Abstract Despite the richness of species in the Hirudinidae family, little is known about the genome organization of swallows. The Progne tapera species presents genetic and morphological difference when compared to other members of the same genus. Hence, the aims of this study were to analyze the chromosomal evolution of three species Progne tapera, Progne chalybea and Pygochelidon cyanoleuca - by comparative chromosome painting using two sets of probes, Gallus gallus and Zenaida auriculata, in order to determine chromosome homologies and the relationship between these species. All karyotypes exhibited 76 chromosomes with similar morphology, except for the 5th, 6th and 7th chromosome pairs in P. cyanoleuca. Additionally, comparative chromosome painting demonstrated the same hybridization pattern in the two Progne, which was similar to the putative avian ancestral karyotype, except for the centric fission in the first pair, as found in other Passeriformes. Thus, these data display a close relationship between the Progne species. Although P. cyanoleuca demonstrated the same fission in the first pair of the ancestral syntenic (GGA1), it also showed an additional chromosomal rearrangement for this species, namely a fusion with a microchromosome in the seventh pair.

Thermal inkjet-printing of copper tetrasulfonated phthalocyanine (CuTsPc) films containing polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) plasticizer were used to fabricate flexible metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) capacitors using anodic aluminum oxide (Al2O3) as the insulating layer. The Al2O3 layer and printed CuTsPc+PVA films were characterized individually and in a MIS structure by electrical impedance spectroscopy. Capacitance-frequency and capacitance-voltage measurements revealed distinct contributions from CuTsPc and PVA on the device electrical response. From these measurements the semiconductor charge carrier mobility, ∝, of 1.22x10- 4 cm² V- 1 s- 1 and the doping density, N A, of 3.1x10(16) cm- 3 were calculated. It was observed a low-frequency electrical response, which was attributed to diffusional processes within the printed film arising from Na+ ions dissociated from the CuTsPc molecule. A simple equivalent circuit model was proposed to take this effect into account. Finally, the results shown here demonstrate the possibility to produce flexible organic electronic devices exploiting the semiconducting properties of water-soluble CuTsPc molecules using low-cost commercial printers.