Support policies for dependent older adults: Europe and Brazil. / Políticas de apoio aos idosos em situação de dependência: Europa e Brasil.

This theoretical essay discusses long-term care policies for dependent older adults. It aims to analyze the content and strategies that guided the formulation of the so-called "dependence policies" in some European states, seeking guidance to formulate actions related to the same issue in the Brazilian case. The knowledge bases are official documents and scientific papers analyzing the institutionalized proposals. The study shows that all the countries investigated included dependence policies within their social security system framework. Some offer total protection, while others only partial protection to older adults and family caregivers. However, older adults and their caregivers never fail to receive the care they need. In Brazil, some local experiences meet comprehensive care requirements. Initiatives of Belo Horizonte and São Paulo are narrated, and while important, they are not policies. They are successful cases that can evolve to increase social awareness or simply disappear as non-institutionalized experiences. The issue addressed in this paper is very relevant, due to the inexorable fact of the accelerated growth of the long-lived population, which requires care from others the most.

Neste ensaio teórico discutem-se políticas sobre cuidados de longa duração para pessoas idosas dependentes. O objetivo é analisar o conteúdo e as estratégias que guiaram a formulação das chamadas "políticas de dependência" em alguns estados europeus, buscando orientações para a realização de ações relativas à mesma questão no caso brasileiro. As bases de conhecimento são documentos oficiais e artigos científicos que descrevem e analisam a institucionalização das propostas. O estudo mostra que os países europeus aqui analisados incluíram as políticas sobre a dependência nos marcos de seu sistema de seguridade social; alguns oferecem proteção total, outros, apenas parcial ao idoso e ao cuidador familiar. Em nenhum deles, a pessoa idosa dependente deixa de receber os cuidados de que precisa. No Brasil, há algumas experiências locais que atendem aos requisitos de atenção integral. São narradas uma de Belo Horizonte e outra de São Paulo. Embora sejam importantes, tais iniciativas não constituem uma política, são casos exitosos que podem evoluir para o aumento da consciência social ou se esvaírem como experiências não institucionalizadas. A questão tratada neste artigo é de grande relevância, pelo fato inexorável do crescimento acelerado da população longeva, a que mais depende do cuidado de terceiros.

The collaborative process in the making of Ciência & Saúde Coletiva. / O processo colaborativo do fazer a Ciência & Saúde Coletiva.

This paper presents the different stages of the editorial process of Journal Ciência & Saúde Coletiva. Different processing work methods have been overcome over these 25 years, and others have been introduced. Each stage of this construction will be analyzed in-depth to discuss the "making" of an academic publication of such a large scale and complexity. The Journal Ciência & Saúde Coletiva delves into each issue a theme in the field, addressing its cross-sectionality and complexity. This thematization ranges from 10 to 35 papers. Thirty-five papers are published monthly (thematic and free subjects), mostly in Portuguese, English, and Spanish, fulfilling the most prestigious national and international open-access databases' deadline requirements. In this making, one of the significant issues is funding because the crucial development institutions' support is very scarce.

Este artigo apresenta as diversas etapas do processo editorial da Revista Ciência & Saúde Coletiva. Ao longo desses 25 anos diferentes modos de processar o trabalho foram sendo superados e outros foram sendo introduzidos. Cada etapa dessa construção será aprofundada com o objetivo de discutir "o fazer" cotidiano de uma publicação acadêmica de tamanha envergadura e complexidade. A Revista Ciência & Saúde Coletiva aprofunda em cada edição um tema da área, tratando-o em sua transversalidade e complexidade. Essa tematização vai de 10 a 35 artigos, pois 35 artigos são publicados mensalmente (temáticos e temas livres), em sua maioria em português e inglês e espanhol, cumprindo as exigências de prazos das mais conceituadas bases de dados nacionais e internacionais de livre acesso. Nesse a fazer, um dos grandes problemas é o financiamento, pois é muito escasso - embora fundamental - o apoio das instituições de fomento.

O processo colaborativo do fazer a Ciência & Saúde Coletiva / The collaborative process in the making of Ciência & Saúde Coletiva

Resumo Este artigo apresenta as diversas etapas do processo editorial da Revista Ciência & Saúde Coletiva. Ao longo desses 25 anos diferentes modos de processar o trabalho foram sendo superados e outros foram sendo introduzidos. Cada etapa dessa construção será aprofundada com o objetivo de discutir "o fazer" cotidiano de uma publicação acadêmica de tamanha envergadura e complexidade. A Revista Ciência & Saúde Coletiva aprofunda em cada edição um tema da área, tratando-o em sua transversalidade e complexidade. Essa tematização vai de 10 a 35 artigos, pois 35 artigos são publicados mensalmente (temáticos e temas livres), em sua maioria em português e inglês e espanhol, cumprindo as exigências de prazos das mais conceituadas bases de dados nacionais e internacionais de livre acesso. Nesse a fazer, um dos grandes problemas é o financiamento, pois é muito escasso - embora fundamental - o apoio das instituições de fomento.

Abstract This paper presents the different stages of the editorial process of Journal Ciência & Saúde Coletiva. Different processing work methods have been overcome over these 25 years, and others have been introduced. Each stage of this construction will be analyzed in-depth to discuss the "making" of an academic publication of such a large scale and complexity. The Journal Ciência & Saúde Coletiva delves into each issue a theme in the field, addressing its cross-sectionality and complexity. This thematization ranges from 10 to 35 papers. Thirty-five papers are published monthly (thematic and free subjects), mostly in Portuguese, English, and Spanish, fulfilling the most prestigious national and international open-access databases' deadline requirements. In this making, one of the significant issues is funding because the crucial development institutions' support is very scarce.

Support policies for the elderly in situations of dependency: Europe and Brasil: / Políticas de apoio aos idosos em situação de dependência: Europa e Brasil:

This text describes and discusses policies of long term care offered to dependent elderly people. The objective is to analyze the content and strategies that guide the formulation of the so-called "dependency policies" in some European states, seeking guidance for the formulation of actions related to the same issue in the Brazilian case. The knowledge bases are official documents and scientific articles that analyze the institutionalization of the proposals. The study shows: all the countries analyzed included policies on dependency within the framework of their social security system; some offer total protection, others, only partial, which serve the elderly and the family caregiver; in none of them the elderly and their caregiver fail to receive care they need. In Brazil, there are some local experiences that meet the requirements of comprehensive care. Initiatives of Belo Horizonte and São Paulo are narrated. However, the aforementioned experiences are not a policy. They are successful cases that can evolve to increase social awareness or simply disappear. The need for the issue addressed in this article to be taken seriously is imperative, due to the inexorable fact of the accelerate growth of the long-lived population, particularly those aged 80th and over, the most vulnerable.

Neste ensaio teórico discutem-se políticas sobre cuidados de longa duração para pessoas idosas dependentes. O objetivo é analisar o conteúdo e as estratégias que guiaram a formulação das chamadas "políticas de dependência" em alguns estados europeus, buscando orientações para a formulação de ações relativas à mesma questão no caso brasileiro. As bases de conhecimento são documentos oficiais e artigos científicos que descrevem e analisam a institucionalização das propostas. O estudo mostra que os países europeus aqui analisados incluíram as políticas sobre a dependência nos marcos de seu sistema de seguridade social; alguns oferecem proteção total, outros, apenas parcial ao idoso e ao cuidador familiar. Em nenhum deles, a pessoa idosa dependente deixa de receber os cuidados de que precisa. No Brasil, há algumas experiências locais que atendem aos requisitos de atenção integral. São narradas uma de Belo Horizonte e uma de São Paulo. Embora sejam importantes, tais iniciativas não constituem uma política, são casos exitosos que podem evoluir para o aumento da consciência social ou se esvaírem como experiências não institucionalizadas. A questão tratada neste artigo é de grande relevância, pelo fato inexorável do crescimento acelerado da população longeva, a que mais depende do cuidado de terceiros.    

Targeting the uncertainty of predictions at patient-level using an ensemble of classifiers coupled with calibration methods, Venn-ABERS, and Conformal Predictors: A case study in AD.

Despite being able to make accurate predictions, most existing prognostic models lack a proper indication about the uncertainty of each prediction, that is, the risk of prediction error for individual patients. This hampers their translation to primary care settings through decision support systems. To address this problem, we studied different methods for transforming classifiers into probabilistic/confidence-based predictors (here called uncertainty methods), where predictions are complemented with probability estimates/confidence regions reflecting their uncertainty (uncertainty estimates). We tested several uncertainty methods: two well-known calibration methods (Platt Scaling and Isotonic Regression), Conformal Predictors, and Venn-ABERS predictors. We evaluated whether these methods produce valid predictions, where uncertainty estimates reflect the ground truth probabilities. Furthermore, we assessed the proportion of valid predictions made at high-certainty thresholds (predictions with uncertainty measures above a given threshold) since this impacts their usefulness in clinical decisions. Finally, we proposed an ensemble-based approach where predictions from multiple pairs of (classifier, uncertainty method) are combined to predict whether a given MCI patient will convert to AD. This ensemble should putatively provide predictions for a larger number of patients while releasing users from deciding which pair of (classifier, uncertainty method) is more appropriate for data under study. The analysis was performed with a Portuguese cohort (CCC) of around 400 patients and validated in the publicly available ADNI cohort. Despite our focus on MCI to AD prognosis, the proposed approach can be applied to other diseases and prognostic problems.

Neuropsychological predictors of conversion from mild cognitive impairment to Alzheimer's disease: a feature selection ensemble combining stability and predictability.

BACKGROUND: Predicting progression from Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) to Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is an utmost open issue in AD-related research. Neuropsychological assessment has proven to be useful in identifying MCI patients who are likely to convert to dementia. However, the large battery of neuropsychological tests (NPTs) performed in clinical practice and the limited number of training examples are challenge to machine learning when learning prognostic models. In this context, it is paramount to pursue approaches that effectively seek for reduced sets of relevant features. Subsets of NPTs from which prognostic models can be learnt should not only be good predictors, but also stable, promoting generalizable and explainable models. METHODS: We propose a feature selection (FS) ensemble combining stability and predictability to choose the most relevant NPTs for prognostic prediction in AD. First, we combine the outcome of multiple (filter and embedded) FS methods. Then, we use a wrapper-based approach optimizing both stability and predictability to compute the number of selected features. We use two large prospective studies (ADNI and the Portuguese Cognitive Complaints Cohort, CCC) to evaluate the approach and assess the predictive value of a large number of NPTs. RESULTS: The best subsets of features include approximately 30 and 20 (from the original 79 and 40) features, for ADNI and CCC data, respectively, yielding stability above 0.89 and 0.95, and AUC above 0.87 and 0.82. Most NPTs learnt using the proposed feature selection ensemble have been identified in the literature as strong predictors of conversion from MCI to AD. CONCLUSIONS: The FS ensemble approach was able to 1) identify subsets of stable and relevant predictors from a consensus of multiple FS methods using baseline NPTs and 2) learn reliable prognostic models of conversion from MCI to AD using these subsets of features. The machine learning models learnt from these features outperformed the models trained without FS and achieved competitive results when compared to commonly used FS algorithms. Furthermore, the selected features are derived from a consensus of methods thus being more robust, while releasing users from choosing the most appropriate FS method to be used in their classification task.

Civilização ou barbárie / Civilization or barbarism

RESUMO O artigo buscou entender os desafios para a construção de uma sociedade amparada em direitos sociais e de cidadania dentro da atual crise do capitalismo e do golpe de 2016. Contextualiza o atual cenário com o qual se defronta para, em seguida, discutir o conflito pela distribuição da riqueza. Posteriormente, traz a discussão do golpe e mostra as diversas tentativas de desconstrução da Constituição de 1988 que culminam na Emenda Constitucional 95. Nesse cenário, observa as perspectivas para o Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS) e conclama à retomada do espírito de 1988.

ABSTRACT The article seeks to understand the challenges for building a society based on social rights and citizenship within the current crisis of capitalism and the coup of 2016. It contextualises the current scenario we face and then discusses the conflict over the distribution of wealth. Next, it brings the discussion of the coup and shows the various attempts to deconstruct the 1988 Constitution which culminate in Constitutional Amendment 95. In that scenario, it observes the perspectives for the Unified Health System (SUS) and calls for a resumption of the spirit of 1988.

The future of the Brazilian Health System: a short review of its pathways towards an uncertain and discouraging horizon. / Notas sobre o futuro do SUS: breve exame de caminhos e descaminhos trilhados em um horizonte de incertezas e desalentos.

This article reflects on the future of the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS, acronym in Portuguese), based on the foresight exercises conducted by the Brasil Saúde Amanhã initiative of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation. The text briefly reviews some paths followed by the SUS as referred to in the Federal Constitution of 1988. It highlights the movement towards the decentralization of care and the constraint of health financial resources that reduced policies of increasing public expenditures. It examines the public and private arrangements for financing and provision of services that have resulted in sectoral privatization, mainly from economic policies articulated with concession of fiscal benefits. It analyzes the changes in the public sector financing through successive constitutional amendments that resulted in the weakening of established social protection policies, particularly of the health sector. For the future, the text considers population aging and analyzes trends in the epidemiological profile, with consequent changes in the health care paradigm. The article concludes by pointing out the consequences of fiscal strangling in the organization of the healthcare system and the need to reverse legal provisions that hamper the fulfillment of the constitutional mandate for equity and universality.

Este artigo apresenta uma reflexão sobre o futuro do SUS, baseada em exercícios prospectivos desenvolvidos pela iniciativa Brasil Saúde Amanhã da Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. O texto faz uma breve revisão de caminhos e descaminhos percorridos pelo SUS, tendo como marco a Constituição Federal de 1988. Destaca os movimentos pela descentralização e a subtração de recursos da saúde que reduziu a política de incremento de gastos; e acentua os arranjos públicos e privados de financiamento e provisão de serviços que resultaram na privatização setorial decorrente, principalmente, de políticas econômicas articuladas com a concessão de benefícios e tributos. Analisa o financiamento do setor público através das sucessivas emendas constitucionais que resultaram na destruição da proteção social e no enfraquecimento do setor Saúde. Para o futuro, o texto considera o envelhecimento populacional e analisa tendências no perfil epidemiológico, com as consequentes mudanças no modelo de cuidados de atenção à saúde. O artigo conclui apontando os resultados do estrangulamento fiscal na organização do sistema de cuidados e a necessidade da reversão de dispositivos legais que obstaculizam o mandamento constitucional.

Notas sobre o futuro do SUS: breve exame de caminhos e descaminhos trilhados em um horizonte de incertezas e desalentos / The future of the Brazilian Health System: a short review of its pathways towards an uncertain and discouraging horizon

Resumo Este artigo apresenta uma reflexão sobre o futuro do SUS, baseada em exercícios prospectivos desenvolvidos pela iniciativa Brasil Saúde Amanhã da Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. O texto faz uma breve revisão de caminhos e descaminhos percorridos pelo SUS, tendo como marco a Constituição Federal de 1988. Destaca os movimentos pela descentralização e a subtração de recursos da saúde que reduziu a política de incremento de gastos; e acentua os arranjos públicos e privados de financiamento e provisão de serviços que resultaram na privatização setorial decorrente, principalmente, de políticas econômicas articuladas com a concessão de benefícios e tributos. Analisa o financiamento do setor público através das sucessivas emendas constitucionais que resultaram na destruição da proteção social e no enfraquecimento do setor Saúde. Para o futuro, o texto considera o envelhecimento populacional e analisa tendências no perfil epidemiológico, com as consequentes mudanças no modelo de cuidados de atenção à saúde. O artigo conclui apontando os resultados do estrangulamento fiscal na organização do sistema de cuidados e a necessidade da reversão de dispositivos legais que obstaculizam o mandamento constitucional.

Abstract This article reflects on the future of the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS, acronym in Portuguese), based on the foresight exercises conducted by the Brasil Saúde Amanhã initiative of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation. The text briefly reviews some paths followed by the SUS as referred to in the Federal Constitution of 1988. It highlights the movement towards the decentralization of care and the constraint of health financial resources that reduced policies of increasing public expenditures. It examines the public and private arrangements for financing and provision of services that have resulted in sectoral privatization, mainly from economic policies articulated with concession of fiscal benefits. It analyzes the changes in the public sector financing through successive constitutional amendments that resulted in the weakening of established social protection policies, particularly of the health sector. For the future, the text considers population aging and analyzes trends in the epidemiological profile, with consequent changes in the health care paradigm. The article concludes by pointing out the consequences of fiscal strangling in the organization of the healthcare system and the need to reverse legal provisions that hamper the fulfillment of the constitutional mandate for equity and universality.

Karyotype diversity and 2C DNA content in species of the Caesalpinia group.

BACKGROUND: The Leguminosae family is the third-largest family of angiosperms, and Caesalpinioideae is its second-largest subfamily. A great number of species (approximately 205) are found in the Caesalpinia group within this subfamily; together with these species' phenotypic plasticity and the similarities in their morphological descriptors, make this a complex group for taxonomic and phylogenetic studies. The objective of the present work was to evaluate the karyotypic diversity and the 2C DNA content variation in 10 species of the Caesalpinia group, representing six genera: Paubrasilia, Caesalpinia, Cenostigma, Poincianella, Erythrostemon and Libidibia. The GC-rich heterochromatin and 45S rDNA sites (which are used as chromosome markers) were located to evaluate the karyotype diversity in the clade. The variation in the 2C DNA content was determined through flow cytometry. RESULTS: The fluorochrome banding indicated that the chromomycin A3+/4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole- blocks were exclusively in the terminal regions of the chromosomes, coinciding with 45S rDNA sites in all analyzed species. Physical mapping of the species (through fluorescence in situ hybridization) revealed variation in the size of the hybridization signals and in the number and distribution of the 45S rDNA sites. All hybridization sites were in the terminal regions of the chromosomes. In addition, all species had a hybridization site in the fourth chromosome pair. The 2C DNA content ranged from 1.54 pg in Erythrostemon calycina to 2.82 pg in the Paubrasilia echinata large-leaf variant. The Pa. echinata small-leaf variant was isolated from the other leaf variants through Scoot-Knott clustering. CONCLUSIONS: The chromosome diversity and the variation in the 2C DNA content reinforce that the actual taxonomy and clustering of the analyzed taxa requires more genera that were previously proposed. This fact indicates that taxonomy, phylogeny and cytoevolutionary inference related to the complex Caesalpinia group have to be done through integrative evaluation.

Predicting progression of mild cognitive impairment to dementia using neuropsychological data: a supervised learning approach using time windows.

BACKGROUND: Predicting progression from a stage of Mild Cognitive Impairment to dementia is a major pursuit in current research. It is broadly accepted that cognition declines with a continuum between MCI and dementia. As such, cohorts of MCI patients are usually heterogeneous, containing patients at different stages of the neurodegenerative process. This hampers the prognostic task. Nevertheless, when learning prognostic models, most studies use the entire cohort of MCI patients regardless of their disease stages. In this paper, we propose a Time Windows approach to predict conversion to dementia, learning with patients stratified using time windows, thus fine-tuning the prognosis regarding the time to conversion. METHODS: In the proposed Time Windows approach, we grouped patients based on the clinical information of whether they converted (converter MCI) or remained MCI (stable MCI) within a specific time window. We tested time windows of 2, 3, 4 and 5 years. We developed a prognostic model for each time window using clinical and neuropsychological data and compared this approach with the commonly used in the literature, where all patients are used to learn the models, named as First Last approach. This enables to move from the traditional question "Will a MCI patient convert to dementia somewhere in the future" to the question "Will a MCI patient convert to dementia in a specific time window". RESULTS: The proposed Time Windows approach outperformed the First Last approach. The results showed that we can predict conversion to dementia as early as 5 years before the event with an AUC of 0.88 in the cross-validation set and 0.76 in an independent validation set. CONCLUSIONS: Prognostic models using time windows have higher performance when predicting progression from MCI to dementia, when compared to the prognostic approach commonly used in the literature. Furthermore, the proposed Time Windows approach is more relevant from a clinical point of view, predicting conversion within a temporal interval rather than sometime in the future and allowing clinicians to timely adjust treatments and clinical appointments.

Violências visíveis e invisíveis contra a pessoa idosa / Visible and invisible violences against elderly

O objetivo deste capítulo é apresentar uma revisão compreensiva sobre a produção acadêmica brasileira do período de 2001-2013, sobre causas externas, especialmente sobre violências e acidentes que vitimam a população idosa. Seguindo a Classificação Internacional de Doenças (CID-10), do ponto de vista da mortalidade estão aí incluídos homicídios, suicídios e acidentes. do ponto de vista da morbidade, agressões, traumas por acidentes, quedas, queimaduras, envenenamentos e intoxicações, sufocações e afogamentos. (AU)

Differential effects of salinity and osmotic stress on the plant growth-promoting bacterium Gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus PAL5.

Plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) represent a promising alternative to the massive use of industrial fertilizers in agriculture. Gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus is a PGPB that colonizes several plant species. Although this bacterium is able to grow at high sucrose concentrations, its response to environmental stresses is poorly understood. The present study evaluated G. diazotrophicus PAL5 response to stresses caused by sucrose, PEG 400, NaCl, KCl, Na2SO4 and K2SO4. Morphological, ultrastructural and cell growth analysis revealed that G. diazotrophicus PAL5 is more sensitive to salt than osmotic stress. Growth inhibition and strong morphological changes were caused by salinity, in consequence of Cl ion-specific toxic effect. Interestingly, low osmotic stress levels were beneficial for bacterial multiplication, which was able to tolerate high sucrose concentrations, Na2SO4 and K2SO4. Our data show that G. diazotrophicus PAL5 has differential response to osmotic and salinity stress, which may influence its use as inoculant in saline environments.

Pollinic preparation for morpho-palynological studies of Passiflora L. Subg. Passiflora L. (Passifloraceae) / Preparações polínicas para o estudo da morfologia do pólen em Passiflora L. Subg. Passiflora L. (Passifloraceae)

The purpose of this study was to develop a pollen preparation methodology with a high proportion of intact pollen of species for the genus Passiflora subg. Passiflora. Thus, flower buds were collected near anthesis, from the species: P. alata, P. edulis, P. foetida, P. giberti, and P. setacea, fixed in ethanol-acetic acid mixture (3:1) and treated in 10%-20% aqueous sodium hydroxide, or acetolyzed. The pollen treated with 10% sodium hydroxide resulted in an average of 96% intact pollen grains in all species, however, after acetolysis an average percentage of 98% broken pollen was observed. Data obtained in pollen measurements did not change with the new methodology. It is therefore evident that the proposed methodology for pollen preparation based on sodium hydroxide was effective, as it allowed the visualization of a significant amount of intact pollen, thus promoting morpho-palynological studies of these species.

Este estudo teve como objetivo elaborar uma metodologia, para obter preparos polínicos com alta frequência de polens íntegros de espécies representantes do gênero Passiflora subg. Passiflora. Dessa forma, botões florais foram coletados, próximo à antese, das seguintes espécies: P. alata, P. edulis, P. foetida, P. giberti e P. setacea, fixado em solução etanol-ácido acético (3:1) e tratado em solução aquosa de hidróxido de sódio (10 e 20%) ou acetolisados, independentemente. Os preparos palinológicos, quando tratados com hidróxido de sódio a 10%, evidenciaram, em todas as espécies, média de 96% de polens íntegros, em contrapartida, quando acetolisados foi observada uma percentagem média de 98% de polens rompidos. Os dados referentes a mensurações polínicas não sofreram alterações com a nova metodologia. Evidencia-se, dessa forma, que a metodologia proposta, para preparações polínicas à base de hidróxido de sódio, foi eficiente, pois promoveu a visualização de uma quantidade significativa de polens íntegros, favorecendo assim o estudo da morfologia polínica nessas espécies.

Classification of primary progressive aphasia: Do unsupervised data mining methods support a logopenic variant?

Our objective was to test whether data mining techniques, through an unsupervised learning approach, support the three-group diagnostic model of primary progressive aphasia (PPA) versus the existence of two main/classic groups. A series of 155 PPA patients observed in a clinical setting and subjected to at least one neuropsychological/language assessment was studied. Several demographic, clinical and neuropsychological attributes, grouped in distinct sets, were introduced in unsupervised learning methods (Expectation Maximization, K-Means, X-Means, Hierarchical Clustering and Consensus Clustering). Results demonstrated that unsupervised learning methods revealed two main groups consistently obtained throughout all the analyses (with different algorithms and different set of attributes). One group included most of the agrammatic/non-fluent and some logopenic cases while the other was mainly composed of semantic and logopenic cases. Clustering the patients in a larger number of groups (k > 2) revealed some clusters composed mostly of non-fluent or of semantic cases. However, we could not evidence any group chiefly composed of logopenic cases. In conclusion, unsupervised data mining approaches do not support a clear distinction of logopenic PPA as a separate variant.

Histological analysis of pollen-pistil interactions in sour passion fruit plants (Passiflora edulis Sims).

The success of sexual plant reproduction is directly influenced by specific interactions between the pollen and pistil. Light, fluorescence and scanning electron microscopy techniques were used to evaluate the steps of pollination in sour passion fruit plants (Passiflora edulis Sims). In the compatible interaction, pollen tubes grow through stigma projections towards the ovary. The pollen grain surface was found to be spheroidal and to consist of heteroreticulate exine with six colpi. Furthermore, analysis in vivo of pollen-pistil interactions indicated that stigmas of flowers 24 hours before anthesis are unable to discriminate compatible (genetically unrelated) and incompatible (genetically related) pollen grains. Taken together, these results provide insight into the cellular mechanisms underlying pollination in passion fruit plants.

Fenologia reprodutiva do maracujazeiro-azedo no município de Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ / Reproductive phenological of passion fruit in Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ, Brazil

Este estudo teve como objetivo caracterizar a fenologia reprodutiva do maracujazeiro-azedo no período de setembro de 2009 a setembro de 2010, nas condições do município de Campos dos Goytacazes-RJ (21° 45'W; 41°20'S). Avaliaram-se os dados referentes ao florescimento e frutificação, correlacionados com variáveis climatológicas (temperatura e pluviosidade). Uma escala para a avaliação do desenvolvimento dos estádios fenológicos reprodutivos do maracujazeiro-azedo foi proposta, com base em imagens digitalizadas de nove fenofases. Observou-se que o florescimento foi de outubro a março, meses com as maiores temperaturas médias, com pico no mês de janeiro e maior percentagem de frutos maduros no mês de fevereiro. A escala das diferentes fenofases foi útil na caracterização da fenologia reprodutiva do maracujazeiro-azedo. A variável temperatura apresentou alta correlação com o número de flores (0,87), indicando que é um agente fundamental no florescimento do maracujazeiro-azedo.

This research aimed to characterize the reproductive phenological of sour passion fruit from September 2009 to September 2010, in Campos dos Goytacazes city, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil (21° 45'W; 41° 20'S). Data of flowering and fructification were evaluated and correlated with climatologic variables (temperature and rainfall). To evaluate phenological stages a scale was proposed based on digitals images of nine reproductive stages. The scale was useful in passion fruit reproductive phenological characterization. The flowering was of October to March, peak in January, and the peak fructification in February. The temperature showed high correlation with number of flowers (0.87), thus indicating that the temperature has an important effect in flowering of sour passion fruit.

Histological analysis of pollen-pistil interactions in sour passion fruit plants (Passiflora edulis Sims)

The success of sexual plant reproduction is directly influenced by specific interactions between the pollen and pistil. Light, fluorescence and scanning electron microscopy techniques were used to evaluate the steps of pollination in sour passion fruit plants (Passiflora edulis Sims). In the compatible interaction, pollen tubes grow through stigma projections towards the ovary. The pollen grain surface was found to be spheroidal and to consist of heteroreticulate exine with six colpi. Furthermore, analysis in vivo of pollen-pistil interactions indicated that stigmas of flowers 24 hours before anthesis are unable to discriminate compatible (genetically unrelated) and incompatible (genetically related) pollen grains. Taken together, these results provide insight into the cellular mechanisms underlying pollination in passion fruit plants.

Histological analysis of pollen-pistil interactions in sour passion fruit plants (Passiflora edulis Sims)

The success of sexual plant reproduction is directly influenced by specific interactions between the pollen and pistil. Light, fluorescence and scanning electron microscopy techniques were used to evaluate the steps of pollination in sour passion fruit plants (Passiflora edulis Sims). In the compatible interaction, pollen tubes grow through stigma projections towards the ovary. The pollen grain surface was found to be spheroidal and to consist of heteroreticulate exine with six colpi. Furthermore, analysis in vivo of pollen-pistil interactions indicated that stigmas of flowers 24 hours before anthesis are unable to discriminate compatible (genetically unrelated) and incompatible (genetically related) pollen grains. Taken together, these results provide insight into the cellular mechanisms underlying pollination in passion fruit plants.(AU)

Polimorfismo cromossômico em Capsicum chinense Jacq. / Chromosome polymorphism in Capsicum chinense Jacq.

Este estudo teve como objetivo determinar o cariótipo de quatro acessos de Capsicum chinense procedentes do Rio Janeiro, Bahia, Pará e Maranhão. Em todos os acessos, foram observados 2n=2x=24 cromossomos. Polimorfismo cromossômico foi observado no acesso procedente do Rio de Janeiro, o qual apresentou 11 pares de cromossomos metacêntricos e um par submetacêntrico, diferindo dos outros acessos, os quais apresentaram 11 pares de cromossomos metacêntricos e um par de cromossomos acrocêntrico. Todos os acessos apresentaram, em média, valores semelhantes em relação ao comprimento cromossômico. Os dados cariológicos foram submetidos a análises univariada e multivariada, com índices de dissimilaridade obtidos pela distância euclidiana média padronizada e o agrupamento pelo método de Ward, com o objetivo de estimar a divergência genética entre os acessos. A estatística multivariada usando dados citogenéticos foi efetiva para distinguir os acessos de C. chinense, considerando que foi possível alocar o acesso do Rio de Janeiro isolado dos outros acessos. Assim, o presente estudo mostrou a importância de análise multivariada em estudos de caracterização citogenética envolvendo acessos que apresentam variabilidade cromossômica.

This study had the objective to determine the karyotype of four accessions of Capsicum chinense from Rio Janeiro, Bahia, Pará e Maranhão. In all accessions were observed 2n=2x=24 chromosomes. Chromosome polymorphism was observed in the accession from Rio de Janeiro, which presented 11 pairs of metacentric and 1 submetacentric pair of chromosomes, differing from the other accessions, which presented 11 pairs of metacentric and 1 acrocentric pair chromosomes. All the accessions presented the same value, on average, of chromosome length. The karyologic data was submitted to univariate and multivariate analysis with dissimilarity indexes obtained by standardized average of Euclidean distance and grouping clustering by the Ward's method, with the objective of estimating the genetic divergence among accessions. The multivariate statistic using cytogenetic data was effective to distinguish C. chinense accessions, considering that it was possible to allocate the Rio de Janeiro accession isolated from the others accessions. So, the present study showed the importance of the multivariate statistic in cytogenetic characterization study involving accessions that present chromosome variability.