RESUMO O papel da cor em estudos taxonômicos e sistemáticos de vários táxons é central. Dados de cores são mais valiosos se permitirem comparações. Nosso objetivo foi proporcionar medições objetivas de cor de pelagem de um grupo de Akodon budini e usar esses dados de cor para testar e analisar quantitativamente a influência da fonte de iluminação e do ponto de medição na determinação da cor de pelagem de peles de museu. Nós utilizamos um espectroradiômetro para mensurar a cor da pelagem em cinco pontos sobre a linha média dorsal de 54 peles de museu de Akodon budini. PCAs e ANOVAs foram realizadas sobre os dados de cor. As características do grupo estudado também nos permitiu incluir e avaliar os potenciais efeitos de algumas das principais fontes de variação intraespecífica. Determinações da cor de pele dependem fortemente da fonte de iluminação e, portanto, é essencial que as condições de iluminação sejam controladas durante as medições de cor e, em seguida, explicitadas ao descrever a caracterização de cores de determinadas unidades taxonômicas. Além disso, as determinações de cor dependem fortemente do ponto de medição, mesmo na mesma área corporal e, por conseguinte, é fundamental que a caracterização de cor de um táxon inclua a variação entre os diferentes pontos das diferentes partes do corpo das amostras estudadas.

ABSTRACT The role of color in taxonomic and systematic studies of several taxa is central. Color data are more valuable if they permit comparisons. We aimed to provide pelage objective color measurements of a series of Akodon budini and to use those color data to test and to quantitatively analyze the influence of both the lighting source and the measuring point, in the determination of pelage color of museum skins. We used a spectroradiometer to measure the pelage color at five points over the dorsal midline of 54 Akodon budini museum skins. PCAs and ANOVAs were conducted over the color data. The characteristics of the studied series also allowed us to include and assess the potential effects of some main sources of intra-specific variation. Determinations of fur color strongly depend on the lighting source, and therefore it is essential that lighting conditions are controlled during color measurements and then made explicit when communicating the color characterization of particular taxonomic units. Furthermore, color determinations strongly depend on the measuring point, even on the same body area, and therefore it is critical that the color characterization of a taxon includes the variation between different points of the different body parts of the studied specimens.

During the past decade, studies on the composition of human microbiota and its relation to the host became one of the most explored subjects of the medical literature. The development of high-throughput molecular technologies allowed a deeper characterization of human microbiota and a better understanding of its relationship with health and disease. Changes in human habits including wide use of antimicrobials can result in dysregulation of host–microbiome homeostasis, with multiple consequences. The purpose of this review is to highlight the most important evidence in the literature of host–microbiome interactions and illustrate how these intriguing relations may lead to new treatment and prevention strategies.

In this work we introduce a new category of barriers that we call "functional vision barriers." This expression refers to lighting and visual elements that may complicate or hinder functional vision and may make life even more difficult for people with visual defects. These barriers appear as a consequence of certain negative effects caused by the poor design of the visual stimulus or visual environment that surrounds it in which lighting is one of the main factors. We use the term "functional vision" because this expression refers to the ability of the visual system to perform everyday tasks. We analyzed some of our previous results with regard to situations that can be considered "functional vision barriers": (1) stimuli with low luminance contrast information in which the addition of chromatic contrast improves visual performance and (2) tasks that are performed in the presence of a glare source in the visual field, diminishing visual performance and reducing brightness perception.