Species of Anisepyris Kieffer, 1905 (Hymenoptera, Bethylidae) collected in Cachoeira da Fumaça and Forno Grande State Parks, Espírito Santo, Brazil

Six species of Anisepyris Kieffer, 1905 were collected in Cachoeira da Fumaça (Alegre) and Forno Grande (Castelo) State Parks. Two of them are already known: Anisepyris lobatus Santos & Azevedo, 2000 and Anisepyris rectus Santos & Azevedo, 2000. Other four are described as new: Anisepyris attenuatus sp. nov., Anisepyris divisus sp. nov., Anisepyris inconspicuus sp. nov., and A. rotundus sp. nov.; each new species is illustrated. Two uncommon characters for Anisepyris, such as an inconspicuous anterior carina of the pronotum, and a lower mesopleural fovea partially open on the lower margin were observed being both the characters found in A. inconspicuus sp. nov. and only the first character in A. attenuatus sp. nov.

Saving our science from ourselves: the plight of biological classification

Saving our science from ourselves: the plight of biological classification. Biological classification ( nomenclature, taxonomy, and systematics) is being sold short. The desire for new technologies, faster and cheaper taxonomic descriptions, identifications, and revisions is symptomatic of a lack of appreciation and understanding of classification. The problem of gadget-driven science, a lack of best practice and the inability to accept classification as a descriptive and empirical science are discussed. The worst cases scenario is a future in which classifications are purely artificial and uninformative.

Brazilian soil science: from its inception to the future, and beyond

The present essay is meant to provide some background on the evolution of the soil science community in Brazil, since its inception, to describe its current situation, and to outline a number of opportunities and challenges facing the discipline in decades to come. The origin of Brazilian agronomy dates back to the beginning of the 19th century as a subdiscipline of botany, and its association with chemistry would later establish it as a science. In the middle of the 19th century, agricultural chemistry was born as a result of this association, leading to the establishment of edaphology, a branch of Soil Science. Another branch of Soil Science, known as pedology, was established as an applied and scientific knowledge in Brazil during the middle of the 20th century. During the same period, the Brazilian Soil Science Society (SBCS) was created, merging the knowledge of both branches and gathering all scientists involved. Twenty years after the SBCS foundation, the creation of Graduate Programs made Brazilian Soil Science enter the modern era, generating crucial knowledge to reach the current levels of agricultural productivity. Part of a community composed of 25 Soil Departments, 15 Graduate Programs and a great number of institutions that promote research and technology transfer, Brazilian soil scientists are responsible for developing solutions for sustainable development, by generating, adapting and transferring technology to the benefit of the country. The knowledge produced by SBCS members has been particularly significant for Brazil to achieve the status of most competitive tropical agriculture in the world. In the future decades, Soil Science will still remain topical in discussions regarding environment care and production of food and fibers, in addition, it will be essential and strategic for certain issues, such as water quality, reducing poverty and development of renewable sources of energy.

A process for mining science & technology documents databases, illustrated for the case of "knowledge discovery and data mining"

This paper presents a process of mining research & development abstract databases to profile current status and to project potential developments for target technologies, The process is called "technology opportunities analysis." This article steps through the process using a sample data set of abstracts from the INSPEC database on the topic o "knowledge discovery and data mining." The paper offers a set of specific indicators suitable for mining such databases to understand innovation prospects. In illustrating the uses of such indicators, it offers some insights into the status of knowledge discovery research*.

Mathématique et statistique en science de l’information et en science de la communication: infométrie mathématique et infométrie statistique des revues scientifiques

L’application de la mathématique et de la statistique à l’étude des phénomènes informationnels a entraîné la naissance en science de l’information d’un nouvel axe de recherche et de développement, l’infométrie. Après avoir montré l’intérêt de cette application mais aussi avoir mis en garde contre certains abus et contre certains mauvais usages, nous présentons quelques exemples d’infométrie mathématique et d’infométrie statistique appliquées aux revues scientifiques. Ils illustrent l’étendue et l’efficacité des analyses qui peuvent être faites sur une ou plusieurs variables informationnelles.

State of the science and the way forward for the ecotoxicological assessment of contaminated land

Over the past two decades, soil ecotoxicologists have made strides in utilizing the basic concepts and advancements in soil zoology and ecology. They have applied the existing tools, and developed new ones to investigate how chemical contamination can affect soil ecosystems, including the degradation or destruction of soil quality and habitats or the diminishment of belowground biodiversity. Soil ecotoxicologists are applying a suite of standard protocols, originally developed as laboratory tests with single chemicals (e.g., pesticides), and further enhancing both the approaches and protocols for the assessment of contaminated lands. However, ecological relevance of some approaches remains unresolved. The authors discuss the main challenges for a coherent ecotoxicological assessment of soil ecosystems amid contaminated lands, and provide recommendations on how to integrate the effects of physical and chemical soil properties, the variations in the diversity of soil invertebrates, and the interactions among organisms of various trophic levels. The review examines new international approaches and test methods using examples from three continents (in particular research conducted in Brazil), and provides recommendations for improving ecological relevance of ecotoxicological investigations of contaminated lands.