Mosquito (Diptera: Culicidae) Fauna of a Zoological Park in an Urban Setting: Analysis of Culex pipiens s.l. and Their Biotypes

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Insect Vectors of Human and Zoonotic Diseases)Mosquito-borne diseases (MBDs) are important emerging diseases that affect humans and animals. Zoological parks can work as early warning systems for the occurrence of MBDs. In this study, we characterized the mosquito fauna captured inside Lisbon Zoo from May 2018 to November 2019. An average of 2.4 mosquitos per trap/night were captured. Five mosquito species potentially causing MBDs, including Culex pipiens biotypes, were found in the zoo. The sympatric occurrence of Culex pipiens biotypes represents a risk factor for the epizootic transmission of West Nile virus and Usutu virus. The mosquito occurrence followed the expected seasonality, with the maximum densities during summer months. However, mosquito activity was detected in winter months in low numbers. The minimum temperature and the relative humidity (RH) on the day of capture showed a positive effect on Culex pipiens abundance. Contrary, the RH the week before capture and the average precipitation the week of capture had a negative effect. No invasive species were identified, nor have flaviviruses been detected in the mosquitoes. The implementation of biosecurity measures regarding the hygiene of the premises and the strict control of all the animals entering the zoo can justify the low prevalence of mosquitoes and the absence of flavivirus-infected mosquitoes.This research was funded by FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P., through the project grants UIDB/00276/2020 (CIISA—Centro de Investigação Interdisciplinar em Sanidade Animal, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal), and LA/P/0059/2020 (AL4AnimalS—Laboratório Associado para Ciência Animal e Veterinária). The author Sara Madeira was supported by an FCT Ph.D. fellowship SFRH/BD/117431/2016.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A DNA barcode reference library of Portuguese mosquitoes

Research Areas: Public, Environmental & Occupational Health ; Infectious Diseases ; Veterinary SciencesMosquitoes are important biological vectors of pathogens and species identification in all life stages is the first step for effective monitoring and control of mosquitoborne diseases. Molecular methods for species identification have been developed over the last years to overcome the limitations of the taxonomic identification based on morphology. DNA barcoding, using a fragment of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (COI) gene, can be used for species identification but a reliable and comprehensive reference database of verified sequences is required. In this study, we aimed to generate a DNA barcode reference library for the identification of mosquito species from Portuguese mosquito fauna, including most relevant vector species. Mosquitoes captured under the National Vector Surveillance Program (REVIVE) were processed for DNA extraction, COI gene fragment amplification and sequencing. Nighty-eight barcode sequences were obtained, representing 26 species and 6 genera. Sequences were submitted to GenBank and BOLD and were used for validation of phenetic classification. Barcode Index Number (BIN) assignment and Automatic Barcode Gap Discovery (ABGD) were used and clustered COI sequences into twenty-five molecular operational taxonomic units (MOTUs). This is the first comprehensive study that combines morphological and molecular identification of most mosquito species present in Portugal aiming to offer a reliable framework for mosquito species identification.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Adaptive broadcast cancellation query mechanism for unstructured networks

The availability of cheap wireless sensors boosted the emergence of unstructured networks using wireless technologies with decentralised administration. However, a simple task such as learning the temperature needs a discovery service to find a thermometer among all the sensors. In general, resource discovery relies on flooding mechanisms that waste energy and compromises system availability. Energy efficient strategies limit the exploration area, but with a significant impact on latency. The paper proposes ABC (Adaptive Broadcast Cancellation), a new algorithm that uses the knowledge acquired in previous discoveries to accelerate queries towards the resource. Knowledge is stored in a variation of Bloom filters, thus contributing for an efficient utilization of the sensors limited memory.This work is financed by the FCT − Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology) within project UID/EEA/50014/2013.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Framework para aplicações colaborativas multi-plataforma

Dissertação de Mestrado em Engenharia InformáticaCom a massificação de dispositivos móveis “inteligentes”, também conhecidos por smartphones, e o crescente aumento do número destes ligados à internet, surge o desafio de desenvolver aplicações colaborativas viradas para este tipo de dispositivos. Contudo, para isso, é necessário ter um conhecimento das suas limitações de modo a poderem ser feitas as melhores escolhas. Neste sentido, nesta dissertação estudou-se a viabilidade da implementação de funcionalidades colaborativas como videoconferência, whiteboard, remote desktop, desktop sharing e visualização de diapositivos, em dispositivos móveis. De modo a alcançar este objectivo foi necessário estudar quais as tecnologias de desenvolvimento existentes, os diversos protocolos e os requisitos necessários para fazer face aos desafios levantados. Foi, também um objectivo bastante importante que aquando da tomada de decisão da escolha da tecnologia a usar esta tenha a maior transversalidade e ubiquidade possível. Tem que existir um ponto de convergência entre este último requisito e os outros necessários ao desenvolvimento de aplicações que suportem as supra citadas funcionalidades colaborativas. Neste trabalho procedeu-se ao desenvolvimento de um conjunto de widgets que permitem o fácil desenvolvimento de aplicações com este tipo de funcionalidades

Desigual(mente) – Projecto de intervenção de redução do estigma face à doença mental em crianças do ensino básico

Pese al aumento de los tratamientos eficaces para las enfermedades mentales, estos problemas de salud siguen estando insuficientemente informados y no reconocido. El estigma sigue siendo la barrera más grande para aquellos que buscan tratamiento. Mientras que muchas escuelas ya están en sintonía con los problemas del estigma y la discriminación en relación con la raza, el origen étnico y la orientación sexual, la salud mental y la enfermedad siguen siendo relativamente invisibles. Se desarrolló un proyecto piloto dirigido a 29 niños de escuela primaria en las afueras de Coimbra, con el objetivo de aumentar la conciencia en la diferenciación, y la prevención de conductas discriminatorias asociadas al estigma de la enfermedad mental. En diez semanas, se llevaron a cabo varias intervenciones - actividades psico-educativas en las que se abordan conceptos como el respeto, la diferencia, el estigma y la igualdad, el uso de métodos interactivos de enseñanza, juegos educativos, películas, cuentos infantiles, visitas de estudio y contacto cara a cara con la gente con problemas mentales. Los niños entienden los conceptos de diferencia, el respeto y la cooperación y la reducción del estigma en las personas con enfermedad mental. Las intervenciones psicoeducativas estructurados en las escuelas pueden contribuir a reducir el estigma y los prejuicios asociados a la enfermedad mental. Este innovador proyecto podría ser replicado en otras escuelas primarias.Despite an increase in knowledge and effective treatments for mental illnesses, these health problems remain under-reported and unrecognized. Stigma remains the single greatest barrier for those seeking treatment. While many schools are already tuned in to the problems of stigma and discrimination as they relate to race, ethnicity and sexual orientation, mental health and illness remain relatively invisible. A pilot project was developed aimed at 29 children of Primary School in the outskirts of Coimbra, with the aim of increasing awareness of the difference, and prevention of discriminatory behaviour associated with the stigma of mental illness. In ten weeks, several interventions were conducted - psycho-educational activities in which they addressed concepts such as respect, difference, stigma and equality, using interactive teaching methods, educational games, movies, children’s stories, study visits and face to face contact with people with mental problems. The children understood the concepts of difference, respect and cooperation and reduction of stigma in people with mental illness. Structured psycho-educational interventions in schools can contribute to reducing stigma and prejudice associated with mental illness. This innovative project could be replicated in other primary schools.A educação escolar é o ponto de partida para abordar as questões da diferença associada aos problemas de saúde mental, que originam comportamentos discriminatórios e levam ao estigma. Na linha dos programas de intervenção que procuram amadurecer atitudes relacionais, desenvolvemos um projecto-piloto, dirigido a 29 crianças do ensino básico numa escola da periferia de Coimbra, com o objectivo de sensibilizá-las para a diferença, com vista à prevenção de comportamentos discriminatórios associados ao estigma da doença mental. Foram realizadas 6 sessões psico-educativas em que se abordaram conceitos como o respeito, diferença, igualdade e entreajuda, com recurso a métodos pedagógicos interactivos: jogos pedagógicos, filmes, contos infantis, visita de estudo e contactos face a face com pessoas com problema mentais. A intervenção contribuiu para a compreensão da importância de apoiar , respeitar e entender o outro, com as suas diferenças. As crianças, após confronto com a realidade da doença mental, foram capazes de perceber que as diferenças existentes não são limitativas, adoptando um discurso e comportamento pautado por menor carga estigmatizante, observável nas relações interpessoais. Intervenções psicoeducativas estruturadas em contexto escolar podem contribuir para uma redução do estigma e preconceito asociados às doenças mentais. Este projecto inovador poderá ser replicado em outras escolas do ensino básico

A physical layer security technique for NOMA systems with MIMO SC-FDE schemes

PES3N POCI-01-0145-FEDER-030629Current wireless communication systems employ Multi-Input, Multi-Output (MIMO) techniques to increase spectral efficiency, at the cost of higher hardware complexity. Most of these systems continue to employ traditional Orthogonal Multiple Access (OMA) schemes, which are suboptimal when compared to Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) schemes. By combining NOMA with MIMO, it is possible to achieve higher spectral efficiencies. However, security in NOMA-MIMO systems remains a problem. In this paper, we study the physical layer security issues of a power based NOMA-MIMO system with a Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) scheme, employed along with Single Carrier with Frequency Domain Equalization (SC-FDE) techniques. We consider a scenario where there is an unintended eavesdropper attempting to listen to the messages being exchanged. It is shown that the higher the channel estimate correlation between transmitter and receiver, the higher the secrecy rate, particularly for a scenario where there is a Line-Of-Sight (LOS) between all users. Therefore, power based NOMA MIMO-SVD schemes, combined with SC-FDE, can be considered efficient options for highly secure MIMO communications.publishersversionpublishe

Cave-Dwelling Populations of the Monstrous Rainfrog (Craugastor pelorus) from Mexico

Amphibians are known cave dwellers, and a few anurans have shown to make exploratory or opportunistic use of subterranean environments. We report on the use of karst ecosystems and cavernicolous environments by the monstrous rainfrog Craugastor pelorus in Chiapas and Tabasco (Mexico). Individuals were found in crevices and wall depressions within the twilight zone of the cave, both during the day and at night. Although threatened by human activities and often severely understudied, caves are the last refugia for some endangered species. This report allows us to extend the known distribution of the species, increase our knowledge on a threatened species, and better understand the biodiversity and ecology of cave environments.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio