SARS-CoV-2 introductions and early dynamics of the epidemic in Portugal

Genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in Portugal was rapidly implemented by the National Institute of Health in the early stages of the COVID-19 epidemic, in collaboration with more than 50 laboratories distributed nationwide. Methods By applying recent phylodynamic models that allow integration of individual-based travel history, we reconstructed and characterized the spatio-temporal dynamics of SARSCoV-2 introductions and early dissemination in Portugal. Results We detected at least 277 independent SARS-CoV-2 introductions, mostly from European countries (namely the United Kingdom, Spain, France, Italy, and Switzerland), which were consistent with the countries with the highest connectivity with Portugal. Although most introductions were estimated to have occurred during early March 2020, it is likely that SARS-CoV-2 was silently circulating in Portugal throughout February, before the first cases were confirmed. Conclusions Here we conclude that the earlier implementation of measures could have minimized the number of introductions and subsequent virus expansion in Portugal. This study lays the foundation for genomic epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 in Portugal, and highlights the need for systematic and geographically-representative genomic surveillance.We gratefully acknowledge to Sara Hill and Nuno Faria (University of Oxford) and Joshua Quick and Nick Loman (University of Birmingham) for kindly providing us with the initial sets of Artic Network primers for NGS; Rafael Mamede (MRamirez team, IMM, Lisbon) for developing and sharing a bioinformatics script for sequence curation (https://github.com/rfm-targa/BioinfUtils); Philippe Lemey (KU Leuven) for providing guidance on the implementation of the phylodynamic models; Joshua L. Cherry (National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health) for providing guidance with the subsampling strategies; and all authors, originating and submitting laboratories who have contributed genome data on GISAID (https://www.gisaid.org/) on which part of this research is based. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect the view of the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Health and Human Services, or the United States government. This study is co-funded by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia and Agência de Investigação Clínica e Inovação Biomédica (234_596874175) on behalf of the Research 4 COVID-19 call. Some infrastructural resources used in this study come from the GenomePT project (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-022184), supported by COMPETE 2020 - Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalisation (POCI), Lisboa Portugal Regional Operational Programme (Lisboa2020), Algarve Portugal Regional Operational Programme (CRESC Algarve2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), and by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Equilíbrio higroscópico da palma forrageira: relação com a umidade ótima para fermentação sólida

No estudo do processo de enriquecimento protéico da palma forrageira (Opuntia ficus-indica Mill) através da levedura Saccharomyces cerevisiae em meio semi-sólido, a atividade de água é uma das variáveis que mais afetam não apenas o processo fermentativo mas, também, o armazenamento desse enriquecido; desta forma, o presente trabalho foi realizado com o objetivo de se obter isotermas de dessorção da cactácea palma forrageira, nas temperaturas usuais dos processos das fermentações, 30, 35 e 40 oC, de modo a correlacionar atividade de água e umidade. As isotermas obtidas foram analisadas mediante os modelos de GAB e BET sendo que, em geral, o modelo de GAB foi o que melhor se ajustou aos dados experimentais. A partir das isotermas obtidas, encontraram-se as faixas de umidades adequadas para obtenção das atividades de água recomendadas para o processo fermentativo e durante o armazenamento do enriquecido

Caracterização físico-química e dielétrica de óleos biodegradáveis para transformadores elétricos Physico-chemical and dielectric characterization of biodegradable oils for electric transformers

O óleo mineral, originário do petróleo, é o fluido isolante tradicionalmente utilizado em transformadores elétricos. Diante do apelo por fontes de energia limpa e renovável o setor elétrico também é pressionado a apresentar alternativas ao fluido de origem fóssil. Neste estudo, óleos de algodão, babaçu, girassol, milho e soja, foram avaliados quanto ao seu potencial para utilização como fluido dielétrico. As propriedades avaliadas foram densidade, viscosidade, acidez, tensão de ruptura, fator de perda, teor de água e corrosividade. Os resultados obtidos foram comparados aos limites estabelecidos na NBR 15422. Os óleos vegetais apresentaram densidade e viscosidade dentro dos limites recomendados; além disso, não se mostraram corrosivos mas devem ser submetidos a tratamentos específicos que os conduzam a atender outras especificações; o tratamento dos óleos com solução de hidróxido de sódio diminuiu a acidez, melhorou a tensão de ruptura e diminuiu o fator de perda.<br>The mineral oil, originated from petroleum, is the insulating fluid traditionally used in electrical transformers. Responding to appeals for clean and renewable energy sources, the electrical sector is also under pressure to present alternatives to the fluid of fossil origin. In this study, cotton, `babassu', sunflower, corn and soybean oils were evaluated for their potential of utilization as a dielectric fluid. The properties investigated were density, viscosity, acidity, breakdown voltage, loss factor, water content and corrosivity. The results were compared with the values of the limits established in NBR 15422. Vegetable oils showed density and viscosity within the limits set by standard, however, higher than those presented by the studied mineral oil. It was found that vegetable oils have to pass through improvements to meet other specifications required. The treatment of oils with sodium hydroxide solution reduced the acidity, improved the breakdown voltage thereby lowering the loss factor