Population biology and secondary production of the stout razor clam Tagelus plebeius (Bivalvia, Solecurtidae) on a sandflat in southeastern Brazil

The population biology and production of the stout razor clam Tagelus plebeius Lightfoot, 1786 were investigated on an intertidal sandflat on the southeast coast of Brazil (Enseada Beach, São Sebastião, state of São Paulo) between April 1997 and April 1998. Two rectangular sites of 50 X 10 m parallel to the waterline were established, site A (upper intertidal level) and site B (middle intertidal level), where the samples were taken in an 0.5 x 0.5 m quadrat. High abundances were recorded in winter and spring, with no significant differences between the sites. The high bivalve abundances were related to the presence of very fine homogeneous sediment with low salinities. Tagelus plebeius had negative allometric growth, characteristic of deep burrowers for the relationships DM/SL and AFDM/SL. Parameters of the modified von Bertalanffy growth function were: L∞ = 67.01 mm, K = 1.73 year-1, t0 = -0.11 year, C = 0.43, WP = 0.96. The instantaneous mortality (Z) was 3.12 year-1, relatively high in comparison to other tropical bivalve populations. Secondary production was 1.53 g AFDM m-2 year-1, with a P/B ratio reaching 1.37 year-1. This high turnover ratio (P/B) was related to a rapid population replacement, connected with the short life span and high mortality of the species.546

Minimal Algorithmic Information Loss Methods for Dimension Reduction, Feature Selection and Network Sparsification

We introduce a family of unsupervised, domain-free, and (asymptotically) model-independent algorithms based on the principles of algorithmic probability and information theory designed to minimize the loss of algorithmic information, including a lossless-compression-based lossy compression algorithm. The methods can select and coarse-grain data in an algorithmic-complexity fashion (without the use of popular compression algorithms) by collapsing regions that may procedurally be regenerated from a computable candidate model. We show that the method can preserve the salient properties of objects and perform dimension reduction, denoising, feature selection, and network sparsification. As validation case, we demonstrate that the method preserves all the graph-theoretic indices measured on a well-known set of synthetic and real-world networks of very different nature, ranging from degree distribution and clustering coefficient to edge betweenness and degree and eigenvector centralities, achieving equal or significantly better results than other data reduction and some of the leading network sparsification methods. The methods (InfoRank, MILS) can also be applied to applications such as image segmentation based on algorithmic probability.Comment: 23 pages in double column including Appendix, online implementation at http://complexitycalculator.com/MILS

Animal Performance in Pastures of \u3ci\u3ePanicum maximum\u3c/i\u3e cv. IPR 86 Fertilized with Nitrogen

The experiment was carried out at the Experimental Station of the IAPAR in Paranavaí– PR, Brazil, from October 1998 to May 1999 to evaluate the response of crossbred steers grazing pastures of Panicum maximum cv. IPR 86 fertilized with four doses of N (0; 150; 300 and 450 kg.ha-1.year). The grass was grazed according to a rotational grazing system with grazing cycles (GCs) of 40 days (grazing period of 5 days and rest period of 35 days). It was used a randomized complete block design, with split-plots, and two replications per treatment, being the N-doses studied in the main plots and the GCs in the sub-plots. The availability of green leaf-blades increased with the increase of N-doses, resulting in 4.09; 8.18; 11.18; and 13.92 steers.ha-1.day-1 and daily LWG of 2.73; 5.25; 7.40; and 9.24 kg.ha-1 when the pastures were fertilized with 0; 150; 300 and 450 kg N.ha-1, respectively. The efficiency of N-utilization was 3.35; 3.11; and 2.89 kg LWG kg.N-1 when the pastures were fertilized with 150; 300; and 450 kg N.ha-1, respectively

Effects of Nitrogen Fertilization on the Production of \u3ci\u3ePanicum maximum\u3c/i\u3e cv. IPR 86 under Grazing

The experiment was conducted at the Experimental Station of Paranavaí/IAPAR-PR-Brazil, from October 1998 to May 1999, to evaluate the effects of N fertilization on Panicum maximum cv. IPR 86 pastures. Four doses of N (0; 150; 300; and 450 kg.ha-1.year-1) were applied to pastures under rotational grazing with grazing cycles (GCs) of 40 days (5 days-grazing and 35 days-rest). It was used a randomized complete block design, with split-plots, and two replications per treatment, being the N-doses studied in the main plots and the GCs in the sub-plots. In all GCs the variables dry matter of available green leaf-blades (GLB) and dry matter of stems + leaf sheaths (GSLS) increased linearly (P\u3c 0.01) with the increase in N-doses during a grazing period of 200 days. The average residual GLB and GSLS were 335; 730; 825; and 837, and 104; 1024; 1817; and 2763 kg.ha-1, respectively for the N-treatments of 0; 150; 300; and 400 kg.ha-1

Neurotransmitter evaluation in the hippocampus of rats after intracerebral injection of TsTX scorpion toxin

TsTX is an a-type sodium channel toxin that stimulates the discharge of neurotransmitters from neurons. In the present study we investigated which neurotransmitters are released in the hippocampus after TsTX injection and if they are responsible for electrographic or histopathological effects. Microdialysis revealed that the toxin increased glutamate extracellular levels in the hippocampus; however, levels of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), glycine, 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA), homovanillic acid (HVA) and 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) were not significantly altered. Neurodegeneration in pyramidal cells of hippocampus and electroencephalographic alterations caused by the toxin were blocked by pretreatment with riluzole, a glutamate release inhibitor. The present results suggest a specific activity of TsTX in the hippocampus which affects only glutamate releas

Detection and phylogenetic analysis of Orf virus from sheep in Brazil: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Orf virus </it>(ORFV), the prototype of the genus <it>Parapoxvirus </it>(PPV), is the etiological agent of contagious ecthyma, a severe exanthematic dermatitis that afflicts domestic and wild small ruminants. Although South American ORFV outbreaks have occurred and diagnosed there are no South American PPV major membrane glycoprotein B2L gene nucleotide sequences available.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>an outbreak of ovine contagious ecthyma in Midwest Brazil was investigated. The diagnosis was based on clinical examinations and molecular biology techniques. The molecular characterization of the virus was done using PCR amplification, cloning and DNA sequencing of the B2L gene. The phylogenetic analysis demonstrated a high degree of identity with ORFV strains, and the isolate was closest to the ORFV-India 82/04 isolate. Another Brazilian ORFV isolate, NE1, was sequenced for comparative analysis and also showed a high degree of identity with an Asian ORFV strain.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Distinct ORFV strains are circulating in Brazil. This is the first report on the phylogenetic analysis of an ORFV in South America.</p

Massa de forragem e características morfológicas de gramíneas do gênero Brachiaria na região do Arenito Caiuá/PR

Na região Noroeste do Paraná, assim como em boa parte do Brasil, as espécies forrageiras mais utilizadas são as gramíneas do gênero Brachiaria, com destaque para a Brachiaria brizantha cv. Marandu. Contudo, existem novas cultivares que precisam ser avaliadas. O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar a massa de forragem, características morfológicas e alturas de manejo (95% interceptação luminosa do dossel) de cinco cultivares de Brachiaria brizantha (Marandu, Xaraés, Piatã, Paiaguás e MG-4) e a Brachiaria híbrida Convert HD 364. Utilizou-se delineamento inteiramente casualizado, com seis tratamentos e quatro repetições. Foram avaliados a altura e interceptação luminosa do dossel, massa de forragem e composição morfológica das plantas. As cultivares Xaraés, Paiaguás e MG-4 destacaram-se pela maior massa de forragem total e de folhas, particularmente na época seca, e são boas alternativas para a cultivar Marandu. . A altura do dossel forrageiro de entrada preconizada para as cultivares Marandu e Piatã está em torno de 25 cm, para Xaraés e MG- 30 cm, Paiaguás 34 cm, e Convert 23 cm

An experimental evaluation of the understanding of safety compliance needs with models

Proceedings of: 36th International Conference on Conceptual Modeling, ER 2017, Valencia, Spain, November 6–9, 2017Context: Most safety-critical systems have to fulfil compliance needs specified in safety standards. These needs can be difficult to understand from the text of the standards, and the use of conceptual models has been proposed as a solution. Goal: We aim to evaluate the understanding of safety compliance needs with models. Method: We have conducted an experiment to study the effectiveness, efficiency, and perceived benefits in understanding these needs, with text of safety standards and with UML object diagrams. Results: Sixteen Bachelor students participated in the experiment. Their average effectiveness in understanding compliance needs and their average efficiency were higher with models (17% and 15%, respectively). However, the difference is not statistically significant. The students found benefits in using models, but on average they are undecided about their ease of understanding. Conclusions: Although the results are not conclusive enough, they suggest that the use of models could improve the understanding of safety compliance needs.The research leading to this paper has received funding from the AMASS project (H2020-ECSEL grant agreement no 692474; Spain’s MINECO ref. PCIN-2015-262) and the AMoDDI project (Ref. 11130583). We also thank the subjects that participated in the experiment

Spread of vaccinia virus to cattle herds, Argentina, 2011

To the Editor: Since 1999, several zoonotic outbreaks of vaccinia virus (VACV) infection have been reported in cattle and humans in rural areas of Brazil. The infections have caused exanthematous lesions on cows and persons who milk them, and thus are detrimental to the milk industry and public health services (1,2). In Brazil during the last decade, VACV outbreaks have been detected from the north to the extreme south of the country (1–4). Because Brazil shares extensive boundaries with other South American countries, humans and cattle on dairy and beef-producing farms in those countries may be at risk of exposure to VACV. To determine if VACV has spread from Brazil to Argentina, we investigated the presence of VACV in serum samples from cattle in Argentina.Facultad de Ciencias VeterinariasComisión de Investigaciones Científicas de la provincia de Buenos Aire