A measure of ionospheric irregularities:zonal velocity and its implications for L-band scintillation at low-latitudes

We estimate the zonal drift velocity of small-scale ionospheric irregularities at low latitude by leveraging the spaced-receivers technique applied to two GNSS receivers for scintillation monitoring installed along the magnetic parallel passing in Presidente Prudente(Brazil,magnetic latitude 12.8°S).The investigated ionospheric sector is ideal to study small-scale irregularities,being located close to the expected position of the southern crest of the equatorial ionospheric anomaly.The measurement campaign took place between September 2013 and February 2014,i.e.equinox and summer solstice seasons under solar maximum,during which the probability of formation of small-scale irregularities is expected to maximize.We found that the hourly average of the velocity increases up to 135 m/s right after the local sunset at ionospheric altitudes and then smoothly decreases in the next hours.Such measurements are in agreement with independent estimations of the velocity made by the Incoherent Scatter Radar located at the Jicamarca Radio Observatory(magnetic latitude 0.1°N),by the Boa Vista Ionosonde(magnetic latitude 12.0°N),and by applying a recently-developed empirical regional short-term forecasting model.Additionally,we investigated the relationship with the percentage occurrence of amplitude scintillation;we report that it is exponentially dependent on the zonal velocity of the irregularities that cause it.

Larvicidal efficacy of plant extracts and isolated compounds from Annonaceae and Piperaceae against Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus

The Aedes(Ae.)aegypti and Ae.albopictus mosquitoes are vectors of epidemiologically relevant arboviruses in the public health context,such as the dengue,Zika and chikungunya viruses.Among the alternatives to synthetic insecticides for the control of these vectors,the use of natural plant products deserves attention.This review summarizes findings on the larvicidal potential of plant extracts on Ae.aegypti and Ae.albopictus,as well as the potential of isolated compounds from plants of the Annonaceae and Piperaceae families against these vectors.Descriptors related to larvicidal activity of plant extracts and isolated compounds in Aedes spp.in the Web of Science database were used,for plant extracts considering publications between 2000 and 2019.A total of 859 articles were analyzed for plant extracts and estimates of lethal concentration values(LC50 and LC90).In the end,95 articles that presented the larvicidal potential of 150 plant species from 52 families were analyzed.The two families most studied for this activity were Fabaceae and Asterace Aedes.The plant families with the best LC50 values against mosquitoes were Piperaceae and Annonaceae.Larvicidal activity of 50 acetogenins has already been identified on Ae.aegypti,and 29 of them presented LC50 below 10μg/mL,as well as the larvicidal activity of 8 compounds isolated from Piperaceae.Therefore,plants of these two families are promising for the development of commercial botanical larvicides in the form of extracts and isolated substances,as well as the production via organic synthesis of the most active compounds.

Comparisson of Recrystallization Kinetics and Grain Growth in Polycrystalline Shape Memory Alloys

The non-ferrous SMAs(shape memory alloys)have,normally,two problems that hinder the use in industrial scale:the natural aging and grain growth.The first degrades the memory effect,while the second,observed during the alloy’s mechanical processing,modifies the phase transformation temperatures.Thus,the study of recrystallization kinetics is important for enabling the control of hardened state as a function of treatment time without allowing the exaggerated grain growth.The objective of this study is to determine the recrystallization kinetics in different SMAs(Cu-14Al-4Ni,Cu-12Al-0.5Be and Ni-42Ti),based on an empirical law of J-M-A(Johnson-Mehl-Avrami),as well as their activation energies for grain growth process according to the empirical Arrhenius law.Quantitative evaluations of the grain growth kinetics over a wide range of indicated DSC(differential scanning calorimetry)temperatures have been performed.The results show that the alloy less susceptible to aging in temperatures below the recrystallization peak is the Ni-42Ti,because it presented the highest activation energy,followed by the Cu-14Al-4Ni.The equations that describe the recrystallization kinetics follow the empirical law of J-M-A.The recrystallization kinetics accompanied by hardness variation was an important tool,working as an advisor for selection of treatment time as a function of temperature.

Applicability of PAVEAIR for Airport Pavement Management:Comparison between Military and Civilian Runways

Nowadays,globalization has become essential,and interconnection between people and cargo has become necessary due to international trade and investment.In this context,aviation is an important modal because of its efficiency in security,range,and speed;however,the aerodrome infrastructure capacity is not always sized according to the demand and safety regulations required during operations.The number of runway occurrences in Brazil increased considerably since 2011.These occurrences are consequences of several contributing factors,of which runway conditions and airport infrastructure can be considered the most important;however,the quality of runways and the flight safety they provide can’t be quantified through direct statistics.Adhering to a high standard of airfield quality while also knowing airport infrastructure,a study that applies an evaluation of the Pavement Condition Index(PCI)methodology has been developed.First,the airfield pavement at a military base was analyzed and later compared to the results found in a civil airfield study done by another author.The methods used to identify distress in the pavement’s surface were based on ASTM D 5340-12,as are PCI calculations.Secondly,the system was infused into PAVEAIR-FAA(Federal Aviation Administration)to apply an airport management method at a military base to compare the results obtained by other authors for a civil airfield study,where it was intended to analyze the performance characteristics of the runway for each type use.Subsequently,one can obtain subsidies of decisions for the optimization of resources used in airfield maintenance and rehabilitation,and increase operational safety.

Can the Ucides cordatus Fishing and the Crassostrea gasar Creation on the Amazon Coast Make up the Curriculum of Rural Schools

The fishing and ostreiculture activities practiced in the coast of the Eastern Amazon in the state of Pará,Brazil,became important to be inserted in ru­ral education.Thus,this literature review aimed to realize a brief theoretical discussion about the important aspects of rural education in promoting the development of fishing and osteiculture.For the accomplishment of the literary research it was sought to explain the definition in education;rural education and valorization of the rural environment;environmental educa­tion as a transversal theme;fishing and aquaculture as a teaching strategy;considerations of fishing and ostreiculture;challenges and perspectives of the teaching of fishing and aquaculture in education;and booklet as a peda­gogical tool in education.In conclusion,the use of fishing and ostreiculture as a strategy for rural schools through environmental education is important to foster fishing activity in communities,as well as the sustainable use of natural resources.

The influence of soil on vegetation structure and plant diversity in different tropical savannic and forest habitats

Aims Soil plays an important role in the formation and heterogene-ity of habitats and thus can cause changes in vegetation struc-ture and plant diversity.The differentiation between Cerrado/savanna and forest is well known,but the relationship between soil and habitats from savannic or forest formations still needs to be better understood,particularly in tropical ecotonal areas.We studied the association between attributes of plant com-munities,namely structure and diversity,and physicochemical characteristics of soils in the Caatinga domain at the transition to Cerrado in Brazil.Methods Chemical and physical analyses of soils were performed in samples of 38 plots from savannic formations and 30 plots from forest forma-tions.Vegetation was characterized floristically and structurally in all plots,five habitats being assessed in each plant formation.Soil features and vegetation parameters were highly distinct among the different habitats.Important Findingsin general,forest habitats were more nutrient rich than savannic formation.Furthermore,soil variables showed effects both on vegetation structure and on its species diversity,more pronouncedly in the savannic formations.Habitats were structurally distinct,and diversity differed between savannic and forest communities;however,a higher differentiation occurred when the savannic formation habitats were compared among them.Although plant diversity did not differ among forest formation habitats,soil attributes showed a close relationship with edaphic factors and can contribute for similar vegetation.The soil-vegetation relationship in highly diverse ecotonal landscapes is important from the conservation biology point of view and aid in the execution of proactive plans for the maintenance of biodiversity.Thus,we noticed that diversity and soil behaves distinctly between savannic and forest communities.

FungalTraits:a user-friendly traits database of fungi and fungus-like stramenopiles

The cryptic lifestyle of most fungi necessitates molecular identification of the guild in environmental studies.Over the past decades,rapid development and affordability of molecular tools have tremendously improved insights of the fungal diversity in all ecosystems and habitats.Yet,in spite of the progress of molecular methods,knowledge about functional properties of the fungal taxa is vague and interpretation of environmental studies in an ecologically meaningful manner remains challenging.In order to facilitate functional assignments and ecological interpretation of environmental studies we introduce a user friendly traits and character database FungalTraits operating at genus and species hypothesis levels.Combining the information from previous efforts such as FUNGuild and FunFun together with involvement of expert knowledge,we reannotated 10,210 and 151 fungal and Stramenopila genera,respectively.This resulted in a stand-alone spreadsheet dataset covering 17 lifestyle related traits of fungal and Stramenopila genera,designed for rapid functional assignments of environmental stud-ies.In order to assign the trait states to fungal species hypotheses,the scientific community of experts manually categorised and assigned available trait information to 697,413 fungal ITS sequences.On the basis of those sequences we were able to summarise trait and host information into 92,623 fungal species hypotheses at 1%dissimilarity threshold.

Correction to:FungalTraits:a user friendly traits database of fungi and fungus-like stramenopiles

Correction to:Fungal Diversity(2020)105:116 https://doi.org/10.1007/s13225-020-00466-2 There were errors in the name of author LászlóG.Nagy and in affiliation no.31 in the original publication.The original article has been corrected.