Análise de ciclo de vida do azeite transmontano

O sector do azeite é um importante factor económico em Portugal. Sendo Portugal um grande consumidor deste produto, também é um dos principais produtores Europeus (o quarto maior produtor da Europa, atrás da Grécia, Itália e Espanha) e exportadores. A nível nacional, a região de Trás-os-Montes e segundo o Recenseamento Agrícola, é a segunda maior região olivícola, sendo que é a principal a nível de azeitona para a mesa. Numa altura em que a consciencialização ambiental está a ganhar um peso nas escolhas de produtos para o nosso dia-a-dia, é cada vez mais importante haver uma produção “amiga do ambiente”. É neste ponto em que entra a chamada Análise de Ciclo de Vida (ACV). A ACV é um estudo assente num sistema de modelação com todos os componentes necessários para a produção de um determinado bem, fazendo de seguida uma avaliação aos impactes causados no ambiente. Este teve como ponto de partida inquéritos aplicados a três produtores de azeitonas (F1, F2 e F3) e a dois lagares de azeite (P2 e P3), tendo estas actividades características diferenciadas. O F1 é um olival de tamanho mediano (~12ha), com uma prática agrícola considerada normal. Relativamente ao F2, este é considerado um olival de grande tamanho (mais de 100ha), com uma prática agrícola também considerada normal. O F3 também é um olival de grande tamanho (mais de 100ha), mas é praticado uma agricultura biológica. Nos lagares, a grande diferença é o modo utilizado para a extracção do azeite, sendo que o P2 é de duas fases e o P3 é de três fases. Para uma correta análise, foi seguido a metodologia referida nas ISO’s 14040 e 14044 e a parametrização referida na última versão do Environmental Product Declaration (EPD). Os resultados obtidos resultam da avaliação de diferentes interacções entre o olival e o lagar, obtendo-se um total de seis cenários com diferentes resultados, expressos na intensidade de indicadores de avaliação de impacto (mid-points).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Endophthalmitis after pars plana vitrectomy: Results of the pan American collaborative retina study group

Purpose: To determine the incidence of endophthalmitis after 20-, 23-, and 25-gauge pars plana vitrectomies (PPVs). Methods: Retrospective comparative case series of consecutive patients who underwent 20-, 23-, or 25-gauge PPV at 11 centers from Latin America between 2005 to 2009. Pars plana vitrectomy cases were identified through a search of the billing records of each institution. Cases of PPV performed in the management of trauma, endophthalmitis, and combined PPV phacoemulsification cases were excluded. Endophthalmitis was diagnosed by clinical criteria regardless of the microbiologic results. The incidence of post-PPV endophthalmitis was compared between 20-, 23-, and 25-gauge PPVs. Results: A total of 35,427 cases of PPV were identified during the study period (n = 19,865 for 20 gauge, n = 10,845 for 23 gauge, and n = 4,717 for 25 gauge). The 5-year post-PPV endophthalmitis incidence rates were 0.020% (4 of 19,865), 0.028% (3 of 10,845), and 0.021% (1 of 4,717) for 20 gauge, 23 gauge, and 25 gauge, respectively (P = 0.9685). Conclusion: Small-gauge transconjunctival PPV does not appear to increase the rates of post-PPV endophthalmitis. © The Ophthalmic Communications Society, Inc

Corpo, maturação biológica e actividade física: um olhar interactivo em crianças e jovens madeirenses

Cada vez mais a sociedade moderna é olhada através da sua condição física, enquanto factor de bem-estar, saúde, qualidade de vida e longevidade dos seus membros. Os indicadores demográficos actuais da população madeirense apontam no sentido de uma considerável componente juvenil, adolescente e jovem. No entanto, a evolução demográfica prevista, decorrente de um acentuado decréscimo da natalidade, leva a prever um comportamento diverso da pirâmide de idades, assumindo particular ênfase as questões relacionadas com o estudo e a investigação do corpo, a procura de padrões, a descrição normativa, a interpretação das mudanças e o espaço morfológico externo, que se vem enquadrar no território de investigação reservado à somatotipologia

Assessment of a hands-on method for FAMACHA© system training

The FAMACHA©system is a method for selective anthelmintic treatment comprising earlydetection of haemonchosis in sheep and goats. In order to evaluate the hands-on trainingmethodology and the learning level of the participants, we analyzed data from 30 trainingevents involving 47 training classes conducted in the State of Paraná, Brazil, from July/2009to May/2011, during which period a total of 1004 participants did 20,080 FAMACHA©clas-sifications. In the practical training sessions, each participant individually evaluated 20animals with known haematocrit values. Every participant per training event was given aunique number, whereupon each of the animals in a given event was FAMACHA©classifiedby all the trainees involved, in the same trainee number sequence. After each consecutiveanimal had been evaluated by every one of the participants, its haematocrit and corre-sponding FAMACHA©category were announced before the next animal was presented. Thenumber of persons in training, which ranged from 5 to 39 per session, did not significantlyaffect the average error of the groups of participants involved (p > 0.05). The average errorin the classification of the first animal on a scale with a perfect score of zero was 2.5, signif-icantly greater than the error of 0.56 of the twentieth one (p 0.05). Similarly, the average errors in FAMACHA©classification were not significantlyinfluenced by the occupation or gender of the participants, nor whether there were ani-mals in all five FAMACHA©categories or only in categories 1, 2, 3 and 4 per training event(p > 0.05).Fundação Araucária (Araucaria Foundation), Programa Universidade Sem Fronteiras ("University Without Borders Program").http://www.elsevier.com/locate/vetparhb201

Quantum phase gate with a selective interaction

We present a proposal for implementing quantum phase gates using selective interactions. We analize selectivity and the possibility to implement these gates in two particular systems, namely, trapped ions and Cavity QED.Comment: Four pages of TEX file and two EPS figures. Submitted for publicatio

Soil biochemistry and microbial activity in vineyards under conventional and organic management at Northeast Brazil.

The São Francisco Submedium Valley is located at the Brazilian semiarid region and is an important center for irrigated fruit growing. This region is responsible for 97% of the national exportation of table grapes, including seedless grapes. Based on the fact that orgThe São Francisco Submedium Valley is located at the Brazilian semiarid region and is an important center for irrigated fruit growing. This region is responsible for 97% of the national exportation of table grapes, including seedless grapes. Based on the fact that organic fertilization can improve soil quality, we compared the effects of conventional and organic soil management on microbial activity and mycorrhization of seedless grape crops. We measured glomerospores number, most probable number (MPN) of propagules, richness of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) species, AMF root colonization, EE-BRSP production, carbon microbial biomass (C-MB), microbial respiration, fluorescein diacetate hydrolytic activity (FDA) and metabolic coefficient (qCO2). The organic management led to an increase in all variables with the exception of EE-BRSP and qCO2. Mycorrhizal colonization increased from 4.7% in conventional crops to 15.9% in organic crops. Spore number ranged from 4.1 to 12.4 per 50 g-1 soil in both management systems. The most probable number of AMF propagules increased from 79 cm-3 soil in the conventional system to 110 cm-3 soil in the organic system. Microbial carbon, CO2 emission, and FDA activity were increased by 100 to 200% in the organic crop. Thirteen species of AMF were identified, the majority in the organic cultivation system. Acaulospora excavata, Entrophospora infrequens, Glomus sp.3 and Scutellospora sp. were found only in the organically managed crop. S. gregaria was found only in the conventional crop. Organically managed vineyards increased mycorrhization and general soil microbial activity

Fresh, hardened and thermal properties of coating mortars containing mineral additions and vermiculite

Efforts are made to alleviate thermal problems in buildings. The use of thermal mortars for coating with vermiculite as aggregate is used for this purpose, but the use with mineral additions is still scarce, especially the rheology through squeeze-flow. Thus, it was aimed to evaluate the behavior in fresh, hardened state and in the thermal conductivity of these mortars. Mortars containing Portland cement, lime, vermiculite, sand, and additions of metakaolin or ceramic brick waste, in the proportion of 1:1:6 (Cement: Lime: Sand), were evaluated. The sand was replaced by vermiculite in 40%, and the additions added in the proportion of 20% to the cement mass, and the water content determined with the spread obtained on the consistency table. Mixtures containing 20% mineral addition and 40% vermiculite proved to be feasible, reaching minimum values according to the respective standards

Sensitivity and specificity of the FAMACHA© system in Suffolk sheep and crossbred Boer goats

Sheep and goats are the species of farm animal with the highest growth rate in Paraná State. The main problems facing Paraná State flocks are gastrointestinal parasites and anthelmintic resistance. One of the newest resources used to slow down the development of anthelmintic resistance is the FAMACHA(©) system, a selective method useful for controlling gastrointestinal verminosis in small ruminants. The purpose of the present research was to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of the FAMACHA(©) system in sheep and goats and to compare the results for both species. The conjunctivae of 83 Suffolk ewes and 60 adult crossbred Boer does were evaluated by the same trained person using the FAMACHA(©) system. The packed cell value (PCV) served as the gold standard for clinical FAMACHA(©) evaluation. To calculate the sensitivity and specificity of the FAMACHA(©) system, different criteria were adopted in turn: animals classified as FAMACHA(©) (F(©)) 4 and 5, or 3, 4 and 5, were considered to be anemic (positive test), and animals classified as F(©)1, 2 and 3, or 1 and 2 were considered to be non-anemic (negative test). Three standard values of PCV, namely ≤19%, ≤18% or ≤15%, were used to confirm anemia. At all cut-off levels, the sensitivity increased if F(©)3 animals were included as being anemic. However, changes in levels of sensitivity were associated with reciprocal changes in specificity. The sensitivity was higher for sheep than for goats, excepting when the criteria included PCV≤18 and F(©)3, F(©)4 and F(©)5 were considered positive. In contrast, the specificity was always lower in sheep for any criteria adopted. Other than in goats, using the ≤15 cut-off level for sheep, it is possible to opt not to drench the animals that were shown to be F(©)3 because the sensitivity is still high, indicating that few animals that should have been drenched were overlooked. In goats, in contrast, the low sensitivity at all cut-off levels made it too risky to leave F(©)3 animals undrenched. Even though the number of correct treatments for goats was always higher than that for sheep, the opposite was true for the kappa index for all the criteria tested. Therefore, the FAMACHA(©) system is suitable for the identification of anemic animals of both species. It is necessary that all small ruminants classified as FAMACHA(©) level 3 are also treated to increase the sensitivity of the method.http://www.elsevier.com/locate/vetparhb2016Veterinary Tropical Disease