Paratrichodorus divergens sp. n., a new potential virus vector of tobacco rattle virus and additional observations on P. hispanus Roca & Arias, 1986 from Portugal (Nematoda: Trichodoridae)

During a survey of trichodorids in Continental Portugal, a new trichodorid species, Paratrichodorus divergens sp. n., was found. It is described and illustrated with specimens from the type locality and additional morphometric data and photographs of specimens obtained from soil samples collected in seven other localities are also included. The species is characterised in female by distinct drop-like to triangular oblique vaginal sclerotisations diverging outwards, sperm cells usually distributed all through the uteri, and in male by thin, almost straight, striated spicules, the two posteriormost pre-cloacal supplements relatively close to one another and usually opposite the distal third of retracted spicules, a slightly bilobed cloacal lip and sperm cells with sausage-shaped nucleus. Paratrichodorus divergens sp. n. most closely resembles P. hispanus Roca & Arias, 1986 with which it often occurs in mixed populations. Additional information is also provided for P. hispanus. For the new species, coding of the features are added following Decraemer and Baujard’s identification key.Centro de Biologia da Universidade do Minho (CB)

First report of Meloidogyne naasi parasitizing turfgrass in Portugal

In an exploratory sampling of a football field in Porto, Portugal, the root-knot nematode, Meloidogyne naasi, previously unreported from the Iberian Peninsula, was detected. Diagnosis was based on the analysis of perineal patterns and esterase phenotypes of females excised from grass roots, morphometrics and molecular analysis (PCR with specific primers and analysis of partial 28S sequences obtained by amplification using the primers D2A/D3B) of second- stage juveniles (J2) extracted from soil. When collected in water, J2 aggregated into a worm-star. Endospores of Pasteuria penetrans were frequently found attached to the J2. To our knowledge, this is the first report of M. naasi in Portugal and in the Iberian Peninsula, and the first report of worm-star formation in Meloidogyne.The authors would like to thank Dr. M. Luísa Moura and José F. Azevedo for collaboration in sampling and sample processing. This work was supported by the strategic program UID/BIA/04050/2019 (POCI01-0145-FEDER-007569), funded by national funds through the Portuguese Foundation For Science and Technology (FCT) I.P. and by the ERDF through the COMPETE2020 – Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização (POCI)

Influence of preparation procedures on the phenolic content, antioxidant and antidiabetic activities of green and black teas

The influence of common tea preparation procedures (temperature, infusion time, consumption time interval and tea bag/loose-leaf) and the type of water used, on the total phenolic content (TPC), the radical scavenging activity and the alpha-glucosidase inhibitory activity were assessed. Higher TPC and antioxidant activity were obtained when using lower mineralized waters. Tea bags also evidenced higher antioxidant activity than loose-leaf samples. Under the same conditions (90 degrees C and five minutes of infusion time) green tea contains almost twice the quantity of polyphenols and the free radical scavenging ability of black tea. In the alpha-glucosidase assay all infusions were active (97-100 %). Furthermore, HPLC allowed to identify some of the polyphenols present in both teas and to monitor their composition change with time. After twenty-four hours, the antioxidant activity was maintained without significant changes, but a small decrease in enzyme inhibition was observed, although this activity was still very high.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Enterococcus gallinarum Causing Native Valve Endocarditis

Endocarditis due to Enterococcus gallinarum is a rare condition, usually affecting older patients. The most frequent source of infection is the gastrointestinal or genitourinary tracts; it frequently involves the aortic valve and tends to produce heart failure. We present a case of Enterococcus gallinarum endocarditis developing on a normal native heart valve. Enterococcus gallinarum is intrinsically resistant to vancomycin. Antibiotic susceptibility patterns indicate that most isolates are penicillin and ampicillin-susceptible

Three months-old’ preferences for biological motion configuration and its subsequent decline

To perceive, identify and understand the action of others, it is essential to perceptually organize individual and local moving body parts (such as limbs) into the whole configuration of a human body in action. Configural processing—processing the relations among features or parts of a stimulus—is a fundamental ability in the perception of several important social stimuli, such as faces or biological motion. Despite this, we know very little about how human infants develop the ability to perceive and prefer configural relations in biological motion. We present two preferential looking experiments (one cross-sectional and one longitudinal) measuring infants’ preferential attention between a coherent motion configuration of a person walking vs. a scrambled point-light walker (i.e., a stimulus in which all configural relations were removed, thus, in which the perception of a person is impossible). We found that three-month-old infants prefer a coherent point-light walker in relation to a scrambled display, but both five- and seven-month-old infants do not show any preference. We discuss our findings in terms of the different perceptual, attentional, motor, and brain processes available at each age group, and how they dynamically interact with selective attention toward the coherent and socially relevant motion of a person walking during our first year of life.ICL was supported by the Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation (PD/BD/105966/2014), and AFP by the research grants PTDC/PSI-GER/2463/2021, PTDC/MHC-PCN/1530/2014, and IF/00217/2013. This study was conducted at the Psychology Research Centre (PSI/01662), School of Psychology, University of Minho, supported by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through the Portuguese State Budget (Ref.: UIDB/PSI/01662/2020)

Synthesis of Bis(3-indolyl)methanes Mediated by Potassium tert-Butoxide

The authors thank the Fundação para a Ciênciae Tecnologia for the fellowship PD/BD/142876/2018.This work was supported by the Associate Laboratory for Green Chemistry– LAQV which is financed by national funds from FCT/MCTESUIDB/50006/2020,UIDP/50006/2020(LAQV).The National NMR Facility is supported by FCT,ROTEIRO/0031/2013-PINFRA/22161/2016,co-financed by FEDER through COMPETE2020,POCI,andPORLandFCT through PIDDAC)and CERMAX(022162).LBM also thanks to FCT/MCTES for the CEEC-Individual Program Contract(CEECIND/03810/2017)The indole moiety is an important N-heterocycle found in natural products, and a key structural component of many value-added chemicals including pharmaceuticals. In particular, bis(3-indolyl)methanes (BIMs) are an important subgroup of indoles, composed of two indole units. Herein, we report the development of a simple method to access BIMs derivatives in yields of up to 77 % by exploiting a tBuOK-mediated coupling reaction of indoles and benzyl alcohols.publishersversionpublishe

Evaluation Model of Virtual Learning Environments: A Pilot Study

Virtual learning environments (VLE) have frequently been used in educational practices, and the evaluation of their effectiveness as instruments to support learning gains must consider several dimensions. This paper presents an evaluation model for VLE, called MA-AVA (Model for the Evaluation of VLE), built after a review of the literature and focused on verifying students\u27 learning gains. The MA-AVA evaluation model was applied in a pilot study to an undergraduate engineering class, using a VLE, Educ-MAS-GA, in the discipline of Analytical Geometry. The results indicate that, although students\u27 perception of learning in VLE is relevant, the knowledge acquired is more subtle and difficult to assess. Therefore, a VLE learning evaluation model should include different dimensions of learning, such as the students’ perceptions and their measures of learning gain

Dieta do mão-pelada (Procyon cancrivorus, Procyonidae, Carnivora) no Parque Estadual de Itapuã, sul do Brasil

The raccoon (Procyon cancrivorus, F. Cuvier, 1798) is the only procyonid that occurs in Itapuã State Park. This conservation area has 5,566.5 ha and it is located in Porto Alegre metropolitan area. The purpose of this study was to do qualitative and quantitative analyses of the alimentary items consumed by the raccoons in the park, as well as investigate the seasonality influence upon the diet of these animals. Every month in 2002 fecal samples on fixed transects were collected, adding up two hundred and three samples. Forty-one alimentary items were found (53% fruits and 47% of animal origin items). The Arecaceae botanic family was the most eaten food, denoting the Syagrus romanzoffiana (Cham.) Glassman like the key resource of the raccoon diet, and the Butia capitata (Mart.) Becc. like an important seasonal alimentary resource. Other fruits like Ficus sp., Vitex megapotamica (Spreng.) Mold., Psidium sp., and Eugenia uruguayensis Cambess. were registered as additional items, sustaining the opportunist behavior of this species. Orthoptera, Blattaria, and Coleoptera were the most eaten invertebrate animals in the four seasons. The high relative frequencies of birds, rodents, and other mammals on the raccoon’s taxodiet during the winter and spring denote its needs for a more improved diet of proteins in this time, due probably to low temperatures and to the birth of the cubs. The difference in the diet composition was proved using the randomization test (?=0.05) to all the seasons, except between the winter and the spring. This result indicates that the diet of Procyon cancrivorus in PEI reflects the seasonal changes. Key words: fecal analysis, feeding items, Procyon, southern Brazil.O mão-pelada (Procyon cancrivorus, F. Cuvier, 1798) é o único procionídeo que ocorre no Parque Estadual de Itapuã (PEI), com uma área de 5.566,5 ha, na região metropolitana de Porto Alegre. O objetivo deste estudo foi o de analisar, por estação do ano, qualiquantitativamente, a dieta desta espécie no interior do Parque. Mensalmente, durante o ano de 2002, foi coletado um total de 203 amostras fecais em transecções pré-estabelecidas. Foram identificados 41 itens alimentares (53% frutas e 47% itens de origem animal). A família botânica Arecaceae foi a mais frequente, Syagrus romanzoffiana (Cham.) Glassman foi considerado recurso-chave e Butia capitata (Mart.) Becc foi um importante recurso alimentar sazonal. Outros frutos, tais como Ficus sp., Vitex megapotamica (Spreng.) Mold., Psidium sp. e Eugenia uruguayensis Cambess., foram itens adicionais, indicando comportamento oportunista da espécie. Dentre os animais, insetos das ordens Orthoptera, Blattaria e Coleoptera foram os mais consumidos nas quatro estações do ano. As maiores frequências de aves, roedores e outros mamíferos durante os meses de inverno e de primavera demonstraram a necessidade de uma ingestão mais proteica nesse período do ano, relacionada, provavelmente, às baixas temperaturas e aos cuidados dos filhotes. Por meio de análise de variância com aleatorização (?=0.05), houve diferença significativa na dieta entre as estações do ano, exceto entre os meses de inverno e primavera, refletindo um comportamento alimentar generalista e oportunista da espécie. Palavras-chave: análise fecal, itens alimentares, Procyon, sul do Brasil

Estudo das propriedades e biodegradabilidade de blendas de poliéster/amido submetidas ao ataque microbiano

This work deals with the biodegradation of blends of poly(beta-hydroxybutyrate)/starch and poly(beta-hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate)/starch. The blends were obtained by evaporation of the solvent in the mixture of the polymers in chloroform. Tests were carried out in presence of micro-organisms which acted as biodegradation agents. The blends were consumed as carbon substrate and the production of CO2 was evaluated in the process. In addition, the polyesters' mechanical properties were reduced by the incorporation of starch in its structure. (¹H) NMR and infrared spectroscopy detected some characteristic polyester degradation groups in the polyesters' chemical structure, thus confirming the alteration suffered by it

MAMMALS IN PORTUGAL: A data set of terrestrial, volant, and marine mammal occurrences in Portugal

Mammals are threatened worldwide, with ca. 26% of all species being included in the IUCN threatened categories. This overall pattern is primarily associated to habitat loss or degradation, and human persecution for terrestrial mammals, and pollution, open net fishing, climate change and prey depletion for marine mammals. Mammals play a key role in maintaining ecosystems functionality and resilience, and therefore information on their distribution is crucial to delineate and support conservation actions. MAMMALS IN PORTUGAL is a publicly available data set compiling unpublished geo-referenced occurrence records of 92 terrestrial, volant, and marine mammals in mainland Portugal and archipelagos of Azores and Madeira that includes 107,852 data entries between 1873 and 2021 (72% of the data occurring in 2000 and 2021). The methods used to collect the data were: live observations/captures (42%), sign surveys (38%), camera trapping (16%), bioacoustics surveys (4%) and radio-tracking and inquiries that represent less than 1% of the records. The data set includes 13 types of records: 1) burrows | soil mounds | tunnel, 2) capture, 3) colony, 4) dead animal | hair | skulls | jaws, 5) genetic confirmation, 6) inquiries, 7) observation of live animal, 8), observation in shelters, 9) photo trapping | video, 10), predators diet | pellets | pine cones/nuts, 11) scat | track | ditch, 12) telemetry and 13) vocalization | echolocation. The spatial uncertainty of most records ranges between 0 and 100 m (76%). Rodentia (n = 34,754) has the highest number of records followed by Chiroptera (n = 18,858), Carnivora (n = 18,594), Lagomorpha (n = 17,679), Cetartiodactyla (n = 11,568) and Eulipotyphla (n = 6400). The data set includes records of species classified by the IUCN as threatened (e.g., Oryctolagus cuniculus (n = 12,407), Monachus monachus (n = 1512), and Lynx pardinus (n = 197)]. We believe that this data set may stimulate the publication of other European countries data sets which would certainly contribute to ecology and conservation-related research, and therefore assisting on the development of more accurate and tailored conservation management strategies for each species. There are no copyright restrictions; please cite this data paper when the data are used in publications