Medium and large sized mammals of the Boqueirão da Onça, North of Bahia State, Brazil

The mosaic of protected areas of Boqueirão da Onça (8.636 km²), created in the north of Bahia state, is located in the Caatinga, an exclusively Brazilian biome, but exposed to a range of anthropic impacts that threaten its species and natural resources. Few data are available for various zoological groups in Caatinga, including mammals. In order to characterize the community of mammals of this region, considering species richness, we installed 80 camera-trap stations. With a sampling effort of 10,370 camera-days we recorded 28 species (22 wild and six domestic). Opportunistically, we recorded four mammals, resulting in a total richness of 32 species, five of which are included in the global list of endangered species, and seven in the national list. The results are significant, since the richness of wild mammals of the Boqueirão da Onça (S = 26) presented a high value when compared to other Caatinga localities. During the study we found evidence of human activities threatening the conservation of the region, such as poaching and deforestation. Therefore, there is an urgent need in the publication of the Management Plan of the recently created Boqueirão da Onça National Park, to minimize negative impacts on biodiversity and ensure the maintenance of ecological processes

Population analysis and evolution of Saccharomyces cerevisiae mitogenomes

The study of mitogenomes allows the unraveling of some paths of yeast evolution that are often not exposed when analyzing the nuclear genome. Although both nuclear and mitochondrial genomes are known to determine phenotypic diversity and fitness, no concordance has yet established between the two, mainly regarding strains’ technological uses and/or geographical distribution. In the current work, we proposed a new method to align and analyze yeast mitogenomes, overcoming current difficulties that make it impossible to obtain comparable mitogenomes for a large number of isolates. To this end, 12,016 mitogenomes were considered, and we developed a novel approach consisting of the design of a reference sequence intended to be comparable between all mitogenomes. Subsequently, the population structure of 6646 Saccharomyces cerevisiae mitogenomes was assessed. Results revealed the existence of particular clusters associated with the technological use of the strains, in particular regarding clinical isolates, laboratory strains, and yeasts used for wine-associated activities. As far as we know, this is the first time that a positive concordance between nuclear and mitogenomes has been reported for S. cerevisiae, in terms of strains’ technological applications. The results obtained highlighted the importance of including the mtDNA genome in evolutionary analysis, in order to clarify the origin and history of yeast species.This work was supported by the strategic programme UID/BIA/04050/2013 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007569) funded by national funds through the FCT I.P., by the ERDF through the COMPETE2020

Contribuições do Programa Cemaden Educação Frente aos Desafios da Emergência Climática e na Prevenção de Riscos de Desastres

Humanity has a short window of time to act in order to avoid or minimize the coming and irreversible consequences of climate change. And among the predicted scenarios, there will be an increase in extreme climate events, which will increase disasters. In this context, this article highlights the need to promote concrete actions to face the climate emergency through synergies between the fields of Environmental Education (EA, in Portuguese) and Disaster Risk Reduction Education (ERRD, in Portuguese). In this sense, the Cemaden Education Program (Cemaden//MCTI), which has involved a multidisciplinary team of researchers since 2014, has emerged as a catalyst for ERRD in Brazil based on transdisciplinary and intersectoral approaches that include the potential of participatory citizen science, information and communication technologies and social mobilization with innovative methodologies in formal and non-formal education. It involves building participatory processes aimed at promoting a culture of sustainability, resilience and protection of life.A humanidade dispõe de uma pequena janela de tempo para agir a fim de evitar ou minimizar diante das consequências vindouras e irreversíveis das mudanças climáticas. E dentre os cenários previstos haverá um aumento dos eventos climáticos extremos que potencializam os desastres. Nesse contexto, este artigo destaca a necessidade de promover ações concretas para enfrentar a emergência climática por meio de sinergias entre os campos da Educação Ambiental (EA) e da Educação em Redução de Riscos de Desastres (ERRD). Nesse sentido, o Programa Cemaden Educação (Cemaden//MCTI) envolve equipe multidisciplinar de pesquisadores(as), desde 2014, e emerge como agente catalisador da ERRD no Brasil a partir de abordagens transdisciplinares e intersetoriais que envolvem o potencial da ciência cidadã participativa, tecnologias da informação e comunicação e mobilização social com metodologias inovadoras em educação formal e não formal. Trata-se da construção de processos participativos que visam fomentar uma cultura de sustentabilidade, resiliência e proteção da vida

INNOVA Research Journal

El (Censos, 2016) (INEC), en su encuesta nacional de empleo, desempleo y subempleo en el Ecuador, de marzo de 2016, informó que el 68,6% de las personas en edad de trabajar se considera económicamente activo; de éstos, el 94,3% se consideran con empleo, el 5,7% no cuenta con empleo formal o independiente. De las personas en edad de trabajar 31,4% forman parte de la población económicamente inactiva. El emprendimiento se presenta como una solución que permite generar empleo. A la luz de nuevas investigaciones sobre el consumo de carnes y productos procesados. Está evolucionando las percepciones de la población y se están modificando sus hábitos. Se cuestionan más sobre los efectos en su salud y sobre el impacto ambiental, es mayor la demanda de productos en cuya elaboración se genere un menor nivel de impacto ambiental. Siendo la responsabilidad ambiental, un factor que a las empresas competitivas globales y locales las ha llevado no sólo a cumplir con las disposiciones legales, sino a crear ventajas competitivas a partir de la promoción del trabajo realizado en favor de la protección del medio ambiente. El fomento de emprendimientos con responsabilidad ambiental, mediante el uso de fibras sintéticas y pieles artificiales ayudará a generar herramientas para incrementar el empleo, generando valor con responsabilidad ambiental

Treatment with tocilizumab or corticosteroids for COVID-19 patients with hyperinflammatory state: a multicentre cohort study (SAM-COVID-19)

Objectives: The objective of this study was to estimate the association between tocilizumab or corticosteroids and the risk of intubation or death in patients with coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) with a hyperinflammatory state according to clinical and laboratory parameters. Methods: A cohort study was performed in 60 Spanish hospitals including 778 patients with COVID-19 and clinical and laboratory data indicative of a hyperinflammatory state. Treatment was mainly with tocilizumab, an intermediate-high dose of corticosteroids (IHDC), a pulse dose of corticosteroids (PDC), combination therapy, or no treatment. Primary outcome was intubation or death; follow-up was 21 days. Propensity score-adjusted estimations using Cox regression (logistic regression if needed) were calculated. Propensity scores were used as confounders, matching variables and for the inverse probability of treatment weights (IPTWs). Results: In all, 88, 117, 78 and 151 patients treated with tocilizumab, IHDC, PDC, and combination therapy, respectively, were compared with 344 untreated patients. The primary endpoint occurred in 10 (11.4%), 27 (23.1%), 12 (15.4%), 40 (25.6%) and 69 (21.1%), respectively. The IPTW-based hazard ratios (odds ratio for combination therapy) for the primary endpoint were 0.32 (95%CI 0.22-0.47; p < 0.001) for tocilizumab, 0.82 (0.71-1.30; p 0.82) for IHDC, 0.61 (0.43-0.86; p 0.006) for PDC, and 1.17 (0.86-1.58; p 0.30) for combination therapy. Other applications of the propensity score provided similar results, but were not significant for PDC. Tocilizumab was also associated with lower hazard of death alone in IPTW analysis (0.07; 0.02-0.17; p < 0.001). Conclusions: Tocilizumab might be useful in COVID-19 patients with a hyperinflammatory state and should be prioritized for randomized trials in this situatio

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Influência antrópica na distribuição espacial da comunidade de mamíferos no Parque Estadual da Ilha Anchieta, SP

As conseqüências das atividades humanas nas populações de vertebrados são questões importantes, com efeitos diretos na conservação das espécies. Mapear as áreas de maior acesso humano e seu efeito potencial para a vida selvagem deve ser considerado como estratégia de manejo em áreas protegidas. O crescimento do ecoturismo no Brasil tem atraído turistas para as áreas protegidas, mas estes parques estão pouco preparados para atender a demanda conciliando recreação e conservação. As áreas protegidas em regiões tropicais são consideradas importantes refúgios de habitat natural para muitas espécies e ainda assim sofrem constante ação depredatória. É essencial, portanto, entender como as atividades humanas afetam a vida silvestre nestes locais. Neste estudo, a influência da presença humana sobre a ocorrência e abundância dos mamíferos na Ilha Anchieta foi analisada por meio do conceito de acessibilidade humana. Este trabalho visou mapear a acessibilidade na Ilha Anchieta para fins de zoneamento e manejo e também analisar a influência humana e das variáveis ambientais na distribuição e abundância dos mamíferos de médio e grande porte. De fevereiro a outubro de 2009 foram coletados dados de ocorrência dos mamíferos da Ilha Anchieta por transectos lineares (avistamentos e vestígios) e por armadilhas fotográficas em quatro estratos amostrais: Floresta Estágio Intermediário com Acesso Fácil (EIF), Floresta Estágio Intermediário com Acesso Difícil (EID), Floresta Estágio Avançado com Acesso Fácil (EAF), Floresta Estágio Avançado com Acesso Difícil (EAD). Foram registradas 623 ocorrências de oito espécies de mamíferos de médio e grande porte, nos quatro estratos amostrados na Ilha Anchieta considerando as duas metodologias, transectos (n=355) e armadilhas fotográficas (n=268). Do total de registros, a cutia (Dasyprocta spp.) obteve a maior...The consequences of human activity in vertebrate populations are important issues with direct effects in species conservation. Mapping areas of greater human access and its potential effect to wildlife needs to be considered as strategy for management in protected areas. The growth of ecotourism in Brazil has attracted tourists for protected areas but these public parks are roughly prepared to attend the demand conciliating recreation and conservation goals. Protected areas in tropical regions are considered ultimate refugees of natural habitat for many species but they have been suffering human impact. Therefore it is essential to understand how human activities affect wildlife in these areas. In this study, the influence of human presence on the occurrence and abundance of mammals at Anchieta Island was analyzed by using the concept of human accessibility. This study aimed to map the accessibility of Anchieta Island for purposes of zoning and management and also examine the influence of human and environmental variables on the distribution and abundance of medium and large-sized mammals. From February to October 2009 mammal occurrence data were collected at Anchieta Island using line transect (sightings or traces) and camera traps in four sampling strata: Intermediate Stage Forest with Easy Access (EIF), Intermediate Stage Forest with Difficult Access (EID), Advanced Stage Forest with Easy Access (EAF), Advanced Stage Forest with Difficult Access (EAD). 623 occurrences of eight mammalian species were recorded in the four strata sampled at Anchieta Island considering both methodologies, line transects (n = 355) and camera traps (n = 268). According to the records, the agouti (Dasyprocta spp.) had the highest relative frequency of occurrence (46.9%), followed by the armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus) (19.3%). Based on the maps of landscape structure and human presence, the influence of these... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP

On the Limited Potential of Azorean Fleshy Fruits for Oceanic Dispersal

How plants arrived to originally sterile oceanic islands has puzzled naturalists for centuries. Dispersal syndromes (i.e., diaspore traits that promote dispersal by long-distance dispersal vectors), are generally considered to play a determinant role in assisting island colonization. However, the association between diaspore traits and the potential vectors by which diaspores are dispersed is not always obvious. Fleshy fruits, in particular, are considered to have evolved to promote the internal dispersal of seeds by frugivores (endozoochory), however some fleshy fruits can also float in saltwater, and thus be potentially transported by oceanic current (thalassochory). We performed saltwater floatation and viability experiments with fruits of the 14 European fleshy-fruited species that naturally colonized the Azores archipelago (North Atlantic Ocean). We show that only Corema album (a berry) and Juniperus oxycedrus (a fleshy cone) floated for as long as 60 days, the estimated minimum time needed to reach the Azores by oceanic currents. Regardless the floatation potential, exposure to saltwater largely reduced the viability of most seeds of the 14 species (46% of viability decline within 15 days and 77% within 60 days of immersion), including those of Corema album (61%) and Juniperus oxycedrus (83%). Floatability and viability trials suggest that while some fleshy-fruited species might have arrived to the Azores by oceanic currents, such would have required extreme meteorological events that could largely reduce the duration of the trip. Thus, the alternative hypothesis that fleshy-fruited species were mostly dependent on animal dispersers (endozoochory) to colonize these remote islands is reinforced