Biomarkers: a strategic tool in the assessment of environmental quality of coastal waters

Ecosystems are under the pressure of complex mixtures of contaminants whose effects are not always simple to assess. Biomarkers, acting as early warning signals of the presence of potentially toxic xenobiotics, are useful tools for assessing either exposure to, or the effects of these compounds providing information about the toxicant bioavailability. In fact, it has been argued that a full understanding of ecotoxicological processes must consider an integrated multi-level approach, in which molecular impact is related with higher-order biological consequences at the individual, population and community levels. Monitoring programs should make use of this tool to link contaminants and ecological responses fulfilling strategies like those launched by OSPAR (Commissions of Oslo and Paris) Convention on the protection of the marine environment of the North-East Atlantic and the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). An overview of the work done in the past few years using biomarkers as in situ tools for pollution assessment in Portuguese coastal waters is presented as a contribution to the set up of a biomonitoring program for the Portuguese coastal zone. Considering the data set available the biomonitoring proposal should include the analysis of biomarkers and effects at individual levels. The aim of the program will include a spatial and temporal characterization of the biomarkers acetyl-cholinesterase, metallothioneins, DNA damage, adenylate energy charge and scope-for-growth levels. The investigation of the spatial variation of biomarkers is crucial to define sites for long term monitoring, which will be integrated with a chemical monitoring program. This framework will be a major contribution to the implementation of a national database for the use of biomarkers along the Portuguese coast.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Intellectual Capital Change Management in the Construction Industry—The Case of an Inter-Organisational Collaboration

Nowadays, due to the complexity of the relationships with external entities, along with the importance that traditional media and the innovative social media have in creating competitive advantages, it is necessary for companies to collaborate in order to create Intellectual Capital (IC). Although collaboration is crucial to create IC, there is a paucity in literature regarding the effects that a specific type of collaboration may have on the IC of an organisation, specifically a franchising with a mediatic actor. Moreover, literature addressing IC creation and destruction over time is scarce, especially when applied to the construction industry. This paper’s goal is twofold: understanding the longitudinal changes of a construction SME’s Intellectual Capital, regarding its creation and destruction; analysing the impact that a specific inter-organisational collaboration franchising—with a mediatic actor may have on such IC. A single in-depth case study was conducted, allowing to conclude that the actions of an organisation can develop both Intellectual Assets and Intellectual Liabilities. It was also concluded that inter-organisational collaboration, through a franchise with an actor with experience in communication, can generate, in the long term, positive and innovative effects regarding the different IC components, namely the Relational one. More specifically, the paper allowed to ascertain that an organisation’s IC changes over time in a dynamic fashion, i.e., Intellectual Liabilities which emerged before an innovative collaboration can be transformed into Intellectual Assets and create competitive advantages. This paper contributes to stress the importance of managing IC, not only when it is created, but namely in when it can be destroyed, in a context of inter-organisational collaborations applied to a construction SMEinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Overview and challenges of mercury fractionation and speciation in soils

Analytical procedures to assess mercury speciation in soils still lack consensus. This article presents an overview of the mercury fractionation and speciation procedures used in soils. Mercury fractionation is the most common approach despite the operational definition of the fractions. Application of single extraction procedures that target the water-soluble, exchangeable and acid-soluble fractions and the application of EPA method 3200 for mercury sequential extraction are examined in soils with different physicochemical characteristics. A step forward in mercury speciation is thermo-desorption, a useful tool to rapidly obtain needed information about contaminated soils. The advantages and limitations of these procedures are compared; the importance of soils’ physicochemical characteristics highlighted. Criteria to be considered when choosing a suitable method are given - assessing total mercury concentration, soil physicochemical characteristics, environmental conditions, and legislation. It is recommended that the interpretation of results is done wisely, to correctly support decisions concerning intervention strategies at contaminated sites

A Two-Stage DEA Model to Evaluate the Performance of Iberian Banks

This paper’s goal is twofold: it aims to assess the performance of 58 Iberian banks and explore the relationship between such performance and the banks’ Intellectual Capital (IC) efficiency during a post-crisis period. As long as the authors are aware, there is a gap in the literature in exploring the relationship between banks’ global performance and IC efficiency. First, the Data Envelopment Analysis model was adopted to measure the efficiency of Iberian banks and rank them according to their performance. Data were collected digitally, specifically by using the Bankscope database provided by Bureau van Dijk. Results show that by improving their resources management practices, banks can significantly increase their efficiency. Then, fractional regressions were used to infer the relationship between IC’s efficiency and the scores obtained in the first stage. Results suggest that Iberian banks’ global performance is mainly determined by their human capital efficiency. Finally, this study stresses the importance of IC measurement to support more efficient decision-making by bank managers.This work was supported by NECE-UBI, Research Unit in Business Science and Economics, sponsored by the Portuguese Foundation for the Development of Science and Technology, project UIDB/04630/2020, funded by national funds through FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia. The authors (José Vale, Rui Bertuzi and Ana Maria Bandeira) would like to thanks CEOS.PPinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Diversity of plant growth-promoting bacteria associated with sugarcane

The sugarcane (Saccharum spp) presents economic importance, mainly for tropical regions, being an important Brazilian commodity. However, this crop is strongly dependent on fertilizers, mainly nitrogen (N). This study assessed the plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) associated with sugarcane that could be used as a potential inoculant to the crop. We evaluated the genetic diversity of PGPB in the plant tissue of sugarcane varieties (RB 867515, RB 1011, and RB 92579). The primer BOX-A1R was used to differentiate the similar isolated and further sequencing 16S rRNA ribosomal gene. The 16S rRNA gene showed the presence of seven different genera distributed into four groups, the genus Bacillus, followed by Paenibacillus (20%), Burkholderia (14%), Herbaspirillum (6%), Pseudomonas (6%), Methylobacterium (6%), and Brevibacillus (3%). The molecular characterization of endophytic isolates from sugarcane revealed a diversity of bacteria colonizing this plant, with a possible biotechnological potential to be used as inoculant and biofertilizers

Mobility of contaminants in relation to dredging operations in a mesotidal estuary (Tagus Estuary, Portugal)

During the construction of a New Bridge over the Tagus estuary 2.5 million tons of sediments were dredged, part of this quantity being contaminated material. The extension and intensity of the water turbidity associated with dredging operating varied with the tidal conditions but the resuspended material collected near the bucket dredger did not present a concentration increment in metals and PCB, when compared to the estuarine suspended sediments. The calculated distribution coefficients suggest that some contaminants in solids near the dredger were not in equilibrium with the water. A 24-hour laboratory experiment demonstrated the complexity and quickness of anoxic sediments oxidation. In such a short period of time metals in the solids change their fractionation. A second laboratory simulation showed that mussels accumulate metals and PCB congeners when placed in turbid aerated water

Evaluating the impact of sprouting conditions on the glucosinolate content of Brassica oleracea sprouts

The glucosinolates content of brassica plants is a distinctive characteristic, representing a healthy advan- tage as many of these compounds are associated to antioxidant and anti-carcinogenic properties. Brassica sprouts are still an underutilized source of these bioactive compounds. In this work, four varieties of bras- sica sprouts (red cabbage, broccoli, Galega kale and Penca cabbage), including two local varieties from the North of Portugal, were grown to evaluate the glucosinolate profile and myrosinase activity during the sprouting. Also the influence of light/darkness exposure during sprouting on the glucosinolate content was assessed. Glucosinolate content and myrosinase activity of the sprouts was evaluated by HPLC meth- ods. All sprouts revealed a higher content of aliphatic glucosinolates than of indole glucosinolates, con- trary to the profile described for most of brassica mature plants. Galega kale sprouts had the highest glucosinolate content, mainly sinigrin and glucoiberin, which are recognized for their beneficial health effects. Penca cabbage sprouts were particularly richer in glucoraphanin, who was also one of the major compounds in broccoli sprouts. Red cabbage showed a higher content of progoitrin. Regarding myrosi- nase activity, Galega kale sprouts showed the highest values, revealing that the use of light/dark cycles and a sprouting phase of 7?9 days could be beneficial to preserve the glucosinolate content of this variety.B514-8F2F-A1FB | Ana ValeN/

Erratum: Moreira, J., et al., Spin-Coated Polysaccharide-Based Multilayered Freestanding Films with Adhesive and Bioactive Moieties. Molecules 2020, 25, 840

Erratum: Moreira, J., et al., Spin-Coated Polysaccharide-Based Multilayered Freestanding Films with Adhesive and Bioactive Moieties. Molecules 2020, 25, 840. DOI: 10.3390/molecules25040840The authors wish to make changes to the published paper 11 j. 1. UV-Vis Analysis of Catechol-Modified Polymers In the original manuscript theie is a mistake concerning the word "Wavenumber" in the X-Coordinate in Figure 1. Tile corrected word is "Wavelength". Tlx- A uthors also wish to change mg«mL-l to mg ml-1 in the legend of Figure l;see corrected Figure 1 below. (Figure Presented).(undefined