Emergy analysis of a silvo-pastoral system, a case study in southern Portugal

The Mediterranean silvo-pastoral system known as Montado, in Portugal, is a complex land use system composed of an open tree stratum in various densities and an herbaceous layer, used for livestock grazing. Livestock also profit from the acorns, and the grazing contributes to avoid shrub encroachment. In the last 20 years, subsidies from the European Union have greatly promoted cattle rearing in this system and the introduction of heavy breeds, at the expense of sheep, goats or the native cattle breeds. The balance of the traditional system is thus threatened, and a precise assessment of the balance between the different components of the system, therefore is highly needed. The goal of this study was to gain a better understanding of a Montado farm system with cattle rearing as the major economic activity by applying the emergy evaluation method to calculate indices of yield, investment, environmental loading and sustainability. By integrating different ecosystem components, the emergy evaluation method allows a comprehensive evaluation of this complex and multifunctional system at the scale of an individual farm. This method provides a set of indices that can help us understand the system and design management strategies that maximize emergy flow in the farm. In this paper, we apply the emergy evaluation method to a Montado farm with cattle rearing, as a way to gain a better understanding of this system at the farm scale. The value for the transformity of veal (2.66E+06 sej J−1) is slightly higher, when compared to other systems producing protein. That means that the investment of nature and man in this product was higher and it requires a premium price on the market. The renewability for Holm Oaks Farm (49 %), lower than for other similar systems, supports the assumption that this is a farm in which, comparing with others, the number of purchased inputs in relation to renewable inputs provided by nature, is higher. The Emergy Investment Ratio is 0.91 for cattle rearing compared to a value of 0.49 for cork and 0.43 for firewood harvesting, making it clear that cattle rearing is a more labor demanding activity comparing with extractive activities as cork and firewood harvesting

Lesão de Dieulafoy: Papel do Mapeamento por Ecoendoscopia

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Trichome density in relation to volatiles emission and 1,8-Cineole synthase gene expression in Thymus albicans vegetative and reproductive organs

1,8-Cineole is the main volatile produced by Thymus albicans Hoffmanns. & Link 1,8-cineole chemotype. To understand the contribution of distinct plant organs to the high 1,8-cineole production, trichome morphology and density, as well as emitted volatiles and transcriptional expression of the 1,8-cineole synthase (CIN) gene were determined separately for T. albicans leaves, bracts, calyx, corolla and inflorescences. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and stereoscope microscopy observations showed the highest peltate trichome density in leaves and bracts, significantly distinct from calyx and corolla. T. albicans volatiles were collected by solid phase micro extraction (SPME) and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and by GC for component identification and quantification, respectively. Of the 23 components identified, 1,8-cineole was the dominant volatile (57-93 %) in all T. albicans plant organs. The relative amounts of emitted volatiles clearly separated vegetative from reproductive organs. Gene expression of CIN was assigned to all organs analyzed and was consistent with the relatively high emission of 1,8-cineole in leaves and bracts. Further studies will be required to analyze monoterpenoid biosynthesis by each type of glandular trichome.Ceratonia Project MONOTHYMUS, Universidade do Algarve, PortugalFCTPortuguese Foundation for Science and TechnologyEuropean Commission [SFRH/BPD/84033/2012]University of AlgarveCESAM [UID/AMB/50017-POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007638]FEDER, within the PT2020 Partnership Agreement[FCT/UID/Multi/04326/2019/CCMAR]info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Childhood obesity and reduction of hours of sleep: results from cross-sectional study

Childhood obesity is a prevalent condition in modern societies which can negatively impact people's health during life. Although there are several factors contributing to obesity, sleep duration has been pointed out as an important risk factor. This study, held in the district of Porto, Portugal, aimed to analyze the association between sleep duration and the nutritional status of school-aged children studying in Portugal. 1396 students from 35 and 3 public and private schools, respectively, were contacted, of which 829 participated in this study (9.2 +/- 0.38 years old; 50.3% male; 49.7% female). Age, sex, sleep duration, height, weight and body composition were registered trough a questionnaire. According to the obtained z-score for Body Mass Index (BMI), 22.9% of the children were overweight and 15.2% were obese. The mean of sleep duration was 9.7 +/- 1.08 hours and z-score for BMI was 0.78 +/- 1.21, demonstrating a statistically significant (p<0.01) weak negative correlation (r=-0.15) between sleep duration and z-score of BMI. Results were also stratified and analyzed by sex, and the same finding was observed. Therefore, the results suggest a negative association between sleep duration and overweight/obesity in these children. Although more studies are necessary, this finding highlights the need of a global approach which includes sleep assessment and counselling when promoting an appropriate nutritional status

Rehabilitation of water contaminated with an organic solvent by an aerobic bacterium: tolerance and bioremoval assays

e Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the research project PTDC/AAG-TEC/5269/2014, the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit and COMPETE 2020 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006684) and BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004) funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020 - Programa Operacional Regional do Norteinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A NEW METHODOLOGY FOR DIAGNOSIS OF FANCONI ANEMIA BASED ON BIOLOGICAL DOSIMETRY

Fanconi Anemia (FA) is a syndrome associated with chromosomal fragility. Current laboratory tests to diagnose this disease are based on the scoring of chromosomal aberrations induced in peripheral blood lymphocytes by clastogenic chemical agents, mainly: diepoxybutane (DEB) or mitomycin C (MMC). This study evaluated an alternative test for the diagnosis of FA, in which ionizing radiation replaces DEB/MMC. Two groups were studied: normal and DEB-sensitive individuals. From each individual, samples of peripheral blood were irradiated using an electron linear accelerator. Following lymphocyte cultures, and slide preparation, metaphases were scored based on the same methodology for biological dosimetry, according to recommendations of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Our results emphasized a pattern of distribution of dicentrics, fragments, as well as abnormal chromosomal arrangements. The methodology of analysis here proposed permitted to distinguish normal from DEB-sensitive subjects

A large community outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in Vila Franca de Xira, Portugal, October to November 2014

An outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease with 334 confirmed cases was identified on 7 November 2014 in Vila Franca de Xira, Portugal and declared controlled by 21 November. Epidemiological, environmental and microbiological analysis identified industrial wet cooling systems to be the probable source of infection. Preliminary results from sequence-based typing of clinical specimens and environmental isolates confirmed this link. A series of meteorological phenomena are likely to have contributed to the scale of this outbreak

Potential of silicon fertilization in the resistance of chestnut plants toink disease(Phytophthora cinnamomi)

The European chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) is a specie with great economic importance in Europe that have been present for thousands of years. In Portugal, the chestnut helps to maintain a positive trade balance, by contributing to the gross national product (GDP). One of the biggest threats for the chestnut is the ink disease caused by Phytophthoracinnamomi, this disease is problematic to chestnut crop with a damaging impact. Silicon (Si) is classified as a beneficial nutrient, having the ability to make plants more resistant to attacks by pathogens. Studies on the effect of silicon on chestnut are practically non-existent, so the aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of silicon in the resistance of chestnut plants to P. cinnamomi. The plants were treated by 0 mM, 5 mM, 7.5mM and 10 mM SiK® with the analyzed mad at 0, 15 and 30 days after inoculation by P. cinnamomi. These findings showed that the Si-treated plants had higher survival rate resulted from the presence of phytoliths in root tissues, that acted as a mechanical barrier reducing the development of pathogenic structures and they arealso associated with the improvement on antioxidant activity through the increase of CAT and SOD, higher values of total phenols compounds and less oxidative damage. The presence of Si in PDA medium reduced the growth of P. cinnamomi all over the time, presenting high PI. This work shows that the Si fertilization in chestnut plants contributes to increase the resistance against P. cinnamomi infection

Prognostic value of NT-proBNP, adrenomedullin, copeptin and proenkephalin in patients with pulmonary hypertension

Published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. © The Author 2017.Introduction: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) comprises a group of progressive diseases characterized by an increase in pulmonary vascular resistance, leading to right ventricular dysfunction. Risk stratification is essential for prognostic evaluation and therapeutic decision, making the determination of new biomarkers important. Purpose: To assess the prognostic value of new biomarkers in the prognostic evaluation of patients with PH. Methods: Prospective cohort study of patients (pts) with PH confirmed by hemodynamic evaluation. Pts underwent clinical and laboratory evaluations at baseline and every 3 months. Follow-up lasted for 18 months. NTproBNP and the new biomarkers (adrenomedullin, copeptin and proenkephalin) were measured. The Mann-Whitney test, Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox regression were used for statistical analysis. Results: Fifty one pts (75% males, mean age: 54±15 years) belonging to all groups of the WHO PH classification were included. At inclusion, all pts were in WHO functional class II or III. During the study period, 17 pts (33%) died. Baseline NTproBNP values were significantly higher in the non-survivors group (1327; 1061–2703pg/ml vs. 353.5; 190–1661pg/ml; p=0.022). The same did not occur for adrenomedullin, copeptin and proenkephalin baseline levels. The maximum NTproBNP, adrenomedullin and copeptin levels recorded during the follow-up period were significantly higher in the non-survivors group [2347.5 (1667–5073.25) pg/ml vs. 642.5 (208.25–4109.5) pg/ml, p=0.007; 53.6 (38.8- 94.2) pg/ml vs. 33.4 (27–48.8) pg/ml, p=0.0075; 20.69 (13.18–35.69) pmol/L vs. 9.97 (6.18–14.74) pmol/L, p=0.022, respectively]. This did not occur for the maximum proenkephalin level. The NT-proBNP level at admission and adremedullin level at 3 months were independent predictors of mortality (HR 2.78, CI95 1.23–6.30, p=0.01; HR 4.36, CI95 1.17–16.2, p=0.03).Conclusion: The maximum level of NTproBNP, adrenomedullin and copeptin during the follow up were associated with higher mortality in pts with PH. NTproBNP level proved to be an independent predictor of mortality in those patients. These results suggest the prognostic importance of these biomarkers in the approach of pts with PH.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Long-Term Outcomes After Curative Resection of HCV-Positive Versus Non-Hepatitis Related Hepatocellular Carcinoma: an International Multi-Institutional Analysis

Background: To define the chronological changes of long-term survival among patients with non-hepatitis-related hepatocellular carcinoma (Non-Hep-HCC) versus hepatitis C-related HCC (HCV-HCC) over the last two decades. Methods: Patients who underwent curative-intent resection for HCC between 2000 and 2017 were identified from an international multi-institutional database. Overall (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) were analyzed and compared among Non-Hep-HCC versus HCV-HCC patients. Propensity score matching (PSM) was utilized to mitigate residual bias. Results: Among 617 patients, 196 (31.8%) patients had HCV-HCC, whereas 421 (68.2%) patients had Non-Hep-HCC. While patients with HCV-HCC had an improvement in OS over time (5-year OS, 2000-2009 55% vs. 2010-2017 67%, p = 0.034), OS among patients with Non-Hep-HCC remain unchanged (5-year OS, 2000-2009 53% vs. 2010-2017 52%, p = 0.905). In the matched cohort, patients with HCV-HCC had a worse OS versus patients with Non-Hep-HCC during 2000 and 2009 (5-year OS, 12% vs. 63%, p = 0.029), but significantly better OS from 2010 to 2017 than patients with Non-Hep-HCC (5-year OS, 86% vs. 73%, p = 0.035). The recurrence timing, patterns and re-treatments were comparable among Non-Hep-HCC and HCV-HCC patients. Conclusion: While OS of patients with HCV-HCC improved over time, the long-term survival of patients with Non-Hep-HCC patients remained unchanged and was more unfavorable.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio