RESUMO
As a general rule, within an ecological guild, there is one species that is dominant and is commonly the most abundant. The aim of this work was to investigate if such pattern occurs intraspecifically, among colonies of the stingless bee Scaptotrigona mexicana Guérin. Through behavioral and molecular techniques, we found preliminary evidence that apparently colonies of this species do not monopolize resources, instead they seem to share food; however, some colonies had more foragers in a food patch or in a feeder, so some type of exclusion could be at work, though we could not determine the final output of such interaction, i.e., if underrepresented colonies were eventually excluded, developed slower or were overrepresented in other food patches. Our results give evidence that resource partitioning within this species occurs peacefully; however, further studies are necessary to determine if threatening behavior or aggressions appear when resources are scarce and competition becomes harsher.
Assuntos
Abelhas , Comportamento Alimentar , Agressão , Animais , Comportamento Animal , AlimentosRESUMO
We reviewed the result of treatment of knee osteoarthritis with intraarticular injection of betamethasone derivatives in 100 patients over a 5 year period. Knee involvement was bilateral in 34 of these patients. 1 ml of a mixture of betamethasone dipropionate and betamethasone phosphate was injected intraarticularly in each patient and repeated if needed at 3 week intervals. A total of 496 injections (mean 3.7 per knee, minimum 1 and maximum 18) were performed. Clinical and radiological evaluation before and midway through therapy revealed no side effects. The clinical response in terms of pain, mobility and functional capacity was good. We conclude that the therapy described results in good clinical and functional results over long periods of time in patients with knee osteoarthritis.