eHabitat: A Contribution to the Model Web for Habitat Assessments and Ecological Forecasting

In striving to improve the predictive capabilities of ecological forecasting we face three basic choices ¿ develop new models, improve existing ones or increase the connectivity of models so they can work together. The latter approach of chaining different interoperable models is of particular interest, as technical developments have made it increasingly viable to combine models that can answer more questions than the individual models alone, allowing users to address complex questions, often of a multi-disciplinary nature. This concept of a Model Web encourages the setting up of a dynamic network of interoperating models, communicating with each other using standardized web services. It is the purpose of this paper to introduce the potential contribution of e-Habitat to the Model Web. e-Habitat is conceived as a Web Processing Service for computing the likelihood of finding ecosystems with equal properties. By developing e-Habitat according to Model Web principles, end-users can define the thematic layers for input to the model from various sources. These input layers are discovered using standards-based catalogues, which are a fundamental component of Model Web and generic Spatial Data Infrastructures. e-Habitat integrates data ranging from remote sensing data to socio-economical indicators, thus offering a huge potential for multi-disciplinary modelling. We will show that e-Habitat can be used for the identification of habitats that are most vulnerable or of the optimal locations for monitoring stations or, when coupled with climate change model services, for ecological forecasting. As such, it is an excellent example of the Model Web in practice.JRC.H.3-Global environement monitorin

O ESPAÇO CIÊNCIA INTERATIVA E A EDUCAÇÃO NÃO FORMAL: CONSIDERAÇÕES SOBRE A RELAÇÃO ESCOLA-COMUNIDADE E A FORMAÇÃO ESCOLAR

O presente artigo traz uma análise comparativa em relação à concepção de educação formal de professores de física, química e biologia, do ensino médio, e educação não formal.  Além disso, é apresentada uma investigação sobre a importância da educação não formal para o desenvolvimento do discente em formação. A pesquisa foi realizada no Espaço Ciência Interativa em Mesquita, na Baixada Fluminense (RJ), e em uma escola da rede pública estadual situada no mesmo município. Os objetivos da pesquisa foram averiguar a percepção de alguns professores sobre ensino de ciências em espaços não formais e como ocorre a relação entre a escola e o espaço de ciências, locais da pesquisa.  Para tanto, foram aplicados questionários com questões abertas acerca da temática, sendo avaliados através da Análise Textual Discursiva (ATD). A investigação indicou que apesar da proximidade entre os locais da pesquisa, a relação escola-comunidade existente era falha, e que não havia diálogos entre as duas comunidades educativas. Além disso, pode-se compreender como a educação formal e a não formal são percebidas como modalidades de educação, e a importância de estarem correlacionadas na formação do indivíduo enquanto cidadão ativo

“Un alivio, un inicio y una nueva esperanza”: reflexiones sobre la muerte en un espacio de educación no formal

Este artículo presenta reflexiones sobre una experiencia investigativa con jóvenes de una comunidad rural en formación religiosa. El texto se divide en tres partes complementarias: la primera revisa la literatura sobre educación no formal, con énfasis en las prácticas educativas en un contexto religioso; en el segundo, se presenta el sesgo esperanzador de la muerte, a partir de los presupuestos que orientan la escatología cristiana; en el tercero, analizamos cualitativamente los resultados de un taller que tuvo como objetivo promover un diálogo escatológico sobre la muerte, así como sus implicaciones en los significados atribuidos por los participantes a este “acontecimiento” límite. Los hallazgos del análisis muestran que, inmersos en este proceso de enseñanza y aprendizaje, los jóvenes rurales transitan de un saber-experiencia rodeado de miedo a una dimensión en la que el morir es percibido como un rito de paso a la vida eterna. Además, denotan la importancia de conocer y respetar la variedad de comunidades de aprendizaje, en su forma, organización metodológica y razón social, abriendo caminos para otras temáticas y formas de pensar-hacer investigación y/o en Educación.Neste artigo, apresentam-se reflexões acerca de uma experiência investigativa com jovens de uma comunidade rural em formação religiosa. O texto está dividido em três partes complementares: na primeira, faz-se uma revisão da literatura sobre a Educação não-formal, com ênfase para as práticas educativas em contexto religioso; na segunda, apresenta-se o viés esperançoso da morte, a partir dos pressupostos que orientam a Escatologia Cristã; na terceira, analisa-se qualitativamente os resultados de uma oficina que objetivou promover um diálogo escatológico sobre a morte, bem como suas implicações nos sentidos atribuídos pelos participantes a esse “evento” fronteiriço. Os achados da análise evidenciam que, imersos nesse processo de ensino e aprendizagem, os jovens rurais passaram de um saber-experiência envolto pelo medo para uma dimensão em que o morrer é percebido como um rito de passagem para a vida eterna. Além disso, denotam a importância de se conhecer e respeitar a variedade de comunidades aprendentes, em sua forma, organização metodológica e razão social, abrindo caminhos para outros temas e modos de pensar-fazer pesquisa e/na Educação.This article, presents reflections on an investigative experience with young people from a rural community undergoing religious training. The text is divided into three complementary parts: the first one reviews the literature on non-formal education, with emphasis on educational practices in a religious context; in the second, the hopeful bias of death is presented, based on the assumptions that guide Christian Eschatology; in the third, we qualitatively analyze the results of a workshop that aimed to promote an eschatological dialogue about death, as well as its implications for the meanings attributed by the participants to this borderline “event”. The findings of the analysis show that, immersed in this teaching and learning process, rural youths moved from a knowledge-experience surrounded by fear to a dimension in which dying is perceived as a rite of passage to eternal life. In addition, they denote the importance of knowing and respecting the variety of learning communities, in their form, methodological organization and social reason, opening the way for other themes and ways of thinking-doing research and/in Education

Life Course Socioeconomic Position and C-Reactive Protein: Mediating Role of Health-Risk Behaviors and Metabolic Alterations. The Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil)

Background: Chronic inflammation has been postulated to be one mediating mechanism explaining the association between low socioeconomic position (SEP) and cardiovascular disease (CVD). We sought to examine the association between life course SEP and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels in adulthood, and to evaluate the extent to which health-risk behaviors and metabolic alterations mediate this association. Additionally, we explored the possible modifying influence of gender. Methods and Findings: Our analytical sample comprised 13,371 participants from ELSA-Brasil baseline, a multicenter prospective cohort study of civil servants. SEP during childhood, young adulthood, and adulthood were considered. The potential mediators between life course SEP and CRP included clusters of health-risk behaviors (smoking, low leisure time physical activity, excessive alcohol consumption), and metabolic alterations (obesity, hypertension, low HDL, hypertriglyceridemia, and diabetes). Linear regression models were performed and structural equation modeling was used to evaluate mediation. Although lower childhood SEP was associated with higher levels of CRP in adult life, this association was not independent of adulthood SEP. However, CRP increased linearly with increasing number of unfavorable social circumstances during the life course (p trend <0.001). The metabolic alterations were the most important mediator between cumulative SEP and CRP. This mediation path accounted for 49.5% of the total effect of cumulative SEP on CRP among women, but only 20.2% among men. In consequence, the portion of the total effect of cumulative SEP on CRP that was mediated by risk behaviors and metabolic alterations was higher among women (55.4%) than among men (36.8%). Conclusions: Cumulative SEP across life span was associated with elevated systemic inflammation in adulthood. Although health-risk behaviors and metabolic alterations were important mediators of this association, a sizable fraction of this association was not mediated by these factors, suggesting that other pathways might play a role, especially among men

Brazilian red propolis: extracts production, physicochemical characterization, and cytotoxicity profile for antitumor activity

Brazilian red propolis has been proposed as a new source of compounds with cytotoxic activity. Red propolis is a resinous material of vegetal origin, synthesized from the bees of the Appis mellifera family, with recognized biological properties. To obtain actives of low polarity and high cytotoxic profile from red propolis, in this work, we proposed a new solvent accelerated extraction method. A complete 23 factorial design was carried out to evaluate the influence of the independent variables or factors (e.g., temperature, number of cycles, and extraction time) on the dependent variable or response (i.e., yield of production). The extracts were analyzed by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry for the identification of chemical compounds. Gas chromatography analysis revealed the presence of hydrocarbons, alcohols, ketones, ethers, and terpenes, such as lupeol, lupenone, and lupeol acetate, in most of the obtained extracts. To evaluate the cytotoxicity profile of the obtained bioactives, the 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazole)-2,5-diphenyl-2-H-tetrazolium bromide colorimetric assay was performed in different tumor cell lines (HCT116 and PC3). The results show that the extract obtained from 70 °C and one cycle of extraction of 10 min exhibited the highest cytotoxic activity against the tested cell lines. The highest yield, however, did not indicate the highest cytotoxic activity, but the optimal extraction conditions were indeed dependent on the temperature (i.e., 70 °C).FCT -Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia(UIDB/04469/2020)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

SoilGrids1km — Global Soil Information Based on Automated Mapping

Background: Soils are widely recognized as a non-renewable natural resource and as biophysical carbon sinks. As such, there is a growing requirement for global soil information. Although several global soil information systems already exist, these tend to suffer from inconsistencies and limited spatial detail. Methodology/Principal Findings: We present SoilGrids1km — a global 3D soil information system at 1 km resolution — containing spatial predictions for a selection of soil properties (at six standard depths): soil organic carbon (g kg−1), soil pH, sand, silt and clay fractions (%), bulk density (kg m−3), cation-exchange capacity (cmol+/kg), coarse fragments (%), soil organic carbon stock (t ha−1), depth to bedrock (cm), World Reference Base soil groups, and USDA Soil Taxonomy suborders. Our predictions are based on global spatial prediction models which we fitted, per soil variable, using a compilation of major international soil profile databases (ca. 110,000 soil profiles), and a selection of ca. 75 global environmental covariates representing soil forming factors. Results of regression modeling indicate that the most useful covariates for modeling soils at the global scale are climatic and biomass indices (based on MODIS images), lithology, and taxonomic mapping units derived from conventional soil survey (Harmonized World Soil Database). Prediction accuracies assessed using 5–fold cross-validation were between 23–51%. Conclusions/Significance: SoilGrids1km provide an initial set of examples of soil spatial data for input into global models at a resolution and consistency not previously available. Some of the main limitations of the current version of SoilGrids1km are: (1) weak relationships between soil properties/classes and explanatory variables due to scale mismatches, (2) difficulty to obtain covariates that capture soil forming factors, (3) low sampling density and spatial clustering of soil profile locations. However, as the SoilGrids system is highly automated and flexible, increasingly accurate predictions can be generated as new input data become available. SoilGrids1km are available for download via http://soilgrids.org under a Creative Commons Non Commercial license

Reproducibilidad y validez relativa del Cuestionario de Frecuencia Alimentaria del ELSA-Brasil

Avaliou-se a reprodutibilidade e a validade do Questionário de Frequência Alimentar (QFA) utilizado no Estudo Longitudinal de Saúde do Adulto (ELSA-Brasil). Foram aplicados três registros alimentares e um QFA em dois momentos no período de um ano (n = 281). Valores de energia e nutrientes dos registros alimentares foram deatenuados e Log transformados. Para avaliação da reprodutibilidade e validade foi aplicado o teste de correlação intraclasse (CCI) e calculados percentuais de concordância do consumo de nutrientes após categorização por tercis. Na avaliação da reprodutibilidade, coeficientes de CCI variaram de 0,55-0,83 para proteína e vitamina E, respectivamente; na avaliação da validade, variaram de 0,20-0,72 para selênio e cálcio, respectivamente. Concordâncias exata e adjacente entre métodos variaram de 82,9% para vitamina E a 89% para lipídio e cálcio (média = 86%). Foi encontrada uma discordância média de 13,6%. Conclui-se que o QFA ELSA-Brasil apresenta confiabilidade satisfatória para todos nutrientes e validade relativa razoável para energia, macronutrientes, cálcio, potássio e vitaminas E e C.This study evaluated the reproducibility and relative validity of the Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) used in the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil). Participants (n = 281) completed the FFQ and three food records on two occasions during a 12-month period. Energy and nutrient values from food records were disattenuated and log-transformed. Reproducibility and validity were assessed by the intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC). Agreement between the two methods was evaluated by classification in tertiles. In the evaluation of reproducibility, ICC estimated ranged from 0.55 to 0.83 for protein and vitamin E, respectively. On relative validity, ICC ranged from 0.20 to 0.72 for selenium and calcium, respectively. Exact and adjacent agreement between methods varied from 82.9% for vitamin E to 89% for lipids and calcium (mean 86%). Average disagreement was 13.6%. In conclusion, this FFQ showed satisfactory reliability for all nutrients and reasonable validity, especially for energy, macronutrients, calcium, potassium, and vitamins E and C

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