Plastics reset in an adult Procellariform seabird species during the breeding season.

Plastic ingestion has been extensively studied in seabirds. However, knowledge gaps remain in understanding how plastic loads behave over time and their residence inside Procellariforms. This study investigated the temporal dynamics of ingested plastics by adult Cory's shearwaters (Calonectris borealis) during the breeding season to shed light on plastic retention times.

Electronic band evolution between Lieb and kagome nanoribbons.

We investigate the electronic properties of nanoribbons made out of monolayer Lieb, transition, and kagome lattices using the tight-binding model with a generic Hamiltonian. It allows us to map the evolutionary stages of the interconvertibility process between Lieb and kagome nanoribbons by means of only one control parameter. Results for the energy spectra, the density of states, and spatial probability density distributions are discussed for nanoribbons with three types of edges: straight, bearded, and asymmetric.

Anthropogenic particles determination in northern krill (Meganyctiphanes norvegica) from the Azores region: A keystone species for marine food webs.

Plastic pollution poses a significant threat to marine ecosystems. Microfibres from fabrics have become the most prevalent shape of microplastic found in the marine environment. The northern krill (Meganyctiphanes norvegica) is the most abundant euphausiid species in the northern hemisphere, playing a crucial role in various pelagic ecosystems.

Cory's shearwater as a key bioindicator for monitoring floating plastics.

The potential of using organisms as bioindicators of marine litter has been an area of general interest in multiple scientific and monitoring programs across the globe. Procellariiformes seabirds are particularly vulnerable to plastic contamination, which makes them a research focus group. This study investigated plastic ingestion in deceased fledglings and adults Cory's shearwaters (Calonectris borealis) collected over eight years (2015 to 2022) at two Atlantic archipelagos: the Azores and the Canaries.

Predicting the distribution and abundance of abandoned, lost or discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) in the deep sea of the Azores (North Atlantic).

Abandoned, lost, or discarded fishing gear (ALDFG), represents a significant percentage of the global plastic pollution, currently considered one of the major sources from sea-based activities. However, there is still limited understanding of the quantities of ALDFG present on the seafloor and their impacts. In this study, data on the presence of ALDFG was obtained from a large archive of seafloor video footage (351 dives) collected by different imaging platforms in the Azores region over 15 years (2006-2020).

Three-dimensional evaluation of beaches of oceanic islands as reservoirs of plastic particles in the open ocean.

The quantification of plastic debris on beaches has been extensively used as an indicator of plastic pollution in the marine environment. However, most efforts have focused on surface layers, with few investigations looking deeper into the substrate, thus underestimating total standing stocks. Such information is crucial to improve our understanding of where plastic accumulates in the oceans.

Key characteristics including sex, sexual orientation and internet use associated with worse mental health among university students in Brazil and implications.

Background: The symptoms of anxiety and depression disorders are multifactorial and can trigger a series of problems especially among university students. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence and associated factors with anxiety and depression symptoms among first-semester university students at a Federal University in Brazil given the paucity of such data and the first semester is the most stressfultime.

Methods: Cross-sectional study with first-semester university students.

HIV-1 molecular diversity in Brazil unveiled by 10 years of sampling by the national genotyping network.

HIV-1 has diversified into several subtypes and recombinant forms that are heterogeneously spread around the world. Understanding the distribution of viral variants and their temporal dynamics can help to design vaccines and monitor changes in viral transmission patterns. Brazil has one of the largest HIV-1 epidemics in the western-world and the molecular features of the virus circulating in the country are still not completely known.

Microplastic in the stomachs of open-ocean and deep-sea fishes of the North-East Atlantic.

The presence of microplastic in marine fishes has been well documented but few studies have directly examined differences between fishes occupying contrasting environmental compartments. In the present study, we investigated the gut contents of 390 fishes belonging to three pelagic (blue jack mackerel, chub mackerel, skipjack tuna) and two deep-sea species (blackbelly rosefish, blackspot seabream) from the Azores archipelago, North-East Atlantic for microplastic contamination. Our results revealed that pelagic species had significantly more microplastic than the deep-water species.

Beaches of the Azores archipelago as transitory repositories for small plastic fragments floating in the North-East Atlantic.

Plastic pollution is among the most pervasive stressors currently influencing the marine environment and affecting even the most remote areas. To date, there are still fundamental gaps in our understanding of the major pathways and fate of plastic debris in the oceans. Here we show that oceanic insular environments are important transitory repositories of small plastic items floating in the open ocean.

Sample Complexity of the Boolean Multireference Alignment Problem.

The Boolean multireference alignment problem consists in recovering a Boolean signal from multiple shifted and noisy observations. In this paper we obtain an expression for the error exponent of the maximum A posteriori decoder. This expression is used to characterize the number of measurements needed for signal recovery in the low SNR regime, in terms of higher order autocorrelations of the signal.

Prevalence and characteristics of Epstein-Barr virus-associated gastric carcinomas in Portugal.

Background: Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common malignant tumors of the digestive tract and is the third leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) has been associated with approximately 10% of the total cases of gastric carcinomas. No previous study has analyzed the prevalence of EBV infection in gastric cancer of the Portuguese population.

Disability in Activities of Daily Living and Severity of Dyskinesias Determine the Handicap of Parkinson's Disease Patients in Advanced Stage Selected to DBS.

Background: There is scarce data on the level of handicap in Parkinson's disease (PD) and none in advanced stage PD.

Objective: To assess the handicap in advanced stage PD patients with disabling levodopa-induced motor complications selected to deep brain stimulation (DBS).

Methods: Data was prospectively recorded during routine evaluation for DBS.

In-fiber Fabry-Perot interferometer for strain and magnetic field sensing.

In this paper we discuss the results obtained with an in-fiber Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI) used in strain and magnetic field (or force) sensing. The intrinsic FPI was constructed by splicing a small section of a capillary optical fiber between two pieces of standard telecommunication fiber. The sensor was built by attaching the FPI to a magnetostrictive alloy in one configuration and also by attaching the FPI to a small magnet in another.

Intratracheal Administration of Antimicrobial Agents in Mechanically Ventilated Adults: An International Survey on Delivery Practices and Safety.

Background: Intratracheal antibiotic administration is increasingly used for treating respiratory infections. Limited information is available on delivery devices, techniques, and safety.

Methods: An online survey on intratracheal administration of anti-infective agents in mechanically ventilated adults was answered by health-care workers from 192 ICUs to assess the most commonly used devices, current delivery practices, and safety issues.

Optical creation and erasure of the linear electrooptical effect in silica fiber.

We study the creation and erasure of the linear electrooptical effect in silicate fibers by optical poling. Carriers are released by exposure to green light and displaced with simultaneous application of an internal dc field. The second order nonlinear coefficient induced grows with poling bias.

Early disrupted neurovascular coupling and changed event level hemodynamic response function in type 2 diabetes: an fMRI study.

Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) patients develop vascular complications and have increased risk for neurophysiological impairment. Vascular pathophysiology may alter the blood flow regulation in cerebral microvasculature, affecting neurovascular coupling. Reduced fMRI signal can result from decreased neuronal activation or disrupted neurovascular coupling.

Comparison of acoustic radiation force impulse/serum noninvasive markers for fibrosis prediction in liver transplant.

Objectives: Fibrosis, related to several causes, can be diagnosed in children and adolescents' liver grafts that are >1 year old. At present, liver biopsy is the gold standard for assessing liver damage in the posttransplant setting. We aimed to evaluate the accuracy of noninvasive biomarkers of fibrosis, namely, acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI), aspartate-to-platelet ratio index, and aspartate aminotransferase/alanine aminotransferase (AST/ALT) ratio index, either alone or in combination, for predicting fibrosis in pediatric patients submitted to liver transplantation.

A brief history of voxel-based grey matter analysis in Alzheimer's disease.

Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and cortical thickness measurement are common techniques to identify regional atrophy in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). Because studies employing these methods draw conclusions regarding patterns of regional cortical degeneration, it is important to be aware of their possible limitations. To evaluate the effect of different VBM versions, we performed voxel-based analyses through successive versions-from SPM99 to SPM8-as well as FSL-VBM on n = 20 AD patients and n = 20 controls.

VBM with viscous fluid registration of gray matter segments in SPM.

Improved registration of gray matter segments in SPM has been achieved with the DARTEL algorithm. Previous work from our group suggested, however, that such improvements may not translate to studies of clinical groups. To address the registration issue in atrophic brains, this paper relaxed the condition of diffeomorphism, central to DARTEL, and made use of a viscous fluid registration model with limited regularization constraints to register the modulated gray matter probability maps to an intra-population template.

Autonomic dysreflexia and posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome.

Autonomic dysreflexia is a syndrome of massive imbalanced reflex sympathetic discharge in patients who had a spinal cord injury above the splanchnic sympathetic outflow resulting in a sudden increase in blood pressure. Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) refers to a clinicoradiologic entity characterized by headache, consciousness impairment, visual disturbances, seizures, and posterior transient changes on neuroimaging (cerebral vasogenic edema). Hypertension is a common cause of PRES.

Social cognitive deficits and their neural correlates in progressive supranuclear palsy.

Although progressive supranuclear palsy is defined by its akinetic rigidity, vertical supranuclear gaze palsy and falls, cognitive impairments are an important determinant of patients' and carers' quality of life. Here, we investigate whether there is a broad deficit of modality-independent social cognition in progressive supranuclear palsy and explore the neural correlates for these. We recruited 23 patients with progressive supranuclear palsy (using clinical diagnostic criteria, nine with subsequent pathological confirmation) and 22 age- and education-matched controls.

Topological confinement in an antisymmetric potential in bilayer graphene in the presence of a magnetic field.

We investigate the effect of an external magnetic field on the carrier states that are localized at a potential kink and a kink-antikink in bilayer graphene. These chiral states are localized at the interface between two potential regions with opposite signs.PACS numbers: 71.