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Mammals from Iberian fauna as bioindicators and biomarkers of environmental contamination - quantitative evaluation and consequences of exposure to heavy metals and metalloids
2024-05-09 - Baptista, Catarina Vinhas Jota; Oliveira, Paula Alexandra Martins de
The pollution by metals and metalloids is a problem of significant magnitude within the integrated scope of animal, human, and environmental health ("One Health"). Different mammalian species from the Iberian fauna have been used as bioindicators, assessing the threat of heavy metal(loid)s to the balance of ecosystems and the health of animals and humans. In this study, livers and kidneys of European hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus), wild boars (Sus scrofa), and deer (Cervus elaphus) from different regions of Portugal and Spain were used to: 1) assess exposure to these elements through quantification by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), 2) investigate histopathological lesions resulting from this exposure, 3) contribute to determining the most critical regions facing this contamination, and 4) determine whether the consumption of deer and wild boar may pose a significant public health problem regarding these xenobiotics. Additionally, hedgehog spines were evaluated as potential non-invasive samples. It was found that Cd, in general, represents high concentrations in the kidneys of the three different species, with the species intended for consumption (wild boar and deer) having average concentrations considerably exceeding the limit set for livestock viscera (according to EC No. 915/2023). In hedgehogs, there was a relationship between high concentrations of these compounds (except for As) and the presence of biliary tract hyperplasia. In the case of deer, it is considered that high concentrations of Cd, Cu, and Pb could be responsible for tissue lesions (vacuolar changes, congestion) detected through histopathological examination. In summary, it is considered that the role of the veterinarian (from any field of intervention), as well as various healthcare professionals, is essential for the continuous monitoring of this serious global health issue, leading to the development of guidelines for the design of such studies in the veterinary medical context. There is a need for awareness of the importance of these compounds, as well as their discretion and the chronic nature of their health consequences. Therefore, there should be an emphasis on the creation of more effective inspection and monitoring techniques for both animal food products and susceptible living organisms (animals and humans).
Adaptation of motor tests for the assessment of math skills in a classroom context
2023-12-20 - Flores, Pedro Miguel Teixeira; Coelho, Eduarda Maria Rocha Teles de Castro; Carvalhal, Maria Isabel Mourão; Forte, Pedro Miguel Gomes; Gonzalo-Orden, José Manuel; Travassos, Fernanda Seixas
Mathematics has been documented as a subject in which many school-age children have shown many difficulties and poor maths skills are associated with negative outcomes throughout life, such as lower academic qualifications, decreased professional success and socio-economic results. These maths skills emerge continuously throughout childhood and those that children acquire in preschool are decisive for future learning. In this sense, the earlier mathematical difficulties are diagnosed, the greater the possibility of effective intervention. Thus, as well as offering great opportunities for the holistic development of children, preschool education is a fundamental period for diagnosing possible learning difficulties, particularly mathematical ones. Since there is evidence of a relationship between motor and cognitive development, and that certain cognitive and motor areas of the brain are activated simultaneously when applying maths skills, the diagnosis of these skills can be made from the observation of motor skills. Therefore, in the first phase of this research, the aim of a systematic review was to identify the specific components of motor skills that were most positively associated with mathematical performance in preschool children and to identify the respective instruments used in this association. The main results showed that maths skills were mainly positively influenced by fine motor skills, namely fine motor coordination and visuomotor integration, and the main characteristics of the instruments used showed that tasks involving copying figures or drawings were the most used to assess visuomotor integration and tasks involving handling objects, with pincer movements, were the most commonly used to assess fine motor coordination. Although studies have shown the importance of instruments to assess these skills, their characteristics do not fit the reality of kindergartens, they are usually time-consuming and expensive, and they are generally only administered by specialists. Therefore, a second study was carried out, constituting the main objective of this research, in order to identify, select, adapt and validate motor tests to assess fine motor skills associated with mathematics and allow the kindergarten teacher to apply them simultaneously to the class, with few material resources, in a short period of time and without the need for much training to apply, score and classify. The test identified, selected and adapted to assess fine motor coordination was the "Threading Beads" test from the Movement Assessment Battery for Children and to assess visuomotor integration was the Visual-Motor Integration test. The results suggested that the adapted tests had an excellent degree of reliability (> 0.9) and could therefore be used to apply simultaneously to the class group. However, due to the robust results, the Visual-Motor Integration Adapted test seems to be the most suitable for use by kindergarten teachers. Some literature suggests that gross motor skills are also positively associated with maths performance. In this sense, since early childhood is a sensitive period for the development of motor skills (gross and fine), and low levels of physical activity during this period can compromise their development and contribute to weight gain and obesity, the aim of the third study was to analyse the relationships between maths skills, motor skills, levels of physical activity and obesity. The study concluded that maths skills were only directly and significantly influenced by visuomotor integration skills. However, visuomotor integration was positively and significantly associated with gross motor skills. Therefore, these motor skills could contribute to directly improving visuomotor integration and thus indirectly improving maths skills. This study suggested the implementation of structured physical activity programmes, involving fine and gross motor activities, to develop visuomotor integration skills and thus the possibility of contributing to mathematical performance. Finally, the last study identified the components of visuomotor integration skills that have the greatest influence on these skills and concluded that they would be spatial skills, because as well as being the first skills to influence numerical knowledge and the recognition of geometric shapes, they are also those skills that form part of most of the programs and activities to be worked on with preschool children to develop mathematical concepts. Summarising, this research has made it possible to identify and adapt motor tests to assess fine motor coordination and visuomotor integration that can easily be used by kindergarten teachers to diagnose children with possible mathematical difficulties and to propose a set of activities to develop spatial skills using gross motor skills in the classroom, playground or at home.
Uma aproximação “zero-trust” aplicado à Agricultura de Precisão: deteção preventiva de vulnerabilidades. Um caso de estudo
2024-04-05 - Ferreira, Rafael Pereira; Correia, Emanuel Soares Peres; Costa, António Manuel Araújo da Silva Rio
Esta dissertação aborda a interligação entre a cibersegurança, o paradigma Zero Trust e a agricultura de precisão. A agricultura de precisão é um campo emergente que utiliza tecnologias avançadas para otimizar a produção agrícola, no entanto, a segurança desses sistemas é uma preocupação crescente. E então proposta uma ´ solução de segurança baseada no paradigma Zero Trust, este paradigma assume que qualquer sistema pode ser comprometido e, portanto, nenhum sistema deve ser confiável e deve ser sempre verificado. A solução proposta aplica técnicas de análise de logs para identificar possíveis ataques e vulnerabilidades no sistema de agricultura de precisão utilizando a ferramenta Splunk, uma plataforma líder em análise de logs. Para ilustrar a aplicabilidade e a eficácia da solução. proposta, é apresentado um caso de estudo baseado na plataforma mySense, uma plataforma de gestão de dados e serviços para a agricultura de precisão, este estudo analisa a segurança da plataforma mySense utilizando técnicas de análise de logs e identifica possíveis ataques que ocorreram e ´áreas de potencial melhoria. Com base nos resultados do estudo, são fornecidas recomendações para a implementação de práticas de segurança robustas em sistemas de agricultura de precisão, sendo estas, particularmente relevantes para a plataforma mySense.