Analysis of multicriteria in the practice of environmental services in areas of watersheds

ABSTRACT

Watersheds have become strategically important for the survival of cities due to the accelerated increase in both the demand and the rapid deterioration of the water intended to supply the urban populations. The present article aims to present the applicability of the “multicriteria method” to help the Government of the State of Sao Paulo, Brazil organize payment for environmental services for watershed protection using the “Delphi method” as the principal methodology. This article consists of a review of the literature and a case study of the Mina d’Água program from the State Secretary of the Environment (within the Government of São Paulo) in partnership with other municipalities (city by river basin). The article also covers the advent of pertinent climate change laws. The positive results in the use of the Delphi method represent a fruitful tool to facilitate communication between groups of experts and the public, encouraging better judgment and a more consistent decision-making process.     

Natural hybridization in seed stands of seven Mexican Pinus species

New Forests - Natural hybridization can manifest different evolutionary results, such as accelerating differentiation and facilitating speciation through the rapid origin of new biochemical...     

Potential areas of spread of Trioza erytreae over mainland Portugal and Spain

Trioza erytreae is one natural psyllid vector of Candidatus liberibacter, the causal agent of the citrus greening disease (HLB). Since its introduction in 2014 into the Iberian Peninsula, T. erytreae was able to spread continuously toward southern coastal regions of Portugal and northern coastal regions of the Cantabric sea in Spain. Identifying key areas of potential colonization by the psyllid vector is crucial to anticipate derived problems of establishing the disease. This work aimed to find potential areas that could be colonized by T. erytreae throughout the Iberian Peninsula using 1 km spatial data resolution, a physical barrier, long-distance dispersal events (LDEs), and 30 years of simulation. The bioclimatic suitability of Citrus spp. was used as a surrogate of its spatial distribution and a measure of habitat invasibility. Two localities, one in Portugal and one in Spain, were considered as initial points of the spread of T. erytreae. Four spread scenarios were initially simulated, corresponding to very low, low, medium, and high spread. An altitude of 400 m was included in the model as a physical barrier, and cells up to 500 km apart were allowed to be colonized due to LDEs. In this work, three key risk areas were identified, the citrus-growing areas of Setúbal (Portugal) and Huelva (Spain), and the potential corridors that may connect Guipúzcoa, where T. erytreae is already present, with the Ebro valley (Spain). Future modeling and simulation studies should include biological constraints such as the effect of parasitoids on the population of T. erytreae (e.g., Tamarixia dryi) and other barriers or corridors.

     

Wafer-scale graphene integrated circuit

A wafer-scale graphene circuit was demonstrated in which all circuit components, including graphene field-effect transistor and inductors, were monolithically integrated on a single silicon carbide wafer. The integrated circuit operates as a broadband radio-frequency mixer at frequencies up to 10 gigahertz. These graphene circuits exhibit outstanding thermal stability with little reduction in performance (less than 1 decibel) between 300 and 400 kelvin. These results open up possibilities of achieving practical graphene technology with more complex functionality and performance.     

A long-term in vitro culture of bovine epithelial cells on collagen rafts

In the present work, we established and characterized a 3D functional polarized primary bovine oviduct epithelial cells (BOECs) culture on free-floating type I collagen hydrogels (rafts) at an air-liquid interface (ALI). Intercellular junctions, ultrastructural cellular morphology and the expression of the OVGP1 closely recapitulated those of the in vivo epithelium lining. These morphological and physiological epithelial cell features were maintained under standard DMEM/F12 with 10% foetal bovine serum culture medium for at least 28 days of ALI culture. The versatility of the BOECs raft cultures should allow testing of toxicity compounds, in vitro evaluation of physiological or pathological oviductal states, and the study of epithelial-mesenchymal interactions that are critical for the maintenance of oviductal homeostasis.     

Immune-metabolic-inflammatory markers in Holstein cows exposed to a nutritional and environmental stressing challenge

Dairy cows are exposed to multiple stressors during the productive cycle, such as metabolic challenges, overcrowding, grouping change, environmental stress and dietary errors. Thus, it is essential to study reliable markers able to detect stress conditions in dairy farms. This study evaluates dairy cows' immunologic and metabolic markers after the sudden and combined exposition to a high-grain diet (75% concentrates) and the abrupt change of the housing system (from free stall to tie stall). A group of twenty-four Holstein cows were enrolled in a challenge study of 28 days duration. Several immunological and metabolic blood markers were evaluated over the trial. Blood samples were taken at day 0 (normal value) and day 1, 3, 7, 14, 21, and 28 (challenge). Data were submitted to a mixed model for repeated measures, including time as fixed and cows as random effects. The nutritional and environmental challenge had heavy effects on animal welfare and cows responded with a dramatic rumination drop. Our results suggest that the most responsive markers after abiotic stressors in cows were as follows: Serum Amyloid A and ROM in the acute response; Ceruloplasmin and GGT in the mid acute and Albumin, Paroxonase and FRAP in the chronic phase. Serum Amyloid A, Ceruloplasmin, Paraoxonase, GGT and ROM resulted as positive phase proteins, while, Albumin and FRAP resulted as negative phase proteins. Preliminary obtained results could concur to develop strategies able to mitigate stressor effects; moreover, the proposed design can be used as a model to test stress nutritional modulators.     

Genome‐wide analysis of homozygosity regions in european simmental bulls

The study of Runs of Homozygosity (ROH) is a useful approach for the characterization of the genome of livestock populations. Due to their high relationship with autozygosity, ROH allow to make inference about population genetic history, to estimate the level of inbreeding, to assess within breed heterogeneity and to detect the footprints of selection on livestock genomes. Aim of this study was to investigate the distribution of runs of homozygosity in bulls belonging to five European Simmental populations and to assess the relationship between three production traits (milk yield, fat and protein contents) and autozygosity. ROH count, distribution and ROH‐based coefficient of inbreeding (F_ROH) were calculated for 3,845 Simmental bulls of five different European countries: Austria (AT), Switzerland (CH), Czech Republic (CZ), Germany (DE) and Italy (IT). Average values of ROH number per animal, and total genome length covered by ROH were 77.8 ± 20.7 and 205 ± 74.4 Mb, respectively. Bulls from AT, DE and IT exhibited similar ROH characteristics. Swiss animals showed the highest (12.6%), while CZ the lowest (4.6%) F_ROH coefficient. The relationship between ROH occurrence and milk production traits was investigated through a genome‐wide ROH‐traits association analysis (GWRA). A total of 34 regions previously associated with milk traits (yield and/or composition) were identified by GWRA. Results of the present research highlight a mixed genetic background in the 5 European Simmental populations, with the possible presence of three subgroups. Moreover, a strong relationship between autozygosity and production traits has been detected.     

Selection of parents on the basis of components of yield

Parents selected on the basis of large numbers of tubers greater than 21/4″ or large size of tubers greater than 21/4″ did not produce progenies that were any higher yielding than selecting parents for high yield without regard to the components. It was possible to increase the average size of tubers of the progenies by selecting for large size of tubers in at least one of the parents.