Soil CO2 efflux in central Amazonia: environmental and methodological effects

Soil respiration plays a significant role in the carbon cycle of Amazonian rainforests. Measurements of soil respiration have only been carried out in few places in the Amazon. This study investigated the effects of the method of ring insertion in the soil as well as of rainfall and spatial distribution on CO2 emission in the central Amazon region. The ring insertion effect increased the soil emission about 13-20% for sandy and loamy soils during the firsts 4-7 hours, respectively. After rainfall events below 2 mm, the soil respiration did not change, but for rainfall greater than 3 mm, after 2 hours there was a decrease in soil temperature and respiration of about 10-34% for the loamy and sand soils, with emissions returning to normal after around 15-18 hours. The size of the measurement areas and the spatial distribution of soil respiration were better estimated using the Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission (SRTM) data. The Campina reserve is a mosaic of bare soil, stunted heath forest-SHF and tall heath forest-THF. The estimated total average CO2 emissions from the area was 3.08±0.8 µmol CO2 m-2 s-1. The Cuieiras reserve is another mosaic of plateau, slope, Campinarana and riparian forests and the total average emission from the area was 3.82±0.76 µmol CO2 m-2 s-1. We also found that the main control factor of the soil respiration was soil temperature, with 90% explained by regression analysis. Automated soil respiration datasets are a good tool to improve the technique and increase the reliability of measurements to allow a better understanding of all possible factors driven by soil respiration processes.

Impact of health legislation on the sale of anorectics in a city in the Amazon region

OBJECTIVES: The International Narcotics Control Board released its 2005 annual report, highlighting the Brazil population as one of the largest consumers of anorectics. In Brazil, the National Health Surveillance Agency issued the resolution RDC 58/2007 in order to control the prescription and sale of such drugs. In Belém, the biggest city in the Brazilian Amazon region, this resolution came into force in 2008, leading to inspections of drugstores and magistral pharmacies. The aim of this work was to evaluate the consumption of psychotropic anorectic drugs and the impact of RDC 58/2007 on the prescription and dispensing of anorectics in drugstores and magistral pharmacies in Belém. METHODOLOGY: A retrospective quantitative and descriptive study was conducted of records from the Municipal Department of Health Surveillance of Belém, for 2005 to 2008. The differences in findings were regarded significant when p < 0.05. RESULTS: A total of 1,641 balance sheets of drugstores and magistral pharmacies were analyzed. Amfepramone was the most dispensed medication, followed by fenproporex and mazindol. The highest consumption of anorectics occurred in magistral pharmacies. In 2008, there was a significant reduction in dispensing of anorectics, in drugstores as well as in magistral pharmacies. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that there was a decrease in the dispensing of anorectics after RDC 58/2007 came into force, and that the magistral pharmacies dispensed more of these drugs. This resolution is a remarkable tool in health control, where it is of great benefit to public health and contributes substantially to the rational use of medicines in Brazil.

3D representation of the urban evolution of Braga using the cityengine tool

The morphological evolution of the city of Braga has been the subject of several studies focusing on different urban areas in different periods. Using the accumulated knowledge provided by the available archaeological, historical and iconographic data of Braga, from the Roman times to the nineteenth century, we intend to present a working methodology for 3D representation of urban areas and its evolution, using the CityEngine ESRI tool. Different types of graphic and cartographic data will be integrated in an archaeological information system for the characterization of urban buildings. Linking this information system to the rules of characterization of urban spaces through the CityEngine tool, we can create the 3D urban spaces and their changes. The building characterization rules include several parameters of architectural elements that can be dynamically changed according the latest information. This methodology will be applied to the best known areas within of the city allowing the creation of different and dynamic layouts. Considerations about the concepts, challenges and constraints of using the CityEngine tool for recording and representing urban evolution knowledge will be discussed.

Copper toxicity for Scinax ruber and Rhinella granulosa (Amphibia: Anura) of the Amazon: Potential of Biotic Ligand Model to predict toxicity in urban streams

In the last years many populations of anurans have declined and extinctions have been recorded. They were related to environmental pollution, changes of land use and emerging diseases. The main objective of this study was to determine copper sensitivity of the anuran of the Amazon Rhinella granulosa and Scinax ruber tadpoles at stage 25 and Scinax ruber eggs exposed for 96 h to copper concentrations ranging from 15 µg Cu L-1 to 94 µg Cu L-1. LC50 at 96 h of Rhinella granulosa Gosner 25, Scinax ruber Gosner 25 and Scinax ruber eggs in black water of the Amazon were 23.48, 36.37 and 50.02 µg Cu L-1, respectively. The Biotic Ligand Model was used to predict the LC50 values for these species and it can be considered a promising tool for these tropical species and water conditions. Copper toxicity depends on water physical-chemical composition and on the larval stage of the tadpoles. The Gosner stage 19-21 (related to the appearance of external gills) is the most vulnerable and the egg stage is the most resistant. In case of contamination by copper, the natural streams must have special attention, since copper is more bioavailable.

Use of anatomical root markers for species identification in Catasetum (Orchidaceae) at the Portal da Amazônia region, MT, Brazil

Orchidaceae is one of the largest botanical families, with approximately 780 genera. Among the genera of this family, Catasetum currently comprises 166 species. The aim of this study was to characterize the root anatomy of eight Catasetum species, verifying adaptations related to epiphytic habit and looking for features that could contribute to the vegetative identification of such species. The species studied were collected at the Portal da Amazônia region, Mato Grosso state, Brazil. The roots were fixed in FAA 50, cut freehand, and stained with astra blue/fuchsin. Illustrations were obtained with a digital camera mounted on a photomicroscope. The roots of examined species shared most of the anatomical characteristics observed in other species of the Catasetum genus, and many of them have adaptations to the epiphytic habit, such as presence of secondary thickening in the velamen cell walls, exodermis, cortex, and medulla. Some specific features were recognized as having taxonomic application, such as composition of the thickening of velamen cell walls, ornamentation of absorbent root-hair walls, presence of tilosomes, composition and thickening of the cortical cell walls, presence of mycorrhizae, endodermal cell wall thickening, the number of protoxylem poles, and composition and thickening of the central area of the vascular cylinder. These traits are important anatomical markers to separate the species within the genus and to generate a dichotomous identification key for Catasetum. Thus, providing a useful tool for taxonomists of this group

Reproductive biology of Macrobrachium surinamicum (Decapoda: Palaemonidae) in the Amazon River mouth

Macrobrachium surinamicum is an indigenous prawn distributed from the lower Amazon and Tocantins river basins to Venezuela in the Orinoco Delta region. It is common bycatch fauna of Macrobrachium amazonicum artisan fishing in the states of Pará and Amapá. The aim of this study was to investigate aspects on reproductive biology (reproductive period, size of sexual maturity population, fecundity, reproductive output and recruitment) of M. surinamicum from four important areas to artisanal prawn fishing located at the Amazon River mouth (Amapá and Pará). The specimens were captured using 20 handcrafted traps called "matapi". A number of 675 prawns were captured, 258 males, 409 females and eight juveniles, resulting in 1:1.6 (Male: Female) sex ratio. The reproductive peak period occurred from March to July, coinciding with the higher rainfall period. The juvenile prawn occurred only in May and July. Total length of egg-bearing females ranged from 12.12 to 38.30 mm, with mean female length at first maturity (L50) of 23.7 mm. Fecundity increased with prawn size and varied between 174 and 1780 eggs per female. Mean egg volume increased gradually from 0.031 (Stage I) to 0.060 mm³ (Stage III) during embryogenesis. Macrobrachium surinamicum depends on brackish water to complete the larval development. Irrespective of female size, reproductive output of M. surinamicum varied between 4.3 % and 35.5 % of their body weight for egg production. The knowledge of the reproductive biology reported in the present study is an important tool to define strategies to preserve M. surinamicum in Amazon River mouth.

An interactive web-based tool for breast reduction surgery simulation

In this work, we present a 3D web-based interactive tool for numerical modeling and simulation approach to breast reduction surgery simulation, to assist surgeons in planning all aspects related to breast reduction surgery before the actual procedure takes place, thereby avoiding unnecessary risks. In particular, it allows the modeling of the initial breast geometry, the definition of all aspects related to the surgery and the visualization of the post-surgery breast shape in a realistic environment.

Reconstructing historical forest cover change in the Lower Amazon floodplains using the LandTrendr algorithm

ABSTRACTThe Amazon várzeas are an important component of the Amazon biome, but anthropic and climatic impacts have been leading to forest loss and interruption of essential ecosystem functions and services. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the capability of the Landsat-based Detection of Trends in Disturbance and Recovery (LandTrendr) algorithm to characterize changes in várzeaforest cover in the Lower Amazon, and to analyze the potential of spectral and temporal attributes to classify forest loss as either natural or anthropogenic. We used a time series of 37 Landsat TM and ETM+ images acquired between 1984 and 2009. We used the LandTrendr algorithm to detect forest cover change and the attributes of "start year", "magnitude", and "duration" of the changes, as well as "NDVI at the end of series". Detection was restricted to areas identified as having forest cover at the start and/or end of the time series. We used the Support Vector Machine (SVM) algorithm to classify the extracted attributes, differentiating between anthropogenic and natural forest loss. Detection reliability was consistently high for change events along the Amazon River channel, but variable for changes within the floodplain. Spectral-temporal trajectories faithfully represented the nature of changes in floodplain forest cover, corroborating field observations. We estimated anthropogenic forest losses to be larger (1.071 ha) than natural losses (884 ha), with a global classification accuracy of 94%. We conclude that the LandTrendr algorithm is a reliable tool for studies of forest dynamics throughout the floodplain.

The Portuguese language version of social phobia and Anxiety Inventory: analysis of items and internal consistency in a Brazilian sample of 1,014 undergraduate students

OBJECTIVE: Theoretical and empirical analysis of items and internal consistency of the Portuguese-language version of Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory (SPAI-Portuguese). METHODS: Social phobia experts conducted a 45-item content analysis of the SPAI-Portuguese administered to a sample of 1,014 university students. Item discrimination was evaluated by Student's t test; interitem, mean and item-to-total correlations, by Pearson coefficient; reliability was estimated by Cronbach's alpha. RESULTS: There was 100% agreement among experts concerning the 45 items. On the SPAI-Portuguese 43 items were discriminative (p < 0.05). A few inter-item correlations between both subscales were below 0.2. The mean inter-item correlations were: 0.41 on social phobia subscale; 0.32 on agoraphobia subscale and 0.32 on the SPAI-Portuguese. Item-to-total correlations were all higher then 0.3 (p < 0.001). Cronbach's alphas were: 0.95 on the SPAI-Portuguese; 0.96 on social phobia subscale; 0.85 on agoraphobia subscale. CONCLUSION: The 45-item content analysis revealed appropriateness concerning the underlying construct of the SPAI-Portuguese (social phobia, agoraphobia) with good discriminative capacity on 43 items. The mean inter-item correlations and reliability coefficients demonstrated the SPAI-Portuguese and subscales internal consistency and multidimensionality. No item was suppressed in the SPAI-Portuguese but the authors suggest that a shortened SPAI, in its different versions, could be an even more useful tool for research settings in social phobia.

Hind limb ischemia in type 1 diabetic mice as useful tool to evaluate the neovascularization of tissue engineering constructs

Hind-limb ischemia has been used in type 1 diabetic mice to evaluate treatments for peripheral arterial disease or mechanisms of vascular impairment in diabetes [1]. Vascular deficiency is not only a pathophysiological condition, but also an obvious circumstance in tissue regeneration and in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine (TERM) strategies. We performed a pilot experiment of hind-limb ischemia in streptozotocin(STZ)-induced type 1 diabetic mice to hypothesise whether diabetes influences neovascularization induced by biomaterials. The dependent variables included blood flow and markers of arteriogenesis and angiogenesis. Type 1 diabetes was induced in 8-week-old C57BL/6 mice by an i.p. injection of STZ (50 mg/kg daily for 5 days). Hind-limb ischemia was created under deep anaesthesia and the left femoral artery and vein were isolated, ligated, and excised. The contralateral hind limb served as an internal control within each mouse. Non-diabetic ischaemic mice were used as experiment controls. At the hind-limb ischemia surgical procedure, different types of biomaterials were placed in the blood vessels gap. Blood flow was estimated by Laser Doppler perfusion imager, right after surgery and then weekly. After 28 days of implantation, surrounding muscle was excised and evaluated by histological analysis for arteriogenesis and angiogenesis. The results showed that implanted biomaterials were promote faster restoration of blood flow in the ischemic limbs and improved neovascularization in the diabetic mice. Therefore, we herein demonstrate that the combined model of hind-limb ischemia in type 1 diabetes mice is suitable to evaluate the neovascularization potential of biomaterials and eventually tissue engineering constructs.  

Text mining na análise de sentimentos em contextos de big data

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia e Gestão de Sistemas de Informação

Cerebral perfusion and automated individual analysis using SPECT among an obsessive-compulsive population

OBJECTIVE: To make individual assessments using automated quantification methodology in order to screen for perfusion abnormalities in cerebral SPECT examinations among a sample of subjects with OCD. METHODS: Statistical parametric mapping (SPM) was used to compare 26 brain SPECT images from patients with OCD individually with an image bank of 32 normal subjects, using the statistical threshold of p < 0.05 (corrected for multiple comparisons at the level of individual voxels or clusters). The maps were analyzed, and regions presenting voxels that remained above this threshold were sought. RESULTS: Six patients from a sample of 26 OCD images showed abnormalities at cluster or voxel level, considering the criteria described above, which represented 23.07%. However, seven images from the normal group of 32 were also indicated as cases of perfusional abnormality, representing 21.8% of the sample. CONCLUSION: The automated quantification method was not considered to be a useful tool for clinical practice, for analyses complementary to visual inspection.

Géneros textuais e práticas de sucesso no 1º ciclo do ensino básico

Tese de Doutoramento em Estudos da Criança (Área do Conhecimento em Estudos da Língua Portuguesa)

Prodromal Questionnaire: translation, adaptation to Portuguese and preliminary results in ultra-high risk individuals and first episode psychosis

OBJECTIVE: The Prodromal Questionnaire (PQ) is a 92-item self-report screening tool for individuals at ultra-high risk (UHR) to develop psychosis. This study aims to present the translation to Portuguese and preliminary results in UHR and first episode (FE) psychosis in a Portuguese sample. METHODS: The PQ was translated from English to Portuguese by two bilingual researchers from the research program on early psychosis of the Instituto de Psiquiatria HCFMUSP, São Paulo, Brazil (ASAS - "Evaluation and Follow up of Adolescents and Young Adults in São Paulo") and back translated by two other researchers. The study participants (n = 11-) were evaluated through the Portuguese version of the Prodromal Questionnaire (PQ) and SIPS. RESULTS: The individuals at UHR (n = 7) presented a lower score than first episode patients (n = 4). The UHR mean scores and standard deviation on Portuguese version of the PQ were: 13.0 ± 10.0 points on positive symptoms subscale, and FE patients: 33.0 ± 10.0. CONCLUSION: The UHR and FE patients' of this study presented PQ scores similar to the ones found in the literature; what suggests that it is possible to use the PQ in Brazilian help-seeking individuals as a screening tool.