University of Madeira

Noeggerathiales were until recently a group of plants with uncertain systematic position that existed in the Carboniferous and Permian times. Recent discoveries classify them as heterosporous progymnosperms. Despite the discovery of additional specimens, the group still remains highly artificial because their reproductive organs are rarely preserved in organic connection. Within the Carboniferous of Iberian Massif, the noeggerathialeans are poorly represented. Here, we describe Palaeopteridium andrenelii sp. nov. from the uppermost Carboniferous of Portugal. This is the second representative of Noeggerathiales reported in the Portuguese Carboniferous after Carlos Teixeira have described the noeggerathialean Rhacopteris gomesiana in the 1940s from Douro Carboniferous Basin (Stephanian C/lower Gzhelian, Upper Pennsylvanian). Palaeopteridium andrenelii was found in upper Asturian (upper Moscovian, Middle Pennsylvanian) strata from the classical Westphalian outcrops of Ervedosa, located in the region of Alto da Serra (Fânzeres), Gondomar, in northwestern Portugal. Two reproductive structures are associated with the frond of the new fossil species. Although not organically linked, both structures could belong to parent plant (frond) and represent possible detached macrosporangia. This reenforces the Palaeopteridium as a noeggerathialean and the first reproductive structures found for this genus.

This study aimed to investigate the moderating effect of frailty on the relationship between cognition and symptoms of depression in individuals aged ≥65 and to explore differences between four European regions (West, North, South, and East). A cross-sectional analysis was conducted with 29,094 participants (16,365 women) from 27 countries, aged ≥65 years, who responded to wave 8 of the SHARE project. The variables analysed were depression (12-item EURO-D scale), frailty, and a general cognition index (CogId). A higher CogId was associated with less depression. Western and Northern European countries indicated better cognitive performance, lower depression symptomology, and frailty scores than those in the South and East. A pre-frail and frail status was a significant moderator, increasing the association between depression and cognition in the East, South, North, and West regions, respectively. The interaction effects between CogId and frailty were found in the West and East regions. Comparatively, the moderating role of frailty in countries in the Western region differed significantly from those in the North. In turn, countries in the South and East differed from those in the North region. Frailty was a moderator of depression symptoms, increasing its association with cognition. Strategies to prevent frailty are important to reduce the burden of depression and cognitive deficits in Europe.

Intrapartum asphyxia is responsible for approximately 900 000 deaths per year worldwide. These numbers show the urgency of investing in the quality of fetal health care. The heart rate signal is a complex signal and sometimes behaves unpredictably. Thus, it becomes relevant to study approaches that take into account their complexity, namely non-linear compression-based methods. In this work, feature extraction was based on two approaches: univariate and bivariate. The univariate approach is concerned with the extraction of fetal, maternal and maternal-fetal compression ratios and the bivariate approach aims to extract compression indices from maternal-fetal heart rate simultaneous signals and of each of the signals individually over time. To understand how the features calculated in this work can be useful in distinguishing acidemic and non-acidemic cases, a classifier was applied. Three different classifiers were tested, and the one that proved to be more effective was the Support-Vector Machine. Furthermore, it was also possible to conclude that the input set of variables that provides a better performance (f1-score = 0.793) of the classifier is composed of the variables of maternal-fetal compression ratio, maternal-fetal normalized relative compression and maternal-fetal normalized compression distance, obtained through trend and residual signal, which indicates that slow and fast fluctuations on the heart rate time series are important in acidemia assessment.

Noncontact injuries are prevalent among professional football players. Yet, most research on this topic is retrospective, focusing solely on statistical correlations between Global Positioning System (GPS) metrics and injury occurrence, overlooking the multifactorial nature of injuries. This study introduces an automated injury identification and prediction approach using machine learning, leveraging GPS data and player-specific parameters. A sample of 34 male professional players from a Portuguese first-division team was analyzed, combining GPS data from Catapult receivers with descriptive variables for machine learning models—Support Vector Machines (SVMs), Feedforward Neural Networks (FNNs), and Adaptive Boosting (AdaBoost)—to predict injuries. These models, particularly the SVMs with cost-sensitive learning, showed high accuracy in detecting injury events, achieving a sensitivity of 71.43%, specificity of 74.19%, and overall accuracy of 74.22%. Key predictive factors included the player’s position, session type, player load, velocity and acceleration. The developed models are notable for their balanced sensitivity and specificity, efficiency without extensive manual data collection, and capability to predict injuries for short time frames. These advancements will aid coaching staff in identifying high-risk players, optimizing team performance, and reducing rehabilitation costs.

The main purpose of this research was to create and test a scale to measure customer’s expectations about new service dimensions. Quantitative methodology, using exploratory factor analysis, was used to validate the scale for new service dimensions. This transnational research involved hotel service, and data were collected from 10 Latin countries: Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Romania, Brazil, Mexico, Uruguay, Bolivia, and Chile. About 1262 customers answered a questionnaire about their expectations regarding service dimensions of the hotel service. Findings show that there is a set of new dimensions that are accurate to measure customer’s expectations about service, namely, the degree of customer involvement, convenience level, contact personnel performance, complexity degree, information and communication power, and environment and social responsibility. The major contribution is that these dimensions were outlined to be tested from the customers’ point of view for any service, as all these service dimensions can be controlled by the service provider to fulfil customers’ expectations. This research goes beyond the usual service quality dimensions, including other dimensions of the service. However, owing to the dynamic nature of customers’ expectations, researchers should continue to search for new aspects that customers consider in the service process and test new service dimensions.

Background One of the challenges for professional football players is injuries. Due to their influence on their teams, injuries greatly impact the sports business. This research aims to assess predictive models of injury risk in male professional football players. Methods A systematic literature review was performed, following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. The search was conducted in the PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus databases. Two independent reviewers screened articles, assessed eligibility and extracted data. Methodological quality was determined by the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale. Results 26 studies met the inclusion criteria. Discussion Various statistical techniques were used in research on injury prediction in professional football, with logistic regression being the most used. The assessment predictors, especially the area under the receiver operating characteristic Curve, showed significant variation, which indicates the prediction models’ efficacy. The focus was frequently on lower limb injuries, where several risk predictors, including muscular strength, flexibility and global positioning system-derived data, were found to substantially impact the occurrence of injuries. Prominent predictors included age, position, physiological parameters, injury history and genetic polymorphisms. Conclusions This comprehensive analysis highlights the complexity of injury prediction and reinforces the necessity for football injury research to adopt a multivariate approach with accuracy and comprehensiveness. PROSPERO registration number CRD42023465524.

Parental involvement in youth sports is increasingly relevant in scientific research since parents have gradually developed awareness regarding youngsters' sports experiences. This study aimed to (1) examine potential differences in athletes' and parents' perceptions of parental involvement practices in youth basketball, (2) verify whether these perceptions differ by sex, and (3) analyze the relationship between the different perceptions dimensions recorded. The analysis included a large sample of 423 Portuguese participants (151 youth basketball athletes and 272 parents) who completed the Parental Behaviors in Sports (PBSP) questionnaire. The PBSP comprises a version for parents and a version for athletes, composed of five dimensions: (1) sports support, (2) competition attendance, (3) technical influence, (4) performance pressure, and (5) sports expectations. No significant statistical differences regarding PBSP dimensions were observed between boys and girls in the athletes' group. However, in the parents' group, fathers scored significantly lower than mothers in sports expectations (p = 0.001). Differences between athletes' and parents' perceptions were evident in competition attendance (p = 0.023), technical influence (p ≤ 0.001), and sports expectations (p = 0.023). When analyzing the dyads of boys-fathers and girls-mothers, significant differences were found for technical influence (p = 0.035), performance pressure (p = 0.020), and sports expectations (p < 0.001) between boys and fathers. Among girls and mothers, differences were perceived exclusively for technical influence (p = 0.005). Finally, technical influence correlated significantly with performance pressure (r = 0.351, p < 0.001) and sports expectations (r = 0.367, p < 0.001). These findings demonstrate the crucial importance for sports researchers and practitioners to consider differences in perceptions based on sex and role (athlete or parent) when designing and implementing parental educational programs.

Biologging and biotelemetry are essential tools to better understand marine species and consequently contribute to increasing our knowledge of marine ecosystems as a whole. Assessing marine megafauna trajectories is traditionally performed with significantly high cost and labor, without guaranteeing the equipment recapture, where quick georeferencing techniques remain proprietary and power intensive. The Internet of Things (IoT) and open radio communication protocols, such as long range (LoRa), provide opportunities for the creation of robust and low-cost sensor networks, which still need to be further tested in the harsh oceanic environment and on marine species. With a vision on having their real-life application on marine species, this study provides a fourfold contribution with LoRa and IoT. First, we review current biotelemetry and biologging, outlining opportunities. Second, we present TRITON, an open telemetry sensor for marine megafauna monitoring. Third, we provide a novel location estimation pipeline based on assisted GPS and simplified pseudorange multilateration using raw satellite data. Fourth, we validate the location estimation pipeline with four in-the-wild studies, mimicking the behavior of marine species, obtaining $\text{500}\;\text{m}$ grand average error, using seven satellites. We discuss how the TRITON system may be leveraged for long- and short-term marine megafauna monitoring, paving the road for more LoRa and IoT biotelemetry applications.

Introduction: Cognitive deficits in acquired brain injury patients, particularly in domains like attention, memory, executive function, and social cognition, affect patients' quality of life. While rehabilitation strategies often focus on conventional methods, emerging technologies like Virtual Reality and computerized cognitive training offer new approaches. This study explores the efficacy of a tablet-based cognitive training program and the use of Virtual Reality for social cognition assessment . Methods: A single-blind, randomized controlled study was conducted with 12 acquired brain injury patients. Participants were divided into experimental (N = 6) and control (N = 6) groups. The experimental group received 12 sessions of cognitive training using Task Generator 2.0, while the control group received time-matched treatment-as-usual. Neuropsychological assessments, including CogMap-SC for social cognition, were performed before and after the intervention. Results: The experimental group showed significant improvements across cognitive domains (memory, attention, executive function and social cognition) compared to the control group. The reliable change index indicated significant individual improvements in the experimental group, particularly in social cognition and overall quality of life. Conclusion: This study shows promising evidence that Virtual Reality and computerized cognitive training can benefit these patients. However, limitations, such as sample size, call for further investigation to consolidate these findings.

Objective We analyzed how anthropometric measures predict cardiometabolic health and how genetic and environmental factors contribute to these associations. Methods Data on 8 indicators of cardiometabolic health, 21 anthropometric measures, and 11 anthropometric indices were available for 216 twin pairs of individuals age 3 to 18 years living in the Autonomous Region of Madeira, Portugal (51% girls). Genetic twin modeling was used to estimate genetic and environmental correlations between the cardiometabolic and anthropometric indicators. Results Anthropometric indicators were positively associated with blood pressure and triglycerides and inversely associated with high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol. The associations with glucose, low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol, total cholesterol, and heart rate were close to zero. BMI and waist circumference showed similar or slightly higher absolute correlations with cardiometabolic health indicators compared with other anthropometric indices. Additive genetic and unique environmental correlations were at the same level as trait correlations. Conclusions BMI and waist circumference provide information on cardiometabolic health that is not less accurate than that provided by more comprehensive anthropometric indices. These associations reflect causal associations between obesity and cardiometabolic disorders rather than only shared genetic associations. Measuring obesity is important for monitoring cardiometabolic risks and can be accomplished using simple indicators at the population level.

The mesophotic zone represents one of our planet’s largest and least explored biomes. An increasing number of studies evidence the importance of macrofouling species in marine ecosystems, but information on these communities and the factors influencing their structures at mesophotic depths remain poor. This lack of understanding limits our ability to predict anthropogenic impacts or conduct restoration operations in the mesophotic and the lower boundary of the euphotic zones. In this study, we performed a 24-month experiment in a natural environment to investigate three factors influencing the macrobenthic community structure of the mesophotic and the euphotic lower boundary: depth, substrate orientation and substrate material. Using a manned submersible, several recruitment panels of two different materials were deployed at 100, 200 and 400 meters in vertical and horizontal positions. All three factors contributed to structuring the macrofouling communities, but depth and substrate orientation displayed the strongest effects. This study not only advances our understanding of lower boundary euphotic and mesophotic macrofouling communities but also establishes a foundation for future research and restoration efforts of mesophotic environments in the Madeira archipelago, where mesophotic habitats are amongst the least studied marine habitats in the Northeast Atlantic.

Head Coaches (HCs) and players are the primary agents with the greatest influence on performance in professional soccer. With failure, the common approach is to replace the HC. Little is known about the players’ awareness in these situations. This study explored players’ understanding of leadership changes. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 9 Portuguese professional players from five different clubs in the Portuguese top 2 soccer leagues (33.44 ± 1.66 years; 13.33 ± 2.23 professional seasons; 7.33 ± 3.96 career clubs). Interview questions focused on priorities in training sessions, methods and exercises and on concerns, motivations, communication, and leadership style. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed and analysed through a content analysis approach. Results were processed through context analysis and a deductive-inductive approach to encode information. Recovering the players’ confidence/motivation and assessing the squad capability were the top priorities reported. Players reported increased motivation to train and compete, preferring competitive and less complex exercises. Key concerns included logistical changes and the game model not fitting the players’ profile. A more flexible HC, communicative and participative in training, were recommended traits. These insights can provide scientific guidance for inexperienced HCs lacking expertise. Future research should examine the perspectives of HCs, comparing their approaches and methods.

Background Nonprimary osteochondral lesions of the talus (OLT) pose a significant challenge in orthopaedics, with no definitive consensus on optimal surgical treatment. Purpose To consolidate the most recent evidence on operative treatments for nonprimary OLT by assessing patient-reported outcomes (PROs), postoperative complications, and clinical failures. Study Design Systematic review; Level of evidence, 4. Methods This review adhered to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020 and PRISMA in Exercise, Rehabilitation, Sport medicine and Sports science guidelines. Searches were conducted in PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases through June 2023. Eligible studies evaluated operative outcomes in skeletally mature patients with nonprimary OLT after failed previous surgeries. Primary outcomes included clinical and functional PROs. Secondary outcomes included postoperative complications and clinical failures. Quantitative analyses involved weighted means, mean differences, minimal clinically important differences, success rates (95% binomial proportion confidence interval), and a pre-to-postoperative meta-analysis. Results Out of 3992 identified records, 50 studies involving 806 ankles from 794 patients were included. All operative treatments significantly improved PROs ( P < .05), except osteochondral allograft transplantation (OCA) for American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society and pain (visual analog scale/numeric rating scale [VAS/NRS]) scores and HemiCAP for pain (VAS/NRS) scores. Autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI) and osteochondral autologous transplantation (OAT) demonstrated the greatest PRO success rates, exceeding 80%. Postoperative complications occurred in 4% of cases, most frequently with HemiCAP. Clinical failures affected 22% of cases, particularly with autologous matrix-induced chondrogenesis, OAT, OCA, and HemiCAP. Conclusion Our systematic review demonstrated that ACI and OAT are promising treatments for nonprimary OLT, with ACI showing fewer clinical failures than OAT. Conversely, OCA and HemiCAP exhibited lower effectiveness and higher clinical failure rates, suggesting a need for reassessment.

This work introduces a deep-learning architecture tailored for accurate wind speed and direction forecasting for airports using a grid-based input. Moving beyond the limitations of conventional forecasting methods, which struggle with rapid and localized atmospheric changes and demand substantial computational power, this study positions a machine-learning approach as a superior alternative for wind nowcasting. By employing a comprehensive dataset covering 75 years, the proposed model distinguishes itself by achieving a mean absolute error of 1.26 m/s for wind speed and 16.18° for wind direction in the examined location, Madeira International Airport area. The model's robustness was further validated using transfer learning across ten global airport areas, each with diverse atmospheric conditions, resulting in consistent accuracy. Additionally, a precision forecast focused specifically on the runway was conducted, and its performance was found to be consistent with the broader spatial area forecasts. These results underscore the potential of machine learning in wind prediction for aviation, highlighting a promising pathway for future advancements in weather forecasting technology.

Caring for a loved one can be challenging and stressful, making it crucial for caregivers to prioritize their own well-being. Listening to nature sounds may provide caregivers with a much-needed respite from their responsibilities. Research indicates that personal preferences significantly influence well-being, as granting autonomy in task selection can positively impact health. In this preliminary study, we explored the effects of selecting nature sounds on mobile phones for the well-being of informal caregivers. Specifically, we compared the effects of chosen sounds versus random sounds. We recruited twenty-eight informal caregivers, primarily women, and used the SAM and PANAS scales to assess well-being at baseline, during random sound exposure, and while listening to chosen sounds. Our findings suggest that nature sounds accessed via mobile phones can enhance the well-being of informal caregivers in at least three key areas: Valence, Positive Affect, and Negative Affect. Notably, the improvements in valence and positive affect were more pronounced when caregivers selected their own nature sounds compared to when they listened to random sounds.

Short amino acid chains known as peptides are widely used in pharmaceutical applications due to their exclusive therapeutic potential and distinct biological activities. These peptides are utilized as therapeutic agents for the treatment of various medical conditions and diseases, peptide hormones for hormone deficiency treatment, peptide vaccines to be utilized as antigens to induce specific immune responses against cancer cells or pathogens, and peptide-based drug delivery systems. However, poor stability, limited oral bioavailability, high immunogenicity leading to reduced efficacy, high cost of production, low target specificity, challenges in formulation and tissue penetration. Recently, nanomaterials, especially nanocomposites, have been utilized for the formulation of therapeutic peptides to improve their efficiency and overcome their limitations. In particular, biocomposite nanomaterials from natural sources are also reported to effectively formulate and deliver therapeutic peptides toward target site. Thus, this chapter is an overview of various biocomposite nanomaterials for the formulation of peptides to improve their efficiency. Additionally, pharmaceutical applications of these biocomposite nanomaterial formulated peptides were also discussed.

Due to their flexibility, Fox-H functions are widely studied and applied to many research topics, such as astrophysics, statistical mechanics, and probability. Well-known special cases of Fox-H functions, such as Mittag-Leffler and Wright functions, find a wide application in the theory of stochastic processes, anomalous diffusions and non-Gaussian analysis. In this paper, we focus on certain explicit assumptions that allow us to use the Fox-H functions as densities. We then provide a subfamily of the latter, called Fox-H densities with all moments finite, and give their Laplace transforms as entire generalized Wright functions. The class of random variables with these densities is proven to possess a monoid structure. We present eight subclasses of special cases of such densities (together with their Laplace transforms) that are particularly relevant in applications, thanks to their probabilistic interpretation. To analyze the existence conditions of Fox-H functions as well as their sign, we derive asymptotic results and their analytic extension.

Starting in the summer 2023 and peaking in late 2023, large amounts of Sargassum were observed floating off the coast of Madeira Islands, Portugal. The analysis of the samples revealed the presence of the three most common morphotypes of the two known species of pelagic Sargassum : S. natans I, S. natans VIII, and S. fluitans III. This is the first record for the subtropical eastern Atlantic Ocean for S. natans VIII and S. fluitans III. Both species were found entangled, and even though the main purpose of the study was to document the occurrence of pelagic Sargassum in the Madeira archipelago, some associated fauna were also recorded: the crab Planes minutus (Linnaeus, 1758), the amphi-Atlantic shrimps Latreutes fucorum (Fabricius, 1798) and Hippolyte coerulescens (Fabricius, 1775), and the nudibranch Scyllaea pelagica Linnaeus, 1758. The last two are new records for the Madeira archipelago.

The climate of western Europe and northwest Africa strongly depends on the Azores anticyclone strength, location, and shape and, locally, also on the characteristics of the Iberia and Sahara summer thermal lows. EC-EARTH3 global simulations are here used to assess the predicted behaviour of these two relevant surface pressure systems and associated surface wind, by the end of XXI century (2071–2100), considering two climate change scenarios. Additionally, a high-resolution Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) simulation centred on Madeira Island is used to assess the influence of climate change on the surface wind at smaller scales, in a region well known for its perturbed flows. Results indicate a general mean wind speed decrease over a sector of the North-Atlantic, associated with a flatter Azores anticyclone. However, the predicted intensification of the Iberia and Sahara thermal lows imposes an increasing surface wind speed near west Iberia and northwest Africa, in summer. Southwest of Iberia, Madeira Island is also predicted to experience a summer intensification of its tip-jets. The projected changes in low-level wind speed and variability will impact on different sectors of activity, either directly as are the cases of aeronautical operation and offshore renewable energy, or indirectly through changes in the ocean circulation.