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: Tourism has been fundamental for countries’ economic development, and Africa is the destination with the biggest tourism growth potential. Using 1414 travelers’ online reviews collected from TripAdvisor, the present work aims to understand which variables predict the satisfaction of Cape Verde’s hotel clients. Satisfaction was analyzed using sentiment analysis and ANOVA to predict the effect of the gathered variables on clients’ satisfaction. Results indicate that 90% of the clients revealed positive satisfaction and that nationality, date of stay, and previous traveler experiences affect satisfaction. Contrarily to our predictions, there is no statistically significant evidence that gender influences satisfaction. The findings of this study will help hotel marketing managers to align their strategies accordingly and meet their clients’ expectations.

Nearly 100 genes and functional polymorphisms underlying natural variation in plant development and physiology have been identified. In crop plants, these include genes involved in domestication traits, such as those related to plant architecture, fruit and seed structure and morphology, as well as yield and quality traits improved by subsequent crop breeding. In wild plants, comparable traits have been dissected mainly in Arabidopsis thaliana. In this review, we discuss the major contributions of the analysis of natural variation to our understanding of plant development and physiology, focusing in particular on the timing of germination and flowering, plant growth and morphology, primary metabolism, and mineral accumulation. Overall, functional polymorphisms appear in all types of genes and gene regions, and they may have multiple mutational causes. However, understanding this diversity in relation to adaptation and environmental variation is a challenge for which tools are now available.

Expression of nifH in 28 surface water samples collected during fall 2007 from six stations in the vicinity of the Cape Verde Islands (north-east Atlantic) was examined using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)-based clone libraries and quantitative RT-PCR (RT-qPCR) analysis of seven diazotrophic phylotypes. Biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) rates and nutrient concentrations were determined for these stations, which were selected based on a range in surface chlorophyll concentrations to target a gradient of primary productivity. BNF rates greater than 6 nmolN l −1  h −1 were measured at two of the near-shore stations where high concentrations of Fe and PO 4 3− were also measured. Six hundred and five nifH transcripts were amplified by RT-PCR, of which 76% are described by six operational taxonomic units, including Trichodesmium and the uncultivated UCYN-A, and four non-cyanobacterial diazotrophs that clustered with uncultivated Proteobacteria . Although all five cyanobacterial phylotypes quantified in RT-qPCR assays were detected at different stations in this study, UCYN-A contributed most significantly to the pool of nifH transcripts in both coastal and oligotrophic waters. A comparison of results from RT-PCR clone libraries and RT-qPCR indicated that a γ-proteobacterial phylotype was preferentially amplified in clone libraries, which underscores the need to use caution interpreting clone-library-based nifH studies, especially when considering the importance of uncultivated proteobacterial diazotrophs.

Tourism has been fundamental for countries’ economic development, and Africa is the destination with the biggest tourism growth potential. Using 1414 travelers’ online reviews collected from TripAdvisor, the present work aims to understand which variables predict the satisfaction of Cape Verde’s hotel clients. Satisfaction was analyzed using sentiment analysis and ANOVA to predict the effect of the gathered variables on clients’ satisfaction. Results indicate that 90% of the clients revealed positive satisfaction and that nationality, date of stay, and previous traveler experiences affect satisfaction. Contrarily to our predictions, there is no statistically significant evidence that gender influences satisfaction. The findings of this study will help hotel marketing managers to align their strategies accordingly and meet their clients’ expectations.

Effective conservation of the endangered North Atlantic humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) which breeds in the eastern North Atlantic around the Cape Verde Islands off West Africa requires information about their spatio-temporal distribution, population size, and migratory patterns. Understanding temporal distribution is particularly important as annually only a portion of this population migrates between high-latitude summer feeding grounds and their breeding grounds. During the winter/spring months between 1990 and 2018, we conducted cetacean surveys targeting humpback whales. Survey periods varied from 30 to 90 days in duration. Collectively, we obtained fluke photographs from 267 individually recognizable humpback whales from this region. These fluke photographs have been compared and included in the North Atlantic Humpback Whale Catalogue, which has nearly 11,000 individual flukes photographed from throughout the North Atlantic. Photo-identified individuals from the Cape Verde Islands population have been previously photographed/recaptured on high-latitude feeding grounds in northern Norway (including the Barents Sea and Svalbard archipelago), Iceland, Azores, Tenerife, Canary Islands, and Guadeloupe (southeast Caribbean). Those whales resighted off Azores and the Canary Islands were most often observed in May/June and were presumably en route to their northern feeding grounds. The largest number of recaptures from high-latitude feeding grounds were 44 individual humpbacks (44/267 = 16.4%) identified in both Cape Verdean and Norwegian waters. Twelve humpbacks (12/267 = 4.5%) were identified in the Cape Verde Islands and Iceland. Based on photo-identification of humpbacks in the Cape Verde Islands, we report a high inter-annual resighting rate with 131 whales observed in more than one year (131/267 = 49.1%). While this is partly due to high probability of detection in a small population, these results nonetheless also suggest strong site fidelity to this breeding ground. The estimated total number of individual whales occurring in this eastern North Atlantic breeding area between 2010 and 2018 was 272 (SE 10).

Yellow fever mosquito is confirmed, but others may contribute. Zika virus, the once obscure pathogen now widely feared for causing birth defects and other problems, has spread very far, very quickly since an outbreak was first noticed in northeast Brazil in early 2015. It has reached more than 40 countries across the Americas, even making it to the Cape Verde islands, off the western coast of Africa. More than a million people have become infected along the way. As public health officials try to contain the epidemic, researchers are racing to answer a key question with important implications for which areas are at risk, and what methods might work to slow its spread: Which mosquitoes are transmitting the virus? That is no small challenge. Scientists need evidence from both lab-raised and wild-caught mosquitoes to make the case that a given species is helping spread the virus. Only last week, a team in Rio de Janeiro announced that they had nabbed several Aedes aegypti infected with Zika—the first infected mosquitoes found in Brazil. The species has long been the prime suspect, but some scientists believe the Zika virus must have other carriers to have spread so quickly—and they have field and lab studies underway to resolve the issue.

In developing countries, most of the time, tourism is characterised by an exogenous variable. Instead of reducing social issues, not only does this characteristic feature increase them but it also has negative repercussions on a cultural level and on the environment, with complete disregard for the key principles of sustainable development. Local communities are not usually able to interpret the potential for tourism development since they do not share common core needs with it. Consequently, the underlying needs of international tourism flows are neither interpreted nor understood. In this paper, the proposed strategy is community‑based tourism. Its core can be found in the integral mapping and management of every single component of Cape Verdean tourism that is given in the most interesting areas in terms of environment, landscape, and culture on the island. The development of identifying social and cultural traits plays a fundamental role when considering the balance between the tourist’s needs and expectations, and the needs of the host population.

Acharacterisation of the dust transported from North Africa deserts to the Cape Verde Islands, including particle size distribution, concentrations and optical properties, for a complete annual cycle (the year 2011), is presented and discussed. The present analysis includes annual simulations of the BSC-DREAM8b and the NMMB/BSCDust models, 1-yr of surface aerosol measurements performed within the scope of the CV-DUST Project, AERONET direct-sun observations, and back-trajectories. Aseasonal intrusion of dust from North West Africa affects Cape Verde at surface levels from October till March when atmospheric concentrations in Praia are very high (PM10 observed concentrations reach hourly values up to 710 mg/m3). The air masses responsible for the highest aerosol concentrations in Cape Verde describe a path over the central Saharan desert area in Algeria, Mali and Mauritania before reaching the Atlantic Ocean. During summer, dust from North Africa is transported towards the region at higher altitudes, yielding to high aerosol optical depths. The BSC-DREAM8b and the NMMB/BSC-Dust models, which are for the first time evaluated for surface concentration and size distribution in Africa for an annual cycle, are able to reproduce the majority of the dust episodes. Results from NMMB/BSCDust are in better agreement with observed particulate matter concentrations and aerosol optical depth throughout the year. For this model, the comparison between observed and modelled PM10 daily averaged concentrations yielded a correlation coefficient of 0.77 and a 29.0 mg/m3 ‘bias’, while for BSC-DREAM8b the correlation coefficient was 0.63 and ‘bias’ 32.9 mg/m3. From this value, 12 14 mg/m3 is due to the sea salt contribution, which is not considered by the model. In addition, the model does not take into account biomass-burning particles, secondary pollutants and local sources (i.e., resuspension). These results roughly allow for the establishment of a yearly contribution of 42% of dust from North African deserts for PM10 levels observed in Cape Verde.

Research Highlights: The first model for crown age estimation was developed for Dracaena ombet Heuglin ex Kotschy and Peyr. and D. draco subsp. caboverdeana Marrero Rodr. and R. Almeida. Background and Objectives: Dracaena species are monocotyledon trees without annual tree rings. Most arborescent dragon tree species are endangered; thus, it is important to determine the age structures of these populations for proper conservation management strategies, and for modelling of population trends. For these reasons, it is necessary to develop a methodology of crown age estimation. Materials and Methods: Field data were collected in the Desa’a Forest (Ethiopia) and in Santo Antão (Cape Verde Islands). Trees within each age class, as expressed by the number of branch orders, were measured. The diameter at breast height, tree height, stem height, number of branch orders, number of all leaf rosettes and number of flowering leaf rosettes within the crown were recorded for each sampled tree. The flowering probabilities were counted as input data for the model used. Results: The duration of the interval between flowering events was 5.23 years for D. ombet and 4.94 years for D. draco subsp. caboverdeana. The crown of the oldest tree of D. ombet with 18 branch orders was estimated to be 94.2 years old, and the crown of the oldest tree of D. draco subsp. caboverdeana with 22 branch orders was estimated to be 108.6 years old.

The article describes and analyses the linguistic situation and current status of Creole in the Cape Verde Islands. The focus is partly on the demography and the history, but mainly on the linguistic politics of this territory and the position of Creole in Cape Verdean society. Creole is the mother tongue of practically the entire Cape Verdean population and the language is used in all informal oral and written communication. The majority of the local population wish Creole to be used in schools and in formal written communication, desiring that the country will move definitively from diglossia to bilingualism.