Changes in food access by mestizo communities associated with deforestation and agrobiodiversity loss in Ucayali, Peruvian Amazon

Few longitudinal studies link agricultural biodiversity, land use and food access in rural landscapes. In this paper, we test the hypothesis that, in a context of economic change, cash crop expansion is associated with deforestation, reduced agrobiodiversity and changes in food access. For this purpose, we analysed data collected from the same 53 upland and floodplain mestizo households in Ucayali, Peru, in 2000 and 2015. We found an emerging transition towards less diversified food access coupled with loss of forest cover and reduced agricultural biodiversity. In 2015, diets appeared to rely on fewer food groups, fewer food items, and on products increasingly purchased in the market compared to 2000. Wild fruits and plants were mentioned, but rarely consumed. Agricultural production systems became more specialised with a shift towards commercial crops. Peak deforestation years in the 15-year period appeared linked with incentives for agricultural expansion. Our results suggest an overall trend from diversified productive and “extractive” systems and more diverse food access, towards specialized productive systems, with less diverse food access and stronger market orientation (both in production and consumption). The assumption in the food and agricultural sciences that increased income and market-orientation is linked to improved food security, is challenged by our integrated analyses of food access, agrobiodiversity, land use and forest cover. Our results highlight the importance of longitudinal, multidimensional, systemic analyses, with major implications for land use, food and health policies. The potential risks of parallel homogenisation of diets and agricultural production systems require interdisciplinary research and policies that promote integrated landscape approaches for sustainable and inclusive food systems

Tabletop and Full-Scale Emergency Exercises for General Aviation, Non-Hub, and Small Hub Airports

ACRP Synthesis 72: Tabletop and Full-Scale Emergency Exercises for General Aviation, Non-Hub, and Small Hub Airports provides small airports with the tools and practices needed to practice emergency response. The report provides sample exercise tools and plans, a checklist of effective practices for tabletop and full-scale emergency exercises, and a road map for developing an effective exercise program

Emergency Communications Planning for Airports

TRB\u27s Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) Synthesis 73: Emergency Communications Planning for Airports explores emergency communications planning and is specifically designed for use by airport senior management, public information officers, and first responders and emergency managers. The report includes sample communication plan tables of contents, field operations guides, and a checklist of effective communications plans

Transcriptome analysis of the venom gland of the Mexican scorpion Hadrurus gertschi (Arachnida: Scorpiones)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Scorpions like other venomous animals posses a highly specialized organ that produces, secretes and disposes the venom components. In these animals, the last postabdominal segment, named telson, contains a pair of venomous glands connected to the stinger. The isolation of numerous scorpion toxins, along with cDNA-based gene cloning and, more recently, proteomic analyses have provided us with a large collection of venom components sequences. However, all of them are secreted, or at least are predicted to be secretable gene products. Therefore very little is known about the cellular processes that normally take place inside the glands for production of the venom mixture. To gain insights into the scorpion venom gland biology, we have decided to perform a transcriptomic analysis by constructing a cDNA library and conducting a random sequencing screening of the transcripts.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>From the cDNA library prepared from a single venom gland of the scorpion <it>Hadrurus gertschi</it>, 160 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) were analyzed. These transcripts were further clustered into 68 unique sequences (20 contigs and 48 singlets), with an average length of 919 bp. Half of the ESTs can be confidentially assigned as homologues of annotated gene products. Annotation of these ESTs, with the aid of Gene Ontology terms and homology to eukaryotic orthologous groups, reveals some cellular processes important for venom gland function; including high protein synthesis, tuned posttranslational processing and trafficking. Nonetheless, the main group of the identified gene products includes ESTs similar to known scorpion toxins or other previously characterized scorpion venom components, which account for nearly 60% of the identified proteins.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>To the best of our knowledge this report contains the first transcriptome analysis of genes transcribed by the venomous gland of a scorpion. The data were obtained for the species <it>Hadrurus gertschi</it>, belonging to the family Caraboctonidae. One hundred and sixty ESTs were analyzed, showing enrichment in genes that encode for products similar to known venom components, but also provides the first sketch of cellular components, molecular functions, biological processes and some unique sequences of the scorpion venom gland.</p

Population responses of common carp Cyprinus carpio to floods and droughts in the Pampean wetlands of South America

Common carp (Cyprinus carpio) is a global invader that exhibits a wide distribution in Argentina, particularly in shallow lakes and wetlands of the Pampean region. The hydrological conditions of these environments are driven by variations in annual precipitation that determine inter annual changes in water levels leading to flood-drought cycles. The present study focused on understanding the C. carpio population responses to annual rainfall regime and long-term flood and drought events in the Ajó wetlands located in the east of the Pampean region. The results of a two-year biological sampling program showed that C. carpio feeding rate, reproduction, condition, and recruitment were associated with the hydrological cycle. Otolith derived age structure of the population and back-calculated recruitment strength revealed that extraordinary flooding events generated strong cohorts while dry years resulted in low recruitment. Its long-life span (maximum 14 years in Ajó) coupled with a high fecundity, and broad diet allows C. carpio to persist in refugia during dry years and capitalize on wet years when inundation of the floodplain enhances recruitment and facilitates spread. Management and control strategies for this invader should therefore incorporate hydrological variability by promoting intensive removal campaigns during dry years when populations are dominated by large fish confined in remnant water-bodies and, during wet years, carp harvest fisheries should be promoted to reduce population density when increased connectivity is likely to facilitate spread.Fil: Maiztegui, Tomás. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Limnología "Dr. Raúl A. Ringuelet". Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. Instituto de Limnología; Argentina. South African Institute For Aquatic Biodiversity; SudáfricaFil: Baigún, Claudio Rafael M.. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Investigación en Ingeniería Ambiental; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Garcia de Souza, Javier Ricardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Limnología "Dr. Raúl A. Ringuelet". Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. Instituto de Limnología; ArgentinaFil: Weyl, Olaf L. F.. South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity; SudáfricaFil: Colautti, Dario César. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Limnología "Dr. Raúl A. Ringuelet". Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. Instituto de Limnología; Argentin

AVALIAÇÃO DA RELAÇÃO ENTRE VARIÁVEIS FÍSICAS E DE QUALIDADE DAS ÁGUAS EM RESERVATÓRIOS DE USINAS HIDRELÉTRICAS DE MINAS GERAIS PARA GESTÃO DAS ÁGUAS NO ESTADO.

A água é um recurso natural de usos múltiplos e essencial à manutenção da vida. A matriz energética do Brasil é predominantemente de origem hídrica, como pode ser observada no estado de Minas Gerais. O monitoramento de qualidade das águas, que é dispendioso e trabalhoso, gera um grande volume de dados. Os dados morfométricos são considerados relevantes na avaliação de eventos físico-químicos e biológicos e na compreensão da dinâmica dos reservatórios, sendo que não exigem um monitoramento constante como o da qualidade das águas. O presente trabalho se baseou nas informações disponíveis sobre qualidade de água e morfometria de reservatórios do Sistema de Informação de Qualidade da Água de dos Reservatórios (Siságua) da Companhia Energética de Minas Gerais (Cemig), avaliando 29 ambientes. Os procedimentos estatísticos aplicados foram Análise de Agrupamento (cluster), para identificar os tipos de reservatórios, e Análise de Componentes Principais, a fim de selecionar as variáveis mais expressivas no conjunto das amostras. O resultado apontou que os parâmetros mais significativos, quanto à qualidade das águas, foram turbidez, condutividade, pH, transparência, DBO e sólidos dissolvidos totais, e quanto às morfométricas, área, perímetro, volume, tempo de residência, área de drenagem e vazão. Houve coincidência de parte de agrupamentos para as duas análises, e a qualidade das águas apresentou relação espacial. O trabalho contribui para a gestão dos reservatórios no Estado, uma vez que reuniu e organizou as informações disponíveis desses ambientes e estabeleceu relações entre a qualidade das águas e parâmetros morfométricos

Spectrophotometric investigations of Blue Compact Dwarf Galaxies: Markarian 35

We present results from a detailed spectrophotometric analysis of the blue compact dwarf galaxy Mrk 35 (Haro 3), based on deep optical (B,V,R,I) and near-IR (J,H,K) imaging, Halpha narrow-band observations and long-slit spectroscopy. The optical emission of the galaxy is dominated by a central young starburst, with a bar-like shape, while an underlying component of stars, with elliptical isophotes and red colors, extends more than 4 kpc from the galaxy center. High resolution Halpha and color maps allow us to identify the star-forming regions, to spatially discriminate them from the older stars, and to recognize several dust patches. We derive colors and Halpha parameters for all the identified star-forming knots. Observables derived for each knot are corrected for the contribution of the underlying older stellar population, the contribution by emission lines, and from interstellar extinction, and compared with evolutionary synthesis models. We find that the contributions of these three factors are by no means negligible and that they significantly vary across the galaxy. Therefore, careful quantification and subtraction of emission lines, galaxy host contribution, and interstellar reddening at every galaxy position, are essential to derive the properties of the young stars in BCDs. We find that we can reproduce the colors of all the knots with an instantaneous burst of star formation and the Salpeter initial mass function with an upper mass limit of 100 M_solar. In all cases the knots are just a few Myr old. The underlying population of stars has colors consistent with being several Gyr old.Comment: 21 pages, 13 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ, tentatively scheduled for the ApJ November 1, 2007 v669n1 issu

Spatiotemporal variability of dissolved inorganic macronutrients along the northern Antarctic Peninsula (1996–2019)

The northern Antarctic Peninsula is a key region of the Southern Ocean due to its complex ocean dynamics, distinct water mass sources, and the climate-driven changes taking place in the region. Despite the importance of macronutrients in supporting strong biological carbon uptake and storage, little is known about their spatiotemporal variability along the northern Antarctic Peninsula. Hence, we explored for the first time a 24-year time series (1996–2019) in this region to understand the processes involved in the spatial and interannual variability of macronutrients. We found high macronutrient concentrations, even in surface waters and during strong phytoplankton blooms. Minimum concentrations of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN; 16 μmol kg−1), phosphate (0.7 μmol kg−1), and silicic acid (40 μmol kg−1) in surface waters are higher than those recorded in surrounding regions. The main source of macronutrients is the intrusions of Circumpolar Deep Water and its modified variety, while local sources (organic matter remineralization, water mass mixing, and mesoscale structures) can enhance their spatiotemporal variability. However, we identified a depletion in silicic acid due to the influence of Dense Shelf Water from the Weddell Sea. Macronutrient concentrations show substantial interannual variability driven by the balance between the intrusions of modified Circumpolar Deep Water and advection of Dense Shelf Water, which is largely modulated by the Southern Annular Mode (SAM) and to some extent by El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). These findings are critical to improving our understanding of the natural variability of this Southern Ocean ecosystem and how it is responding to climate changes