Com o diabo no corpo: os terríveis papagaios do Brasil colônia

Desde a Antiguidade, papagaios, periquitos e afins (Psittacidae) fascinaram os europeus por seu vivo colorido e uma notável capacidade de interação com seres humanos. A descoberta do Novo Mundo nada faria além de acrescentar novos elementos ao tráfico de animais exóticos há muito estabelecido pelos europeus com a África e o Oriente. Sem possuir grandes mamíferos, a América tropical participaria desse comércio com o que tinha de mais atrativo, essencialmente felinos, primatas e aves - em particular os papagaios, os quais eram embarcados em bom número. Contudo, a julgar pelos documentos do Brasil colônia, esses voláteis podiam inspirar muito pouca simpatia, pois nenhum outro animal - exceto as formigas - foi tantas vezes mencionado como praga para a agricultura. Além disso, alguns psitácidas mostravam-se tão loquazes que inspiravam a séria desconfiança de serem animais demoníacos ou possessos, pois só três classes de entidades - anjos, homens e demônios - possuíam o dom da palavra. Nos dias de hoje, vários representantes dos Psittacidae ainda constituem uma ameaça para a agricultura, enquanto os indivíduos muito faladores continuam despertando a suspeita de estarem possuídos pelo demônio. Transcendendo a mera curiosidade, essa crença exemplifica o quão intrincadas podem ser as relações do homem com o chamado “mundo natural”, revelando um universo mais amplo e multifacetado do que se poderia supor a princípio. Nesse sentido, a existência de aves capazes de falar torna essa relação ainda mais complexa e evidencia que as dificuldades de estabelecer o limite entre o animal e o humano se estendem além dos primatas e envolvem as mais inusitadas espécies zoológicas.Since ancient times, parrots and their allies (Psittacidae) have fascinated Europeans by their striking colors and notable ability to interact with human beings. The discovery of the New World added new species to the international exotic animal trade, which for many centuries had brought beasts to Europe from Africa and the Orient. Lacking large mammals, tropical America participated in this trade with its most appealing species, essentially felines, primates and birds - especially parrots - which were shipped in large numbers. It should be noted, however, that at times these birds were not well liked. In fact, according to documents from colonial Brazil, only the ants rank higher than parrots as the animals most often mentioned as agricultural pests. On the other hand, some of these birds were so chatty that people suspected them to be demonic or possessed animals, since only three classes of beings - angels, men and demons - have the ability to speak. Nowadays, several Psittacidae still constitute a threat to agriculture, and the suspicion that extremely talkative birds were demon possessed has also survived. More than a joke or a mere curiosity, this belief exemplifies how intricate man’s relationships with the “natural world” may be. In this sense, the existence of birds that are able to speak adds a further twist to these relationships, demonstrating that the problem of establishing a boundary between the animal and the human does not only involve primates, but also includes some unusual zoological species

Acute Streptococcus pneumoniae Meningogenic Labyrinthitis: An Experimental Guinea Pig Model and Literature Review

OBJECTIVE: To create an experimental model of Streptococcus pneumoniae type 3 meningogenic labyrinthitis (a leading cause of deafness) similar to that in human disease. DESIGN: Cohort analytic study of guinea pigs that were inoculated intrathecally with varying dilutions of S pneumoniae type 3; the progress of the disease was compared with that in saline solution–inoculated control animals. SUBJECTS: Healthy adult Hartley guinea pigs without clinical evidence of middle ear disease that were conveniently sampled. INTERVENTIONS: Intrathecal inoculation of 104 to 106 colony-forming units of S pneumoniae type 3 into 13 guinea pigs; signs and symptoms of meningitis/labyrinthitis were observed for 15 days and compared with those in two saline solution–inoculated control animals. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Morbidity—labyrinthitis, meningitis; end point—death. RESULTS: The 104 to 106 colony-forming units of S pneumoniae type 3 caused inflammation that extended from the meninges to the inner ear via the cochlear aqueduct within 3 days after inoculation; a dose of 107 killed animals within 12 hours after inoculation. Three of five animals that were inoculated with a 106 dose died 3 days after inoculation; two of three animals that were inoculated with a 105 dose lived to 15 days after inoculation. One of two animals that were inoculated with a 104 dose did not become infected. Inflammation extended to the middle ear by round-window destruction. Reactive bone formation simulated labyrinthine osteosclerosis. Observers assessed histologic slides "blindly." CONCLUSION: Guinea pigs can survive 15 days after intrathecal inoculation of a 105 dose, with morphologic features similar to those in human disease. This is an effective model for this study of meningogenic labyrinthitis.(Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 1994;120:1342-1346

When thoughts become action: An fMRI paradigm to study volitional brain activity in non-communicative brain injured patients

The assessment of voluntary behavior in non-communicative brain injured patients is often challenging due to the existence of profound motor impairment. In the absence of a full understanding of the neural correlates of consciousness, even a normal activation in response to passive sensory stimulation cannot be considered as proof of the presence of awareness in these patients. In contrast, predicted activation in response to the instruction to perform a mental imagery task would provide evidence of voluntary task-dependent brain activity, and hence of consciousness, in non-communicative patients. However, no data yet exist to indicate which imagery instructions would yield reliable single subject activation. The aim of the present study was to establish such a paradigm in healthy volunteers. Two exploratory experiments evaluated the reproducibility of individual brain activation elicited by four distinct mental imagery tasks. The two most robust mental imagery tasks were found to be spatial navigation and motor imagery. In a third experiment, where these two tasks were directly compared, differentiation of each task from one another and from rest periods was assessed blindly using a priori criteria and was correct for every volunteer. The spatial navigation and motor imagery tasks described here permit the identification of volitional brain activation at the single subject level, without a motor response. Volunteer as well as patient data [Owen, A. M., Coleman, M.R., Boly, M., Davis, M.H., Laureys, S., Pickard J.D., 2006. Detecting awareness in the vegetative state. Science 313, 1402] strongly suggest that this' paradigm may provide a method for assessing the presence of volitional brain activity, and thus of consciousness, in non-communicative brain-injured patients. (c) 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved