Action of Heterorhabditis indica (Rhabditida: Heterorhabditidae) strain LPP1 on the reproductive biology of engorged females of Rhipicephalus microplus (Acari: Ixodidae)

AbstractThe aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of different concentrations of the entomopathogenic nematode (EPN) Heterorhabditis indica, LPP1, on the reproductive biology of engorged females of Rhipicephalus microplus. For this purpose, 240 females were divided into eight groups with statistically similar weights (p>0.05). Each group was divided into six subgroups with five females distributed in Petri dishes and exposed to concentrations of 0, 375, 750, 1500, 3000, 6000, 12,000 and 24,000 EPNs/dish. The following biological parameters were evaluated: egg mass weight (mg), egg production index (%EPI), hatching percentage (%) and percentage of control. The action of the nematodes resulted in a significant reduction (p<0.05) in egg mass weight, hatching percentage and EPI in all treatments groups. The percentage of control in all groups was above 97%, reaching 100% at concentrations of 3000 and 12,000 EPNs/female. Comparison of these results with those reported in other articles evaluating the in vitro pathogenicity of different EPN species against R. microplus shows that under laboratory conditions H. indica LPP1 is the one of most virulent species

Sucessão de microrganismos em diferentes estádios de secagem do café e sua influência na bebida/ Microorganism succession at different coffee drying stages and its influence on the beverage

O café passa por inúmeros processos até ser consumido como bebida e vários fatores contribuem para a qualidade final. Entre eles, a espécie e variedade, região do cultivo, condições climáticas, tratos culturais, maturação dos frutos, processamento pós-colheita, armazenagem e o preparo da bebida. Além disso, estudos têm demonstrado que a população microbiana e as condições que fizeram uma ou outra espécie prevalecer, podem influenciar nas características da bebida. No presente estudo foram analisadas 72 amostras provenientes de três tipos de preparos em diferentes dias de secagem ao sol no terreiro (0, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 e 18 dias), a fim de identificar e quantificar a presença de fungos, leveduras e bactérias, avaliando seus efeitos na bebida do espresso. Os preparos foram: cereja descascado, onde foi retirada a casca e parte da mucilagem; cereja maduro, onde os frutos são colhidos dos pés de café na fase cereja e levados ao terreiro para secagem ao sol e; café natural, onde os frutos são colhidos dos pés de cafés nas fases passa ou seco e levados ao terreiro para secagem ao sol. Os gêneros de fungos mais encontrados foram Fusarium spp., fungos dematiaceos e Cladosporium spp. No início da secagem, nos 3 preparos houve alta contagem de leveduras, bactérias totais e bactérias láticas, diminuindo com o tempo e a redução da atividade de água. O cereja descascado, seco em 12 dias, apresentou maior diversidade fúngica e menor infecção conferindo atributos positivos a bebida. O café natural após 15 dias, apresentou maior infecção fúngica (22%), principalmente por Fusarium spp. Na bebida, as amostras foram heterogêneas, algumas apresentaram atributos positivos e outras negativos - fermentação leve. O cereja maduro apresentou menor infecção fúngica (2,5%) e atributos muito negativos na bebida (fermentação forte). Isso indica que o fruto maduro intacto na árvore tem baixa contaminação por fungos. Porém, no terreiro, o fruto com casca, polpa açucarada, muita água e exposto ao calor por um longo período (18 dias) favorece a ação muito prolongada e diversificada de bactérias e leveduras causadoras de possíveis fermentações lácteas, alcoólicas ou acéticas e metabolitos nocivos ao paladar, como o ácido acético (vinagre) e derivados como o éster etil

Focal persistence of soil-transmitted helminthiases in impoverished areas in the State of Piaui, Northeastern Brazil

This study aims to describe the prevalence, distribution, and factors associated with soil-transmitted helminthiases (STHs) in rural localities in Piaui, Brazil. Two cross-sectional surveys (n=605 subjects; 172 families) were carried out in order to obtain socio-demographic, anthropometric, spatial and parasitological data. Parasites were evaluated using Kato-Katz and centrifugal sedimentation techniques. Eggs were measured to assess infection with zoonotic Strongylida parasites. Kernel maps were constructed with Q-GIS. The prevalence of hookworm infection was 12.4% (75/605). Other helminthes found were Trichuris trichiura (n=1; 0.2%) and Hymenolepis nana (n=1; 0.2%). The hookworm positivity rate was significantly lower among subjects who had used albendazole when compared with individuals who had not used anthelmintics or had used antiprotozoal drugs in the last 6 months (8/134 [6.0%] vs. 59/415 [14.2%]; p=0.009). A total of 39/172 (22.7%) families had at least one infected member. The association between the number of dwellers and hookworm positivity in the family was present in a logistic regression multivariate model. Assessment of worm burdens showed 92.2% light, 6.2% moderate, and 1.6% heavy infections. Hookworm eggs (n=34) measured 57.2 - 75.4 µm in length and 36.4 - 44.2 µm in width (mean ± SD = 65.86 ± 4.66 µm L and 40.05 ± 1.99 µm W), commensurate with human hookworms. Hotspots suggest that transmission has a focal pattern. STHs persist in impoverished rural areas in Northeastern Brazil where currently available control strategies (mass drug administration) apparently do not allow the elimination of the infection

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

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 understanding 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,5,6,7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8,9,10,11 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 underrepresented in biodiversity databases.13,14,15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may eliminate pieces of the Amazon's biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological communities 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 organism 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 neglected 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 lost

PERSONALIDADE E CONSUMO ECOLOGICAMENTE CONSCIENTE

Adotando-se como moldura teórica o Modelo Meta-teórico de Motivação e Personalidade (MOWEN, 2000), investigou-se a relação entre personalidade e consumo ecologicamente consciente. Por meio de um levantamento com uma amostra de 735 pessoas, obteve-se razoável sustentação empírica para um modelo em que os traços de personalidade explicam percentual considerável da variância do consumo ecologicamente consciente (R2 = 33%), interpretado como traço superficial da personalidade do consumidor. No modelo estimado, construtos relacionados ao cuidado com problemas ambientais são interpretados como traços situacionais, que remetem a traços mais profundos de personalidade. O significado dos resultados é avaliado conforme seu potencial em sustentar intervenções educacionais para promover o comportamento ecologicamente consciente