The dates displayed for an article provide information on when various publication milestones were reached at the journal that has published the article activities on preceding journals at which the article was previously under consideration are not shown (for instance submission All content on this site: Copyright © 2025 Elsevier B.V., its licensors, and contributors. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies. For all open access content, the relevant licensing terms apply. Volume 6 - 2019 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2019.00817 since 1998 no studies have been conducted on sea turtles in this area ignoring the current status of these species initiatives that assess the sea turtle populations in the SFBR become highly relevant to contribute to the current conservation efforts in the Caribbean This work provides novel information on the distribution and abundance of sea turtles as well as identification of sea turtle species in foraging areas around of Serrana and Serranilla islands—the northernmost area of the Colombian Caribbean—during Seaflower Scientific Expeditions 2016 and 2017 We conducted an analysis of the nesting ecology of the sea turtles in Cayo Serrana Island (14.38333 N, −80.2 W) and Cayo Serranilla Island (15.83333 N, −79.83333 W), within the Seaflower Scientific Expeditions 2016 and 2017, respectively, in order to assess the distribution and abundance of sea turtle species (Figure 1) identification and hand-capture of sea turtle species in foraging areas around of both islands were carried out Spatial distribution of sea turtle nests per species in Southwest Cay (Serrana Island Sea turtle species included Caretta caretta 2017 (12:00–17:00) through the registration and photographic documentation of tracks All hatchlings found alive within nests or trapped between roots or rocks were released in the early morning or evening in the company of members of the Expedition and of National Navy Armada República Colombia Record of clutches and cleaning of hatched nests (a) identification of loggerhead turtle nest in the middle and exposed area of the beach (c) Identification of hawksbill turtle nest in vegetation zone (d) Georeferencing and cleaning of hatched nests on Serrana Island (Photos: Karla Barrientos-Muñoz and Cristian Ramirez-Gallego This dataset compiles the lists of sea turtle species in its different life stages, nests, nesting females, and individuals—juveniles or adults—sighted or captured in-water, recorded during the Seaflower Scientific Expeditions 2016 and 2017 (Barrientos-Muñoz and Ramirez-Gallego, 2016; Ramirez-Gallego and Barrientos-Muñoz, 2017) The following 10 fields are included per species within this dataset: Scientific Name ID: These fields include a unique and stable-through-time alphanumeric identifier (taxonomic identifier) AphiaID provided by World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) Basis of record: As the data set includes records based on direct observation in the field or indirect observations (photos) this field contains this specific information for each species Institution Code: This field includes the name (or acronym) in use by the institution having custody of the object(s) or information referred to in the record Event Date: This field includes the date of biological events recorded Locality: Specific localities where the species have been recorded in the Serrana and Serranilla islands are presented in this field Five localities were defined considering the Southwest Cay References: This field includes references that have compiled sea turtle species records during the Expeditions to SFBR in 2016 and 2017 Life Stage: The age or life stage of the biological entity or entities at the time of the biological registration Reproductive Condition: Reproductive condition of the biological entity represented in the biological record Habitat: A category (beach of nesting or foraging site) of the habitat in which the event was registered Coordinates: Geographical latitude and geographic length (in decimal degrees using the spatial reference system provided in Geodesic Datum) of the geographic center of a location we confirmed that the marine habitats of Serranilla Island are used as feeding grounds by the presence of a hawksbill turtle juvenile captured meanwhile its was feeding sponges Inventory of three sea turtle species (Caretta caretta and Eretmochelys imbricata) in different life stages (eggs and nesting females at the sandy beaches and adults at the sea) in Serrana Island and Serranilla Island during the Seaflower Expeditions 2016 and 2017 in the Colombian Caribbean these three sea turtle species in marine habitats during the surveys of coral reefs Although this species prefers to nest in the middle zone of the beach profile a high percentage of the nests of this species were laid in the vegetation zone Our records indicated that Serranilla Island is currently the main nesting site for the green turtle Serrana and Serranilla are possibly the most important nesting sites for the hawksbill turtle in the Colombian Caribbean and Sand Cay (Serranilla Island) are currently the main nesting sites for the loggerhead turtle in the Colombian Caribbean This represents a hope for this species with greater probability of local extinction in Colombia The significant presence of loggerheads observed in these cays indicates the importance that SFBR represent for the survival of this species in the Caribbean it is necessary to carry out a complete monitoring in all the cays of the SFBR to determine nesting trends by these three species Our results are a valuable contribution to knowledge regarding the presence of reproductive and foraging sites for three sea turtle species and demonstrate the relevance of implementing a long-term monitoring and research studies of these nesting colonies in the SFBR These studies should strengthen the management of these species which will contribute to the recovery of sea turtles population in the region Ethical review and approval was not required for the animal study because this article was based solely on the registration of sea turtles in nesting and foraging areas CR-G and KB-M collected and identified sea turtle species during expeditions to Serrana and Serranilla Islands (2016 and 2017) collected and processed the information for the biological records and the checklist dataset This work was possible thanks to funding from Fundación Tortugas del Mar Comisión Colombiana del Océano through Colombia Bio-Colciencias project (agreement No the National Navy Armada República Colombia Dirección General Marítima—DIMAR Governorate of the Archipiélago de San Andrés National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration—NOAA and the Archie Carr Center for Sea Turtle Research The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest We thank the institutions and people who organized and participated in SeaFlower Expeditions who support the inventories with some photographic records or hand capture of sea turtles in -water who were crucial in the process of data collection who helped with the nesting sea turtle maps Barrientos-Muñoz 1766),” in Libro rojo de reptiles de Colombia (2015) Bock (Bogotá: Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt (IAvH) Google Scholar Barrientos-Muñoz Tortugas marinas de la Isla Cayo Serrana durante la Expedición Seaflower 2016 – Proyecto Colombia BIO CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Global Reef Expedition: San Andres Archipelago Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation Google Scholar Google Scholar Variación de la línea de costa en Cayo Serrana y estrategias para su conservación ante las amenazas de origen natural Boletín Científico CIOH 72–86 Google Scholar Garcilaso de la Vega (1609) índice analítico y glosario de Carlos Araníbar Lima: Fondo de Cultura Económica – Colección Historia Google Scholar González, S. J., and Pardo, Y. (2017). Expedición Seaflower - Isla Cayo Serranilla, 2017. Dirección General Marítima-DIMAR. Available online at: http://arcg.is/19HXSn Google Scholar “Porque ellas también tienen derecho a seguir dejando huella,” in Diagnóstico actual de las tortugas marinas del archipiélago de San Andrés Google Scholar Diagnóstico actual de las tortugas marinas del archipiélago de San Andrés Google Scholar la conservación y el desarrollo sostenible de la Guajira (Fase VI) Bogotá: Programa conservación para el desarrollo Alianza Fondo Acción - Conservación Internacional Colombia Google Scholar Morales-Betancourt Bogotá: Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt (IAvH) Google Scholar Moreno-Munar, A. A., Ospina-Sanchez, S. C., Jauregui-Romero, G. A., and Alvarez, R. (2014). Monitoreamiento de poblaciones de tortugas marinas en los sectores de Arrecifes y Cañaveral, Parque Nacional Natural Tayrona, Colombia. Arq. Cien. Mar. Fortaleza 47, 19–30. Available online at: http://www.repositorio.ufc.br/bitstream/riufc/28712/1/2014_art_aammunar.pdf Google Scholar 1758),” in Libro rojo de reptiles de Colombia (2015) Google Scholar Google Scholar Ramirez-Gallego Tortugas marinas de la Isla Cayos de Serranilla durante la Expedición Seaflower 2017 – Proyecto Colombia BIO CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Citation: Ramirez-Gallego C and Barrientos-Muñoz KG (2020) Sea Turtles at Serrana Island and Serranilla Island Received: 26 May 2019; Accepted: 17 December 2019; Published: 22 January 2020 Copyright © 2020 Ramirez-Gallego and Barrientos-Muñoz. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited in accordance with accepted academic practice distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms *Correspondence: Cristian Ramirez-Gallego, cmFtaXJlemdhbGxlZ28uY3Jpc3RpYW5AZ21haWwuY29t Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher 94% of researchers rate our articles as excellent or goodLearn more about the work of our research integrity team to safeguard the quality of each article we publish With her new album, La Serrana, Manchegan artist Karmento embarks on a new phase advancing towards a more exploratory folk sound while preserving her core essence sees Karmento drawing inspiration from the women of her village and her own identity Karmento immerses herself deeply into her serrano roots from the Spanish heartland taking listeners on an emotional and narrative journey through the life and memories of her heritage Buy La Serrana. Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked * Please enter an answer in digits:two − 1 = Dr Joeselle Serrana, a postdoc at Stockholm University and the SUCCeSS project, is investigating how microorganisms can purify polluted water in European rivers. By combining chemical analysis, biogeochemistry and molecular biology, he aims to increase the understanding of natural purification processes and contribute to safer, more sustainable water reuse. ”In our SUCCeSS project, we’re investigating how microbial community structure and function interact with contaminant properties, background carbon and nitrogen levels, and changing environmental conditions. In particular, we focus on understanding how microbial degradation processes contribute to the natural purification capacities of European Rivers through an interdisciplinary approach.” Volume 7 - 2020 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2020.00646 The combination of overfishing and the loss and disturbance of habitats are the main factors influencing the population decrease of the queen conch The current study presents a multi-temporal analysis of A which is an atoll in the western Caribbean that is included into the Seaflower Biosphere Reserve This reserve was declared a Marine Protected Area since 2005 The main objective was to release raw data from these valuable observations and assess whether the management tools in the MPA are having positive effects on the recovery and conservation of juvenile and adult populations of A The difference in these criteria are due to the fact that the first reference of sexual maturity was based on the evaluation of external macroscopic characteristics and the second work was based on histological methods Based on the information obtained from the 72 sites ha−1) were mapped for juvenile and adult populations the maps illustrate the −100 m depth the density was represented as interpolations with the point kriging method using software Surfer 10 the habitat at each sampling site was classified into four categories of substrate type: sand each of the 72 sampling points was classified according to its location in the Serrana Bank MPA within the following categories: recovery and sustainable use (artisanal fishing) preservation and open area to the fishing activity The general description of the density in each period and type of habitat showed that juveniles were more abundant in sandy bottoms with macroalgae whereas adults preferred sand debris bottoms ha−1) on Serrana Bank (2003–2013) using kriging prediction Relationships between sampling depth and densities (ind gigas throughout the study period (2003–2013) in Serrana Bank Juvenile density was not associated with the depth of the sampling sites (r2 = 0.249, p < 0.0001) (Figure 2). On the other hand, there was a significant relationship between adults' densities and sampling depth (r2 = 0.080, p < 0.001). Results showed that more adults than juveniles were found at greater depths (Figure 2) These fishing regulations provided a better conservation strategy for the resource in this region where the definition of conservation areas did not produce positive outcomes The decrease of queen conch populations in different Caribbean areas is imminent and has led to the collapse of fisheries in many locations. The populations in Bermuda, Dominican Republic, Florida (USA), Haiti, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Trinidad & Tobago, Venezuela and those of the northern coast of Cuba and the Morrosquillo Gulf in Colombia are diminished and almost exhausted (CITES, 2003; Gómez-Campo et al., 2010) Serrana bank populations comprise an ideal reference dataset for comparisons where some management measures delivered the expected positive results in recovering the queen conch stocks Coralina (Corporación para el Desarrollo Sostenible del Departamento Archipiélago de San Andrés Providencia y Santa Catalina) is monitoring this population every year and this solid and extensive dataset will be needed to ensure continuity and to provide better predictions on this valuable resource All datasets generated for this study are included in the article/Supplementary Material All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version This work was supported by an agreement between Corporación para el Desarrollo Sostenible del Departamento Archipiélago de San Andrés Providencia y Santa Catalina CORALINA-Universidad de los Andes (Convenios No Coralina and Secretaria de Agricultura y Pesca collected the data and ÓR were contracted as consultants from ECOMAR Consultoría Ambiental The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest Secretatria de Agricultura y Pesca de la Gobernación del Archipiélago de San Andrés Logistics and boat crew from CORALINA are greatly appreciated Andrade helped with logistics and early stages of the study The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2020.00646/full#supplementary-material ha−1) by site (Juveniles and Adults) on Serrana Bank in the Seaflower Biosphere Reserve 2003–2013 depth and bottoms types on Serrana Bank (2003–2013) Spawning Potential Ratio and Larval Abundance of queen Conch of La Parguera Google Scholar Size at sexual maturity in the queen conch Strombus gigas fron Colombia CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Reproductive cycle of Strombus gigas Linnaeus 1758 (Caenogastropoda strombidae) from archipelago of San andres Setting a baseline for Caribbean fisheries CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Variability in size at maturity and reproductive season of queen conch Lobatus gigas (Gastropoda: Strombidae) in the wider Caribbean region Google Scholar Estado actual de las poblaciones del caracol Strombus gigas en el sector norte del área marina protegida Seaflower Departamento Archipiélago de San Andrés Review of Significant Trade in specimens of Appendix-II species (Resolution Conf Nineteenth meeting of the Animals Committee (Geneva) Google Scholar Google Scholar García Biología y Dinámica Poblacional del Caracol pala Strombus Gigas L. Mesogastropoda) en las Diferentes Áreas del Archipiélago de San Andrés y Providencia Google Scholar Fishery independent survey of commercially exploited fish and shellfish populations from mesophotic reefs within the Puertorican EEZ Google Scholar Google Scholar Glazer, R., and Kidney, J. (2004). Habitat associations of adult queen conch (Strombus gigas L.) in an unfished Florida Keys back reef: applications to essential fish habitat. Bull. Mar. Sci. 75, 205–224. Available online at: https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/umrsmas/bullmar/2004/00000075/00000002/art00005 Google Scholar Gómez-Campo abunancia y reación con características del hábitat del caracol pala Eustrombus gigas (Linnaeus) (Mollusca: Strombidae) en el archipiélago Nuestra Señora del Rosario Linnaeus, C. (1758). Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, Secundum Classes, Ordines, Genera, Species, Cum Characteribus, Differentiis, Synonymis, Locis. Editio Decima, Reformata, 10th Revised ed. Vol. 1, 824. Available online at: https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/726886 Google Scholar Monitoring and Managing Queen Conch Fisheries: A Manual Google Scholar Non Detriment Findings for the Queen Conch in Colombia Colombia: NOAA Fisheries – Blue Dream Ltd Regional Queen Conch Fisheries Management and Conservation Plan Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations R Development Core Team (2015) R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing Vienna: R Foundation for Statistical Computing Google Scholar “Effects of the annual closure of the queen conch (Strombus gigas) fishery in guadeloupe (FWI),” in Proceedings of the 65th Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute (Marathon Google Scholar Sánchez Steady decline of corals and other benthic organisms in the SeaFlower Biosphere reserve (Southwestern Caribbean) Sánchez Evaluating coral reef benthic communities in remote atolls (Quitasueño and Roncador Banks) to recommend marine-protected areas for the Seaflower Biosphere Reserve reproductive stocks in the central Bahamas: distribution and probable sources Google Scholar Abundance and population structure of queen conch inside and outside a marine protected area: repeat surveys show significant declines Relationships between fishing pressure and stock structure in queen conch (Lobatus gigas) populations: synthesis of long-term surveys and evidence for overfishing in the bahamas Declining size of adults and juvenile harvest threatens CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Rojas A and Sánchez JA (2020) Multi-Year Density Variation of Queen Conch (Aliger gigas) on Serrana Bank Colombia: Implications for Fisheries Management Received: 28 February 2020; Accepted: 14 July 2020; Published: 31 August 2020 Copyright © 2020 Ardila, Hernández, Muñoz-Ortiz, Ramos, Castro, Bolaños, Rojas and Sánchez. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) *Correspondence: Néstor E. Ardila, bmVzdG9yYXJkaWxhQGVjb21hci5jb20uY28= Every print subscription comes with full digital access Even as COVID-19 continues to ravage Brazil life is starting to return to closer to normal in the city of Serrana parents pick up their children from school on May 28 By Meghie Rodrigues schools are reopening and plans are under way for a large open-air concert Health care workers suddenly have time for sit-down meals rather than rushing to grab street food during a spare free moment These scenes approaching normalcy stand in stark contrast to what’s happening across the rest of the country businesses are largely closed and 2,000 people are dying each day from COVID-19 a city of 45,600 in the state of São Paulo can begin to make these plans because an experiment called Projeto S appears to be drastically reducing COVID-19-related hospitalizations and deaths there down from a peak of around 600 cases per 100,000 people in early March Projeto S leaders announced at a news conference on May 31 only two fully vaccinated people landed in the hospital with COVID-19 The incidence of COVID-19–related deaths per 100,000 inhabitants also dropped 95 percent in the city although the raw data behind the numbers has yet to be released the city recorded only six COVID-19 deaths according to the Health Secretariat of Serrana.  We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday By subscribing, you agree to our Terms & Privacy Policy.  You must be 13 or older to sign up For full digital access, consider a $2.99 per month subscription The project, in which over 95 percent of the city’s adults were given the Chinese-made CoronaVac vaccine, is a real-time experiment to measure the effectiveness the vaccine including how well it protects against coronavirus variants (SN 5/5/21) the CoronaVac vaccine had an efficacy of just over 50 percent raising concerns of how well it would work in the real world “This project is important because it shows that even a vaccine with relatively low efficacy can have high efficiency and significantly decrease death rates in real-life settings,” says neuroscientist Mellanie Fontes-Dutra coordinator of the COVID-19 Analysis Network in Brazil The results also show the vaccine is effective against a more contagious version of the virus called P.1 which was dominant in Serrana by the time the study started director for clinical trials at Instituto Butantan and director of Projeto S and researchers will have to look at the raw data of the experiment to ensure the vaccine works on a large scale “But these preliminary numbers show we have an effective vaccine And the most important thing to do is expand vaccination coverage as much as we can to have as many immunized people as possible.”  they form a kind of immunological shield that protects individuals for whom the vaccine might not work so well or those who are still susceptible to infection The city is beginning to test the strength of that shield as residents return to church families throw parties for their children and schools reopen Cases have also dropped among those under 18 suggesting the campaign is having a spillover protective effect São Paulo governor João Doria announced on Fantástico that there are even plans in the works for a “big open-air public event in Serrana such as a music concert.” Along with offering some semblance of normalcy the concert could be used to test the vaccine and its ability to protect people in large crowds The event will provide important information to the Projeto S team which will keep observing Serrana for a year to measure vaccine protection and how long it lasts.  Questions or comments on this article? E-mail us at feedback@sciencenews.org | Reprints FAQ Meghie Rodrigues is a freelance science journalist based in Paraná state in southern Brazil To build immunity to bites from venomous snakes like this water cobra Tim Friede injected himself with doses of venom over time The diabetes and weight loss drug semaglutide may also help people with a severe form of fatty liver disease called MASH In cities that have stopped adding fluoride to drinking water Vials of milk await testing for avian influenza at Cornell University in Ithaca Infecting dairy cattle hasn’t yet given H5N1 bird flu an evolutionary boost toward easy person-to-person spread More children than ever before were diagnosed with autism in 2022 Experts say most of the rise is because of better detection and increased awareness of the developmental condition NIH suspended funding for two clinical trials investigating how to better protect organ transplant recipients from COVID-19 The money is needed to complete the data analyses Researchers are investigating whether a drug used for heavy metal poisoning might prevent harm to people from the venom of the puff adder The snakes’ venom contains proteins that need zinc to do their damaging work Science News was founded in 1921 as an independent nonprofit source of accurate information on the latest news of science our mission remains the same: to empower people to evaluate the news and the world around them It is published by the Society for Science a nonprofit 501(c)(3) membership organization dedicated to public engagement in scientific research and education (EIN 53-0196483) enter your e-mail address for full access to the Science News archives and digital editions Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Volunteers wait to get a CoronaVac shot in front of State School Jardim das Rosas one of the vaccination sites for Projeto S The city of Serrana in Brazil is a living experiment is nestled in the southeast of one of the countries hit hardest by COVID-19 daily deaths in Brazil surged to 3,000 on average a day a high in a pandemic that has claimed more than 405,000 lives there — the second worst death toll of any country in the world behind only the United States And as vaccines slowly trickle into the country only about 15 percent of the population has gotten at least one shot nearly all the adults have gotten their shots What happens next in this city could provide a glimpse of what the future of the pandemic could be — not only in Brazil but across the globe as vaccinations pick up Among the questions the study may help answer is “whether vaccinated people protect the unvaccinated and what variants are circulating,” says Marcos Borges project coordinator and director of the Serrana State Hospital “We’ll finally be able to observe how a large set of people respond to the vaccine in real-world conditions.” Projeto S may be the best way to understand the effectiveness of vaccination against COVID-19 in the short and medium terms an epidemiologist at the Federal University of Espírito Santo “This is especially important because we don’t know when we will have most Brazilians vaccinated,” says Maciel Serrana has the perfect ingredients for the Projeto S experiment It’s located near an important public health research center University of São Paulo’s campus in nearby Ribeirão Preto And the virus was clearly circulating in the community A July 2020 study “showed that 5 percent of the population carried the active virus — that is one person in 20 The town’s residents were eager to be vaccinated a research facility and vaccine maker based in São Paulo state that is sponsoring the project set a goal of vaccinating at least 80 percent of town residents over 18 years old “We took into account that Brazil has a long tradition of good adhesion to vaccination so we knew these 80 percent were within reach,” says Borges The vaccine was developed by China-based Sinovac Biotech but can train the body’s immune system to recognize the coronavirus so it can fight back against an encounter with the real pathogen CoronaVac offers good protection against death and serious forms of COVID-19; of nine health care workers hospitalized with COVID-19 one had had a single dose of CoronaVac and two had gotten both doses One person —an unvaccinated health care worker — died having immunized neighbors might make an important difference in how effective a vaccine actually is “What is the difference between a vaccine that has 95 percent of individual efficacy and one that has over 50 percent You’ve got to vaccinate 80 or 85 percent of people with the former to have the disease under control and must vaccinate everyone with the latter to have the same result,” says Ernesto Marques a virologist at the University of Pittsburgh Outcomes may show whether the impact of Serrana’s mass vaccination spills beyond city limits “Around 15,000 of Serrana’s 45,000 inhabitants commute large distances to work so we’ll see how it all unfolds with a highly mobile population,” Borges says During the project’s vaccination from mid-February to mid-April, six immunized people died from COVID-19, according to the state government of São Paulo five had received only one dose and the other person showed symptoms shortly after receiving the second dose which leads researchers to believe the patient was already infected at the time of the second shot Among the unvaccinated there were 14 deaths none of the six infirmary beds at Serrana’s Santa Casa Hospital and the city’s Basic Healthcare Unit are occupied and the waiting line for beds both in infirmaries and intensive care units has zeroed there is one Serrana resident in an infirmary and nine patients in an ICU according to the Serrana Health Secretariat who has worked for two decades in Serrana and is involved in the coordination of Projeto S says that positive test results have dropped way less than the 30 to 40 percent of positives we had before.” Still according to the local Health Secretariat with 706 city residents infected with COVID-19 Infections then decreased in February and March (484 and 692 cases respectively) and had a sharp drop in April All of this is clearly “an effect from the vaccination,” Maciel says But Borges is more cautious in relating all these changes to the mass immunization “We are still studying it and when we have the results we’ll be able to affirm for sure if these events are related,” he says Projeto S will continue following residents for a year The questions that tracking can answer — for instance how long does a vaccine provide protection — are crucial to helping Brazilians the first person to be vaccinated in Serrana and the vaccination was a really emotional moment for me I felt truly relieved after the second jab Even still adopting social distancing and mask-wearing is a witness: “Mom used to wear two masks at once and rub her hands with alcohol-gel all the time Now she seems a little more normal and not so worried all the time.” E. Faria et al. Performance of vaccination with CoronaVac in a cohort of healthcare workers (HCW) - preliminary report. medRXiv.org, April 15, 2021. doi: 10.1101/2021 Meghie Rodrigues is a freelance science journalist based in Paraná state in southern Brazil, covering mainly Earth, physical sciences and climate change. To build immunity to bites from venomous snakes like this water cobra, Tim Friede injected himself with doses of venom over time. The diabetes and weight loss drug semaglutide may also help people with a severe form of fatty liver disease called MASH. In cities that have stopped adding fluoride to drinking water, children experience more tooth decay, studies have shown. Vials of milk await testing for avian influenza at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. in December 2024. Infecting dairy cattle hasn’t yet given H5N1 bird flu an evolutionary boost toward easy person-to-person spread. More children than ever before were diagnosed with autism in 2022, a new report shows. Experts say most of the rise is because of better detection and increased awareness of the developmental condition. In late March, NIH suspended funding for two clinical trials investigating how to better protect organ transplant recipients from COVID-19. The money is needed to complete the data analyses. A misaligned body clock, or circadian rhythm, could be cause for concern. Researchers are investigating whether a drug used for heavy metal poisoning might prevent harm to people from the venom of the puff adder, shown here, and other vipers. The snakes’ venom contains proteins that need zinc to do their damaging work. Science News was founded in 1921 as an independent, nonprofit source of accurate information on the latest news of science, medicine and technology. Today, our mission remains the same: to empower people to evaluate the news and the world around them. It is published by the Society for Science, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) membership organization dedicated to public engagement in scientific research and education (EIN 53-0196483). Subscribers, enter your e-mail address for full access to the Science News archives and digital editions. Volume 9 - 2018 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2018.00080 This article is part of the Research TopicCurrent Perspectives on Insulin-like Growth Factor Binding Protein (IGFBP) ResearchView all 16 articles The insulin-like growth factor (Igf) binding protein (Igfbp) family has a broad range of physiological functions and a fascinating evolutionary history This review focuses on the Igfbps of teleost fishes where genome duplication events have diversified gene repertoire and physiological regulation—with six core Igfbps expanded into a family of over twenty genes in some lineages In addition to briefly summarizing the current state of knowledge on teleost Igfbp evolution we highlight gaps in our understanding and promising areas for future work It is also important to remember that the diversification of the core vertebrate Igfbp system occurred alongside expansions in other key gene families within the Igf system, including both hormones (13) and receptors (14). It now seems certain that the early vertebrate genome duplication events were crucial for the evolution of distinct insulin and Igf systems [e.g., Ref. (15)] where additional genetic expansions—some dramatic—have been recently characterized This points to functional divergence at the protein level that remains entirely unexplored These paralogs remain of substantial interest but we are at an early stage of understanding their roles in salmonid biology it seems likely that many other species possess expanded Igfbp repertoires contributing additional complexity to their growth regulation can be explained by the short alignment length the tree demonstrates independent expansions within the salmonid and carp Igfbp repertoire additional to paralogs retained in many other teleosts Many studies have investigated the physiological roles of Igfbp genes in the teleost lineage it has been historically challenging to perform functional analyses in most teleosts although this is changing in light of emerging genome-editing methods (see Perspectives and Future Work) Igf-dependent and Igf-independent functions have been widely demonstrated the majority of studies in teleosts have failed to reach similar levels of functional insight most work has focused on expression-level regulation of igfbp genes or proteins under a diverse set of experimental stimuli It is also important to note that most teleost Igfbp research has focused on aquaculture species of high commercial value This has led to a bias toward physiological processes relevant to commercial production we briefly summarize the literature on teleost Igfbp function and regulation considering the core vertebrate subtypes separately We make attempts to distinguish Igfbp paralogs according to the evolutionary histories and nomenclature described above although this is often not possible as many studies failed to distinguish paralogs especially for the most recently discovered genes Differences in Igfbp-2 expression across studies suggest a complex role for this Igfbp family member in teleost growth dependent on both physiological and species context which is inconsistent with a role in growth inhibition there is a relatively limited body of research on teleost Igfbp-3 genes leaving their roles unclear in many species with the available evidence suggesting functional divergence among different lineages the available evidence suggests that the physiological role of Igfbp-4 differs across species and physiological contexts the available evidence suggests that Igfbp-5 genes play conserved functions in multiple aspects of teleost biology with roles most clearly demonstrated in myogenesis There is also considerable evidence that both teleost and salmonid-specific Igfbp-5 paralogs have evolved divergent roles The gene has a broad tissue expression distribution in mammals which may be linked to the balancing of energetic allocation toward effective immune function Igfbp-6 genes of teleosts are rather understudied and it is difficult to draw overarching conclusions about their roles and functions at this time Our current understanding of the Igfbp repertoire of different teleosts has benefited greatly from recent expansions to genomic resources We can now be confident in the existence of many teleost paralogs which are expressed and presumably functional our understanding of the functions and regulatory control of these genes remains highly fragmented across teleosts as a group and remains highly underdeveloped compared to mammals It is becoming increasingly clear—perhaps with the exception of Igfbp-1—that teleost and mammalian Igfbp orthologs have evolved distinct expression-level regulation This points to distinct functional roles in the regulation of growth in teleosts compared to mammals which may be related to differences in growth dynamics there is also evidence that Igfbp orthologs from different species have evolved distinct regulation and hence This can be speculatively linked to the additional functional flexibility or redundancy linked to Igfbp duplication events which has allowed divergent regulation of paralogs to evolve under different physiological contexts suggesting gene expression studies should make every effort to distinguish Igfbp paralogs the full repertoire of Igfbp genes was not even recognized in many teleosts we can look forward to a future where every paralog within a species has its function cataloged by such approaches even in lineages with hugely expanded Igfbp gene families This will open the door for associating protein-level functional divergence in Igfbp paralogs with evolutionary changes in gene expression regulation generating a fuller picture of the biological roles of this fascinating gene family in teleosts DGS and DJM wrote the manuscript and prepared the figures DM built the phylogenetic tree showed in the manuscript DGS would like to thank the Marine Alliance Science Technology Scotland (MASTS) for their support MASTS is funded by the Scottish Funding Council (grant reference HR09011) and contributing institutions The insulin-like growth factor-binding protein (IGFBP) superfamily Phylogenetic analysis of the insulin-like growth factor binding protein (IGFBP) and IGFBP-related protein gene families Gen Comp Endocrinol (2008) 155(1):201–7 Comparative endocrinology of the insulin-like growth factor-binding protein Insulin-like growth factor signaling in fish Peripheral regulation of the growth hormone-insulin-like growth factor system in fish and other vertebrates Comp Biochem Physiol A Mol Integr Physiol (2012) 163(3–4):231–45 Circulating insulin-like growth factor binding proteins in fish: their identities and physiological regulation Gen Comp Endocrinol (2017) 252:150–61 Identification and molecular characterization of insulin-like growth factors binding proteins (IGFBP-1 Prog Growth Factor Res (1991) 3(4):243–66 Modern Concepts on Insulin-Like Growth Factors Google Scholar Evolution of the insulin-like growth factor binding protein (IGFBP) family Endocrinology (2011) 152(6):2278–89 Phylogenetic and chromosomal analyses of multiple gene families syntenic with vertebrate Hox clusters The evolutionary significance of polyploidy Structural and functional analysis of the amphioxus IGFBP gene uncovers ancient origin of IGF-independent functions Endocrinology (2013) 154(10):3753–63 Evolution of the insulin superfamily: cloning of a hybrid insulin/insulin-like growth factor cDNA from amphioxus Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A (1990) 87(23):9319–23 Structure and expression of the insulin-like peptide receptor from amphioxus Mol Endocrinol (1996) 10(7):857–66 Gene duplications and the origins of vertebrate development Google Scholar Evolution of ancient functions in the vertebrate insulin-like growth factor system uncovered by study of duplicated salmonid fish genomes Mol Biol Evol (2013) 30(5):1060–76 Duplication and diversification of the hypoxia-inducible IGFBP-1 gene in zebrafish Duplication of the IGFBP-2 gene in teleost fish: protein structure and functionality conservation and gene expression divergence Duplicated zebrafish insulin-like growth factor binding protein-5 genes with split functional domains: evidence for evolutionarily conserved IGF binding Molecular and functional characterization of two distinct IGF binding protein-6 genes in zebrafish Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol (2009) 296(5):1348–57 The Atlantic salmon genome provides insights into rediploidization A well-constrained estimate for the timing of the salmonid whole genome duplication reveals major decoupling from species diversification The rainbow trout genome provides novel insights into evolution after whole-genome duplication in vertebrates Lineage-specific rediploidization is a mechanism to explain time-lags between genome duplication and evolutionary diversification Targeted sequencing for high-resolution evolutionary analyses following genome duplication in salmonid fish: proof of concept for key components of the insulin-like growth factor axis Duplicate insulin-like growth factor-I genes in salmon display alternative splicing pathways The complete salmonid IGF-IR gene repertoire and its transcriptional response to disease Genome sequence and genetic diversity of the common carp Recent duplication of the common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) genome as revealed by analyses of microsatellite loci Mol Biol Evol (2003) 20(9):1425–34 Functional differentiation of myoglobin isoforms in hypoxia-tolerant carp indicates tissue-specific protective roles Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol (2012) 302(6):693–701 Genome evolution in the allotetraploid frog Xenopus laevis MAFFT multiple sequence alignment software version 7: improvements in performance and usability GUIDANCE2: accurate detection of unreliable alignment regions accounting for the uncertainty of multiple parameters Nucleic Acids Res (2015) 43(W1):W7–14 Characterization of the definitive classical calpain family of vertebrates using phylogenetic Bayesian phylogenetics with BEAUti and the BEAST 1.7 Mol Biol Evol (2012) 29(8):1969–73 W-IQ-TREE: a fast online phylogenetic tool for maximum likelihood analysis Nucleic Acids Res (2016) 44(W1):W232–5 Relaxed phylogenetics and dating with confidence Insulin-like growth factor-binding protein-1: an evolutionarily conserved fine tuner of insulin-like growth factor action under catabolic and stressful conditions Insulin-like growth factor binding protein-1: recent finding and new directions Proc Soc Exp Biol Med (1997) 216(3):319–57 Insulin-like growth factor binding protein 1 stimulates cell migration and binds to the alpha 5 beta 1 integrin by means of its Arg-Gly-Asp sequence Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A (1993) 90(22):10553–7 IGF-dependent and IGF-independent actions of IGF-binding protein-1 and -2: implications for metabolic homeostasis Trends Endocrinol Metab (2009) 20(4):153–62 Circulating salmon 28- and 22-kDa insulin-like growth factor binding proteins (IGFBPs) are co-orthologs of IGFBP-1 Gen Comp Endocrinol (2011) 174(2):97–106 Postprandial changes in plasma growth hormone and IGF-binding proteins in coho salmon fasted for varying periods Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol (2009) 297(2):352–61 Disparate regulation of insulin-like growth factor-binding proteins in a primitive Gen Comp Endocrinol (2003) 134(2):122–30 In vitro secretion of insulin-like growth factor-binding proteins from liver of striped bass Gen Comp Endocrinol (1995) 99(2):239–47 Regulation of the somatotropic axis by dietary factors in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) Effects of homologous pituitary hormone treatment on serum insulin-like growth-factor-binding proteins (IGFBPs) in hypophysectomized tilapia Oreochromis mossambicus with special reference to a novel 20-kDa IGFBP Gen Comp Endocrinol (2000) 117(3):404–12 and cortisol on plasma IGF-I and IGFBPs in sunshine bass Gen Comp Endocrinol (2006) 149(3):219–25 and physiological regulation of zebrafish IGF binding protein-1 Endocrinology (2002) 143(7):2722–31 Characterization of three IGFBP mRNAs in Atlantic croaker and their regulation during hypoxic stress: potential mechanisms of their upregulation by hypoxia Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab (2011) 301(4):637–48 Molecular and biochemical responses of hypoxia exposure in Atlantic croaker collected from hypoxic regions in the northern Gulf of Mexico Nutritional status and growth hormone regulate insulin-like growth factor binding protein (igfbp) transcripts in Mozambique tilapia Gen Comp Endocrinol (2014) 207:66–73 Molecular cloning and function analysis of insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 1a in blunt snout bream (Megalobrama amblycephala) Dongwuxue Yanjiu (2014) 35(4):300–6 tissue distribution patterns and nutritional regulation of IGFBP-1 Gen Comp Endocrinol (2009) 161(3):344–53 Insulin-like growth factor-binding protein-1 (IGFBP-1) in goldfish and mRNA expression responses to periprandial changes and cadmium exposure Fish Physiol Biochem (2016) 42(3):1043–52 Divergent regulation of insulin-like growth factor binding protein genes in cultured Atlantic salmon myotubes under different models of catabolism and anabolism Gen Comp Endocrinol (2017) 247:53–65 Igf binding proteins protect undifferentiated spermatogonia in the zebrafish testis against excessive differentiation Endocrinology (2016) 157(11):4423–33 Insulin-like growth factor-binding protein-1 (IGFBP-1) mediates hypoxia-induced embryonic growth and developmental retardation Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A (2005) 102(4):1240–5 Measurement of circulating salmon IGF binding protein-1: assay development response to feeding ration and temperature Short-term starvation at low temperature prior to harvest does not impact the health and acute stress response of adult Atlantic salmon Metabolic hormones regulate insulin-like growth factor binding protein-1 mRNA levels in primary cultured salmon hepatocytes; lack of inhibition by insulin Hepatic insulin-like growth-factor binding protein (igfbp) responses to food restriction in Atlantic salmon smolts Gen Comp Endocrinol (2016) 233:79–87 Dietary methionine level affects growth performance and hepatic gene expression of GH–IGF system and protein turnover regulators in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) fed plant protein-based diets Comp Biochem Physiol B Biochem Mol Biol (2015) 181:33–41 Insulin-like growth factor (IGF) signalling and genome-wide transcriptional regulation in fast muscle of zebrafish following a single-satiating meal J Exp Biol (2011) 214(Pt 13):2125–39 Energetics of stress: linking plasma cortisol levels to metabolic rate in mammals Dual mode of cortisol action on GH/IGF-I/IGF binding proteins in the tilapia Effects of exogenous cortisol on the GH/IGF-I/IGFBP network in channel catfish Domest Anim Endocrinol (2005) 28(4):391–404 Serum insulin-like growth factor binding proteins (IGFBPs) as markers for anabolic/catabolic condition in fishes Comp Biochem Physiol B Biochem Mol Biol (2001) 129(2–3):229–36 Endocrine and orexigenic actions of growth hormone secretagogues in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) Comp Biochem Physiol A Mol Integr Physiol (2007) 146(3):390–9 Effects of fasting on circulating IGF-binding proteins and cortisol in channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) Domest Anim Endocrinol (2004) 26(3):231–40 Comparison of insulin-like growth factor-I and insulin-like growth factor binding protein concentrations of the palmetto and sunshine bass and the effects of gender and stress J World Aquacult Soc (2005) 36(3):384–92 Cross talk between growth and immunity: coupling of the IGF axis to conserved cytokine pathways in rainbow trout Endocrinology (2016) 157(5):1942–55 Recent insights into insulin-like growth factor binding protein 2 transcriptional regulation Endocrinol Metab (Seoul) (2017) 32(1):11–7 Overexpression of insulin-like growth factor-binding protein-2 in transgenic mice reduces postnatal body weight gain Endocrinology (1999) 140(12):5488–96 Selective alterations in organ sizes in mice with a targeted disruption of the insulin-like growth factor binding protein-2 gene Mol Endocrinol (2000) 14(9):1472–82 Integrin-mediated action of insulin-like growth factor binding protein-2 in tumor cells J Mol Endocrinol (2004) 32(3):859–68 IGFBP2 potentiates nuclear EGFR-STAT3 signaling High serum IGFBP-2 is predictive of increased bone turnover in aging men and women J Bone Miner Res (2007) 22(6):799–807 Purification of a 41-kDa insulin-like growth factor binding protein from serum of chinook salmon Gen Comp Endocrinol (2003) 132(1):103–11 Circulating salmon 41-kDa insulin-like growth factor binding protein (IGFBP) is not IGFBP-3 but an IGFBP-2 subtype Gen Comp Endocrinol (2011) 171(3):326–31 Insulin-like growth factor-binding protein (IGFBP)-1 and -6 and IGFBP-related protein 1 during rainbow trout postvitellogenesis and oocyte maturation: molecular characterization Endocrinology (2006) 147(5):2399–410 and IGFBP-2 in developing Umbrina cirrosa (Pisces: Osteichthyes) Gen Comp Endocrinol (2003) 130(3):232–44 and hormonal regulation of insulin-like growth factor binding protein-2 (IGFBP-2) in a marine fish Gen Comp Endocrinol (2002) 128(2):112–22 Common carp (Cyprinus carpio) insulin-like growth factor binding protein-2 (IGFBP-2): molecular cloning Gen Comp Endocrinol (2009) 161(3):390–9 Targeted knockdown of insulin-like growth factor binding protein-2 disrupts cardiovascular development in zebrafish embryos Mol Endocrinol (2005) 19(4):1024–34 Dynamic transcriptional regulation of autocrine/paracrine igfbp1 and 6 in the skeletal muscle of the fine flounder during different nutritional statuses Coordinated regulation of the GH/IGF system genes during refeeding in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) Postprandial expression of growth-related genes in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) juveniles fasted for 1 week and fed a single meal to satiation Insulin-like growth factor binding protein 2 is a growth inhibitory protein conserved in zebrafish Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A (1999) 96(26):15274–9 Switching to fast growth: the insulin-like growth factor (IGF) system in skeletal muscle of Atlantic salmon J Exp Biol (2008) 211(Pt 24):3859–70 Free and protein-bound insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) and IGF-binding proteins of coho salmon Gen Comp Endocrinol (1999) 115(3):398–405 Chronic stress inhibits growth and induces proteolytic mechanisms through two different non-overlapping pathways in the skeletal muscle of a teleost fish Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol (2018) 314(1):R102–13 High molecular weight insulin-like growth factor binding protein complex Purification and properties of the acid-labile subunit from human serum J Biol Chem (1989) 264(20):11843–8 Perspectives in mammalian IGFBP-3 biology: local vs Am J Physiol Cell Physiol (2009) 296(5):C954–76 Cellular growth inhibition by IGFBP-3 and TGF-beta1 requires LRP-1 Identification of a novel cell death receptor mediating IGFBP-3-induced anti-tumor effects in breast and prostate cancer J Biol Chem (2010) 285(39):30233–46 Insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3): novel ligands mediate unexpected functions J Cell Commun Signal (2013) 7(3):179–89 Factors regulating insulin-like growth factor-binding protein-3 binding and potentiation of insulin-like growth factor action Endocrinology (1996) 137(6):2286–92 IGF binding protein 3 exerts its ligand-independent action by antagonizing BMP in zebrafish embryos J Cell Sci (2011) 124(Pt 11):1925–35 and hormonal regulation of IGFBP3 gene in zebrafish Mar Biotechnol (NY) (2004) 6(1):1–7 Growth hormone transgenesis disrupts immune function in muscle of coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) impacting cross-talk with growth systems IGF-binding protein-4: biochemical characteristics and functional consequences Biology of insulin-like growth factor binding protein-4 and its role in cancer (review) Insulin-like growth factor (IGF) binding protein-4 is both a positive and negative regulator of IGF activity in vivo Mol Endocrinol (2008) 22(5):1213–25 IGFBP-4 is an inhibitor of canonical Wnt signalling required for cardiogenesis and functional analysis of the fugu (Takifugu rubripes) insulin-like growth factor binding protein-4 gene Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol (2009) 296(3):558–66 Development temperature has persistent effects on muscle growth responses in gilthead sea bream Transcriptional regulation of the IGF signaling pathway by amino acids and insulin-like growth factors during myogenesis in Atlantic salmon Lysine and leucine deficiencies affect myocytes development and IGF signaling in gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) The parallel evolution of dwarfism in Arctic charr is accompanied by adaptive divergence in mTOR-pathway gene expression Proteomic signature of muscle atrophy in rainbow trout IGF-binding protein-5: flexible player in the IGF system and effector on its own Evidence that IGF-binding protein-5 functions as a growth factor Regulation of vascular smooth muscle cell responses to insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I by local IGF-binding proteins J Biol Chem (2003) 278(44):42886–92 Importin α-importin β complex mediated nuclear translocation of insulin-like growth factor binding protein-5 Evidence that IGF binding protein-5 functions as a ligand-independent transcriptional regulator in vascular smooth muscle cells Insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 5 (IGFBP-5) interacts with a four and a half LIM protein 2 (FHL2) J Biol Chem (2002) 277(14):12053–60 Two grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 5 genes exhibit different yet conserved functions in development and growth Comp Biochem Physiol B Biochem Mol Biol (2016) 204:69–76 Calcium deficiency-induced and TRPV channel-regulated IGF-PI3K-Akt signaling stimulates abnormal epithelial proliferation Cell Death Differ (2014) 21(4):568–81 Genetic basis for variation in salinity tolerance between stickleback ecotypes Variation in branchial expression among insulin-like growth-factor binding proteins (igfbps) during Atlantic salmon smoltification and seawater exposure receptors and Igf binding proteins in marine versus freshwater stickleback: evidence of selection in known and novel genes Comp Biochem Physiol Part D Genomics Proteomics (2017) 25:53–61 Recent insights into the actions of IGFBP-6 J Cell Commun Signal (2015) 9(2):189–200 CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar The N-terminal disulfide linkages of human insulin-like growth factor binding protein-6 (hIGFBP-6) and hIGFBP-1 are different as determined by mass spectrometry J Biol Chem (1999) 274(21):14587–94 Decreased expression of insulin-like growth factor binding protein 6 is associated with gastric adenocarcinoma prognosis Oncol Lett (2017) 13(6):4161–41–68 IGF-II and IGFBP-6 regulate cellular contractility and proliferation in Dupuytren’s disease Biochim Biophys Acta (2013) 1832(10):1511–9 Prohibitin-2 binding modulates insulin-like growth factor binding protein-6 (IGFBP-6)-induced rhabdomyosarcoma cell migration J Biol Chem (2013) 288(41):29890–900 Insulin-like growth factor binding protein-6 activates programmed cell death in non-small cell lung cancer cells Inflammatory responses in primary muscle cell cultures in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) Targeted mutagenesis in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) using the CRISPR/Cas9 system induces complete knockout individuals in the F0 generation Generation of myostatin gene-edited channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) via zygote injection of CRISPR/Cas9 System Development of an efficient genome editing method by CRISPR/Cas9 in a fish cell line Mar Biotechnol (NY) (2016) 18(4):449–52 Keywords: insulin-like growth factor binding protein Citation: Garcia de la Serrana D and Macqueen DJ (2018) Insulin-Like Growth Factor-Binding Proteins of Teleost Fishes Received: 11 January 2018; Accepted: 22 February 2018; Published: 12 March 2018 Copyright: © 2018 Garcia de la Serrana and Macqueen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited *Correspondence: Daniel Garcia de la Serrana, ZGdkbHNjQHN0LWFuZHJld3MuYWMudWs= Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher. 94% of researchers rate our articles as excellent or goodLearn more about the work of our research integrity team to safeguard the quality of each article we publish. Volume 9 - 2022 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2022.933462 This article is part of the Research TopicTrematode Infection in Ruminants, Volume IIView all 5 articles Fasciola hepatica is reported as a trematode of great importance one of the most neglected zoonotic parasitic diseases in the world potential losses of around US$ 210 million per year were calculated The State of Santa Catarina is located in the South Region of Brazil with a herd of more than 4 million ruminants which have a consolidated agricultural tradition The objective of the present work was to investigate the occurrence and distribution of autochthonous cases of bovine fasciolosis in the region different analyzes were carried out in rural properties from eight municipalities and in three slaughterhouses under the State Inspection Service (SIE) which received animals from all the Serrana Mesoregion The rural properties were randomly selected and up to 20 fecal samples were collected from random cattle older than 1 year for analysis by coproparasitological sedimentation test The traceability records of the positives were checked the tracking data of cattle slaughtered between the years of 2018 and 2021 were analyzed for defining autochthonous cases of bovine fasciolosis 178 (9.2%) were positive and autochthonous but the overall result did not reflect the heterogeneity found between the evaluated municipalities with 1,744 (15.1%) liver condemnations due to fasciolosis in animals that never left the Serrana Mesoregion The present study confirmed the presence of autochthonous cases of bovine fasciolosis in municipalities of the Serrana Mesoregion and verified a high rate of positivity in animals slaughtered in the regional slaughterhouses When the prevalence of bovine fasciolosis in vivo was compared with the postmortem positivity index in five municipalities the results disagreed in four municipalities (p-value < 0.05) emphasizing the need for field investigation for the better understanding of the distribution and frequency of the parasitosis Due to the great impact generated on human and animal health, especially in cattle, Fasciola hepatica is reported as a trematode of great importance, causing fasciolosis, one of the most neglected zoonotic parasitic diseases in the world (1–3). It is also integrating the list of neglected tropical diseases of the World Health Organization (WHO), in the group of trematodes caused by foodborne diseases (3) The young parasite migrates through the liver parenchyma and the adult is located in the bile ducts of warm-blooded animals, such as sheep, goats, cattle, buffalo, swine and humans (4, 5). F. hepatica has an indirect life cycle, involving freshwater snails of the Lymnaeidae family as intermediate hosts (4) The State of Santa Catarina is located in the South Region of Brazil, and has a herd of more than 4 million ruminants (8). Fasciolosis is endemic and presents a high incidence in the coastal strip of the State (9–11), mainly due to climatic factors that influence the development of gastropod vectors (9, 12, 13) The Serrana Mesoregion, located at the center-south of Santa Catarina State, is composed of 30 municipalities (14) that have a consolidated agricultural tradition, mainly in extensive ruminant livestock (15). There are studies that reported liver condemnation due to fasciolosis in cattle slaughtered in this region, in slaughterhouses under Federal Inspection Service (9–11, 16) these slaughterhouses receive cattle from many different regions eventually from the Rio Grande do Sul State and there was no investigation about the origin or movement of such animals thus there was no confirmation of autochthonous cases Given the importance of fasciolosis for the economy it is essential to assess the occurrence of the disease in the animal population and define the parasite distribution providing support for the design of control strategies the objective of the present work was to investigate the occurrence and distribution of autochthonous cases of bovine fasciolosis in the Serrana Mesoregion as well as to compare the in vivo examination with the postmortem analysis of bovines for the diagnostic of fasciolosis The protocols used in this investigation were approved by the Ethics Committee for the Use of Animals of the Agroveterinary Sciences Center Santa Catarina State University (protocol CEUA N° 5381070619) The Serrana Mesoregion is composed of 30 municipalities (14). The Serrano climate is classified according to Köppen-Gelger as Temperate Oceanic Climate, that is, temperate and constantly humid (17), and the plant typology is classified as mixed ombrophilous forest, also called araucaria forest (18, 19) The municipalities included in the in vivo sampling were selected according to their geographic location and access limitations imposed by the pandemics of COVID-19 fecal samplings were carried out in the municipalities of Anita Garibaldi the traceability records of cattle slaughtered from the 30 municipalities were checked For the fecal samplings and diagnosis of F cattle from eight municipalities of the Serrana Mesoregion were sampled between August 2019 and November 2021 Up to 20 animals aged over 12 months were randomly selected from random farms included in the study The farms were selected from different regions within the municipalities with the aid of technicians from Agricultural Research and Rural Extension Company of Santa Catarina (EPAGRI) For the sample size calculation, the total number of ruminants and producers per municipality in the Serrana Mesoregion was kindly provided by the Integrated Agricultural Development Company of Santa Catarina (CIDASC). The sample size of tested cattle per municipality was calculated according to the prevalence estimate by simple random sampling (20), with the expected prevalence of 4.5% of bovine fasciolosis in Santa Catarina (9) where n is the sample size for an infinite population Pexp is the expected prevalence and d is the error: the correction for finite populations was applied to obtain the adjusted sample size N is the total population and n is the sample size for an infinite population: The fecal samples were collected individually the samples were stored in a thermal box and transported to the Laboratory of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases where they were stored at 4°C until their processing For the in vivo diagnostic of bovine fasciolosis, an adapted protocol of coproparasitological analysis by sedimentation was used, with double of the sample quantity used in the original protocol, and reading the entire sediment under the stereomicroscope, for improving the sensitivity of the test (21–23) for the coproparasitological sedimentation test 6 g of feces was homogenized in 84 mL of tap water inside a 250 mL graduated polyethylene column The content was filtered through a tea strainer and placed in a 500 mL conical glass flask the volume was adjusted to 400 ml with tap water and the sample was allowed to settle for 10 min The supernatant was discarded by careful eversion leaving approximately 50 ml with the sediment in the conical flask the remnant sample was left to settle for approximately 5 min and the supernatant was carefully removed with a disposable Pasteur pipette the whole sediment was distributed in two Petri dishes each one stained with three drops of 1% Methylene Blue The entire sample was read under a stereomicroscope (Stremi 508 the parasite structures were collected with a micropipette transferred to a slide and the morphological confirmation of F hepatica eggs was carried out under a microscope (E200 For the analysis of liver condemnations in slaughterhouses located in the Serrana Mesoregion the CIDASC kindly provided a report of cattle slaughtered in the region between June 2018 and July 2021 The report contained the total number of slaughtered cattle in the selected abattoirs such as liver condemnations because of fasciolosis the individual tracking tag number of every animal and all their movement between farms or municipalities according to the Brazilian System of Beef and Buffalo Meat Origin Identification and Certification (SISBOV) and Management System for Agricultural Defense of Santa Catarina (SIGEN+) The analyzed data came from three slaughterhouses under the State Inspection Service (SIE) located in the municipalities of Lages Otacílio Costa and São Joaquim These slaughterhouses receive animals from the municipalities of the Serrana Oeste and Vale do Itajaí Mesoregions data from the municipalities of: Abdon Batista All these municipalities are located in the Serrana Mesoregion To confirm autochthonous cases of bovine fasciolosis in the Serrana Mesoregion all animals sampled in the field and animals that had liver condemned for fasciolosis had their individual earring identification number (SISBOV) analyzed in SIGEN+ system the complete life history of the animal was investigated from the birth to the moment of fecal sampling or slaughtering to assess the origin and movement of the animals Autochthonous cases were defined when the infected bovine did not transit in any municipality outside the Serrana Mesoregion All data were stored and organized in Excel 2013 spreadsheets (Microsoft) for further analysis and tables preparation The prevalence (P) of bovine fasciolosis was calculated with the data from the field random sampling while the bovine liver condemnations due to fasciolosis were used to calculate the positivity index (PI) The postmortem data was not used to calculate prevalence as we considered that the cattle sent for slaughtering would not represent the entire population of their municipalities of origin Both P and PI were calculated according to the number of positives being infected animals (IA) or condemned livers (CL) in relation to the total number of sampled animals (TSA) or total number of slaughtered animals (TNA) from the same municipality In the municipalities of Bocaina do Sul, Capão Alto, Lages, Painel and Urupema, which presented positive animals in the in vivo and post mortem analysis, Pearson's chi-square (X2) test and Fisher's exact test were applied to verify the agreement between the two approaches for investigating the frequency of F. hepatica in populations of cattle. All analyzes were performed using the R statistical software [version 3.6.3, (24)] To determine the potential economic losses generated by bovine fasciolosis in the Serrana Mesoregion, the overall prevalence found in the study was extrapolated to the total herd of the analyzed region (8), and the impact calculated based on US$56.6 per animal positive for F. hepatica (7) Representative maps of the prevalence and positivity index of each municipality were produced with the software QGIS 3.20 (Geographic Information System), and the results were subdivided into groups of low (0.1–5.0%), medium (5.1–10 0.0%) and high (>10.1%) positivity (25) Sample calculation based on the bovine population in eight municipalities in the Serrana Mesoregion In total, 1,927 cattle were tested by coproparasitological sedimentation examination, of which 178 were autochthonous, with an overall prevalence of 9.2% (178/1.927). The municipalities with high prevalence (>10.1%) were: Painel (24.3%; 103/423) and Capão Alto (11.2%; 32/284); and average prevalence: Lages (7.51%; 35/466) and Bocaina do Sul (5.88% 2/34) (Table 2 and Figure 1) Prevalence of Fasciola hepatica through egg research in fecal samples of naturally infected cattle in municipalities in the Serrana Mesoregion Map of the distribution of bovine fasciolosis in the eight municipalities of the Serrana Mesoregion of Santa Catarina (SC) evaluated in the present study Prevalence found in cattle analyzed in the field Another point to be highlighted is the type of cattle breeding in the region being observed that most producers raise their animals extensively with the main sources of water for the animals in rivers Based on data from the three slaughterhouses under SIE, located in the Serrana Mesoregion, 11,556 cattle were slaughtered between June 2018 and July 2021, with 1,744 animals with condemned livers due to the presence of the parasite and lesions generated by fasciolosis. Of the 28 municipalities included in the study, 23 of them were positive (Table 3) Only animals that transited in the municipalities of the Serrana Mesoregion were counted thus characterizing all positive animals as autochthonous Fasciola hepatica positivity index in cattle in the slaughter line of three slaughterhouses of the State inspection system in municipalities in the Serrana Mesoregion In the analysis of data from slaughterhouses, it was found that the general PI of the 23 municipalities with infected animals was 15.1% (1.744/11.556) in the Serrana region. The municipalities that showed a high rate of positivity (>10.1%) (in red, Figure 2) were Santa Cecília (73.9% 17/23) Capão Alto (14.5% 93/641) and São José do Cerrito (11.8% 164/1.379) Rio Rufino and Zórtea did not present positive liver condemnation for fasciolosis Map of the distribution of the bovine fasciolosis positivity index from 2018 to 2021 according to data from three slaughterhouses under the State Inspection Service in 28 municipalities in the Serrana Mesoregion of Santa Catarina In the study, the agreement between liver condemnation data and field sampling of positive and negative animals for F. hepatica in the municipalities of Bocaina do Sul, Capão Alto, Lages, Painel and Urupema was analyzed, using the chi-square test and the Fisher's exact test (Table 4) Comparison between the prevalence of bovine fasciolosis in vivo with the post mortem positivity index through chi-square and Fisher's exact test in the municipalities of Bocaina do Sul a significant difference was found (p-value < 0.05) with the results of the municipalities of Bocaina do Sul the p-value was not significant (chi-square p = 0.22; Fisher's p = 0.21) indicating agreement between the compared analyses The results from the field samples of Anita Garibaldi Campo Belo do Sul and São Joaquim could not be compared to the data from abattoirs using chi-square and Fisher's exact tests as they were negative in the first analysis Fasciolosis greatly impairs bovine production, decreasing the weight gain, the final carcass weight and causing liver condemnation. The overall prevalence of bovine fasciolosis investigated and calculated in this study is of 9.2%. Extrapolating this prevalence to the Serrana Mesoregion, considering the regional bovine herd of 765,529 animals (8), and that fasciolosis generates a loss of US$ 56.6 dollars per infected bovine (7) a total loss of approximately U$ 4 million/year (U$ 3,986,281.40/year) can be estimated for the Serrana Mesoregion The Serrana Mesoregion of Santa Catarina State, Brazil, is a region with a very consolidated tradition of extensive ruminant farming, historically free of fasciolosis (26) a very large number of animals were surveyed for bovine fasciolosis by in vivo investigation with coproparasitological tests and by the post mortem data analysis in slaughterhouses under the SIE the average prevalence of positive infected animals through coproparasitological examination in eight municipalities in the Serrana Mesoregion was 9.2% (178/1,927) a high prevalence for a region previously considered free of fasciolosis The number of tested animals in the municipalities of Bocaina do Sul and Campo Belo do Sul did not reach the minimum sampling required but it occurred because of the COVID-19 pandemics and its restrictions The general prevalence of the Serrana Mesoregion does not reflect the heterogeneity in the levels of fasciolosis found among the investigated municipalities Even though bovine fasciolosis does not commonly cause mortality in parasitized animals, it is still a highly important disease (1). Attention to infected animals is directly related to the great economic impact on production animals due to the decrease in milk production, reduction in weight gain and low fertility (16) it seems that these stool samples were from animals presenting some clinical sign which justifies the high rate of positivity The second study evaluated the prevalence of F. hepatica in cattle from five municipalities located in the extreme South of Santa Catarina, which are Turvo, Timbé do Sul, Meleiro, Jacinto Machado and Morro Grande. A total of 290 bovine stool samples were collected in 61 properties, and a prevalence of 30.4% (88/290) was indicated in that region (27) None of these previous studies carried out a proper investigation of animals located in the Serrana Mesoregion emphasizing the scarcity of data and information about the fasciolosis in this location The present study had a specific focus on the Serrana Mesoregion prioritizing the randomness of the animals collected for a better evaluation of the prevalence of the disease and the investigation of the complete animal transit from their birth until the moment of collection This protocol proved that the bovines are becoming infected in the specific region highlighting the importance of the obtained results for the animal health and local economy Through the coproparasitological examination of the animals in vivo the study also contributed directly to the epidemiological control of the parasitosis through the diagnosis and treatment of the animals before slaughter increasing the profitability of the local producers In order to expand information on fasciolosis in the Serrana Catarinense Meserregion, data from SIE slaughterhouses located in the region were compiled in search of new data on liver condemnation by F. hepatica. Some studies have already been carried out previously referring to data from the Federal Inspection System (7, 9, 11, 26) The Serrana Mesoregion of Santa Catarina, Brazil, was historically free of this parasite (26). Silva (11) considered that the entire State of Santa Catarina was endemic based on data from the Federal Inspection System in regional slaughterhouses there was no analysis of the movement of cattle or any evidence of autochthony of positive bovines The abattoirs receive animals from several different locations and it is not possible to identify the origin of infection without investigating the transit of the infected animals The results of this previous study corroborate the present study only in the cities of Palmeira The prevalence of bovine fasciolosis in Anita Garibaldi and São Joaquim was so low that no infected animal was detected by fecal examination, even with a random sampling above the minimum desired sample (Table 2) some positives were detected in the records of liver condemnation from the region This comparison also emphasizes the necessity of field studies in order to investigate the correct distribution of the parasitosis in a determined region as the postmortem data did not match the detected prevalence When comparing the results found in the field study (in vivo) with the results from the slaughterhouses (postmortem), a significant difference was detected between these approaches in the municipalities of Bocaina do Sul, Lages, Painel and Urupema, that is, there was no agreement between the in vivo and the postmortem analysis (Table 4) This lack of agreement highlights the importance of field research in search of the real epidemiological situation of animals that are in the production process The present study confirmed autochthonous cases of F hepatica infection in cattle in the Serrana Mesoregion combining in vivo tests with postmortem investigation The prevalence of bovine fasciolosis was evaluated in the region through random sampling of bovines even extrapolating the minimum sample size providing robustness to the obtained results A high positivity index was verified in animals slaughtered in abattoirs under the State Inspection Service (SIE) the positivity index verified by liver condemnation and the real prevalence of fasciolosis in animals in the field were different emphasizing the need for the field investigation in order to determine the real prevalence of bovine fasciolosis in a population The detection of infected animals in a historically free region is a very important information not only for the region economy and health but for the understanding and control of F for the identification of the activities and epidemiological factors that contributed for the occurrence of fasciolosis in the region They will contribute for the planning and implementation of efficient measures to control this disease thus reducing economic losses for cattle farmers and protecting the human health by the prevention of possible zoonotic cases The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors The animal study was reviewed and approved by Ethics Committee for the use of animals of the Agroveterinary Sciences Center Written informed consent was obtained from the owners for the participation of their animals in this study and AC carried out the field sampling and coproparasitological tests The authors would like to thank FAPESC (grant number 027/2020−793/2021) for funding the materials used in the study We would also like to thank CAPES for funding LA masters degree All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher Epidemiology of fascioliasis in human endemic areas PubMed Abstract | CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Fasciola Species Introgression: Just a Fluke or Something More Investing to Overcome the Global Impact of Neglected Tropical Diseases naturally infecting introduced European brown hare (Lepus europaeus) in northern Patagonia: Phenotype global prevalence and economical losses of fasciolosis in ruminants Bovine fascioliasis in Brazil: Economic impact and forecasting 8. IBGE. Efetivo de Rebanho, Por Tipo de Rebanho. Inst Bras Geogr e Estatística Pesqui da Pecuária Munic. (2019). Available online at: https://sidra.ibge.gov.br/tabela/3939#resultado (accessed July 2 Fasciola hepatica in bovines in Brazil: data availability and spatial distribution Geopolitical dispersion of the occurrence of Fasciola hepatica in the State of Santa Catarina Correlation between climate data and land altitude for Fasciola hepatica infection in cattle in Santa Catarina Subacute and acute fasciolosis in sheep in southern Brazil perspectives in the diagnostic and the use of geoprocessing systems for prevalence studies Divisão Regional do Brasil em mesorregioes e microrregiões geográficas Ministério da Econ Fazenda e Planej Pecuária de corte: Vocação e inovação para o desenvolvimento catarinense Mapping risk of bovine fasciolosis in the south of Brazil using geographic information systems Relações Biométricas e Aambientais no Incremento Diamétrico de Araucaria angustifolia no Planalto Serrano Catarinense Inventário florístico florestal de Santa Catarina: espécies da Floresta Ombrófila Mista Dinâmica Estrutural Arbórea de uma Floresta Ombrófila Mista em Campo Belo do Sul Medición de las condiciones de salud y enfermedad de la pobalcion Módulo de Principios de Epidemiología para el Control de Enfermedades (MOPECE) EUA: Organización Panamericana de la Salud (2001) The Sedimentation Concentration Method in Schistosomiasis Mansoni Qualitative and quantitative evaluation of coprological and serological techniques for the diagnosis of fasciolosis in cattle Comparison of early detection of Fasciola hepatica in experimentally infected Merino sheep by real-time PCR 24. R-Foundation. The R Project for Statistical Computing. (2003). Available online at: https://www.r-project.org/ (accessed August 24 Multiple regression for the schistosomiasis positivity index estimates in the Minas Gerais State - Brazil at small communities and cities levels Parasitic Diseases – Schistosomiasis Moluscos e Saúde Pública em Santa Catarina:subsídios para a formulação estadual de políticas preventivas sanitaristas RJ: Espaço Científico Livre Projetos Editoriais Prevalência da Fasciola hepatica em cinco municípios do Extremo Sul Catarinense Rev Ciências Agroveterinárias Occurrence of fluke infection in beef cattle around Phayao Lake O continente das Lagens: sua história e influência no sertão da terra firme Biodiversidade dos Campos do Planalto das Araucárias Fascioliasis and other plant-borne trematode zoonoses de Moura AB and Chryssafidis AL (2022) Epidemiological Survey and Confirmation of Autochthonous Cases of Bovine Fasciolosis in the Serrana Mesoregion of Santa Catarina Received: 30 April 2022; Accepted: 08 June 2022; Published: 22 July 2022 Copyright © 2022 Américo, Padilha, Arruda, Drescher, de Moura and Chryssafidis. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) *Correspondence: Andreas Lazaros Chryssafidis, YW5kcmVhcy5jaEB1ZGVzYy5icg== Analyzing the aerial spraying industry in Brazil shows many similarities to the United States - a large number of aircraft flying over fields using the latest application and guidance technology to protect infinite crops from pests and disease. But there is one remarkable operational difference that stands out - while an American ag plane will be leaving a trail in the shape of a curtain, the pattern of a Brazilian ag plane is characterized by distinctive tracks. During the last few years, the Brazilian ag aviation industry gravitated towards the use of rotary atomizer nozzles. There are many reasons: easier maintenance due to less equipment in the booms, versatility to calibrate different application rates and droplet sizes, more efficient coverage and better crop results and increased profitability for the operator. Ag aviation operators in all parts of Brazil are increasingly adapting this type of technology. From the smaller aircraft (like Embraers, Cessnas and Pawnees) to the larger ones (AT-802, AT-802 and Thrush 710P and 510P), atomizer nozzles are used with a variety of products applied to a wide range of agricultural crops. In this article, we will share the recent history of some operators who have been leading the way in Brazil. Caio Balzan, a second-generation agricultural pilot, commented on some of the reasons that led them to utilize the rotary atomzier: “The demand came from our customers and with the research, we realized that in addition to this type of application making the service faster and cheaper, the efficiency and the agronomic result were improving due to the high concentration of active product and better coverage. We are now able to achieve a wider swath width and a higher quality droplet spectrum when compared to conventional hydraulic nozzles”. The Bom Futuro (“The Good Future”) group is one of the largest agricultural companies in the world. It cultivates more than 1.5 million acres (600,000 hectares) every year producing approximately 1.7 million tons of grains. Located in the state of Mato Grosso (in the Brazilian Midwest), it runs the largest crop-livestock integration project in the world, where over 130,000 beef cattle are raised. The fields are so large that anyone can get lost in the vastness, and are protected by a fleet of 17 Air Tractors, which is led by Paulo França, also known as Tchecão (“The Big Czech”). Paulo has been working there for almost two decades. He is a close friend to Sergio Zanoni (CEO of the Zanoni) and many of his ideas and demands led to some paradigm changes in the Brazilian aerial application industry. He tells us a little about his history in ag aviation: “I have been an agricultural pilot for 27 years. My history in aviation is the history of any boy who, since he was a child, has dreamed of being a pilot. And from the beginning, I have identified myself a lot with agricultural aviation because you can see how useful you are to the world. I started flying for Bom Futuro through a third party that provided contract service to them, working that way for 7 to 8 years. At a certain point, as the group grew, they decided to buy their own aircraft and invited me to join as a pilot. I am now completing 18 seasons with them. In the last one, we protected more than 1 million hectares [2.47 million acres, considering the two crop seasons that the region has during the year]”. “That’s where Low Volume in Oil (BVO) came in, which is the addition of 0.1 GPA [1 liter/ha] of vegetable oil to the load. We started using BVO in 2002. There was better efficiency and we were able to increase the application window, without falling short in the quality of the application. The use of BVO in Mato Grosso compromises 100% of our work due to the efficiency of the droplets not evaporating and the better adhesion of the droplet to the plant. During our season, it rains a lot and the water washes the plant, but the oil prevents that. Tchecão has been working with Zanoni on a new rotary atomizer specifically for the AT-602 and AT-802. He shared with us some details about the project: “For many years, we’ve heard it was impossible to work with this kind of nozzle in those larger aircraft. Everybody used to say that high speed compromised the droplet spectrum. We tested different application solutions from different brands and here we are. I’ve been working with Sérgio for 18 years and we have managed to develop a lot of interesting stuff for the ag aviation industry. This time will be no different. They [Zanoni] came here and we managed to find a common denominator, and now we are doing the agronomic research. I’ve been doing different simulations at different times for ten days in a row (at night, dawn, in the morning) with the best analysis tools available on the market. Although the tests are still preliminary, we are seeing the best possible result with this new development for all kinds of applications, including insecticides and fungicides. “Without a doubt, working with rotary atomizers is excellent, as it is the best way to have more uniform droplets and better results on the crop due to better coverage. Rodrigo currently treats 13 of their farms, three being in the north of the state that require more than an hour ferry from its central base, which is close to the city of Patos de Minas. Initially, this caused a problem with the durability of rotary atomizers, as they run much longer than usual operations due to the length of the aircraft ferry. Their spray season runs 11 months out of the year. In 2017, the durability of the atomizers was greatly improved and solved the short lifespan issue. He highlighted that, because the region has an immense variety of crops (according to him, everything except rice and sugarcane are planted there), technologies that offer a wide range of different flows are required. For example, a specific insecticide for cotton is sprayed with application rates of 0.2 GPA (2 liter/ha) and in tomatoes the foliar application is at 3 GPA (30 liter/ha). “The rotary atomizer has made our life a lot easier. We have already tested several application solutions, with Air Tractors and Embraer Ipanemas, and this was the one that best stood up to our pace”. Rodrigo highlighted the role that the investment in research played in his operation. He points out that through many studies, spray clinics, dialogue with farmers and evaluation of results in the field, he has managed to find a standard of excellence for his aerial application work. One example was corn. Here we have a big pig farm, so they use a lot of corn to feed them. I came from Goiás, where I used to work with an application rate of 0.8 GPA (8 liter/ha) in corn. At first, they were hesitant of the proposal, but already in the first year everything was done using these parameters. It worked - application quality improved, application time improved and concentration changed. Finally, Rodrigo told us some more specific details about working with different crops: Later we came to use 0.2 GPA (2 liter/ha) in corn, too, to fight the leafhopper (“cigarrinha do milho”). It is a flying insect, which also lays eggs very quickly and you can easily lose control of the corn crop. Carlos Ferronato is a pilot in the new generation of Brazilian ag aviation. He started in the industry in 2010 as a loader (badeco, as we call it in Brazil), helping pilots on several aircraft (Pawnee, Embraer, Thrush and Air Tractors). In 2014, he graduated as an agricultural pilot in Ponta Grossa (Paraná state) and his first job was in the Lucas do Rio Verde region (state of Mato Grosso), where he flew for a local ag aviation operator for three years with an 1976 model Embraer Ipanema 201. Carlos then started working for his father-in-law, who is a farmer and started to make 100% of his applications with aircraft. Together with his wife’s family, Carlos started an agricultural aviation company with an Embraer Ipanema 201 and then acquired an Air Tractor AT-402. They started to provide services to other farmers in the region of Lucas Rio Verde, Nova Mutum and Sorriso, today considered one of the largest grain producing centers in the world. The company sold the old Ipanema and bought two new Embraer 203s, spraying corn, cotton and soybeans, pastures and eucalyptus. In the last season, they treated 240,000 hectares in the region (almost 600,000 acres), mostly with BVO (low volume with oil) applications. Alan Poulsen, a very experienced Brazilian agricultural pilot who has brought innovations to the Brazilan agricultural aviation industry. If SINDAG (the Brazilian association of agricultural aviation companies) had a hall of fame like the US, he would certainly deserve to be there. Taim currently treats pastures and rice, soy, wheat and cotton with liquid and dry applications. The company also provides some aerial firefighting services in an ecological reserve, which is a peculiar case because it successfully uses smaller aircraft than what is considered the norm. Poulsen also is currently one of SINDAG’s directors, responsible for operational safety in agricultural aviation. When we talk about application technology, Poulsen stands out for being the forerunner in the use of an electrostatic system in South America. He introduced the use of this technology in the region in 2001, in partnership with Spectrum Electrostatic System (from Houston, Texas). For two decades, the company has been carrying out work with rotary atomizers, arguably making him one of the most experienced operators in the world. Alan highlights some features of this type of operation: “I have been working with this for two decades, with very satisfactory results. The use of electrostatic technology allowed us some very significant gains. First, the possibility of working with thinner droplets increases application efficiency, giving us greater coverage. The electrostatic charge ensures greater uniformity in droplet size. We have done extensive research over the years, managing to see a better deposition of droplets when compared to conventional applications. With lower application rates, typically working with 1 GPA (10 liters/ha), I have also achieved significant operational gain with my aircraft and a reduction in the use of water. But we shouldn’t see this technology as a magic solution. That does not exist. It all depends on the precise maintenance of the system and, above all, on an application following the correct parameters and conditions. That is the way it is with any type of work. You can only achieve satisfactory results with professionalism and agricultural aviation is not a place for amateurs”. “It’s great to see the result of serious and well-done research, like these two we did here at Taim. It is through our experience in the field and through those studies that we are able to see what works and what does not. Where there is room for improvement and how we can share good practices with others in agricultural aviation. That’s how the industry evolves”. Anderson started in aerial application in 2015, after a brief stint in air transport and corporate aviation. His first two seasons were with an Embraer Ipanema 202A (powered by alcohol) and, after his boss acquired an Air Tractor, he started operating the turbine aircraft, completing four seasons with it. Grupo Piaia is an agricultural company with farms in the region of São Gabriel do Oeste (state of Mato Grosso do Sul) and Campo Novo dos Parecis (state of Mato Grosso), both of them in the Brazilian Midwest, and also in the region of Baixa Grande do Ribeiro (state of Piaui), one of the new “agricultural frontiers” in Brazil. The main crops that Anderson serves in Piaui are soybeans, corn and rice, spraying foliar fertilizer, insecticide and fungicide. He says that he always used rotary atomizers and says he has nothing to complain about it: “We have been working in this way for six years and this was a record year. I flew 125,000 hectares (300,000 acres) and we had a 50% gain in productivity compared to previous years. By maintaining this type of service, we managed to control both pests and diseases. We had no outbreak issues of any kind.”. Anderson tells us that it is common to work in the region with application rates of 0.8 to 1.2 GPA (8 to 12 liters/ha) and that atomizers are the best solution to meet this demand. In his operation, Anderson works with application rates of 1.5 GPA (15 liters/ha) for foliar fertilization, 1 GPA (10 liters/ha) for insecticide. With fungicide, it is common to spray 1 GPA (10 liters/ha) at the beginning of the cycle, and, after 70 to 80 days, they move to 1.5 GPA (15 liters/ha). Last year, Anderson also started to work as a ferry pilot and is now bringing new Air Tractors from the United States to South America for AgSur Aviones. During our talks, he also highlighted the importance of information sharing and promotion in our industry: “I like to publicize our work, the work of agricultural aviation. We suffer from prejudice from all sides, with regard to safety. But when we work with professionalism, we have a margin. We need to show that the work is serious, that it is always in constant evolution. Agricultural aviation is growing a lot here in Brazil and we are presenting the day-to-day of aerial application. You have to stay tuned to innovations, keep up with new ideas, so people can see how serious we are”. Already working together for a few years, now in 2021 Zanoni Equipamentos and Sabri established a partnership for research with atomizers. The two will soon make available a platform with the results of different application conditions with the Brazilian atomizer, results of a large number of field tests carried out by Henrique Campos. The Dr. shared with us some of his perspectives on the future of Brazilian aerial application: “In my opinion, the best thing about working with rotary atomizers is the versatility and precision it offers in terms of application rate and droplet spectrum. We see operators in Brazil working with these nozzles from ultra-low volume to applications with 2 to 3 GPA (20 and 30 liters/ha). You can produce from very fine to coarse droplets with great uniformity depending on your need, thus achieving a great balance between operational efficiency and safety. Alan McCracken is an Irish agronomist who has lived in the US for decades. After working for several multinational companies, McCracken started acting as an independent agronomic consultant. He is largely responsible for some of the major changes in aerial application standards around the world, including the Brazilian ag aviation industry, having already worked in dozens of countries. He says he spends more than half of each year traveling the world to help our industry take the flight in the right direction. Some success and peculiar stories he likes to tell are the control of the olive Moth in Spain, the works for mosquito control in old Yugoslavia, the fight against locusts in Bolivia, the protection of banana crops in Ecuador, and the adjustment of insecticide and fertilizer applications in Mexico’s asparagus plantations. “When all the experts said to use more water, we got the best possible control, and that was with lower rates. For this reason many people refer to me as the ‘5 liter man’. For me, that’s a compliment”. Today, Brazilian agriculture benefits from this integration between the two countries and the American agricultural industry has also gained from the bilateral exchange of technologies and knowledge. It is now common to see Brazilian developments contribute to US agriculture and agribusiness and vice versa. Instead of competitors, the two countries are part of the same Americas, the only continent capable of guaranteeing food security in a world with increasing demand. The Agricultural Aviation industry is also part of this modern advancement; from aircraft manufacturers, to developers of application technologies, agrochemical suppliers, expert agronomists and even pilots - working both in the southern and northern seasons, the US and Brazil have the two largest agricultural aircraft fleets on the planet. The experiences and successes of atomizer applications on row crops is just one way that sharing technological advancements can assist us all. © 2025 AgAir Update, a Marsayl Media Publication. All rights Reserved. © 2025 AgAir Update, a Marsayl Media Publication. All rights Reserved. CoronaVac and Covishield effectiveness tested in Serrana and Botucatu, two towns in the state of São Paulo The researchers compared Serrana with 16 nearby municipalities, including Brodowski, Jardinópolis, and Cravinhos. “We see the result of an uncontrolled epidemic in the region. In general, the microregion of Ribeirão Preto is suffering enormously, but this does not true in Serrana,” highlights Palacios. When the results were published at the end of May, eight COVID-19 deaths had been recorded among those vaccinated. Seven of them, however, had only received the first dose. From 15 days after the second dose, no deaths were recorded and only two people were hospitalized due to COVID-19. An immunological survey of the population carried out before the study began revealed that 25.7% of residents had already been exposed to the virus. The situation in Ribeirão Preto remained critical in early June and monitoring of Serrana is ongoing—the study is planned to last a year. “We are showing, at least for the time being, that vaccination is capable of controlling the epidemic,” says Borges. According to him, the research is intended to reveal how long the immunity conferred by the vaccine lasts. Genetic sequencing of samples from patients who test positive will also ensure quick detection of possible new mutations in the virus. The primary results have been presented to the media and the general public, while the researchers continue to analyze the data generated by the study for a scientific article. “What we have disclosed so far was a more descriptive analysis, such as the effectiveness. Now we need to create a mathematical model to describe our findings. We hope that this will be ready in the next few weeks,” Borges told Pesquisa FAPESP. Lucas Martins /Fotoarena  A volunteer is given the COVID-19 vaccine in Botucatu in early MayLucas Martins /Fotoarena  Although Serrana continues to follow the rules established in São Paulo’s State COVID-19 Plan Borges believes restrictions in the municipality may be lifted earlier than in other places “It is only natural that some will activities return to normality sooner in Serrana a higher percentage of students at school maybe It makes no sense for a town not to lift restrictions when almost everyone is vaccinated and the pandemic is under control But this would require central coordination and any easing to be linked to the State Plan.” which used the Covishield vaccine produced by the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (FIOCRUZ) Those involved in the research are currently currently monitoring cases while preparing for a new round of immunization with the target audience set to receive their second doses over two days in August 67,000 people were vaccinated in a single day on May 16 Another 7,000 received their first dose the following week People aged over 60 and health professionals had already been vaccinated under the National Immunization Program (PNI) Pregnant women and new mothers are not participating in the study “Everyone on the electoral register with proof of address was vaccinated in a single day such as students at UNESP’s Botucatu campus or people who have lived in the town for years and can prove it but are not on the electoral register These cases were analyzed with the help of the Brazilian Bar Association and the Public Prosecutor’s Office to ensure they really were residents,” says Fortaleza “This was important because the risk of people from elsewhere trying to fraudulently gain access to the program was high I can’t say that we avoided it completely but we greatly reduced the likelihood with this strategy.” People were vaccinated in their electoral zones and at defined times according to their age About 2,500 people volunteered to work as administrative staff and vaccinators “We were supported by students from the School of Medicine and people from other areas who performed administrative duties The project sparked great public enthusiasm,” says Fortaleza The study is being led by UNESP with funding from the local government which donated the FIOCRUZ vaccines and around R$10 million to purchase reagents and genetic sequencing machines and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation It is being carried out in partnership with the University of Oxford and the Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP) Two molecular biology labs at UNESP have been sequencing the genomes of virus samples from positive cases in the town and 12 other smaller municipalities in the region built up over the years with funding from FAPESP that we are able to take on this challenge,” says Fortaleza the team was still awaiting funds promised by the Ministry of Health for the genome sequencing first identified in Manaus and renamed as the gamma variant Although it used a different methodology to Project S with vaccination taking place over eight weeks Fortaleza does not hide his admiration for the Butantan Institute’s work But we did not base our research on any previous experience independent methodology,” stresses the researcher highlighting the decision to vaccinate the target audience all at once With extensive experience of vaccination campaigns in Brazil from the Santa Casa de Sao Paulo School of Medical Sciences is following the Brazilian effectiveness studies with interest as well as those carried out in other countries “The Serrana study is important and promising but so far we only have early data,” says Moraes a member of the Epidemiology Commission of the Brazilian Association of Collective Health (ABRASCO) He believes the research has to answer the question of whether the variants circulating in Brazil are capable of reducing the protection conferred by the vaccine where vaccination is progressing very slowly “The PNI easily has the capacity to vaccinate 2 million people a day the entire population of Brazil could be given two doses,” he says And we started the process late,” he points out Project Development of a COVID-19 vaccine (nº 20/10127-1); Grant Mechanism Research in Public Policy; Principal Investigator Dimas Tadeu Covas (Butantan Institute); Investment R$32,501,477 © Revista Pesquisa FAPESP - All rights reserved A student at Junction Road’s Shaolin Temple has earned new fame with her breakout role in Netflix’s Enola Holmes 2 starring Millie Bobby Brown and Henry Cavill The film’s cast also includes Harry Potter stars Helena Bonham Carter and David Thewlis as well as Sam Claflin and Louis Partridge Serrana Su-Ling Bliss plays Bessie Chapman a factory girl who approaches young Enola played by Brown [Brown] had her pet rabbit and poodle in her tent Her boyfriend Jake [Bongiovi] was also there a lot and we sometimes played UNO together,” Bliss said.  the young actor recalled meeting “these huge stars” on set adding that she “loved hanging out with” Brown.   Bliss recounted other memorable moments from her time filming Enola Holmes 2 including speaking to Cavill about his costumes in The Witcher and getting acting tips from Thewlis.   “I also had my 12th birthday on set,” she said and they sang me ‘Happy Birthday’ on set.”  has been training at the UK’s only Shaolin Chan Buddhist Temple the reason I started kung-fu was because I saw the animated film Kung-Fu Panda and I loved how Master Shifu made the flower blossom,” Bliss said.   I want to learn kung-fu so I can make a flower bloom.”   Bliss told Islington Now that she got her first acting gig – in a commercial for Lawn Tennis Association – through doing martial arts.   I start out playing tennis but then transform into a ninja with a tennis racquet and do some martial arts moves,” she said.   said she feels “very lucky to be able to train” at the Temple and the instructors have been such amazing?mentors,” she added.   Bliss made her acting debut as Sharon Nicholas in Kenneth Branagh’s Oscar-nominated Belfast She is also part of the child dance ensemble cast in Matilda the Movie which released in UK cinemas on 25 November.   the owners and developers behind the Serrana condo project on North West Point are seeking to modify the planning permission they already have to increase the site layout to revise and increase the floor area by 1,538.27sqft and increase the floor elevation The project remains controversial as several neighbouring landowners continue to argue that they were never notified about this development in the first place They also say that the area was re-zoned without public consultation and that the Central Planning Authority had ignored the advice of the Department of Environment to deny permission to modify the shoreline or reduce the oceanfront setbacks little has happened to improve the concerns of neighbours who have submitted objections to the latest application to increase the overall size of the development According to the latest correspondence from objectors construction in the allowed zone has become a public nuisance Neighbours have recorded reckless practices on the site and they are urging the CPA not to approve any further work until a review of the site operations and adherence to existing approvals has been reviewed Even though this project was approved almost two years ago the objectors state that they have still not seen the notification that was supposed to have been circulated to landowners in 2019 But that concern has been surpassed by the impact the development has had on the lives of neighbours sometimes at weekends and late into the night to fill in the ironshore and build a sea wall The objectors have told the CPA that construction workers shout all day long sometimes into the evening when they socialise at the site after work They complained of industrial lighting at night including during the past turtle nesting season and evidence of pollution in the marine park They say no screens have been used to prevent dust and silt and that agreements with neighbours about trees that had to be removed to fill in boundary lines have not been met And during Tropical Storm Grace a badly anchored shed on the site flew over the wall and damaged a parked car on an adjacent property the neighbouring landowners say no approval should be given to further infringe on their privacy The CPA is expected to consider the application on Wednesday despite the catalogue of concerns surrounding this development the only issue listed by planning for consideration is that the rear setback from the road is too short and the board needs to assess if there are exceptional circumstances and sufficient reasons to grant a variance Category: development, Local News Trackback URL | Comments RSS Feed PACT has been infiltrared with politicians controlled by the same master$ who controlled Alden’$ UNITY gpovernment The few PACT that want to govern for the benefit of us Caymanians are in the minority impotent and incapable of delivering good governance It matter$ not to the controllers who are elected always needing money $$$ they are cheap to buy and easy to control We see how for a few $$$ their campaign trail statements were designed to give comfort to the foolish electors who have no way to hold them accountable Time to name and shame the PACT SELLOUT UNITY BETRAYERS The island is being cleared of its natural vegetation more and more literally every single day of the week to pave the way for multimillion dollar luxury homes and condominiums Native creatures are losing their homes so that the wealthy can have theirs There will come a day when we look back at the concrete jungle we have inherited and have no one to blame but ourselves The developments are spreading into areas that just a few years ago we all thought would be protected developers are destroying the iron shore with concrete and now there are plans for a multimillion dollar development in the protected marine park in Little Cayman I don’t think you know what you saying When will the Government aay enough is enough People is running from people and coming here and making here like where they running from 25 or 30 years ago here was a lot better place to work and live period No place in this world that’s over populated the living conditions are good but most of West Bay is a complete trash of a neighborhood Have any of these commenters driven around inner West Bay lately It is a complete embarrassment of owners/renters with apparently no pride You dont need to live in multi-million dollar properties how about some cleanliness or upkeep even on modest properties mega Yawn 🥱…..don’t let the aircraft door hit your ass on the way out…etc…etc. How about you take your opinions and your backside back to where you came from Another 9 storey development coming soon on NWP More natural vegetation and native animals losing their habitats so the wealthy can have their luxury homes Mother Nature will smite us for this in due time Wayne Panton said “Curbing Development will not increase sustainability….”or some crap like that He also said development will be one of the primary revenue earners Vista Development & their management are extremely qualified and capable people Why do you cry babies always pick on the people who provide us with these quality developments and great jobs This message sponsored by Vista Development The principal of Vista is a great builder who has done many There is a grand estate of 3 houses that they did right on the same road which is of great quality The same one in which the ceiling fell out within a month of being completed because the shower above was not constructed and sealed properly and therefore leaked water to below they keep the jobs below budget and ahead of schedule the last person to criticize got a rambling written attack. The developers and real estaters surely have designs on it and the Brac What the hell is that down by Harbour Heights Don’t worry Ian and useless Planning Board will pass this too. Why the hell Jay won’t clean up this board is beyond me ….come on a Newby MLA changing one of if not the most powerful and important boards 11:08 what exactly is wrong with the current planning board Everyone is pointing fingers but not paying attention to the fact that it’s the LAWS and REGULATIONS that need changing and yes – they will be granted the variance @10:35pm..Ian Pairdeau know owns the rubber stamp that ALT used to have. and probably still is a PPM member and Handel will always be accountable to DART Alden has his plants throughout the PACT government The sooner they realize this and start making some changes particularly on this board and especially the Chairman and deputy chairman Comment * document.getElementById("comment").setAttribute( "id" "a7b0796344f6421aeae60e661da9783e" );document.getElementById("f6c5908192").setAttribute( "id" Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. Cayman News Service Production Begins On 'Wizards Beyond Waverly Place' Season 2 'Phineas & Ferb' Revival Debuts New Trailer, Premiere Date Revealed - Watch! 'Descendants 5' Starts Filming, First Look Photo Revealed! 2 'DWTS' Pros Seemingly Confirm New Romance! Millie Bobby Brown is pretty in pink for the premiere of her new movie Enola Holmes 2 The 18-year-old actress stepped out with her boyfriend Jake Bongiovi and the rest of the cast while attending the event on Thursday (October 27) at the Paris Theatre in New York City Earlier in the week, Millie was spotted on the set of another upcoming Netflix movie Millie and Jake have been together since the summer of 2021. Did you know that he has a very famous father Enola Holmes 2 debuts on Netflix on November 4. Watch the trailer now Click through the gallery for 40+ photos of Millie Bobby Brown and others at the premiere… More Here! » Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page.