Assessment of trace element pollution and its environmental risk to freshwater sediments influenced by anthropogenic contributions: The case study of Alqueva reservoir (Guadiana Basin)

The Guadiana Basin.(SW Iberian Peninsula) is affected by acid mine drainage (AMD), a consequence of ancient mining activities in the Iberian Pyrite Belt (IPB). Consequently, the sedimerits at the Alqueva reservoir (SE Portugal) in the Guadiana Basin are potentially contaminated by trace elements, which make important: (i) to characterize the status of trace element pollution of the sediments; (ii) to evaluate the mobility and the bioavailability of As, Cd, Cu, Cr, Pb and Zn; and (iii) to assess the environmental risk associated with the total and bioavailable concentrations of trace elements, using the sediment quality guidelines (SQGs) and the risk assessment code (RAC). Metal enrichment factors (EF) and geoaccumulation indexes (I-geo), determined taking into account the regional background levels, revealed that, among the metals analyzed, Cd contributed the highest to pollution levels followed by Pb and As. Despite the trace element contamination of the Alqueva sediments, the sequential extraction showed that Most of them are found in the oxidizable and residual fractions, which indicates that they are sparingly bioavailable, with exception of Cd (acid-labile fraction) and Pb (reducible fraction). Based on the RAC, Cd was the only metal that presented a high risk, while Pb, As and Zn showed a medium risk. Moreover, the SQGs revealed the existence of certain areas of extremely high risk, particularly related to high concentrations of total As and, in less extent, of Pb and Cd, associated with AMD, wastewater discharges and runoff of plant protection products from agricultural fields located near the reservoir. (C) 2015 Elsevier By. All rights reserved.FCT (Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia) [PTDC/AAC-AMB/103547/2008]; FEDER, through POFC (Eixo I - Programa Operacional Fatores de Competitividade) from QREN [COMPETE Re: FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-008582]info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Eventos de Vida Estresantes y Salud Mental de Mujeres Durante el Embarazo y el Postparto

Stressful life events can affect the mental health of women during pregnancy and the postpartum period. This study investigated the relationship between sociodemographic variables, stressors during pregnancy and women’s mental health during pregnancy and postpartum. Seventy-nine pregnant women responded to the Self Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ-20) and, in the first month of the baby’s life, to the Stressful Life Events Inventory and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-I). Regression analysis revealed that: (a) the score of common mental disorders in pregnancy was the only significant predictor of postpartum depression; (b) when the effects of postpartum depression on the perception of stressful life events were controlled, the impact of stressful life events on the variance in common mental disorders during pregnancy disappeared, and only the income remained as a significant predictor. These findings indicate the stability of the symptoms of mental disorders from pregnancy to the postpartum period.Eventos estressores podem afetar a saúde mental da mulher durante a gestação e o puerpério. Este estudo investigou relações entre variáveis sociodemográficas, estressores durante a gestação e a saúde mental da mulher na gestação e no puerpério. Setenta e nove gestantes responderam ao Self Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ-20), e no primeiro mês de vida do bebê, responderam ao Inventário de Eventos de Vida Estressores (ISLE) e ao Inventário Beck de Depressão (BDI-I). Análises de regressão revelaram que: (a) o escore de transtornos mentais comuns na gestação foi o único preditor significativo da depressão pós-parto; (b) quando o efeito da depressão pósparto sobre a percepção dos eventos estressores foi controlado, o impacto dos eventos estressores sobre a variância nos transtornos mentais comuns na gestação desapareceu, e apenas a renda permaneceu como preditor significativo. Esses achados indicam a estabilidade dos sintomas de transtornos mentais da gestação para o puerpério.Los eventos estresantes pueden afectar la salud mental de las mujeres durante el embarazo y el puerperio. Este estudio investigó la relación entre variables sociodemográficas, estresores y la salud mental de mujeres durante el embarazo y el postparto. Setenta y nueve mujeres embarazadas contestaron al Self Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ-20) y, en el primer mes de vida del bebé, al Inventario de Eventos Estresores de la Vida y el Inventario Beck de Depresión (BDI-I). Análisis de regresión revelaron que: (a) el escore de trastornos mentales comunes en el embarazo fue el único predictor significativo de la depresión postparto; (b) cuando se controlaron los efectos de la depresión postparto en la percepción de los estresores, el impacto de los estresores en la varianza en los trastornos mentales comunes durante el embarazo desapareció, y sólo el ingreso familiar fue un predictor significativo. Estos hallazgos indican la estabilidad de los síntomas de trastornos mentales del embarazo al postparto

Contemplar y poseer. El poder de la mirada en la disputa por la apropiación de objetos y monumentos de las culturas antiguas de Centroamérica

El artículo pone en diálogo las narrativas del diplomático estadounidense J. L. Stephens y del corregidor del Petén Modesto Méndez, quienes se autoproclaman descubridores de las ruinas monumentales de Copán y Quiriguá, el primero y de Tikal, el segundo. Se pretende ubicar la discursividad de Stephens en el contexto de los argumentos de viajeros y científicos noratlánticos que justifican la apropiación de las riquezas arqueológicas de regiones localizadas, según criterios hegemónicos, en escalas distantes de la civilización. A partir del descubrimiento de Méndez, se explora un discurso contestatario a las modernas formas de apropiación de los valores simbólicos de los países subalternos. El artículo desarrolla ampliamente el tema de la contemplación estética, la cual, desde la óptica de quienes provienen de los países hegemónicos, es un atributo que los diferencia radicalmente de las gentes de aquellos países dispuestos a la colonización. En Méndez se encuentra una respuesta desde el acto contemplativo mismo que es necesario considerar para profundizar en la valoración de los alcances de su desafío a la colonialidad. El artículo también se ocupa de otras dos dimensionalidades del texto de Méndez. Por una parte, con el fin de explorar hasta dónde el corregidor se distancia de esa mirada colonial para dialogar con la colonialidad característica de la modernidad, lo hace interactuar con textualidades prevalecientes en la época cuando la región estuvo sujeta a España. Por otra parte, en las siguientes páginas se explora el diálogo que establece Hugo Cerezo Dardón, como funcionario de la Revolución Guatemalteca (1944-1954), con la narrativa de Méndez en aras de explicar cómo el acto del descubrimiento, en el que participan distintos sectores sociales, se transmuta en metáfora de una sociedad jerárquica, pero integrada, en un momento de la historia contemporánea en que se intentó crear una nación inclusiva.The dialogue between the narratives written by the Corregidor del Petén Modesto Méndez and the northamerican diplomatic J. L. Stephens about the discovery of the ruins of Tikal, located in Guatemala by the first and Copán and Quiruguá, in Honduras and Guatemala respectively by the second. The goal of this article consist in analyze the arguments of travelers and scientific to justify their appropriation of archaeological wealth as well as the scope of the answers given by the subjects from subaltern countries to such appropriation. This article develops the issue of “esthetic contemplation.” From the prospective of whom coming from the hegemonic countries, the esthetic contemplation is an exclusive attribute of them that establishes a radical distance between them and the nations located at the south of the world. This text explores how Méndez responds to such a conception in order to observe the reach of his challenge to colonial system. Furthermore, the article has two other prospectives: it put in dialogue the narrative de Méndez y Stephens with the narrative related to ancestral monuments coming from the previous centuries in order to explore the changes in their representation that the modernity introduced. Secondly, these pages analyze how Mendez was read by an actor of the Guatemalan Revolution (1944-1954) Hugo Cerezo Dardón in order to explain why such discourse acquire such a signification during the process of national formation prompted by the revolutionary state.UCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Artes y Letras::Centro de Investigación en Identidad y Cultura Latinoamérica (CIICLA

Religión, cultura popular y radicalización: La experiencia de los pueblos de Izalco y Nahuizalco, El Salvador, 1970-1998

Este artículo explora el complejo mundo de la religiosidad católica de los pueblos de Izalco y Nahuizalco en las tres últimas décadas del siglo XX. A partir de fuentes documentales y orales la autora logra reconstruir las interacciones, diálogos y disputas que las diferentes corrientes teológicas y las prácticas religiosas que las acompañan provocan en el seno de estas sociedades marcadas por las diferencias étnicas. Este artículo permite demuestra que el universo religioso no está exento de los conflictos sociales y las diferencias culturales, más bien los refleja. Pero además deja ver las recurrentes dificultades que la Iglesia Católica y sus representantes ha tenido para entender las mentalidades de sus feligreses, debiendo aceptar los límites y readecuaciones que estos imponen a las prácticas religiosas del catolicism

Religión, cultura popular y radicalización :: La experiencia de los pueblos de Izalco y Nahuizalco, El Salvador, 1970-1998

Este artículo explora el complejo mundo de la religiosidad católica de los pueblos de Izalco y Nahuizalco en las tres últimas décadas del siglo XX. A partir de fuentes documentales y orales la autora logra reconstruir las interacciones, diálogos y disputas que las diferentes corrientes teológicas y las prácticas religiosas que las acompañan provocan en el seno de estas sociedades marcadas por las diferencias étnicas. Este artículo permite demuestra que el universo religioso no está exento de los conflictos sociales y las diferencias culturales, más bien los refleja. Pero además deja ver las recurrentes dificultades que la Iglesia Católica y sus representantes ha tenido para entender las mentalidades de sus feligreses, debiendo aceptar los límites y readecuaciones que estos imponen a las prácticas religiosas del catolicism

Assessment of soil physicochemical characteristics and As, Cu, Pb and Zn contamination in non-active mines at the Portuguese Sector of the

This study aimed to evaluate soil physicochemical characteristics (pH, electrical conductivity, organic matter, total N, and extractable P and K), and potentially toxic elements (As, Cu, Pb, and Zn), in non-active mines located in the Portuguese sector of the Iberian Pyrite Belt (IPB). A total of 70 sampling sites were surveyed at Aljustrel and Lousal, in areas already rehabilitated, and at São Domingos, where rehabilitation was only beginning. The soils at São Domingos were very heterogeneous, with extreme values for some properties (e.g., minimum soil pH 2.0 and maximum As concentration, 4382.8 mg kg1 dry weight basis (DW)). Aljustrel was the site that presented soils with a higher total As, Cu, Pb, and Zn concentration (median values: 441.5, 545.9, 1396.8, and 316.5 mg kg1 DW, respectively), above the soil quality guidelines values proposed by the Portuguese Environmental Agency (18, 230, 120, and 340 mg kg1 DW, respectively). A principal component analysis identified the most relevant soil properties to explain the data variance, which were the soil pH and Pb total concentration, followed by Cu and Zn total concentrations, allowing a separation of Aljustrel from the other mines. Pearson correlation coefficients revealed very strong associations between Pb and As, markedly found at higher concentrations in São Domingos, whereas Aljustrel had an elevated concentration of As and Pb, but also of Cu and Zn. It is evident the risk that persists in the Aljustrel mine area, which was not alleviated by the “dig, dump, and cover” techniques that were implemented to rehabilitate the area

Characterization of Cynara cardunculus L. flower from Alentejo as a coagulant agent for cheesemaking

The cardoon (Cynara cardunculus L.) is a mandatory vegetable coagulant for certain Protected Designation of Origin Portuguese cheeses. It grows wild in Portugal and is used without any type of control regarding flower picking or extract preparation, representing some uncertainty in cheese manufacture. The variability in technological properties, in the context of traditional cheese manufacture, of cardoon flower ecotypes from the Alentejo region was evaluated, including milk clotting and proteolytic activities, coagulation properties and potential cheesemaking yield of flower extracts. Multivariate statistics highlighted the variability of flower properties for cheesemaking, but allowed the aggregation of the ecotypes into five groups under the major influence of milk clotting activity and effect on gel firmness and micellar aggregation rate, followed by proteolytic activity. These differences may have an impact on cheese properties and therefore can allow the selection of cardoon flower for the manufacture of different types of cheese

Maternal child rearing practices and interaction between mothers and children with externalizing behavior problems

O presente estudo investigou diferenças entre as práticas educativas de mães de crianças com problemas de externalização (grupo clínico) e de mães de crianças sem problemas de externalização (grupo não-clínico). Participaram do estudo 30 díades mãe-criança, de nível sócio-econômico baixo e médio-baixo. As crianças eram de ambos os sexos e tinham entre 5 e 6 anos de idade. As díades foram designadas aos grupos clínico e não-clínico com base na pontuação da criança no Investário de Comportamentos da Infância e Adolescência - CBCL. As díades foram observadasinteragindo durante a execução de uma tarefa estruturada. O Teste de Mann-Whitney não revelou diferenças significativas entre os grupos quanto às práticas educativas maternas nem quanto aos comportamentos da criança.The aim of the present study was to investigate differences in mothers’ child rearing practices with children with externalizing behavior problems and children without externalizing behavior problems (clinical and non-clinical group, respectively). Thirty mother-child dyads from both low and medium-low socio-economical levels participated in the study. The children were of both sexes, with ages ranging from 5 to 6 years. The dyads were assigned to the clinical or non-clinical group based on the children’s scores on the Child Behavior Checklist - CBCL. The dyads were observed in an interaction session during which the children were involved in a structured task. Mann-Whitney Test showed no significant difference between the groups either in mothers’ child rearing practices or in children’s behavior