Exploring the Acceptability of an Environmental Education Program for Youth in Rural Areas: ECOCIDADANIA Project

Background: There has been a growing interest in environmental education programs to improve environmental awareness and behavior change among school-aged youth. Yet, assessment of the approaches aligned with citizen science principles emphasizing community participation and empowerment is scarce. The present study aimed to explore the acceptability of the “ECOCIDADANIA” environmental education program targeted at youth in rural areas. Methods: The program was applied for two years in the municipality of Gouveia, and it involved nature walks methodologies combined with citizen science. A total of 107 students participated in the program. Eighteen participants (13 youth and 5 teachers) were selected as key informants, and semistructured interviews were conducted to assess the appropriateness of the intervention and the perceived benefits. Results: The program was demonstrated to be acceptable to youth and teachers, and its benefits included increasing students’ knowledge, skills and self-efficacy, discovering the territory, promoting environmental awareness, strengthening social relationships between peers and educators, and contributing to the promotion of individual and collective well-being. All the participants were satisfied with the program’s activities and recommend its continuation in the school context. Conclusions: Programs of this nature could foster environmental activism and enhance environmental sustainability at the local level, which reinforces the entrepreneurship profile of the youth.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

DOE: high-pressure processing as a pre-treatment for production of raw ewe milk-cheese

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Staphylococcus epidermidis biofilms undergo metabolic and matrix remodeling under nitrosative stress

Funding Information: This work was financially supported by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) Project – PTDC/BIA-MIC/31566/2017, R&D unit MOSTMICRO-ITQB (UIDB/04612/2020 and UIDP/04612/2020) and LS4FUTURE Associated Laboratory (LA/P/0087/2020). AO has a fellowship UI/BD/153389/2022 from FCT. The NMR data were acquired from CERMAX, ITQB-NOVA, Oeiras, Portugal, with equipment funded by FCT, project AAC 01/SAICT/2016. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Acknowledgments Publisher Copyright: Copyright © 2023 Oliveira, Saraiva and Carvalho.Staphylococcus epidermidis is a commensal skin bacterium that forms host- and antibiotic-resistant biofilms that are a major cause of implant-associated infections. Most research has focused on studying the responses to host-imposed stresses on planktonic bacteria. In this work, we addressed the open question of how S. epidermidis thrives on toxic concentrations of nitric oxide (NO) produced by host innate immune cells during biofilm assembly. We analyzed alterations of gene expression, metabolism, and matrix structure of biofilms of two clinical isolates of S. epidermidis, namely, 1457 and RP62A, formed under NO stress conditions. In both strains, NO lowers the amount of biofilm mass and causes increased production of lactate and decreased acetate excretion from biofilm glucose metabolism. Transcriptional analysis revealed that NO induces icaA, which is directly involved in polysaccharide intercellular adhesion (PIA) production, and genes encoding proteins of the amino sugar pathway (glmM and glmU) that link glycolysis to PIA synthesis. However, the strains seem to have distinct regulatory mechanisms to boost lactate production, as NO causes a substantial upregulation of ldh gene in strain RP62A but not in strain 1457. The analysis of the matrix components of the staphylococcal biofilms, assessed by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), showed that NO stimulates PIA and protein production and interferes with biofilm structure in a strain-dependent manner, but independently of the Ldh level. Thus, NO resistance is attained by remodeling the staphylococcal matrix architecture and adaptation of main metabolic processes, likely providing in vivo fitness of S. epidermidis biofilms contacting NO-proficient macrophages.publishersversionpublishe

Dialogical as a methodological transdisciplinary principle in research in education

O presente trabalho apresenta a dialógica enquanto perspectiva de pesquisa transdiciplinar. O texto começa por referir o percurso seguido por Mikhail Bakthin, Paulo Freire, Edgar Morin e Basarab Nicolescu ao trabalharem a metodologia dialógica em suas obras. Além disso, discute a transdiciplinaridade compreendida em seu aspecto metodológico, como processo que ocorre em três etapas simultâneas: análise de diferentes níveis de realidade, a lógica do terceiro incluído e a complexidade. Buscou-se, através da pesquisa bibliográfica, levantar pontos teóricos sobre a dialogia e pesquisa transdisciplinas entre os autores supracitados. Na dialógica não se rejeita nenhuma flecha do conhecimento, o processo de conhecimento disciplinar, multidisciplinar, pluridisciplinar, interdisciplinar fazem parte da unidade na diversidade que compõe a transdiciplinaridade. Nesta perspectiva, Nicolescu (2000) diz que não há superação de um nível anterior de conhecimento, mas que os opostos coexistem e que, portanto, o princípio retroativo e de autorregulação ocorrem simultaneamente. Por isso, é um importante caminho metodológico para as ciências sociais.This paper presents the dialogue as of transdisciplinary research perspective. We start presenting the route followed by Mikhail Bakhtin, Paulo Freire, Edgar Morin and Basarab Nicolescu to work dialogical methodology in their works. Further, it discusses the transdisciplinarity understood in its methodological aspect, as a process that occurs in three simultaneous steps: analysis of different levels of reality, the logic of the included and complexity. We sought, through literature, raise theoretical points on the dialogism and research transdisciplinary between the above authors. In dialogic is not rejected any arrow of knowledge, the process of disciplinary knowledge, multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary part of unity in diversity that makes up the transdisciplinarity. In this perspective, Nicolescu (2000) says there is no overcoming a previous level of knowledge, but that opposites coexist and that therefore the retroactive principle and self-regulatory occur simultaneously. So it is an important methodological approach to the social sciences.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Lymphocyte Differentiation and Effector Functions

Univ São Paulo, Inst Biomed Sci, Dept Immunol, BR-05508000 São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Escola Paulista Med, Dept Microbiol Imunol & Parasitol, BR-04021001 São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Escola Paulista Med, Dept Microbiol Imunol & Parasitol, BR-04021001 São Paulo, BrazilWeb of Scienc

Characterisation of Archaeological High-tin Bronze Corrosion Structures

Part of this work was carried out in the framework of the projects: 'Singing Bronze', funded by Banco Santander through the prize Santander/NOVA 2016; 'IberianTin' (PTDC/HAR-ARQ/32290/2017), funded by European Regional Development Fund funds through the regional program of Lisbon and through national funds through the Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (FCT) (Foundation for Science and Technology); UID/CTM/50025/2019 granted to CENIMAT/i3N, financed through FEDER funds by COMPETE 2020 and national funds through FCT.Since ancient times, the use of high-tin bronze alloys (>17 wt.%) has been mainly limited to the production of specific objects such as mirrors and bells. High-tin bronzes can show distinctive colour reflection, as well as mechanical properties and corrosion resistance that clearly distinguish them from the classical bronze composition (with 8–12 wt.% tin). In the present study samples of archaeological high-tin bronze bells were studied by optical microscopy, SEM-EDX, and Raman imaging with the aim of characterising their microstructural long-term corrosion patterns. Results show the presence of high quantities of δ phase, when compared to the classical bronze composition, which makes some corrosion structures more visible in these alloys. The corrosion morphologies show selective corrosion of different metal phases along depth of corrosion, which were attributed to different oxygen potentials. This study proposes a classification of four types of corrosion structures occurring in two-phase bronzes as a consequence of aeration conditions during burial time and aeration within the corrosion structure.authorsversionepub_ahead_of_prin

Optimization of raw ewes’ milk high-pressure pre-treatment for improved production of raw milk cheese

Serra da Estrela protected designation of origin (PDO) cheese is manufactured with raw milk from Bordaleira and/or Churra Mondegueira da Serra da Estrela sheep breeds. Several socioenvironmental shortcomings have reduced production capacity; hence, treatments that may contribute to its efficient transformation into cheese are welcome. High-pressure processing (HPP) milk pre-treatment may contribute to a cheese yield increment, yet optimization of processing conditions is warranted. An initial wide-scope screening experiment allowed for pinpointing pressure intensity, holding time under pressure and time after HPP as the most important factors influencing curd yield. Based on this, a more targeted screening experiment allowed for selecting the range of experimental conditions to be used for an experimental design study that revealed an HPP treatment at 121 MPa for 30 min as the optimum for milk processing to improve curd yield (>9%) and effectively maintain the beneficial cheese microbiota; the optimum was validated in a final experimental framework.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

a frontier approach to benchmark the performance of countries worldwide

Vilarinho, H., Cubo, C., Sampaio, P., Saraiva, P., Reis, M., Nóvoa, H., & Camanho, A. S. (2022). World State of Quality: a frontier approach to benchmark the performance of countries worldwide. In ICQEM 2022 - 5th International Conference on Quality Engineering and Management: A Better World with Quality! Quality in the Digital Transformation (pp. 263-290). (International Conference on Quality Engineering and Management). CIEd /Universidade do Minho. --- The authors acknowledge the financial support provided by FCT-Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portuguese National Funding Agency for Science, Research and Technology) through PhD research grants 2021.05244.BD and SFRH/BD/131285/2017. This work has been supported by FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the R&D UnitsPurpose - The World State of Quality (WSQ) Project aims to evaluate, analyse, rank and categorise countries according to their performance in quality as a multidimensional concept. The Project involves the computation of an overall score for each country, obtained as a weighted average of ranking positions of 16 metrics, with weights determined by a panel of experts. Methodology-This work proposes an alternative strategy for that procedure, using a Benefit-of-the-Doubt (BoD) Composite Indicator approach under the framework of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). This strategy avoids the need of using subjective weights and normalising data by rank positions, using a more objective procedure to obtain the countries’ ranking. A new overall score of the World State of Quality is proposed, which allows the categorisation of countries’ performance. The novel insights resulting from the use of this methodology are discussed, including the identification of strengths and weaknesses of the various countries, and the peers that can be used for facilitating continuous improvements policies. Findings - The results show that the BoD approach and the original method used by the WSQ Project present comparable results. Countries’ strengths and weaknesses and their suitable peers and targets for benchmarking are presented with illustrative examples. Originality/value – A novel frontier approach for countries’ benchmarking regarding their performance in quality is proposed, incorporating new insights into the current method.publishersversionpublishe

Studies on Hydrogen Sulfide Oxidase from Pseudomonas sp.

Agency of Innovation (Agência de Inovação, ADI, Portugal) and Quadro de Referência Estratégico Nacional (QREN, Portugal

Evolution of qualitative and quantitative lipid profiles of high-pressure-processed serra da estrela cheese throughout storage

High-pressure processing (HPP) can be used as a nonthermal pasteurization technique to overcome microbial safety issues of the raw ewes’ milk Serra da Estrela cheese without negatively influencing its quality, in particular, the lipid composition partly responsible for Serra da Estrela cheese’s sensorial and textural attributes. The aim of this work was to assess HPP’s effect (600 MPa/6 min and 450 MPa/6 and 9 min) on the qualitative and quantitative lipid profiles of Serra da Estrela cheese during 15 months of refrigerated storage. Total triglycerides content (65–66 g TG/100 g) was similarly determined for HPP-treated (450 MPa/6 min) and control cheeses. Similar total contents of saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fatty acids were reported for all cheeses during storage. A high total conjugated linoleic acid content (1.29–1.65 g FA/100 g fat) was quantified in all cheeses during storage; all cheeses revealed similar atherogenic and thrombogenic indices (~2.3 and ~2.6, respectively). HPP can be used to process Serra da Estrela cheese at conditions that assure microbial safety without influencing cheese lipid profiles.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio