Influence of game crops on the distribution and productivity of red-legged partridges Alectoris rufa in Mediterranean woodlands

Red-legged partridges Alectoris rufa are one of the most important game species in extensively managed Mediterranean agro-forest systems. Population declines have led to management to increase their populations. This includes the creation of game crops, but their efficacy for red-legged partridges has not been tested. We developed in October 1996 an experimental introduction of 32 100 × 8 m plots in a 6.46-km mixed agro-forest system area in Portugal. These plots were planted with either lupin Lupinus sp., vetch Vicea sp. or triticale Triticum aestivum × Secale cereale. The main goal of this study was the evaluation of the potential effect of game crops on partridge distribution and productivity, after controlling for the effect of habitat or other management actions. Partridge abundance and distribution were assessed during spring and summer 1997 by intensive territory mapping. We compared characteristics of territory centres with those of random points in relation to land uses, game crops, and location of water points or supplementary grain sites. The most important variable explaining partridge’s location in spring was the density of supplementary water points. In summer, partridge territories were positively associated with the density of water points and lupin game crops, as well as olive trees. Productivity (number of young per territory in relation to adults observed) increased with the density of lupin game crops, but decreased with density of water points and vetch game crops and proportion of woodland within the territories. Overall, this study suggests that management for partridges in areas of agricultural abandonment, such as those in Mediterranean woodlands, would benefit from the introduction of leguminous game crops and water provision, though more studies are required for a more adequate optimization of these measures of habitat improvement, in particular about the specific cover of the crops and their spatial distribution so they provide adequate resources in summer for nestlings.We gratefully acknowledge the financial support provided by ESAB and INIA through the project PAMAF-4030. This project was funded by Portuguese Foundation of Science and Technology (FCT) through the project PRAXIS/PCNA/C/BIA/105/96 and by the Portuguese Ministry of Education and Science and the European Social Fund, through FCT, under POPH - QREN - Typology 4.1, through the grant SFRH/BPD/93079/2013 (LR).Peer Reviewe

Reconhecimento molecular por RMN da Lectina-galactose presente em Macrófagos

A glicosilação aberrante é uma característica típica do cancro e parece conferir vantagens às células cancerígenas, tais como o aumento da sua capacidade de crescimento e da sua habilidade em suprimir a resposta imunitária. A lectina-galactose humana presente em macrófagos (MGL) é uma proteína expressa exclusivamente em células do sistema imunitário que tem grande afinidade para resíduos de N-acetilgalactosamina (GalNAc). O resíduo GalNAc é raramente exposto nos glicoconjugados de células humanas, contudo a sua expressão é aumentada em diferentes glicoconjugados presentes em células cancerígenas. A interação entre glicoconjugados, contendo o resíduo GalNAc, expressos no cancro, e a proteína MGL, parece estar envolvida em fenómenos de supressão da resposta imunitária. Neste contexto, e numa primeira fase, este trabalho consistiu no estudo das interações entre o domínio de reconhecimento de hidratos de carbono da MGL (MGL-CRD) e o antigénio Tn (α-GalNAc/Thr), bem como vários glicopéptidos derivados da glicoproteína da mucina-1 (MUC1) glicosilados com Tn em diferentes locais da sequência peptídica (Tn-T3 MUC1, Tn-T15 MUC1 e Tn-T3, T15 MUC1). Para tal, foram realizadas experiências de 1H,15N-HSQC da MGL-CRD na ausência e na presença dos diferentes ligandos. Através da análise da perturbação do desvio químico (CSP) verificou-se que a sequência peptídica modula o processo de reconhecimento molecular da MGL. Em particular, verificou-se que a sequência peptídica influi de forma relevante na apresentação do antigénio Tn à proteína MGL-CRD. Numa segunda parte do trabalho, a dinâmica da cadeia principal do domínio MGL-CRD, na sua forma livre e na presença de distintos ligandos foi analisada tendo por base técnicas de relaxação de 15N HetNOE, R1 e R2

Calandra lark habitat selection: strong fragmentation effects in a grassland specialist

Conserving grassland birds in farmed landscapes requires the maintenance of favourable agricultural land uses over a range of spatial and temporal scales. Here we examined the field and landscape-scale habitat requirements of the calandra lark (Melanocorypha calandra), an obligate grassland bird often associated with open Mediterranean farmland. Breeding and wintering lark densities were assessed in 42 fallowfields in southern Portugal, and related to three sets of variables reflecting field, landscape and neighbourhood effects. Variation partitioning was used to isolate the unique and shared contributions of sets of variables to explained variation in lark distribution and abundance models. At the field scale, the presence of trees and shrubs showed the strongest negative effects on calandra lark. At the landscape scale therewere strong positive response of larks to the amount and patch size of open farmland habitats, and negative responses, albeit weaker, to drainage and road densities. Calandra lark distribution and abundance was also positively related to that of conspecifics in surrounding fields, particularly in spring. Results suggest that calandra larks are highly sensitive to habitat fragmentation, requiring fallow fields with no shrubs or trees, embedded in large expanses of open farmland. This supports the view that grassland bird conservation in Mediterranean agricultural landscapes may require a combination of land-use regulations and agri-environment schemes preventing ongoing shrub encroachment and afforestation of marginal farmland

A Matlab Tool for Analyzing and Improving Fault Tolerance of Artificial Neural Networks

Abstract: FTSET is a software tool that deals with fault tolerance of Artificial Neural Networks. This tool is capable of evaluating the fault tolerance degree of a previously trained Artificial Neural Network given its inputs ranges, the weights and the architecture. The FTSET is also capable of improving the fault tolerance by applying a technique of splitting the connections of the network that are more important to form the output. This technique improves fault tolerance without changing the network's output. The paper is concluded by two examples that show the application of the FTSET to different Artificial Neural Networks and the improvement of the fault tolerance obtained

Habitat correlates of red-legged partridge (Alectoris rufa) breeding density on mediterranean farmland

La Perdrix rouge (Alectoris rufa), l'un des oiseaux-gibier du Paléarctique occidental les plus prisés, est en régression. On manque d'informations sur son utilisation de l'habitat dans les agrosystèmes de la région mediterranéenne. Des corrélations entre variables de l'habitat et densité de couples reproducteurs ont été établies dans une région d'agriculture mixte du sud du Portugal. Les couples de perdrix ont été dénombrés de 1992 à 1994 par la méthode des plans quadrillés. La localisation des territoires, le couvert végétal, les chemins de terre et les réseaux hydrographiques ont été cartographiés et incorporés dans un Système d'Information Géographique vectoriel. Des contours de densité des couples de perdrix ont été établis pour chaque printemps en utilisant le « kernel smoothing » et ont été confrontés à d'autres informations pour obtenir dans chaque contour de densité les proportions de type de couvert végétal, de densité de chemins, de densité de réseaux hydrographiques, de densité de bordures de champs, de diversité du paysage et de densité de couples. Des régressions linéaires simples et multivariées ont été employées pour mettre en rapport la densité des couples avec les variables indépendantes. La densité des chemins, la proportion de rizières et d'oliveraies abandonnées montrent une corrélation positive avec la densité des perdrix, résultat qui est en accord avec la tendance des perdrix à sélectionner des éléments déterminés du paysage avec des parties non cultivées. Contrairement aux plus anciennes, les jachères récentes sont positivement associées à des densités élevées de perdrix. Les pâturages sont négativement associés aux densités de perdrix, probablement à cause de leur végétation basse et des perturbations par le bétail, Des pratiques d'aménagement susceptibles de favoriser de plus hautes densités dans les habitats moins utilisés sont suggérées

Does hunting management affect non-game bird species? A study from Spain and Portugal

Resumen del trabajo presentado a la International Conference on Hunting for Sustainability: "Ecology, Economics and Society", celebrada en Ciudad Real (España) del 27 al 29 de marzo de 2012.In Europe, hunting and its associated management has been performed for centuries and has potentially had profound effects on landscapes and on the biodiversity they hold. We investigated the effect of hunting management on non-target bird species. For doing so, we explored the relationship between hunting management and different groups of birds of conservation concern. We conducted the study with two different approximations. In a first step, we assessed whether there were a higher abundance or species richness in hunting estates with game management than in those without management. This survey was conducted in 24 game estates in South Portugal in spring and summer 2001-2002. Twelve of the hunting estates performed game management activities for small-game species while the other 12 corresponded to areas open to hunters but where no game management was undertaken. Groups of species considered in the study were passerines, steppe-birds, ground-nesting birds and endangered birds. We modelled the abundance and number of species of each bird group in each estate according to the game management regime (with/without game management) and to habitat variables with GLMMs and selected the models with lowest AICc. Our results show that all groups of species considered (except passerines) were more abundant or more diverse in hunting estates where game management was performed. In a second step, we aimed to know if our previous result was also relevant in another study area, as well as to disentangle which management activities could specifically affect bird diversity. We surveyed 54 small-game hunting estates in Central Spain with varying management intensity in spring and/or summer 2006-2010. Groups of species considered were raptors and steppe-birds. Information about game management was gathered through interviews with game managers. We modelled the abundance and species richness of each bird group in each estate according to habitat and game management variables (type of hunting regime, artificial feeding, predator control, number of keepers and partridge abundance) with GLMMs and selected the models with lowest AICc. Our results showed that management implemented for red-legged partridges (Alectoris rufa) did not seem to have neither positive nor negative effects on the abundance of their predators (raptors), but having good densities of partridges had a positive effect on the number of raptor species. However, some activities leading to improve red-legged partridges (in particular, supplementary feeding and predator control) had a positive effect on steppe-birds, which share habitat requirements with them. Therefore, we conclude that game management activities have positive effects on different groups of bird species in the Iberian Peninsula. All models are affected by habitat variables, so it is very important to maintain the habitat that allows those high densities and that has a positive effect on biodiversity.Peer Reviewe

Aberrant MEK5/ERK5 signalling contributes to human colon cancer progression via NF-κB activation

© 2015 Macmillan Publishers Limited All rights reserved. Cell Death and Disease is an open-access journal published by Nature Publishing Group. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0This study was designed to evaluate MEK5 and ERK5 expression in colon cancer progression and to ascertain the relevance of MEK5/ERK5 signalling in colon cancer. Expression of MEK5 and ERK5 was evaluated in 323 human colon cancer samples. To evaluate the role of MEK5/ERK5 signalling in colon cancer, we developed a stable cell line model with differential MEK5/ERK5 activation. Impact of differential MEK5/ERK5 signalling was evaluated on cell cycle progression by flow cytometry and cell migration was evaluated by wound healing and transwell migration assays. Finally, we used an orthotopic xenograft mouse model of colon cancer to assess tumour growth and progression. Our results demonstrated that MEK5 and ERK5 are overexpressed in human adenomas (P<0.01) and adenocarcinomas (P<0.05), where increased ERK5 expression correlated with the acquisition of more invasive and metastatic potential (P<0.05). Interestingly, we observed a significant correlation between ERK5 expression and NF-κB activation in human adenocarcinomas (P<0.001). We also showed that ERK5 overactivation significantly accelerated cell cycle progression (P<0.05) and increased cell migration (P<0.01). Furthermore, cells with overactivated ERK5 displayed increased NF-κB nuclear translocation and transcriptional activity (P<0.05), together with increased expression of the mesenchymal marker vimentin (P<0.05). We further demonstrated that increased NF-κB activation was associated with increased IκB phosphorylation and degradation (P<0.05). Finally, in the mouse model, lymph node metastasis was exclusively seen in orthotopically implanted tumours with overactivated MEK5/ERK5, and not in tumours with inhibited MEK5/ERK5. Our results suggested that MEK5/ERK5/NF-κB signalling pathway is important for tumour onset, progression and metastasis, possibly representing a novel relevant therapeutic target in colon cancer treatment.This study was supported by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (HMSP-ICT/0018/2011, SFRH/BD/96517/2013, SFRH/BD/88619/2012 and SFRH/BD/79356/2011).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

QuantSat-PT: an attitude determination and control system architecture for QKD

This article presents the QuantSaT-PT project, an effort to create the first Portuguese nanosatellite for space to ground quantum communication. Focused on the Attitude Determination and Control System, it describes the different elements that allow for the attainment of diverse accuracy levels required for separate mission stages. Given the harsh pointing precision necessary for establishing a quantum downlink, the implementation of this module presents a major challenge in the Cubesat field. Furthermore, the introduced architecture aims to reduce system cost by replacing the state-of-the-art star tracker with ground beacon detection

Genetic and microenvironmental intra-tumor heterogeneity impacts colorectal cancer evolution and metastatic development

© The Author(s) 2022 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a highly diverse disease, where different genomic instability pathways shape genetic clonal diversity and tumor microenvironment. Although intra-tumor heterogeneity has been characterized in primary tumors, its origin and consequences in CRC outcome is not fully understood. Therefore, we assessed intra- and inter-tumor heterogeneity of a prospective cohort of 136 CRC samples. We demonstrate that CRC diversity is forged by asynchronous forms of molecular alterations, where mutational and chromosomal instability collectively boost CRC genetic and microenvironment intra-tumor heterogeneity. We were able to depict predictor signatures of cancer-related genes that can foresee heterogeneity levels across the different tumor consensus molecular subtypes (CMS) and primary tumor location. Finally, we show that high genetic and microenvironment heterogeneity are associated with lower metastatic potential, whereas late-emerging copy number variations favor metastasis development and polyclonal seeding. This study provides an exhaustive portrait of the interplay between genetic and microenvironment intra-tumor heterogeneity across CMS subtypes, depicting molecular events with predictive value of CRC progression and metastasis development.This work was financed by national funds from FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P., in the scope of the project UIDP/04378/2020 and UIDB/04378/2020 of the Research Unit on Applied Molecular Biosciences - UCIBIO and the project LA/P/0140/2020 of the Associate Laboratory Institute for Health and Bioeconomy - i4HB. This research was also funded by: PTDC/MED-ONC/28660/2017 from Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) to A.R.G. A.R.G is recipient of Researcher Grant CEECIND/02699/2017 from FCT. The biobanking of CRC samples from Hospital Santa Maria, Lisbon, Portugal was supported by FCT research grant PIC/IC/82821/2007. This work was produced with the support of INCD funded by FCT and FEDER under the project 22153-01/SAICT/2016.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio