Citizens involvement in the assessment of atmospheric contamination in an industrial area

Trabalho apresentado em 25th International Clean Air and Environment Conference CASANZ 2021, 17-21 de maio 2021, onlineN/

Biomonitoring PM using transplanted lichens in an urban-industrial area of the Lisbon Metropolitan Area and integration with reference monitoring method

Trabalho apresentado em 11th International Aerosol Conference (IAC2022), 4-9 setembro 2022, Atenas, GréciaN/

Citizens’ involvement in air biomonitoring with strawberry plants

Trabalho apresentado em EUDRES Citizen Science Conference, 28-29 de junho 2023, Barreiro, PortugalN/

Structural monitoring and modeling of the mechanical deformation of three-dimensional printed poly(ε-caprolactone) scaffolds

Three-dimensional (3D) printed poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) based scaffolds have being proposed for different tissue engineering applications. This study addresses the design and fabrication of 3D PCL constructs with different struts alignments at 90°, 45° and 90° with offset. The morphology and the mechanical behavior under uniaxial compressive load were assessed at different strain percentages. The combination of a new compressionCT device and micro computed tomography (micro-CT) allowed understanding the influence of pore geometry under controlled compressive strain in the mechanical and structural behavior of PCL constructs. Finite element analysis (FEA) was applied using the micro-CT data to modulate the mechanical response and compare with the conventional uniaxial compression tests. Scanning electron microscopic analysis showed a very high level of reproducibility and a low error comparing with the theoretical values, confirming that the alignment and the dimensional features of the printed struts are reliable. The mechanical tests showed that the 90° architecture presented the highest stiffness. With the compressionCT device was observed that the 90° and 90° with offset architectures presented similar values of porosity at same strain and similar pore size, contrary to the 45° architecture. Thus, pore geometric configurations affected significantly the deformability of the all PCL scaffolds under compression. The prediction of the FEA showed a good agreement to the conventional mechanical tests revealing the areas more affected under compression load. The methodology proposed in this study using 3D printed scaffolds with compressionCT device and FEA is a framework that offers great potential in understanding the mechanical and structural behavior of soft systems for different applications, including for the biomedical engineering field.The author Fernandes E M acknowledges the financial support from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and 'Programa Operacional Potencial Humano-POPH' and 'Fundo Social Europeu-FSE' for the post-doctoral grant (SFRH/BPD/96197/2013).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Working Group on Biological Parameters (WGBIOP) 2021

The main objective of the Working Group on Biological Parameters (WGBIOP) is to review the status, issues, developments, and quality assurance of biological parameters used in assessment and management. WGBIOP (1) plans workshops, exchanges, and validation studies on a range of biological varia-bles to review the quality of information supplied for stock assessment and improve quality as-surance and training; (2) investigates data availability and develops documentation and methods to improve communication between data collectors and end-users; (3) delivers new and im-proved functionality for the SmartDots platform. Four otolith exchanges and two workshops were completed in 2020–2021 using SmartDots— eight further exchanges are ongoing. Proposed future exchanges and workshops were reviewed and approved. The development of the SmartDots platform proceeded with the inclusion of the maturity, eggs, atresia, fecundity, and larval identification modules into the software version. A live SmartDots tutorial for event coordinators was conducted. Work to further develop quality assurance guidelines—and review national applications of these—progressed. Age and maturity validation studies were reviewed and a new method for prioritizing future validation work was proposed. Progress with the Stock Identification Database (SID) was reviewed, and the potential for creating a WGBIOP library collection and active involvement of WGBIOP in updating FishBase.org data were evaluated. The importance of identifying and documenting links be-tween all relevant databases and document repositories was identified, and a task to address this was initiated. Work on improving the feedback loop between data collectors and stock assessors on the usage and quality of biological parameters in stock assessment continued. Moving forward, WGBIOP aims to continue collaboration with WGALES and WGSMART on the development of the SmartDots platform, encouraging cross-group sharing of skills and ex-perience to optimize results. WGBIOP aims to improve accessibility to its outputs through up-dates to SID and FishBase.org, and the potential creation of a WGBIOP library collection. WGBIOP hopes to improve two-way communication between data collectors and end-users around the quality and utility of biological parameters used in assessment. WGBIOP also aims to amalgamate all validation activities into one coherent workstream.ICE

Assessing anti-inflammatory activities and compounds in switchgrass (Panicum virgatum)

SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL : TABLE S1: Putative identification of the secondary metabolites with known anti-inflammatory activities in switchgrass through untargeted metabolomics analyses.; TABLE S2: In vitro biological activities of the extracts derived from the four switchgrass cultivars. Antibacterial and antimycobacterial activities were evaluated against 2 bacterial strains Cutibacterium acnes and Mycobacterium smegmatis, respectively. Anticancer activity was investigated using human colorectal adenocarcinoma (HT-29) and human malignant melanoma (UCT-MEL-1) cell lines.Switchgrass is a bioenergy feedstock that potentially possesses multiple health benefits. However, the biological properties and associated bioactive compounds of switchgrass have not been adequately investigated. In the current study, we assessed the anti-inflammatory properties of switchgrass. Results from in vitro bioassays indicated that the methanolic extracts of switchgrass contained compounds exerting inhibitory effects on the expression of inflammatory mediators (TNF- , IL-6, IL-8, and IL-10) induced in the U-937 model system. The extracts derived from four switchgrass cultivars (Alamo, Kanlow, Liberty, and Show Me) inhibited the secretion of all inflammatory mediators examined, with the only exception of the Liberty extract, which showed no significant effect on IL-10 expression. The degree of cytokine inhibition was variable, depending on the particular cultivar, the concentrations tested, and the cytokines examined. A global metabolomics approach was utilized to putatively identify possible molecules with known anti-inflammatory capacities in different switchgrass cultivars using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography with high-resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS). The content of multiple bioactive antiinflammatory compounds in switchgrass was determined by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC–MS/MS) analyses. Our results suggest that switchgrass, particularly the Alamo and Kanlow cultivars, may represent a promising natural anti-inflammatory source for the cosmetic, nutraceutical, and pharmaceutical industries.This work was supported by the USDA/ARS Dale Bumpers Small Farm Research Center, Agreement number 58-6020-6-001 from the USDA Agricultural Research Service, Center for Agroforestry at University of Missouri, University of Pretoria, and Missouri Department of Agriculture Specialty Crop Block Grant Program (SCBGP) #16SCBGPMO0003. The Sumner lab and the MU Metabolomics Center have been graciously supported by several entities over the years for the development of natural products profiling and plant metabolomics. These specifically include support from the University of Missouri, The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, Bruker Daltonics Gmbh, Agilent Technologies, US National Science Foundation (NSF)-JST Metabolomics for a Low Carbon Society #1139489, NSF MRI DBI #1126719, NSF RCN #1340058, and NSF MCB #1024976.https://www.mdpi.com/journal/agricultuream2023Plant Production and Soil Scienc

State of the world’s plants and fungi 2020

Kew’s State of the World’s Plants and Fungi project provides assessments of our current knowledge of the diversity of plants and fungi on Earth, the global threats that they face, and the policies to safeguard them. Produced in conjunction with an international scientific symposium, Kew’s State of the World’s Plants and Fungi sets an important international standard from which we can annually track trends in the global status of plant and fungal diversity

QTLs related to berry acidity identified in a wine grapevine population grown in warm weather

The optimal balance between sugar and acidity is an essential criterion to elaborate equilibrated and stable wines. The aim of this study was to locate quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for these traits using an F1 population derived from Monastrell and Syrah wine cultivars. Several parameters related to acidity were evaluated during six consecutive years by measuring total soluble solids, total acidity, malic acid, and tartaric acid. Three genetic maps were developed using 104 SSR (simple sequence repeat) and 146 SNP (single-nucleotide polymorphism) markers. The consensus map covered 1174 cM with 238 markers assembled in 19 linkage groups (LGs). Significant QTLs at the genome-wide level were detected, and, although they exhibited a large degree of instability from year to year, QTLs for the ratio of soluble solids to acidity (LG2) and malic acid (LG8) and the ratio of tartaric to malic acid (LG8) were stable in at least 2 years. Several annotated genes involved in sugar and acidity pathways co-located with the confidence intervals of these QTLs and are proposed as putative candidate genes for future studies of these trait