Permanent pastures in mountain areas: characterization, management and conservation

Mountain permanent pastures are one of the most important resources in traditional systems of land use, extensively distributed in central and northern mainland Portugal. Its importance in biodiversity conservation, not only at regional and national level, but also in the European context is generally recognized. They include meadows, mesophille perennial Nardus grasslands and other perennial pastures of high ecological, economic, cultural and scenic value.They have important functions such as prevention of soil erosion, reducing the risk of fire, between others. Generally, they are grazed mainly by cattle and sheep; some of them are cut and improved aiming to increase their nutritional value. The increasing desertification limits the maintenance and conservation of its biodiversity and the landscape mosaic associated with it. A revision and synthesis of habitats and plant communities associated, that develop in these permanent pastures, in Beira Alta, is presented, as well an approach to their maintenance, management and conservatio

Compounds in Portuguese

In this article, Portuguese compounds are analysed according to different criteria, such as: (i) the morphological, categorial and semantic properties of their basic units, (ii) the grammatical relations linking their constituents, (iii) their syntactic atomicity and lexical opacity and (iv) the patterns of inflection. The problem of the boundaries of compoundhood, namely those existing between compounds and phrasal nouns, is also addressed, as well as the accuracy of the tests adopted to distinguish compounds (especially phrasal or prepositional compounds) from phrases. We assume that in conjunction with the criteria mentioned above, the referential identity of the entity, object, event or property denoted by the compound is a crucial dimension for the conceptual integrity of each compound lexeme. Keywords: compounding, word-formation, morphology, portuguese

Multivariate analysis of a direct compression pharmaceutical tablets continuous manufacturing process

Tese de mestrado, Engenharia Farmacêutica, Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Farmácia, 2018In the last decade, there have been significant advances in the areas of engineering and science, allowing the implementation of pharmaceutical continuous manufacturing (CM). These advances are coupled with the adoption of the quality by design paradigm for pharmaceutical development and the advances on process analytical technology to improve design, analysis and control. These advances have contributed significantly to advances on the design and manufacturing of pharmaceutical, namely the adoption of continuous processing. Continuous manufacturing can be used for the production of medicines in multiple pharmaceutical forms. If advances are being operated in the field of continuous manufacturing, it is also true that substantial efforts are still required to fully understand how this manufacturing paradigm can be efficiently integrated within industry, for full advantages to be achieved. This work had the objective of pursuing the goal to better understand how materials behave under continuous processing. It aimed at evaluating the performance of a direct compression process for tablets production in continuous mode. Direct compression, a unit operation especially interesting for the manufacturing of tablets, has the ability to be efficiently integrated within a continuous manufacturing framework. The investigated continuous manufacturing process resourced to the continuous table production line located at the PROMIS Center at the School of Pharmacy of the University of Eastern Finland (Kuopio, Finland). The line was configured for direct compression purposes, encompassing multiple gravimetric feeders, a continuous mixer and a tableting machine. Tablets monitoring was accomplished with near-infrared spectroscopy. A formulation containing simultaneously caffeine (2.6%) and paracetamol (20%) was selected for this study. Selected process variables were varied according to an experimental design in order to understand the effects on tablets' properties. Mixer speed (350-1200 rpm), feed rate (5-10 kg/h) and the existence or not of premixture were the selected process variables. Tablets were evaluated according to the weight, hardness and thickness. Feed rate demonstrated as was expected to be fundamental for the stability of the direct compression process. For instance, experiments carried out at lower feed rates (lower than 5kg/h) revealed poor fluidity and tablets were not acceptable. The influence of process variables on tablets properties was modelled by partial least squares regression. Tablets mass is significantly affected, in a positive way, by the speed of the mixer and negatively affected by the feed rate. The range of coefficients of determination for the calibration (R2) and test (Q2) for the three responses were 0.78-0.94 for R2 and 0.56-0.88 for Q2. Near-infrared spectra collected from tablets allowed the development of PLS models for the caffeine and paracetamol content. Validation experiments reveal that the root mean square errors of prediction for caffeine and paracetamol were respectively 11.96% and 10.48%.Historicamente, a produção em descontínuo de formas de dosagem sólidas teve grande sucesso e dominou a indústria farmacêutica. Durante muito tempo a indústria entendeu não haver motivação para inovar no sentido do desenvolvimento de novas tecnologias de fabrico, dada a rentabilidade desta forma de produção. No entanto, atualmente, na era pós-blockbuster, tendo em conta que os custos dos materiais, durante o desenvolvimento de medicamentos, são significativos, que novos medicamentos, provavelmente, serão fabricados em quantidades muito menores e que, para novos tratamentos, o desenvolvimento de um processo de produção comercial não é garantido, é cada vez mais reconhecida a necessidade de novos paradigmas de produção. A produção em contínuo surge como uma alternativa à produção em (semi-) descontínuo e tem por objetivo aumentar a eficácia e a eficiência na produção farmacêutica. Esta nova abordagem exige que a indústria farmacêutica, primária e secundária, aborde de maneira diferente a forma como desenvolve e otimiza os processos de fabrico para produção de substâncias ativas e formulações farmacêuticas. É fundamental a compreensão do processo como um todo, bem como inovação ao nível empresarial. É crucial entender e minimizar a variabilidade das matérias-primas, executar medições contínuas durante o processo, definir uma amostragem representativa e caracterizar a propagação de alterações e distúrbios através do sistema. Ao contrário da produção em descontínuo, em que o controlo local de cada equipamento é considerado suficiente, na produção em contínuo, o controlo local é não só obrigatório, como todo o fluxo do processo deve ser coordenado e equipado com sistemas de controlo de segundo nível, supervisionando e controlando todas as operações unitárias. Monitorizar e controlar a composição de um produto durante todo o seu processo de fabrico, com a finalidade de alcançar a qualidade e robustez pretendida, é um importante objetivo a ser alcançado numa produção em modo contínuo. Um passo importante para a implementação da produção em contínuo foi dado em 2004, quando a Food and Drug Administration publicou uma diretriz de tecnologias analíticas de processo (PAT), que promove a adoção de tecnologias inovadoras para realizar medições oportunas em atributos críticos de qualidade de materiais brutos e em processo, permitindo alcançar uma melhor compreensão e controlo do processo. O conceito PAT está intimamente ligado à ideia do desenho pela qualidade a qual considera não apenas a avaliação de risco para a qualidade e o conhecimento sobre o processo, mas também a forma como as operações unitárias afetam a qualidade e estabilidade do produto. A espectroscopia de infravermelho próximo tem sido utilizada como uma ferramenta de controlo PAT. Esta ferramenta de controlo combinada com a análise de dados multivariados tornou-se uma ferramenta interessante na análise farmacêutica, tanto a nível qualitativo como quantitativo. Esta tese foi realizada utilizando a linha de produção contínua de comprimidos do PROMIS Centre (Escola de Farmácia, Universidade do Leste da Finlândia) em Kuopio, Finlândia. A monitorização do processo foi realizada em tempo real, por um sistema de infravermelho próximo com uma câmara espectral SPECIM e um sensor ImSpector (SPECIM, Finlândia). Com o propósito de avaliar o processo de compressão direta em modo contínuo foram definidas um conjunto de experiências variando a velocidade do misturador (350 a 1200 rpm), fluxo (5 a 10 kg/h). Foi ainda avaliada importância de existência de etapa de pré-mistura. Como respostas foram avaliados a massa, dureza e espessura dos comprimidos. A análise de componentes principais foi usada como método de análise exploratória dos espetros obtidos, assim como para identificar medições atípicas. A monitorização da taxa de alimentação, elemento fundamental na compressão direta, decorreu sem grandes variações em relação aos set points definidos para cada matéria prima. Deste modo, os dados analisados, relativamente à taxa de alimentação de cafeína e paracetamol, permitiram perspetivar que as concentrações dos mesmos, nos comprimidos seriam as esperadas. Durante a realização das experiências ficou ainda visível que as que tinham uma taxa de alimentação de 5 kg/h, evidenciavam uma fraca fluidez, já com valores de 10 kg/h a fluidez melhorava significativamente. De acordo com os modelos de regressão múltipla (PLS) para avaliar a influência das variáveis alteradas nas respostas selecionadas, a massa de cada comprimido é significativamente afetada, de uma forma positiva, pela velocidade do misturador e negativamente afetada pela taxa de fluxo. Para além disso, este modelo prevê que a dureza seja afetada pela existência ou não de pré-mistura. Para os três modelos o R2 não se verificou muito elevado, variando entre 0.78 e 0.94. Relativamente ao valor de Q2, este variou entre 0.56 e 0.88, valores um pouco a baixo dos valores ideais. Assim, pode-se concluir que este não será um modelo com uma capacidade preditiva muito elevada. Relativamente aos modelos PLS, baseados nos espetros NIR para estimar a concentração de paracetamol e cafeina, foi possível concluir que a capacidade preditiva foi boa com erros quadrados médios (RMSEP) de 12 e 10% para o paracetamol e cafeína respetivamente.The experimental work was performed in PROMIS continuous tablet manufacturing line (University of Eastern Finland, School of Pharmacy, Kuopio, Finland). All the facilities, equipments, materials and support were gently provided by University of Eastern Finland

Bioclimatic modelling in the holocene and in future warming scenarios in Arbutus unedo L.

Growing forests wildfires in Portugal are an increasing concern since forests in the Mediterranean region are vulnerable to recent global warming. Long-term negative effects are expected on the vegetation with the coming increasing drought. The strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo L.) displays potential to be a successfully business-like cultured in several regions of Portugal and southern Europe, as it is well adapted to climate and soils. In Portugal, this species has been used by local populations particularly for spirit production and for fruit consumption, although it has different possible commercial uses, from processed and fresh fruit production to ornamental, pharmaceutical and chemical applications. In addition, due to its pioneer status, it is valuable for land recovery and desertification avoidance, besides being fire resistant. The available strawberry tree’s data is presence-only. For modelling purposes, a set of placements within the landscape of interest (Portugal) was applied. The species, observed in 318 plots, together with a vector of environmental covariates (7 bioclimatic attributes, slope and altitude) and a defined background were used for modeling purposes. Maxent 3.4.1 was the used software, where the estimated quantity is the probability of the presence of the species, conditioned on the environment. Maxent uses the environmental covariate data from the occurrence records and the background sample, to estimate the ratio between the conditional density of the covariates at the presence sites and the marginal (i.e., unconditional) density of covariates across the study area and so, estimating the relative suitability of one place vs. another. Three different climate scenarios (control run; 2050 and 2070) were tested for two emission scenarios (RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5, WorldClim), besides the past, 6,000 BP (Mid-Holocene). The reduction of habitat suitable for this species is very significant in the southern regions, even for the best warming scenario (RCP 4.5) in 2050. Central and Northern mountain regions are predicted refuge for this species. Forest policies and management should consider the impact of climate change on the usable areas for forestry, seeing a case-study species particularly adapted to the Mediterranean regions and wildfires, such as strawberry tree. The distribution of the species in the Middle Holocene agrees with previous genetic and fossils studies in the region, which supported two putative refuges for the species since the Last Glacial Maximum and a cryptic refugia in the East-Central mountain region.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Nouns for properties/qualities in 18th and 19th-century Portuguese pharmacopeias

Neste trabalho analisam-se os nomes deadjetivais de propriedades/qualidades usados em três farmacopeias portuguesas dos séculos xviii e xix (Pharmacopea Lusitana, 1704; Pharmacopeia Geral para o reino e dominios de Portugal, 1794 e Pharmacopêa Portugueza, 1876), conferindo-se especial atenção aos nomes de propriedades da matéria a que recorrem os autores. Estudam-se as bases e afixos mobilizados para a criação destes nomes, assim como os respetivos contextos e ocorrência. Verificou-se que os sufixos operantes na formação dos nomes em estudo são os mesmos nas três obras em análise, destacando-se o sufixo -idad(e), por ser o mais comum nas três obras e aquele cujas ocorrências mais aumentam entre 1704 e 1876.This study analyses the deadjectival nouns for properties/qualities used in three 18th and 19th-century Portuguese pharmacopoeias (Pharmacopea Lusitana, 1704; Pharmacopeia Geral para o Reino, e Dominios de Portugal, 1794 and Pharmacopêa Portugueza, 1876), with a particular focus on nouns for pharmaceutical properties. It explores the roots and affixes applied to create these nouns, as well as the contexts in which they occur. This analysis found that the suffixes used to form the nouns under study are the same in all three works: the suffix -idad(e) was the most common and increased the most in usage from 1704 to 1876publishe

Nouns for properties/qualities in 18th and 19th-century Portuguese pharmacopeias

Neste trabalho analisam-se os nomes deadjetivais de propriedades/qualidades usados em três farmacopeias portuguesas dos séculos xviii e xix (Pharmacopea Lusitana, 1704; Pharmacopeia Geral para o reino, e dominios de Portugal, 1794 e Pharmacopêa Portugueza, 1876), conferindo-se especial atenção aos nomes de propriedades da matéria a que recorrem os autores. Estudam-se as bases e afixos mobilizados para a criação destes nomes, assim como os respetivos contextos de ocorrência. Verificou-se que os sufixos operantes na formação dos nomes em estudo são os mesmos nas três obras em análise, destacando-se o sufixo -idad(e), por ser o mais comum nas três obras e aquele cujas ocorrências mais aumentam entre 1704 e 1876.This study analyses the deadjectival nouns for properties/qualities used in three 18th and 19th-century Portuguese pharmacopoeias (Pharmacopea Lusitana, 1704; Pharmacopeia Geral para o Reino, e Dominios de Portugal, 1794 and Pharmacopêa Portugueza, 1876), with a particular focus on nouns for pharmaceutical properties. It explores the roots and affixes applied to create these nouns, as well as the contexts in which they occur. This analysis found that the suffixes used to form the nouns under study are the same in all three works: the suffix -idad(e) was the most common and increased the most in usage from 1704 to 1876

Developing communicative and interpersonal competences through research-based projects: a student-centred approach

Presently, conducting research is a very relevant skill in academic and business-related contexts (Hunter et al., 2007). With this work, based on the idea that student-centred learning environments are likely to be more effective and conducive to a greater level of development of technical and interpersonal skills (Severiens et al., 2015), we aim at a) describing two project-works proposed to 2nd year Office Management and Business Communication (OMBC) students that seek to integrate knowing and doing while developing students’ research and interpersonal skills, and b) presenting students’ perception of the activities. The collected data indicates that both technical and interpersonal competencies were successfully addressed.publishe

Pedagogical practices in higher education: improving students’ competences through cross-curricular problem-solving activities

Similarly to its European counterparts, Portugal’s Higher Education system has undergone profound changes as a result of the Bologna Process. Even though some difficulties in the adaptation to new teaching-learning practices have been reported (Leite & Ramos, 2014; Sweetman, 2017), at the School of Technology and Management of the University of Aveiro the required paradigm shift in education has been implemented, namely through problem-based learning activities and, consequently, through competences aggregation between different curricular units (CU) (Oliveira, 2011), a methodology that implies the articulation between concomitant courses of a study programme. Since 2016/2017, cross-curricular problem-solving projects are being developed within the 1st cycle degree in Office Management and Business Communication: Electronic Office Applications II (EOAII) articulates with Portuguese II (PII) (2nd semester courses) and Data Analysis (DA) articulates with Secretarial Techniques II (STII) (3rd semester courses). 64 students from 3 different classes have been involved. Within the 2nd semester project, two practical assignments were requested: in the first one, students produced and presented a monograph and a scientific poster; in their second assignment, they prepared a labour market integration portfolio. For the accomplishment of both tasks, competences underlying the two associated CUs converged: in PII students acquired research and information selection skills, as well as structuring, writing and text revision competences; resourcing to various tools (e.g., Publisher, PowerPoint, Prezi, Word, Canva, Wix, Powton, etc.), in EOAII students developed their design and layout development skills. For the 3rd semester project, the production and oral presentation of a statistical report were requested. For the creation of their questionnaires, students applied skills intrinsic to the two courses involved. After having collected and processed the statistical data (DA), students structured and wrote their reports (STII). The option for competences articulation aims primarily at consolidating skills in key areas for secretarial and communication professionals (Borges, 2012) such as languages, electronic office applications and data analysis. The importance of these areas led to a second experiment in the first semester of academic year 2018/19 involving the CUs Electronic Office Applications I and French / German - Customer Relations and Hospitality, precisely to respond to the needs related with the creation of communication products (either in printed and digital formats) in several languages. In this assignment, 1st and 2nd year students produced a promotional video, which was subtitled in French and German. Cross-curricular projects, in addition to allowing a higher return on students’ efforts (the same task is assessed in two different CUs), also emphasizes the transversal nature of learning, clarifying that knowledge and skills associated with a given CU can have a concrete application in the real world, always in articulation with competences from other backgrounds. This is a clearly student-centred approach, one that provides students with the opportunity to consolidate technical and interpersonal skills essential to their professional success in an ever more collaborative environment, contributing thus to the “creation of a professional profile that meets the labour market and society’s expectations” (Mesquita et al., 2016, p.89).publishe

Does hospital admission provide an opportunity for improving pharmacotherapy among elderly inpatients?

The purpose of the work was to assess the incidence of potential drug interactions (pDDI), major pDDI, and the use of potentially inappropriate medication (PIM) at hospital admission, during hospitalization, and at discharge to evaluate whether hospital admission provides an opportunity for improving pharmacotherapy in elderly patients at a University hospital that has a clinical pharmacist. A prospective cohort study was carried out using data from the medical records of patients admitted to an internal medicine ward. All admissions and prescriptions were monitored between March and August 2006. Micromedex(r) DrugReax(r) and Beers Criteria 2015 were used to identify pDDI, major pDDI, and PIMs, respectively. A comparison of admission and discharge prescriptions showed the following: an increase in the proportion of patients using antithrombotic agents (76 versus 144;

Qualidade de posturas naturais de reprodutores F1 de corvina (Argyrosomus regius): efeito da densidade de cultivo no desenvolvimento larvar

Mestrado em Engenharia Zootécnica - Produção Animal - Instituto Superior de Agronomia - UL / Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária - ULA corvina (Argyrosomus regius) é uma espécie promissora para a aquacultura, e de forma a aumentar o conhecimento, foi realizado um estudo sobre a qualidade das posturas de reprodutores F1 de corvina e o efeito da densidade no desenvolvimento larvar. Os reprodutores F1 com três anos de idade foram recolhidos dos tanques de terra para o tanque de reprodução. Na primeira amostragem apresentaram um peso vivo médio de 1850 ± 265 g (média ± desvio padrão) (n=10) e na 2ª amostragem um peso vivo médio de 2188 ± 180 g e um comprimento médio de 62 ± 3 cm (n=7). De Maio a Junho obtiveram-se 6 posturas naturais, onde quatro das posturas apresentaram uma taxa de eclosão acima de 70%. Nas seis posturas, o diâmetro médio dos ovos foi de 1mm e 71,4% dos ovos amostrados tinham apenas uma gota lipídica. A partir da primeira postura realizou-se o ensaio larvar. Este consistiu em dois tratamentos (LD=19 e CTRL=39 larvas.L-1), em triplicado. No ensaio larvar, foi visível a abertura de boca ao 2º dia após a eclosão e a formação da bexiga-natatória ao 3º dia após a eclosão. Quanto ao comprimento das larvas nos tratamentos LD e CTRL, os valores estatísticos não apresentaram diferenças significativas, o que sugere que é mais eficiente fazer um cultivo larvar com maior densidade (39 larvas.L-1). No entanto, os dados obtidos no ensaio são ainda insuficientes para otimizar de forma eficaz a produção larvar, pelo que é necessária mais investigação nesta áreaN/