Potential of plant products as protectants of stored maize against Sitophilus zeamais Motschulsky (Coleoptera:Curculionidae)

Laboratory studies were carried out to evaluate the effects of some formulations from Mentha pulegium, Lonchocarpus sericeus, Daphne gnidium, Laurus nobilis, Momordica charantia, Nerium oleander and Ptaeroxylon obliquum as protectants against adult insects of Sitophilus zeamais on stored maize. The dusts from leaves of L. nobilis at 30% w/w caused 86% mortality and reduced F1 progeny emergence up to 57%. At the same concentration, dusts of pink flowers from N. oleander and leaves from L. sericeus reduced the F1 progeny up to 68% and 70%, reduced the developmental index and prolonged the developmental period by 4 and 6 d, respectively. The suspensions (2% v/v) from M. charantia, N. oleander and P. obliquum reduced the F1 progeny emergence up to 58, 91 and 94% and the number of holes in grains by 75, 91 and 97%, respectively. The methanol extracts were more effective than n-hexane extracts and affected the F1 progeny emergence and the developmental index. Keywords: Sitophilus zeamais, Botanical insecticides, Repellence, Insect control agents

Digital transformation and knowledge management in the public sector

UID/CPO/04058/2019 UIDB/00667/2020Digitizing public services is, at the moment, an essential necessity for numerous governments around the world. An improved government through digitization will not only have a growing effect on businesses, but it will also be able to intensify citizen engagement and push for economic growth. During the last 10 years more countries have progressively begun to provide digital services to their citizens. Therefore, in order to address this development, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the evolution of the digital government literature in order to describe the aspects of digital transformation in the public sector and how it is related to knowledge management. In this study the methodology is quantitative and it is based on a review and a survey made with the main goal being the estimation from several collected data on how the digital transformation process in the Public Administration takes place and what its relationship is with knowledge management. The review study is based on articles found on Scopus database and it addresses the role that digital government research plays in the theory and practice of knowledge management. In the survey study, 54 employees working for the services of the two governmental areas of the Portuguese Ministry of the Environment were surveyed. The results show that the research on the theme is still at an exploratory stage due to the lack of studies relating digital government to knowledge management effectiveness in the public sector. The results also show that the success of digital government seems to be related with the quality of the organizations' knowledge management, complementing each other for significant improvements in the public sector. In terms of originality, this study aims to contribute and stimulate data-driven discussions regarding the impacts of the digital transformation in the public sector and their relation with the implementation of knowledge management practices. The results offer insights into future research needs.publishersversionpublishe

Short-term movements and behaviour govern the use of road mitigation measures by a protected amphibian

Road mitigation infrastructure for pond‐breeding amphibians aims to provide a safe and sustainable passage for individuals between critical habitat patches. However, relatively little is known about how amphibians interact with mitigation systems because of the challenges of documenting movements at sufficiently large sample sizes. The effect of real or perceived barriers to short‐term movement could ultimately determine the success or failure of road mitigation schemes. We quantified behavioural responses of the protected great crested newt Triturus cristatus in a complex road mitigation system in the UK. We used fluorescent paint to mark individuals in order to measure distance travelled and trajectory orientation over two seasons (spring when adults migrate to breeding ponds and autumn when newts disperse) and in three components of the mitigation system (fences, tunnel entrances and inside the tunnels). A total of 250 juveniles and 137 adult great crested newts were marked and tracked during 38 survey nights. Adults were individually identified using belly‐pattern recognition. There was substantially greater activity along the fences during autumn (82% of newt captures) compared to spring. Triturus cristatus typically moved short distances each night (3.21 m per night in spring and 6.72 m per night in autumn), with a maximum of 25.6 m travelled inside a tunnel. Adult recapture rates were low (9.7%) and only 3% of the newts found along the fences reached the tunnel entrances. Movements were straighter in spring and inside the tunnels and newts had higher crossing rates in autumn compared to spring. Overall, behaviour and seasonal movement patterns significantly influenced the use of the mitigation system, in a way that could impact landscape connectivity for T. cristatus over the long‐term. Adequate incorporation of fine‐scale movement dynamics could help develop new behavioural models, inform our understanding of amphibian ecology and substantially improve future road mitigation projects

Relações interpessoais dos agricultores parceiros do Projeto Tipitamba, da Embrapa Amazônia Oriental.

Neste trabalho aplicou-se a sociometria moreniana para identificar a rede de comunicação interpessoal dos agricultores parceiros do projeto Tipitamba, da Embrapa Amazônia Oriental, que trabalha a temática agricultura sem queima e estão localizados em comunidades rurais, nos municípios de Igarapé-Açu e Marapanim, no nordeste paraense. Foram coletados dados nas comunidades de São João, Novo Brasil, Nova Olinda, Aparecida e Nossa Senhora do Rosário. Utilizaram-se perguntas abertas por meio de um roteiro pré-estabelecido que oportunizasse a elaboração do sociograma dos agricultores entrevistados referente às interações política, afetiva e técnica, bem como, conhecer e identificar as razões que os levam a se comunicar na comunidade. Os resultados apontam que nas comunidades envolvidas no estudo, as pessoas mantêm baixo nível de interação/comunicação interpessoal o que certamente impede o surgimento de novas lideranças locais, à integração entre os grupos e o fortalecimento das atividades coletivas nas comunidades

A microfluidics tool for high-throughput, real-time multimodal imaging of nanoparticle-cell interactions

The increasing use of nanomaterials for biomedical applications has raised the need for efficient, robust and low-cost high-throughput assessment of nanotoxicity and cell-nanoparticle interactions. Microfluidics provides the tools for high-throughput single-cell functional monitoring, while gold nanorods have unique potential for intracellular tracking and can simultaneously be used as drug carriers. Presented here is a miniaturised platform that integrates these features with a multimodal approach to cell imaging. A microfluidic device allows for trapping of an array of singlecells, followed by the controlled delivery of nanoparticles into the cell array and subsequent real-time multimodal imaging of cellular interactions with functionalised nanoparticles. This system has been successfully used to assess cellnanoparticle interactions at the single-cell level

Time-lapse measurement of single-cell response to nanomaterial : a microfluidic approach

This work presents the successful application of a single-cell microfluidic platform for high-throughput, real-time screening of nanoparticle-cell interactions. Taking vaccine delivery as a proof-of-concept application, ovalbumin-conjugated gold nanorods were produced and controllably delivered to primary dendritic cells within the device. Time-lapse imaging enabled monitoring of hundreds of single-cells during exposure to a range of concentrations of nanoparticle conjugates and simultaneous quantification of specific cellular functions. This integrated system provides throughput and statistical data comparable to that obtained with flow cytometry but also offers a novel approach to determine the dynamics of nanoparticle-cell interactions and nanoparticle-mediated antigen delivery with single-cell resolution