Estrutura da comunidade de Serpentes da Região da Fazenda Etá

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

CLEANING ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN BIRDS AND HERBIVOROUS MAMMALS IN BRAZIL: STRUCTURE AND COMPLEXITY

Birds that remove ectoparasites and other food material from their hosts are iconic illustrations of mutualistic-commensalistic cleaning associations. To assess the complex pattern of food resource use embedded in cleaning interactions of an assemblage of birds and their herbivorous mammal hosts in open habitats in Brazil, we used a network approach that characterized their patterns of association. Cleaning interactions showed a distinctly nested pattern, related to the number of interactions of cleaners and hosts and to the range of food types that each host species provided. Hosts that provided a wide range of food types (flies, ticks, tissue and blood, and organic debris) were attended by more species of cleaners and formed the core of the web. On the other hand, core cleaner species did not exploit the full range of available food resources, but used a variety of host species to exploit these resources instead. The structure that we found indicates that cleaners rely on cleaning interactions to obtain food types that would not be available otherwise (e.g., blood-engorged ticks or horseflies, wounded tissue). Additionally, a nested organization for the cleaner bird mammalian herbivore association means that both generalist and selective species take part in the interactions and that partners of selective species form an ordered subset of the partners of generalist species. The availability of predictable protein-rich food sources for birds provided by cleaning interactions may lead to an evolutionary pathway favoring their increased use by birds that forage opportunistically. Received 30 June 2011, accepted 10 November 2011.

Masking environmental feedback : Misfits between institutions and ecosystems in Belize and Thailand

The thesis analyses relationships between ecological and social systems in the context of coastal ecosystems. It examines human impacts from resource extraction and addresses management and governance behind resource exploitation. The main premises are that a lack of ecological knowledge leads to poor ecosystem management and that the dichotomy between social and natural systems is an artificial one. The thesis illustrates the importance of basing resource management on the ecological conditions of the resource and its ecosystem. It also demonstrates the necessity of accounting for the human dimension in ecosystem management and the challenges of organising human actions for sustainable use of ecosystem services in the face of economic incentives that push users towards short-term extraction. Many Caribbean coral reefs have undergone a shift from coral to macroalgal domination. An experiment on Glovers Reef Atoll in Belize manually cleared patch reefs in a no-take zone and a fished zone (Papers I and II). The study hypothesised that overfishing has reduced herbivorous fish populations that control macroalgae growth. Overall, management had no significant effect on fish abundance and the impacts of the algal reduction were short-lived. This illustrated that the benefits of setting aside marine reserves in impacted environments should not be taken for granted. Papers III and IV studied the development of the lobster and conch fisheries in Belize, and the shrimp farming industry in Thailand respectively. These studies found that environmental feedback can be masked to give the impression of resource abundance through sequential exploitation. In both cases inadequate property rights contributed to this unsustainable resource use. The final paper (V) compared the responses to changes in the resource by the lobster fisheries in Belize and Maine in terms of institutions, organisations and their role in management. In contrast to Maine’s, the Belize system seems to lack social mechanisms for responding effectively to environmental feedback. The results illustrate the importance of organisational and institutional diversity that incorporate ecological knowledge, respond to ecosystem feedback and provide a social context for learning from and adapting to change.

Desarrollo de una aplicación móvil híbrida de soporte para congresos en iOS

[ES]Esta aplicación surge de la necesidad de generar una herramienta de bajo coste capaz de dar un soporte estandarizado a diferentes tipos de congresos a través de un mismo software. Este tipo de congresos debe manejar grandes volúmenes de datos de forma eficiente. Así, el objetivo fundamental de este proyecto es generar una aplicación para móviles que de soporte a congresos, usando para ello un desarrollo móvil que incorpore elementos del desarrollo web; es decir, un desarrollo híbrido. Como objetivo secundario, se estudiará la viabilidad de este sistema de desarrollo, evaluando las diferencias obtenidas frente a un desarrollo web completo tanto en eficiencia como en recursos utilizados.

Studio di caratteri correlati a stress idrico in una collezione di cultivar di frumento duro (Triticum durum Desf.)

L’agricoltura si trova ad affrontare una diminuzione della disponibilità d’acqua ed una crescente domanda della produzione di cereali per scopi alimentari. Sono perciò necessarie strategie di coltivazione innovative per migliorare la produttività e nuovi genotipi migliorati nell'efficienza dell’uso delle risorse in condizioni di siccità. Questi rappresentano gli obietti principali del progetto “DROPS” (Drought tolerant yielding Plants) all’interno del quale ha avuto luogo il mio progetto di Dottorato. La mia attività di ricerca è stata svolta come segue: 1. Caratterizzazione molecolare di un panel di188 accessioni di frumento duro con marcatori SSR e DaRT; 2. Esperimenti in serra su 100 accessioni del panel per valutare la Water-Use Efficiency (WUE) in sei repliche secondo un Alpha Lattice design; 3. Prove sul campo, effettuate secondo un Alpha Lattice design, in due stagioni di crescita: a. 2010/11, valutazione di 100 accessioni presso l’Azienda sperimentale dell'Università di Cadriano (BO); b. 2011/12, valutazione del panel completo in 3 ambienti, con due diversi regimi irrigui In entrambi gli anni, abbiamo valutato caratteri agronomici correlati con il ciclo di sviluppo, la resa di granella e sue componenti, nonché diversi fattori ambientali e del suolo. Per quanto riguarda WUE, abbiamo trovato differenze altamente significative tra accessioni; inoltre, cinque accessioni hanno mostrato elevati valori di WUE e cinque accessioni valori molto bassi di WUE in tutte e sei le repliche. Gli esperimenti di campo nelle stagioni 2011 e 2012 hanno evidenziato differenze altamente significative tra le accessioni del panel per la maggior parte dei caratteri analizzati, confermando inoltre che il panel di fiorisce entro una settimana. L'esperimento del secondo anno ci ha permesso osservare un significativa interazione Genotipo X Ambiente. Questi risultati saranno integrati con ulteriori analisi QTL, per identificare regioni cromosomiche coinvolte nel controllo genetico dei caratteri di interesse e verificare la stabilità dei QTL in diversi ambienti.

Forschungsräume und Themen der Berner Geographie

The Department of Geography at the University of Bern is currently active in over 40 countries, with a focus on Switzerland, Europe, East Africa including the Horn, the Andes, and Central Asia and South East Asia. These regional or national programmes are complemented by a number of global networks with a focus on climate change and sustainable resource use including mountain development. Overall, the Department is engaged in 74 projects, all based on close collaboration with local and regional partners in the countries where the programmes work.

Sedation and weaning from mechanical ventilation: effects of process optimization outside a clinical trial

PURPOSE: We studied the effects of reorganization and changes in the care process, including use of protocols for sedation and weaning from mechanical ventilation, on the use of sedative and analgesic drugs and on length of respiratory support and stay in the intensive care unit (ICU). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Three cohorts of 100 mechanically ventilated ICU patients, admitted in 1999 (baseline), 2000 (implementation I, after a change in ICU organization and in diagnostic and therapeutic approaches), and 2001 (implementation II, after introduction of protocols for weaning from mechanical ventilation and sedation), were studied retrospectively. RESULTS: Simplified Acute Physiology Score II (SAPS II), diagnostic groups, and number of organ failures were similar in all groups. Data are reported as median (interquartile range).Time on mechanical ventilation decreased from 18 (7-41) (baseline) to 12 (7-27) hours (implementation II) (P = .046), an effect which was entirely attributable to noninvasive ventilation, and length of ICU stay decreased in survivors from 37 (21-71) to 25 (19-63) hours (P = .049). The amount of morphine (P = .001) and midazolam (P = .050) decreased, whereas the amount of propofol (P = .052) and fentanyl increased (P = .001). Total Therapeutic Intervention Scoring System-28 (TISS-28) per patient decreased from 137 (99-272) to 113 (87-256) points (P = .009). Intensive care unit mortality was 19% (baseline), 8% (implementation I), and 7% (implementation II) (P = .020). CONCLUSIONS: Changes in organizational and care processes were associated with an altered pattern of sedative and analgesic drug prescription, a decrease in length of (noninvasive) respiratory support and length of stay in survivors, and decreases in resource use as measured by TISS-28 and mortality.

Do males matter? The role of males in population dynamics

Models of population dynamics generally neglect the presence of males. While this assumption holds under many circumstances, behavioural ecology increasingly tells us that the presence (or absence) of males may have an impact on female fitness, and hence population sizes. Here we ask the question of whether males matter to population dynamics, operationally defined as a dependency of population growth on the relative density of males. We provide simple models, and evaluate the current empirical evidence for them, that illustrate various mechanisms of such male influence: mate searching behavior, male resource use (including effects of sexual dimorphism), sexual harassment and sexual segregation. In each case, theory predicts that males can have an effect on population densities, and in some extreme cases a positive feedback between an increasingly male-biased sex ratio and the effects on female harassment may theoretically even bring about population extinction. The results of this study, and the literature reviewed, show that the males can have a substantial effect on population dynamics, particularly so when human influences result in biased sex ratios.

Moving from sustainable management to sustainable governance of natural resources: The role of social learning processes in rural India, Bolivia and Mali

The present paper discusses a conceptual, methodological and practical framework within which the limitations of the conventional notion of natural resource management (NRM) can be overcome. NRM is understood as the application of scientific ecological knowledge to resource management. By including a consideration of the normative imperatives that arise from scientific ecological knowledge and submitting them to public scrutiny, ‘sustainable management of natural resources’ can be recontextualised as ‘sustainable governance of natural resources’. This in turn makes it possible to place the politically neutralising discourse of ‘management’ in a space for wider societal debate, in which the different actors involved can deliberate and negotiate the norms, rules and power relations related to natural resource use and sustainable development. The transformation of sustainable management into sustainable governance of natural resources can be conceptualised as a social learning process involving scientists, experts, politicians and local actors, and their corresponding scientific and non-scientific knowledges. The social learning process is the result of what Habermas has described as ‘communicative action’, in contrast to ‘strategic action’. Sustainable governance of natural resources thus requires a new space for communicative action aiming at shared, intersubjectively validated definitions of actual situations and the goals and means required for transforming current norms, rules and power relations in order to achieve sustainable development. Case studies from rural India, Bolivia and Mali explore the potentials and limitations for broadening communicative action through an intensification of social learning processes at the interface of local and external knowledge. Key factors that enable or hinder the transformation of sustainable management into sustainable governance of natural resources through social learning processes and communicative action are discussed.

Can outcome prediction data change patient outcomes and organizational outcomes?

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Intensive care medicine consumes a high share of healthcare costs, and there is growing pressure to use the scarce resources efficiently. Accordingly, organizational issues and quality management have become an important focus of interest in recent years. Here, we will review current concepts of how outcome data can be used to identify areas requiring action. RECENT FINDINGS: Using recently established models of outcome assessment, wide variability between individual ICUs is found, both with respect to outcome and resource use. Such variability implies that there are large differences in patient care processes not only within the ICU but also in pre-ICU and post-ICU care. Indeed, measures to improve the patient process in the ICU (including care of the critically ill, patient safety, and management of the ICU) have been presented in a number of recently published papers. SUMMARY: Outcome assessment models provide an important framework for benchmarking. They may help the individual ICU to spot appropriate fields of action, plan and initiate quality improvement projects, and monitor the consequences of such activity.

Response of temperate grasslands at different altitudes to simulated summer drought differed but scaled with annual precipitation

Water is an important resource for plant life. Since climate scenarios for Switzerland predict an average reduction of 20% in summer precipitation until 2070, understanding ecosystem responses to water shortage, e.g. in terms of plant productivity, is of major concern. Thus, we tested the effects of simulated summer drought on three managed grasslands along an altitudinal gradient in Switzerland from 2005 to 2007, representing typical management intensities at the respective altitude. We assessed the effects of experimental drought on above- and below-ground productivity, stand structure (LAI and vegetation height) and resource use (carbon and water). Responses of community above-ground productivity to reduced precipitation input differed among the three sites but scaled positively with total annual precipitation at the sites (R2=0.85). Annual community above-ground biomass productivity was significantly reduced by summer drought at the alpine site receiving the least amount of annual precipitation, while no significant decrease (rather an increase) was observed at the pre-alpine site receiving highest precipitation amounts in all three years. At the lowland site (intermediate precipitation sums), biomass productivity significantly decreased in response to drought only in the third year, after showing increased abundance of a drought tolerant weed species in the second year. No significant change in below-ground biomass productivity was observed at any of the sites in response to simulated summer drought. However, vegetation carbon isotope ratios increased under drought conditions, indicating an increase in water use efficiency. We conclude that there is no general drought response of Swiss grasslands, but that sites with lower annual precipitation seem to be more vulnerable to summer drought than sites with higher annual precipitation, and thus site-specific adaptation of management strategies will be needed, especially in regions with low annual precipitation.

Cost-effectiveness of percutaneous coronary intervention in patients with stable coronary artery disease and abnormal fractional flow reserve

BACKGROUND The Fractional Flow Reserve Versus Angiography for Multivessel Evaluation (FAME) 2 trial demonstrated a significant reduction in subsequent coronary revascularization among patients with stable angina and at least 1 coronary lesion with a fractional flow reserve ≤0.80 who were randomized to percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) compared with best medical therapy. The economic and quality-of-life implications of PCI in the setting of an abnormal fractional flow reserve are unknown. METHODS AND RESULTS We calculated the cost of the index hospitalization based on initial resource use and follow-up costs based on Medicare reimbursements. We assessed patient utility using the EQ-5D health survey with US weights at baseline and 1 month and projected quality-adjusted life-years assuming a linear decline over 3 years in the 1-month utility improvements. We calculated the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio based on cumulative costs over 12 months. Initial costs were significantly higher for PCI in the setting of an abnormal fractional flow reserve than with medical therapy ($9927 versus $3900, P<0.001), but the $6027 difference narrowed over 1-year follow-up to $2883 (P<0.001), mostly because of the cost of subsequent revascularization procedures. Patient utility was improved more at 1 month with PCI than with medical therapy (0.054 versus 0.001 units, P<0.001). The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of PCI was $36 000 per quality-adjusted life-year, which was robust in bootstrap replications and in sensitivity analyses. CONCLUSIONS PCI of coronary lesions with reduced fractional flow reserve improves outcomes and appears economically attractive compared with best medical therapy among patients with stable angina.

Cost-effectiveness of different strategies to monitor adults on antiretroviral treatment: a combined analysis of three mathematical models

Background: WHO's 2013 revisions to its Consolidated Guidelines on antiretroviral drugs recommend routine viral load monitoring, rather than clinical or immunological monitoring, as the preferred monitoring approach on the basis of clinical evidence. However, HIV programmes in resource-limited settings require guidance on the most cost-effective use of resources in view of other competing priorities such as expansion of antiretroviral therapy coverage. We assessed the cost-effectiveness of alternative patient monitoring strategies. Methods: We evaluated a range of monitoring strategies, including clinical, CD4 cell count, and viral load monitoring, alone and together, at different frequencies and with different criteria for switching to second-line therapies. We used three independently constructed and validated models simultaneously. We estimated costs on the basis of resource use projected in the models and associated unit costs; we quantified impact as disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) averted. We compared alternatives using incremental cost-effectiveness analysis. Findings: All models show that clinical monitoring delivers significant benefit compared with a hypothetical baseline scenario with no monitoring or switching. Regular CD4 cell count monitoring confers a benefit over clinical monitoring alone, at an incremental cost that makes it affordable in more settings than viral load monitoring, which is currently more expensive. Viral load monitoring without CD4 cell count every 6—12 months provides the greatest reductions in morbidity and mortality, but incurs a high cost per DALY averted, resulting in lost opportunities to generate health gains if implemented instead of increasing antiretroviral therapy coverage or expanding antiretroviral therapy eligibility. Interpretation: The priority for HIV programmes should be to expand antiretroviral therapy coverage, firstly at CD4 cell count lower than 350 cells per μL, and then at a CD4 cell count lower than 500 cells per μL, using lower-cost clinical or CD4 monitoring. At current costs, viral load monitoring should be considered only after high antiretroviral therapy coverage has been achieved. Point-of-care technologies and other factors reducing costs might make viral load monitoring more affordable in future. Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, WHO.

Desertification mitigation and water harvesting based on sustainable land management

Traditionally, desertification research has focused on degradation assessments, whereas prevention and mitigation strategies have not sufficiently been emphasised, although the concept of sustainable land management (SLM) is increasingly being acknowledged. SLM strategies are interventions at the local to regional scale aiming at increasing productivity, protecting the natural resource base, and improving livelihoods. The global WOCAT initiative and its partners have developed harmonized frameworks to compile, evaluate and analyse the impact of SLM practices around the globe. Recent studies within the EU research project DESIRE developed a methodological framework that combines a collective learning and decision-making approach with use of best practices from the WOCAT database. In-depth assessment of 30 technologies and 8 approaches from 17 desertification sites enabled an evaluation of how SLM addresses prevalent dryland threats such as water scarcity, soil and vegetation degradation, low production, climate change, resource use conflicts and migration. Among the impacts attributed to the documented technologies, those mentioned most were diversified and enhanced production and better management of water and soil degradation, whether through water harvesting, improving soil moisture, or reducing runoff. Water harvesting offers under-exploited opportunities for the drylands and the predominantly rainfed farming systems of the developing world. Recently compiled guidelines introduce the concepts behind water harvesting and propose a harmonised classification system, followed by an assessment of suitability, adoption and up-scaling of practices. Case studies go from large-scale floodwater spreading that make alluvial plains cultivable, to systems that boost cereal production in small farms, as well as practices that collect and store water from household compounds. Once contextualized and set in appropriate institutional frameworks, they can form part of an overall adaptation strategy for land users. More field research is needed to reinforce expert assessments of SLM impacts and provide the necessary evidence-based rationale for investing in SLM. This includes developing methods to quantify and value ecosystem services, both on-site and off-site, and assess the resilience of SLM practices, as currently aimed at within the new EU CASCADE project.

Making co-management work in protected areas with indigenous peoples in Bolivia and Peru

Sustainable and equitable management of biodiversity in protected areas inhabited by indigenous peoples is often a challenge. It requires an intercultural dialogue based on local norms of resource use and indigenous knowledge. Moreover, mechanisms that generate economic incentives must be able to compete with income from illegal activities such as logging, mining, and land trafficking. Finally, efforts are needed to ensure that regulations and policies on conservation and resource extraction do not overlap and contradict each other, as this hampers efforts both to conserve biodiversity and to promote development at the local level.