Andre Cabette Fabio Kalunga firefighters from the Prevfogo brigade hold leaf blowers at the Pantanal wetland in Corumbá Thomson Reuters Foundation/Henrique Kawaminami The Kalunga people have mastered wildfires in the Cerrado for generations Now they fight blazes from the Amazon to the Pantanal In the world’s largest tropical wetland a group of Kalunga firefighters dig a firebreak line between the forest and the flames as they battle a wildfire spreading over the region The firefighters are descendants of enslaved Africans that first set up Brazil's "quilombo" settlements three centuries ago Brazil has suffered from a historic drought this year as South America increasingly struggles with the impact of climate change. The country had its largest burnt area of land in over a decade in the first nine months of 2024, according to government data as the drought exacerbated human-started fires The Kalunga are recognised for their firefighting techniques and Brazil's Ministry of Environment has been recruiting them since 2013 to work in the federal fire brigade Prevfogo during the dry season "We open this line to enclose the fire … so that it doesn't spread further," said Kalunga squad leader Roberto Francisco Maia A firefighter from the Prevfogo brigade hoses down wildfires at the Pantanal wetland Kalunga squad leader Roberto Francisco Maia from the Prevfogo brigade in the Pantanal wetland in Corumbá A Kalunga firefighter from the Prevfogo brigade uses a leaf blower to form a firebreak at the Pantanal wetland in Corumbá The firefighters are hired for six months every year and are paid between 1,412 reais ($253.06) and 5,280 reais a month some dig the clean line while others blow leaves and cut branches using traditional methods that have been successful preserving their native This has become an increasingly common sight in the Pantanal, which has lost about 81% of its water surface since 1985 according to data released in June by MapBiomas - a collaboration between universities Kalunga firefighters have been deployed in several regions of Brazil and are beginning to work internationally having been sent to Bolivia this year and Canada in 2023 said Prevfogo chief of operations Charles Pereira Pinto They have ample experience preventing fires in their own quilombo territory in Goiás state and are routinely called to train environmental officers Indigenous communities and others around the country researchers and firefighters from different regions have said Brazil's Indigenous people and natives from quilombo settlements make up about 70% of the country's 3,662 federal firefighters But it can be challenging to work on the firefighting frontline of a country still learning how to deal with drier and more flammable conditions At a recent meeting in Prevfogo's headquarters in the Corumbá municipality meteorologist Naiane Araújo Silva projected a map of the Pantanal -- it was covered in red "In red you have the areas with humidity below 30% and temperature over 30ºC," she told the Prevfogo officers adding that these conditions were conducive to the spread of fires This type of dangerous combination has become more common in South America making the Kalunga community's firefighting knowledge particularly valuable director of science at the IPAM environmental institute who is a descendant of the Kalunga community says their firefighting knowledge runs deep They have long used flames in the rainy season when fire is less likely to spin out of control They have also traditionally burned river springs -- or set "prescribed fires" -- as a preventative measure to avoid future fire hazards Pereira Pinto said authorities started to realise that these so-called "prescribed fires" once frowned upon by environmental officers were essential to keep the Cerrado land protected from the risk of bigger fires in future "You couldn't just discard traditional knowledge," he said the Prevfogo's deputy coordinator in Corumbá said the fact that Kalunga firefighters were deployed more frequently across the country reflected their success in their home region The Kalunga only have the time to "be sent to other places because they have already made a lot of progress in protecting their own territory," she said But firefighters complain that the amount of time that they are deployed by the ministry has become inadequate because the fire season is becoming less predictable While they are only hired for six months of the year the fire season has been lasting longer in recent years -- starting earlier and ending later than expected "Fire isn't something that happens only for six months anymore Kalunga firefighters say they should be hired for the whole year to allow them to execute more prescribed fires and adapt to the varied areas they are sent to As Kalunga firefighters get deployed across the country another challenge is that they are having to work in new environments Trees in their native Cerrado region are more fire resistant than those in the Amazon and in the Pantanal "The difficulty for us here (in the Pantanal) is that we don't know the terrain that well," said Maia they must cut burning trees down with chainsaws to prevent them from falling across firebreaks and spreading flames to still unburned areas Another difference is that abundant dead leaves and branches in the Pantanal and the Amazon form a thick This makes it more difficult for firefighters to extinguish flames completely in this environment "In our land you are able to put the fire out directly but here you have to use firebreaks," said Kalunga firefighter Guilherme Pereira Rodrigues referring to the practice of digging out the organic layer until reaching the mineral ground to prevent flames from spreading under the surface some carcará birds glide low as they search for prey amid the crackling sound of burning trees Firefighters have just spent an hour battling flames in an area of trees and squad leader Maia climbs on top of the Prevfogo water truck to have a better look and make sure the blazes are out (Reporting by Andre Cabette Fabio; Editing by Jack Graham and Ana Nicolaci da Costa.) Context is powered by the Thomson Reuters Foundation Newsroom Our Standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles From Greek holiday islands to Canada's temperate forests wildfires are intensifying as climate change fuels rising temperatures These links open on reuters.com By providing your email, you agree to our Privacy Policy What does a Donald Trump presidency mean for LGBTQ+ rights? Indigenous forest peoples can finally control nature finance Inside Trump's $6mn deportee deal with El Salvador mega-prison Half London councils found using Chinese surveillance tech Portable internet helps Asia's scam centres bypass blackouts How is Bangladesh preparing farmers for increasingly salty soil? Context is a media platform created by the Thomson Reuters Foundation. We provide news and analysis that contextualises how critical issues and events affect ordinary people, society and the environment. Find out more. The Workforce Disclosure Initiative is an investor-backed project to improve the quantity & quality of corporate workforce data via an annual survey & engagement process Trust Conference is the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s flagship annual event taking place in the heart of London each year TrustLaw is the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s global pro bono service facilitating free legal assistance to NGOs and social enterprises around the world Deloitte Insights and our research centers deliver proprietary research designed to help organizations turn their aspirations into action Partner | Real Estate Services | Deloitte Tax LLP Lynn is a tax partner in the Atlanta office of Deloitte with more than 18 years of experience serving significant real estate She has structured numerous real estate transactions and captive REITs involving real estate assets throughout North America Tim is a research leader on commercial real estate at the Deloitte Center for Financial Services Vice Chair and US Real Estate Sector Leader| Deloitte & Touche LLP As Vice Chair and US Real Estate Sector Leader Sally Ann brings more than 30 years of experience in the real estate sector and understands the dynamics of this market proptechs and public and private REITs across several asset classes Sally Ann is a partner of Deloitte & Touche LLP She has previously served as the Bay Area Office Audit and Assurance leader  where she worked with teams in the financial services technology and life sciences sectors addressing critical accounting and reporting needs with respect to complex transactions and challenging internal control environments sharing best practices for corporate governance Sally Ann served as the US Real Estate Funds Affinity Leader and was also the  Real Estate Eminence Leader developing Deloitte’s Real Estate Outlook Series Sally Ann graduated from University College Dublin with a BComm Diploma in Professional Accounting and Masters in Business Studies – Strategic Management and moved to San Francisco after qualifying as a chartered accountant She is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Jonathan joined the Washington National Tax office in 2012 as managing principal of its Tax Policy group With extensive experience in the legislative arena Jon is able to provide clients with critical insights on developments in tax policy and politics helping them plan for anticipated legislation and the potential impacts on their businesses interprets the practical issues surrounding the application of tax proposals on behalf of Deloitte’s clients and relays those insights through multiple channels and deeper dive pieces on key developments Jonathan was previously the staff director for the Committee on Ways and Means of the US House of Representatives his most recent senior staff position in the US House of Representatives During his tenure as staff director for the Committee on Ways and Means Jonathan was responsible for developing legislative policies and strategy on issues in the committee’s jurisdiction Jonathan is a frequent speaker at events sponsored by Deloitte His insights on tax policy frequently appear in The Wall Street Journal Jonathan received his BA in history from Haverford College and JD from University of Virginia Shahira Knight is the Managing Principal in the Policy & Government Relations (PGR) group of Deloitte LLP Shahira has nearly 25 years of experience in government she held several senior leadership roles in government including Director of White House Legislative Affairs where she served as the liaison between the White House and Congress and Deputy Director of the White House National Economic Council (NEC) where she helped coordinate the administration's domestic economic policy agenda Shahira also served as Senior Policy Advisor on the Ways and Means Committee in the US House of Representatives where she was responsible for leading the committee’s policy and legislative operations Shahira worked in the Public Affairs and Policy Group at Fidelity Investments and the policy and government relations group of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) Shahira served on the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board and was a Pritzker fellow at the University of Chicago Institute of Politics in Economics from the University of Virginia and her M.A Elections inevitably hold both promise and peril for business leaders, and commercial real estate is no different. In a mid-2024 survey of US real estate managers, investors, and advisors conducted by PERE, nearly 90% of respondents said that results from the 2024 election would impact the real estate industry, and 75% thought it would directly affect their businesses.1 could have near-term impacts on the real estate industry’s financial performance the second largest year-over-year change behind concerns about elevated interest rates CRE leaders are likely focusing more on tax policies in 2025 for three main reasons. First, Pillar Two, the 15% global minimum tax, continues to be implemented in many jurisdictions in 2025.5 Second, about 80 countries held elections by the end of 2024; collectively, these outcomes may hold long-ranging implications for fiscal policy.6 Third with key pieces of the US tax code expiring at the end of 2025 there is a strong likelihood that major tax legislation will move through Congress this year A recent Deloitte Tax Policy Group publication outlined the many provisions of the TCJA that are due to expire at the end of 2025 pre-TCJA provisions will again take effect in 2026 Trump expressed support for extending the TCJA and promised to expand and revise the law (figure 2) commercial real estate leaders should also be aware of other policy provisions that could change or expand during the second Trump administration Below are some of the major potential policy shifts and key questions that would need to be explored: While much about what a new administration might enact is still unknown tax policy will be an immediate priority for legislators in 2025 with the expiration of key components of the TCJA on the horizon To maintain the recent recovery momentum and mitigate potential business disruptions leaders in commercial real estate can prioritize the following: Policy & government relations | Managing principal The Deloitte Center for Financial Services | Deloitte Services LP Change your Analytics and performance cookie settings to access this feature Harrison Connery, “Private real estate weighs in on ‘unpredictable’ US election,” PERE Jonathan Traub and Anna Taylor, “Scaling the cliff: Tax policy implications of a Donald Trump presidency,” Deloitte Survey was conducted in June and July of 2024 Jeffrey J. Smith, Kathy Feucht, Renea Burns, and Tim Coy, “2025 commercial real estate outlook,” Deloitte Insights The New York Times, “International elections 2024: What you need to know,” March 21 Traub and Taylor, “Scaling the cliff” Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, “Global Minimum Tax,” accessed Jan Emma Agyemang and Paola Tamma, “Trump win puts global corporate tax deal ‘in peril’,” Financial Times Steven Grodnitzky, “Trump says global tax deal has no “force or effect” in US, orders government hiring freeze with more scrutiny for the IRS,” Deloitte Tax LLP Internal Revenue Service, “Opportunity zones,” accessed Jan Ana Lai, “Real Estate Monitor: Rate cuts could spur sector recovery,” S&P Global Ira Kalish and Robyn Gibbard, “United States Economic Forecast,” Deloitte Insights Kevin Thorpe, “10 Critical Questions for 2025,” Cushman & Wakefield The authors wish to acknowledge Brian Americus and Jonathan Traub for their insights and contributions Access more insights for the banking and capital markets ​Our analysis of what to expect in the commercial real estate and investment management sectors in 2025—and implications for the next decade Explore research and insights for the real estate sector and a changing regulatory landscape are opening doors to disruptive innovation in financial services © 2025. See Terms of Use for more information Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited a UK private company limited by guarantee ("DTTL") DTTL and each of its member firms are legally separate and independent entities DTTL (also referred to as "Deloitte Global") does not provide services to clients Deloitte refers to one or more of the US member firms of DTTL their related entities that operate using the "Deloitte" name in the United States and their respective affiliates Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting Please see www.deloitte.com/about to learn more about our global network of member firms © 2021. See Terms of Use for more information Please view the main text area of the page by skipping the main menu. The page may not be displayed properly if the JavaScript is deactivated on your browser Japanese version Kaiowá chief Farid Mariano sits for a photo inside the “óga pysy” a prayer house in the Laranjeira Ñanderu territory President Lula is helping Indigenous communities sell food to the government but a backlash from Congress puts them at risk of eviction LARANJEIRA ÑANDERU - Chief Farid Mariano walks proudly amid the trees vegetables and roots growing in the Laranjeira Ñanderu territory in Brazil's Midwest retaken by his Guarani and Kaiowá community from a private rancher Reoccupied by the Indigenous community in the last two decades the degraded land has been restored for farming with a lot of hard work.    a common problem in Mato Grosso do Sul state standing on the now-arable cropland wedged between a trucking road and a small patch of forest Indigenous farming like the Guarani and Kaiowá community’s is a largely unexplored alternative for Brazil to increase food production in degraded pastures and slow the destruction of natural areas like forests and wetlands destruction that is the country’s main source of greenhouse gas emissions Boosting the effort recently has been a shift in a federal programme that makes it possible for the Guarani and Kaiowá and other Indigenous communities to sell food to the government without having secured land titles Indigenous people hardly ever access this type of credit. Most subsidies are directed to dominant farm models connected to deforestation according to an analysis of government data by the Forests & Finance Coalition of NGOs which aims to improve policies and regulations in the financial sector Under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazil is trying to position itself as a global climate leader, using its recent presidency of the G20 group of major economies and the upcoming U.N COP30 climate summit in 2025 to call for more finance for the environment But a backlash looms, as Brazil's Congress is pushing to outlaw dozens of recent Indigenous reoccupations such as Laranjeira Ñanderu which is producing food with government support while waiting to be fully recognised Under the subsidy program for Indigenous farmers an effort to end the clearing of trees and encourage the regeneration of depleted farmland each producer may sell up to 30,000 reais ($4,949) a year worth of products to the government which distributes it to vulnerable communities The effort is part of Brazil's Food Acquisition Programme an initiative launched in 2003 and began focusing on Indigenous people last year just 5% – 70 million reais out of 1.4 billion reais – spent since July 2023 by the Food Acquisition Programme went to Indigenous farming The program allows the Guarani and Kaiowá to provide food for vulnerable communities in the nearby city of Rio Brilhante where earlier efforts were met with suspicion and hostility and people asked if it was really from our crops or if we had stolen it a Guarani-Kaiowá leader and human sciences student Almeida sold the government about 800 reais worth of papaya it is a great victory to be able to say that the village is nurturing the city" seated in the shade of an "óga pysy" - a huge thatched triangular-roofed ceremonial house at the center of the territory Prohibitive bureaucracy and a lack of expertise from financial institutions in dealing with Indigenous agriculture can make it difficult for them to access conventional credit senior analyst on socio-biodiversity economics at advocacy Instituto Socioambiental "All financing schemes are targeted to agribusinesses rather than "socially and biologically diverse agriculture" Kaiowá farmer and teacher Raquel Locário de Lima stands by crops and a pigsty in the Laranjeira Ñanderu territory Indigenous farmer and craftswoman Regina Pedro sits with a child in Laranjeira Ñanderu territory Kaiowá farmer Érico Locário de Lima by a vegetable bed in the Laranjeira Ñanderu territory Along with providing income and helping replenish damaged land for farming the subsidy program helps promote traditional Indigenous agriculture Kaiowá farmer Érico Locácio de Lima said he uses a mixture of leaves and earth from the nearby forest patch to fertilize his vegetable bed "This is why it's important for us to have native (forest) land … This is Kaiowá culture" his family sold the government more than 4,000 reais worth of crops The Food Acquisition Programme has created a system that allows the sale of food products regardless of any pending land tenure issues "We are promoting traditional Indigenous agriculture without expanding the area for cattle as the nation’s banks and agribusiness sector push back and wield political and economic power that could undermine its benefits to Indigenous communities and to the environment overall Brazil is the sixth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world, according to the EU Emissions Database for Atmospheric Research, 74% of which is linked to farming data from Brazil's Climate Observatory SEEG system showed Most gases are released into the atmosphere by the digestive system of the country's 240 million strong cattle herd or through deforestation to create pastures and grain fields The country is the world's largest soybean producer and the second-largest beef producer, two industries that often are at odds with Indigenous communities over land Most of Brazil's public rural credit since 2008 has gone to soybean farming according to a report by the Forests & Finance Coalition Those figures mean the Brazilian banks that channel public funds to farmers are the top financiers of deforestation in the world as both industries are main drivers of destruction of the country's Amazon and other natural areas That dominance is reflected in Brazil's Congress, where the agribusiness caucus forms a majority that often counters Indigenous rights and authorises further deforestation Last year, agribusiness-backed politicians championed and passed a bill limiting Indigenous land claims to those they occupied as of 1988 which could make Laranjeira Ñanderu and more than 60 other territories in Mato Grosso do Sul illegal Brazil's Supreme Court is expected to decide if the law is constitutional, but there is no date for such a ruling.  pro-farming legislators are trying to change the country’s constitution to bypass potential opposition by the top court Most of the Guarani and Kaiowá territories were reoccupied more recently than 1988 often amid deadly clashes with police and farmers If the new cutoff date for Indigenous land claims is put into effect (Reporting by Andre Cabette Fabio; Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst.) REITs invest in the majority of real estate property types Nareit’s REIT Directory provides a comprehensive list of REIT and publicly traded real estate companies that are members of Nareit The directory can be sorted and filtered by sector CEM Benchmarking’s 2024 study also reveals allocations and risk-adjusted performance of 12 asset classes over 25-year period Partnerships are occurring across a range of REIT property sectors is the REIT industry’s largest annual gathering of executives REIT industry by ensuring its members’ best interests are promoted by providing unparalleled advocacy continuing education and networking.  More than 1,300 attendees converged on the Diplomat Beach Resort in Hollywood REITwise panels focused on a variety of current political economic and market events that are impacting legal tax and accounting operations within REITs and publicly traded real estate companies Nareit Vice President for Financial Standards Christopher Drula (left) discussed the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) financial reporting priorities with Sagar Teotia The Senior Financial Officer Luncheon with Andrew Beal political analyst at Fox News and Jason Chaffetz The state of Non-GAAP reporting session featured (left to right): moderator Serena Wolfe Center for Audit Quality; Christine McElroy Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) The REIT Operational/Practical Tax Issues session with (left to right): moderator Scott Winer Park Hotels & Resorts; William DeKlerk Nareit’s Tax Reform session with (left to right): Lynn Kawaminami Washington Council Ernst & Young; and moderator Tony Edwards Nareit executive vice president and general counsel The Government Relations Committee session with (left to right) Andrea Hofferson branch chief-financial institutions & products assistant to the branch chief-financial institutions & products Nareit’s SEC & PCAOB Topical Issues session with (left to right): moderator Christopher Drula are companies that own or finance income-producing real estate across a range of property sectors These real estate companies have to meet a number of requirements to qualify as REITs and they offer a number of benefits to investors REITs historically have delivered competitive total returns steady dividend income and long-term capital appreciation Their comparatively low correlation with other assets also makes them an excellent portfolio diversifier that can help reduce overall portfolio risk and increase returns These are the characteristics of real estate investment Nareit serves as the worldwide representative voice for REITs and real estate companies with an interest in U.S Nareit’s members are REITs and other real estate companies throughout the world that own as well as those firms and individuals who advise the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts®, is the worldwide representative voice for REITs and publicly traded real estate companies with an interest in U.S Nareit's members are REITs and other businesses throughout the world that own National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts® and Nareit® are registered trademarks of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (Nareit) who was elevated to the status of samurai tasked with shipbuilding 2024 has been a watershed year for overturning people’s preconceptions about what the word “samurai” really means Because samurai really were more than just warriors Henry Schnell and his brother Edward were cosmopolitan people grew up in Indonesia where they learned to speak Malay served in the Prussian army and then came to Japan to sell firearms left over from the American Civil War and even cannons to the Aizu Domain in northeastern Japan where they eventually moved to act as firearms instructors It was there that Henry Schnell established a close relationship with Matsudaira Katamori Katamori was so fond of Henry that he bestowed upon him a Japanese surname which was an inversion of the kanji in Matsudaira The newly-minted Hiramatsu Buhei also received a house fulfilling every requirement to be classified as a samurai Scnhell took his Japanese wife and a few samurai families and moved to California to establish a silk and tea plantation the residents of the colony became the original Japanese settlers of California possibly being the first person of Japanese heritage to be born in the United States some of the oldest Japanese-American families in California can trace their roots to a plantation started by the foreign samurai Henry Schnell was a serious matter for the Catholic Church which is why they dispatched Chiara to investigate He found out what happened firsthand after being immediately arrested and tortured He spent the rest of his life in Japan under house arrest such as investigating foreign cargo to make sure nobody was smuggling Christian artifacts into the country Other details that support this theory include Chiara being made a direct retainer of Tokugawa Iemitsu and (later) Ietsuna, much like William Adams with Ieyasu. Later, Chiara was also officially given the title of metsuke, or government inspector, who were usually made up of lower-rank samurai. On their own, every argument that Giuseppe di Chiara was a samurai is a little thin, but taken together, they point to the likelihood that there once was a priest samurai. Around 1644, a combination of famine, drought and government collapse that was years in the making resulted in the overthrow of the Ming Dynasty in China. The turmoil that ensued convinced Ran Kaiei, a high-ranking government official, that staying in China would be bad for his health so he fled across the water to Japan. The Satsuma Domain was prosperous before Kaiei, but with his help, its power grew immensely, allowing the Shimazu clan to become instrumental to the success of the Meiji Restoration and the Boshin War that ended the shogunate, put the emperor back in power and laid the foundation for the democratization of Japan. Volume 16 - 2022 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2022.808232 Facilitation of fear extinction is a desirable action for the drugs to treat fear-related diseases such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) We previously reported that a selective agonist of the δ-opioid receptor (DOP) facilitates contextual fear extinction in mice its site of action in the brain and the underlying molecular mechanism remains unknown we investigated brain regions and cellular signaling pathways that may mediate the action of KNT-127 on fear extinction Twenty-four hours after the fear conditioning mice were reexposed to the conditioning chamber for 6 min as extinction training (reexposure 1) KNT-127 was microinjected into either the basolateral nucleus of the amygdala (BLA) or infralimbic (IL) subregions of the medial prefrontal cortex mice were reexposed to the chamber for 6 min as memory testing (reexposure 2) significantly reduced the freezing response in reexposure 2 compared with those of control The effect of KNT-127 administered into the BLA and IL was antagonized by pretreatment with a selective DOP antagonist the effect of KNT-127 was abolished by local administration of MEK/ERK inhibitor into the BLA These results suggested that the effect of KNT-127 was mediated by MEK/ERK signaling in the BLA we propose that DOPs play a role in fear extinction via distinct signaling pathways in the BLA and IL a drug without such side effects is required in clinical use the brain regions and molecular mechanism(s) that mediate the extinction-facilitating action of KNT-127 remain elusive we first investigated the site of action of KNT-127 using local administration of the drugs into the BLA we examined whether these two signaling pathways in the fear circuits contribute to the effect of KNT-127 on fear memory regulation purchased from Tokyo Laboratory Animals Science Japan) were used for the behavioral experiments The mice had free access to food and water in an animal room maintained at 23 ± 1°C with a 12-h light–dark cycle (the lights were switched on automatically at 8:00 a.m.) The mice were kept in this environment for at least 1 week before the experiments The study was conducted in accordance with protocols approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of the Tokyo University of Science (approval nos a dummy cannula (Eicom) was inserted in the guide cannula to avoid clogging atipamezole (medetomidine antagonists) was administered to the mice at a dose of 0.75 mg/kg the mice were monitored for ≥5 days for recovery (normal eating mice were anesthetized with isoflurane and microinjected with 0.2 μl per side of fast green The brains were sliced using a linear slicer PRO7N (DOSAKA EM Cannula location was confirmed and if cannula tip was outside of the target region and memory testing were conducted in a conditioning chamber (20 cm × 20 cm × 33 cm The lateral and rear walls were made of opaque plastic The chamber floor consisted of 19 stainless steel rods (4-mm diameter) spaced 1 cm apart and wired to a shock generator (ENV-414 The chamber was cleaned with 70% ethanol before and after each trial the mice were trained with eight conditioning trials The mice were allowed to explore the chamber for 60 s before conditioning began and they remained in the chamber for 30 s after the last conditioning trial Twenty-four hours following the conditioning the mice were microinjected with PBS or KNT-127 the mice were reexposed to the conditioning chamber for 6 min (extinction training Twenty-four hours after reexposure session 1 each mouse was placed back in the conditioning chamber and the mouse was observed every 1 min by a trained observer to assess its freezing behavior via a monitor connected to a video camera system mounted over the experimental chamber Fear memories at the test session were assessed and expressed as a percentage of the time The data are expressed as the means ± SEM One- or two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare more than two groups Post hoc individual group comparisons were made using the Bonferroni’s test for multiple comparisons The Student’s t-test was used for comparisons between two groups Analyses were performed with GraphPad Prism 7 (GraphPad Software United States); p < 0.05 was considered to indicate statistical significance These results suggest that KNT-127 exerts fear-reducing effect by acting on the BLA Intra-BLA administration of KNT-127 significantly reduced the contextual fear memory Mice were bilaterally administered with PBS (n = 16) or KNT-127 (n = 11 for 25 ng n = 13 for 50 ng) into the BLA 30 min before reexposure 1 (6 min) a fear memory was tested in the same context for 6 min (reexposure 2) (B) Freezing rates of mice during conditioning KNT-127 significantly reduced freezing rates during reexposures 1 and 2 (C) Time course of the freezing rates of mice during conditioning ****p < 0.0001 for comparisons between PBS group by one-way or two-way ANOVA and post hoc Bonferroni’s test these results suggest that the action of KNT-127 in the BLA is mediated through the DOPs Intra-BLA administration of the DOP antagonist abolished the freezing reduction by KNT-127 Mice were bilaterally administered with PBS or KNT-127 (50 ng) into the BLA 30 min before reexposure 1 (6 min) was administered similarly (35 min before reexposure 1) I abolished the effects of KNT-127 during reexposures 1 and 2 The number of mice in each group was as follows: n = 9 for PBS and subsequent PBS (PBS + PBS) n = 6 for PBS and subsequent KNT-127 (PBS + KNT) n = 8 for NTI and subsequent PBS (NTI + PBS) and n = 8 for NTI and subsequent KNT-127 (NTI + KNT) Data are expressed as the means ± SEM ****p < 0.0001 for comparisons between KNT and NTI treatment groups by one-way or two-way ANOVA and post hoc Bonferroni’s test Intra-BLA administration of the MEK/ERK inhibitor blocked the fear-reducing effect of KNT-127 Mice were subcutaneously administered with saline or KNT-127 (10 mg/kg) 30 min before reexposure 1 (6 min) was administered bilaterally into the BLA (35 min before reexposure 1) U-0126 abolished the effects of KNT-127 during reexposures 1 and 2 The number of mice in each group was as follows: n = 6 for vehicle and subsequent saline (VEH + saline) n = 7 for vehicle and subsequent KNT-127 (VEH + KNT) n = 7 for U-0126 and subsequent saline (U-0126 + saline) and n = 7 for U-0126 and subsequent KNT-127 (U-0126 + KNT) ***p < 0.001 for comparisons between KNT-127 and U-126 treatment groups by two-way ANOVA and post hoc Bonferroni’s test Figure 3C shows the time courses of freezing rates for each session. Two-way repeated-measures ANOVA (drug × session) revealed significant main effects of each session (F(2,46) = 40.35, p < 0.0001), drug (F(3,23) = 9.88, p = 0.0002) and interaction between drug and time (F(6,46) = 5.348, p = 0.0003; Figure 3C) These results suggest that the action of KNT-127 is mediated through the MEK/ERK pathway These results suggest that the action of KNT-127 in the IL is mediated through the DOPs These results suggest that KNT-127 exerts fear-reducing effect by acting on the DOPs in the IL Intra-IL administration of KNT-127 significantly and DOP-dependently reduced the contextual fear memory only in reexposure 2 Mice were bilaterally administered with PBS or KNT-127 (50 ng) into the IL 30 min before reexposure 1 (6 min) DOP antagonist naltrindole (NTI) was administered similarly (35 min before reexposure 1) NTI abolished the effects of KNT-127 during reexposures 2 The number of mice in each group was as follows: n = 6 for PBS and subsequent PBS (PBS + PBS) n = 7 for PBS and subsequent KNT-127 (PBS + KNT) and n = 9 for NTI and subsequent KNT-127 (NTI + KNT) ***p < 0.001 for comparisons between KNT and NTI treatment groups by one-way or two-way ANOVA and post hoc Bonferroni’s test Intra-IL administration of MEK/ERK inhibitor did not affect the fear reduction induced by KNT-127 The number of mice in each group was as follows: n = 5 for vehicle and subsequent saline (VEH + saline) n = 5 for vehicle and subsequent KNT-127 (VEH + KNT) n = 5 for U-0126 and subsequent saline (U-0126 + saline) and n = 5 for U-0126 and subsequent KNT-127 (U-0126 + KNT) ****p < 0.0001 for comparisons between KNT-127 and U-126 treatment groups Intra-IL administration of the PI3K/Akt inhibitor abolished the fear-reducing effect of KNT-127 was administered bilaterally into the IL (35 min before reexposure 1) LY294002 abolished the effect of KNT-127 during reexposure 2 n = 5 for LY294002 and subsequent saline (LY294002 + saline) and n = 6 for LY294002 and subsequent KNT-127 (LY294002 + KNT) ****p < 0.0001 for comparisons between KNT-127 and LY294002 treatment groups These results suggest that the action of KNT-127 in the IL is mediated by PI3K/Akt Intra-PL administration of KNT-127 produced no significant effects on contextual fear memory Mice were bilaterally administered with PBS (n = 12) or KNT-127 (n = 9 for 50 ng) into the PL 30 min before reexposure 1 (6 min) KNT-127 does not reduce freezing rates during reexposures 1 and 2 when administered into the PL Intra-HPC administration of KNT-127 produced no significant effects on contextual fear memory Intra-HPC administration of KNT-127 does not affect the extinction of contextual fear Mice were bilaterally administered with PBS (n = 14) or KNT-127 (n = 8 for 50 ng) into the HPC 30 min before reexposure 1 (6 min) KNT-127 does not reduce freezing rates during reexposures 1 and 2 when administered into the HPC These results suggest that intra-PL and HPC administrations of KNT-127 produced no significant effects on contextual fear memory Another possibility is that KNT-127 inhibited fear memory retrieval in reexposure 1 because the freezing rates of mice at the beginning of reexposure 1 were significantly lower in the KNT-127 group than that in the control group it is possible that KNT-127 facilitates retrieval of extinction memory of contextual fear in reexposure 2 not just facilitates extinction learning in reexposure 1 In addition, we were not able to detect any effect of NTI application on extinction learning and retrieval at any stage, which suggest that synthetic activation of DOP is required to induce facilitation of fear extinction, and endogenous δ-opioid system may not contribute enough to the effect. However, in the elevated plus maze, NTI showed the decreases in the time spent in the open arm, which suggests the anxiogenic effect of NTI (Saitoh et al., 2004) These results arise the possibility that DOPs act differentially on anxiety-like behavior that can be detected in the elevated plus maze and fear conditioning test Clarifying these points should be addressed in the future study In our experiments, control group seemed not fully extinguish the fear even at the end of extinction. It may be due to the length of reexposure (6 min). We aimed to show greater reduction in freezing response in the KNT-127-treated mice, and we used this short reexposure protocol to examine the fear extinction. Although this 6-min reexposure induced extinction of contextual fear in mice (Yamada et al., 2009) another extinction protocol with longer reexposure that achieves complete extinction in the control group would be helpful to examine the effect of KNT-127 on fear extinction in detail These observations implicated that ERK signaling in the BLA may participate both in anxiety-like behavior and in fear extinction Future studies should be conducted to examine the involvement of ERK-dependent signaling using genetic approaches We propose that at least the BLA-mediated signaling pathway is essential for both the extinction-facilitating and anxiolytic-like effects of KNT-127 These results are consistent with our result in this study we have no direct connection between this signaling pathway and DOP and further experiments should be conducted to clarify the molecular targets that mediate the effect of KNT-127 downstream of DOP in each brain region Unlike IL, KNT-127 administration into the PL did not affect the freezing rate of mice at all (Figure 7). The results suggest that DOPs in the PL affect neither anxiety-like behavior nor extinction learning observed in the contextual fear conditioning test. On the other hand, we previously reported that intra-PL perfusion of KNT-127 suppresses anxiety-like behavior in the open-field test (Saitoh et al., 2018) Our previous findings are inconsistent with the present results that KNT-127 did not show the anxiolytic-like effects in reexposure 1 we speculate that the neural circuits of DOPs in the PL differ between the innate anxiety of mice caused by novel open-field apparatus and the anxiety of mice caused by the acquisition of fear memory it is possible that the upregulation of p-ERK in the HPC after subcutaneous administration of KNT-127 is insufficient to affect fear extinction To determine the molecular mechanism underlying KNT-127-induced enhancement of extinction an assessment of the level of p-CREB may be more suitable to be addressed The hypothesis that BLA and IL facilitate fear extinction through different signaling pathways KNT-127 exerts extinction-facilitating effect via ERK/MEK pathway KNT-127 exerts extinction-facilitating effect via PI3K/Akt pathway KNT-127 acting on DOPs on GABAergic interneuron in the BLA and IL produce the disinhibition of glutamatergic neurons the way of synaptic modulation by μ-opioid system in the amygdala may be helpful to understand underlying mechanism of extinction-facilitating action of KNT-127 Future study should address the hypothesis of the mechanism of action of KNT-127 in the neural circuit of fear memory regulation facilitated the extinction of contextual fear memory via DOPs and MEK/ERK signaling in the BLA and PI3K/Akt signaling in the IL We propose that the effect of KNT-127 is mediated by distinct signaling pathways in different brain regions The datasets supporting the conclusions of this article are available on request to the corresponding author The animal study was reviewed and approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of the Tokyo University of Science (approval nos DY and AS designed and supervised the project and MS conducted the experiments and analyzed the data KI and HN synthesized and provided resources used in the study All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript This work was partly supported by the Cyclic Innovation for Clinical Empowerment from the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED) under grant number JP17pc0101018 and SENSHIN Medical Research Foundation to AS and the grants-in-aid for Scientific Research from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) (grant number 17K10286 to AS and grant number 20K06930 to DY) 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 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 We would like to thank Enago (www.enago.jp) for the English language review Synaptic correlates of fear extinction in the amygdala Physiological identification and infralimbic responsiveness of rat intercalated amygdala neurons Synapse-specific opioid modulation of thalamo-cortico-striatal circuits μ-Opioid receptor-mediated inhibition of intercalated neurons and effect on synaptic transmission to the central amygdala Fear conditioning in posttraumatic stress disorder: evidence for delayed extinction of autonomic glucocorticoids and memory: implications for treating fear-related disorders The emergence of ketamine as a novel treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder Hippocampal Mek/Erk signaling mediates extinction of contextual freezing behavior Active transition of fear memory phase from reconsolidation to extinction through ERK-Mediated prevention of reconsolidation Ketamine accelerates fear extinction via mTORC1 signaling and mu-opioid receptor agonists on 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differential role in acquisition and extinction of conditioned fear memory in juvenile and adult rats Systemic administration of riluzole enhances recognition memory and facilitates extinction of fear memory in rats Administration of a delta opioid receptor agonist KNT-127 to the basolateral amygdala has robust anxiolytic-like effects in rats Tongjaroenbuangam Relationship of opioid receptors with GABAergic neurons in the rat inferior colliculus Infralimbic and prelimbic prefrontal cortex activation is necessary to the enhancement of aversive memory extinction promoted by reactivation Facilitation of conditioned fear extinction by systemic administration or intra-amygdala infusions of D-cycloserine as assessed with fear-potentiated startle in rats Google Scholar Extracellular signal-regulated kinase in the basolateral amygdala is critical for context-response-cocaine memory reconsolidation in rats Endogenous opioids regulate moment-to-moment neuronal communication and excitability Precise cerebral vascular atlas in stereotaxic coordinates of whole mouse brain Modulation of glutamatergic synaptic transmission and neuronal excitability in the prelimbic medial prefrontal cortex via delta-opioid receptors in mice Selective agonists of the δ-opioid receptor act differentially on extinction learning of contextual fear memory in mice Pharmacological discrimination of extinction and reconsolidation of contextual fear memory by a potentiator of AMPA receptors Activation of δ-opioid receptors reduces excitatory input to putative gustatory cells within the nucleus of the solitary tract Nagase H and Saitoh A (2022) Selective δ-Opioid Receptor Agonist Facilitates Contextual Fear Extinction via Infralimbic Cortex and Amygdala in Mice Copyright © 2022 Kawaminami, Yamada, Yanagisawa, Shirakata, Iio, Nagase and Saitoh. 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: Daisuke Yamada, eWFtYWRhZGFAcnMudHVzLmFjLmpw †These authors have contributed equally to this work and share first authorship 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 Your browser does not support JavaScript, or it is disabled．Please check the site policy for more information National Report Japan’s worst pathogenic avian influenza epidemic has spread to poultry farms in 23 prefectures leading to a record 10.08 million chickens culled or scheduled to be killed as of Jan “I would like to declare a sort of state of emergency,” agriculture minister Tetsuro Nomura said during a Jan 9 emergency ministry meeting called to control the epidemic Nomura urged poultry growers nationwide and prefectural governments to “take maximum precautions” against bird flu The culling number is the first to exceed 10 million in a single season 10 began killing about 100,000 egg-laying hens suspected of carrying highly pathogenic avian influenza It was the 57th bird-flu outbreak reported since the beginning of the season which started in autumn 2022 and ends in spring this year Ibaraki is the leading prefecture in terms of egg-laying hens about 15.3 million egg-laying hens were being raised commercially in the prefecture Two other bird-flu outbreaks were confirmed in the prefecture With the culling of 930,000 birds in Shirosato the total count will be about 2.05 million about 10 percent of all egg-laying hens in Ibaraki Prefecture large farms with more than 1 million chickens each have been hit hard by the epidemic The previous record for worst bird flu epidemic was in the season from autumn 2020 to spring 2021 when 52 outbreaks were confirmed in 18 prefectures and about 9.87 million chickens were killed Ministry officials believe that a high proportion of migratory birds have been infected with the virus and have brought the disease to areas across Japan the ministry has taken emergency sanitization measures at all outbreak-hit poultry farms in 23 prefectures a sparrow or a rat infected with the virus entered the coop through a rip in the chicken wire or a hole in a wall the ministry said farm did not take sufficient preventive measures such as replacing and sanitizing farm workers’ clothes and boots (This article was compiled from reports by Hiroyuki Maegawa Japan confirms H5N8 strain in third bird flu outbreak in the country Japan reports first bird flu outbreak of season 2.5 million birds culled in potentially worst avian flu season South Korea confirms H5N8 bird flu in wild birds Zoos hiding birds as avian flu spreads in North America Information on the latest cherry blossom conditions Please right click to use your browser’s translation function.) A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II In-house News and Messages No reproduction or republication without written permission Wheat research is an intriguing story to many CIMMYT’s Global Wheat Program (GWP) keeps germplasm flowing worldwide and more than 100 wheat researchers and 40 junior scientists and graduate students attend its annual wheat improvement course The program hosted students from around the world in 2013 introducing them to the program’s critically important work Visit to wheat research station at Ciudad Obregón The GWP hosted a visit from 10 to 11 April for 50 children who are part of the PERAJ program at the Instituto Tecnológico de Sonora (ITSON) The university’s “adopt a friend” program encourages students to tutor children from public primary schools in Ciudad Obregon The CIMMYT visit originated from the daughter-mother link of Carolina Rivera Amado Alma Amado said the program creates relationships between the tutors and their “adopted” students to support education and strengthen the professional and personal development of ITSON students The children and their tutors were intrigued by the diversity of wheat They learned the source of their favorite wheat tortillas and discovered the work scientists do to increase wheat productivity The experience allowed Mathew Reynolds and colleagues Araceli Torres Arnauld Thiry and Perla Chávez to explain how plants grow and for Amor Yahyaoui to explain how scientists ensure the production of healthy plants Yokohama City University (YCU) students visit CIMMYT headquarters Seven undergraduate students came to CIMMYT’s headquarters from Japan’s Yokohama City University (YCU) from 6 to 7 August to tour facilities and interact with wheat and maize scientists The overall objective of the visit was to expose the students to international agricultural research on crop improvement and to give them an opportunity to meet worldleaders in research helping to feed the world a former CIMMYT scientist who is a lead researcher at the Kihara Institute for Biological Research (KIBR) and his working relationship with wheat scientist Ravi Singh young undergraduates from Japan visit CIMMYT almost every year CIMMYT scientists who interacted with the group included Singh The students were introduced to CIMMYT’s global maize and wheat research programs as well as training activities in the fields of breeding and genetics seeds of discovery and bio-fortification research The visit to the new Bioscience Complex showed the students the steps in wheat variety development from DNA analysis to field plot techniques “I learned about the importance of connecting biotechnology and breeding,” said Yuki Kajita I hope to come again someday as a researcher.” Tokyo University of Agriculture also organized a visit to CIMMYT headquarters a group of 12 students visited as part of their tour abroad to agricultural research institutions and to learn about agricultural activities of smallholder farmers in Mexico The students toured the gene bank and learned about seed selection and treatment as part of CIMMYT’s international nursery activities They also visited wheat and maize demonstration plots and were encouraged to consider CIMMYT as they continue with their post-graduate research agronomist and professor at the University of Chapingo This tour is organized and hosted by the University of Chapingo every year as part of its international academic exchange activities Afghanistan capacity development supported by Japanese Institutions Representatives from several institutions working on the Development of Wheat Breeding Materials for Sustainable Food Production (SATREPS) project visited CIMMYT on 28 February to encourage support for young Afghan scientists and capacity development of young Japanese researchers and students SATREPS aims to train Afghan scientists in the development of wheat breeding materials for sustainable food production through partnerships with Afghanistan Japanese institutions involved in the project include KIBR the Science and Technology Agency (JST) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) The project also sponsored two Afghan scientists to join the CIMMYT Global Wheat Program wheat improvement course in Ciudad Obregón from March to May pathology and biotechnology helped participants to acquire practical experience in wheat breeding Hasibullah completed the training and are registered for master’s studies at Yokohama City University CIMMYT will continue to strengthen the Japan-Mexico collaboration by training young Afghan scientists and encouraging young Japanese students to get involved in agricultural research Explore Deloitte's Unlimited Reality™ services Cultivating a sustainable and prosperous future Real-world client stories of purpose and impact and operations transformation for the future of your industry Go straight to smart with daily updates on your mobile device See what's happening this week and the impact on your business there’s plenty of room for your career to grow for years to come you're connecting to career resources that provide insights into working at Deloitte and potential job opportunities Explore the impact of real estate legislation proposals has been saved Explore the impact of real estate legislation proposals has been removed An Article Titled Explore the impact of real estate legislation proposals already exists in Saved items Proposed changes to the tax structure could affect the future of real estate Learn more about the legislative proposals spanning tax rates for ordinary income and capital gains foreign investment in real property (FIRPTA) along with reports on the Build Back Better Act and Passthrough Reform All of these subtitles passed out of Committee The Joint Committee on Taxation has released a report and a score and estimates that the changes to subtitles F and J combined would raise approximately $871 billion in net revenue over 10 years Chairman Wyden estimated the draft proposals would raise at least $235.1 billion but no Joint Committee of Taxation score has been released Professionals across the real estate industry are staying closely attuned to legislative proposals that could have a significant effect on the sector Some of these policy changes are included in President Biden’s American Families Plan such as revisions to the capital gains tax rate and ordinary income tax rate Other proposed legislation includes provisions that would affect estate planning decisions Other specific legislation under consideration includes: 3123 proposes to make the following changes to FIRPTA for REITs: 840 proposes to make the following changes to the related-party rent rules that apply to REITs: Increase the ownership threshold for a related-party tenant from 10% to 50% which would allow a REIT to own 50% of a tenantIncrease certain ownership thresholds required to attribute equity interests to and from corporations and partnerships to 50% for purposes of the constructive ownership rulesIncrease from 10% to 50% the amount of space a REIT can rent to a taxable REIT subsidiary without generating related-party rent so long as the rent is comparable to non-related-party rentsEliminate double-down attribution rule for the related-party rent rule 2387 proposes to make the following changes to the deduction section 199A: Phase out the deduction for individuals earning more than $400,000 and no deduction allowed for individuals with taxable income of $500,000 or moreTreat specified service trades or businesses (e.g. the businesses engaged in investing and investment management) as qualified trades or businessesEliminate the limitations based on W-2 wages and the unadjusted basis immediately after acquisition of qualified propertyEliminate deduction for trusts and estatesREITs:Subject to the phase-out qualified REIT dividends continue to qualify for the deductionDividends of regulated investment companies (e.g. mutual funds) eligible for the deduction to the extent attributable to qualified REIT dividends and other qualified trades or businesses If you’d like to talk more about the proposed real estate legislation and what its changes mean for your organization This box/component contains code needed on this page This message will not be visible when page is activated.+++ DO NOT USE THIS FRAGMENT WITHOUT EXPLICIT APPROVAL FROM THE CREATIVE STUDIO DEVELOPMENT TEAM +++ To stay logged in, change your functional cookie settings. 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See Terms of Use for more information Giant anteater sticks its snout through chain linked fence in rural Aquidauana Drought-driven Pantanal wildfires and other climate change pressures the team of wildlife rehab experts approach a cluster of trees and spot their quarry: A young giant anteater sleeping on a hot morning with her luxuriant tail shading her head She is a survivor of a fire holocaust that swept through Brazil's vast southern Pantanal in 2020, killing an estimated 17 million animals and burning nearly a quarter of the drought-parched wetlands and grasslands region at an age when she should have been still clinging to her mother's back the young anteater has since been cared for by Orphans of Fires a project in Mato Grosso do Sul state that hopes to help her return permanently to the wild Started in Aquidauana by conservationists in the wake of the fires it now cares for 15 rescued giant anteaters notes veterinarian Maria Helena Mazzoni Baldini approvingly - a sign the sleeping young orphan is fending for herself though she was too young to learn foraging skills from her mother more than 50 giant anteaters injured or displaced by the Pantanal fires were taken in by state rescue projects - a leap from 13 the previous year according to Mato Grosso do Sul's Wild Animals Rehabilitation Center (CRAS) As fires grow larger and more frequent and as global warming brings hotter and drier conditions the already endangered anteaters - which also live in the Amazon rainforest - are coming under growing pressure have led to their habitat shrinking in the Amazon and the Brazilian savanna research coordinator for the Anteater Institute believes the highly specialized animals are particularly imperiled not least because they can struggle with temperatures extremes The number of giant anteaters in Brazil has already fallen 30% between 1989 and 2015 the latest official population estimate shows Giant anteaters from the Orphans of Fire project eating feed made out of soy eggs and cow plasma protein in rural Aquidauana Dead giant anteater by road near Campo Grande Burned landscape by the road near Campo Grande Global temperatures have risen more than 1.2 degrees Celsius (2.2 Fahrenheit) since preindustrial times and are now swiftly approaching a 1.5C degrees of warming mark that scientists fear could herald a transition to far costlier and deadlier climate change impacts set a goal of limiting global warming to "well below" 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) while "pursuing efforts" for 1.5C But with fossil fuel use still rising globally 1.5C of warming could be passed within a decade They fear that could trigger irreversible ecological tipping points from surging sea levels as polar ice melts to spiking temperatures as methane - a potent driver of warming - escapes thawing permafrost A hotter planet is also expected to spark more extreme weather migration and soaring personal and financial losses for many people around the planet Brazil's forests, savannas and wetlands contain the richest mix of plants and animals in the world. But many of those species are at growing risk of extinction as their habitat vanishes and climate impacts worsen Such potential losses present a danger not just for the species and ecosystems themselves but for millions of people who depend on them for everything from food to reliable rainfall and innovative medicines "Most people are completely oblivious to how biology supports their lives They are completely oblivious to the biological origins of a medication when they go to get a refill at the pharmacy," biologist Thomas Lovejoy who coined the term "biological diversity" "Biodiversity is a living library of 4 billion years of evolution with each organism and species daily working on biological challenges and solutions in their own existence It's a pretty powerful way to generate a lot of knowledge," said the scientist who worked much of his life in the Brazilian Amazon Graphic showing the percentage of species exposed to potentially dangerous temperatures At the Orphans of Fire rescue center in rural Aquidauana young giant anteaters being rehabbed press against a chainlink fence at feeding time eggs and cow plasma protein until they can dig out ants and termites on their own Their probing tongues - up to 60 centimetres (23 inches) long - leave long lines of thick saliva on their carers' clothes and skin "It has to be gluey so the ants stick to it" With a limited high-protein diet of insects in the wild the animals' metabolism has evolved to be relatively slow with their average body temperature around 34 degrees Celsius Anteaters in the Pantanal forage mainly in open fields and hotter days there mean many are on the move fewer daylight hours and need more often to seek trees for shade and rest something increasingly difficult as more trees are burned or cut The Pantanal's average temperature has risen 2 degrees Celsius since 1980 according to Brazilian research institutions and data from the U.S National Centers for Environmental Information A 2020 study in the journal Nature estimates it is one of the areas in South America with the highest percentage of species at risk from climate change a Brazilian biodiversity researcher at the University of Cape Town said more frequent and severe weather extremes are leaving many stressed species with little time to recover between crises are also affecting the Pantanal's supply of water water vapor rises from the moist Amazon forest and is blown toward southern South America According to data from the nonprofit MapBiomas the area of the Pantanal covered by water during the height of seasonal floods has shrunk by 29% between 1988 and 2018 ranching has been the most common agricultural activity in the vast wetland from the Pantanal branch of the state-owned Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA) said cattle ranching also is becoming more destructive as once-vast farms are divided between heirs or sold in smaller plots tree areas are converted to pasture and native grass are replaced by exotic varieties 95% of the biome’s areas in Mato Grosso do Sul state is on private land The Orphans of Fire is located on one of those private farms owned by João Ildefonso Pinheiro Murano who runs 2,400 head of cattle there and operates a hotel even he concedes that "I have never seen a drought like this one" tourists would be visiting a pond called Poção on his property photographing caiman - cousins of alligators - and birds and watching animals stop by for a drink But this year water that was once shoulder-high in the pond has vanished said Orphans of Fire biologist Manoela Pinho pointing to the putrefying corpse of a caiman near a remaining pool of thick green water At the center of the pond one last starving caiman lingers its vertebrae easily visible through its back It is almost completely still except for the occasional blinking of its eyes (Reporting by Andre Cabette Fabio; Editing by Laurie Goering.) risks from crop failures to increasingly extreme weather are growing We take a look at what might be in store around the globe Today's print edition Home Delivery The revised active volcano law has taken effect in the hopes of helping residents such as those around Mount Iwate in the Tohoku region prepare for the worst the highest in the Ou Mountains that straddle the cities of Hachimantai and Takizawa and the town of Shizukuishi in Iwate Prefecture experienced an "eruption crisis" 26 years ago with increased volcanic activity the local economy was dealt a major blow.googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1499653692894-0'); }); But memories of the crisis are fading with time and the local community faces the need to better prepare for possible eruptions after long intervals of quiet In a time of both misinformation and too much information quality journalism is more crucial than ever.By subscribing Your subscription plan doesn't allow commenting. To learn more see our FAQ Sponsored contents planned and edited by JT Media Enterprise Division Photograph of the Prime Minister delivering an address at a meeting of the Headquarters against Foot-and-Mouth Disease 1 Photograph of the Prime Minister delivering an address at a meeting of the Headquarters against Foot-and-Mouth Disease 2 Copyright© Cabinet Public Relations Office Work begins at a poultry farm in Kawaminami southwestern Japan to bury chickens culled after a highly virulent strain of bird flu was detected in this photo taken by Kyodo December 20 Tokyo: The Japanese authorities began the culling of 69,000 chickens in southwestern Japan after discovering dead chickens infected with a highly virulent strain of bird flu in Saga Prefecture The Japanese government stated that genetic tests confirmed the presence of a highly pathogenic avian influenza virus bird flu has been detected in six prefectures in Japan including the prefecture of Hokkaido and Miyazaki in Southwestern Japan the Japanese government started culling around 168,400 chickens after a bird flu outbreak was confirmed in Saga 200 soldiers are assigned to help eliminate the birds in farms which will restricts the circulation of birds and eggs in neighboring areas