The primary role of exploratory trails in environmental education–CMIA of Vila do Conde

[Resumo] Um dos principais objetivos do CMIA de Vila do Conde é a monitorização de descritores ambientais e consequentemente a divulgação dos valores, recursos e problemáticas ambientais. As atividades com maior sucesso entre os nossos visitantes são os percursos exploratórios que nos permite dar a conhecer inúmeras espécies e promover alterações de comportamento junto de diferentes faixas etárias que vão desde o pré-escolar até à idade adulta. No decorrer destes percursos, são preenchidas folhas de registo onde cada participante assinala as diferentes espécies que visualiza ao longo do percurso, são descritas algumas curiosidades sobre essas mesmas espécies encontradas e posteriormente a equipa do CMIA lança na plataforma do BioDiversity4all – Biodiversidade para todos, as espécies encontradas em cada grupo. Desenvolveu-se um estudo realizado aos participantes destes percursos, onde verificamos que estas atividades permitiram estimular, motivar e explicar ao público que nos visita que de uma forma lúdica todos podem contribuir diretamente para o levantamento da biodiversidade, contribuindo eficazmente para a conservação da biodiversidade e do meio ambiente que os rodeia[Abstract] The CMIA of Vila do Conde presents as its main goals, not only the monitoring of environmental indicators, as well as the correct interpretation and dissemination of the values, resources and issues surrounding the environment. The activities with greater success among our visitors are exploration trails that allowed meeting a numerous species and promoting the change of behaviors among diferent age groups ranging from preschool to adulthood. In these activities, they watched birds, plants and marine species and recorded Information about them in on-line platform: BioDiversity4all – Biodiversidade para todos. Developed a study to the participant of these activities, have made it possible to stimulate, motivate and explain to the public that visits us through a playful way everyone can contribute directly to the biodiversity survey and contributing efectively to the conservation of biodiversity and the environment that surrounds them

Utilização de ensaios dinâmicos na avaliação da segurança de estruturas: caso de estudo

A vibração induzida por máquinas rotativas é um problema que pode afetar o regular funcionamento de um sistema estrutural bem como o conforto dos utilizadores expostos, dado que o ser humano é sensível às vibrações, designadamente quando são ultrapassados determinados níveis de aceleração. Isso pode originar a sensação de desconforto e problemas de saúde, pelo que é da maior importância a medição desses níveis de vibração. Além disso, a vibração continuada poderá originar fenómenos de fadiga nos sistemas estruturais. Neste trabalho, é apresentado um caso de estudo onde é ilustrada a utilização de ensaios dinâmicos in situ, nomeadamente como forma de apoio à realização da avaliação da segurança última e em serviço de um edifício industrial em betão armado, que apresentava indícios de existirem anomalias estruturais, e onde os trabalhadores sentiam as vibrações induzidas pelas máquinas da fábricainfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Science CONOPS for Application of SPORT Mission Data to Study Large (~1000km) Ionospheric Plasma Depletions

The Scintillation Prediction Observations Research Task (SPORT) mission is a single 6U CubeSat space weather satellite planned for an October 2022 launch into an ISS-like orbit. The primary purpose of the SPORT mission is to determine the longitudinal effects on equatorial plasma bubble (EPB) growth resulting from the offset dipole magnetic field of the Earth. By combining field and plasma measurements from SPORT with other low-altitude (i.e., alt \u3c 1000 km) spacecraft, it is possible to investigate large-scale (\u3e 1000 km) EPB structures. The types of investigation made possible by measurements from SPORT and other contemporaneous missions include 1) dynamics of depleted magnetic flux tubes; 2) dynamics of field-aligned EPB expansion versus propagation speed; 3) EPB vertical extent; and 4) EPB temporal evolution. To support these investigation types, the respective modes of conjunctions are: 1) simultaneous intersection of a magnetic flux tube; 2) intersection of magnetic flux tube separated in time; 3) Simultaneous Latitude/Longitude position conjunction; and 4) Non-simultaneous latitude/longitude position conjunction. This paper will summarize the SPORT satellite and data used for Science CONOPS to accomplish these objectives

Contribution of microscopy for understanding the mechanism of action against trypanosomatids

Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) has proved to be a useful tool to study the ultrastructural alterations and the target organelles of new antitrypanosomatid drugs. Thus, it has been observed that sesquiterpene lactones induce diverse ultrastructural alterations in both T. cruzi and Leishmania spp., such as cytoplasmic vacuolization, appearance of multilamellar structures, condensation of nuclear DNA, and, in some cases, an important accumulation of lipid vacuoles. This accumulation could be related to apoptotic events. Some of the sesquiterpene lactones (e.g., psilostachyin) have also been demonstrated to cause an intense mitochondrial swelling accompanied by a visible kinetoplast deformation as well as the appearance of multivesicular bodies. This mitochondrial swelling could be related to the generation of oxidative stress and associated to alterations in the ergosterol metabolism. The appearance of multilamellar structures and multiple kinetoplasts and flagella induced by the sesquiterpene lactone psilostachyin C indicates that this compound would act at the parasite cell cycle level, in an intermediate stage between kinetoplast segregation and nuclear division. In turn, the diterpene lactone icetexane has proved to induce the external membrane budding on T. cruzi together with an apparent disorganization of the pericellar cytoskeleton. Thus, ultrastructural TEM studies allow elucidating the possible mechanisms and the subsequent identification of molecular targets for the action of natural compounds on trypanosomatids.Fil: Lozano, Esteban Sebastián. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Medicina y Biología Experimental de Cuyo; ArgentinaFil: Spina Zapata, Renata María. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Histología y Embriología de Mendoza Dr. Mario H. Burgos. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas. Instituto de Histología y Embriología de Mendoza Dr. Mario H. Burgos; ArgentinaFil: Barrera, Patricia Andrea. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Histología y Embriología de Mendoza Dr. Mario H. Burgos. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas. Instituto de Histología y Embriología de Mendoza Dr. Mario H. Burgos; ArgentinaFil: Tonn, Carlos Eugenio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Investigaciones en Tecnología Química. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Instituto de Investigaciones en Tecnología Química; ArgentinaFil: Sosa Escudero, Miguel Angel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Histología y Embriología de Mendoza Dr. Mario H. Burgos. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas. Instituto de Histología y Embriología de Mendoza Dr. Mario H. Burgos; Argentin

Implementation of Fire Policies in Brazil: An Assessment of Fire Dynamics in Brazilian Savanna.

Abstract: In 2012, the Brazilian government implemented the Federal Brigades Program (FBP), a fire policy strategy to hire and train firefighters to combat wildfires. This study analyzed the impact of this program on fire behavior before (2008?2012) and after (2013?2017) its implementation in the Parque do Araguaia Indigenous Land, the largest indigenous territory with the highest occurrence of fires in the Brazilian tropical savanna. We analyzed the annual pattern of fire incidence in the dry season, the fire impact per vegetation type, the recurrence, and the relationship between fire and precipitation. The datasets were based on active fire products derived from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), the Landsat and Resourcesat-based burned area products, and the records of the fire combat operations. Our results showed that FBP contributed to the reduction of the number of areas affected by fires and to the formation of a more heterogeneous environment composed of fire-resistant and fire-sensitive native vegetation fragments. On the other hand, after the implementation of the FBP, there was an increase in the recurrence of 3?4 years of fires. We concluded that the FBP is an important public policy capable of providing improvements in fire management activities

Who leads research productivity growth? Guidelines for R&D policy-makers

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Inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase in Heart Tissue and Nitric Oxide in Serum of Trypanosoma cruzi-Infected Rhesus Monkeys: Association with Heart Injury

Chagas disease, a neglected tropical disease caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, afflicts from 8 to 15 million people in the Latin America. Chronic chagasic cardiomyopathy (CCC) is the most frequent manifestation of Chagas disease. Currently, patient management only mitigates CCC symptoms. The pathogenic factors leading to CCC remain unknown; therefore their comprehension may contribute to develop more efficient therapies. In patients, high nitric oxide (NO) levels have been associated with CCC severity. In T. cruzi-infected mice, NO, mainly produced via inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS/NOS2), is proposed to work in parasite control. However, the participation of iNOS/NOS2 and NO in T. cruzi control and heart injury has been questioned. Here, infected rhesus monkeys and iNOS/NOS2-deficient mice were used to explore the participation of iNOS/NOS2-derived NO in heart injury in T. cruzi infection. Chronically infected monkeys presented electrical abnormalities, myocarditis and fibrosis, resembling the spectrum of human CCC. Moreover, cardiomyocyte lesion correlated with iNOS/NOS2+ cells infiltrating the cardiac tissue. Our findings support that parasite-driven iNOS/NOS2+ cells accumulation in the cardiac tissue and NO overproduction contribute to cardiomyopathy severity, mainly disturbing the pathway involved in electrical synchrony in T. cruzi infection