Environmental Costs of Government-Sponsored Agrarian Settlements in Brazilian Amazonia

Brazil has presided over the most comprehensive agrarian reform frontier colonization program on Earth, in which ~1.2 million settlers have been translocated by successive governments since the 1970's, mostly into forested hinterlands of Brazilian Amazonia. These settlements encompass 5.3% of this ~5 million km2 region, but have contributed with 13.5% of all land conversion into agropastoral land uses. The Brazilian Federal Agrarian Agency (INCRA) has repeatedly claimed that deforestation in these areas largely predates the sanctioned arrival of new settlers. Here, we quantify rates of natural vegetation conversion across 1911 agrarian settlements allocated to 568 Amazonian counties and compare fire incidence and deforestation rates before and after the official occupation of settlements by migrant farmers. The timing and spatial distribution of deforestation and fires in our analysis provides irrefutable chronological and spatially explicit evidence of agropastoral conversion both inside and immediately outside agrarian settlements over the last decade. Deforestation rates are strongly related to local human population density and road access to regional markets. Agrarian settlements consistently accelerated rates of deforestation and fires, compared to neighboring areas outside settlements, but within the same counties. Relocated smallholders allocated to forest areas undoubtedly operate as pivotal agents of deforestation, and most of the forest clearance occurs in the aftermath of government-induced migration

Coherent coupling between radio frequency, optical, and acoustic waves in piezo-optomechanical circuits

The interaction of optical and mechanical modes in nanoscale optomechanical systems has been widely studied for applications ranging from sensing to quantum information science. Here, we develop a platform for cavity optomechanical circuits in which localized and interacting 1550 nm photons and 2.4 GHz phonons are combined with photonic and phononic waveguides. Working in GaAs facilitates manipulation of the localized mechanical mode either with a radio frequency field through the piezo-electric effect, or optically through the strong photoelastic effect. We use this to demonstrate a novel acoustic wave interference effect, analogous to coherent population trapping in atomic systems, in which the coherent mechanical motion induced by the electrical drive can be completely cancelled out by the optically-driven motion. The ability to manipulate cavity optomechanical systems with equal facility through either photonic or phononic channels enables new device and system architectures for signal transduction between the optical, electrical, and mechanical domains

A New Method to Predict the Epidemiology of Fungal Keratitis by Monitoring the Sales Distribution of Antifungal Eye Drops in Brazil

Purpose: Fungi are a major cause of keratitis, although few medications are licensed for their treatment. The aim of this study is to observe the variation in commercialisation of antifungal eye drops, and to predict the seasonal distribution of fungal keratitis in Brazil. Methods: Data from a retrospective study of antifungal eye drops sales from the only pharmaceutical ophthalmologic laboratory, authorized to dispense them in Brazil (Opthalmos) were gathered. These data were correlated with geographic and seasonal distribution of fungal keratitis in Brazil between July 2002 and June 2008. Results: A total of 26,087 antifungal eye drop units were sold, with a mean of 2.3 per patient. There was significant variation in antifungal sales during the year (p < 0.01). A linear regression model displayed a significant association between reduced relative humidity and antifungal drug sales (R-2 = 0.17, p < 0.01). Conclusions: Antifungal eye drops sales suggest that there is a seasonal distribution of fungal keratitis. A possible interpretation is that the third quarter of the year (a period when the climate is drier), when agricultural activity is more intense in Brazil, suggests a correlation with a higher incidence of fungal keratitis. A similar model could be applied to other diseases, that are managed with unique, or few, and monitorable medications to predict epidemiological aspects.Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e TecnologicoConselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico [302005/2009-9]Fundacao de Apoio ao Ensino, Pesquisa e Assistencia do Hospital das Clinicas da Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirao Preto da Universidade de Sao PauloFundacao de Apoio ao Ensino, Pesquisa e Assistencia do Hospital das Clinicas da Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirao Preto da Universidade de Sao Paul

Niobium and niobium-iron coatings on API 5LX 70 steel applied with HVOF

The present study aimed to create and characterize niobium and niobium-iron60% coatings applied to steel API 5L X70 using the hypersonic thermal spray process (HVOF). The morphologies of the coatings were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and profilometry, while the coatings’ hardnesses was evaluated using the Vickers hardness test. The coatings’ corrosion resistance was evaluated by monitoring their open circuit potential and potentiodynamic polarization and performing electrochemical impedance spectroscopy in a 0.05 M NaCl solution. The results showed that the niobium-iron coating contained minor porosity regions, while such defects occurred over large regions of the niobium coating. In terms of corrosion resistance, the coatings obtained in this work promoted a reduction in the substrate’s corrosion rate, but the presence of discontinuities such as porosity compromised the barrier effects of these coatings

Experimental evidence of rainbow trapping and Bloch oscillations of torsional waves in chirped metallic beams

[EN] The Bloch oscillations (BO) and the rainbow trapping (RT) are two apparently unrelated phenomena, the former arising in solid state physics and the latter in metamaterials. A Bloch oscillation, on the one hand, is a counter-intuitive effect in which electrons start to oscillate in a crystalline structure when a static electric field is applied. This effect has been observed not only in solid state physics but also in optical and acoustical structured systems since a static electric field can be mimicked by a chirped structure. The RT, on the other hand, is a phenomenon in which the speed of a wave packet is slowed down in a dielectric structure; different colors then arrive to different depths within the structure thus separating the colors also in time. Here we show experimentally the emergence of both phenomena studying the propagation of torsional waves in chirped metallic beams. Experiments are performed in three aluminum beams in which different structures were machined: one periodic and two chirped. For the smaller value of the chirping parameter the wave packets, with different central frequencies, are back-scattered at different positions inside the corrugated beam; the packets with higher central frequencies being the ones with larger penetration depths. This behavior represents the mechanical analogue of the rainbow trapping effect. This phenomenon is the precursor of the mechanical Bloch oscillations, which are here demonstrated for a larger value of the chirping parameter. It is observed that the oscillatory behavior observed at small values of the chirp parameter is rectified according to the penetration length of the wave packet.Work partially supported by DGAPA-UNAM under projects PAPIIT IN103115 and IN109318 and by CONACYT project 284096. A.A.L. acknowledges CONACYT for the support granted to pursue his Ph.D. studies. G. Baez received CONACYT's financial support. RAMS received support from DGAPA-UNAM under program PASPA. We thank M. Martinez, A. Martinez, V. Dominguez-Rocha, E. Flores and E. Sadurni for invaluable comments. F.C., A.C. and J.S-D. acknowledge the support by the Ministerio de Economa y Competitividad of the Spanish government, and the European Union FEDER through project TEC2014-53088-C3-1-R.Arreola-Lucas, A.; Baez, G.; Cervera Moreno, FS.; Climente Alarcón, A.; Mendez-Sanchez, R.; Sánchez-Dehesa Moreno-Cid, J. (2019). Experimental evidence of rainbow trapping and Bloch oscillations of torsional waves in chirped metallic beams. Scientific Reports. 9:1860-1872. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-37842-7S186018729Ascroft, N. W. & Mermin, N. D. Solid State Physics (Hold, Reinhart & Winston, 1972).Kadic, M., Buckmann, T., Schittny, R. & Wegener, M. Metamaterials beyond electromagnetism. Rep. Prog. Phys. 76, 126501 (2013).Cummer, S. A., Christensen, J. & Alù, A. 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J. & Bartoli, F. Trapping and releasing at telecommunication wavelengths. Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 056801, https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.102.056801 (2009).Park, J., Boarman, A. D. & Hess, O. Trapping light in plasmonic waveguides. Opt. Express 18, 598–623, https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.18.000598 (2010).Zhao, D., Li, Y. & Zhu, X. Trapped rainbow effect in visible light left-handed heterostructures. Appl. Phys. Lett. 95, 071111, https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3211867 (2009).Smolyaninova, V. N., Smolyaninov, I. I., Kildishev, A. V. & Shalaev, V. Experimental observation of the trapped rainbow. Appl. Phys. Lett. 96, 211121, https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3442501 (2010).Ni, X. et al. Acoustic rainbow trapping by coiling up space. Sci. Rep. 4, 7038, https://doi.org/10.1038/srep07038 (2014).Zhu, J. et al. Acoustic rainbow trapping. Sci. Rep. 3, 1728, https://doi.org/10.1038/srep01728 (2013).Romero-García, V., Picó, R., Cebrecos, A., Sánchez-Morcillo, V. J. & Staliunas, K. Enhancement of sound in chirped sonic cristals. Appl. Phys. Lett. 102, 091906, https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4793575 (2013).Cebrecos, A. et al. Enhancement of sound by soft reflections in exponentially chirped cristals. AIP Adv. 4, 124402, https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4902508 (2014).Zhao, D., Li, Y. & Zhu, X. Broadband lamb wave trapping in cellular metamaterial plates with multiple local resonances. Sci. Rep. 5, 9376, https://doi.org/10.1038/srep09376 (2015).Gutierrez, L. et al. Wannier-stark ladders in one-dimensional elastic systems. Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 114301, https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.97.114301 (2006).Morales, A., Flores, J., Gutierrez, L. & Méndez-Sánchez, R. A. Compressional and torsional wave amplitudes in rods with periodic structures. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 112, 1961, https://doi.org/10.1121/1.1509431 (2002).Arreola-Lucas, A. et al. Bloch oscillations in mechanical vibrations. PIERS proceedings. (to appear).Graff, K. F. Wave Motion in Elastic Solids (Dover, 1991)

Genome of the Avirulent Human-Infective Trypanosome—Trypanosoma rangeli

Background: Trypanosoma rangeli is a hemoflagellate protozoan parasite infecting humans and other wild and domestic mammals across Central and South America. It does not cause human disease, but it can be mistaken for the etiologic agent of Chagas disease, Trypanosoma cruzi. We have sequenced the T. rangeli genome to provide new tools for elucidating the distinct and intriguing biology of this species and the key pathways related to interaction with its arthropod and mammalian hosts.  Methodology/Principal Findings: The T. rangeli haploid genome is ,24 Mb in length, and is the smallest and least repetitive trypanosomatid genome sequenced thus far. This parasite genome has shorter subtelomeric sequences compared to those of T. cruzi and T. brucei; displays intraspecific karyotype variability and lacks minichromosomes. Of the predicted 7,613 protein coding sequences, functional annotations could be determined for 2,415, while 5,043 are hypothetical proteins, some with evidence of protein expression. 7,101 genes (93%) are shared with other trypanosomatids that infect humans. An ortholog of the dcl2 gene involved in the T. brucei RNAi pathway was found in T. rangeli, but the RNAi machinery is non-functional since the other genes in this pathway are pseudogenized. T. rangeli is highly susceptible to oxidative stress, a phenotype that may be explained by a smaller number of anti-oxidant defense enzymes and heatshock proteins.  Conclusions/Significance: Phylogenetic comparison of nuclear and mitochondrial genes indicates that T. rangeli and T. cruzi are equidistant from T. brucei. In addition to revealing new aspects of trypanosome co-evolution within the vertebrate and invertebrate hosts, comparative genomic analysis with pathogenic trypanosomatids provides valuable new information that can be further explored with the aim of developing better diagnostic tools and/or therapeutic targets