Primary malignant lymphoma of the uterine cervix: report of a case with cytologic and immunohistochemical diagnosis

A non‐Hodgkin's lymphoma initially diagnosed on the cervical smear in a 69‐year‐old asymptomatic female is described. The cytologic findings strongly suggested the presence of a malignant lymphoid neoplasm: neoplastic cells were round, loosely arranged, with scanty cytoplasm and cleaved nuclei. Histological evaluation of the cervical biopsy revealed a diffuse lymphoid proliferation of mononucleated cleaved cells beneath an ulcerated epithelium. Immunohistochemically, the tumour cells were positive for B cell markers. Reports on cytologic features of primary malignant lymphoma of the cervix are not frequent in the literature. We emphasize the importance of their recognition and the differential diagnosis of cervical lymphoma from other neoplastic and non‐neoplastic lesions.     

Exchange of Natural Enemies for Biological Control: Is it a Rocky Road?—The Road in the Euro-Mediterranean Region and the South American Common Market

The access and benefit sharing (ABS) regulations from the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) for the use of natural resources became an important issue because the biodiversity of developing countries was heavily accessed and unilaterally exploited by pharmaceutical and seed companies. However, natural enemies used for biological control are living and unmodified genetic resources which cannot be patented and have been treated as resources such as drugs, seeds, or other commercial products. Consequently, the ABS requirements have limited not only the use of natural enemies but also the positive effects that scientifically supported biological control strategies have on the society, the environment, and the economy, reducing problems of pesticide residues, water and soil contamination, and non-target effects. During the last several years, the biological control scientific community has faced new and extremely complicated legislation dictated by a high and diverse number of governmental agencies at different levels, making the access to natural resources for biocontrol purposes a rocky road. Society at large should be aware of how the strict ABS regulations affect the use of natural enemies as biological resources to secure food production, food safety, and global environmental protection. We discuss in here the current difficulties derived from CBD for the exchange of natural enemies taking as example the Euro-Mediterranean region, Argentina, and Brazil to demonstrate how long and diverse are the steps to be followed to obtain the required permits for access and exportation/importation of natural enemies. We then argue that the public visibility of biocontrol strategies should be increased and their benefits highlighted in order to persuade legislators for the development of a less bureaucratic, more expedient, and more centralized regulatory frame, greatly favoring the practice and benefits of biological control. We finally propose a general framework in which ABS issues should be dealt in ways to attend the CBD, but also to make the use of natural resources for the biological control of pests to secure food production and security a possible alternative.     

Electrophoretic results of a biochemical systematic survey of Oxychilus (Drouetia) atlanticus and some other Zonitidae (Gastropoda: Zonitidae)

Oxychilus (Drouetia) atlanticus is an endemic terrestrial mollusc from the Azores that shows a high degree of both anatomical and morphological variability. In order to support a biochemical systematic study, several potential taxonomic isoenzymes were tested over non-congeneric, congeneric, consubgeneric and infraspecific taxa.     

COGNITIVE ASPECTS OF DIFFERENCE TESTING: MEMORY AND INTERSTIMULUS DELAY

There are many ways in which a laboratory difference test differs from 'real life' discrimination of foods. One of these is the interval of time between tasting the two stimuli to be discriminated. To investigate this, judges performed same-different discrimination tests using a citrus flavored beverage as a medium. The time interval between tasting the standard and comparison stimuli was varied. In this initial study, short intervals of zero, 30, 60 s were examined. For judges unfamiltar with the stimuli, performance deteriorated as the time interval increased. For judges familiar with the stimuli, the zero time interval elicited best performance but there was no decrease in performance when the interval was increased from 30 to 60 s. The results were explained by hypothesizing different types of memory trace for the standard stimulus being utilized for comparison with the comparison stimulus.