Phenolics extraction from sweet potato peels: modelling and optimization by response surface modelling and artificial neural network

Sweet potato peels (SPP) are a major waste generated during root processing and currently have little commercial value. Phenolics with free radical scavenging activity from SPP may represent a possible added-value product for the food industry. The aqueous extraction of phenolics from SPP was studied using a Central Composite Design with solvent to solid ratio (30-60 mL g(-1)), time (30-90 min) and temperature (25-75 A degrees C) as independent variables. The comparison of response surface methodology (RSM) and artificial neural network (ANN) analysis on extraction modelling and optimising was performed. Temperature and solvent to solid ratio, alone and in interaction, presented a positive effect in TPC, ABTS and DPPH assays. Time was only significant for ABTS assay with a negative influence both as main effect and in interaction with other independent variables. RSM and ANN models predicted the same optimal extraction conditions as 60 mL g(-1) for solvent to solid ratio, 30 min for time and 75 A degrees C for temperature. The obtained responses in the optimized conditions were as follow: 11.87 +/- 0.69 mg GAE g(-1) DM for TPC, 12.91 +/- 0.42 mg TE g(-1) DM for ABTS assay and 46.35 +/- 3.08 mg TE g(-1) DM for DPPH assay. SPP presented similar optimum extraction conditions and phenolic content than peels of potato, tea fruit and bambangan. Predictive models and the optimized extraction conditions offers an opportunity for food processors to generate products with high potential health benefits

Avaliação da Qualidade Organizacional em Cuidados de Saúde Primários, através da Common Assessment Framework - o caso da região do Alentejo

O modelo de auto-avaliação Common Assessment Framework (CAF) foi construído para ajudar as organizações do sector público dos países europeus a utilizar as técnicas de gestão da qualidade. Face à reforma em curso nos Cuidados de Saúde Primários em Portugal, a qual conduz a novas formas de gestão e a mudanças ao nível dos profissionais de saúde, questiona-se em que medida a ferramenta CAF permite a auto-avaliação destes serviços e qual o contributo da aplicação do referido modelo para a melhoria da qualidade dos serviços prestados aos utentes. Pretendendo-se analisar a aplicabilidade da CAF, como ferramenta de auto-avaliação dos serviços públicos, nos Cuidados de Saúde Primários, designadamente nos Centros de Saúde ou Unidades Funcionais da Região Alentejo, procura-se, com o presente trabalho de investigação, dar um contributo para a compreensão da aplicação do processo de auto-avaliação da qualidade nesses serviços. Para tal, com base na ferramenta da CAF, é desenvolvido um desenho de investigação que inclui a aplicação de um inquérito junto de profissionais de saúde das unidades funcionais dos Centros de Saúde de um dos seis Agrupamentos de Centros de Saúde da Região Alentejo, o qual se constitui a amostra do estudo, com a finalidade última de realizar um diagnóstico dos serviços em estudo, identificando os pontos fortes e fracos e apresentar propostas de melhorias

Avaliação da Qualidade Organizacional em Cuidados de Saúde Primários, através da CAF – o caso da Região Alentejo

A investigação versa sobre a análise da aplicabilidade do modelo de autoavaliação Common Assessment Framework (CAF) nos CSP - nas UF dos CS da Região Alentejo. Adaptando instrumentos da CAF foram aplicados inquéritos junto de profissionais de saúde, em Março de 2011, com a finalidade de realizar um diagnóstico dos serviços em estudo. As variáveis foram definidas a partir de subcritérios dos critérios do referido modelo, designadamente “liderança”, “planeamento e estratégia”, “pessoas”, “processos” e “resultados relativos às pessoas”. Participaram neste estudo 77 profissionais de saúde, dos quais 20,8% médicos, 36,4% enfermeiros, 24,7% técnicos administrativos, 15,6% assistentes operacionais e 2,6% de outros profissionais de saúde das UCSP de um dos seis ACES da Região Alentejo. Os resultados permitiram realizar o diagnóstico desses serviços de saúde onde se identificaram áreas fortes e áreas de melhoria. Estas últimas permitiram delinear sugestões de melhoria, nomeadamente, a divulgação da missão, visão e valores; o envolvimento dos profissionais de todos os grupos no planeamento e estratégia; a clarificação da estratégia para todos através do trabalho em equipa e da implementação efetiva de canais de comunicação, como reuniões de serviço; a avaliação sistemática da satisfação dos profissionais; a melhoria do equipamento informático e sistema de comunicações; a implementação de ferramentas de autoavaliação e, por último, a formação em gestão da Qualidade

Slow Fashion in Portugal: An Exploratory Approach

Dissertation presented as the partial requirement for obtaining a Master's degree in Information Management, specialization in Marketing IntelligenceDespite being an increasingly valuable economic activity worldwide, the fashion industry is also one of the most polluting industries. Conversely, consumers are becoming more and more conscious of the environmental impacts of this industry. As such, the slow fashion concept appears as a very different vision from the traditional fast fashion models that nowadays are still taking over this industry. Considering the growing interest in this topic and the fact that Portugal is one of Europe's key players in this sector, this research aims to explore the slow fashion concept in Portugal. One conducted exploratory research to obtain insights and knowledge about the concept from the perspective of consumers and the position of Portuguese slow fashion brands. It started with an online survey to withdraw general conclusions about the consumers' perceptions regarding the slow fashion concept and Portuguese slow fashion brands, followed by a netnography to understand the behaviour and position of the Portuguese slow fashion brands in the chosen online community: Instagram

Unraveling the relevance of ARL1 GTPase in cutaneous melanoma aggressiveness

Tese de Mestrado, Biologia Molecular e Genética, 2022, Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de CiênciasO Melanoma Cutâneo (MC) é um tumor que resulta de alterações genéticas nos melanócitos, sendo o cancro de pele menos comum, mas com a taxa de mortalidade mais alta devido ao seu grande potencial de metástase. A incidência do MC continua a aumentar em todo o mundo, representando um dos cancros com maior incidência em jovens adultos. O principal comportamento de risco associado ao desenvolvimento desta doença é a exposição à radiação ultravioleta, mas outros fatores como, fotótipo de pele, presença de nevos e história pessoal e familiar de MC também estão associados. No MC esporádico, as vias de sinalização MAPK e PI3K encontram-se frequentemente alteradas. A causa mais comum de desregulação da via MAPK são mutações no gene BRAF, que representa a maioria dos casos de MC, seguidas de mutações em NRAS e NF1. Mutações nestes genes resultam na ativação aberrante destas vias de sinalização, potenciando o crescimento celular, proliferação, migração, invasão e redução da apoptose, contribuindo para o desenvolvimento de MC. Nos últimos anos a utilização de terapias direcionadas a genes da via MAPK, como as terapias baseadas em inibidores BRAF e MEK, revolucionaram o tratamento dos doentes com MC. Além disso, o MC é conhecido como um tumor muito imunogénico devido à sua alta carga mutacional, e assim as imunoterapias baseadas em inibidores de checkpoint imunológico, como anticorpos anti-CTLA-4 e anticorpos antiPD-1 conferiram altas taxas de sucesso no tratamento do MC. No entanto, apesar das terapias direcionadas e imunoterapias baseadas em inibidores de checkpoint imunológico terem melhorado a sobrevida dos doentes com MC, alguns acabam por desenvolver resistência às terapias. Assim, é crucial perceber melhor os mecanismos moleculares responsáveis por esta doença e encontrar biomarcadores precisos que auxiliem no diagnóstico precoce e no desenvolvimento de novas terapias. Considerando que o funcionamento de vias de sinalização depende da ação de GTPases, que funcionam como interruptores moleculares, controlando redes de tráfego e sinalização das células, é importante explorar estas proteínas como biomarcadores em cancro, incluindo em MC. As pequenas GTPases compreendem 5 subfamílias de proteínas (RAS, RHO, RAB, RAN e ARF), que coordenam inúmeros processos celulares como, ciclo celular, proliferação celular, remodelação do citoesqueleto, tráfego membranar e migração. Sabe-se que muitas destas proteínas quando desreguladas contribuem para a progressão de diversos cancros, por exemplo, o gene RAS é um oncogene frequentemente mutado em cancros humanos e a segunda mutação mais frequente em melanoma, nomeadamente a sua isoforma NRAS. Dentro da família das ARFs, as proteínas ARL desempenham funções importantes em diversos processos celulares, tais como, migração celular, remodelação de actina e transporte vesicular, processos que podem estar associados com o desenvolvimento de cancro. De facto, a desregulação destas proteínas tem vindo a ser descrita em diversos cancros. Neste contexto, hipotetizámos que as proteínas ARL poderão ser biomarcadores precisos e alvos chave de agressividade em MC. Assim, começámos por realizar uma análise bioinformática, que mostrou que todas as ARLs se encontravam desreguladas em MC, sendo que 3 ARLs mostraram ser fatores prognósticos independentes em MC, entre as quais ARL1, ARL11 e ARL15. A expressão elevada de ARL1 mostrou estar correlacionada com sobrevida global prolongada em doentes com MC. Além disso, constatámos uma correlação significativa entre a expressão de ARL1 e a infiltração de células imunes. Sabe-se que a proteína ARL1 modula funções ao nível do complexo de Golgi e está envolvida no tráfego membranar e imunidade inata. Esta proteína foi apenas descrita uma vez em MC, nomeadamente no estudo de bioinformática do nosso grupo. Neste trabalho, investigámos se a expressão de ARL1 tem impacto na agressividade do MC. Assim sendo, os objetivos deste trabalho passaram por, avaliar a expressão de ARL1 na cohort de MC do IPOLFG, perceber se ARL1 está associada com o sistema imunitário e compreender a relevância de ARL1 na agressividade do MC in vitro ao nível da migração celular, invasão e metabolismo. A expressão de ARL1 foi avaliada em amostras cirúrgicas de doentes com MC por RT-qPCR, comparando: 1) pele normal e MC; 2) estágio; 3) tipo de amostra; 4) estado mutacional de BRAF. Além disso, as amostras cirúrgicas, bem como amostras de sangue de doentes com MC foram analisadas para avaliar a correlação da expressão de ARL1 com diversas populações imunes (linfócitos T citotóxicos, linfócitos T auxiliares, linfócitos T reguladores, monócitos e macrófagos) infiltradas no tumor e em circulação por citometria de fluxo. Para os ensaios in vitro, silenciámos ARL1 nas linhas celulares de MC, A375 e WM115. A confirmação do silenciamento foi realizada ao nível do mRNA por RT-qPCR e ao nível da proteína por western blot. Posteriormente, verificámos se o silenciamento de ARL1 afetou a viabilidade celular através de dois ensaios, trypan blue e CCK8. Para determinar o impacto de ARL1 na agressividade do MC, avaliámos a capacidade migratória e invasiva das linhas celulares A375 e WM115 silenciadas para ARL1 através de ensaios de migração e invasão. A interação de ARL1 com as vias de sinalização MAPK e PI3K foi investigada por western blot. Por fim, avaliámos se ARL1 é capaz de influenciar o metabolismo celular do melanoma através de um painel de diferentes genes envolvidos em vias metabólicas por RT-qPCR. Até ao momento, os nossos resultados mostram que não existem diferenças na expressão de ARL1 entre amostras de MC e pele normal, nem com o estágio, tipo de amostra e o estado mutacional de BRAF. Encontrámos uma correlação positiva entre a expressão de ARL1 e a infiltração de linfócitos T auxiliares, linfócitos T citotóxicos e expressão de CCR4 em células T reguladoras. Relativamente aos resultados in vitro, o silenciamento de ARL1 não afetou a viabilidade celular das linhas celulares A375 e WM115. No entanto, levou a uma diminuição na migração celular na linha A375, mas sem afetar a capacidade de migração da linha WM115. Não foram verificadas diferenças significativas na invasão celular para ambas as linhas de MC. Os nossos resultados indicam que níveis mais baixos de ARL1 diminuem e aumentam a ativação da via MAPK nas células A375 e WM115, respectivamente. O silenciamento de ARL1 parece diminuir os níveis de proteína AKT na via PI3K nas células A375, mas não vimos diferenças na linha WM115. Finalmente, in vitro ARL1 não parece interferir com a expressão de genes ligados à produção de lactato (LDHA, LDHC, MCT1 e MCT4), via das pentoses fosfato (G6PD) e síntese de aminoácidos (GLS1, SNAT1, SNAT2, XCT e EAAT3). Neste trabalho, conseguimos caracterizar o efeito da expressão de ARL1 na cohort de MC do IPOLFG, não tendo detectado diferenças entre MC e pele normal ao nível da expressão de ARL1. ARL1 parece ser capaz de modular o sistema imune através de uma atividade imunossupressora e antitumoral. Os nossos dados indicaram ainda, que o silenciamento de ARL1 não afetou a viabilidade celular, nem a invasão celular para ambas as linhas de MC. A migração celular diminuiu na linha celular A375 silenciada para ARL1 comparativamente ao controlo. Assim, altos níveis de ARL1 parecem aumentar a agressividade do MC. Estes resultados foram apoiados pela diminuição da ativação da via MAPK. No entanto, não encontrámos diferenças significativas na migração celular da linha WM115, mas o silenciamento de ARL1 parece aumentar a ativação da via MAPK. Portanto, ARL1 poderá desempenhar um papel controverso. Não encontrámos relação entre o silenciamento de ARL1 e o metabolismo do MC.Cutaneous melanoma (CM) is the skin cancer with the highest mortality rates due to its great potential for metastasis. The incidence of CM continues to increase worldwide, and its biology remains poorly understood. In addition, not all patients respond to current therapies. Therefore, it is crucial to better understand the molecular mechanisms responsible for this disease and find precise biomarkers that help in early diagnosis, prognosis and development of new therapies. In this context, we hypothesized that ARL proteins could be CM biomarkers and aggressiveness key targets. Furthermore, ARLs play an essencial role in several cellular processes (e.g. cell migration, actin remodeling and vesicle transport) that may impact cancer progression. In particular, the involvement of ARL1 in membrane traffic and innate immunity was only described once in CM. In a bioinformatics study performed by our group, high expression of ARL1 was correlated with prolonged overall survival of CM patients and higher infiltration of immune cells. Here, we investigated ARL1 expression in the Instituto Português de Oncologia de Lisboa Francisco Gentil (IPOLFG) CM cohort and assessed the relevance of ARL1 in CM aggressiveness in vitro. ARL1 expression was evaluated in surgical samples from CM patients by RT-qPCR, and the correlation of ARL1 expression with various immune subsets was detected by flow cytometry. Additionally, transwell migration and invasion assays were performed with A375 and WM115 CM cell lines to determine the impact of ARL1 on CM aggressiveness. Western blot evaluated the interaction of ARL1 with the MAPK and PI3K pathways, and RT-qPCR evaluated the relationship of ARL1 knockdown with different genes involved in cellular metabolism. Thus far, our results showed no differences in ARL1 expression between CM samples and normal skin, as well as according to the stage, sample type and BRAF mutational status. We found a positive correlation between ARL1 expression in the tumor and infiltration of helper T lymphocytes, cytotoxic T lymphocytes and CCR4 expression in regulatory T cells. Regarding the in vitro results, ARL1 knockdown did not affect the cell viability of A375 and WM115 cell lines. However, it decreased the A375 CM cell lines’s cell migration, while harboring no effect on WM115 migration capability. No significant differences were verified in cell invasion for both CM cell lines. Our results indicate that lower levels of ARL1 decreases and increases the activation of the MAPK pathway in A375 and WM115 cell lines, respectively. In addition, ARL1 knockdown appears to decrease AKT protein levels in the PI3K pathway in A375 cell line. Finally, in vitro ARL1 does not seem to interfere with expression of genes linked to lactate production (LDHA, LDHC, MCT1 and MCT4), pentose phosphate pathway (G6PD) and amino acid synthesis (GLS1, SNAT1, SNAT2, XCT and EAAT3). Here, we could characterize ARL1 expression in a CM cohort from IPOLFG, and we have not seen differences between CM and normal skin. ARL1 has been shown to have an immunosuppressive and antitumor role. Our data further indicate that ARL1 knockdown altered A375 cell migration, suggesting that high levels of ARL1 may increase CM aggressiveness, but we found no differences in invasiveness in two distinct cell lines. We verified that ARL1 is involved in the MAPK and PI3K pathways in both CM cell lines, but we found no relationship between ARL1 silencing and CM metabolism

Management outsourcing business models: a perspective of sustainability

In a world characterized by intense competition, outsourcing has infiltrated the management world in a major way. Outsourcing services are becoming an increasingly important source to companies focus on their core competencies, reduce costs, and increase efficiency in several organizational functions. Even though outsourcing of business activities has become a prevalent practice amongst organizations, the literature provides only a one-dimensional view of the phenomenon by focusing on the service receivers’ perspectives – buyer. This dissertation overcomes this weakness by investigate and analyze the business models of outsourcing companies – vendor - as a way to understand how they reach a sustainable competitive advantage that differentiates them in a competitive market. Hence, the whole investigation explores the service provider’s perspectives by conducting interviews to 16 top executives from 15 different outsourcing companies in Portugal. The findings suggest that all the organizations presented in the study face the same challenges/pains in the market and each of them manifest an exclusive combination of mechanisms, methods, strategies and approaches within their business models to be differentiated in the market and sustainable in terms of efficiency and competitive advantage.Num mundo caracterizado por forte competição, o outsourcing tem estado presente no mundo da gestão de forma cada vez mais significativa. Serviços de outsourcing representam atualmente uma importante fonte para as empresas se conseguirem focar nas suas competências e capacidades chave, reduzir custos, e aumentar a eficiência em diversas funções organizacionais. Apesar do outsourcing de atividades de negócio ser uma prática cada vez mais relevante e existente nas organizações, a literatura proporciona apenas uma visão dimensional do fenómeno, focando-se na perspetiva dos recetores do serviço – buyer. Esta dissertação transpõe este gap investigando e analisando os modelos de negócio das empresas de outsourcing – vendor – de forma a perceber como estas alcançam uma vantagem competitiva que as torna diferenciadoras num mercado competitivo. Assim, a presente investigação explora a perspetiva dos prestadores do serviço de outsourcing através da realização de entrevistas a 16 executivos de topo pertencentes a 15 distintas empresas de outsourcing em Portugal. Os resultados demonstram que as organizações presentes no estudo enfrentam os mesmos desafios e dores no mercado, e cada uma delas expressa uma combinação exclusiva de mecanismos, métodos, estratégias, e abordagens nos seus modelos de negócio que as torna diferenciadores e sustentáveis no mercado, em termos de eficiência e vantagem competitiva

Translating Breast Cancer Immune Features into Biomarkers and Therapies

Breast cancer remains one of the main causes of cancer-related deaths in women worldwide. In the past years, advances in breast cancer treatment have been made, namely with the introduction of preoperative neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) in selected cases of inflammatory/inoperable or advanced tumors (size larger than 2 cm and/or disease extension to the axillary lymph node). This treatment is effective in reducing the size of the primary tumor, allowing breast conservation. However, less than half of the patients achieve a pathological complete response and residual disease after NACT is a strong predictor of relapse. Hence, it is essential to find a suitable marker of response to this treatment, to promptly direct NACT non-responder patients to alternative therapies. Tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), specifically CD8+ cytotoxic T cells (CTLs) have been appointed as biomarkers of response. However, the clinical usefulness of this biomarker is still controversial and their evaluation is not yet implemented. This controversy could be explained by the fact that tumor cells can escape the immune system by releasing cytokines or expressing immune checkpoint inhibitors, dampening CTLs activity. HLA-DR, a T cell activation marker, could be a more reliable biomarker of response to NACT, than the presence of CTLs per se, since it may reflect the overall immune status of the tumor microenvironment and their functionality. To get more insights into the immune component of the tumor microenvironment, fresh biopsies, surgical specimens and blood were collected from breast cancer patients. In order to assess the differences between breast cancer aggressiveness, the patients were divided in two groups: the ones that have metastasis in the axillary lymph node and the ones that don’t have. Although the immunophenotype was similar in both groups of patients, a significant difference was observed for the expression level of HLA-DR in CTLs and regulatory T cells (Tregs). Indeed, patients without axillary lymph node metastasis had higher level of HLA-DR in CTLs and lower in Tregs when compared to patients with axillary lymph node metastasis. Given this result, we wondered if this immune trait could be used to predict response to NACT. In biopsies of two independent cohorts of breast cancer patients selected for NACT, we observed that high HLA-DR expression level in CTLs was strongly correlated with good response to NACT, with a high sensitivity (94.12% and 80% in cohort 1 and 2, respectively) and specificity (100% and 85.71% in cohort 1 and 2, respectively). Therefore we propose that HLADR expression level in CTLs above a threshold value, calculated by a ROC curve, would identify patients that would be responders to NACT. Additionally, by multivariable analysis, we noted that HLA-DR expression in CTLs was an independent predictor of response to NACT. Interestingly, HLA-DR expression in CTLs also have the likelihood of being a prognostic marker of breast cancer patients’ outcome, since a progression-free survival analysis revealed that patients with low levels of HLA-DR in CTLs tend to relapse sooner.Moreover, we observed that this immune feature was systemically reflected. Indeed, with the assessment of HLA-DR expression level in circulating CTLs we could differentiate breast cancer aggressiveness and even response to NACT, although in a less striking manner when compared to the analysis of HLA-DR expression level in intratumor CTLs. To characterize HLA-DR+ CTLs, we performed a gene expression as well as a broad surface markers’ expression analysis. When comparing to HLA-DR negative CTLs, HLA-DR+ CTLs had higher expression of cytotoxicity-related molecules Granzyme B, IFN-, Perforin, TNF-, Eomes and lower expression of Tbet. Additionally, they had a high proliferative capacity (high Ki67 levels) and an intermediate level of exhaustion markers, namely PD-1, Tim3 and CD127. These results suggest that HLA-DR+ CTLs had a phenotype closer to effector memory T cells (TEM), which have the capacity to home to tissues and to recirculate, rapidly release effector molecules and differentiate in effector CTLs. Then, we developed a 3D culture platform to shed some light on the functionality of these HLA-DR+ CTLs and their contribution for NACT success. Namely, we used two different breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231) and allowed them to spontaneously form spheroids. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) isolated from NACT-responders and non-responders were added to the culture, infiltrating the 3D tumor-like structure. Interestingly, the PBMCs from NACT-responders were able by themselves to reduce the viability of the breast cancer cell line; whereas the PBMCs from NACT non-responders showed no effect. This emphasizes that the immune cells from NACT-responders are activated and have cytotoxic capacities; on the opposite, the immune cells from NACT non-responders are immunosuppressed and cannot exert their cytotoxic function. Furthermore, we added doxorubicin (a NACT agent) to the 3D co-culture and observed that NACT-responders’ PBMCs had a synergistic effect with this drug in decreasing the tumor cells’ viability. On the contrary, the addition of doxorubicin and NACT non-responders’ PBMCs did not alter the viability of the tumor cells. With these in vitro assays we validated the clinical observations. To confirm that the anti-tumor activity of NACT-responders’ PBMCs were indeed due to HLADR+ CTLs, which are more abundant in the blood of these patients than in the blood of NACT non-responders, we took advantage of the 3D system implemented. In fact, sorted HLA-DR+ CTLs, but not HLA-DR negative CTLs, reduce the viability of MCF-7, attesting the cytotoxic capacity and anti-tumor properties of HLA-DR+ CTLs. To investigate if it would be possible to revert the immunosuppressed phenotype of NACT non-responders’ CTLs we stimulated their PBMCs with PMA/ionomycin or by T cell receptor (TCR) engagement. Notably, both stimuli raised the HLA-DR levels in CTLs in NACT nonresponders’ PBMCs allowing these cells to reduce the viability of the breast cancer cells, similarly to NACT-responders’ PBMCs. The observed effect was even more striking with the addition of doxorubicin. This result opens the possibility to develop new treatments for breast cancer patients, whose tumors are not susceptible to NACT regimens alone

Improving visual attractiveness to enhance city-river integration - a methodological approach for ongoing evaluation

The relationship between rivers and cities has evolved from a natural coexistence and interdependence to a progressive relationship of segregation and disintegration. This article uses a planning experiment to explore and discuss some concerns about visual attractiveness of city–river landscapes in promoting spatial integration of cities and rivers. It presents a methodological approach integrating expert opinions and public perception questionnaires. This is a contribution to making operational an ongoing aesthetic assessment of different dimensions and viewpoints at the city scale. This approach is illustrated with a case-study in the Lisbon metropolitan area and its main assessment results are integrated in a city–river profile that can be useful in ongoing evaluation processes of river landscapes and urban planning practice

INITIAL EFFORTS IN THE STUDY OF THE RICE PADDY’S COMMUNITIES

Rice cultivation has been introduced in Portugal in the late twelfth century, playing in the present, an important role in the maintenance of particular wetland habitats of adventitious communities. Conversely, it is important to study related alien species, with invasive potential, since they may became major threats to natural habitats. Thus, this work constitutes an initial effort to systematize the knowledge on structure and composition of the paddy fields’ vegetation in the Lower Sado, including several species and plant communities which are still poorly studied or understood. It was focused on the lower River Sado (South Portugal), an area traditionally devoted to rice cultivation, with Mediterranean pluviseasonal oceanic macrobioclimate, Upper thermomediterranean thermothype, and Upper dry ombrothype. Biogeographically it is inserted in the Coastal Lusitan-Andalusian Province, Sadensean-Dividing Portuguese Subprovince, and Ribatagan-Sadensean Sector. Herborizations, and 110 phytosociological relevés fallowing the classic sigmatist method of Braun-Blanquet, were made in bunds not submitted to the application of herbicides, during the months of June and July of 2010, in 7 localities: Alcácer do Sal, Comporta, Rio de Moinhos, Santa Catarina, São Romão, Torrão and Tróia. The Raunkjaer system was used to identify physiognomic types. Belonging to 26 families, 69 taxa of adventitious flora were identified. Physiognomic types included 28 therophytes, 24 hemicryptophytes, 13 cryptophytes, 2 phanerophytes and 2 chamaephytes. Biogeographically, holarctic species predominate (84%), followed by neotropical (9%) and paleotropical (6%). Also, were recognized 10 alien species and 1 of undetermined origin. Three phytosociological associations were identified: a.Thypho angustifoliae-Phragmitetum australis, b.Oryzo sativae-Echinochloetum cruris-galli, c. Paspaletum dilatato-distichi, and three communities accepted: d.a community of Digitaria sanguinalis, a community of Leersia oryzoides and Echinochloa crus-galli, and a community of Paspalum paspalodes and Lolium perenne. These associations and communities are inserted in four phytosociological classes: a.Phragmites-Magnocaricetea, b.Oryzetea sativae, c.Stellarietea media, and d.Molinio-Arrhenateretea, respectively