Effects of a large irrigation reservoir on aquatic and riparian plants: a history of survival and loss

Dammed rivers have unnatural stream flows, disrupted sediment dynamics, and rearranged geomorphologic settings. Consequently, fluvial biota experiences disturbed functioning in the novel ecosystems. The case study is the large irrigation reservoir Alqueva in Guadiana River, Southern Iberia. The study area was divided into three zones: upstream and downstream of the dam and reservoir. For each zone, species composition and land use and land cover (LULC) were compared before and after the Alqueva Dam implementation. Data consist of aquatic and riparian flora composition obtained from 46 surveys and the area (%) of 12 classes of LULC obtained in 90 riverine sampling units through the analysis of historical and contemporary imagery. There was an overall decrease of several endemic species and on the riparian shrublands and aquatic stands, although di erences in the proportion of functional groups were not significant. Nevertheless, compositional diversity shows a significant decline in the upstream zone while landscape diversity shows an accentuated reduction in the reservoir area and downstream of the dam, which is likely related to the loss of the rocky habitats of the ‘old’ Guadiana River and the homogenization of the riverscape due to the irrigation intensification. The mitigation of these critical changes should be site-specific and should rely on the knowledge of the interactions between surrounding lands, ecological, biogeomorphologic, and hydrological components of the fluvial ecosystemsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Riparian and aquatic vegetation in Mediterranean-type streams (western Iberia)

Floral composition and structural patterns displayed by the aquatic and riparian vegetation in Mediterranean-type streams show distinctive features when compared to mesic fluvial systems. In this paper we sum up two decades of studies on the ecology of riparian and aquatic vegetation in western Iberia (Portugal). We present results concerning the structural patterns of the riparian woody vegetation, its variation in space and time, and its role in fluvial processes. We give an overall description and ecological appraisal of the riparian and aquatic flora and its complex relationships with abiotic drivers from both the river corridor and the drainage basin. We also describe our observations of floral disturbances derived both from natural and human causes. We have taken various approaches to assessing ecological quality using river plants, and these are also reviewed. The overall results obtained in these last twenty years are discussed as a contribution to future research needs.La composición florística y los patrones estructurales de la vegetación acuática y riparia en ríos mediterráneos muestran características diferenciales cuando son comparados con sistemas fluviales templados. En este trabajo, intentamos reunir dos décadas de estudios sobre la ecología de la vegetación riparia y acuática en Iberia Occidental (Portugal). Presentamos resultados acerca de los patrones estructurales de la vegetación leñosa riparia, su variación espacio-temporal, y su papel en los procesos fluviales. Hacemos una descripción global y un abordaje ecológico de la flora riparia y acuática y sus complejas relaciones con los factores abióticos, desde la escala del corredor fluvial hasta la cuenca de drenaje. Describimos también las perturbaciones observadas sobre la flora, tanto derivadas de causas naturales como humanas. Hemos desarrollado algunos enfoques para evaluar la calidad ecológica utilizando plantas y estos son también revisados. Se discuten los resultados obtenidos en estos últimos veinte años con el objetivo de contribuir para la determinación de futuras necesidades en la investigación

Life cycle assessment of soybean biodiesel and LPG as automotive fuels in Portugal

This study aims to compare soy methyl esters (biodiesel) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as automotive fuels in Portugal using LCA. The potential environmental impacts (PEl) associated with their life cycles are compared for twelve impact categories. As a general conclusion biodiesel has a lower total PEl than LPG. Nonetheless biodiesel shows higher values of some individual impact categories such as acidification, photooxidant formation, terrestrial eutrophication, and land use. This study results can be used to support decision making and recommendations about the environmentally preferable fuel to be used in Portugal, which should be complemented with economic and societal considerations

Natural variability of lotic Mediterranean ecosystems or wildfire perturbations: who will win?

This study evaluates the impacts of wildfires in lotic Mediterranean ecosystems. It was carried out at Monchique ridge after big wildfires occurred during 2002 and 2003. Deferential impacts were evaluated comparing historical results obtained before the wildfires (1999 and 2001), with the post fire ones (2006 and 2007). Physical and chemical parameters of the water, habitat morphology, diatoms, macrophytes, macroinvertebrates and fishes were evaluated at 10 collecting places, before and after wildfires. High recovering rates were observed to the vegetation, but it is still possible to found fire impacts over macrophytes and river morphology. Wildfires, contributed to canopy decrease and, consequently to the growth of plants that usually are controlled by shadow. As a result, vegetation biodiversity tend to increase. River banks tend also to be invaded by terrestrial plants. Higher post fires recover rates were observed to the more aquatic communities (diatoms, macroinvertebrates and fishes). For those communities, comparing spring situations before and after the fires no substantial differences were observed. Sometimes differences between consecutive years are even higher. So it can be concluded that magnitude of wildfire impacts is less than the natural inter-annual variability of Mediterranean rivers. Long-term effects of forest fires, resulting from large woody debries, were also detected by morphological alterations, like debries dams. Habitat diversity increase and impacts on aquatic communities are expected

Isolated adrenal metastases of papillary thyroid carcinoma

Funding Information: The authors thank the Pathology Department of Instituto Portugu?s de Oncologia de Lisboa Francisco Gentil for providing representative images of the histological slides.publishersversionpublishe

Insomnia: prevalence and associated factors

Nowadays sleep disorders are very common and affect most of the population, the most common may be insomnia. Insomnia is defined as the difficulty of initiating or maintaining sleep it, may also be reflected in an early wake up and by the presence of a non-restful sleep and it is associated with impairment in social and occupational functioning of the individual. Knowing the prevalence and the associated factors of insomnia. This is a cross-sectional epidemiological study. The population is constituted by 205 individuals of both sexes, aged over 18, who were in public places of a city in the north of the country. We applied a questionnaire to all the people who went through these places between 9 am to 7 pm. Insomnia was evaluated using the DSM-IV (Diagnosis and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders). We use the Chi-square to study the relation between the independent variables with variable insomnia, adopting a confidence interval of 95%. The prevalence of insomnia was 46.8%. Who suffers more from insomnia are: women in menopause (64.1%), elder people (66.7%) and those with four or fewer years of education (73.9%). There was no significant statistical relationship between the prevalence of insomnia and sex or residence. The causes of insomnia are: concern (48.6%), noise (31.8%) and disease (8.4%). The drugs most consumed by insomniacs are benzodiazepines (79.2%). In this study insomnia affects about half of participants. The presence of insomnia seems to be related with the age increasing, low education and menopausal status in female

Uma introdução à técnica SVET

Este artigo apresenta uma introdução à Técnica do Eléctrodo Vibrante de Varrimento (SVET). Começa por uma breve resenha histórica, seguida da descrição do princípio de funcionamento, exemplos da aplicação a casos de corrosão, alguns cálculos possíveis, limitações, instrumentação, detalhes experimentais e exemplos da sua associação a outras técnicas electroquímicas

iLeanDMAIC – A methodology for implementing the lean tools

Organizations focus must reside in their constant desire for improvement in order to satisfy their clients as a result of high-quality products, thus maximizing their profits through a waste reduction in the flow production. Lean thinking allows organizations to identify and eliminate wastes within the organization. The use of lean tools is considered a simple, efficient and cost-effective solution to achieve productivity and profit. DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) is a problem-solving methodology that improves processes, allows defect reduction and reduction of process variability, allowing companies to continuously improve their efficiency and performance. In this work, a combined methodology iLeanDMAIC based on Lean Tools and DMAIC was developed, aiming to help organizations to easily and accurately solve their problems. It includes a case-study implementation on an organization of the sector of wood products. We were able to successfully validate this methodology and to show its efficacy in enhancing production. Results using iLeanDMAIC allowed a reduction time in changeover in the assembly machine (from 39 min to 17 min), presenting this a 44% gain on manufacture. iLeanDMAIC can help organizations thrive against their competitors, make their business more cost-effective and efficient.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

New adsorbers for the removal of genotoxic impurities from active pharmaceutical ingredients

Active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) available in the market are mostly synthesized, in organic solvent media, using highly reactive molecules that may be present in the final product as genotoxic impurities (GTIs). These compounds have the ability to react with DNA, preventing its normal replication, resulting in an associated carcinogenic risk, becoming an increasing concern from pharmaceutical companies and regulatory authorities [1]. Although it is desirable to avoid the use of GTIs in the manufacture of APIs, this is not always possible. Therefore, there is a call to develop simple, robust and economical routes to remove GTIs to limits below the Threshold of Toxicological Concern (1.5 µg/day) [2]. Such adsorbents should be highly selective to reach ultra-low GTI levels with minimal API losses and compatible with organic solvents where the API synthesis takes place [3]. Herein we report two different strategies for the development of new adsorbing materials designed for selective removal of GTIs from API organic solvent solutions. These new materials are: i) molecular imprinted polymers (MIPs), in the particular case designed for removal of an aromatic amine GTI, 4-dymethylaminopyridine) [4]; and ii) a novel functionalized polymer consisting on polybenzimidazole (PBI) modified with a DNA base (PBI-adenine). PBI-Adenine is designed to have a high affinity for a broad range of DNA alkylating agents mimicking the DNA-GTI adduct formation that takes place in vivo [5,6]. These platforms proved to be robust materials being able to remove, in a single stage, more than 95% of the GTIs from organic solvent API mixtures. Both approaches, meet the pharmaceutical industry challenges, by opening new horizons for the use of these adsorbers as a complement to the existing operation units as MIPs, as well as their assembling as membranes for organic solvent nanofiltration (OSN) derived from PBI. References [1] Teasdale A. et al., Org. Process Res. Dev. 17, 2013, 221-230. [2] EMEA Guidelines on the “Limits on Genotoxic Impurities”, EMEA/CHMP/QWP/251344/2006, 2006. [3] Székely G. et al., Green Chem. 15, 2013, 210-225. [4] Esteves T. et al., Sep. Purif. Technol. 163, 2016, 206-214. [5] Ferreira F. C.; Esteves T.; Vicente A. I.; Afonso C. A. M., “Polímeros polibenzimidazolo com cadeia espaçadora funcionalizada e seu método de obtenção para remoção de impurezas genotóxicas.” Patent request Nº 109480, with priority date of 22 June 2016. [6] Vicente A. I. et al., Chem. Mat., 2016, under preparation. Acknowledgements: We thank financial support from Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) through the Project SelectHost (PTDC/QEQ-PRS/4157/2014) and iBB-Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences (UID/BIO/04565/2013), from Programa Operacional Regional de Lisboa 2020 (Lisboa-01-0145-FEDER-007317). We thank to Hovione PharmaScience Ltd for supplying the API and technical know-how