Serological evidence of West Nile virus circulation in Portugal

The circulation of West Nile virus in Portugal was assessed by serological surveys conducted during 2004–2010 in horses and birds. The detection of WNV antibodies in both species in all the years covered by the study as well as the presence of anti-WNV IgM in symptomatic horses that had not traveled outside the country, support the notion that WNV circulates in Portugal

Quality of early child care and education: analyses at the ITERS-R indicator level

The Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale -Revised Edition (ITERS-R; Harms, Cryer, & Clifford, 2005) is being used in several countries to measure quality of classrooms for children under 50 months of age. The main goal of the present research was to study the ITERS-R alternative scoring system. With this purpose, indicators were rated beyond the quality level assigned to each item in 160 classrooms, for children between 1 and 5 years of age, in the district of Porto. Results showed that this alternative scoring system allows researchers to describe classrooms' quality with more detail and to focus also ·on the classrooms' strong points. These results can also be useful to organize intervention in order to improve quality and, thus, have a positive effect in child development

Genome Characterization and Spaciotemporal Dispersal Analysis of Bagaza Virus Detected in Portugal, 2021

Funding Information: This work received financial support from the Global Health and Tropical Medicine Center (which is funded through Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) contract UID/Multi/04413/2013). This research was also funded by FCT, Project UIDB/00276/2020 and LA/P/0059/2020-AL4AnimalS, and by the Interdisciplinary Research Center on Animal Health (CIISA), Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Lisbon (Portugal). Finally, this research was also partially funded by the Interdisciplinary Research Center on Animal Health (Project CIISA-INOV 4/2021), Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Lisbon (CIISA, FMV-UL) (Portugal). Publisher Copyright: © 2023 by the authors.In September 2021, Bagaza virus (BAGV), a member of the Ntaya group from the Flavivirus genus, was detected for the first time in Portugal, in the heart and the brain of a red-legged partridge found dead in a hunting ground in Serpa (Alentejo region; southern Portugal). Here we report the genomic characterization of the full-length sequence of the BAGV detected (BAGV/PT/2021), including phylogenetic reconstructions and spaciotemporal analyses. Phylogenies inferred from nucleotide sequence alignments, complemented with the analysis of amino acid alignments, indicated that the BAGV strain from Portugal is closely related to BAGV strains previously detected in Spain, suggesting a common ancestor that seems to have arrived in the Iberia Peninsula in the late 1990s to early 2000s. In addition, our findings support previous observations that BAGV and Israel turkey meningoencephalitis virus (ITV) belong to the same viral species.publishersversionpublishe

Serological Monitoring Of A Toxoplasma Infection After Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation.

We report a primary response to Toxoplasma gondii following a hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in a patient with multiple myeloma. The primary response to T. gondii was supported by IgM, IgG and IgA seroconversion. The patient was promptly treated and there were no complications related to toxoplasmosis in the subsequent months.52225-

Simple method for establishing primary Leporidae skin fibroblast cultures

Research Areas: Cell BiologyCommercial hare and rabbit immortalized cell lines are extremely limited regarding the many species within the lagomorpha order. To overcome this limitation, researchers and technicians must establish primary cell cultures derived from biopsies or embryos. Among all cell types, fibroblasts are plastic and resilient cells, highly convenient for clinical and fundamental research but also for diagnosis, particularly for viral isolation. Here, we describe a fast and cheap method to produce primary fibroblast cell cultures from leporid species, using dispase II, a protease that allows dermal–epidermal separation, followed by a simple enzymatic digestion with trypsin. This method allows for the establishment of an in vitro cell culture system with an excellent viability yield and purity level higher than 85% and enables the maintenance and even immortalization of leporid fibroblastic cells derived from tissues already differentiated.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Monitoramento sorológico de uma infecção toxoplásmica após transplante de células progenitoras hematopoiéticas

We report a primary response to Toxoplasma gondii following a hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in a patient with multiple myeloma. The primary response to T. gondii was supported by IgM, IgG and IgA seroconversion. The patient was promptly treated and there were no complications related to toxoplasmosis in the subsequent months.Esse relato de caso descreve uma resposta primária ao Toxoplasma gondii após transplante de células progenitoras hematopoiéticas em paciente com mieloma múltiplo. A resposta primária para o T. gondii foi evidenciada pela soroconversão observada na resposta de anticorpos IgM, IgG e IgA. O paciente foi prontamente tratado e complicações relacionadas à toxoplasmose não foram observadas nos meses subseqüentes

Characterization of ZSM-5 modified with niobium pentoxide: the study of thiophene adsorption

ZSM-5 adsorbents impregnated with Nb2O5 were applied in the sulfur removal in the form of thiophene, refractory substance of difficult removal of liquid fuels. For this purpose, a model fuel containing iso-octane contaminated with thiophene in concentrations of 877.5 to 1155 ppmw was prepared. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffractometry (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and Fourier transform-Raman (FT-Raman) spectroscopies for confirmation of the adsorbents, being prioritized the adsorption study with that containing 5 wt.% of niobium pentoxide, because it showed a greater capacity for removal of thiophene. The best results of adsorption were achieved at 353 K, a longer time to reach equilibrium was observed. Under these conditions, the best kinetic fitting was achieved using the equation of pseudo-second order, demonstrating the domain of the phenomenon of chemisorption. While under lower temperatures, the diffusion model presented a better approximation of the experimental results. Also, the increasing of temperature did enhance spontaneous processes.Adsorventes ZSM-5 impregnados com Nb2O5 foram aplicados na remoção de enxofre sob a forma de tiofeno, substância refratária de difícil remoção dos combustíveis líquidos. Para tanto, foi preparado um combustível modelo contendo iso-octano contaminado com tiofeno nas concentrações de 877,5 a 1155 ppmw. As amostras foram caracterizadas por difratometria de raios X (XRD), espectroscopias no infravermelho (FTIR) e Raman (FT-Raman) por transformada de Fourier para confirmação dos adsorventes obtidos, sendo priorizado o estudo de adsorção com aquele contendo 5% de pentóxido de nióbio, que apresentou uma maior capacidade de remoção de tiofeno. Os melhores resultados de adsorção foram alcançados a 353 K, sendo observado um maior tempo para atingir o equilíbrio. Sob essas condições, o melhor ajuste cinético foi alcançado utilizando a equação de pseudo-segunda ordem, evidenciando o domínio do fenômeno de quimissorção. Por outro lado, sob menores temperaturas, o modelo de difusão apresentou uma melhor aproximação dos resultados experimentais. O aumento da temperatura também favoreceu os processos espontâneos

Comparing Aspects Of The Process Quality In Six European Early Childhood Educational Settings

The European project ‘Early Change’ (http://earlychange.teithe.gr) attempts to evaluate the quality of early childhood education (ECE) environments of six European countries, Greece, Portugal, Finland, Denmark, Cyprus and Romania. The purpose of this paper is to compare the level of two dimensions of the process quality of these environments a) Space & Furnishings, and b) Personal Care Routines. Theorists, practitioners and researchers agree that in order to provide qualitative education to young children, one of the basic needs of all children must be met; that need is the protection of their health and their safety. A high quality early childhood education program must contain a safe and stimulating environment for the child (Lindsey, 1998). Such an environment includes indoor space, outdoor space, furniture, and room arrangement, and it is considered an integral part of a high quality early childhood program. 117 early educators from the six participating countries attended the training seminars about the evaluation of ECE quality using the Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale-R (ECERS-R). The trained educators evaluated the 8 indicators of the subscale ‘space & furnishings’ and the six indicators of the subscale ‘personal care routines’ in approximately 600 early childhood classrooms from six European countries. The results of this study highlight the similarities and differences concerning the specific dimensions of the process quality of ECE environments in six European countries, and reflect the diversity of ECE environment across these countries. The findings of this study may provide a valuable insight to researchers and educational policy makers for an enhanced understanding of the cultural diversities and the strengthening of the common values and targets of the European Union

West Nile virus transmission potential in Portugal

© 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/.It is unclear whether West Nile virus (WNV) circulates endemically in Portugal. Despite the country's adequate climate for transmission, Portugal has only reported four human WNV infections so far. We performed a review of WNV-related data (1966-2020), explored mosquito (2016-2019) and land type distributions (1992-2019), and used climate data (1981-2019) to estimate WNV transmission suitability in Portugal. Serological and molecular evidence of WNV circulation from animals and vectors was largely restricted to the south. Land type and climate-driven transmission suitability distributions, but not the distribution of WNV-capable vectors, were compatible with the North-South divide present in serological and molecular evidence of WNV circulation. Our study offers a comprehensive, data-informed perspective and review on the past epidemiology, surveillance and climate-driven transmission suitability of WNV in Portugal, highlighting the south as a subregion of importance. Given the recent WNV outbreaks across Europe, our results support a timely change towards local, active surveillance.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio