Co‐benefits,trade‐offs,barriers and policies for greenhouse gas mitigation in the agriculture,forestry and other land use (AFOLU) sector

The agriculture, forestry and other land use (AFOLU) sector is responsible for approximately 25% of anthropogenic GHG emissions mainly from deforestation and agricultural emissions from livestock, soil and nutrient management. Mitigation from the sector is thus extremely important in meeting emission reduction targets. The sector offers a variety of cost‐competitive mitigation options with most analyses indicating a decline in emissions largely due to decreasing deforestation rates. Sustainability criteria are needed to guide development and implementation of AFOLU mitigation measures with particular focus on multifunctional systems that allow the delivery of multiple services from land. It is striking that almost all of the positive and negative impacts, opportunities and barriers are context specific, precluding generic statements about which AFOLU mitigation measures have the greatest promise at a global scale. This finding underlines the importance of considering each mitigation strategy on a case‐by‐case basis, systemic effects when implementing mitigation options on the national scale, and suggests that policies need to be flexible enough to allow such assessments. National and international agricultural and forest (climate) policies have the potential to alter the opportunity costs of specific land uses in ways that increase opportunities or barriers for attaining climate change mitigation goals. Policies governing practices in agriculture and in forest conservation and management need to account for both effective mitigation and adaptation and can help to orient practices in agriculture and in forestry towards global sharing of innovative technologies for the efficient use of land resources. Different policy instruments, especially economic incentives and regulatory approaches, are currently being applied however, for its successful implementation it is critical to understand how land‐use decisions are made and how new social, political and economic forces in the future will influence this process.     

Common and rare species respond to similar niche processes in macroinvertebrate metacommunities

Ecologists have long investigated why communities are composed of a few common species and many rare species. Most studies relate rarity to either niche differentiation among species or spatial processes. There is a parallel between these processes and the processes proposed to explain the structure of metacommunities. Based on a metacommunity perspective and on data on stream macroinvertebrates from different regions of Brazil, we answer two questions. 1) Are sets of common and rare species affected by similar niche and spatial processes? 2) How does the community composition of common and of rare species differ? The main hypothesis we test is that common species are mainly affected by environmental factors, whereas rare species are mostly influenced by dispersal limitation. We used variation partitioning to determine the proportion of variation explained by the environment and space in common and rare species matrices. Contrary to our expectations, evidence supported the idea that both common and rare species are affected mainly by environmental factors, even after controlling for the differing information content between common and rare species matrices. Moreover, the abundance of some common species is also a good predictor of variation in rare species matrices. Niche differences are unlikely to be the sole cause of patterns of rarity in these metacommunities. We suggest that sets of common and rare species react to similar major environmental gradients and that rare species also respond to processes that operate at a more fine‐grained spatial scale, particularly biotic interactions. We extend the view that species sorting is the dominant process structuring metacommunities and argue that future studies focusing on rarity would benefit from a metacommunity perspective.     

Factors Contributing to the Delay in Diagnosis and Continued Transmission of Leprosy in Brazil – An Explorative,Quantitative, Questionnaire Based Study

BackgroundLeprosy is a leading cause of preventable disability worldwide. Delay in diagnosis of patients augments the transmission of infection, and allows progression of disease and more severe disability. Delays in diagnosis greater than ten years have been reported in Brazil. To reduce this delay, it is important to identify factors that hinder patients from presenting to doctors, and those that delay doctors from diagnosing patients once they have presented. This study aimed to explore factors associated with the delayed diagnosis of leprosy in Brazil.

Methodology/ Principal Findings

This is an exploratory study using a self-constructed questionnaire delivered to patients attending three leprosy referral clinics across three states in Brazil. Data were analysed to determine associations between variables and the time taken for participants to present to the health-service, and between variables and the time taken for doctors to diagnose participants once they had presented. Participants who suspected they had leprosy but feared community isolation were 10 times more likely to wait longer before consulting a doctor for their symptoms (OR 10.37, 95% CI 2.18–49.45, p = 0.003). Participants who thought their symptoms were not serious had a threefold greater chance of waiting longer before consulting than those who did (OR 3.114, 95% CI 1.235–7.856, p = 0.016). Forty-two point six per cent of participants reported initially receiving a diagnosis besides leprosy. These had a three times greater chance of receiving a later diagnosis of leprosy compared to those not misdiagnosed or not given a diagnosis (OR 2.867, 95% CI 1.288–6.384, p = 0.010).

Conclusions/ Significance

This study implies a need for patient education regarding leprosy symptoms and the reduction of stigma to encourage patients to present. The high rate of misdiagnosis reported suggests a need to increase clinician suspicion of leprosy. Further education regarding disease symptoms in medical school curriculums may be advisable.     

Cell recruitment and cytokines in skin mice sensitized with the vaccine adjuvants: saponin, incomplete Freund's adjuvant, and monophosphoryl lipid A

Vaccine adjuvants are substances associated with antigens that are fundamental to the formation of an intense, durable, and fast immune response. In this context, the use of vaccine adjuvants to generate an effective cellular immune response is crucial for the design and development of vaccines against visceral leishmaniasis. The objective of this study was to evaluate innate inflammatory response induced by the vaccine adjuvants saponin (SAP), incomplete Freund's adjuvant (IFA), and monophosphoryl lipid A (MPL). After a single dose of adjuvant was injected into the skin of mice, we analyzed inflammatory reaction, selective cell migration, and cytokine production at the injection site, and inflammatory cell influx in the peripheral blood. We found that all vaccine adjuvants were able to promote cell recruitment to the site without tissue damage. In addition, they induced selective migration of neutrophils, macrophages, and lymphocytes. The influx of neutrophils was notable at 12 h in all groups, but at other time points it was most evident after inoculation with SAP. With regard to cytokines, the SAP led to production of interleukin (IL)-2, IL-6, and IL-4. IFA promoted production of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interferon (IFN)-γ, IL-6, IL-17, IL-4, and IL-10. We also observed that MPL induced high production of IL-2, TNF-α, and IFN-γ, in addition to IL-6, IL-17, and IL-10. In peripheral blood, values of certain cell populations in the local response changed after stimulation. Our data demonstrate that the three vaccine adjuvants stimulate the early events of innate immune response at the injection site, suggesting their ability to increase the immunogenicity of co-administered antigens. Moreover, this work provides relevant information about elements of innate and acquired immune response induced by vaccine adjuvants administered alone.     

Inheritance of lambda-cyhalothrin resistance in the predator lady beetle Eriopis connexa (Germar) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)

Lambda-cyhalothrin is a pyrethroid insecticide widely used to control pests in various crop ecosystems, in which the lady beetle occurs naturally. Therefore, lady beetle populations are exposed to lambda-cyhalothrin sprays that may foster tolerance to this insecticide. This study was conducted to confirm the occurrence of resistance in the lady beetle Eriopis connexa (Germar) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) to lambda-cyhalothrin and to characterize the inheritance of resistance after eight progressive selection with insecticide dosages based on the LD₅₀ determined for the F1 generation. Dose–mortality curves were determined for parental populations, F1 hybrids and backcross progenies. Parameters regarding the heritability of resistance to lambda-cyhalothrin in E. connexa allow estimating 10-fold increase in the initial LD₅₀ after 54.5 generations of successive selections. The resistance of E. connexa to lambda-cyhalothrin was characterized as autosomally inherited and incompletely dominant, and influenced by a major gene with possible influence of secondary genes. Additionally, the resistance in E. connexa varies from functionally dominant to functionally recessive depending on the dose used. These findings indicate that insecticide resistance in E. connexa can be selected in the field as determined for field-collected individuals, and subsequently enhanced under laboratory conditions. Its characterization presented here is an important step toward linking biological and chemical control within pest management regarding the lady beetle and lambda-cyhalothrin targeting different pest groups.     

Detection of Oseltamivir-Resistant Pandemic Influenza A(H1N1)pdm2009 in Brazil: Can Community Transmission Be Ruled Out?

Although surveillance efforts that monitor the emergence of drug-resistant strains of influenza are critical, systematic analysis is overlooked in most developing countries. We report on the occurrence of strains of pandemic influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 with resistance and decreased susceptibility to oseltamivir (OST) in Brazil in 2009, 2011 and 2012. We found 7 mutant viruses, 2 with the mutation S247N and other 5 with the mutation H275Y. Most of these viruses were from samples concentrated in the southern region of Brazil. Some of these resistant viruses were detected prior to the initiation of OST treatment, suggesting that community transmission of mutant viruses may exist. Moreover, we show that one of these OST-resistant (H275Y) strains of A(H1N1)pdm09 was discovered in the tri-border region between Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay, highlighting that this strain could also be found in other Latin American countries. Our findings reinforce the importance of enhanced antiviral resistance surveillance in Brazil and in other Latin American countries to confirm or rule out the community transmission of OST-resistant strains of A(H1N1)pdm09.     

Epidemiological Trends of Dengue Disease in Brazil (2000–2010): A Systematic Literature Search and Analysis

A literature survey and analysis was conducted to describe the epidemiology of dengue disease in Brazil reported between 2000 and 2010. The protocol was registered on PROSPERO (CRD42011001826: http://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.asp?ID=CRD42011001826). Between 31 July and 4 August 2011, the published literature was searched for epidemiological studies of dengue disease, using specific search strategies for each electronic database. A total of 714 relevant citations were identified, 51 of which fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The epidemiology of dengue disease in Brazil, in this period, was characterized by increases in the geographical spread and incidence of reported cases. The overall increase in dengue disease was accompanied by a rise in the proportion of severe cases. The epidemiological pattern of dengue disease in Brazil is complex and the changes observed during this review period are likely to have been influenced by multiple factors. Several gaps in epidemiological knowledge regarding dengue disease in Brazil were identified that provide avenues for future research, in particular, studies of regional differences, genotype evolution, and age-stratified seroprevalence.

Systematic Review Registration

PROSPERO registration number: CRD42011001826.     

Development of a New Approach to Aid in Visual Identification of Murine iPS Colonies Using a Fuzzy Logic Decision Support System

The a priori identification of induced pluripotent stem cells remains a challenge. Being able to quickly identify the most embryonic stem cell-similar induced pluripotent stem cells when validating results could help to reduce costs and save time. In this context, tools based on non-classic logic can be useful in creating aid-systems based on visual criteria. True colonies when viewed at 100x magnification have been found to have the following 3 characteristics: a high degree of border delineation, a more uniform texture, and the absence of a cracked texture. These visual criteria were used for fuzzy logic modeling. We investigated the possibility of predicting the presence of alkaline phosphatase activity, typical of true induced pluripotent stem cell colonies, after 25 individuals, with varying degrees of experience in working with murine iPS cells, categorized the images of 136 colonies based on visual criteria. Intriguingly, the performance evaluation by area under the ROC curve (16 individuals with satisfactory performance), Spearman correlation (all statistically significant), and Cohen''s Kappa agreement analysis (all statistically significant) demonstrates that the discriminatory capacity of different evaluators are similar, even those who have never cultivated cells. Thus, we report on a new system to facilitate visual identification of murine- induced pluripotent stem cell colonies that can be useful for staff training and opens the possibility of exploring visual characteristics of induced pluripotent stem cell colonies with their functional peculiarities. The fuzzy model has been integrated as a web-based tool named “2see-iPS” which is freely accessed at http://genetica.incor.usp.br/2seeips/.     

Highways are a threat for giant armadillos that underpasses can mitigate

We report 24 records of giant armadillo roadkill on Brazilian highways in the Cerrado, Pantanal and Amazon biomes illustrating that highways are a threat to this species. However, we also documented the species using underpasses, demonstrating that these structures could help to reduce the risk of roadkill for giant armadillos.