Detailed morphobiometric studies of Bursaphelenchus xylophilus and characterisation of other Bursaphelenchus species (Nematoda: Parasitaphelenchidae) associated with Pinus pinaster in Portugal

Detailed studies on Bursaphelenchus xylophilus are provided in this contribution. Comparative observations between field and cultured populations of this species demonstrated significant size differences: cultured specimens overall displayed larger size in all morphometric parameters. A principal component analysis (PCA) of the individuals undergoing moulting allowed their separation in four groups namely J2-J3, J3-J4, J4F-F, and J4M-M; gonad length mean values of these four groups made possible to distinguish the non-moulting groups J2, J3, J4F, J4M and adults. Seven Bursaphelenchus species (B. hellenicus, B. leoni, B. pinasteri, B. sexdentati, B. teratospicularis, B. tusciae and B. xylophilus), associated with Pinus pinaster in Portugal, were charaterized, including biometrical measurements and ratios as well excised spicules observed under SEM; furthermore, B. hellenicus, B. pinasteri, B. sexdentati, B. tusciae and B. xylophilus were characterised on the basis of their ITS-RFLP profiles. B. sexdentati and B. xylophilus were the only species found in high numbers in some of the samples

Species of Bursaphelenchus Fuchs, 1937 (Nematoda: Parasitaphelenchidae) associated with maritime pine in Portugal

Summary – Species of Bursaphelenchus associated with maritime pine, Pinus pinaster, from Portugal – within and outside the quarantine restricted demarcated zone of B. xylophilus – are described and characterised both morphologically (LM and SEM) and with the use of molecular biology (ITS-RFLP).A new staining method for spicules is proposed. Species include B. hellenicus, B. hylobianum, B. leoni, B. pinophilus, B. sexdentati, B. tusciae, B. teratospicularis, B. xylophilus and Bursaphelenchus sp. 1. Bursaphelenchus hylobianum was collected from the insect Hylobius sp. The most frequent species in the demarcated zone, besides B. xylophilus, was Bursaphelenchus sp. 1. Morphological characterisation is compared with the original descriptions and discussed. The differentiation between B. pinophilus and B. sexdentati is not clear in the literature and is discussed. Since differentiation of B. xylophilus (mucronate form) from B. mucronatus, and B. pinophilus from B. sexdentati, as well as their juvenile forms, is almost im possible on the basis of morphological features, a molecular approach based on ITS-RFLPs was used. Ribosomal DNA containing the 5.8S gene, the internal transcribed spacer region 1 and 2, and partial regions of 18S and 28S gene were amplified by PCR. Restriction profiles of the amplified products generated species-specific differences, leading to the unambiguous identification of isolates belonging to B. xylophilus, B. mucronatus, B. sexdentati, B. tusciae and B. hylobianum

Between Lisbon and London: Financial Sector Consolidation in the Context of the Lisbon Agenda

It's "half-time" for the Lisbon Agenda - which has aimed to make Europe the most competitive and dynamic economy in the world by 2010. And it's "half-time" for the EU Financial Services Policy, which aims to increase financial sector integration and should give a helping hand to small and innovative companies that are a corner stone of the Lisbon strategy. But discussion on the ground continues to reveal concern that financial sector integration (and national consolidation) is putting significant pressure on some of Europe's traditional lenders to small companies. Financial sector integration has the potential to increase efficiency, competition and choice in financial intermediation. But the short-term effects of integration can vary. National consolidation leads to larger banks that may be unable or unwilling to handle business with small innovative firms. Other existing or "de novo" banks and financial institutions as well as venture capital firms play an important role in filling any potential "financing gaps". The policy implications are important. Consolidation that is unaccompanied by measures to improve or ensure market openness and contestability may prolong any adverse effects from the integration process, especially for small borrowers. Consolidation has progressed, fostering the emergence of national champions. Ease of market entry now needs to be reinforced across Europe. A stalled process of integrating Europe's financial markets could compromise the Lisbon Agenda and the prospects of some of the small and innovative companies on which its success relies.

Start-up financing : how credit ratings and bank concentration impact credit access

Externe Kreditwürdigkeitsprüfungen durch Rating-Agenturen haben für Banken bei der Kreditvergabe an Unternehmen, aufgrund der verschärften Regulierung durch Basel II, erheblich an Bedeutung gewonnen. Die These, ungünstige oder fehlende Ratings seien der Grund dafür, dass insbesondere innovative, noch nicht etablierte Unternehmen ohne aussagekräftige Kredithistorie oft erhebliche Schwierigkeiten hätten, Bankkredite zu erhalten, bestätigt sich jedoch nicht. Eine Studie des Zentrums für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung (ZEW) zeigt zwar, dass negative Ratings generell für Unternehmen den Zugang zu Krediten erschweren. Gerade für junge, innovative Unternehmen fällt dieser Effekt allerdings deutlich geringer aus als für andere

How do banks screen innovative firms? Evidence from start-up panel data

Start-up firms often face difficulties in raising external funds. Employing a unique panel dataset covering 9,715 start-up firms over the period 2007-2009, we find that high-tech startups are less likely to use bank finance and face more difficulties in raising bank finance than low-tech start-ups. We find that external credit scores do affect the availability of credit for start-up firms, but that banks rely less on external rating information in their decision making for high-tech start-ups than low-tech start-ups. Start-ups that have their main relation with a small bank use more bank finance and report less difficulties in getting credit. By contrast, a greater expertise of the bank in the firm’s industry is not associated with fewer difficulties to get bank loans. There are no differences between high-tech and low-tech start-ups regarding the impact of bank size

Computer-aided diagnosis system for the assessment of retinal vascular changes

This paper presents an automatic application that provides several retinal image analysis functionalities, namely vessel segmentation, vessel width estimation, artery/vein classification and optic disc segmentation. A pipeline of these methods allows the computation of important vessel related indexes, namely the Central Retinal Arteriolar Equivalent (CRAE), Central Retinal Venular Equivalent (CRVE) and Arteriolar-to-Venular Ratio (AVR), as well as various geometrical features associated with vessel bifurcations. The results for AVR estimation were assessed using the images of INSPIRE-AVR dataset; for this dataset, the mean error of the measured AVR values with respect to the reference was identical to the one achieved by a medical expert. The estimation of the CRAE, CRVE and AVR values on 480 images from 120 subjects have shown a significant correlation between right and left eyes and also between images of same eye acquired with different camera fields of view

Avaliação da qualidade dos cuidados de assistência na gravidez em contexto de pandemia COVID-19

Dissertação, Mestrado, Gestão de Unidades de Saúde, Instituto Politécnico de Santarém, Escola Superior de Gestão e Tecnologia, 2022A pandemia COVID-19 impôs mudanças na prática diária dos serviços de saúde. A resposta à crise sanitária tem sido equilibrada com medidas de proteção e promoção dos direitos dos grupos mais vulneráveis, como grávidas e recém-nascidos. Este estudo pretende determinar o nível de qualidade dos cuidados pré-natais e avaliar a satisfação da grávida com os cudados prestados em contexto de pandemia. Estudo misto, observacional analítico que incluiu 244 grávidas. Os dados foram recolhidos através de inquérito que englobou a escala Quality of Prenatal Care Questionnaire. A perceção global da qualidade dos cuidados pré-natais apresentou um score médio de 3,84 e um nível de satisfação de 3,79, num máximo de 5. As especificidades de acesso e segurança apresentaram um impacto no nível de qualidade de assistência pré-natal. Verificouse que a dificuldade de acesso está relacionada com níveis inferiores de qualidade percebida e o reforço na segurança e comunicação com níveis superiores.N/

NEGRAS E NEGROS – “TÁ” FALTANDO AQUI! : análise do ingresso da população negra no curso de Serviço Social da UFPR através das políticas de cotas conforme a Lei n.º 12.711/2012

RESUMO: o objetivo deste artigo é analisar e discutir dados parciais referentes ao ingresso da população negra na graduação de Serviço Social da Universidade Federal do Paraná, Setor Litoral, problematizando a ausência de estudantes negros(as) no curso a fim de fomentar a luta pela ocupação dos espaços institucionais, na garantia de direitos da referida população. O presente estudo tem natureza qualitativa, com pesquisa bibliográfica e utilizou recursos quantitativos, com a coleta de dados realizada através de questionário aplicado às turmas de Serviço Social ingressantes nos anos de 2016 e 2017. Procedeu-se a análise estatística dos dados. Os principais resultados obtidos evidenciam diminuição do ingresso de estudantes negros e pardos através das cotas raciais e sociais, o que sugere a necessidade de promover a discussão a respeito da efetividade das políticas de cotas raciais, cujo debate instauramos nesse trabalho