Quantitative conservation geography

Ongoing biodiversity loss represents the erosion of intrinsic value of living nature, reduces the contributions nature provides to people, and undermines efforts to move towards sustainability. We propose the recognition of quantitative conservation geography as a subfield of conservation science that studies where, when, and what conservation actions could be implemented in order to mitigate threats and promote sustainable people-nature interactions. We outline relevant methods and data needed in quantitative conservation geography. We also discuss the importance of filling information gaps, for example by using emerging technologies and digital data sources, for the further advancement of this subfield. Quantitative conservation geography can help inform the implementation of national and international conservation actions and policy to help stem the global biodiversity crisis.Peer reviewe

Moderate Electric Fields application as a biotechnological tool in food processing

BioTech 2017 and 7th Czech-Swiss Symposium with Exhibition[Excerpt] Moderate Electric Fields (MEF) provide a uniform, rapid and energetically very efficient means of processing foods (mostly by heat). This has been known for over a century and has finally found its place among food processors, as MEF industrial equipments are being installed worldwide in growing numbers and in a variety of applications. This happened after technological issues such as electrode corrosion and adequate temperature and power control systems were solved. [...]info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Bird taxonomic and functional responses to land abandonment in wood-pastures

Wood-pastures are socio-ecological systems covering vast areas in Europe. Although used for grazing and production of various forest goods, wood-pastures harbour a rich biodiversity and are usually considered as High Nature Value Farmlands. However, socio-economic pressures are driving the transformation of these valuable landscapes from multi-functional, heterogeneous habitats to homogeneous areas through either intensification or land abandonment. We investigated how changes in management intensity influence the taxonomic diversity, functional diversity and functional composition of birds in these landscapes using generalized linear models. In contrast to taxonomic diversity, functional diversity decreased significantly towards shrub-dominated and less heterogeneous areas related to the abandonment of grazing and/or understory management practices. Grassland and generalist species, and associated guilds such as granivores, ground-nesters and ground-foragers are almost absent less managed areas. On the other hand, shrub-dominated areas favour forest species, particularly understory/canopy foragers and arboreal nesters, although the forest guild is still well-represented in actively managed, heterogeneous areas. Our results indicate the abandonment of wood-pasture management affects the prevalence of grassland and generalist species, leading to functional diversity loss and potentially reduced ecosystem functioning. We suggest non-intensive, active management is needed to maintain habitat heterogeneity and canopy openness, enhancing trait diversity in wood-pastures.Peer reviewe

The cell wall and the response and tolerance to stresses of biotechnological relevance in yeasts

In industrial settings and processes, yeasts may face multiple adverse environmental conditions. These include exposure to non-optimal temperatures or pH, osmotic stress, and deleterious concentrations of diverse inhibitory compounds. These toxic chemicals may result from the desired accumulation of added-value bio-products, yeast metabolism, or be present or derive from the pre-treatment of feedstocks, as in lignocellulosic biomass hydrolysates. Adaptation and tolerance to industrially relevant stress factors involve highly complex and coordinated molecular mechanisms occurring in the yeast cell with repercussions on the performance and economy of bioprocesses, or on the microbiological stability and conservation of foods, beverages, and other goods. To sense, survive, and adapt to different stresses, yeasts rely on a network of signaling pathways to modulate the global transcriptional response and elicit coordinated changes in the cell. These pathways cooperate and tightly regulate the composition, organization and biophysical properties of the cell wall. The intricacy of the underlying regulatory networks reflects the major role of the cell wall as the first line of defense against a wide range of environmental stresses. However, the involvement of cell wall in the adaptation and tolerance of yeasts to multiple stresses of biotechnological relevance has not received the deserved attention. This article provides an overview of the molecular mechanisms involved in fine-tuning cell wall physicochemical properties during the stress response of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and their implication in stress tolerance. The available information for non-conventional yeast species is also included. These non-Saccharomyces species have recently been on the focus of very active research to better explore or control their biotechnological potential envisaging the transition to a sustainable circular bioeconomy

How to break access control in a controlled manner

The Electronic Medical Record (EMR) integrates heterogeneous information within a Healthcare Institution stressing the need for security and access control. The Biostatistics and Medical Informatics Department from Porto Faculty of Medicine has recently implemented a Virtual EMR (VEMR) in order to integrate patient information and clinical reports within a university hospital. With more than 500 medical doctors using the system on a daily basis, an access control policy and model were implemented. However, the healthcare environment has unanticipated situations (i.e. emergency situations) where access to information is essential. Most traditional policies do not allow for overriding. A policy that allows for Break-The-Glass (BTG) was implemented in order to override access control whilst providing for non-repudiation mechanisms for its usage. The policy was easily integrated within the model confirming its modularity and the fact that user intervention in defining security procedures is crucial to its successful implementation and use

Extraction of pigments from microalgae and cyanobacteria - A review on current methodologies

Pigments from microalgae and cyanobacteria have attracted great interest for industrial applications due to their bioactive potential and their natural product attributes. These pigments are usually sold as extracts, to overcome purification costs. The extraction of these compounds is based on cell disruption methodologies and chemical solubility of compounds. Different cell disruption methodologies have been used for pigment extraction, such as sonication, homogenization, high-pressure, CO2 supercritical fluid extraction, enzymatic extraction, and some other promising extraction methodologies such as ohmic heating and electric pulse technologies. The biggest constrain on pigment bioprocessing comes from the installation and operation costs; thus, fundamental and applied research are still needed to overcome such constrains and give the microalgae and cyanobacteria industry an opportunity in the world market. In this review, the main extraction methodologies will be discussed, taking into account the advantages and disadvantages for each kind of pigment, type of organism, cost, and final market.Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) under the auspices of Operational Program Human Capital (POCH), supported by the European Social Fund and Portuguese funds (MECTES); as well as by the national funds through FCT within the scope of UIDB/04423/2020, UIDP/04423/2020 and UIDB/04469/2020info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Mapping the online songbird trade in Indonesia

Wildlife trade, when unsustainable, can be an important threat to biodiversity conservation. In this contribution, we explored the use of digital data to investigate the online market for songbirds in Indonesia, where keeping pet songbirds is a deeply rooted cultural practice. We examined the spatial characteristics of three dimensions of the songbird trade using data from online sources: birdwatchers’ sightings as a proxy for the supply of the songbird market, small advertisements from an online marketplace platform, representing the trade itself and its transactions, and videos by pet songbird owners to represent the demand side of the songbird market. We found that, geographically, these three stages of the songbird supply chain did not overlap, which potentially hints at the roles extended transport networks and commercial captive breeding play for the songbird trade. The trade was not confined to major cities but spread out through the country, indicating both a possible democratisation of the trade (i.e. a larger group of sellers, and consumers selling to consumers) and an opportunity to observe previously covert parts of the trade. We further found that the asking prices on online marketplaces were significantly higher than the prices stated in an independently carried out consumer survey, and discuss possible reasons. Data from digital sources can give rich insights into the spatial, temporal and taxonomic structure of wildlife trade, can help understand the motivations of buyers and sellers, and can help direct wildlife trade towards a more sustainable fashion. Our methodology toolbox that allows automatic and continuous monitoring of online marketplaces and includes data preparation and cleaning, and follows the highest standards of data privacy principles, is openly available.Peer reviewe

Extended health visibility in the hospital environment

Wireless sensor networks can help healthcare providers enhance patient monitoring and communication capabilities. This paper describes the present state of the development of a vital signal monitoring network applied to the hospital environment. The proposed network is based on non-obstructive sensors able to communicate through a low power wireless sensor network based on the ZigBee protocol. This network enables continuous patient monitoring, creating entirely new mechanisms for providing healthcare under a plethora of cases (e.g. post-op, continuous care, and chronic diseases). The main advantages of this system include increased patient mobility, faster detection of potential problems, real-time feedback to caregivers and patients, and faster response to emergency situations.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT)Grupo AMI – Assistência Médica Integral (Casa de Saúde Guimarães, SA

Towards the design of efficient nonbeacon-enabled ZigBee networks

This paper presents experimental results of the communication performance evaluation of a prototype ZigBee-based patient monitoring system commissioned in an in-patient floor of a Portuguese hospital (HPG – Hospital Privado de Guimar~aes). Besides, it revisits relevant problems that affect the performance of nonbeacon-enabled ZigBee networks. Initially, the presence of hidden-nodes and the impact of sensor node mobility are discussed. It was observed, for instance, that the message delivery ratio in a star network consisting of six wireless electrocardiogram sensor devices may decrease from 100% when no hidden-nodes are present to 83.96% when half of the sensor devices are unable to detect the transmissions made by the other half. An additional aspect which affects the communication reliability is a deadlock condition that can occur if routers are unable to process incoming packets during the backoff part of the CSMA-CA mechanism. A simple approach to increase the message delivery ratio in this case is proposed and its effectiveness is verified. The discussion and results presented in this paper aim to contribute to the design of efficient networks, and are valid to other scenarios and environments rather than hospitals.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT)Grupo AMI – Assistência Médica Integral (Casa de Saúde Guimarães, SA

Structural characterization of heat-induced β-lactoglobulin nanohydrogels under the effects of selected physical conditions

The 19th Gums & Stabilisers for the Food Industry Conference: Hydrocolloid multifunctionalityβ-Lactoglobulin (β-Lg) is the major protein fraction in bovine whey serum (ca. 50% of its protein content). It is a bio-based and a Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) material, with a high nutritional value, that can be used to encapsulate nutraceuticals essentially due to its gelation capacity, which allows the formation of nanohydrogels. Furthermore, β-Lg displays a high binding capacity, under specific environmental conditions and it is resistant to proteolytic degradation in the stomach. These features make of β-Lg an excellent bio-based material to be used as carrier of nutraceuticals. The objective of this work was to understand the impact of different conditions (β-Lg concentration and heating times) in the physical properties of β-Lg nanohydrogels. In this study, β-Lg at various concentration (5, 10 and 15 mg·mL-1 ), were solubilized in 25 mM of sodium phosphate buffer (at pH 6) and heated at 80 °C for several holding time periods (5, 15 and 25 min). The protein structures formed were then characterized in terms of their stability, morphology, polydispersity index, size and surface charge. Stable nanohydrogels were obtained at pH 6, when treated at 80 ºC for heating periods longer than 15 min, characterized by a low polydispersity (< 0.2). At these conditions, nanohydrogels showed increasing particle size values, ranging from 50 nm to 110 nm, and surface charge from -15 mV to -20 mV, as β-Lg concentration increased. Nanohydrogels prepared at the same conditions, but treated for shorter periods of time, showed to be unstable, characterized by higher polydispersity (≥ 0.5) and surface charges of - 7 mV, independently of the β-Lg concentration used. The results obtained in this study represent a significant contribute to enrich the knowledge about the impact of several environmental conditions on β-Lg nanohydrogel characteristics and thus in the desired properties intended for their final application.Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit and COMPETE 2020 (POCI - 01-0145-FEDER-006684) and BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004) funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte 2020 - Programa Operacional Regional do Norteinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio