Browsing by Author "Neto, Maria"
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- Detection of the invasive mosquito species Aedes (Stegomyia) albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) in PortugalPublication . Osório, Hugo; Zé-Zé, Líbia; Neto, Maria; Silva, Sílvia; Marques, Fátima; Silva, Ana; Alves, Maria JoãoThe Asian tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus is an invasive mosquito originating from the Asia-Pacific region. This species is of major concern to public and veterinary health because of its vector role in the transmission of several pathogens, such as chikungunya, dengue, and Zika viruses. In Portugal, a National Vector Surveillance Network (REde de VIgilância de VEctores—REVIVE) is responsible for the surveillance of autochthonous, but also invasive, mosquito species at points of entry, such as airports, ports, storage areas, and specific border regions with Spain. At these locations, networks of mosquito traps are set and maintained under surveillance throughout the year. In September 2017, Ae. albopictus was detected for the first time in a tyre company located in the North of Portugal. Molecular typing was performed, and a preliminary phylogenetic analysis indicated a high similarity with sequences of Ae. albopictus collected in Europe. A prompt surveillance response was locally implemented to determine its dispersal and abundance, and adult mosquitoes were screened for the presence of arboviral RNA. A total of 103 specimens, 52 immatures and 51 adults, were collected. No pathogenic viruses were detected. Despite the obtained results suggest low abundance of the population locally introduced, the risk of dispersal and potential establishment of Ae. albopictus in Portugal has raised concern for autochthonous mosquito-borne disease outbreaks.
- Holistic Word Processing Is Involved in Fast Parallel ReadingPublication . Ventura, Paulo; Domingues, Miguel; Ferreira, Inês; Madeira, Mariana; Martins, Ana; Neto, Maria; Pereira, MartaHolistic processing of words has been previously observed. When readers have to decide whether the target part of a study and test words are the same, their performance is affected by the irrelevant part. The goal of the present study was to provide an empirical test of the idea that holistic word processing is involved in expert reading (fast and parallel letter reading pattern) by exploring the perceptual expertise limits of the neuronal systems dedicated to reading. We presented adult readers with words in the composite paradigm that were degraded by word rotation (22.5º and 67.5º). Rotations were applied clockwise or counterclockwise. A word rotation of 22.5º is below the threshold of the perceptual expertise of the Visual Word Form (VWF) System, while a rotation of 67.5º is above the threshold of the perceptual expertise of the VWF system. The word composite effect was found only for a degree of rotation within the field of expertise of the ventral visual system, thus within the limits for fast, parallelletter reading. We thus showed that word holistic processing occurs within the functional, fast, and parallel reading route.