New records and notes on little known shrimps (Crustacea, Decapoda) from Azorean waters.

Five species of shrimps (Crustacea, Decapoda) are recorded for the first time from the Azores: Funchalia villosa (Bouvier, 1905), Parapasiphae sucatifrons S.I. Smith, 1884 Heterocarpus ensifer A. Milne-Edwards, 1881, Heterocarpus laevigatus Bate, 1888 and Plesionika williamsi Forest, 1964. The variability of Plesionika gigliolii (Senna, 1903) and its relationship with P. sindoi (Rathbun, 1906) are discussed

An FPGA-embedded oscilloscope based on the IEEE1451.0 Std.

Digital oscilloscopes are adopted in several areas of knowledge, in particular in electrical engineering, since they are fundamental for measuring and classifying electrical signals. Thanks to the proliferation of Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), embedded instruments are currently an alternative solution to stand-alone and modular instruments, traditionally available in the laboratories. High performance, low cost and the huge flexibility to change functional characteristics, make embedded instruments an emerging solution for conducting electrical experiments. This paper describes the project and the implementation of a digital oscilloscope embedded in a FPGA. In order to facilitate their control, an innovative architecture is defined according to the IEEE1451.0 Std., which is typically used to develop the denominated smart transducers.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Estudo exploratório sobre a resistência ao efeito de evocação falsa imediata no paradigma DRM

[POR]No paradigma DRM (Deese-Roediger-McDermott) são usualmente obtidos níveis elevados de evocação falsa. Porém, vários participantes resistem a este efeito. Com o objectivo de averiguar o carácter adequado da teoria da activação/monitorização (e. g., Roediger et al., 2001) como explicação para a não ocorrência de evocação falsa, os participantes foram instruídos, de acordo com o procedimento de Brédart (2000), para indicar se pensaram noutra(s) palavra(s) que não incluíram na evocação porque esta(s) não pertencia(m) à lista estudada e foram testados em dois tipos de listas (listas com 15 palavras, em associação convergente decrescente com uma palavra crítica e listas com 10 palavras estando cada uma dessas palavras em associação retrógrada com a palavra crítica). Os resultados obtidos nesta fase pós-evocação revelaram uma tendência para o aparecimento de uma relação entre o tipo de listas e a ocorrência de determinados processos nos participantes, que resistiam ao efeito de evocação falsa: não activação consciente das palavras críticas nas listas mais longas (excepção para a lista 6), e activação e monitorização das palavras críticas nas restantes listas. [ENG]In the DRM (Deese-Roediger-McDermott) paradigm, high levels of false recall are usually obtained. Many participants, however, resist this effect. Aiming to find out the character of the activation/monitoring theory (e. g., Roediger et al., 2001) as an explanation to the non-occurrence of false recall, the participants were, according to Brédart’s (2000) procedure, told to say if they thought of another word or words not including it/them in the recall as they did not belong to the study’s list and also tested in two types of lists (lists of 15 words, in decreasing converging association with a critical word and lists of 10 words, being each of the words included in backward association with the critical word). The results obtained at this post-recall stage revealed a tendency for a relation between the types of lists and the occurrence of some processes in the participants who resisted to the false recall effect: the conscious non-activation of the critical words in the longer lists (with an exception to list number 6) and activation and monitoring of the critical words in the remaining lists

The fish family Muraenidae: an ideal group for testing at small-scale the coherency of Macaronesia as a biogeographic unit, with the first report on separate fishery statistics

: The present study was conceptualized to study the muraenid species (moray eels) occurring around the volcanic archipelagos of the Azores, Madeira, Selvagens, Canary and Cabo Verde islands (eastern-central Atlantic). The biogeographic patterns of these species were analysed and compared. We then hypothesized that this fish family is an ideal group for testing at small-scale the coherency of Macaronesia and its direct biogeographic units: i.e. the Azores, Webbnesia and Cabo Verde, as proposed in recent scientific literature. Additionally, this paper provides for the first time separate fishery statistics for this group in the region that were analysed to contrast the biogeographic results.En prensa1,00

Direct and External Hybrid Modulation Approaches for Access Networks

The demand for low-cost high-speed transmission is a major challenge for 5G future networks. To meet this optical communication demand, holistic and painstaking approaches are required in designing a simplified system model. Since the demands for high bandwidth are growing at unprecedented speed as we approach the Zettabyte era, it is crucial to minimize chromatic dispersion (CD) associated to high bit-rate signals. Mitigating CD electronically comes at high cost which may not be compatible with 5G. Photonic Integrated Circuit (PIC) as an enabler for fast speed optical transmission is still undergoing its growth stage and its major speed and efficiency have not yet been attained. However, proper and right combination of components and approaches can potentiate this technology in a more cost-efficient way. Hybrid modulation (HM)-PIC presents a simplified approach in terms of cost and efficiency for 5G networks. Hybridization of existing modulation components and approaches in PIC can enhance the generation of high bit-rate signals without the need for electrical CD compensation. A detailed study of hybrid multilevel signal modulation concept as a valuable solution for Data Centers (DC) high data-rate signals and next-generation Passive Optical Networks (PONs) is proposed

Structural studies of Helicase NS3 variants from Hepatitis C virus genotype 3 in virological sustained responder and non-responder patients

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>About 130 million people are infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) worldwide, but effective treatment options are not yet available. One of the most promising targets for antiviral therapy is nonstructural protein 3 (NS3). To identify possible changes in the structure of NS3 associated with virological sustained response or non-response of patients, a model was constructed for each helicase NS3 protein coding sequence. From this, the goal was to verify the interaction between helicases variants and their ligands.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>Evidence was found that the NS3 helicase portion of non-responder patients contained substitutions in its ATP and RNA binding sites. K210E substitution can cause an imbalance in the distribution of loads, leading to a decrease in the number of ligations between the essential amino acids required for the hydrolysis of ATP. W501R substitution causes an imbalance in the distribution of loads, leading and forcing the RNA to interact with the amino acid Thr269, but not preventing binding of ribavirin inhibitor.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Useful information is provided on the genetic profiling of the HCV genotype 3, specifically the coding region of the NS3 protein, improving our understanding of the viral genome and the regions of its protein catalytic site.</p

Population Genetics of Streptococcus dysgalactiae Subspecies equisimilis Reveals Widely Dispersed Clones and Extensive Recombination

Streptococcus dysgalactiae subspecies equisimilis (SDSE) is an emerging global pathogen that can colonize and infect humans. Although most SDSE isolates possess the Lancefield group G carbohydrate, a significant minority have the group C carbohydrate. Isolates are further sub-typed on the basis of differences within the emm gene. To gain a better understanding of their molecular epidemiology and evolutionary relationships, multilocus sequence typing (MLST) analysis was performed on SDSE isolates collected from Australia, Europe and North America.The 178 SDSE isolates, representing 37 emm types, segregate into 80 distinct sequence types (STs) that form 17 clonal complexes (CCs). Eight STs recovered from all three continents account for >50% of the isolates. Thus, a small number of STs are highly prevalent and have a wide geographic distribution. Both ST and CC strongly correlate with group carbohydrate. In contrast, eleven STs were associated with >1 emm type, suggestive of recombinational replacements involving the emm gene; furthermore, 35% of the emm types are associated with genetically distant STs. Data also reveal a history of extensive inter- and intra-species recombination involving the housekeeping genes used for MLST. Sequence analysis of single locus variants identified through goeBURST indicates that genetic change mediated by recombination occurred approximately 4.4 times more frequently than by point mutation.A few genetic lineages with an intercontinental distribution dominate among SDSE causing infections in humans. The distinction between group C and G isolates reflects recent evolution, and no long-term genetic isolation between them was found. Lateral gene transfer and recombination involving housekeeping genes and the emm gene are important mechanisms driving genetic variability in the SDSE population

Global, regional, and national disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) for 315 diseases and injuries and healthy life expectancy (HALE), 1990-2015: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015.

BACKGROUND: Healthy life expectancy (HALE) and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) provide summary measures of health across geographies and time that can inform assessments of epidemiological patterns and health system performance, help to prioritise investments in research and development, and monitor progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We aimed to provide updated HALE and DALYs for geographies worldwide and evaluate how disease burden changes with development. METHODS: We used results from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2015 (GBD 2015) for all-cause mortality, cause-specific mortality, and non-fatal disease burden to derive HALE and DALYs by sex for 195 countries and territories from 1990 to 2015. We calculated DALYs by summing years of life lost (YLLs) and years of life lived with disability (YLDs) for each geography, age group, sex, and year. We estimated HALE using the Sullivan method, which draws from age-specific death rates and YLDs per capita. We then assessed how observed levels of DALYs and HALE differed from expected trends calculated with the Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a composite indicator constructed from measures of income per capita, average years of schooling, and total fertility rate. FINDINGS: Total global DALYs remained largely unchanged from 1990 to 2015, with decreases in communicable, neonatal, maternal, and nutritional (Group 1) disease DALYs offset by increased DALYs due to non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Much of this epidemiological transition was caused by changes in population growth and ageing, but it was accelerated by widespread improvements in SDI that also correlated strongly with the increasing importance of NCDs. Both total DALYs and age-standardised DALY rates due to most Group 1 causes significantly decreased by 2015, and although total burden climbed for the majority of NCDs, age-standardised DALY rates due to NCDs declined. Nonetheless, age-standardised DALY rates due to several high-burden NCDs (including osteoarthritis, drug use disorders, depression, diabetes, congenital birth defects, and skin, oral, and sense organ diseases) either increased or remained unchanged, leading to increases in their relative ranking in many geographies. From 2005 to 2015, HALE at birth increased by an average of 2·9 years (95% uncertainty interval 2·9-3·0) for men and 3·5 years (3·4-3·7) for women, while HALE at age 65 years improved by 0·85 years (0·78-0·92) and 1·2 years (1·1-1·3), respectively. Rising SDI was associated with consistently higher HALE and a somewhat smaller proportion of life spent with functional health loss; however, rising SDI was related to increases in total disability. Many countries and territories in central America and eastern sub-Saharan Africa had increasingly lower rates of disease burden than expected given their SDI. At the same time, a subset of geographies recorded a growing gap between observed and expected levels of DALYs, a trend driven mainly by rising burden due to war, interpersonal violence, and various NCDs. INTERPRETATION: Health is improving globally, but this means more populations are spending more time with functional health loss, an absolute expansion of morbidity. The proportion of life spent in ill health decreases somewhat with increasing SDI, a relative compression of morbidity, which supports continued efforts to elevate personal income, improve education, and limit fertility. Our analysis of DALYs and HALE and their relationship to SDI represents a robust framework on which to benchmark geography-specific health performance and SDG progress. Country-specific drivers of disease burden, particularly for causes with higher-than-expected DALYs, should inform financial and research investments, prevention efforts, health policies, and health system improvement initiatives for all countries along the development continuum. FUNDING: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation