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• The taxonomic and functional diversity of Cerrado wetlands (vereda) undergoing woody encroachment were analyzed. • Woody vegetation cover increased, and species richness, and taxonomic and functional diversity decreased. • Under woody encroachments the groundwater level in the vereda has become deeper. • Soils were more acid and with higher organic matter content. • Woody encroachments are leading the vereda to a different plant structure, and with more resource-acquisitive plant traits. The encroachment of woody species has been affecting wetlands in the Cerrado biome, Brazil. This process has resulted in changes in plant diversity, soil physicochemical properties, and water availability. This study assessed changes in the taxonomic and functional diversity of plants and soil in Veredas wetlands in process of reduction in water availability and woody plant encroachment. Over a 14-year interval, we quantified taxonomic and plant functional diversity, soil physicochemical properties, groundwater depth, and its relationship with historical soil moisture using remote sensing in veredas. We investigated the effect of increased groundwater depth, woody vegetation cover, and changes in soil properties on species cover and richness. We observed a five to seven-fold increase in woody vegetation cover, accompanied by an increased in the richness of woody species from 21.4 % to 28.9 %. Nevertheless, this was counterbalanced by a 15.8 % to 35.2 % reduction in overall species richness and taxonomic diversity. At the same time, functional diversity decreased, leading to a community with more acquisitive traits. Groundwater depth increased from 20 to 60 cm. Soil properties changed, especially organic matter content, which increased two to 14 times. Changes in species richness and cover were related to increased organic matter and groundwater depth. The surveyed veredas exhibited considerable changes in plant species richness, soil, and hydrological properties, as well as woody vegetation cover, over 14 years. The veredas formed distinct functional composition groups between sampling times. However, only one vereda exhibited a reduction in functional richness, and neither showed temporal functional divergence. Woody encroachments are leading these veredas to an alternative state with a reduced herbaceous diversity, structurally denser, and with more resource-acquisitive plant traits in the community. The Woody encroachment reducing soil water availability, may impact ecosystem services, particularly water provision and biodiversity loss in the Cerrado region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines causality shifts in the revenue–expenditure nexus in Brazil during the years 1996–2019. The literature usually assumed a time-invariant causality link between government revenues and expenditures. Such assumption becomes often implausible when the sample period covers significant economic, political and policy changes, like the case of Brazil in the last two decades. Based on time-varying Granger causality tests, we found three distinct causality episodes: fiscal synchronization in 2005–2008, spend-and-tax in 2010–2013, and a tax-and-spend in 2015–2018. These episodes are intercalated with periods of no causality that coincides with economic crisis, political turmoil and major shifts in fiscal policy. The findings suggest that the interplay between fiscal policy orientation and primary surplus targeting is an important factor in the revenue–expenditure nexus. The most recent causality episode suggests stronger effects running from revenues to expenditures in the Brazilian primary budget dynamics. In this context, according to the tax-and-spend hypothesis, cutting spending seems to be the right course of action to restore fiscal balance in Brazil. A tax increase should be considered with caution because it may only incentive the government to grow its expenditures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urochloa humidicola (Rendle) Morrone & Zuloaga is an exotic forage grass cultivated in Brazil. Previous studies have identified different phenolic compounds produced by this species, including flavonoids and p -coumaric acid, which have been well-known as allelochemical compounds. We evaluated the morphology, anatomy and ultrastructure of Calopogonium mucunoides roots exposed to phenolic compounds found in U . humidicola . Leaves of U . humidicola were dried, crushed and submitted to extraction in methanol solution, which was fractionated through partition using organic solvents. In the bioassays, the hydromethanolic leaf extract of U . humidicola , commercial standard solutions of phenols and a control were all tested against the germination and seedling growth of C . mucunoides . The seedlings of C . mucunoides were measured, morphologically described, and the roots were processed according to standard techniques for plant anatomy and electron microscopy. Urochloa humidicola leaf extract inhibited root development, although they stimulated shoot elongation. The p -coumaric acid strongly inhibited plant development, caused root tip necrosis and decreased production of lateral roots, as well as changes in anatomy. Seedlings treated with quercitrin, luteolin and fisetin showed greater lengths, whereas kaempferol negatively affected root growth. Also, U . humidicola extract, p -coumaric acid and kaempferol caused marked changes in root cell ultrastructure. These results suggest a potential phytotoxic effect caused by U . humidicola leaf compounds isolated against C . mucunoides seedlings, although the association of these compounds is suggested to be antagonistic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The canine visceral leishmaniasis (CanL) is a chronic parasitic disease caused by protozoa belonging to the genus Leishmania. In Brazil, the transmission occurs mainly by the action of blood-sucking insects belonging to the subfamily Phlebotominae, particularly the Lutzomyia longipalpis species. However, the venereal and vertical transmission of the CanL is present. The main clinical signs observed in animals affected by the CanL are lymphadenopathy, skin diseases, hepatosplenomegaly, onychogryphosis and ophthalmopathy, however atypical manifestations can be observed, including the involvement of the genital system. Thus, the aim of this paper is to review on the major pathologies in genital male and female dogs with visceral leishmaniasis (VL). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Structural changes and labor market in Brazil. In the present article, we attempt to identify the sources of the changes in the labor schooling level in the three main sectors of the Brazilian economy: manufacturing, services and agriculture. It was verified that, despite the changes in the product and employment among sectors, mainly in the 1990s, the relative demands for qualified workers has not experimented significant changes. Moreover, in the periods in which schooling has increased more, the workers' wage has decreased more. This fact suggests that the increase in labor qualification was mainly due to the increase of this factor supply. The structural changes had contributed, in general, in a marginal and negative way to labor force level of qualification demand in all the three sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exchange rate regime and structural changes in the Brazilian manufacturing industry. This article proposes an analysis of the relationship between exchange rate regime and evolution of the Brazilian manufacturing industry during the period 1980-2008. Its main purpose is to detect the direction of the structural changes imposed by the new form of international insertion consolidated throughout the 1990s. The work also provides new empirical evidence regarding the assumptions of deindustrialization and "Dutch disease", which mark the current debate on the effects of the appreciation of real exchange rate in the Brazilian economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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