Xylella fastidiosa is a xylem-limited, Gram-negative phytopathogenic bacterium responsible for severe diseases affecting a wide range of economically important crops worldwide. Its recent expansion into Europe has reinforced its status as a major quarantine pathogen. However, research on its physiology and antimicrobial susceptibility remains limited by its slow and fastidious growth under laboratory conditions, which typically requires 7–30 days for detectable development. We report a new laboratory-adapted culture medium, XFG; that supports robust growth of X. fastidiosa strain DSM 10026/PYCC 9740 in both liquid and solid formulations compatible with established physiological and antimicrobial testing protocols. In liquid culture, bacterial populations reached the stationary phase within three days, while visible and isolated colonies formed on solid medium within the same time frame. Growth kinetics were confirmed by optical density measurements, demonstrating a shortened lag phase and reproducible exponential growth. Proof-of-concept antimicrobial susceptibility testing revealed high sensitivity to rifampicin and tetracycline (MIC = 0.25 μg/mL), and to chloramphenicol and ampicillin (MIC = 0.99 μg/mL). These MIC values are consistent with those previously reported using conventional media, supporting the robustness and applicability of the proposed system. Overall, these results establish XFG as a system for reproducible X. fastidiosa growth under laboratory conditions, enabling high-throughput phenotyping of this important plant pathogen.

Technology integration although highly recommended has proved to be complex. This study aims to characterize the perceptions of secondary mathematics teachers (grades 7th to 12th), from Portugal (Braga region) and Brazil (Campinas region), regarding the teaching of Functions and the use of technology. We also intend to consider the context of the two countries, reflecting on justifications for the differences identified (if any). The study adopts a mixed methodology based on a questionnaire applied to 129 Portuguese teachers in Braga region and 136 Brazilian teachers in Campinas region (quantitative dimension) and on an interview to six Portuguese teachers and six Brazilian teachers (qualitative dimension). The results point to similarities between teachers from Portugal and Brazil, but also to some differences. Technology potential is recognized by teacher from both countries, however teachers from Brazil tend to assume a more traditional use of technology, based on showing and more teacher-centered. This difference can be related to the Portuguese curriculum, valuing a relevant use of technology for more than three decades.

Industrial robots are increasingly integrated into manufacturing workspaces, leading to significant changes in work design and altering workers’ framing of work and technology. Even without anthropomorphic design or autonomous features, employees may treat industrial robots as more than mere tools, attributing human-like qualities to them. Yet, prior research typically considers technology either as a tool or as an occasion for altering work relationships between humans, overlooking how relationships with technology itself are crafted. Drawing on 133 interviews across multiple organizations—including robot users, robot producers, and solution providers, we show that mind perceptions (attributions of agency and experience to industrial robots) catalyze relational job crafting with robots. We identify four co-evolving practices—crafting responsibilities, crafting hierarchies, crafting collaboration, and crafting emotional connection—that help workers regain control and regulate daily stress levels, thereby linking relational crafting to both performance and well-being outcomes. Our study extends relational job crafting theory by theorizing mind perceptions as the trigger of human-robot relationality and shifts attention from agentic/anthropomorphic design of technologies to workers’ perceptions of these technologies as core drivers of human-robot-interaction and technology adoption in organizations.

A problem that has been studied for a long time in Vegetation Science consists in finding distinct groups among a collection of vegetation samples (relevés). Recently a criterion has been proposed to capture the patterns of differential species among the groups from any arbitrary M-cluster of relevés. The criterion optimization is quite complex (NP-hard) as it implies searching a huge set of possible combinations of relevés into M groups. In this paper we give an integer linear programming formulation to optimize the criterion for M=2, that can be used to solve moderately-sized data problems; we also describe a greedy randomized adaptive search procedure and a simulated annealing algorithm for arbitrary M. We combined these different approaches and prepared a collection of software functions, which are available in the open-source R package diffval. We illustrate the use of such functions using real-world data.

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Dyrosauridae are one of the few clades of large marine vertebrates that survived the Cretaceous/Palaeogene (K–Pg) extinction event. The early diversification of this clade, dated to the Cretaceous, is still poorly understood. We describe a new specimen of Dyrosauridae from the Late Cretaceous of Bentiaba, Angola, represented by a posterior portion of the skull, a left ectopterygoid fragment, and a tooth. Comparative morphological analysis reveals a unique combination of characters distinguishing it from known dyrosaurid taxa but due to the fragmentary nature of the specimen and the absence of key diagnostic features, we assign it to Hyposaurinae indet.. Phylogenetic relationships were tested through maximum parsimony and Bayesian inference, using the SFBD model with time-binning criteria for the K–Pg boundary. Both of our phylogenetic analyses recover this new specimen as Hyposaurinae, which is consistent with our comparative study. Evolutionary rates accelerated during the latest stages of the Cretaceous, although the fossil bias prevents the ability to appreciate their impact on cladogenetic events. We estimated diversification, fossilization, and extinction rates, and we did not find evidence of radiation after the K–Pg in this clade. Biogeographically, this discovery supports hypotheses of longirostrine crocodyliform dispersal in Africa leading to hyposaurine diversification during the Maastrichtian.

In this paper we address a wireless network design problem on a railway line. Given a finite set of locations along a railway line and different types of communication antennas that can be installed at each of these locations, which locations and which type of antenna should be selected to ensure a certain level of signal coverage along the railway line while minimizing construction costs? We formulate the problem as a 0/1 linear optimization model, prove that the problem is NP-hard, and report computational experiments using real and simulated data. The computational tests showed that the model is capable of solving the problem for railway lines longer than any existing real railway lines.

The European Metal sector is at a critical juncture, navigating through the complex landscape of the twin transition towards digitalization and sustainability. This transformative journey, though essential, is fraught with challenges that if not addressed, could undermine the sector's resilience, competitiveness and social equity. The Metallica project emerges as a pivotal initiative in this context, aiming to mitigate these challenges by fostering enhanced worker engagement, participation and conflict resolution.

The European Metal sector is at a critical juncture, navigating through the complex landscape of the twin transition towards digitalization and sustainability. This transformative journey, though essential, is fraught with challenges that if not addressed, could undermine the sector's resilience, competitiveness and social equity. The Metallica project emerges as a pivotal initiative in this context, aiming to mitigate these challenges by fostering enhanced worker engagement, participation and conflict resolution.

Although the Portuguese industry is often considered semi-peripheral within the European context. This classification stems from Portugal's position in the global and European economic systems. However, the Portuguese automotive industry is a significant sector within the European automotive landscape. Portugal’s industrial sector is heavily integrated into European supply chains, particularly in industries like automotive, textiles, and electronics. However, it often relies on core European countries (e.g., Germany, France) for advanced technology, capital, and market access. This is also the case for the Portuguese automotive.

The potential of STE(A)M has been widely recognised in recent years; however, challenges have also been identified in the implementation of this approach, making it important to deepen research into teachers’ practices. In this study, we conducted a systematic review focused on teaching practices within a STE(A)M approach, to understand what challenges and limitations teachers encounter, as well as the possibilities authors suggest to overcome them. The research question is: What are the challenges and potentialities of implementing the STE(A)M approach in teachers’ practices? This review analysed articles indexed in the Web of Science and Scopus databases over the last eight years, following the PRISMA scheme. The 26 articles examined highlight challenges such as time management, lack of resources and funding, limited guidance, gaps in teacher training, difficulty integrating subject areas, issues implementing new technologies and obstacles imposed by school structures. In light of these, the following proposals were suggested: placing greater emphasis on STE(A)M in initial and continuing teacher education, increasing support from schools and government bodies, encouraging collaborative work between teachers from different areas, adopting innovative strategies and methodologies and offering a clearer conceptualisation of STE(A)M.