A Convergência e as Intersecções nas Ciências Sociais

The “convergent” research has advanced with notable success in the life sciences, physical sciences and engineering, as it can be concluded from the joint report of MIT-AAAS, available for online reference at http://news.mit.edu/2011/convergence-0104 containing encomiastic references to “The Third Revolution: The Convergence of the Life Sciences, Physical Sciences and Engineering”.It is desirable that the realm of the Social Sciences breaks out of its departmental culture which enhances the weaknesses analysed by Thomas S. Kuhn, another north-American and Harvard scholar, in his seminal research published as The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962) exposing the subjectivities that blocked the potential for convergence and innovation in Social Sciences.A investigação “convergente” tem avançado com notável sucesso nas ciências da vida, ciências físicas e engenharias, como se pode concluir do relatório conjunto de MIT-AAAS que pode ser consultado em http://news.mit.edu/2011/convergence-0104 que refere de maneira elogiosa à “The Third Revolution: The Convergence of the Life Sciences, Physical Sciences and Engineering.”.É desejado que aconteça igual nas áreas das Ciências Sociais onde ainda domina o departamentalismo, para além das outras fraquezas, analisadas por Thomas S. Kuhn na sua investigação seminal, A estrutura das revoluções cientificas (Lisboa: Guerra e Paz Editora, 2009. Original: The University of Chicago, 1962), e que bloqueiam o aproveitamento significativo do potencial para convergência e inovação

Recent advances in lanthanide spectroscopy in Brazil

This review discusses recent advances in lanthanide spectroscopy involving luminescence applications Q2 carried out in Brazil. The revised topics include glasses, sol–gel, light-emitting diodes, nanoparticles, metal–organic frameworks, coordination polymers, thin films, energy transfer processes, upconversion and development of new theoretical tools. The important role played by Prof. Oscar L. Malta on this subject is evidenced by his many contributions to the broad range of investigations reported here and this review is dedicated to him, on the occasion of his 60th birthday

A social and ecological assessment of tropical land uses at multiple scales: the Sustainable Amazon Network

Science has a critical role to play in guiding more sustainable development trajectories. Here, we present the Sustainable Amazon Network (Rede Amazonia Sustentavel, RAS): a multidisciplinary research initiative involving more than 30 partner organizations working to assess both social and ecological dimensions of land-use sustainability in eastern Brazilian Amazonia. The research approach adopted by RAS offers three advantages for addressing land-use sustainability problems: (i) the collection of synchronized and co-located ecological and socioeconomic data across broad gradients of past and present human use; (ii) a nested sampling design to aid comparison of ecological and socioeconomic conditions associated with different land uses across local, landscape and regional scales; and (iii) a strong engagement with a wide variety of actors and non-research institutions. Here, we elaborate on these key features, and identify the ways in which RAS can help in highlighting those problems in most urgent need of attention, and in guiding improvements in land-use sustainability in Amazonia and elsewhere in the tropics. We also discuss some of the practical lessons, limitations and realities faced during the development of the RAS initiative so far.Keywords: Social–ecological systems, Tropical forests, Land use, Interdisciplinary research, Sustainability, Trade-off

Efficient Nitrogen-Fixing Bacteria Isolated from Soybean Nodules in the Semi-arid Region of Northeast Brazil are Classified as Bradyrhizobium brasilense (Symbiovar Sojae)

Soybean (Glycine max L.) is an important legume that greatly benefits from inoculation with nitrogen-fixing bacteria. In a previous study, five efficient nitrogen-fixing bacterial strains, isolated from nodules of soybean inoculated with soil from semi-arid region, Northeast Brazil, were identified as a new group within the genus Bradyrhizobium. The taxonomic status of these strains was evaluated in this study. The phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene showed the high similarity of the five strains to Bradyrhizobium brasilense UFLA03-321(T) (100%), B. pachyrhizi PAC48(T) (100%), B. ripae WR4(T) (100%), B. elkanii USDA 76(T) (99.91%), and B. macuxiense BR 10303(T) (99.91%). However, multilocus sequence analysis of the housekeeping genes atpD, dnaK, gyrB, recA, and rpoB, average nucleotide identity, and digital DNA-DNA hybridization analyses supported the classification of the group as B. brasilense. Some phenotypic characteristics allowed differentiating the five strains and the type strain of B. brasilense from the two neighboring species (B. pachyrhizi PAC48(T) and B. elkanii USDA 76(T)). The nodC and nifH genes' analyses showed that these strains belong to symbiovar sojae, together with B. elkanii (USDA 76(T)) and B. ferriligni (CCBAU 51502(T)). The present results support the classification of these five strains as Bradyrhizobium brasilense (symbiovar sojae)

A social and ecological assessment of tropical land uses at multiple scales:the Sustainable Amazon Network

Science has a critical role to play in guiding more sustainable development trajectories. Here, we present the Sustainable Amazon Network (Rede Amazonia Sustentavel, RAS): a multidisciplinary research initiative involving more than 30 partner organizations working to assess both social and ecological dimensions of land-use sustainability in eastern Brazilian Amazonia. The research approach adopted by RAS offers three advantages for addressing land-use sustainability problems: (i) the collection of synchronized and co-located ecological and socioeconomic data across broad gradients of past and present human use; (ii) a nested sampling design to aid comparison of ecological and socioeconomic conditions associated with different land uses across local, landscape and regional scales; and (iii) a strong engagement with a wide variety of actors and non-research institutions. Here, we elaborate on these key features, and identify the ways in which RAS can help in highlighting those problems in most urgent need of attention, and in guiding improvements in land-use sustainability in Amazonia and elsewhere in the tropics. We also discuss some of the practical lessons, limitations and realities faced during the development of the RAS initiative so far