The gumming on the Leiria Pine Forest and environmental education in Preschool

[Resumo] A atividade de recolha de resina na mata nacional de Leiria é uma prática que tem séculos de existência, com uma importância acrescida no início da sua exploração, sendo as suas primeiras referências do século X, em Leiria, com a obtenção do pez (breu cru) e do piche (breu cozido). O pez era utilizado na calafetagem das embarcações e daí a sua particular importância (Pinto, 1938). A temática da resinagem e a sua importância no âmbito da Educação Ambiental e numa perspetiva de sustentabilidade, é pouco explorada em contexto de pré-escolar. Se considerarmos que um dos objetivos da EA é a destino das futuras gerações, fez todo o sentido valorizar as questões colocadas pelas crianças do pré-escolar relativas à temática da resina.[Abstract] The resin collection activity in the national forest Leiria is a practice that is centuries old, with an increased importance at the begining of its operation, and its first references the tenth century, in Leiria, with getting the pitch (raw pitch ) and tar (cooked pitch). The pitch was used in caulking vessels and hence its particular importance (Pinto, 1938). The theme of gumming and its importance in the context of environmental education and a perspective of sustainability, is little explored in pre-school context. If we consider that one of EA's goals is the fate of future generations, it made perfect sense to value the issues raised by the children of preschool related to the theme of the resin

Tepidiphilus margaritifer gen. nov., sp. nov., isolated from a thermophilic aerobic digester

A moderately thermophilic bacterium is described, strain N2-214T, that was isolated from an enrichment culture, growing on caprolactone, obtained from a sample from a water-treatment sludge aerobic digester operating at temperatures around 60 °C. The organism was aerobic, Gram-negative, oxidase- and catalase-positive, with a polar flagellum, and capable of growth at temperatures as high as 61 °C. The major fatty acids of strain N2-214T were C16 : 0, C18 : 1 and cyclo-C19 : 0. The phylogenetic relationships of the strain, derived from 16S rRNA gene sequence comparisons, demonstrated it to be a member of the {beta}-subclass of the Proteobacteria. The highest 16S rDNA sequence similarity of isolate N2-214T was to Azoarcus buckelii (91·9 %), Thauera aromatica (92 %) and Hydrogenophilus thermoluteolus (92·7 %). On the basis of phylogenetic analyses and physiological and chemotaxonomic characteristics, it is proposed that isolate N2-214T (=DSM 15129T=LMG 21637T) represents a new genus and species, Tepidiphilus margaritifer gen. nov., sp. nov

Caenibacterium thermophilum gen. nov., sp. nov., isolated from a thermophilic aerobic digester of municipal sludge

A bacterial strain, N2-680T (=DSM 15264T=LMG 21760T), isolated from a thermophilic aerobic digester of municipal sludge, was characterized with respect to its morphology, physiology and taxonomy. Phenotypically, the isolate was a Gram-negative rod with a polar flagellum, catalase- and oxidase-positive, containing cytoplasmic inclusions of poly-b-hydroxybutyrate and had an optimal growth temperature of about 47 6C. Strain N2-680T was unable to reduce nitrate and could use organic acids, amino acids and carbohydrates as single carbon sources. Chemotaxonomic analysis revealed that ubiquinone 8 was the major respiratory quinone of this organism and that phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylglycerol were the major polar lipids. At 50 6C, the major components in fatty acid methyl ester analysis were C16 : 0 and cyclo-C17 : 0. The highest 16S rDNA sequence identity of isolate N2-680T was to Leptothrix mobilis and Ideonella dechloratans (95?7%) and to Rubrivivax gelatinosus and Aquabacterium commune (95?6 %). 16S rDNA sequence similarities to species of two related thermophilic genera, Caldimonas manganoxidans and Tepidimonas ignava, were lower (93?6 and 94?7 %). On the basis of phylogenetic analyses and physiological and chemotaxonomic characteristics, it is proposed that isolate N2-680T represents a new genus and species, for which the name Caenibacterium thermophilum gen. nov., sp. nov. is propose

Bacterial diversity and bioaugmentation in floodwater of a paddy field in the presence of the herbicide molinate

This work aimed at studying variations on the diversity and composition of the bacterial community of a rice paddy field floodwater, subjected to conventional management, namely by using the herbicide molinate. The promotion of the herbicide biodegradation either by the autochthonous microbiota or by a bioaugmentation process was also assessed. This study comprehended four sampling campaigns at key dates of the farming procedures (seeding, immediately and 6 days after application of the herbicide molinate, and after synthetic fertilization) and the subsequent physic-chemical and microbiological characterization (pH, DOC and molinate contents, total cells, cultivable bacteria and DGGE profiling) of the samples. Multivariate analysis of the DGGE profiles showed temporal variations in the bacterial community structure and the Shannon's index values indicated that the bacterial diversity reached its minimum at the molinate application day. The highest bacterial diversity coincided with the periods with undetectable concentrations of the herbicide, although microcosm assays suggested that other factors than molinate may have been responsible for the decrease of the bacterial diversity. The ability of autochthonous microorganisms to degrade molinate and the influence of the herbicide on the bacterial community composition were assessed in microcosm assays using floodwater collected at the same dates. Given molinate was not degraded by autochthonous microorganisms, and considering it represents an environmental contaminant, bioaugmentation microcosms were assayed aiming the assessment of the feasibility of a bioremediation process to clean contaminated floodwater. A molinate-mineralizing culture, previously isolated, promoted molinate removal, induced alterations in the autochthonous bacterial community structure and diversity, and was undetected after 7 days of incubation, suggesting the feasibility of the process.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Fate of pseudomonas aeruginosa and blaVIM in soil under selective pressure by copper and zinc

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Comparison of the Performance of Cu-CeO\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e-YSZ and Ni-YSZ Composite SOFC Anodes with H\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e, CO, and Syngas

In this study the performance of a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) with Cu-CeO2-yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) was compared to an SOFC with Ni-YSZ anode while operating on H2, CO, and syngas fuels. Cells with Cu-CeO2-YSZ anodes exhibited similar performance when operating on H2 or CO fuels, while cells with Ni-YSZ anodes exhibited substantially lower performance when operating on CO compared to H2. Enhancing the catalytic activity of the Cu-CeO2-YSZ anodes by adding Co was shown to produce cells that exhibited higher performance when operating on CO compared to H2 at 973 K. The effect of fuel concentration and dilution on cell performance was also investigated and it was found that the kinetics of the oxidation of H2 are positive order in PH2 for Cu-CeO2-YSZ anodes and nearly zero order in PH2 for Ni-YSZ anodes. The oxidation of CO on Cu-CeO2-YSZ anodes was also found to exhibit positive order in PCO. It was also demonstrated that dilution of H2 by H2O had little effect on the kinetics of H2 oxidation on both the Cu-CeO2-YSZ and Ni-YSZ anodes

Bacterial diversity and antibiotic resistance in water habitats: searching the links with the human microbiome

Water is one of the most important bacterial habitats on Earth. As such, water represents also a major way of dissemination of bacteria between different environmental compartments. Human activities led to the creation of the so-called urban water cycle, comprising different sectors (waste, surface, drinking water), among which bacteria can hypothetically be exchanged. Therefore, bacteria can be mobilized between unclean water habitats (e.g. wastewater) and clean or pristine water environments (e.g. disinfected and spring drinking water) and eventually reach humans. In addition, bacteria can also transfer mobile genetic elements between different water types, other environments (e.g. soil) and humans. These processes may involve antibiotic resistant bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes. In this review, the hypothesis that some bacteria may share different water compartments and be also hosted by humans is discussed based on the comparison of the bacterial diversity in different types of water and with the human-associated microbiome. The role of such bacteria as potential disseminators of antibiotic resistance and the inference that currently only a small fraction of the clinically relevant antibiotic resistome may be known is discussed.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Alicycliphilus

Alicycliphilus (A.li.cy.cli'phi.lus. Gr. neut. n. aleiphar annointing oil; Gr. masc. n. kyklos circle or ring; Gr. masc. n. philos friend; N.L. masc. n. Alicyciphilus alicyclic compound liking, referring to the substrates used for the isolation of this organism). Proteobacteria / Betaproteobacteria / Burkholderiales / Comamonadaceae / Alicycliphilus. Short rods, 1–2 μm long and 0.6 μm wide. Motile. Gram‐negative. Nonsporulating. Facultative anaerobe. Nitrate is reduced to N2. Mesophilic, with optimal growth at 28–30°C and pH 7.2–7.4 under aerobic or anoxic conditions. Chemoorganotroph, with strictly respiratory metabolism. Degrade aromatic and alicyclic compounds. Catalase‐ and cytochrome c oxidase‐positive. The respiratory quinone is ubiquinone 8, and major fatty acids are C16:1 ω7c, C16:0, and C18:1 ω7c. Major polar lipids are hosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, and diphosphatidylglycerol. The type strain of the type species was isolated from a wastewater treatment plant, cultivated with cyclohexanol as sole carbon source and nitrate as electron acceptor. DNA G + C content (mol%): 66 (HPLC) or 67.9 (genome analysis, GenBank). Type species: Alicycliphilus denitrificans Mechichi et al. 2003VP.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio