Nest Architecture of Tetragona clavipes (Fabricius) (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Meliponini)

The aim of this study was to describe the nest architecture of Tetragona clavipes colonies, and to compare its features with other stingless bee species. The measurements were made on 10 colonies in terms of brood chamber, brood cells, royal cells, food pots, pillars between combs, and population. Brood chamber (= 3117.9 ± 1230.6 cm3) of spiral-shaped combs were all in the center of the nest. The values of equatorial diameter of brood chambers (= 14.33 ± 3.03 cm) can be useful to scale bee boxes. The height and width of food pots (= 3.42 ± 0.39 cm; = 2.21 ± 0.23 cm), and brood cells (= 6.37 ± 0.32 mm; = 3.73 ± 0.35 mm) were statistically different among colonies. The measurements of the internal nest structures of T. clavipes were similar to the few other reported studies of this species. T. clavipes nests presented only few differences from other stingless bee species. This species has large potential for honey production, which has not yet been explored and deserves attention in future studies

Porte de Arma de Fogo no Brasil

Trata-se do porte de arma de fogo no Brasil trazendo o seu contexto histórico desde o início até os dias atuais: como se deu o seu processo evolutivo no campo jurídico penal de uma simples contravenção a criminalização no Estatuto do Desarmamento de 2003; como é o procedimento para a concessão quais os requisitos necessários, e, de quem é a competência para sua emissão; e por fim, discute se o ato concessório é vinculado ou discricionário da administração e apresenta ainda as principais decisões dos tribunais sobre o assunto

Caffeine teratogenicity in rats: morphological characterization and hypothesized mechanisms

Caffeine consumption during pregnancy has been shown in the scientific literature to be associated with teratogenicity such as low birth weight, fetal malformations, and miscarriage. However, the morphological alterations of the offspring of dams exposed during pregnancy have not been consistently described, and the mechanisms why they occur remain elusive. Thus, we aimed to characterize the offspring malformations induced by moderate and high doses of caffeine during pregnancy. Dams were divided into three groups: control, moderate (0.3 g/L), and high dose (1.0 g/L) of caffeine, which was provided in the drinking water beginning on gestational day 1 and continuing throughout the entire gestation. At moderate doses, only one of the dams had stillborn pups, although no macroscopic malformations were observed. High doses of caffeine induced significantly more malformations (P<0.001) and early death (before P4). The malformations observed were related to fetal development and cardiovascular alterations, namely bruises, macrocephaly with short limbs, abnormal development (or absence) of head structures and limbs, labial malformations, hydrops fetalis, and poor placental formation. We discussed the proposed mechanisms by which caffeine might induce these phenotypes, which may involve down-regulation of adenosine A1 receptors, and increased mothers’ catecholamines. Our findings further confirm the evidence of the teratogenic effects of high doses of caffeine administered during pregnancy. These findings support the recommendation to avoid caffeine exposure during pregnancy. Keywords: Caffeine; offspring; teratogenicity; pregnancy; hydrops; cardiovascular alteration

Cloud computing: searching its use in public management environments

The research investigated the perception about cloud computing (CC) in public management environments. After, from the perspective of information technology (IT) people on those organizations, it has raised views on how IT in the cloud is seen as a solution for government-level service delivery. Then, managers of the top public management of two cities, sought aspects of feasibility, timeliness, necessity and actuality of the CC, for the provision of digital services. Listening revealed CN is known, although misunderstood and will only be effective when the process and community service dimensions are delineated by the municipal management (modeling and implementation). Nevertheless, it was realized that the technology will be absorbed by public information technology and will replace the traditional one-way service delivery, favoring the increase of computational intelligence distributed in social scale and the inclusive participation of the population in the management of cities

Caffeine teratogenicity in rats : morphological characterization and hypothesized mechanisms

Caffeine consumption during pregnancy has been shown in the scientific literature to be associated with teratogenicity such as low birth weight, fetal malformations, and miscarriage. However, the morphological alterations of the offspring of dams exposed during pregnancy have not been consistently described, and the mechanisms why they occur remain elusive. Thus, we aimed to characterize the offspring malformations induced by moderate and high doses of caffeine during pregnancy. Dams were divided into three groups: control, moderate (0.3 g/L), and high dose (1.0 g/L) of caffeine, which was provided in the drinking water beginning on gestational day 1 and continuing throughout the entire gestation. At moderate doses, only one of the dams had stillborn pups, although no macroscopic malformations were observed. High doses of caffeine induced significantly more malformations (P<0.001) and early death (before P4). The malformations observed were related to fetal development and cardiovascular alterations, namely bruises, macrocephaly with short limbs, abnormal development (or absence) of head structures and limbs, labial malformations, hydrops fetalis, and poor placental formation. We discussed the proposed mechanisms by which caffeine might induce these phenotypes, which may involve down-regulation of adenosine A1 receptors, and increased mothers’ catecholamines. Our findings further confirm the evidence of the teratogenic effects of high doses of caffeine administered during pregnancy. These findings support the recommendation to avoid caffeine exposure during pregnancy

A Method for Bridging the Gap between Business Process Models and Services

Many proposals in the literature are consensual in making business processes as the starting point of a Service-Oriented system development lifecycle. However, there is no systematic approach that can be easily applied in practice. We argue that an effective SOA approach requires an integrated view of organizational business processes, where services are explicitly related to business models components. Accomplishing these requirements is vital for bridging the gap between business needs and their supporting services. This work proposes a top-down method for service identification and analysis from business process models. Each step of the method implements a set of heuristics that are also specified. The method is presented in detail, and constitutes a systematic guide for service identification and analysis. A case study is conducted to demonstrate the use of the method in practice

Management of Scientific Experiments in Computational Modeling: Challenges and Perspectives

Currently the computer is essential to the success in conducting scientific research. In this context, e-Science appears as science performed with computer support aiming efficiency. The challenge, “Computational Modeling of artificial, naturals and socio-cultural complex systems and man-nature interaction” from SBC Great Challenges is strongly related to the e-Science context. The goal of this challenge is to create, evaluate, modify, compose, manage and exploit computer models in fields related to complex, artificial, natural, socio-cultural and human-nature systems. Technologies like semantic web service composition, data provenance, peer to peer networks and scientific software product line can be used as basis for the specification and development of an e-Science infrastructure to handle challenges and solve problems. This paper discusses the main challenges involved in developing an eScience infrastructure, presenting research challenges for the next years