Documenting the flora of a diversity hotspot: Richard Thomas Lowe (1802–1874) and his botanical exploration of Madeira island

Oceanic island floras often exhibit remarkable concentrations of endemic diversity, provide spectacular examples of rapid evolutionary radiations and harbour floras under significant threat due to anthropogenic pressures. They have attracted the interest of biologists for centuries, but their floras continue to yield new taxa and, at a global scale, the extent of their plant diversity remains imperfectly known. Both natural characteristics and historical factors have shaped the development of knowledge of island floras. In this paper, we investigate the approach of Richard Thomas Lowe (1802–1874), to documenting the flora of Madeira island in the North Atlantic. Lowe collected abundantly in Madeira between 1826 and 1873, resulting in several works on Madeira’s flora, pub lished from the 1830s. At a time when taxonomic research on island floras was often based on limited collections made during brief expeditions, Lowe’s research on the flora, spanning almost half a century, was exceptional. In this study, 2579 herbarium specimens collected by Lowe were georeferenced and used to investigate temporal, spatial and taxonomic patterns in Lowe’s collecting activities. We also examine the distribution of specimens by Lowe to other botanists. Some biases are evident in Lowe’s collecting efforts, with steep slopes under-sampled and coastal sites over-sampled. These reflect constraints imposed by topography and transport links. These limitations aside, Lowe’s work on the Madeiran flora was conducted in a systematic manner, resulting in a comprehensive study of the entire flora. His approach was distinctly modern: he gathered and studied all available information in herbaria and in the pub lished and unpublished writings from earlier visitors; his initial fieldwork was conducted widely to gain knowledge of all habitats and their floras; later fieldwork focussed on less-explored and most promising areas; duplicates were sent to other botanists, facilitating taxonomic exchanges on critical taxa; and his later fieldwork focussed on plant groups where taxonomic problems had been detected. As a result of Lowe’s sustained and systematic approach, he is the single most prolific contributor to the study of Madeira’s endemic flora. His approach is a model to documenting island floras still relevant today. Areas poorly sampled by Lowe were areas that were difficult to access, which also protected them from anthropic destructive activities and allowed them to serve as refuges for endemic flora. Those areas deserve particular attention in efforts to complete the survey of Madeira’s plant diversity, using technological ad vancements such as drones to prospect areas that are otherwise still largely inaccessible.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Design of urban forests

This chapter explores the design of the urban forest. Whether the various elements are new to the urban green-space structure, or whether they are existing components which require changes in layout or management due to evolving demands, design has an important part to play. The spatial layout of trees, their composition and structure, interact with the ways people perceive or make use of them and also affect physical and ecological functioning such as shelter, shade and habitat provisioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Richard Thomas Lowe: un ilustrador botánico desconocido

La ilustración es indudablemente parte de la historia botánica. A comienzos del siglo xix, cuando el latín botánico posibilitó descripciones más exactas, la necesidad de ilustraciones científicas decreció. Por otra parte, el desarrollo de las técnicas de impresión permitió la producción de revistas botánicas ilustradas periódicas a costes accesibles. Por ello, las láminas de plantas nunca han dejado de ser parte de la botánica a todos los niveles. Richard Thomas Lowe (1802-1874) estudió la flora de Madeira desde 1826, cuando visitó la isla por primera vez, hasta su muerte. Es bien conocido por haber sido el autor de la primera flora comprehensiva de Madeira, pero su labor como ilustrador botánico es poco conocida. En este trabajo analizamos la producción gráfica de su primer trabajo importante, publicado en 1831, junto con documentos escritos que juntos permiten conocer la extraordinaria labor del reverendo Lowe como botánico en Madeira, incluyendo su relevante actividad como ilustrador. Creemos que el análisis conjunto de sus ilustraciones y de su correspondencia muestra que fue el propio Lowe realizó los dibujos que dieron lugar a las láminas de Goodyera macrophylla de este trabajo, que hasta ahora se consideraban de autor desconocido.Illustration is undoubtedly part of botanical history. In the early 19th century, as botanical Latin yielded more accurate descriptions, the need for illustration in scientific publications decreased. Nevertheless, advances in printing processes boosted the production of illustrated botanical periodicals at accessible costs. Therefore, coloured depictions of plants never ceased to be part of botany at all levels. Richard Thomas Lowe (1802-1874) studied the flora of Madeira from 1826, when he first visited the island, to his death. He is well known as the author of Madeira’s first comprehensive Flora, but his work as a botanical illustrator is poorly known. We analysed the graphic production related to his first major paper, published in 1831, along with written documents, which, altogether, support a more complete understanding of Rev. Lowe’s botanical work in Madeira and his relevant activity as an illustrator. We believe that joint analysis of illustrations and correspondence show that Lowe himself made the drawings after which the plate of the orchid Goodyera macrophylla in this paper was prepared, whose authorship was, up to now, unknown

Burle Marx in Recife: the restoration of the Guararapes airport garden as cultural heritage

Este artigo apresenta a experiência do workshop “Restauro de Jardins Históricos”, ocorrida em 2012 na cidade do Recife, no Nordeste do Brasil, tendo como objeto o jardim do aeroporto dos Guararapes, denominado de praça Ministro Salgado Filho, projetado pelo paisagista Roberto Burle Marx em 1957 e que faz parte de um conjunto de jardins concebidos pelo paisagista em Recife entre 1935 e 1958. O estudo desse jardim, que obteve recentemente o título de patrimônio cultural nacional, pretende ser uma referência para futuras ações de restauro no âmbito da conservação urbana no Brasil.This paper reports a workshop on historic garden restoration that took place in the city of Recife, northeast Brasil in 2012 by focusing the Guararapes airport garden called Ministro Salgado Filho square which was designed by Roberto Burle Marx in 1957. It is part of the set of gardens he designed in Recife from 1935 to 1958. The study of this garden, which was, recently, protected as a brazilian cultural heritage intends to be a reference on garden restoration proposals in the future concerning urban conservation in Brasil

Tributo da Academia das Ciências por ocasião do 150.º Aniversário do seu Nascimento

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Figurações do ‘Outro’ em representações de Portugal, da Grã-Bretanha e dos EUA na poesia e no romance portugueses e anglo-americanos do século XIX

Grupo de Investigação INTCULTPOET sobre "Figurações Literárias do "Outro"; Página Web do Grupo de Investigação: http://ceh.ilch.uminho.pt/intcultpoet.phpNo contexto de uma perspectiva intercultural que congrega diversas áreas científicas, incluindo a história da literatura, a literatura comparada e a antropologia cultural, torna-se extremamente relevante inquirir sobre as noções psicológicas e os pressupostos culturais que subjazem a certas representações imaginárias ou literárias de Portugal, da Grã-Bretanha e dos EUA, assim como dos seus respectivos povos (Hall, 2003). Interessa não apenas explorar a forma como essas noções, pressupostos e representações evoluíram ao longo do século dezanove nas respectivas literaturas (aproximadamente de 1800 a 1900), mas também reflectir sobre os seus verdadeiros efeitos ou resultados no processo identitário destas nações e da própria Europa. Para servir esta finalidade, as questões ou conceitos operacionais de idealização artística e preconceito cultural, por parte dos respectivos escritores, os seus públicos e a crítica, serão cuidadosamente analisados e comparados no sentido de se detectarem os métodos, estratégias, motivos e pressupostos das suas frequentemente controversas descrições literárias. Este grupo de investigação pretende analisar as diferentes formas como o ‘Outro’, entendido quer como país estranho quer como povo estranho, é reciprocamente representado em certas obras poéticas e narrativas da literatura anglo-americana e portuguesa do século XIX. Esta escolha temporal explica-se por ser este um período de grandes mudanças relativamente à forma como se encara aquilo que é diferente ou estranho devido a uma nova e, por vezes, forçada mobilidade causada por recorrentes conflitos armados ou sociais e também pela grande expansão comercial e colonial que caracterizou a época de oitocentos. Um dos seus objectivos principais é analisar de forma rigorosamente documentada, e de uma perspectiva quer anglo-americana quer portuguesa, as representações literárias de Portugal, da Grã-Bretanha e dos EUA nesse confronto intercultural, feito de sinergias e fricções, resultante do contacto intelectual, político e económico entre estes povos no decorrer do século dezanove. Noções de ignorância ou de estranhamento cultural estarão envolvidas quer na análise da idealização poética do ‘Outro’, a respectiva nação e o seu povo, como remoto, idílico ou exótico, quer no estudo de estereótipos enraizados (Plous, 2003), incluindo preconceitos contra formas de religião, género, governação política e hábitos e costumes sociais, que subjazem a certos textos literários. Tanto as representações documentadas mais favoráveis como as francamente desfavoráveis serão estudadas, quer em textos de cariz mais sério quer em textos satíricos, escritos em inglês e/ou em português, assim como em poesia ou ficção.info:eu-repo/semantics/draf

Improving outcomes for children with malaria, diarrhoea and pneumonia in Mozambique: A cluster randomised controlled trial of the inSCALE technology innovation

BACKGROUND: The majority of post-neonatal deaths in children under 5 are due to malaria, diarrhoea and pneumonia (MDP). The WHO recommends integrated community case management (iCCM) of these conditions using community-based health workers (CHW). However iCCM programmes have suffered from poor implementation and mixed outcomes. We designed and evaluated a technology-based (mHealth) intervention package 'inSCALE' (Innovations At Scale For Community Access and Lasting Effects) to support iCCM programmes and increase appropriate treatment coverage for children with MDP. METHODS: This superiority cluster randomised controlled trial allocated all 12 districts in Inhambane Province in Mozambique to receive iCCM only (control) or iCCM plus the inSCALE technology intervention. Population cross-sectional surveys were conducted at baseline and after 18 months of intervention implementation in approximately 500 eligible households in randomly selected communities in all districts including at least one child less than 60 months of age where the main caregiver was available to assess the impact of the intervention on the primary outcome, the coverage of appropriate treatment for malaria, diarrhoea and pneumonia in children 2-59months of age. Secondary outcomes included the proportion of sick children who were taken to the CHW for treatment, validated tool-based CHW motivation and performance scores, prevalence of cases of illness, and a range of secondary household and health worker level outcomes. All statistical models accounted for the clustered study design and variables used to constrain the randomisation. A meta-analysis of the estimated pooled impact of the technology intervention was conducted including results from a sister trial (inSCALE-Uganda). FINDINGS: The study included 2740 eligible children in control arm districts and 2863 children in intervention districts. After 18 months of intervention implementation 68% (69/101) CHWs still had a working inSCALE smartphone and app and 45% (44/101) had uploaded at least one report to their supervising health facility in the last 4 weeks. Coverage of the appropriate treatment of cases of MDP increased by 26% in the intervention arm (adjusted RR 1.26 95% CI 1.12-1.42, p<0.001). The rate of care seeking to the iCCM-trained community health worker increased in the intervention arm (14.4% vs 15.9% in control and intervention arms respectively) but fell short of the significance threshold (adjusted RR 1.63, 95% CI 0.93-2.85, p = 0.085). The prevalence of cases of MDP was 53.5% (1467) and 43.7% (1251) in the control and intervention arms respectively (risk ratio 0.82, 95% CI 0.78-0.87, p<0.001). CHW motivation and knowledge scores did not differ between intervention arms. Across two country trials, the estimated pooled effect of the inSCALE intervention on coverage of appropriate treatment for MDP was RR 1.15 (95% CI 1.08-1.24, p <0.001). INTERPRETATION: The inSCALE intervention led to an improvement in appropriate treatment of common childhood illnesses when delivered at scale in Mozambique. The programme will be rolled out by the ministry of health to the entire national CHW and primary care network in 2022-2023. This study highlights the potential value of a technology intervention aimed at strengthening iCCM systems to address the largest causes of childhood morbidity and mortality in sub-Saharan Africa

Costs of treating childhood malaria, diarrhoea and pneumonia in rural Mozambique and Uganda.

BACKGROUND: Globally, nearly half of all deaths among children under the age of 5 years can be attributed to malaria, diarrhoea, and pneumonia. A significant proportion of these deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa. Despite several programmes implemented in sub-Saharan Africa, the burden of these illnesses remains persistently high. To mobilise resources for such programmes it is necessary to evaluate their costs, costs-effectiveness, and affordability. This study aimed to estimate the provider costs of treating malaria, diarrhoea, and pneumonia among children under the age of 5 years in routine settings at the health facility level in rural Uganda and Mozambique. METHODS: Service and cost data was collected from health facilities in midwestern Uganda and Inhambane province, Mozambique from private and public health facilities. Financial and economic costs of providing care for childhood illnesses were investigated from the provider perspective by combining a top-down and bottom-up approach to estimate unit costs and annual total costs for different types of visits for these illnesses. All costs were collected in Ugandan shillings and Mozambican meticais. Costs are presented in 2021 US dollars. RESULTS: In Uganda, the highest number of outpatient visits were for children with uncomplicated malaria and of inpatient admissions were for respiratory infections, including pneumonia. The highest unit cost for outpatient visits was for pneumonia (and other respiratory infections) and ranged from $0.5 to 2.3, while the highest unit cost for inpatient admissions was for malaria ($19.6). In Mozambique, the highest numbers of outpatient and inpatient admissions visits were for malaria. The highest unit costs were for malaria too, ranging from $2.5 to 4.2 for outpatient visits and$3.8 for inpatient admissions. The greatest contributors to costs in both countries were drugs and diagnostics, followed by staff. CONCLUSIONS: The findings highlighted the intensive resource use in the treatment of malaria and pneumonia for outpatient and inpatient cases, particularly at higher level health facilities. Timely treatment to prevent severe complications associated with these illnesses can also avoid high costs to health providers, and households. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier: NCT01972321

Félix de Avelar Brotero: uma história natural

Brotero é apresentado neste livro como um cientista muito marcado pelos anos que viveu em Paris e pela oportunidade que aí teve de conhecer cientistas como Daubenton, Antoine de Jussieu, Buffon e Lamarck. O prestígio internacional de Brotero é reconhecido por eminentes botânicos contemporâneos, ao atribuírem o seu nome a diversas espécies vegetais. As boas relações internacionais que construiu acabarão por lhe granjear o apoio necessário para a execução de algumas das suas obras em Portugal. Sem este apoio, talvez não tivesse conseguido enfrentar muitas adversidades, nomeadamente as contradições mesquinhas que dominavam o meio académico português