Primary bioreceptivity of limestones from the mediterranean basin to phototrophic microorganisms

Dissertação apresentada para a obtenção do grau de Doutor em Conservação e Restauro pela Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia

Long-term memory in financial prices: evidence from the Dutch stock market returns

Prepared for presentation at the Portuguese Finance Network International Conference 2014, Vilamoura, Portugal, June 18-20

A stratigraphic framework for the Miocene from the lower Tagus Basin (Lisbon, Setúbal Península, Portugal) Depositional sequences, biostratigraphy and isotopic ages

Rev. Soc. Geol. España, 12(1), ano 1999

Trypanites ichnofacies: palaeoenvironmental and tectonic implications. A case study from the miocene disconformity at Foz da Fonte (lower Tagus basin, Portugal)

Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 292, 35–43

Institutional factors governing the deployment of remote experiments: lessons from the rexnet project

Remote labs offer many unique advantages to students as they provide opportunities to access experiments and learning scenarios that would be otherwise unavailable. At the same time, however, these opportunities introduce real challenges to the institutions hosting the remote labs. This paper draws on the experiences of the REXNET project consortium to expose a number of these issues as a means of furthering the debate on the value of remote labs and the best practices in deploying them. The paper presents a brief outline of the various types of remote lab scenarios that might be deployed. It then describes the key human and technological actors that have an interest in or are intrinsic to a remote lab instance, with a description of the role of each actor and their interest. Some relationships between these various actors are then discussed with some factors that might influence those relationships. Finally some general issues are briefly described.

Preliminar characterization of a new virus isolated from the spinal fluid of patients with meningitis in São Paulo, Brazil

A total of 138 patients with the age of 4 months to 57 years were attended in different hospitals of São Paulo State with aseptic meningitis. A probable new agent was isolated from the cerebrospinal fluid of 35 of 53 specimens examined. Replication of the agent with similar characteristics was detected by CPE produced in the MDCK cell line. Virus-like particles measuring about 40 nm in diameter were observed by negative staining electron microscopy. No hemaglutinating activity was detected at pH 7.2 by using either human, guinea pig, chicken and at pH ranged 6.0 - 7.2 with goose red blood cells. The agent was not pathogenic to newborn or adult mice. Virus infectivity as measured by CPE was sensitive to chloroform and not inhibited by BuDR, suggesting that agent is an enveloped virus with RNA genome.

Relationship between the prevalence of antibodies to hepatitis B core antigen and arbovirus in fishermen from the Ribeira Valley, Brazil

Sera from 299 fishermen 16 to 80 years old, residents in Cananeia and Iguape counties, southern cost of São Paulo State, Brazil, were studied in order to identify a possible association between the prevalence of specific antibodies to the hepatitis B virus (HBV) and exposure to haematophagus mosquitoes evaluated by the prevalence of arbovirus antibodies. This professional group presented the highest prevalence of arbovirus antibodies (54.1%) in past investigations carried out in this heavily forested region. Detection of antibody to hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc) in the sera was done by enzyme immunoassay (Roche). Prevalence of anti-HBc antibodies in this group was 31.4% (94/299) which is very high compared with 7.2% to 15.0% for different groups of healthy adults in State of São Paulo. No significant difference is observed between the prevalences of HBV antibodies in Iguape and Cananeia. Prevalence of anti-HBc and anti-arbovirus antibodies increases with age. There is a concordance in the distribution according to age groups of the frequency of anti-HBc and anti-arbovirus positive sera. Ag HBs was detected in 4% of the studied sera. These results support the hypothesis that the transmission of the hepatitis B virus and the arboviruses may be due to the same factor, one of the possibilities would be by anthropophilic mosquitoes.

The bovid from the Carriça clay-pit (Côja): a discussion

A Bovid tooth referred to in the litterature as from the same locality that yielded upper Eocene mammals belongs to a modem or probably contemporary Bos taurus (domestic cattle); it is not a fossil and certainly was not found in situ. As it may induce in confusion, it must not anymore be taken into account in future paleontological and stratigraphic work.

Etude de populations de Glycymeris (Bivalvia, Glycymerididae) du Miocène d'Aquitaine, Sud-Ouest de la France Studyof Glycymeris (Bivalvia, G1ycymerididae) populations from the Aquitaine Miocene, SW France

Abundant crops of Glycymeris have been made in the neritic bioclastic deposits of the Aquitaine Basin. After an outline about the Chattian taxa, the 5 Lower Miocene lineages are presented; G. cor is plainly predominant. Then, the Middle Miocene faunas are also detaiIed, G. inflatus and G. bimaculatus being the most frequent taxa. A test of biometrical analysis about the G. cor species is presented.

Notes on the Cretaceous invertebrate faunas of Portugal I: a new species of Anadromus (Mollusca, Gastropoda) from the Campanian-Maastrichtian of Taveiro (Coimbra, West central Portugal)

A new species of terrestrial gastropod - Anadromus penai sp. nov. (Fam. Anadromidae) - is described from a set of composite moulds collected in reddish silts and clays of Campanian-Maastrichtian age, found in the lower pan of the Taveiro Formation (Taveiro, Coimbra, West Central Portugal). The known occurrences of this new species are restricted to the type locality. The main differences from other contemporaneous Anadromidae are the profuse spiral sculpture of the body-whorl, with 20-22 sub-equal, close, and regular ribs.

Amphibians and squamate reptiles from the lower Eocene of Silveirinha (Portugal)

Silveirinha (Portugal) has produced a diverse herpetofauna. In Europe, it is the only described assemblage of amphibians and squamate reptiles from the base of the Eocene (MP 7). The fauna includes at least two species of amphibians (belonging to the Salamandridae and perhaps the Pelobatidae) and at least 15 species of squamates (at least nine families: Iguanidae, Agamidae, Gekkonidae, one or two families of scincomorphans, Anguidae, ?Varanidae, Amphisbaenidae, Boidae, Tropidophiidae, and likely an indeterminate family of snakes). But, except for the snake Dunnophis matronensis, identifications at species level are not possible. The presence of iguanid lizards and of the snake D. matronensis in the base of the Eocene (MP 7) of Europe is confirmed. The fauna includes several squamates that show close affinities with North American taxa.

Uppermost Miocene Lamniform Selachians (Pisces) from the Alvalade basin (Portugal)

This paper deals with Lamniform teeth collected in deposits from the Esbarrondadoiro Formation, Alvalade Basin in Southern Portugal. The following genera were recognized: Carcharias, Pseudocarcharias, Alopias, Isurus and Carcharocles. The species Carcharias acutissima is by far the most predominant, all other taxa being rare or very rare. This situation points to neritic, tropical to subtropical, rather shallow waters not far away from the coast. This is corroborated by the rarity of the associated, mainly pelagic, taxa. The ratio between C. acutissima and the remaining Lamniforms as a whole is markedly uneven between Esbarrondadoiro and the localities of Santa Margarida and Vale de Zebro. This suggests quite different environmental conditions, a matter that will require a more thorough examination taking into account all palaeontologic and geologic data.

Rediscovery of Leptaxis vetusta (Morelet & Drouet, 1857), a subfossil land snail from the Quaternary of Santa Maria (Azores)

During a recent field work on the southern coast of the island of Santa Maria (Azores) a bulk sample of 37 shells and 25 fragments of Leptaxis vetusta was assembled from Late Pleistocene and Holocene slope deposits outcropping in the area. These specimens are the first of this rare subfossil species to be mentioned since the original descriptions of Arthur Morelet and Henri Drouet (1857). The purposes of our paper are a systematic and biometric description of L. vestuta. For the first time, the original type: locality was localized with accuracy over the southern downslopes of Pico do Facho, between Figueiral and Prainha. The subfossil specimens were collected in slope deposits and detritic fans, overlying a fossiliferous marine deposit situated over the 2-3 m abrasion platform of Praia and Prainha bay. The age and factors associated to the extinction of this species are discussed, including the destruction of the original laurel cover and the colonization by Otala lactea (Muller, 1774), a continental helicid introduced and widespread in Santa Maria.

Characterization of the [NiFe] Hydrogenase from the sulfate reducer Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough

The [NiFe] hydrogenase from Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough was isolated from the cytoplasmic membranes and characterized by EPR spectroscopy. It has a total molecular mass of 98.7 kDa (subunits of 66.4 and 32.3 kDa), and contains 1 nickel and 12 Fe atoms per heterodimer. The catalytic activities for hydrogen consumption and production were determined to be 174 and 89 umol H2 min-1 mg -1, respectively. As isolated, under aerobic conditions, this hydrogenase exhibits EPR signals characteristic of the nickel centers in [NiFe] hydrogenases (Ni-A signal at gx,y,z=2.32, 2.23 and ~2.0 and Ni-B signal at gx,y,z=2.33, 2.16 and ~2.0) as well as an intense quasi-isotropic signal centered at g=2.02 due to the oxidized [3Fe-4S] center. The redox profile under hydrogen atmosphere is remarkably similar to that of other [NiFe] hydrogenases. The signals observed for the oxidized state disappear, first being substituted by the Ni-C type signal (gx,y,z=2.19, 2.14, ~2.01), which upon long incubation under hydrogen yields the split Ni-C signal due to interaction with the reduced [4Fe-4S] centers.

Natural and experimental infection of planorbids from the Island of Santa Catarina (Brazil)

Studies on eight localities on the Island of Santa Catarina revealed the presence of three species of the molluscan family Planorbidae: Biomphalaria tenagophila, Drepanotrema cimex and Biomphalaria oligoza, the first one being naturally infected by Cercaria ocellifera, a furcocercaria with morphological characteristics of Cercaria caratinguensis, and by an unknown furcocercaria. Drepanotrema cimex was infected by a furcocercaria with characteristics of C. caratinguensis and by C. macrogranulosa. No natural infection was found in B. oligoza. B. tenagophila showed no susceptibility to the experimental infection by the BH-MG strain of Schistosoma mansoni from Belo Horizonte and maintained at laboratory in B. glabrata snails.