Description of rio grande do sul grasslands through landscape ecology

Considerando a diminuição das áreas dos campos nativos do Rio Grande do Sul em detrimento da expansão da agricultura, este trabalho enfatiza o aspecto de conservação desta paisagem campestre. São caracterizadas aqui ambas as paisagens, cultural e natural, representativas das formações campestres do Rio Grande do Sul. Apesar da diversidade das paisagens naturais de fisionomia campestre existente no Estado, a paisagem cultural parece ser relativamente uniforme e intimamente ligada à atividade inicialmente exercida neste ambiente, a pecuária extensiva. A paisagem cultural do Gaúcho só existe sobre a paisagem natural campestre. Assim, a identidade regional construída sobre os campos nativos do Rio Grande do Sul, bem como a atividade econômica a eles associada, podem ser aplicadas como ferramentas adicionais aos esforços para a conservação desta paisagem única.Due to the increment of agriculture over native grassland areas in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil, both natural and cultural representations of this landscape are described here. In spite of the great diversity between the natural grassland landscapes in this State, the cultural landscape seems rather uniform and closely related to its first post-colonial economic activity: extensive cattle ranching. The cultural landscape of the gaucho exists strictly over native grasslands; both facets of this landscape are loosing area to crop cultivation. Therefore, the regional identity sprung from the native grasslands in southern Brazil, as well as the economic activity linked to both gaucho and grassland, may be used as additional tools towards conserving this unique landscape

Caracterização dos campos sul-rio-grandenses: uma perspectiva da ecologia da paisagem

Considerando a diminuição das áreas dos campos nativos do Rio Grande do Sulem detrimento da expansão da agricultura, este trabalho enfatiza o aspectode conservação desta paisagem campestre. São caracterizadas aqui ambas aspaisagens, cultural e natural, representativas das formações campestres do Rio Grande do Sul. Apesar da diversidade das paisagens naturais de fisionomiacampestre existente no Estado, a paisagem cultural parece ser relativamenteuniforme e intimamente ligada à atividade inicialmente exercida nesteambiente, a pecuária extensiva. A paisagem cultural do Gaúcho só existesobre a paisagem natural campestre. Assim, a identidade regional construídasobre os campos nativos do Rio Grande do Sul, bem como a atividadeeconômica a eles associada, podem ser aplicadas como ferramentas adicionaisaos esforços para a conservação desta paisagem única

Exceptional capture of methane at low pressure by an iron‐based metal‐organic framework

The selective capture of methane (CH4) at low concentrations and its separation from N2 are extremely challenging owing to the weak host-guest interactions between CH4 molecules and any sorbent material. Here, we report the exceptional adsorption of CH4 at low pressure and efficient separation of CH4/N2 by MFM-300(Fe). MFM-300(Fe) shows a very high uptake for CH4 of 0.85 mmol g−1 at 1 mbar and 298 K and a record CH4/N2 selectivity of 45 for porous solids, representing a new benchmark for CH4 capture and CH4/N2 separation. The excellent separation of CH4/N2 by MFM-300(Fe) has been confirmed by dynamic breakthrough experiments. In situ neutron powder diffraction, and solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance and diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopies, coupled with modelling, reveal a unique and strong binding of CH4 molecules involving Fe-OH···CH4 and C···phenyl ring interactions within the pores of MFM-300(Fe), thus promoting the exceptional adsorption of CH4 at low pressure

Effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and angiotensin receptor blocker initiation on organ support-free days in patients hospitalized with COVID-19

IMPORTANCE Overactivation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) may contribute to poor clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19. Objective To determine whether angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) initiation improves outcomes in patients hospitalized for COVID-19. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In an ongoing, adaptive platform randomized clinical trial, 721 critically ill and 58 non–critically ill hospitalized adults were randomized to receive an RAS inhibitor or control between March 16, 2021, and February 25, 2022, at 69 sites in 7 countries (final follow-up on June 1, 2022). INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomized to receive open-label initiation of an ACE inhibitor (n = 257), ARB (n = 248), ARB in combination with DMX-200 (a chemokine receptor-2 inhibitor; n = 10), or no RAS inhibitor (control; n = 264) for up to 10 days. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was organ support–free days, a composite of hospital survival and days alive without cardiovascular or respiratory organ support through 21 days. The primary analysis was a bayesian cumulative logistic model. Odds ratios (ORs) greater than 1 represent improved outcomes. RESULTS On February 25, 2022, enrollment was discontinued due to safety concerns. Among 679 critically ill patients with available primary outcome data, the median age was 56 years and 239 participants (35.2%) were women. Median (IQR) organ support–free days among critically ill patients was 10 (–1 to 16) in the ACE inhibitor group (n = 231), 8 (–1 to 17) in the ARB group (n = 217), and 12 (0 to 17) in the control group (n = 231) (median adjusted odds ratios of 0.77 [95% bayesian credible interval, 0.58-1.06] for improvement for ACE inhibitor and 0.76 [95% credible interval, 0.56-1.05] for ARB compared with control). The posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitors and ARBs worsened organ support–free days compared with control were 94.9% and 95.4%, respectively. Hospital survival occurred in 166 of 231 critically ill participants (71.9%) in the ACE inhibitor group, 152 of 217 (70.0%) in the ARB group, and 182 of 231 (78.8%) in the control group (posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitor and ARB worsened hospital survival compared with control were 95.3% and 98.1%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this trial, among critically ill adults with COVID-19, initiation of an ACE inhibitor or ARB did not improve, and likely worsened, clinical outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT0273570

Caracterização dos campos sul-rio-grandenses: uma perspectiva da ecologia da paisagem

Considerando a diminuição das áreas dos campos nativos do Rio Grande do Sulem detrimento da expansão da agricultura, este trabalho enfatiza o aspectode conservação desta paisagem campestre. São caracterizadas aqui ambas aspaisagens, cultural e natural, representativas das formações campestres do Rio Grande do Sul. Apesar da diversidade das paisagens naturais de fisionomiacampestre existente no Estado, a paisagem cultural parece ser relativamenteuniforme e intimamente ligada à atividade inicialmente exercida nesteambiente, a pecuária extensiva. A paisagem cultural do Gaúcho só existesobre a paisagem natural campestre. Assim, a identidade regional construídasobre os campos nativos do Rio Grande do Sul, bem como a atividadeeconômica a eles associada, podem ser aplicadas como ferramentas adicionaisaos esforços para a conservação desta paisagem única

Lowland tapir distribution and habitat loss in South America

The development of species distribution models (SDMs) can help conservation efforts by generating potential distributions and identifying areas of high environmental suitability for protection. Our study presents a distribution and habitat map for lowland tapir in South America. We also describe the potential habitat suitability of various geographical regions and habitat loss, inside and outside of protected areas network. Two different SDM approaches, MAXENT and ENFA, produced relative different Habitat Suitability Maps for the lowland tapir. While MAXENT was efficient at identifying areas as suitable or unsuitable, it was less efficient (when compared to the results by ENFA) at identifying the gradient of habitat suitability. MAXENT is a more multifaceted technique that establishes more complex relationships between dependent and independent variables. Our results demonstrate that for at least one species, the lowland tapir, the use of a simple consensual approach (average of ENFA and MAXENT models outputs) better reflected its current distribution patterns. The Brazilian ecoregions have the highest habitat loss for the tapir. Cerrado and Atlantic Forest account for nearly half (48.19%) of the total area lost. The Amazon region contains the largest area under protection, and the most extensive remaining habitat for the tapir, but also showed high levels of habitat loss outside protected areas, which increases the importance of support for proper management

High adsorption of ammonia in a titanium–based metal-organic framework

We report the high adsorption of NH3 in the titanium-based metal-organic framework, MFM-300(Ti), comprising extended [TiO6]∞ chains linked by biphenyl-3,3’,5,5’-tetracarboxylate ligands. At 273 K and 1 bar, MFM-300(Ti) shows an exceptional NH3 uptake of 23.4 mmol g–1 with a record-high packing density of 0.84 g cm–3. Dynamic breakthrough experiments confirm the excellent uptake and separation of NH3 at low concentration (1000 ppm). The combination of in situ neutron powder diffraction and spectroscopic studies reveal strong, yet reversible binding interactions of NH3 to the framework oxygen sites

Highly efficient proton conduction in the metal-organic framework material MFM-300(Cr).SO4(H3O)2

[Image: see text] The development of materials showing rapid proton conduction with a low activation energy and stable performance over a wide temperature range is an important and challenging line of research. Here, we report confinement of sulfuric acid within porous MFM-300(Cr) to give MFM-300(Cr)·SO(4)(H(3)O)(2), which exhibits a record-low activation energy of 0.04 eV, resulting in stable proton conductivity between 25 and 80 °C of >10(–2) S cm(–1). In situ synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction (SXPD), neutron powder diffraction (NPD), quasielastic neutron scattering (QENS), and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation reveal the pathways of proton transport and the molecular mechanism of proton diffusion within the pores. Confined sulfuric acid species together with adsorbed water molecules play a critical role in promoting the proton transfer through this robust network to afford a material in which proton conductivity is almost temperature-independent