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

A security study of Bluetooth-powered robot toy

Aim: A smart toy robot has its intellect with circuits on board. It has a built-in microprocessor, sensors of one or more types, a mechanical system including moving parts, and some firmware to control and tie the parts together. The embedded sensors and devices help to create their functionality. These devices include wireless communication for data transfer. One such device for wireless communication is Bluetooth, which can be dangerous due to attack vulnerabilities, especially on Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) devices.Methods: In addition to discovering vulnerabilities in Bluetooth communication, common issues have been identified, including related attacks, threats, malware, and vulnerabilities. To identify specific attacks for Bluetooth devices used in smart toys, this study adopted Qoopers, a robot capable of integrating different devices into its model. Qoopers was tested using security frameworks to simulate attacks.Results: We found that devices with BLE are more susceptible to attack. Qoopers was exposed to security frameworks used in restricted conditions, demonstrating that they can be hacked using a man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack and eavesdropping on data transfer. This paper also discusses solutions to prevent Bluetooth attacks.Conclusion: Bluetooth communication is vulnerable to different attacks, including MITM. This happens even with Qoopers robot when it is reprogrammed with customized applications with less security. These smart toy robots are used mainly by children under 16, who can make mistakes by ignoring security, focusing only on functionality, increasing the risk of personal information theft and other threats

Chemical Profile and Biological Potential of Non-Polar Fractions from Centroceras clavulatum (C. Agardh) Montagne (Ceramiales, Rhodophyta)

The present study reports the Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) evaluation of the hexanes and dichloromethane fractions from extracts of the red alga Centroceras clavulatum (C. Agardh) Montagne. Twenty three compounds were identified, totaling ca. 42% of both fractions (0.18 g mass extract). The main constituents of the fractions were hexadecanoic acid (17.6%) and pentadecanoic acid (15.9%). Several secondary metabolites with interesting biological activity, such as (-)-loliolide, neophytadiene, phytol were identified. In addition, several classes of secondary metabolites, including phenolic compounds (e.g., phenylacetic acid), terpene derivatives, fatty acids, halogenated compound (e.g., 2-chlorocyclohexenol), lignoids, steroids, esters, amides (e.g., hexadecanamide), ketones, carboxylic acids, aldehydes and alcohols were observed. The occurrence of several of these structural classes is described for the first time in this species. The same fractions analyzed by GC-MS, and a separate set of polar fractions, were evaluated against two life cycle stages (epimastigote and trypomastigote forms) of the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi and against phytopatogenic fungi Cladosporium cladosporiodes and C. sphaerospermum. The dichloromethane fraction was active against both T. cruzi forms (epimastigote IC50 = 19.1 μg.mL−1 and trypomastigote IC50 = 76.2 μg.mL−1). The hexanes and ethyl acetate fractions also displayed activity against both fungi species (200 μg) by TLC-bioautography

9) Efeito do Manejo do Solo em Algumas Propriedades Físicas de um Latossolo Amarelo, do Estado do Pará.

Ministério da Educação e do Desporto e Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias do Pará.1) Discute-se aplicações do método estatístico de Análise de Fatores (AF), na caracterização da estrutura das florestas tropicais, através da elaboração de um mapa tipológico, construído a partir de um índice, definido como: o módulo da resultante da soma vetorial dos escores fatoriais ponderados pela contribuição de cada fator à comunalidade total.2) Este trabalho teve por objetivo avaliar as mudanças edáficas causadas pelo cultivo intensivo (pomar) de um Latossolo Amarelo álico textura média, em comparação com um solo com as mesmas características sob cobertura de uma vegetação secundária (capoeira). As características físicas estudadas foram: textura, densidade global, densidade de partículas, macro e microporosidade e volume de sólidos. Fez-se ainda a determinação da matéria orgânica. Os resultados mostraram que a porosidade total e a macroporosidade alteraram para menor, enquanto que a densidade global aumentou na profundidade do 0-20 cm na área sob pomar. Por sua vez, o manejo intensivo, causado pela mecanização e influenciada pelo baixo teor de matéria orgânica, contribuiu para um brusco aumento de densidade global até a profundidade de 20 cm: em conseqüência, a microporosidade apresenta aumento altamente significativo em relação aos valores encontrados na capoeira, até profundidade de 20 cm.3) A área da bacia do rio Candiru-Açu encontra-se localizada na microrregião homogênea Guajarina, entre os paralelos de 2° 24' a 2° 56' de latitude Sid e entre os meridianos de 47° 19' e 47° 45' de longitude W Gr. Os solos ai existentes são representados pelos Latossolos Amarelos de textura média a muito argilosa. Podzólicos Vermelhos-Amarelos. Solos Aluviais e Hidromórficos Indiscriminados. O objetivo da pesquisa foi demonstrar a eficiência de imagens de satélite do TM/LANDSAT-S no mapeamento do uso atual das terras e da cobertura vegetal da bacia hidrográfica do rio Candiru-Açu, o qual foi realizado na escala 1:100.000. As delimitações foram realizadas por meio da interpretação visual das imagens coloridas do TM/LANDSAT-5 na combinação 3R4G5B, com apoio das imagens preto e branco dos canais 4 e 5, na escala 1:100.000. Na área da bacia foi observado que 54,31% encontra-se coberta por vegetação florestal primitiva, vindo em seguida a atividade pecuária com 30,14%, a capoeira com 12.07%, a agricultura com 3,44% e, finalmente a área urbana com 0,04% da área total. A escala final do mapa de uso atual foi de 1:400.000.4) Relata-se um caso de Hemopericárdio em cão de raça pastor alemão, com 'rês anos de idade, acometido por Hiperparasitismo por Spirocerca lupi. O hemopericárdio resultou da ruptura de um aneurisma do tipo dissecante na porção intrapericárdica da artéria aorta, com o acúmulo aproximado de 300ml de sangue no saco pericárdico, fator determinante de morte súbita por tamponamento cardíaco. Outras lesões foram identificadas a nível da artéria aorta na forma de numerosos e pequenos nódulos na adventícia. Na porção torácica do esôfago, foram identificados três nódulos. Os exemplares de S. lupi totalizaram 175 espécimes, sendo que algumas estavam livres da serosa periesofágica e periaórtica.5) Estudou-se a influência de cinco diferentes sistemas de manejo, na condutividade hidráulica e estabilidade de agregado de um Podzólico Amarelo Tb Álico Epidistrófico, textura arenosa/média no município de Igarapé-Açu, Estado do Pará, cultivado com milho (Zea mays L). A localidade é caracterizada por um clima do tipo Ami da classificação de Köeppen. Além do sistema convencional, foram testados dois sistemas reduzidos de preparo (enxada rotativa e duas gradagens leves) e dois sistemas sem mobilização do solo (capina manual e plantio direto). O sistema convencional apresentou baixo valor de condutividade hidráulica (4,2 mm/h) e a estabilidade de agregado foi maior no plantio direto e nos sistemas reduzidos de preparo na camada superficial de 0-10cm.6) Fui estudada a mineralogia da fração argila dos solos classificados como série Sede e Babaçu, pertencentes ao grande grupo Podzólico Vermelho-Amarelo, existente na Estação Experimental da CEPLAC, município de Santa Inês-MA. O estudo teve por finalidade conhecer a natureza dos minerais de argila desses solos, relacionando-se com suas características físicas e químicas. Identificaram-se como minerais de argila, quartzo, caulinita, ilita e presença de uma mistura pouco definida de ilita/montmorilonita. Embora apresentem mineralogia semelhante ao longo dos subhorizontes, a série Babaçu detém maior teor de argila e, em média, o dobro da CTC da série Sede.7) Em uma propriedade do município de Castanhal, Estado do Pará, em um rebanho de trezentos bovinos destinados à produção leiteira, criados em sistema de semiconfinamento, foi constatado que um animal da raça holandesa,com aproximadamente sete anos de idade e do sexo feminino, apresentava nódulos e lesões multiulcerativas bastante extensas, situadas na região lombo-sacra e dorsal. Pelas características macroscópicas suspeitou-se de carcinoma epidermóide. Em seguida foi realizada biópsia da lesão. O exame histológico comprovou o diagnóstico clínico.8) Os efeitos de micorriza e de níveis de fósforo sobre o crescimento de mudas de Hevea brasiliensis foram determinados em casa-de-vegetação na Escola Superior de Agricultura "Luiz de Queiroz". O delineamento experimental foi completamente casualizado com seis repetições na combinação de três níveis de fósforo, com e sem inoculação. Os níveis de fósforo foram 0,9; 1,8 e 2,7g de P2O5 por planta, usando-se o superfosfato triplo. Nos tratamentos com inoculação, esta fo ifeita com o fungo Gigaspora margarila, sendo que o solo não foi esterilizado. As avaliações foram realizadas nove meses após o plantio. As análises de raízes não evidenciaram a presença do fungo inoculado, entretanto, estas foram infectadas por Rhizoctonia sp. Esta infecção promoveu o aumento do diâmetro, da altura e do peso de matéria seca das plantas fertilizadas com o maior nível de fósforo.9) Com objetivo de avaliar os efeitos do manejo sobre a estabilidade dos agregados do solo em água, foram amostradas, em janeiro de 1992, duas áreas adjacentes de um Latossolo Amarelo álico, textura média, uma cultivada com pomar doméstico de espécies frutíferas que é submetida a contínuo manejo mecanizado e outra não cultivada sob vegetação secundária em regeneração (capoeira), com aproximadamente 18 anos de pousio. Foram feitas amostragens às profundidades de 0-10 cm, 10-20 cm, 20-30 cm e 30-40 cm. Os dados obtidos não demonstraram efeito significativo do manejo sobre a agregação e o conteúdo de matéria orgânica. Estas variáveis somente foram influenciadas pela profundidade do solo. O efeito significante do manejo em função da profundidade, manifestou-se sobre a densidade aparente, a macroporosidade e a microporosidade. O índice de agregação apresentou correlação altamente significante com a densidade aparente, a macroporosidade e o conteúdo de matéria orgânica. Com a microporosidade, a signficância ficou ao nivel de 0,05%.1) This work discusses aplications offactor analysis to characterize the structure of tropical forests. It suggested that the construction of the typological map can be based on an index defined as the modulus of the resultant vectorial sum of factor scores weighted by the contribution of each factor for total community.2) This work had as objective to evaluate the edaphyc change caused hy intensive cultivation of an alic yellow latosol of medium texture, for making comparison with the same soil but with another regrow plant cover (capoeira). The soil physical characteristics studied were: texture, bulk density, particle density, macro and microporosity and volume of particles. The organic matter content was also determined. The results pointed out that the total porosity and macroporosity changed to less in the area under intensive cultivation in relation with capoeira area. The bulk density in this area increased at the depth of to 20cm. The intensive management caused by the soil mechanization an influenced by the low value organic matter as content. Contributed to increase the bulk density to a soil depth of 20cm. For this reason the microporosity presents hight significant increase in relation to the values presents in the soil of capoeira treatment up to the soil depth of 20cm.3) The Candiru-Açu area is located within the homogeneous micro region Guajarina between latitude 02° 24 ; and 02º 56' South, and longitude 47 º 19" and 47°45' west. The soil there existing are represented by the Yellow Latosols medium textured to very clayey; red-yellow Podzolics and Alluvial and Hidromorphicsoil. The objective of this study was to demonstrate the LANDSAT-5 image efficience in the survey of the atual use of lands and vegetal cover of Candiru-Açu hydrographical basin, which was mapped on the 1:100.000 scale. The delineated through visual interpretation of the colored TM/LANDSAT-5 images composed by the 3R 4G 5B channels aided by black and white images on the 4 and 5 channels a 1:100.000 scale. The final scale o fthe mup of atual use was 1:400.000.4) This study reports a case of Hemopericardium in a three years old German shepherd dog, taken with hyperparasitism by Spirocerca lupi. The hemopericardium was caused by the rupture of an aneurism of the dissecant type on the intrapericardial portion of the aorta, with a blood acummulation of about 300 ml in the pericardium sac, a determinam factor of sudden death. Other Lesions were identified on the aorta artery in the form of numerous small nolules on the adventitia. Three nodules were found on the thoracic portion of the esophagus. There were 175 S. lupi specimes, some of which found free in the perisophagic and periaorta serosa.5) The main ptirpose study Mas to evaluate the influence of five differents management systems, on the hydraulic conductivity (determinated in laboratory) and aggregated stability, of the sandy/medium textured Epidistrofic Alie Yellow Podzolic soil, located in the Amazon Region, county of Igarapé-Açu, State of Pará in Brazil, tilled with corn (Zea mays L.) This area is characterized by a type Ami climate based on the Koeppen classification. In addition to the conventional system of preparing the soil, two reduced system were tested (rotovator-RO and two light harrowings - LH) and two systems without tillaging the soil (hand weeding - HW and no-tilled - NT). The conventional system caused a great reduction on the hydraulic conductivity, where the aggregated stability was small in the reduced systems and no-tilled,in the 0-10 cm surface layer.6) The mineralogy of clays fraction of soil Sede serie and soil Babaçu serie was studied. The two soil series belongs to the red-yellow podzolic soil great groups of the Experimental Station of CEPLAC, in Santa Inês county of Maranhão State. The aims of the present study was to know the nature of the clay mineralogy of the soil and to stablish the relationship with some phisical and chemical soil characteristics. The main clay minerais identified were: quartz, caolinite, illit/montmorilonit. Dispite the both soil series present similar mineralogy along the soil horizons the Babaçu soil serie presents more clay percent along the soil horinzons in average double of CEC of they soil serie Sede.7) A 7 year old cow of the Deutsch race, belonging to a herd of 300 milk cows raised in semiconfinament in a ranch located in Castanhal, State of Pará, Brazil, was found with nodules and multicerative extensive lesions on the lunbosacral and dorsal regions. The microscopic characteristics indicated the possibility of squamous cell carcinoma, a diagnosis confirmed by the biopsy ofthe lesion.8) The effect of mycorrhiza and phosphorus leveis on the growth of Hevea brasiliensis seedlings was determined in a greenhouse trial at the Escola Superior de Agricultura "Luiz de Queiroz ". The experimental design wass completely randomized with six replications in a factorial combination of three P levels and two inoculation treatments. The phosphorus levels were: 0,9; 1,8 and 2,7 of P2O5 per plant using triple superphosphate. The inoculation treatments were: without inoculation and inocidation with the fungus Gigaspora margarita. For both treatments the soil irai not sterilized. Evaluations were made nine months after planting. Root analysis did not show the presence of the fungus inocidated, however, roots were infected by Rhyzoctonia sp. This infection promoted an increase in height, diameter and shoot dry matter on plants fertilized with the highest phosphorus level.9) The effect of aggregate stability of the soil was studied in the alic yellow latosol with medium granulometric textural conditions. One of the areas is cultivate with a domestic fruit tree archard wich is submitted to continuous mechanized management and the other one is a non-cultivated secondary forest with approximately 18 years of rest. The samples were taken at the iepths of 0-10 cm, 10-20 cm., 20-30 cm and 30-40 cm. The results didn 't show any significant effect of the management on the aggregation and on the organic matter content. These variable were affected only by the soil depth. The significant effect of management related to depht was shown on bulk density on macroporosity and on microporosity. The aggregation index showed higt significant correlation with bulkdensity, macroporosity and organic matter content the signification with microporosity was at 0,05%

Implementation of a Brazilian Cardioprotective Nutritional (BALANCE) Program for improvement on quality of diet and secondary prevention of cardiovascular events: A randomized, multicenter trial

Background: Appropriate dietary recommendations represent a key part of secondary prevention in cardiovascular disease (CVD). We evaluated the effectiveness of the implementation of a nutritional program on quality of diet, cardiovascular events, and death in patients with established CVD. Methods: In this open-label, multicenter trial conducted in 35 sites in Brazil, we randomly assigned (1:1) patients aged 45 years or older to receive either the BALANCE Program (experimental group) or conventional nutrition advice (control group). The BALANCE Program included a unique nutritional education strategy to implement recommendations from guidelines, adapted to the use of affordable and regional foods. Adherence to diet was evaluated by the modified Alternative Healthy Eating Index. The primary end point was a composite of all-cause mortality, cardiovascular death, cardiac arrest, myocardial infarction, stroke, myocardial revascularization, amputation, or hospitalization for unstable angina. Secondary end points included biochemical and anthropometric data, and blood pressure levels. Results: From March 5, 2013, to Abril 7, 2015, a total of 2534 eligible patients were randomly assigned to either the BALANCE Program group (n = 1,266) or the control group (n = 1,268) and were followed up for a median of 3.5 years. In total, 235 (9.3%) participants had been lost to follow-up. After 3 years of follow-up, mean modified Alternative Healthy Eating Index (scale 0-70) was only slightly higher in the BALANCE group versus the control group (26.2 ± 8.4 vs 24.7 ± 8.6, P <.01), mainly due to a 0.5-serving/d greater intake of fruits and of vegetables in the BALANCE group. Primary end point events occurred in 236 participants (18.8%) in the BALANCE group and in 207 participants (16.4%) in the control group (hazard ratio, 1.15; 95% CI 0.95-1.38; P =.15). Secondary end points did not differ between groups after follow-up. Conclusions: The BALANCE Program only slightly improved adherence to a healthy diet in patients with established CVD and had no significant effect on the incidence of cardiovascular events or death. © 2019 The Author

NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES: a data set on carnivore distribution in the Neotropics

Mammalian carnivores are considered a key group in maintaining ecological health and can indicate potential ecological integrity in landscapes where they occur. Carnivores also hold high conservation value and their habitat requirements can guide management and conservation plans. The order Carnivora has 84 species from 8 families in the Neotropical region: Canidae; Felidae; Mephitidae; Mustelidae; Otariidae; Phocidae; Procyonidae; and Ursidae. Herein, we include published and unpublished data on native terrestrial Neotropical carnivores (Canidae; Felidae; Mephitidae; Mustelidae; Procyonidae; and Ursidae). NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES is a publicly available data set that includes 99,605 data entries from 35,511 unique georeferenced coordinates. Detection/non-detection and quantitative data were obtained from 1818 to 2018 by researchers, governmental agencies, non-governmental organizations, and private consultants. Data were collected using several methods including camera trapping, museum collections, roadkill, line transect, and opportunistic records. Literature (peer-reviewed and grey literature) from Portuguese, Spanish and English were incorporated in this compilation. Most of the data set consists of detection data entries (n = 79,343; 79.7%) but also includes non-detection data (n = 20,262; 20.3%). Of those, 43.3% also include count data (n = 43,151). The information available in NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES will contribute to macroecological, ecological, and conservation questions in multiple spatio-temporal perspectives. As carnivores play key roles in trophic interactions, a better understanding of their distribution and habitat requirements are essential to establish conservation management plans and safeguard the future ecological health of Neotropical ecosystems. Our data paper, combined with other large-scale data sets, has great potential to clarify species distribution and related ecological processes within the Neotropics. There are no copyright restrictions and no restriction for using data from this data paper, as long as the data paper is cited as the source of the information used. We also request that users inform us of how they intend to use the data