773 research outputs found
Technological innovation in the traditional olive orchard management: advances and opportunities to the Northeastern region of Portugal
In Portugal, the olive orchard is the most representative agricultural crop and one of
the most impactful on the national economy. Therefore, a production structure accompanying the
technological advances in this field would be expected; however, such a structure has not yet been
realized, especially within traditional systems. Thus, taking northeastern Portugal as a case study,
where a great expression of traditional orchards is visible, the following aspects are addressed
within this paper: the region’s biophysical framework, the olive orchard’s environmental and socio-
economic importance and its current management practices and associated pressures. As a result
of that assessment, which demonstrates a low level of sustainability for traditional olive orchards,
mainly in terms of economic viability, the most effective and simple solution is to act appropriately
on factors that interfere with the crop yield, namely, irrigation and fertilization issues. With that
purpose, a multiscale precision oliviculture system is also presented that is being developed in order
to support decision making in traditional olive orchard management, aiming to obtain economically
efficient productions based on eco-friendly cultural practices. Throughout the entire process, it is
essential to ensure stakeholder engagement, in particular, olive growers, so that they recognize the
effectiveness of potential measures that may avoid the reconversion/abandonment of the traditional
olive production system.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
How can a changing climate influence the productivity of traditional olive orchards? Regression analysis applied to a local case study in Portugal
Nowadays, the climate is undoubtedly one of the main threats to the sustainability of olive
orchards, especially in the case of rainfed traditional production systems. Local warming, droughts,
and extreme weather events are some of the climatological factors responsible for environmental
thresholds in relation to crops being exceeded. The main objective of this study was to investigate the
influence of microclimatic variability on the productivity of traditional olive orchards in a municipality
located in northeastern Portugal. For this purpose, official data on climate, expressed through agrobioclimatic
indicators, and olive productivity for a 21-year historical period (2000–2020) were used
to evaluate potential correlations. In addition, a comprehensive regression analysis involving the
dataset and the following modeling scenarios was carried out to develop regression models and
assess the resulting predictions: (a) Random Forest (RF) with selected features; (b) Ordinary Least-
Squares (OLS) with selected features; (c) OLS with correlation features; and (d) OLS with all features.
For the a and b scenarios, features were selected applying the Recursive Feature Elimination with
Cross-Validation (RFECV) technique. The best statistical performance was achieved considering
nonlinearity among variables (a scenario, R2 = 0.95); however, it was not possible to derive any
model given the underlying methodology to this scenario. In linear regression applications, the best
fit between model predictions and the real olive productivity was obtained when all the analyzed
agro-bioclimatic indicators were included in the regression (d scenario, R2 = 0.85). When selecting
only the most relevant indicators using RFECV and correlation techniques, moderate correlations
for the b and c regression scenarios were obtained (R2 of 0.54 and 0.49, respectively). Based on
the research findings, especially the regression models, their adaptability to other olive territories
with similar agronomic and environmental characteristics is suggested for crop management and
regulatory purposes.The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for
financial support through national funds FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC) to CIMO (UIDB/00690/2020 and
UIDP/00690/2020) and SusTEC (LA/P/0007/2020). This work was carried out under the Project
“OleaChain: Competências para a sustentabilidade e inovação da cadeia de valor do olival tradicional
no Norte Interior de Portugal” (NORTE-06-3559-FSE-000188), an operation to hire highly qualified
human resources, funded by NORTE 2020 through the European Social Fund (ESF).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Myocardial bridging: retrospective analysis and scintigraphic testing of patients with no angiographically significant atherosclerotic coronary disease.
Rev Port Cardiol. 2006 Apr;25(4):397-406.
Myocardial bridging: retrospective analysis and scintigraphic testing of patients with no angiographically significant atherosclerotic coronary disease.
[Article in English, Portuguese]
Luz A, Silveira J, Palma P, Carvalho HC, Albuquerque A, Amorim I, Gomes L.
SourceServiço de Cardiologia, Hospital Geral de Santo António, Porto, Portugal. [email protected]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: The clinical relevance of myocardial bridging (MB) is a matter of debate. The objective of this work was to examine its prevalence, clinical presentation, prognosis, and functional features on scintigraphy in a group of patients with no significant atherosclerotic coronary disease.
METHODS: We retrospectively examined 7039 consecutive cardiac angiograms performed between January 1994 and December 2004, selecting cases in which MB was not accompanied by significant coronary disease (defined as luminal stenosis > 50%), valvular heart disease or cardiomyopathy. Patient characteristics such as age, gender, vascular risk factors and clinical presentation were recorded. We then contacted these patients by telephone to determine cardiovascular events since diagnosis (hospitalization, infarction, death) or symptoms of angina, and to invite them for myocardial perfusion scintigraphy (MPS) with stress testing.
RESULTS: The prevalence of MB was 0.97% (68 patients). The study population without significant coronary disease, valvular heart disease or cardiomyopathy was composed of 31 subjects, mean age 51.45 +/- 13.77 years, 94% (29 patients) male. Clinical presentations were: non-ST elevation acute coronary syndromes with or without biomarkers of necrosis 34% (14 patients), stable angina 23% (7 patients), atypical chest pain 16% (5 patients), ST-elevation myocardial infarction 13% (4 patients), other 3% (1 patient). Left ventricular function was normal in all patients, and angiography showed MB of the left anterior descending artery, 63% (19 patients) in the mid portion, and 33% (12 patients) in the distal portion. All subjects were treated medically. We were able to contact 24 (77%) of the 31 patients, all of whom underwent MPS; mean time since angiography was 61.25 months, with no cardiovascular events (hospitalization, infarction, death) or symptomatic angina. MPS only identified three patients with findings consistent with anterior wall ischemia.
CONCLUSIONS: In this series, 58% of the patients with MB and no significant atherosclerotic coronary disease presented with acute coronary syndromes. In all the subjects contacted, the prognosis had been good during the time since diagnosis. In the majority of them, no signs of ischemia were detected on MPS.
PMID: 16869205 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE
Increasing genetic variability in black oats using gamma irradiation
The black oat (Avena strigosa Schreb) is commonly used for forage, soil cover, and green manure. Despite its importance,
little improvement has been made to this species, leading to high levels of genotypic disuniformity within commercial cultivars. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of different doses of gamma rays [ ^60 Co] applied to black oat seeds on the increase of genetic variability of agronomic traits. We applied doses of 0, 10, 50, 100, and 200 Gy to the genotype ALPHA 94087 through exposure to [ ^60 Co]. Two experiments were conducted in the winter of 2008. The first
aimed to test forage trait measurements such as plant height, dry matter yield, number of surviving tillers, and seedling stand. The second test assessed seed traits, such as yield and dormancy levels. Gamma irradiation seems not to increase seed yield in black oats, but it was effective in generating variability for the other traits. Tiller number and plant height are important selection traits to increase dry matter yield. Selection in advanced generations of mutant populations can increase
the probability of identifying superior genotypes
Critical Hysteresis from Random Anisotropy
Critical hysteresis in ferromagnets is investigated through a -component
spin model with random anisotropies, more prevalent experimentally than the
random fields used in most theoretical studies. Metastability, and the
tensorial nature of anisotropy, dictate its physics. Generically, random field
Ising criticality occurs, but other universality classes exist. In particular,
proximity to criticality may explain the discrepancy between
experiment and earlier theories. The uniaxial anisotropy constant, which can be
controlled in magnetostrictive materials by an applied stress, emerges as a
natural tuning parameter.Comment: four pages, revtex4; minor corrections in the text and typos
corrected (published version
Beneficial effects of the activation of the Angiotensin-(1-7) MAS receptor in a murine model of adriamycin-induced nephropathy
Angiotensin-(1-7) [Ang-(1-7)] is a biologically active heptapeptide that may counterbalance the physiological actions of angiotensin II (Ang II) within the renin-angiotensin system (RAS). Here, we evaluated whether activation of the Mas receptor with the oral agonist, AVE 0991, would have renoprotective effects in a model of adriamycin (ADR)-induced nephropathy. We also evaluated whether the Mas receptor contributed for the protective effects of treatment with AT1 receptor blockers. ADR (10 mg/kg) induced significant renal injury and dysfunction that was maximal at day 14 after injection. Treatment with the Mas receptor agonist AVE 0991 improved renal function parameters, reduced urinary protein loss and attenuated histological changes. Renoprotection was associated with reduction in urinary levels of TGF-{beta}. Similar renoprotection was observed after treatment with the AT1 receptor antagonist, Losartan. AT1 and Mas receptor mRNA levels dropped after ADR administration and treatment with losartan reestablished the expression of Mas receptor and increased the expression of ACE2. ADR-induced nephropathy was similar in wild type (Mas(+/+)) and Mas knockout (Mas (-/-)) mice, suggesting there was no endogenous role for Mas receptor activation. However, treatment with Losartan was able to reduce renal injury only in Mas(+/+) , but not in Mas (-/-) mice. Therefore, these findings suggest that exogenous activation of the Mas receptor protects from ADR-induced nephropathy and contributes to the beneficial effects of AT1 receptor blockade. Medications which target specifically the ACE2/Ang-(1-7)/Mas axis may offer new therapeutic opportunities to treat human nephropathies
Expanded Bed Adsorption Of Bromelain (e.c. 3.4.22.33) From Ananas Comosus Crude Extract
This work focuses on the adsorption of Bromelain in expanded bed conditions, such as the adsorption kinetics parameters. The adsorption kinetics parameters showed that after 40 minutes equilibrium was achieved and maximum adsorption capacity was 6.11 U per resin mL. However, the maximum adsorption capacity was only determined by measuring the adsorption isotherm. Only by the Langmuir model the maximum adsorption capacity, Qm, and dissociation constant, kd, values could be estimated as 9.18 U/mL and 0.591, respectively, at 25°C and 0.1 mol/L phosphate buffer pH 7.5. A column made of glass with an inner diameter of 1 cm was used for the expanded bed adsorption (EBA). The residence time was reduced 10 fold by increasing the expansion degree 2.5 times; nonetheless, the plate number (N) value was reduced only 2 fold. After adsorption, the bromelain was eluted in packed bed mode, with a downward flow. The purification factor was about 13 fold and the total protein was reduced 4 fold. 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Climate change potential effects on grapevine bioclimatic indices: a case study for the Portuguese demarcated Douro Region (Portugal)
In this work, bioclimatic parameters and indices relevant to the grapevine are estimated for the years 2000 (recent-pat), 2049 (medium-term future) and 2097 (long-term future), based on very high resolution (1 km × 1 km) MPI-WRF RCP8.5 climate simulations. The selected parameters and indices are the mean temperature during the grapevine growing season period (April to October, Tgs), the cumulative rainfall during the grapevine growing season period (Pgs), the Winkler index (WI), the Huglin heliothermic index (HI), the night cold index (CI) and the dryness index (DI). In general, a significant increase in mean temperature during the grapevine growing season period is observed, together with a significant decrease in precipitation. The recent-past WI is associated with the production of high-quality wines; the higher values predicted for the future represent intensive production of wines of intermediate quality. The HI shows the passage of a grapevine growing region considered as temperate-warm to a warm category of higher helio-thermicity. The recent-past CI indicates very cool conditions (associated with quality wines), while in the future there is a tendency for temperate or warmer nights. Finally, DI indicates an increase in water stress considered already high under the recent-past climate conditions. These results point to an increased climatic stress on the Douro region wine production and increased vulnerability of its vine varieties, providing evidence to support strategies aimed to preserve the high-quality wines in the region and their typicality in a sustainable way.The authors wish to thank the financial support of the
DOUROZONE project (PTDC/AAG-MAA/3335/2014; POCI-
01-0145-FEDER-016778) through the Project 3599 – Promoting
the scientific production and the technological development,
and thematic networks (3599-PPCDT) and through
FEDER, and the national funds from FCT-Science and
Technology Portuguese Foundation for the doctoral grants of Blanco-Ward, D. (SFRH/BD/139193/2018) and Silveira, C. (SFRH/BD/112343/2015). Thanks, are also due for the financial
support to CESAM (UID/AMB/50017 - POCI-01-0145-FEDER-
007638), to FCT/MEC through national funds (PIDDAC), and
the co-funding by the FEDER, within the PT2020 Partnership
Agreement and Compete 2020.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Quem tem um risco maior de apresentar hipoglicemia? Um estudo entre os recém-nascidos grandes para a idade gestacional
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