Qualidade de vida em sujeitos com espondilite anquilosante (estudo exploratório)

Neste artigo, é feita uma breve abordagem teórica ao contexto da Qualidade de Vida ligado à saúde, introduz- se a «Escala de Ajustamento Psicossocial à Doença» (Derogatis, 1983) traduzida para a Língua Portuguesa, e apresentam-se os resultados da sua aplicação a uma amostra de pacientes com Espondilite Anquilosante.This paper discusses the concept of health related Quality of Life, introduces the «Psychosociai Adjustment to Illness Scale» (Derogatis, 1983) in its Portuguese Version and presents the results of its application to a sample of Ankylosing Spondylitis patients

Matched Filters, Mate Choice and the Evolution of Sexually Selected Traits

Background Fundamental for understanding the evolution of communication systems is both the variation in a signal and how this affects the behavior of receivers, as well as variation in preference functions of receivers, and how this affects the variability of the signal. However, individual differences in female preference functions and their proximate causation have rarely been studied. Methodology/Principal Findings Calling songs of male field crickets represent secondary sexual characters and are subject to sexual selection by female choice. Following predictions from the “matched filter hypothesis” we studied the tuning of an identified interneuron in a field cricket, known for its function in phonotaxis, and correlated this with the preference of the same females in two-choice trials. Females vary in their neuronal frequency tuning, which strongly predicts the preference in a choice situation between two songs differing in carrier frequency. A second “matched filter” exists in directional hearing, where reliable cues for sound localization occur only in a narrow frequency range. There is a strong correlation between the directional tuning and the behavioural preference in no-choice tests. This second “matched filter” also varies widely in females, and surprisingly, differs on average by 400 Hz from the neuronal frequency tuning. Conclusions/Significance Our findings on the mismatch of the two “matched filters” would suggest that the difference in these two filters appears to be caused by their evolutionary history, and the different trade-offs which exist between sound emission, transmission and detection, as well as directional hearing under specific ecological settings. The mismatched filter situation may ultimately explain the maintenance of considerable variation in the carrier frequency of the male signal despite stabilizing selection

Temporal Processing of Vibratory Communication Signals at the Level of Ascending Interneurons in Nezara viridula (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae)

During mating, males and females of N. viridula (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae) produce sex- and species-specific calling and courtship substrate-borne vibratory signals, grouped into songs. Recognition and localization of these signals are fundamental for successful mating. The recognition is mainly based on the temporal pattern, i.e. the amplitude modulation, while the frequency spectrum of the signals usually only plays a minor role. We examined the temporal selectivity for vibratory signals in four types of ascending vibratory interneurons in N. viridula. Using intracellular recording and labelling technique, we analyzed the neurons' responses to 30 pulse duration/interval duration (PD/ID) combinations. Two response arrays were created for each neuron type, showing the intensity of the responses either as time-averaged spike counts or as peak instantaneous spike rates. The mean spike rate response arrays showed preference of the neurons for short PDs (below 600 ms) and no selectivity towards interval duration; while the peak spike rate response arrays exhibited either short PD/long ID selectivity or no selectivity at all. The long PD/short ID combinations elicited the weakest responses in all neurons tested. No response arrays showed the receiver preference for either constant period or duty cycle. The vibratory song pattern selectivity matched the PD of N. viridula male vibratory signals, thus pointing to temporal filtering for the conspecific vibratory signals already at level of the ascending interneurons. In some neurons the responses elicited by the vibratory stimuli were followed by distinct, regular oscillations of the membrane potential. The distance between the oscillation peaks matched the temporal structure of the male calling song, indicating a possible resonance based mechanism for signal recognition

Hyperacute Directional Hearing and Phonotactic Steering in the Cricket (Gryllus bimaculatus deGeer)

Background: Auditory mate or prey localisation is central to the lifestyle of many animals and requires precise directional hearing. However, when the incident angle of sound approaches 0u azimuth, interaural time and intensity differences gradually vanish. This poses a demanding challenge to animals especially when interaural distances are small. To cope with these limitations imposed by the laws of acoustics, crickets employ a frequency tuned peripheral hearing system. Although this enhances auditory directionality the actual precision of directional hearing and phonotactic steering has never been studied in the behaviourally important frontal range. Principal Findings: Here we analysed the directionality of phonotaxis in female crickets (Gryllus bimaculatus) walking on an open-loop trackball system by measuring their steering accuracy towards male calling song presented at frontal angles of incidence. Within the range of 630u, females reliably discriminated the side of acoustic stimulation, even when the sound source deviated by only 1u from the animal’s length axis. Moreover, for angles of sound incidence between 1u and 6u the females precisely walked towards the sound source. Measuring the tympanic membrane oscillations of the front leg ears with a laser vibrometer revealed between 0u and 30u a linear increasing function of interaural amplitude differences with a slope of 0.4 dB/u. Auditory nerve recordings closely reflected these bilateral differences in afferent response latency and intensity that provide the physiological basis for precise auditory steering

Phonotactic response of female crickets on the Kramer treadmill: methodology, sensory and behavioural implications

Since population-level variation in female mating preferences can shape intraspecific communication systems within the context of sexual selection it is essential to quantify these preferences and their sources of variation. We calculated individual female response functions for four male calling song traits in the field cricket Gryllus bimaculatus, by performing untethered phonotaxis measurements on a spherical locomotor compensator (Kramer treadmill). Firstly, we quantify the population-level sources of phonotactic variation and correct for factors that adversely affect this measurement. Secondly, we develop methodology for the characterisation of individual female phonotactic response functions suitable for population-level analyses and demonstrate the applicability of our method with respect to recent literature on Orthopteran acoustic communication. Phonotaxis towards a preferred stimulus on different occasions is highly repeatable, with lower repeatabilities away from the most preferred signal traits. For certain male signal traits, female preference and selectivity are highly repeatable. Although phonotactic response magnitude deteriorated with age, preference functions of females remained the same during their lifetimes. Finally, the limitations of measuring phonotaxis using a spherical locomotor compensator are described and discussed with respect to the estimation of the selectivity of female response

Plant cell culture technology in the cosmetics and food industries : current state and future trends

The production of drugs, cosmetics, and food which are derived from plant cell and tissue cultures has a long tradition. The emerging trend of manufacturing cosmetics and food products in a natural and sustainable manner has brought a new wave in plant cell culture technology over the past 10 years. More than 50 products based on extracts from plant cell cultures have made their way into the cosmetics industry during this time, whereby the majority is produced with plant cell suspension cultures. In addition, the first plant cell culture-based food supplement ingredients, such as Echigena Plus and Teoside 10, are now produced at production scale. In this mini review, we discuss the reasons for and the characteristics as well as the challenges of plant cell culture-based productions for the cosmetics and food industries. It focuses on the current state of the art in this field. In addition, two examples of the latest developments in plant cell culture-based food production are presented, that is, superfood which boosts health and food that can be produced in the lab or at home