Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2025-09-02"
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- Thermal and nutritional strategies for managing tenacibaculum maritimum in aquaculture: a welfare-oriented reviewPublication . Carrilho, Raquel Vaz; Moreira, Márcio Júlio Vicente; Farinha, Ana Paula; Schrama, Denise; Soares, Florbela; Rodrigues, Pedro; Cerqueira, MarcoDisease outbreaks pose a significant challenge in aquaculture, leading to substantial economic losses for producers. Tenacibaculosis, a significant ulcerative bacterial disease caused by Tenacibaculum maritimum, affects a wide range of marine fish species globally. Current disease management relies on antibiotics and chemicals, leading to environmental issues, impaired fish and consumer health, and increased antimicrobial-resistant bacteria. This narrative review critically explores welfare-oriented alternatives, specifically examining the potential of temperature modulation and functional diets. Although thermal strategies show promise for warm-water species through behavioural fever mechanisms, their effectiveness remains limited by species-specific thermal tolerances and lack of commercial validation. Nutritional interventions using marine algae, probiotics, and immunostimulants demonstrate broader applicability but suffer from inconsistent methodologies, limited commercial validation, and significant knowledge gaps. We propose that integration of these approaches could theoretically represent a paradigm shift from pathogen-focused to host-centred disease management, pending empirical validation. However, this integration concept requires rigorous validation, as significant knowledge gaps persists regarding optimal implementation protocols, welfare monitoring frameworks, and economic viability assessments. From our perspective, transitioning to welfare-oriented aquaculture demands rigorous evaluation and validation, commercial-scale trials, economic cost–benefit analysis, and the establishment of regulatory frameworks before these theoretical alternatives can be responsibly implemented.
- Contributions of physical activity and positive psychological functioning to flow and well-beingPublication . Rodrigues, Nuno; Vieira, Luís Sérgio; Martins, Cátia; Cardoso Moreira, Catarina; Neves de Jesus, SaúlStudies highlight the importance of physical activity (PA) in relation to positive psychological functioning (PPF) among adults. Physical inactivity is strongly associated with lower levels of PPF, supporting the idea that lifestyle choices can be identified as a public health concern. There is growing evidence of the health benefits of regular PA. This study aims to analyze the contribution of PA to flow, PPF, and well-being. The sample consisted of 226 adults aged between 18 and 65 years (M = 41.23; SD = 12.50), mostly female (70.35%), with 56% reporting regular PA. Results revealed significant differences favoring active individuals over sedentary participants in all dimensions of flow, except for loss of self-consciousness. Regular PA was associated with higher levels of flow and psychological well-being. Both regular and intensive PA, as well as environmental mastery (EM), were key contributors to flow experiences, while self-acceptance and EM were central contributors to the Live Well Index. These findings support the association between PA and lower likelihood of sedentary lifestyles, emphasize its benefits for well-being, and highlight the association between PPF and active lifestyle patterns.
- Potential protective role of amphibian skin bacteria against water mold saprolegnia spp.Publication . Costa, Sara; Proença, Diogo Neves; Alves, Artur; Morais, Paula V.; Lopes, IsabelAmphibian populations have experienced a severe decline over the past 40 years, driven primarily by environmental pollution, habitat destruction, climate change, and disease. This work reports, for the first time, saprolegniosis in Pelophylax perezi egg masses and saprolegniosis in amphibians in Portugal. After isolation and phylogenetic analysis, the pathogen was identified as Saprolegnia australis. Following this, the present work intended to screen a collection of P. perezi skin bacteria for the existence of bacterial strains with inhibitory action against the newly identified S. australis SC1 and two other species, Saprolegnia diclina SAP 1010 UE and Saprolegnia australis SAP 1581 UE. The results showed that various bacterial species could inhibit the growth of these three species of oomycetes. Bacteria with the most significant antagonistic action against Saprolegnia spp. predominantly belonged to the genus Bacillus, followed by Serratia, Pseudomonas, and Aeromonas. Despite variations in bacterial diversity among frog populations, the present study also demonstrated the presence of bacteria on frogs’ skin that were capable of inhibiting Saprolegnia spp., as evidenced by in vitro challenge assays. These findings highlight the protective function of bacteria present in amphibian skin. The observed bacterial diversity may contribute to the metabolic redundancy of the frog skin microbiome, helping to maintain its functional capacity despite shifts in the community composition. Additionally, the study found that, when providing a more advantageous environment for pathogen growth—in this case a peptone–glucose (PG) medium instead of R2A—the percentage of bacteria with moderate-to-strong antagonistic activity dropped by 13% to 4%. In conclusion, the presence of bacteria capable of inhibiting Saprolegnia spp. in adult individuals and across different environmental conditions may contribute to lowering the susceptibility of frog adults towards Saprolegnia spp., compared with that in the early stages of development, like the tadpole or egg stages.