Formal city vs informal city: from the clandestine neighbourhoods to the concept of UAIG (urban areas of illegal genesis)

Over time, the definitions of formal and informal city have been changed or acquired different meanings in the various fields of human activity. Since the 1950s, the industrialisation and changes in rural practices caused an accelerating mass migration of people from rural areas to major cities, which gave rise to numerous informal settlements on the peripheries of the cities. A large rural migration flows to cities searching for better living conditions. The main goal of this paper is to present the transformations that have occurred in the territory, with a focus on the peripheries of the city of Lisbon with the constructions of clandestine neighbourhoods, demonstrating through a mapping, the evolution of these informal territories in the formal city, to assess how the UAIG (Urban Areas of Illegal Genesis) developed and influenced the transformations and visions of the formal city, and the relationship that people have with the place they inhabit.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

UAIG (Urban Areas of Illegal Genesis) - (re) living to (re) integrate

This ongoing research intends to develop a strategy for the (re) qualification of the public space in the UAIG (Urban Areas of Illegal Genesis), through the introduction of an intervention methodology – collaborative participatory processes. The strategies of intervention in the public space have launched new challenges to research in architecture. In a demanding society with strong participatory and collaborative citizenship, public space increasingly assumes an important role in urban practices. The lack of public space in areas of illegal genesis in Metropolitan Area of Lisbon (MLA), shaped the PhD research question: How public space make UAIG ́s (re) living to (re) integrate it in Lisbon Metropolitan Area dynamics? Participation means the collaboration of people pursuing objectives that they themselves have defined. A public space is one which, in its design and in its use, stimulates a sense of belonging to a wider community beyond the bounds of the strictly private sphere. It is, then, a scenario that fosters contract between difference people mixing uses and meeting place for individual and collective interests. The answer is to adopt methods and instruments that allow the creation of a methodology for the analysis of a great transversality of scales – territory, neighbourhoods and public space. This research aims to contribute to a generic model of good practices applicable to any process of requalification of the urban space of the UAIG.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

The elaboration of indices to assess biological water quality. A case study

Here we tested the application of a nodal analysis for the elaboration of biotic indices for particular stressing conditions. The work was carried out in an intermittent Mediterranean stream where superficial flow was absent during summer. The river was perturbed by an effluent with high pH, sulphates, nitrates and conductivity. "Summer" and "winter" samples were treated separately. We first identified groups of sites differing in taxonomical composition by cluster analysis. Then we tested whether groups of sites also differed in their abiotic characteristics. In the following step, groups of cooccurring taxa were also identified by cluster analysis. The indicator value of a taxa group was measured by fidelity measurements for site groups. Indicator taxa were incorporated in a water quality table. The biotic index in the water quality table clearly discriminated impacted from reference sites in the two following years and was correlated with the first axis of a correspondence analysis biplot which also discriminated impacted from clean sites. We suggest that nodal analysis can be a reliable technique for the identification of bioindicators and the elaboration of biotic indices.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6V73-3SX5H1V-F/1/2ddcd6137e173976c270b458bbb4c99

The elaboration of indices to assess biological water quality. A case study

Here we tested the application of a nodal analysis for the elaboration of biotic indices for particular stressing conditions. The work was carried out in an intermittent Mediterranean stream where superficial flow was absent during summer. The river was perturbed by an effluent with high pH, sulphates, nitrates and conductivity. "Summer" and "winter" samples were treated separately. We first identified groups of sites differing in taxonomical composition by cluster analysis. Then we tested whether groups of sites also differed in their abiotic characteristics. In the following step, groups of cooccurring taxa were also identified by cluster analysis. The indicator value of a taxa group was measured by fidelity measurements for site groups. Indicator taxa were incorporated in a water quality table. The biotic index in the water quality table clearly discriminated impacted from reference sites in the two following years and was correlated with the first axis of a correspondence analysis biplot which also discriminated impacted from clean sites. We suggest that nodal analysis can be a reliable technique for the identification of bioindicators and the elaboration of biotic indices.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6V73-3SX5H1V-F/1/2ddcd6137e173976c270b458bbb4c99

Reducing meat consumption and following plant-based diets: current evidence and future directions to inform integrated transitions

Background: There is increasing consensus that transitioning towards reduced meat consumption and more plant-based diets is a key feature to address important health and sustainability challenges. However, relevant evidence that may inform these transitions remains fragmented with no overarching rationale or theoretical framework, which limits the ability to design and deliver coordinated efforts to address these challenges. Scope and approach: Eleven databases were systematically searched using sets of keywords referring meat curtailment, meat substitution and plant-based diets, as well as consumer choice, appraisal or behavior (2602 articles selected for title and abstract screening; 161 full-texts assessed for eligibility; 110 articles selected for extraction and coding). Barriers and enablers were identified and integrated into an overarching framework (i.e., COM-B system), which conceptualizes behavior as being influenced by three broad components: capability, opportunity and motivation. Key findings and conclusions: This review mapped potential barriers and enablers in terms of capability, opportunity, and motivation to reduce meat consumption and follow more plant-based diets. These included lack of information for consumers and difficulty to acquire new cooking skills (barrier, capability), changes in service provision in collective meal contexts (enabler, opportunity), and positive taste expectations for plant-based meals (enabler, motivation). Evidence on variables referring to the motivation domain is clearly increasing, but there is a striking need for studies that include capability and opportunity variables as well. The results of this review are relevant to a variety of fields and audiences interested in promoting sustainable living and health improvements through dietary choice.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

The role of parental illness representations and parental coping in metabolic control of adolescents with type 1 diabetes

Background: Parental illness representations and parental coping influence the adaptation process of adolescents with type 1 diabetes. Thus, the purpose of this study was to study the role of family representations in the metabolic control of adolescents with type 1 diabetes. Methods: The sample included 100 adolescents with type 1 diabetes and their parents while waiting for a routine endocrinology appointment. Parents answered the Brief-Illness Perception Questionnaire (B-IPQ; Broadbent, Petrie, Main & Weinman, 2006) and Coping Health Inventory for Parents (McCubbin, McCubbin, Patterson, Cauble, Wilson, & Warwick, 1983). Glycosylated hemoglobin was assessed before the medical appointment. Results: Parental coping (understanding medical situation) was negatively correlated with metabolic control, i.e., higher parental coping was associated with better metabolic control. Parental illness representations (consequences, personal control, illness coherence and emotional representation) were positively associated with metabolic control, i.e., more consequences, less personal control, less illness coherence and worse emotional response were related to worse metabolic control. Parental illness representation (emotional response) and parental coping (understanding the medical situation) were predictors of metabolic control, explaining 18.2% of the variance. Conclusion: Intervention programs should address parental coping strategies to deal with the complex management of diabetes self-care in the family daily activities and focus on parental representations of diabetes in order to increase metabolic control, and prevent diabetes complications, thus contributing to a better adaptation to type 1 diabetes for both parents and adolescents

A soft-computing approach for non-invasive temperature estimation

The domain of thermal therapies applications can be improved with the development of accurate non-invasive timespatial temperature models. These models should represent the non-linear tissue thermal behaviour and be capable of tracking temperature at both time-instant and spatial position. If such estimators exist then efficient controllers for the therapeutic instrumentation could be developed, and the desired safety and effectiveness reached

Desilicated NaY zeolites impregnated with magnesium as catalysts for glucose isomerisation into fructose

Acknowledgement This work was performed with financial support from EPSRC(UK) under grant EP/K014749/1. Solid-state NMR spectra were obtained at the EPSRC UK National Solid-state NMR Service at Durham.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Viabilidade econômica do sistema agroflorestal grevílea x café na Região Norte do Paraná.

Na década de 70, o Instituto Brasileiro do Café - IBC incentivou a introdução de Grevillea robusta nos cafezais da região Norte do Paraná, na forma de quebra-ventos, apesar de sua implantação não haver seguido padrões técnicos adequados. Para a análise da viabilidade econômica da utilização desses quebra-ventos, foram comparados os benefícios diretos (custos x renda) do Sistema Puro Café e do Sistema Agroflorestal Grevílea x Café, utilizando um aplicativo de apropriação e análise de custos, o SAAC florestal (Hildebrandt, 1995). As planilhas do aplicativo foram preenchidas separadamente para os dois sistemas. O Sistema Puro Café contou com dados secundários de custos de produção e rendas fornecidos por órgãos públicos e privados. Para a análise do Sistema Agroflorestal, foram utilizados os mesmos dados referentes à produção monocultural de café, acrescidos dos dados de custos de produção e rendas da espécie florestal obtidos por meio de questionários aplicados junto a proprietários rurais e serrarias da região de estudo. Os resultados obtidos permitiram constatar que a espécie florestal introduzida no sistema representa um custo adicional insignificante para o produtor rural e ocupa uma área mínima, ou seja, uma média de 58 árvores por hectare. A renda obtida com a venda da madeira para serrarias gera um aumento significativo da renda no último ano, de 32,22%, permitindo o pagamento dos custos de implantação ou grande parte dos custos de reforma da atividade. Portanto, a utilização da grevílea nos cafezais é altamente positiva do ponto de vista do aumento da rentabilidade da atividade e da tranquilidade do produtor, pois pode representar uma poupança ao longo do ciclo da cultura cafeeira, assegurando a continuidade desta atividade por meio do pagamento da reforma com o corte da madeira

Conjugated linoleic acid reduces permeability and fluidity of adipose plasma membranes from obese Zucker rats

NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications. July 2010; 398 (2): 199-204.Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is a dietary fatty acid frequently used as a body fat reducing agent whose effects upon cell membranes and cellular function remain unknown. Obese Zucker rats were fed atherogenic diets containing saturated fats of vegetable or animal origin with or without 1% CLA, as a mixture of cis(c)9,trans(t)11 and t10,c12 isomers. Plasma membrane vesicles obtained from visceral adi- pose tissue were used to assess the effectiveness of dietary fat and CLA membrane incorporation and its outcome on fluidity and permeability to water and glycerol. A significant decrease in adipose membrane fluidity was correlated with the changes observed in permeability, which seem to be caused by the incor- poration of the t10,c12 CLA isomer into membrane phospholipids. These results indicate that CLA supple- mentation in obese Zucker rats fed saturated and cholesterol rich diets reduces the fluidity and permeability of adipose membranes, therefore not supporting CLA as a body fat reducing agent through membrane fluidification in obese fat consumers