A new genus and two new species of Pudeoniscidae Lemos de Castro 1973 (Crustacea: Isopoda: Oniscidea) from Brazil

To date, the family Pudeoniscidae includes six species and three genera, Pudeoniscus, Brasiloniscus and Iansaoniscus, with distributions restricted to Brazil. Here, we redefine the family Pudeoniscidae based on the discovery of a new genus and two new species, Oxossioniscus pataxo sp. nov. and Oxossioniscus akoko sp. nov., from the Brazilian Atlantic forest in the state of Bahia, and on the examination of Pudeoniscus birabeni and Pudeoniscus obscurus. Moreover, P. obscurus is re-described and new records are provided for P. birabeni.

http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:A0123730-C623-49CE-8665-AE17FDDF994A.     

A record of Permian subaqueous vent activity in southeastern Brazil

The remarkable occurrence of more than 4,500 conical siliceous mounds in an area of less than 1.5 square kilometres has been reported in the Paraná basin, near Anhembi, S?o Paulo, in southeastern Brazil. These structures, which are up to two metres high, are thought to have been formed at the margin of a very shallow, broad but waning internal sea, and it was originally suggested that they are stromatolites. Yet their restricted occurrence, unusual abundance and nearly pure siliceous composition have never been satisfactorily explained by this hypothesis. Here we report field and laboratory observations on their shape, construction, composition and mineralogy. On the basis of our data we suggest that the conical mounds are the result of subaqueous Late Permian vent activity in southwestern Gondwana. The present siliceous cone field differs considerably from other Palaeozoic siliceous hot spring deposits, such as those at Rhynie, Scotland, and the Drummond basin, Australia, and therefore represents an unusual occurrence of vent activity.     

An aqueous extract of Liu Wei Di Huang Wan alters the labeling of blood constituents with Technetium-99m

The Liu Wei Di Huang Wan is a formula of a traditional Chinese medicine that is used to treat asthma patients and has been shown to have several important properties,such as antioxidant and free radical scavenging activities.The influence of an extract of Liu Wei Di Huang Wan on the labeling of blood constituents with technetium-99m was investigated.Anticoagulated blood(Wistar rats) was incubated with the extract,stannous chloride and technetium-99m,as sodium pertechnetate.Samples were centrifuged and aliquots of plasma and blood cells were separated and precipitated with trichloroacetic acid,to obtain soluble and insoluble fractions of the blood constituents.The percentage of radioactivity(%ATI) in all the fractions was determined.The analysis of the results shows that the extract at the highest concentration used(70 mg/mL) decreased significantly(P<0.05) the %ATI(from 96.48 ± 1.19 to 54.46 ± 7.38) on blood cells compartment,(from 81.11 ± 4.15 to 61.33 ± 4.74) on insoluble fractions of blood cells and(from 65.91 ± 2.44 to 13.15 ± 3.62) on insoluble fractions of plasma.In conclusion,the results suggest that the substances present on this extract can alter this labeling process,probably due to(i) redox properties(antioxidant and chelator activities) and/or(ii) specific actions in the binding sites where the 99mTc would be bound on the blood constituents.As a consequence,precaution is suggested on the interpretation of the nuclear medicine results from performed with blood constituents labeled with 99m Tc in patients that have undertaken LWDHW,although the current findings were obtained in experimental animal models.     

Orchid bees (Apidae: Euglossini) in Cerrado remnants in northeast Brazil

There is a general lack of information concerning the diversity of bees belonging to the Euglossini tribe in Cerrado areas closest to the Brazilian Amazon. The state of Maranhão is situated in the northeast Brazilian Cerrado and has become the agricultural frontier of the country due to the advancement of monoculture and cattle farming. These activities have suppressed animal and plant populations in large areas of the Cerrado remnants, for which we have not yet obtained adequate scientific knowledge of local species. The objective of this study was to conduct a survey of Euglossini fauna in the northeast Cerrado. We evaluated the variation in species richness, composition and abundance between two distinct vegetation types: Cerrado sensu stricto (s.s.) and gallery forest. Male bees were captured from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. over two consecutive days. Captures were carried out once per month from July 2012 to December 2013, using a combination of passive and active collection techniques, including baited traps, as well as a collector with an entomological net to collect bees near traps. We collected a total of 766 Euglossini males belonging to 24 species and five genera. The most abundant species were Eulaema bombiformis, Eulaema nigrita and Eulaema cingulata for the gallery forest site, whereas Eulaema nigrita, Euglossa melanotricha and Euglossa cordata were more abundant in the Cerrado s.s. The gallery forest yielded a higher number of male Euglossini (n = 503, 21 species) compared with the Cerrado s.s. (n = 263, 16 species). The presence of seven exclusive species in the gallery forest and three in the Cerrado s.s. indicated that both environments are important for the maintenance of Euglossini species in this region and highlight the increasing need for conservation programmes for the protection of Cerrado environments.     

Breeding biology of the Sayaca Tanager (Thraupis sayaca) in southeast Brazil

ABSTRACT

Thraupis is a genus of the American endemic Thraupidae (subfamily Thraupinae), comprising seven species that inhabit tropical forests to urban centres. The Sayaca Tanager (Thraupis sayaca) is a disturbance-tolerant species of high representativeness in plant-frugivore networks, but information on its breeding biology is scarce and often restricted to non-systematic surveys. We studied the breeding biology of the T. sayaca, following 39 active nests in a periurban area of southeast Brazil during two breeding seasons (2017/2018, 2018/2019). The breeding season ranged from early September to middle December, and the nests were placed in native and exotic plants and human buildings (nest height above ground: 3.35 ± 1.73 m, mean ± SD). Only females incubated and brooded, but both adults built the nests, fed the nestlings, and removed their faecal sacs. Clutch size was 2.86 ± 0.38 eggs and nest attentiveness was 71.2%. The incubation and nestling periods were, respectively, 13.4 and 17.4 days. Males and females did not differ on nestling provisioning and nest sanitation rates. Nestling provisioning (13.35 ± 6.25 trips/hour) increased with nestling age, while mean brooding time was 37.2% and decreased with nestling age. Apparent nest success was 38.7%, and nest survival according to the Mayfield method was 27.2%. Five nests (20.8%) were parasitised by the Shiny cowbird (Molothrus bonariensis), and we recorded five events of nest-site reuse. We concluded that the most remarkable breeding traits of T. sayaca in comparison with close-related tanagers are the use of anthropogenic nest sites, the higher clutch size and number of feeding trips, and the longer nestling period.     

Autophagy in mouse hepatocytes induced by lysine acetylsalicylate

Summary I.v. administration of lysine acetylsalicylate inces autophagy in mouse liver cells. Single and multiple membrane-bounded vacuoles were found. The latter seems to be an unusual morphological form of the sequestration process. These findings could express a transitory sublethal liver cell injury induced by the drug.Acknowledgments. The authors are indebted to Mrs M. T. Correia and to Mrs M. E. Pereira for technical assistance.     

Tubuloreticular structures in hepatic endothelial cells in a case of malignant melanoma liver metastasis.

The presence of tubuloreticular structures within hepatic endothelial cells in a case of malignant melanoma liver metastasis is described. This finding may reflect a host cell response to the neoplastic proliferation in the liver tissue, possible a host-tumor immunological reaction.