Extração de nemátodes de quisto de amostras de solo: método de decantação e crivagem de Cobb vs. método de Fenwick

Potato cyst nematodes are a threat to several agricultural crops around the world with some species considered quarantine pests and subjected to strict regulatory measures in many countries. Usually, cysts nematodes co-exist in the soil with other species of plant-parasitic nematodes, so, a time and cost-efficient extraction technique becomes of primary importance. The ideal extraction method should be able to obtain cysts as well as detecting the presence of other motile plant-parasitic nematodes with a potential impact on potato farming (such as Meloidogyne sp. and Pratylenchus sp.). In recent years, studies have been carried out to test the efficiency of various methods of nematode extraction but few results have been published. Therefore, to test if a method that extracts simultaneously cysts and motile nematodes can be used instead of the reference method that extracts cysts only, the efficiency of Cobb’s decanting and sieving technique was compared to Fenwick’s technique. As a result, in the 74 samples evaluated, a greater number of cysts were extracted from 24 samples using Fenwick’s method and from 11 samples employing Cobb’s decanting and sieving technique. The statistics results showed a significance level of 0,05 using Fenwick’s can allowing to conclude that this method is much more efficient than Cobb’s decanting and sieving technique, and confirming it should not be replaced by alternative methods for cysts extractioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Novel single nucleotide polymorphism-based assay for genotyping Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis

Typing of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis strains presents a challenge, since they are genetically monomorphic and traditional molecular techniques have limited discriminatory power. The recent advances and availability of whole-genome sequencing have extended possibilities for the characterization of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis, and whole-genome sequencing can provide a phylogenetic context to facilitate global epidemiology studies. In this study, we developed a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) assay based on PCR and restriction enzyme digestion or sequencing of the amplified product. The SNP analysis was performed using genome sequence data from 133 Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis isolates with different genotypes from 8 different host species and 17 distinct geographic regions around the world. A total of 28,402 SNPs were identified among all of the isolates. The minimum number of SNPs required to distinguish between all of the 133 genomes was 93 and between only the type C isolates was 41. To reduce the number of SNPs and PCRs required, we adopted an approach based on sequential detection of SNPs and a decision tree. By the analysis of 14 SNPs Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis isolates can be characterized within 14 phylogenetic groups with a higher discriminatory power than mycobacterial interspersed repetitive unit–variable number tandem repeat assay and other typing methods. Continuous updating of genome sequences is needed in order to better characterize new phylogenetic groups and SNP profiles. The novel SNP assay is a discriminative, simple, reproducible method and requires only basic laboratory equipment for the large-scale global typing of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis isolates

Bayesian nonparametric inference for the three-class Youden index and its associated optimal cut-points

The three-class Youden index serves both as a measure of medical test accuracy and a criterion to choose the optimal pair of cutoff values for classifying subjects into three ordinal disease categories (e.g. no disease, mild disease, advanced disease). We present a Bayesian nonparametric approach for estimating the three-class Youden index and its corresponding optimal cutoff values based on Dirichlet process mixtures, which are robust models that can handle intricate features of distributions for complex data. Results from a simulation study are presented and an application to data from the Trail Making Test to assess cognitive impairment in Parkinson’s disease patients is detailed. </jats:p

Optimization of raw ewes’ milk high-pressure pre-treatment for improved production of raw milk cheese

Serra da Estrela protected designation of origin (PDO) cheese is manufactured with raw milk from Bordaleira and/or Churra Mondegueira da Serra da Estrela sheep breeds. Several socio-environmental shortcomings have reduced production capacity; hence, treatments that may contribute to its efficient transformation into cheese are welcome. High-pressure processing (HPP) milk pre-treatment may contribute to a cheese yield increment, yet optimization of processing conditions is warranted. An initial wide-scope screening experiment allowed for pinpointing pressure intensity, holding time under pressure and time after HPP as the most important factors influencing curd yield. Based on this, a more targeted screening experiment allowed for selecting the range of experimental conditions to be used for an experimental design study that revealed an HPP treatment at 121 MPa for 30 min as the optimum for milk processing to improve curd yield (>9%) and effectively maintain the beneficial cheese microbiota; the optimum was validated in a final experimental framework

Are CSR leaders less prone to engage in impression management?

This study examines the readability of corporate communication in the CEO letters included in the corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports presented by the firms that comprise the S&P 500 Index. These documents were content analyzed through the use of an automated algorithm provided by Readable.IO. Using a frame of analysis based on the social psychology theory of impression management, we studied the impression management tactics used. The main findings suggest that leading CSR companies (those listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index) present more readable CSR information in terms of comprehension and extension. These companies disclose CSR information generally in a positive way. However, these disclosure patterns are mediated by the “goal relevance of the impressions” and the “value of desired goals” related to the impression management tactics usedinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Á margem da legalidade: arquitetura informal, segregação e cultura espacial no Bairro da Cova do Vapor

Num período onde se discute a carência da participação do arquiteto em contextos sociais e institucionais é importante compreender qual o papel da arquitetura na sociedade contemporânea. Tendo em conta que cada vez mais questões de planeamento e urbanismo são questões políticas e económicas importa compreender a inscrição da arquitetura informal, á margem da estrutura urbana, da acessibilidade, do saneamento e da legalidade. O caso de estudo é o bairro informal da Cova do Vapor em Almada, examinado enquanto espaço que traduz valores e comportamentos coletivos que formam uma comunidade e uma cultura espacial específica. Através do mapeamento de usos e atividades em complemento com o levantamento arquitetónico do bairro, a problemática desta investigação desenvolvese em torno do espaço enquanto conjunto codificado de informações de recuperação de memória e identidade. A correlação entre a configuração do espaço e a vida social evidência o modo como o “património” físico e imaterial foi sendo construído, através da partilha de necessidades coletivas em espaços corretamente dimensionados e que funcionam.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Padrões espaciais e a vida pública: Contributo para o estudo de gentrificação no Bairro Alto

Num período onde se discute a regeneração dos centros históricos de Lisboa é importante compreender que o espaço físico é fruto das relações e práticas sociais, o retrato da dinâmica social do tempo no espaço. O caso de estudo é o Bairro Alto e esta investigação procura compreender, através da análise do contexto socio espacial, a correlação entre a vida espacial e a vida social, examinando os aspetos configuracionais do sistema espacial como suporte físico da lógica social. A correlação entre padrões de dimensão espacial e social são um forte contributo para a classificação de um modo de vida e para a cooperação no estudo do processo de gentrificação no Bairro Alto. Ao longo da investigação espaço e a sociedade são tidos como indissociáveis, entendendo espaço enquanto estrutura arquitetónica e urbana e sociedade como criador e utilizador do espaço social. Se os valores e os comportamentos da sociedade mudam, o espaço tende a adaptar-se a essa mudança, como reflexo do processo de personalização e socialização do Homem. O recurso à metodologia da sintaxe espacial permitiu construir uma análise a diferentes escalas e por períodos históricos, desde a escala global da cidade até à escala de rua no Bairro Alto. Esta análise permitiu dissecar o espaço como um conjunto codificado de informações, através de três níveis de análise: Distribuição do espaço, em que se estuda a configuração do espaço; Distribuição no espaço, aferindo a posição relativa dos usos e funções no espaço e a Distribuição através do espaço, com a observação e mapeamento do comportamento social no espaço.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio