Repositório RCAAP

Subtoxic blood lead levels (BLL) during pregnancy can be responsible for intrauterine delays in foetal development and thus increased risk of morbi-mortality of newborns. Since there is no protective transplacental barrier to lead, foetal exposure is due to maternal environmental exposure together with either increased absorption or bone demineralization with consequent release of lead, or both, that may occur during pregnancy. In non-occupationally exposed women, lead exposure may be increased due to residing near lead sources, consumption of polluted food products, and habits such as alcohol consumption and tobacco smoking. The main purpose of this study was to provide Portuguese data on the extent and pattern of foetal exposure to lead as determined through lead biomonitoring in the blood of pregnant women. Investigation on maternal BLL determinants and potential effects of subtoxic BLL on premature delivery and on newborn's characteristics was also objective of this study.

Assessing the road effects on biodiversity is challenging because impacts may depend on both wildlife responses to roads and on the spatial arrangement of roads. We questioned whether an increase in road encroachment leads to significant changes in species occurrence and community composition. Using a large citizen-science dataset of point-counts performed throughout Iberian Peninsula, we modelled the effect of road density on the occurrence of common birds (n = 78 species), while accounting for potential confounding effects of environment and survey effort. We then tested if species' occurrence patterns would be linked to specific traits related to the ability to cope with human presence. Finally, we assessed how road density affects the community compositional dissimilarity. We estimated 36 (46%) and 18 (23%) species to be negatively and positively affected by roads, respectively. Increased road encroachment was positively related with urban dwelling and fecundity, and negatively related with nesting on the ground. Furthermore, increasing road density translated into an increasing community compositional dissimilarity, mostly due to species turnover. Overall, we found that different species-specific responses to roads translate into changes at the community level. Landscape and road-network management should be conceived acknowledging that roads are contributing to biodiversity changes. As so, building upon the concepts of land sharing/land sparing, conservation actions should be tailored according to the different species responses e.g., road verge management targeting species having a positive relation with road density; and compensation actions targeting species showing a negative response toward roads.

We estimated the potential impact of Global Warming on the species richness of Iberian butterflies. First, we determined the grid size that maximized the balance between geographic resolution, area coverage and environmental representativeness. Contemporary richness was modelled in several alternative ways that differed in how sampling effort was controlled for, and in whether the non-climatic variables (physiography, lithology, position) were incorporated. The results were extrapolated to four WorldClim scenarios. Richness loss is to be expected for at least 70% of the area, with forecasts from the combined models being only slightly more optimistic than those from the purely climatic ones. Overall, the most intense losses are predicted for areas of highest contemporary species richness, while the potential slightly positive or nearly neutral changes would most often concentrate in cells of low to moderate present richness. The environmental determinants of richness might not be uniform across the geographical range of sampling effort, suggesting the need of additional data from the least intensively surveyed areas.

Urbanization poses threats and opportunities for the biodiversity of wild bees. At the same time, cities can harbor diverse wild bee assemblages, partly due to the unique plant assemblages that provide resources. While bee dietary preferences have been investigated in various studies, bee dietary studies have been conducted mostly in nonurban ecosystems and data based on plant visitation observations or palynological techniques. This data set describes the larval food preferences of four wild bee species (i.e., Chelostoma florisomne, Hylaeus communis, Osmia bicornis, and O. cornuta) common in urban areas in five different European cities (i.e., Antwerp, Belgium; Paris, France; Poznan, Poland; Tartu, Estonia; and Zurich, Switzerland). In addition, the data set describes the larval food preferences of individuals from three wild bee genera (i.e., Chelostoma sp., Hylaeus sp., and Osmia sp.) that could not be identified to the species level. These data were obtained from a Europe-level study aimed at understanding the effects of urbanization on biodiversity across different cities and cityscapes and a Swiss project aimed at understanding the effects of urban ecosystems in wild bee feeding behavior. Wild bees were sampled using standardized trap nests at 80 sites (32 in Zurich and 12 in each of the remaining cities), selected following a double gradient of available habitat at local and landscape scales. Larval pollen was obtained from the bee nests and identified using DNA metabarcoding. The data provide the plant composition at the species or genus level preferred by each bee. These unique data can be used for a wide array of research questions, including urban ecology (e.g., diversity of food sources along urban gradients), bee ecology (characterization of bee feeding preferences), or comparative studies on the urban evolution of behavioral traits between urban and nonurban sites. In addition, the data can be used to inform urban planning and conservation strategies, particularly concerning flower resources (e.g., importance of exotic species and, thus, management activities). This data set can be freely used for noncommercial purposes, and this data paper should be cited if the data is used; we request that collaboration with the data set contact person to be considered if this data set represents an important part of the data analyzed in a study.

Wolbachia are maternally-inherited bacteria that induce cytoplasmic incompatibility in many arthropod species. However, the ubiquity of this isolation mechanism for host speciation processes remains elusive, as only few studies have examined Wolbachia-induced incompatibilities when host populations are not genetically compatible. Here, we used three populations of two genetically differentiated colour forms of the haplodiploid spider mite Tetranychus urticae to dissect the interaction between Wolbachia-induced and host-associated incompatibilities, and their relative contribution to postmating isolation. We found that these two sources of incompatibility act through different mechanisms in an additive fashion. Host-associated incompatibility contributes 1.5 times more than Wolbachia-induced incompatibility in reducing hybrid production, the former through an overproduction of haploid sons at the expense of diploid daughters (ca. 75% decrease) and the latter by increasing the embryonic mortality of daughters (by ca. 49%). Furthermore, regardless of cross direction, we observed near-complete F1 hybrid sterility and complete F2 hybrid breakdown between populations of the two forms, but Wolbachia did not contribute to this outcome. We thus show mechanistic independence and an additive nature of host-intrinsic and Wolbachia-induced sources of isolation. Wolbachia may contribute to reproductive isolation in this system, thereby potentially affecting host differentiation and distribution in the field.

A presente dissertação é um resultado que se obteve no decorrer do processo de investigação pretendendo dar um contributo na reflexão em torno da Defesa da Democracia no Sistema Constitucional Angolano, uma análise virada ao Tribunal Constitucional como guardião da Constituição e, por consequência, do Estado Democrático de Direito. O objectivo da presente dissertação é caracterizar a o Sistema Constitucional Angolano face a Democracia, mencionar os principais dilemas democráticos, bem como as formas de defesa pelo TC. A abordagem será feita tendo em conta as realidades, angolana e portuguesa. Está repartida em três partes. Na primeira parte, dividida em dois capítulos procuraremos analisar o Sistema Constitucional Angolano, num primeiro Capítulo através de uma breve caracterização do mesmo, da análise de alguns princípios estruturantes e dos direitos fundamentais. No segundo capítulo far-se-á uma análise sobre a Democracia. Na segunda parte reservada ao Tribunal Constitucional Angolano, faremos num primeiro capítulo um enquadramento geral e um específico noutro. Finalmente, numa terceira e última parte, procuraremos analisar a defesa da democracia no sistema constitucional angolano, procurando analisar os principais dilemas democráticos e, posteriormente, o papel crucial do Tribunal Constitucional na defesa da mesma.

Groundwater comprises the largest freshwater ecosystem on the planet. It has a distinct regime of extreme, yet stable environmental conditions that have favoured the development of similar morphological and functional traits in the resident invertebrate fauna (stygofauna). The analysis of community traits is increasingly used as an alternative to taxonomy-based assessments of biodiversity, especially for monitoring ecosystem status and linking the functions of organisms to ecological processes, yet it has been rarely applied to stygofauna and groundwater ecosystems. In this paper, we review the variation in functional traits among the invertebrate fauna of this important ecosystem. We focus on the stygofauna and processes of alluvium and fractured rock aquifers that are typified by small voids and fissures that constrain the habitats and environmental conditions. As a first step, we compare trait variability between groundwater and surface water invertebrate communities and then examine the significance of the ranges of these traits to the vulnerability of the ecosystem to change. Fifteen potentially useful functional traits are recognised, with ten of these having narrower ranges (i.e., exhibiting fewer states, or attributes, of a particular trait) in groundwater than they do in surface water. Our synthesis suggests that the relative stability of groundwater environments has led to low trait variability. The low biomass and low reproductive rate of stygofauna suggest that recovery potential following disturbance is likely to be low. For the purposes of both improved understanding and effective management, further work is needed to document additional functional traits and their states in groundwater fauna, enabling a better understanding of the relationship between response and effect traits in these ecosystems.

Supergenes offer spectacular examples of long-term balancing selection in nature, but their origin and maintenance remain a mystery. Reduced recombination between arrangements, a critical aspect of many supergenes, protects adaptive multi-trait phenotypes but can lead to mutation accumulation. Mutation accumulation can stabilize the system through the emergence of associative overdominance (AOD), destabilize the system, or lead to new evolutionary outcomes. One outcome is the formation of maladaptive balanced lethal systems, where only heterozygotes remain viable and reproduce. We investigated the conditions under which these different outcomes occur, assuming a scenario of introgression after divergence. We found that AOD aided the invasion of a new supergene arrangement and the establishment of a polymorphism. However, this polymorphism was easily destabilized by further mutation accumulation, which was often asymmetric, disrupting the quasi-equilibrium state. Mechanisms that accelerated degeneration tended to amplify asymmetric mutation accumulation between the supergene arrangements and vice-versa. As the evolution of balanced lethal systems requires symmetric degeneration of both arrangements, this leaves only restricted conditions for their evolution, namely small population sizes and low rates of gene conversion. The dichotomy between the persistence of polymorphism and degeneration of supergene arrangements likely underlies the rarity of balanced lethal systems in nature. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Genomic architecture of supergenes: causes and evolutionary consequences’.

Fibronectin is essential for somite formation in the vertebrate embryo. Fibronectin matrix assembly starts as cells emerge from the primitive streak and ingress in the unsegmented presomitic mesoderm (PSM). PSM cells undergo cyclic waves of segmentation clock gene expression, followed by Notch-dependent upregulation of meso1 in the rostral PSM which induces somite cleft formation. However, the relevance of the fibronectin matrix for these molecular processes remains unknown. Here, we assessed the role of the PSM fibronectin matrix in the spatio-temporal regulation of chick embryo somitogenesis by perturbing (1) extracellular fibronectin matrix assembly, (2) integrin–fibronectin binding, (3) Rho-associated protein kinase (ROCK) activity and (4) non-muscle myosin II (NM II) function. We found that integrin–fibronectin engagement and NM II activity are required for cell polarization in the nascent somite. All treatments resulted in defective somitic clefts and significantly perturbed meso1 and segmentation clock gene expression in the PSM. Importantly, inhibition of actomyosin-mediated contractility increased the period of hairy1/hes4 oscillations from 90 to 120 min. Together, our work strongly suggests that the fibronectin–integrin–ROCK–NM II axis regulates segmentation clock dynamics and dictates the spatio-temporal localization of somitic clefts.

O estudo do tema dos conflitos de interesses tem sido bastante desenvolvido nos diferentes ramos do Direito, particularmente no Direito das Sociedades Comerciais e ainda no Direito Financeiro. No Direito dos Seguros, o crescimento do mercado dos seguros ditou também a regulação jurídica do tema dos conflitos de interesses, desde logo, ao nível da União Europeia, através de Diretivas Comunitárias, a transpor pelos seus Estados-Membros, entre os quais se inclui Portugal, com vista à existência de uma harmonização mínima que garanta a proteção dos clientes deste mercado. O presente estudo surge na sequência dos recentes desenvolvimentos do Direito dos Seguros, que visaram reforçar a proteção dos clientes, associados à imposição de novos deveres, bem como ao desenvolvimento dos deveres já existentes, a todos os sujeitos que distribuem seguros. Os diferentes sujeitos que exercem a distribuição de seguros, sejam mediadores ou sejam empresas de seguros, terão interesses próprios (bem como os seus colaboradores) suscetíveis de conflituar com os interesses dos clientes, pelo que se procurará determinar em que termos devem os conflitos de interesses ser evitados. Partindo da dicotomia entre gestão e prevenção de conflitos de interesses, enquanto técnicas regulatórias dos mesmos, o presente estudo visa assim identificar e analisar os deveres dos distribuidores, no exercício da distribuição de seguros, que respeitam a conflitos de interesses bem como identificar as fontes típicas de potenciais conflitos que podem levar a que os mediadores e empresas de seguros se desviem do dever de atuar de acordo com os melhores interesses dos clientes. Procurando identificar quando devem ser prevenidos os conflitos de interesses, e, atendendo à especial complexidade subjacente aos produtos de investimento com base em seguros, ter-se-á, especificamente no âmbito da distribuição desses produtos de investimento, em consideração as regras mais exigentes que devem ser observadas e que asseguram uma maior proteção dos clientes desses produtos.

Angola has a great diversity of species and ecosystems and a high level of endemism. However, knowledge of the native flora remains very incomplete and outdated. Leguminosae is the largest family in the country, including many species which are of local or more regional economic importance. Based on an extensive review of bibliographic sources, natural history collections, and online databases, the checklist of Angolan Leguminosae plants was updated, including data on their native distribution, conservation status, and principal uses. The endemic taxa were the subject of additional investigation, including the main habitat, the number of collections preserved in herbaria, and the locality of the first collection. We identified 953 Leguminosae taxa occurring in Angola, of which 165 are endemic to the country. Among the 180 genera found, Crotalaria (136) and Indigofera (96) have the highest number of taxa. Almost half of the studied species have important applications, mainly in traditional medicine (385), forage (267), timber (188), and food (120). Nevertheless, only 27.7% have been assessed according to the IUCN Red List and 10 species are classified as threatened. Thirty-three endemics are known only from the type specimen, revealing the lack of knowledge on these species and the need for further field research. More than 30 type specimens were collected in the Serra da Chela, which highlights the importance of this region for biodiversity conservation.

Rural fires are a major environmental, social and economic problem in Portugal, where the fire is characterized by a large inter-annual variability largely due to climate variability. The main purpose of this study is to assess the potential impact of regional climate change on wildfires in Portugal using a Burnt Area Model (BAM) based on meteorological information. The model is able to predict the decimal logarithm of July (August) burnt areas using, as predictors, the cumulated precipitation in March and April together with a fire index, the DSR (Daily Severity Rating), in May and June, and in July (August). The model is then fed with simulated data by a GCM respecting to present climate and to future IPCC emissions scenarios (b1 and a1b). Comparative analysis of meteorological variables for future scenarios with those respecting to present climate simulated by the GCM and observed by ECMWF reveals that temperature tends to increase and relative humidity to decrease, precipitation is expected to decline, especially in late spring, and the wind speed is expected to remain without significant changes. Such changes in meteorological variables are responsible for a significant increase in both fire indices (FWI and DSR). It is shown that samples of observed and simulated logarithms of burnt areas follow normal distributions. When comparing present climate with future climate scenario b1 (a1b), there are increases in the means of the logarithm of July and August burnt area values of 11% (28%), the standard deviation remaining almost unchanged for scenario b1 and presenting an increase of 25% for a1b. Estimates should however be interpreted with caution, but the approach developed consistently points to an increased risk of fire in future climate conditions, a larger inter-annual variability and a higher likelihood of occurrence of large fire events.

Cabo Verde’s biodiversity is threatened by activities that meet human needs. To counteract this, an integration of scientific and indigenous knowledge is required, but no comprehensive list of the useful local plants is available. Thus, in this work, we assess (1) their diversity and phytogeography; (2) the role of geophysical, historical, and socio-economic factors on species distribution and uses; and (3) potentially relevant species for sustainable development. Data were obtained from flora, scientific publications, historical documents, herbarium specimens and field work. Many species were introduced since the 15th century to support settlement and commercial interests. We identified 518 useful taxa, of which 145 are native, 38 endemic and 44 endangered. The number of useful taxa is correlated with altitude and agricultural area, as well as with rural population indicators, but not with total population or socio-economic indicators such as gross domestic product. Native taxa are mostly used for fuelwood, forage and utilitarian purposes. Agrobiodiversity and traditional practices seem crucial to cope with recurrent droughts and ensure food security. Most of the introduced species do not present conservation problems, contrasting with the overuse of some native taxa. The safeguarding of native populations will ensure the sustainable exploitation of these resources and benefit the local economy.

Understanding sea turtle diets can help conservation planning, but their trophic ecology is complex due to life history characteristics such as ontogenetic shifts and large foraging ranges. Studying sea turtle diet is challenging, particularly where ecological foraging observations are not possible. Here, we test a new minimally invasive method for the identification of diet items in sea turtles. We fingerprinted diet content using DNA from esophageal and cloacal swab samples by metabarcoding the 18S rRNA gene. This approach was tested on samples collected from green turtles (Chelonia mydas) from a juvenile foraging aggregation in the Bijagós archipelago in Guinea-Bissau. Esophagus samples (n = 6) exhibited a higher dietary richness (11 ± 5 amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) per sample; average ± SD) than cloacal ones (n = 5; 8 ± 2 ASVs). Overall, the diet was dominated by red macroalgae (Rhodophyta; 48.2 ± 16.3% of all ASVs), with the main food item in the esophagus and cloaca being a red alga belonging to the Rhodymeniophycidae subclass (35.1 ± 27.2%), followed by diatoms (Bacillariophyceae; 7.5 ± 7.3%), which were presumably consumed incidentally. Seagrass and some invertebrates were also present. Feeding on red algae was corroborated by field observations and barcoding of food items available in the benthic habitat, validating the approach for identifying diet content. We conclude that identification of food items using metabarcoding of esophageal swabs is useful for a better understanding of the relationships between the feeding behavior of sea turtles and their environment.

Recently burnt areas typically reveal strong to extreme hydrological responses, as a consequence of loss of protective soil cover and heating-induced changes in topsoil properties. Soil water repellency (SWR) has frequently been referred to as one of the explanatory variables for fireenhanced surface runoff generation but this has been poorly demonstrated, especially at the catchment scale. This study employs a process-based modelling approach to better understand the relevance of SWR in the hydrological response of a small, entirely burnt catchment in central Portugal, in particular by comparing hydrological events under contrasting initial conditions of dry vs wet soils. The OpenLISEM model was applied to a selection of 16 major rainfall runoff events that occurred during the first 2 post-fire years. The automatic calibration procedure resulted in good model performance, but it worsened for validation events. Furthermore, uncertainty analysis revealed an elevated sensitivity of OpenLISEM to event-specific conditions, especially for predicting the events’ total and peak flows. Also, predicted spatial patterns in runoff poorly agreed with the runoff observed in microplots. Model performance improved when events were separated by dry and wet initial moisture conditions, particularly for wet conditions, suggesting the role of variables other than initial soil moisture.

In these times of strong pressure on aquatic ecosystems and water resources due to climate change and water abstraction, intermittent rivers and ephemeral streams (IRES) (rivers that periodically cease to flow and/or dry) have become valuable assets. Indeed, not only do they supply water but they also offer services for humanity. Despite a growing recognition towards IRES, information for assessing their ecosystem services (ES) remains scarce. In a first step, an international interdisciplinary group of researchers developed a methodological framework to acknowledge ES provided by IRES using 109 indicators. A subset of selected ES indicators was then applied to two case studies: the Rio Seco in the Algarve (Portugal) and the Giofyros River in Crete (Greece). This paper discusses the applicability of these indicators, including the temporal and spatial variability of IRES flow regimes. Aspects of the framework, such as the methods and time required for data collection, the nature (demand or supply) and functionality of each indicator are discussed. The new framework accounts for flow intermittence in ES analyses and can help scientists and water managers to i) increase the ease and justification for IRES use in management approaches and ii) improve their conservation and restoration with a comprehensive set of appropriate indicators for IRES. In addition, the comprehensive nature of the proposed indicators ensures that they can be understood by a broad audience and easily applicable. Since they were designed through a public participation process, the setting has been prepared for holistic stakeholder analysis and education around IRES functions and associated ES. From a management point of view, it would be particularly relevant to perform an economic evaluation with this new framework to understand the value of each ES category and their trade-offs. For the scientific community, however, it is important to consider public preferences to design socially accepted policies. The proposed indicators can successfully bridge these elements, hereby establishing a solid basis for the assessment of ES provided by IRES.

Citizen Science (CS) can help change the paradigm of science communication. To test this, 38 ongoing CS projects from Italy, Portugal and Spain have been selected by the H2020 NEWSERA project to act as pilots in the development of communication strategies, specifically targeting stakeholders in the quadruple helix. The projects, together with stakeholder representatives and science communication and journalism professionals participated in a series of workshops — #CitSciCommLabs — where communication strategies were co-designed, using adapted design-thinking methods. The innovative methodological approach is hereby presented and can be an inspiration for others willing to implement improved communication strategies to target different stakeholders.

This special issue proposes new ways of seeing and thinking about postcolonial intellectuals through the frame of transnational screens. For this purpose, the issue develops around the twofold notion of the intellectual as a filmmaker and the intellectual as an object of filmmaking. In particular, it focuses on the ways in which this interrelationship expands notions of postcolonial theory and practice regarding the aesthetic and political intervention of intellectuals in transnational screen culture. Many postcolonial figures have been influential not only in rethinking the ways in which representation should be conceived and theorized but also in inspiring new forms of visuality and aesthetics through their life and work. These figures include Frantz Fanon, Assia Djebar, and Stuart Hall, and others explored in this issue, such as Toni Morrison, Raoul Peck, Ai Weiwei, and Steve McQueen. The special issue also includes exclusive interviews with Ai Weiwei and Trinh T. Minh-ha, artists, intellectuals, activists, and filmmakers whose engagement with postcolonial debates, and more broadly with the politics and aesthetics of filmmaking, have contributed to a reshaping of contemporary postcolonial realities and discourses, in scholarship and the public sphere.

Os especialistas referem que o segredo para a “cidade feliz” está ligado às pessoas, mais precisamente ao bem-estar e qualidade de vida. Este estudo tem o intuito de compreender o impacte que o ambiente urbano tem na felicidade dos indivíduos. A análise do bem-estar com recurso à rede social Twitter permite identificar os locais em que o mal-estar e bem-estar prevalecem. Para a sua identificação são considerados um conjunto de variáveis que caracterizam a morfologia da cidade de Lisboa. Aplicou-se a machine learning (ML), de modo a determinar quais as variáveis que influenciam o sentimento positiva e negativamente.

A pandemia da COVID-19 constitui um dos maiores problemas de saúde pública a nível mundial. Neste trabalho aplicaram-se métodos que permitem entender os processos de difusão do vírus para os municípios de Portugal Continental, através de três etapas: aferir de que modo a mobilidade impacta os processos de difusão; identificar os padrões espaciais e espaciotemporais de propagação do vírus; e efetuar uma análise de risco por setor de atividade. Verificou-se que a maioria dos hotspots dos casos de SARS-CoV-2 ocorrem nos municípios das AMs (Áreas Metropolitanas), e que as medidas de restrição tiveram impacte nos casos.