DSA - Artigos em revistas internacionais
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- Acid mine drainage from the Panasqueira mine and its influence on Zêzere River (Central Portugal)Publication . Candeias, C.; Freire Ávila, P.; Silva, E. F; Ferreira, A.; Salgueiro, A. R.; Teixeira, João PauloThe Panasqueira hydrothermal mineralization, located in central Portugal, is the biggest Sn–W deposit of the Western Europe. The main evidences of the mining exploitation and ore treatment operations are testified with huge tailings, mainly, in the Rio and Barroca Grande areas. The mining and benefi- ciation processes, at the site, produces metal rich mine wastes. Oxidation of sulfides tailings and flow from open impoundments are responsible for the mobilization and migration of metals from the mine wastes into the environment. Acid mine drainage (AMD) discharged from Rio tailing has a pH around 3 and high metal concentrations. In Zêzere river, Fe and As are the most rapidly depleted downstream from AMD once As adsorbs, coprecipitate and form compounds with iron oxyhydroxides. The Zêzere river waters are oversaturated with respect to kaolinite and goethite and ferrihydrite can precipitate on stream with a near-neutral pH. At sites having low pH the dissolved Fe species in the water, mainly, occur as sulfate complexes due to a high SO4 concentration. Melanterite (Fe2+(SO4)7(H2O)) and minor amounts of rozenite (Fe2+(SO4)4(H2O)) and szomolnokite (Fe2+(SO4)(H2O)) were observed on Rio tailing basement.
- Acute and chronic toxicity assessment of haloacetic acids using Daphnia magnaPublication . Melo, Armindo; Ferreira, Cláudia; Ferreira, Isabel M.P.L.V.O.; Mansilha, CatarinaHaloacetic acids (HAAs) are undesirable disinfection by-products (DBPs), released into aquatic ecosystems from various anthropogenic and natural sources. The aim of this study was to examine the ecological risk of exposure to three HAAs commonly detected in water, such as monobromoacetic acid (MBA), monochloroacetic acid (MCA), and trichloroacetic acid (TCA), in in vivo acute and chronic toxicity tests using Daphnia magna as a model. Acute tests showed that MBA was the most toxic of these compounds followed by MCA and TCA as evidenced by immobilization. Aquatic organisms in natural conditions might be exposed simultaneously to numerous compounds; thus, binary mixtures of selected HAAs and a ternary mixture of these were tested. Concentration addition (CA) and independent action (IA) models were used for a predictive assessment of mixture toxicity. Data demonstrated that CA appeared to be the most reliable indicator for HAAs binary and ternary mixtures suggestive of an additive behavior. Median effective concentration (EC50) values from the mixed exposure tests were significantly lower than results obtained from single tests for all three HAAs where an increase of toxicity greater than 50%. Multigenerational chronic tests were also performed exposing daphnids to the ternary mixture of HAAs. A markedly decreased sexual maturity and number of offspring and broods per daphnid especially in the second generation were noted.
- Adenoid bacterial colonization in a paediatric populationPublication . Subtil, João; Rodrigues, João Carlos; Reis, Lúcia; Freitas, Luís; Filipe, Joana; Santos, Alberto; Macor, Carlos; Duarte, Aida; Jordao, LuisaAdenoids play a key role in both respiratory and ear infection in children. It has also been shown that adenoidectomy improves these symptoms in this population. The main goal of the present study was to evaluate adenoid bacterial colonization and document a possible relation with infectious respiratory disease. A prospective observational study was designed to evaluate the proposed hypothesis in a paediatric population submitted to adenoidectomy by either infectious or non-infectious indications and compare these two cohorts. A total of 62 patients with ages ranging from 1 to 12 years old were enrolled in the study. Adenoid surface, adenoid core and middle meatus microbiota were compared. A close association between adenoid colonization and nasal infection was found, supporting that adenoids may function as bacterial reservoir for upper airway infection. The obtained results also contribute to explain the success of adenoidectomy in patients with infectious indications.
- Aeromonas spp. in Freshwater Bodies: Antimicrobial Resistance and Biofilm AssemblyPublication . Nascimento, Maria; Rodrigues, João; Matias, Rui; Jordão, LuisaAeromonas spp. are environmental bacteria able to infect animals and humans. Here, we aim to evaluate the role of biofilms in Aeromonas persistence in freshwater. Aeromonas were isolated from water and biofilm samples and identified by Vitek-MS and 16S rRNA sequencing. Antibiotic susceptibility profiles were determined according to EUCAST, and a crystal violet assay was used to assess biofilm assembly. MTT and the enumeration of colony-forming units were used to evaluate biofilm and planktonic Aeromonas susceptibility to chlorination, respectively. Identification at the species level was challenging, suggesting the need to improve the used methodologies. Five different Aeromonas species (A. salmonicida, A. hydrophila, A. media, A. popoffii and A. veronii) were identified from water, and one species was identified from biofilms (A. veronii). A. veronnii and A. salmonicida presented resistance to different antibiotics, whith the highest resistance rate observed for A. salmonicida (multiple antibiotic resistance index of 0.25). Of the 21 isolates, 11 were biofilm producers, and 10 of them were strong biofilm producers (SBPs). The SBPs presented increased tolerance to chlorine disinfection when compared with their planktonic counterparts. In order to elucidate the mechanisms underlying biofilm tolerance to chlorine and support the importance of preventing biofilm assembly in water reservoirs, further research is required.
- Aging, Living Environment, and Sustainability: What Should be Taken into Account?Publication . Grazuleviciute-Vileniske, Indre; Seduikyte, Lina; Teixeira-Gomes, Armanda; Mendes, Ana; Borodinecs, Anatolijs; Buzinskaite, Deimantehe aging population presents numerous challenges and the design and management of living environments are not an exception. This literature review and analysis brings together topics related to the living environment of the aging population and the concept of sustainability. The article presents the review of the existing design concepts that are applied to planning the environment for the elderly, including (i) design for all, (ii) universal design, and (iii) inclusive design. Furthermore, this review highlights the aspects of sustainability and the peculiarities of the aging population that should be taken into account in the design and management of their living environment. Key points related to sustainable aging are highlighted, and the possibility of complementing the existing design concepts with the concept of biophilic design is proposed in order to strengthen their social, psychological, and ecological aspects.
- Air pollution mixture complexity and its effect on PM2.5-related mortality: A multicountry time-series study in 264 citiesPublication . Masselot, Pierre; Kan, Haidong; Kharol, Shailesh K; Bell, Michelle L.; Sera, Francesco; Lavigne, Eric; Breitner, Susanne; das Neves Pereira da Silva, Susana; Burnett, Richard T.; Gasparrini, Antonio; Brook, Jeffrey R.; MCC Collaborative Research NetworkBackground: Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) occurs within a mixture of other pollutant gases that interact and impact its composition and toxicity. To characterize the local toxicity of PM2.5, it is useful to have an index that accounts for the whole pollutant mix, including gaseous pollutants. We consider a recently proposed pollutant mixture complexity index (PMCI) to evaluate to which extent it relates to PM2.5 toxicity. Methods: The PMCI is constructed as an index spanning seven different pollutants, relative to the PM2.5 levels. We consider a standard two-stage analysis using data from 264 cities in the Northern Hemisphere. The first stage estimates the city-specific relative risks between daily PM2.5 and all-cause mortality, which are then pooled into a second-stage meta-regression model with which we estimate the effect modification from the PMCI. Results: We estimate a relative excess risk of 1.0042 (95% confidence interval: 1.0023, 1.0061) for an interquartile range increase (from 1.09 to 1.95) of the PMCI. The PMCI predicts a substantial part of within-country relative risk heterogeneity with much less between-country heterogeneity explained. The Akaike information criterion and Bayesian information criterion of the main model are lower than those of alternative meta-regression models considering the oxidative capacity of PM2.5 or its composition. Conclusions: The PMCI represents an efficient and simple predictor of local PM2.5-related mortality, providing evidence that PM2.5 toxicity depends on the surrounding gaseous pollutant mix. With the advent of remote sensing for pollutants, the PMCI can provide a useful index to track air quality.
- Air pollution: a public health approach for PortugalPublication . Torres, Pedro; Ferreira, Joana; Monteiro, Alexandra; Costa, Solange; Pereira, Maria Carmo; Madureira, Joana; Mendes, Ana; Teixeira, João PauloAt the global level, several epidemiological studies have conclusively pointed out the associations between short-term exposure to air pollution and acute health effects, and long-term exposure with adverse health effects such as premature mortality from severe respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. This study intended to characterize exposures and their adverse health effects. Three independent sets of vectors were analyzed on a nationwide level and annual basis: air pollutant emissions, ambient air concentrations and health indicators of the period 2009 to 2015. The emissions analysis, for the studied pollutants, pointed out the main findings: (i) Lisbon Metropolitan Area presents the most problematic region with regard to the emissions of all the pollutants under study; (ii) the regions of the Alentejo and Algarve showed reduced emissions of the studied pollutants compared to other parts of the country; (iii) Northern regions PM10 concentrations decreased during the two years in analysis. Regarding the analysis of air quality, it was concluded that: (i) regarding ozone, concentration shown a decreasing trend throughout the country; (ii) nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter, concentrations demonstrated an increasing trend in most of the northern part of the country; (iii) the regions of Alentejo and Lisbon Metropolitan Area showed increasing trends for sulfur dioxide and fine particles for the evaluated period. Decreasing trends in mortality associated with cardiovascular and respiratory causes are found mainly in the Alentejo and Algarve regions. In comparison, the North, Central regions, as well as, Lisbon Metropolitan Area exhibited higher mortality values related to this health indicators.
- Airborne spores’ dissemination of a swine associated Clostridioides difficile clonePublication . Alves, Frederico; Cano, Manuela; Brondani, Greice; Nunes, Alexandra; Oleastro, MónicaThis study supports the airborne dissemination of Clostridioides difficile spores. Of the sieve impaction samples collected at a swine production unit, 66.7% were positive and all belonged to the predominantly established clone. Spores' density varied according to the characteristics of the animal population, suggesting the possibility of airborne transmission.
- All-cause, cardiovascular, and respiratory mortality and wildfire-related ozone: a multicountry two-stage time series analysisPublication . Chen, Gongbo; Guo, Yuming; Yue, Xu; Xu, Rongbin; Yu,Wenhua; Ye, Tingting; Tong, Shilu; Gasparrini, Antonio; Bell,Michelle L.; Armstrong, Ben; Schwartz, Joel; Jaakkola, Jouni J.K.; Lavigne, Eric; Saldiva, Paulo Hilario Nascimento; Kan, Haidong; Royé, Dominic; Urban, Aleš; Vicedo-Cabrera, Ana Maria; Tobias, Aurelio; Forsberg, Bertil; Sera, Francesco; Lei, Yadong; Abramson, Michael J.; Li, Shanshan; Abrutzky, Rosana; Alahmad, Barrak; Ameling, Caroline; Åström, Christofer; Breitner, Susanne; Carrasco-Escobar, Gabriel; Coêlho, Micheline de Sousa Zanotti Stagliorio; Colistro, Valentina; Correa, Patricia Matus; Dang, Tran Ngoc; de'Donato, Francesca; Dung, Do Van; Entezari, Alireza; Garcia, Samuel David Osorio; Garland, Rebecca M.; Goodman, Patrick; Guo, Yue Leon; Hashizume, Masahiro; Holobaca, Iulian-Horia; Honda, Yasushi; Houthuijs, Danny; Hurtado-Díaz, Magali; Íñiguez, Carmen; Katsouyanni, Klea; Kim, Ho; Kyselý, Jan; Lee, Whanhee; Maasikmets, Marek; Madureira, Joana; Mayvaneh, Fatemeh; Nunes, Baltazar; Orru, Hans; Ortega, Nicol´s Valdés; Overcenco, Ala; Pan, Shih-Chun; Pascal, Mathilde; Ragettli, Martina S.; Rao, Shilpa; Ryti, Niilo R.I.; Samoli, Evangelia; Schneider, Alexandra; Scovronick, Noah; Seposo, Xerxes; Stafoggia, Massimo; Valencia, César De la Cruz; Zanobetti, Antonella; Zeka, Ariana; behalf of the Multi-Country Multi-City Collaborative Research NetworkBackground: Wildfire activity is an important source of tropospheric ozone (O3) pollution. However, no study to date has systematically examined the associations of wildfire-related O3 exposure with mortality globally. Methods: We did a multicountry two-stage time series analysis. From the Multi-City Multi-Country (MCC) Collaborative Research Network, data on daily all-cause, cardiovascular, and respiratory deaths were obtained from 749 locations in 43 countries or areas, representing overlapping periods from Jan 1, 2000, to Dec 31, 2016. We estimated the daily concentration of wildfire-related O3 in study locations using a chemical transport model, and then calibrated and downscaled O3 estimates to a resolution of 0·25° × 0·25° (approximately 28 km2 at the equator). Using a random-effects meta-analysis, we examined the associations of short-term wildfire-related O3 exposure (lag period of 0-2 days) with daily mortality, first at the location level and then pooled at the country, regional, and global levels. Annual excess mortality fraction in each location attributable to wildfire-related O3 was calculated with pooled effect estimates and used to obtain excess mortality fractions at country, regional, and global levels. Findings: Between 2000 and 2016, the highest maximum daily wildfire-related O3 concentrations (≥30 μg/m3) were observed in locations in South America, central America, and southeastern Asia, and the country of South Africa. Across all locations, an increase of 1 μg/m3 in the mean daily concentration of wildfire-related O3 during lag 0-2 days was associated with increases of 0·55% (95% CI 0·29 to 0·80) in daily all-cause mortality, 0·44% (-0·10 to 0·99) in daily cardiovascular mortality, and 0·82% (0·18 to 1·47) in daily respiratory mortality. The associations of daily mortality rates with wildfire-related O3 exposure showed substantial geographical heterogeneity at the country and regional levels. Across all locations, estimated annual excess mortality fractions of 0·58% (95% CI 0·31 to 0·85; 31 606 deaths [95% CI 17 038 to 46 027]) for all-cause mortality, 0·41% (-0·10 to 0·91; 5249 [-1244 to 11 620]) for cardiovascular mortality, and 0·86% (0·18 to 1·51; 4657 [999 to 8206]) for respiratory mortality were attributable to short-term exposure to wildfire-related O3. Interpretation: In this study, we observed an increase in all-cause and respiratory mortality associated with short-term wildfire-related O3 exposure. Effective risk and smoke management strategies should be implemented to protect the public from the impacts of wildfires.
- Ambient carbon monoxide and daily mortality: a global time-series study in 337 citiesPublication . Chen, Kai; Breitner, Susanne; Wolf, Kathrin; Stafoggia, Massimo; Sera, Francesco; Vicedo-Cabrera, Ana M.; Guo, Yuming; Tong, Shilu; Lavigne, Eric; Matus, Patricia; Valdés, Nicolás; Kan, Haidong; Jaakkola, Jouni J.K.; Ryti, Niilo R.I.; Huber, Veronika; Scortichini, Matteo; Hashizume, Masahiro; Honda, Yasushi; Nunes, Baltazar; Madureira, Joana; Holobâcă, Iulian Horia; Fratianni, Simona; Kim, Ho; Lee, Whanhee; Tobias, Aurelio; Íñiguez, Carmen; Forsberg, Bertil; Åström, Christofer; Ragettli, Martina S-; Guo, Yue-Liang Leon; Chen, Bing-Yu; Li, Shanshan; Milojevic, Ai; Zanobetti, Antonella; Schwartz, Joel; Bell, Michelle L-; Gasparrini, Antonio; Schneider, AlexandraBackground: Epidemiological evidence on short-term association between ambient carbon monoxide (CO) and mortality is inconclusive and limited to single cities, regions, or countries. Generalisation of results from previous studies is hindered by potential publication bias and different modelling approaches. We therefore assessed the association between short-term exposure to ambient CO and daily mortality in a multicity, multicountry setting. Methods: We collected daily data on air pollution, meteorology, and total mortality from 337 cities in 18 countries or regions, covering various periods from 1979 to 2016. All included cities had at least 2 years of both CO and mortality data. We estimated city-specific associations using confounder-adjusted generalised additive models with a quasi-Poisson distribution, and then pooled the estimates, accounting for their statistical uncertainty, using a random-effects multilevel meta-analytical model. We also assessed the overall shape of the exposure-response curve and evaluated the possibility of a threshold below which health is not affected. Findings: Overall, a 1 mg/m3 increase in the average CO concentration of the previous day was associated with a 0·91% (95% CI 0·32-1·50) increase in daily total mortality. The pooled exposure-response curve showed a continuously elevated mortality risk with increasing CO concentrations, suggesting no threshold. The exposure-response curve was steeper at daily CO levels lower than 1 mg/m3, indicating greater risk of mortality per increment in CO exposure, and persisted at daily concentrations as low as 0·6 mg/m3 or less. The association remained similar after adjustment for ozone but was attenuated after adjustment for particulate matter or sulphur dioxide, or even reduced to null after adjustment for nitrogen dioxide. Interpretation: This international study is by far the largest epidemiological investigation on short-term CO-related mortality. We found significant associations between ambient CO and daily mortality, even at levels well below current air quality guidelines. Further studies are warranted to disentangle its independent effect from other traffic-related pollutants.