O PARFOR como política emergencial de formação de professores e suas implicações na ação docente: uma reflexão

O artigo apresenta uma breve reflexão sobre o Programa Emergencial de Formação de Professores (PARFOR) na Universidade Estadual de Londrina (UEL) que oferece cursos de Primeiras e Segundas Licenciaturas e de Formação Pedagógica, destinados a professores da Educação Básica Pública. Resgata a trajetória e a vivência da autora em seu processo de formação acadêmica, bem como aponta aspectos da política de formação de professores pós década de 1990. Adota como objeto de análise o livro: A formação do professor no PARFOR/UEL: percursos do ensino para a docência, destacando as ações do PARFOR na UEL e identificando aspectos relevantes da Segunda Licenciatura como possibilidade dos professores-alunos ressignificarem o pensar/fazer docente

Avian haemosporidian diversity on Sardinia: a first general assessment for the Insular Mediterranean

The Western Palearctic is one of the most investigated regions for avian haemosporidian parasites (Haemoproteus, Plasmodium and Leucocytozoon), yet geographic gaps in our regional knowledge remain. Here, we report the first haemosporidian screening of the breeding birds from Sardinia (the second-largest Mediterranean Island and a biodiversity hotspot), and the first for the insular Mediterranean in general. We examined the occurrence of haemosporidians by amplifying their mtDNA cytb gene in 217 breeding birds, belonging to 32 species. The total prevalence of infected birds was 55.3%, and of the 116 haplotypes recovered, 84 were novel. Despite the high number of novel lineages, phylogenetic analysis did not highlight Sardinia-specific clades; instead, some Sardinian lineages were more closely related to lineages previously recovered from continental Europe. Host-parasite network analysis indicated a specialized host-parasite community. Binomial generalized linear models (GLMs), performed at the community level, suggested an elevational effect on haemosporidian occurrence probability (negative for Haemoproteus; positive for Leucocytozoon) likely due to differences in the abundance of insect vectors at different elevations. Furthermore, a GLM revealed that sedentary birds showed a higher probability of being infected by novel haplotypes and long-distance migrants showed a lower probability of novel haplotype infection. We hypothesize that the high diversity of haemosporidians is linked to the isolation of breeding bird populations on Sardinia. This study adds to the growing knowledge on haemosporidians lineage diversity and distribution in insular environments and presents new insights on potential host-parasite associations

Effects of immune challenge and supernormal clutch production on egg quality in the red-legged partridge

ABSTRACT Background: Because maintenance of the immune system is thought to be resource-limited, trade-offs between immune function, body condition, and reproductive allocation are expected. Questions: Do females confronted with the simultaneous challenges of immune stimulation and supernormal egg production face a trade-off in terms of self-maintenance (body mass and blood parameters) and/or egg quality? Organism: Red-legged partridge, Alectoris rufa, a precocial bird species with a huge investment in eggs. Methods: We challenged the immune systems of females, before egg laying, with a novel antigen (Newcastle Disease virus vaccine, NDV). We also removed eggs as they were laid, so as to induce supernormal egg production. Conclusion: Compared with the other eggs, the last-laid eggs of hens with supernormal production were smaller, contained less yolk, had a lighter shell, and contained albumen with less lysozyme. However, the immune challenge had no effect on female condition or egg quality. Thus we found no evidence of a trade-off between immune function, body condition, and reproductive allocation

The spreading of the invasive sacred ibis in Italy

The spreading of invasive species in new continents can vary from slow and limited diffusion to fast colonisations over vast new areas. We studied the sacred ibis Threskiornis aethiopicus along a 31-year period, from 1989 to 2019, with particular attention to the first area of release in NW Italy. We collected data on species distribution through observations by citizen science projects, population density by transects with distance method, breeding censuses at colonies, and post breeding censuses at roosts. The birds counted at winter roosts in NW Italy increased from a few tens up to 10,880 individuals in 2019. Sacred ibises started breeding in 1989, with a single nest in north-western Italy. The number of breeders remained very low until 2006, when both overwintering and breeding sacred ibises started to increase exponentially and expand their range throughout northern Italy with isolated breeding cases in central Italy. In 2019, the number of nests had increased to 1249 nests in 31 colonies. In NW Italy, the density of foraging birds averaged 3.9 ind./km2 in winter and 1.5 ind./km2 in the breeding period, with a mean size of the foraging groups of 8.9 and 2.1 birds respectively. Direct field observations and species distribution models (SDM) showed that foraging habitats were mainly rice fields and wetlands. A SDM applied to the whole Italian peninsula plus Sardinia and Sicily showed that the variables best related to the SDM were land class (rice fields and wetlands), altitude, and the temperature seasonality. The areas favourable for species expansion encompass all the plains of Northern Italy, and several areas of Tuscany, Latium, Sardinia, and Apulia

Increased production of interleukin-2 and IL-2 receptor in primary IgA nephropathy

Increased production of interleukin-2 and IL-2 receptor in primary IgA nephropathy. The production of interleukin-2 (IL-2) by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) in 13 patients with IgA nephropathy (IgAN) and 9 patients with chronic glomerulonephritis was investigated. Moreover, the distribution of IL-2 receptor (IL-2R) expression was studied in the purified T cell population versus the non-T cell population of IgAN patients. The results show a spontaneous significant production of IL-2 in cultures of PBMC from patients with IgAN (P < 0.025) that increased after PHA stimulation. IgAN patients also had a significantly higher expression of IL-2R on the surface of PBMC than did patients with chronic glomerulonephritis (P < 0.05). IL-2R was usually detected on unstimulated purified T cells that expressed the activation DR antigen. Moreover, a high number of DR helper T cells was associated to a reduced number of suppressor T cells (OKT8+M1+). These findings suggest that the increased production of IL-2 in patients with IgAN may be responsible for the increased activity of helper T cells. The high number of IL-2R expressed by freshly separated PBMC implies an in vivo continuous stimulation of these cells, and this finding is in agreement with the demonstrated spontaneous hyperproduction of IL-2. Moreover, the low number of suppressor T cells may contribute to the overactivity of helper T cells bearing IL-2R in IgAN patients