Long-term Ecological Research: Chasing fashions or being prepared for fashion changes?

Long-term-ecological-research (LTER) faces many challenges, including the difficulty of obtaining long-term funding, changes in research questions and sampling designs, keeping researchers collecting standardized data for many years, impediments to interactions with local people, and the difficulty of integrating the needs of local decision makers with "big science". These issues result in a lack of universally accepted guidelines as to how research should be done and integrated among LTER sites. Here we discuss how the RAPELD (standardized field infrastructure system), can help deal with these issues as a complementary technique in LTER studies, allowing comparisons across landscapes and ecosystems and reducing sampling costs. RAPELD uses local surveys to understand broad spatial and temporal patterns while enhancing decision-making and training of researchers, local indigenous groups and traditional communities. Sampling of ecological data can be carried out by different researchers through standardized protocols, resulting in spatial data that can be used to answer temporal questions, and allow new questions to be investigated. Results can also be integrated into existing biodiversity networks. Integrated systems are the most efficient way to save resources, maximize results, and accumulate information that can be used in the face of the unknown unknowns upon which our future depends.

Analysis and implementation of the DynDiff tool when comparing versions of ontology.

BACKGROUND: Ontologies play a key role in the management of medical knowledge because they have the properties to support a wide range of knowledge-intensive tasks. The dynamic nature of knowledge requires frequent changes to the ontologies to keep them up-to-date. The challenge is to understand and manage these changes and their impact on depending systems well in order to handle the growing volume of data annotated with ontologies and the limited documentation describing the changes. METHODS: We present a method to detect and characterize the changes occurring between different versions of an ontology together with an ontology of changes entitled DynDiffOnto, designed according to Semantic Web best practices and FAIR principles. We further describe the implementation of the method and the evaluation of the tool with different ontologies from the biomedical domain (i.e. ICD9-CM, MeSH, NCIt, SNOMEDCT, GO, IOBC and CIDO), showing its performance in terms of time execution and capacity to classify ontological changes, compared with other state-of-the-art approaches. RESULTS: The experiments show a top-level performance of DynDiff for large ontologies and a good performance for smaller ones, with respect to execution time and capability to identify complex changes. In this paper, we further highlight the impact of ontology matchers on the diff computation and the possibility to parameterize the matcher in DynDiff, enabling the possibility of benefits from state-of-the-art matchers. CONCLUSION: DynDiff is an efficient tool to compute differences between ontology versions and classify these differences according to DynDiffOnto concepts. This work also contributes to a better understanding of ontological changes through DynDiffOnto, which was designed to express the semantics of the changes between versions of an ontology and can be used to document the evolution of an ontology.

P2Y12 inhibitor monotherapy versus dual antiplatelet therapy in patients with acute coronary syndromes undergoing coronary stenting: rationale and design of the NEOMINDSET Trial.

Dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) is currently the standard of care after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Recent studies suggest that reducing DAPT to 1-3 months followed by an aspirin-free single antiplatelet therapy (SAPT) strategy with a potent P2Y12 inhibitor is safe and associated with less bleeding. However, to date, no randomised trial has tested the impact of initiating SAPT immediately after PCI, particularly in patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS). NEOMINDSET is a multicentre, randomised, open-label trial with a blinded outcome assessment designed to compare SAPT versus DAPT in 3,400 ACS patients undergoing PCI with the latest-generation drug-eluting stents (DES). After successful PCI and up to 4 days following hospital admission, patients are randomised to receive SAPT with a potent P2Y12 inhibitor (ticagrelor or prasugrel) or DAPT (aspirin plus a potent P2Y12 inhibitor) for 12 months. Aspirin is discontinued immediately after randomisation in the SAPT group. The choice between ticagrelor and prasugrel is at the investigator's discretion. The primary hypothesis is that SAPT will be non-inferior to DAPT with respect to the composite endpoint of all-cause mortality, stroke, myocardial infarction or urgent target vessel revascularisation, but superior to DAPT on rates of bleeding defined by Bleeding Academic Research Consortium 2, 3 or 5 criteria. NEOMINDSET is the first study that is specifically designed to test SAPT versus DAPT immediately following PCI with DES in ACS patients. This trial will provide important insights on the efficacy and safety of withdrawing aspirin in the early phase of ACS. (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04360720).

Resistencia adesiva a longo prazo entre zirconias odontologicas com diferentes niveis de translucidez e cimento resinoso / Long-term bond strength between dental zirconia of different translucency levels and resin cement

Este estudo avaliou a resistência e a confiabilidade adesiva entre zircônias com diferentes graus de translucidez com o cimento resinoso, sinterizadas de forma convencional e rápida, além de avaliar a susceptibilidade ao envelhecimento térmico dessas interfaces. Espécimes de quatro diferentes zircônias (3YTZP/Translúcida [T], 3Y-TZP/Alta Translucidez [HT], 4Y-PSZ/Super Translúcida [ST] e 5Y-PSZ/Extra Translúcida [XT]) foram obtidos a partir de blocos de CAD/CAM e polidos. Todas as zircônias foram sinterizadas de forma convencional (ciclo de ~12h), entretanto as zircônias T e HT foram subdivididas em grupos também sinterizados na forma rápida (~2h), seguindo o protocolo do fabricante. As superfícies adesivas foram jateadas com Al2O3 50 µm e silanizadas com primer contendo MDP, um cilindro de cimento resinoso foi construído na superfície cerâmica (Ø = 1 mm; h = 2 mm). Metade dos espécimes foram submetidos a termociclagem previamente ao ensaio (6000 ciclos; 5 ­ 55ºC); a outra metade das amostras foi submetida diretamente ao ensaio de microcisalhamento com fio em uma máquina de ensaios universal. Os dados de resistência adesiva foram submetidos a ANOVA 2-fatores e teste de Tukey (95%), bem como à análise de Weibull para determinação da confiabilidade adesiva. A média do valor da resistência adesiva foi estatisticamente diferente entre os materiais, apenas as zircônias HT e ST não foram afetadas negativamente pelo envelhecimento térmico. A forma de sinterização rápida foi estatisticamente semelhante à convencional para a zircônia T, entretanto a HT com sinterização rápida mostrou maior resistência adesiva imediata do que a convencional. O módulo de Weibull foi superior paras zircônias HT convencional e ST. O envelhecimento térmico causa uma degradação das interfaces adesivas das zircônias 3Y-TZP (T) e 5Y-PSZ (XT) com o cimento resinoso, entretanto não afeta as interfaces das zircônias 3Y-TZP (HT) e 4YPSZ (ST). O método de sinterização rápido não altera a resistência de união das zircônias estudadas com o cimento resinoso a longo prazo. A confiabilidade adesiva segundo o módulo de Weibull é superior para a 3Y-TZP (HT convencional) e 4Y-PSZ (ST). (AU)

This study evaluated the adhesive strength and reliability of zirconia with different degrees of translucency with resin cement, sintered in a conventional and speed mode, in addition to evaluating the susceptibility to thermal aging of these interfaces. Specimens of four different zirconia (3Y-TZP/Translucent [T], 3Y-TZP/High Translucent [HT], 4Y-PSZ/Super Translucent [ST] and 5YPSZ/Extra Translucent [XT]) were obtained from CAD/CAM blocks and polished. All zirconia were conventionally sintered (~12h cycle), however the T and HT zirconia were subdivided into groups also sintered in the speed mode (~2h), following the manufacturer's protocol. The adhesive surfaces were sandblasted with 50 µm Al2O3 and silanized with a primer containing MDP, a resin cement cylinder was built on the ceramic surface (Ø = 1 mm; h = 2 mm). Half of the specimens were submitted to thermocycling prior to the assay (6000 cycles; 5 ­ 55ºC); the other half of the samples were directly subjected to the wire microshear test in a universal testing machine. The bond strength data were submitted to 2-way ANOVA and Tukey's test (95%), as well as Weibull analysis to determine the adhesive reliability. The average value of bond strength was statistically different between materials, only HT and ST zirconia were not negatively affected by thermal aging. The speed sintering form was statistically similar to the conventional one for T zirconia, however the speed sintered HT showed higher immediate bond strength than the conventional one. The Weibull modulus was superior for conventional HT and ST zirconia. Thermal aging causes a degradation of the adhesive interfaces of 3Y-TZP (T) and 5Y-PSZ (XT) zirconia with the resin cement, however it does not affect the interfaces of 3Y-TZP (HT) and 4Y-PSZ (ST) zirconia. The speed sintering method does not change the bond strength of the zirconia studied with the resin cement in the long term. Adhesive reliability according to the Weibull module is superior for 3Y-TZP (conventional HT) and 4Y-PSZ (ST). (AU)

Computer Aided Design Modelling and Finite Element Analysis of Premolar Proximal Cavities Restored with Resin Composites.

This study evaluated the stress distribution in five different class II cavities of premolar models restored with conventional or bulk-fill flowable composite by means of finite element analysis (FEA) under shrinkage and occlusal loading. An upper validated premolar model was imported in the software, and five class II cavities with different occlusal extensions and dimensions were prepared: horizontal cavity on the mesial surface (horizontal slot), mesio-occlusal cavity, mesial cavity (vertical slot), tunnel type cavity and direct access cavity. The models were restored with conventional or bulk-fill flowable resin composite. The tested materials were considered as homogeneous, linear, and isotropic. The Maximum Principal Stress criteria was chosen to evaluate the tensile stress results. The lowest shrinkage stress value was observed in the direct access cavity restored with bulk-fill flowable resin composite (36.12 MPa). The same cavity, restored with conventional composite showed a score of 36.14 MPa. The horizontal slot cavity with bulk-fill flowable showed a score of 46.71 MPa. The mesio-occlusal cavity with bulk-fill flowable had a score of 53.10 MPa, while with conventional composite this was 55.35 MPa. Higher shrinkage stress was found in the vertical slot cavity with conventional resin 56.14 MPa, followed by the same cavity with bulk-fill flowable 56.08 MPa. Results indicated that the use of bulk-fill flowable composite resin more significantly decreased the polymerization shrinkage stress magnitude. The larger the cavity and the volume of material necessary to restore the tooth, the greater the residual stress on enamel and dentin tissue.

Non-structural carbohydrates mediate seasonal water stress across Amazon forests.

Non-structural carbohydrates (NSC) are major substrates for plant metabolism and have been implicated in mediating drought-induced tree mortality. Despite their significance, NSC dynamics in tropical forests remain little studied. We present leaf and branch NSC data for 82 Amazon canopy tree species in six sites spanning a broad precipitation gradient. During the wet season, total NSC (NSCT) concentrations in both organs were remarkably similar across communities. However, NSCT and its soluble sugar (SS) and starch components varied much more across sites during the dry season. Notably, the proportion of leaf NSCT in the form of SS (SS:NSCT) increased greatly in the dry season in almost all species in the driest sites, implying an important role of SS in mediating water stress in these sites. This adjustment of leaf NSC balance was not observed in tree species less-adapted to water deficit, even under exceptionally dry conditions. Thus, leaf carbon metabolism may help to explain floristic sorting across water availability gradients in Amazonia and enable better prediction of forest responses to future climate change.

The Program for Biodiversity Research in Brazil: The role of regional networks for biodiversity knowledge, dissemination, and conservation.

The Program for Biodiversity Research (PPBio) is an innovative program designed to integrate all biodiversity research stakeholders. Operating since 2004, it has installed long-term ecological research sites throughout Brazil and its logic has been applied in some other southern-hemisphere countries. The program supports all aspects of research necessary to understand biodiversity and the processes that affect it. There are presently 161 sampling sites (see some of them at Supplementary Appendix), most of which use a standardized methodology that allows comparisons across biomes and through time. To date, there are about 1200 publications associated with PPBio that cover topics ranging from natural history to genetics and species distributions. Most of the field data and metadata are available through PPBio web sites or DataONE. Metadata is available for researchers that intend to explore the different faces of Brazilian biodiversity spatio-temporal variation, as well as for managers intending to improve conservation strategies. The Program also fostered, directly and indirectly, local technical capacity building, and supported the training of hundreds of undergraduate and graduate students. The main challenge is maintaining the long-term funding necessary to understand biodiversity patterns and processes under pressure from global environmental changes.

Influence of the dental implant number and load direction on stress distribution in a 3-unit implant-supported fixed dental prosthesis.

BACKGROUND: The choice between 2 or 3 implants to support a 3-unit implant-supported fixed dental prosthesis (FDP) still generates doubt in clinical practice. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate stress distribution in 3-unit implant-supported FDPs according to the implant number and load direction. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A numerical simulation was performed to analyze stress and strain according to the implant number (2 or 3) and load direction (axial or oblique). A model of a jaw was created by means of the modeling software Rhinoceros, v. 5.0 SR8. External hexagon implants, micro-conical abutments and screws were also modeled. The final geometries were exported to the computer-aided engineering (CAE) software Ansys, v. 17.2, and all materials were considered homogeneous, isotropic and elastic. Different load directions were applied for each model (300 N) at the center of the prosthesis. RESULTS: The von Mises stress and strain values were obtained for the titanium structures and the bone, respectively. The implant number influenced the prosthesis biomechanics, with higher stress and strain concentrations when 2 implants were simulated. The oblique load also affected the mechanical response, showing higher stress and strain in comparison with the axial load, regardless of the implant number. CONCLUSIONS: It was concluded that for a 3-unit implant-supported FDP, a greater number of implants associated with axial loads can result in a better mechanical response during chewing.

Influence of Polymeric Restorative Materials on the Stress Distribution in Posterior Fixed Partial Dentures: 3D Finite Element Analysis.

BACKGROUND: This study evaluated the effect of interim restorative materials (acrylic resin (AR), resin composite (RC) or polyetheretherketone (PEEK) for dental computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM)) on the stress distribution of a posterior three-unit fixed partial denture. METHODS: The abutment teeth (first molar and first premolar) were modeled using the BioCAD protocol containing 1.5 mm of axial reduction and converging axial walls. A static structural analysis was performed in the computer-aided engineering software, and the Maximum Principal Stress criterion was used to analyze the prosthesis and the cement layers of both abutment teeth. The materials were considered isotropic, linearly elastic, homogeneous and with bonded contacts. An axial load (600 N) was applied to the occlusal surface of the second premolar. RESULTS: Regardless of the restorative material, the region of the prosthetic connectors showed the highest tensile stress magnitude. The highest stress peak was observed with the use of RC (129 MPa) compared to PEEK and AR. For the cement layers, RC showed the lowest values in the occlusal region (7 MPa) and the highest values for the cervical margin (14 MPa) compared to PEEK (21 and 12 MPa) and AR (21 and 13 MPa). CONCLUSIONS: Different interim restorative materials for posterior fixed partial dentures present different biomechanical behavior. The use of resin composite can attenuate the stress magnitude on the cement layer, and the use of acrylic resin can attenuate the stress magnitude on the connector region.

Tree mode of death and mortality risk factors across Amazon forests.

The carbon sink capacity of tropical forests is substantially affected by tree mortality. However, the main drivers of tropical tree death remain largely unknown. Here we present a pan-Amazonian assessment of how and why trees die, analysing over 120,000 trees representing > 3800 species from 189 long-term RAINFOR forest plots. While tree mortality rates vary greatly Amazon-wide, on average trees are as likely to die standing as they are broken or uprooted-modes of death with different ecological consequences. Species-level growth rate is the single most important predictor of tree death in Amazonia, with faster-growing species being at higher risk. Within species, however, the slowest-growing trees are at greatest risk while the effect of tree size varies across the basin. In the driest Amazonian region species-level bioclimatic distributional patterns also predict the risk of death, suggesting that these forests are experiencing climatic conditions beyond their adaptative limits. These results provide not only a holistic pan-Amazonian picture of tree death but large-scale evidence for the overarching importance of the growth-survival trade-off in driving tropical tree mortality.

Reference values of office central blood pressure, pulse wave velocity, and augmentation index recorded by means of the Mobil-O-Graph PWA monitor.

Assessment of central blood pressure (BP), pulse wave velocity (PWV), and augmentation index (AIx) measurements may improve cardiovascular risk stratification. This study aimed to establish reference office values for central BP, PWV, and AIx by means of a Mobil-O-Graph PWA monitor and to evaluate the impact of cardiovascular risk factors (CVRFs) on these measurements. We cross-sectionally evaluated clinical characteristics, central BP, PWV, AIx, and peripheral BP measurements among 867 apparently healthy individuals (age = 46.0 ± 15.5 years, 39% males) who were free of obesity, hypertension, active smoking, dyslipidemia, and diabetes (CVRF-No) and 5632 individuals (age = 57.0 ± 14.7 years, 44% males) with at least one of these major CVRFs (CVRF-Yes). Reference values for central BP, PWV, and AIx were provided for the CVRF-No and CVRF-Yes groups, stratified by age and sex. PWV and AIx exhibited curvilinear increases with age, and there was an interaction between age and sex for central systolic BP and PWV in both the CVRF-No and CVRF-Yes groups. The results of a multivariable analysis including the whole sample (n = 6499) showed that obesity had a direct association with central BP, while diabetes was directly related to PWV. In addition, alcohol intake was directly associated with central BP, while performance of physical activity was inversely related to AIx. In conclusion, values of office-measured central BP, PWV, and AIx obtained in an apparently healthy population and in a population with CVRFs are now available according to age and sex and may be useful to build thresholds for use in clinical practice.

Competition influences tree growth, but not mortality, across environmental gradients in Amazonia and tropical Africa.

Competition among trees is an important driver of community structure and dynamics in tropical forests. Neighboring trees may impact an individual tree's growth rate and probability of mortality, but large-scale geographic and environmental variation in these competitive effects has yet to be evaluated across the tropical forest biome. We quantified effects of competition on tree-level basal area growth and mortality for trees ≥10-cm diameter across 151 ~1-ha plots in mature tropical forests in Amazonia and tropical Africa by developing nonlinear models that accounted for wood density, tree size, and neighborhood crowding. Using these models, we assessed how water availability (i.e., climatic water deficit) and soil fertility influenced the predicted plot-level strength of competition (i.e., the extent to which growth is reduced, or mortality is increased, by competition across all individual trees). On both continents, tree basal area growth decreased with wood density and increased with tree size. Growth decreased with neighborhood crowding, which suggests that competition is important. Tree mortality decreased with wood density and generally increased with tree size, but was apparently unaffected by neighborhood crowding. Across plots, variation in the plot-level strength of competition was most strongly related to plot basal area (i.e., the sum of the basal area of all trees in a plot), with greater reductions in growth occurring in forests with high basal area, but in Amazonia, the strength of competition also varied with plot-level wood density. In Amazonia, the strength of competition increased with water availability because of the greater basal area of wetter forests, but was only weakly related to soil fertility. In Africa, competition was weakly related to soil fertility and invariant across the shorter water availability gradient. Overall, our results suggest that competition influences the structure and dynamics of tropical forests primarily through effects on individual tree growth rather than mortality and that the strength of competition largely depends on environment-mediated variation in basal area.

Study of the pterygoid canal (vidian canal) through images of cone beam computer tomography / Estudo do canal Pterigóideo (canal Vidiano) por meio de imagens de tomografia computadorizada de feixe cônico

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the pterygoid canal (PC) by Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT), establishing its configuration and proximity with anatomical structures. Material and Methods: We evaluated 398 CBCT exams, all from a public University radiology clinic archive. Four parameters were evaluated: single or double PC, distance between PC and the inferior part of the sphenoid sinus (SS), ratio of PC and SS and the distance between the PC and the foramen rotundum. Results: It was observed that most of the PC of the sample presented simple morphology, the most frequent type of relationship between the PC and the SS on both sides was the close contact with the wall. Among the cases that there were some distances between the PC and the inferior wall of the SS, the mean of this distance did not exceed 3.20 mm, being the left side (3.03 mm) slightly closer than the right (3.20 mm). Finally, the distances between the PC and the corresponding Foramen Rotundum are presented with mean values of 5.87 mm for the right side and 6.31 mm for the left side. Conclusion: CBCT examination is of paramount importance for PC identification; once in the studied sample, the mean values found evidence the close relation between the PC and the SS (AU)

Objetivo: O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar o CP pela TCFC, estabelecendo sua configuração e proximidade com estruturas anatômicas. Material e Métodos: Foram avaliados 398 exames de TCFC, todos de um arquivo público da clínica de radiologia da Universidade. Foram avaliados quatro parâmetros: CP único ou duplo, distância entre PC e parte inferior do seio esfenoidal (SS), razão entre PC e SS e a distância entre o PC e o forame redondo. Resultados: Observou-se que a maioria dos CP da amostra apresentava morfologia simples, o tipo de relação mais frequente entre o CP e o SS de ambos os lados foi o contato próximo com a parede. Entre os casos em que houve algumas distâncias entre o CP e a parede inferior da ES, a média dessa distância não excedeu 3,20 mm, sendo o lado esquerdo (3,03 mm) um pouco mais próximo do que o direito (3,20 mm). Finalmente, as distâncias entre o PC e o forame redondo correspondente são apresentadas com valores médios de 5,87 mm para o lado direito e 6,31 mm para o lado esquerdo. Conclusão: O exame TCFC é de suma importância para a identificação do CP; uma vez na amostra estudada, os valores médios encontrados evidenciam a estreita relação entre o CP e o SS. (AU)

Estratégias do enfermeiro intensivista neonatal frente à humanização do cuidado / Strategies of the neonatal intensive nurse for care humanization / Estrategias de la enfermera intensiva neonatal para la humanización de la atención

Introdução: Ações humanizadas aplicáveis em Unidades de Terapia Intensiva Neonatal (UTIN) beneficiam o neonato e a família. Objetivos: Descrever as estratégias utilizadas pelo enfermeiro intensivista neonatal no processo de humanização do cuidado. Método: Este estudo apresenta-se como uma revisão integrativa. A discussão do trabalho deu-se por meio de três categorias, seguindo uma linha cronológica para apresentação das ideias e conhecimentos extraídos da temática. Resultados: A busca pelo melhor desenvolvimento possível tornou a humanização uma peça fundamental na assistência neonatal. Reprocessar as ideias e condutas frente à humanização do cuidado em UTIN torna-se imprescindível para alcançar a efetivação de práticas positivas. A estratégia mais citada e valorizada na implementação do cuidado humanizado neste ambiente envolve a comunicação. Outras estratégias fundamentais e diretas no desenvolvimento do recém-nascido UTIN envolvem a diminuição dos estímulos estressores. Conclusão: As ações humanizadas aplicáveis em UTIN são de fácil entendimento, não requerem material de alto custo ou capacitação técnica especializada e proporcionam benefícios extremamente importantes aos neonatos e ao seu desenvolvimento.(AU)

Introduction: Humanized actions applicable in Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) benefit the newborn and the family. Objectives: To describe the strategies used by neonatal intensive care nurses in the process of humanizing care. Method: This study is presented as an integrative review. The discussion of the work took place through three categories, following a chronological line to present the ideas and knowledge extracted from the theme. Results: The search for the best possible development has made humanization a fundamental part of neonatal care. Reprocessing the ideas and behaviors towards the humanization of care in the NICU becomes essential to achieve the implementation of positive practices. The most cited and valued strategy in the implementation of humanized care in this environment involves communication. Other fundamental and direct strategies in the development of the newborn in the NICU involve the reduction of stressful stimuli. Conclusion: The humanized actions applicable in the NICU are easy to understand, do not require expensive material or specialized technical training and provide extremely important benefits to newborns and their development.(AU)

Introducción: Las acciones humanizadas aplicables en las Unidades de Cuidados Intensivos Neonatales (UCIN) benefician al recién nacido y a la familia. Objetivos: Describir las estrategias utilizadas por las enfermeras de cuidados intensivos neonatales en el proceso de humanización de la atención. Método: Este estudio se presenta como una revisión integradora. La discusión del trabajo se realizó a través de tres categorías, siguiendo una línea cronológica para presentar las ideas y los conocimientos extraídos del tema. Resultados: La búsqueda del mejor desarrollo posible ha hecho de la humanización una parte fundamental de la atención neonatal. Reprocesar las ideas y los comportamientos hacia la humanización de la atención en la UCIN se vuelve esencial para lograr la implementación de prácticas positivas. La estrategia más citada y valorada en la implementación de la atención humanizada en este entorno implica la comunicación. Otras estrategias fundamentales y directas en el desarrollo del recién nacido en la UCIN implican la reducción de los estímulos estresantes. Conclusión: Las acciones humanizadas aplicables en la UCIN son fáciles de entender, no requieren material costoso o capacitación técnica especializada y brindan beneficios extremadamente importantes a los recién nacidos y su desarrollo.(AU)

Compositional response of Amazon forests to climate change.

Most of the planet's diversity is concentrated in the tropics, which includes many regions undergoing rapid climate change. Yet, while climate-induced biodiversity changes are widely documented elsewhere, few studies have addressed this issue for lowland tropical ecosystems. Here we investigate whether the floristic and functional composition of intact lowland Amazonian forests have been changing by evaluating records from 106 long-term inventory plots spanning 30 years. We analyse three traits that have been hypothesized to respond to different environmental drivers (increase in moisture stress and atmospheric CO2 concentrations): maximum tree size, biogeographic water-deficit affiliation and wood density. Tree communities have become increasingly dominated by large-statured taxa, but to date there has been no detectable change in mean wood density or water deficit affiliation at the community level, despite most forest plots having experienced an intensification of the dry season. However, among newly recruited trees, dry-affiliated genera have become more abundant, while the mortality of wet-affiliated genera has increased in those plots where the dry season has intensified most. Thus, a slow shift to a more dry-affiliated Amazonia is underway, with changes in compositional dynamics (recruits and mortality) consistent with climate-change drivers, but yet to significantly impact whole-community composition. The Amazon observational record suggests that the increase in atmospheric CO2 is driving a shift within tree communities to large-statured species and that climate changes to date will impact forest composition, but long generation times of tropical trees mean that biodiversity change is lagging behind climate change.

Inhibitory killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors strengthen CD8+ T cell-mediated control of HIV-1, HCV, and HTLV-1.

Killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIRs) are expressed predominantly on natural killer cells, where they play a key role in the regulation of innate immune responses. Recent studies show that inhibitory KIRs can also affect adaptive T cell-mediated immunity. In mice and in human T cells in vitro, inhibitory KIR ligation enhanced CD8+ T cell survival. To investigate the clinical relevance of these observations, we conducted an extensive immunogenetic analysis of multiple independent cohorts of HIV-1-, hepatitis C virus (HCV)-, and human T cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1)-infected individuals in conjunction with in vitro assays of T cell survival, analysis of ex vivo KIR expression, and mathematical modeling of host-virus dynamics. Our data suggest that functional engagement of inhibitory KIRs enhances the CD8+ T cell response against HIV-1, HCV, and HTLV-1 and is a significant determinant of clinical outcome in all three viral infections.

Supporting biomedical ontology evolution by identifying outdated concepts and the required type of change.

The consistent evolution of ontologies is a major challenge for systems using semantically enriched data, for example, for annotating, indexing, or reasoning. The biomedical domain is a typical example where ontologies, expressed with different formalisms, have been used for a long time and whose dynamic nature requires the regular revision of underlying systems. However, the automatic identification of outdated concepts and proposition of revision actions to update them are still open research questions. Solutions to these problems are of great interest to organizations that manage huge and dynamic ontologies. In this paper, we present an approach for (i) identifying the concepts of an ontology that require revision and (ii) suggesting the type of revision. Our analysis is based on three aspects: structural information encoded in the ontology, relational information gained from external source of knowledge (i.e., PubMed and UMLS) and temporal information derived from the history of the ontology. Our approach aims to evaluate different methods and parameters used by supervised learning classifiers to identify both the set of concepts that need revision, and the type of revision. We applied our approach to four well-known biomedical ontologies/terminologies (ICD-9-CM, MeSH, NCIt and SNOMED CT) and compared our results to similar approaches. Our model shows accuracy ranging from 68% (for SNOMED CT) to 91% (for MeSH), and an average of 71% when considering all datasets together.

Determining the Mode, Frequency, and Azimuthal Wave Number of ULF Waves During a HSS and Moderate Geomagnetic Storm.

Ultralow frequency (ULF) waves play a fundamental role in the dynamics of the inner magnetosphere and outer radiation belt during geomagnetic storms. Broadband ULF wave power can transport energetic electrons via radial diffusion, and discrete ULF wave power can energize electrons through a resonant interaction. Using observations from the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission, we characterize the evolution of ULF waves during a high-speed solar wind stream (HSS) and moderate geomagnetic storm while there is an enhancement of the outer radiation belt. The Automated Flare Inference of Oscillations code is used to distinguish discrete ULF wave power from broadband wave power during the HSS. During periods of discrete wave power and utilizing the close separation of the Magnetospheric Multiscale spacecraft, we estimate the toroidal mode ULF azimuthal wave number throughout the geomagnetic storm. We concentrate on the toroidal mode as the HSS compresses the dayside magnetosphere resulting in an asymmetric magnetic field topology where toroidal mode waves can interact with energetic electrons. Analysis of the mode structure and wave numbers demonstrates that the generation of the observed ULF waves is a combination of externally driven waves, via the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability, and internally driven waves, via unstable ion distributions. Further analysis of the periods and toroidal azimuthal wave numbers suggests that these waves can couple with the core electron radiation belt population via the drift resonance during the storm. The azimuthal wave number and structure of ULF wave power (broadband or discrete) have important implications for the inner magnetospheric and radiation belt dynamics.