Ecologia de comunidades de formigas (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) na várzea da Ilha de Marchantaria - município de Iranduba, Amazônia Central

The effects of fluvial dynamics (e.g. flood pulse) on the ecosystems from Marchantaria Island (Manaus, AM, Brazil) are well known for its plant and animal communities and the scientific community who intent to investigate it. In the case of non-aquatic invertebrates like the ants, the usual response against the effects of flooding is through physiological or behavioural strategies, (e.g. migration). The principal aim of this work was to evaluate the effects of the flood pulse on ant communities in different environments from Marchantaria Island (White water floodplain Forest or Várzea Forests, grass belts, monocultures and disturbed areas) with pre-collected data from 1981-1982; 1985-1986; 1987-1988 and 1992, through different soil and arboreal sampling methods. The dynamics of ant community occupation in this Island was studied, with reports on its general ecology.DEDICATÓRIA.....................................................................................i AGRADECIMENTOS..............................................................................ii RESUMO...........................................................................................v ABSTRACT.......................................................................................vi ÍNDICE...........................................................................................vii LISTA DE FIGURAS..............................................................................x LISTA DE TABELAS...........................................................................xix ANEXOS........................................................................................xxii 1. INTRODUÇÃO ................................................................................1 1.2. CONTEXTO TEÓRICO......................................................................5 1.2.1. Adaptações e estratégias: mecanismos que explicam a diversidade de espécies?..........................................................................................5 1.2.2. Estratégias de sobrevivência em artrópodes de áreas inundáveis.............10 1.2.3. As comunidades de formigas.........................................................11 1.2.4. Áreas inundáveis na Amazônia: o pulso de inundação e a vegetação.........16 2. OBJETIVOS E HIPÓTESES.................................................................21 2.1. Hipóteses e Considerações..............................................................22 3. ÁREA DE ESTUDO...........................................................................24 3.1. Aspectos gerais da Ilha de Marchantaria.............................................24 3.2. Dados climatológicos da área..........................................................26 3.3. Caracterização dos sítios amostrais...................................................30 3.3.1. Florestas de Várzea...................................................................31 viii 3.3.1.1. Lago do Camaleão..................................................................31 3.3.1.2. Lago Central.........................................................................32 3.3.1.3. Plantios e Gramíneas...............................................................32 4. MÉTODOS EMPREGADOS..................................................................37 4.1. Amostragem das formigas sobre o solo...............................................37 4.2. Amostragens das formigas nas árvores...............................................46 5. AMOSTRAGEM DA FAUNA DE FORMIGAS...............................................51 5.1. Floresta de Várzea no Lago do Camaleão, Canarana, Plantios de Juta e Malva, e Área desmatada - Adis, 1981-1982; 1984-1985, 1992..................................52 5.2. Floresta de várzea do Lago Central - Hubert Höfer, 1987-1988..................53 6. ANÁLISE DE DADOS........................................................................55 6.1. Descrição das análises...................................................................55 6.2. Diversidade Alfa..........................................................................56 6.3. Diversidade Beta.........................................................................57 6.4. Dominância na comunidade............................................................58 7. RESULTADOS................................................................................61 7.1. Formigas da Ilha de Marchantaria (Amazonas, Brasil): Riqueza de espécies e notas sobre a estrutura de comunidades em ambientes de uma área inundável........................................................................................61 Resumo.............................................................................................61 Introdução.........................................................................................62 Material e Métodos...............................................................................65 Resultados.........................................................................................70 Discussão..........................................................................................8

Quantitative Stain-free and Continuous Multimodal Monitoring of Wound Healing in vitro with Digital Holographic Microscopy

Impaired epithelial wound healing has significant pathophysiological implications in several conditions including gastrointestinal ulcers, anastomotic leakage and venous or diabetic skin ulcers. Promising drug candidates for accelerating wound closure are commonly evaluated in in vitro wound assays. However, staining procedures and discontinuous monitoring are major drawbacks hampering accurate assessment of wound assays. We therefore investigated digital holographic microscopy (DHM) to appropriately monitor wound healing in vitro and secondly, to provide multimodal quantitative information on morphological and functional cell alterations as well as on motility changes upon cytokine stimulation. Wound closure as reflected by proliferation and migration of Caco-2 cells in wound healing assays was studied and assessed in time-lapse series for 40 h in the presence of stimulating epidermal growth factor (EGF) and inhibiting mitomycin c. Therefore, digital holograms were recorded continuously every thirty minutes. Morphological changes including cell thickness, dry mass and tissue density were analyzed by data from quantitative digital holographic phase microscopy. Stimulation of Caco-2 cells with EGF or mitomycin c resulted in significant morphological changes during wound healing compared to control cells. In conclusion, DHM allows accurate, stain-free and continuous multimodal quantitative monitoring of wound healing in vitro and could be a promising new technique for assessment of wound healing

Shape coexistence at the proton drip-line: First identification of excited states in 180Pb

Excited states in the extremely neutron-deficient nucleus, 180Pb, have been identified for the first time using the JUROGAM II array in conjunction with the RITU recoil separator at the Accelerator Laboratory of the University of Jyvaskyla. This study lies at the limit of what is presently achievable with in-beam spectroscopy, with an estimated cross-section of only 10 nb for the 92Mo(90Zr,2n)180Pb reaction. A continuation of the trend observed in 182Pb and 184Pb is seen, where the prolate minimum continues to rise beyond the N=104 mid-shell with respect to the spherical ground state. Beyond mean-field calculations are in reasonable correspondence with the trends deduced from experiment.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Phys.Rev.

First observation of excited states in 173Hg

The neutron-deficient nucleus 173Hg has been studied following fusion-evaporation reactions. The observation of gamma rays decaying from excited states are reported for the first time and a tentative level scheme is proposed. The proposed level scheme is discussed within the context of the systematics of neighbouring neutron-deficient Hg nuclei. In addition to the gamma-ray spectroscopy, the alpha decay of this nucleus has been measured yielding superior precision to earlier measurements.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Search for Fingerprints of Tetrahedral Symmetry in 156Gd^{156}Gd

Theoretical predictions suggest the presence of tetrahedral symmetry as an explanation for the vanishing intra-band E2-transitions at the bottom of the odd-spin negative parity band in $^{156}Gd$. The present study reports on experiment performed to address this phenomenon. It allowed to determine the intra-band E2 transitions and branching ratios B(E2)/B(E1) of two of the negative-parity bands in $^{156}Gd$.Comment: presented by Q.T. Doan at XLII Zakopane School of Physics: Breaking Frontiers: Submicron Structures in Physics and Biology, May 2008. 5 pages, minor corrections. To be published in the proceeding

Designing Playful Games and Applications to Support Science Centers Learning Activities

In recent years there has been a renewed interest on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. Following this interest, science centers\u27 staff started providing technology enhanced informal STEM education experiences. The use of well-designed mobile and ubiquitous forms of technology to enrich informal STEM education activities is an essential success factor. The goal of our research is to investigate how technology applications can be better used and developed for taking full advantage of the opportunities and challenges they provide for students learning about STEM concepts. In our approach, we have conducted a series of interviews with experts from science center curating and outdoor learning activities development, with the final goal of exploring and improving current learning environments and practices. This paper presents the development of set of design considerations for the development of STEM games and applications of young students. An initial set of best practices was first developed through semi-structures interviews with experts; and afterwards, by employing content analysis, a revised set of considerations was obtained. These results are useful for STEM education teachers, curriculum designers, curators and developers for K-12 education environments

Probing the limit of nuclear existence: Proton emission from 159Re

AbstractThe observation of the new nuclide 15975Re84 provides important insights into the evolution of single-particle structure and the mass surface in heavy nuclei beyond the proton drip line. This nuclide, 26 neutrons away from the nearest stable rhenium isotope, was synthesised in the reaction 106Cd(58Ni, p4n) and identified via its proton radioactivity using the ritu gas-filled separator and the great focal-plane spectrometer. Comparisons of the measured proton energy (Ep=1805±20 keV) and decay half-life (t1/2=21±4 μs) with values calculated using the WKB method indicate that the proton is emitted from an h11/2 state. The implications of these results for future experimental investigations into even more proton unbound nuclei using in-flight separation techniques are considered

Quasiparticle alignments and alpha-decay fine structure of Pt-175

Excited states and decay properties of 175 Pt have been investigated using the 92 Mo ( 86 Sr , 2 p n ) fusion-evaporation reaction. The JUROGAM I γ -ray spectrometer and the GREAT spectrometer were used in conjunction with the gas-filled recoil separator RITU for the measurement of the radiation at the target and focal plane positions, respectively. Two new band structures, assigned to be based on the I π = ( 7 / 2 − ) ground state in 175 Pt, have been established and the known yrast band has been extended up to I π = ( 49 / 2 + ) . Rotational properties of the excited states in 175 Pt have been investigated within the cranked shell-model formalism. The low-frequency changes in the alignments of the positive- and negative-parity bands are interpreted as a sign of proton-pair excitations in the rotating core. Furthermore, the α -decay measurements reveal a candidate for a fourth α -decay branch in 175 Pt, feeding a non-yrast state in 171 Os

Study of Intermediate-spin States of Y-98

The nuclear structure of the odd–odd nucleus 98Y has been re-investigated by observing prompt γ rays emitted following the proton-induced fission of a 238U target, using the JUROGAM-II multidetector array. New highspin decays have been observed and placed in the level schemes using triple coincidences. The experimental level energies and γ-decay patterns are compared to GICM and QPRM calculations, assuming that this neutronrich N = 59 isotone is spherical at low energies and prolate deformed at intermediate spins.Web of Science47391691