Planning forest recreation: environmental economic instruments and the public participation

In Portugal there is a growing demand for natural areas that provide a wide range of outdoor recreation. This paper focuses on the particular case of the Mata Nacional de Leiria (Leiria National Forest). This is a pine tree forest with 11,000 hectares and eight centuries of history. It has always been a public forest with open access to everyone, a fact that contributes to different kinds of use and benefits (walking, cycling, picnics, collecting firewood, fruits and berries, and other recreation activities). The proximity to a major urban and industrial centre, on one hand, and to a very popular beach coast, on the other, makes this a resource that is widely used by both residents and visitors. In the future there is the possibility of implementing a set of actions to improve forest amenities and recreation, and later the emergence of environmental tourism activities and equipment. In this context, we want to know the economic valuation that actual users attach to these recreation improvements, but also realize their preferences and opinions regarding this project. For this purpose we designed, tested and applied a double bounded dichotomous choice contingent valuation questionnaire. The results presented in this paper focus on responses to attitudinal and follow-up questions. More than 70% of respondents have positively assessed the proposed improvements to the study area and about 40% enhanced their personal opinion on the type of interventions that they consider most appropriate. Answers focus the priority areas of intervention in the Mata Nacional de Leiria, the main concerns in its development, the type of actions that should (and should not) be implemented, respondents willingness to actively take part and, also, what the public authorities' role should be. At this stage, where Mata Nacional de Leiria is being considered in terms of future recreation and tourism offers, the results obtained provide important contributions and enhance the contingent valuation survey as a tool to support recreation planning, promoting public participation and the political decision-making process

Structure evolution and Properties of TiAlCN/VCN Coatings Deposited by Reactive HIPIMS

2.5 µm thick TiAlCN/VCN coatings were deposited by a reactive High Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering (HIPIMS) process. Cross-sectional TEM showed gradual evolution of the structure of the coating with thickness. The initial structure is a nanoscale multilayer with sharp interlayer interfaces. This transforms to nanocomposite of TiAlCN and VCN nanocrystalline grains surrounded by a C-rich tissue phase and finally changes to an amorphous carbon rich Me-C phase. In contrast deposition in similar conditions using standard magnetron sputtering produces a well-defined nanoscale multilayer structure. Depth profiling by AES showed that the carbon content in the HIPIMS coating gradually increased from 25% at the coating substrate interface to 70% at the top thus supporting the TEM observations. Energy-resolved mass spectrometry revealed that HIPIMS plasma is a factor of 10 richer in C1+ ions, and therefore more reactive, as compared to the plasma generated by standard magnetron discharge at the same conditions. The peculiar structure evolution in HIPIMS is discussed in relation to target poisoning effect and carbon outward diffusion during coating growth. Highly abrasive AlSi9Cu1 alloy was dry machined using TiAlCN/VCN coated 25 mm diameter end mills to investigate the coating-work piece material interaction. Green (532nm excitation) and ultraviolet (325 nm excitation) Raman spectroscopy was employed to identify the phase composition of the built up material on the cutting edge and chip (swarf) surfaces produced during machining. These analyses revealed formation of lubricious Magnèli phases namely V2O5 and graphitic carbon as well as highly abrasive SiO2 and mixed (AlSi)O thus shedding light on the wear processes and coating tribological behaviour during machining

Casar na Lisboa do séc. XIX – duas freguesias em análise

No século XIX Lisboa era a capital de um país onde se agudizavam os problemas de ordem económica, social e política. Nesse contexto, a urbe oitocentista ia evoluindo de forma desigual e segundo algumas tendências que importa entender. Foi este o sentido que nos dispusemos seguir ao optarmos por estudar a nupcialidade em duas freguesias lisboetas – Conceição-a-Nova e Santos-o-Velho – durante o período que corre de 1864 a 1890. Nessa análise, foi possível distinguir duas formas diferenciadas de sistemas de acesso ao casamento. Com efeito, a restrição, naquelas detectada, assume duas tendências diferentes: uma direccionada para os homens e outra para as mulheres. Diferenças que se prendem com especificidades existentes ao nível da estrutura por sexo e idade das populações em estudo

Age of HIV Acquisition Affects the Risk of Multi-Morbidity after 25 Years of Infection Exposure

Introduction: Understanding the intersection of HIV, aging and health is crucial due to the increasing number of people aging with HIV. Objective: The objective of the study was to assess the prevalence of, and risk factors for individual comorbidities and multi-morbidity in people living with HIV with similar duration of HIV infection, notwithstanding a 25-year difference at the time of HIV acquisition. Methods: In a cross-sectional multicentre retrospective study, we compared three match-control age groups. The "Young" were selected from Romania and included HIV-positive patients prenatally infected and assessed at the age of 25-30 years. The "Old" and the "Geriatric" were selected from Italy. These respectively included subjects infected with HIV at the age of 25 years and assessed at the age of 50-55 years, and those infected at the age of 50 years and assessed at the age of 75-80 years. Each group was sex and age matched in a 1: 5 ratio with controls selected from the CINECA ARNO database from Italy. We described non-infectious comorbidities (NICM), including cardiovascular disease, hypertension, dyslipidaemia, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, and multi-morbidity (MM >= 3 NICM). Results: MM prevalence in the "Young" group compared to controls was 6.2% vs 0%, while in the "Geriatric" was "68.2% vs 3.6%. Using "Young" as a reference, in multivariate analyses, predictors for MM were as follows: HIV serostatus (OR=47.75, IQR 14.78-154.25, p<0.01) and "Geriatric" vs "Young" (OR=30.32, IQR 5.89-155.98, p<0.01). Conclusion: These data suggest that age at acquisition of HIV should be considered as a risk factor for NICM and MM

QDB: A new database of plasma chemistries and reactions

One of the most challenging and recurring problems when modeling plasmas is the lack of data on the key atomic and molecular reactions that drive plasma processes. Even when there are data for some reactions, complete and validated datasets of chemistries are rarely available. This hinders research on plasma processes and curbs development of industrial applications. The QDB project aims to address this problem by providing a platform for provision, exchange, and validation of chemistry datasets. A new data model developed for QDB is presented. QDB collates published data on both electron scattering and heavy-particle reactions. These data are formed into reaction sets, which are then validated against experimental data where possible. This process produces both complete chemistry sets and identifies key reactions that are currently unreported in the literature. Gaps in the datasets can be filled using established theoretical methods. Initial validated chemistry sets for SF 6 /CF 4 /O 2 and SF 6 /CF 4 /N 2 /H 2 are presented as examples

Unreliable Estimation of Aortic Pulse Wave Velocity Provided by the Mobil-O-Graph Algorithm-Based System in Marfan Syndrome

Background: Several devices have been proposed to assess arterial stiffness in clinical daily use over the past few years, by estimating aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV) from a single measurement of brachial oscillometric blood pressure, using patented algorithms. It is uncertain if these systems are able to provide additional elements, beyond the contribution carried by age and blood pressure levels, in the definition of early vascular damage expressed by the stiffening of the arterial wall. Methods and Results: The aim of our study was to compare the estimated algorithm-based PWV values, provided by the Mobil-O-Graph system, with the standard noninvasive assessment of aortic PWV in patients with Marfan syndrome (ie, in subjects characterized by premature aortic stiffening and low blood pressure values). Aortic stiffness was simultaneously evaluated by carotid-femoral PWV with a validated arterial tonometer and estimated with an arm cuff\u2013based ambulatory blood pressure monitoring Mobil-O-Graph device on 103 patients with Marfan syndrome (50 men; mean\ub1SD age, 38\ub115\ua0years). Aortic PWV, estimated by the Mobil-O-Graph, was significantly (P<0.0001) lower (mean\ub1SD, 6.1\ub11.3\ua0m/s) than carotid-femoral PWV provided by arterial tonometry (mean\ub1SD, 8.8\ub13.1\ua0m/s). The average of differences between PWV values provided by the 2 methods (\ub11.96 7SD) was 122.7\ub15.7\ua0m/s. Conclusions: The Mobil-O-Graph provides PWV values related to an ideal subject for a given age and blood pressure, but it is not able to evaluate early vascular aging expressed by high PWV in the individual patient. This is well shown in patients with Marfan syndrome