The user structure in Brazil's tropical rain forest

This paper presents quantitative evidence on the relationship between forest conversion and the productivity of agropastoral activities in the Legal Amazon. The extraction of timber products such as wood, fuelwood and charcoal is related to the process of agropastoral expansion in this region with the aim of providing physical coefficients to define intersectoral connections in Brazil's economy. The paper is organized as follows. Section I makes a geographical characterization of the original vegetation types of the region according to its principal geopolitical subdivisions. Section II presents evidence on deforestation rates and gross areas affected. Section III describes the principal sources of deforestation. Section IV describes sectoral activities and land occupation patterns distinguishing between forested and non-forested areas. Section V analyses major determinants of productivity in agropastoral activities following this broad vegetation distinction. Section VI provides gross estimates of wood removal associated with agropastoral expansion, and compares this with wood and fuel production figures. Conclusions are presented in Section VII.

Envolvendo os pescadores artesanais no desenvolvimento sustentável urbano e periurbano no Brasil

La expansión de las aglomeraciones costeras urbanas núcleos de población en crecimiento, actividad económica y deterioro ambiental en una ubicación territorial que conecta los ecosistemas terrestres y oceánicos desafía la Agenda 2030 del desarrollo sostenible inclusivo. Las consecuencias afectaron a las comunidades pesqueras de los países en desarrollo que enfrenta varios  desafíos para su propio bienestar. Este estudio analiza la perspectiva que coloca a las comunidades pesqueras descuidadas en Brasil en el centro de las estrategias de desarrollo urbano bajo las directrices de los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible.A  expansão  das  aglomerações  costeiras  urbanas  núcleos  de  população  em crescimento,  atividade econômica e deterioração ambiental em uma localização territorial que liga os ecossistemas terrestres e oceânicos-desafia a  Agenda  2030 do  desenvolvimento sustentável inclusivo.  Como consequência as  comunidades pesqueiras  dos  países  em  desenvolvimento  enfrentam  vários  desafios  para o seu próprio  bem-estar.  Este  estudo  analisa  a  perspectiva  que  coloca  as comunidades  pesqueiras negligenciadas do Brasil no centro das estratégias de desenvolvimento urbano  sob as diretrizes dos Objetivos de Desenvolvimento Sustentável.A  expansão  das  aglomerações  costeiras  urbanas  núcleos  de  população  em crescimento,  atividade econômica e deterioração ambiental em uma localização territorial que liga os ecossistemas terrestres e oceânicos-desafia a  Agenda  2030 do  desenvolvimento sustentável inclusivo.  Como consequência as  comunidades pesqueiras  dos  países  em  desenvolvimento  enfrentam  vários  desafios  para o seu próprio  bem-estar.  Este  estudo  analisa  a  perspectiva  que  coloca  as comunidades  pesqueiras negligenciadas do Brasil no centro das estratégias de desenvolvimento urbano  sob as diretrizes dos Objetivos de Desenvolvimento Sustentável.A  expansão  das  aglomerações  costeiras  urbanas  núcleos  de  população  em crescimento,  atividade econômica e deterioração ambiental em uma localização territorial que liga os ecossistemas terrestres e oceânicos-desafia a  Agenda  2030 do  desenvolvimento sustentável inclusivo.  Como consequência as  comunidades pesqueiras  dos  países  em  desenvolvimento  enfrentam  vários  desafios  para o seu próprio  bem-estar.  Este  estudo  analisa  a  perspectiva  que  coloca  as comunidades  pesqueiras negligenciadas do Brasil no centro das estratégias de desenvolvimento urbano  sob as diretrizes dos Objetivos de Desenvolvimento Sustentável

Envolvendo os pescadores artesanais no desenvolvimento sustentável urbano e periurbano no Brasil

A expansão das aglomerações costeiras urbanas núcleos de população em crescimento, atividade econômica e deterioração ambiental em uma localização territorial que liga os ecossistemas terrestres e oceânicos- desafia a Agenda 2030 do desenvolvimento sustentável inclusivo. Como consequência as comunidades pesqueiras dos países em desenvolvimento enfrentam vários desafios para o seu próprio bem-estar. Este estudo analisa a perspectiva que coloca as comunidades pesqueiras negligenciadas do Brasil no centro das estratégias de desenvolvimento urbano sob as diretrizes dos Objetivos de Desenvolvimento Sustentável.La expansión de las aglomeraciones costeras urbanas núcleos de población en crecimiento, actividad económica y deterioro ambiental en una ubicación territorial que conecta los ecosistemas terrestres y oceánicos desafía la Agenda 2030 del desarrollo sostenible inclusivo. Las consecuencias afectaron a las comunidades pesqueras de los países en desarrollo que enfrenta varios desafíos para su propio bienestar. Este estudio analiza la perspectiva que coloca a las comunidades pesqueras descuidadas en Brasil en el centro de las estrategias de desarrollo urbano bajo las directrices de los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible

Re-visiting Meltsner: Policy Advice Systems and the Multi-Dimensional Nature of Professional Policy Analysis

10.2139/ssrn.15462511-2

52 Genetic Loci Influencing Myocardial Mass.

BACKGROUND: Myocardial mass is a key determinant of cardiac muscle function and hypertrophy. Myocardial depolarization leading to cardiac muscle contraction is reflected by the amplitude and duration of the QRS complex on the electrocardiogram (ECG). Abnormal QRS amplitude or duration reflect changes in myocardial mass and conduction, and are associated with increased risk of heart failure and death. OBJECTIVES: This meta-analysis sought to gain insights into the genetic determinants of myocardial mass. METHODS: We carried out a genome-wide association meta-analysis of 4 QRS traits in up to 73,518 individuals of European ancestry, followed by extensive biological and functional assessment. RESULTS: We identified 52 genomic loci, of which 32 are novel, that are reliably associated with 1 or more QRS phenotypes at p < 1 × 10(-8). These loci are enriched in regions of open chromatin, histone modifications, and transcription factor binding, suggesting that they represent regions of the genome that are actively transcribed in the human heart. Pathway analyses provided evidence that these loci play a role in cardiac hypertrophy. We further highlighted 67 candidate genes at the identified loci that are preferentially expressed in cardiac tissue and associated with cardiac abnormalities in Drosophila melanogaster and Mus musculus. We validated the regulatory function of a novel variant in the SCN5A/SCN10A locus in vitro and in vivo. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, our findings provide new insights into genes and biological pathways controlling myocardial mass and may help identify novel therapeutic targets

Phenotype Enhancement Screen of a Regulatory spx Mutant Unveils a Role for the ytpQ Gene in the Control of Iron Homeostasis

Spx is a global regulator of genes that are induced by disulfide stress in Bacillus subtilis. The regulon that it governs is comprised of over 120 genes based on microarray analysis, although it is not known how many of these are under direct Spx control. Most of the Spx-regulated genes (SRGs) are of unknown function, but many encode products that are conserved in low %GC Gram-positive bacteria. Using a gene-disruption library of B. subtilis genomic mutations, the SRGs were screened for phenotypes related to Spx-controlled activities, such as poor growth in minimal medium and sensitivity to methyglyoxal, but nearly all of the SRG mutations showed little if any phenotype. To uncover SRG function, the mutations were rescreened in an spx mutant background to determine which mutant SRG allele would enhance the spx mutant phenotype. One of the SRGs, ytpQ was the site of a mutation that, when combined with an spx null mutation, elevated the severity of the Spx mutant phenotype, as shown by reduced growth in a minimal medium and by hypersensitivity to methyglyoxal. The ytpQ mutant showed elevated oxidative protein damage when exposed to methylglyoxal, and reduced growth rate in liquid culture. Proteomic and transcriptomic data indicated that the ytpQ mutation caused the derepression of the Fur and PerR regulons of B. subtilis. Our study suggests that the ytpQ gene, encoding a conserved DUF1444 protein, functions directly or indirectly in iron homeostasis. The ytpQ mutant phenotype mimics that of a fur mutation, suggesting a condition of low cellular iron. In vitro transcription analysis indicated that Spx stimulates transcription from the ytpPQR operon within which the ytpQ gene resides. The work uncovers a link between Spx and control of iron homeostasis

Empirical Legal Studies Before 1940: A Bibliographic Essay

The modern empirical legal studies movement has well-known antecedents in the law and society and law and economics traditions of the latter half of the 20th century. Less well known is the body of empirical research on legal phenomena from the period prior to World War II. This paper is an extensive bibliographic essay that surveys the English language empirical legal research from approximately 1940 and earlier. The essay is arranged around the themes in the research: criminal justice, civil justice (general studies of civil litigation, auto accident litigation and compensation, divorce, small claims, jurisdiction and procedure, civil juries), debt and bankruptcy, banking, appellate courts, legal needs, legal profession (including legal education), and judicial staffing and selection. Accompanying the essay is an extensive bibliography of research articles, books, and reports

Rising rural body-mass index is the main driver of the global obesity epidemic in adults

Body-mass index (BMI) has increased steadily in most countries in parallel with a rise in the proportion of the population who live in cities(.)(1,2) This has led to a widely reported view that urbanization is one of the most important drivers of the global rise in obesity(3-6). Here we use 2,009 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in more than 112 million adults, to report national, regional and global trends in mean BMI segregated by place of residence (a rural or urban area) from 1985 to 2017. We show that, contrary to the dominant paradigm, more than 55% of the global rise in mean BMI from 1985 to 2017-and more than 80% in some low- and middle-income regions-was due to increases in BMI in rural areas. This large contribution stems from the fact that, with the exception of women in sub-Saharan Africa, BMI is increasing at the same rate or faster in rural areas than in cities in low- and middle-income regions. These trends have in turn resulted in a closing-and in some countries reversal-of the gap in BMI between urban and rural areas in low- and middle-income countries, especially for women. In high-income and industrialized countries, we noted a persistently higher rural BMI, especially for women. There is an urgent need for an integrated approach to rural nutrition that enhances financial and physical access to healthy foods, to avoid replacing the rural undernutrition disadvantage in poor countries with a more general malnutrition disadvantage that entails excessive consumption of low-quality calories.Peer reviewe