Marine litter has become a worldwide environmental problem, tainting all ocean habitats. The abun... more Marine litter has become a worldwide environmental problem, tainting all ocean habitats. The abundance, distribution and composition of litter and its interactions with fauna were evaluated in the upper S. Vicente canyon using video images from 3 remote operated vehicle exploratory dives. Litter was present in all dives and the abundance was as high as 3.31 items100m(-1). Mean abundance of litter over rock bottom was higher than on soft substrate. Mean litter abundance was slightly higher than reported for other canyons on the Portuguese margin, but lower in comparison to more urbanized coastal areas of the world. Lost fishing gear was the prevalent type of litter, indicating that the majority of litter originates from maritime sources, mainly fishing activity. Physical contact with sessile fauna and entanglement of specimens were the major impacts of lost fishing gear. Based on the importance of this region for the local fishermen, litter abundance is expected to increase.
Journal of Northwest Atlantic Fishery Science, 2005
In Portugal, elasmobranch landings have decreased substantially in recent years. In this work, el... more In Portugal, elasmobranch landings have decreased substantially in recent years. In this work, elasmobranch catches in experimental hake near bottom semi pelagic longlines (1997 and 1998) were compared with those of experimental trammel nets (2000). In the hake semi pelagic longline fishery, 7 elasmobranch species represented 33.4% (2185 specimens) of the total fish captures. The most abundant species were Galeus melastomus (63.3%), Etmopterus pusillus (21.7%) and Scyliorhinus canicula (14.2%). Most of these elasmobranchs (68.3% in total) were discarded. In the trammel net fishery, 16 different elasmobranch species represented 4.3% (597 specimens) of total fish catches and the most important species were Raja undulata (43.6%) and Scyliorhinus canicula (10.2%). The majority of the elasmobranchs caught with this gear had commercial value, and only 5.4% were discarded. In both fisheries, i ntra -specific catch rates varied with depth. Length frequency distributions for the only species with relatively high catches in both fisheries, the small-spotted catshark, showed that in general, trammel nets catch larger specimens and in a more restricted length range than longlines.
Revista portuguesa de cardiologia : orgão oficial da Sociedade Portuguesa de Cardiologia = Portuguese journal of cardiology : an official journal of the Portuguese Society of Cardiology, 2005
Imidapril is an angiotensin I converting enzyme inhibitor, a class of drugs with known cardioprot... more Imidapril is an angiotensin I converting enzyme inhibitor, a class of drugs with known cardioprotective activity. It is now known that this is due not only to their antihypertensive activity, but also to the fact that they decrease cellular and tissue levels of angiotensin II, a potent vasoconstrictor and inducer of myocardial fibrosis. These mechanisms may explain the good clinical results of this class of drugs in the treatment of coronary artery disease and heart failure, two diseases whose etiopathogenesis is closely related to the activation of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system. However, the impact of this class of drugs on cardiac mitochondrial function during acute myocardial ischemia is still largely unknown. With the aim of studying the effect of imidapril on cardiac mitochondrial function during acute ischemia, we used an ex-vivo animal model, perfused in a Langerdorff system and then subjected to ischemia in the presence or absence of imidapril. We evaluated mitoch...
The crustacean trawl fishery off the Algarve coast (southern Portugal) takes place on the lower c... more The crustacean trawl fishery off the Algarve coast (southern Portugal) takes place on the lower continental shelf and upper continental slope at depths between 150 and 600 m. This is a multi-species fishery targeting the shrimps Parapenaeus longirostris and Aristeus antennatus and the Norway lobster Nephrops norvegicus, with the latter two species the most important in the landings. The fishery
Models of the dynamics of cellular interaction networks have become increasingly larger in recent... more Models of the dynamics of cellular interaction networks have become increasingly larger in recent years. Formal verification based on model checking provides a powerful technology to keep up with this increase in scale and complexity. The application of modelchecking approaches is hampered, however, by the difficulty for nonexpert users to formulate appropriate questions in temporal logic. In order to deal with this problem, we propose the use of patterns, that is, high-level query templates that capture recurring biological questions and can be automatically translated into temporal logic. The applicability of the developed set of patterns has been investigated by the analysis of an extended model of the network of global regulators controlling the carbon starvation response in Escherichia coli. GNA and the model of the carbon starvation response network are available at http://www-helix.inrialpes.fr/gna.
The population dynamics parameters of Diplodus vulgaris (Sparidae) from the south and south-west ... more The population dynamics parameters of Diplodus vulgaris (Sparidae) from the south and south-west coast of Portugal were studied. 1086 fishes with total lengths ranging from 3.3 to 37.9 cm were obtained from previous gear selectivity studies supplemented by market sampling and beach seining for juveniles (1992)(1993)(1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000). The spawning season extended from September to April and total lengths at 50% maturity were 17.27 cm for males and 17.65 cm for females. These estimated sizes were greater than the minimum legal landing size (MLS = 15 cm) and smaller than length at first capture (Lc 50 = 21.68 cm) for the longline fishery. The parameters of the von Bertalanffy growth equation were: L ∞ = 27.73 cm, K = 0.40 per year, t 0 = −0.34 year. The instantaneous rates of total mortality (Z) and natural mortality (M) were 0.63 and 0.45 per year, respectively. Rates of fishing mortality F and exploitation E were 0.18 and 0.28 per year, respectively. Estimated parameters and the relative yield-per-recruit analysis showed that this species is not over exploited by longlines.
ABSTRACT The distributed video coding (DVC) paradigm is based on two well-known information theor... more ABSTRACT The distributed video coding (DVC) paradigm is based on two well-known information theory results: the Slepian-Wolf and Wyner-Ziv theorems. In a DVC codec, the video signal correlation is mostly exploited at the decoder, providing a flexible distribution of the computational complexity between the encoder and the decoder and error robustness to channel errors. To exploit the temporal correlation, an estimate of the original frame to code, well-known as side information, is typically created at the decoder. One popular approach to side information creation is to perform frame interpolation using a translational motion model derived from already decoded frames. However, this translational model fails to estimate complex camera motions, such as zooms and rotations, and is not accurate enough to estimate the true trajectories of scene objects. In this paper, a new side information creation framework integrating perspective transform motion modeling is proposed. This solution is able to better locally track the trajectories and deformations of each object and increase the accuracy of the overall side information estimation process. Experimental results show peak signal-to-noise ratio gains of up to 1 dB in side information quality and up to 0.5 dB in rate-distortion performance for some video sequences regarding state-of-the-art alternative solutions.
In this article we utilize a (posthumanist) practice theory orientation to foreground the neglect... more In this article we utilize a (posthumanist) practice theory orientation to foreground the neglected role of material elements (e.g., objects and spaces) in institutional work. The paper builds on the results of an empirical study of two prizes in the Italian public sector for best practices in public administration and healthcare respectively. Our discussion centres on the critical role played by materiality in the legitimizing work performed by the two prizes. More specifically, we show that humans and material elements share the institutional work of mimicry, theorizing, educating, and reconfiguring normative networks. The article expands and enriches the notion of institutional work by foregrounding its inherent heterogeneous nature. It also shows the capacity of post-humanist and practice oriented approaches to shed new light on fundamental questions regarding the nature of situated action and distributed effort in institutional analysis.
Marine litter has become a worldwide environmental problem, tainting all ocean habitats. The abun... more Marine litter has become a worldwide environmental problem, tainting all ocean habitats. The abundance, distribution and composition of litter and its interactions with fauna were evaluated in the upper S. Vicente canyon using video images from 3 remote operated vehicle exploratory dives. Litter was present in all dives and the abundance was as high as 3.31 items100m(-1). Mean abundance of litter over rock bottom was higher than on soft substrate. Mean litter abundance was slightly higher than reported for other canyons on the Portuguese margin, but lower in comparison to more urbanized coastal areas of the world. Lost fishing gear was the prevalent type of litter, indicating that the majority of litter originates from maritime sources, mainly fishing activity. Physical contact with sessile fauna and entanglement of specimens were the major impacts of lost fishing gear. Based on the importance of this region for the local fishermen, litter abundance is expected to increase.
Journal of Northwest Atlantic Fishery Science, 2005
In Portugal, elasmobranch landings have decreased substantially in recent years. In this work, el... more In Portugal, elasmobranch landings have decreased substantially in recent years. In this work, elasmobranch catches in experimental hake near bottom semi pelagic longlines (1997 and 1998) were compared with those of experimental trammel nets (2000). In the hake semi pelagic longline fishery, 7 elasmobranch species represented 33.4% (2185 specimens) of the total fish captures. The most abundant species were Galeus melastomus (63.3%), Etmopterus pusillus (21.7%) and Scyliorhinus canicula (14.2%). Most of these elasmobranchs (68.3% in total) were discarded. In the trammel net fishery, 16 different elasmobranch species represented 4.3% (597 specimens) of total fish catches and the most important species were Raja undulata (43.6%) and Scyliorhinus canicula (10.2%). The majority of the elasmobranchs caught with this gear had commercial value, and only 5.4% were discarded. In both fisheries, i ntra -specific catch rates varied with depth. Length frequency distributions for the only species with relatively high catches in both fisheries, the small-spotted catshark, showed that in general, trammel nets catch larger specimens and in a more restricted length range than longlines.
Revista portuguesa de cardiologia : orgão oficial da Sociedade Portuguesa de Cardiologia = Portuguese journal of cardiology : an official journal of the Portuguese Society of Cardiology, 2005
Imidapril is an angiotensin I converting enzyme inhibitor, a class of drugs with known cardioprot... more Imidapril is an angiotensin I converting enzyme inhibitor, a class of drugs with known cardioprotective activity. It is now known that this is due not only to their antihypertensive activity, but also to the fact that they decrease cellular and tissue levels of angiotensin II, a potent vasoconstrictor and inducer of myocardial fibrosis. These mechanisms may explain the good clinical results of this class of drugs in the treatment of coronary artery disease and heart failure, two diseases whose etiopathogenesis is closely related to the activation of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system. However, the impact of this class of drugs on cardiac mitochondrial function during acute myocardial ischemia is still largely unknown. With the aim of studying the effect of imidapril on cardiac mitochondrial function during acute ischemia, we used an ex-vivo animal model, perfused in a Langerdorff system and then subjected to ischemia in the presence or absence of imidapril. We evaluated mitoch...
The crustacean trawl fishery off the Algarve coast (southern Portugal) takes place on the lower c... more The crustacean trawl fishery off the Algarve coast (southern Portugal) takes place on the lower continental shelf and upper continental slope at depths between 150 and 600 m. This is a multi-species fishery targeting the shrimps Parapenaeus longirostris and Aristeus antennatus and the Norway lobster Nephrops norvegicus, with the latter two species the most important in the landings. The fishery
Models of the dynamics of cellular interaction networks have become increasingly larger in recent... more Models of the dynamics of cellular interaction networks have become increasingly larger in recent years. Formal verification based on model checking provides a powerful technology to keep up with this increase in scale and complexity. The application of modelchecking approaches is hampered, however, by the difficulty for nonexpert users to formulate appropriate questions in temporal logic. In order to deal with this problem, we propose the use of patterns, that is, high-level query templates that capture recurring biological questions and can be automatically translated into temporal logic. The applicability of the developed set of patterns has been investigated by the analysis of an extended model of the network of global regulators controlling the carbon starvation response in Escherichia coli. GNA and the model of the carbon starvation response network are available at http://www-helix.inrialpes.fr/gna.
The population dynamics parameters of Diplodus vulgaris (Sparidae) from the south and south-west ... more The population dynamics parameters of Diplodus vulgaris (Sparidae) from the south and south-west coast of Portugal were studied. 1086 fishes with total lengths ranging from 3.3 to 37.9 cm were obtained from previous gear selectivity studies supplemented by market sampling and beach seining for juveniles (1992)(1993)(1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000). The spawning season extended from September to April and total lengths at 50% maturity were 17.27 cm for males and 17.65 cm for females. These estimated sizes were greater than the minimum legal landing size (MLS = 15 cm) and smaller than length at first capture (Lc 50 = 21.68 cm) for the longline fishery. The parameters of the von Bertalanffy growth equation were: L ∞ = 27.73 cm, K = 0.40 per year, t 0 = −0.34 year. The instantaneous rates of total mortality (Z) and natural mortality (M) were 0.63 and 0.45 per year, respectively. Rates of fishing mortality F and exploitation E were 0.18 and 0.28 per year, respectively. Estimated parameters and the relative yield-per-recruit analysis showed that this species is not over exploited by longlines.
ABSTRACT The distributed video coding (DVC) paradigm is based on two well-known information theor... more ABSTRACT The distributed video coding (DVC) paradigm is based on two well-known information theory results: the Slepian-Wolf and Wyner-Ziv theorems. In a DVC codec, the video signal correlation is mostly exploited at the decoder, providing a flexible distribution of the computational complexity between the encoder and the decoder and error robustness to channel errors. To exploit the temporal correlation, an estimate of the original frame to code, well-known as side information, is typically created at the decoder. One popular approach to side information creation is to perform frame interpolation using a translational motion model derived from already decoded frames. However, this translational model fails to estimate complex camera motions, such as zooms and rotations, and is not accurate enough to estimate the true trajectories of scene objects. In this paper, a new side information creation framework integrating perspective transform motion modeling is proposed. This solution is able to better locally track the trajectories and deformations of each object and increase the accuracy of the overall side information estimation process. Experimental results show peak signal-to-noise ratio gains of up to 1 dB in side information quality and up to 0.5 dB in rate-distortion performance for some video sequences regarding state-of-the-art alternative solutions.
In this article we utilize a (posthumanist) practice theory orientation to foreground the neglect... more In this article we utilize a (posthumanist) practice theory orientation to foreground the neglected role of material elements (e.g., objects and spaces) in institutional work. The paper builds on the results of an empirical study of two prizes in the Italian public sector for best practices in public administration and healthcare respectively. Our discussion centres on the critical role played by materiality in the legitimizing work performed by the two prizes. More specifically, we show that humans and material elements share the institutional work of mimicry, theorizing, educating, and reconfiguring normative networks. The article expands and enriches the notion of institutional work by foregrounding its inherent heterogeneous nature. It also shows the capacity of post-humanist and practice oriented approaches to shed new light on fundamental questions regarding the nature of situated action and distributed effort in institutional analysis.
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