Where do they live? Predictive geographic distribution of Tadarida brasiliensis brasiliensis (Chiroptera, Molossidae) in South America

Tadarida brasiliensis, the Brazilian free-tailed bat, is an insectivorous molossid with a wide distribution in the Americas. It occurs in different ecosystems and uses varied shelters, from caves and crevices to human constructions, such as roofs and ceilings. Despite its wide distribution, there are several sampling gaps that make it difficult to identify the regions where the species occurs. This is a particular problem for the subspecies T. brasiliensis brasiliensis in South America, a region with few studies in comparison to North America. Considering these problems involved with identifying the distribution of T. b. brasiliensis in South America, we inferred its distribution based on 121 confirmed occurrences for the subspecies. We created a species distribution model (SDM) using the ensemble approach from the combination of BIOCLIM, SVM, GLM and MaxEnt algorithms. The resulting model suggested that the subspecies is unlikely to occur in the Amazon region and has a positive affinity with human population density, topography, a lower vegetation index, and the precipitation in the driest month. Our results show there is a large continuous area suitable for T. b. brasiliensis in central and eastern South America, with interruptions and narrow areas toward Central America. The population in this last area is separated from a smaller site in Chile by Andean deserts, snowy peaks, and high-altitude points. Our results demonstrated that along its distribution suitable habitat for T. b. brasiliensis is not continuous. The discontinuities in populations require further investigation to determine if there are phylogeographic consequences for the species

Health-related quality of life in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus in the different geographical regions of Brazil : data from the Brazilian Type 1 Diabetes Study Group

Background: In type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) management, enhancing health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is as important as good metabolic control and prevention of secondary complications. This study aims to evaluate possible regional differences in HRQoL, demographic features and clinical characteristics of patients with T1DM in Brazil, a country of continental proportions, as well as investigate which variables could influence the HRQoL of these individuals and contribute to these regional disparities. Methods: This was a retrospective, cross-sectional, multicenter study performed by the Brazilian Type 1 Diabetes Study Group (BrazDiab1SG), by analyzing EuroQol scores from 3005 participants with T1DM, in 28 public clinics, among all geographical regions of Brazil. Data on demography, economic status, chronic complications, glycemic control and lipid profile were also collected. Results: We have found that the North-Northeast region presents a higher index in the assessment of the overall health status (EQ-VAS) compared to the Southeast (74.6 ± 30 and 70.4 ± 19, respectively; p < 0.05). In addition, North- Northeast presented a lower frequency of self-reported anxiety-depression compared to all regions of the country (North-Northeast: 1.53 ± 0.6; Southeast: 1.65 ± 0.7; South: 1.72 ± 0.7; Midwest: 1.67 ± 0.7; p < 0.05). These findings could not be entirely explained by the HbA1c levels or the other variables examined. Conclusions: Our study points to the existence of additional factors not yet evaluated that could be determinant in the HRQoL of people with T1DM and contribute to these regional disparities

A aventura crítica da semiótica

A aventura crítica da semiótica percorre as principais teses sobre a semiótica e a comunicação conforme trabalhadas na primeira etapa da pesquisa Semiótica Crítica, denominada Por uma teoria das materialidades na comunicação. Nela, o Grupo de Pesquisa Semiótica e Culturas da Comunicação procurou discutir as potencialidades e limites de uma perspectiva comunicacional não somente fundamentada nos trabalhos fundadores da semiótica (Saussure, Peirce) e desenvolvida em seus modelos estruturalistas (como em Jakobson, Barthes, Hjelmslev e Lotman), mas também revisitada pelos textos que operaram uma desconstrução do estruturalismo pelo interior dos postulados deste próprio estruturalismo (Derrida, Kristeva, Deleuze, Guattari). O artigo apresenta esta proposta pelos modos como a pesquisa trabalhou com dez desconstruções ligadas a conceitos e problemas teóricos centrais ao debate das materialidades da comunicação: semiótica, comunicação, materialidades, presença, fenômeno, representâmen, meios, signo e significante, estrutura e sistema, sugerindo uma passagem das materialidades à imanência de uma comunicação micropolítica e póshumana.The critical adventure of semiotics courses through the main theses about semiotics and communication that have been discussed during the first stage of the research Critical Semiotics: Towards a theory of materialities in communication. In it, the Semiotics and Communication Cultures Research Group (GPESC) discussed the potentialities and limits of a communicational perspective not only based on the founding works of semiotic research (Saussure, Peirce) and developed in its structuralist models (Jakobson, Barthes, Hjelmslev, Lotman), but also revisited by ideas that deconstructed structuralism through the postulates of this very structuralism (Derrida, Kristeva, Deleuze, Guattari). The paper presents this suggestion by means of ten deconstructions related to concepts and theoretical problems which are key to the debate around the materialities of communication: semiotics, communication, materialities, presence, phenomenon, representamen, mediums, sign and significant, structure and system. In so doing, it suggests a move from materialities towards the immanence of a micropolitical and posthuman communication

Outcomes from elective colorectal cancer surgery during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

This study aimed to describe the change in surgical practice and the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on mortality after surgical resection of colorectal cancer during the initial phases of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

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