A importância dos estudos de impacto das atividades turísticas sobre os padrões comportamentais dos cetáceos

O impacto das atividades turísticas no comportamento dos cetáceos é um assunto que tem sido estudado em diferentes áreas geográficas e para diferentes espécies. Trata-se de um tema que recentemente está a tornar-se ainda mais importante devido ao grande desenvolvimento das atividades de observação de cetáceos em certas regiões, como as Canárias, assim como de práticas mais intrusivas, como a natação com golfinhos. […].info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A first assessment of operator compliance and dolphin behavioural responses during swim-with-dolphin programs for three species of Delphinids in the Azores

The popularity of swim-with wild dolphin programs around the world is fast growing, with the studies required to investigate their impact lagging behind. In the Azores, species targeted include the short-beaked common (Delphinus delphis), the bottlenose (Tursiops truncatus) and the Atlantic spotted dolphin (Stenella frontalis). To evaluate the effects of this activity on local dolphin populations, and thus provide support for management decisions, dolphin response data were collected onboard commercial boats off São Miguel Island between 2013 and 2015. All three species revealed high degree of neutral and avoidance behaviours, and very low approach rates. Tursiops showed higher frequency of neutral responses than Delphinus, while Stenella both avoided and approached more frequently than the other species. When boats intersected the path of dolphin groups, avoidance responses were more likely and the duration of swims was shorter. Swims were also shorter when animals were resting and travelling, and when groups were smaller. The operators generally complied with the legislation, except in respect to the number of swim attempts per dolphin group, which was higher than the legal maximum. Improvement of the current legislation and concurrent reinforcement of controls is essential to avoid detrimental long-term effects of this activity on dolphin populations in the Azores.This research was partially supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the COMPETE – Operational Competitiveness Programme and national funds through FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology, under the project PEst-C/MAR/LA0015/2013, by the Strategic Funding UID/Multi/04423/2013 through national funds provided by FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology and European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), in the framework of the programme PT2020 and by cE3c funding (Ref:UID/BIA/003329/2013). It was also partly supported by CIRN (Centro de Investigação de Recursos Naturais, University of the Azores), and CIIMAR (Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research, Porto, Portugal). A. Cecchetti was supported by the Regional Fund for Science through the scholarship M.3.1.2/F/036/2011. K.A. Stockin was supported by a Royal Society of New Zealand Te Aparangi Rutherford Discovery Fellowship.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Estudando e valorizando os cetáceos dos Açores

Nos Açores ocorrem pelo menos 25 espécies diferentes de cetáceos (baleias e golfinhos). Algumas podem observar-se facilmente durante todo o ano, mas outras são menos visíveis, quer por ocorrerem apenas em épocas específicas quer pelo seu comportamento furtivo. Todas as espécies de cetáceos estão protegidas legalmente, e algumas têm um estatuto de conservação que requer medidas especiais de gestão. Estas medidas requerem, no entanto, conhecimentos de base sobre abundância e distribuição que infelizmente é insuficiente. Para além dos argumentos conservacionistas os cetáceos constituem um recurso económico relevante para o sector do turismo nos Açores. Por esta razão torna-se ainda mais importante o seu estudo: só um bom conhecimento dos padrões de distribuição e de comportamento permitirá garantir uma boa gestão do recurso. […].info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Atomic force microscopy of bacteria from periodontal subgingival biofilm: Preliminary study results

OBJECTIVE: Atomic force microscope (AFM) is a technology that allows analysis of the nanoscale morphology of bacteria within biofilm and provides details that may be better useful for understanding the role of bacterial interactions in the periodontal disease. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Five patients with periodontal ≥5 mm pockets diagnosed as generalized periodontitis and five patients with slight gingivitis were selected for the investigation. Bacteria biofilms were collected and morphologically investigated by AFM application. RESULTS: The investigation revealed how periodontitis bacteria are characterized by specific morphologic features of the cell wall. The major representative species of bacteria causing periodontal diseases have been reproduced by a three-dimensional reconstruction showing the bacteria surface details. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of complex glycocalyx structures, bacteriophage-like vesicles, spirochetes (classic and cystic morphology) and bacterial co-aggregation has been identified by the AFM analysis. The results suggest that AFM is a reliable technique for studying bacterial morphology and for examining microbial interactions in dental plaque

Oral health-related quality of life in partially edentulous patients before and after implant therapy: a 2-year longitudinal study

The aim of this study was to measure the Oral Health-Related Quality of Life (OHRQoL) before and after a prosthodontic implant therapy so to determine the physical and psychological impact of implant-supported fixed partial dentures (IFPD) rehabilitation among edentulous patients. Methods. 50 partially edentulous patients aged 40-70 years, treated with IFPD, completed the OHRQoL questionnaire before the implant surgery (Time 0) and 2 years after their whole implant-prosthetic rehabilitation (Time 1). The questionnaire was proposed in a short version of Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14, range 0-56) and analyzed through the ‘additive method’. We evaluated statistical mean, standard deviation, median, variance and mode of all OHIP-14 domains and the statistical significance about oral changes at Time 0 and Time 1 using the Chi-square test (p-values 0.05). Patients with I and IV Kennedy’s class edentulism showed better improvement (p < 0.05). Preoperative and post-treatment assessments of OHRQoL exhibited significant differences. The IFPD treatment had a positive effect on the OHRQoL, which improved better in patients with I and IV Kennedy’s edentulous class

Dynamics of charge-displacement channeling in intense laser-plasma interactions

The dynamics of transient electric fields generated by the interaction of high intensity laser pulses with underdense plasmas has been studied experimentally with the proton projection imaging technique. The formation of a charged channel, the propagation of its front edge and the late electric field evolution have been characterised with high temporal and spatial resolution. Particle-in-cell simulations and an electrostatic, ponderomotive model reproduce the experimental features and trace them back to the ponderomotive expulsion of electrons and the subsequent ion acceleration.Comment: 5 figures, accepted for publication in New Journal of Physic

Population structure of Atlantic swordfish (Xiphias gladius L. 1758) (Teleostea, Xiphiidae) using mitochondrial DNA analysis: implications for fisheries management

Recent studies on Atlantic swordfish (Xiphias gladius L. 1758) genetic structure have demonstrated significant heterogeneity but the precise boundary between populations remains to be identified. In this context, genetic diversity was investigated by PCR–RFLP analysis at the control region of mitochondrial DNA (D–loop) from 274 swordfish specimens collected from five different areas of the Atlantic Ocean. The analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) showed that genetic variation was mainly due to differences within rather than between the studied areas. Additionally, the phylogenetic analysis did not show evident relationships among haplotypes from all areas. However, low but significant FST values were recorded when comparing Equatorial samples with those from the north central and north tropical Atlantic. These results do not support a need for changing the current management boundary for the Atlantic fishery. Key words: Xiphiidae, Swordfish, Xiphias gladius, Mitochondrial DNA, Genetic variability, Atlantic Ocean.Estudios recientes sobre la estructura genética del pez espada del Atlántico (Xiphias gladius L. 1758) han demostrado una heterogeneidad significativa, pero los límites precisos entre poblaciones no han sido identificados. En este contexto, la diversidad genética se ha investigado mediante análisis PCR–RFLP en la región control de ADN mitocondrial (bucle D) de 274 peces espada recolectados en cinco zonas diferentes del océano Atlántico. El análisis de la varianza molecular (AMOVA) mostró que la variación genética se debía a diferencias en cada zona y no entre las zonas estudiadas. Además, los análisis filogenéticos no muestran relaciones evidentes entre los haplotipos de todas las zonas. A pesar de ello, al comparar las muestras ecuatoriales con las de zonas más al norte, se obtienen valores de FST bajos pero significativos. Estos resultados indican que no es necesario cambiar los límites de las zonas de gestión para la pesquería del Atlántico. Palabras clave: Xiphiidae, Pez espada, Xiphias gladius, ADN mitocondrial, Variabilidad genética, Océano Atlántico.Recent studies on Atlantic swordfish (Xiphias gladius L. 1758) genetic structure have demonstrated significant heterogeneity but the precise boundary between populations remains to be identified. In this context, genetic diversity was investigated by PCR–RFLP analysis at the control region of mitochondrial DNA (D–loop) from 274 swordfish specimens collected from five different areas of the Atlantic Ocean. The analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) showed that genetic variation was mainly due to differences within rather than between the studied areas. Additionally, the phylogenetic analysis did not show evident relationships among haplotypes from all areas. However, low but significant FST values were recorded when comparing Equatorial samples with those from the north central and north tropical Atlantic. These results do not support a need for changing the current management boundary for the Atlantic fishery. Key words: Xiphiidae, Swordfish, Xiphias gladius, Mitochondrial DNA, Genetic variability, Atlantic Ocea

Electromagnetic characterization of the 990 ton gapless magnets for the OPERA experiment

The instrumented targets of the OPERA neutrino experiment are complemented by two massive spectrometers based on gapless iron magnets. In 2006, a systematic assessment of their electromagnetic properties have been carried out. In this document, we report the results of such characterization and demonstrate that the achieved performance fulfill the physics requirements for the study of νμ→ντ oscillations

Prospect for Charge Current Neutrino Interactions Measurements at the CERN-PS

Tensions in several phenomenological models grew with experimental results on neutrino/antineutrino oscillations at Short-Baseline (SBL) and with the recent, carefully recomputed, antineutrino fluxes from nuclear reactors. At a refurbished SBL CERN-PS facility an experiment aimed to address the open issues has been proposed [1], based on the technology of imaging in ultra-pure cryogenic Liquid Argon (LAr). Motivated by this scenario a detailed study of the physics case was performed. We tackled specific physics models and we optimized the neutrino beam through a full simulation. Experimental aspects not fully covered by the LAr detection, i.e. the measurements of the lepton charge on event-by-event basis and their energy over a wide range, were also investigated. Indeed the muon leptons from Charged Current (CC) (anti-)neutrino interactions play an important role in disentangling different phenomenological scenarios provided their charge state is determined. Also, the study of muon appearance/disappearance can benefit of the large statistics of CC muon events from the primary neutrino beam. Results of our study are reported in detail in this proposal. We aim to design, construct and install two Spectrometers at "NEAR" and "FAR" sites of the SBL CERN-PS, compatible with the already proposed LAr detectors. Profiting of the large mass of the two Spectrometers their stand-alone performances have also been exploited.Comment: 70 pages, 38 figures. Proposal submitted to SPS-C, CER

Why are Prices Sticky? Evidence from Business Survey Data

This paper offers new insights on the price setting behaviour of German retail firms using a novel dataset that consists of a large panel of monthly business surveys from 1991-2006. The firm-level data allows matching changes in firms' prices to several other firm-characteristics. Moreover, information on price expectations allow analyzing the determinants of price updating. Using univariate and bivariate ordered probit specifications, empirical menu cost models are estimated relating the probability of price adjustment and price updating, respectively, to both time- and state- dependent variables. First, results suggest an important role for state-dependence; changes in the macroeconomic and institutional environment as well as firm-specific factors are significantly related to the timing of price adjustment. These findings imply that price setting models should endogenize the timing of price adjustment in order to generate realistic predictions concerning the transmission of monetary policy. Second, an analysis of price expectations yields similar results providing evidence in favour of state-dependent sticky plan models. Third, intermediate input cost changes are among the most important determinants of price adjustment suggesting that pricing models should explicitly incorporate price setting at different production stages. However, the results show that adjustment to input cost changes takes time indicating "additional stickiness" at the last stage of processing