Seasonal hydrological and meteorological time series

Time series models are often used in hydrology and meteorology to model streamflows series in order to make forecasting and generate synthetic series which are inputs for the analysis of complex water resources systems. In this paper we introduce a new modeling approach for hydrologic and meteorological time series assuming a continuous distribution for the data, where both the conditional mean and conditional variance parameters are modeled. Bayesian methods using standard MCMC (Markov Chain Monte Carlo Methods) are used to simulate samples for the joint posterior distribution of interest. Two applications to real data set illustrate the proposed methodology, assuming that the observations come from a normal, a gamma or a beta distribution. A first example is given by a time series of monthly averages of natural streamflows, measured in the year period ranging from 1931 to 2010 in Furnas hydroelectric dam, Brazil. A second example is given with a time series of 313 air humidity data measured in a weather station of Rio Claro, a Brazilian city located in southeastern of Brazil. These applications motivate us to introduce new classes of models to analyze hydrological and meteorological time series

Coronavirus Outbreaks: Literature Review

Coronaviruses are observed in birds and mammals and can be transmitted to humans, leading to outbreaks and pandemics. Among the most recent ones are SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, and COVID 19. Thus, the objective was to describe a discussion about coronaviruses, with an emphasis on Sars-Cov-2. From the data collected, it can be seen that the current pandemic has had impacts on public health and socioeconomic life in more than 170 countries worldwide, to date, with tens of millions of people infected and hundreds of thousands of deaths. In this regard, prevention actions must be intensified, especially among the most vulnerable patients (the elderly and those with comorbidities that affect immunity). In addition, new studies should be carried out so that vaccines and antivirals can be implemented for application to COVID-19

Oral paracoccidioidomycosis:a retrospective study of 95 cases from a single center and literature review

The ecoepidemiological panorama of paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM) is dynamic and still ongoing in Brazil. In particular, data about the oral lesions of PCM are barely explored. The aim of this study was to report the clinicopathological features of individuals diagnosed with oral PCM lesions at an oral and maxillofacial pathology service in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in the light of a literature review. A retrospective study was conducted on oral biopsies obtained from 1958 to 2021. Additionally, electronic searches were conducted in PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, Latin American and Caribbean Center on Health Sciences Information, and Brazilian Library of Dentistry to gather information from large case series of oral PCM. Ninety-five cases of oral PCM were surveyed. The manifestations were more frequent among males (n=86/90.5%), middle-aged/older adults (n=54/58.7%), and white individuals (n=40/51.9%). The most commonly affected sites were the gingiva/alveolar ridge (n=40/23.4%) and lip/labial commissure (n=33/19.3%); however, one (n=40/42.1%) or multiple sites (n=55/57.9%) could also be affected. In 90 (94.7%) patients, ?mulberry-like? ulcerations/moriform appearance were observed. Data from 21 studies (1,333 cases), mostly Brazilian (90.5%), revealed that men (92.4%; male/female: 11.8:1) and individuals in the fifth and sixth decades of life were the most affected (range: 7-89 years), with the gingiva/alveolar ridge, palate, and lips/labial commissure being the sites most frequently affected. The features of oral PCM lesions are similar to those reported in previous studies from Latin America. Clinicians should be aware of the oral manifestations of PCM, with emphasis on the clinicodemographic aspects and differential diagnoses, especially considering the phenomenon of the emergence of reported cases in rural and/or urban areas of Brazil

Compósito à base de poli(hidroxibutirato) (PHB) reforçado com fibras de rami espécie Bohemeria nivea.

Fibras de rami da espécie Bohemeria nivea foram usadas como elemento de reforço, nas proporções de 5%, 10% e 15%, para melhorar as propriedades mecânicas nos esforços de tração do poli(hidroxibutirato). Para obtenção das fibras foi utilizado o processo de polpação organosolv com uma taxa de lignina residual (kappa) de k=46,2. Nas diferentes etapas de branqueamento das fibras foram obtidos k=29,2 (1a etapa com ClO2); k=24,3 (2a etapa com H2O2); k=19,0 (3a etapa com ClO2) e k=7,6 (4a etapa com H2O2). Nos ensaios mecânicos de tração o Módulo de Elasticidade (MOE) apresentou baixos Coeficientes de Variação (CV) entre 12,45% e 17,35% e pouca dispersão no Desvio Padrão estando entre 50,41MPa e 65,93MPa para amostras de PHB/rami-15% e PHB/rami-5%, respectivamente. Na média o MOE ficou entre 404,86Mpa e 379,93MPa para PHB/rami-15%, e PHB/rami-5%, respectivamente. Com estes resultado é possível inferir que a adição de rami melhora as propriedades mecânicas do poli(hidroxibutirato)

Challenges in a Free Air CO2 Enrichment (FACE) coffee crop experiment to prospect strategies for mitigation and adaptation to climate change.

Huge research efforts have been undertaken to understand how plants and ecosystems, natural or agroecosystems, will respond to increasing CO2 in the atmosphere. In this context, several FACE field experiments were implemented and are underway, with the mission of subsidizing responses to diverse crops, forests, pastures and desert areas. FACE experiments allows the exposure of the plants to high concentrations of CO2 (eCO2) in natural environments, providing ideal conditions for the study impact of CO2 increase. The scientific information obtained through the implementation of the project and the aggregation of partners from other research institutions, can supply with information several policies on climate change

BF Integrase Genes of HIV-1 Circulating in São Paulo, Brazil, with a Recurrent Recombination Region

Although some studies have shown diversity in HIV integrase (IN) genes, none has focused particularly on the gene evolving in epidemics in the context of recombination. The IN gene in 157 HIV-1 integrase inhibitor-naïve patients from the São Paulo State, Brazil, were sequenced tallying 128 of subtype B (23 of which were found in non-B genomes), 17 of subtype F (8 of which were found in recombinant genomes), 11 integrases were BF recombinants, and 1 from subtype C. Crucially, we found that 4 BF recombinant viruses shared a recurrent recombination breakpoint region between positions 4900 and 4924 (relative to the HXB2) that includes 2 gRNA loops, where the RT may stutter. Since these recombinants had independent phylogenetic origin, we argue that these results suggest a possible recombination hotspot not observed so far in BF CRF in particular, or in any other HIV-1 CRF in general. Additionally, 40% of the drug-naïve and 45% of the drug-treated patients had at least 1 raltegravir (RAL) or elvitegravir (EVG) resistance-associated amino acid change, but no major resistance mutations were found, in line with other studies. Importantly, V151I was the most common minor resistance mutation among B, F, and BF IN genes. Most codon sites of the IN genes had higher rates of synonymous substitutions (dS) indicative of a strong negative selection. Nevertheless, several codon sites mainly in the subtype B were found under positive selection. Consequently, we observed a higher genetic diversity in the B portions of the mosaics, possibly due to the more recent introduction of subtype F on top of an ongoing subtype B epidemics and a fast spread of subtype F alleles among the B population