Responses of CYP450 dependent system to aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons body burden in transplanted mussels from South coast of Portugal

Mussels Mytilus galloprovincialis were cross-transplanted at South Portugal from a reference site (site 1) to a site more contaminated with hydrocarbon compounds (site 2), and vice versa, in an active biomonitoring (ABM) concept, to assess the biotransformation capacity catalyzed by the mixed function oxygenase (MFO) system. Total alkanes (TAlk), the unresolved complex mixture (UCM), and total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (TPAHs) concentration increased respectively 6, 4.4 and 4.2 fold relatively to control, in mussels transplanted from site 1 to 2. In the cross-transplant, a 48, 57 and 62% depuration of TAlk, UCM and TPAHs concentrations occurred by the end of the 3-4th week. Petrogenic and biogenic (marine and terrigenous) sources of AHs, and petrogenic and pyrolitic (biomass and oil/fuel incomplete combustion) sources of PAHs were detected at both sites. CYP450, CYT b (5) and NADPH-RED in mussels transplanted from site 1 to 2 were induced from day 0 to 28, with a total increase of 35, 32 and 35%, respectively, while biochemical equilibrium to lesser environmental contamination occurs in mussels transplanted from site 2 to 1. A significant relationship between CYP450 and NADPH-RED was found with TPAH, with distinctive behavior at the two sites. MFO system components increase with exposure time at one site and decreases in the other, reflecting an adaptation to distinct environmental hydrocarbon loads. The ABM strategy proved to be useful to understand the environment real impact on the biochemical responses in mussels' local populations. In this study, CYP450 and NADPH-RED are a useful biomarker for hydrocarbon exposure.FCT: PRAXIS XXI/BD/3740/94info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

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

Criação de um banco de recursos humanos : uma proposta no âmbito das instituições particulares de solidariedade social

Dissertação de mestrado em Gestão (área de especialização em Gestão de Unidades de Saúde)Toda a crise é uma oportunidade de mudança. A nova conjuntura sócio-económica desafia as Instituições Particulares de Segurança Social (IPSS) a assegurarem a satisfação das necessidades dos utentes com uma gestão cada vez mais eficaz e eficiente dos recursos humanos. O recrutamento destes colaboradores especializados é essencial, mas terá de ser feito à medida dos interesses e ajustado ao grau de investimento de cada instituição - o grande objectivo é manter os recursos humanos, técnicos e materiais adequados para a melhor prestação de serviços possível. Neste sentido, propomo-nos estudar a viabilidade da criação de um banco de recursos humanos, com o objetivo de fornecer os recursos técnicos a todas as IPSS do concelho. Ou seja, o banco recruta os recursos humanos especializados na área da saúde, necessários a cada instituição e estes dividem o seu tempo de trabalho pelas várias IPSS, de forma sistémica e devidamente articulada. As vantagens enquadram-se sobretudo na otimização dos serviços prestados, no fortalecimento da competitividade, no aumento da eficiência e da eficácia dos meios disponíveis e no ganho do tempo. Pretende-se, portanto, comprovar que com a criação deste banco de recursos é possível fornecer o maior número de recursos humanos ao menor custo possível garantindo uma maior eficiência dos recursos e uma melhor qualidade de serviço, numa perspetiva de empreendedorismo social. Assim, estaria garantido que todas as instituições do concelho da Póvoa de Lanhoso poderiam usufruir dos mesmos serviços, em todas as dimensões da dinâmica de cada instituição, garantindo, a todas, a melhor qualidade.Every crisis presents an opportunity of change. The new social-economic situation challenges Instituições Particulares de Segurança Social (IPSS) to ensure the needs of their users, in a more efficient and effective way than ever. Managing human resources in a smart way might help to greatly reduce costs and furthermore safeguard the quality of the delivered service. While the recruitment of trained professionals is by no means expendable, it should be adjusted to the interests and level of investment of each institution. We then propose to assess the viability of creating a “bank of human resources”, aiming to provide for every IPSS in the region of Póvoa de Lanhoso. The bank would recruit specialized workforce, which would divide its time amongst several institutions, on a systemic and properly articulated way. Advantages lie, above all, on optimization of delivered services, strengthening of competitiveness, raise in efficiency and effectiveness of available resources, and finally, time sparing. It is therefore intended to prove that by creating this resource bank, it is possible to supply the greatest number of human resources at the lowest possible cost, ensuring a greater efficiency of resource usage as well as an improvement of service quality, on a perspective of social entrepreneurship. In this way, all institutions in the region of Póvoa de Lanhoso could benefit from the same services and provide their users the best quality on every type of service

Questões de designação em torno dos têxteis chineses existentes nos acervos patrimoniais Ibéricos

SIAM. Series Iberoamericanas de Museología. Año 3, Vol.

Health Technology Assessment and Decision-Making Processes: The Purchase of Magnetic Resonance Imaging Technology

Medical devices play an essential role in health care. For instance, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has revolutionized the way images of the human body are acquired. However, although medical devices improve diagnosis and treatment, they are also one of the causes of increasing health expenditure. Thus, the purchase of new technologies and the determination of how and when they should be used are among the most important decisions made in the health care system in general, and by hospital decisionmakers in particular. Health technology assessment (HTA) studies aim to provide a range of stakeholders with accessible, usable and evidence-based information to guide decisions about the use and diffusion of technology and efficient allocation of resources. For this reason, HTA acts as a bridge between evidence and decision-making by ensuring better synthesis, communication and dissemination of information. However, empirical research on decision processes in the purchase of medical devices is sparse, and a gap on this topic was found in the literature. The present research focuses on the Portuguese health system and sheds light on the characterization of decision-making processes by those involved in MRI purchases, in order to understand the influences of HTA. In terms of research design, two strategies were chosen, aiming at different objectives. To characterize the decision-making process a mixed method was chosen. Data was collected using a questionnaire (40 respondents), and parallel semi-structured interviews (27 participants). Both data sets were analysed and merged. Descriptive statistics were chosen as a data analysis strategy, as well as content analysis (categorical analysis). To assess competences for decision-making a questionnaire retrieving only quantitative data was developed (369 valid respondents), and Exploratory Factorial Analysis was performed, followed by Structural Equation Modelling (Confirmatory Factorial Analysis and Path Analysis). Results show that steps in the decision process are well-defined. Cost and suppliers’ characteristics are seen as the most important indicators to guide decisions. Few studies are performed to support the decision, and these are mostly related to the workload of the Radiology Department. No national or international HTA study was used to support any decisions. The decision process is characterized by a bounded rationality, influenced by intuition and a consultant decision-maker. The decision is a bottomup process where information gathering and consensus building is undertaken by a committee, although external consultancy is also used. The reasoning and justification for selection of committee members is unclear. The process is considered to be bureaucratic, time-consuming and long. Patients are negatively perceived as stakeholders in the process. Their experiences, needs and expectations are not considered. vi Decision-makers in Portugal have limited knowledge and training in areas of decision-making, health informatics, health economics and especially HTA. This may limit their ability to truly understand the future implications of their purchase decisions. Recommendations are made to: (1) deepen the present research in particular regarding the elements that influence the strategies and tactics adopted in the decision-making process for the acquisition of medical devices (2) foster the uptake of HTA by decision-makers with the establishment of an HTA in-house unit, able to carry out TA studies considering the hospital context and aiming to inform managerial local decisions on the uptake or disinvestment of medical devices (3) promote a team comprise by not only TA multidisciplinary researchers but also by professionals from the health institution able to carry out HTA studies (3) foster common languages and values to increase uptake of HTA studies

Political Intentions of Chinese Textiles in Portuguese Sacred, Solemn, Celebratory Events of the16th - 18th Centuries

Among the many goods that offer visible testimony of the transmission of Asian material culture westwards, as a result of the Portuguese Overseas Expansion, Chinese textiles deserve special attention. Made entirely of silk and following Chinese designs, or adapted to Portuguese taste, these textiles began reaching by Portugal by way of Guangzhou and Macau, from at least 1557, and quickly became part of the decorative displays conceived for extraordinary sacred events performed in Portugal until the 18th century. Careful analysis of contemporary printed texts describing these ceremonies reveals how textiles were intensely used in church decoration programs. Chinese textiles, although different in iconographic, plastic, material, technical and even cromatic aspects from the European, enjoyed enormous prestige among Portuguese and were considered valid decorative options in solemn sacred celebratory events. However, this paper intends to demonstrate how the use of this vivid and exotic items intended to be more than ornamental; living testimonies of Portuguese experience in China, a nation of paramount importance in the Portuguese overseas empire in the economic and missionary perspective, these textile works holded a clear political and symbolic valence that in these occasions were stressed out to remind and project the responsibles for that enterprise, rather in particular the Portuguese crown and the Society of Jesus

Spreading Desire, Linking the World : Pintados and the Portuguese (1500-1850)

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio