Tackling tourism-driven development in World Heritage cities: A comparison between Macao, China and Evora, Portugal

World Heritage cities, all over the world, are a centre of tourist attraction. In many of these cities, tourism is one of the main driving forces of local economies. As a result, these cities come under intense pressure to accommodate tourism-driven developments; summed up with the pressure to fulfil the needs of local communities. How development in World Heritage cities can be tackled is, thus, an important issue for both heritage management and urban development. This paper presents two World Heritage cities – Macao, a former Portuguese colony in China and Évora, the capital of Alentejo region in Portugal - as case studies and discusses and compares the way tourism-driven development is being tackled in these cities. Macao’s economy depends almost entirely on tourism-driven activities. While the World Heritage status has added additional attractiveness to Macao, the main attraction there is gambling. On the other hand, Évora is much less dependent on tourism. Similar to Macao, the World Heritage status has raised the attractiveness of Évora as a tourist destination; however, the university plays also a fundamental role. Consequently, despite the efforts of the local authorities, the city is losing its local community. Even if for different reasons, in both case studies, heritage is often sidelined in the urban development agenda. The case studies identify the raise of cultural-driven tourism and the consequent urban developments and illustrate the role of legislations and regulations and the impact of their variation per heritage protection zones. Moreover, it identifies the resultant urban development scenario that enhance or diminish the heritage values of the cities and, therefore, help retain or cause destruction to the very cultural capital that has brought and can bring many more benefits to these cities of outstanding universal value

Tackling tourism-driven development in World Heritage cities: A comparison between Macao, China and Evora, Portugal

World Heritage cities, all over the world, are a centre of tourist attraction. In many of these cities, tourism is one of the main driving forces of local economies. As a result, these cities come under intense pressure to accommodate tourism-driven developments; summed up with the pressure to fulfil the needs of local communities. How development in World Heritage cities can be tackled is, thus, an important issue for both heritage management and urban development. This paper presents two World Heritage cities – Macao, a former Portuguese colony in China and Évora, the capital of Alentejo region in Portugal - as case studies and discusses and compares the way tourism-driven development is being tackled in these cities. Macao’s economy depends almost entirely on tourism-driven activities. While the World Heritage status has added additional attractiveness to Macao, the main attraction there is gambling. On the other hand, Évora is much less dependent on tourism. Similar to Macao, the World Heritage status has raised the attractiveness of Évora as a tourist destination; however, the university plays also a fundamental role. Consequently, despite the efforts of the local authorities, the city is losing its local community. Even if for different reasons, in both case studies, heritage is often sidelined in the urban development agenda. The case studies identify the raise of cultural-driven tourism and the consequent urban developments and illustrate the role of legislations and regulations and the impact of their variation per heritage protection zones. Moreover, it identifies the resultant urban development scenario that enhance or diminish the heritage values of the cities and, therefore, help retain or cause destruction to the very cultural capital that has brought and can bring many more benefits to these cities of outstanding universal value

Nutrição mineral da colza (Brassica napus l.): I. Carências nutricionais

Com a finalidade de se obter o quadro sintomatológico das carências de N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S e B, assim como os níveis analíticos correspondentes, mudas de colza foram cultivadas em vasos contendo sílica moída, irrigadas com solução completa e deficiente nos nutrientes. Foram descritos todos os sintomas de deficiência. Os níveis analíticos em folhas sadias e deficientes são: N- 2,04% - 0,70%; P- 0,40% - 0,10%; K- 1,17% - 0,10%; Ca - 1,20% - 0,13%; Mg- 0,70% - 0,11%; S- 0,49% - 0,42%; B- 71ppm-18ppm.A trial was carried out with young rape plants (Brassica napus L.) CV.CTC-I, grown on sand culture, receiving nutrient solutions lacking the following nutrients at the time: N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S and B. Clear cut symptoms were obtained for the elements. The leave analysis shaw for normal and deficiente leaves N%. 2.04 - 0.70; P% - 0.40 - 0.10; K% 1.17 - 0.10; Ca% 1.20 - 0.13; Mg% - 0.70 - 0.11; S% 0.49 - 0.42 - B ppm71 - 18

Clusters of Galaxies: New Results from the CLEF Hydrodynamics Simulation

Preliminary results are presented from the CLEF hydrodynamics simulation, a large (N=2(428)^3 particles within a 200 Mpc/h comoving box) simulation of the LCDM cosmology that includes both radiative cooling and a simple model for galactic feedback. Specifically, we focus on the X-ray properties of the simulated clusters at z=0 and demonstrate a reasonable level of agreement between simulated and observed cluster scaling relations.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Advances in Space Research (proceedings of the COSPAR 2004 Assembly, Paris

Strategies to overcome heparins’ low oral bioavailability

Even after a century, heparin is still the most effective anticoagulant available with few side effects. The poor oral absorption of heparins triggered the search for strategies to achieve oral bioavailability since this route has evident advantages over parenteral administration. Several approaches emerged, such as conjugation of heparins with bile acids and lipids, formulation with penetration enhancers, and encapsulation of heparins in micro and nanoparticles. Some of these strategies appear to have potential as good delivery systems to overcome heparin’s low oral bioavailability. Nevertheless, none have reached the market yet. Overall, this review aims to provide insights regarding the oral bioavailability of heparin. © 2016 by the author; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.This work was supported by ERDF, COMPETE, and FCT under the Strategic Funding UID/Multi/04423/2013, projects PTDC/MAR–BIO/4694/2014 and PTDC/AAG–TEC/0739/2014, and INNOVMAR–Innovation and Sustainability in the Management and Exploitation of Marine Resources, reference NORTE–01–0145–FEDER–000035, Research Line NOVELMAR

Effects of dual blockade in heart failure and renal dysfunction: Systematic review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE: The effect of dual renin-angiotensin system (RAS) inhibition in heart failure (HF) is still controversial. Systematic reviews have shown that dual RAS blockade may reduce mortality and hospitalizations, yet it has been associated with the increased risk of renal dysfunction (RD). Surprisingly, although RD in patients with HF is frequent, the effect of combining RAS inhibitors in HF patients with RD has never been studied in a meta-analysis. METHODS: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials involving HF patients with RD who received dual blockade analyzing death, cardiovascular (CV) death or HF hospitalization, and adverse events. RESULTS: Out of 2258 screened articles, 12 studies were included (34,131 patients). Compared with monotherapy, dual RAS inhibition reduced hazard ratio of death to 0.94 (p=0.07) and significantly reduced CV death or HF hospitalization to 0.89 (p=0.0006) in all individuals, and to 0.86 (p=0.005) in patients with RD and to 0.91 (p=0.04) without RD. Nevertheless, dual RAS blockade significantly increased the risk of renal impairment (40%), hyperkalemia (44%), and hypotension (42%), although discontinuation of treatment occurs only in 3.68% versus 2.19% (p=0.00001). CONCLUSIONS: Dual RAS inhibition therapy reduces the risk of CV death or HF hospitalization. However, cautions monitoring for specific adverse events may be warranted

Potential Exposure and Risk Associated with Metal Contamination in Foods

Humans require several trace elements as components of the diet. Some of these elements are required in extremely small quantities (only micrograms per day). On the other hand, in higher concentrations, some elements may also have deleterious, even lethal, effects. Metals such as arsenic, chromium (Cr), lead (Pb), and mercury (Hg) are naturally occurring chemical compounds. The contamination of food with these metals occurs mainly through human activities, such as farming and industry, or from contamination during food processing and storage. People can be exposed to these metals by ingesting contaminated food or water, and their accumulation in the body can lead to harmful effects over time. The main objective of this chapter is to provide a literature review on the various types of foodborne poisoning caused by the contamination of food with arsenic, Cr, Pb, and Hg and on food safety issues associated with the presence of these metals in food. Research findings from various studies carried out to examine the relationship between metal exposure and the adverse health effects of metals are addressed