RICORS2040 : The need for collaborative research in chronic kidney disease

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a silent and poorly known killer. The current concept of CKD is relatively young and uptake by the public, physicians and health authorities is not widespread. Physicians still confuse CKD with chronic kidney insufficiency or failure. For the wider public and health authorities, CKD evokes kidney replacement therapy (KRT). In Spain, the prevalence of KRT is 0.13%. Thus health authorities may consider CKD a non-issue: very few persons eventually need KRT and, for those in whom kidneys fail, the problem is 'solved' by dialysis or kidney transplantation. However, KRT is the tip of the iceberg in the burden of CKD. The main burden of CKD is accelerated ageing and premature death. The cut-off points for kidney function and kidney damage indexes that define CKD also mark an increased risk for all-cause premature death. CKD is the most prevalent risk factor for lethal coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the factor that most increases the risk of death in COVID-19, after old age. Men and women undergoing KRT still have an annual mortality that is 10- to 100-fold higher than similar-age peers, and life expectancy is shortened by ~40 years for young persons on dialysis and by 15 years for young persons with a functioning kidney graft. CKD is expected to become the fifth greatest global cause of death by 2040 and the second greatest cause of death in Spain before the end of the century, a time when one in four Spaniards will have CKD. However, by 2022, CKD will become the only top-15 global predicted cause of death that is not supported by a dedicated well-funded Centres for Biomedical Research (CIBER) network structure in Spain. Realizing the underestimation of the CKD burden of disease by health authorities, the Decade of the Kidney initiative for 2020-2030 was launched by the American Association of Kidney Patients and the European Kidney Health Alliance. Leading Spanish kidney researchers grouped in the kidney collaborative research network Red de Investigación Renal have now applied for the Redes de Investigación Cooperativa Orientadas a Resultados en Salud (RICORS) call for collaborative research in Spain with the support of the Spanish Society of Nephrology, Federación Nacional de Asociaciones para la Lucha Contra las Enfermedades del Riñón and ONT: RICORS2040 aims to prevent the dire predictions for the global 2040 burden of CKD from becoming true

Produção e textura de feijão-vagem cultivado sob diferentes níveis de sombreamento Snap bean production and texture of fruit under different shade levels

Com o objetivo de estudar a influência da redução da radiação solar sobre a produção e qualidade de frutos de feijão-vagem (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) instalou-se um experimento na Fazenda Escola da Universidade Estadual de Londrina no período de setembro a novembro de 1998. O delineamento experimental foi em blocos ao acaso com quatro repetições. As plantas foram mantidas a 100%; 70%; 50% e 30% de luminosidade pelo emprego de telas de polipropileno, colocadas 15 dias após a emergência (DAE). A redução de 50% da radiação solar promoveu a diminuição do número de vagens por planta, não afetando, porém, o peso de vagem por planta. As plantas submetidas a 100% e 70% de luminosidade apresentaram maior número de vagens e peso de vagens de números 3 e 4 aos 65 DAE. A diminuição da radiação solar não afetou a textura das vagens<br>An experiment was carried out from September to November 1998 on the Universidade Estadual de Londrina, Brazil, to study the influence of reducing solar radiation on the production and quality of snap beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.). A randomized block design was used with four replications. The bean plants were kept under 100%; 70%; 50% and 30% light under polypropylene screens placed 15 days after emergence (DAE). The 50% reduction in solar radiation decreased the number of pods per plant. The pod weight per plant wasn't affected with the decrease in solar radiation. The plants kept at 100% and 70% sunlight had a greater number of pods per plant and higher weight of pods at 65 DAE. Sunlight reduction did not affect the pod textur

Disponibilidade e qualidade do capim-elefante com e sem irrigação adubado com nitrogênio e potássio na estação seca Forage yield and quality of elephantgrass response to irrigation and nitrogen and potassium fertilization in the dry season

Objetivou-se com este trabalho avaliar os efeitos da irrigação e da adubação com N e K sobre a disponibilidade e a qualidade da matéria seca em pastagem de capim-elefante cv. Napier adubada com N e K nas dosagens de 100:80; 200:160; 300:240 e 400:320 kg.ha-1.ano-1 de N e K2O, respectivamente, no período seco do ano. Foram conduzidos dois experimentos (área irrigada - AI e não-irrigada - ANI), segundo delineamento de blocos casualizados com três repetições, em que a unidade experimental consistiu de parcelas (piquetes) de 300 m², nas quais foram aplicados os tratamentos. No período de avaliação (maio a setembro/2001 - período seco), as disponibilidades de matéria seca total (DMST) e lâmina foliar (DMSLF) apresentaram valores proporcionais às doses de nitrogênio e potássio. A irrigação teve efeito significativo sobre a DMSLF. No entanto, os teores de FDN e FDA, ao longo do período seco, na área não-irrigada foram menores que na área irrigada. As concentrações de PB e dos macrominerais (P, K, Ca e Mg) não foram influenciadas pelas doses de N e K e pela irrigação, tanto na área irrigada como na não-irrigada.<br>An experiment was carried out in experimental plots of 300 m² in size to evaluate the effects of doses of NK fertilization and irrigation on forage mass yield and quality of elephantgras cv Napier during the dry season. The experimental design was completely randomized with three treatment replications. The experimental treatments were arranged in a 4 x 2 factorial combination of four N-K2O doses with and without irrigation, in the dry season. N-K2O doses were: 100-80; 200-160; 300-240 and 400-320 kg.ha-1, respectively. Figures for total dry forage mass (TDFM), and dry green leaf mass (DGLM) increased in proportion to N-K2O dose from May to September 2001, the dry season period. Irrigation had a marked significant effect on DGLM yield. Leaf samples from irrigated plots had higher contents of neutral and acid detergent fiber as compared to leaf samples from the control plots. Concentrations of crude protein, potash, phosphorus, calcium and magnesium did not respond either to N-K2O doses or to irrigation

Brazilian Flora 2020: Leveraging the power of a collaborative scientific network

International audienceThe shortage of reliable primary taxonomic data limits the description of biological taxa and the understanding of biodiversity patterns and processes, complicating biogeographical, ecological, and evolutionary studies. This deficit creates a significant taxonomic impediment to biodiversity research and conservation planning. The taxonomic impediment and the biodiversity crisis are widely recognized, highlighting the urgent need for reliable taxonomic data. Over the past decade, numerous countries worldwide have devoted considerable effort to Target 1 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC), which called for the preparation of a working list of all known plant species by 2010 and an online world Flora by 2020. Brazil is a megadiverse country, home to more of the world's known plant species than any other country. Despite that, Flora Brasiliensis, concluded in 1906, was the last comprehensive treatment of the Brazilian flora. The lack of accurate estimates of the number of species of algae, fungi, and plants occurring in Brazil contributes to the prevailing taxonomic impediment and delays progress towards the GSPC targets. Over the past 12 years, a legion of taxonomists motivated to meet Target 1 of the GSPC, worked together to gather and integrate knowledge on the algal, plant, and fungal diversity of Brazil. Overall, a team of about 980 taxonomists joined efforts in a highly collaborative project that used cybertaxonomy to prepare an updated Flora of Brazil, showing the power of scientific collaboration to reach ambitious goals. This paper presents an overview of the Brazilian Flora 2020 and provides taxonomic and spatial updates on the algae, fungi, and plants found in one of the world's most biodiverse countries. We further identify collection gaps and summarize future goals that extend beyond 2020. Our results show that Brazil is home to 46,975 native species of algae, fungi, and plants, of which 19,669 are endemic to the country. The data compiled to date suggests that the Atlantic Rainforest might be the most diverse Brazilian domain for all plant groups except gymnosperms, which are most diverse in the Amazon. However, scientific knowledge of Brazilian diversity is still unequally distributed, with the Atlantic Rainforest and the Cerrado being the most intensively sampled and studied biomes in the country. In times of “scientific reductionism”, with botanical and mycological sciences suffering pervasive depreciation in recent decades, the first online Flora of Brazil 2020 significantly enhanced the quality and quantity of taxonomic data available for algae, fungi, and plants from Brazil. This project also made all the information freely available online, providing a firm foundation for future research and for the management, conservation, and sustainable use of the Brazilian funga and flora