Production and decay of Sulphur excited species in a ECRIS plasma

The most important processes for the creation of S12+ to S14+ ions excited states from the ground configurations of S9+ to S14+ ions in an electron cyclotron resonance ion source, leading to the emission of K X-ray lines, are studied. Theoretical values for inner-shell excitation and ionization cross sections, including double KL and triple KLL ionization, transition probabilities and energies for the deexcitation processes, are calculated in the framework of the multi-configuration Dirac-Fock method. With reasonable assumptions about the electron energy distribution, a theoretical K$\alpha$ X-ray spectrum is obtained, which is compared to recent experimental data.

Enterococcus and biocides: mechanisms of tolerance and selection for vancomycin resistance

Dissertation presented to obtain a Doctoral degree in Biology, Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica, Universidade Nova de Lisboa.

Interculturality in the Primary EFL Classroom: Increasing Tolerance through (Inter) Cultural Awareness

Dissertação apresentada para cumprimento dos requisitos necessários à obtenção do grau de Mestre em Didáctica do Inglês,

Proteomic and Transcriptomic Approaches to Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Rice (Oryza sativaL.)

Dissertação para a obtenção de grau de doutor em Biologia pelo Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica da Universidade Nova de Lisboa

Evaluation of drought tolerance in several genotypes of spelt (Triticum aestivum Var. Spelta)

Domestication of plants and plant breeding have dramatically eroded the allelic variations of crop species which led to an increasing susceptibility of crop plants to environmental stresses, diseases and pests. Drought is a major environmental stress factor that affects the growth and development of plants so the selection of tolerant genotypes becomes increasingly important with respect to the predicted effects of global warming. In this study, several genotypes of Spelt (Triticum aestivum var. spelta) were tested under low water supply in soil with the aim of to find Spelt genotypes more resistant than wheat to these conditions, and select them so that in future may be used to improve wheat crops. Morphological analyses were performed and mineral and enzymatic analyses and also dry matter production were calculated. Our results suggests that the genotypes Sp53, Sp96, Sp912, Sp757 and Sp804 are a potential ones to use in breeding programs to improve wheat production. Under drought, these genotypes had growth efficiency of 38%, 45%, 64%, 37%, and 31% respectively and also showed higher biomass than modern wheat and were also mineralogical richer. The genotypes Sp96 and Sp912 showed highest activity of all antioxidants enzymes tested. This work proves that Spelt is a good wheat to continue to study in order to improve wheat crops in dry areas and consequently increase the quality of life and health of the populations living in those areas.

Study of salt stress tolerance in spelt

World population is increasing at an alarming rate while food productivity is decreasing due to the effect of various abiotic stresses. Soil salinity is one of the most important abiotic stress and a limiting factor for worldwide plant production. In addition to its important effects on yield, salt stress affects numerous cellular activities, including cell wall composition, photosynthesis, protein synthesis, ions and organic solutes. Up to 20% of the irrigated arable land in arid and semiarid regions is already salt affected and is still expanding. Improving salt tolerant varieties is of major importance, and efforts should be focused on finding adaptive mechanisms which are involved in salinity tolerance. In this study, several spelt wheat (Triticum aestivum var. Spelta) genotypes and one cultivar of modern bread wheat were used to screen them for salt tolerance. Spelt is an old-European cereal crop currently attracting renewed interest as a food grain because it is said to be harder than wheat and requires less fertilizer. Spelt wheat is also becoming very attractive genetic source by plant breeders due to its wide adaptation ability to various stressful conditions such as soil salinity. In this study morphological parameters (e.g., leaf appearance; shoot elongation), dry matter production, mineral nutrients (especially Na and K), and activity of antioxidative enzymes were measured to select superior genotypes of spelt for salt tolerance. The results showed that Spelt genotype Sp41 is a salt sensitive genotype and genotypes Sp69, Sp96 and Sp912 are good candidates for salt tolerant genotypes.

Electron driven reactions in sulphur containing biological prototypes

The interaction of ionising radiation with living tissues may direct or indirectly generate several secondary species with relevant genotoxic potential. Due to recent findings that electrons with energies below the ionisation threshold can effectively damage DNA, radiation-induced damage to biological systems has increasingly come under scrutiny. The exact physico-chemical processes that occur in the first stages of electron induced damage remain to be explained. However, it is also known that free electrons have a short lifetime in the physiological medium. Hence, electron transfer processes studies represent an alternative approach through which the role of "bound" electrons as a source of damage to biological tissues can be further explored. The thesis work consists of studying dissociative electron attachment (DEA) and electron transfer to taurine and thiaproline. DEA measurements were executed in Siedlce University with Prof. Janina Kopyra under COST action MP1002 (Nanoscale insights in ion beam cancer therapy). The electron transfer experiments were conducted in a crossed atom(potassium)-molecule beam arrangement. In these studies the anionic fragmentation patterns were obtained. The results of both mechanisms are shown to be significantly different, unveiling that the damaging potential of secondary electrons can be underestimated. In addition, sulphur atoms appear to strongly influence the dissociation process, demonstrating that certain reactions can be controlled by substitution of sulphur at specific molecular sites.