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

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 understanding 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,5,6,7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8,9,10,11 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 underrepresented in biodiversity databases.13,14,15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may eliminate pieces of the Amazon's biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological communities 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 organism 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 neglected 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 lost

Avaliação da toxicidade de materiais endodônticos em células-tronco da polpa dentária / Toxicity evaluation of endodontic materials in dental pulp stem cells

Submitted by Ana Maria Fiscina Sampaio ([email protected]) on 2012-12-12T19:32:45Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Miura, Carlos A.S. Avaliação da toxicidade....pdf: 423981 bytes, checksum: 6279bf4e6521d2e970b79f2fe9c45ea6 (MD5)Made available in DSpace on 2012-12-12T19:32:45Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Miura, Carlos A.S. Avaliação da toxicidade....pdf: 423981 bytes, checksum: 6279bf4e6521d2e970b79f2fe9c45ea6 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010Faculdade de Odontologia de Bauru da USP. São Paulo, SP, BrasilFundação Oswaldo Cruz. Centro de Pesquisas Gonçalo Moniz. Salvador, BA, BrasilUniversidade Federal do Vale do São Francisco. Faculdade de Medicina. Petrolina, PE, BrasilUniversidade de São Paulo. Faculdade de Odontologia de Bauru. Bauru, SP, BrasilUniversidade Federal da Bahia. Faculdade de Odontologia. Salvador, BA, BrasilO objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar ao efeito citotóxico doHidróxido de Cálcio, Paramonoclorofenol Canforado, Otosporin eFormocresol diluído em células-tronco da polpa de dente permanentehumano (DPSC). As DPSC foram semeadas em placa decultura na concentração de 1,5X104 células/poço. Foram feitasdiluições das drogas em 1:9, 1:27 e 1:81 e deixadas em contatocom as células por 2 horas, sendo que o grupo controle foi mantidoem DMEM completo. As células foram lavadas com soluçãosalina duas vezes. Foram realizadas avaliações do metabolismo(MTT). Concluiu-se que o Hidróxido de Cálcio e o Otosporinforam as drogas menos tóxicas para as DPSC, enquanto que oParamonofenol Canforado e o Formocresol foram letais em todas asconcentrações.The aim of this paper was analyze the cytotoxicity effect ofCalcium Hydroxide, Paramonoclorofenol Canforado, Otosporinand Formocresol deluded in dental pulp stem cells (DPSC).Material and Methods: DPSC were grown in 96 wells cultureplate in the concentration of 1.5 X104 cells per well. Dilutionsof drugs were as followed: 1:9, 1:27 and 1:81, and control withDPSC in DMEM. The cells were cultured for an additional 2hours. The cells were washed with bufferin saline solution for2 times and MTT test was performed. Results: The Ca(OH)2and Otosporin were the drugs less toxic to the DPSC, while theParamonophenol Canforated and formocresol were lethal in allconcentrations. Conclusions: all drugs tested were toxic to theDPSC

Adaptation of Upper Airways in Urban Runners to Air Pollution

Introduction: Air pollution continues to be a matter of concern in public health, despite falling levels of some of the major pollutants in industrial and overcrowded cities. The practice of aerobic exercise in urban environments is necessary to keep a health life, despite the increased inhalation or air pollutants. The aim of this research was to investigate the immune adaptations of the upper airways in amateur runners, who live and practice aerobic exercise in São Paulo, Brazil. Methods: Forty healthy amateur male runners without any acute or chronic upper airways disease. The subjects trained four times a week, 50 minutes each, along two weeks. In a cross over design, runnings were performed in two different circuits: one week in an urban area (UA) with traffic of vehicles powered by different fuels, and one week in another urban area that is a forest reserve (FR) without circulating vehicles. Running was practiced at 9 to 9.45 A.M., at speed of 10.0 km/h in a 7.5 km distance, between August to November 2012. Particulate matter of diameter \u3c 2.5 µm (PM2,5) was measured with Dust TrakTM 8520 (TSI Inc, MN, USA)along the training period. Data of raining days were excluded. Nasal lavage fluid (NLF) was collected at baseline (initial) before each running circuit and after five days of training for measurements of TNF, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8 and IL-10 levels through enzyme immune assay. Mann Whitney Test was used for PM2,5 analysis and Two-way ANOVA test for interleukins levels in NLF analysis. Results: Increased levels of PM2,5 was observed in UA compared with FR (p\u3c0,001)(Figure 1). No significant changes in levels of TNF, IL-6, IL-8 and IL-10, otherwise, the levels of IL-4 seems to be higher in the UA compared with FR (p=0,05)(Figure 2). Conclusion: IL-4 is a cytokine that participates in the regulation of the immune system at multiple levels, mainly with anti-inflammatory action. Our hypothesis for the more elevated levels of IL-4 in the polluted UA circuit (higher levels of PM2,5) is that anti-inflammatory mechanisms are activated to achieve an adaptation of the upper airways to the running practice in a polluted urban area