Flooding regime drives tree community structure in Neotropical dry forests

Questions: Riverine and associated vegetation communities are periodically affected by floods. However, there have been few quantitative studies on the structural responses of Neotropical tree communities in semi-arid regions to this perturbance. Here, we ask whether flooding regimes and soil attributes affect tree species diversity, composition, community structure, and soil attributes in Neotropical dry forests. Locations: Southeast Brazil. Methods: We sampled 120 forest plots of 400 m² totaling 4.8 ha across four tributaries of the São Francisco River with plots situated in areas representing three flooding regimes: (a) annually flooded; (b) occasionally flooded; and (c) never subjected to flooding. Using linear mixed-effects models, we modelled how flooding regime and soil properties (fertility and texture) affect vegetation diversity (species richness), species composition and structural attributes (abundance of individuals, above-ground biomass [AGB], and a community-weighted trait average of multistemness [CWMms]) of these forest plots. Results: Species richness in the annually flooded forests was significantly lower than in occasionally flooded or never flooded forests, in agreement with our models, which showed that flooding regime was a significant predictor for this variable. Flooding regime was a significant predictor of CWMms, with plots in annually flooded forest sites having the highest CWMms values. Soil chemical attributes were a significant predictor of AGB across all plots but not between flooding regime categories. Conclusions: In Neotropical dry forests, environmental filters established by flooding can lead to differences among distinct biomes in vegetation structure, diversity patterns as well as system productivity. Conservation strategies for dry forests should therefore take these factors into consideration. Our study also highlights annually flooded dry forest as a significant component of the regional diversity of dry forests deserving of management attention

Uma Aproximação dos Signos - Fisioterapia e Saúde - aos Aspectos Humanos e Sociais Approaching the Signs - Physiotherapy and Health - to the Human and Social Aspects

A Fisioterapia, como profissão da área da Saúde, tem em sua origem a característica reabilitadora inserida em suas práticas. Contudo, sua atuação estende-se à prevenção de doenças e à promoção da saúde de um indivíduo ou da coletividade, enfoque de disciplinas comuns a cursos da área, como é o caso da Saúde Coletiva. Também considerada campo de conhecimento, a Saúde Coletiva aproxima os olhares do futuro profissional aos aspectos humanos e sociais imbricados nas ações voltadas à saúde da coletividade, e que, por esse mesmo motivo, aproxima-se das demais Ciências do saber. Durante muito tempo, as pesquisas em Ciências Sociais relacionando-se à Saúde estiveram voltadas aos profissionais médicos, em detrimento dos demais profissionais de saúde. A articulação da Fisioterapia com as Ciências Sociais permite um olhar histórico-humano-social sobre as ações de saúde e da prevenção de doenças. Outra inter-relação da Fisioterapia é com a linguagem, permitindo-se o encontro com a realidade. É nesse momento, segundo Bakhtin (2002), que o sujeito se faz histórico. A ideologia que perpassa as ações em equipes, compostas de profissionais de saúde, pode ser desvelada por meio da análise de seus discursos, revelando os elementos constituintes de suas práticas profissionais e que possam estar impedindo as transformações do perfil de saúdedoença de uma coletividade. A ancoragem metodológica que permitiu a construção deste ensaio foi o Materialismo histórico e dialético, com base na teoria marxiana.<br>Physiotherapy, as a profession of the Health area, has, in its origin, the rehabilitation characteristic inserted in its practices. However, its activity extends to disease prevention and health promotion of an individual or of the collectivity. This focus is present in disciplines that are part of the courses in the area, as it is the case of Collective Health. Also considered a knowledge field, Collective Health provides the future professional with a closer look at the human and social aspects embedded in the actions directed to the community's health. For this reason, Collective Health has many interfaces with the other knowledge Sciences. For a long time, research in Social Sciences that was related to Health was directed at the medical professionals, which was detrimental to the other health professionals. The articulation of Physiotherapy with the Social Sciences allows a historical, human and social look at health and disease prevention actions. Physiotherapy also has an interrelation with language, allowing the subject to meet with reality. According to Bakhtin (2002), it is at this moment that the subject becomes historical. The ideology that pervades the actions of teams that are composed of health professionals can be disclosed through the analysis of their discourses, showing the elements that constitute their professional practices and that may be hindering the transformations in the health-illness profile of a collectivity. This essay was methodologically supported by historical and dialectical Materialism, based on Marx's theory

SARS-CoV-2 intra-host diversity, antibody response, and disease severity after reinfection by the variant of concern Gamma in Brazil

Abstract The rapid spread of the SARS-CoV-2 Variant of Concern (VOC) Gamma in Amazonas during early 2021 fueled a second large COVID-19 epidemic wave and raised concern about the potential role of reinfections. Very few cases of reinfection associated with the VOC Gamma have been reported to date, and their potential impact on clinical, immunological, and virological parameters remains largely unexplored. Here we describe 25 cases of SARS-CoV-2 reinfection in Brazil. SARS-CoV-2 genomic analysis confirmed that individuals were primo-infected with distinct viral lineages between March and December 2020 (B.1.1, B.1.1.28, B.1.1.33, B.1.195, and P.2) and reinfected with the VOC Gamma between 3 to 12 months after primo-infection. We found a similar mean cycle threshold (Ct) value and limited intra-host viral diversity in both primo-infection and reinfection samples. Sera of 14 patients tested 10–75 days after reinfection displayed detectable neutralizing antibodies (NAb) titers against SARS-CoV-2 variants that circulated before (B.1.*), during (Gamma), and after (Delta and Omicron) the second epidemic wave in Brazil. All individuals had milder or no symptoms after reinfection, and none required hospitalization. These findings demonstrate that individuals reinfected with the VOC Gamma may display relatively high RNA viral loads at the upper respiratory tract after reinfection, thus contributing to onward viral transmissions. Despite this, our study points to a low overall risk of severe Gamma reinfections, supporting that the abrupt increase in hospital admissions and deaths observed in Amazonas and other Brazilian states during the Gamma wave was mostly driven by primary infections. Our findings also indicate that most individuals analyzed developed a high anti-SARS-CoV-2 NAb response after reinfection that may provide some protection against reinfection or disease by different SARS-CoV-2 variants

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