Southeast State Research Articles

Estruturas funerárias escavadas na rocha matriz de um abrigo: primeiras observações

This study presents two funerary structures carved in the matrix rock of the Toca da Baixa dos Caboclos archaeological site, located in Piaui southeast state of Piaui. In this site were found nine prehistoric burials, four of them were accommodated in that kind of structure that is unprecedented until now in this region. This study provides a first analysis, presenting preliminary data observed in those structures and seeking to relate it to the funerary practises encountered in its burials.

Ligando a corrente: Ensaio sobre a relação entre espiritualidade e socialidade nas irmandades religiosas de matriz africana no Vale do Itapemirim

Resumo Partindo de etnografia realizada na região sul do Espírito Santo, este artigo descreve a transversalidade das relações sociais e espirituais entre comunidades remanescentes de quilombos privilegiando o conceito de “corrente espiritual”, uma força conjuntiva que atua entre pessoas e entidades invisíveis em várias de suas manifestações. Por meio de coletivos de filhas e filhos de santo que se visitam ritualmente durante todo o ano, conhecidos na região por “bate-flecha”, a corrente costura-se entre as comunidades, mantendo um ciclo de obrigações e de poderes que flui entre elas.

The advertisement and aggressive calls of Rhinella abei (Baldissera, Caramaschi, and Haddad, 2004) (Anura: Bufonidae) from Campo Largo, Paraná, Brazil.

Rhinella abei is a medium-sized species (snout-to-vent length 57.0-76.4 mm in males; 60.4-83.9 mm in females-Baldissera et al. 2004) of the Rhinella crucifer species group, distributed in the Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest, from the State of Paraná to northern Rio Grande do Sul (Frost 2016). It is recorded in forested areas (Conte & Rossa-Feres 2007), or while breeding along forest edges and open habitats. Information on advertisement calls of species in the R. crucifer group is available for R. casconi, R. crucifer, R. inopina and R. ornata (Andrade et al. 2015; Heyer et al. 1990; Oliveira et al. 2014; Roberto et al. 2014). Here we describe the advertisement and aggressive calls of R. abei recorded in the municipality of Campo Largo (25.507472° S, 49.376632° W, datum "WGS84"), southeast State of Paraná, Brazil.

Use of Smartphone for Supportive Supervision in Nigeria

Background: Based on in-country consultations, capacity to provide high-quality TB/TBHIV services is sub-optimal and not unrelated to weak supervision. Within the National TB Program (NTP) in Nigeria, supervision is entirely paper based; time consuming and structured in a way that rapid review of results is neither available nor timely resolution of problems. Objective: Describe the value of smart phones in improving quality of supervision. Methods: This is a descriptive study. With the NTP open to exploring innovative ways of strengthening supervision, Health Systems 20/20 in collaboration with the NTP proposed a pilot use of smart phones for supervision at health facilities, with focus in Abia state. The State was purposively selected for the study. A stake-holders meeting was convened to fully engage all key TB partners. Situation analysis was conducted in Abia state, a south-east state selected for the pilot, out of which 4 facilities were identified. National and state supervisory checklists were reviewed, programmed & uploaded unto the smart phones. The State TB teams were trained on the use of the smart phone & 6 supervisory visits were conducted within 4 consecutive quarters in Abia state for each facility. Results: Within the pilot sites, the smart phones were noted to be user friendly with rapid review of results done at each visit. Immediate feedback and corrective action for identified challenges were made. However, the record of previous findings and recommendations could not be retrieved on the spot during subsequent visits due to storage capacity of the phone. The time spent on supervision was reduced to 2 hrs per facility using the smart phones compared to 4 hrs when using the paper based at other sites. With scale up from 4 to 45 DOT centers, the treatment success rate in the state TB program increased from 76% in 2011 to 85% in 2012 reporting year, for cases registered in the previous year. Conclusions: NTP through support of other partners should adopt and scale up the use of smart phones for supervision nationwide.

Malignant melanoma: epidemiological study of cases diagnosed at a dermatological reference center in the city of Bauru, in the Brazilian southeast State of São Paulo, between 2007 and 2014

Malignant melanoma: epidemiological study of cases diagnosed at a dermatological reference center in the city of Bauru, in the Brazilian southeast State of São Paulo, between 2007 and 2014

An Optimal Construction Morphology Approach to Augment Consonants in Kannada

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt:The current paper provides an analysis of optimal consonant augment selection in the South Dravidian language Kannada, which is primarily spoken in the south-east Indian state of Karnataka. Augment consonants (hereafter ACs) in Kannada appear between the stem and suffix in certain phonotactic environments. Of all ACs, a subset is constrained in terms of the phonotactic environment in which they may occur. They apply to both derivational and inflectional morphology, particularly (but not exclusively) of nouns, the latter of which will be the sole fo-cus of the current analysis.

A new species of Martarega White, 1879, with new distributional records of Notonectidae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Nepomorpha) from Brazil.

A new species of the genus Martarega White, 1879 is described based on brachypterous and macropterous specimens, collected in three regions of Brazil [North (State of Pará), Central-West (State of Goiás), and Southeast (State of Minas Gerais)]. The new species, Martarega nessimiani sp. nov., is very similar to M. brasiliensis Truxal, 1949. These species are differentiated by the rounded shape of the patch of thin setae on the male mesotrochanter, and the angular shape of the hemelytral process stripe of the female hemelytra in the new species, whereas M. brasiliensis has the patch of thin setae with an irregular shape and the hemelytral process stripe almost straight. Illustrations of both species are presented. In addition, we give new distributional records of another 11 species of Notonectidae in Brazil: Martarega membranacea White, M. chinai Hynes, M. bentoi Truxal, M. brasiliensis, M. gonostyla Truxal, M. nieseri Moreira Ribeiro & Nessimian, Buenoa amnigenus (White), B. konta Nieser & Pelli, B. salutis Kirkaldy, B. truxali Nieser, and Notonecta pulchra Hungerford.

Critical issues facing school leaders concerning data-informed decision-making

School systems have access to more data than ever before but most teachers and school leaders lack the skills to use the data for student and school improvement. Current attempts to use data have lacked depth and have been more focused on accountability and meeting state and federal requirements than on systematically investigating the factors that support and hinder the teaching and learning process. As a result, the potential benefits of data usage have not been realised. In this commentary I examine the critical issues facing school leaders concerning data-informed decision-making based on existing research and my experience working with principals in a south-east state.

Physiologic Specialization of Puccinia triticina on Wheat in the United States in 2009.

Collections of Puccinia triticina were obtained from rust-infected leaves provided by cooperators throughout the United States and from surveys of wheat (Triticum aestivum) fields and wheat breeding plots by United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service personnel in the Great Plains, Ohio River Valley, southeast, California, and Washington State in order to determine the virulence of the wheat leaf rust population in 2009. Single uredinial isolates (591 in total) were derived from the collections and tested for virulence phenotype on lines of Thatcher wheat that are near-isogenic for leaf rust resistance genes Lr1, Lr2a, Lr2c, Lr3a, Lr9, Lr16, Lr24, Lr26, Lr3ka, Lr11, Lr17a, Lr30, LrB, Lr10, Lr14a, Lr18, Lr21, and Lr28 and a winter wheat line with Lr39/41. Forty-one virulence phenotypes were described. Virulence phenotypes MLDSD, TCRKG, and TDBGG were the three most common phenotypes. Phenotype MLDSD is virulent to Lr17 and Lr39/Lr41 and was widely distributed throughout the United States. Phenotype TCRKG is virulent to Lr11, Lr18, and Lr26 and is found mostly in the soft red winter wheat region in the eastern United States. TDBGG is virulent to Lr24 and was found in both the soft red winter wheat and hard red winter wheat regions. Virulence to Lr21 was not found in any of the tested isolates. Virulence to Lr11, Lr18, and Lr26 increased in 2009 in the soft red winter wheat regions. Virulence to Lr17 and Lr39/Lr41 increased in the Great Plains region. Two separate epidemiological zones of P. triticina in the soft red winter wheat region of the southern and eastern states and in the hard red wheat region of the Great Plains were described.

Powers – mengist – and peasants in rural Ethiopia: the post-2005 interlude

ABSTRACTMost of the reports about the reaction of the Ethiopian regime to the blow that it suffered in the 2005 elections focus on its institutional evolution, and conclude that it took a turn towards even stronger authoritarianism. Observations made in a rural community in south-east Amhara State reveal that it reacted first, until the end of 2009, by a whole range of the deepest reforms since its takeover in 1991. These combined a stronger grip of the ruling party in all areas with a ‘liberalisation’ of the rural development strategy and first steps towards local ‘good governance’. They were embodied in the rise of the traditional rural elite which had been ostracised for years, as if the regime was trying to build its new constituency on it. But at the end of 2009 the local authorities suddenly returned to the all-encompassing authoritarian attitude characteristic of the pre-2005 period. This ‘liberalisation’ could thus be seen as merely a tactical interlude, conceded by a ruling party still driven by its Leninist legacy and the Abyssinian ‘culture of power’.

Physiologic Specialization of Puccinia triticina on Wheat in the United States in 2008.

Collections of Puccinia triticina were obtained from rust-infected wheat (Triticum aestivum) leaves provided by cooperators throughout the United States and from surveys of wheat fields and wheat breeding plots by USDA-ARS personnel in the Great Plains, Ohio River Valley, Southeast, and Washington State in order to determine the virulence of the wheat leaf rust population in 2008. Single uredinial isolates (730 in total) were derived from the collections and tested for virulence phenotype on lines of Thatcher wheat that are near-isogenic for leaf rust resistance genes Lr1, Lr2a, Lr2c, Lr3, Lr9, Lr16, Lr24, Lr26, Lr3ka, Lr11, Lr17, Lr30, LrB, Lr10, Lr14a, Lr18, Lr21, Lr28, and a winter wheat line with Lr41. Forty-eight virulence phenotypes were described. Virulence phenotypes TDBGG, TCRKG, and MLDSD were the three most common phenotypes. TDBGG is virulent to Lr24 and was found in both the soft red winter wheat and hard red winter wheat regions. Phenotype TCRKG is virulent to Lr11, Lr18, and Lr26 and is found mostly in the soft red winter wheat region in the eastern United States. Phenotype MLDSD is virulent to Lr17 and Lr41 and was widely distributed in the Great Plains. Virulence to Lr21 was not found in any of the tested isolates. Virulence to Lr11 and Lr18 increased in 2008 in the soft red winter wheat regions. Two separate epidemiological zones of P. triticina in the soft red winter wheat region of the southern and eastern states and in the hard red wheat region of the Great Plains were described.

Shortage and underutilization of psychiatric beds in southern Brazil: independent data of Brazilian mental health reform

Mental health policies throughout the world are being subjected to several changes due to increased pressure from the public and from health administrators. Mental health policies in the developing world experienced changes following advice and consultation from the World Health Organization (WHO). This was the case with Brazil, which enacted several laws and policies affecting community care and the closure of beds in psychiatric hospitals (the deinstitutionalization movement). Rio Grande do Sul, the southeast state in Brazil, adopted this policy in 1992, but still suffers from a shortage of psychiatric beds in both general hospitals (GHs) and psychiatric hospitals (PHs), despite advances in the provision of community care. As a result, Rio Grande do Sul (RS) can be studied as an example of "what actually happens" in mental health care in the developing world. The study analyzed online administrative data from 2000 to 2007 for three main parameters of mental health care (i.e. hospital use rate, length of stay, and hospital bed capacity). These were used to evaluate differences in psychiatric care among GHs and PHs. The number of existing and required psychiatric beds in RS was also calculated. GHs had very low hospital use rates, while PHs had a very high length of stay (200% higher than GH). The number of admissions to GHs grew by 170% over the 8 year period, and psychiatric bed availability was 1.5 per 10,000 inhabitants. The study provided evidence for the need of 30-50% more psychiatric beds in GHs. Also, additional staff training is needed to increase use rates in GHs and decrease the length of stay in PHs. Additional studies covering national data must be carried out to assess the extent of these problem in other Brazilian mental health care services.

Applying ecological niche modelling to plan conservation actions for the Red-spectacled Amazon ( Amazona pretrei)

The Red-spectacled Amazon ( Amazona pretrei) is an endangered, small range and migratory parrot threatened by habitat destruction and pet trade. We modelled its geographical distribution with the objective of predicting its historical, current and future (in face of climatic changes) geographical distributions. We also tested the assumption that the species tracks similar ecological conditions while seasonally migrating. Finally, we estimated the overlap between its predicted distributions and the current protected areas network. We used eight modelling techniques in an ensemble-forecasting approach to reach consensus distributional scenarios. The modelled historical breeding and wintering ranges covered a larger area than today. Its current year-round distribution is located in the same region as before but decreased by 13%, whereas the breeding range decreased by 32%, and the wintering range by 43%. The future year-round distribution is predicted to decrease by 47% and shift to east by 2060. Even more drastic decreases in range are predicted for breeding (63%) and wintering (91%) ranges. The niches of the breeding and wintering distributions are good predictors of the records of the other season. The greatest variation (SDs) in the predictions comes from modelling tools and GCMs, and little from climatic scenarios. However, variation in predictions were small within high probability regions for modelling tools by higher everywhere for GCMs and climatic scenarios. The Red-spectacled Amazon is currently underrepresented (<1% of year-round range, and <4% of each seasonal range) in the current reserve system. A broad view over all estimated and predicted ranges revealed that a small portion of the range has a very important role in current and future conservation actions for this bird – in the northeast part of state of Rio Grande do Sul and southeast state of Santa Catarina, Brazil.

Exploring Dynamics between Instructional Designers and Higher Education Faculty: An Ethnographic Case Study

This study concentrated on individual and team traits of an instructional design team in the presence of a robust relationship between the team members and faculty at a southeast state university in U.S.A. Three exploratory themes emerged from the interpersonal dynamics observed in this qualitative inquiry: (1) expertise, (2) work motivation, and (3) team culture. Preliminary results first suggested that professionalism with a mix of task mental models, assertiveness, and proactivity be implanted in the instructional designers. Then, instructional designers’ growth and survival needs allow for active learning and continuous reflection on curriculum development and instruction delivery in the e-Learning business. Next, loose-tight leadership, collective cognition, and collegiality are rooted in the team culture as the instructional design team becomes established. Implications and recommendations were discussed in the research study.

Physiologic Specialization of Puccinia triticina on Wheat in the United States in 2007.

In 2007, leaf rust of wheat was severe throughout the Great Plains region of North America. Yield losses in wheat due to leaf rust were estimated to be 14% in Kansas. Collections of Puccinia triticina were obtained from rust-infected leaves provided by cooperators throughout the United States and from surveys of wheat fields and nurseries in the Great Plains, Ohio River Valley, southeast, California, and Washington State in order to determine the virulence of the wheat leaf rust population in 2007. Single uredinial isolates (868 in total) were derived from the collections and tested for virulence phenotype on lines of Thatcher wheat that are near-isogenic for leaf rust resistance genes Lr1, Lr2a, Lr2c, Lr3a, Lr9, Lr16, Lr24, Lr26, Lr3ka, Lr11, Lr17a, Lr30, LrB, Lr10, Lr14a, Lr18, Lr21, and Lr28, and on winter wheat lines with genes Lr41 and Lr42. Fifty-two virulence phenotypes were found. Virulence phenotypes TDBJG, MFPSC, and TDBJH were among the four most common phenotypes and were all virulent to resistance gene Lr24. These phenotypes were found throughout the Great Plains region. Phenotype MLDSD, with virulence to Lr9, Lr17, and Lr41, was also widely distributed in the Great Plains. In the soft red winter wheat region of the southeastern states, phenotypes TCRKG, with virulence to genes Lr11, Lr26, and Lr18, and MFGJH, with virulence to Lr24, Lr26, and Lr11, were among the common phenotypes. Virulence phenotypes with virulence to Lr16 were most frequent in the spring wheat region of the northern Great Plains. Virulence phenotypes with virulence to Lr11, Lr18, and Lr26 were most common in the soft red winter areas of the southeastern states and Ohio Valley. Virulence to Lr21 was not found in any of the tested isolates.

Characterization of small-scale fisheries in the Camamu-Almada basin, southeast state of Bahia, Brazil

In the Camamu-Almada basin, marine fishery is exclusively small-scale, with several structural deficiencies such as boats with low or absent navigational technology, lack of credit and low income. Local fishers complain that shrimp and lobster trawling fishing is the main factor responsible for low stock abundance, but they still persist in these activities as these two species command the highest market prices. So they feel that the target species are already over-fished. We suggest that proper management action, alternative ways of income generation and the payment of job insurance would help to mitigate the problem.

Physiologic Specialization of Puccinia triticina on Wheat in the United States in 2006.

Collections of Puccinia triticina were obtained from rust-infected leaves provided by cooperators throughout the United States and from surveys of wheat fields and nurseries in the Great Plains, Ohio River Valley, southeast, California, and Washington State in order to determine the virulence of the wheat leaf rust population in 2006. Single uredinial isolates (718 in total) were derived from the collections and tested for virulence phenotype on lines of Thatcher wheat that are near-isogenic for leaf rust resistance genes Lr1, Lr2a, Lr2c, Lr3a, Lr9, Lr16, Lr24, Lr26, Lr3ka, Lr11, Lr17a, Lr30, LrB, Lr10, Lr14a, Lr18, Lr2, and Lr28 and winter wheat lines with genes Lr41 and Lr42. In the United States in 2006, 56 virulence phenotypes were found. Virulence phenotypes TDBJG, TDBGG, and TDBJH were among the four most common phenotypes and were all virulent to resistance gene Lr24. These phenotypes were found throughout the Great Plains region. Phenotype MLDSD with virulence to Lr9, Lr17, and Lr41 was also widely distributed in the Great Plains. In the soft red winter wheat region of the southeastern states, phenotypes TCRKG and MBRKG with virulence to genes Lr11, Lr26, and Lr18 were among the common phenotypes. Virulence phenotypes with virulence to Lr16 were most frequent in the spring wheat region of the northern Great Plains. Virulence to Lr21 was not found in any of the tested isolates.

Physiologic Specialization of Puccinia triticina on Wheat in the United States in 2005.

Collections of Puccinia triticina were obtained from rust-infected wheat leaves by cooperators throughout the United States and from surveys of wheat fields and nurseries in the Great Plains, Ohio River Valley, southeast, California, and Washington State, in order to determine the virulence of the wheat leaf rust population in 2005. Single uredinial isolates (797 in total) were derived from the collections and tested for virulence phenotype on lines of Thatcher wheat that are near-isogenic for leaf rust resistance genes Lr1, Lr2a, Lr2c, Lr3a, Lr9, Lr16, Lr24, Lr26, Lr3ka, Lr11, Lr17a, Lr30, LrB, Lr10, Lr14a, Lr18, Lr21, Lr28, and winter wheat lines with genes Lr41 and Lr42. In the United States in 2005, 72 virulence phenotypes of P. triticina were found. Virulence phenotype TDBGH, selected by virulence to resistance gene Lr24, was the most common phenotype in the United States, and was found throughout the Great Plains region. Virulence phenotype MCDSB with virulence to Lr17a and Lr26 was the second most common phenotype and was found widely in the wheat growing regions of the United States. Virulence phenotype MFPSC, which has virulence to Lr17a, Lr24, and Lr26, was the third most common phenotype, and was found in the Ohio Valley region, the Great Plains, and California. The highly diverse population of P. triticina in the United States will continue to present a challenge for the development of wheat cultivars with effective durable resistance to leaf rust.

Powers – mengist – and peasants in rural Ethiopia: the May 2005 elections

Observation of the 2005 Ethiopian elections in two rural communities in south-east Amhara State reveals a picture very different from that presented in national-level analyses derived largely from urban areas. Deeply entrenched attitudes to power and government in the study area make the idea of peaceful electoral competition inconceivable. Peasants are first and foremost concerned to vote for the winning side, since to do otherwise carries intense risks to their welfare and even survival. The freedom with which the main opposition party was able to campaign until a few weeks before the election convinced many peasants that the government had abdicated, and that they should vote for the opposition as the likely winners. Belated mobilisation of the ruling party and state apparatus challenged this perception and created great uncertainty. This peasantry's political, economic and cultural alienation, allied to authoritarian rule and a lack of voter information placed genuinely ‘free and fair’ elections out of reach.

Call diversity of Leptodactylus natalensis Lutz, 1930 (Anura; Leptodactylidae)

The extensive vocal repertoire of Leptodactylus natalensis is described. The field observations were made at three forest fragments of the Tropical Atlantic Domain, in Northeast (State of Alagoas) and Southeast (State of Espírito Santo) regions of Brazil. The vocal repertoire of L. natalensis was constituted by ten notes emitted alone or in different combinations. The several vocalizations were organized in three distinct groups according to the social context in the moment of emission. L. natalensis presents extensive diversity of acoustic signals supported by variations in duration of each note, as well as in the number and sequence of emission of different notes.