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Fire is a significant agent of landscape transformation on Earth, and a dynamic and ephemeral process that is challenging to map. Difficulties include the seasonality of native vegetation in areas affected by fire, the high levels of spectral heterogeneity due to the spatial and temporal variability of the burned areas, distinct persistence of the fire signal, increase in cloud and smoke cover surrounding burned areas, and difficulty in detecting understory fire signals. To produce a large-scale time-series of burned area, a robust number of observations and a more efficient sampling strategy is needed. In order to overcome these challenges, we used a novel strategy based on a machine-learning algorithm to map monthly burned areas from 1985 to 2020 using Landsat-based annual quality mosaics retrieved from minimum NBR values. The annual mosaics integrated year-round observations of burned and unburned spectral data (i.e., RED, NIR, SWIR-1, and SWIR-2), and used them to train a Deep Neural Network model, which resulted in annual maps of areas burned by land use type for all six Brazilian biomes. The annual dataset was used to retrieve the frequency of the burned area, while the date on which the minimum NBR was captured in a year, was used to reconstruct 36 years of monthly burned area. Results of this effort indicated that 19.6% (1.6 million km2) of the Brazilian territory was burned from 1985 to 2020, with 61% of this area burned at least once. Most of the burning (83%) occurred between July and October. The Amazon and Cerrado, together, accounted for 85% of the area burned at least once in Brazil. Native vegetation was the land cover most affected by fire, representing 65% of the burned area, while the remaining 35% burned in areas dominated by anthropogenic land uses, mainly pasture. This novel dataset is crucial for understanding the spatial and long-term temporal dynamics of fire regimes that are fundamental for designing appropriate public policies for reducing and controlling fires in Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The aim of the work was to study the effects of year period, technical team, breed, beef cattle and dairy cattle on the pregnancy rates in fresh embryos used in bovine transfer of IVF programs. The study was carried out at the fertilization laboratory In VitroNyltta Britto de Carvalho, in partnership with In VitroBrazil, located at the Boa Vista farm, Barra do Pirai, during August 2007 to September 2008, seeking subsidies to improve the use of the technique in the field. During that period, aspirations and inovulations in 3 different periods I (August to December), II (January to April), and III (May to September) were carried out. The jobs were accomplished by 9 technical teams (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, and I) rendering services to the laboratory, by working with 2 beef breeds (Brahman and Nelore) and 3 dairy breeds (Gir, Girolando, and Holstein). The different breed receivers were synchronized, and in general, from 6 to 8 days after heat, they received embryo transfer, the cervical way, under low epidural anesthesia, where each female received 1 fresh embryo of IVF. All cows were submitted to gestation diagnosis by rectal palpation and ultrasonography, in general, 42 days after embryo transfer. The numbers of embryo transferred and pregnancy rates were submitted to the chi-square test, which presented significant differences (P< 0.05). There were pregnancy rates of 36.25%a(n= 960), 39.83%a(n= 1180), and 32.59%b(n= 919) in the I, II, and III periods, respectively. Among the 9 technical teams, there were verified pregnancy rates (%) of 33.51d(n= 1313), 30.30d(n= 330), 35.00cd(n= 405), 39.24cd(n= 1060), 59.25a(n= 7), 33.33d(n= 24), 53.57bc(n= 28), 43.31c(n= 157), and 58.33ab(n= 12) for A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, and I teams, respectively. Among breeds there were rates (%) of 36.89ab(n= 412), 34.68b(n= 1286), 35.13ab(n= 74), 38.94a(n= 1140), and 37.80ab(n= 82) for Brahman, Nelore, Gir, Girolando, and Holstein, respectively. In the study, pregnancy rates (%) of 35.21b(n= 1698) in beef cattle and 38.65a(n= 1296) in dairy cattle were observed. The differences in pregnancy rates with respect to the evaluated factors, may be explained by individual, breed, and nutritional variations of the animals. There are few data in the literature with results on the embryo transfer use of IVF bovine under field conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Body fat distribution predicts cardiovascular events better than body-mass index (BMI). Waist circumference (WC) and neck circumference (NC) are inexpensive anthropometric measurements. We aimed to present the conditional distribution of WC and NC values according to BMI, stratified by age and sex, from the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil) baseline data. We analyzed 15,085 ELSA-Brasil participants with complete data. We used spline quantile regression models, stratified by sex and age, to estimate the NC and WC quantiles according to BMI. To test a putative association between age and median NC or WC values, we built sex-specific median regression models using both BMI and age as explanatory variables. We present estimated 25th, 50th, 75th, and 90th percentiles for NC and WC values, according to BMI, age, and sex. Predicted interquartile intervals for NC values varied from 1.6 to 3.8 cm and, for WC values, from 5.1 to 10.3 cm. Median NC was not associated with age in men (P=0.11) nor in women (P=0.79). However, median WC increased with advancing age in both sexes (P<0.001 for both). There was significant dispersion in WC and NC values for a given BMI and age strata for both men and women. WC, but not NC values, were associated with increasing age. The smaller influence of advancing age on the relationship between BMI and NC (compared to WC) values may be useful in longitudinal studies.

In studies of human identification, obtaining a high standard of outcomes and satisfactory conclusions are directly related to the use of highly polymorphic molecular markers. In addition to the combined DNA index system (CODIS) group, it is also important to implement non-CODIS markers into the analysis, as they increase the power of discrimination. During the identification process, it is essential to consider the genetic variation among distinct groups of populations, as the allele frequencies are directly associated with the power of discrimination. However, the population of Goiás, a State located in Central Brazil, is characterized by a highly mixed population due to its diverse ethnic origins. In this study, a survey of the allelic frequencies in the Goiás population was carried out using a molecular assembly composed of 21 autosomal loci both from and external to the CODIS group. The new data, for some of the markers used, were statistically similar to those from previous studies. This consistency means that the use of these markers might serve as a parameter for future population comparisons. The results from these analyses further our knowledge of the study of human identification.

Objectives: A retrospective study on the Primary Cutaneous Malignant Melanoma in the Hospital do Servidor Público Estadual de São Paulo (HSPE-SP) analyzing its distribution according to age, sex, race and cutaneous site., Methodology: We studied 222 patients with Primary Cutaneous Malignant Melanoma as diagnosed at Hospital do Servidor Público Estadual de São Paulo, Brazil between the period from 1963 to 1997. A retrospective study was performed. Data were expressed as inance of caucasians (98.19%) over afro-americans (1.81) and of the female sex (69.36%) over the male sex (30.63%) was found. The predominant age on the occasion of the diagnosis was between 50 and 60 years for the women (25.32%) and between 60 and 69 years for the men (22.52%). The most frequent site of the cancer in men was the back region (29.41%) and in the lower members in the women (38.31%). The most frequent level of the tumor invasion (Clark) was IV (39.77%), and the average of tumor thickeness (Breslow) was < 0.75 mm (28.4%). A 5 years survival was observed in 73.3% of the patients., Conclusions: At our Hospital the incidence of Primary Cutaneous Malignant Melanoma has shown an increase in recent years; these results are compatible with the most recent international surveys.