Impact of maritime air mass trajectories on the Western European coast urban aerosol

Lisbon is the largest urban area in the Western European coast. Due to this geographical position the Atlantic Ocean serves as an important source of particles and plays an important role in many atmospheric processes. The main objectives of this study were to (1) perform a chemical characterization of particulate matter (PM2.5) sampled in Lisbon, (2) identify the main sources of particles, (3) determine PM contribution to this urban area, and (4) assess the impact of maritime air mass trajectories on concentration and composition of respirable PM sampled in Lisbon. During 2007, PM2.5 was collected on a daily basis in the center of Lisbon with a Partisol sampler. The exposed Teflon filters were measured by gravimetry and cut into two parts: one for analysis by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) and the other by ion chromatography (IC). Principal component analysis (PCA) and multilinear regression analysis (MLRA) were used to identify possible sources of PM2.5 and determine mass contribution. Five main groups of sources were identified: secondary aerosols, traffic, calcium, soil, and sea. Four-day backtracking trajectories ending in Lisbon at the starting sampling time were calculated using the HYSPLIT model. Results showed that maritime transport scenarios were frequent. These episodes were characterized by a significant decrease of anthropogenic aerosol concentrations and exerted a significant role on air quality in this urban area.

Bioactive meroditerpenes from Cystoseira abies-marina, collected from the coast of S. Miguel island

3rd Portuguese Meeting on Medicinal Chemistry and 1st Portuguese-Spanish-Brazilian Meeting on Medicinal Chemistry, Aveiro, 28-30 Novembro 2012.

Climatic patterns and physical controls of chlorophyll-a in the Northeast Atlantic

Tese de Doutoramento, Física, 17 de Dezembro de 2013, Universidade dos Açores.

O complexo Myosotella 'myosotis/denticulata': uma perspetiva morfológica, molecular e ecológica

Dissertação de Mestrado, Biodiversidade e Ecologia Insular, 29 de Maio de 2013, Universidade dos Açores.

Preliminary observations on the benthic marine algae of the Gorringe seabank (northeast Atlantic Ocean)

Copyright © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg and AWI 2014.

An Unprovoked Attack by a Blue Shark Prionace glauca (Chondrichthyes: Carcharhinidae) on a Spear Fisherman in Terceira Island, Azores, Northeast Atlantic

Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Science Ltd.

A trophic analysis of target species of macrobenthos in a subtropical coast community: a taxa relationship essay

Studies on the feeding habits of aquatic organisms are a requirement for the management and sustainable use of marine ecosystems. The aim of the present research was to analyze the habits and trophic similarities of decapods, starfish and fish in order to propose trophic relationships between taxa, using Hennigian methods of phylogenetic systematics. This new grouping hypothesis, based on shared and exclusive food items and food types, corresponds to the broad taxonomic groups used in the analysis. Our results indicate that algae, Mollusca, Polychaeta, Crustacea, Echinodermata and Actinopterygii are the most exploited common resources among the species studied. Starfish were differentiated from other organisms for being stenophagic, and were grouped for feeding on bivalve mollusks. A larger group of fish and crustaceans shares algae and mainly crustaceans as food items. A third group united all eight species of Actinopterygii. This largest subgroup of fish is typically carnivorous, feeding on Anthozoa and a great quantity of Crustacea. Synodus foetens has a special position among fishes, due to its unique feeding on nematodes. A Euclidean distance dendrogram obtained in a previous publication grouped S. foetens with starfish. That result was based on a few non-exclusive shared similarities in feeding modes, as well as on shared absences of items, which are not an adequate grouping factor. Starfish are stenophagic, eating bivalves almost exclusively. Synodus foetens and Isopisthus parvipinnis have restricted food items, and are thus intermediary in relation to starfish, decapods, and other fish, which are euryphagous. The trophic cladogram displays details of food items, whether or not shared by all species. The resulting trophic analysis is consistent with known historical relationships.

Integrated Management of Childhood Illness: efficiency of primary health in Northeast Brazil

OBJECTIVE: The Integrated Management of Childhood Illness is a strategy designed to address major causes of child mortality. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of the strategy on the quality of child health care provided at primary facilities. METHODS: Child health quality of care and costs were compared in four states in Northeastern Brazil, in 2001. There were studied 48 health facilities considered to have had stable strategy implementation at least two years before the start of study, with 48 matched comparison facilities in the same states. A single measure of correct management of sick children was used to assess care provided to all sick children. Costs included all resources at the national, state, local and facility levels associated with child health care. RESULTS: Facilities providing strategy-based care had significantly better management of sick children at no additional cost to municipalities relative to the comparison municipalities. At strategy facilities 72% of children were correctly managed compared with 56% in comparison facilities (p=0.001). The cost per child managed correctly was US$13.20 versus US$21.05 in the strategy and comparison municipalities, respectively, after standardization for population size. CONCLUSIONS: The strategy improves the efficiency of primary facilities in Northeastern Brazil. It leads to better health outcomes at no extra cost.

Records of predatory, con-specific and human induced mauls on fish from the Northeast Atlantic and Black Sea

Present study aims to describe records of mauled and con-specific injures in various fish inhabiting different environment and to discuss possible impacts on fish behavior and ontogenesis. The fish specimens were collected from the Black Sea and Azores Islands (NE Atlantic). Individuals of European flounder, Pleuronectes flesus, common stingray, Dasyatis pastinaca and turbot, Scophthalmus maximus with missing dorsal and caudal fins and flesh, were found in the Black Sea. Specimens with severe mauls of the ocean sunfish, Mola mola, almaco jack, Seriola rivoliana and sargo, Diplodus sargus were recorded from the Azores Islands. All of them were caught alive and survived severe mauls caused by predators or by accidents with propellers, fishing nets. The NE Atlantic records, although possibly caused by natural predation, are more probably than not the result of negative interactions with human activity. Numerous records of mauled fish species from both regions show that the problem with adverse effects of fisheries is quite important. Predatory and con-specific injuries obviously are compatible with basic fish vital functions of described cases. The problem with negative anthropogenic interactions seems to be insufficiently investigated and need more attention by responsible managers and decision makers.

Diagnosis of iron deficiency anemia in children of Northeast Brazil

OBJECTIVE: To diagnose iron deficiency anemia in children. METHODS: The study was conducted with a sample of 301 children aged six to 30 months attending public daycare centers in the city of Recife, Northeast Brazil, in 2004. The diagnoses of anemia were based on a combination of different hematological and biochemical parameters: hemoglobin, mean corpuscular volume, ferritin, C-reactive protein, transferrin saturation and transferrin receptor. The chi-square test and ANOVA were used in the statistical analysis. RESULTS: Of all children studied, 92.4% had anemia (Hb <110 g/L) and 28.9% had moderate/severe anemia (Hb <90 g/L). Lower levels of hemoglobin were found in children aged 6-17 months. Iron deficiency was found in 51.5% of children using ferritin (<12 μg/L) as parameter. Taking into consideration the combination of hemoglobin level, ferritin and transferrin receptor, 58.1% had anemia with iron deficiency, 34.2% had anemia without iron deficiency and 2.3% had iron deficiency without anemia. Mean ferritin concentration was significantly higher in children with high C-reactive protein when compared with those with normal levels (22.1 vs. 14.8 µg/L). CONCLUSIONS: The use of several biochemical and hematological parameters allowed to diagnosing iron deficiency anemia in two thirds of children, suggesting a need to identify other determinants of anemia without iron deficiency.

Exploring bioactive properties of marine cyanobacteria Isolated from the Portuguese coast: high potential as a source of anticancer compounds

The oceans remain a major source of natural compounds with potential in pharmacology. In particular, during the last few decades, marine cyanobacteria have been in focus as producers of interesting bioactive compounds, especially for the treatment of cancer. In this study, the anticancer potential of extracts from twenty eight marine cyanobacteria strains, belonging to the underexplored picoplanktonic genera, Cyanobium, Synechocystis and Synechococcus, and the filamentous genera, Nodosilinea, Leptolyngbya, Pseudanabaena and Romeria, were assessed in eight human tumor cell lines. First, a crude extract was obtained by dichloromethane:methanol extraction, and from it, three fractions were separated in a Si column chromatography. The crude extract and fractions were tested in eight human cancer cell lines for cell viability/toxicity, accessed with the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) and lactic dehydrogenase release (LDH) assays. Eight point nine percent of the strains revealed strong cytotoxicity; 17.8% showed moderate cytotoxicity, and 14.3% assays showed low toxicity. The results obtained revealed that the studied genera of marine cyanobacteria are a promising source of novel compounds with potential anticancer activity and highlight the interest in also exploring the smaller filamentous and picoplanktonic genera of cyanobacteria.

Inventories and concentration profiles of 137Cs in undisturbed soils in the northeast of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina

Inventories and vertical distribution of (137)Cs were determined in La Plata region undisturbed soils, Argentina. A mean inventory value of 891 ± 220 Bq/m(2) was established, which is compatible with the values expected from atmospheric weapon tests fallout. The study was complemented with pH, organic carbon fraction, texture and mineralogical soil analyses. Putting together Southern Hemisphere (137)Cs inventory data, it is possible to correlate these data with the mean annual precipitations. The large differences in (137)Cs concentration profiles were attributed to soil properties, especially the clay content and the pH values. A convection-dispersion model with irreversible retention was used to fit the activity concentration profiles. The obtained effective diffusion coefficient and effective convection velocity parameters values were in the range from 0.2 cm(2)/y to 0.4 cm(2)/y and from 0.23 cm/y to 0.43 cm/y, respectively. These data are in agreement with values reported in literature. In general, with the growth of clay content in the soil, there was an increase in the transfer rate from free to bound state. Finally, the highest transfer rate from free to bound state was obtained for soil pH value equal to 8.

Experimental infection with Schistosoma mansoni of Biomphalaria straminea from different parts of the Northeast of Brazil

In the western part of the State of Bahia Biomphalaria straminea and B. glabrata both occur, but in the majority of cases they do not share the same habitat. In the State of Ceará, however, B. straminea is the sole snail host of Schistosoma mansoni. In this survey, no naturally infected B. straminea was found among snails collected from Bahia and Ceará, evidently because of the very low infection rates. The susceptibility of laboratory-reared specimens to infection with a Puerto Rican strain of S. mansoni was then tested experimentally. In general, the snails showed very low susceptibility. The infection rates were 1.1% among snails from Redenção (Ceará); 2.3% in those from Pentecoste (Ceará); 2.9% in snails from São Desidério (Bahia), while they were very high among an albino strain (NIH) of B. glabrata used as control. Another group of B. straminea from São Desidério was exposed to a Bahian strain of S. mansoni and the infection rate was still very low (3.6%) Apparently, the very low susceptibility of B. straminea, despite high snail density, is correlated with moderate infection rates with S. mansoni among humans, as shown by the results of stool examinations conducted by SUCAM in the municipalities of Redenção and Pentecoste, in Ceará.

Prevalence of antibody to hepatitis B virus in an urban population of northeast Brazil

A sample of 1,288 inhabitants of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, were submitted to the determination of anti-HBs using radioimmunoassay procedure, and analysed according to age, sex and income. Overall prevalence of anti-HBs was 11,8%. ranging from 6,7% among children aged less than three years old to 26,1% among those aged 30 years and older. Males presented prevalence of anti-HBs similar to female individuals, and those with a higher income showed frequencies of anti-HBs greater than those with a lower income level. The following conclusions were drawn: The high prevalence of anti-HBs observed among children suggests early contact with hepatitis B virus, possibly due to vertical transmission and intrafamiliar dissemination of the disease; the frequency of anti-HBs increases with age; the lower prevalence of anti-HBs among those with low income suggests that this group may present higher prevalence of carriers of the hepatitis B virus surface antigen.

Water-contact patterns and schistosoma mansoni infection in a rural community in northeast Brazil

We evaluated the influence of water-related human activities, contaminative behaviour, house location, education and socio-economic status on endemic Schistosoma mansoni infection. The study was conducted in a hilry non-irrigated area of rural northeast Brazil amongst a defined population of subsistence farmers, of whom 93% were infected by age 20. The area was mapped, water bodies were surveyed, and a detailed questionnaire was performed on each household. Infection was assessed by duplicate stool examinations using the sensitive Bell technique to quantify egg excretion. For each household, and index of intensity of infection was computed by grouping individual log-transformed egg counts as an age-sex adjusted Z score. Few households had a sanitary installation or a domestic water supply. However, neither water-contact nor contaminative behavior were indiscriminate. The people made considerable effort to defaecate far from a water source, to obtain household drinking water from the cleanest source, and to bathe only at certain sites where privacy is assured. Land ownership and literacy correlated poorly with the household index of intensity of infection. The key influence on infection status was the relative location of the house and snail-free or snail colonized water sources. In this area, a safe domestic water supply is the critical input needed to achieve definitive control of endemic Schistosomiasis.