Composição e ocorrência da assembléia de mamíferos de médio e grande porte em Áreas Protegidas sob distintos impactos humanos na Amazônia Central, Brasil

Protected Areas (PAs) are considered essential tools for biodiversity conservation, but their efficiency in maintaining species and their ecological roles has been questioned when such areas are close to human settlements. This critique is especially frequent for taxa considered highly sensitive to human impacts, including many species of medium- and large-sized terrestrial mammals, the target group of this study. Using camera trapping, the current study evaluated site-by-site richness and composition of three PAs (with distinct suites of human impacts and protection issues) near the largest urban center in the Amazon Basin – the city of Manaus (1.8 million inhabitants). We analyzed species occurrence and compared assemblage structure between areas for medium- and large-sized terrestrial mammals, and related these to anthropogenic and environmental factors. For some species, occurrence was most influenced by spatial variations in forest heterogeneity: confirming predictions regarding human impact, the most sensitive species responded negatively to road proximity (accessibility index) and to reserve edges (indicative of higher hunting pressure and forest disturbance). The most compositionally altered was the Ducke Reserve, where these effects were most marked. The reserves had similar richness, though assemblage composition varied. Hence, even though urban proximity influences proportional composition, PAs close to urban centers, such as Ducke, still retain a complete regional mammalian assemblage. Our results emphasize the need to ensure that such areas continue to be connected with adjacent forests, and indicate the need for increased protection and surveillance so that conservation of mammals and other forest species is ensured over the long term.As Áreas Protegidas (AP’s) são consideradas ferramentas essenciais na conservação da biodiversidade, porém próximo a aglomerações humanas ainda se questiona sua eficiência em manter as espécies e seus papéis ecológicos, a exemplo dos mamíferos terrestres de médio e grande porte, considerados sensíveis a impactos humanos e foco deste estudo. Este trabalho avaliou a riqueza, composição e ocorrência da comunidade de mamíferos terrestres, utilizando armadilhagem fotográfica, em três AP’s próximas ao maior centro urbano da bacia Amazônica, Manaus com ~ 1.8 milhões de habitantes. As AP’s estudadas apresentam distintos impactos humanos e restrições de fiscalização. Avaliamos a riqueza e composição para comparar a estrutura da comunidade entre as áreas. Ainda, estimamos as ocorrências das espécies (>5 registros/reserva) é relacionamos com fatores antrópicos e ambientais, através de análises de máxima verossimilhança. As reservas apresentaram riquezas similares, por outro lado a similaridade na composição foi menor na área limítrofe a cidade de Manaus, a reserva Ducke (mais alterada). Indiferentemente da reserva, as ocorrências de algumas espécies foram influenciadas por variações espaciais na heterogeneidade da floresta, representada aqui basicamente pelo gradiente topográfico. Confirmando nossas expectativas quanto ao impacto humano, espécies mais sensíveis responderam negativamente a distância das estradas (índice de acessibilidade) e proximidade das bordas das reservas, sendo que a Ducke teve uma maior contribuição. Indicamos que, apesar da proximidade urbana afetar tanto a composição, quanto a ocorrência de algumas espécies, mesmo áreas mais próximas de centros urbanos, como a Ducke, ainda conservam a comunidade de mamíferos. Nossos resultados reforçam a necessidade da manutenção de conexões dessas áreas com florestas adjacentes e maior proteção/fiscalização em áreas próximas a aglomerações humanas, assegurando a persistência dos mamíferos e de outras espécies em longo prazo

Convivência conjugal com o parceiro estomizado e suas implicações sociais e afetivas: estudo comparativo

The evaluation of the ostomy problem and its social and emotional implications on the conjugal life with a partner with colostomy is the starting point of this study. The condition of a person with a permanent ostomy can influence social and daily activities with their spouses. Objective: To analyze the social and affective aspects of daily coexistence of the spouse and his partner with a definite intestinal ostomy. Method: Comparative study of case control type of quantitative nature, conducted with spouses of ostomized patients paired to the non ostomized in the Federal District, Brazil.  The study included 108 spouses of whom 36 spouses of the ostomized called the Case Group and 72 of the non ostomized entitled Control Group. The data was collected from October 2011 to June 2012. Results: The results show that the case group when compared to the control group presented a lower frequency to restaurants, collective events and participates less in leisure activities. In regard to the habits of practicing physical activities, the perception concerning stability in marital coexistence and the evaluation of affective relation, similar rates were observed in both groups. Conclusion: The spouse and his ostomized partner suffered from changes in daily conviviality and the affective bonds of the couple remained unchanged.La evaluación del problema de la estomía y sus implicaciones sociales y emocionales en la vida conyugal con un compañero estomizado es el punto de origen de este estudio. La condición de la persona con estomía permanente puede afectar actividades sociales y diarias con sus cónyuges. Objetivo: Analizar los aspectos sociales y afectivos de la convivencia diaria del cónyuge y su compañero con estomía intestinal definitiva. Método: Estudio comparativo del tipo caso-control, de naturaleza cuantitativa, realizado con cónyuges de estomizados, del Distrito Federal, Brasil. La muestra estuvo compuesta por 108 personas, siendo 36 cónyuges del estomizados llamado Grupo Caso y 72 cónyuges de no estomizados, titulado Grupo Control. Los datos fueron recolectados de octubre de 2011 a junio de 2012. Resultados: Mostraron que el Grupo Caso cuando comparado al Grupo Control, presentó menor frecuencia a restaurantes, eventos colectivos y participa menos de actividades de ocio. En cuanto a los hábitos en practicar actividades físicas, a la percepción sobre la estabilidad de la convivencia marital y a la evaluación de la relación afectiva fueron verificados índices similares en ambos grupos. Conclusión: El cónyuge y su compañero estomizado sufren cambios en la convivencia diaria, pero el vínculo conyugal y los lazos afectivos de la pareja permanecen inalterados:A avaliação do problema da estomia e suas implicações sociais e emocionais na vida conjugal com um parceiro com colostomia é o ponto de partida deste estudo. A condição da pessoa com estomia permanente pode influenciar atividades sociais e diárias com seus cônjuges. Objetivo: analisar os aspectos sociais e afetivos da convivência diária do cônjuge e seu parceiro com estomia intestinal definitiva. Método: Estudo comparativo do tipo caso controle, de natureza quantitativa, realizado com cônjuges de estomizados, pareado aos de não estomizados, do Distrito Federal, Brasil. A amostra foi composta por 108 pessoas, sendo 36 cônjuges de estomizados denominado Grupo Caso e 72 cônjuges de não estomizados, intitulado Grupo Controle. Os dados foram coletados de outubro de 2011 a junho de 2012. Resultados: Mostraram que o Grupo Caso quando comparado ao Grupo Controle, apresentou menor frequência a restaurantes, a eventos coletivos e participa menos de atividades de lazer. Quanto aos hábitos em praticar atividades físicas, à percepção acerca da estabilidade da convivência marital e à avaliação da relação afetiva, foram verificados índices semelhantes em ambos os grupos. Conclusão: O cônjuge e seu parceiro estomizado sofrem mudanças na convivência diária, mas o vinculo conjugal e os laços afetivos do casal permanecem inalterados.

Mammal diversity among vertical strata and the evaluation of a survey technique in a central Amazonian forest

Mammal groups have a vast variety of habitats, which include aquatic, aerial, arboreal, and terrestrial. For terrestrial habitats, camera traps are used as a common technique to record mammals and other vertebrates and have been recently utilized to observe arboreal animals as well. Here, we compare the difference in mammal diversity between floor and canopy strata and evaluate the use of camera trapping in a lowland forest in central Amazon. We installed nine paired camera traps, one in the canopy stratum and other in the floor stratum, in the Alto Cuieiras Biological Reserve (Brazilian Amazon). With a sampling effort of 720 camera-days, we recorded 30 mammal species: nine in canopy strata, 14 in floor strata, and seven in scansorial strata (sharing both strata). On the forest floor, the species with the greatest abundance was Myoprocta acouchy; in the canopy, Isothrix paguros had the greatest abundance; and among the scansorial species, Proechymis sp. was the most abundant. Our results show the differences in mammal diversity between floor and canopy strata; canopy strata contained more small and frugivorous mammals. Although we obtained a relatively low sampling effort with the camera-trap method compared with other studies utilizing different techniques, our results were especially similar to those of previous studies that worked with canopy and floor strata. Thus, camera trap can be very effective for recording short periods of time, and this method is less physically exhaustive and expensive for researchers to study vertical strata

Immunotherapy around the clock: impact of infusion timing on stage IV melanoma outcomes

© 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Although the impact of circadian timing on immunotherapy has yet to be integrated into clinical practice, chronoimmunotherapy is an emerging and promising field as circadian oscillations are observed in immune cell numbers as well as the expression of immunotherapy targets, e.g., programmed cell death protein-1 and its ligand programmed death ligand 1. Concurrent retrospective studies suggest that morning infusions may lead to higher effectiveness of immune checkpoint inhibitors in melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer, and kidney cancer. This paper discusses the results of a retrospective study (2016-2022) exploring the impact of infusion timing on the outcomes of all 73 patients with stage IV melanoma receiving immunotherapy at a particular medical center. While the median overall survival (OS) was 24.2 months (95% confidence interval [CI] 9.04-39.8), for a median follow-up of 15.3 months, our results show that having more than 75% of infusions in the afternoon results in shorter median OS (14.9 vs. 38.1 months; hazard ratio 0.45 [CI 0.23-0.86]; p < 0.01) with more expressive impacts on particular subgroups: women, older patients, and patients with a lower tumor burden at the outset of immunotherapy. Our findings highlight the potential benefits of follow-up validation in prospective and translational randomized studies.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Resistance in Rice to \u3ci\u3eTibraca limbativentris\u3c/i\u3e (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) Influenced by Plant Silicon Content

Tibraca limbativentris Stål (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) is a major pest causing economic losses to rice cultivation in Brazil. The objectives of this work were to assess different sources of silicon in the induction of plant resistance, to examine the interaction of rice varieties with silicon-based resistance, and to determine the effects of varieties and silicon on stink bug biology. The interaction of rice cultivars BRS Esmeralda, IRGA 429 (widely cultivated in Brazil), and Canela de Ferro (a resistant cultivar), and 2 sources of silicon (K silicate, and Ca + Mg silicate) were studied. Plant parameters measured were percentage of damaged stems, chlorophyll content at 50 and 65 d after emergence, and silicon content. Insect biological parameters measured were the number of live insects, total dry mass, individual insect dry mass, total body surface area, and individual insect body surface area. The interaction between BRS Esmeralda with K silicate and Ca + Mg silicate provided greater plant silicon content and resulted in a lower level of stink bug–damaged stems. These results show that it is possible to increase resistance in rice plants susceptible to T. limbativentris by increasing silicon content. Tibraca limbativentris Stål (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) es una plaga importante que causa pérdidas económicas al cultivo de arroz en Brasil. El objetivo de este trabajo fue estudiar la interacción de variedades de arroz con diferentes niveles de resistencia y fuentes de silicio en la inducción de la resistencia de las plantas y el efecto sobre la biología de los chinches. Se estudió la interacción de los cultivares de arroz BRS Esmeralda, IRGA 429 (ampliamente cultivado en Brasil), y Canela de Ferro (Resistente), y 2 fuentes de silicio (silicato de K y silicato de Ca + Mg). Los parámetros de la planta medidos fueron: el porcentaje de tallos dañados, el contenido de clorofila a los 50 y 65 días después de la emergencia y el contenido de Si. Los parámetros biológicos de insectos medidos fueron: el número de insectos vivos, la masa seca total, la masa seca de insecto individual, la superficie corporal total y la superficie corporal de insectos individual. La interacción entre BRS Esmeralda con silicato K y silicato de Ca + Mg proporcionó más contenido de silicio vegetal y resultó en un menor porcentaje de tallos dañados por el chinche hedionda. Las variedades de arroz con diferentes niveles de resistencia y el aumento del contenido de silicio en la planta es una opción prometedora en el control de T. limbativentris. Estos resultados muestran que es posible aumentar la resistencia en las plantas de arroz susceptibles a T. limbativentris al aumentar el contenido de silicio

Morphology of the Stomach of Tayra (Eira barbara)

Background: The Tayra (Eira barbara) is a mammal of the family Mustelidae with a significant presence in Latin America, it is considered an opportunist and extremely agile omnivorous. Some organs compose the digestive system and the stomach is a substantial organ for this system. The stomach have a small and a large curvature and the regions of the cardia, fundus, body and pylorus. Histologically, the stomach is made up of four layers or tunics that contributes in digestive functions.  However, due the limited information available in the literature about morphophysiology of wildlife, this study aimed to clarify the morphology of Eira barbara stomach to understand your digestive system.Materials, Methods &amp; Results: Three males and three females of Eira barbara species were studied (all young adults), all samples were originated of the Bauxite Mine area, in Paragominas, Pará state, Brazil provided of donation to Morphological Animal Research Laboratory (LaPMa) of the Universidade Federal Rural da Amazonia (UFRA), after death by trampling. The corpses were treated with aqueous 10% formaldehyde solution intramuscular injections, subcutaneous and intracavitary. After dissection, the collected material was processed following histologic standard protocols for the subsequent preparation of slides. The studied animals showed the stomach on the left antimere the abdominal cavity, with saccular format with the presence of large and small curvatures. The organ showed composite mucosa made with various gastric folds distributed in regions of the cardia, fundus and pylorus. A microscopic analysis of Eira barbara stomach revealed the presence of tunics or layers which gradually invaginate the lumen of the organ and underlying lamina propria was located to the prismatic epithelium and muscular mucosae and mucosa itself. In the region of the cardia, the muscle layer was deeply situated on the lamina propria, consisting of smooth muscle tissue with circular and longitudinal fibers. The submucosa consists of loose connective tissue; it is much thicker than the lamina propria and has many vessels. The first portion of the stomach showed long glands, while with short pits. In light microscopy, the fundic region revealed the presence of a highly pleated epithelium with elongated glands composed of clear and basally placed cells, with flattened nuclei. These cells are named mucous. Along the short region of the gastric pits, the presence of large cells was reported, pyramidal or rounded, central nucleus, called parietal. The pyloric region microscopy revealed the presence of short glands, similar to those previously described in the cardia region. The wide presence of goblet cells in the final portion of the pylorus indicated gradual transition between the regions of the stomach to the intestine, called duodenum-pylorus transition. The muscular layer showed thick muscle bundles just in circular direction, being responsible for the formation of the pyloric sphincter.Discussion: The morphological analysis of the stomachs showed morphological and topographical similarities to the literature description for pets and wild mammals, however, were found in abundant quantities goblet cells in the transition duodenal pylorus. The goblet cells are located throughout the length of the small and large intestine and are responsible for the production and maintenance of the protective mucus synthesizing as glycoproteins known as mucins

Trajetória da restauração florestal de áreas mineradas ao longo de 17 anos em unidade de conservação na Amazônia/ 17-year forest restoration of mine areas in Amazon conservation unit

A trajetória da restauração florestal de áreas mineradas, na Floresta Nacional de Saracá Taquera (PA), iniciada em 1996, através do reflorestamento heterogêneo com espécies nativas, concomitantemente à indução e facilitação da regeneração natural através da incorporação e espalhamento superficial de uma camada de top soil, foi avaliada por um período de 17 anos. Inicialmente foi feita a análise do reflorestamento com e sem incorporação de solo superficial; em seguida a da regeneração natural de espécies arbóreas e ao final a análise conjunta da evolução do reflorestamento e da regeneração natural. No período considerado constatou-se: (i) a ocorrência de um total de 120 espécies arbóreas, distribuídas em 33 famílias - considerando-se o reflorestamento e a regeneração natural; (ii) 45 (37,5%) e 59 (49,2%) espécies são exclusivas respectivamente, do reflorestamento e da regeneração natural; apenas 16 (13,3%) são originárias de ambas as práticas silviculturais; (iii) a abundância foi de 3.967 árvores ha-1, sendo 1.308 árvores ha-1 originárias do reflorestamento e 2.659 árvores ha-1 da regeneração natural; (iv) o diâmetro médio (DAP) foi de 5,9 cm e a área basal foi de 16,9 m² ha-1. A prática da restauração florestal de áreas mineradas na Amazônia, onde se emprega a incorporação e o espalhamento superficial de uma camada de top soil, aliada ao reflorestamento heterogêneo com espécies nativas e adaptadas ao novo ecossistema artificial formado é a melhor e, talvez única opção comprovada que produz os efeitos desejados para o sucesso conservacionista da restauração de áreas mineradas no bioma em referência

Habitat use of the ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) in Brazilian Amazon

Amazonia forest plays a major role in providing ecosystem services for human and sanctuaries for wildlife. However, ongoing deforestation and habitat fragmentation in the Brazilian Amazon has threatened both. The ocelot is an ecologically important mesopredator and a potential conservation ambassador species, yet there are no previous studies on its habitat preference and spatial patterns in this biome. From 2010 to 2017, twelve sites were surveyed, totaling 899 camera trap stations, the largest known dataset for this species. Using occupancy modeling incorporating spatial autocorrelation, we assessed habitat use for ocelot populations across the Brazilian Amazon. Our results revealed a positive sigmoidal correlation between remote-sensing derived metrics of forest cover, disjunct core area density, elevation, distance to roads, distance to settlements and habitat use, and that habitat use by ocelots was negatively associated with slope and distance to river/lake. These findings shed light on the regional scale habitat use of ocelots and indicate important species–habitat relationships, thus providing valuable information for conservation management and land-use planning

Prey availability and temporal partitioning modulate felid coexistence in Neotropical forests

Carnivores have long been used as model organisms to examine mechanisms that allow coexistence among ecologically similar species. Interactions between carnivores, including competition and predation, comprise important processes regulating local community structure and diversity. We use data from an intensive camera-trapping monitoring program across eight Neotropical forest sites to describe the patterns of spatiotemporal organization of a guild of five sympatric cat species: jaguar (Panthera onca), puma (Puma concolor), ocelot (Leopardus pardalis), jaguarundi (Herpailurus yagouaroundi) and margay (Leopardus wiedii). For the three largest cat species, we developed multi-stage occupancy models accounting for habitat characteristics (landscape complexity and prey availability) and models accounting for species interactions (occupancy estimates of potential competitor cat species). Patterns of habitat-use were best explained by prey availability, rather than habitat structure or species interactions, with no evidence of negative associations of jaguar on puma and ocelot occupancy or puma on ocelot occupancy. We further explore temporal activity patterns and overlap of all five felid species. We observed a moderate temporal overlap between jaguar, puma and ocelot, with differences in their activity peaks, whereas higher temporal partitioning was observed between jaguarundi and both ocelot and margay. Lastly, we conducted temporal overlap analysis and calculated species activity levels across study sites to explore if shifts in daily activity within species can be explained by varying levels of local competition pressure. Activity patterns of ocelots, jaguarundis and margays were similarly bimodal across sites, but pumas exhibited irregular activity patterns, most likely as a response to jaguar activity. Activity levels were similar among sites and observed differences were unrelated to competition or intraguild killing risk. Our study reveals apparent spatial and temporal partitioning for most of the species pairs analyzed, with prey abundance being more important than species interactions in governing the local occurrence and spatial distribution of Neotropical forest felids

Wild dogs at stake: deforestation threatens the only Amazon endemic canid, the short-eared dog (Atelocynus microtis)

The persistent high deforestation rate and fragmentation of the Amazon forests are the main threats to their biodiversity. To anticipate and mitigate these threats, it is important to understand and predict how species respond to the rapidly changing landscape. The short-eared dog Atelocynus microtis is the only Amazon-endemic canid and one of the most understudied wild dogs worldwide. We investigated short-eared dog habitat associations on two spatial scales. First, we used the largest record database ever compiled for short-eared dogs in combination with species distribution models to map species habitat suitability, estimate its distribution range and predict shifts in species distribution in response to predicted deforestation across the entire Amazon (regional scale). Second, we used systematic camera trap surveys and occupancy models to investigate how forest cover and forest fragmentation affect the space use of this species in the Southern Brazilian Amazon (local scale). Species distribution models suggested that the short-eared dog potentially occurs over an extensive and continuous area, through most of the Amazon region south of the Amazon River. However, approximately 30% of the short-eared dog's current distribution is expected to be lost or suffer sharp declines in habitat suitability by 2027 (within three generations) due to forest loss. This proportion might reach 40% of the species distribution in unprotected areas and exceed 60% in some interfluves (i.e. portions of land separated by large rivers) of the Amazon basin. Our local-scale analysis indicated that the presence of forest positively affected short-eared dog space use, while the density of forest edges had a negative effect. Beyond shedding light on the ecology of the short-eared dog and refining its distribution range, our results stress that forest loss poses a serious threat to the conservation of the species in a short time frame. Hence, we propose a re-assessment of the short-eared dog's current IUCN Red List status (Near Threatened) based on findings presented here. Our study exemplifies how data can be integrated across sources and modelling procedures to improve our knowledge of relatively understudied species