Genetic diversity among air yam (dioscorea bulbifera) varieties based on single sequence repeat markers

Dioscorea is the largest genus in the Dioscoreaceae family, and includes a number of economically important species including the air yam, D. bulbifera L. This study aimed to develop new single sequence repeat primers and characterize the genetic diversity of local varieties that originated in several municipalities of Brazil. We developed an enriched genomic library for D. bulbifera resulting in seven primers, six of which were polymorphic, and added four polymorphic loci developed for other Dioscorea species. This resulted in 10 polymorphic primers to evaluate 42 air yam accessions. Thirty-three alleles (bands) were found, with an average of 3.3 alleles per locus. The discrimination power ranged from 0.113 to 0.834, with an average of 0.595. Both principal coordinate and cluster analyses (using the Jaccard Index) failed to clearly separate the accessions according to their origins. However, the 13 accessions from Conceição dos Ouros, Minas Gerais State were clustered above zero on the principal coordinate 2 axis, and were also clustered into one subgroup in the cluster analysis. Accessions from Ubatuba, São Paulo State were clustered below zero on the same principal coordinate 2 axis, except for one accession, although they were scattered in several subgroups in the cluster analysis. Therefore, we found little spatial structure in the accessions, although those from Conceição dos Ouros and Ubatuba exhibited some spatial structure, and that there is a considerable level of genetic diversity in D. bulbifera maintained by traditional farmers in Brazil152CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQFUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO - FAPESPnão tem2007/04805-

Evacuação em caso de incêndio de edificações escolares

A variedade de possíveis condições e características do ambiente pode resultar em padrões comportamentais diversos dos indivíduos numa situação em que ocorra a necessidade da evacuação da edificação. Uma evacuação segura e rápida, em qualquer situação, depende de um conjunto de fatores e variáveis que podem ser organizadas em categorias ligadas às características físicas e geométricas dos edifícios, a ações que ocorrem dentro do ambiente, aos fatores ambientais dentro da estrutura e pôr fim ao comportamento dos ocupantes. O tempo de evacuação está relacionado com esse conjunto de fatores que também são influenciados pelo próprio incêndio. Quando se trata de crianças e jovens em idade escolar, o comportamento difere se comparado aos adultos. As crianças variam em habilidades físicas e cognitivas e fatores como compreensão, capacidade de locomoção e maturidade são muito relevantes em uma necessidade de evacuação. Isso torna as crianças um grupo vulnerável perante a situação de incêndio. Existem modelos computacionais, já bem desenvolvidos, que simulam a evacuação em edificações. Este artigo tem como objetivo abordar as categorias de variáveis que influenciam na evacuação, apresentar estudos de casos de evacuação envolvendo crianças em edificações escolares e descrever alguns dos modelos computacionais que permitem simular a evacuação.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A Relação entre a espiritualidade e as perturbações do humor em doentes com esclerose múltipla

Resumo: A Esclerose Múltipla (EM) é uma doença crónica, incapacitante e imprevisível que origina problemas físicos, psíquicos e sociais, com impacto na vida dos doentes. As perturbações do humor surgem com frequência associadas à doença podendo a espiritualidade constituir uma relevante estratégia de coping. O principal objetivo deste estudo é analisar a relação entre a espiritualidade e as perturbações do humor em doentes com EM. A amostra é composta por pessoas com esclerose múltipla, que, depois de informadas, se disponibilizaram a participar no estudo. O instrumento de colheita de dados selecionado foi o questionário, sendo constituído por três partes: 1) caracterização sociodemográfica e da situação clínica; 2) Escala de Ansiedade, Depressão e Stress (EADS) de Pais-Ribeiro et al. (2004); 3) Daily Spiritual Experience Scale (DSES) de Underwood e Teresi (2002), validada em Portugal como Escala de Experiência Espiritual Quotidiana por Taranu (2011). Os resultados indicam que a idade dos participantes varia entre os 22 e os 70 anos, sendo o grupo mais representado o que varia entre os 35 e os 44 anos (37,3%), seguido pelo grupo etário que varia entre os 45 e os 54 anos (23,6%). Dos participantes, 70,8% pertencem ao sexo masculino, 34,8% são especialistas das profissões intelectuais e científicas, 19,3% pertence à categoria do pessoal administrativo e similares e 18,0% assumem-se como técnicos e profissionais de nível intermédio. Os resultados deste estudo demonstram ainda que 57% dos participantes assumem praticar algum culto ou prática religiosa. No que se refere à espiritualidade, na dimensão terrena, os scores variam entre 1 e 6, com média de 3,46 ± 1,29 e mediana 3,5. Os scores da dimensão divina também variam entre 1 e 6, com média de 3,8 ± 1,52 e mediana de 3,9. Quanto às perturbações do humor, 51,6% afirma já ter vivenciado episódios que envolvam ansiedade ou depressão ou stress. Por outro lado, 43,4% foram diagnosticados com mais que uma perturbação do humor em simultâneo. Os scores apurados pela EADS para a ansiedade variam entre 0-20, com média de 5,81 ± 4,49 e mediana 5; para a depressão, os valores oscilam entre 0-20, com média de 5,82 ± 4,49 e de mediana 5, observando-se no stress um mínimo de 0 e um máximo de 18, com média de 8,44 ± 4,61 e mediana de 8. Os resultados indiciam que a espiritualidade, a par da rede de suporte social, pode constituir uma importante estratégia de coping, devendo ser objeto de intervenção dos profissionais.B910-DDDF-6BB2 | Luís Carlos Carvalho da GraçaN/

Composição E Diversidade De Anuros Na Restinga Do Município De Conde, Litoral Norte Do Estado Da Bahia, Nordeste Do Brasil

The Conde municipality is located in the northern coast of the state of Bahia (NC), northeastern Brazil, and is part of the Atlantic Tropical domain. The anuran fauna of the northern portion of the NC is still poorly known if compared to the southern portion. The Restinga is one of the predominant environments of the coastal plains of the NC and it is characterized essentially by presenting sandy soil covered by herbaceous and shrubby vegetation. The objective of this study was to determine the anuran species composition and diversity for the Restinga of the Conde municipality. Sampling was carried out at night by active search over four periods of five consecutive days each, two over the ‘main rainy season’ and two in a ‘lesser rainy season’, using 14 sample units (SUs) and five extra sample plots (EPs). We calculated dominance and species diversity using the Berger-Parker and Shannon-Wiener H’ indices, respectively. We used accumulation curves and the Jackknife 1 estimator to estimate anuran species richness, considering only the data obtained from the SUs. We recorded 713 anuran specimens distributed within 33 species, 13 genera and five families (Bufonidae, Craugastoridae, Hylidae, Leptodactylidae and Microhylidae). The Hylidae and Leptodactylidae families had the highest species richness. Considering only the SUs (Jackknife 1 estimator in brackets), we recorded 28 species in the study area (33.9 ± 2.3), 13 in Shrubby Vegetation Zones-SVZ (20.8 ± 2.9) and 25 in Freshwater Wetland Zones-FWZ (28.9 ± 1.9). The abundance and species diversity of the FWZ (n = 638 specimens; H’= 2.4) were higher than those recorded for the SVZ (n = 52 specimens; H’ = 1.9). The SVZ and FWZ showed distinct dominant species, wherein Pristimantis paulodutrai was the dominant species in SVZ and Scinax fuscomarginatus in FWZ. The Restinga of the Conde municipality stands out as the one with the highest anuran species richness already recorded considering only SVZ and FWZ. Moreover, its anuran species composition represented 55% of the anuran species known for the NC and included taxa common to three different morphoclimatic domains (Tropical Atlantic, Cerrado and Caatinga). © 2016, Universidade Estadual de Campinas UNICAMP. All rights reserved.16

Habitat fragmentation, variable edge effects, and the landscape-divergence hypothesis

Edge effects are major drivers of change in many fragmented landscapes, but are often highly variable in space and time. Here we assess variability in edge effects altering Amazon forest dynamics, plant community composition, invading species, and carbon storage, in the world\u27s largest and longest-running experimental study of habitat fragmentation. Despite detailed knowledge of local landscape conditions, spatial variability in edge effects was only partially foreseeable: relatively predictable effects were caused by the differing proximity of plots to forest edge and varying matrix vegetation, but windstorms generated much random variability. Temporal variability in edge phenomena was also only partially predictable: forest dynamics varied somewhat with fragment age, but also fluctuated markedly over time, evidently because of sporadic droughts and windstorms. Given the acute sensitivity of habitat fragments to local landscape and weather dynamics, we predict that fragments within the same landscape will tend to converge in species composition, whereas those in different landscapes will diverge in composition. This \u27landscape-divergence hypothesis\u27, if generally valid, will have key implications for biodiversity-conservation strategies and for understanding the dynamics of fragmented ecosystems

Zootechnical performance, degree of steatosis and the genotoxic potential in yellowtail tetra Astyanax lacustris fed with different levels of L-carnitine

ABSTRACT L-carnitine perform a major role in transporting long-chain fatty acids into the mitochondria, where they are oxidized. It has been used in animal diets to decrease fat and increase muscle protein. The aim of this study was to evaluate the zootechnical performance, degree of steatosis in the liver, and genotoxic potential in Astyanax lacustris fed with different levels of L-carnitine (LC). Yellowtail tetra juveniles (n = 140) were distributed in 20 tanks of 70 L, with seven fish in each, in a water recirculation system with controlled temperature (27±0.1⁰C). The treatments with different levels of L-carnitine supplementation were: 0 (control), 250, 500, 750, and 1000 mg of LC per kg of food. The diets were provided twice a day for 60 days. The results showed that the different levels of LC did not affect (P>0.05) weight gain, survival, viscerosomatic index, and the liver hepatocytes showed a normal appearance. However, the use of LC supplementation showed genotoxic potential with a significant difference (P<0.05) for cell alterations when compared to the control at concentrations above 500mg kg-1

Assessing the growth and climate sensitivity of secondary forests in highly deforested Amazonian landscapes

Tropical forests hold 30% of Earth’s terrestrial carbon and at least 60% of its terrestrial biodiversity, but forest loss and degradation are jeopardizing these ecosystems. Although the regrowth of secondary forests has the potential to offset some of the losses of carbon and biodiversity, it remains unclear if secondary regeneration will be affected by climate changes such as higher temperatures and more frequent extreme droughts. We used a data set of 10 repeated forest inventories spanning two decades (1999–2017) to investigate carbon and tree species recovery and how climate and landscape context influence carbon dynamics in an older secondary forest located in one of the oldest post‐Columbian agricultural frontiers in the Brazilian Amazon. Carbon accumulation averaged 1.08 Mg·ha−1·yr−1, and species richness was effectively constant over the studied period. Moreover, we provide evidence that secondary forests are vulnerable to drought stress: Carbon balance and growth rates were lower in drier periods. This contrasts with drought responses in primary forests, where changes in carbon dynamics are driven by increased stem mortality. These results highlight an important climate change–vegetation feedback, whereby the increasing dry‐season lengths being observed across parts of Amazonia may reduce the effectiveness of secondary forests in sequestering carbon and mitigating climate change. In addition, the current rate of forest regrowth in this region was low compared with previous pan‐tropical and Amazonian assessments—our secondary forests reached just 41.1% of the average carbon and 56% of the tree diversity in the nearest primary forests—suggesting that these areas are unlikely to return to their original levels on politically meaningful time scales