Buriti pulp oil did not improve high-fat diet-induced metabolic disorders in c57bl/6 mice

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) and obesity are growing in many parts of the world, becoming public health problems. It is proposed that foods with functional properties can assist in the treatment of these diseases. Crude buriti pulp oil (BPO) is a food traditionally consumed by residents in the Pantanal, Cerrado and Brazilian Amazon. It is rich in oleic acid, tocopherols and carotenoids, emerging as a potential functional food. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the effect of the supplementation of BPO on metabolic disorders caused by a high-fat diet. Four groups of C57BL6 mice were used, a lean group with AIN-93M diet and control oil supplementation, an obese group with a high-fat diet and control oil supplementation, and two obese groups with a high-fat diet and BPO supplementation in the amounts of 50 and 100 mg/kg. BPO worsened the metabolic state caused by the high-fat diet, worsening risk factors associated with MetS, as the abdominal circumference and retroperitoneal fat, serum levels of total cholesterol, uric acid, alanine transaminase, glucose and triglycerides, and renal fat, in addition to changes in glycaemic control and oxidative stress markers. C57BL/6 mice fed with a high-fat diet and supplemented with BPO presented a worsening in metabolic risk factors associated with MetS.     

Camera trap, line transect census and track surveys: a comparative evaluation

Rapid faunal assessments can use different methods depending on environmental conditions and costs. To compare the efficiency of three methods in detecting species richness and abundance, we tested them in the grasslands of Emas National Park, central Brazil. Track census was the most effective method for detecting richness, followed by camera-trapping and direct faunal counts. Track census reached an asymptote for number of species after only 12 days, but all methods converged on similar estimates of species richness after around 30 days. There was no significant spatial correlation for species richness or total abundance, between camera trap and tracks, across the 29 samples distributed in the park. However, for some species, abundance showed significant spatial correlation between methods. Also, these rates were significantly correlated across species and the spatial correlation between methods was significantly associated with log-transformed body mass across species. We conclude that, despite the high initial costs for camera-trapping, this method is the most appropriate for mammal inventory in all environmental conditions, allowing a rapid assessment of wildlife conservation status.     

Phosphate Solubilization by Several Genera of Saprophytic Fungi and Its Influence on Corn and Cowpea Growth

The aim of this study was to test the ability of several strains of fungi, which were isolated from the Brazilian Amazon, to solubilize calcium phosphate in vitro and to promote corn and cowpea growth under axenic conditions. Each plant species received six treatments: inoculation with strains with high solubilization index (SI) (Haematonectria ipomoeae CML 3249 and Pochonia chlamydosporia var. catenulate CML 3250) and control treatments: inoculation with strain that does not solubilize phosphate on Pikovskaya agar (PVK) (Acremonium polychromum FSA115), and non-inoculated treatments with high concentration of insoluble phosphate (HPins), high concentration of soluble phosphate (HPs) or low concentration of soluble phosphate (LPs). The fungi strains had SI between 1.07 cm and 2.03 cm including species without previous report in the literature of their capacity to solubilize calcium phosphate. The two phosphate-solubilizing strains promoted greater corn and cowpea root growth than the controls FSA115, HPins and LPs, to a level similar to the HPs control.     

Volatile Organic Compounds Profile Obtained from Processing Steps of Pacific Oysters (Crassostrea gigas) as Perspective for Food Industry

ABSTRACT

In the heat treatment of oysters, many aroma compounds are lost in the cooking steam and water. In this study, aroma compound profiles from oyster processing were identified by gas chromatography- mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The compounds were extracted by headspace-solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME), while the best process conditions such as temperature, extraction time, and desorption time were studied. The aroma compounds were obtained from raw oysters, from oysters after thermal treatment, from water released from raw oysters, from cooking steam, and from oyster boiling juice. All compounds were identified and semi-quantified by GC-MS. The major oyster aroma compounds were 1-octen-3-ol, hexanal, and benzaldehyde. Most of the components from oysters were lost both to the cooking steam and to the oyster boiling juice. The concentration range of volatile organic compounds transferred for oyster boiling juice between 14 and 90 mg L^?1 shows that the residues from oyster processing have great technological potential, and they can be recovered for application as aromas by the food industry.     

Conservation of Amazonian aquatic mammals

1. Aquatic mammals worldwide are highly threatened in freshwater ecosystems where they are affected by direct human activities (e.g. hunting) as well as indirect human alteration of freshwater ecosystems (e.g. dams, mining activity). Although aquatic mammals of the Amazon Basin are experiencing many growing threats, little is known about the escalating impacts on them, current limitations in protection mechanisms, and possible strategies to ensure their conservation. This study synthesizes the available information on Amazonian aquatic mammals, including the ecological characteristics of these species, key threats, population status and conservation prospects.
2. Amazonian aquatic mammals comprise seven species – Inia geoffrensis, Inia boliviensis, Inia araguaiaensis, Sotalia fluviatilis, Trichechus inunguis, Pteronura brasiliensis and Lontra longicaudis – which are characterized by low reproductive rates and keystone ecosystem roles. These species are endangered mainly by biological resource use, natural ecosystem modifications, energy production and mining, and climate change. Although information is sparse, there is evidence that these threats are inducing population declines of Inia spp., and hindering the recovery of populations of P. brasiliensis.
3. Protection mechanisms for these species mostly include national and international laws and agreements, legislation governing environmental licensing and protected areas. Each of these protection mechanisms, however, has limited capacity to protect Amazonian aquatic mammals, largely because they are poorly enforced, lack transnational coordination or require population trend data that do not exist.
4. Reversing the current state of affairs for Amazonian aquatic mammals requires an integrated research and policy approach that, at a minimum, substantially increases the present capacity to monitor their population responses to human impacts, establishes effective enforcement of existing legislation and prevents further impacts from hydropower development. To implement such an approach, information on the ecology of these species is necessary to create public and scientific awareness.

     

Longitudinal distribution of uncommon fishes in a species‐rich basin

1. The spatial organization of fishes in a river system was investigated to evaluate the longitudinal distribution of uncommon species. It was anticipated that overall richness of the fish community would increase in a downstream direction together with habitat extent, but that more uncommon species would occur upstream owing to greater heterogeneity among sites.
2. Fish were collected between 1995 and 2014 at 85 sites distributed throughout the Duck River Basin, Tennessee, USA. A site usually consisted of four habitat types: riffles, runs, pools and shoreline. Each habitat type was sampled with a multipass electrofishing protocol.
3. In all, 136 native fish species were collected. Of these, 71% were classified as uncommon but represented only 16% of the total count of fish collected. As expected, overall species richness increased downstream, but contrary to expectation, uncommon species did too. Some uncommon species were restricted exclusively to tributaries and headwaters, some to tributaries and mainstem, many to mainstem only, but the largest fraction of uncommon species occurred throughout the basin, but even this last group increased in richness downstream.
4. Conservation often focuses on uncommon species. This study suggests that a greater number of uncommon species can be conserved with an emphasis on large downstream reaches, which not only include more aquatic habitat to support larger concentrations of fish, but also shelter the uncommon species that tend to require the most protection.

     

Alkaline hydrolyzable nitrogen and properties that dictate its distribution in paddy soil profiles

Nitrogen (N) is a key nutrient for rice production, and its bioavailability in paddy soils is strongly coupled to soil organic matter (SOM) cycling. A better understanding of potentially available N forms in soil, such as alkaline hydrolyzable N (AH-N), and their depth distribution will support the development of best management practices to improve the N use efficiency of rice while minimizing adverse environmental effects. Fifteen rice (Oryza sativa L.) fields from Southern Brazil were selected, and stratified soil samples were taken to a depth of 60 cm before crop establishment. Selected soil physical and chemical properties were analyzed to evaluate their relationships with AH-N contents in the soil profile. The AH-N contents below 20 cm varied extensively (increased, reduced, or constant) compared with that above 20 cm. Although clay and clay + silt contents were highly correlated to AH-N for some soils, the major property dictating AH-N distribution by depth was total N (TN), as the correlation between TN and AH-N was mainly by direct effect. The proportion of TN recovered as AH-N across sites and depths presented high amplitude, and thus AH-N was not a constant N pool across depths, indicating that AH-N can be affected by soil management practices even when TN showed no major changes. The distinct distribution of AH-N across soil sampling sites and depths indicates that depths greater than 20 cm should be considered when calibrating the AH-N index for N fertilizer recommendations for flooded rice in Southern Brazil.     

Dampened behavioral and physiological responses mediate birds’ association with humans

The study of the mechanisms involved in phenotypic adaptations or plasticity to environmental stressors may serve to evaluate contemporary ecological and evolutionary dynamics in threatened or growing wildlife populations. By addressing human disturbance as a main stressor agent, we investigated antipredator response (flushing distance), social behavior (degree of gregarism), health (fecal pathogens), and endocrine status (fecal corticosterone levels) as potential mechanisms that permit birds to cope with anthropogenic impact in tourist areas. Our study models were species that are neither urbanized nor invasive, and that are typical of the high mountains of the Palearctic: the Alpine and the Red-billed chough (Pyrrhocorax graculus and P. pyrrhocorax), and the surrounding alpine bird community. Both chough species showed habituation, reduced flushing distances, fewer parasites and lower corticosterone levels in tourist than in non-tourist sites, and a significant variation in gregarious behavior. Behavioral and physiological adjustments permitted these corvids to optimize resource exploitation depending on habitat quality and in conditions of continuous disturbance. Human-induced changes in chough social behavior had no effect on local avian species richness, a surrogate measure for community diversity. Irrespectively of chough aggregations, bird diversity decreased significantly in recreational areas, thus not all community members tolerated human impact as choughs did. Our findings suggest that species that manage to coexist with humans primarily adjust traits that influence ecological interactions (social, foraging or antipredatory responses) and that vary rapidly (learned behaviors and physiological mechanisms that promote homeostasis).