Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear understanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5,6,7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8,9,10,11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world's most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepresented in biodiversity databases.13,14,15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may eliminate pieces of the Amazon's biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological communities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple organism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region's vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most neglected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lost

Efeito de diferentes dosagens de vitamina A injetável na produção e qualidade de embriões bovinos da raça Nelore Effect of different dosages of vitamin A injection on production and quality of cattle embryos

Conduziu-se este trabalho com o objetivo de avaliar o efeito de quatro diferentes doses de vitamina A (0 - (n=14), 500.000 (n=15), 1.000.000 (n=17) e 1.500.000 (n=16) (UI) (na forma de palmitato de retinol) na produção e qualidade de embriões coletados de vacas doadoras da raça nelore (n=64). O experimento foi realizado na Central de Transferência de Embriões Cauembryo no município de Funilândia - MG. As vacas foram superovuladas no 10º (n=18), 11º (n=10), 12º (n=26) ou 13º (n=10) dia após a data do cio com 20 ml de Folltropin® (Vetrepharm, Belleville, Canada) ou 10 ml Pluset® (I.F. Serono, Roma, Itália) distribuídos em dosagens decrescentes durante quatro dias, em duas aplicações diárias (intercaladas de doze horas). Os tratamentos com vitamina A foram iniciados juntamente com a primeira dose de FSH. A luteólise foi induzida no quarto dia do tratamento de FSH com uma aplicação de 0,75 mg de cloprostenol sódico (Ciosin®, Coopers do Brasil, São Paulo, Brasil) e as doadoras observadas em cio foram inseminadas às 12 e 24 horas após o seu início, usando sêmen de diferentes touros. As análises estatísticas foram feitas utilizando o procedimento GENMOD do SAS (SAS INSTITUTE, 1995). O número de embriões viáveis aumentou significativamente (P0,05) entre as doadoras suplementadas (9,5, 8,3 e 10,5, respectivamente para 500.000, 1.000.000 e 1.500.000 UI de vitamina A) e não-suplementadas (8,2). Por meio desses dados, verifica-se que a suplementação de vitamina A injetável antes da coleta melhora a qualidade dos embriões coletados, sem interferir na quantidade de estruturas produzidas.The objective was to evaluate the effect of four different dosages of retinol palmitate 0 - (n=14), 500,000 (n=15), 1,000,000 (n=17) and 1,500,000 (n=16) International Units (IU) of vitamin A in the form of retinol palmitate on production and quality of embryos recovered from Nelore donor cows (n=64). The experiment was carried out in the Embryo Transfer Company Cauembryo in the county of Funilândia - MG. Cows were superovulated on the 10th (n=18),11th (n=10),12th (n=26) or 13th (n=10) days after estrus onset with an injection of 20 ml of Folltropin® (Vetrepharm, Belleville, Canada) or 10 ml of Pluset® (I.F. Serono,Roma, Itália) administered in decreasing doses for four days twice daily (each 12 h). Vitamin A injection was delivered with the first FSH injection. Luteolysis was induced on the 4th day of FSH treatment by giving 0.75 mg of sodium cloprostenol (Ciosin®, Coopers do Brasil, São Paulo, Brasil) and donors observed in estrus were artificially inseminated 12 and 24 hours after the onset of estrus using semen of different bulls of proven fertility. Statistical analysis was carried out using the GENMOD procedure of SAS (SAS INSTITUTE, 1995). The number of viable embryos differed (P<0.0001), between control (3.6), and 500,000 (6.1), 1,000,000 (6.5) and 1,500,000 (6.7) vitamin A treatments. Percentage of viable embryos also increased (P<0.01), from 0.51 in the control, to 0.57, 0.63 and 0.60 in order of increasing Vitamin A treatment groups, respectively. Number of total structures recovered (ER) was not different between supplemented (9.5, 8.3 and 10.5 respectively for 500,000, 1,000,000 e 1,500,000 IU of vitamin A) and not supplemented (8.2). These results indicate that supplementation of vitamin A i.m. before flushing improves embryo quality without interfere in the quantity of embryos recovered

ATLANTIC BIRD TRAITS: a data set of bird morphological traits from the Atlantic forests of South America

Scientists have long been trying to understand why the Neotropical region holds the highest diversity of birds on Earth. Recently, there has been increased interest in morphological variation between and within species, and in how climate, topography, and anthropogenic pressures may explain and affect phenotypic variation. Because morphological data are not always available for many species at the local or regional scale, we are limited in our understanding of intra- and interspecies spatial morphological variation. Here, we present the ATLANTIC BIRD TRAITS, a data set that includes measurements of up to 44 morphological traits in 67,197 bird records from 2,790 populations distributed throughout the Atlantic forests of South America. This data set comprises information, compiled over two centuries (1820–2018), for 711 bird species, which represent 80% of all known bird diversity in the Atlantic Forest. Among the most commonly reported traits are sex (n = 65,717), age (n = 63,852), body mass (n = 58,768), flight molt presence (n = 44,941), molt presence (n = 44,847), body molt presence (n = 44,606), tail length (n = 43,005), reproductive stage (n = 42,588), bill length (n = 37,409), body length (n = 28,394), right wing length (n = 21,950), tarsus length (n = 20,342), and wing length (n = 18,071). The most frequently recorded species are Chiroxiphia caudata (n = 1,837), Turdus albicollis (n = 1,658), Trichothraupis melanops (n = 1,468), Turdus leucomelas (n = 1,436), and Basileuterus culicivorus (n = 1,384). The species recorded in the greatest number of sampling localities are Basileuterus culicivorus (n = 243), Trichothraupis melanops (n = 242), Chiroxiphia caudata (n = 210), Platyrinchus mystaceus (n = 208), and Turdus rufiventris (n = 191). ATLANTIC BIRD TRAITS (ABT) is the most comprehensive data set on measurements of bird morphological traits found in a biodiversity hotspot; it provides data for basic and applied research at multiple scales, from individual to community, and from the local to the macroecological perspectives. No copyright or proprietary restrictions are associated with the use of this data set. Please cite this data paper when the data are used in publications or teaching and educational activities. © 2019 The Authors. Ecology © 2019 The Ecological Society of Americ

ATLANTIC BIRD TRAITS

Scientists have long been trying to understand why the Neotropical region holds the highest diversity of birds on Earth. Recently, there has been increased interest in morphological variation between and within species, and in how climate, topography, and anthropogenic pressures may explain and affect phenotypic variation. Because morphological data are not always available for many species at the local or regional scale, we are limited in our understanding of intra- and interspecies spatial morphological variation. Here, we present the ATLANTIC BIRD TRAITS, a data set that includes measurements of up to 44 morphological traits in 67,197 bird records from 2,790 populations distributed throughout the Atlantic forests of South America. This data set comprises information, compiled over two centuries (1820–2018), for 711 bird species, which represent 80% of all known bird diversity in the Atlantic Forest. Among the most commonly reported traits are sex (n = 65,717), age (n = 63,852), body mass (n = 58,768), flight molt presence (n = 44,941), molt presence (n = 44,847), body molt presence (n = 44,606), tail length (n = 43,005), reproductive stage (n = 42,588), bill length (n = 37,409), body length (n = 28,394), right wing length (n = 21,950), tarsus length (n = 20,342), and wing length (n = 18,071). The most frequently recorded species are Chiroxiphia caudata (n = 1,837), Turdus albicollis (n = 1,658), Trichothraupis melanops (n = 1,468), Turdus leucomelas (n = 1,436), and Basileuterus culicivorus (n = 1,384). The species recorded in the greatest number of sampling localities are Basileuterus culicivorus (n = 243), Trichothraupis melanops (n = 242), Chiroxiphia caudata (n = 210), Platyrinchus mystaceus (n = 208), and Turdus rufiventris (n = 191). ATLANTIC BIRD TRAITS (ABT) is the most comprehensive data set on measurements of bird morphological traits found in a biodiversity hotspot; it provides data for basic and applied research at multiple scales, from individual to community, and from the local to the macroecological perspectives. No copyright or proprietary restrictions are associated with the use of this data set. Please cite this data paper when the data are used in publications or teaching and educational activities. © 2019 The Authors. Ecology © 2019 The Ecological Society of Americ

Evaluation of a quality improvement intervention to reduce anastomotic leak following right colectomy (EAGLE): pragmatic, batched stepped-wedge, cluster-randomized trial in 64 countries

Background Anastomotic leak affects 8 per cent of patients after right colectomy with a 10-fold increased risk of postoperative death. The EAGLE study aimed to develop and test whether an international, standardized quality improvement intervention could reduce anastomotic leaks. Methods The internationally intended protocol, iteratively co-developed by a multistage Delphi process, comprised an online educational module introducing risk stratification, an intraoperative checklist, and harmonized surgical techniques. Clusters (hospital teams) were randomized to one of three arms with varied sequences of intervention/data collection by a derived stepped-wedge batch design (at least 18 hospital teams per batch). Patients were blinded to the study allocation. Low- and middle-income country enrolment was encouraged. The primary outcome (assessed by intention to treat) was anastomotic leak rate, and subgroup analyses by module completion (at least 80 per cent of surgeons, high engagement; less than 50 per cent, low engagement) were preplanned. Results A total 355 hospital teams registered, with 332 from 64 countries (39.2 per cent low and middle income) included in the final analysis. The online modules were completed by half of the surgeons (2143 of 4411). The primary analysis included 3039 of the 3268 patients recruited (206 patients had no anastomosis and 23 were lost to follow-up), with anastomotic leaks arising before and after the intervention in 10.1 and 9.6 per cent respectively (adjusted OR 0.87, 95 per cent c.i. 0.59 to 1.30; P = 0.498). The proportion of surgeons completing the educational modules was an influence: the leak rate decreased from 12.2 per cent (61 of 500) before intervention to 5.1 per cent (24 of 473) after intervention in high-engagement centres (adjusted OR 0.36, 0.20 to 0.64; P &lt; 0.001), but this was not observed in low-engagement hospitals (8.3 per cent (59 of 714) and 13.8 per cent (61 of 443) respectively; adjusted OR 2.09, 1.31 to 3.31). Conclusion Completion of globally available digital training by engaged teams can alter anastomotic leak rates. Registration number: NCT04270721 (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov)