O processo erosivo na Bacia do Alto Paraguai

O Pantanal Matogrossense pode ser subdividido nas províncias fisiográficas de Planaltos, Pantanais e Morrarias, com feições geológicas, geomorfológicas, hidrológicas e pedológicas distintas. Nos Planaltos, grandes extensões de florestas e cerrado sofreram desflorestamento e foram substituídas por atividades agropecuárias, a partir dos anos 70. Como conseqüência, o processo erosivo sofreu uma grande aceleração, levando à perda de grandes porções de terras produtivas e assoreamentos na bacia do Pantanal. O objetivo deste trabalho é avaliar as modificações do uso e ocupação do solo nos últimos trinta anos e suas conseqüências no processo erosivo da região. A análise foi feita em três diferentes momentos: 1966, 1985 e 1996, fazendo-se uso de imagens de satélite TM 5 e de cartas topográficas do IBGE em escala 1: 250.000. Quatro áreas-piloto foram selecionadas para estudos mais detalhados: bacia do rio Taquarizinho, na parte leste da área; região de Pedro Gomes, nas proximidades da divisa dos estados de Mato Grosso e Mato Grosso do Sul; bacias do rios Arica-Açu e Arica-Mirim, na parte norte da bacia e a Chapada do rio Correntes/ Itiquira. Nas três primeiras áreas, foi feito o cálculo de perdas de solos por erosão laminar através do emprego da Equação Universal de Perdas de Solo, em ambiente SIG. Os resultados obtidos colocam em evidência a dinâmica ambiental ocorrida na região, nos últimos trinta anos. THE EROSION PROCESS ON ALTO PARAGUAI WATERSHED Abstract The Pantanal Matogrossense can be subdivided into three physiographic provinces, Planaltos, Pantanais and Morrarias, characterized by peculiar geologic, geomorphologic, hydrologic and pedologic features. On the Planaltos province, large extensions of florestas and cerrados, have been submitted to deforestation and were replaced by farming and cattle raising activities from the 70´s years. In the process of transformation, the deforestation is normally done by burnt or extracted trees with the use of weight agricultural machines. As a consequence of that activity, the erosive process suffered a great acceleration, taking to loss portions of productive lands and flooding of low areas in the Pantanal basin (figure 1). The aim of the present paper is to evaluate the changes on the use and occupation of the soil in the last thirty years and theirs consequences on the erosive process of the region. It has been analyzed in three different moments : 1966, 1985 and 1996 (figures 2 and 5). Statistical analysis of multitemporal data base were carried out to compare the land cover changes in these provinces. The 66´s data was available from the DSG/IBGE (Geographic Division of Brazilian Army and Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics); the 1985 and 1996 data have been obtained from Landsat TM images interpretation. Four pilot areas were chosen for detailed study: the Taquarizinho basin, located southern from Coxim (figure 6 and tables 1, 2 and 3), the Arica-Açu and Arica-Mirim basins (figures 7 and 8), on the northern part of Alto Paraguai Basin, the Pedro Gomes region (figures 9 and 10 and table 4) and the rio Correntes / Itiquira Chapada (figures 11, 12 and 13). The laminar erosion on the first three areas was calculated with the application of the Universal Soil Loss Equation, aided by Geographic Information System and Remote Sensing techniques. The results obtained put in evidence the environmental dynamic occurred on the Pantanal region in the last thirty years

Electric imaging through active electrolocation: implication for the analysis of complex scenes

Engelmann J, Bacelo J, Metzen M, et al. Electric imaging through active electrolocation: implication for the analysis of complex scenes. Biol Cybern. 2008;98(6):519-539.The electric sense of mormyrids is often regarded as an adaptation to conditions unfavourable for vision and in these fish it has become the dominant sense for active orientation and communication tasks. With this sense, fish can detect and distinguish the electrical properties of the close environment, measure distance, perceive the 3-D shape of objects and discriminate objects according to distance or size and shape, irrespective of conductivity, thus showing a degree of abstraction regarding the interpretation of sensory stimuli. The physical properties of images projected on the sensory surface by the fish's own discharge reveal a "Mexican hat" opposing centre-surround profile. It is likely that computation of the image amplitude to slope ratio is used to measure distance, while peak width and slope give measures of shape and contrast. Modelling has been used to explore how the images of multiple objects superimpose in a complex manner. While electric images are by nature distributed, or 'blurred', behavioural strategies orienting sensory surfaces and the neural architecture of sensory processing networks both contribute to resolving potential ambiguities. Rostral amplification is produced by current funnelling in the head and chin appendage regions, where high density electroreceptor distributions constitute foveal regions. Central magnification of electroreceptive pathways from these regions particularly favours the detection of capacitive properties intrinsic to potential living prey. Swimming movements alter the amplitude and contrast of pre-receptor object-images but image modulation is normalised by central gain-control mechanisms that maintain excitatory and inhibitory balance, removing the contrast-ambiguity introduced by self-motion in much the same way that contrast gain-control is achieved in vision

Nutrimetabolomics: An Integrative Action for Metabolomic Analyses in Human Nutritional Studies

The life sciences are currently being transformed by an unprecedented wave of developments in molecular analysis, which include important advances in instrumental analysis as well as biocomputing. In light of the central role played by metabolism in nutrition, metabolomics is rapidly being established as a key analytical tool in human nutritional studies. Consequently, an increasing number of nutritionists integrate metabolomics into their study designs. Within this dynamic landscape, the potential of nutritional metabolomics (nutrimetabolomics) to be translated into a science, which can impact on health policies, still needs to be realized. A key element to reach this goal is the ability of the research community to join, to collectively make the best use of the potential offered by nutritional metabolomics. This article, therefore, provides a methodological description of nutritional metabolomics that reflects on the state-of-the-art techniques used in the laboratories of the Food Biomarker Alliance (funded by the European Joint Programming Initiative “A Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life” (JPI HDHL)) as well as points of reflections to harmonize this field. It is not intended to be exhaustive but rather to present a pragmatic guidance on metabolomic methodologies, providing readers with useful “tips and tricks” along the analytical workflow