Analysis of the Use of Cylindrospermopsin and/or Microcystin-Contaminated Water in the Growth, Mineral Content, and Contamination of Spinacia oleracea and Lactuca sativa

Cyanobacteria and cyanotoxins constitute a serious environmental and human health problem. Moreover, concerns are raised with the use of contaminated water in agriculture and vegetable production as this can lead to food contamination and human exposure to toxins as well as impairment in crop development and productivity. The objective of this work was to assess the susceptibility of two green vegetables, spinach and lettuce, to the cyanotoxins microcystin (MC) and cylindrospermopsin (CYN), individually and in mixture. The study consisted of growing both vegetables in hydroponics, under controlled conditions, for 21 days in nutrient medium doped with MC or CYN at 10 μg/L and 50 μg/L, or CYN/MC mixture at 5 + 5 μg/L and 25 + 25 μg/L. Extracts from M. aeruginosa and C. ovalisporum were used as sources of toxins. The study revealed growth inhibition of the aerial part (Leaves) in both species when treated with 50µg/L of MC, CYN and CYN/MC mixture. MC showed to be more harmful to plant growth than CYN. Moreover spinach leaves growth was inhibited by both 5 + 5 and 25 + 25 µg/L CYN/MC mixtures, whereas lettuce leaves growth was inhibited only by 25 + 25 µg/L CYN/MC mixture. Overall, growth data evidence increased sensitivity of spinach to cyanotoxins in comparison to lettuce. On the other hand, plants exposed to CYN/MC mixture showed differential accumulation of CYN and MC. In addition, CYN, but not MC, was translocated from the roots to the leaves. CYN and MC affected the levels of minerals particularly in plant roots. The elements most affected were Ca, K and Mg. However, in leaves K was the mineral that was affected by exposure to cyanotoxinsEspaña, MINECO/FEDER Project AGL2015-64558-

The importance of cultural aspects in impact assessment and project: developmentreflections from a case study of a hydroelectric dam in Brazil

Failure to consider the cultural and social factors of projects can lead to situations where mitigation does not effectively address the impacts they were intended to alleviate, and can even create other impacts. We critically analyse the processes of designing and implementing a social and environmental compensation program for the Lajeado Hydroelectric Dam in the Amazon region of central-northern Brazil. This mitigation program caused a wide range of social and environmental impacts on the Xerente Indigenous people, such as intra-group conflict, and changes in agricultural practices and food regime. Based on qualitative fieldwork and an extensive document analysis, we present a contextualization of the region, the project, the Xerente people, and their cosmological understandings. We consider the perspectives of a broad range of stakeholders about the compensation program and its outcomes, and demonstrate how traditional cultural practices and values played a role in the unfolding of the program. Better comprehension of sociocultural aspects through the use of ethnography, ongoing consultation, and meaningful community participation in the planning and implementation of mitigation measures are recommended.</p

Plataforma de suporte ?s ferramentas de aprendizagem para o ensino de l?gica de programa??o na educa??o b?sica

Data de aprova??o ausente.Alguns pa?ses s?o refer?ncia no ensino de computac?o em escolas de ensino b?sico. Isso se deu pelo fato de n?o ensinarem somente ferramentas b?sicas contidas nos computadores, mas tamb?m os fundamentos da Ci?ncia da Computac?o e como eles podem ser aplicados no dia-a-dia. No Brasil praticamente n?o h? ensino de computac?o nas escolas. Com o objetivo de estimular a inserc?o da computac?o na educac?o b?sica do Brasil, este trabalho apresenta v?rias ferramentas de ensino e aprendizagem de programac?o. Discute como essas ferramentas podem ajudar os alunos a desenvolverem caracter?sticas e conhecimentos desej?veis, tanto para a pr?pria computac?o quanto na sua interdisciplinaridade. ? realizada uma an?lise sobre as caracter?sticas de duas dessas ferramentas: Blockly e App Inventor. Al?m disso, s?o apresentados exemplos de uso. Mostra tamb?m uma reflex?o sobre a import?ncia de trabalhar e desenvolver o pensamento cr?tico e o racioc?nio l?gico dos alunos atrav?s da l?gica de programac?o inserida nas escolas. Foi proposto nesta dissertac?o o desenvolvimento de uma plataforma que re?na as principais ferramentas e oriente os alunos e professores sobre como us?-las. Este trabalho busca contribuir para escola, alunos e professores, apresentando ferramentas de ensino que interajam com crian?as e adolescentes, de forma a proporcionar divers?o e estimular a curiosidade.Disserta??o (Mestrado Profissional) ? Programa de P?s-Gradua??o em Educa??o, Universidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri, 2017.Some countries are a reference in computer science education in elementary schools. This is due by the fact they are not teaching only basic computers tools, but also computer science fundaments and how they can be applied in their daily life. In Brazil, there is practically no computer science education in schools. With the aim of motivate the insertion of computing science in Brazil?s basic education, this work presents several teaching and learning tools for computer programming. It discusses how these tools can help students to develop characteristics and knowledge desirable, for their own programing skills and also in their interdisciplinary. An analysis is performed on the characteristics of two tools: Blockly and App Inventor. In addition, their usage examples are provided. It also shows a reflection on the importance of developing the student critical and logical thinking using programming logics inserted in schools. It was proposed in this dissertation the development of a platform that brings together the main tools and guides students and teachers on how to use them. This work aims to contribute to school, students and teachers, presenting teaching tools which interacts with children and teenagers, in order to provide fun and stimulate curiosity

Physiological and Metabolic Responses of Marine Mussels Exposed to Toxic Cyanobacteria Microcystis aeruginosa and Chrysosporum ovalisporum

Toxic cyanobacterial blooms are a major contaminant in inland aquatic ecosystems. Furthermore, toxic blooms are carried downstream by rivers and waterways to estuarine and coastal ecosystems. Concerning marine and estuarine animal species, very little is known about how these species are affected by the exposure to freshwater cyanobacteria and cyanotoxins. So far, most of the knowledge has been gathered from freshwater bivalve molluscs. This work aimed to infer the sensitivity of the marine mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis to single as well as mixed toxic cyanobacterial cultures and the underlying molecular responses mediated by toxic cyanobacteria. For this purpose, a mussel exposure experiment was outlined with two toxic cyanobacteria species, Microcystis aeruginosa and Chrysosporum ovalisporum at 1 × 105 cells/mL, resembling a natural cyanobacteria bloom. The estimated amount of toxins produced by M. aeruginosa and C. ovalisporum were respectively 0.023 pg/cell of microcystin-LR (MC-LR) and 7.854 pg/cell of cylindrospermopsin (CYN). After 15 days of exposure to single and mixed cyanobacteria, a depuration phase followed, during which mussels were fed only non-toxic microalga Parachlorella kessleri. The results showed that the marine mussel is able to filter toxic cyanobacteria at a rate equal or higher than the non-toxic microalga P. kessleri. Filtration rates observed after 15 days of feeding toxic microalgae were 1773.04 mL/ind.h (for M. aeruginosa), 2151.83 mL/ind.h (for C. ovalisporum), 1673.29 mL/ind.h (for the mixture of the 2 cyanobacteria) and 2539.25 mL/ind.h (for the non-toxic P. kessleri). Filtering toxic microalgae in combination resulted in the accumulation of 14.17 ng/g dw MC-LR and 92.08 ng/g dw CYN. Other physiological and biochemical endpoints (dry weight, byssus production, total protein and glycogen) measured in this work did not change significantly in the groups exposed to toxic cyanobacteria with regard to control group, suggesting that mussels were not affected with the toxic microalgae. Nevertheless, proteomics revealed changes in metabolism of mussels related to diet, specially evident in those fed on combined cyanobacteria. Changes in metabolic pathways related with protein folding and stabilization, cytoskeleton structure, and gene transcription/translation were observed after exposure and feeding toxic cyanobacteria. These changes occur in vital metabolic processes and may contribute to protect mussels from toxic effects of the toxins MC-LR and CYNPortuguese Science Foundation and under the Projects MOREBIVALVES (PTDC/ASP-PES/31762/2017) and UID/Multi/04423/2013NORTE 2020, Portugal 2020 and the European Union through the ERDF, and by FCT. Moreover, Project AGL2015-64558-RMINECO/FEDER, UE, and the grant FPI (BES-2016–078773

Componentes prodsutivos de rabanete com aduba??o residual de torta de mamona

O rabanete ? uma cultura de ciclo curto, onde por volta de 35 dias j? pode ser colhido, e por isso necessita de nutrientes sejam assimilados neste curto per?odo. A torta de mamona ? uma excelente fonte de nitrog?nio e por isso muito utilizada na agricultura. Posto isto, o objetivo deste trabalho ? avaliar a produ??o de rabanete com a aduba??o residual de torta de mamona ap?s o cultivo de piment?o. O plantio foi instalado sobre um substrato utilizado no cultivo anterior de piment?o e adubado com a torta de mamona (metade da dosagem na funda??o e metade com 30 dias) nas propor??es de 0, 26, 52, 78 e 104 g vaso -1. O delineamento experimental foi em blocos casualizados, utilizando os cinco tratamentos, e cada parcela correspondeu a um recipiente pl?stico com 4 dm3. A colheita das plantas foi realizada aos 34 dias ap?s a semeadura, quando apresentaram o crescimento m?ximo. Foram avaliadas as vari?veis n?mero de folhas, taxa de crescimento absoluto em altura, comprimento da raiz, di?metros equatorial e longitudinal dos tub?rculos, ?rea foliar total, massa fresca do tub?rculo, massa seca da parte a?rea, massa seca da raiz, massa seca do tub?rculo, massa seca total, aloca??o de biomassa ( parte a?rea, radicular e dos tub?rculos) e produtividades ( de ra?zes tuberosas, da massa seca foliar e da massa seca dos tub?rculos). Os dados foram submetidos ? an?lise de vari?ncia, pelo teste F, que constataram que as doses n?o influenciaram significativamente em nenhuma das vari?veis. Concluindo que a cultura do rabanete n?o ? afetada pelos efeitos residuais da torta de mamona

Movimentos, media??es e Estado : apontamentos sobre a luta pela terra no Brasil na segunda metade do s?culo XX.

O objetivo deste artigo ? fazer uma an?lise do processo de luta pela terra no Brasil, especialmente no que se refere ? constitui??o de rela??es de interdepend?ncia entre trabalhadores rurais, militantes de movimentos/organiza??es sociais e Estado, na segunda metade do s?culo XX, contexto em que as ocupa??es de terra e forma??o de acampamentos se tornaram elementos centrais na milit?ncia pela reforma agr?ria, criando espa?o de interlocu??o com o poder p?blico. Assim, a base de trabalhadores, os movimentos e o poder p?blico se alimentaram mutuamente nessas rela??es e s? podem ser compreendidos em rela??o, ou seja, pela sua posi??o no conjunto de pap?is inter-relacionados que conformou o processo de luta pela terra em v?rias regi?es do Brasil

Are we selecting appropriate metrics to assess human impacts on biodiversity?

Biased and subjective choices in the variable selection processes used in ecological studies commonly lead researchers to reach misleading conclusions regarding patterns of biodiversity response to disturbances. Nevertheless, little attention has been given to these processes in the majority of studies published to date. Here, we assess the extent to which variables commonly employed in ecological studies correspond to those deemed to be most important by researchers of the same studies. Specifically, we examined both biodiversity (response) and environmental (explanatory) metrics from a comprehensive literature review and compared their use with their relative importance, according to a survey with the studies’ authors. We used the literature concerning land use change effects on dung beetles as our study case. Our results highlight marked disparities between researchers opinion and their choice of variables in published papers. We suggest that these disparities are due to the high costs of sampling and processing some variables, as well as to logistical constraints and researchers own bias. If current practices and these discrepancies persist then our understanding of the biodiversity consequences of land-use change will remain compromised, while further undermining our confidence in the results of ecological studies

MECHANICAL CHARACTERIZATION AND SHRINKAGE OF Sclerolobium paniculatum Vogel WOOD IN A HOMOGENEOUS PLANTING UNDER DIFFERENT LEVELS OF FERTILIZATION

O objetivo do presente trabalho foi caracterizar a madeira de Sclerolobium paniculatum Vogel, de 18 anos de idade, oriunda de plantio homog\ueaneo sob diferentes n\uedveis de aduba\ue7\ue3o localizado na Embrapa-Cerrados, DF, quanto \ue0 contra\ue7\ue3o e \ue0s caracter\uedsticas mec\ue2nicas (flex\ue3o est\ue1tica, compress\ue3o paralela \ue0s fibras e cisalhamento). N\ue3o foram encontradas diferen\ue7as significativas entre as m\ue9dias das vari\ue1veis estudadas que apresentaram os seguintes valores: resist\ueancia m\ue1xima \ue0 flex\ue3o est\ue1tica (fb = 650kg/cm2), m\uf3dulo de elasticidade (E = 59.877kg/cm2), resist\ueancia m\ue1xima \ue0 compress\ue3o axial (fc = 296kg/cm2) e resist\ueancia m\ue1xima ao cisalhamento (fn = 131kg/cm2). Para cisalhamento e compress\ue3o axial, a testemunha apresentou o maior valor absoluto para MOR. A madeira de Sclerolobium paniculatum apresentou um elevado n\ufamero de galhos, implicando uma elevada quantidade de n\uf3s. Os tratos culturaisem plantios homog\ueaneos de Sclerolobium paniculatum devem prever a retirada de galhos para produzir madeira de qualidade superior.The purposa of this work was to study the influence of fertilization on wood quality of Sclerolobium paniculatum Vogel. A homogeneous planting trial, under different levels of liming and phosphorus, was established by Embrapa-Cerrados 18 years ago in Planaltina, Distrito Federal, Brazil, tropical wood savanna region. Mechanical tests conducted were static bending, parallel compression to grain, shear strength and shrinkage. No significant differences were observed for mechanical properties or for shrinkage, which presented: fb = 650kg/cm2, E = 59.877kg/cm2, fc = 296kg/cm2 e fn = 131kg/cm2. Control treatment showed highest values for shear strength and compression parallel to grain. Too many branches in all trees and also too many knots in lumber were observed. Pruning is recommended for homogeneous planting of Sclerolobium paniculatum to avoid knots in order to be produced wood of superior quality