Conservation must capitalise on climate’s moment

The health of the natural environment has never been a greater concern, but attention to biodiversity loss is being eclipsed by the climate crisis. We argue that conservationists must seize the agenda to put biodiversity at the heart of climate policy

The mammals of Angola

Scientific investigations on the mammals of Angola started over 150 years ago, but information remains scarce and scattered, with only one recent published account. Here we provide a synthesis of the mammals of Angola based on a thorough survey of primary and grey literature, as well as recent unpublished records. We present a short history of mammal research, and provide brief information on each species known to occur in the country. Particular attention is given to endemic and near endemic species. We also provide a zoogeographic outline and information on the conservation of Angolan mammals. We found confirmed records for 291 native species, most of which from the orders Rodentia (85), Chiroptera (73), Carnivora (39), and Cetartiodactyla (33). There is a large number of endemic and near endemic species, most of which are rodents or bats. The large diversity of species is favoured by the wide range of habitats with contrasting environmental conditions, while endemism tends to be associated with unique physiographic settings such as the Angolan Escarpment. The mammal fauna of Angola includes 2 Critically Endangered, 2 Endangered, 11 Vulnerable, and 14 Near-Threatened species at the global scale. There are also 12 data deficient species, most of which are endemics or near endemics to the countryinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

BacHBerry: BACterial Hosts for production of Bioactive phenolics from bERRY fruits

BACterial Hosts for production of Bioactive phenolics from bERRY fruits (BacHBerry) was a 3-year project funded by the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) of the European Union that ran between November 2013 and October 2016. The overall aim of the project was to establish a sustainable and economically-feasible strategy for the production of novel high-value phenolic compounds isolated from berry fruits using bacterial platforms. The project aimed at covering all stages of the discovery and pre-commercialization process, including berry collection, screening and characterization of their bioactive components, identification and functional characterization of the corresponding biosynthetic pathways, and construction of Gram-positive bacterial cell factories producing phenolic compounds. Further activities included optimization of polyphenol extraction methods from bacterial cultures, scale-up of production by fermentation up to pilot scale, as well as societal and economic analyses of the processes. This review article summarizes some of the key findings obtained throughout the duration of the project

Balance and motor coordination are not fully developed in 7 years old blind children Coordenação motora e equilíbrio não são totalmente desenvolvidos em crianças cegas com 7 anos de idade

Visually impaired children show difficulties in recognizing their own bodies, objects around then and the spatial parameters that are essential for independent movement. This study analyzes the neuro-psychomotor development of a group of congenitally visually impaired children as compared to children with normal sight. We have evaluated two groups of seven-year-olds by means of neurological evolution examination (NEE). The group studied comprised 20 blind children and the control group comprised 20 children with normal sight, and they were paired up according to age and gender. In some tests, the blind children were guided by touch. The visually impaired children performed worse in tests evaluating balance and appendage coordination compared to normal sighted children (p< 0.001), and this suggests that visual deficiency impairs children's neuro-psychomotor development.<br>As crianças portadoras de deficiência visual possuem dificuldades em conhecer seu próprio corpo, objetos a sua volta e parâmetros espaciais imprescindíveis para locomoção independente. Este trabalho analisa o desenvolvimento neuropsicomotor de um grupo de crianças com deficiência visual congênita em comparação a crianças com visão normal. Avaliamos dois grupos de crianças de sete anos de idade, através do exame neurológico evolutivo (ENE). O grupo estudado era constituído de 20 crianças cegas e o grupo controle constituído de 20 crianças com visão normal, pareadas por idade e sexo. Em algumas provas, as crianças cegas foram instruídas pelo tato. As crianças portadoras de deficiência visual tiveram pior desempenho nas provas que avaliaram o equilíbrio e coordenação apendicular, quando comparadas às crianças com visão normal (p< 0,001), sugerindo que o déficit visual compromete o desenvolvimento neuropsicomotor da criança

The Effect of Root Canal Irrigation with Combination of Sodium Hypo-chlorite and Chlorhexidine Gluconate on the Sealing Ability of Obturation Materials

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the precipitate that was formed by combining Sodium Hypochlorite (NaOCl) and Chlorhexidine Gluconate (CHX) on the sealing ability of root canal obturation materials. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The fluid filtration method was conducted on a total of 100 roots. Samples were randomly divided into two control (n=5) and three experimental groups (n=30). The samples in group 1 were irrigated with 1.5 mL of 2.5% NaOCl, and then the smear layers of the teeth were removed by 17% EDTA, while the specimens of group 2 were irrigated by 1.5 mL of 2.5% NaOCl and 1.5 mL of 2% CHX; after the smear layer removal, a final flush with 1.5 mL of 2.5% NaOCl was performed. The samples of group 3 were irrigated the same as group 1 but after the smear layer removal canals were irrigated again with 1.5 mL of 2.5% NaOCl and then a final flush with 1.5 mL of 2% CHX was performed. Teeth were obturated with gutta-percha and AH26 sealer and after seven days, microleakage was evaluated by the fluid filtration technique. The results were analyzed by the ANOVA and Tukey's test. RESULTS: The samples in group 3 had significantly greater microleakage compared to teeth in group 1, 2 (p<0.05), and the specimens in group 1 showed significantly less amount of microleakage than samples in group 2, 3 (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: The presence of the precipitate that is formed due to interaction between NaOCl and CHX has negative effect on the sealing ability of gutta-percha and AH26 sealer