Samples of liver and kidney of Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea) collected on Sepetiba Bay, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, were analysed for their copper, zinc, cadmium, lead, chromium and nickel content. Mean concentration levels in liver and kidney (μg.g dry weight) were 6.32955 and 6.57136 (Cd); 78.17409 and 96.89409 (Zn); 44.01727 and 65.20864 (Cu); 41.15091 and 39.62318 (Pb); 2.80091 and 4.164...

In a study conducted in the gallery forest of the Vale doVeu de Noiva in the Parque Nacional da Chapada dos Guimarães, Mato Grosso state, chemical baits were used to attract and sample male orchid bees. From September 2003 to July 2005, male euglossine bees were captured monthly, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. as they arrived at the baits. Of the 264 males captured, eight males belonged to Aglae c...

Song complexity is thought to be a sexually selected trait in passerine birds; however, quantifying relevant parameters of song complexity is the first step in testing the theory that song complexity is a sexually selected trait. We show here that blue grosbeak (Guiraca caerulea) males sing a single song type but the properties of that song type vary between renditions. This pattern of song del...

Little is known about the molecular genetic diversity of most Passiflora species. We used RAPD markers to evaluate the genetic diversity of 24 genotypes of the 'sleep' passion fruit (Passiflora setacea). Twelve primers generated 95 markers, 88% of which were polymorphic. The genetic distance estimated by the complement of the Dice index ranged from 0.29 (among accessions Ps-G1 and Ps-G13) ...

This study reveals the peculiar in vivo cell kinetics and cell turnover of the marine sponge Halisarca caerulea under steady-state conditions. The tropical coral reef sponge shows an extremely high proliferation activity, a short cell cycle duration and massive cell shedding. Cell turnover is predominantly confined to a single cell population, i.e. the choanocytes, and in this process apoptosis...

conclusions our findings show that premedication with passiflora incarnata reduces anxiety as well as melatonin. however, melatonin causes less cognitive impairment compared to passiflora incarnata. results there were no statistically differences between groups in vas (p > 0.05). however, the mean score of pain was higher in the melatonin group compared to the pssiflora incarnata group when dis...

Trichodischia Bigot, 1885 is a Neotropical genus with confusing taxonomic history. This was initially composed of two species: T. caerulea and soror 1885. Later, the Trichoraea Cortés, 1974 erected for caerulea. When reviewing history both species, we discovered that genera have been considered synonymous based on erroneous information without formal synonymy being proposed. Herein, redescribed...

In spite of the importance of and the considerable variability observed in Passiflora (Passifloraceae), little is known about the genetic diversity of most of the species of this genus. We evaluated the genetic diversity by RAPD markers in 18 genotypes of Passiflora trintae. The 15 primers generated 112 markers, 84% of which were polymorphic. The genetic distance estimated by the complement of ...