Building Bio-Districts or Eco-Regions: Participative Processes Supported by Focal Groups

Over the years, rural areas have faced a number of problems and difficulties, such as an increase in the average age of the population, desertification, loss of employment and the abandon‐ ment of rural and agricultural activities, which have led to the emergence of new initiatives aimed at revitalizing these territories from a social, economic and environmental perspective, such as the successful Bio‐districts or Eco‐regions (e.g., Bio‐district of Cilento). Understanding and establishing a proper framework for each territory based on agroecology and participatory methodologies is still a challenge. In this sense, based on the analysis of two European examples—Cilento, Italy and São Pedro do Sul, Portugal—we described each of the building processes and defined a set of drivers that might constitute guiding principles to serve as a basis for the creation of Bio‐districts or Eco‐ regions. The drivers’ matrix identified was discussed in three focus groups carried out in Portugal in 2020. Such drivers included a technical and environmental component (the quality of the envi‐ ronment and landscape, the food system and the implementation of organic farming and agroeco‐ logical practices), a social and economic component (valorization of the farmers, products and ter‐ ritories and a set of different stakeholders—farmers, consumers, schools, tourism entities and res‐ taurants, local authorities) and a political component (the governance model). Most participants agreed that the recognition of a Bio‐district or Eco‐region should be informal, bottom‐up, with farm‐ ers as the main pillar, with a fair and representative participation, namely family farmers.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The role of MTHFR polymorphisms in breast cancer risk– A metaanalysis

Breast cancer incidence has been increasing by more than one million new cases every year and is a primary cause of cancer death among women worldwide. Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) plays an important role in folate metabolism and as a regulator of DNA methylation, synthesis, and repair. MTHFR gene is polymorphic at nucleotides 677 (C®T) and 1298 (A®C), resulting in allozymes with decreased activity. Several studies have pointed to association between the MTHFR C677T polymorphism and breast cancer risk.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Gender in their attitude towards domestic violence and intimate partner violence in Portugal

ESA 2021. 15ª Conferência realizada em Barcelona de 31 de agosto a 3 setembro de 2021.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Machine learning models based on clinical indices and cardiotocographic features for discriminating asphyxia fetuses—Porto retrospective intrapartum study

Perinatal asphyxia is one of the most frequent causes of neonatal mortality, affecting approximately four million newborns worldwide each year and causing the death of one million individuals. One of the main reasons for these high incidences is the lack of consensual methods of early diagnosis for this pathology. Estimating risk-appropriate health care for mother and baby is essential for increasing the quality of the health care system. Thus, it is necessary to investigate models that improve the prediction of perinatal asphyxia. Access to the cardiotocographic signals (CTGs) in conjunction with various clinical parameters can be crucial for the development of a successful model. This exploratory work aims to develop predictive models of perinatal asphyxia based on clinical parameters and fetal heart rate (fHR) indices. Single gestations data from a retrospective unicentric study from Centro Hospitalar e Universitário do Porto de São João (CHUSJ) between 2010 and 2018 was probed. The CTGs were acquired and analyzed by Omniview-SisPorto, estimating several fHR features. The clinical variables were obtained from the electronic clinical records stored by ObsCare. Entropy and compression characterized the complexity of the fHR time series. These variables' contribution to the prediction of asphyxia perinatal was probed by binary logistic regression (BLR) and Naive-Bayes (NB) models. The data consisted of 517 cases, with 15 pathological cases. The asphyxia prediction models showed promising results, with an area under the receiver operator characteristic curve (AUC) >70%. In NB approaches, the best models combined clinical and SisPorto features. The best model was the univariate BLR with the variable compression ratio scale 2 (CR2) and an AUC of 94.93% [94.55; 95.31%]. Both BLR and Bayesian models have advantages and disadvantages. The model with the best performance predicting perinatal asphyxia was the univariate BLR with the CR2 variable, demonstrating the importance of non-linear indices in perinatal asphyxia detection. Future studies should explore decision support systems to detect sepsis, including clinical and CTGs features (linear and non-linear).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Desempenho de concretos de esc?ria de aciaria frente a ataque de cloretos.

Programa de P?s Gradua??o em Engenharia Civil. Departamento de Engenharia Civil, Escola de Minas, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto.Em 2017, o Brasil fabricou 34,4 milh?es de toneladas de a?o, sendo a nona maior produ??o mundial. Essa atividade gera diversos res?duos e coprodutos, destacando-se a esc?ria de aciaria, que em sua maioria tem destinos pouco nobres, como aterros, dep?sitos e revestimento para vias secund?rias. Estudos recentes comprovaram que concretos com esc?ria de aciaria tem desempenho mec?nico equivalente ou superior aos convencionais. Por?m, existem poucas pesquisas avaliando a durabilidade dos mesmos. Os ambientes sujeitos ao efeito das mar?s s?o os mais perigosos para estrutura de concreto armado devido presen?a de cloretos que levam a diminui??o da se??o das armaduras e subsequente fissura??o do concreto. Assim, esse trabalho avaliou a durabilidade frente a ataque de cloretos de concretos fabricados utilizando de esc?ria de aciaria como agregado e adi??o mineral. Nessa pesquisa foram produzidos concretos com dois consumos de cimento (310 kg/m? e 450 kg/m?). Com finalidade de compara??o, foram fabricadas matrizes de refer?ncia utilizando agregados convencionais e adi??es minerais comerciais, como s?lica ativa e metacaulim. Inicialmente todas as matrizes foram caracterizadas quanto as suas caracter?sticas f?sicas e mec?nicas, tais como ?ndice de vazios, massa espec?fica, resist?ncia ? compress?o e resist?ncia ? compress?o por tra??o diametral. Subsequente, foi analisado a resist?ncia a penetra??o de cloretos, atrav?s da exposi??o de corpos de prova a solu??es agressivas de NaCl por per?odos de 35 e 55 dias. Ap?s esse per?odo foi avaliado as profundidades penetradas por cloretos e a capacidade de formar sal de Friedel das tr?s adi??es minerais utilizadas. De forma geral, os concretos com agregado convencional apresentaram menor ?ndice de vazios e menor massa espec?fica, os diferentes consumos de cimento n?o afetaram significativamente essas caracter?sticas. No entanto, apesar dos maiores ?ndices de vazios, as matrizes fabricadas com agregado de esc?ria de aciaria possuem resist?ncia ? compress?o e ? tra??o superiores aos convencionais. O aumento do consumo de cimento proporcionou uma melhora no desempenho mec?nico dos concretos produzidos com ambos os agregados. A adi??o mineral de esc?ria de aciaria apresentou comportamento semelhante ? das adi??es comerciais quando combinada aos dois tipos de agregado e nos dois consumos de cimentos. Suas caracter?sticas f?sicas e mec?nicas foram principalmente similares as matrizes produzidas com incorpora??o de metacaulim. Com rela??o a durabilidade, os concretos produzidos com agregado de esc?ria de aciaria tiveram menores profundidades de penetra??o de ?ons cloretos quando comparado aos convencionais. O aumento do consumo de cimento implicou na produ??o de concretos mais dur?veis, com menores profundidades atacadas. Avaliando a capacidade de formar cloretos combinados (Sal de Friedel) a adi??o mineral de esc?ria de aciaria apresentou comportamento similar a s?lica ativa. O maior teor de cloreto combinado foi notado no concreto com metacaulim. De modo geral, nessa pesquisa observou-se que agregados e adi??es minerais produzidas com esc?ria de aciaria s?o op??es tecnicamente vi?veis para fabrica??o de concretos.In 2017, Brazil manufactured 34.4 million tons of steel. The country has the ninth largest production in the world. This industry generates several residues and coproducts, highlighting the steel slag, which has not noble destinations, such as landfills, deposits and surfacing secondary roads. Recent studies have shown that concretes with steel slag have mechanical performance equivalent or higher than the conventional ones. However, there are few studies evaluating their durability. The tidal zones in marine environemt are the most dangerous for the structure of reinforced concrete due to the presence of chlorides that lead to the reduction of the section of the reinforcement bar and leads subsequent to concrete cracking. Thus, this work evaluated the durability against chloride attack of concrete produced using steel slag as aggregate and mineral admixture. In this research were fabricated concretes with two cement contents (310 kg / m? and 450 kg / m?). For comparison purposes, reference concretes using conventional aggregates and commercial mineral admixtures such as silica fume and metakaolin were produced. Initially all composites were characterized as their physical and mechanical characteristics, such as voids index, specific mass, compressive strength and tension strength by diametrical compression. Subsequently, the penetration resistance of chlorides was analyzed by exposing test specimens to aggressive solutions of NaCl for periods of 35 and 55 days. After this period, the penetration depths and the ability to form Friedel salts for the three mineral admixtures used were evaluated. In general, the concretes with conventional aggregates presented lower voids index and lower specific mass, the cement content did not affect these characteristics significantly. However, despite the higher void indices, the composites made with steel slag aggregate presented higher compressive and tensile strength than conventional ones. The increase of the cement content provided an improvement in the mechanical performance of the concretes for the both aggregates. The mineral admixture made with steel slag had a similar perfomance compared to the the commercial ones when combined with the two types of aggregates and in the two cement content. The physical and mechanical characteristics of concretes fabricated with steel slag mineral admixture were mainly similar to the matrices produced with the incorporation of metakaolin. Regarding the durability, the concretes produced with steel slag aggregates had lower chloride penetration depths when compared to conventional ones. The increase in cement content impacted directly in the production of more durable concretes, with lower attacked depths. Evaluating the ability to form combined chlorides (Friedel's salts) the steel slag mineral admixture present similar behavior to silica fume. The highest combined chloride content was observed in the concrete made with metakaolin. In general, this research observed that aggregates and mineral admixtures produced with steel slag are technically feasible options for concrete manufacturing. Key-words

High Trypanosoma spp. diversity is maintained by bats and triatomines in Espírito Santo state, Brazil

The aim of this study was to reevaluate the ecology of an area in the Atlantic Forest, southeast Brazil, where Chagas disease (CD) has been found to occur. In a previous study, immediately after the occurrence of a CD case, we did not observe any sylvatic small mammals or dogs with Trypanosoma cruzi cruzi infections, but Triatoma vitticeps presented high T. c. cruzi infection rates. In this study, we investigated bats together with non-volant mammals, dogs, and triatomines to explore other possible T. c. cruzi reservoirs/hosts in the area. Seventy-three non-volant mammals and 186 bats were captured at three sites within the Guarapari municipality, Espírito Santo state. Rio da Prata and Amarelos sites exhibited greater richness in terms of non-volant mammals and bats species, respectively. The marsupial Metachirus nudicaudatus, the rodent Trinomys paratus, and the bats Artibeus lituratus and Carollia perspicillata were the most frequently captured species. As determined by positive hemocultures, only two non-volant mammals were found to be infected by Trypanosoma species: Monodelphis americana, which was infected by T. cascavelli, T. dionisii and Trypanosoma sp., and Callithrix geoffroyi, which was infected by T. minasense. Bats presented T. c. cruzi TcI and TcIII/V, T. c. marinkellei, T. dionisii, T. rangeli B and D, and Trypanosoma sp. infections. Seven dogs were infected with T. cruzi based only on serological exams. The triatomines T. vitticeps and Panstrongylus geniculatus were found to be infected by trypanosomes via microscopy. According to molecular characterization, T. vitticeps specimens were infected with T. c. cruzi TcI, TcII, TcIII/V, and TcIV, T. c. marinkellei and T. dionisii. We observed high trypanosome diversity in a small and fragmented region of the Atlantic Forest. This diversity was primarily maintained by bats and T. vitticeps. Our findings show that the host specificity of the Trypanosoma genus should be thoroughly reviewed. In addition, our data show that CD cases can occur without an enzootic cycle near residential areas

Synthesis and evaluation of 1-alkyl-4-phenyl-[1,2,3]-triazole derivatives as antimycobacterial agent

Fourteen small molar mass 1-alkyl-4-phenyl-[1,2,3]-triazole derivatives were prepared using a straightforward and efficient method for the regioselective synthesis of [1,2,3]-triazoles and the compounds were screened for antimycobacterial activity against multiple-drug-resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv. The synthetic methodology consisted of a Cu(I)-catalyzed 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of aryl azides to terminal arylacetylenes (click-reaction). Six [1,2,3]-triazoles were found to be more active against M. tuberculosis than the positive control ethambutol

Identification of duck, partridge, pheasant, quail, chicken and turkey meats by species-specific PCR assays to assess the authenticity of traditional game meat Alheira sausages

Game meat Alheira (Alheira de caça) sausage is a traditional fermented product typical from the Northeast region of Portugal, having bread and meats (including game) as main ingredients. It is a particularly appreciated product by consumers that commands higher prices, especially in comparison with the common Alheira produced with pork and poultry meats. Following our previous work in which several mammalian game meat species were successfully identified in game meat Alheira sausages for authentication purposes, the present work aimed at identifying game bird's species for the overall assessment of labelling compliance. For that purpose, several species-specific PCR assays targeting mitochondrial DNA for the detection of game and domestic bird's meat, namely duck, partridge, pheasant, quail, chicken and turkey were developed, optimised and applied to commercial samples of game meat Alheira for their authentication. The assays revealed a high specificity and sensitivity to detect the addition of all evaluated species down to a level of 0.01% (w/w). PCR results indicated the existence of several inconsistencies with the labelled information, namely the absence of declared game species (duck, partridge and pheasant) and the presence of undeclared poultry meat, pointing out to adulterations owing to substitution of game by domestic meat species. Since this is considered a high-valued traditional product that should be valorised and protected, this work puts in evidence the need for inspection programs to enforce regulation. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.The authors acknowledge the financial support of the University of Porto/Santander Totta “Projectos pluridisciplinares 2010” and the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) through grant no. PEst-C/EQB/LA0006/2013.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Ética nas organizações Princípios éticos e prática encontrada: um estudo de caso no BANCOOB

A competitividade entre as empresas, a busca pelo sucesso e a fidelização dos clientes, que estão cada vez mais exigentes, fazem com que a conservação da imagem da organização perante a sociedade seja um fator crucial para o sucesso. E a ética enraizada na cultura organizacional facilita esta conservação, traduzindo uma imagem sólida e transparente da organização, para seus clientes, concorrentes, fornecedores e colaboradores. Este trabalho tem como objetivo estudar os conceitos da ética, ética empresarial, cultura organizacional e as práticas desenvolvidas e aplicadas pelas empresas com o intuito de enraizar a ética na cultura empresarial e no cotidiano de seus colaboradores. O método de pesquisa escolhido para estudo destes conceitos foi o bibliográfico, relacionando os conceitos de vários autores sobre os temas abordados, e como estratégia de pesquisa o método escolhido foi o estudo de caso realizado no BANCOOB, com breve histórico da instituição e o relato de como a Ética é trabalhada na organização. Um trabalho desenvolvido com foco na ética empresarial e análise sobre sua prática, com algumas sugestões e propostas para serem implantadas na empresa estudada. O presente estudo mostra que quando a ética não faz parte dos pilares da organização, algumas práticas podem ser desenvolvidas com tal finalidade. Ou ainda, quando um colaborador não apresenta valores éticos na sua conduta pessoal, a empresa pode ajudar a desenvolvê-los. Percebe-se que a inserção de práticas éticas em uma organização deve ser feita diariamente, e a ética deve ser incorporada na cultura organizacional. Para tanto, a educação dos colaboradores e o incentivo da organização são fundamentais em todo este processo. A Ética deve ser o pilar da cultura organizacional, alinhando a conduta das pessoas à cultura da organização