Ácaros (Arachnida: Acari) associados a plantas ornamentais tropicais na região litoral sul da Bahia / Mites (Arachnida: Acari) associated with tropical ornamental plants in the southern coastal region of Bahia, Brazil

Em razão da expansão do agronegócio de flores tropicais na região Litoral Sul da Bahia e da inexistência de estudos com ácaros associados a essas culturas na região foram realizadas coletas no período de setembro de 2006 a junho de 2007 em 34 espécies/cultivares de plantas ornamentais tropicais das famílias Costaceae, Heliconiaceae, Musaceae e Zingiberaceae de onze propriedades localizadas em seis municípios (13º 21' a 14º 58' de latitude Sul e 39º 04' a 39º 27' de longitude Oeste), com o objetivo de se determinar a composição de grupos funcionais nos cultivos analisando-se a comunidade no nível de família por meio de índices faunísticos. Os ácaros foram coletados, mensalmente, em folhas e inflorescências. Foram registradas 22 famílias. Mais da metade dos ácaros pertenceu a famílias predominantemente predadoras, com destaque para os fitoseídeos. Com base em índices faunísticos, as famílias Phytoseiidae e Tetranychidae atingiram os índices máximos de dominância, abundância, frequência e constância. Tetraniquídeos (Tetranychus aff. abacae Baker & Pritchard) foram registrados em Alpinia purpurata (Viell.) Schum, Etlingera elatior (Jack) R. M. Smith, Musa coccinea H.C. Andrews, Strelitzia reginae Aiton, Zingiber spectabilis Griffith, Heliconia latispatha Benth., Heliconia rivularis L. Emygd. & E. Santos, Heliconia rostrata Ruiz & Pavon, Heliconia wagneriana Petersen e nos cultivares de helicônias 'Nappi Yellow', 'Jacquinii', 'She', 'Golden Torch', 'Red Opal', 'Alan Carle', 'Fire Bird' e 'Nappi Red'. As espécies/cultivares com maior número de famílias de ácaros foram H. latispatha. H. rostrata. M. coccinea, 'Fire Bird', E. elatior 'Vermelha', Z. spectabilis. E. elatior 'Rosa', A. purpurata 'Vermelha' e helicônias 'Alan Carle', 'Sassy' e 'She'. Não foram detectados nas plantas danos que causassem prejuízos econômicos aos produtores. As pequenas populações de fitófagos sugerem um eficiente controle natural por predadores, patógenos ou outros fatores.

Due to the expansion of the tropical flower agribusiness in the southern coastal region of Bahia State, Brazil, and the lack of studies on mites associated to these cultures in the region, mite surveys were conducted from September 2006 to June 2007 in 34 species/cultivars of ornamental plants of the families Costaceae, Heliconiaceae, Musaceae and Zingiberaceae on 11 properties located in 6 counties (13º 21' to 14º 58' of south latitude and 39º 04' to 39º 27' of west longitude) with the aim of determining the composition of functional groups in the field through the analysis of the community at the family level using faunistic indexes. Mites were collected monthly from leaves and inflorescences. Twenty-two families were recorded. More than half of the mites pertained to predominantly predatory families, mainly to phytoseiids. Based on faunistic indexes, the families Phytoseiidae and Tetranychidae showed the maximum indexes of dominance, abundance, frequency and constancy. Tetranychids (Tetranychus aff. abacae Baker & Pritchard) were reported on Alpinia purpurata (Viell.) Schum, Etlingera elatior (Jack) R. M. Smith, Musa coccinea H.C. Andrews, Strelitzia reginae Aiton, Zingiber spectabilis Griffith, Heliconia latispatha Benth., Heliconia rivularis L. Emygd. & E. Santos, Heliconia rostrata Ruiz & Pavon, Heliconia wagneriana Petersen and on the cultivars of heliconia 'Nappi Yellow,' 'Jacquinii,' 'She,' 'Golden Torch,' 'Red Opal,' 'Alan Carle,' 'Fire Bird' and 'Nappi Red.' The species/cultivars with the largest number of mite families were H. latispatha. H. rostrata. M. coccinea, 'Fire Bird,' E. elatior 'Vermelha,' Z. spectabilis. E. elatior 'Rosa,' A. purpurata 'Vermelha' and heliconias 'Alan Carle,' 'Sassy' and 'She.' No mite-induced economic losses on tropical flower cultures were observed. The low population levels of phytophagous mites suggest an efficient natural control by predators, pathogens and other factors.

Desempenho animal e produtividade de pastagens tropicais no noroeste do Rio Grande do Sul / Animal performance and productivity of tropical pasture in Northwest of Rio Grande do Sul

Avaliou-se a produtividade do capim-elefante anão e do tifton 85 sob pastejo contínuo no noroeste do Rio Grande do Sul, utilizando-se 12 vacas da raça Holandesa, multíparas e com cerca de 100 dias de lactação. Foi aplicada a técnica dos animais reguladores para ajustes da carga animal de forma a manter a oferta de lâminas foliares de 4 por cento. No primeiro ano experimental, o capim-elefante anão e o tifton 85 apresentaram diferenças significativas quanto às taxas médias de acúmulo de lâminas foliares (31,2 vs 22,6kg/ha/dia) e produção animal (17,4 vs 20kg de leite/vaca/dia). No segundo, o tifton 85 foi superior ao capim-elefante anão quanto à taxa de acúmulo de matéria seca de lâminas foliares (38,8 vs 21,9kg/ha/dia), capacidade de suporte (2157 vs 1084kg de peso vivo/ha) e produções por área (70 vs 41,3kg de leite/ha/dia). No segundo ano, em relação ao primeiro, o tifton 85 manteve 88 por cento da capacidade de suporte e 80 por cento da produção por área, enquanto o capim-elefante anão apenas 46 por cento e 56 por cento. A produção média de 17kg de leite/vaca/dia indica um potencial pouco explorado das gramíneas tropicais em sistemas de produção de leite, especialmente na região Sul do Brasil.

Productivity of dwarf elephantgrass (Pennisetum purpureum Schum. cv. Mott) and tifton 85 (Cynodon dactylon x Cynodon nlemfuensis) pastures was evaluated under continuous grazing, in the Northwest area of Rio Grande do Sul. Twelve multiparous Holstein cows, at 100 days of lactation were evaluated and the put-and-take technique was used to regulate the stocking rate to maintain 4 percent of leaf lamina on offer. In the first year, dwarf elephantgrass and tifton 85 were different in leaf accumulation rates (31.2 vs 22.6kg/ha/day) and animal production (17.4 vs 20kg of milk/cow/day). In the second year, tifton 85 had higher leaf accumulation rates (38.8 vs 21.9kg/ha/day), stocking rate (2,157 vs 1,084kg of live weight/ha), and production per area (70 vs 41.3kg of milk/ha/day) than dwarf elephantgrass. Comparing the second to the first years, tifton 85 maintained 88 percent of stocking rate and 80 percent of production per area, while dwarf elephantgrass only 46 percent and 56 percent, respectively. Average individual production of 17kg of milk/cow/day indicates an unexplored potential of tropical grasses in dairy production systems, especially in the South of Brazil.

Is the number of antennal plate organs (sensilla placodea) greater in hygienic than in non-hygienic Africanized honey bees?

Hygienic behavior is a desirable trait in honey bees (Apis mellifera L.), as hygienic bees quickly remove diseased brood, interrupting the infectious cycle. Hygienic lines of honey bees appear to be more sensitive to the odors of dead and diseased honey bee brood, and Africanized honey bees are generally more hygienic than are European honey bees. We compared the number of sensilla placodea, antennal sensory structures involved in the perception of odor, in 10 bees from each of six hygienic and four non-hygienic colonies of Africanized honey bees. The sensilla placodea of three of the terminal segments (flagellomeres) of the right antenna of each bee were counted with a scanning electron microscope. There were no significant differences in the mean numbers of sensilla placodea between the hygienic and non-hygienic bees, though the variance was higher in the hygienic group. Flagellomere 4 had significantly more sensilla placodea than flagellomeres 6 and 8. However, there was no significant difference between the other two flagellomeres. As hygienic bees are capable of identifying dead, injured, or infested brood inside a capped brood cell, sensilla placodea probably have an important role in enabling worker bees to sense sick brood. However, we did not find greater numbers of this sensory structure in the antennae of hygienic, compared to non-hygienic Africanized honey bees

Sequestro pulmonar: apresentação clínica / Pulmonary sequestration: clinical presentation

Os autores relatam o caso de um paciente do sexo masculino de 60 anos de idade, assintomático respiratório, não tabagista, cuja radiografia de tórax evidenciava a presença de um nódulo pulmonar localizado no segmento 10. Após complementação do estudo radiológico com tomografia convencional e arteriografia foi confirmado o diagnóstico de sequestro pulmonar. A seguir tecem comentários acerca do quadro clínico e radiológico desta afecção além de considerações sobre a patogenia e, finalmente, o tratamento proposto no caso

Effect of dorsal hippocampal lesion compared to dorsal hippocampal blockade by atropine on reference memory in vision deprived rats.

In order to study the primacy of the hippocampus in place learning function 24 male adult albino rats were hippocampally-lesioned in dorsal hippocampus involving fornical damage (group I); sham operated for comparison with group I (group II); cannulated for instillation of atropine sulphate in the same loci as group I (group III); and cannulated for instillation of saline which served as control for group III (group IV). All the animals were enucleated and their reference memory (long-term memory) was tested, using open 4-arm radial maze. There was loss of reference memory in groups I and III. However, hippocampally-lesioned animals, showed recovery of reference memory deficit within a short period of 10 days or so. Whereas atropinized animals showed persistent reference memory deficit as long as the instillation effect continued. The mechanism involved in the recovery of reference memory in hippocampally-lesioned animals and persistent deficit of reference memory in atropinized animals has been postulated to explain the primacy of hippocampus in the place learning function under normal conditions.

Four-arm radial open maze (FAROM) as a tool for assessing the effect of atropine in spatial memory of the rats.

Place learning behaviour for working (short term) memory and reference (long term) memory is studied with the Four-arm radial open maze (FAROM) in 18 rats divided equally in three groups. In group I, 0.5 mg of atropine was injected intra-peritoneally 30 minutes before the trial. In group II, saline and in group III Glycopyrrolate were injected instead. Twenty three hours hungry animals were tested on each day in the maze to search for food kept in one of the eight cul-de-sacs of maze. The latency i.e. the time to reach the goal cul-de-sacs, as well as the error score i.e. the number of entries in the non-goal cul-de-sacs were counted during six consecutive trials, per day. Each trial duration was 5 minutes or the time taken by the animal to search the goal compartment whichever was less. The inter-trials period was 10 min and the work was carried out for a period of 3 weeks. The results show that atropine does block effectively both the memory faculties i.e. working and reference memory and that level of memory deficit induced by atropine is related to the rate of drug uptake by the central cholinergic receptors.