Sapientia
Repositório Científico da UAlg
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Abdominal Ultrasound Phantom – A potential training tool
Publication . Pinheiro, João; Ribeiro, A. D. M.; Ribeiro, L. P. V. P. V.
The purpose of this educational intervention was to evaluate the effectiveness of abdominal ultrasound phantoms as a simulation-based learning tool in the training of Medical Imaging and Radiology students. Abdominal ultrasonography is a highly operator-dependent modality, yet undergraduate training is often limited by restricted patient access, ethical considerations, and reduced opportunities for supervised practice [3,6]. Simulation-based learning offers a safe and reproducible environment for hands-on training, supporting experiential learning and skill acquisition [3,4].
Reduced N2 fixation in the tropical Atlantic Ocean during the warm late Pliocene
Publication . Yehudai, Maayan; Farmer, Jesse R.; Straub, Marietta; Ogretmen, Nazik; Studer, Anja S.; Oesch, Lukas; Creel, Roger C.; Schiebel, Ralf; Auderset, Alexandra; Lawrence, Kira; Haug, Gerald H.; Sigman, Daniel M.; Martínez-García, Alfredo
Water column denitrification, a major oceanic nitrogen (N) sink, decreased under past warmer-than-present climates, but the response of N2 fixation, the main oceanic N source, remains unresolved. Here we address this gap using foraminifera-bound N isotope records from the tropical Atlantic spanning the warm late Pliocene, a geological analog for projected 21st century warming. Our records show that tropical North Atlantic N2 fixation was reduced during the late Pliocene and had increased markedly by the late Pleistocene, likely due to an increase in water column denitrification, a process that globally engenders N-poor, phosphorus (P)-bearing surface waters. After ~ 2.8 million years ago, as glaciations intensified, our records show that obliquity-paced variations in the intensity of N2 fixation emerged, likely reflecting sea-level controlled changes in continental shelf area and benthic denitrification in the western tropical Atlantic, again through the generation of N-poor, P-bearing surface waters. These findings show that N2 fixation responds to the ocean’s N loss processes both over millions of years and on orbital timescales, suggesting that the global marine fixed N budget may rebalance under warmer climates by reducing both water column denitrification and N2 fixation.
Parsimony, homology and the continuity of stone tool use in the hominin clade
Publication . Proffitt, Tomos; Reeves, Jonathan S.; Bandini, Elisa
Whether the last common ancestor (LCA) of Homo and Pan (ca. 6–7 Ma) used stone tools is a foundational question in palaeoanthropology. However, it is often treated as known rather than as a hypothesis requiring substantiation. Lacking fossil evidence for the LCA, this assumption is based on data from extant primates and the available hominin fossil record. Phylogenetic approaches invoking parsimony argue that the presence of stone tool use in both Pan and Homo reflects homology rather than convergent evolution. While methodologically legitimate, we argue that this framework has been applied without sufficient attention to the specific criteria for this to be true. For homology to hold, stone tool use must have been continuously expressed across generations of both lineages from the LCA to the present. We evaluate this claim against three lines of evidence: behavioural data from extant primates, showing that stone tool use is heterogeneous within Pan; the hominin fossil and archaeological record, which leaves a substantial evidential gap between the LCA and the earliest known documented technologies; and comparative data from phylogenetically distant tool using animals, which show that similar behaviours can arise independently under comparable ecological conditions. Together, these lines of evidence favour a model of multiple, context-dependent origins of stone tool use over unbroken inheritance from a tool using LCA.
Occurrence and anthropogenic threats affecting humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) inthe Southern Iberian Atlantic Waters
Publication . Gennari, Ginevra; Marçalo, Ana; Rodrigues, Alfredo; Magalhães, Sara; Abrantes, Gonçalo; Dias, André; Climaco, Rodrigo; Truluck, Steve; Pignata, Eleonora; Lubansky, Tanya; Jones, Lindsey; Wenzel, Frederick; Castilho, Rita; Peres dos Santos, Rui Pedro
Migration is crucial behavior for many animals, allowing them to adapt their life history requirements to their environments' temporal and spatial variability (Kettemer et al. 2022). Among marine mammals, humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) stand out as a highly migratory species, and their survival is heavily reliant on established migratory routes (Kennedy et al. 2013; Peres dos Santos et al. 2022; Stone et al. 1990). Although this species is one of the most researched marine mammals worldwide, very little is known about its behavior in various parts of the world. For nearly 50 years, photographic identification (photo-ID) techniques have facilitated in-depth studies of their long-distance migration patterns (Chosson et al. 2024; Katona and Whitehead 1981; Reeves et al. 2006; Schevill and Backus 1960). This type of identification is possible because individual humpback whales possess distinctive pigmentation patterns on the ventral surface of their flukes, as well as scars and variations in the serration of the trailing edges (Carlson et al. 1990; Katona and Beard 1990; Reeves et al. 2006; Schevill and Backus 1960). These unique features are often complemented by shape variations and marks in the dorsal fins (Blackmer et al. 2006; Franklin et al. 2020). Notably, the North Atlantic Humpback Whale Catalog (NAHWC), maintained by Allied Whale at the College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, Maine, USA (https://www.coa.edu/allied-whale/), has documented over 12,000 individual humpback whales from the North Atlantic Ocean basin (Jones et al. 2025).
Avaliação da Saúde Mental – Entrevista Clínica
Publication . Silva, Celso Filipe Boto
"A Entrevista Clínica, no âmbito da Avaliação da Saúde Mental, exige competências de comunicação verbal e não verbal e a construção de uma relação terapêutica, podendo a recolha de informação ser progressiva ao longo de vários encontros.
Numa primeira entrevista, nem sempre é possível recolher todas as informações relevantes, pois a pessoa pode ter dificuldade em partilhar todos os detalhes logo no primeiro encontro. À medida que a relação terapêutica se vai consolidando, novos dados devem ser progressivamente acrescentados e analisados, numa lógica de processo contínuo e não de um momento único e fechado.
É essencialmente um guião estruturado e detalhado, destinado a apoiar os estudantes na condução sistemática da entrevista de avaliação da saúde mental".