: Schistosomiasis is a rural endemic disease that has been expanding to urban and coastal areas in the state of Pernambuco, Brazil. The aim of this study was to characterize the distribution of ...breeding sites of the causative vector, Biomphalaria straminea in an endemic municipality for schistosomiasis and to present the predictive models for occurrences and dispersal of this vector snail to new areas.
: A malacological survey was conducted during January to December 2015 in the municipality of São Lourenço da Mata, Pernambuco, Brazil to identify the breeding sites of Biomphalaria. Faecal contamination was determined by means of the Colitag™ diagnostic kit. Rainfall data were collected, and correlated with snail distribution data. Kernel density estimation, kriging and maximum entropy (MaxEnt) modeling were used for spatial data analysis, by means of the spatial analysis software packages.
: Out of the 130 demarcated collection points, 64 were classified as breeding sites for B. straminea. A total of 5,250 snails were collected from these sites. Among these 64 sites, four were considered as foci of schistosomiasis transmission and 54 as potential transmission foci. An inverse relationship between rainfall and snail density was observed. Kernel spatial analysis identified three areas at higher risk of snail occurrence, which were also the areas of highest faecal contamination and included two transmission foci. Kriging and MaxEnt modeling simulated the scenarios obtained through the kernel analyses.
: Use of geostatistical tools (Kriging and MaxEnt) is efficient for identifying areas at risk and for estimating the dispersal of Biomphalaria species across the study area. Occurrence of B. straminea in the study area is influenced by the rainy season, as it becomes more abundant during the period immediately after the rainy season, increasing the risk of dispersal and the appearance of new transmission foci.
The COSINE-100 dark matter search experiment is an array of NaI(Tl) crystal detectors located in the Yangyang Underground Laboratory (Y2L). To understand measured backgrounds in the NaI(Tl) crystals ...we have performed Monte Carlo simulations using the Geant4 toolkit and developed background models for each crystal that consider contributions from both internal and external sources, including cosmogenic nuclides. The background models are based on comparisons of measurement data with Monte Carlo simulations that are guided by a campaign of material assays and are used to evaluate backgrounds and identify their sources. The average background level for the six crystals (70 kg total mass) that are studied is 3.5 counts/day/keV/kg in the (2–6) keV energy interval. The dominant contributors in this energy region are found to be
210
Pb and
3
H.
Abstract This study evaluated the gait stability, variability, and complexity of healthy young adults on inclined surfaces. A total of 49 individuals walked on a treadmill at their preferred speed ...for 4 minutes at inclinations of 6, 8, and 10% in upward (UP) and downward (DOWN) conditions, and in horizontal (0%) condition. Gait variability was assessed using average standard deviation trunk acceleration between strides (VAR), gait stability was assessed using margin of stability (MoS) and maximum Lyapunov exponent (λs), and gait complexity was assessed using sample entropy (SEn). Trunk variability (VAR) increased in the medial-lateral (ML), anterior-posterior, and vertical directions for all inclined conditions. The SEn values indicated that movement complexity decreased almost linearly from DOWN to UP conditions, reflecting changes in gait pattern with longer and slower steps as inclination increased. The DOWN conditions were associated with the highest variability and lowest stability in the MoS ML, but not in λs. Stability was lower in UP conditions, which exhibited the largest λs values. The overall results support the hypothesis that inclined surfaces decrease gait stability and alter gait variability, particularly in UP conditions.
We present the first search for a dark matter annual modulation signal in the Southern Hemisphere conducted with NaI(Tl) detectors, performed by the DM-Ice17 experiment. Nuclear recoils from dark ...matter interactions are expected to yield an annually modulated signal independent of location within the Earth’s hemispheres. DM-Ice17, the first step in the DM-Ice experimental program, consists of 17 kg of NaI(Tl) located at the South Pole under 2200 m.w.e. overburden of Antarctic glacial ice. Taken over 3.6 years for a total exposure of 60.8 kg yr, DM-Ice17 data are consistent with no modulation in the energy range of 4–20 keV, providing the strongest limits on weakly interacting massive particle dark matter from a direct detection experiment located in the Southern Hemisphere. The successful deployment and stable long-term operation of DM-Ice17 establishes the South Pole ice as a viable location for future dark matter searches and in particular for a high-sensitivity NaI(Tl) dark matter experiment to directly test the DAMA/LIBRA claim of the observation of dark matter.
Sueste Bay, in the Fernando de Noronha archipelago (FNA), contains the only mangrove area among the oceanic islands of the South Atlantic. This work aims to reconstruct this mangrove's evolution ...during the Holocene based on a morphostratigraphic study integrated with palynological and multi-elemental geochemical data, temporally calibrated with radiocarbon dating. The data obtained indicated that, around 8000 to 7000 cal yr BP, well-developed Rhizophora and Laguncularia mangroves established over altered rocks of the Quixaba (phonolites, lamprophyres, basanites, trachyandesites and basalts) and Remédios (basanites, melilite and melanophelinites) Formation, under rising relative sea level, about 2 to 3 m below present. This period was the last record of Rhizophora in the FNA. From 6000 to 3600 cal yr BP, the lagoon system was eroded and significantly retrograded, under rising RSL during at least part of time, leaving clay pebbles scattered in the lower/upper shoreface deposit as the only record of its reworking. This process limited mud/mixed flats near the mouth of the Maceió River. Under a relative stability of RSL from 3600 cal yr BP to the present, a progradation of coastal facies, including beach/foredunes ridges, occurred and allowed the development of the modern lagoon system over swales between aeolian sand ridges. Mangroves were only observed during modern times but in environmental conditions very different from those of the previous occurrence. Indeed, Laguncularia coexists with several invasive plants within the narrow mixed flats associated with a small and almost filled tidal creek, whose siltation may be a product of the artificial damming of the Maceió River to supply public water to the archipelago. This study highlights the complex interactions between natural processes, sea-level changes, and human activities in shaping the coastal evolution of the Fernando de Noronha archipelago over the Holocene.
•The only mangroves in the oceanic islands of South America occur in FNA.•Rhizophora and Laguncularia occurred at ∼8022–6888 cal yr BP in a tide-dominated lagoon.•The lagoon with mangroves contracted due to human intervention.•Laguncularia became the only modern mangrove species.
To analyze studies that investigated the association between physical activity assessed by accelerometry and cognitive function in older people.
A systematic review was carried out in four electronic ...databases (PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and SportsDiscus).
In total, 195 records were identified. Fifty-two studies were selected for a full evaluation; 23 were selected according to the inclusion criteria adopted and divided into four chapters (characteristics of the studies, the association between physical activity level and cognitive function decline, effects of physical activity in reducing the chances of cognitive function decline and effects of physical activity on brain plasticity. The cross-sectional studies had an average score of 7 points, and the cohort studies obtained 10 points, indicating the high quality of the selected studies. Seven studies indicated an association between Moderate to vigorous physical activities (MVPA) and cognitive function, two specifically indicated a reduction in the chances of cognitive function decline according to the interquartile of MVPA, and three studies indicated improvements in MVPA in brain plasticity.
Measured by accelerometry, seems to be favorably associated with important outcomes in cognitive function assessed through questionnaires, imaging analyses, and biochemical markers with older adults.
Selective logging is well-recognized as an effective practice in sustainable forest management. However, the ecological efficiency or resilience of the residual stand is often in doubt. Recovery time ...depends on operational variables, diversity, and forest structure. Selective logging is excellent but is open to changes. This may be resolved by mathematical programming and this study integrates the economic-ecological aspects in multi-objective function by applying two evolutionary algorithms. The function maximizes remaining stand diversity, merchantable logs, and the inverse of distance between trees for harvesting and log landings points. The Brazilian rainforest database (566 trees) was used to simulate our 216-ha model. The log landing design has a maximum volume limit of 500 m
3
. The nondominated sorting genetic algorithm was applied to solve the main optimization problem. In parallel, a sub-problem (
p
-facility allocation) was solved for landing allocation by a genetic algorithm. Pareto frontier analysis was applied to distinguish the gradients α-economic, β-ecological, and γ-equilibrium. As expected, the solutions have high diameter changes in the residual stand (average removal of approximately 16 m
3
ha
−1
). All solutions showed a grouping of trees selected for harvesting, although there was no formation of large clearings (percentage of canopy removal < 7%, with an average of 2.5 ind ha
−1
). There were no differences in floristic composition by preferentially selecting species with greater frequency in the initial stand for harvesting. This implies a lower impact on the demographic rates of the remaining stand. The methodology should support projects of reduced impact logging by using spatial-diversity information to guide better practices in tropical forests.
A presente pesquisa busca estudar mudanças ambientais em virtude do avanço do agronegócio sobre o território da Comunidade Quilombola Morro de São João (CQMSJ), no Estado do Tocantins, e suas ...repercussões sobre as temperaturas de superfície. A agricultura comercial em larga escala, em alguns casos, desconsidera em sua prática os impactos que causam às comunidades tradicionais que vivem no entorno de grandes empreendimentos agrícolas. A comunidade percebe ter vivenciado diversas alterações ambientais em seu entorno, em razão da substituição da vegetação nativa por lavouras comerciais, no local que antes fazia parte de seu território original. Os procedimentos metodológicos se basearam no uso de geotecnologias para estudos de temáticas relacionadas ao clima. Para isso, estimou-se a temperatura de superfície terrestre (TST) sobre o território que abrange a CQMSJ na estação seca de inverno e na estação chuvosa de primavera, por meio de imagens de satélite da série Landsat 7 e 8, em cenários de observação de 1999/2000 e de 2019/2020, referentes a dois momentos: respectivamente, anterior e posterior à expansão agrícola na área de estudo. Os resultados indicam que houve uma variação da temperatura de superfície associada, principalmente, às mudanças ou alterações no uso e na ocupação da terra. O aumento de TST se deu de forma mais expressiva em áreas que atualmente são destinadas para a produção agrícola nos moldes do agronegócio. Os resultados sinalizam para prováveis consequências da exploração intensiva desse território tradicional inserido no bioma Cerrado, em especial quanto aos seus aspectos microclimáticos, com possíveis implicações sobre a vida de uma comunidade quilombola.
The concept of "one target, one drug, one disease" is not always true, as compounds with previously described therapeutic applications can be useful to treat other maladies. For example, acridine ...derivatives have several potential therapeutic applications. In this way, identifying new potential targets for available drugs is crucial for the rational management of diseases. Computational methodologies are interesting tools in this field, as they use rational and direct methods. Thus, this study focused on identifying other rational targets for acridine derivatives by employing inverse virtual screening (IVS). This analysis revealed that chitinase enzymes can be potential targets for these compounds. Subsequently, we coupled molecular docking consensus analysis to screen the best chitinase inhibitor among acridine derivatives. We observed that 3 compounds displayed potential enhanced activity as fungal chitinase inhibitors, showing that compound 5 is the most active molecule, with an IC
of 0.6 ng/µL. In addition, this compound demonstrated a good interaction with the active site of chitinases from Aspergillus fumigatus and Trichoderma harzianum. Additionally, molecular dynamics and free energy demonstrated complex stability for compound 5. Therefore, this study recommends IVS as a powerful tool for drug development. The potential applications are highlighted as this is the first report of spiro-acridine derivatives acting as chitinase inhibitors that can be potentially used as antifungal and antibacterial candidates.
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