Estimates of species extinction due to human impact on tropical forests
have previously been based on the relationship between species number and
area. Here we use a different approach to estimate ...loss of
tree species in the Atlantic forest of northeast Brazil. We evaluate the characteristics
of plant species, their avian dispersers and the distribution of the forest
remnants on the landscape to estimate that about 33.9% of tree species in
this region will become extinct on a regional scale. Because northeast Brazil
is the most threatened sector of South American Atlantic forest,
our results highlight the need to change the current conservation paradigm
for this region. Rather than focus on the creation of isolated reserves in
any medium-to-large forest remnant, a bioregional planning approach is urgently
required to rescue this unique biota from extinction.
Environmentally relevant doses of inhaled diesel particles elicit pulmonary inflammation and impair lung mechanics. Eugenol, a methoxyphenol component of clove oil, presents in vitro and in vivo ...anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Our aim was to examine a possible protective role of eugenol against lung injuries induced by diesel particles. Male BALB/c mice were divided into four groups. Mice received saline (10 μl in; CTRL group) or 15 μg of diesel particles DEP (15 μg in; DIE and DEUG groups). After 1 h, mice received saline (10 μl; CTRL and DIE groups) or eugenol (164 mg/kg; EUG and DEUG group) by gavage. Twenty-four hours after gavage, pulmonary resistive (ΔP1), viscoelastic (ΔP2) and total (ΔPtot) pressures, static elastance (Est), and viscoelastic component of elastance (ΔE) were measured. We also determined the fraction areas of normal and collapsed alveoli, amounts of polymorpho- (PMN) and mononuclear cells in lung parenchyma, apoptosis, and oxidative stress. Est, ΔP2, ΔPtot, and ΔE were significantly higher in the DIE than in the other groups. DIE also showed significantly more PMN, airspace collapse, and apoptosis than the other groups. However, no beneficial effect on lipid peroxidation was observed in DEUG group. In conclusion, eugenol avoided changes in lung mechanics, pulmonary inflammation, and alveolar collapse elicited by diesel particles. It attenuated the activation signal of caspase-3 by DEP, but apoptosis evaluated by TUNEL was avoided. Finally, it could not avoid oxidative stress as indicated by malondialdehyde.
The present study used isometric tension recording to investigate the vasorelaxant effect of limonene (LM), carveol (CV), and perillyl alcohol (POH) on contractility parameters of the rat aorta, ...focusing in particular on the structure-activity relationship. LM, CV, and POH showed a reversible inhibitory effect on the contraction induced by electromechanical and pharmacomechanical coupling. In the case of LM, but not CV and POH, this effect was influenced by preservation of the endothelium. POH and CV but not LM exhibited greater pharmacological potency on BayK-8644-induced contraction and on electromechanical coupling than on pharmacomechanical coupling. In endothelium-denuded preparations, the order of pharmacological potency on electrochemical coupling was LM < CV < POH. These compounds inhibited also, with grossly similar pharmacological potency, the contraction induced by phorbol ester dibutyrate. The present results suggest that LM, CV and POH induced relaxant effect on vascular smooth muscle by means of different mechanisms likely to include inhibition of PKC and IP3 pathway. For CV and POH, hydroxylated compounds, it was in electromechanical coupling that the greater pharmacological potency was observed, thus suggesting a relative specificity for a mechanism likely to be important in electromechanical coupling, for example, blockade of voltage-dependent calcium channel.
One of the major challenges that modern societies face is improving their well-being, while reducing pressures on their immediate environments. One indicator that tracks this progress is the ...environmental intensity of well-being (EIWB), which measures how much stress is placed on the environment per unit of human well-being. In most studies, the variation and relationship of EIWB with socio-economic factors have been evaluated by using countries as the unit of analysis, without considering the impacts of locally spatial dependence and heterogeneity. Here, we present the first study examining the spatial variation of EIWB within a large tropical country (Brazil), by using the smallest possible geopolitical unit of analysis (municipalities). We used spatial regression models to assess how two socio-economic factors (affluence and income inequality) explain EIWB trends across 5564 municipalities after controlling for their areas and population sizes. We found that: (1) there is a significant spatial variation of EIWB within Brazil, with the highest EIWB scores concentrated in the country’s northeastern and southeastern regions; (2) income inequality has a positive effect on local EIWB, but affluence has a negative one; and (3) the relationships between EIWB and its two covariates vary geographically and are context-dependent. Assessing EIWB at the local level can provide decision-makers and stakeholders with a more nuanced perspective on the challenges associated with sustainable development at different geopolitical levels.
•Low environmental intensity of well-being (EIWB) indicates sustainable development.•Municipalities in Brazil show large geographic variation in EIWB.•Affluence and income inequality influence local EIWB.•The EIWB of a municipality is influenced by the social characteristics of its neighbors.
Studies have shown synergistic and independent effects of leucine and resveratrol (RSV) as possible therapeutic agents to ameliorate metabolic disorders. Thus, the objective of this study was to ...investigate the effects of supplementation with leucine and RSV, alone and in combination, on metabolic changes in white adipose tissue of neonatally STZ-induced diabetic rats. After weaning, the rats were treated with trans-resveratrol (0.6 mg/kg/dose) and/or leucine (1.35 mg/kg/dose) administered orally. The animals were euthanized at age 16 weeks for blood analyses. Subcutaneous (SC), periepididymal (PE) and retroperitoneal (RP) fat pads were weighed. Adipocytes from PE and RP pads were isolated for morphometric analysis. Long-term supplementation with RSV promoted adiposity recovery, prevented hypoinsulinemia and improved the metabolic profile of the diabetic rats. However, some of these effects were impaired when RSV was associated with leucine. The diabetic rats supplemented with leucine alone showed no significant improvement in metabolic disorders.
Background:
Tele-rehabilitation (TR) may be an effective alternative or complement to centre-based cardiac rehabilitation (CBCR) with heart failure (HF) patients, helping overcome accessibility ...problems to CBCR. The aim of this study is to systematically review the literature in order to assess the clinical effectiveness of TR programs in the management of chronic HF patients, compared to standard of care and standard rehabilitation (CBCR).
Methods and Results:
We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials on the effect and safety of TR programs in HF patients, regarding cardiovascular death, heart failure-related hospitalizations, functional capacity and quality of life. We searched 4 electronic databases up until May 2020, reviewed references of relevant articles and contacted experts. A quantitative synthesis of evidence was performed by means of random-effects meta-analyses. We included 17 primary studies, comprising 2206 patients. Four studies reported the number of hospitalizations (TR: 301; Control: 347). TR showed to be effective in the improvement of HF patients’ functional capacity in the 6 Minute Walk-Test (Mean Difference (MD) 15.86; CI 95% 7.23; 24.49; I2 = 74%) and in peak oxygen uptake (pVO2) results (MD 1.85; CI 95% 0.16; 3.53; I2 = 93%). It also improved patients’ quality of life (Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire: MD −6.62; CI 95% −11.40; −1.84; I2 = 99%). No major adverse events were reported during TR exercise.
Conclusion:
TR showed to be superior than UC without CR on functional capacity improvement in HF patients. There is still scarce evidence of TR impact on hospitalization and cv death reduction. Further research and more standardized protocols are needed to improve evidence on TR effectiveness, safety and cost-effectiveness.
Previously, it was shown that intravenous (i.v.) treatment with the essential oil of
Aniba canelilla (EOAC) elicited a hypotensive response that is due to active vascular relaxation rather than to ...the withdrawal of sympathetic tone. The present study investigated mechanisms underlying the cardiovascular responses to 1-nitro-2-phenylethane, the main constituent of the EOAC. In pentobarbital-anesthetized normotensive rats, 1-nitro-2-phenylethane (1–10
mg/kg, i.v.) elicited dose-dependent hypotensive and bradycardiac effects which were characterized in two periods (phases 1 and 2). The first rapid component (phase 1) evoked by 1-nitro-2-phenylethane (10
mg/kg) was fully abolished by bilateral vagotomy, perineural treatment of both cervical vagus nerves with capsaicin (250
µg/ml) and was absent after left ventricle injection. However, pretreatment with capsazepine (1
mg/kg, i.v.) or ondansetron (30
µg/kg, i.v.) did not alter phase 1 of the cardiovascular responses to 1-nitro-2-phenylethane (10
mg/kg, i.v.). In conscious rats, 1-nitro-2-phenylethane (1–10
mg/kg, i.v.) evoked rapid hypotensive and bradycardiac (phase 1) effects that were fully abolished by methylatropine (1
mg/kg, i.v.). It is concluded that 1-nitro-2-phenylethane induces a vago-vagal bradycardiac and depressor reflex (phase 1) that apparently results from the stimulation of vagal pulmonary rather than cardiac C-fiber afferents. The transduction mechanism of the 1-nitro-2-phenylethane excitation of C-fiber endings is not fully understood and does not appear to involve activation of either Vanilloid TPRV
1 or 5-HT
3 receptors. The phase 2 hypotensive response to 1-nitro-2-phenylethane seems to result, at least in part, from a direct vasodilatory effect since 1-nitro-2-phenylethane (1–300
µg/ml) induced a concentration-dependent reduction of phenylephrine-induced contraction in rat endothelium-containing aorta preparations.
Funding deficits of protected areas in Brazil Silva, José Maria Cardoso da; Dias, Teresa Cristina Albuquerque de Castro; Cunha, Alan Cavalcanti da ...
Land use policy,
January 2021, 2021-01-00, 20210101, Letnik:
100
Journal Article
Recenzirano
•Brazil invested only 15.5 % of the funds required in its protected areas.•76.5 % of Brazil’s federal protected areas have funding deficits.•Funding deficits vary geographically.•Protected areas in ...the Brazilian Amazon are mostly underfunded.•The total annual funding deficit in Brazil’s protected areas increased.
Protected areas (PAs) are the most effective public policy instruments to protect natural ecosystems and the services these ecosystems provide. Nevertheless, several PAs present a funding deficit because governments allocate fewer financial resources than those required to cover PA management costs. The variation in funding deficits within countries is not well documented because information about PA public investments and management costs are seldom available. We describe the variation in funding deficits across Brazilian federal PAs and propose a model that explains such variation by using PAs' characteristics and their zones of influence as predictors. We estimated that the 282 Brazilian federal PAs needed US$ 468 million to cover their management costs in 2016. However, the Brazilian government allocated only 15.5 % of these costs. Approximately 76.5 % of the PAs had funding deficits. Our model showed that: (1) funding deficit is negatively associated with PA age and the human development index but positively associated with PA size, (2) PAs in the Atlantic Forest and the Savannas and Drylands have lower funding deficits than PAs in the Amazon, and (3) PAs in the Atlantic Forest have lower funding deficits than PAs in the Savannas and Drylands. We found that the proportion of PAs with a funding deficit in Brazil is high and is comparable to the high percentage of PAs (75 %–100 %) with a funding deficit found in sub-Saharan Africa. Moreover, there is evidence that the total annual funding deficit in the Brazilian PAs increased in the last decade. New policies, public-private partnerships, and innovative funding mechanisms need to be set to close the large funding gap in the Brazilian federal PA system.
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