The institutions of archaic post-modernity and their organizational and managerial consequences: The case of Portugal

The long march of modernization of the Western societies tends to be presented as following a regular sequence: societies and institutions were pre-modern, and then they were modernized, eventually becoming post-modern. Such teleology may provide an incomplete or distorted narrative of societal evolution in many parts of the world, even in the ‘post-modern heartland’ of Western Europe, with Portugal being a case in point. The concept of archaic post-modernity has been developed by a philosopher, José Gil, to show how Portuguese institutions and organizations combine elements of pre-modernity and post-modernity. The notion of an archaic post-modernity is advanced in order to provide an alternative account of the modernization process, which enriches discussion of the varieties of capitalism. Differences in historical experiences create singularities that may be considered in the analysis of culture, management and organization

Estudo microbiol?gico relacionado ? gera??o de drenagem ?cida em antigas minas de pirita no munic?pio de Ouro Preto, MG.

Este trabalho possui um enfoque geomicrobiol?gico, voltado para investigar a exist?ncia de microrganismos oxidantes em ambientes ?cidos de regi?es que envolvem antigas minas de pirita (FeS2 ) de Ouro Preto, MG. Este estudo tem o prop?sito de verificar a presen?a de microorganismos acid?filos em tais regi?es, e constatar se os mesmos atuam na oxida??o da pirita. Para tanto, foram coletadas amostras de rochas e sedimentos contendo esse sulfeto, localizados em ambientes ?cidos de duas antigas minas. Nos experimentos realizados, p?de-se relacionar um aumento brusco no potencial de oxi-redu??o (Eh) ? exist?ncia de bact?rias acid?filas que atuam na oxida??o da pirita contida nas amostras de rochas e sedimentos. A presen?a de bact?rias foi posteriormente confirmada pela observa??o desses microrganismos ao microsc?pio.In Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, pyrite of old mines was explored to make powder, mainly during the Second World War. In one of the old mines, the existence of an acid drainage in the rain-season was observed, with pH values in the range of 3.6. It is known that the acidity process is generated by the action of the atmosphere air over sulphide deposits allied to some factors such as the presence of water and specifc microorganisms. The emphasis of this research is to study the existence of bacteria of acid environments in the region of the old pyrite mines

Arsenic speciation in plant samples from the Iron Quadrangle, Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Several plants, especially ferns, have been shown to tolerate and accumulate high arsenic concentrations in soils. The leaves and roots of the ferns Pteris vittata (Chinese brake) and Pityrogramma calomelanos as well as a medical plant (Baccharis trimera) were sampled together with their associated soils in a region impacted by ore mining, the Iron Quadrangle in Brazil, where arsenic concentrations in the soils vary sharply (6?900 mgg 1). The bioaccumulation factors were found to be low compared to the literature data, which can be explained by the low water-soluble fraction of arsenic in soil. The arsenic species in the plants were mainly arsenite. In comparison to the rhizoid samples, the concentrations of arsenic were higher in the leaves of the fern samples. The medical plant behaved differently. The bioaccumulation factor was low (0.7), and trimethylarsine oxide was detected as the third arsenic species beside arsenite and arsenate in both the roots and the leaves

The fate of a Neoproterozoic intracratonic marine basin : trace elements, TOC and IRON speciation geochemistry of the Bambu? Basin, Brazil.

Neoproterozoic marine systems are associated with major paleoecological changes that took place in the Ediacaran and during the Ediacaran-Cambrian transition. During this timespan, the Bambu? basin located on east Brazil held a peculiar paleoenvironmental scenario. Due to its intracratonic evolution, the basin was partially disconnected from neighboring open marine systems. This setting raises a very interesting opportunity to understand how an isolated Neoproterozoic marine system evolved in contrast with typical (globally connected) open marine systems. To understand the paleoenvironmental changes that took place in the Bambu? basin, we investigate the pre-glaciogenic deposits of the Carrancas Fm and the post-glaciogenic mixed (shale-carbonate) successions of the Bambu? Group. Through the analysis of iron speciation, TOC, trace element and C-O isotope systematics, our study suggests a very complex environmental evolution. Firstly, our samples are marked by strong contamination of detrital continental material that can be related to an increased bioproductivity on both the Carrancas Fm. and lower Bambu? group stratigraphic units, and provenance data show that all studied sediments probably shared common source areas. Iron speciation data, Ce anomalies and RSE enrichments shows that lower Bambu? Group stratigraphic units were likely deposited in an open marine scenario featuring high bioproductivity in shallow waters and euxinic incursions in predominant anoxic/ferruginous bottom waters. On the other hand, upper Bambu? stratigraphic units register a marine evolution in a restricted scenario, where anoxic ferruginous conditions probably reached surface waters. Finally, our data show that the lack of oceanic connection prevented the re-supply of marine sulfate, RSE, bionutrients and ultimately of dissolved oxygen which may have decreased biological activity and probably hindered biological evolution, preventing the rise of a typical modern-like Cambrian ecosystem. In this sense, our data suggest that oceanic connectivity and proper re-supply of inorganic marine input were important features in the development of complex life in the EdiacaranCambrian environment