Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear understanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5,6,7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8,9,10,11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world's most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepresented in biodiversity databases.13,14,15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may eliminate pieces of the Amazon's biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological communities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple organism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region's vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most neglected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lost

Low Inflammatory Stimulus Increases D2 Activity and Modulates Thyroid Hormone Metabolism during Myogenesis In Vitro

Thyroid hormone (TH) signaling controls muscle progenitor cells differentiation. However, inflammation can alter muscle TH signaling by modulating the expression of TH transporters (Slc16a2), receptors (Thra1), and deiodinase enzymes (Dio2 and Dio3). Thus, a proinflammatory environment could affect myogenesis. The role of a low-grade inflammatory milieu in TH signaling during myogenesis needs further investigation. Herein, we aimed to study the impact of the bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammatory stimulus on the TH signaling during myogenesis. C2C12 myoblasts differentiation was induced without (CTR) or with 10 ng/mL LPS presence. The myoblasts under LPS stimulus release the proinflammatory cytokines (IL-6 and IL-1β) and chemokines (CCL2 and CXCL-1). LPS decreases Myod1 expression by 28% during the initial myogenesis, thus reducing the myogenic stimulus. At the same time, LPS reduced the expression of Dio2 by 41% but doubled the D2 enzymatic activity. The late differentiation was not affected by inflammatory milieu, which only increased the Slc16a2 gene expression by 38%. LPS altered the intracellular metabolism of TH and reduced the initial myogenic stimulus. However, it did not affect late differentiation. Increased intracellular TH activation may be the compensatory pathway involved in the recovery of myogenic differentiation under a low-grade inflammatory milieu

Vivenciando Ciência através dos Curso de Férias em Xerém.

A transmissão do conhecimento acumulado e a metodologia educacional baseada na memorização não atendem as demandas de uma sociedade em constante transformação. Diferentes trabalhos demonstram que uma excelente maneira de vencer os desafios na aprendizagem em Ciências é através da experimentação. No entanto, no dia-a-dia, não é difícil constatar que as atividades experimentais são raramente utilizadas pela maioria de professores. O objetivo deste trabalho é desenvolver uma proposta de cursos de férias experimentais, no período de recesso escolar, para alunos dos Ensinos Fundamental e Médio de escolas públicas de Xerém e redondezas. Os cursos são oferecidas nos Laboratórios Didáticos de Química e Biologia do Campus Xerém/UFRJ. O curso é organizado por monitores, que são alunos de pós-graduação e graduação (bolsistas e voluntários) , com a supervisão da equipe docente. As atividades desenvolvidas pelo monitores incluem: seleção do tema, elaboração do material de divulgação (cartazes e fichas de inscrição), divulgação nas escolas, seleção dos participantes, treinamento dos experimentos,  monitoria durante o curso de férias, e elaboração do relatório final. Em Julho de 2015, foi oferecido o sétimo curso de férias do Campus Xerém,  intitulado “Os Mistérios da Célula”, que contou com um total 80 inscrições e participação de 36 alunos da Educação Básica. Os participantes foram provenientes de 15 escolas públicas da região de Xerém. Durante uma semana, os alunos selecionados desenvolveram atividades experimentais a partir de perguntas formuladas por eles próprios sobre o aspecto do tema que gostariam de abordar. Os monitores tiveram um papel coadjuvante, estimulando o desenvolvimento do pensamento científico e  auxiliando na manipulação de equipamentos científicos necessários para o experimento proposto. No final do curso, os participantes apresentaram os resultados experimentais obtidos durante a semana de uma maneira não formal, no formato de teatro ou jornal científico. O curso de férias foi avaliado pelos participantes através de um questionário aplicado no primeiro e último dia do curso. A avaliação foi positiva em diferentes aspectos, incluindo conhecimentos específicos sobre o tema, atuação dos monitores e colegas e condições de trabalho. O curso leva em conta que a realização de experimentos é essencial no processo de aprendizado da Ciência, o que torna o processo estimulante

Cirrhotic Liver Sustains In Situ Regeneration of Acellular Liver Scaffolds after Transplantation into G-CSF-Treated Animals

Acellular liver scaffolds (ALS) produced by decellularization have been successfully explored for distinct regenerative purposes. To date, it is unknown whether transplanted ALSs are affected by cirrhotic livers, either becoming cirrhotic themselves or instead remaining as a robust template for healthy cell growth after transplantation into cirrhotic rats. Moreover, little is known about the clinical course of recipient cirrhotic livers after ALS transplantation. To address these questions, we transplanted ALSs into cirrhotic rats previously treated with the granulocyte colony-stimulating factor. Here, we report successful cellular engraftment within the transplanted ALSs at 7, 15, and 30 days after transplantation. Recellularization was orchestrated by liver tissue cell activation, resident hepatocytes and bile duct proliferation, and an immune response mediated by the granulocyte components. Furthermore, we showed that transplanted ALSs ensured a pro-regenerative and anti-inflammatory microenvironment, attracted vessels from the host cirrhotic tissue, and promoted progenitor cell recruitment. ALS transplantation induced cirrhotic liver regeneration and extracellular matrix remodeling. Moreover, the transplanted ALS sustained blood circulation and attenuated alterations in the ultrasonographic and biochemical parameters in cirrhotic rats. Taken together, our results confirm that transplanted ALSs are not affected by cirrhotic livers and remain a robust template for healthy cell growth and stimulated cirrhotic liver regeneration