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

Encefalomielite aguda disseminada: relato de caso

To describe the case of a child diagnosed with Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis who presented recurrence. Child, from Belém, female, 10-years-old, started symptoms of hypoactivity and vomiting, evolving with altered level of consciousness, loss of sphincter control, decreased muscle strength, hemiparesis and aphasia. The cerebrospinal fluid was collected and meningitis was discarded. Was performed a computed tomography scan of the skull with a hypodense image in the deep parietal region. Corticosteroid therapy was started in low doses, showing a slight improvement. She was transferred to a referral hospital in pediatric neurology, with hypoactivity and altered neurological examination on the left. Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain and spinal cord showed images suggestive of Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis, and pulse therapy (methylprednisolone) was started. Afterwards, clinical progress was observed: improved speech, motor skills and sphincter control. Patient was discharged from hospital with corticosteroid maintenance and multidisciplinary rehabilitation. She remained clinically well, with good recovery. After five months, she evolved again with neurological manifestations, being considered a re-acute demyelinating condition, starting pulse therapy with methylprednisolone. She showed only partial improvement in symptoms. A new neuroimaging showing lesions still active. Chosen to perform immunoglobulin, evolving with significant clinical improvement. This disease starts with nonspecific prodromes and afterwards neurological symptoms will appears. The diagnosis is made through the neurological clinic and neuroimaging with classic alterations of the disease. Treatment is based on pulse therapy with methylprednisolone, followed by prednisolone. Intravenous human immunoglobulin is used as an option for cortic-resistant or relapsing patients

Efeito do microagulhamento na cicatriz de ferida cutânea induzida em ratos

Introdução: A saúde representa estado de completo bem-estar.As cicatrizes são exemplos de afecções que colocam em risco a integridade emocional do paciente, comprometendo sua qualidade de vida. Existem diversas alternativas terapêuticas visando amenizar distúrbios estéticos. O microagulhamento estimula a produção de colágeno, melhorando o efeito cicatricial da lesão provocada. Objetivo: avaliar o efeito do microagulhamento na cicatriz de ferida cutânea induzida cirurgicamente em ratos. Métodos: Foram utilizados 24 ratos, machos, distribuídos em cinco grupos de estudo. Em todos os grupos realizou-se a incisão cutânea induzida cirurgicamente no dorso do ani- mal, aguardando-se a cicatrização completa. Os grupos GC-14 e GC-30 foram controles para os grupos GCM-14 e GCM-30. Resultados: Foi identificada reepitelização e ausência de tecido de granulação em 100% dos grupos. Com relação à proporção de fibrose, observou-se redução média de 19% no grupo GCM-14 e de 4% no grupo GCM-30. Houve estímulo à produção de colágeno tipo I e III nos grupos submetidos ao microagulhamento, observando maior quantificação de colágeno tipo I no grupo GCM-14 (62,1%) em relação a seu controle (37,8%). Conclusões: o microagulhamento mostrou-se eficaz ao estimular maior produção de fibras colágenas em 14 dias, sugerindo tendência à melhora da cicatriz