ‘the grand idea of God hating sin and loving righteousness’ into The descent of man, where the driving of formerly enslaved races out of existence is naturalized as a byproduct of historical progress in which ‘virtue will be triumphant’ at last

Ethical use of new technologies: where do Indian journalists stand?

While the study of the ethical use of new technologies in journalistic work is imperative given the widespread use of such technology, such studies are few and far between, particularly for the developing world. This paper provides results of an exploratory, qualitative study of Indian journalists' views about the ethical use of new computer and Internet-based technologies for news gathering and reporting in India. New digital technology was widely accessible to the respondents, but not all journalists were given the tools by their employers. Opinions about ethical news practices using new technology were mixed and revealed a few grey areas. English language national newspapers tended to indicate that their standards were strict and that ethical violations, exacerbated by new technology, occurred mostly in vernacular newspapers. On the whole, respondents had not heard often of other organizations or individuals committing unethical practices such as plagiarism and lack of attribution using new technology. Still, some beliefs indicated uncertainty about ethical practice or breach of ethical principles. The findings of this study have implications for journalism education and on-the-job training of Indian journalists, as well as for formulating ethical codes of journalism, particularly with regard to new media. Indian codes focus more on the roles journalists should play in society and do not provide very specific tactical guidance for everyday news gathering. Coupled with lack of training, this creates a situation where perceptions about journalistic ethics are sometimes vague and variant

Transcription Profiling of Candida albicans Cells Undergoing the Yeast-to-Hyphal Transition

The ability of the pathogenic fungus Candida albicans to switch from a yeast to a hyphal morphology in response to external signals is implicated in its pathogenicity. We used glass DNA microarrays to investigate the transcription profiles of 6333 predicted ORFs in cells undergoing this transition and their responses to changes in temperature and culture medium. We have identified several genes whose transcriptional profiles are similar to those of known virulence factors that are modulated by the switch to hyphal growth caused by addition of serum and a 37°C growth temperature. Time course analysis of this transition identified transcripts that are induced before germ tube initiation and shut off later in the developmental process. A strain deleted for the Efg1p and Cph1p transcription factors is defective in hyphae formation, and its response to serum and increased temperature is almost identical to the response of a wild-type strain grown at 37°C in the absence of serum. Thus Efg1p and Cph1p are needed for the activation of the transcriptional program that is induced by the presence of serum