Collective participation at the service of cultural heritage: user-generated content in Portuguese memory institutions

The 2030 Agenda, set at the 2015 UN Summit, sets out the Sustainable Development Goals covering economic, cultural, environmental and social development. These goals set out a plan for all countries to actively engage in making the world better. These are a set of 17 objectives that have a universal ambition, are integrated and indivisible and require a global partnership between public and private institutions, governments and civil society. Sustainable development is a fundamental and overarching goal on which people are based and their ability to aggregate into common and community goals. Around the heritage, regarding GLAM institutions, calls for the intervention of the people of the community in the virtual platforms, with the help of Web 2.0 that introduced new ways of relationship between the information services and their users (real and potential), paving the way for user-generated content. At the same time, the emergence and development of the citizen science movement has consolidated this trend of openness, availability of collections and unmediated liaison with citizens (users and non-users), contributing to the evolution of new ways of conceiving the representation of information. This trend is visible all over the GLAM sector, especially in the West, on various platforms (wikis, blogs, Flickr, websites, etc.) with very interesting results. The aim of this paper is to identify and map these trends in Portugal and to verify if they are (or not) in line with their foreign counterparts. It is concluded by the still incipient but growing trend in Portugal, which can be partly explained by the fact that the coordinating services of the GLAM areas do not take position or develop projects within the web 2.0

Biofilm formation under high shear stress increases resilience to chemical and mechanical challenges

The effect that the hydrodynamic conditions under which biofilms are formed has on their persistence is still unknown. This study assessed the behaviour of Pseudomonas fluorescens biofilms, formed on stainless steel under different shear stress (tau w) conditions (1, 2 and 4 Pa), to chemical (benzalkonium chloride - BAC, glutaraldehyde - GLUT and sodium hypochlorite - SHC) and mechanical (20 Pa) treatments (alone and combined). The biofilms formed under different tau w showed different structural characteristics. Those formed under a higher tau w were invariably more tolerant to chemical and mechanical stresses. SHC was the biocide which caused the highest biofilm killing and removal, followed by BAC. The sequential exposure to biocides and mechanical stress was found to be insufficient for effective biofilm control. A basal layer containing biofilm cells mostly in a viable state remained on the surface of the cylinders, particularly for the 2 and 4 Pa-generated biofilms

Dados abertos e Ciência Cidadã em Instituições de Memória

O movimento da ciência aberta, fundamentado nas declarações de Budapeste (2002), Bethesda (2003) e Berlim (2003), e alinhado com os Objetivos do Desenvolvimento Sustentável, definidos pela ONU em 2015, visa o acesso à literatura científica através da disponibilização livre e generalizada de dados científicos na WWW. Nas instituições de memória a disponibilização de conteúdos em acesso aberto visa a ligação com os utilizadores, numa nova forma de relacionamento beneficiada pela utilização das plataformas da Web 2.0 e projetos de ciência cidadã. O objetivo deste artigo é identificar e mapear as tendências de dados abertos e projetos de ciência cidadã no Arquivo, Biblioteca e Museu nacionais e verificar se estão (ou não) alinhadas com suas contrapartes estrangeiras. Conclui-se pela tendência ainda incipiente, mas crescente, em Portugal, o que pode ser parcialmente explicado pelo facto de os serviços de coordenação destas áreas não promoverem projetos na Web 2.0

In vitro dry matter and cell wall fractions of three genotypes of sunflower ensiled with additives

Ensilaram-se três genótipos de girassol (M734, Rumbosol 91 e variedade V2000), enriquecidos no material original com: 0,5% de uréia (U); 0,5% de carbonato de cálcio (CC); 0,5% de uréia mais 0,5% de carbonato de cálcio (U+CC); inoculante bacteriano comercial (IB) comercial e sem aditivo que serviu como silagem testemunha (T). Foram utilizados silos de laboratório de PVC, abertos com 1, 3, 5, 7, 14, 28 e 56 dias de ensilados, sendo determinados fibra em detergente neutro (FDN), fibra em detergente ácido (FDA), lignina e digestibilidade in vitro da matéria seca (DIVMS). As silagens de Rumbosol 91 apresentaram valores superiores aos dos genótipos V2000 e M734 nos dias de abertura para FDN, FDA e lignina. Os aditivos não promoveram alterações nos constituintes da parede celular. A silagem T não apresentou diferenças entre os genótipos quanto à DIVMS no decorrer do processo fermentativo, sendo os valores do último dia de abertura (56) de 51,0%, 49,1% e 48,9% de DIVMS para os genótipos M734, V2000 e Rumbosol 91, respectivamente. Não houve diferença entre as silagens com aditivos e a silagem testemunha com a evolução do processo fermentativo quanto à DIVMS. Os aditivos utilizados não melhoraram as silagens de girassol quanto às características avaliadas e, apesar de os genótipos apresentarem digestibilidade in vitro semelhantes, o Rumbosol 91 apresentou maiores teores de constituintes da parede celular.Three sunflower genotypes (M 734, Rumbosol 91 and V2000 variety) enriched with 0.5% of urea (U); 0.5% of calcium carbonate (CC); 0.5% of urea plus 0.5% of calcium carbonate (U + CC); commercial bacterial inoculate (BI); and without any additive, used as control silage (T) were ensiled in PVC silos and opened after 1, 3, 5, 7, 14, 28 and 56 days to determine the neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (FDA), lignin and dry matter in vitro digestibility (DMIVD). The Rumbosol 91 genotype silage showed higher NDF, ADF and lignin than V2000 and M734 genotypes. The additives did not promote changes in the cell wall constituents. No statistical differences among silages of the genotypes for DMIVD were observed during the fermentative process. The DMIVD at 56 days were 51.0, 49.1 and 48.9% for silage of M734, V2000 and Rumbosol 91 genotypes, respectively. No difference between silages with additives and control (T), during the fermentative process for DMIVD was observed. The additives did not improve sunflower silages. The genotypes showed similar in vitro digestibility, and the Rumbosol 91 genotype showed high compound of cell wall constituent

Multiclasificadores basados en aprendizaje automático como herramienta para la evaluación del perfil neurotóxico de líquidos iónicos

Los líquidos iónicos poseen un perfil fisicoquímico único, el cual los provee de un amplio rango de aplicaciones. Su variabilidad estructural casi ilimitada permite su diseño para tareas específicas. Sin embargo, su sustentabilidad, específicamente su seguridad desde el punto de vista toxicológico, ha sido frecuentemente cuestionada. Este último aspecto limita significativamente el cumplimiento de las regulaciones establecidas por la Unión Europea para el registro, evaluación, autorización y restricción de compuestosquímicos (REACH), así como su aplicación final. Debido a que la mayoría de los líquidos iónicos no han sido sintetizados, se hace evidente la importancia del desarrollo de herramientas quimioinformáticas que, de forma eficiente, permitan evaluar el potencial toxicológico de estos compuestos. En este sentido, el uso combinado de múltiples clasificadores ha demostrado superar las limitaciones de desempeño asociadas al uso de clasificadores individuales. En el presente trabajo fueron evaluadas varias estrategias alternativas de multiclasificadores basados en técnicas de aprendizaje automático supervisado, como herramientas para la evaluación del perfil neurotóxico de líquidos iónicos basado en la inhibición de la enzima acetilcolinesterasa, como indicador de neurotoxicidad. Se obtuvieron dos multiclasificadores con una alta capacidad predictiva sobre un conjunto de validación externa (no utilizado en el proceso de aprendizaje de los modelos). De acuerdo a los resultados obtenidos el 96% de un conjunto de nuevos líquidos iónicos podrá ser correctamente clasificado con la utilizaciónde estos multiclasificadores, los cuales constituyen herramientas de toma de decisión útiles en el campo del diseño y desarrollo de nuevos líquidos iónicos sustentables

Black hole thermodynamical entropy

As early as 1902, Gibbs pointed out that systems whose partition function diverges, e.g. gravitation, lie outside the validity of the Boltzmann-Gibbs (BG) theory. Consistently, since the pioneering Bekenstein-Hawking results, physically meaningful evidence (e.g., the holographic principle) has accumulated that the BG entropy $S_{BG}$ of a $(3+1)$ black hole is proportional to its area $L^2$ ($L$ being a characteristic linear length), and not to its volume $L^3$. Similarly it exists the \emph{area law}, so named because, for a wide class of strongly quantum-entangled $d$-dimensional systems, $S_{BG}$ is proportional to $\ln L$ if $d=1$, and to $L^{d-1}$ if $d>1$, instead of being proportional to $L^d$ ($d \ge 1$). These results violate the extensivity of the thermodynamical entropy of a $d$-dimensional system. This thermodynamical inconsistency disappears if we realize that the thermodynamical entropy of such nonstandard systems is \emph{not} to be identified with the BG {\it additive} entropy but with appropriately generalized {\it nonadditive} entropies. Indeed, the celebrated usefulness of the BG entropy is founded on hypothesis such as relatively weak probabilistic correlations (and their connections to ergodicity, which by no means can be assumed as a general rule of nature). Here we introduce a generalized entropy which, for the Schwarzschild black hole and the area law, can solve the thermodynamic puzzle.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures. Accepted for publication in EPJ

The Homeostasis of Iron, Copper, and Zinc in Paracoccidioides Brasiliensis, Cryptococcus Neoformans Var. Grubii, and Cryptococcus Gattii: A Comparative Analysis

Iron, copper, and zinc are essential for all living organisms. Moreover, the homeostasis of these metals is vital to microorganisms during pathogenic interactions with a host. Most pathogens have developed specific mechanisms for the uptake of micronutrients from their hosts in order to counteract the low availability of essential ions in infected tissues. We report here an analysis of genes potentially involved in iron, copper, and zinc uptake and homeostasis in the fungal pathogens Paracoccidioides brasiliensis, Cryptococcus neoformans var. grubii, and Cryptococcus gattii. Although prior studies have identified certain aspects of metal regulation in Cryptococcus species, little is known regarding the regulation of these elements in P. brasiliensis. We also present amino acid sequences analyses of deduced proteins in order to examine possible conserved domains. The genomic data reveals, for the first time, genes associated to iron, copper, and zinc assimilation and homeostasis in P. brasiliensis. Furthermore, analyses of the three fungal species identified homologs to genes associated with high-affinity uptake systems, vacuolar and mitochondrial iron storage, copper uptake and reduction, and zinc assimilation. However, homologs to genes involved in siderophore production were only found in P. brasiliensis. Interestingly, in silico analysis of the genomes of P. brasiliensis Pb01, Pb03, and Pb18 revealed significant differences in the presence and/or number of genes involved in metal homeostasis, such as in genes related to iron reduction and oxidation. The broad analyses of the genomes of P. brasiliensis, C. neoformans var. grubii, and C. gattii for genes involved in metal homeostasis provide important groundwork for numerous interesting future areas of investigation that are required in order to validate and explore the function of the identified genes and gene pathways