Revisiting Thymic Positive Selection and the Mature T Cell Repertoire for Antigen

To support effective host defense, the T cell repertoire must balance breadth of recognition with sensitivity for antigen. The concept that T lymphocytes are positively selected in the thymus is well established, but how this selection achieves such a repertoire has not been resolved. Here we suggest that it is direct linkage between self and foreign antigen recognition that produces the necessary blend of TCR diversity and specificity in the mature peripheral repertoire, enabling responses to a broad universe of unpredictable antigens while maintaining an adequate number of highly sensitive T cells in a population of limited size. Our analysis also helps to explain how diversity and frequency of antigen-reactive cells in a T cell repertoire are adjusted in animals of vastly different size scale to enable effective antipathogen responses and suggests a possible binary architecture in the TCR repertoire that is divided between germline-related optimal binding and diverse recognition

First record of the marine snail Xenophora crispa (Gastropoda: Xenophoridae) from Madeira Island (Northeastern Atlantic Ocean)

The marine snail Xenophora crispa (d' Orbigny, 1847) is recorded for the first time in Madeira Island (NE Atlantic). This species is currently distributed throughout the central and western Mediterranean, western Atlantic from France (Gulf of Biscay) to North Africa (up to Morocco), including the Archipelagos of the Azores, Canary Islands, and now Madeira.PR is funded by the project (UIDB/04292/2020) granted to MARE UI&I and partially funded by the Project Observatório Oceânico da Madeira-OOM (M1420-01-0145-FEDER-000001), co-financed by the Madeira Regional Operational Programme (Madeira 14-20), under the Portugal 2020 strategy, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). JCC was funded by national funds through FCT- Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P., under the Scientific Employment Stimulus Institutional Call (CEECINST/00098/2018). JGM was supported by a post-doctoral research fellowship by Agência Regional para o Desenvolvimento da Investigação, Tecnologia e Inovação (ARDITI-M1420-09-5369-FSE-000002). Finally, this study had the support of Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT), through the strategic project (UIDB/04292/2020) granted to MARE UI&I.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

On the dynamics of a viral marketing model with optimal control using indirect and direct methods

The complexity of optimal control problems requires the use of numerical methods to compute control and optimal state trajectories for a dynamical system, aiming to optimize a particular performance index. Considering a real viral advertisement, this article compares the dynamics of a viral marketing epidemic model with optimal control under different cost scenarios and from two perspectives: using numerical methods based on the Pontryagin's Maximum Principle (indirect methods) and methods that treat the optimal control problem as a nonlinear constrained optimization problem (direct methods). Based on the trade-off between the maximization of information spreading and the minimization of the costs associated with it, an optimal control problem is formulated and studied. The existence and uniqueness of the solution are proved. Our results show not only that the cost of implementing control policies is a crucial parameter for the spreading of marketing messages, but also that low investment costs in control strategies fulfill the proposed trade-off without compromising the financial capacity of a company.Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia), through CIDMA – Center for Research and Development in Mathematics and Applications, within project UID/MAT/04106/2013; and through Algoritmi R&D Center, under COMPETE: POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007043 within the Project Scope: UID/CEC/00319/20

Synthesis of N-alkyl-C α, α-dimethylglycine derivatives

The application of trialkyloxonium tetrafluoroborates for N-alkylation of the nonnatural amino acid Cα, α-dimethylglycine is described. Several methyl esters of dimethylglycine protected with different amine protecting groups were subject to N-ethylation or N-methylation with triethyloxonium tetrafluoroborate or trimethyloxonium tetrafluoroborate, respectively. The corresponding N-akyl-Cα, α-dimethylglycine derivatives were obtained in good to high yields. Removal of the methyl ester rendered amino acid derivatives ready for application in peptide synthesis.Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) – Portugal and Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER) for financial support to Chemistry Centre of University of Minho. The NMR spectrometer Bruker Avance II+ 400 is part of the National NMR Network and was purchased in the framework of the National Program for Scientific Re-equipment; contract REDE/1517/RMN/2005, with funds from POCI 2010, FEDER and FCT.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

An ecological and fishing approach to support management decisions

Leitão, F., Monteiro, J. N., Cabral, P., Teodósio, M. A., & Roa-Ureta, R. H. (2023). Revealing the role of crab as bait in octopus fishery: An ecological and fishing approach to support management decisions. Marine Policy, 158, 1-11. [105878]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2023.105878 --- This study received Portuguese National Funding from MAR2020 project CRUSTAPANHA (MAR-01.04.02-FEAMP-0005 CRUSTAPANHA). FL has received Portuguese national funds from FCT within the contract program DL57/2016/CP1361/CT0008 and FCT 2022.04803. CEECIND. JNM received an FCT PhD fellowship SFRH/BD/06336/2021. This study received Portuguese national funds from FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology through projects UIDB/04326/2020, UIDP/04326/2020 and LA/P/0101/2020. Authors would like to acknowledge all fishers’ associations that participated in CRUSTAPANHA project and helped the completion of the study: AAPF- Associação de Armadores e Pescadores da Fuseta (Fuseta); Associação Armalgarve Polvo Organização De Produtores (Quarteira); OLHAOPESCA Organização de Produtores de Pesca do Algarve, C.R.L. (Olhão). We acknowledge DGRM for fisheries data provided and for granting licenses for researchers onboard fishing vessel; To the coast guards forces of the following ports: Capitania do Porto de Albufeira; Capitania do Porto de Faro; Capitania do Porto de Olhão; Capitania do Porto de Lagos; Capitania do Porto de Tavira; We would like to acknowledge specific captains due to their role in the study, namely: Ricardo Santana; Francisco Molina; Arlindo da Silva Correia; Paulo Guerreiro. We would like to acknowledge all the members of ECOREACH group that help in the measurement of the octopus specimens, namely Andreia Ovelheiro, Daniela Nobre, Juan Bueno-Pardo and Miguel PintoIn southern Portugal, artisanal octopus fisheries play an important socioeconomic role. Live crab bait in traps was used up to 2010 and banned in 2012. Such regulation, based on co-management advice, was not established under a scientific fundament. As a result, a long-standing controversy ensued with some fishing associations claiming that live crab bait increased fishing effort and exploitation rates and therefore risked the octopus stock status, while other fishers denied all these alleged impacts. The issue has not been resolved so far due to lack of scientific studies. In this study, we resolve the controversy conducting experimental fishing to determine by-catch and octopus catch rates using live crab bait versus other types of baits based on fish and assess the stock status of octopus over-time with constant parameters (hypothesis of no effect of the use of live crab bait) versus time-varying parameters (hypothesis of raised exploitation rates and riskier stock status). Bycatch was very low regardless of bait type. Our experimental fishing trials showed that fish-based baits increase bycatch and octopus catch rates. Stock assessment models showed that exploitation rates and stock status do not worsen in years of use of crab bait. We conclude that the use of crab bait in octopus fishery does not lead to increased exploitation rate or risks for stock sustainability status. Other considerations involving fishing costs and fishing operations further highlight the advantages of lifting the ban on the use of live crab bait in the Algarve octopus fishery.publishersversionpublishe

Comparison of fundamental positive-sequence detectors for highly distorted and unbalanced systems

This paper presents a performance comparison between a PLL and an Adaptive Filter for detecting the positive sequence at the fundamental frequency of any given voltage or current signals of a three-phase system. The comparative analysis was based on the evaluation of a series of steady state performance parameters (phase and amplitude errors, THD and unbalance) and on the response time. The tests were made to study the behaviour of both approaches when working with highly distorted and unbalanced signals. This work was carried out using the computer simulation tool PSCAD/EMTDC.The authors are grateful to FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia), project funding POCTI/ESE/41170/2001

Extramedullary hematopoiesis in a case of benign mixed mammary tumor in a female dog: cytological and histopathological assessment

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Backgroud</p> <p>Extramedullary hematopoiesis (EMH) is defined as the presence of hematopoietic stem cells such as erythroid and myeloid lineage plus megakaryocytes in extramedullary sites like liver, spleen and lymph nodes and is usually associated with either bone marrow or hematological disorders. Mammary EMH is a rare condition either in human and veterinary medicine and can be associated with benign mixed mammary tumors, similarly to that described in this case.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>Hematopoietic stem cells were found in a benign mixed mammary tumor of a 7-year-old female mongrel dog that presents a nodule in the left inguinal mammary gland. The patient did not have any hematological abnormalities. Cytological evaluation demonstrated two distinct cell populations, composed of either epithelial or mesenchymal cells, sometimes associated with a fibrillar acidophilic matrix, apart from megakaryocytes, osteoclasts, metarubricytes, prorubricytes, rubricytes, rubriblasts, promyelocytes, myeloblasts. Histological examination confirmed the presence of an active hematopoietic bone marrow within the bone tissue of a benign mammary mixed tumor.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>EMH is a rare condition described in veterinary medicine that can be associated with mammary mixed tumors. It's detection can be associated with several neoplastic and non-neoplastic mammary lesions, i.e. osteosarcomas, mixed tumors and bone metaplasia.</p

Ecological sensitivity and vulnerability of fishing fleet landings to climate change across regions

The degree of exposure of fishing communities to environmental changes can be partially determined by the vulnerability of the target species and the landings composition. Hence, identifying the species that ecologically most contribute to the vulnerability of the landings are key steps to evaluate the risk posed by climate change. We analyse the temporal variability in intrinsic sensitivity and the ecological vulnerability of the Portuguese fisheries landings, considering the species proportions derived both from the weights and revenues. To account for the diversification of species of each fleet, we explored the species dependence of the fishery in combination with the vulnerability of them. The analyses were carried out separately for three fleet typologies and three regions. Opposite to what has been observed at a global scale, the ecological sensitivity of the fisheries landings between 1989 and 2015 did not display a decline across areas or fishing fleets. Considering each fleet independently, for trawling, where average vulnerability was lower than in the other fleets, the sensitivity of the landings increased since the 2000s. On the other hand, the high vulnerability found in multi-gear fleets was compensated by diversification of the species caught, while purse-seine fleets targeted low vulnerability species but presented a high fishery dependence on few species. The results highlight the importance of combining information on ecological vulnerability and diversification of fishing resources at a regional scale while providing a measure of the ecological exposure to climate change.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia | Ref. UIDB/04326/2020Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia | Ref. SAICT-45-2017-02Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia | Ref. ALG-01- 0145-FEDER-028518Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia | Ref. PTDC/ASP-PES/28518/2017Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia | Ref. MAR-01.03.02-FEAMP-0052Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia | Ref. FCT DL57/2016/CP1361/CT000

Advanced antibacterial wound dressing produced with natural-origin materials

Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology for the OsteoGraphy (PTDC/EME- MFE/2008) and MaxBone (PTDC/SAU -ENB/115179/2009) project. This work was partly supported by “RL1 - ABMR - NORTE-01-0124- FEDER-000016” cofinanced by North Portugal Regional Operational Programme (ON.2 – O Novo Norte), under the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF), through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) project.

Knitted textile KTPs for instrumented underwater building systems

[Excerpt] The main scope of this study was to assess the potential of knitted textiles for underwater instrumented underwater building systems, using textile knitted preforms (multi-shape; multimaterial; etc…), using natural fibres (Hemp, Linen and Cotton)