Laboratory quality improvement project (ProMeQuaLab): One Health in Portuguese-speaking Countries

A abordagem de “Uma só Saúde” é essencial para identificar, monitorizar, controlar, prevenir e erradicar as doenças transmissíveis entre o homem e os animais, permitindo uma vigilância epidemiológica eficaz. A qualidade dos dados de diagnóstico laboratorial de doenças de origem humana e ani- mal, é imprescindível para a vigilância epidemiológica de base laboratorial eficaz das zoonoses. O ProMeQuaLab (Projeto da Melhoria da Qualidade Laboratorial) visa a ca- pacitação de técnicos no diagnóstico laboratorial, para avaliação, monitori- zação e otimização do desempenho das metodologias utilizadas, de modo a gerar informação harmonizada, padronizada e comparável, que possa ser partilhada para ser avaliada epidemiologicamente. As atividades na área clínica humana já realizadas neste projeto desde 2015, foram alargadas à área veterinária desde 2023, com planeamento de aplica- ção de questionários para caracterizar os laboratórios veterinários, avaliar o seu nível de implementação do controlo da qualidade, identificar necessida- des de formação, e implementar melhoria da capacidade instalada e forma- ção de profissionais. Os documentos já produzidos e os profissionais já formados no âmbito das atividades do ProMeQuaLab serão multiplicadores do conhecimento para aplicação na área veterinária. Promover “Uma Só Saúde” exige ampliar oportunidades de formação e profis- sionais no diagnóstico laboratorial, fortalecendo laboratórios para oferecer ser- viços de alta qualidade e contribuir para promoção da saúde humana e animal.The One-Health approach is essential to identify, monitor, control, prevent and eradicate diseases communicable between humans and animals, enabling effective epidemiological surveillance. The quality of laboratory diagnostic data for diseases of human and animal origin is essential for effective laboratory-based epidemiological surveillance of zoonoses. ProMeQuaLab (Laboratory Quality Improvement Project) aims to train technicians in laboratory diagnosis to evaluate, monitor and optimize the performance of the methodologies used, in order to generate harmonized, standardized and comparable information, which can be shared for epidemiological investigation. Activities in the human clinical area already carried out in this project since 2015, have been extended to the veterinary area since 2023, with planning to apply questionnaires to characterize veterinary laboratories, evaluate their level of implementation of quality control, identify training needs, and implement improvements in installed capacity and training of professionals. The technical and scientific documents already produced and the profes- sionals already trained within the scope of ProMeQuaLab activities will be multipliers of knowledge for application in the veterinary field. Promoting One Health requires expanding training opportunities and professio- nals in laboratory diagnosis, strengthening laboratories to offer high-quality services contributing to the promotion of human and animal health.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Growing knowledge: an overview of Seed Plant diversity in Brazil

Abstract An updated inventory of Brazilian seed plants is presented and offers important insights into the country's biodiversity. This work started in 2010, with the publication of the Plants and Fungi Catalogue, and has been updated since by more than 430 specialists working online. Brazil is home to 32,086 native Angiosperms and 23 native Gymnosperms, showing an increase of 3% in its species richness in relation to 2010. The Amazon Rainforest is the richest Brazilian biome for Gymnosperms, while the Atlantic Rainforest is the richest one for Angiosperms. There was a considerable increment in the number of species and endemism rates for biomes, except for the Amazon that showed a decrease of 2.5% of recorded endemics. However, well over half of Brazillian seed plant species (57.4%) is endemic to this territory. The proportion of life-forms varies among different biomes: trees are more expressive in the Amazon and Atlantic Rainforest biomes while herbs predominate in the Pampa, and lianas are more expressive in the Amazon, Atlantic Rainforest, and Pantanal. This compilation serves not only to quantify Brazilian biodiversity, but also to highlight areas where there information is lacking and to provide a framework for the challenge faced in conserving Brazil's unique and diverse flora

Characterisation of microbial attack on archaeological bone

As part of an EU funded project to investigate the factors influencing bone preservation in the archaeological record, more than 250 bones from 41 archaeological sites in five countries spanning four climatic regions were studied for diagenetic alteration. Sites were selected to cover a range of environmental conditions and archaeological contexts. Microscopic and physical (mercury intrusion porosimetry) analyses of these bones revealed that the majority (68%) had suffered microbial attack. Furthermore, significant differences were found between animal and human bone in both the state of preservation and the type of microbial attack present. These differences in preservation might result from differences in early taphonomy of the bones. © 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved