Flood vulnerability, environmental land use conflicts, and conservation of soil and water: a study in the Batatais SP municipality, Brazil.

In many regions across the planet, flood events are now more frequent and intense because of climate change and improper land use, resulting in risks to the population. However, the procedures to accurately determine the areas at risk in regions influenced by inadequate land uses are still inefficient. In rural watersheds, inadequate uses occur when actual uses deviate from land capability, and are termed environmental land use conflicts. To overcome the difficulty to evaluate flood vulnerability under these settings, in this study a method was developed to delineate flood vulnerability areas in a land use conflict landscape: the Batatais municipality, located in the State of São Paulo, Brazil. The method and its implementation resorted to remote sensed data, geographic information systems and geo-processing. Satellite images and their processing provided data for environmental factors such as altitude, land use, slope, and soil class in the study area. The importance of each factor for flood vulnerability was evaluated through the analytical hierarchy process (AHP). According to the results, vast areas of medium to high flood vulnerability are located in agricultural lands affected by environmental land use conflicts. In these areas, amplified flood intensities, soil erosion, crop productivity loss and stream water deterioration are expected. The coverage of Batatais SP municipality by these vulnerable areas is so extensive (60%) that preventive and recovery measures were proposed in the context of a land consolidation-water management plan aiming flood control and soil and water conservation

Diversidade genética entre procedências Cariniana legalis a partir de caracteres de crescimento das rebrotas.

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New species of Hasemania (Characiformes: Characidae) from Central Brazil, with comments on the endemism of upper rio Tocantins basin, Goiás State

Hasemania kalunga é descrita para a bacia do alto rio Tocantins, Chapada dos Veadeiros, Goiás, Brasil. A espécie nova distingue-se das suas congêneres pelo número de escamas perfuradas da linha lateral (11-21 vs. 5-9, exceto de H. crenuchoides e H. piatan), pela presença de uma mancha umeral preta e verticalmente alongada (vs. ausência, exceto de H. crenuchoides, H. nambiquara e H. piatan), e pela ausência de escamas na base da nadadeira anal (vs. presença, exceto de H. maxillaris e H. piatan), por 19 raios principais na nadadeira caudal (vs.18 em H. piatan). Ela também difere de H. crenuchoides por dados morfométricos. A ausência de uma bainha de escamas cobrindo a base da nadadeira anal, um caráter incomum em Characidae, e o endemismo da ictiofauna do alto rio Tocantins são discutidos.Hasemania kalunga is described from the upper rio Tocantins basin, Chapada dos Veadeiros, Goiás State, Brazil. The new species is distinguished from its congeners by the number of perforated lateral line scales (11-21 vs. 5-9, except from H. crenuchoides and H. piatan), by the presence of a black vertically-elongate humeral spot (vs. absent, except from H. crenuchoides, H. nambiquara, and H. piatan), and by absence of scale sheath along anal-fin base (vs. presence, except from H. maxillaris, and H. piatan), by 19 principal caudal-fin rays (vs. 18 in H. piatan). It differs also from H. crenuchoides by morphometric data. The absence of scale sheath covering the anal-fin base, an uncommon character in Characidae, and the endemism of the ichthyofauna from the upper rio Tocantins are discussed

Dengue virus pathogenesis in mouse central nervous system: studies on host response to dengue virus infection

Dengue virus (DENV) causes a self-limiting fever (DF) or severe hemorrhagic fever/shock-syndrome (DHF/DSS). Recently, clinical profile of DENV infection is changing, and neurological manifestations are becoming frequent. We previously demonstrated that mutations on E and NS3 proteins may account for DENV neurovirulence for mice. To validate the involvement of the observed mutations in the appearance of neurovirulent viral phenotypes, we constructed cDNA infectious clones encompassing the observed mutations. Aiming to determine host response to infection with neurovirulent and parental strains of DENV-1, we used a Mus musculus biochip (Virginia Commonwealth University) encompassing whole mouse genome. Newborn Swiss mice were infected intracerebraly with 8.000ffuC636 of FGA/89 (parental strain), FGA/NA a5c (neurovirulent strain) and mock. Animals infected with FGA/NA a5c show clinical signs of encephalitis around 9 days post-infection (dpi) and succumb to death (13.1 dpi ± 2.2), in contrast with animals infected with FGA/89 and mock. Kinetics of infection showed higher levels of viral RNA and progeny in FGA/NA a5c infected animals at 9 dpi. Microarray analyzes were carried out at 5, 6, 7 and 8 dpi in central nervous system (CNS) of mock, FGA/89 and FGA/NA a5c infected animals. Bioinformatic analysis revealed 149 genes up-regulated in CNS infection by DENV-1, at higher levels in animals infected with FGA/NA a5c. Analysis with the software Ingenuity Pathways Systems(IPA) showed that the main pathways modulated by DENV infection in the mouse CNS are IFN signaling, antigen presentation, complement cascades and protein ubiquitination. Additionally, 15 genes were selected by in silico analyses; of special interest are four genes encoding chemokines with chemoattractant activity, that are up-regulated following infection with the neurovirulent virus compared to parental virus. Nowadays we are performing the biological characterization of the selected genes and pathways