Transparent Boxes Research Articles

Germinação e armazenamento de sementes de Nidularium innocentii (Lem.)

Em razão do crescente aumento do uso de bromélias no paisagismo brasileiro, elevada quantidade de plantas vem sendo retirada das matas de maneira não sustentável e, como consequência, algumas espécies já se encontram ameaçadas de extinção. A propagação sexuada pode ser uma alternativa para evitar o extrativismo de Nidularium innocentii, bromélia nativa do litoral do Estado do Paraná, que apresenta elevado potencial ornamental, razão pela qual é bastante procurada por extratores. Entretanto, estudos sobre a qualidade das sementes desta espécie ainda não foram desenvolvidos. O trabalho foi realizado com o objetivo de estabelecer a temperatura adequada para a condução do teste de germinação de sementes de Nidularium innoncetii e determinar condições favoráveis para o seu armazenamento. O estudo da germinação foi realizado com quatro subamostras de 25 sementes por tratamento, semeadas em caixas plásticas transparentes (11,0 x 11,0 x 3,5 cm), sobre duas folhas de papel mata borrão, umedecidas com água na quantidade de 2,5 vezes a massa do substrato, sendo testadas três temperaturas de incubação (20 ºC, 25 ºC e 20-30 ºC). Para o armazenamento das sementes, foram utilizados dois tipos de embalagens (polietileno e papel), duas temperaturas (4 ºC e 18 ºC) e quatro períodos de armazenamento (0, 30, 60 e 90 dias). Determinou-se ainda o índice de velocidade de germinação e o peso de mil sementes. Pelos resultados obtidos concluiu-se que o teste de germinação pode ser conduzido utilizando-se as temperaturas de 20 ºC, 25 ºC ou 20-30 ºC; o armazenamento a 4 ºC, por um período de até 90 dias, é eficaz para a manutenção da viabilidade das sementes, podendo se empregar embalagens de polietileno ou papel.

Could Microalgae Enhance the Germination of Tribulus Terrestris L. Seeds?

ABSTRACTSeeds of Tribulus terrestris L. were sown in transparent plastic leaky boxes, at a depth of 4–5 mm in sand. The transparent pots were put on plates, where water has been added through the bottom holes and capillary ascending to the surface. The temperature of soil was 20–37 °C, temperature of air 20–40 °C. Either the soil microalgae, or preliminary grown microalgal suspension, single added with the water has been thriving at these conditions. At all experiments, the first seeds germinated exactly 3 days after they have been sown. Above 90% of the seeds germinated to 7–9 day and single of them to 20 day. Inside, on the wall of the pots, green collour appeared due to microalgae and significantly later mosses appeared, too. Having worked with seeds from Pazardzhik a germination of 31 ± 12% was achieved (74 seeds). Seeds gathered from nature, Black Sea coast, Zarevo, have germinated 7 of 10 in a single experiment. The manner of work is in consistency with a possible breeding of the plant as greenhouse seedlings.

Middle aged wasps mate through most of the year, without regard to body size, ovarian development and nestmateship: a laboratory study of the primitively eusocial wasp Ropalidia marginata

We studied the mating behaviour of the primi- tively eusocial wasp Ropalidia marginata and the factors that may influence sperm transfer. By introducing a male and a female R. marginata into ventilated transparent plastic boxes, we were able to observe mating behaviour, and it involved mounting and short or long conjugation of the wasps. Dissection of female wasps after the observation indicated that long conjugation is a good behavioural pre- dictor of sperm transfer. This finding makes it possible to obtain mated females without dissecting them every time. We tested the effect of age, season, relatedness, body size and female's ovarian status on mating. Under laboratory conditions, mating success declined rapidly below and above the ages 5-20 days. Within this age range mating success was significantly low in December compared to other months tested. There was no nestmate discrimination, and there was no influence of male and female body size or of the ovarian state of the female on the probability of sperm transfer.

GERMINAÇÃO DE SEMENTES DE RHIPSALIS EM DIFERENTES SUBSTRATOS

O presente trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar diferentes substratos na germinação de Rhipsalis floccosa e Rhipsalis pilocarpa. Os substratos testados foram: papel de filtro, areia de granulação média, casca de arroz carbonizada, pó de fibra de coco e vermiculita, acondicionados em caixas de plástico transparentes (gerbox). O teste de germinação foi conduzido em germinador com temperatura constante de 25oC. O delineamento foi inteiramente casualizado com quatro repetições por tratamento para cada uma das espécies. Foram avaliados: porcentagem de germinação, índice de velocidade de germinação e tempo médio de germinação. Verificou-se maior porcentagem de germinação nos substratos papel, areia e casca de arroz carbonizada para as duas espécies. Os menores valores para tempo médio de germinação foram observados em areia e casca de arroz carbonizada para R. floccosa e em pó de fibra de coco e casca de arroz carbonizada para R. pilocarpa. Conclui-se que os melhores substratos para a germinação de R. floccosa foram areia e casca de arroz carbonizada e para germinação de R. pilocarpa o melhor substrato foi casca de arroz carbonizada.

Germinação de sementes de <em>Cereus jamacaru</em> DC. em diferentes substratos e temperaturas

Cereus jamacaru DC. has direct use for humans in the treatment of diseases and in diet; it can also be given to animals as forage and used as adornments. Their propagation from seeds is not yet known. The experiment was conducted at the Laboratory of Seed Analysis at the Center for Agrarian Sciences of UFPB, in Areia – Paraíba State, northeastern Brazil, with the objective of verifying the effects of different temperatures and substrates on the germination and vigor of C. jamacaru seeds. The experiment was conducted in an entirely randomized design, in a 3 x 3 factorial scheme: three temperatures (25, 30 and 20-30°C) and 3 substrates (paper roll, between and on-paper), with four repetitions of 25 seeds. The employed tests were: germination, germination speed index (GSI), length and dry mass of seedlings. Germination tests were carried out using transparent plastic boxes (gerbox) in BOD chambers, set in the temperatures of 25, 30 and 20-30°C; the substrates used were paper roll, between and on-paper. Vigor was evaluated through the germination speed index (GSI), length and dry mass of seedlings. The temperature of 25°C is not adequate for germination and vigor tests. The paper roll in constant temperature of 30°C substrate proved more appropriate for conducting germination and vigor tests in seeds of C. jamacaru.

Copulation duration of bumblebee Bombus terrestris (Hymenoptera: Apidae): Impacts on polyandry and colony parameters

The influence of copulation duration on mating frequency and colony development were studied in Bombus terrestris (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Copulation time was recorded in transparent plastic boxes and was manipulated by separating mating pairs. Mean copulation duration was found to be 30.0 ± 8.0 (mean ± se) minutes and most matings lasted 20 to 40 min. When queens were only allowed to mate for 2 to 5 min, the chance that they would accept a second mating was 7.2 ± 5.0 % (mean ± se). Incompletely mated queens delayed to initiate colonies but they did not show significant difference from fully mated queens in production of new queens and males. This study shows that colony development was not affected by short copulation duration.

GERMINAÇÃO DE ESPOROS DE Dicksonia sellowiana E CRESCIMENTO INICIAL SOB DIFERENTES NÍVEIS DE SOMBREAMENTO

Dicksonia sellowiana é uma samambaia arbórea nativa do Brasil, ameaçada de extinção, devido ao extrativismo indiscriminado do seu tronco. O objetivo desse trabalho foi obter informações sobre a germinação dos esporos em condições controladas e verificar o efeito do sombreamento sobre o crescimento inicial de mudas em campo. Foram testados diferentes substratos: esfagno, xaxim, Plantmax HT®, espuma fenólica, vermiculita, fibra de coco e tijolo moído em condição de casa-de-vegetação e sala climatizada. Esporos foram distribuídos sobre os substratos úmidos em caixas plásticas fechadas e transparentes. Em casa-de-vegetação, esfagno e xaxim foram superiores aos demais e em sala climatizada, Plantmax HT® apresentou a maior área do substrato coberta por gametófitos. A germinação dos esporos foi favorecida pelo sombreamento. Para a avaliação dos níveis de luz no crescimento inicial das mudas em campo, gametófitos formados in vitro foram transferidos para casa-de-vegetação onde ocorreu a formação dos esporófitos. As plantas foram individualizadas em tubetes (53 cm3) e quando apresentaram pelo menos 5 cm de altura foram plantadas em campo sob 100%, 50%, 20% e 10% da radiação solar. As plantas no campo com 100% da radiação solar apresentaram elevada mortalidade (40%) aos 70 dias e após 367 dias nenhuma planta sobreviveu. O crescimento das plantas foi maior com apenas 20 e 10% da radiação solar. Conclui-se que a germinação dos esporos pode ser realizada em substrato Plantmax HT® em bandejas dentro de sacos plásticos transparentes fechados, com sombreamento. O plantio das mudas de xaxim em campo não pode ser realizado a pleno sol, sendo recomendável sombreamento superior a 80%..

Social intelligence in tufted capuchin monkeys

Tufted capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella), a species of New World primates, are known to be adept at various complex tool use both in the laboratory and in the wild. With their manual dexterity, they work as a helper for quadriplegic people. Social intelligence hypothesis, which places social intelligence as a major factor to advance complex information processing capability, predicts advanced social intelligence in this species with highly developed physical intelligence. In this paper, I describe a series of studies on social intelligence of this species in our comparative cognition laboratory at Kyoto University. As a competitive aspect of social intelligence, we analyzed spontaneous deceptive behavior between the monkeys. Two monkeys, dominant and subordinate, faced each other in the transparent boxes and two food cups were placed between them. When the subordinate monkey opened the baited cup, the dominant opponent was able to usurp the food. Some of the subordinates started to open the empty cup first: a behavior that could be interpreted as a deceptive act. As a cooperative aspect, we showed that two monkeys cooperated by dividing a sequence of behavior necessary to obtain rewards. This behavior continued even when only one of the participants received a reward if their roles were switched every trial; a reciprocal altruism was shown. To examine whether such complicated social behaviors reflect processes of mentalizing, we asked whether capuchin monkeys have cognitive components underlying them. We found that the monkeys are capable of recognizing attentional states of humans, inferring consequences of other's behavior, recognizing other's knowledge status, inferring the cause of other's emotional expression, and recognizing other's welfare. Thus these primitive aspects of mentalizing are clearly shared in species that is much more distant from humans than apes.

Efeito da luz e de diferentes temperaturas na germinação de sementes de Heliocarpus popayanensis L

Heliocarpus popayanensis, conhecida popularmente como jangada-brava, é uma espécie arbórea pioneira utilizada no Brasil, principalmente, para restauração florestal. O objetivo desta pesquisa foi avaliar o efeito da luz e da temperatura na germinação das sementes de H. popayanensis. Para análise do efeito da luz, a semeadura foi realizada em caixas de plásticos transparente e preto, mantidas em germinador a 25 ºC. Na avaliação do efeito da temperatura foram analisados, em mesa termogradiente, nove intervalos de temperaturas constantes, compreendidas entre 15 ºC e 35 ºC, e duas alternadas (15-35 ºC e 20-30 ºC). Em ambos os experimentos, a semeadura foi realizada sobre duas folhas de papel mata-borrão, sendo o fotoperíodo diário de 8 h de luz. A germinação foi avaliada pela protrusão da raiz primária e pela formação de plântulas normais, e estudaram-se três lotes de sementes. Os resultados indicaram que as sementes de H. popayanensis são fotoblásticas neutras, a temperatura ótima para a germinação está entre 28,1 ºC e 30,2 ºC, temperaturas próximas a 35 ºC favorecem a superação da impermeabilidade do tegumento à água e a protrusão da raiz primária não foi eficiente na determinação da temperatura ótima para germinação, sendo a formação de plântulas normais o critério mais adequado para essa determinação.

The Power of Food Scale predicts chocolate cravings and consumption and response to a cravings intervention.

The Power of Food Scale (PFS) is a new measure that assesses the impact of the food environment on food-related beliefs, thoughts and feelings. The present study involved 98 undergraduates who were given transparent boxes of Hershey's © kisses to keep with them for 48 h. They were instructed not to eat any of the kisses or any other chocolate during this period. We examined the relationship between the PFS and (1) cravings to eat the kisses (2) amount of kisses eaten (assessed surreptitiously), and (3) response to 3 intervention conditions (no intervention and control-based and acceptance-based interventions to reduced cravings). Baseline PFS scores significantly predicted the frequency and intensity of cravings and distress associated with them over the subsequent 48 h. In the control condition (where no effort was made to help participants cope with cravings), 30% of participants in the highest PFS tertile ate some of the chocolates compared to 4% among those in the lowest two tertiles. Response to the intervention interacted with baseline PFS levels, such that acceptance-based strategies were associated with better outcomes (for cravings and consumption) among those scoring highest on the PFS, but worse outcomes among those scoring lowest. Past research found the PFS to be related to self-report measures of external, emotional, disinhibitory, binge and hunger-based eating. Taken in conjunction with the present results, it appears that the PFS may represent a global measure of appetitive responsiveness to the food-abundant environments.

A comparison of acceptance- and control-based strategies for coping with food cravings: An analog study

The present study utilized an analog paradigm to investigate the effectiveness of two strategies for coping with food cravings, which was theorized to be critical to the maintenance of weight loss. Ninety-eight undergraduate students were given transparent boxes of chocolate Hershey's Kisses and instructed to keep the chocolates with them, but not to eat them, for 48 h. Before receiving the Kisses, participants were randomized to receive either (a) no intervention, (b) instruction in control-based coping strategies such as distraction and cognitive restructuring, or (c) instruction in acceptance-based strategies such as experiential acceptance and defusion techniques. Measures included the Power of Food Scale (PFS; a measure of psychological sensitivity to the food environment), self-report ratings of chocolate cravings and surreptitiously recorded chocolate consumption. Results suggested that the effect of the intervention depended on baseline PFS levels, such that acceptance-based strategies were associated with better outcomes (cravings, consumption) among those reporting the highest susceptibility to the presence of food, but greater cravings among those who scored lowest on the PFS. It was observed that craving self-report measures predicted chocolate consumption, and baseline PFS levels predicted both cravings and consumption. Results are discussed in terms of the implications for weight loss maintenance strategies.

EFFECT OF MODIFIED ATMOSPHERE BY PVC AND LLDPE FILM ON QUALITY OF LONGAN FRUITS (DIMOCARPUS LONGAN LOUR) CV. DAW´

Longan fruits cv. 'Daw' were stored in transparent polystyrene boxes covered with polyvinyl (PVC) film (15 μm thickness) or linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) film (10, 15 and 20 μm thickness) at 4°C and 90-95%RH. All of the modified atmosphere conditions significantly reduced the weight loss and extended the shelf-life of longan fruits to 20 days compared to the fruits stored in the ambient air (16 days). The LLDPE film could slightly delay weight loss of the fruits than the PVC film. The colour of the longan peel gradually decreased in all packages but the PVC film packaging provided the best appearance of the longan and achieved better overall customers' acceptance during storage.

Learning from others in 9-18-month-old infants

The use of an adult as a resource for help and instruction in a problem solving situation was examined in 9, 14, and 18-month-old infants. Infants were placed in various situations ranging from a simple means-end task where a toy was placed beyond infants' prehensile space on a mat, to instances where an attractive toy was placed inside closed transparent boxes that were more or less difficult for the child to open. The experimenter gave hints and modelled the solution each time the infant made a request (pointing, reaching, or showing a box to the experimenter), or if the infant was unable to solve the problem. Infants' success on the problems, sensitivity to the experimenter's modelling, and communicative gestures (requests, co-occurrence of looking behaviour and requests) were analysed. Results show that older infants had better success in solving problems although they exhibited difficulties in solving the simple means-end task compared to the younger infants. Moreover, 14- and 18-month-olds were sensitive to the experimenter's modelling and used her demonstration cues to solve problems. By contrast, 9-month-olds did not show such sensitivity. Finally, 9-month-old infants displayed significantly fewer communicative gestures toward the adult compared to the other age groups, although in general, all infants tended to increase their frequency of requests as a function of problem difficulty. These observations support the idea that during the first half of the second year infants develop a new collaborative stance toward others. The stance is interpreted as foundational to teaching and instruction, two mechanisms of social learning that are sometime considered as specifically human. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Molecular Basis of Intramolecular Electron Transfer in Sulfite-oxidizing Enzymes Is Revealed by High Resolution Structure of a Heterodimeric Complex of the Catalytic Molybdopterin Subunit and a c-Type Cytochrome Subunit

Sulfite-oxidizing molybdoenzymes convert the highly reactive and therefore toxic sulfite to sulfate and have been identified in insects, animals, plants, and bacteria. Although the well studied enzymes from higher animals serve to detoxify sulfite that arises from the catabolism of sulfur-containing amino acids, the bacterial enzymes have a central role in converting sulfite formed during dissimilatory oxidation of reduced sulfur compounds. Here we describe the structure of the Starkeya novella sulfite dehydrogenase, a heterodimeric complex of the catalytic molybdopterin subunit and a c-type cytochrome subunit, that reveals the molecular mechanism of intramolecular electron transfer in sulfite-oxidizing enzymes. The close approach of the two redox centers in the protein complex (Mo-Fe distance 16.6 A) allows for rapid electron transfer via tunnelling or aided by the protein environment. The high resolution structure of the complex has allowed the identification of potential through-bond pathways for electron transfer including a direct link via Arg-55A and/or an aromatic-mediated pathway. A potential site of electron transfer to an external acceptor cytochrome c was also identified on the SorB subunit on the opposite side to the interaction with the catalytic SorA subunit.

Soil Organic Matter Content Effects on Apple Root Dynamics

Soil organic matter is a critical component which is fundamental in plant growth. Several soil factors are influenced by organic matter such as slow release of nutrients, increased water holding capacity, improved soil physical characteristics and improved environment for soil microorganisms. The aim of this work is to investigate the physical effect of organic matter content in the soil on apple root growth and development. Twenty five two-year old apple trees (Malus domestica, Borkh) cv. `Buckeye Gala' on M.9 NAKB 337 rootstock were planted in completely transparent acrylic boxes. Plants have been grown in a green house to avoid external rain in a complete randomized design. Trees were planted in a sandy-mix soil amended with soil high in organic matter, “muck”, at four incremental levels. Treatments compared were a control (sandy soil with 0% organic matter) and 1%, 2%, 4% and 8% soil organic matter. The amount of water applied by automatic drip irrigation was comparable for all the treatments to avoid high fluctuation of soil moisture on root dynamics. All treatments have been fertilized with the same amount of mineral fertilizer to avoid the nutrition effect on root dynamics. Digital photos of roots were taken to study their dynamics every one to two weeks during a period of five months. Roots have been highlighted with Photoshop and then analyzed with WinRhizo to measure root length, area, lifespan and dynamics. At the end of the growing period plants have been harvested and fresh and dry weight was evaluated to asses the root/shoot ratio. The effects of the treatments on root length, area, lifespan and dynamics, and root/shoot ratio will be discussed.

Grain weight and malting quality in barley as affected by brief periods of increased spike temperature under field conditions

High temperature is usually one of the most important stresses during grain filling affecting both yield and quality in barley crops. In the present study, an attempt was made to assess in the field the effects of short periods of high temperature, using transparent boxes covering only the spikes, with thermostatically controlled electric resistance for increasing the temperature. Treatments consisted of 2 malting cultivars and 5 heat treatments of high temperatures (8�C above the environmental temperature for 6 h/day for 5 consecutive days) over different periods during grain filling. Final grain weight was reduced by 2–14%, depending on the timing of heat stress and the genotype. There was a significant increase in grain nitrogen percentage in both cultivars, and grain β-glucans decreased with high temperatures in Logan and were unchanged in Beka. The resulting malt extract was reduced with exposure to high temperatures, depending on the cultivar, implying that even mild heat stress may change malting performance.

Transparent and opaque boxes: do women and men have different computer programming psychologies and styles?

An orthodox ‘hard mastery’ programming style is a cornerstone of Sherry Turkle’s influential psychoanalysis of different approaches to learning and practice in computer programming. Hard mastery consists of planning and design, documentation, structure, functional and data abstraction, and debugging, in the development of programs. Turkle is concerned that teachers of programming are trained to recognise hard mastery as the only real way to program, whereas it is only ‘male mastery’. To bring women into computing, teachers are told to teach or facilitate the development of soft, hacking styles. This paper argues that this was a misconceived and impossible aspiration whose widespread influence has led, instead, to a deepening of perceptions of programming and computing as a masculine culture, and to the implicit and absurd identification of women as innately unsuited to the skills required for large programming projects in real organisations.

The influence of availability and affect on children's pretence

This study reports three experiments investigating children's understanding of the distinction between pretence and reality. Previous research (e.g. Harris, Brown, Marriott, Whittall, & Harmer, 1991; Johnson & Harris, 1994) has suggested marked individual differences in children's susceptibility to pretend‐reality confusions. The present series of experiments explored the effects of cognitive availability and affect on pretence understanding. In Expts 1 and 2, 5‐6‐year‐old children were asked to pretend that liked, disliked and neutral entities were inside either opaque (high availability) or transparent (low availability) boxes. The children's responses when asked to select or reject the boxes was determined by the affect evoked by the entity. In Expt 3, children were asked to explain their behaviour towards the pretended entities. The results indicated individual differences between groups of children. Across all three studies the evidence suggests that some children as old as 6 years of age may experience temporary pretend‐reality confusions which can be explained in terms of the effects of availability.

Effect of temperature and carpel size during pre-anthesis on potential grain weight in wheat

The effect of environmental conditions immediately before anthesis on potential grain weight was investigated in wheat at the experimental field of the Faculty of Agronomy (University of Buenos Aires, Argentina) during 1995 and 1996. Plants of two cultivars of wheat were grown in two environments (two contrasting sowing dates) to provide different background temperature conditions. In these environments, transparent boxes were installed covering the spikes in order to increase spike temperature for a short period (c. 6 days) immediately before anthesis, i.e. between ear emergence and anthesis. In both environments, transparent boxes increased mean temperatures by at least 3·8 °C. These increases were almost entirely due to the changes in maximum temperatures because minimum temperatures were little affected. Final grain weight was significantly reduced by higher temperature during the ear emergence–anthesis period. It is possible that this reduction could be mediated by the effect of the heat treatment on carpel weight at anthesis because a curvilinear association between final grain weight and carpel weight at anthesis was found. This curvilinear association may also indicate a threshold carpel weight for maximizing grain weight.

Rehousing a collection of archaeological textiles

Abstract In 1996–97, the collection of over 2400 textiles from excavations of the medieval cultural levels in the city of Trondheim, Norway, were rehoused for storage and research. The new system had to be compatible with the existing high‐density mobile storage units and the demands of a research collection. A review of systems recommended for the storage of archaeological textiles yielded none which could be directly adopted. The modular system which evolved consists of transparent polystyrene crystal boxes with removable museumboard trays covered in cotton/modal jersey knit fabric slipcases. Textiles are held in place by the nap of the fabric. These ready‐to‐use containers are quick and efficient to assemble, employing no adhesive materials. The textiles are not restrained and are therefore directly accessable from both sides, and can be removed for analysis. Access to the collection is through a computerised textile database which also formed part of the rehousing project.