USE OF UAV PLATFORM AS AN AUTONOMOUS TOOL FOR ESTIMATING EXPANSION ON INVADED AGRICULTURAL LAND

For a long time, in many countries, questions involving disputes about land ownership has generated demand for geoinformation and documentation. In most cases, access for researchers is restricted or humanely impossible by eminence of conflicts, even armed. In these cases, researchers use Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry to enable their studies. However, the dynamics of the phenomenon being studied often requires approaches that traditional techniques become unviable or unable to fulfil. This work shows the results of an approach that used a photogrammetric UAV platform to take pictures of an invaded rural area in Brazil and estimate its expansion over two years. From the taken images, mosaics were generated and then classified using Decision Tree to identify tents. Then it was developed a Matlab algorithm, to detect and quantify the tents on the classified Images. It was possible to infer that there was an expansion of 7.3% between the two analyzed dates and probably more than three thousand people occupied the invasion site

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

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

Vasectomia – Que realidade?

A vasectomia é um método contraceptivo reconhecidamente seguro e eficaz. Nos EUA por exemplo, é utilizado em cerca de 11 % dos casais, realizando-se aproximadamente em meio milhão de homens por ano e constitui-se em si mesmo, como o procedimento cirúrgico mais frequente, no âmbito da Urologia. Os objectivos consistiram em determinar o grau de conhecimento dos homens sobre a vasectomia, bem como de outros métodos de contracepção e correlacionar os resultados com as características sócio-económicas e culturais da população dos Concelhos da Amadora e Sintra, assim como, avaliar a eficácia das acções de divulgação da informação difundida, seja pelos Centros de Saúde, seja pela própria Consulta de Urologia do Hospital Fernando Fonseca. O quantitativo de intervenções cirúrgicas (vasectomias) realizadas pelo Serviço de Urologia do Hospital Fernando Fonseca é suficientemente inferior ao efectuado em outros países, apoiando assim os resultados obtidos na presente amostra. Dos 52 casos analisados, verificou-se que 10 confirmaram ter conhecimento da vasectomia, mas apenas em 1 caso foi a mesma realizada. A maioria dos inquiridos (53,8 %) utilizam como método de contracepção o preservativo e a pílula feminina. Não obstante a amostra do presente inquérito poder não ser suficientemente expressiva, admite-se que a mesma possa ter significado, no reconhecimento da insuficiência da divulgação actualmente existente sobre este método de contracepção tão seguro e eficaz. Em relação ao nível sócio-económico e cultural verifica-se poder haver uma correlação de proporcionalidade quase directa, com o nível de conhecimento da vasectomia e consequente motivação para a sua realização

Acolhimento de refugiados: alimentação e necessidades nutricionais em situações de emergência

A Europa é neste momento um dos principais destinos de um intenso fluxo migratórioprovocado por diferentes conflitos armados no Médio Oriente e em África, tendo a ComissãoEuropeia (CE) acordado na distribuição de uma parte destas pessoas em clara necessidade deproteção nacional, pelos diversos Estados Membros. As populações em trânsito e ascaracterísticas do seu acolhimento possuem especificidades que podem comprometer oacesso a uma alimentação adequada e a cuidados básicos de saúde, influenciando amorbilidade e a mortalidade nos grupos afetados.Este manual pretende estabelecer um referencial para a intervenção alimentar e nutricionalaos refugiados que chegam a Portugal. Destina-se a todos aqueles que prestam apoio, quer anível individual, quer a nível institucional, e que sejam responsáveis por qualquer aspetorelacionado com a saúde e a alimentação dessas populações, facilitando a operacionalizaçãoda assistência e fornecendo ferramentas para a tomada de decisões.O manual está organizado em 3 partes. Inicia-se com a avaliação do estado nutricional dapopulação a acolher, apresenta depois diversas estratégias para o desenho da intervençãoalimentar e nutricional tendo por base as necessidades nutricionais previstas para estes grupospopulacionais e, na parte final, aborda a importância de garantir a higiene e segurança dosalimentos na prestação desta assistência alimentar. Este manual apresenta ainda algumasconsiderações relacionadas com os cuidados básicos na área da psicologia destinados àsequipas que estão no terrenoEurope is now a major destination of an intense migratory flow caused by armed conflicts inthe Middle East and Africa. In this sense, the European Commission (EC) agreed on thedistribution of some of these people in clear need of international protection by variousMember States. The populations in transit and the characteristics of its reception havespecificities that can compromise the access to adequate food and basic health care. They canalso influence morbidity and mortality in affected groups.This manual aims to establish a framework of nutrition and food intervention to refugees inPortugal. It is aimed at all those who support it, either individually or institutionally, and areresponsible for any aspect related to the health and nutrition of these populations, facilitatingthe implementation of care and providing tools for decision making. The manual is organizedinto 3 parts. It begins with the assessment of nutritional status of the population. Then presents several strategies to support the design of food and nutrition intervention based onthe estimated nutritional needs for these population groups. In the final section it addressesthe importance of ensuring food safety and hygiene when providing this food assistance. Thismanual also addresses some considerations towards basic psychological interventionprinciples, destined to help the teams on the field

The interplay between atmospheric conditions and grape berry quality parameters in Portugal

The atmospheric conditions are a strong modulator of grape berry composition, but further research is required to better understand this relationship, which is particularly pertinent under the context of climate change. The present study assesses the relationship between interannual variability in atmospheric conditions (mean, maximum and minimum air temperatures and precipitation totals) on grape berry quality attributes in three main Portuguese wine regions—Douro, Dão and Alentejo—and targets two major varieties growing in Portugal (cv. Touriga Nacional and cv. Aragonez/Tempranillo). Berry weight, titratable acidity (TA), pH, potential alcohol (PA), anthocyanins and total phenols index (TPI) data, collected two to three weeks after the end of the veraison until technological maturity, since 1999 in Douro, 2004 in Alentejo and 2008 in Dão, were selected. Meteorological data were obtained from both automatic weather stations and a climatic database defined at a very-high-resolution grid (<1 km) (PTHRES). The influence of daily mean, maximum and minimum air temperatures (November–October) and precipitation totals (April to June and July to September) on the above-mentioned berry quality parameters were first explored to identify the months/periods more influential to grape berry composition. Different statistical approaches were subsequently carried out to explore in greater detail these relationships. At technological maturity, temperature was negatively correlated to berry weight, titratable acidity, anthocyanins and TPI, but was positively correlated to pH and potential alcohol. Moreover, lowest levels of berry weight and TA (and highest levels of pH) were more frequent in warmer regions, while the opposite was seen in the cooler regions. PA, TPI and anthocyanins at maturity did not show a clear trend across regions. In addition, the maturation parameters of each site were grouped into two clusters—years where the maturation parameter is higher (cluster 1) and years where it is lower (cluster 2)—and significant differences in monthly mean temperatures between clusters were found. Overall, temperatures at veraison and maturation periods (June–August) were more influential in determining grape berry composition at harvest. The influence of precipitation was dependent on location and variety. The results also suggested that berry composition in Alentejo is more sensitive to atmospheric variability, while Aragonez seems more resilient than Touriga Nacional. These outcomes are based on a systematized and unprecedentedly large grape berry quality database in Portugal and provided the grounds for the development of grape quality forecast models, either to be used operationally in each vintage or for assessing potential modifications in berry composition in response to changing climates.This study was funded by the Clim4Vitis project-"Climate change impact mitigation for European viticulture: knowledge transfer for an integrated approach", funded by European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme, under grant agreement no. 810176.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a model to confirm the ability of FTIR to evaluate the presence of protein aggregates

It is known that the presence of protein aggregates in biological samples is associated with natural aging processes and age-related diseases. The objective of this technical study was to evaluate the potential of Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy to identify the presence of protein aggregates in Saccharomyces cerevisiae containing high levels of protein aggregates. We acquired ATR-FTIR spectra at mid-infrared range (between 4000 and 600 cm−1) and used multivariate analysis to analyze the data. Significant differences between spectra of wild type and mutant strains in the spectral range assigned to proteins were observed. In particular, an increase in β-sheet structures in mutant strains (spectral signals at 1683 and 1628 cm−1) was observed, indicating the putative presence of protein aggregates. These results prove the capacity of FTIR to evaluate changes in protein conformation, mainly protein aggregation, in a fast, simple and non-expensive way, producing insights on the possible application of this technique to the detection of protein aggregates in human biological samples.publishe

Looking Ahead: Health Impact Assessment of Front-of-Pack Nutrition Labelling Schema as a Public Health Measure

This study aimed to describe the underlying process, used methods and major recommendations emerging from a comprehensive and prospective health impact assessment of the endorsement of a front-of-pack nutrition labelling (FOP-NL) system by the Portuguese health authorities. A mixed-methods approach was used to gather information on the impact of four FOP-NL schemes on consumers' selection of food products according to the perception of their nutritional quality, combining a systematic literature review, focus groups (FG), in-depth individual interviews, and an open-label crossover randomized controlled study. The relevance of FOP-NL as a public health promotion policy has emerged as a consensual idea among either FGs' participants (i.e., consumers and experts), or interviewed stakeholders. Although all of the evaluated FOP-NLs result better than no system on promoting the choice of the healthiest product, the effectiveness of easy-to-interpret FOP-NL among vulnerable groups raised concerns related to the need of integrating specific nutritional information to promote a better self-management of chronic diseases, and related to the level of literacy of consumers, which could impair the usage of FOP-NL. Educational campaigns addressing skills to use FOP-NL is recommended. Furthermore, a monitoring strategy should be considered to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of this policy in promoting healthier food choices, and in reducing diet-related non-communicable diseases burden