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Sharks are regularly considered to be an indicator of the ocean ecosystem’s health and are generally difficult to study in their natural environment. Citizen science has been increasing, being a cost-effective method for particularly important species that have low encounter rates or are logistically challenging to sample. Madeira Island has a considerable gap in terms of its coastal shark species data and studies, which this work aims to complement. To achieve this goal, online questionnaires to citizens and specific interviews of spearfishers were conducted, with questions related to species size, distribution, and behaviour. Exactly 129 reports of shark sightings were obtained, including seven different species exhibiting four different types of behaviour around the coastal areas of the different municipalities of Madeira Island. Individuals seem to aggregate around the east and west edges of the island due to localised upwelling phenomena. Also, a relation was found between size and distance to coast and depth, as smaller sharks tend to stay close to the shore, probably reflecting the role of Madeira as a nursery area, but further studies are necessary to confirm the reliability of this hypothesis.

Cadmium (Cd) is a highly toxic heavy metal particularly susceptible to mobilization by anthropogenic and natural processes. The volcanic nature of oceanic islands in the Macaronesia geographical region such as the Azores archipelago, located near the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, is reflected in deep-sea and shallow-water hydrothermal activities that release heavy metals such as Cd to seawater, affecting marine organisms and integrating food webs. In this paper, a thorough systematic review of all studies performed on coastal marine species in Macaronesia focusing on Cd was conducted, specifically considering the Azorean geological setting and socioeconomic context. Present results are compared and discussed with data from the Mediterranean, a region with apparent strong anthropogenic pollution. The Azorean marine species seem to be particularly strong Cd accumulators, displaying high levels that should be closely monitored, reflecting an important local natural source that should not be underestimated; especially considering the high consumption rates of some of these organisms, which may lead to a potential seafood safety issue. In light of these findings, the potential effects, impacts, and future research challenges are discussed, from an ecological and public health perspective.

There is a strong link between humans and the coastal zone, as it provides important services and resources. This paper aims to determine the existing environmental coastal research status in the Azores and Cabo Verde since research is essential for any decision support system. Some tools are fundamental to ensure the viability of the marine environments, such as Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM), Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), and Marine Spatial Planning (MSP), which rely on existing knowledge. Effective implementation of marine plans can increase by developing a multi-perspective knowledge approach. This paper presents a systematic review of the archipelagos of the Azores and Cabo Verde through a comparative meta-analysis of the literature based on the PRISMA report to better understand the focus and status of research related to coastal zones, within and outside MPAs, along with marine spatial planning and management in the two socio-economic contexts. This will help to identify common issues, trends over the years, successes, and challenges, highlighting the specific interests of each country, identifying the knowledge gaps, promoting mutual learning, and pointing out possible paths for future convergence toward sustainable use of the ecosystems and conservation goals. Differences were found between the research made in both archipelagos, lacking research on important disciplines (reproduction, behavior, population dynamics, climate change, etc.), in Cabo Verde, compared to the Azores. This study also reveals that some research fields still need to be pushed forward to have broader knowledge in both areas.

The adoption of Energy Management Systems (EnMSs) based on international standards has gained momentum since the ISO 50001 standard was launched in 2011. Before that, the potential to improve the energy management with Environmental Management Systems (EMSs) based on ISO 14001 and EMAS was identified in the literature. However, no in-depth analysis reported in the literature has explored this claim. The need for research is now even more evident with the development of new versions of the standards for environmental management―ISO 14001:2015 and EMAS III. Since many companies that already have a certified EMSs might be uncertain whether to adopt an ISO 50001 based EnMSs, the present work aims to shed light on the contribution of ISO 14001:2015 and EMAS III to energy management. Furthermore, the work summarizes the results of an empirical exploratory study carried out in eight Spanish organizations, four with an EMS implemented and certified based on ISO 14001:2015 and four more with an EMS registered to EMAS III. The findings show that both ISO14001 and EMAS certified organizations carry out energy management practices, even though they have no formal EnMSs implemented. Implications for managers and policy makers are discussed, together with avenues for further research.

The increase in butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) activity in the brain of Alzheimer disease (AD) patients and animal models of AD position this enzyme as a potential biomarker of the disease. However, the information on the ability of BChE to serve as AD biomarker is contradicting, also due to scarce longitudinal studies of BChE activity abundance. Here, we report C-labeling, stability, biodistribution, and longitudinal study on BChE abundance in the brains of control and 5xFAD (AD model) animals, using a potent BChE selective inhibitor, [ C] , and positron emission tomography (PET) in combination with computerised tomography (CT). We correlate the results with amyloid beta (Aβ) deposition, longitudinally assessed by [ F]florbetaben-PET imaging. : [ C] was radiolabelled through C-methylation. Metabolism studies were performed on blood and brain samples of female wild type (WT) mice. Biodistribution studies were performed in female WT mice using dynamic PET-CT imaging. Specific binding was demonstrated by and PET imaging blocking studies in female WT and 5xFAD mice at the age of 7 months. Longitudinal PET imaging of BChE was conducted in female 5xFAD mice at 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 months of age and compared to age-matched control animals. Additionally, Aβ plaque distribution was assessed in the same mice using [ F]florbetaben at the ages of 2, 5, 7 and 11 months. The results were validated by staining of BChE at 4, 8, and 12 months and Aβ at 12 months on brain samples. : [ C] was produced in sufficient radiochemical yield and molar activity for the use in PET imaging. Metabolism and biodistribution studies confirmed sufficient stability , the ability of [ C] to cross the blood brain barrier (BBB) and rapid washout from the brain. Blocking studies confirmed specificity of the binding. Longitudinal PET studies showed increased levels of BChE in the cerebral cortex, hippocampus, striatum, thalamus, cerebellum and brain stem in aged AD mice compared to WT littermates. [ F]Florbetaben-PET imaging showed similar trend of Aβ plaques accumulation in the cerebral cortex and the hippocampus of AD animals as the one observed for BChE at ages 4 to 8 months. Contrarily to the results obtained by staining, lower abundance of BChE was observed at 10 and 12 months than at 8 months of age. The BChE inhibitor [ C] crosses the BBB and is quickly washed out of the brain of WT mice. Comparison between AD and WT mice shows accumulation of the radiotracer in the AD-affected areas of the brain over time during the early disease progression. The results correspond well with Aβ accumulation, suggesting that BChE is a promising early biomarker for incipient AD.

Background: The outcome for oestrogen receptor positive (ER+) breast cancer patients has improved greatly in recent years largely due to targeted therapy. However, the presence of involved multiple synchronous lymph nodes remains associated with a poor outcome. Consequently, these patients would benefit from the identification of new prognostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets. The expression of G-protein-coupled receptor kinase-interacting protein 1 (GIT1) has recently been shown to be an indicator of advanced stage breast cancer. Therefore, we investigated its expression and prognostic value of GIT1 in a cohort of 140 ER+ breast cancer with synchronous lymph node involvement. Methods: Immunohistochemistry was employed to assess GIT1 expression in a tissue microarray (TMA) containing duplicate non-adjacent cores with matched primary tumour and lymph node tissue (n=140). GIT1 expression in tumour cells was scored and statistical correlation analyses were carried out. Results: The results revealed a sub-group of patients that displayed discordant expression of GIT1 between the primary tumour and the lymph nodes (i.e. spatial intratumoural heterogeneity). We observed that loss of GIT1 expression in the tumour cells of the metastasis was associated with a shorter time to recurrence, poorer overall survival, and a shorter median survival time. Moreover, multivariate analysis demonstrated that GIT1 expression was an independent prognostic indicator. Conclusions: GIT1 expression enabled the identification of a sub-class of ER+ patients with lymph node metastasis that have a particularly poor prognostic outcome. We propose that this biomarker could be used to further stratify ER+ breast cancer patients with synchronous lymph node involvement and therefore facilitate adjuvant therapy decision making.

The presence of hexavalent chromium water pollution is a growing global concern. Among the currently applied technologies to remove CrVI, its adsorption and photocatalytic reduction to CrIII less mobile and toxic forms are the most appealing because of their simplicity, reusability, and low energy consumption. However, little attention has been paid to bifunctional catalysts, that is, materials that can reduce CrVI to CrIII and retain both hexavalent and trivalent chromium species at the same time. In this work, the dual CrVI adsorption–reduction capacity of two iconic photoactive water-stable zirconium and titanium-based metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) has been investigated: UiO-66-NH2 and MIL-125. The bifunctionality of photoactive MOFs depends on different parameters, such as the particle size in MIL-125 or organic linker functionalization/defective positions in UiO-66 type sorbents. For instance, the presence of organic linker defects in UiO-66 has shown to be detrimental for the chromium photoreduction but beneficial for the retention of the CrIII phototransformed species. Both compounds are able to retain from 90 to 98% of the initial chromium present at acidic solutions as well as immobilize the reduced CrIII species, demonstrating the suitability of the materials for CrVI environmental remediation. In addition, it has been demonstrated that adsorption can be carried out also in a continuous flux mode through a diluted photoactive MOF/sand chromatographic column. The obtained results open the perspective to assess the bifunctional sorption and photoreduction ability of a plethora of MOF materials that have been applied for chromium capture and photoreduction purposes. In parallel, this work opens the perspective to develop specific chemical encoding strategies within MOFs to transfer this bifunctionality to other related water remediation applications.

Background: The outcome for oestrogen receptor positive (ER+) breast cancer patients has improved greatly in recent years largely due to targeted therapy. However, the presence of involved multiple synchronous lymph nodes remains associated with a poor outcome. Consequently, these patients would benefit from the identification of new prognostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets. The expression of G-protein-coupled receptor kinase-interacting protein 1 (GIT1) has recently been shown to be an indicator of advanced stage breast cancer. Therefore, we investigated its expression and prognostic value of GIT1 in a cohort of 140 ER+ breast cancer with synchronous lymph node involvement. Methods: Immunohistochemistry was employed to assess GIT1 expression in a tissue microarray (TMA) containing duplicate non-adjacent cores with matched primary tumour and lymph node tissue (n=140). GIT1 expression in tumour cells was scored and statistical correlation analyses were carried out. Results: The results revealed a sub-group of patients that displayed discordant expression of GIT1 between the primary tumour and the lymph nodes (i.e. spatial intratumoural heterogeneity). We observed that loss of GIT1 expression in the metastasis was associated with a shorter time to recurrence, poorer overall survival, and a shorter median survival time. Moreover, multivariate analysis demonstrated that GIT1 expression was an independent prognostic indicator. Conclusions: GIT1 expression enabled the identification of a sub-class of ER+ patients with lymph node metastasis that have a particularly poor prognostic outcome. We propose that this biomarker could be used to further stratify ER+ breast cancer patients with synchronous lymph node involvement and therefore facilitate adjuvant therapy decision making.