Floristic composition and community structure of epiphytic angiosperms in a terra firme forest in central Amazonia

This survey aimed to describe the floristic composition and structure of the epiphytic community occurring in a terra firme forest in the city of Coari, Brazil, in the Amazon region. Data collection was performed with a 1.5 ha plot method, with which upland, slope and lowland habitats were sampled. All angiosperm epiphytes and their host plants (diameter at breast height > 10 cm) were sampled. We recorded 3.528 individuals in 13 families, 48 genera and 164 species. Araceae was the most prevalent family with regard to the importance value and stood out in all related parameters, followed by Bromeliaceae, Cyclanthaceae and Orchidaceae. The species with the highest epiphytic importance values were Guzmania lingulata (L.) Mez. and Philodendron linnaei Kunth. The predominant life form was hemiepiphytic. Estimated floristic diversity was 3.2 (H'). The studied epiphytic community was distributed among 727 host plants belonging to 40 families, 123 genera and 324 species. One individual of Guarea convergens T.D. Penn. was the host with the highest richness and abundance of epiphytes. Stems/trunks of host plants were the most colonized segments, and the most favorable habitat for epiphytism was the lowlands, where 84.1% of species and 48.2% of epiphytic specimens were observed

Repositioning of the global epicentre of non-optimal cholesterol

High blood cholesterol is typically considered a feature of wealthy western countries1,2. However, dietary and behavioural determinants of blood cholesterol are changing rapidly throughout the world3 and countries are using lipid-lowering medications at varying rates. These changes can have distinct effects on the levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and non-HDL cholesterol, which have different effects on human health4,5. However, the trends of HDL and non-HDL cholesterol levels over time have not been previously reported in a global analysis. Here we pooled 1,127 population-based studies that measured blood lipids in 102.6 million individuals aged 18 years and older to estimate trends from 1980 to 2018 in mean total, non-HDL and HDL cholesterol levels for 200 countries. Globally, there was little change in total or non-HDL cholesterol from 1980 to 2018. This was a net effect of increases in low- and middle-income countries, especially in east and southeast Asia, and decreases in high-income western countries, especially those in northwestern Europe, and in central and eastern Europe. As a result, countries with the highest level of non-HDL cholesterol—which is a marker of cardiovascular risk—changed from those in western Europe such as Belgium, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Malta in 1980 to those in Asia and the Pacific, such as Tokelau, Malaysia, The Philippines and Thailand. In 2017, high non-HDL cholesterol was responsible for an estimated 3.9 million (95% credible interval 3.7 million–4.2 million) worldwide deaths, half of which occurred in east, southeast and south Asia. The global repositioning of lipid-related risk, with non-optimal cholesterol shifting from a distinct feature of high-income countries in northwestern Europe, north America and Australasia to one that affects countries in east and southeast Asia and Oceania should motivate the use of population-based policies and personal interventions to improve nutrition and enhance access to treatment throughout the world.</p

Self-efficacy and learning styles in students who attend specialized music education and students attending regular education - a comparative study

Tendo como pressuposto que a aprendizagem musical é uma ferramenta importante para o desenvolvimento das crianças e que poderá promover e/ou exigir estilos de aprendizagem específicos, bem como níveis de perceção de autoeficácia elevados, pretende-se comparar dois grupos de alunos, estudantes de música e alunos que nunca tiveram esta experiência, relativamente às variáveis “perceção da auto-eficácia” e “estilos de aprendizagem”. De forma a dar resposta aos objetivos do estudo, optou-se pela implementação de um design de investigação descritivo de cariz correlacional que permitiu identificar níveis significativamente superiores de autoeficácia nos estudantes do ensino especializado da música, apesar de não se terem identificado diferenças significativas nos estilos de aprendizagem entre os grupos analisados. Neste percurso investigativo, destacamos o facto de ter tido como ponto de parda um problema que imergiu da prática profissional docente de um dos autores do artigo e que se foi organizando a parr de dados indutivos recolhidos nesse contexto. Este processo permitiu a identificação de questões de investigação decorrentes das observações participantes realizadas e que considerámos importante aferir de uma forma mais objetiva e suportada por dados quantitativos, de forma a clarificar e validar uma primeira análise de natureza meramente qualitativa.ABSTRACT: Assuming that musical learning is an important tool for the development of children and can promote and / or require specific learning styles as well as high self-efficacy perception levels, we intend to compare two groups of students, music students and students who have never had this experience, regarding the variables "perceived selfefficacy" and "learning styles". In order to respond to the objectives of the study, a descriptive, correlational research design was used to identify significantly higher levels of self-efficacy in students of specialized music education, although no significant differences were idenfied in learning styles between the groups analyzed. In this investigative course, we highlight the fact that it had as a starting point a problem that immersed itself from the professional teaching practice of one of the authors of the article and that it was organized based on inducve data collected in that context. This process allowed the identification of research questions resulting from the participant observations that we considered important to assess in a more objective way and supported by quantitative data in order to clarify and validate a first analysis of a purely qualitative nature.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Heterogeneous contributions of change in population distribution of body mass index to change in obesity and underweight

From 1985 to 2016, the prevalence of underweight decreased, and that of obesity and severe obesity increased, in most regions, with significant variation in the magnitude of these changes across regions. We investigated how much change in mean body mass index (BMI) explains changes in the prevalence of underweight, obesity, and severe obesity in different regions using data from 2896 population-based studies with 187 million participants. Changes in the prevalence of underweight and total obesity, and to a lesser extent severe obesity, are largely driven by shifts in the distribution of BMI, with smaller contributions from changes in the shape of the distribution. In East and Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, the underweight tail of the BMI distribution was left behind as the distribution shifted. There is a need for policies that address all forms of malnutrition by making healthy foods accessible and affordable, while restricting unhealthy foods through fiscal and regulatory restrictions. © Copyright