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Understanding the impact of low pH on bacteria and yeasts is clearly of critical importance for a range of pure and applied microbiology disciplines, including clinical/veterinary, industrial/environmental, and food/drink microbiology. Research in this area has made great progress in recent years, with much improved understanding of the molecular events which enable micro-organisms to sense and respond to low pH, and synergies between fundamental and applied research in the disciplines above have begun to develop. Despite this, there is considerable unrealised potential for people working in these different disciplines to interact more fully, and to share concepts, methods, and data. With this in mind, we established a COST Action (CA18113) entitled “EuroMicropH: Understanding and exploiting the impacts of low pH on micro-organisms”, which was launched in Spring 2019 and will run until 2023. We have used this Action to develop databases of relevant literature and of Action participants and their diverse expertise. In addition, we have specific working groups looking at applications in all the above fields, working to develop more and better links between fundamental and applied research. Role of Funding is available from the Action to enable lab exchanges and conference visits for people working in this area. Details of the work of the Action to date, and of the available funding opportunities that we can offer, will be presented.

Understanding the impact of low pH on bacteria and yeasts is clearly of critical importance for a range of pure and applied microbiology disciplines, including clinical/veterinary, industrial/environmental, and food/drink microbiology. Research in this area has made great progress in recent years, with much improved understanding of the molecular events which enable micro-organisms to sense and respond to low pH, and synergies between fundamental and applied research in the disciplines above have begun to develop. Despite this, there is considerable unrealised potential for people working in these different disciplines to interact more fully, and to share concepts, methods, and data. With this in mind, we established a COST Action (CA18113) entitled “EuroMicropH: Understanding and exploiting the impacts of low pH on micro-organisms”, which was launched in Spring 2019 and will run until 2023. We have used this Action to develop databases of relevant literature and of Action participants and their diverse expertise. In addition, we have specific working groups looking at applications in all the above fields, working to develop more and better links between fundamental and applied research. Funding is available from the Action to enable lab exchanges and conference visits for people working in this area. Details of the work of the Action to date, and of the available funding opportunities that we can offer, will be presented.

O presente trabalho de investigação aplicada intitula-se de “Câmaras Policiais de Porte Individual: Potencialidades das Vulnerabilidades da sua utilização na atividade operacional da GNR”, tendo como objetivo geral identificar as potencialidades e vulnerabilidades da implementação das câmaras policiais de porte individual na atividade operacional da GNR. A metodologia utilizada na investigação assenta numa abordagem qualitativa, utilizando como instrumentos a análise documental e a realização de inquéritos por entrevista. Neste estudo são abordados, do ponto de vista teórico, a definição de câmaras policiais de porte individual, assim como a sua síntese histórica. São também analisados o panorama nacional e internacional, permitindo assim fazer uma comparação e determinar em que medida a implementação destas câmaras poderia ser possível em Portugal. Por fim, são estudadas as potencialidades e vulnerabilidades da sua utilização, tendo em conta algumas investigações existentes. Seguidamente, são entrevistados diversos militares da GNR, pertencentes à classe de Oficiais e à classe de Guardas, de diferentes funções, permitindo a recolha de opiniões diversificadas, de forma a obter uma resposta representativa da realidade da Guarda. Finalizada a investigação, apurou-se que a implementação e utilização de Câmaras Policiais de Porte Individual seria uma mais valia para o serviço operacional da GNR. Relativamente às potencialidades, é possível identificar uma melhoria no comportamento dos cidadãos e dos militares, bem como a utilização das filmagens como meio de prova, o que permite o mais eficaz apuramento da verdade. Verificou-se também que poderá aumentar a transparência, o acompanhamento do serviço policial e a recolha de aspetos a melhorar, permitindo assim a recolha de ensinamentos e a melhoria contínua do serviço operacional. No que diz respeito às vulnerabilidades, foi possível verificar que o ordenamento jurídico português, de momento, dificilmente permite a utilização destes equipamentos por motivos relacionados com a privacidade e direitos de imagem

Additional file 1 Supplementary figures – This file has included a set of 5 supplementary figures providing: a dendrogram comparing the ITS region of the yeast strains used for the comparative proteomic analysis performed (Figure S1), phographs obtained by microscopic imaging of S. ludwigii UTAD17 cells cultivated in minimal medium having glucose or GlcNAc as the sole carbon source (Figure S2), a functional distribution of the S. ludwigii UTAD17 ORFeome, as performed by the BLASTKoala Annotation tool (Figure S3), the alignment of the protein sequence of the transcription factors ScMsn2, ScCom2 and the S. ludwigii predicted regulator SCLUD3.g33 (Figure S4), the alignment of the protein sequence of the efflux pump ScSsu1 and of the four predicted S. ludwigii orthologues SCLUD1.g608, SCLUD1.g612, SCLUD1.g608b, SCLUD1.g612b (Figure S5).

Additional file 3 Original PFGE gel used in the karyotyping of the S. ludwigii UTAD17 strain (original image from the one shown in Fig. 1).

Some of the oldest and most established industrial biotechnology processes involve the fungal production of organic acids. In these fungi, the transport of metabolites between cellular compartments, and their secretion, is a major factor. In this review we exemplify the importance of both mitochondrial and plasma membrane transporters in the case of itaconic acid production in two very different fungal systems, Aspergillus and Ustilago. Homologous and heterologous overexpression of both types of transporters, and biochemical analysis of mitochondrial transporter function, show that these two fungi produce the same compound through very different pathways. The way these fungi respond to itaconate stress, especially at low pH, also differs, although this is still an open field which clearly needs additional research.

Additional file 1 Appendix S1. Additional theoretical material on multi-objective optimization.

Vivemos num mundo em constante transformação, onde os instrumentos de trabalho, as práticas sociais e as ambições do ser humano se alteram a um ritmo considerável, para uma organização ser bem sucedida torna-se fundamental compreender a sua razão de existir, saber o que ambiciona ser e que objetivos se propõe atingir para melhorar constantemente. Neste sentido, o presente projeto tem como objetivo contribuir para o desenvolvimento estratégico na organização onde sou colaborador, definindo a missão, visão e os grandes objetivos da Resitejo. Para o efeito, foi solicitado a cada responsável dos diversos setores da Resitejo que apresentasse as suas declarações de missão, visão e grandes objetivos, correspondendo os grandes objetivos às quatro perspetivas do Balanced Scorecard, nomeadamente; perspetiva de clientes, perspetiva de processos internos; perspetiva de aprendizagem e crescimento e perspetiva financeira, de acordo com a revisão de literatura realizada. Posteriormente, as propostas apresentadas foram submetidas a votação recorrendo ao Método de Delphi. Os objetivos foram alcançados, podendo o projeto ser utilizada para implementar a estratégia na Resitejo. We live in an ever changing world bearing witness to rapid changes in business and social practices, equipment and human ambitions. For an organization to succeed, it is essential to understand the reason of its existence and to know how to achieve its aims and goals in the future through continuous improvement. In this sense, the goal of this dissertation is to contribute to the strategic planning and define the mission, vision and main objectives of Resitejo, the organization I work for. For this purpose, each head of different departments within Resitejo was requested to present their mission declarations, vision and main objectives that correspond to the four perspectives of the Balance Scorecard - costumer perspective, internal business perspective, learning and growth perspective and financial perspective, as defined by the literature used for this purpose. Once the proposals had been submitted, they were voted upon using the Delphi Method. Since the objectives have been reached, this dissertation can be used to implement the strategy of Resitejo.