Global wildlife trade across the tree of life

Wildlife trade is a multibillion dollar industry that is driving species toward extinction. Of >31,500 terrestrial bird, mammal, amphibian, and squamate reptile species, ~18% (N = 5579) are traded globally. Trade is strongly phylogenetically conserved, and the hotspots of this trade are concentrated in the biologically diverse tropics. Using different assessment approaches, we predict that, owing to their phylogenetic replacement and trait similarity to currently traded species, future trade will affect up to 3196 additional species—totaling 8775 species at risk of extinction from trade. Our assessment underscores the need for a strategic plan to combat trade with policies that are proactive rather than reactive, which is especially important because species can quickly transition from being safe to being endangered as humans continue to harvest and trade across the tree of life

Robust H2 static output feedback to control an autmomotive throttle valve

The paper presents a control strategy for an automotive electronic throttle body, a device largely used into vehicles to increase the efficiency of the combustion engines. The synthesis of the proposed controller is based on a linear matrix inequality (LMI) formulation, which allows us to deal with uncertainties on the measurements of the position of the throttle valve. The LMI approach generates a suboptimal solution for the robust H-2 static output feedback control problem, and the corresponding suboptimal control gain was evaluated in practice to control the valve position of the throttle. The usefulness of the approach has been verified not only by numerical simulations but also by real experiments taken in a laboratory prototype.Postprint (published version

Pre-clinical validation of a vaginal cream containing copaiba oil (reproductive toxicology study)

AbstractThe aims of this study was to evaluate the effects of oil-resin of Copaiba (Copaifera duckei Dwyer), aired in vaginal cream on the reproductive performance of female rats (Rattus norvegicus). To determine the components of the C. duckei oleoresin, gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (CG–MS) was used, and considering the trans-caryophyllene sesquiterpene as a phytochemical marker in the oleoresin. Due to the extensive use of copaiba oleoresin in the suppository form for gynecological infections, an evaluation was carried out on the effects of copaiba oleoresin (Copaifera duckei Dwyer), delivered in a vaginal cream, on the reproductive performance of female Wistar rats. For this purpose, three groups (n=5–6/group) of female rats were treated as follows: 1 – vaginal cream of copaiba oleoresin (28.6mg/kg), 2 – base vaginal cream and 3 – control (physiological saline 0.9%), administered intravaginally, for 30 days before pregnancy, and from day zero to day 20 during pregnancy. Laparotomy was performed on the 21st day of pregnancy, followed by the determination of reproductive variables: number of live and dead fetuses, mass of the fetuses and placentas, number of implantations and resorptions, number of corpora lutea, pre- and post-implantation loss, and analyses of the fetuses with regard to external and internal anomalies and/or malformations (skeletal and visceral). The trans-caryophyllene present in the sample is suggested as a phytochemical marker and the results of this study demonstrate an absence of maternal toxicity and foetotoxicity embryofoetotoxicity at the dose administered, corresponding to ten times the recommended dose for use in humans. Accordingly, no significant statistical difference was observed between the treated and control groups, for the variables analyzed.Thus, it is concluded that the vaginal cream containing 2.5% copaiba oleoresin is safe during gestation, in female rats (Rattus norvegicus) of the Wistar strain

Rules, Standards, and the Internal Point of View

Large scale structure and cosmolog

Water Productivity Modeling by Remote Sensing in the Semiarid Region of Minas Gerais State, Brazil

This chapter aimed to demonstrate the potential of monitoring water and vegetation parameters by combining weather and satellite measurements in mixed agroecosystems in the semiarid region of the northern Minas Gerais state, Southeast Brazil. Soil moisture indices and water productivity components were quantified with Landsat 8 images under different hydrological conditions along the year 2015. The surface resistance to the water fluxes (rs) performed better than the ratio of actual to the reference evapotranspiration (ETr) to detect soil moisture conditions. The mean pixel values for actual evapotranspiration (ET), biomass production (BIO), and water productivity based on evapotranspiration (WP), for irrigated crops (IC), ranged respectively from 2.5 ± 1.3 to 4.1 ± 1.6 mm d−1; 78 ± 62 to 132 ± 64 kg ha−1 d−1; and from 2.2 ± 0.8 to 3.3 ± 0.9 kg m−3. The corresponding ranges for natural vegetation (NV) were 0.1 ± 0.2 to 1.9 ± 1.3 mm d−1; 1 ± 1 to 44 ± 42 kg ha−1 d−1, and 0.6 ± 0.3 to 1.8 ± 0.8 kg m−3. The incremental values, resulting from the replacement of natural species by agricultural crops, were respectively 2.7 mm d−1 and 83 kg ha d−1. However, this replacement increased water productivity based on evapotranspiration (WP) by 264% during the studied year, what should be considered in land use and climate change studies in the Brazilian semiarid region

Terrestrial impact structures as geoheritage: an assessment method of their scientific value and its application to Brazil

Terrestrial impact structures are geological and geomorphological features with particular importance to understand the history and evolution of the planet. Impact structures are scattered around the world but in many countries these features are under threat, essentially due to anthropic factors. Impact structures with higher scienti c value should be considered as geological heritage and, consequently, be subjected to geoconservation strategies. In order to select the most important impact structures to be properly conserved and managed, this paper proposes a quantitative assessment method of the scienti c value of these structures. The eight Brazilian impact structures were used to test this method that has the potential to be applied to any geological context in any country. The structures known as Araguainha Dome-MT and Serra da Cangalha-TO reached a higher scienti c value, which justi es the need to develop geoconservation strategies and a proper management.The Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento (CNPq / National Council for Research and Development) and the Programa Ciências sem Fronteiras / Science Without Borders Programme are acknowledged for the support of the postdoctoral grant No 233209/2013-1 of the 1st author. The work was co-funded by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund, based on COMPETE 2020 (Programa Operacional da Competitividade e Internacionalização), project ICT (UID/ GEO/04683/2013) with reference POCI-01-0145- FEDER-007690 and Portuguese funds provided by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Anisotropy studies around the galactic centre at EeV energies with the Auger Observatory

Data from the Pierre Auger Observatory are analyzed to search for anisotropies near the direction of the Galactic Centre at EeV energies. The exposure of the surface array in this part of the sky is already significantly larger than that of the fore-runner experiments. Our results do not support previous findings of localized excesses in the AGASA and SUGAR data. We set an upper bound on a point-like flux of cosmic rays arriving from the Galactic Centre which excludes several scenarios predicting sources of EeV neutrons from Sagittarius $A$. Also the events detected simultaneously by the surface and fluorescence detectors (the `hybrid' data set), which have better pointing accuracy but are less numerous than those of the surface array alone, do not show any significant localized excess from this direction.Comment: Matches published versio