The challenges of concentration in the agricultural product supply chain: a study of Producer Organizations in Portugal

One of the greatest challenges facing rural producers stems from the difficulties in accessing markets majority controlled by the major distribution chains. The small quantities under production and the low level of investment capacity ensure that smallholders in particular encounter an asymmetric relationship with the retail sector. The European Union (EU), through means of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP),has adopted strategies to overcome these obstacles through stimulating farmers to concentrate their own supply through Producer Organisations (POs).These POs, in addition to concentrating supply, also act to improve productivity and guarantee reasonable prices to consumers. The objectives of this article include analysing challenges faced by the concentration of the agricultural product supply chain through a study of POs in Portugal. The research findings arise from analysis of both primary and secondary sources of information. The research techniques applied were documental analysis and holding interviews with six key players. The research results demonstrate how the average level of PO participation in the EU stands at 46% but falls back to 25% in Portugal. The results are also below those presented at the EU level despite accelerated growth taking place in the horticultural sector, which more than doubled its level of participation over the last decade (10% in 2005 rising to 26% in 2014). We conclude that, on the one hand, POs respond positively to the challenges of supply chain concentration; on the other hand, this has lacked the impact necessary to reversing the ongoing rural desertification in Portugal

Immunization and Aging: a Learning Process in the Immune Network

The immune system can be thought as a complex network of different interacting elements. A cellular automaton, defined in shape-space, was recently shown to exhibit self-regulation and complex behavior and is, therefore, a good candidate to model the immune system. Using this model to simulate a real immune system we find good agreement with recent experiments on mice. The model exhibits the experimentally observed refractory behavior of the immune system under multiple antigen presentations as well as loss of its plasticity caused by aging.Comment: 4 latex pages, 3 postscript figures attached. To be published in Physical Review Letters (Tentatively scheduled for 5th Oct. issue

Cyanobacteria and microcystins in lake Furnas (S. Miguel island-Azores)

This study investigated the changes in the cyanobacterial population and quantified the occurrence of microcystins in Lake Furnas during the first decade of the 21st century. The eutrophication of Lake Furnas has been recognized since the 1980s. The lake's phytoplankton population increased over the years in relation to this process of nutrient enrichment. Cyanobacteria began to dominate the phytoplankton and blooms of greater than 20 · 103 cells/ml occurred. After 2004, cyanobacterial blooms occurred regularly in the lake throughout the year. From 2000 through 2009, 30 blooms were detected. Of these blooms, 13 were dominated by Microcystis aeruginosa and 11 by Woronichinia naegeliana. In the other 6 blooms, the dominant cyanobacteria were Microcystis spp., Anabaena spp., Aphanocapsa spp. and Coelosphaerium kuetzingianum. A number of blooms involved more than 2 species simultaneously. The highest cell density (12.3 · 106 cells/ml) occurred during winter 2007. The predominant species in this bloom were M. aeruginosa (11.9 · 106 cells/ml) and W. naegeliana (83.8 · 103 cells/ml). Because almost all of the cyanobacteria cited were considered toxin producers, a search for microcystins, the hepatotoxins most often found in freshwaters, was initiated in 2001. Samples were collected at four depths: surface, 2.5 m, 5.0 m and 0.5 m above the sediments. From 2001 through 2009, soluble microcystins were detected six times during the summer, four times during the winter and autumn and three times during the spring (25 % of 129 samples). The average concentrations of soluble microcystins in the water column ranged from 0.1 µg/l to 0.5 µg/l. Intracellular microcystins were detected in 84 % of the samples. All samples collected after 2004 contained these cyanotoxins. The average concentrations of intracellular microcystins in the water column ranged from 0.1 µg/l to 11.2 µg/l. The highest value (154.5 µg/l) was found in a water sample collected from the lake surface during the winter of 2009, during a bloom dominated by W. naegeliana. The amounts of microcystins produced by cyanobacteria, expressed on a seston dry weight basis, varied between 24 mg/kg and 9737 mg/kg and showed an increase in 2008 and 2009. The concentrations of microcystins in samples from M. aeruginosa blooms ranged from 86 mg/kg to 1171 mg/kg and the highest values were recorded during the spring and summer of 2008.Este estudio presenta la variación de la población de cianobacterias y la cuantificación de microcistinas en la Laguna Furnas en la primera década del siglo 21. La eutrofización de la Laguna Furnas había sido señalada desde los años ochenta del siglo pasado. Debido a este proceso de enriquecimiento en nutrientes, la población de fitoplancton aumentó a lo largo de los años, las cianobacterias se volvieron dominantes y surgieron blooms (más de 20 · 103 células/ml). Después del 2004, los blooms de cianobacterias fueron permanentes en la laguna. De 2000 a 2009, se detectaron 30 blooms, 13 dominados por Microcystis aeruginosa y 11 por Woronichinia naegeliana. En los 6 restantes, las cianobacterias dominantes fueron Microcystis spp., Anabaena spp., Aphanocapsa spp. y Coelosphaerium kuetzingianum. A recesen algunas ocasiones, existieron más de dos especies en la fase de Bloom al mismo tiempo. La densidad celular más alta (12.3 · 106 células/ml) tuvo lugar en el invierno de 2007, siendo M. aeruginosa (11.9 · 106 células/ml) y la W. naegeliana (83.8 · 103 células/ml) las especies predominantes. A partir de 2001 y una vez que casi todas las cianobacterias mencionadas fueron consideradas como productoras de toxinas, se inició la búsqueda de microcistinas, concretamente las hepatotoxinas ya que son las más frecuentes en aguas dulces. Las muestras se tomaron en cuatro profundidades: superficie, 2.5 m, 5.0 m y 0.5 m por cima del sedimento. De 2001 a 2009, fueron detectadas microcistinas solubles seis veces en verano, cuatro veces en invierno y otoño y tres veces en primavera (25 %de 129 muestras). Sus concentraciones medias en la columna de agua variaron desde 0.1 µg/l hasta 0.5 µg/l. Fueron detectadas microcistinas intracelulares en el 84 % de las muestras y en todas las recogidas después del 2004. Sus concentraciones medias en la columna de agua variaron desde 0.1 µg/l hasta 11.2 µg/l. El valor más alto (154.5 µg/l) fue encontrado en una muestra recogida en la superficie durante el invierno de 2009, mientras ocurría un bloom dominado por W. naegeliana. Las cantidades de microcistinas producidas por las cianobacterias, expresadas en base de peso seco del seston, variaron entre 24 mg/kg y 9737 mg/kg y mostraron un aumento en los años 2008 y 2009. Las concentraciones en muestras de blooms de M. aeruginosa variaron desde 86 mg/kg hasta 1171 mg/kg y los valores más altos fueron registrados en primavera y verano de 2008

A Huge Drop in X-ray Luminosity of the Non-Active Galaxy RXJ1242.6-1119A, and First Post-Flare Spectrum - Testing the Tidal Disruption Scenario

It has been suggested that an unavoidable consequence of the existence of supermassive black holes, and the best diagnostic of their presence in non-active galaxies, would be occasional tidal disruption of stars captured by the black holes. These events manifest themselves in form of luminous flares powered by accretion of debris from the disrupted star into the black hole. Candidate events among optically non-active galaxies emerged in the past few years. For the first time, we have looked with high spatial and spectral resolution at one of these most extreme variability events ever recorded among galaxies. Here, we report measuring a factor ~200 drop in luminosity of the X-ray source RXJ 1242-1119 with the X-ray observatories Chandra and XMM-Newton, and perform key tests of the favored outburst scenario, tidal disruption of a star by a supermassive black hole. We show that the detected `low-state' emission has properties such that it must still be related to the flare. The power-law shaped post-flare X-ray spectrum indicates a `hardening' compared to outburst. The inferred black hole mass, the amount of liberated energy, and the duration of the event favor an accretion event of the form expected from the (partial or complete) tidal disruption of a star (abstract abbreviated).Comment: to appear in March 1 issue of ApJ Letters (submitted Nov. 10, accepted in Dec. 2003); background information available at http://www.xray.mpe.mpg.de/~skomossa

Obtention of plant peroxidase and its potential for the decolorization of the reactive dye Remazol Turquoise G 133%

Peroxidases can be used in the decolorization process. There is a growing interest for new sources of this enzyme and for obtaining economically viable processes. In this work, a low-cost vegetable peroxidase extraction process is proposed; the resulting enzyme is characterized to determine its optimum pH, temperature, and stability conditions, and it is then applied in the decolorization of reactive dye Remazol Turquoise G 133%. The turnip peroxidase (TP) was utilized as an enzymatic source. This enzyme exhibited maximum activity at pH 7.0, and it was active in the temperature range of 30 to 50 °C, which favors its use in industrial processes. Acetone was the most efficient solvent to induce precipitation. The removal of Remazol Turquoise G 133% was 56.0% complete after 50 min, while 41.0% of the same dye was removed with the commercial horseradish peroxidase enzyme in 50 min. TP presents potential as a viable alternative in the decolorization of textile wastewaters

Art students: do they really draw what they know about the inner body?

The aim of the present study was to examine seven case studies and ascertain whether the imagos internalized by students of Fine Arts, a Young Person and an Elderly Person can be reworked, after the students have been submitted to a course in Anatomy. In the present study, we have combined two methods - gathering written responses and drawings - and examined what students know about the organs they drew and used a content analysis grid to evaluate the mental representation of the interior of the body of both profiles (Young Person and Elderly Person), before and after academic training (Anatomy classes). The preliminary data collected provided a prima facie scenario for the existence of at least one sequencial comulative progression in the development of the art students drawings. However further research is needed to establish the extent to which this finding might apply beyond the tasks assigned in the present protocol.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Characterization of the volatile fraction emitted by phloems of four pinus species by solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry

Pine forests constitute some of the most important renewable resources supplying timber, paper and chemical industries, among other functions. Characterization of the volatiles emitted by different Pinus species has proven to be an important tool to decode the process of host tree selection by herbivore insects, some of which cause serious economic damage to pines. Variations in the relative composition of the bouquet of semiochemicals are responsible for the outcome of different biological processes, such as mate finding, egg-laying site recognition and host selection. The volatiles present in phloem samples of four pine species, P. halepensis, P. sylvestris, P. pinaster and P. pinea, were identified and characterized with the aim of finding possible host-plant attractants for native pests, such as the bark beetle Tomicus piniperda. The volatile compounds emitted by phloem samples of pines were extracted by headspace solid-phase micro extraction, using a 2 cm 50/30 mm divinylbenzene/carboxen/polydimethylsiloxane table flex solid-phase microextraction fiber and its contents analyzed by high-resolution gas chromatography, using flame ionization and a non polar and chiral column phases. The components of the volatile fraction emitted by the phloem samples were identified by mass spectrometry using time-of-flight and quadrupole mass analyzers. The estimated relative composition was used to perform a discriminant analysis among pine species, by means of cluster and principal component analysis. It can be concluded that it is possible to discriminate pine species based on the monoterpenes emissions of phloem samples

Scheduling and Batching in Multi-Site Flexible Flow Shop Environments

Global competition and the customers demand for customized products with shorter due dates, marked the introduction of the Extended Enterprise. In this Extended Manufacturing Environment (EME), lean, virtual, networked and distributed enterprises collaborate to respond to the market demands. In this paper we study the influence of the batch size on Flexible Flow Shop makespan minimization problem FFC vertical bar vertical bar C-max for two multi-sites approaches, the FSBF (Flow Shop Based Factories) and the PMBF (Parallel-Machines Based Factories). The computational study demonstrates how the performance of the PMBF model decreases with the increase of batch size and determines the batch sizes in which the performance is similar.This work is supported by FEDER Funds through the “Programa Operacional Factores de Competitividade - COMPETE” program and by National Funds through FCT “Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia” under the projects: “Projeto Estratégico–UI 252–2011–2012” reference PEstOE/EME/UI0252/2014, FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-PEstOE/EEI/UI0760/2014.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio