Space use by giant otter groups in the Brazilian Pantanal

Giant otters (Pteronura brasiliensis) live in groups that seem to abandon their territories during the flooding season. We studied the spatial ecology of giant otter groups during dry and wet seasons in the Vermelho and Miranda rivers in the Brazilian Pantanal. We monitored visually or by radiotelemetry 10 giant otter groups monthly from June 2009 to June 2011.We estimated home-range size for all groups with the following methods: linear river length, considering the extreme locations of each group, and fixed kernel. For the radiotracked groups, we also used the k-LoCoh method. Spatial fidelity and habitat selection of giant otter groups were analyzed seasonally. On the basis of k-LoCoh (98%) method, home-range sizes during the wet season (3.6-7.9 km2) were 4 to 59 times larger than during the dry season (0.1-2.3 km2). Home-range fidelity between seasons varied among giant otter groups from 0% to 87%, and 2 radiotagged groups shifted to flooded areas during the wet seasons. Giant otter groups were selective in relation to the composition of the landscape available during the dry seasons, when the river was used more intensively than other landscape features. However, they seemed to be less selective in positioning activity ranges during the wet season. During this season, giant otters were frequently observed fishing in the areas adjacent to the river, such as flooded forest, grassland, and swamps. © 2013 American Society of Mammalogists

Desempenho de vacas leiteiras alimentadas com rações produzidas com silagens de cana-de-açúcar tratadas com aditivos ou cana-de-açúcar fresca

An experiment was performed aiming at evaluating the performance of dairy cows fed sugarcane silages treated with additives compared to cows fed fresh forage. Twenty-four Holstein cows were grouped in blocks of three cows, according to parity order and milk production level, in multiple 3 x 3 Latin Square design to evaluate three types of ration (63% roughage and 37% concentrate in dry matter - DM): ration with silage treated with urea (5.0 g/kg of fresh forage - FF) + sodium benzoate (0.5 g/kg FF); ration with silage inoculated with Lactobacillus buchneri (5 x 10(4) cfu/g FF); ration with fresh sugarcane. Each evaluation period consisted of two weeks for adaptation and one week for data collection. Cows fed rations with silages treated with urea + benzoate and L. buchneri showed lower DM intake (18.5 vs 21.4 kg/day) and lower milk production (17.4 vs 18.6 kg/day) in comparison to those fed fresh forage ration. Fat content was higher in the milk of cows fed silage inoculated with L. buchneri compared to cows in the fresh forage group resulting in similar 3.5% fat corrected milk (FCM) among cows in both groups. Cows fed ration with silage treated with urea + benzoate presented intermediate fat content in milk but inferior FCM production compared to animals fed fresh sugarcane. Feed efficiency (kg FCM/kg DMI) was higher for cows fed ration produced with the inoculated silage (0.95), intermediate for cows that received silage treated with the combination of chemical additives (0.91) and lower for cows fed the ration with fresh sugarcane (0.83).Um experimento foi realizado com o objetivo de avaliar o desempenho de vacas leiteiras alimentadas com silagens de cana-de-açúcar tratadas com aditivos em comparação ao de vacas alimentadas com a forragem fresca. Vinte e quatro vacas holandesas foram agrupadas em blocos de três vacas, de acordo com a ordem do parto e com o nível de produção de leite, em um delineamento quadrado latino múltiplo 3 x 3, para avaliação de três tipos de ração (63% volumoso e 37% concentrado na matéria seca - MS): ração com silagem tratada com ureia (5,0 g/kg de matéria verde - MV) + benzoato de sódio (0,5 g/kg MV); ração com silagem inoculada com Lactobacillus buchneri (5 x 10(4) ufc/g MV); ração com cana-de-açúcar fresca. Cada período de avaliação foi composto de duas semanas de adaptação e uma semana de coleta de dados. As vacas alimentadas com as rações com silagens tratadas com ureia + benzoato e com L. buchneri tiveram menor consumo de matéria seca (18,5 vs 21,4 kg/dia) e menor produção de leite (17,4 vs 18,6 kg/dia) em comparação àquelas alimentadas com a ração com forragem fresca. O teor de gordura no leite das vacas que receberam silagem inoculada com L. buchneri foi mais alto que no daquelas alimentadas com forragem fresca, o que resultou em valor de produção de leite corrigida para 3,5% de gordura (LCG) similar entre os grupos. As vacas que receberam ração com silagem tratada com ureia + benzoato apresentaram nível intermediário de gordura no leite, mas produção inferior de leite corrigida em comparação às alimentadas com cana fresca. A eficiência alimentar (kg LCG/kg MS consumida) foi mais alta nas vacas alimentadas com a ração produzida com silagem inoculada (0,95), intermediária para as vacas que receberam silagem tratada com a combinação de aditivos químicos (0,91) e mais baixa para as vacas alimentadas com a cana-de-açúcar fresca (0,83)

Time series transductive classification on imbalanced data sets: an experimental study

Graph-based semi-supervised learning (SSL) algorithms perform well on a variety of domains, such as digit recognition and text classification, when the data lie on a low-dimensional manifold. However, it is surprising that these methods have not been effectively applied on time series classification tasks. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive empirical comparison of state-of-the-art graph-based SSL algorithms with respect to graph construction and parameter selection. Specifically, we focus in this paper on the problem of time series transductive classification on imbalanced data sets. Through a comprehensive analysis using recently proposed empirical evaluation models, we confirm some of the hypotheses raised on previous work and show that some of them may not hold in the time series domain. From our results, we suggest the use of the Gaussian Fields and Harmonic Functions algorithm with the mutual k-nearest neighbors graph weighted by the RBF kernel, setting k = 20 on general tasks of time series transductive classification on imbalanced data sets.São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) (grants 2011/17698-5 and 2012/50714-7

Severe maternal morbidity and mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cohort study in Rio de Janeiro.

ObjectivesTo identify factors associated with adverse maternal outcomes during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.MethodsThis was a single-centre prospective cohort study at a maternity department in a public general hospital in Rio de Janeiro. All pregnant women evaluated for emergency care, labour and delivery, respiratory symptoms, obstetric reasons or medical reasons between May 2020 and March 2022 at the study institution were invited to enrol in this study. The endpoint was maternal mortality or intensive care unit (ICU) admission.ResultsIn total, 1609 pregnant women were enrolled in this study. Of these, 25.5% (n=410) were infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) based on reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction or an antigen test. There were 21 deaths and 67 ICU admissions in 4% of the cohort. The incidence of severe maternal morbidity and mortality was higher during the Gamma wave than during the Delta wave (P=0.003). Vaccination conferred protection against the endpoint [relative risk (RR) 0.4, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.1-0.9; P=0.0169]. Factors associated with severe morbidity and mortality included caesarean section (RR 3.7, 95% CI 1.7-7.9; P=0.0008), SARS-CoV-2 infection in the third trimester (RR 2.4, 95% CI 1.1-5.6; P=0.0006) and comorbidities (RR 3, 95% CI 1.8-5.2; P<0.0001).ConclusionsCOVID-19 was significantly associated with the risk of severe maternal morbidity and mortality. Immunization of pregnant women against COVID-19 was highly protective against adverse outcomes, and should be encouraged during pregnancy

<b>Structural analysis of a sulfated polysaccharidic fraction obtained from the coenocytic green seaweed <i>Caulerpa cupressoides<i> var. <i>lycopodium<i> </b>

Researches on structural chemistry of sulfated polysaccharides (SPs) have been mainly focused on red and brown algae. Caulerpa cupressoides var. lycopodium (Chlorophyta) contains three SPs fractions (Cc-SP1, Cc-SP2 and Cc-SP3). Cc-SP1 and Cc-SP2 had anticoagulant (in vitro) and anti- and prothrombotic, antinociceptive and/or anti-inflammatory (in vivo) effects. However, their structural features have not yet been investigated. This study analyzed the chemical composition, elemental microanalysis and structural features by infrared (IR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) spectroscopy of Cc-SPs. Fractionation of SPs by DEAE-cellulose yielded Cc-SP1, Cc-SP2 and CcSP3 containing differences among the relative proportions of sulfate (14.67-26.72%), total sugars (34.92-49.73%) and uronic acid (7.15-7.22%). Carbon (21.76-29.62%), sulfate (2.16-4.55%), nitrogen (0.85-1.57%) and hydrogen (4.57-5.86%) contents were obtained using a CHN equipment. Data from IR indicated occurrence of sulfate ester, galactose-6-sulfate, uronic acid and glycoside linkages. For 1H NMR spectrum of the soluble Cc-SP1 fraction, it was mainly found β-galactopyranose residues and CH3 group. The results showed that Cc-SPs fractions have some structural features similar to others studied Caulerpaceae SPs

Correction: Outcomes of Trypanosoma cruzi and Trypanosoma evansi infections on health of Southern coati (Nasua nasua), crab-eating fox (Cerdocyon thous), and ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) in the Brazilian Pantanal.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0201357.]