Effects of Segregation on Granulated NPK Sieving – a case study/ Efeitos da segregação na peneiração granulada de NPK - um estudo de caso

Particle segregation is a common, but often neglected problem in bulk solids handling. It is induced by mechanical stresses suffered by a bed of material when vibrated, allowed to freely fall or transfer, provoking particles to reaccommodate size-biased. This phenomenon triggers a series of upsets in production lines. In fertilizer granulation plants, some quality issues of final product and overall process control disturbances can be explained by excess of segregated material being fed to process screening machines. This paper is a case study of sieving inefficiency troubleshooting that took place in an NPK granulation plant in India, where the lack of proper transition between product bucket elevator and a conveyor belt caused material to suffer trajectory segregation. As a result, the granulometry distribution profile on belt was increasingly coarser along its width moving away from elevator’s discharge. When that conveyor fed a pair of screening machines through a stream splitter, one was receiving an excess of undersized particles whereas the other an excess of oversized ones. Even though same flow was being achieved on both machines, a more segregated and homogenous mixture fed to them decreased overall screening efficiency. Poor sieving results in excess of feed to oversize grinders and reduced recycle back to granulator, destabilizing recycle control system and overall granulation process. Given the impossibility of revamping or replacing the existing transition, in this case an inclined chute, palliative measures showed necessary and enough to reduce segregation, increasing screening efficiency to as high as 96% and stabilizing recycle control

Parâmetros genéticos e seleção genotípica em arroz de terras altas / Genetic parameters and genotype selection in upland rice

Para a sustentabilidade do arroz de terras altas e expansão da área de cultivo, é necessário a obtenção e utilização de cultivares mais produtivas e de grãos com alta qualidade. Para tanto, é necessário a avaliação dos genótipos com alto potencial, considerando os parâmetros genéticos e a interação genótipos x ambientes para identificar aqueles mais adaptados. Dentro dos programas de melhoramento a obtenção das estimativas dos parâmetros genéticos e fenotípicos, ganhos genéticos e do progresso ao longo dos anos são essenciais a fim que se possa avaliar a eficiência do programa na condução e seleção das populações.  Diante do exposto, objetivou-se estimar os parâmetros genotípicos e fenotípicos a fim de verificar a eficiência de seleção de genótipos, visando a obtenção de cultivares superiores no programa de melhoramento de arroz de terras altas da UFLA. Os experimentos do Ensaio de Rendimento de Família (ERF) foram conduzidos no município de Lavras – MG, na Universidade Federal de Lavras, durante as safras 2015/2016, 2016/2017 e 2017/2018.  O delineamento foi de blocos casualizados com duas repetições e parcelas constituídas por duas linhas de 3,0 m. Foram avaliadas as seguintes características produtividade de grãos (kg.ha-1) e número de dias decorridos do plantio ao florescimento. Verificou-se a eficiência na seleção de progênies dos Ensaios de Rendimento de Famílias do programa de melhoramento genético de arroz de terras altas com ganhos ao longo das safras de 187,6 kg.ha-1, para produtividade de grãos e redução no número de dias para o florescimento

Determinantes do uso de serviço de fisioterapia entre indivíduos com doença de Parkinson que vivem no Brasil

Descrever a utilização do serviço de fisioterapia e identificar os fatores que determinam o uso desse serviço entre indivíduos com doença de Parkinson (DP) que vivem no Brasil. Métodos: No total, 479 indivíduos com DP idiopática, de ambos os sexos, em qualquer estágio da escala de Hoehn & Yahr (HY) e de sete capitais do Brasil foram recrutados durante 2014 a 2016. A análise de regressão logística multivariada foi a principal ferramenta de análise estatística. Para a construção do modelo logístico foi investigada a associação da variável dependente “fisioterapia” com variáveis independentes sociodemográficas, econômicas e clínicas: idade, educação, renda familiar, tempo de DP desde o início, HY, domínio motor e atividade de vida diária da Unified Parkinson´s Disease Rating Scale, aspectos cognitivos, sintomas depressivos, medo de queda, congelamento marcha, história de quedas, nível de atividade física, velocidade de marcha, capacidade de caminhar e equilíbrio. Resultados: 479 indivíduos apresentaram média de 65,2 ± 11,0 anos, 88% tiveram HY = I-III e 43,4% faziam fisioterapia para a DP. A análise identificou duas principais variáveis determinantes do uso da fisioterapia: educação (OR = 1,24) e capacidade de caminhada (OR = 0,82). A diminuição da capacidade de caminhar e maior nível educacional aumentam o uso da fisioterapia em indivíduos com doença de Parkinson vivendo no Brasil. Conclusões: O presente estudo mostra que indivíduos com DP, residentes de diferentes regiões do Brasil, têm acesso limitado aos serviços de fisioterapia. Além disso, o Sistema Brasileiro de Saúde Pública, bem como os programas locais, precisam atingir pessoas de DP com baixo nível educacional para melhorar seu acesso aos serviços de fisioterapia. Os objetivos devem ser para o desenvolvimento de programas de exercícios físicos para melhorar o desempenho funcional dos pacientes por um período mais longo.To identify the factors affecting the use of physiotherapy services among individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) living in Brazil. Methods: Overall, 479 individuals with idiopathic PD, of both sexes, at any stage of the Hoehn & Yahr (HY) scale, and from seven capital cities in Brazil were recruited from 2014 to 2016. Multivariate logistic regression was the main statistical tool. For the construction of the logistic model, the association of the dependent variable “physiotherapy” with the independent sociodemographic/economic and clinical variables: age, education, family income, time of PD since onset, HY, the activities of daily living and motor subscales of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale, cognitive aspects, depressive symptoms, fear of falling, freezing gait, history of falls, physical activity level, gait speed, walking performance and balance, were verified. Results: The 479 individuals had an average age of 65.2 ± 11.0 years, 88% were in the HY I-III stages and 43.4% were under physiotherapy treatment. The analysis identified two determinant variables related to the use of the physiotherapy service: level of education (OR = 1.24) and walking performance (OR = 0.82). Decreased walking performance and a higher educational level increased the use of a physiotherapy service in individuals with PD living in Brazil. Conclusions: The present study shows that individuals with PD, residents from different regions of Brazil, have limited access to physiotherapy services. In addition, the Brazilian Public Health Care System, as well as local programs, need to target PD individuals with a low educational level to improve their access to physiotherapy services. Goals should aim towards the development of physical exercise programs to improve the patients’ functional performance for a longer period

Leucemia Linfoblástica Aguda (LLA) na população pediátrica: marcadores moleculares e implicações terapêuticas

A Leucemia Linfoblástica Aguda (LLA) é uma forma comum de câncer pediátrico, representando cerca de 80% dos casos de leucemia em crianças. A patologia é caracterizada pela proliferação descontrolada de células-tronco hematopoéticas na medula óssea, e avanços recentes na pesquisa genômica têm proporcionado uma compreensão mais profunda da complexidade molecular subjacente à doença. O presente estudo tem como objetivo oferecer uma visão abrangente dos principais marcadores moleculares e implicações terapêuticas associadas à LLA na população pediátrica. Este estudo, baseado em uma revisão sistemática da literatura científica, abrange o período de 2013 a 2023, utilizando as bases de dados PubMed (Medline), Cochrane Library e Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO). Marcadores moleculares preponderantes, como rearranjos cromossômicos específicos (t(12;21), t(1;19), t(9;22)), mutações genéticas distintivas (ETV6-RUNX1, E2A-PBX1, TP53) e amplificação do gene BCR-ABL1, têm sido objeto de estudo aprofundado. Esses marcadores desempenham um papel crucial na estratificação de risco e prognóstico, permitindo uma abordagem mais personalizada no tratamento da LLA em crianças. As implicações terapêuticas derivadas desses marcadores são vastas, destacando a promissora era das terapias direcionadas. Terapias específicas para mutações, como aquelas direcionadas à mutação BCR-ABL1, e inovações em imunoterapia estão moldando o cenário do tratamento da LLA, proporcionando resultados mais eficazes e menos tóxicos. Os resultados destacam a eficácia das terapias direcionadas e a necessidade contínua de pesquisa para otimizar a intervenção terapêutica, melhorar a qualidade de vida dos pacientes pediátricos afetados pela LLA e explorar novas facetas do tratamento. Em conclusão, este artigo fornece uma análise aprofundada dos marcadores moleculares e terapias associadas à LLA na população pediátrica, destacando avanços significativos e delineando áreas para investigação futura

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

ATLANTIC EPIPHYTES: a data set of vascular and non-vascular epiphyte plants and lichens from the Atlantic Forest

Epiphytes are hyper-diverse and one of the frequently undervalued life forms in plant surveys and biodiversity inventories. Epiphytes of the Atlantic Forest, one of the most endangered ecosystems in the world, have high endemism and radiated recently in the Pliocene. We aimed to (1) compile an extensive Atlantic Forest data set on vascular, non-vascular plants (including hemiepiphytes), and lichen epiphyte species occurrence and abundance; (2) describe the epiphyte distribution in the Atlantic Forest, in order to indicate future sampling efforts. Our work presents the first epiphyte data set with information on abundance and occurrence of epiphyte phorophyte species. All data compiled here come from three main sources provided by the authors: published sources (comprising peer-reviewed articles, books, and theses), unpublished data, and herbarium data. We compiled a data set composed of 2,095 species, from 89,270 holo/hemiepiphyte records, in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay, recorded from 1824 to early 2018. Most of the records were from qualitative data (occurrence only, 88%), well distributed throughout the Atlantic Forest. For quantitative records, the most common sampling method was individual trees (71%), followed by plot sampling (19%), and transect sampling (10%). Angiosperms (81%) were the most frequently registered group, and Bromeliaceae and Orchidaceae were the families with the greatest number of records (27,272 and 21,945, respectively). Ferns and Lycophytes presented fewer records than Angiosperms, and Polypodiaceae were the most recorded family, and more concentrated in the Southern and Southeastern regions. Data on non-vascular plants and lichens were scarce, with a few disjunct records concentrated in the Northeastern region of the Atlantic Forest. For all non-vascular plant records, Lejeuneaceae, a family of liverworts, was the most recorded family. We hope that our effort to organize scattered epiphyte data help advance the knowledge of epiphyte ecology, as well as our understanding of macroecological and biogeographical patterns in the Atlantic Forest. No copyright restrictions are associated with the data set. Please cite this Ecology Data Paper if the data are used in publication and teaching events. © 2019 The Authors. Ecology © 2019 The Ecological Society of Americ

ATLANTIC-PRIMATES: a dataset of communities and occurrences of primates in the Atlantic Forests of South America

Primates play an important role in ecosystem functioning and offer critical insights into human evolution, biology, behavior, and emerging infectious diseases. There are 26 primate species in the Atlantic Forests of South America, 19 of them endemic. We compiled a dataset of 5,472 georeferenced locations of 26 native and 1 introduced primate species, as hybrids in the genera Callithrix and Alouatta. The dataset includes 700 primate communities, 8,121 single species occurrences and 714 estimates of primate population sizes, covering most natural forest types of the tropical and subtropical Atlantic Forest of Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina and some other biomes. On average, primate communities of the Atlantic Forest harbor 2 ± 1 species (range = 1–6). However, about 40% of primate communities contain only one species. Alouatta guariba (N = 2,188 records) and Sapajus nigritus (N = 1,127) were the species with the most records. Callicebus barbarabrownae (N = 35), Leontopithecus caissara (N = 38), and Sapajus libidinosus (N = 41) were the species with the least records. Recorded primate densities varied from 0.004 individuals/km 2 (Alouatta guariba at Fragmento do Bugre, Paraná, Brazil) to 400 individuals/km 2 (Alouatta caraya in Santiago, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil). Our dataset reflects disparity between the numerous primate census conducted in the Atlantic Forest, in contrast to the scarcity of estimates of population sizes and densities. With these data, researchers can develop different macroecological and regional level studies, focusing on communities, populations, species co-occurrence and distribution patterns. Moreover, the data can also be used to assess the consequences of fragmentation, defaunation, and disease outbreaks on different ecological processes, such as trophic cascades, species invasion or extinction, and community dynamics. There are no copyright restrictions. Please cite this Data Paper when the data are used in publications. We also request that researchers and teachers inform us of how they are using the data. © 2018 by the The Authors. Ecology © 2018 The Ecological Society of Americ

The complete genome sequence of Chromobacterium violaceum reveals remarkable and exploitable bacterial adaptability

Chromobacterium violaceum is one of millions of species of free-living microorganisms that populate the soil and water in the extant areas of tropical biodiversity around the world. Its complete genome sequence reveals (i) extensive alternative pathways for energy generation, (ii) ≈500 ORFs for transport-related proteins, (iii) complex and extensive systems for stress adaptation and motility, and (iv) wide-spread utilization of quorum sensing for control of inducible systems, all of which underpin the versatility and adaptability of the organism. The genome also contains extensive but incomplete arrays of ORFs coding for proteins associated with mammalian pathogenicity, possibly involved in the occasional but often fatal cases of human C. violaceum infection. There is, in addition, a series of previously unknown but important enzymes and secondary metabolites including paraquat-inducible proteins, drug and heavy-metal-resistance proteins, multiple chitinases, and proteins for the detoxification of xenobiotics that may have biotechnological applications