Uncoupling human and climate drivers of late Holocene vegetation change in southern Brazil

In the highlands of southern Brazil an anthropogenitcally driven expansion of forest occurred at the expense of grasslands between 1410 and 900cal BP, coincident with a period of demographic and cultural change in the region. Previous studies have debated the relative contributions of increasing wetter and warmer climate conditions and human landscape modifcations to forest expansion, but generally lacked high resoltiuon proxies to measure these efects, or have relied on single proxies to reconstruct both climate and vegetation. Here, we develop and test a model of natural ecosystem distribution against vegetation histories, paleoclimate proxies, and the archaeological record to distinguish human from temperature and precipitation impacts on the distribution and expansion of Araucaria forests during the late Holocene. Carbon isotopes from soil profles confrm that in spite of climatic fuctuations, vegetation was stable and forests were spatially limited to south-facing slopes in the absence of human inputs. In contrast, forest management strategies for the past 1400 years expanded this economically important forest beyond its natural geographic boundaries in areas of dense pre-Columbian occupation, suggesting that landscape modifcations were linked to demographic changes, the efects of which are still visible today

Avaliação das causas de recusa familiar a doação de órgãos e tecidos

OBJECTIVE: Evaluate the causes for family refusal to donate organs and tissue. METHODS: Correlational cross-sectional study regarding the causes for the family refusal to donate organs and tissue. Data were analyzed using chi-square and Student's t test. RESULTS: The study emphasized that the main reasons for the refusal are: incomprehension regarding the brain death diagnosis (21%), religion (19%), lack of technical competence of the team (19%), long process (10%), the deceased was a non-donor (9%), fear of mutilation (5.2%), being buried as the person came to this world (3.4%), quality of the service (3.4%), decision of a single member of the family (3.4%), negative previous experience from another donation process (1.7%), body transfer (1.7%). CONCLUSION: The causes for family refusal are associated with the family members' lack of understanding regarding the brain death diagnosis, aspects related to religion and lack of preparation of the professional who performed the interview.OBJETIVO: Avaliação das causas de recusa familiar para a doação de órgãos e tecidos. MÉTODOS: Trata-se de um estudo transversal correlacional sobre as causas de recusa familiar para a doação de órgãos e tecidos. Para análise dos dados foi utilizado o teste Qui-Quadrado e o t-Student. RESULTADOS: A pesquisa destacou que os principais motivos de recusa relacionados são: não compreensão do diagnóstico de morte encefálica (21%), religiosidade (19%), falta de competência técnica da equipe (19%), tempo longo processo (10%), falecido não era doador (9%), medo da mutilação (5,2%), enterrado como veio ao mundo (3,4%), qualidade do atendimento (3,4%), decisão de um único membro da família (3,4%), experiência negativa em outro processo de doação (1,7%), transferência do corpo (1,7%). CONCLUSÃO: As causas de recusa familiar estão ligadas a não compreensão do diagnostico da morte encefálica pelos familiares, aspectos ligados a religião, despreparo do profissional que realizou a entrevista.Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Escola Paulista de EnfermagemUNIFESP, EPESciEL

Associação entre funções estomatognáticas, oclusão dentária e sinais de disfunção temporomandibular em mulheres assintomáticas

OBJETIVO: verificar a associação entre funções estomatognáticas de mastigação e deglutição, oclusão dentária e sinais de disfunção temporomandibular em mulheres assintomáticas. MÉTODOS: as funções estomatognáticas foram avaliadas pelo exame miofuncional orofacial; o exame da oclusão dentária compreendeu: classificação de Angle; medidas de sobrepasse horizontal e vertical; presença de mordida aberta e cruzada; e a avaliação da articulação temporomandibular foi realizada pelo instrumento Critérios de Diagnóstico para Pesquisa de Desordens Temporomandibulares. RESULTADOS: foram avaliadas 43 mulheres com idade média de 23,7 anos. O exame miofuncional orofacial demonstrou alterações no padrão de mastigação (30,2%) e contrações atípicas na mastigação (18,6%) e deglutição (58,1%). Quanto à oclusão dentária, houve predomínio de classe I de Angle (74,4%), porém nenhuma voluntária apresentou uma oclusão ideal. A avaliação da articulação temporomandibular apresentou amplitude de movimento dentro da normalidade, presença de desvio na abertura da boca (60,5%) e diagnóstico de disfunção temporomandibular (16,3%). Houve associação significante entre presença de ruídos articulares e diagnóstico de disfunção temporomandibular e contrações atípicas na deglutição; padrão de abertura e contrações atípicas na mastigação; e não houve associação entre a Classe Oclusal de Angle, padrão de mastigação e disfunção temporomandibular. CONCLUSÃO: voluntárias assintomáticas apresentaram alterações das funções estomatognáticas, como contrações atípicas durante a deglutição e mastigação, as quais foram associadas com a presença de ruídos articulares e padrão de abertura da boca. Tais achados podem ser atribuídos a desequilíbrios e incoordenação dos músculos envolvidos nessas funções. Nenhuma voluntária apresentou oclusão ideal e não foram encontradas associações com esta condição

Vascular flora of the cerrado of Bauru-SP

Information on the cerrado vascular flora of the municipality of Bauru has been provided in lists of floristic surveys carried out in fragments of this vegetation type at different times, applying different criteria, and conforming to current taxonomic classifications. We organized this information according to APG III and revised synonymies, aiming at producing a single floristic list of species occurring in cerrado sensu lato or ecotonal areas (transitions between cerrado and seasonal forest) in municipality of Bauru to inform conservation proposals. For this purpose, we referred to all floristic lists of vascular plants found in cerrado fragments in Bauru and to botanic material collected and deposited in the herbaria of the Department of Biological Sciences, School of Sciences, Bauru Campus, UNESP (UNBA), and of the Bauru Botanical Garden (JBMB). We recorded 371 species from 78 families. Fabaceae was the richest in species. We also indicated each mentioned species’ habit and the vegetation types where plants occur in the municipality

Catálogo Taxonômico da Fauna do Brasil: setting the baseline knowledge on the animal diversity in Brazil

The limited temporal completeness and taxonomic accuracy of species lists, made available in a traditional manner in scientific publications, has always represented a problem. These lists are invariably limited to a few taxonomic groups and do not represent up-to-date knowledge of all species and classifications. In this context, the Brazilian megadiverse fauna is no exception, and the Catálogo Taxonômico da Fauna do Brasil (CTFB) (http://fauna.jbrj.gov.br/), made public in 2015, represents a database on biodiversity anchored on a list of valid and expertly recognized scientific names of animals in Brazil. The CTFB is updated in near real time by a team of more than 800 specialists. By January 1, 2024, the CTFB compiled 133,691 nominal species, with 125,138 that were considered valid. Most of the valid species were arthropods (82.3%, with more than 102,000 species) and chordates (7.69%, with over 11,000 species). These taxa were followed by a cluster composed of Mollusca (3,567 species), Platyhelminthes (2,292 species), Annelida (1,833 species), and Nematoda (1,447 species). All remaining groups had less than 1,000 species reported in Brazil, with Cnidaria (831 species), Porifera (628 species), Rotifera (606 species), and Bryozoa (520 species) representing those with more than 500 species. Analysis of the CTFB database can facilitate and direct efforts towards the discovery of new species in Brazil, but it is also fundamental in providing the best available list of valid nominal species to users, including those in science, health, conservation efforts, and any initiative involving animals. The importance of the CTFB is evidenced by the elevated number of citations in the scientific literature in diverse areas of biology, law, anthropology, education, forensic science, and veterinary science, among others

Improving CT-guided transthoracic biopsy of mediastinal lesions by diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the preliminary results obtained using diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging and the apparent diffusion coefficient for planning computed tomography-guided biopsies of selected mediastinal lesions. METHODS: Eight patients with mediastinal lesions suspicious for malignancy were referred for computed tomography-guided biopsy. Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging and apparent diffusion coefficient measurement were performed to assist in biopsy planning with diffusion/computed tomography fused images. We selected mediastinal lesions that could provide discordant diagnoses depending on the biopsy site, including large heterogeneous masses, lesions associated with lung atelectasis or consolidation, lesions involving large mediastinal vessels and lesions for which the results of biopsy using other methods and histopathological examination were divergent from the clinical and radiological suspicion. RESULTS: In all cases, the biopsy needle was successfully directed to areas of higher signal intensity on diffusion-weighted sequences and the lowest apparent diffusion coefficient within the lesion (mean, 0.8 [range, 0.6-1.1]×10-3 mm2/s), suggesting high cellularity. All biopsies provided adequate material for specific histopathological diagnoses of four lymphomas, two sarcomas and two thymomas. CONCLUSION: Functional imaging tools, such as diffusion-weighted imaging and the apparent diffusion coefficient, are promising for implementation in noninvasive and imaging-guided procedures. However, additional studies are needed to confirm that mediastinal biopsy can be improved with these techniques