NEOTROPICAL FRESHWATER FISHES: A dataset of occurrence and abundance of freshwater fishes in the Neotropics.

The Neotropical region hosts 4225 freshwater fish species, ranking first among the world's most diverse regions for freshwater fishes. Our NEOTROPICAL FRESHWATER FISHES data set is the first to produce a large-scale Neotropical freshwater fish inventory, covering the entire Neotropical region from Mexico and the Caribbean in the north to the southern limits in Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, and Uruguay. We compiled 185,787 distribution records, with unique georeferenced coordinates, for the 4225 species, represented by occurrence and abundance data.

Large-scale Degradation of the Tocantins-Araguaia River Basin.

The Tocantins-Araguaia Basin is one of the largest river systems in South America, located entirely within Brazilian territory. In the last decades, capital-concentrating activities such as agribusiness, mining, and hydropower promoted extensive changes in land cover, hydrology, and environmental conditions. These changes are jeopardizing the basin's biodiversity and ecosystem services.

NEOTROPICAL ALIEN MAMMALS: a data set of occurrence and abundance of alien mammals in the Neotropics.

Biological invasion is one of the main threats to native biodiversity. For a species to become invasive, it must be voluntarily or involuntarily introduced by humans into a nonnative habitat. Mammals were among first taxa to be introduced worldwide for game, meat, and labor, yet the number of species introduced in the Neotropics remains unknown.

Water diversion in Brazil threatens biodiversity.

Construction of water diversions is a common response to the increasing demands for freshwater, often resulting in benefits to communities but with the risk of multiple environmental, economic, and social impacts. Water-diversion projects can favor massive introductions and accelerate biotic homogenization. This study provides empirical evidence on the consequences of a proposed law intended to divert water from two large and historically isolated river basins in Brazil: Tocantins to São Francisco.

Anaesthetic management of a patient with multiple pterygium syndrome for elective caesarean section.

We report a case of a pregnant woman with multiple pterygium syndrome who presented for elective caesarean section. Neuraxial anaesthesia failed and the backup plan of awake intubation was extremely difficult.

High-flow humidified nasal oxygenation vs. standard face mask oxygenation.

Ten healthy volunteers received oxygen for 1 min, 2 min and 3 min at 10 l.min via a face mask, or humidified oxygen at 60 l.min via nasal prongs (Optiflow ) with the mouth closed and with the mouth open.

A review of Clarias gariepinus invasions in Brazil and South Africa.

African sharptooth catfish Clarias gariepinus is native to most of Africa and small parts of Asia, but has been introduced to 37 countries mainly for aquaculture. This review of introductions, establishment, spread and impact of C. gariepinus in Brazil and outside of its native range in South Africa provides evidence that the species has been able to overcome all barriers to invasion in both countries.

Cadaveric feasibility study on the use of ultrasound contrast to assess spread of injectate in the serratus anterior muscle plane.

Background: The Serratus anterior muscle plane (SAP) block has recently been described for the purpose of perioperative pain management following cases of trauma and breast surgery. It might prove a safer alternative to the other regional thoracic paravertebral and central neuraxial blockade techniques. There are no descriptive cadaveric studies in the pre-existing literature to delineate the anatomical plane for this novel technique.

Nanoparticle-driven assembly of block copolymers: a simple route to ordered hybrid materials.

The addition of nanoparticles that selectively hydrogen bond with one of the segments of a block copolymer is shown to induce order in otherwise disordered systems. This enables the fabrication of well-ordered hybrid materials with spherical, cylindrical, or lamellar domains at particle loadings of more than 40%, as evidenced by TEM and SAXS. The approach described is simple and applicable to a wide range of nanoparticles and block copolymers, and it lays the groundwork for the design of cooperatively assembled functional devices.

Photoinduced ordering of block copolymers.

Photoinduced ordering of disordered block copolymers (BCPs) would provide an on-demand, nonintrusive route for formation of well-ordered nanostructures in arbitrarily defined regions of an otherwise disordered material. Here we achieve this objective using a rapid and simple approach in which photoconversion of an additive blended with the BCP introduces strong interactions between the additive and one of the chain segments and induces strong order in the BCP blend. The strategy is generally applicable to block copolymers containing chain segments capable of hydrogen bonding with the additive.

High-pressure Fourier transform micro-Raman spectroscopic investigation of diiodine-heterocyclic thioamide adducts.

The pressure dependences of the Fourier transform micro-Raman spectra of four heterocyclic thioamides [[(bztzdtH)I2] x I2] (1) (bztzdtH = benzothiazole-2-thione), [(bztzdtH)I2] (2), [[(tzdtH)2I+] x I3- x 2I2] (3) (tzdtH = thiazoline-2-thione), and [[(bzimtH)I2]2 x I2 x 2H2O] (4) (bzimtH = benzimidazole-2-thione) have been studied between ambient pressure and 50 kbar. For 1, generation of I3- ions through disproportionation reactions is evident as the pressure is increased. There are empirical linear correlations between the frequency and (I-I) bond length and the applied pressure.