scholarly journals Strong negative effect of diurnal rainfall on nocturnal activity of a wandering spider in Central Amazonia

2017 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
pp. 1152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marlus Queiroz ◽  
Thierry Gasnier

Rainfall is a common phenomenon in tropical forests influencing the behavior of many animals, however, little is known about its post-occurrence effect on behavior. We investigated the effect of diurnal rainfall on the nocturnal activity of the wandering spider species Phoneutria reidyi in nights without rainfall. Our study included two different areas and periods: a coconut plantation, located 108 km from the city of Manaus, containing an area of 80 m x 80 m with 105 palms, from July 2014 to July 2015; and an area of 80 m x 80 m in a rainforest fragment in Manaus, from December 2015 to March 2016. Each night, we counted active spiders (found outside refugees) searching carefully on the vegetation and on the ground using a headlamp between 19:00-00:00. Spiders were not captured to avoid the effect of disturbance, and were measured by approaching a caliper rule. We used an index to measure the diurnal rainfall effect (DRE) which was the percentage of change in the number of active spiders at night after a diurnal rainfall, considering 100 % the number of spiders active at the previous or following night, without previous rainfall during the day. This pairwise approach was used to avoid seasonal bias and included 15 pairs of nights in the plantation, and 15 pairs in the forest. A total of 2 243 active spiders were counted. The number of active spiders was always smaller in nights after diurnal rainfall, with a mean reduction of 53.4 %. The abundance of active spiders reduced significantly in both areas after a diurnal rainfall, and the effect was not different between areas. Larger spiders (mostly adults) reduced their activity (-62.8 %) more than smaller spiders (juveniles, -48.5 %). The amount of rainfall during the day had no effect on the nocturnal activity, i.e., the effect of strong diurnal rainfall is similar to the effect of a weak rainfall. The air temperature did not change significantly at night after diurnal rainfalls. The seasonality of rainfall apparently has a weak or absent effect on the abundance of P. reidyi, which was approximately constant through one year. We believe that the moisture, which may affect the chemical cues of prey, is the major cause to reduce the active spiders after rainfall, but we discuss other potential causes. Smaller individuals are probably more active under less favorable conditions due to the stronger need of food for growing. If this effect of rainfall on the behavior is common for wandering spiders in general, the rainfall events may have important consequences for the entire community of arthropods and small vertebrates. We suggest that studies based on relative abundance of spiders should take in account this potential effect in collection and analysis of data. 

Author(s):  
M. A. Gondal ◽  
S. Iqbal ◽  
U. Atique ◽  
N. U. Saher ◽  
N. A. Qureshi ◽  
...  

Abstract The primary objective of this study was to investigate the seasonal fish and crustacean variations concerning taxonomic composition, species richness, and diversity in sandy beach habitat. For this purpose, we investigated the Sonmiani Hor lagoon area during four distinct seasons, i.e., northeast (NE) monsoon, pre-monsoon, south-west (SW) monsoon, and post-monsoon for one year. During each haul, the net was pulled about 100m along the beach in 0.5m depth. The results showed a strong linear correlation between the diversity index and equitability in fishes (r = 0.978). The diversity index was strong negatively correlated with the abundance and biomass (r = -0.978, -0.972, respectively). The physical attributes like sea surface water temperature and salinity showed a strong negative effect on species assemblages (r = -0.981 and -0.943, respectively). The mean air and water temperature illustrated approximately 3°C difference during NE and pre-monsoon seasons. However, salinity, pH, and electrical conductivity did not show any significant seasonal variabilities. Under the ecological indices, the fish species displayed higher diversity (H’ = 3.19) during SW monsoon, whereas the lowest diversity was observed during pre-monsoon (H’ = 1.58). The equitability and species richness, however, remained more noticeable during SW monsoon (J’ = 0.81). The total number of individuals of fish and crustaceans reached 4799 with 3813 fish individuals and 986 individuals of crustaceans. A total of 27 families of fish while five crustacean families comprising of 30 genera and 38 fish species while ten genera and 17 species of crustaceans were recorded. Liza subviridis displayed the highest abundance among the sampled fish species. In conclusion, fish species constituted a significant part of the coastal fauna in the study area. The seasonal variations displayed distinct variations in fish species composition and diversity.


2012 ◽  
pp. 66-80
Author(s):  
Michał Mrozowicki

Michel Butor, born in 1926, one of the leaders of the French New Novel movement, has written only four novels between 1954 and 1960. The most famous of them is La Modification (Second thoughts), published in 1957. The author of the paper analyzes two other Butor’s novels: L’Emploi du temps (Passing time) – 1956, and Degrés (Degrees) – 1960. The theme of absence is crucial in both of them. In the former, the novel, presented as the diary of Jacques Revel, a young Frenchman spending a year in Bleston (a fictitious English city vaguely similar to Manchester), describes the narrator’s struggle to survive in a double – spatial and temporal – labyrinth. The first of them, formed by Bleston’s streets, squares and parks, is symbolized by the City plan. During his one year sojourn in the city, using its plan, Revel learns patiently how to move in its different districts, and in its strange labyrinth – strange because devoid any centre – that at the end stops annoying him. The other, the temporal one, symbolized by the diary itself, the labyrinth of the human memory, discovered by the narrator rather lately, somewhere in the middle of the year passed in Bleston, becomes, by contrast, more and more dense and complex, which is reflected by an increasinly complex narration used to describe the past. However, at the moment Revel is leaving the city, he is still unable to recall and to describe the events of the 29th of February 1952. This gap, this absence, symbolizes his defeat as the narrator, and, in the same time, the human memory’s limits. In Degrees temporal and spatial structures are also very important. This time round, however, the problems of the narration itself, become predominant. Considered from this point of view, the novel announces Gerard Genette’s work Narrative Discourse and his theoretical discussion of two narratological categories: narrative voice and narrative mode. Having transgressed his narrative competences, Pierre Vernier, the narrator of the first and the second parts of the novel, who, taking as a starting point, a complete account of one hour at school, tries to describe the whole world and various aspects of the human civilization for the benefit of his nephew, Pierre Eller, must fail and disappear, as the narrator, from the third part, which is narrated by another narrator, less audacious and more credible.


REVISTA FIMCA ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-42
Author(s):  
Amanda Leite Silva Cabral ◽  
Flávia Peres Lima ◽  
Jéssica Iara Costa Bessa Paraguassú

Introdução: A afasia é uma das sequelas mais importantes que ocorrem após lesão cerebral de acidente vascular encefálico (AVE). Objetivos: Identificar o perfil da linguagem oral de pacientes com AVE, atendidos pelo Serviço Assistencial Multidisciplinar Domiciliar (SAMD) na cidade de Porto Velho – RO. Materiais e Métodos: Trata-se de um estudo transversal e quantitativo, realizado na residência dos pacientes que estavam sendo atendidos pelo SAMD. Onde foi utilizado o protocolo de Teste de Reabilitação das Afasias composto inicialmente de um questionário que foi aplicados com os familiares dos pacientes para coletar dados quanto ao AVE e os Testes de Comunicação Oral para avaliar dos pacientes. Resultados: Foram avaliados 11 sujeitos com AVE e oito sujeitos apresentaram afasia emissiva do tipo Broca (100%) com presença de agramatismo e anomia (87,5%), e déficit na organização da comunicação e na memória (100%). Referente à etiologia do AVE, verificou-se que 62,5% dos sujeitos apresentaram etiologia decorrente de hipertensão, com tempo de sequelas com tempo entre um ano menos e a três anos (37,5%). Todos os sujeitos (100%) eram muito falantes antes do AVE, porem 50% continuaram muito falantes após o AVE e os outros 50% se tornaram pouco falantes. Conclusão: Os resultados evidenciam que a maioria dos sujeitos apresentaram afasia emissiva do tipo Broca, em decorrência de Acidente Vascular Encefálico Isquêmico tendo como fator etiológico a hipertensão. Desencadeando alterações de linguagem como anomia e agramatismo, afetando ainda suas habilidades de comunicação como a memória e a organização da linguagem. Introduction: Aphasia is one of the most important sequels that occur after brain injury from stroke. Objectives: To identify the oral language profile of patients with stroke, assisted by the Multidisciplinary Home Care Service (SAMD) in the city of Porto Velho - RO. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional and quantitative study carried out at the residence of the patients who were being treated by the SAMD. Where the Aphasia Rehabilitation Test protocol was used, composed initially of a questionnaire that was applied with the relatives of the patients to collect data regarding the AVE and the Oral Communication Tests to evaluate the patients. Results: Eleven subjects with EVA were evaluated, and eight subjects presented Embryonic Emphasis of Broca type (100%) with presence of agramatism and anomia (87.5%), and deficits in the organization of communication and memory (100%). Regarding the etiology of the AVE, 62.5% of the subjects presented etiology due to hypertension, with sequelae time between one year less and three years (37.5%). All subjects (100%) were very talented before the AVE, but 50% remained very talented after the AVE and the other 50% became less talkative. Conclusion: The results show that most of the subjects presented Embryonic Emphasis of the Broca type, due to Ischemic Stroke, having as etiologic factor hypertension. Unleashing language changes such as anomie and agramatism, still affecting his communication skills as memory and the organization of language.


1998 ◽  
Vol 38 (10) ◽  
pp. 309-316
Author(s):  
William F. Garber

Past evaluations of the success of wastewater treatment and submarine outfall placement and operation have considered only a limited number of parameters affecting the marine and onshore environments. Important questions regarding the best allocation of available funds have not been adequately addressed. The relative contamination of the sea from airborne and landwash contaminants has not been considered. Neither has the increased air pollution deriving from the energy required for advanced treatment. Similarly, regular epidemiological studies to evaluate actual changes in morbidity arising from drastic changes in treatment and disposal have not been made prior to very large committments of funds. Most importantly, little attention has been given to the relative ranking of all environmental risks within a catchment area. The net result is that, when all factors are considered, the very large expenditures and increased energy use for sanitary wastewater treatment and outfall disposal will have a net negative effect on the physical and societal environment. The City of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Metropolitan area can be used to illustrate this probability.


2016 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 401-414 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ewa Błońska ◽  
Kazimierz Januszek ◽  
Stanisław Małek ◽  
Tomasz Wanic

AbstractThe experimental plots used in the study were located in the middle forest zone (elevation: 900-950 m a.s.l.) on two nappes of the flysch Carpathians in southern Poland. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of serpentinite in combination with nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium fertilizers on selected chemical properties of the soil and activity of dehydrogenase and urease in the studied soils. All fertilizer treatments significantly enriched the tested soils in magnesium. The use of serpentinite as a fertilizer reduced the molar ratio of exchangeable calcium to magnesium, which facilitated the uptake of magnesium by tree roots due to competition between calcium and magnesium. After one year of fertilization on the Wisła experimental plot, the pH of the Ofh horizon increased, while the pH of the mineral horizons significantly decreased. Enrichment of serpentinite with nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium fertilizers stimulated the dehydrogenase activity in the studied organic horizon. The lack of a negative effect of the serpentinite fertilizer on enzyme activity in the spruce stand soil showed that the concentrations of the heavy metals added to the soil were not high enough to be toxic and indicated the feasibility of using this fertilizer in forestry.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 3209
Author(s):  
Ricardo Rubio-Ramírez ◽  
Rubén Jerves-Cobo ◽  
Diego Mora-Serrano

Several cities in developing countries are challenging the permanent process of urbanization. This generates a great disturbance on the hydrological response of the urbanized area during rainfall events, which can cause floods. Among the disturbances that urbanized basins may suffer, it is found that variations in rain losses (hydrological abstractions) can be estimated by the named volumetric runoff coefficient (CVOL) methodology. In the present study, this methodology is used in an attempt to estimate the hydrological abstraction of two nearby urbanized basins, with different degrees of impermeability, located in the city of Cuenca in Ecuador. The data for that analysis were collected between April and May of 2017. The results obtained indicate that the micro-basin with the largest impervious area presents the higher initial hydrological losses, the higher rate of decrease in abstractions, and the higher stormwater runoff flows per unit area. In addition, the abstractions found in the two urban micro-basins show great sensitivity to the maximum rainfall intensity and do not relate to the antecedent soil moisture. These results demonstrate the importance of having higher pervious surfaces in urbanized areas because they lead to reduce negative impacts associated with increased stormwater runoff on impervious surfaces.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 258
Author(s):  
Máximo Bustamante-Calabria ◽  
Alejandro Sánchez de Miguel ◽  
Susana Martín-Ruiz ◽  
Jose-Luis Ortiz ◽  
José M. Vílchez ◽  
...  

‘Lockdown’ periods in response to COVID-19 have provided a unique opportunity to study the impacts of economic activity on environmental pollution (e.g., NO2, aerosols, noise, light). The effects on NO2 and aerosols have been very noticeable and readily demonstrated, but that on light pollution has proven challenging to determine. The main reason for this difficulty is that the primary source of nighttime satellite imagery of the earth is the SNPP-VIIRS/DNB instrument, which acquires data late at night after most human nocturnal activity has already occurred and much associated lighting has been turned off. Here, to analyze the effect of lockdown on urban light emissions, we use ground and satellite data for Granada, Spain, during the COVID-19 induced confinement of the city’s population from 14 March until 31 May 2020. We find a clear decrease in light pollution due both to a decrease in light emissions from the city and to a decrease in anthropogenic aerosol content in the atmosphere which resulted in less light being scattered. A clear correlation between the abundance of PM10 particles and sky brightness is observed, such that the more polluted the atmosphere the brighter the urban night sky. An empirical expression is determined that relates PM10 particle abundance and sky brightness at three different wavelength bands.


2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosana Silva Lana ◽  
Érika Monteiro Michalsky ◽  
Consuelo Latorre Fortes-Dias ◽  
João Carlos França-Silva ◽  
Fabiana de Oliveira Lara-Silva ◽  
...  

In the New World, the leishmaniases are primarily transmitted to humans through the bites ofLeishmania-infectedLutzomyia(Diptera: Psychodidae) phlebotomine sand flies. Any or both of two basic clinical forms of these diseases are endemic to several cities in Brazil—the American cutaneous leishmaniasis (ACL) and the American visceral leishmaniasis (AVL). The present study was conducted in the urban area of a small-sized Brazilian municipality (Jaboticatubas), in which three cases of AVL and nine of ACL have been reported in the last five years. Jaboticatubas is an important tourism hub, as it includes a major part of the Serra do Cipó National Park. Currently, no local data is available on the entomological fauna or circulatingLeishmania. During the one-year period of this study, we captured 3,104 phlebotomine sand flies belonging to sixteenLutzomyiaspecies. In addition to identifying incriminated or suspected vectors of ACL with DNA of the etiological agent of AVL and vice versa, we also detectedLeishmaniaDNA in unexpectedLutzomyiaspecies. The expressive presence of vectors and naturalLeishmaniainfection indicates favorable conditions for the spreading of leishmaniases in the vicinity of the Serra do Cipó National Park.


2015 ◽  
Vol 743 ◽  
pp. 526-532 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.M. Jiang ◽  
J.J. Lu ◽  
L.J. Lu

Based on the originally unprocessed data from the Official Platform of“110”Alarming Receiving Center (OP110ARC) of Shanghai Public Security Bureau (SPSB), 529 single-vehicle crashes reported during one year and a half which happened at the thirteen urban road tunnels going across the Huangpu River are used in this study. To investigate the factors affecting the crash influence severity levels, ordered probit regression is established. Several categories of factors are considered as explanatory variables in the models. The study finds that the entrance of the tunnels is the site where severe injury crashes trend to occur. Rainy and snowy days impose vehicles and motorists driving via the tunnel sections in danger. Tunnels with a low speed limit (40 km/h in this study) may be not as safe as we thought before. Two-wheel vehicles without sufficient physical protection for its drivers and heavy vehicles also show a negative effect on the operation safety of single-vehicle at these studied tunnels. Alcohol involved drivers are more likely to suffer from a severe crashes and gets badly hurt.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aruã Da Silva Leite ◽  
Melina Macouin ◽  
Sonia Rousse ◽  
Jean-François Leon ◽  
Loïc Drigo ◽  
...  

<p>The finer fraction of the particulate matter (PM) is the most harmful health wise, as it has more capacity to reach deeper parts of the respiratory system. Among other constituents, PM also contains iron oxides, allowing for the use of magnetic methods in its investigation as proxies for the whole of PM. Those methods present advantages in comparison to traditional ones, being quick, cost effective and sensible to investigate iron oxides among PM. </p><p>To better understand the risks related to PM exposition in the domestic context, the assessment of magnetic parameters may be used in outdoor and indoor environments, giving us information on the concentration of iron oxides (and consequently, PM) and its dispersion from one environment to the other. </p><p>We developed a citizen sciences experiment in the city of Toulouse, France. Tree barks were used as bio-collectors. Garlands composed of tree bark pieces were distributed to the population in May-2019, and placed in both indoors and outdoors of flats and homes to capture PM. They were retrieved after one year. Measurement of magnetic susceptibility, ARM, SIRM, S -ratio and estimation of superparamagnetic concentration were performed. A total of 86 bio-collectors kits were successfully analyzed. The preliminary results indicate a higher concentration of iron oxides outdoors, with a mean difference between outdoor and indoor measurements of 6.58x10<sup>-9</sup>m<sup>3</sup>/kg and 1.38x10<sup>-5</sup>Am<sup>2</sup>/kg in susceptibility and SIRM respectively. The concentration of the SP fraction also follows this trend of higher outdoor values. The magnetic mineralogy is mostly dominated by low coercivity magnetite-like carriers.</p><div> <div> <div> </div> </div> <div> <div> </div> </div> </div>


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