Considerations for Assessing Maximum Critical Temperatures in Small Ectothermic Animals: Insights from Leaf-Cutting Ants

The thermal limits of individual animals were originally proposed as a link between animal physiology and thermal ecology. Although this link is valid in theory, the evaluation of physiological tolerances involves some problems that are the focus of this study. One rationale was that heating rates shall influence upper critical limits, so that ecological thermal limits need to consider experimental heating rates. In addition, if thermal limits are not surpassed in experiments, subsequent tests of the same individual should yield similar results or produce evidence of hardening. Finally, several non-controlled variables such as time under experimental conditions and procedures may affect results. To analyze these issues we conducted an integrative study of upper critical temperatures in a single species, the ant Atta sexdens rubropiosa, an animal model providing large numbers of individuals of diverse sizes but similar genetic makeup. Our specific aims were to test the 1) influence of heating rates in the experimental evaluation of upper critical temperature, 2) assumptions of absence of physical damage and reproducibility, and 3) sources of variance often overlooked in the thermal-limits literature; and 4) to introduce some experimental approaches that may help researchers to separate physiological and methodological issues. The upper thermal limits were influenced by both heating rates and body mass. In the latter case, the effect was physiological rather than methodological. The critical temperature decreased during subsequent tests performed on the same individual ants, even one week after the initial test. Accordingly, upper thermal limits may have been overestimated by our (and typical) protocols. Heating rates, body mass, procedures independent of temperature and other variables may affect the estimation of upper critical temperatures. Therefore, based on our data, we offer suggestions to enhance the quality of measurements, and offer recommendations to authors aiming to compile and analyze databases from the literature.State of Sao Paulo Science Foundation (Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo, FAPESP) [08/57687-0, 2009/54235-3]State of Sao Paulo Science Foundation (Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo, FAPESP

Use of Amniotic Membrane Transplant and Deep Anterior Keratoplasty in a Patient with Bilateral Acanthamoeba Infectious Keratitis: A Case Report

The aim of this study was to report a case with the use of amniotic membrane transplant and deep anterior keratoplasty in a patient with bilateral Acanthamoeba infectious keratitis as a treatment. A 20-year-old male presented with bilateral Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK) who was initially diagnosed with herpetic keratitis receiving full antiviral and corticosteroid topical treatment without any improvement. Corneal biopsy was performed to confirm the suspected diagnosis, and Acanthamoeba stromal cysts were identified in the sample. Treatment was initiated with 0.02% chlorhexidine, 0.1% propamidine isethionate, neomycin, and tropicamide/phenylephrine. Symptoms and clinical improvement were achieved between the 8th and 10th weeks, so corticosteroids were initiated. Treatment was continued until we observed a poor response in the left eye; therefore, an epithelial scraping and amniotic membrane placement were performed. Lately, the right eye underwent a deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty. A challenging case of bilateral AK managed with topical medications, amniotic membrane, and corneal keratoplasty. The earlier the disease is diagnosed, the better the outcome. If the diagnosis is delayed, the amoebas have penetrated deep into the corneal stroma, and successful therapy becomes difficult. A surgical option can be an early solution with a good prognosis for these cases

Sustentabilidade urbana: dimensões conceituais e instrumentos legais de implementação

Elaborado com base na análise de dados oficiais, documentos internacionais, textos legislativos e extensa revisão bibliográfica, este artigo apresenta algumas reflexões sobre temas relevantes à implementação, pelas cidades brasileiras, dos Objetivos do Desenvolvimento Sustentável, fixados pela Agenda 2030 para o Desenvolvimento Sustentável da Organização das Nações Unidas, apontando os instrumentos legais existentes no âmbito da Política Nacional do Meio Ambiente, Política de Gestão de Recursos Hídricos, Estatuto da Cidade e Política Nacional de Proteção e Defesa Civil, com ênfase às ações e estratégias urbanas de mitigação, adaptação e resiliência às mudanças climáticas, no intuito de contribuir, na universidade, para a orientação de pesquisas científicas inter e transdisciplinares, articuladas com a formulação, implementação e avaliação de políticas públicas e voltadas a prover soluções para o enfrentamento dos complexos desafios de gestão e planejamento enfrentados pelas cidades contemporâneas.Through analyses of official data, international documents and legislative texts, as well as an extensive review of the literature, this article reflects on some topics relevant to the implementation by Brazilian cities of the Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nation’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development., It points out the existing legal tools in the scope of the National Environmental Policy, the Water Resources Management Policy, the Statute of the City and the National Protection and Civil Defense Policy, with emphasis on urban mitigation, adaptation and resilience actions, and on strategies to tackle climate change, in order to make an academic contribution to guide inter- and transdisciplinary scientific research on urban sustainability, articulated with the formulation, implementation and evaluation of public policies, and aimed at providing solutions to the complex challenges faced by contemporary cities

Interaction of morphology, thermal physiology and\ud burrowing performance during the evolution of\ud fossoriality in Gymnophthalmini lizards

The evolution of fossoriality in Squamata often leads to a phenotypic syndrome involving snake-like body form, relatively low preferred temperature (TP) and low critical maximum temperatures (CTmax). However, how traits interacted among them and with the environment during the evolution of such syndrome remains poorly understood. We studied this process in ten species of gymnophthalmid lizards from the Brazilian Caatinga representing one full transition from typical lacertoid species to fossorial snake-like (FSL) ones. We tested whether different morphotypes exhibited different burrowing performances in response to heat, and also different TP and CTmax. Then, we estimated how changes in burrowing performance would relate to thermoregulation costs in terms of the number of daily hours for which preferred temperatures are available and of risk of overheating. Fossorial snake-like species burrowed deeper, exhibited lower TP but kept very high CTmax, comparable to lacertoid species. A better burrowing performance and lower TP allowed increasing the daily amount of time during which TP was accessible within the soil of the study region. In addition, temperatures above CTmax of the studied species were present down to 5 cm deep, suggesting that just burrowing does not protect against exposure to extreme temperatures in species that are surface-active during the day (all lacertoids and some FSL). Nonetheless, FSL species active at cool hours of the day exhibited lower CTmax than diurnal and syntopic, lacertoid and FSL species. Based on our data and previous literature, we propose a sequential explanation for the acquisition of the fossorial syndrome in Squamata.This work and all its authors were supported by FAPESP (2008/06143-0), CNPQ and CAPES during the study. We thank IBAMA for collection permits. We also thank B. Goodman, R. Brandt, R. Huey, F. Ribeiro and T. Kholsdorf for kindly reviewing drafts of this manuscript. C. Caselli, B. Vilela, R. Recoder & M. Sena, C. Nascimento and A. Yamanouchi also helped during fieldwork and in caring for the lizards

El estudio de las tolerancias térmicas para el examen de hipótesis biogeográficas y de la vulnerabilidad de los organismos ante el calentamiento global: ejemplos en anfíbios

La temperatura afecta de manera decisiva a las reacciones químicas que condicionan todos los procesos fisiológicos (Hochachka & Somero, 2002), determinando los patrones de distribución y abundancia de los organismos, así como numerosas interacciones ecológicas (Andrewartha & Birch, 1954; Dunson & Travis, 1991). Podemos, por tanto, afirmar que la temperatura, como componente abiótico fundamental, representa un factor selectivo de primer orden al influir en la supervivencia, crecimiento y dispersión de los organismos (Angiletta, 2009). El estudio de los rangos de tolerancia fisiológicos, especialmente los rangos térmicos, resulta imprescindible para comprender numerosos aspectos de la biología de los organismos, ya que representan las condiciones que limitan su nicho fundamental y, por tanto, su presencia y evolución en un determinado hábitat y área geográfica (Hutchinson, 1981; Kearney & Porter, 2009; Soberón & Nakamura, 2009; Townsend et al., 2011; Seebacher & Franklin, 2012). Se espera que las condiciones térmicas locales dirijan la evolución de los límites de tolerancia térmica, de su potencial plástico de aclimatación y en definitiva deriven en adaptaciones térmicas (Angiletta, 2009; Bozinovic et al., 2011). El interés por el estudio de la evolución y funcionalidad de estos límites térmicos es fuente de numerosas hipótesis biogeográficas y representa un elemento crucial en la determinación de la vulnerabilidad de las especies a los impactos del cambio climático.Fil: Tejedo, Miguel. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas; EspañaFil: Duarte, Helder. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas; EspañaFil: Guiérrez Pesquera, Luis M.. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas; EspañaFil: Beltran, Juan Francisco. Universidad de Sevilla; EspañaFil: Katzenberger, Marcos. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas; EspañaFil: Marangoni, Federico. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Misiones; ArgentinaFil: Navas, Carlos Arturo. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Nicieza, Alfredo G.. Universidad de Oviedo; EspañaFil: Relyea, Rick A.. University of Pittsburgh; Estados UnidosFil: Rezende, Enrico L.. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; EspañaFil: Richter Boix, Alex. University Uppsala; SueciaFil: Santos, Mauro. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; EspañaFil: Simon, Monique. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Solé, Mirco. Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz; Brasi

Reflexiones desde la enseñanza y el aprendizaje de la arquitectura 2

La segunda entrega del libro Doceo “Reflexiones desde la enseñanza y el aprendizaje de la arquitectura”, es fruto de metodologías de enseñanza- aprendizaje diseñadas para cada caso, y que representan la impronta personal de cada autor. Es importante resaltar, que todos los argumentos presentados en esta obra corresponden a experiencias en el aula, conclusiones de docentes y/o estudiantes en el marco de una asignatura desarrollada en la Universidad de la Costa con sede en Barranquilla, Colombia. El Volumen dos de esta entrega se ha editado progresivamente, en una primera parte la compilación estuvo a cargo de la profesora Stephania Mouthon, quien centralizó todos los manuscritos, luego de esto, hemos construido de manera conjunta el diseño editorial, estructura del cuerpo y demás aspectos de perfeccionamiento del documento.Departamento de Arquitectura, Universidad de la Cost

Association Between Preexisting Versus Newly Identified Atrial Fibrillation and Outcomes of Patients With Acute Pulmonary Embolism

Background Atrial fibrillation (AF) may exist before or occur early in the course of pulmonary embolism (PE). We determined the PE outcomes based on the presence and timing of AF. Methods and Results Using the data from a multicenter PE registry, we identified 3 groups: (1) those with preexisting AF, (2) patients with new AF within 2 days from acute PE (incident AF), and (3) patients without AF. We assessed the 90-day and 1-year risk of mortality and stroke in patients with AF, compared with those without AF (reference group). Among 16 497 patients with PE, 792 had preexisting AF. These patients had increased odds of 90-day all-cause (odds ratio [OR], 2.81; 95% CI, 2.33-3.38) and PE-related mortality (OR, 2.38; 95% CI, 1.37-4.14) and increased 1-year hazard for ischemic stroke (hazard ratio, 5.48; 95% CI, 3.10-9.69) compared with those without AF. After multivariable adjustment, preexisting AF was associated with significantly increased odds of all-cause mortality (OR, 1.91; 95% CI, 1.57-2.32) but not PE-related mortality (OR, 1.50; 95% CI, 0.85-2.66). Among 16 497 patients with PE, 445 developed new incident AF within 2 days of acute PE. Incident AF was associated with increased odds of 90-day all-cause (OR, 2.28; 95% CI, 1.75-2.97) and PE-related (OR, 3.64; 95% CI, 2.01-6.59) mortality but not stroke. Findings were similar in multivariable analyses. Conclusions In patients with acute symptomatic PE, both preexisting AF and incident AF predict adverse clinical outcomes. The type of adverse outcomes may differ depending on the timing of AF onset.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

4to. Congreso Internacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación para la Sociedad. Memoria académica

Este volumen acoge la memoria académica de la Cuarta edición del Congreso Internacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación para la Sociedad, CITIS 2017, desarrollado entre el 29 de noviembre y el 1 de diciembre de 2017 y organizado por la Universidad Politécnica Salesiana (UPS) en su sede de Guayaquil. El Congreso ofreció un espacio para la presentación, difusión e intercambio de importantes investigaciones nacionales e internacionales ante la comunidad universitaria que se dio cita en el encuentro. El uso de herramientas tecnológicas para la gestión de los trabajos de investigación como la plataforma Open Conference Systems y la web de presentación del Congreso http://citis.blog.ups.edu.ec/, hicieron de CITIS 2017 un verdadero referente entre los congresos que se desarrollaron en el país. La preocupación de nuestra Universidad, de presentar espacios que ayuden a generar nuevos y mejores cambios en la dimensión humana y social de nuestro entorno, hace que se persiga en cada edición del evento la presentación de trabajos con calidad creciente en cuanto a su producción científica. Quienes estuvimos al frente de la organización, dejamos plasmado en estas memorias académicas el intenso y prolífico trabajo de los días de realización del Congreso Internacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación para la Sociedad al alcance de todos y todas