BRAZILIAN DISCUSSION ABOUT COVID-19 LOCKDOWN POLICIES ON TWITTER

The COVID-19 pandemic affected all countries worldwide, causing big changes in people's routines due to public policies for disease spreading control. Among the most impacting measures were social distancing policies and lockdown, leading to an intense discussion by the population. To describe this discussion in Brazil, this research applied data science and natural language methods to analyze posts on Twitter. It processed more than 12.9 million tweets between 2020 and 2021, and the results highlighted the main topics discussed by Brazilian Twitter users, such as the ideological-political component. The approach employed in this research proved to help extract valuable information in massive data mass.DOI: 10.36558/rsc.v12i3.790

Densidade, porosidade e resistência à penetração em Latossolo cultivado sob diferentes sistemas de preparo do solo

Soil tillage and management affect soil physical conditions for plant growth and crop productivity. The objective of this research was to evaluate some soil physical properties of an Typic Haplorthox located in the Northwest region of the State of Paraná, Brazil, after two years of different tillage systems, with same crop. The tillage systems used were: No-tillage (cultivated only along the crop row - NT), Minimum Tillage (subsoiling to the 0.30 m depth, followed by leveling - MT) and Conventional Tillage (plowing with moldboard plow to the 0.25 m depth, followed by leveling - CT). The following soil physical properties were evaluated at the depths of 0-0.10 m and 0.10-0.20 m: soil bulk density (Bd), soil porosity, and the soil resistance to root penetration (SRP), which was evaluated at each 0.05 m up to 0.4m, during three different periods. The results suggest showed higher values of Bd and smaller values of macroporosity in the 0-0,10 m layer for NT and MT. Similar results were obtained for SRP, independently of the time of evaluation and soil water content. MT and CT may provide favorable soil physical conditions to the growth of the crop when compared to NT. Medium to long-term evaluations are necessary due to the dynamic changes in soil physical quality, result of the tillage system, soil and crop management.Os sistemas de preparo e manejo do solo determinam as condições físicas para o crescimento das plantas e produtividade das culturas. O objetivo deste estudo é o de avaliar algumas propriedades físicas de um Latossolo Vermelho distrófico, cultivado com mandioca, após dois anos de implantação em diferentes sistemas de preparo do solo. Os tratamentos utilizados foram: Plantio Direto (mobilização do solo somente ao longo das linhas de plantio); Preparo Mínimo (escarificação a 0,30 m, seguido de gradagem niveladora) e Preparo Convencional (aração, com arado de aiveca a uma profundidade de 0,25 m, seguido de gradagem niveladora). Avaliaram-se, nas camadas de 0-0,10 m e 0,10-0,20 m, as seguintes propriedades físicas do solo: densidade, volume de macroporos, microporos, a porosidade e a resistência do solo à penetração das raízes, a cada 0,05 m, até à profundidade de 0,40 m, em três diferentes épocas. Constataram-se maiores valores de densidade do solo e menores valores de macroporosidade na camada de 0-0,10 m no plantio direto e preparo mínimo do solo. Resultados similares foram obtidos na avaliação da resistência do solo à penetração, independente da época de avaliação e da umidade do solo. Os sistemas de preparo mínimo e preparo convencional do solo proporcionam condições físicas menos restritivas ao crescimento das plantas, quando comparado com o plantio direto. Avaliações de médio-longo prazo são necessárias face às mudanças dinâmicas na qualidade física do solo, impostas pelos sistemas de preparo e manejo do solo e da cultura

The prominence of social responsibility disclosure in Portuguese companies’ web pages

This study investigates Portuguese companies’ use of the Internet to communicate social responsibility information, and the factors that affect this use. It examines the characteristics of companies that influence the prominence of social responsibility information on the Internet. Firm-specific factors that explain SRD by companies operating in a European country in which capital market fund raising is not regarded to be an important source of financing are analysed. The results are interpreted through the lens of a “political economy” framework which combines stakeholder and legitimacy theories perspectives, according to which companies disclose social responsibility information to present a socially responsible image so that they can legitimise their behaviours to their stakeholder groups and influence the external perception of reputation. Results suggest that a theoretical framework combining stakeholder and legitimacy theories may provide an explanatory basis for SRD by Portuguese companies. However, this study does not provide us with enough evidence to determine that the prominence given to CSR activities by Portuguese companies in their websites is linked to relationships with their stakeholder

Flower-Insect Timed Counts (FIT Count):protocol adaptation and preliminary results in Brazil

FIT Count (Flower-Insect Timed Counts) is a citizen science initiative that seeks to monitor flower visitation by diverse pollinator groups, including bumblebees, stingless bees, honeybees, flies, hummingbirds, among others. The protocol entails determining a 50 x 50 cm plot area around a target plant species, photographing the plant and conducting a standardized 10-minute survey on this area to estimate the frequency of flower visits by different pollinator groups. Conducting FIT Counts in different habitats and locations produces data on the temporal and spatial dynamics of these interactions (Carvell 2022, UK Pollinator Monitoring Scheme 2018).FIT Count methodology was originally developed by the UK Pollinator Monitoring Scheme (PoMS) and has been used in the United Kingdom since 2017, with over 8,500 counts conducted to date. In 2021, the FIT Count application (app) was launched in the United Kingdom, and became available in Brazil, Chile, Argentina, and some other European countries in 2022. After installation, users may select in which country the observations will be conducted and their preferred language, either English or the main native language of participating countries. The adaptation of the application for use by Brazilian citizen scientists involved not only the translation of the interface, but also relied on the expertise of a local team who helped select which plant species and pollinator groups would be appropriate and representative of biodiversity within the country (Fig. 1). The application is supported by a website that features a dedicated page for each country. Users can download the app on Google Play or App Store (Fig. 2).To allow the participation of non-experts, who generally are not familiar with taxonomy or species identification, the flower visitors are identified in general categories such as bumblebees and carpenter bees (grouped together), flies, and others (see Fig. 1), representing the main functional groups of pollinators. If a flower visitor cannot be identified, it should be classified as "other insect" or marked as "I don't know". Including the possibility of uncertainty in flower visitor identification was a suggestion of the Brazilian team for quality assurance during data collection.Currently, 834 flower visits have been counted by 15 participants, who performed 109 FIT Counts across Brazil as a pilot testing phase of the app. Two training workshops were held to disseminate the app, and an illustrated guide was published to help participants identify flower types and flower visitor groups (Koffler 2022). Nineteen plant species were monitored, but most flower-visits counted were on basil (Ocimum basillicum, n = 47) and false heather (Cuphea hyssopifolia, n = 33). The mean number of flower visitors per FIT Count was 8 (min = 0, max = 45). While most visits were performed by honeybees, participants also recorded visits by beetles, butterflies or moths, small insects, solitary bees, wasps and other insects. Next steps include assessing data quality and promoting strategic partnerships to further disseminate this citizen science initiative. For instance, quality control measures may include assessing whether participants perform the protocol steps according to instructions and whether plants and flower visitors are correctly identified and counted. Also, we are exploring the prospective implementation of the Darwin Core standard (Darwin Core Task Group 2009) along with the Plant-Pollinator Interactions vocabulary (Salim 2022) to standardize data description

IDENTIFICATION OF RISK AREAS USING SPATIAL CLUSTERING TO IMPROVE DENGUE MONITORING IN URBAN ENVIRONMENTS

Monitoring the occurrence and spread of epidemics is essential for improving decision-making and developing better public policies in urban environments. Besides temporal aspects, it is also essential to evaluate risk areas. However, only a few works in the literature apply spatial analysis of dengue epidemics in Brazil due mainly to a lack of data availability. Additionally, few methodologies available allow for identifying risk areas considering spatial aspects. The main objective of this work was to identify spatial clusters of risk for dengue cases according to the social vulnerability of each area. This constitutes a powerful tool for effective epidemiological and urban management. This work carries out an ecological study that considered dengue cases in São Carlos-SP, Brazil, in the years 2018, 2019 and 2020. The spatial scan technique was applied to classify the risk areas, considering the relative risk (RR) with a confidence interval of 95\% (CI95\%:) and the São Paulo Social Vulnerability Index (IPVS) to characterize these areas. Three clusters were identified in 2018, with high risk relative (RR=28.86), twenty clusters were identified in 2019, with high risk relative (RR=36.26) and five clusters were identified in 2020, with high risk relative (RR=23.32). The highest risk was located in a region with high vulnerability, and the second was in a region with very low vulnerability. These results provide information that allows the targeting of specific control actions from the early detection of cases in places with greater dengue transmissibility.DOI: 10.36558/rsc.v12i3.792

Opportunities and Barriers for Citizen Science Growth in Brazil: Reflections from the First Workshop of the Brazilian Citizen Science Network

Citizen science networks can provide support and visibility to existing initiatives. Although citizen science is a growing practice in Brazil, several challenges still exist. A network can play an important role in overcoming these challenges, helping with the exchange of knowledge between initiatives or raising funding, for example. The Brazilian Citizen Science Network was created to advance citizen science in the country. The launch took place in March 2021 at a two-day online workshop focused on topics such as financial sustainability, technology, data quality, inter- and transdisciplinary infrastructure, engagement, and good practices. Based on the contents of the presentations and comments during the event, the authors of this report held follow-up meetings to identify favourable and unfavourable factors that can foster or constrain citizen science in Brazil. Afterwards, an open letter expressing these factors was produced and shared with the network members to register the status of challenges and opportunities we have discussed so far, to be used as a guide for future actions. This report provides an overview of the workshop. Despite depicting a local perspective, the challenges and opportunities discussed during the workshop and summarised in this report may also apply to fostering citizen science in other countries or establishing global practices. We consider that the Brazilian Citizen Science Network can play an important role in promoting the establishment of collaborative actions across the country

Flower-insect timed counts (FIT Count): protocol adaptation and preliminary results in Brazil

FIT Count (Flower-Insect Timed Counts) is a citizen science initiative that seeks to monitor flower visitation by diverse pollinator groups, including bumblebees, stingless bees, honeybees, flies, hummingbirds, among others. The protocol entails determining a 50 x 50 cm plot area around a target plant species, photographing the plant and conducting a standardized 10-minute survey on this area to estimate the frequency of flower visits by different pollinator groups. Conducting FIT Counts in different habitats and locations produces data on the temporal and spatial dynamics of these interactions

Citizen Science Data on Urban Forageable Plants:A Case Study in Brazil

This paper presents two key data sets derived from the Pomar Urbano project. The first data set is a comprehensive catalog of edible fruit-bearing plant species, native or introduced in Brazil. The second data set, sourced from the iNaturalist platform, tracks the distribution and monitoring of these plants within urban landscapes across Brazil. The study encompasses data from all 27 Brazilian state capitals, focusing on the ten cities that contributed the most observations as of August 2023. The research emphasizes the significance of citizen science in urban biodiversity monitoring and its potential to contribute to various fields, including food and nutrition, creative industry, study of plant phenology, and machine learning applications. We expect the data sets to serve as a resource for further studies in urban foraging, food security, cultural ecosystem services, and environmental sustainability

Optimizing the Monitoring of Urban Fruit-Bearing Flora with Citizen Science:An Overview of the Pomar Urbano Initiative

The "Pomar Urbano" (Urban Orchard) project focuses on the collaborative monitoring of fruit-bearing plant species in urban areas throughout Brazil.The project collected a list of 411 fruit-bearing plant species (Soares et al. 2023), both native and exotic varieties found in Brazil. This list was selected from two main sources: the book Brazilian Fruits and Cultivated Exotics (Lorenzi et al. 2006) and the book series Plants for the Future, which includes volumes specifically dedicated to species of economic value in different regions of Brazil, namely the South (Coradin et al. 2011), Midwest (Vieira et al. 2016), Northeast (Coradin et al. 2018) and North (Coradin et al. 2022). To ensure broad geographic coverage, the project spans all 27 state capitals of Brazil. The data collection process relies on the iNaturalist Umbrella and Collection projects. Each state capital has a single collection project, including the fruit-bearing plant species list, and the locality restriction to that specific city. For example, the collection project Pomar Paulistano gathers data from the city of São Paulo. The Umbrella Project Urban Orchard was set to track data from all 27 collection projects.We firmly believe that these fruit-bearing plant species possess multifaceted value that extends beyond mere consumption. As such, we have assembled a dynamic and multidisciplinary team comprising professionals from various institutions across Brazil in a collaborative effort that encompasses different dimensions of biodiversity value exploration and monitoring, especially phenological data.One facet of our team is focused on creating products inspired by the diverse array of Brazilian fruit-bearing plants. Their work spans across sectors of the creative industry, including fashion, painting, and graphic design to infuse these natural elements into innovative and sustainable designs (Fig. 1 and Fig. 2).A group of nutrition and health scientists in conjunction with communication and marketing professionals is working to produce engaging media content centered around food recipes that incorporate Brazilian fruits (Fig. 3). These recipes primarily feature the fruit-bearing plants most frequently observed on iNaturalist in the city of São Paulo, allowing us to showcase the local biodiversity while promoting culinary diversity. Some of these recipes are based on the book Brazilian Biodiversity: Flavors and Aromas (Santiago and Coradin 2018). This book is an extensive compendium of food recipes that use fruits derived from native Brazilian species

Leveraging citizen science for monitoring urban forageable plants

Urbanization brings forth social challenges in emerging countries such as Brazil, encompassing food scarcity, health deterioration, air pollution, and biodiversity loss. Despite this, urban areas like the city of São Paulo still boast ample green spaces, offering opportunities for nature appreciation and conservation, enhancing city resilience and livability. Citizen science is a collaborative endeavor between professional scientists and nonprofessional scientists in scientific research that may help to understand the dynamics of urban ecosystems. We believe citizen science has the potential to promote human and nature connection in urban areas and provide useful data on urban biodiversity