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Objectives: To describe the frequency of brain tissue donation for research purposes by families of individuals that committed suicide. Methods: All requests for brain tissue donation to a brain biorepository made to the families of individuals aged 18-60 years who had committed suicide between March 2014 and February 2016 were included. Cases presenting with brain damage due to acute trauma were excluded. Results: Fifty-six cases of suicide were reported. Of these, 24 fulfilled the exclusion criteria, and 11 others were excluded because no next of kin was found to provide informed consent. Of the 21 remaining cases, brain tissue donation was authorized in nine (tissue fragments in seven and the entire organ in two). Conclusions: Donation of brain tissue from suicide cases for research purposes is feasible. The acceptance rate of 42.8% in our sample is in accordance with international data on such donations, and similar to rates reported for neurodegenerative diseases.

Este artigo analisa os aspectos psicológicos da personagem Daenerys Targaryen, da série Game of thrones, buscando essencialmente avaliar sua evolução cognitiva, social e comportamental, bem como os conflitos vivenciados em seu ciclo vital e os respectivos mecanismos de enfrentamento das adversidades. Por meio da interpretação subjetiva das simbologias metafóricas citadas na narrativa, extrapola-se a leitura literal da obra, com vistas a compreender também as representações da esfera inconsciente da personagem. Daenerys tem infância conturbada pela morte dos pais, pela fuga da cidade natal, pelo exílio e pelos maus-tratos cometidos pelo irmão. Ademais, são-lhe impostos casamento e erotização precoces, eventos que desrespeitam seu tempo de amadurecimento psíquico, desencadeando encurtamento das fases do seu ciclo vital e desestabilização do processo de latência e desenvolvimento puberal. Contudo, as experiências que vivencia no período, tais quais a gestação e a emancipação por que passa, associadas a variantes inatas da sua personalidade – a exemplo do temperamento dócil, inteligência e autoconfiança na capacidade de resolução de vicissitudes –, permitem a expressão de uma figura icônica de resiliência, com ativação de defesas maduras frente a crises vitais ou acidentais. O estudo permitiu discutir aspectos da realidade contemporânea do desenvolvimento humano e proceder à observação de diversos mecanismos de funcionamento psíquico, além da interação entre variantes intrínsecas e extrínsecas moduladoras da expressão de resiliência frente às dificuldades. Este artigo visa a contribuir para o estudo da teoria psicodinâmica e deve interessar a profissionais da medicina e da psicologia. This article analyzes the psychological aspects of character Daenerys Targaryen, from Game of Thrones’ series, seeking essentially to evaluate her cognitive, social and behavioral evolution, as well as the conflicts experienced to each stage of her life cycle and related adversity coping mechanisms. Through subjective interpretation of metaphoric symbols mentioned in the narrative, the literal reading of the story is extrapolated in order to also comprehend representations of the character’s unconscious domain. Daenerys goes through a troubled childhood due to her parents’ death, fleeing from her home city, exile and mistreatment committed by her brother. Furthermore, events like marriage and early erotization are imposed to her, which disrespect her psychic development timing, causing shortening of her life cycle’s stages, and destabilization of the latency phase process and her pubertal development. Nevertheless, the experiences she goes through in this period, such as pregnancy and emancipation, associated to innate variants of her personality – docile temperament, high cognition and self-confidence in the ability of resolving difficulties –, allow the expression of a resilient iconic figure, with the activation of mature defenses when facing vital or accidental crises. The study allows transpositions to contemporaneous reality of human development and observation of several mechanisms of psychic functions, besides the interaction between intrinsic and extrinsic variants, which modulate the expression of resilience when confronting distress. It contributes to the study of psychodynamic theory and may be of interest to doctors and psychologists, especially those directly involved in psychic development.

Rhodnius prolixus not only has served as a model organism for the study of insect physiology, but also is a major vector of Chagas disease, an illness that affects approximately seven million people worldwide. We sequenced the genome of R. prolixus, generated assembled sequences covering 95% of the genome (similar to 702 Mb), including 15,456 putative protein-coding genes, and completed comprehensive genomic analyses of this obligate blood-feeding insect. Although immune-deficiency (IMD)-mediated immune responses were observed, R. prolixus putatively lacks key components of the IMD pathway, suggesting a reorganization of the canonical immune signaling network. Although both Toll and IMD effectors controlled intestinal microbiota, neither affected Trypanosoma cruzi, the causal agent of Chagas disease, implying the existence of evasion or tolerance mechanisms. R. prolixus has experienced an extensive loss of selenoprotein genes, with its repertoire reduced to only two proteins, one of which is a selenocysteine-based glutathione peroxidase, the first found in insects. The genome contained actively transcribed, horizontally transferred genes from Wolbachia sp., which showed evidence of codon use evolution toward the insect use pattern. Comparative protein analyses revealed many lineage-specific expansions and putative gene absences in R. prolixus, including tandem expansions of genes related to chemoreception, feeding, and digestion that possibly contributed to the evolution of a blood-feeding lifestyle. The genome assembly and these associated analyses provide critical information on the physiology and evolution of this important vector species and should be instrumental for the development of innovative disease control methods.

O presente artigo se propõe a percorrer algumas obras de Michel Pêcheux em busca das críticas que o autor apresentou ao problema da circularidade na interpretação dos textos, que, dito de outra forma, é o problema de se “encontrar” na leitura aquilo que se procura. Problema clássico da sobre-interpretação estruturalista, como também do relativismo. O dispositivo teórico de Análise de Discurso proposto por Michel Pêcheux não “puxa o analista pelos cabelos”, livrando-o da história, da exterioridade e dos pragmatismos de mundos semanticamente normais. Pelo contrário, tal dispositivo sublinha e torna pertinente a opção por não se recalcar a memória e seus preenchimentos/capturas que incidem na forma de interdiscurso – entendido enquanto “corpus sócio-histórico de traços discursivos” (PÊCHEUX, 2011 [1982]) –, o que nos conduz para a ordem equívoca da língua, locus privilegiado onde se dão, de modo opaco e diverso, as reinscrições de memória.

O projeto teve como objetivo completar, através da cultura material, lacunas da história da igreja Nossa Senhora da Conceição (1874) e da região onde está inserida. Foram realizados cortes experimentais na parte externa (fundos) e interna do templo (altar e nave central). O perfil estratigráfico do pátio apresentou cinco camadas, alcançando 1,90m de profundidade, já o interno revelou três camadas e a profundidade de 1,20m. Escavações foram realizadas ao redor de uma estrutura (poço) encontrada na nave lateral esquerda, junto ao altar, 0,60cm abaixo do piso atual. O poço mede 2,25m de diâmetro interno, 0,33m de espessura (comprimento dos tijolos) e 0,02m de reboco. Material resgatado: cerâmica (vasilhas das tradições Tupiguarani, Vieira e Neobrasileira e cachimbo da Neobrasileira); cerâmica colonial e colonial vidrada; louça (faiança, faiança fina, ironstone, salt-glazed, etc.); vidro (garrafas, taças, toucador, frascos de remédio, etc.); metal (lâmina de machado, colher, armadilha para animais, tesouras, chaves, cravos, pregos, panelas fragmentadas, moedas portuguesas e do Brasil Império etc.); osso (botões, cabos e restos de alimentação); lítico: material (afiador de faca, lousas, ponteiras, etc.); matéria-prima (ardósia, quartzo leitoso, granito, arenito etc.). O material arqueológico foi classificado, restaurado, analisado, fotografado, desenhado, foram confeccionadas tabelas e o material foi acondicionado conforme método Mentz Ribeiro (2004); em gabinete, realizaram-se estudos comparativos, a arte final e redação do presente artigo científico para publicação. Entre os resultados preliminares, concluímos que o poço pertencia a uma residência situada ao oeste, provavelmente junto à rua, ou seria um dos dez que abasteciam a cidade por volta de 1860. Com o início da construção da igreja (1872), o mesmo teria sido aterrado. Não foram encontrados vestígios do forte Jesus-Maria-José, de 1737, descartando uma tradição oral de que a igreja teria sido construída sobre aquela construção militar, marco da colonização portuguesa no Rio Grande do Sul.

In nearly all metazoans, the earliest stages of development are controlled by maternally deposited mRNAs and proteins. The zygotic genome becomes transcriptionally active hours after fertilization. Transcriptional activation during this maternal-to-zygotic transition (MZT) is tightly coordinated with the degradation of maternally provided mRNAs. In Drosophila melanogaster, the transcription factor Zelda plays an essential role in widespread activation of the zygotic genome. While Zelda expression is required both maternally and zygotically, the mechanisms by which it functions to remodel the embryonic genome and prepare the embryo for development remain unclear. Using Cas9-mediated genome editing to generate targeted mutations in the endogenous zelda locus, we determined the functional relevance of protein domains conserved amongst Zelda orthologs. We showed that neither a conserved N-terminal zinc finger nor an acidic patch were required for activity. Similarly, a previously identified splice isoform of zelda is dispensable for viability. By contrast, we identified a highly conserved zinc-finger domain that is essential for the maternal, but not zygotic functions of Zelda. Animals homozygous for mutations in this domain survived to adulthood, but embryos inheriting these loss-of-function alleles from their mothers died late in embryogenesis. These mutations did not interfere with the capacity of Zelda to activate transcription in cell culture. Unexpectedly, these mutations generated a hyperactive form of the protein and enhanced Zelda-dependent gene expression. These data have defined a protein domain critical for controlling Zelda activity during the MZT, but dispensable for its roles later in development, for the first time separating the maternal and zygotic requirements for Zelda. This demonstrates that highly regulated levels of Zelda activity are required for establishing the developmental program during the MZT. We propose that tightly regulated gene expression is essential to navigate the MZT and that failure to precisely execute this developmental program leads to embryonic lethality.

Rhodnius prolixus not only has served as a model organism for the study of insect physiology, but also is a major vector of Chagas disease, an illness that affects approximately seven million people worldwide. We sequenced the genome of R. prolixus, generated assembled sequences covering 95% of the genome ( approximately 702 Mb), including 15,456 putative protein-coding genes, and completed comprehensive genomic analyses of this obligate blood-feeding insect. Although immune-deficiency (IMD)-mediated immune responses were observed, R. prolixus putatively lacks key components of the IMD pathway, suggesting a reorganization of the canonical immune signaling network. Although both Toll and IMD effectors controlled intestinal microbiota, neither affected Trypanosoma cruzi, the causal agent of Chagas disease, implying the existence of evasion or tolerance mechanisms. R. prolixus has experienced an extensive loss of selenoprotein genes, with its repertoire reduced to only two proteins, one of which is a selenocysteine-based glutathione peroxidase, the first found in insects. The genome contained actively transcribed, horizontally transferred genes from Wolbachia sp., which showed evidence of codon use evolution toward the insect use pattern. Comparative protein analyses revealed many lineage-specific expansions and putative gene absences in R. prolixus, including tandem expansions of genes related to chemoreception, feeding, and digestion that possibly contributed to the evolution of a blood-feeding lifestyle. The genome assembly and these associated analyses provide critical information on the physiology and evolution of this important vector species and should be instrumental for the development of innovative disease control methods.