Taking tadpole biology into the 21st century: a consensus paper from the First Tadpoles International Workshop

Although tadpoles are common, frequently encountered vertebrates, their natural history is poorly known. Despite the fact that Brazil harbors the highest anuran diversity in the world, with almost a thousand known species (Segalla et  al., 2014), the larvae of many species remain undescribed. The problem is not unique to Brazil. At the turn of the century, approximately ⅔ of almost 3,300 anuran species with a larval stage lacked tadpole descriptions (McDiarmid & Altig, 1999). The proportion of neotropical anurans with free-swimming larvae that are not described is estimated to be around 40% (Provete et al., 2012).Fil: Rossa Feres, Denise de C.. Universidade Estadual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho; BrasilFil: Venesky, Matthew. Allegheny College; Estados UnidosFil: Nomura, Fausto. Universidade Federal de Goias; BrasilFil: Eterovick, Paula C.. Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais; BrasilFil: Vera Candioti, María Florencia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Menin, Marcelo. Universidade Federal do Amazonas; BrasilFil: Juncá, Flora A.. Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana; BrasilFil: Schiesari, Luis C.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Haddad, Celio F. B.. Universidade Estadual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho; BrasilFil: Garey, Michel V.. Universidade Federal da Integração Latino-Americana; BrasilFil: dos Anjos, Luciano A.. Universidade Estadual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho; BrasilFil: Wasserug, Richard. Dalhousie University Halifax; Canadá. University Of British Columbia; Canad

Fish assemblage associated with aquatic macrophytes bank in mananged lakes of Central Amazon, Amazonas, Brazil

The co-management of fishery resources developed by Amazonian riverine people is concerned with the maintenance of suitable environments for fish stock conservation. This type of co-management strategy is based on rules of access and use for fishery resources. In this research we investigated the influence of using lakes (preserved and managed for subsistence) and its distance from the river (near and far) in the structure of the fish assemblages associated with floating meadows bank in floodplain lakes, Central Amazonian. Fish were caught during flood period using seine nets in six lakes in a distance ranging from 0.87 to 10.9 km from the river. In floating meadows bank were captured a total of 623 specimens of fish, over 56 species. The analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) indicates that the co-management of lakes and distance did not influence significantly the ecological attributes of fish assemblages (abundance, richness, total weight, Shannon-Weaver and Berger-Parker diversity, evenness and dominance). According to analysis of similarity (ANOSIM) there was no difference in species composition among the lakes. These results suggest other factors, such as: short time of effective management, the agriculture as the most important economic activity of subsistence, the lack of fisheries in large-scale which cause significant environmental changes and the existence of an ecological factor of great intensity, "the flood pulse", overlapping others of less intensity.O co-manejo dos recursos pesqueiros que vem sendo desenvolvido pelos ribeirinhos da Amazônia têm a preocupação de assegurar ambientes adequados para a conservação dos estoques. Esta estratégia de co-manejo é baseada em regras de acesso e uso dos recursos pesqueiros. Nesse estudo, foi investigada a influência do tipo de uso de lagos (preservados e manejados para subsistência) e a sua distância do rio (próximos e distantes) na estrutura das assembleias de peixes associadas aos bancos de macrófitas aquáticas em lagos de várzea, Amazônia Central. Os peixes foram capturados na cheia com rede de cerco em seis lagos com distância do rio variando de 0,87 a 10,9 km. Nas macrófitas aquáticas e capins flutuantes dos lagos foram capturados um total de 623 exemplares de peixes, distribuídos em 56 espécies. A análise de covariância (ANCOVA) indica que o co-manejo dos lagos e distância não influenciaram significativamente nos atributos ecológicos das assembleias (abundância, riqueza, peso total, diversidade de Shannon-Weaver, diversidade Berger-Parker, equitabilidade e dominância). A análise de similaridade (ANOSIM) também mostrou que não existe diferença na composição de espécies entre os tipos de lago. Estes resultados sugerem outros fatores, como o pouco tempo de manejo efetivo, a agricultura como sendo a principal atividade econômica de subsistência, inexistência de pescarias em larga escala que produzam alterações ambientais significativas e a existência de um fator ecológico de grande intensidade, o pulso de inundação, sobrepondo a outros de menor intensidade

Role for Circadian Clock Genes in Seasonal Timing: Testing the Bunning Hypothesis

A major question in chronobiology focuses around the “Bünning hypothesis” which implicates the circadian clock in photoperiodic (day-length) measurement and is supported in some systems (e.g. plants) but disputed in others. Here, we used the seasonally-regulated thermotolerance of Drosophila melanogaster to test the role of various clock genes in day-length measurement. In Drosophila, freezing temperatures induce reversible chill coma, a narcosis-like state. We have corroborated previous observations that wild-type flies developing under short photoperiods (winter-like) exhibit significantly shorter chill-coma recovery times (CCRt) than flies that were raised under long (summer-like) photoperiods. Here, we show that arrhythmic mutant strains, per01, tim01 and ClkJrk, as well as variants that speed up or slow down the circadian period, disrupt the photoperiodic component of CCRt. Our results support an underlying circadian function mediating seasonal daylength measurement and indicate that clock genes are tightly involved in photo- and thermo-periodic measurements

Real options as sustainable business evaluation method in the biotech and med-tech industry. A qualitative and empirical approach.

Business sustainability can be defined as strictly related to the combination of environmental, societal, ethical and economical concerns in process, goods/products and services development by making the best use of innovation and research and development as drivers to overtake the competition. This is often defined as the capacity in managing the “triple bottom line” (Elkington, 1994): a process by which companies are involved in financial, social and environmental problems and opportunities, with implications in terms of profits, people and planet, since industrial, social, and ecological systems are closely linked (Fiksel, 2006). Business connected to what we can call social concerns creates economic value and contribute to healthy ecosystems and strong communities, feeding the “systemic living vision” (Golinelli, 2009) they work in. Moreover, this social and environmental involvement not only represents a strategic lever to beat the competition, but is a strategic driver to improve the value and the image of a certain territory and, by consequence, to decrease the foreign investors’ perceived risk in investing capitals. We finally talk about the sum of policies and practices that can buster companies’ competitive power meanwhile they improve community economic and social conditions (Porter, Kramer, 2011). The aim of this study is to examine which evaluation methods can be utilized to guarantee the sustainability of innovative start ups in the biotech and med-tech industry. In particular our empiric analysis examines the projects’ evaluation instruments utilized by the Bioindustry Park and the innovative cluster that is “managing” bioPmed (Italy). This biotechnological and med-tech pole expresses the will to concentrate the know-how of the territory in a restricted area with a high concentration of structures and facilities for the development of firms. The projects of the innovative companies and start ups are principally based on products development both in biotech (pharma and diagnostic) and in innovative medical technologies. Long development processes, regulatory requirements, potential patent issues, strong competitive environment, are main elements of such markets. Evaluation plays an important role for these companies, both to raise funds, that can be a key factor in order to develop alliances and partnerships. However, for the same market elements, the evaluation process is difficult and risky. Too many variables have to be considered in a long timeframe. The expected result is the analysis of the real options’ effectiveness as a method for the evaluation to guarantee the sustainability of innovative companies and start ups in the biotech and med-tech industry. Recourse to the real options’ method stimulates investment to build sequences of long multi-stage (i.e. continue or abandon the project, reduce or increase the investment). So this method can be particularly useful to identify risks with greater awareness and to select the biotech and med-tech projects that more than others can guarantee the businesses’ sustainability

Automazione ed informatizzazione in immunoematologia

Principali cause di errore in immunoematologia sono l'identificazione del campione e la trascrizione manuale dei dati e dei risultati. Questo contributo descrive l'applicazione, nei metodi Type and Screen, dei sistemi diagnostici di analisi e del loro supporto informatico gestionale, dalla fase pre-analitica a quella post-analitica