Plenty of land, land of plenty: the agrarian output of Portugal (1311-20)

This article presents a benchmark for Portuguese agrarian output for the 1311–20 decade. This benchmark is built from the supply side using the value of church tithes combined with contemporary parish accounts. Two main findings emerge: first, per capita agrarian output was similar in the recently conquered South and the North, hinting that internal migration after the Reconquista led to the equalization of marginal product across the country; second, that Portuguese real per capita agrarian output was above subsistence and higher than that of contemporary England and Wales. This result, which is robust to the assumptions used, confirms that by 1320 Portugal was a “frontier economy” with a high land/labor ratio and a high per capita output. This seems to reinforce the Malthusian theory that the amount of land per person was key in determining living standards. The article discusses the implication of these results for the inequality among nations

Uma fórmula de soft power

A existência e proliferação de rankings internacionais de medição de performances governamentais não é um acaso. São modelos supostamente objectivos para decidir da alocação de recursos e também da avaliação do poder. Quando Joseph Nye sistematizou a distinção entre soft e hard power, chamou-nos a atenção que qualquer dos tipos de poder pode ser trabalhado mediante fórmulas, construídas por indicadores extraídos de rankings internacionais. Na perspectiva do hard power existem numerosos e bem conhecidos indicadores económicos, como sejam o PNB, a capitação, a balança comercial. De igual modo a inventariação de recursos de força militar (military capabilities) tem clássicos exemplos. Propomo-nos aqui construir e explorar uma fórmula do soft power, assente em indicadores credíveis, e contendo variáveis suficientemente fundamentadas e flexíveis. Atendendo à importância crescente dos rankings – que são utilizados como as novas ideologias – este é um componente essencial para transmitir uma imagem do poder nacional, mediante uma avaliação objectiva

A economia circular na indústria portuguesa de pasta, papel e cartão

O elevado desenvolvimento industrial, os novos hábitos de consumo e o crescimento populacional tem levado a uma discussão nos vários setores da sociedade acerca da escassez de recursos, das emissões poluentes, e da produção de resíduos. Desta forma, e em contraposição com o modelo económico linear, no qual os produtos após produzidos e consumidos são eliminados, emerge um novo modelo de negócio: “A Economia Circular”. Este é um modelo baseado na reutilização, recuperação, reciclagem e reparação durante o ciclo de conceção e utilização de um produto. Este trabalho pretende fazer um estudo da economia circular na indústria de pasta, papel e cartão. Este foi o setor escolhido porque para além de representar cerca de 8% da produção industrial nacional, tem feito esforços significativos para promover o desenvolvimento ambientalmente sustentável. Assim a dissertação pretende dar a conhecer o ponto de situação do setor pasta, papel e cartão no âmbito da economia circular, fazendo uma comparação ibérica nos anos compreendidos entre 2011 e 2015 através do desenvolvimento de um índice comparativo baseado nos resultados de alguns indicadores ambientais. Também é feito um levantamento das atuais barreiras existentes, bem como a sua respetiva relevância na implementação plena da economia circular através da utilização do método Delphi. Segundo o estudo realizado o setor pasta, papel e cartão em Portugal apresenta um valor de cerca de 26% superior na implementação da economia circular face ao registado no setor em Espanha em 2015, com a peculiaridade que esta diferença tem vindo a diminuir nos últimos cinco anos. Quanto aos resultados do estudo relativo às atuais barreiras na implementação da economia circular no setor pasta, papel e cartão em Portugal, o estudo aponta que, entre outras, as três mais relevantes são a falta de regulamentação de flexibilização e promoção do intercâmbio de subprodutos, a demora no processo de classificação de substâncias como subprodutos e a perceção de que o produto final proveniente da utilização de subprodutos é de qualidade inferior quando comparado com um produto que use matéria prima virgem

Competitive initial adhesion between Lactobacillus spp. and Gardnerella vaginalis strains against vaginal epithelium

Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is a common disorder in women of reproductive age. BV is characterized by the replacement of vaginal lactobacilli, such as Lactobacillus crispatus, by predominantly anaerobic microorganisms. However, Lactobacillus iners is frequently found in the BV. Gardnerella vaginalis, commonly associated with BV, can also be present in 50-95% of BV patients and in 20-30% of healthy women. The capacity of G. vaginalis to form biofilms on the vaginal epithelium has recently been demonstrated. Our goal was to study the colonization of endogenous vaginal microflora from Lactobacillus spp. and G. vaginalis 5-1 (isolated from a healthy woman) and G. vaginalis 101 (isolated from a BV patient), at different initial concentrations and consequently to analyze the competition and interaction during the primary step of biofilm formation: initial adhesion. ME-180 and HeLa epithelial cell monolayers were challenged with the two G. vaginalis strains with different adhesion conditions. For the competition assays, cultures of Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus crispatus or Lactobacillus iners were mixed G. vaginalis strains at different concentrations and allowed to adhere to the two cell lines for 30 minutes. To analyse interference of lactobacilli in G. vaginalis initial adhesion, different lactobacilli concentrations were allowed to adhere to the cell monolayer for 4 hours and then G. vaginalis strains at different concentrations were added and allowed to adhere for 30 minutes. These adhesion times were previously optimized. All adhesion assays were quantified by fluorescence microscopy, using DAPI for total cell count and PNA-FISH probe for G. vaginalis quantification. Our results showed that G. vaginalis 101 (pathogenic strain) had a greater adhesion capacity than G. vaginalis 5-1 in all cases tested. Also, L. casei was the least adherent of the all lactobacilli used in this study. L. casei was included in this study as a non-sense control, since this lactobacilli strain is not a common colonizer of the vagina epithelium. L. crispatus showed decreased adherence to epithelial cells in the presence of G. vaginalis 101. In contrast, adherence of L. iners did not decrease in presence of G. vaginalis 101. Our study suggests that adherence of the G. vaginalis to epithelial cells is a critical step during the stage of vaginal colonization. It was found that adherence of Lactobacillus spp to epithelial cells was influenced by a specific G. vaginalis strains. These studies help to provide insight into the clinical situation in which indigenous vaginal lactobacilli can interfere with G. vaginalis presence

Reciprocal interference between Lactobacillus spp. and Gardnerella vaginalis on initial adherence to epithelial cells

Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is the most common vaginal disorder in women of child-bearing age. It is widely accepted that the microbial switch from normal microflora to the flora commonly associated with BV is characterized by a decrease in vaginal colonization by specific Lactobacillus species together with an increase of G. vaginalis and other anaerobes. However, the order of events leading to the development of BV remains poorly characterized and it is unclear whether the decrease in lactobacilli is a cause or a consequence of the increase in the population density of anaerobes. Our goal was to characterize the interaction between two Gardnerella vaginalis strains, one of which was isolated from a healthy woman (strain 5-1) and the other from a woman diagnosed with BV (strain 101), and vaginal lactobacilli on the adherence to cervical epithelial cells. In order to simulate the transition from vaginal health to BV, the lactobacilli were cultured with the epithelial cells first, and then the G. vaginalis strain was introduced. We quantified the inhibition of G. vaginalis adherence by the lactobacilli and displacement of adherent lactobacilli by G. vaginalis. Our results confirmed that pathogenic G vaginalis 101 had a higher capacity for adhesion to the cervical epithelial cells than strain 5-1. Interestingly, strain 101 displaced L. crispatus but not L. iners whereas strain 5-1 had less of an effect and did not affect the two species differently. Furthermore, L. iners actually enhanced adhesion of strain 101 but not of strain 5-1. These results suggest that BV-causing G. vaginalis and L. iners do not interfere with one another, which may help to explain previous reports that women who are colonized with L. iners are more likely to develop BV.This work was supported by European Union funds (FEDER/COMPETE) and by national funds (FCT) under the project with reference FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-008991 (PTDC/BIA-MIC/098228/2008) and in part by funds from the National Institutes of Health (P60-MD002256). AM acknowledges the FCT individual fellowship SFRH/BD/62375/2009)

Changes in the bacterial community structure in two-stage constructed wetlands with different plants for industrial wastewater treatment

This study focused on the diversity of bacterial communities from two series of two-stage constructed wetlands (CWs) treating tannery wastewater, under different hydraulic conditions. Series were separately planted with Typha latifolia and Phragmites australis in expanded clay aggregates and operated for 31 months. The effect of plant species, hydraulic loading and unit stage on bacterial communities was addressed through bacterial enumeration and denaturating gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). Diverse and distinct bacterial communities were found in each system unit, which was related in part to the type of plant and stage position (first or second unit in the series). Numerical analysis of DGGE profiles showed high diversity in each unit with an even distribution of species. No clear relation was established between the sample collection time, hydraulic loading applied and the bacterial diversity. Isolates retrieved from plant roots and substrates of CWs were affiliated with c-Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, a-Proteobacteria, Sphingobacteria, Actinobacteria and Bacteroidetes. Both series were effective in removing organic matter from the inlet wastewater, however, based on batch degradation experiments it seems that biodegradation was limited by the recalcitrant properties of the wastewaterinfo:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Primeiro transplante renal ABO-incompatível

Kidney transplantation is the optimal treatment of end -stage renal disease (ESRD) improving survival and quality of life for most recipients. In our country, potential living donors have been refused due to the ABO incompatibility barrier. However, ABO -incompatible living donor kidney transplant is presently common practice in several countries with good outcomes. The authors describe a case of a 49 -year -old female patient, with chronic kidney disease due to autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease, who had started haemodialysis 10 months before and with blood group O. The living donor was a 53 -year -old sister with blood group B. The desensitization protocol was based on rituximab and plasmapheresis. The induction protocol used was basiliximab, tacrolimus, mofetil mycophenolate and metilprednisolone. Five days post -transplant she presented a normal graft function that remained during the eight months follow -up. This case reveals the first ABO incompatible living donor kidney transplant performed in Portugal with excellent outcome.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Thick-skinned inter-plate and intra-plate tectonics in NW and SW Iberia

Na área de Abrantes (Zona Ossa Morena), o extremo NW da Zona de Cisalhamento de Tomar-Badajoz-Córdoba termina contra a Zona de Cisalhamento Porto-Tomar-Ferreira do Alentejo. Mantos de carreamento de soco Cadomiano foram transportados para NE durante a orogenia Varisca; granulitos de pressão intermédia/baixa contrastam com associações cadomianas de alta pressão na zona axial da ZCTBC, devido à presença de uma sutura Cadomiana. O sistema intraplacas de mantos de soco da ZOM é conectado via a paleotransformante PTFA com os mantos de soco do sistema interplacas da sutura transportada do NW Ibérico