RESUMO -Não obstante o interesse crescente em habilidades sociais, há carência de escalas de medida no Brasil para avaliá-las. Esta pesquisa validou a escala SSRS, que avalia habilidades sociais, comportamentos problemáticos e competência acadêmica de estudantes do Ensino Fundamental. Participaram 416 estudantes (224 meninos e 192 meninas), da primeira a quarta série de escolas públicas e particulares, em cinco cidades de quatro estados brasileiros, 312 pais e 86 professoras. Os resultados mostraram uma estrutura de componentes que explicaram de 40% a 62% da variância dos dados. A análise da consistência interna indicou os seguintes valores de alfa de Cronbach, para as escalas de habilidades sociais (estudante=0,78; pais=0,86; professores=0,94), comportamentos problemáticos (pais=0,83; professores=0,91) e competência acadêmica (0,98). A análise da estabilidade temporal indicou correlações teste-reteste positivas e significativas para os escores globais das escalas de habilidades sociais (estudantes: r=0,78; pais: r=0,69; professores: r=0,71), comportamentos problemáticos (pais: r=0,75; professores: r=0,80) e competência acadêmica (r=0,73).Palavras-chave: habilidades sociais; comportamentos problemáticos; competência acadêmica; Ensino Fundamental; crianças. Validating Scales of Social Skills, Behavior Problems and Academic Competence (SSRS-BR) for Elementary SchoolABSTRACT -Besides the growing interest on social skills, there are few scales available in Brazil. This research validated the SSRS scale, which evaluates social skills, behavior problems, and academic competence of elementary school students. The participants were 416 students (224 boys and 192 girls) from the first to the fourth elementary school grades, from public and private schools of five cities of four Brazilian states as well as 312 parents and 86 teachers of these children. The results showed some components structure explaining 40% to 62% of data variance. The internal consistency analysis, measured by Cronbach coefficients, showed the following values for each scale: social skills (student=0,78; parents=0,86; teachers=0,94), behavior problem (parents=0,83; teachers=0,91), and academic competence (0,98). Concerning on the temporal stability, results showed positive and significant correlations between test-retest applications for the global scores of the social skills (students: r=0,78; parents: r=0,69; teachers: r=0,71), behavior problems (parents: r=0,75; teachers: r=0,80), and academic competence (r=0,73) scales.

The generation of ROS (reactive oxygen species) in plant galls may induce the degradation of the membrane systems of a plant cell and increase the number of plastoglobules. This numerical increase has been related to the prevention of damage to the thylakoid systems, and to the maintenance of photosynthesis rates. To investigate this hypothesis in gall systems, a comparative study of the ultrastructure of chloroplasts in non-galled leaves and in leaf galls of A. australe and A. spruceanum was conducted. Also, the pigment composition and the photosynthetic performance as estimated by chlorophyll fluorescence measurements were evaluated. The ultrastructural analyses revealed an increase in the number and size of plastoglobules in galls of both species studied. The levels of total chlorophylls and carotenoids were lower in galls than in non-galled tissues. The chlorophyll a/b ratio did not differ between the non-galled tissues and both kinds of galls. The values of maximum electron transport rate (ETR(MAX)) were similar for all the samples. The occurrence of numerous large plastoglobules in the galled tissues seemed to be related to oxidative stress and to the recovery of the thylakoid membrane systems. The maintenance of the ETR(MAX) values indicated the existence of an efficient strategy to maintain similar photosynthetic rates in galled and non-galled tissues.

Cecidomyiidae galls commonly present a zonation of tissues with lignified cell layers externally limiting a reserve tissue and internally limiting a specialized nutritive tissue next to the larval chamber. The cytological aspects of this specialized tissue indicate high metabolic activity as well as carbohydrate accumulation. In Aspidosperma spruceanum-Cecidomyiidae gall system, ultrastructural and histochemical investigations corroborated this pattern and also revealed the storage of proteins in the nutritive cells. Reactive oxygen species (ROS), callose, and pectin accumulation were related to the feeding activity of the galling herbivore. Phosphorylase, glucose-6-phosphatase, acid phosphatases, invertases, and sucrose synthase activities were detected for the first time, in the Neotropical region, and discussed in relation to gall maintenance and the feeding activity of the Cecidomyiidae.

Previous ultrastructural and histochemical analysis proposed patterns in the accumulation of substances in galls of Diptera: Cecidomyiidae in some plant species of the temperate region. Similar analyses were done to verify the conservativeness of these patterns in the Neotropical region, where a great number of species of Cecidomyiidae is responsible for a wide diversity of morphotypes. Two gall morphotypes induced by Cecidomyiidae in a unique host plant, Copaifera langsdorffii, were studied. The gradients of carbohydrates and the activity of invertases and acid phosphatases were similar, but the cytological gradients and distribution of proteins evidenced that the sites of the induction as well as the amount of neoformed tissues may be peculiar to each gall system. The production of lipids just in the secretory cavities either in the non-galled or galled tissues indicated a potentiality of the host plant which could not be manipulated by the galling insects. Further, the absence of nucleus in the nutritive tissue, an exclusive feature of the horn-shaped galls, indicates cell death attributed to the feeding habit of the galling herbivore.

The pectic composition of cell wall is altered during the processes of cell differentiation, plant growth, and development. These alterations may be time-dependent, and fluctuate in distinct regions of the same cell or tissue layer, due to the biotic stress caused by the activity of the gall inducer. Among the roles of the pectins in cell wall, elasticity, rigidity, porosity, and control of cell death may be crucial during gall development. Galls on Baccharis reticularia present species-specific patterns of development leading to related morphotypes where pectins were widely detected by Ruthenium red, and the pectic epitopes were labeled with specific monoclonal antibodies (LM1, LM2, LM5, LM6, JIM5, and JIM7) in distinct sites of the non-galled and the galled tissues. In the studied system B. reticularia, the epitopes for extensins were not labeled in the non-galled tissues, as well as in those of the rolling and kidney-shaped galls. The high methyl-esterified homogalacturonans (HGA) were labeled all over the tissues either of non-galled leaves or of the three gall morphotypes, while the intense labeling for arabinogalactans was obtained just in the rolling galls. The pectic composition of non-galled leaves denotes their maturity. The kidney-shaped gall was the most similar to the non-galled leaves. The pectic dynamics in the gall tissues was particularly altered in relation to low methyl-esterified HGA, which confers elasticity and expansion, as well as porosity and adhesion to cell walls, and are related to the homogenization and hypertrophy of gall cortex, and to translocation of solutes to the larval chamber. Herein, the importance of the pectic dynamics of cell walls to the new functional design established during gall development is discussed for the first time. The repetitive developmental patterns in galls are elegant models for studies on cell differentiation.