Plantas na Medicina Tradicional de Cabo Verde

Neste trabalho apresenta-se o resultado de uma pesquisa pormenorizada sobre as plantas medicinais e aromáticas que se desenvolvem no arquipélago de Cabo Verde, apoiada na bibliografia actualmente disponível sobre o assunto. Indicam-se as famílias, nomes científicos e vernáculos, e distribuição no arquipélago, bem como os respectivos princípios activos, propriedades terapêuticas e as partes das plantas utilizadas na medicina popular tradicional. Foram identificados 157 táxones, pertencentes a 68 famílias, com interesse medicinal e aromático conhecido. Estas plantas são maioritariamente alóctones, introduzidas, subespontâneas, naturalizadas ou cultivadas. Cabo Verde, devido a diversos condicionalismos, nomeadamente, situação geográfica, humidade e altitude das diferentes ilhas, é rico em espécies endémicas com interesse medicinal mas cujas potencialidades são ainda pouco conhecidas. Neste estudo foram localizados 27 táxones com interesse medicinal, distribuídos por 21 famílias. Conclui-se que é necessário proceder a mais estudos sobre os endemismos, de forma a melhor avaliar o seu potencial interesse como plantas medicinais e aromáticas. No âmbito da medicina tradicional, urge realizar os seguintes estudos: (1) etnobotânicos; (2) composição química dos vários órgãos das plantas referidas com interesse, sobretudo, para combater as patologias para as quais ainda não foi encontrada resolução satisfatória; (3) distribuição geográfica e habitat precisos das plantas; (4) avaliação e experimentação do seu possível cultivo, de forma a evitar a extinção ou erosão genética motivada pela sua colheita excessiva; (5) propriedades terapêuticas; (6) toxicológicos, a fim de se conhecer os doseamentos eficientes e seguros e as respectivas contra-indicações

Beef cattle stocking rate, a key to the conservation of the pastoral system in Brazilian biomes.

Abstract: In Brazil, beef cattle are raised in predominantly extensive systems. The feeding base is represented by native and/or cultivated pastures. The latter may be in a well conserved state or may present some degree of degradation. The amount of animals per hectare, supported by the pasture by each time unit, is basically related to the pasture production. There is interaction between quality and production, and changes in these parameters are strongly affected by the stocking rate. Therefore, the adjustment in the stocking rate is the most important management factor and the main determinant of animal production and pasture composition. Municipal data from the 2006 agriculture and cattle raising business census were considered with the objective to analyze, by means of typologies, the use of pastoral areas in Brazil. In the census, the producers declared their pastoral areas according to the following classification: native pasture areas (PN), cultivated pasture areas in good conservation status (PC) and cultivated pasture areas with some degree of degradation (PCD). They also indicated the number of bovine in each type of pasture. The data were submitted to exploratory factorial analysis, with varimax rotation. The first two factors (extracted by main components) explained 0.83 of the (co)variance, and the estimate of the Kaiser-Mayer-Olkin (KMO) adequacy test was 0.76, which meant good adjustment of the variables selected. The commonalities of the variables selected, PN area; total pasture area (TP), bovines in PN (Bov_PN); bovines in PCD area (Bov_PCD); bovines in PC area (Bov_PC); bovines in total pasture area (Bov_APT); and the stocking rate (TxLota) were 0.65; 0.97; 0.77; 0.74; 0.79; 0.87; and 0.99, respectively. The first factor was associated with the variables PN, TP, Bov_PN, Bov_PCD, Bov_PC, and Bov_APT, which directs to the latent variable correlated to those municipalities with large pasture areas, in general, and also with the largest cattle population. The variable TxLota presented the most significant factorial load in the second factor, that is, all those municipalities with the greatest concentration of cattle per unit area are represented in the second factor. The municipalities that were best represented in factor_1 are different from the ones represented in factor_2. The non-parametric correlation between the classifications of the two groups of municipalities formed by the factorial scores in the first and the second factors is small (0,24). This indicates that the context of those municipalities with the highest stocking rate is a lot different from the ones with the largest areas and cattle herds. The application of livestock development policies in the different Brazilian biomes should take into account all the distinguishing features of the municipalities, regarding their context, especially the pasture areas and their vocation for primary livestock production.ICAS VI

Social and cultural contexts change but intelligence persists as incisive to explain children’s academic achievement

The intelligence is a well established predictor of school achievement. Although school failure/success can be explained by cognitive variables, socio-familial variables can also have an impact. Since these variables haven’t been so systematically investigated together, the present study aims to consider both variables to understand their causal roles in academic achievement. With a sample of 376 Portuguese children aged 6 to 10 years, a path analysis was carried out based on a prior analysis to search for causal relationships between intelligence and socio-familial variables to explain children’s academic achievement. The results point to intelligence as a major influence on school performance, combined with socio-familial variables (directly: community, type of school, mother's education and school year; and indirectly: socioeconomic status and father’s education level). Practical implications were discussed concerning the relevance of the investigated variables in explaining academic achievement of children.The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, IP (FCT) and the POCH/FSE under Grant SFRH/BD/85110/2012 to Ana Filipa Alves

AVOCADO: A Virtual Observatory Census to Address Dwarfs Origins

Dwarf galaxies are by far the most abundant of all galaxy types, yet their properties are still poorly understood -especially due to the observational challenge that their intrinsic faintness represents. AVOCADO aims at establishing firm conclusions on their formation and evolution by constructing a homogeneous, multiwavelength dataset for a statistically significant sample of several thousand nearby dwarfs (-18 < Mi < -14). Using public data and Virtual Observatory tools, we have built GALEX+SDSS+2MASS spectral energy distributions that are fitted by a library of single stellar population models. Star formation rates, stellar masses, ages and metallicities are further complemented with structural parameters that can be used to classify them morphologically. This unique dataset, coupled with a detailed characterization of each dwar's environment, allows for a fully comprehensive investigation of their origins and to track the (potential) evolutionary paths between the different dwarf types.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure. To appear in the proceedings of IAU Symposium 277, "Tracing the Ancestry of Galaxies on the Land of our Ancestors", Carignan, Freeman, and Combes, ed

Probable Person-to-Person Transmission of Legionnaires’ Disease

Correspondence to the Editor.Legionnaires’ disease is an often severe form of pneumonia that is typically acquired by susceptible persons (e.g., elderly persons and smokers) through inhalation of aerosols that contain legionella species.1-4 A cluster of cases of this disease occurred in Vila Franca de Xira, Portugal, in 2014