Azores Research Articles

Estudo de aceitabilidade das intervenções psicológicas via telefone para sobreviventes de cancro dos Açores

As intervenções com recurso à tecnologia têm mostrado ser promissoras para ultrapassar algumas barreiras de acesso aos cuidados dos sobreviventes de cancro de regiões mais isoladas. Os estudos de aceitabilidade e das preferências dos sobreviventes relativamente a estas intervenções são escassos em Portugal, e inexistente nos Açores. OBJETIVOS: Este estudo pretendeu avaliar: i) os comportamentos de procura de ajuda dos sobreviventes de cancro dos Açores e as barreiras à procura de ajuda; e ii) o grau de aceitabilidade e as preferências destes sobreviventes relativamente ao desenvolvimento, implementação e participação numa intervenção psicológica via telefone. MÉTODO: Este estudo envolveu 173 sobreviventes de cancro dos Açores, recrutados num hospital público regional, numa unidade de saúde regional e numa instituição sem fins lucrativos. Recorreu-se a um questionário construído para o efeito, sendo os dados tratados com estatística descritiva. RESULTADOS: O apoio psicológico mostrou-se um comportamento de ajuda aceitável para os sobreviventes, sendo as barreiras à procura de ajuda de índole estrutural/prática e de conhecimento as mais endossadas pelos participantes. A maioria da amostra considerou útil uma intervenção psicológica via telefone, reportando ser provável participar. As sessões com uma duração situada entre os 30 a 45 minutos e com uma periodicidade quinzenal foram os aspetos preferenciais dos participantes. DISCUSSÃO E CONCLUSÃO: Espera-se que os resultados deste estudo possam orientar o desenvolvimento de uma intervenção via telefone que responda flexivelmente às necessidades dos sobreviventes dos Açores e facilite o suporte a prestar-lhes, integrando as suas preferências no desenho de uma intervenção desta natureza.

SEAFLOOR SPREADING AND TECTONICS AT THE CHARLIE GIBBS TRANSFORM SYSTEM (52-53ºN, MID ATLANTIC RIDGE): PRELIMINARY RESULTS FROM R/V A. N. STRAKHOV EXPEDITION S50

The Charlie Gibbs offsetting by ~ 340 km the Mid Atlantic Ridge (MAR) axis at 52°-53° N is one of the main transform systems of the North Atlantic. Located between long mid-ocean ridge segments influenced from the south by the Azores and from the north by the Iceland mantle plumes, this transform system has been active since the early phases of North Atlantic rifting. Object of several surveys in the ’70 and ’80, Charlie Gibbs received great attention for its unique structure characterized by two long-lived right-lateral transform faults linked by a short ~ 40 km-long intra-transform spreading centre (ITR) with parallel fracture zone valleys extending continuously towards the continental margins. In October 2020 expedition S50 of the R/V A.N. Strakhov surveyed an area of 54,552 km2 covering the entire Charlie Gibbs transform system and the adjacent MAR spreading segments. We collected new bathymetric, magnetic and high-resolution single channel seismic data, along with basaltic, gabbroic and mantle rocks from 21 dredges. This work contains preliminary data from cruise S50 and discusses the large-scale architecture of this unique, long-lived transform system.

NoDOS(3) Calling!! Propuesta de trazos, huellas y recorridos como resultado de una residencia artística online

En el presente fotoensayo se comparte un proyecto artístico intermedia, realizado en The Spectacular House, una plataforma de divulgación de arte y pensamiento, comisariada por Sofia Caetano y establecida en Pittsburgh (USA) y Ponta Delgada (Azores). Su labor se muestra en una página web creada con el objetivo de promover el arte y la cultura de manera virtual a escala global. Dentro de esta plataforma, se encuentra “Gate”, una puerta que se abre hacia una galería de arte online donde se alojan proyectos site specific y proyectos generados en Internet como parte del proceso desarrollado en un entorno de residencia artística online. Y es dentro de este contexto donde el Grupo NoDOS(3), formado por Cristina Ghetti y Elia Torrecilla, desarrolló un proyecto durante dos semanas. El resultado final es una pieza digital, con una fuerte presencia de lo sonoro, donde las interacciones del usuario, las experiencias de desplazamientos, hipervínculos, vídeos, fotos y recorridos múltiples permiten visualizar un trabajo de naturaleza híbrida, de una manera diferente y creativa.
 
 En este fotoensayo, se propone una visualización del proyecto a través de imágenes que muestran nuestro proceso de trabajo y que permiten al lector atravesar la pantalla a través del hipervínculo. De este modo, el visitante podrá participar de las investigaciones que NoDOS(3) llevamos a cabo, y que están basadas en el uso del cuerpo y la tecnología en el espacio (físico, virtual e híbrido) a través de la performance. En definitiva, ofrecemos la posibilidad de que el visitante realice un recorrido de manera lúdica e interactiva a través de un fotoensayo a golpe de “click”.

Islandscapes of the Azores and Madeira in the Art of Nuno Henrique, Maria José Cavaco and Rui Melo

Islandscapes of the Azores and Madeira in the Art of Nuno Henrique, Maria José Cavaco and Rui Melo

Species of Diaporthe on Camellia and Citrus in the Azores Islands.

Species of Diaporthe are important plant pathogens, saprobes, and endophytes on a wide range of plant hosts. Species such as D . citri are well-known on Citrus , as agents of pre- or post-harvest infections, causing dieback, melanose and stem-end rot on fruit. In this study we explored the occurrence and diversity of Diaporthe associated with tropical and sub-tropical plants. In particular, species of Camellia and Citrus were sampled. Surveys were carried out during 2017 in the Azores Islands, Portugal. Ten Diaporthe strains were isolated from symptomatic twigs and leaves. Five representative isolates were subjected to morphological characterization and multi-locus phylogeny based on five genomic loci (ITS, tef1 , cal , his3 and tub2 ). Diaporthe citri was found associated with shoot blight on Citrus reticulata , which represents a new record for Europe. A new species, Diaporthe portugallica sp. nov. was isolated and described from leaf spots on Camellia sinensis .

Implications of Landslide Typology and Predisposing Factor Combinations for Probabilistic Landslide Susceptibility Models: A Case Study in Lajedo Parish (Flores Island, Azores—Portugal)

The main objective of this study is to better understand and quantify the consequences for landslide susceptibility assessment caused by (i) the discrimination (or not) of landslide typology and (ii) the use of different predisposing factor combinations. The study area for this research was Lajedo parish (Flores Island, Azores—Portugal). For the landslide susceptibility modeling, 12 predisposing factors and a historical landslide inventory with a total of 474 individual landslide rupture areas were used as inputs, and the Information Value method was then applied. It was concluded that susceptibility models developed specifically for each landslide typology achieve better results when compared to the model developed for the total inventory, which suffers from a bias caused by the strong spatial abundance of one landslide typology. A total of 4095 susceptibility models were tested for each typology, and the best models were selected according to their goodness of fit. The best model for both falls and slides has seven predisposing factors, some of which do not correspond to the factors that have the best individual discriminatory capabilities. The number of expected and observed unique terrain conditions for each model allowed us to conclude that with the successive addition of predisposing factors, there is an inability of the territory to generate new observed unique terrain conditions. This consequence was directly related to the inability to increase the goodness of fit of the computed models. For each landslide typology, the predictive capacity of the best susceptibility model was assessed by computing the Prediction Rate Curves and the Area Under the Curve.

A importância do projeto Pervermac II no uso sustentável de pesticidas em fruticultura e seu impacto na saúde humana na Macaronésia. O caso dos Açores

The general objective of the PERVEMAC II project is to promote food security and responsible agriculture in Macaronesia (Azores, Madeira, Canaries and Cape Verde) with the following specific objectives: quantification of pesticide residues in soil and agricultural products; identification of dietary food components and quantification of daily intake; quantification of pesticide residues in blood and urine; changing the eating habits of children and adolescents; implementation of school gardens; training of teachers in health education; training of technicians in alternative means of crop protection. In the first stage, during 2017 e 2018, a sampling of agricultural products including fruits will be carried out to search for residues of plant protection products. At the same time, the quantification of their food intake will be quantified in the target population of the 2 municipalities of Terceira Island. If the levels of pesticide residues found in both the target population (blood and urine) and in the samples of agricultural products are above the MRL, the promotion and improvement of farming and food practices will be advanced. To this end, actions are planned in schools and in the population, to build an adequate food program and to promote healthy eating habits through a manual of good practices, aided by the creation of school gardens. For the farmer and technicians, are planned also knowledge transfer actions based on a manual of good agricultural practices will assist farmers in combating harmful organisms in their crops.

Scientists Offer New Explanation for Island's Unexpected Uplift

Researchers developed a new timeline for the rise, fall, and rise again of a puzzling island in the Azores.

14 C Ages of the Last Eruptive Stage of Faial Island Caldeira Volcano

Faial is one of the nine islands that form the Azores archipelago in the North Atlantic, characterized by a complex geodynamic setting dominated by the triple point where the North American, Eurasian, and African lithospheric plates meet. Faial Island comprises two central volcanoes and two basaltic fissure systems. The oldest central volcano is the Ribeirinha Volcano, on the northeast sector of the island. It is an extinct volcano, extensively dissected by the regional distensive faults of the Pedro Miguel Graben. The volcano has an age spanning from more than 850 ka BP to about 340 ka BP. The central portion of the island is formed by the Caldeira Volcano, a central volcano that has been active since before 440 ka BP. The ages of the basaltic fissure systems are less well constrained. The Horta Platform Fissure System, on the southeast sector of the island, has been active since more then 11 ka BP and its most recent activity is older than 6 ka BP. The Capelo Peninsula Fissure System, forming the west portion of the island, is a geomorphologically young region. This system has been active until the present and produced two historical eruptions, one in AD 1672–1673 and another in AD 1957–1958. DOI: 10.2458/azu_rc.57.17957

Fossil Mysticeti from the Pleistocene of Santa Maria Island, Azores (Northeast Atlantic Ocean), and the prevalence of fossil cetaceans on oceanic islands

Fossil remains of Cetacea are known globally from nearshore marine sediments along continental coastlines, but they are poorly known from volcanic oceanic island archipelagos. Here we report Pleistocene fossil cetacean material from late Neogene and Quaternary age outcrops on the Santa Maria Island of the Azores island archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean. These remains consist of an isolated and highly worn fragment from the mandible of a mediumto large-sized baleen-bearing mysticete (i.e., Chaeomysticeti), which was exposed at the marine isotope stage 5 (sub-stage MIS 5e) level at Praia do Calhau, after Hurricane Gordon hit Santa Maria Island in August 2012. While this occurrence represents only the second description of Pleistocene cetaceans from volcanic oceanic islands, we predict that fossil cetaceans are likely underreported from oceanic islands, given their extant abundance and richness near oceanic island archipelagos today, whose geomorphology and oceanography provide important settings for the migration and life history patterns of living cetaceans. Sergio P. Avila. CIBIO, Centro de Investigacao em Biodiversidade e Recursos Geneticos, InBIO Laboratorio Associado, Polo dos Acores, Departamento de Biologia da Universidade dos Acores, Campus de Ponta Delgada, Apartado 1422, 9501-801 Ponta Delgada, Acores, Portugal; and MPB-Marine PalaeoBiogeography group, University of the Azores, Ponta Delgada, Portugal; and Faculdade de Ciencias da Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre s/n, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal. avila@uac.pt Ricardo Cordeiro. CIBIO, Centro de Investigacao em Biodiversidade e Recursos Geneticos, InBIO Laboratorio Associado, Polo dos Acores, Departamento de Biologia da Universidade dos Acores, Campus de Ponta Delgada, Apartado 1422, 9501-801 Ponta Delgada, Acores, Portugal; and MPB-Marine PalaeoBiogeography group, University of the Azores, Ponta Delgada, Portugal. rjpcordeiro@gmail.com Ana R. Rodrigues. Departamento de Biologia da Universidade dos Acores, Campus de Ponta Delgada, Apartado 1422, 9501-801 Ponta Delgada, Acores, Portugal. arprodrigues.17@gmail.com Ana C. Rebelo. CIBIO, Centro de Investigacao em Biodiversidade e Recursos Geneticos, InBIO Laboratorio Associado, Polo dos Acores, Departamento de Biologia da Universidade dos Acores, Campus de Ponta Delgada, Apartado 1422, 9501-801 Ponta Delgada, Acores, Portugal; and MPB-Marine PalaeoBiogeography group, University of the Azores, Ponta Delgada, Portugal; and SMNS Staatliches Museum fur Naturkunde Stuttgart, Rosenstein 1, D-70191 Stuttgart, Germany. PE Article Number: 18.2.27A Copyright: Paleontological Society June 2015 Submission: 3 March 2015. Acceptance: 22 May 2015 Avila, Sergio P., Cordeiro, Ricardo, Rodrigues, Ana R., Rebelo, Ana C., Melo, Carlos, Madeira, P., and Pyenson , Nicholas D. 2015. Fossil Mysticeti from the Pleistocene of Santa Maria Island, Azores (Northeast Atlantic Ocean), and the prevalence of fossil cetaceans on oceanic islands. Palaeontologia Electronica 18.2.27A: 1-12 palaeo-electronica.org/content/2015/1225-oceanic-island-fossil-cetacean AVILA: OCEANIC-ISLAND FOSSIL CETACEAN acfurtadorebelo@gmail.com Carlos Melo. MPB-Marine PalaeoBiogeography group, University of the Azores, Ponta Delgada, Portugal; and Departamento de Geociencias da Universidade dos Acores, Campus de Ponta Delgada, 9501-801 Ponta Delgada, Acores, Portugal. casm.azores@gmail.com Patricia Madeira. CIBIO, Centro de Investigacao em Biodiversidade e Recursos Geneticos, InBIO Laboratorio Associado, Polo dos Acores, Departamento de Biologia da Universidade dos Acores, Campus de Ponta Delgada, Apartado 1422, 9501-801 Ponta Delgada, Acores, Portugal; and MPB-Marine PalaeoBiogeography group, University of the Azores, Ponta Delgada, Portugal. tamissa@hotmail.com Nicholas D. Pyenson. Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, NHB, MRC 121, PO Box 37012 10th & Constitution NW Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA. PyensonN@si.edu

The study of atmospheric movement patterns and its effect on heavy rainfalls in Iran: case study (January 6th of 1998)

Iranian Plateau due to its specific location is at the transition point than large-scale general circulation models of the troposphere and is seating location of the extra tropical, subtropical and tropical systems. The aim of this study is the synoptic analysis of the atmospheric conditions concurrent with the heavy precipitations of Lorestan, Fars and Hormozgan provinces and determination of the temporal and spatial distribution of them. the objective of this scheme is that heavy rainfall on soil and water resources is a bad influence and the study area is located in an arid region, the floods impact on the region is enormous.heavy precipitation in January 1998 to 2014 were selected. In January 1998, a special precipitation was heavy rainfall That happened in many provinces. And the reason for this day to study.the Studied regionswere provinces: Charmahal, Bushehr, Fars, Hormozgan, Khoozestan, Kohkilooye, Lorestan and Ilam In this study rainfall with greater than 30 mm considered as the criterion of days with heavy rainfall that their information was collected of synoptic and climatology stations of studied provinces.Requested atmospheric data for this research was taken from databases related to the National Organization of Atmosphere and Oceanology of United States. More maps of the site were taken. Then the Earth's surface, 500,700 and 850 Hecto Pascal maps, orbital and meridional winds, earth temperature of earth surface and top of the atmosphere were prepared in Grads software and some of maps were drawn in GIS software.The following results were obtained: On the earth surface map, the main and controller role is with the Siberian high pressure, the Azores's dynamic high pressure and integrated mode of the Sudan and the Mediterranean low pressure systems. The main controller role in high levels is with the high altitude center of Azores in the back of the system, the high altitude center of Arabia in the front of the system and deep traffic of North Africa. Another important factor is the moisture mixture of Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea, Persian Gulf, Oman Sea and Indian Ocean. Air rise factor with enhancing meridional winds that causes to subsidence of cold air, rising warm air and strengthening the polar front is one of the heavy rainfall conditions too. Eastern winds cause to entering of moisture from the Indian Ocean and western winds cause to strengthen of cyclones and heavy rainfall in the region.

Culturable bacterial phylogeny from a shallow water hydrothermal vent of Espalamaca (Faial, Azores) reveals a variety of novel taxa

Phylogenetic diversity of the 16S rRNA gene asso-ciated with the domain bacteria was examined at the level of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) using the rarefaction analysis from a newly identified shallow water hydrothermal vent, Espalamaca in the Azorean Island Faial (Horta), North Atlantic Ocean. Diluted sea water nutrient agar amended with metals manga-nese, lead, iron and element sulphur, could help in re-trieving highest OTUs (95) from the vent and 39 OTUs from nonvent. Molecular tools implemented on bac-terial census indicated the occupancy of γ-Proteobacteria by 55.78%, α-Proteobacteria by 21.05% and 12.63% of Bacteroidetes in the total population. Occurrence of novel species maximized with α-Proteobacteria (11/20) followed by Bacteroi-detes (5/12) signified the necessity of studying these groups to strengthen the biodiversity database. Shan-non index (H') and the Chao I richness estimator illu-strated a strong bacterial community in the venting area. The current study confers many bacterial genera which were not reported earlier in any of the shallow water vents and adds 33 new taxa to the database.

Geometric improvement of the existing bagacina (lapilli) concrete masonry base unit and development of a new masonry system composed by accessory units for the construction in the Azores islands

Resumen es: El archipielago de las Azores es una region remota de pequenas dimensiones y con bajos niveles poblacionales donde las cuestiones de la sostenibilidad y ...

New records for the opisthobranch fauna of the Archipelago of the Azores (north-east Atlantic Ocean)

ricardo cordeiro, manuel anto’nio e. malaquias, guillem mas, irene figueroa, jose’ p. borges and se’rgio p. a’vila CIBIO, Centro de Investigacao em Biodiversidade e Recursos Geneticos, InBIO Laboratorio Associado, Polo dos Acores, Universidade dos Acores, Campus de Ponta Delgada, Apartado 1422, 9501-801 Ponta Delgada, Acores, Portugal, Departamento de Biologia, Universidade dos Acores, Campus de Ponta Delgada, Apartado 1422, 9501-801 Ponta Delgada, Acores, Portugal, Phylogenetic Systematics and Evolution Research Group, University Museum of Bergen, Natural History Collections, University of Bergen, PB 7800, 5020-Bergen, Norway, Grup de Recerca d’Opistobranquis de Catalunya, Mas Castellar, s/n, Pontos 17773, Girona, Spain, CREAF, 08193 Cerdanyola del Valles, Spain, Instituto Portugues de Malacologia, Zoomarine, EN 125 km 65, Guia, 8200-864 Albufeira, Portugal

The Cultural Landscape Paradigm: Conservation Approaches and Tools – The Case of the Pico Island Vineyard Culture, Azores Portugal

The Cultural Landscape Paradigm: Conservation Approaches and Tools – The Case of the Pico Island Vineyard Culture, Azores Portugal

Review of Campsicnemus species from the Atlantic Ocean Islands (Diptera: Dolichopodidae)

New species Campsicnemus flavissimus sp. nov., C. meridionalis sp. nov., and C. sanctae-helenae sp. nov. are described from St. Helena. A review and key to seven Campsicnemus species inhabiting Azores, Canary Is., Madeira and St. Helena are provided. A new status (as subspecies of C. armatus Zetterstedt, 1849) for C. caffer Curran, 1926 stat. nov. is proposed.

Plans to eradicate invasive mammals on an island inhabited by humans and domestic animals (Corvo, Azores, Portugal)

Oppel, S., Beaven, B.M., Bolton, M., Bodey, T.W., Geraldes, P., Oliveira, N., Hervias, S., Henriques, A., Silva, C.

Phylogenetics and Evolution of the Macaronesian Clade of Crassulaceae Inferred from Nuclear and Chloroplast Sequence Data

Abstract The Macaronesian clade of Crassulaceae comprises four genera (Aichryson, Aeonium, Greenovia, and Monanthes) that are largely endemic to Macaronesia, a region encompassing the Azores, Madeira, and the Cape Verde, Canary, and Salvage Islands. The monophyly of this clade has been supported by recent family-level phylogenetic analyses; however, the relationships within the clade remain uncertain. To resolve relationships within the Macaronesian clade, we sequenced several chloroplast DNA regions (matK and the trnL-trnF and psbA-trnH spacer regions) and the nuclear rDNA ITS region. Parsimony analyses of separate ITS and cpDNA data sets recover three major clades, corresponding to Aichryson, the perennial species of Monanthes, and Aeonium (including Greenovia). Congruence tests revealed significant heterogeneity between the ITS and cpDNA data sets. Comparison of the topologies resulting from analyses of these separate data sets indicated five instances of incongruence between the ITS and cpDNA that may...

The History of the Azores as Insulae solis or Islands of the Sun in 16th-Century Cartography

The History of the Azores as Insulae solis or Islands of the Sun in 16th-Century Cartography

Levoglucosan levels at background sites in Europe for assessing the impact of biomass combustion on the European aerosol background

Atmospheric levoglucosan has been determined as a proxy for “biomass smoke” in samples from six background stations on a west–east transect extending from the Atlantic (Azores) to the mid‐European background site KPZ (K‐Puszta, Hungary). Concentration levels of levoglucosan (biannual averages) in the west–east transect range from 0.005μg/m3at the oceanic background site AZO (Azores) to 0.52μg/m3at AVE (Aveiro, Portugal). The atmospheric concentration of “biomass smoke” (biannual averages) was derived from the levoglucosan data with wood‐type‐specific conversion factors. Annual averages of wood smoke levels ranged from 0.05μg/m3at AZO to 4.3μg/m3at AVE. Winter (DJF) averages at the low‐level sites AVE and KPZ were 10.8 and 6.7μg/m3, respectively. Relative contributions of biomass smoke to organic matter (OM) range from around 9–11% at the elevated sites SIL, PDD and SBO, as well as for AZO, to 36% at the low‐level site AVE and 28% at KPZ. Surprisingly high relative concentrations of biomass smoke in OM (68 and 47%) were observed for wintry conditions at the continental low‐level CARBOSOL sites AVE and KPZ. Thus biomass smoke is a very important constituent of the organic material in the mid and west European background with summer contributions to organic matter of around 1–6% and winter levels of around 20% at the elevated mountain sites and 47–68% at rural flat terrain sites, not including secondary organic aerosol from biomass combustion sources.