Rays of the family Rhinopteridae Jordan & Evermann, 1896 are highly migratory and widely distributed in warm tropical and temperate waters. Along the Brazilian coast, the presence of two species has been recorded: Rhinoptera bonasus Mitchill, 1815 and Rhinoptera brasiliensis Müller, 1836. These stingrays are commonly caught as bycatch in trawl fisheries, however, the two species lack distinctive external morphological features...

Low biochar rates (5 Mg ha −1 ) increased bacterial richness and diversity in degraded soil. Biochar origin controlled microbial assembly and niche specialization patterns. Sewage-sludge biochar favored stress-tolerant and metal-adapted bacterial taxa. Cashew bagasse biochar enhanced nitrogen cycling and chemoheterotrophic functions. Network complexity peaked at intermediate biochar doses and declined at high rates. Biochar ha...

Aims Mangrove rice production (MRP) is essential for food security and environmental sustainability among smallholder farmers in Guinea-Bissau. Distinct agroecologies within MRP systems are shaped by specific soil–water conditions and by the spontaneous vegetation (weeds) colonizing rice fields. This study evaluates the potential of dominated weed species as bio-indicators of soil fertility and organic matter dynamics across c...

Predicting permeability from Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) data is a fundamental yet challenging task in reservoir characterization, primarily due to the uncertainty associated with surface relaxivity ( $$\rho $$ ρ ) parameters. In this work, we investigate the feasibility of using Machine Learning (ML) to estimate permeability from $$T_2$$ T 2 distributions and quantify how $$\rho $$ ρ uncertainty affects predictive accura...

Aim We evaluated how native vegetation cover influences the diversity of arachnid assemblages across multiple spatial scales in major Brazilian ecosystems. Location Brazil (Amazon and Atlantic rainforests, Cerrado savanna and Caatinga dry forest). Taxon Arachnida (Opiliones, Pseudoscorpiones and Scorpiones). Methods We sampled arachnids at 120 sites using active search and litter sifting. Native vegetation cover was quantified...

Lignin, a major component of lignocellulosic biomass, has gained attention as a potential antimicrobial agent. However, lignin's limited solubility often requires the use of harsh or non-eco-friendly solvents, which can hinder its applications and pose environmental concerns. This work aimed to evaluate the antimicrobial capacity of two lignin samples extracted from grape stalks using different methods: alkaline extraction and...

Aim We investigate the distribution of dispersal modes — endozoochory (via animal ingestion), synzoochory (via animal seed accumulation) and anemochory (via wind)—and seed mass of woody plants across Brazilian ecosystems, testing whether their relative abundance in local plant communities could be predicted by climate, edaphic factors and dispersal agents (e.g., the main vectors moving seeds). We expected climate to be the mai...

The olfactory bulb (OB) is one of the earliest brain regions affected in neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease (PD). Its high metabolic rate, dopaminergic modulation, and connectivity with the cortical and limbic regions make it particularly vulnerable to early neuroinflammatory and oxidative processes. This study aimed to investigate whether the administration of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) into the OB induces...

The precorneal tear film is critical for ocular surface health, and brachycephalic dogs are particularly predisposed to tear film instability due to their unique conformation. This study aimed to establish normative values for tear film parameters in healthy brachycephalic dogs using the OSA-Vet ® , including Schirmer tear test-1 (STT-1), tear meniscus height (TMH), and non-invasive tear breakup time (TBUTNI). Forty brachyceph...

L-DOPA (LD) is the gold-standard treatment of motor symptoms in Parkinson’s disease (PD), conventionally used to prove the predictive value of PD animal models. This study aimed to investigate the predictive validity of an adaptation of the conventional reserpine model of PD: the repeated low-dose reserpine administration in rodents, which promotes progressive motor impairment in catalepsy, vacuous chewing behavior tests, and...