We report that planulae produced by Tubastraea coccinea can metamorphose and aggregate in groups of up to eight polyps in the water column, without previous settlement on benthic substrate. We also evaluated the survival of propagules to test whether different levels of aggregation allowed for longer planktonic life and, therefore, higher dispersal potential. Our results show that pelagic polyps live longer than planulae, probably because they can feed and meet the presumably high-energy demands of swimming. Clusters of two or more individuals lived longer than solitary polyps. However, mortality did not differ between small (2–3 polyps) and large (4–8 polyps) clusters, suggesting the existence of an upper limit to cluster size. Most swimming clusters (80 %) remained alive after 6 months, suggesting that pelagic metamorphosis and cluster formation can be a key life-history feature increasing dispersal potential, population connectivity, and the colonization of new habitats in this invasive species.; CAPES (Coordenação de de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior); FAPESP (Fundação de Apoio à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo); Research Centre for Marine Biodiversity of the University of São Paulo (NP-Biomar/USP)

Este trabalho é uma análise da novela A Metamorfose, do escritor tcheco Franz Kafka, sob a perspectiva da teoria semiótica francesa, tal qual construída desde os estudos de Algirdas J. Greimas até estudos recentes, mais conhecidos como semiótica tensiva. A análise se dedica sobretudo a elementos decorrentes da metamorfose de Gregor, em especial às transformações que estão em torno do drama familiar vivido pelos Samsa, resultantes da metamorfose do personagem Gregor em um inseto, pois que parece residir aí toda a problemática da novela. É a partir dessa perspectiva que foi dada atenção a relações contratuais, a transformações actanciais e modais, a elementos tensivos que subjazem à noção de "metamorfose" e que interferem na relação entre os actantes, condicionando os diferentes modos de presença de Gregor no espaço, bem como a outros elementos secundários, porém imprescindíveis para a boa condução da análise. Desse modo, esperamos acrescentar uma contribuição tanto para os estudos semióticos, na medida em que a análise repousa sobre uma obra bem diversa da origem proppiana da semiótica de Greimas, como para os estudos sobre a obra de Kafka (mais especificamente, A Metamorfose), que, ao que parece...

Em insetos, as enzimas glutationa S-transferases (GSTs) são conhecidas pela capacidade de degradar inseticidas, pesticidas e outros compostos químicos, naturais ou não naturais, estranhos ao organismo, podendo também promover o transporte intracelular de hormônios, metabólitos, e atuar na proteção celular contra o estresse oxidativo. Além disto, a função de uma GST tem sido associada ao processo de sequestro, pelo corpo gorduroso, de um tipo de proteína (hexamerinas) estocada na hemolinfa larval para ser utilizada como fonte de aminoácidos durante a metamorfose. Os objetivos deste trabalho consistiram em caracterizar a estrutura, a expressão e aspectos da função dos genes codificadores de GSTs em abelhas operárias Apis mellifera, além de investigar a possível função de um destes genes, hp191(GSTS1), na dinâmica de sequestro de hexamerinas durante a metamorfose. A metodologia utilizada abrangeu técnicas de biologia molecular, como RT-PCR semiquantitativa e em tempo real, sequenciamento de nucleotídeos, western blot, silenciamento gênico. Resumidamente os resultados mostraram (1) diferenças estruturais (número e organização de íntrons e éxons) entre os dez genes GSTs de A. mellifera, (2) aumento da atividade destes genes relacionado ao envelhecimento e intensa atividade de forrageamento...

A cutícula dos insetos é composta principalmente por uma variedade de proteínas que interagem com filamentos de quitina, um polímero de N-acetilglicosamina, para formar um envoltório rígido que protege e dá forma ao organismo. O crescimento dos insetos depende da renovação periódica da cutícula, que se desprende durante a apólise e é digerida enquanto a epiderme sintetiza uma nova cutícula substituta. Tal renovação caracteriza a muda e metamorfose e é coordenada por hormônios, com destaque para os ecdisteróides. O atual trabalho objetivou caracterizar a expressão diferencial de genes do tegumento (cutícula e epiderme subjacente), além de elucidar aspectos de regulação e função no contexto da muda e metamorfose, com foco nos genes codificadores de proteínas estruturais e enzimas cuticulares. Para este fim, utilizamos o tegumento de fases específicas da muda pupal-adulta, isto é, de pupas (Pw), de pupas em apólise (Pp) e de adultas faratas (Pbl) para análises de microarrays de cDNA. As análises dos microarrays mostraram 761 e 1173 genes diferencialmente expressos nos tegumentos de adultas faratas (Pbl) em comparação com pupas (Pw) ou pupas em apólise (Pp), respectivamente. A categorização destes genes...

Como qualquer inseto holometábolo, a abelha Apis mellifera sofre metamorfose completa, apresentando grandes mudanças na forma e fisiologia quando passa do estágio larval para o estágio de pupa (muda metamórfica). Após esta muda, com o prosseguimento do desenvolvimento, o tegumento pupal (cutícula e a epiderme subjacente), extensivamente remodelado, é substituído pelo tegumento adulto, definitivo, que passa por intensa melanização e esclerotização. Eletroforese bidimensional e espectrometria de massas foram utilizadas neste trabalho para caracterizar as mudanças do padrão proteico no tegumento em desenvolvimento de operárias e zangões. No total foram identificadas 51 proteínas diferentes no tegumento torácico extraído de larvas, pupas e adultos (adultos-faratos). Quatorze proteínas foram identificadas como genuinamente cuticulares: Apidermina-3,1-like, Apidermina-2, Cuticular proteins analogous to peritrophins-3C e 3D, AmelCPR3, 12, 16 e 27, Glicoproteína SgAbd-2-like, e cinco outras proteínas homólogas à proteínas cuticulares de outras espécies de insetos contendo um domínio de ligação à quitina. As proteínas diferiram principalmente quantitativamente entre as fases de desenvolvimento e sexo, e poucas diferenças qualitativas foram observadas. Por exemplo...

A presente investigação teve por objetivo estudar a história de vida de uma família em um bairro (localizado em uma cidade do Vale do Paraíba-SP) estigmatizado pela violência. Buscou-se, com este estudo de caso, a melhor compreensão da maneira como a violência opera neste lugar e quais as consequências disso para as identidades de seus moradores no caso, os membros da família entrevistada. O método utilizado para a coleta de dados foi o percurso comentado / itinerário, o qual consiste em caminhadas com os sujeitos da pesquisa pelos lugares onde vivem, enquanto relatam sua história de vida nestes lugares. A postura adotada para a realização dos procedimentos de coleta inspirou-se na abordagem etnográfica, atentando-se pra as peculiaridades de uma etnografia contemporânea. Para a apresentação dos dados foi escolhida a forma de narrativas de personagens, fazendo-se um paralelo com a história de Lewis Carroll Alice no país do espelho (ou Alice através do espelho e o que ela encontrou por lá), e cotejando-se com observações da pesquisadora. A análise dos dados teve inspiração na análise literária e na escrita etnográfica, ou seja, articulando os momentos de estar lá (no campo da pesquisa) e de estar aqui (de volta à universidade)...

The midgut of Apis mellifera is remodeled during metamorphosis. The epithelium and, to a lesser extent, the muscular sheath degenerate between the end of the last larval instar and the onset of pupation (prepupa).The larval epithelium is shed to the midgut lumen and digested, while a new epithelium is reconstructed from larval regenerative cells. During pupation, some reorganization still occurs, mainly in brown-eyed pupae. In pharate adult, the midgut wall shows the characteristics of adult, although some cells have pycnotic nuclei. The localization of alkaline and acid phosphatases showed that these enzymes were not involved in the reabsorption of the midgut wall.

As abelhas são insetos holometábolos, pois apresentam metamorfose completa. Na metamorfose destes insetos, o trato gastrointestinal é completamente remodelado. Poucos estudos enfatizam os aspectos que envolvem a reconstituição do epitélio do intestino médio de abelhas durante a metamorfose. Os trabalhos que destacam a proliferação das células digestivas durante a metamorfose carecem de documentação das figuras de mitose. O presente trabalho contribui para o conhecimento da biologia dos Hymenoptera, gerando dados que possam esclarecer aspectos da fisiologia digestiva durante a metamorfose dos insetos sociais. Comprovamos a necessidade de aumento do número de células digestivas do intestino médio de Melipona quadrifasciata anthidioides ao final da metamorfose sem, contudo, observar figuras de mitose que comprovassem a proliferação destas células, como notado em Nasutitermes rotundatus (Holmgren) (Isoptera). É possível que as células regenerativas tenham origem externa ao intestino médio e migrem através da membrana basal para se estabelecerem no epitélio. Além disso, nesse trabalho descrevemos a morfologia do epitélio do intestino médio com auxílio da microscopia eletrônica de varredura, demonstrando que somente a membrana peritrófica diferiu entre as castas.; Bees are holometabolus insects...

© 2002 Peter Lang Publishing, Inc, New York. This file contains front matter (including ToC) and 1st page of Introduction only. To acquire the book, go to: http://www.peterlang.com/Index.cfm?vID=65808&vHR=1&vUR=2&vUUR=1&vLang=E; Folklorists have become renowned for focusing on aspects of form and classification to the detriment of content and meaning. Metamorphosis: The Dynamics of Symbolism in European Fairy Tales seeks to reverse this tendency in showing, through an examination of the folkloric data, that European fairy tales involve complex symbolism. This book seeks to explain - in reference to the notion of metamorphosis - the puzzling contradictory attributes of fairy-tale figures that have discouraged the study of meanings in this field, and proposes that the workings of metamorphosis in fairy tales reveal a pervasive cyclic ontology that underlies mythology and ritual. The issue of universal symbolism is again examined - divested from any «archetypal» generalizations - as a subject of worthy reflection.

Like many other cnidarians, corals undergo metamorphosis from a motile planula larva to a sedentary polyp. In some sea anemones such as Nematostella this process is a smooth transition requiring no extrinsic stimuli, but in many corals it is more complex and is cue-driven. To better understand the molecular events underlying coral metamorphosis, competent larvae were treated with either a natural inducer of settlement (crustose coralline algae chips/extract) or LWamide, which bypasses the settlement phase and drives larvae directly into metamorphosis. Microarrays featuring >8000 Acropora unigenes were used to follow gene expression changes during the 12h period after these treatments, and the expression patterns of specific genes, selected on the basis of the array experiments, were investigated by in situ hybridization. Three patterns of expression were common-an aboral pattern restricted to the searching/settlement phase, a second phase of aboral expression corresponding to the beginning of the development of the calicoblastic ectoderm and continuing after metamorphosis, and a later orally-restricted pattern.; L.C. Grasso, A.P. Negri, S. Fôret, R. Saint, D.C. Hayward, D.J. Miller, E.E. Ball

Amphibian metamorphosis involves systematic transformations of various tadpole organs1 tissues. Three major types of changes take place during this process. These are remodeling, resorption, and de novo development, all of which appear to involve both cell proliferation and apoptosis (programmed cell death). All metamorphic changes are controlled by thyroid hormone (T3) and are organ-autonomous. Recent studies using primary cell cultures and a stably transformed cell line from tadpole tissues have implicated that T3 induces apoptosis cell-autonomously. This T3-induced, metamorphosis-associated apoptosis is similar to cell death in other animal species and involves similar cell death executioners. Both the activation of these executioners and the pathways leading to cell proliferation and differentiation are believed to be through transcriptional regulation by T3 receptors (TRs). TRs can activate or repress target gene transcription depending upon the presence or absence of T3, respectively. Many direct T3-response genes have been isolated and found to encode a variety of proteins that can affect both intra- and extra-cellular events. The determinations of the identities of these response genes through sequence analyses and studies on their expression profiles during development have provided strong clues toward their roles in metamorphosis. However...

Although endocrine changes are known to modulate the timing of major developmental transitions, the genetic mechanisms underlying these changes remain poorly understood. In insects, two developmental hormones, juvenile hormone (JH) and ecdysteroids, are coordinated with each other to induce developmental changes associated with metamorphosis. However, the regulation underlying the coordination of JH and ecdysteroid synthesis remains elusive. Here, we examined the function of a homolog of the vertebrate POU domain protein, Ventral veins lacking (Vvl)/Drifter, in regulating both of these hormonal pathways in the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum (Tenebrionidae). RNA interference-mediated silencing of vvl expression led to both precocious metamorphosis and inhibition of molting in the larva. Ectopic application of a JH analog on vvl knockdown larvae delayed the onset of metamorphosis and led to a prolonged larval stage, indicating that Vvl acts upstream of JH signaling. Accordingly, vvl knockdown also reduced the expression of a JH biosynthesis gene, JH acid methyltransferase 3 (jhamt3). In addition, ecdysone titer and the expression of the ecdysone response gene, hormone receptor 3 (HR3), were reduced in vvl knockdown larvae. The expression of the ecdysone biosynthesis gene phantom (phm) and spook (spo) were reduced in vvl knockdown larvae in the anterior and posterior halves...

1. Specific gravity of mature larvae of worker honey bees is 1.045. 2. The osmotic pressure of worker larval blood in terms of freezing point lowering gives a value of -0.86°C., and the osmotic pressure decreases during pupation. 3. The pH of larval blood (measured at 25°) is near 6.8, varying with conditions in the hive. 4. The oxygen capacity of larval blood is within a reasonable error the amount that could be physically dissolved, and no evidence of a chemical carrier is found. The content decreases during spinning, when the larva is enclosed in a cocoon, because diffusion is cut down while consumption increases. 5. CO2 absorption curves indicate that the blood (of drone larvae) decreases in CO2 capacity and content during spinning of the cocoon, but the tension of CO2 increases, and the H ion concentration increases, giving evidence of loss of alkali reserve through the production of acid other than CO2. After spinning, pupal blood shows a decrease of CO2 tension and content, with little change in capacity, allowing the pH to return to approximately the initial level. 6. Variation in CO2 tension and, therefore, in CO2 content and pH of blood from larvae in the same stage may be assigned to variable distribution of larvae in the cells of the comb...

Megalopae of many decapod crab species accelerate their development time to metamorphosis (TTM) when exposed to natural physical and/or chemical cues characteristic of the parental habitat. In the present study, the influence of natural settlement cues on the moulting rates and development TTM in megalopae of the fiddler crab Uca vocator was investigated. The effects of mud from different habitats (including well-preserved and degraded-polluted mangrove habitats) and conspecific adult 'odours' (seawater conditioned with crabs) on the induction of metamorphosis were compared with filtered pure seawater (control). 95 to 100% of the megalopae successfully metamorphosed to first juvenile crab stage in all treatments, including the control. However, the development TTM differed significantly among treatments. Settlement cues significantly shortened development, while moulting was delayed in their absence. The fact that megalopae responded to metamorphosis-stimulating cues originating from both adult and non-adult benthic habitats demonstrates that settlement in this species may occur in a wider range of habitats within the mangrove ecosystem, including impacted areas.

The Chippewa novelist Gerald Vizenor puts across his interconnected politico-philosophical notions of "survivance" and "terminal creeds" in his early novel, Bearheart. To do so, Vizenor implemented some of the aesthetic strategies of magical realism. He filled his novel with an excessive amount of bizarrely sexual and violent scenes—which turn out to be magical—in order to "upset" the established standards of normality. Moreover, he used American Indian mythic folktales of transformation and metamorphosis, a magical realist technique, to re-shape the cultural and tribal identity in Bearheart’s modernized context.

There is no escaping the assertion that horror cinema postulates the hardships of fear in grotesque representation of the body. A subgenre of this type which emerges is the body horror, wherein the effect of sense of fear arises from the construction of a monstrous-horrendous body, whose identity was previously figurative designed as a model actancial body in metamorphosis. As a reference center of the flesh, the metamorphosis is grounded on four forces that generate pressures and impulses on the body-actant of the subject in construction, limiting it to a specific body system. These forces affect the body-actant and protrude out of his self reference, as it postulates the reverse as a new way of life. The subject is the reverse of the anti-subject horizon towards the grotesque. Projection of bodies in the filmic narrative, we can say that the body has characteristics disturbing horror, both design of bodies-actants immersed in fear and perception of a body that sets the discomfort of the supernatural as a grotesque form of spill over the anxieties of the world. Therefore, it is postulated here a model actancial body in metamorphosis, established in the statement of horror from four forces that shape a system body guiding the development of the narratives of fear: the modification...

The initiation of metamorphosis causes the cessation of the larval growth period which determines the final body size of adult insects. Because larval growth is roughly exponential, differences in timing the initiation of metamorphosis can cause large differences body size. Although many of the processes involved in metamorphosis have been well characterized, little is known about how the timing of the initiation of metamorphosis is determined.

Using different strains from Tribolium castaneum, Tribolium freemani, and Manduca sexta and varied nutritional conditions, I was able to document the existence of a threshold size, which determines when the larva becomes competent to metamorphose. Threshold size, however, does not dictate the exact timing of initiation. The exact timing for the initiation of metamorphosis is determined by a pulse of the molting hormone, ecdysone, but only after threshold size has been reached. Ecdysone pulses before the larva attains threshold size only cause the larva to molt to another larval instar. These results indicate the timing of metamorphosis initiation is controlled by two factors: (1) attainment of threshold size, at which the larva becomes competent to initiate metamorphosis and (2) the timing of an ecdysone pulse after attaining threshold size.

I hypothesize the attainment of threshold size...

The animated film, Podification: Horatio and the Metamorphosis Mystery is the tale of a caterpillar, Horatio, who is faced with what could be the final moments of his life. The story tells the end of his journey and his interactions with his few remaining friends. The film was created using Autodesk Maya, Adobe Creative Suite and edited using Final Cut Pro. The intention of the film was to create a small world, populate it with a broad range of characters, and communicate the central narrative theme which encompassed change, the unknown, and the uncertainties we all face in our own lives. While computer generated, a great challenge of this project was creating a world and film in a digital, virtual world that began as 2D illustrations and could also draw on my experience as a stop motion animator. The goal of a thesis film, animated or live action, is to tell a story, communicate an idea, and bring together everything learned from past work into a new project. Building on my past projects, I worked to improve my skills in visual storytelling and directing. These goals could only be met with improving modeling techniques of characters, as well as by giving each character a distinct and strong personality, easily identifiable in the animation. Through every step in the process of making this film...

The structural properties of an economical model for a confined plasma turbulence governor are investigated through bifurcation and stability analyses. A close relationship is demonstrated between the underlying bifurcation framework of the model and typical behavior associated with low- to high-confinement transitions such as shear-flow stabilization of turbulence and oscillatory collective action. In particular, the analysis evinces two types of discontinuous transition that are qualitatively distinct. One involves classical hysteresis, governed by viscous dissipation. The other is intrinsically oscillatory and nonhysteretic, and thus provides a model for the so-called dithering transitions that are frequently observed. This metamorphosis, or transformation, of the system dynamics is an important late side-effect of symmetry breaking, which manifests as an unusual nonsymmetric transcritical bifurcation induced by a significant shear-flow drive.

This article is a small part of the dissertation defended in 2015 who engaged in thinking the artistic gesture of the Brazilian visual artist Tatiana Blass. Each artist has a gesture that carries with it, which is as a persistence and recurrence in production and always returns. One of the artist's gesture is the metamorphosis of forms with different uses of media and materials. Mainly using the concepts of arquidesenho Yves Alain Bois and event Gilles Deleuze, the article aims to reflect on the plausibility of Metamorphosis gesture in their three-dimensional works that lie between sculpture, performance and installation.; http://dx.doi.org/10.5007/1984-784X.2015v15n23p145Este artigo é uma pequena parte da dissertação de mestrado defendida em 2015 que se ocupou de pensar o gesto artístico da artista visual brasileira Tatiana Blass. Cada artista possui um gesto que carrega consigo, que se encontra como uma persistência e recorrência em sua produção e sempre retorna. Um dos gestos da artista se encontra na metamorfose das formas com os usos distintos de meios e materiais. Utilizando principalmente os conceitos de arquidesenho de Yves Alain Bois e acontecimento de Gilles Deleuze, o artigo se propõe a refletir sobre a plausibilidade do gesto da metamorfose em suas obras tridimensionais que se encontram entre escultura...