Influência da rota dos vinhos no enoturismo do Algarve

This article aims to approach the Wine Route in Algarve, while fueling the Enotourism in the Region. In methodological therms, secondary sources were consulted, including literature considered relevant, as well the analysis of the case Tenerife, as a destination where Enotourism was successfully implemented. The primary sources used for the case study were based on an analysis of interviews to the producers associates to the Algarve Wine Route (AWR) and an interview with the head of AWR, which led to the view and vision of the leaders in the implementation of this project. In order to give greater depth to the theme addressed the issue of external promotion of wine tourism, verifying which markets to consider in attracting tourists for using such statistics and information listed on the Portuguese Tourism Website. The main results point to the need for continuity the consolidation and reinforcing the AWR, increasing the collaboration between partners and among economic actors. In the opinion of the respondents, the external markets are the major destination for both the flow of wine production, as for attracting new customers and as such should be treated as strategic markets.O presente artigo visa averiguar de que modo a Rota dos Vinhos do Algarve (RVA) pode constituir-se como um contributo para o desenvolvimento do Enoturismo, enquanto produto turístico atrativo e competitivo na região. Metodologicamente, apoia-se em fontes secundárias, nomeadamente bibliografia relevante e estudo de experiencias de desenvolvimento de Enoturismo em destinos de Sol e Mar (com enfoque no caso de Tenerife). Recorre também a fontes primárias, as quais assentam na análise de conteúdo de entrevistas ao coordenador e a produtores vitivinícolas membros da Rota, visando-se determinar a perspetiva dos principais responsáveis na dinamização da RVA. Abordou-se ainda a questão da promoção externa no sentido de verificar os mercados a considerar na captação de turistas, com recurso a estatísticas. Os principais resultados apontam para o facto dos mercados externos serem determinantes no escoamento da produção vitivinícola e para a captação de novos clientes, sem esquecer que é de extrema importância cativar o cliente que já se encontra no destino, a usufruir das valências associadas ao Enoturismo. Paralelamente, ressaltam a necessidade de um esforço de consolidação e de uma maior divulgação da RVA assente na colaboração entre parceiros e agentes económicos. É realçada ainda a importância da criação de um espaço físico para a sede da RVA e a necessidade de apostar na inovação tecnológica, como a criação de uma enoteca, uma loja virtual, e um site apelativo e interativo

Local-scale factors matter for tree cover modelling in Mediterranean drylands

Forests contribute directly to ecosystem structure and functioning, maintaining biodiversity, acting as a climate regulator and reducing desertification. To better manage forests, it is essential to have high-resolution forest models and appropriate spatial-explicit variables able to explain tree cover at different scales, including the management scale. Most tree cover models rely only on broad-scale variables (>500 m), such as macroclimate, while only few studies include also local-scale variables (<500 m). This study aimed to identify the importance of local-scale factors relative to broad-scale factors and identify the environmental variables at different scales that explain tree cover in oak woodlands in Mediterranean drylands. Sixty sites previously identified as being covered with Holm oak or Cork oak were stratified by precipitation. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, used here as a surrogate of tree cover, was modelled using simultaneously broad-scale factors (macroclimate) and local-scale factors (microclimatic and edaphic conditions). The percentage of variance explained by local- and broad-scale factors and the effect size of each environmental variable on tree cover was determined for the study site. It was found that local-scale factors and their interaction with broad-scale factors explained more variance than broad-scale factors alone. The most important local-scale factors explaining tree cover were elevation, potential solar radiation, used as a surrogate of microclimatic conditions, and wetness evaluated terrain used as an indicator of water flow accumulation. The main broad-scale factors were related to temperature and precipitation. The effect of some local-scale variables in tree cover seems to increase in areas where water as a limiting factor is more important. This study demonstrates the critical importance of including local-scale factors in multi-scale modelling of tree cover to obtain better predictions. These models will support well-suited forest management decisions, such as reforestation and afforestation plans to reverse evergreen oaks decline in Mediterranean drylands.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Superoxide reductase from Giardia intestinalis: structural characterization of the first sor from a eukaryotic organism shows an iron centre that is highly sensitive to photoreduction

Superoxide reductase (SOR), which is commonly found in prokaryotic organisms, affords protection from oxidative stress by reducing the superoxide anion to hydrogen peroxide. The reaction is catalyzed at the iron centre, which is highly conserved among the prokaryotic SORs structurally characterized to date. Reported here is the first structure of an SOR from a eukaryotic organism, the protozoan parasite Giardia intestinalis (GiSOR), which was solved at 2.0 Å resolution. By collecting several diffraction data sets at 100 K from the same flash-cooled protein crystal using synchrotron X-ray radiation, photoreduction of the iron centre was observed. Reduction was monitored using an online UV-visible microspectrophotometer, following the decay of the 647 nm absorption band characteristic of the iron site in the glutamate-bound, oxidized state. Similarly to other 1Fe-SORs structurally characterized to date, the enzyme displays a tetrameric quaternary-structure arrangement. As a distinctive feature, the N-terminal loop of the protein, containing the characteristic EKHxP motif, revealed an unusually high flexibility regardless of the iron redox state. At variance with previous evidence collected by X-ray crystallography and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy of prokaryotic SORs, iron reduction did not lead to dissociation of glutamate from the catalytic metal or other structural changes; however, the glutamate ligand underwent X-ray-induced chemical changes, revealing high sensitivity of the GiSOR active site to X-ray radiation damage

Experimental and theoretical studies on water activity: aqueous solutions of amino acids with electrolytes

In the recent past a considerable body of work has been published on the measurement of activity coefficients and solubility data in aqueous amino acid solutions containing electrolytes [1]. However, no information on water activity in this type of system has yet been published [2]. In this work water activity (aw) in DL-alanine, glycine or L-serine aqueous systems with ammonium sulfate, at 298.15 K, was measured. The LabMASTER-aw water activity instrument (Novasina, Switzerland) was used to perform the measurements. The instrument, with a controlled chamber temperature (± 0.2 K), shows high precision (± 0.001 aw units). The new experimental data was used to test different theoretical schemes such as Zdanovskii-Stokes-Robinson (ZSR) model [3] and its extension, or the Clegg-Seinfeld-Brimblecombe (CSB) approach [4], in the calculation of amino acid and electrolyte activity coefficients in those solutions. Comparisons between the different approaches are given

Localized scleroderma en coup de sabre in the Neurology Clinic

Background: Localized scleroderma en coup de sabre (LScs) is a form of localized scleroderma thought to be an autoimmune disorder. Central nervous system involvement is not rare and neurological manifestations include seizures, focal neurological deficits, headache and neuropsychiatric changes. Methods: Patients attending the Neurology Clinic with the final diagnosis of LScs with neurological manifestations were identified and clinical and imagiological records reviewed. Results: Five patients (0.024%) had LScs with neurological involvement, presenting with transient focal neurologic deficits, seizures, headache or migraine with aura. Neuroimaging studies confirmed localized skin depression and showed bone thinning, white matter lesions, brain calcifications, sulcal effacement and meningeal enhancement. Three patients experienced clinical improvement after immunosuppressive therapy, and in two of these patients neuroimaging findings also improved. Conclusions: Recognizing typical dermatologic changes is keystone for the diagnosis of LScs with neurological involvement. It is a diagnosis of exclusion and extensive etiological diagnostic evaluation should be performed. Treatment options, including conservative follow-up or immunosuppressive therapy, should be carefully considered.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Consumo de álcool e vulnerabilidade em saúde das pessoas em situação de sem-abrigo

CONTEXTO: Em Portugal, 45% das Pessoas em Situação de Sem-Abrigo (PSSA) estão a viver na rua, na área metropolitana de Lisboa. Esta população apresenta vulnerabilidades de ordem económica, social e física. No que se refere ao seu estado de saúde, salienta-se o consumo de substâncias, problemas músculo-esqueléticos, respiratórios, cardiovasculares e psiquiátricos. As consequências da Perturbação de Uso de Álcool (PUA) refletem-se a nível socioeconómico e da saúde, pelo que se torna relevante conhecer essa problemática nas PSSA. OBJETIVO: Caracterizar o perfil sociodemográfico, a perceção de saúde e o consumo de álcool entre a população em situação de sem-abrigo na área metropolitana de Lisboa. MÉTODOS: Estudo transversal, descritivo e correlacional. Os instrumentos utilizados foram um questionário com a caracterização sociodemográfica e de saúde construído pelos autores e o CAGE. A recolha de dados foi realizada na cidade de Lisboa em março de 2018. A análise de dados foi realizada com o SPSS 25. RESULTADOS: A amostra é constituída por 199 participantes de ambos os sexos. 49,2% apresenta PUA, 56,8% fuma diariamente tabaco e o consumo de drogas foi referido ao longo da vida por 52,8% dos participantes. Foram encontradas correlações estatisticamente significativas entre o consumo de tabaco, de bebidas alcoólicas e de drogas ilícitas. CONCLUSÕES: A intervenção com PSSA, deve basear-se numa visão holística da pessoa e do meio em que se insere, na Redução de Riscos e Minimização de Danos e/ou interrupção dos consumos de álcool. As necessidades em cuidados de saúde mostram a importância da inclusão do enfermeiro nas equipas multidisciplinares que apoiam esta população

Impact of tuberculosis treatment length and adherence under different transmission intensities

Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado da Bahia-FAPESB (PNX 0006/2009); Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico-CNPq (410498/2006-8); Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior-CAPES and Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia-FCT (AUX-PE-FCT 1171/2009); European Commission (EC-ICT-231807); INCT-Citecs (57386/2008-9); National Institutes of Science and Technology Programme (MCT-CNPq, Brazil); Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (PEst-OE/MAT/UIO297/2014; EXPL/MAT-CAL/0794/2013); FAPESB (B0L0143/2008)Tuberculosis(TB) is a leading cause of human mortality due to infectious disease.Treatmentdefault is a relevant factor which reduces therapeutic success and increases the risk of resistant TB. In this work we analyze the relation betweentreatmentdefault andtreatmentlengthalong with its consequence on the disease spreading. We use a stylized model structure to explore, systematically, the effects of varyingtreatmentduration and compliance. We find that shorteningtreatmentalone may not reduce TB prevalence, especially in regions wheretransmissionintensity is high, indicating the necessity of complementing this action with increased compliance. A family of default functions relating the proportion of defaulters to thetreatmentlengthis considered and adjusted to a particular dataset. We find that the epidemiological benefits of shortertreatmentregimens are tightly associated with increases intreatmentcompliance and depend on the epidemiological background.authorsversionpublishe

Modelling the response of urban lichens to broad-scale changes in air pollution and climate

To create more resilient cities, it is important that we understand the effects of the global change drivers in cities. Biodiversity-based ecological indicators (EIs) can be used for this, as biodiversity is the basis of ecosystem structure, composition, and function. In previous studies, lichens have been used as EIs to monitor the effects of global change drivers in an urban context, but only in single-city studies. Thus, we currently do not understand how lichens are affected by drivers that work on a broader scale. Therefore, our aim was to quantify the variance in lichen biodiversity-based metrics (taxonomic and trait-based) that can be explained by environmental drivers working on a broad spatial scale, in an urban context where local drivers are superimposed. To this end, we performed an unprecedented effort to sample epiphytic lichens in 219 green spaces across a continental gradient from Portugal to Estonia. Twenty-six broad-scale drivers were retrieved, including air pollution and bio-climatic variables, and their dimensionality reduced by means of a principal component analysis (PCA). Thirty-eight lichen metrics were then modelled against the scores of the first two axes of each PCA, and their variance partitioned into pollution and climate components. For the first time, we determined that 15% of the metric variance was explained by broad-scale drivers, with broad-scale air pollution showing more importance than climate across the majority of metrics. Taxonomic metrics were better explained by air pollution, as expected, while climate did not surpass air pollution in any of the trait-based metric groups. Consequently, 85% of the metric variance was shown to occur at the local scale. This suggests that further work is necessary to decipher the effects of climate change. Furthermore, although drivers working within cities are prevailing, both spatial scales must be considered simultaneously if we are to use lichens as EIs in cities at continental to global scales.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio