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Underrepresented college students, particularly those attending a predominantly White institution (PWI), face unique challenges that undermine well-being and academic performance. However, support from natural mentors may mitigate the harms caused by these challenges and promote more positive college adjustment. The current study investigated how cumulative appraisal support, emotional support, informational support, and instrumental support from up to five natural mentors during students' first year of college were related to various concurrent and longitudinal outcomes. We found that 3 out of 4 types of social support were related to more positive, concurrent psychological or academic outcomes. Based on the results, we suggest that natural mentorship during students' first year of college has the potential to set a foundation for more positive adjustment among underrepresented students.

Therapeutic Area: Obesity Background: The SELECT trial demonstrated GLP1RA's significant reduction in cardiovascular (CV) events in individuals with preexisting cardiovascular disease (CVD) and overweight/obesity but without diabetes. Coronary CT angiography (CCTA) identifies presence and severity of coronary artery disease (CAD). We hypothesized that patients with significant CAD detected by CCTA, but no prior CVD, meeting other SELECT trial inclusion criteria, may have similar risk as those with established CVD in the trial. We aimed to evaluate the association between CAD by CCTA and CV outcomes among patients without known coronary heart disease who otherwise resemble the SELECT trial population. Methods: We included individuals aged ≥45, body mass index (BMI) ≥27, undergoing clinically indicated CCTA (2006-2021) at 2 large academic centers. Exclusion criteria comprised prior myocardial infarction (MI), coronary revascularization, end-stage chronic kidney disease, and life-limiting cancer. To mirror the SELECT trial population, patients diagnosed with diabetes at baseline were excluded. CAD severity was categorized based on the Coronary Artery Disease Reporting and Data System 2.0 (CAD-RADS) as absent (CAD-RADS 0), non-obstructive (1-49% stenosis, CAD-RADS 1-2) or obstructive (≥ 50%, CAD-RADS 3-5). Cox hazard modeling assessed the association between CAD severity and the primary composite outcome (same as SELECT trial) of CV death, MI, or stroke. Results: A total of 4,065 patients were included, median age 59 years (IQR 52-67); 53.7% males. Hypertension and dyslipidemia were present in 71.6% and 66.1%, respectively, and 8.5% had a BMI ≥ 40. CAD was absent in 30.3%, while 46.8% had nonobstructive CAD and 22.9% had obstructive CAD. Overweight/obese patients with nonobstructive and obstructive CAD had significantly higher risk of the primary composite outcome than those without CAD (Logrank p < 0.001) (Figure 1). The event rate over a mean 3.3-year follow-up was 2.9% for non-obstructive CAD and 7.1% for obstructive CAD (comparable to SELECT's control arm rate of 8.0%). Conclusions: The presence of obstructive CAD on CCTA may help identify overweight/obese individuals at elevated risk for adverse cardiovascular outcomes who could potentially benefit from GLP1RA therapy.

Objectives: This study evaluates the intake, tolerability and effect of aged garlic extract (AGE) on cardiovascular markers (blood pressure, body composition, glycemic and lipid parameters), stool consistency and its relationship with dietary factors. Casuistry and Methods: This is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial that included 19 hypertensive volunteers. Participants were randomly treated daily with 1.2 g of AGE (1.2 mg of s-allylcysteine) or placebo for 12 weeks. Mixed model analysis was used to detect possible pressure, dietary and body changes, which were assessed every 4 weeks. At these times the consistency of the stool was also evaluated using the Bristol scale. The biological markers, collected before and after the experimental period (fasting glucose, glycated hemoglobin, total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein, high density lipoprotein, very low-density lipoprotein, triglycerides, and non-HDL cholesterol) were analyzed using parametric tests. Results: Only the AGE group showed significant reductions in systolic levels at week 4 and 12. This pressure variation was correlated with the average intake of vitamin B12 and B9. An improvement in stool consistency was identified only in the experimental group. Modest reductions in biochemical markers were identified in the AGE group and a significant decrease in glycated hemoglobin occurred in the placebo group. There was no significant difference in dietary and anthropometric variables in the treated groups. Conclusion: The 12-week intervention of 1.2 mg of AGE resulted in a decrease in systolic blood pressure and clinical improvements in stool consistency, glycemic parameters and low-density lipoprotein in hypertensive patients with treated but uncontrolled blood pressure. In addition, we found a correlation between the variation in blood pressure levels and the dietary intake of vitamins B9 and B12 in the group treated with AGE.

Source functions for mechanically driven coarse-mode sea spray and dust aerosol particles span orders of magnitude owing to a combination of physical sensitivity in the system and large measurement uncertainty. Outside special idealized settings (such as wind tunnels), aerosol particle fluxes are largely inferred from a host of methods, including local eddy correlation, gradient methods, and dry deposition methods. In all of these methods, it is difficult to relate point measurements from towers, ships, or aircraft to a general representative flux of aerosol particles. This difficulty is from the particles' inhomogeneous distribution due to multiple spatiotemporal scales of an evolving marine environment. We hypothesize that the current representation of a point in situ measurement of sea spray or dust particles is a likely contributor to the unrealistic range of flux and concentration outcomes in the literature. This paper aims to help the interpretation of field data: we conduct a series of high-resolution, cloud-free large eddy simulations (LESs) with Lagrangian particles to better understand the temporal evolution and volumetric variability of coarse- to giant-mode marine aerosol particles and their relationship to turbulent transport. The study begins by describing the Lagrangian LES model framework and simulates flux measurements that were made using numerical analogs to field practices such as the eddy covariance method. Using these methods, turbulent flux sampling is quantified based on key features such as coherent structures within the marine atmospheric boundary layer (MABL) and aerosol particle size. We show that for an unstable atmospheric stability, the MABL exhibits large coherent eddy structures, and as a consequence, the flux measurement outcome becomes strongly tied to spatial length scales and relative sampling of crosswise and streamwise sampling. For example, through the use of ogive curves, a given sampling duration of a fixed numerical sampling instrument is found to capture 80 % of the aerosol flux given a sampling rate of zf/w∗∼ 0.2, whereas a spanwise moving instrument results in a 95 % capture. These coherent structures and other canonical features contribute to the lack of convergence to the true aerosol vertical flux at any height. As expected, sampling all of the flow features results in a statistically robust flux signal. Analysis of a neutral boundary layer configuration results in a lower predictive range due to weak or no vertical roll structures compared to the unstable boundary layer setting. Finally, we take the results of each approach and compare their surface flux variability: a baseline metric used in regional and global aerosol models.

Abstract In this work, it is proposed the development a new monopole directional antenna, bioinspired in elliptical leaf, with cut by golden ratio, for 4G band application, by the use of the technique of the cut of the radiating element for the increasing of the antenna perimeter, being the first work to use this technique in a bioinspired antenna, promotes resonance frequency turned, and reconfiguring of the antenna parameters as bandwidth, radiation pattern and gain, with the use of the reflector near to the group plane, without the insertion of active devices as the pin diode or change in radiating element. The shape antenna is generated by Gielis formula, built in FR4 substrate, with cuts calculated by golden ratio. To compare the results of the bioinspired monopole on the elliptical sheet, a square-shaped monopole antenna was designed, simulated and measured, the structures were designed in the MATLAB software version 2015(b) and the simulations were performed in the Ansys software version 2016. In the results compared between the square monopole and the bioinspired antenna in the elliptical sheet, it can be seen that the measured bioinspired antenna, compared to the square monopole, presented a bandwidth reduction of 77.27%, a more compact structure, with a reduction of 98%, covering the wireless local area network, and long-time evolution 4G at 2.5 GHz. The proposed technique uses a reflector on the ground plane, to change the parameters of the monopole planar antenna, of omnidirectional radiation pattern to a directional, maintaining the characteristics of the broadband, half-power beamwidth great than 100°, with high current density, and similar gain of a directional antenna. From the results, it has been observed that the elliptical leaf monopole antenna shows broadband characteristics, with a half-power beamwidth of 128°, wideband, the bandwidth of 500 MHz, a gain of 6.28 dBi, a current density of 13.01 A/m2, and circular polarization.

Resumo Objetivo: Este trabalho investigou a contribuição da capacidade absortiva de startups de educação (Edtechs) para o desenvolvimento de inovações e vantagens competitivas sustentáveis, durante o primeiro ano de distanciamento social da pandemia da Covid-19. Originalidade/valor: Embora a capacidade absortiva seja considerada importante para a inovação e obtenção de vantagens competitivas (Cohen & Levinthal, 1990; Zahra & George, 2002), ela tem sido pouco investigada no contexto das startups (Cajuela & Galina, 2020). Além disso, considerando ainda o atual ambiente de negócios de crescimento da utilização de tecnologias na educação, especialmente pela adoção do ensino remoto (Ministério da Educação [MEC], 2020) durante a pandemia da Covid-19, este estudo busca contribuir para a compreensão acerca do crescimento das Edtechs nesse cenário. Design/metodologia/abordagem: A pesquisa foi realizada a partir de uma abordagem qualitativa, e a coleta de dados ocorreu por meio de entrevistas semiestruturadas, na ferramenta Google Meet. Adotou-se a análise temática de Braun e Clarke (2006, 2012), por meio da qual foi possível definir códigos, categorias e temas referentes aos dados. Resultados: Os resultados evidenciaram a relação entre a capacidade absortiva das startups e as inovações desenvolvidas, bem como as vantagens competitivas adquiridas. Evidenciou-se ainda o desenvolvimento das capacidades absortivas pelas relações interorganizacionais com corporates e pelas interações com especialistas e mentores. Além disso, o time interno e a cultura organizacional despontaram como fontes importantes de capacidades absortivas. Assim, como recomendações para pesquisas futuras, sugere-se a investigação desses dois construtos e sua relação com a capacidade absortiva das startups. / Abstract Purpose: This work investigated the contribution of the absorptive capacity of education startups (Edtechs) to the development of innovations and sustainable competitive advantages in the first year of social distancing during the Covid-19 pandemic. Originality/value: Although absorptive capacity is considered important for innovating and obtaining competitive advantages (Cohen & Levinthal, 1990; Zahra & George, 2002), it has been little investigated in the context of startups (Cajuela & Galina, 2020). In addition, considering the current business environment of growth in the use of technologies in education, especially the adoption of remote education (Ministério da Educação [MEC], 2020) during the Covid-19 pandemic, this study seeks to contribute to the understanding of the growth of Edtechs in this scenario. Design/methodology/approach: The research consisted of a qualitative approach, and data collection was conducted through semi-structured interviews using the Google Meet tool. The data were analyzed based on the thematic analysis by Braun and Clarke (2006, 2012), which enabled us to define codes, categories, and themes for analysis. Findings: The results showed the relationship between the absorptive capacity of startups, the innovations developed, and the competitive advantages acquired. Interorganizational relations with corporates and interactions with specialists and mentors also evidenced the development of absorptive capacities. In addition, the internal team and the organizational culture emerged as essential sources of absorptive capacities. Thus, as recommendations for future research, it is suggested to investigate these two constructs and their relationship with the startups’ absorptive capacity.

Quantum dots (QDs) are nanocrystal semiconductors that feature unique optical properties. However, they have a high density of dangling bonds on their surface, causing defects that can compromise their fluorescence. Their superficial passivation using another semiconductor is an alternative to reduce these defects. Herein, CdTe QDs stabilized with mercaptusuccinic acid (MSA) and cysteamine (CYA) were synthesized in water and coated with a ZnSe layer, forming a core–shell heterostructure. An improvement in photoluminescence greater than 300% was obtained for CdTe/ZnSe-MSA. However, for CdTe/ZnSe-CYA, the emission enhancement was around 55%. This study reinforces the importance of the experimental conditions to optimize QDs’ emission.

ABSTRACTHuman settlements typically expand to accommodate additional housing demand from a growing population and their socio-economic activities. This implies consumption of land, a limited resource necessary for many other services. The efficiency of this exploitation in relation to demographic trends is key to preserve land and natural capital that could otherwise be degraded. Here, we assess patterns of population and built-up area growth over the period 2000–2015, using demographic statistics and remote-sensing data. We find that on average, in the EU27, built-up areas grew at a faster pace than population and that they expanded even in regions where population has declined. We quantify the impact of future population growth under different assumptions on future built-up efficiency. Keeping current built-up per capita fixed could preserve up to 9,000 km2 of land until 2030, especially outside predominantly urban regions, where land use efficiency is generally low and has been declining.

This study aimed to validate a food frequency questionnaire for foods high in sodium (FFQ-FHS) in a population aged ≥18 years and to test its reproducibility. This cross-sectional study included 50 individuals (≥18 years) of both sexes. In addition to the FFQ-FHS, four 24-h dietary recalls (24hRs) were conducted and a socioeconomic and lifestyle questionnaire was administered. Two 24-h urinary excretions were collected for sodium analysis, and anthropometry was performed. For validation, the triad method was applied using the validity coefficient (ρ). For reproducibility, the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), 95% confidence interval, kappa coefficient, and Bland-Altman plots were used to check for agreement. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to verify the data distribution. The validity coefficients for daily energy-adjusted sodium intake were high for the 24hR (ρRAI = 0.85) and weak for the FFQ-FHS (FFQAI = 0.26) and biomarker (ρBAI = 0.20). The ICC values were 0.68 for unadjusted sodium and 0.54 for energy-adjusted sodium intake. The weighed Kappa scores were 0.49 (p

Biodiversity assessment is a mandatory task for sustainable and adaptive management for the next decade, and long-term ecological monitoring programs are a cornerstone for understanding changes in ecosystems. The Brazilian Long-Term Ecological Research Program (PELD) is an integrated effort model supported by public funds that finance ecological studies at 34 locations. By interviewing and compiling data from project coordinators, we assessed monitoring efforts, targeting biological groups and scientific production from nine PELD projects encompassing coastal lagoons to mesophotic reefs and oceanic islands. Reef environments and fish groups were the most often studied within the long-term projects. PELD projects covered priority areas for conservation but missed sensitive areas close to large cities, as well as underrepresenting ecosystems on the North and Northeast Brazilian coast. Long-term monitoring projects in marine and coastal environments in Brazil are recent (

Abstract Ocean plankton comprise organisms from viruses to fish larvae that are fundamental to ecosystem functioning and the provision of marine services such as fisheries and CO2 sequestration. The latter services are partly governed by variations in plankton community composition and the expression of traits such as body size at community-level. While community assembly has been thoroughly studied for the smaller end of the plankton size spectrum, the larger end comprises ectotherms that are often studied at the species, or group-level, rather than as communities. The body size of marine ectotherms decreases with temperature, but controls on community-level traits remain elusive, hindering the predictability of marine services provision. Here, we leverage Tara Oceans datasets to determine how zooplankton community composition and size structure varies with latitude, temperature and productivity-related covariates in the global surface ocean. Zooplankton abundance and median size decreased towards warmer and less productive environments, as a result of changes in copepod composition. However, some clades displayed the opposite relationships, which may be ascribed to alternative feeding strategies. Given that climate models predict increasingly warmed and stratified oceans, our findings suggest that zooplankton communities will shift towards smaller organisms which might weaken their contribution to the biological carbon pump.

Environmental pollutants are today a major concern and an intensely discussed topic on the global agenda for sustainable development. They include a wide range of organic compounds, such as pharmaceutical waste, pesticides, plastics, and volatile organic compounds that can be found in air, soil, water bodies, sewage, and industrial wastewater. In addition to impacting fauna, flora, and fungi, skin absorption, inhalation, and ingestion of some pollutants can also negatively affect human health. Fungi play a crucial role in the decomposition and cycle of natural and synthetic substances. They exhibit a variety of growth, metabolic, morphological, and reproductive strategies and can be found in association with animals, plants, algae, and cyanobacteria. There are fungal strains that occur naturally in soil, sediment, and water that have inherent abilities to survive with contaminants, making the organism important for bioassay applications. In this context, we reviewed the applications of fungal-based bioassays as a versatile tool for environmental monitoring.

Soil salinization and sodification, caused by inadequate land management, is one of the main threats to the semiarid agroecosystems. It is essential to investigate saline levels under different land-use conditions to maintain the sustainability of agricultural production. The main objective of this study was to diagnose the salinity status of the soil in different land-use conditions in the semiarid region of Northeast Brazil. Soil samples were collected in the surface layer (0–5 cm) of three different land-use conditions: areas of low salinity (native vegetation – Caatinga), areas of different saline levels (cultivated areas), and areas of very high salinity (desertified by salinity), and compared regarding the chemical attributes of the soils by descriptive and multivariate analysis. The results showed that sodium and chloride were the predominant soluble ions in cultivated and desertified areas due to saline waters commonly used in the study region. Increases in electrical conductivity values of 1219 and 23207% were observed for cultivated and desertified areas, respectively, compared to areas of native vegetation. The principal component analysis contributed to identifying parameters responsible for the variation in soil salinity, and the second factor identified that percentage of exchangeable sodium, electrical conductivity, and exchangeable and soluble sodium plays an essential role in soil desertification. However, calcium, magnesium, sodium, and chloride ions correlated positively with variables that degrade soils - EC, ESP, and SAR. We also found that in desertified areas, in addition to chloride, sulfate is also present in expressive levels, and due to the strong associations with calcium, magnesium, and sodium, our study suggests that in addition to the free forms of these ions, the forms of chlorides and sulfates of calcium, magnesium, and sodium also effectively contribute to the degradation of the areas. The combination of multivariate analysis × geochemistry × laboratory techniques was a valuable tool to identify and monitor saline levels in converting uncultivated to cultivated areas and from cultivated areas to desertified areas.

Abstract This paper presents the characterization of dielectric properties (dielectric permittivity and dielectric loss factor) of Tommy Atkins mango (Mangifera indica L), a fruit produced in several regions of Brazil, of great economic importance. The fruits were characterized according to their maturation index, by probe method, and identified by the yellowish tone in their bark. The results allowed correlating the dielectric characteristics of the fruit with the physicochemical transformations that occurred in the maturation process of the mango Tommy. It was also verified a greater variation in the frequencies below 1 GHz, with the maturation indicated by the dielectric signature on the fifth day after the harvest. From these results, we can observe the use of electromagnetic materials and techniques in the solution and optimization of processes in agriculture can improve the quality of products consumed or suggesting best practices to the productive sector.

Geo-information on settlements from Earth Observation offers a base for objective and scalable monitoring of the evolution of cities and settlements, including their location, extent and other attributes. In this work, we deploy the best available global knowledge on the presence of human settlements and built-up structures derived from Earth Observation to advance the understanding of the human presence on Earth. We start from a concept of Generalised Settlement Area to identify the Earth surface within which any built-up structure is present. We further characterise the resulted map by using an agreement map among the state of the art of remote sensing products mapping built-up areas or other strictly related semantic abstractions as urban areas or artificial surfaces. The agreement map is formed by a grid of 1 km2, where each cell is classified according to the number of EO-derived products reporting any positive occurrence of the abstractions related to the presence of built-up structures. The paper describes the characteristics of the Generalised Settlement Area, the differences in the agreement map across geographic regions of the world, and outlines the implications for potential users of the EO-derived products used in this study.

Cell viscoelasticity provides mechanistic insights into fundamental biological functions and may be used in many applications. Using atomic force microscopy in time and frequency domains, we find a peculiar behavior in the viscoelastic relaxation of L929 mouse fibroblasts that may help understand how cells perceive and adapt to distinct extracellular environments. They are stiffer when cultured over polyacrylamide gels (20-350 kPa) than over glass-bottom Petri dishes. The stiffness enhancement of cells over gels is attributed to a significant increase in the low-frequency storage shear moduli compared to the loss moduli, indicating that gels induce a remodeling of cytoskeleton components that store elastic energy. Morphological alterations are then expressed by the fractal dimension measured on confocal images of the f-actin cytoskeleton. We show a direct scaling between the fractal dimension and the substrate’s rigidity.

Thermo responsive copolymers were synthesized by radical polymerization of the N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAm) onto galactomannan (GM) chain. All copolymers showed thermal responsiveness and a critical aggregation concentration (CAC) at 25 °C greater than at 50 °C. Below the lower critical solution temperature (LCST), copolymer nanoparticles presented sizes between 16 and 50 nm, whereas above LCST, they aggregate, presenting sizes in the range 145.8–194.0 nm, depending on NIPAm/GM molar ratio. Amphotericin-B (AmB) was encapsulated in the copolymer nanoparticles with encapsulation efficiency of 41.4 ± 2.76% and 69.0 ± 2.92% respectively for CP1 and CP2. In vitro AmB delivery from the CP1 nanoparticles was found to exhibit controlled release profile. Hemolysis assay was carried out using erythrocytes cells and samples of AmB loaded copolymer nanoparticles (CP1-AmB), unloaded copolymer nanoparticles (CP1) and commercial AmB were evaluated. Unloaded copolymer nanoparticles show hemocompatibility while the percentage of hemolysis of erythrocytes cells for CP1-AmB sample was 8.7 times lower than that observed for commercial AmB. CP1-AmB showed similar minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) as commercial AmB, in four Candida albicans strains. As CP1-AmB nanoparticle show better hemocompatibility than commercial AmB, this thermo responsive copolymer shows potential as AmB nanocarrier device to be used in fungal infection.

ABSTRACT: Over the last decade, Brazil registered a 10.56% increase in the number of poultry slaughtered in establishments registered under the “Serviço de Inspeção Federal” (SIF - Federal Inspection Service), as a result of technological advances in management, health and genetics applied to national aviculture. At slaughter, during post-mortem inspection, carcasses can be totally or partially condemned for various reasons, including ascitic syndrome. This syndrome has economic implications for the industry, in addition to being a problem for the health and welfare of poultry. The objective of this work was to evaluate the historical series (2010-2019) of partial and total condemnations of poultry carcasses due to ascitic syndrome in slaughterhouses registered under the SIF and located in the main poultry-producing states. Through official data, the condemnation occurrence index (COI) and the adjusted seasonal index (ASI) were calculated. The condemnation rate was 1,140 carcasses condemned, totally or partially, for ascitic syndrome for every 1,000,000 poultry slaughtered. The smallest and largest COIs were found in São Paulo (February 2010) and in Goiás (January 2017), respectively. The occurrence of condemnations for this syndrome was cyclical throughout the historical series, showing peaks of condemnation in all years evaluated, with the highest ASIs in July, August and September, and with rates varying between 1.24 and 1.54 in these months. Considering the period of pre-slaughter housing, the highest ASIs coincide with the coldest period of the year (May to August) for all analyzed states. The results show that ascitic syndrome is a growing problem in Brazil, with greater occurrence during the coldest months of the year, having a negative impact on animal health and the profitability of producers and industries in the poultry production chain.

It is well-known that bacteria and fungi play important roles in the relationships between mycelium growth and the formation of fruiting bodies. The sun mushroom, Agaricus subrufescens, was discovered in Brazil ca. 1960 and it has become known worldwide due to its medicinal and nutritional properties. This work evaluated the bacterial community present in mushroom-colonized compost extract (MCCE) prepared from cultivation of A. subrufescens, its dynamics with two different soaking times and the influence of the application of those extracts on the casing layer of a new compost block for A. subrufescens cultivation. MCCEs were prepared through initial submersion of the colonized compost for 1 h or 24 h in water followed by application on casing under semi-controlled conditions. Full-length 16S rRNA genes of 1 h and 24 h soaked MCCE were amplified and sequenced using nanopore technology. Proteobacteria, followed by Firmicutes and Planctomycetes, were found to be the most abundant phyla in both the 1 h and 24 h soaked MCCE. A total of 275 different bacterial species were classified from 1 h soaked MCCE samples and 166 species from 24 h soaked MCCE, indicating a decrease in the bacterial diversity with longer soaking time during the preparation of MCCE. The application of 24 h soaked MCCE provided increases of 25% in biological efficiency, 16% in precociousness, 53% in the number of mushrooms and 40% in mushroom weight compared to control. Further investigation is required to determine strategies to enhance the yield and quality of the agronomic traits in commercial mushroom cultivation.

Fungi play a key role in the soil ecosystem, where they occupy the first level of the food chain. Hence, they are considered suitable model organisms to conduct ecotoxicological assays for the evaluation of soil condition after proper soil extraction. Fungi bioluminescence-based bioassays are useful considering that their luminescence is an early toxicity endpoint and light emission a promptly detectable signal. In this paper, we describe a toxicological bioassay that relies on a 24-h variation of total light emitted by the mycelium of the bioluminescent fungus Neonothopanus gardneri when exposed to a toxicant. The current bioluminescent assay, which uses a fungus of the Omphalotus lineage, fills a gap covering all the representative species of bioluminescent fungi. Among the compounds tested here, Cd(II) showed the highest toxicity, followed by 4-nitrophenol, phenol and Cu(II), respectively. We also found that N. gardneri presents a predictable bioluminescence and growth pattern, and is highly sensitive to these compounds. The aforementioned characteristics offer valuable advantages and make N. gardneri the ideal candidate for toxicological studies with basidiomycetes.

Population data represent an essential component in studies focusing on human–nature interrelationships, disaster risk assessment and environmental health. Several recent efforts have produced global- and continental-extent gridded population data which are becoming increasingly popular among various research communities. However, these data products, which are of very different characteristics and based on different modeling assumptions, have never been systematically reviewed and compared, which may impede their appropriate use. This article fills this gap and presents, compares and discusses a set of large-scale (global and continental) gridded datasets representing population counts or densities. It focuses on data properties, methodological approaches and relative quality aspects that are important to fully understand the characteristics of the data with regard to the intended uses. Written by the data producers and members of the user community, through the lens of the “fitness for use” concept, the aim of this paper is to provide potential data users with the knowledge base needed to make informed decisions about the appropriateness of the data products available in relation to the target application and for critical analysis.

The studies regarding peer relationships have reported the positive outcomes for social and emotional development as for adjustment to school. However, some characteristics are associated with less acceptance by peers. Other studies suggest that there are differences between genders: girls usually tend to establish friendships between dyads or triads while boys tend to create bonds in larger groups. Besides, the relation between aggression and social status also seems to differ between genders: girls use more social or relational aggression, exhibited by more behaviours of exclusion, negative gossip and verbal threats and these behaviours are as well considered less adequate,prompting more rejection of the girls who display them. Therefore, understanding the reasons expressed by girls for rejecting a peer is particularly relevant in order to understand the more valued aspects of the interaction and relationships with peers and consequently, to improve the interventions which aim for the integration in the peer group. In the present study we identify the reasons expressed by girls for rejecting peers when playing or hanging out during recess. 841 students (418 girls) answered a sociometric task. Students were enrolled in 4th grade (126 girls), 6th grade (83 girls) and 8th grade (209 girls). Content analysis of the 1272 reasons using a previous categorization suggested that, in general, reasons mentioned by girls and boys for not choosing a peer to play with or hang out with are related to the behaviours of the nominated. However, girls mentioned more frequently aggressive behaviours, in particular the ones involving intimidation.

Sand dunes and other active sands generally have a low content of fine grains and, therefore, are not considered to be major dust sources in current climate models. However, recent remote sensing studies have indicated that a surprisingly large fraction of dust storms are generated from regions covered by sand dunes, leading these studies to propose that sand dunes might be globally relevant sources of dust. To help understand dust emissions from sand dunes and other active sands, we present in situ field measurements of dust emission under natural saltation from a coastal sand sheet at Oceano Dunes in California. We find that saltation drives dust emissions from this setting that are on the low end of the range in emissions produced by non-sandy soils for similar wind speed. Laboratory analyses of sand samples suggest that these emissions are produced by aeolian abrasion of feldspars and removal of clay-mineral coatings on sand grain surfaces. We further find that this emitted dust is substantially finer than dust emitted from non-sandy soils, which could enhance its downwind impacts on human health, the hydrological cycle, and climate.

Torquetenovirus (TTV) is present in biological fluids from healthy individuals and measurement of its titer is used to assess immune status in individuals with chronic infections and after transplants. We assessed if the titer of TTV in saliva varied with the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in the nasopharynx and could be a marker of COVID-19 status. Saliva from 91 individuals positive for SARS-CoV-2 in nasal-oropharyngeal samples, and from 126 individuals who were SARS-CoV-2-negative, all with mild respiratory symptoms, were analyzed. Both groups were similar in age, gender, symptom duration and time after symptom initiation when saliva was collected. Titers of TTV and SARS-CoV-2 were assessed by gene amplification. Loss of smell (p = 0.0001) and fever (p = 0.0186) were more prevalent in SARS-CoV-2-positive individuals, while sore throat (p = 0.0001), fatigue (p = 0.0037) and diarrhea (p = 0.0475) were more frequent in the SARS-CoV-2 negative group. The saliva TTV and nasal-oropharyngeal SARS-CoV-2 titers were correlated (p = 0.0085). The TTV level decreased as symptoms resolved in the SARS-CoV-2 infected group (p = 0.0285) but remained unchanged in the SARS-CoV-2 negative controls. In SARS-CoV-2 positive subjects who provided 2-4 saliva samples and in which TTV was initially present, the TTV titer always decreased over time as symptoms resolved. We propose that sequential TTV measurement in saliva is potentially useful to assess the likelihood of symptom resolution in SARS-CoV-2-positive individuals and to predict prognosis.

Abstract The electronic monitoring of physiological responses is essential for managing animal production systems considering market demands for animal welfare. The objective of this study was to design, build, and test an electronic monitoring system, with recording and wireless transmission capability, for measuring the heart rate and skin temperature in small ruminants. The system had two components: a mobile base unit, mounted on the animal under study, and a fixed base unit. Wireless communication between the mobile and fixed units was performed using a Xbee Series 2 radio frequency transceiver whereas data were recorded and transferred to a secure digital card in the mobile unit. The device was mounted in Santa Inês crossbred sheep using reference equipment while the animals were restrained in steel cages. Subsequently, the device was validated in free-living Dorper sheep in two collection periods (morning and afternoon). The results indicated that the monitoring system accurately measured physiological responses and efficiently recorded and transmitted data, particularly heart rate data. However, one of the limitations was low energy autonomy.

Data-driven methods—particularly machine learning techniques—are expected to play a key role in the headway of Industry 4.0. One increasingly popular application in this context is when anomaly detection is employed to test manufactured goods in assembly lines. In this work, we compare supervised, semi/weakly-supervised, and unsupervised strategies to detect anomalous sequences in video samples which may be indicative of defective televisions assembled in a factory. We compare 3D autoencoders, convolutional neural networks, and generative adversarial networks (GANs) with data collected in a laboratory. Our methodology to simulate anomalies commonly found in TV devices is discussed in this paper. We also propose an approach to generate anomalous sequences similar to those produced by a defective device as part of our GAN approach. Our results show that autoencoders perform poorly when trained with only non-anomalous data—which is important because class imbalance in industrial applications is typically skewed towards the non-anomalous class. However, we show that fine-tuning the GAN is a feasible approach to overcome this problem, achieving results comparable to those of supervised methods.