The future of coffee and cocoa agroforestry in a warmer Mesoamerica

Climate change threatens cofee production and the livelihoods of thousands of families in Mesoamerica that depend on it. Replacing cofee with cocoa and integrating trees in combined agroforestry systems to ameliorate abiotic stress are among the proposed alternatives to overcome this challenge. These two alternatives do not consider the vulnerability of cocoa and tree species commonly used in agroforestry plantations to future climate conditions. We assessed the suitability of these alternatives by identifying the potential changes in the distribution of cofee, cocoa and the 100 most common agroforestry trees found in Mesoamerica. Here we show that cocoa could potentially become an alternative in most of cofee vulnerable areas. Agroforestry with currently preferred tree species is highly vulnerable to future climate change. Transforming agroforestry systems by changing tree species composition may be the best approach to adapt most of the cofee and cocoa production areas. Our results stress the urgency for land use planning considering climate change efects and to assess new combinations of agroforestry species in cofee and cocoa plantations in Mesoamerica

Comparison between two common methods for measuring Giardia lamblia susceptibility to antiparasitic drugs in vitro

In this study a comparison between two different methods for measuring the susceptibility of Giardia lamblia trophozoites to metronidazole and albendazole is performed. Modifications of Meloni’s method, based on the loss of adherence of parasites to surfaces, and the Hill method, based on the loss of parasite division capacity, are compared. A logistic model was used to calculate the inhibitory concentrations IC10, IC50 and IC90 that were further compared using the respective standard errors. The results obtained, after contact of parasites with the antiparasitic drugs for 24 h, show that the adherence method is more sensitive than the multiplication method for low and moderate inhibitory concentrations of albendazole. Conversely for metronidazole the multiplication method seems to be more sensitive for high inhibitory concentrations of the drug. For screening the IC50, both methods seem to be effective, however, the inhibition of adherence method have even better performance for the benzimidazole like drugs.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

EPISYNC study : Predictors of patient-ventilator asynchrony in a prospective cohort of patients under invasive mechanical ventilation - Study protocol

Funding: The Episync study is supported by Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP), grant number 2015/19122-4.Introduction: Patient-ventilator asynchrony is common during the entire period of invasive mechanical ventilation (MV) and is associated with worse clinical outcomes. However, risk factors associated with asynchrony are not completely understood. The main objectives of this study are to estimate the incidence of asynchrony during invasive MV and its association with respiratory mechanics and other baseline patient characteristics. Methods and analysis: We designed a prospective cohort study of patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of a university hospital. Inclusion criteria are adult patients under invasive MV initiated for less than 72 hours, and with expectation of remaining under MV for more than 24 hours. Exclusion criteria are high flow bronchopleural fistula, inability to measure respiratory mechanics and previous tracheostomy. Baseline assessment includes clinical characteristics of patients at ICU admission, including severity of illness, reason for initiation of MV, and measurement of static mechanics of the respiratory system. We will capture ventilator waveforms during the entire MV period that will be analysed with dedicated software (Better Care, Barcelona, Spain), which automatically identifies several types of asynchrony and calculates the asynchrony index (AI). We will use a linear regression model to identify risk factors associated with AI. To assess the relationship between survival and AI we will use Kaplan-Meier curves, log rank tests and Cox regression. The calculated sample size is 103 patients. The statistical analysis will be performed by the software R Programming (www.R-project.org) and will be considered statistically significant if the p value is less than 0.05. Ethics and dissemination: The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Instituto do Coração, School of Medicine, University of São Paulo, Brazil, and informed consent was waived due to the observational nature of the study. We aim to disseminate the study findings through peer-reviewed publications and national and international conference presentations. Trial registration number: NCT02687802; Pre-results

First record of anelosimus jucundus (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1896) (araneae, theridiidae) in the state of Ceara, Brazil

We present the first record for Anelosimus jucundus O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1896 for the state of Ceará, Brazil. We collected 22 individuals in three different ecosystems: (1) Mangrove swamps, (2) Caatinga-type desert vegetation, and (3) Montane semi-deciduous tropical forest. We corrected the misinformation of Levi’s 1963 Ceará record, was actually from the state of Pernambuco. Anelosimus jucundus presents a wide altitudinal distribution, which indicates that this species can tolerate a variety climatic conditions and can colonize a variety of sites with different vegetation155933936CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQCOORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL DE NÍVEL SUPERIOR - CAPESFUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO - FAPESPnão temnão temnão temThis study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - Brasil (CAPES), Finance Code 001 (G.A. Villanueva-Bonilla). We were also financially supported by the Instituto Na-cional de Ciência e Tecnologia dos Hymenoptera Para-sitoides (HYMPAR/Sudeste – CNPq/FAPESP/CAPES), FUNCAP-BPI proc. BP3- 00139- 00186.01.00/18 (research grants to J.F. Sobczak

Fermions in three-dimensional spinfoam quantum gravity

We study the coupling of massive fermions to the quantum mechanical dynamics of spacetime emerging from the spinfoam approach in three dimensions. We first recall the classical theory before constructing a spinfoam model of quantum gravity coupled to spinors. The technique used is based on a finite expansion in inverse fermion masses leading to the computation of the vacuum to vacuum transition amplitude of the theory. The path integral is derived as a sum over closed fermionic loops wrapping around the spinfoam. The effects of quantum torsion are realised as a modification of the intertwining operators assigned to the edges of the two-complex, in accordance with loop quantum gravity. The creation of non-trivial curvature is modelled by a modification of the pure gravity vertex amplitudes. The appendix contains a review of the geometrical and algebraic structures underlying the classical coupling of fermions to three dimensional gravity.Comment: 40 pages, 3 figures, version accepted for publication in GER

Interrelações entre minerais no solo, plantas forrageiras e tecido animal no norte de Mato Grosso 4. Zinco, magnésio, sódio e potássio

An experiment was conducted with samples from six farms in northearn Mato Grosso, Brazil, to study the interrelationships among levels of minerals in soil, forage, and animal tissues during the wet and dry seasons of the year. Soil extractable Zn levels were low in three out of six farms. Forage Zn levels were defficient in five farms. Levels of Zn in the liver were defficient in all six farms, being much lower (68 ppm) during the wet season than during the dry season (113 ppm). Magnesium levels in soil were low in one farm and adequated in five. Forage and animal tissue Mg levels were adequated in all six farms. Soil extractable sodium was normal and the salinity in all six farms was considered negligible. Forage sodium was highly defficient, being able to meet only between 14 to 30% of the animal requirements. Soil potassium levels were low in two out of six farms, but forage levels were adequate in all six farms to meet the requirement of grazing beef cattle.Levantamento das deficiências minerais de seis fazendas localizadas ao norte do Estado de Mato Grosso, tendo sido amostrados os solos, plantas forrageiras e tecido animal, nas estações seca e chuvosa. Foram constatadas deficiências de Zn no solo em três das seis fazendas estudadas. Cinco das seis fazendas apresentaram deficiência de zinco nas forrageiras. Os níveis de Zn no fígado dos animais foram deficientes em todas as seis fazendas, mas sendo muito mais deficientes ainda no período chuvoso (68 ppm) do que no período seco, (113 ppm). Os níveis de Mg nos solos foram mais baixos em apenas uma fazenda. Nas forrageiras e no tecido dos animais amostrados, os níveis de Mg foram normais. Os níveis de Na nos solos foram considerados normais, e a salinidade nas regiões estudadas foi considerada insignificante. Em todas as fazendas, as forrageiras mostraram-se altamente deficientes em Na, satisfazendo apenas entre 14 a 30% das exigências nutricionais dos bovinos. Os níveis de K nos solos mostraram-se deficientes em duas das seis fazendas estudadas. As forrageiras apresentaram níveis médios adequados às exigências nutricionais dos bovinos em todas as fazendas

Characterization of Dunaliella salina strains by flow cytometry: a new approach to select carotenoid hyperproducing strains

In the present work the characterization of different strains of Dunaliella salina from established cell culture collections and various isolates from solar saltworks located in the Canary Island, as well as one mutant, was carried out in order to assess the existence of intraspecific differences and to determine the potential productivity of each one. Morphological characteristics such as cellular size and cellular complexity and parameters linked to cellular physiology, such as pigment content or cellular growth rate, were determined by means of traditional techniques as well as flow cytometry. Results showed a high morphological and physiological intraspecific variability among the studied strains. Results suggest that the application of the lipidic dye Nile red allowed the development of a cytometric method faster than the traditional techniques to select carotenoid hyperproducing strains of microalgae

The efficacy of recombinant protein lbk39 for the diagnosis of leishmaniosis in dogs

Visceral leishmaniosis is one of the most important zoonotic diseases on the planet and dogs are the main reservoir of canine visceral leishmaniosis (CVL) in endemic areas. They play an important role in human infection because in dogs the disease appears long time after infection, and they can move uncontrollably, contributing to disperse the parasite. To take the decision to treat the animals or for euthanasia, in an elimination programme, in order to reduce the parasitic load, it is necessary to diagnose correctly, having more effective tools. Our group has developed a new recombinant antigen-based kinesin-related gene of Leishmania braziliensis (Lbk39), which shows 59% amino acid identity to the L. infantum homologue. The Lbk39 gene was synthesized, inserted into the pLEXSY-sat2 vector and transfected into L. tarentolae cells by electroporation. The recombinant protein was secreted in the culture with a C-terminal histidine marker, purified, generating a product at 337.68 μg mL-1. A total of 152 sera from dog's endemic and non-endemic areas were used, being 78 positives and 75 negatives. The antigen Lbk39 showed 100% sensitivity and 96.1% specificity. We compared this antigen with other antigens such as total extract of the parasite, TRDPP, and our data indicate that Lbk39 has potential application in the diagnosis of CVL through antibody detection. Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

Classical and Quantum Strings in compactified pp-waves and Godel type Universes

We consider Neveu-Schwarz pp-waves with spacetime supersymmetry. Upon compactification of a spacelike direction, these backgrounds develop Closed Null Curves (CNCs) and Closed Timelike Curves (CTCs), and are U-dual to supersymmetric Godel type universes. We study classical and quantum strings in this background, with emphasis on the strings winding around the compact direction. We consider two types of strings: long strings stabilized by NS flux and rotating strings which are stabilized against collapse by angular momentum. Some of the latter strings wrap around CNCs and CTCs, and are thus a potential source of pathology. We analyze the partition function, and in particular discuss the effects of these string states. Although our results are not conclusive, the partition function seems to be dramatically altered due to the presence of CNCs and CTCs. We discuss some interpretations of our results, including a possible sign of unitary violation.Comment: 42 pages, LaTeX, 2 figure