Comparative study of human exposure to mercury in riverside communities in the Amazon region

Four populations in the Amazon area were selected for a comparative study of mercury-exposed and non-exposed populations: São Luiz do Tapajós, Barreiras, Panacauera, and Pindobal Grande. The highest mercury levels in human hair samples were found in São Luiz do Tapajós and Barreiras, greatly exceeding the limits established by the World Health Organization. Panacauera showed an intermediate level below 9 µg/g. This was the first comparative and simultaneous evaluation of mercury exposure in the Amazon area. Also, thanks to this type of monitoring, we were able to eliminate the uncertainties about the reference dose. On the basis of these data, we can conclude that the mercury levels detected in exposed populations of the Tapajós River basin may be dangerous not only because they are above the World Health Organization limits, but also because the simultaneous mercury detection in non-exposed populations with similar characteristics provided a valid control and revealed lower mercury levels. Our results support the importance of continuous monitoring in both exposed and non-exposed populations

Chemical Composition and Evaluation of Antitumoral Activity of Leaf and Root Essential Oils of Conyza canadensis (Asteraceae)

The leaf and root oils of Conyza canadensis were studied for chemical composition and antitumor activity. The results showed that there is great variation in the composition of the oils obtained from different parts. The main components in the leaf oil were limonene, caryophyllene oxide and espatulenol. In the root oil the major component was the acetylenic ester lachnophyllum methyl ester. It was observed that according to the collection time (6 and 16 hours), significant variations in the content of the main components of this essential oil of leaves can occur. Limonene, spatulenol and caryophyllene oxide presented a distribution of 61% / 5.4% / 12.5% ​​and 38% / 10.7% / 22.3% in oils obtained from plants collected at 6 and 16 hours, respectively. The antitumor activity of the oils showed that leaf oil had a greater potential for inhibition, and this oil was distinguished by the activity against neoplastic cell lines K562 (leukemia) and NCI-ADR / RES (ovary with multidrug resistance phenotype ) with TGI values ​​of 16.8 and 19.0 mg.mL-1, respectively. Comparing the leaf oils and their tumor cell inhibition potentials, it was noted that this activity is higher in the oil with higher contents of monoterpene limonene. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17807/orbital.v11i5.137

Phenotypic variability among pumpkin accessions in the Brazilian semiarid

The aim of this study was to estimate the phenotypic divergence among fourteen pumpkins accessions of the cucurbits Germplasm Active Bank of Embrapa Semiárido, in order to support breeding program to these species. Nine morphoagronomic descriptors were analyzed by the principal components and by UPGMA techniques. In the analysis of principal components, the formation of three contrasting clusters was observed, each one composed of two accessions. There occurred also the formation of one core group composed of five accessions, being the accessions called 683 and 684 collected in Bahia and the other in Maranhão. The most divergent accessions were 620, 624 and 748. The variables of the greatest contribution to the genetic divergence were diameter, weight and average length of the fruit. In the UPGMA analysis, obtained from the symmetric matrices generated by the Mahalanobis distance for the nine descriptors, there was the formation of one core group, composed of ten accessions, whose similarity was 45.71%, with geographically divergent accessions presenting the greatest similarity. Three accessions were not clustered with others. The study identified phenotypic variability for the analyzed characters and the absence of relationship between place of collection and phenotypic diversity

“Quem ensina também aprende” : a formação pela prática de professores primários na província do Paraná

Resumo Segundo a historiografia da educação brasileira, muitas foram as ações relacionadas aos modos de formar professores primários durante o período imperial. Desses estudos, a maioria se centra na formação de professores atrelada à instituição das escolas normais, entretanto, há uma parcela menor de trabalhos que se propõem a discutir outro aspecto da formação de professores ao longo do século XIX, mais especificamente, a forma como sujeitos que não frequentaram esse espaço institucional (a escola normal), constituíram-se docentes primários. O artigo que aqui se apresenta partilha dessa perspectiva, e volta o olhar para os modos de formação pela prática de professores primários no Paraná na segunda metade do século XIX, por compreender que esse tipo de formação marcou um período em que a instrução pública estava se consolidando em meio a ações, deliberações, dificuldades e tensões, na tentativa de melhorias de sua condição. A pesquisa valeu-se da consulta da legislação educacional do período e de documentos advindos dos sujeitos envolvidos com a instrução pública, naquele momento, disponíveis no acervo do Arquivo Público do Paraná. No cotejamento e análise das fontes, é possível afirmar, que a formação pela prática dos professores primários na província do Paraná se deu no decorrer do desenvolvimento do processo de constituição do magistério primário

Rarity of monodominance in hyperdiverse Amazonian forests.

Tropical forests are known for their high diversity. Yet, forest patches do occur in the tropics where a single tree species is dominant. Such "monodominant" forests are known from all of the main tropical regions. For Amazonia, we sampled the occurrence of monodominance in a massive, basin-wide database of forest-inventory plots from the Amazon Tree Diversity Network (ATDN). Utilizing a simple defining metric of at least half of the trees ≥ 10 cm diameter belonging to one species, we found only a few occurrences of monodominance in Amazonia, and the phenomenon was not significantly linked to previously hypothesized life history traits such wood density, seed mass, ectomycorrhizal associations, or Rhizobium nodulation. In our analysis, coppicing (the formation of sprouts at the base of the tree or on roots) was the only trait significantly linked to monodominance. While at specific locales coppicing or ectomycorrhizal associations may confer a considerable advantage to a tree species and lead to its monodominance, very few species have these traits. Mining of the ATDN dataset suggests that monodominance is quite rare in Amazonia, and may be linked primarily to edaphic factors

Combinações entre cultivares, ambientes, preparo e cobertura do solo em características agronômicas de alface.

Objetivou-se identificar combinações entre cultivares, ambientes de cultivo e preparo e cobertura de solo capazes de melhorar o desempenho agronômico e aumentar a produtividade da cultura da alface em cultivo orgânico. A pesquisa foi conduzida na Universidade Federal do Acre, utilizando o delineamento experimental de blocos casualizados, com parcelas subdivididas para cada experimento (campo e casa de vegetação), com quatro repetições. Em cada experimento, três cultivares de alface (Simpson, Marisa e Vera), constituindo as sub-parcelas, foram sorteadas nas parcelas, representadas por quatro preparos e cobertura do solo (encanteiramento com cobertura de palha de arroz, polietileno prateado, solo descoberto e plantio direto). A produtividade comercial de alface foi de 12,3 t ha-1 em cultivo protegido e de 7,9 t ha-1 em campo. O cultivo protegido promoveu melhor desenvolvimento das plantas, caracterizado por maior massa da matéria fresca e seca da parte aérea, massa da matéria fresca comercial e melhor classificação comercial, além de promover bom desempenho agronômico e maior produtividade em qualquer um dos preparos de solo. As cultivares Simpson e Marisa apresentaram massa da matéria seca da parte aérea semelhante e superior à ‘Vera’, porém, o crescimento do caule da ‘Simpson’ foi elevado, caracterizando pendoamento precoce, fato que reduz sua qualidade comercial. As cultivares Marisa e Vera não alongaram o caule indicando serem tolerantes às condições ambientais de Rio Branco. A cobertura do solo com casca de arroz ou plástico prateado contribuiu para minimizar os efeitos climáticos prejudiciais ao cultivo da alface em campo. O plantio direto orgânico não diferiu do plantio em canteiro descoberto