Selection process of sustainable indicators for the Algarve Region—OBSERVE Project

The selection of indicators for the Observatory of Sustainability of the Algarve Region for Tourism (OBSERVE), poses challenges, namely which indicators are relevant to stakeholders and how to assure that information is available. To support the selection of the environmental, sociocultural, economic and institutional indicators, an engagement process was designed and applied, which included meetings with stakeholders, a workshop and an online survey. The results showed that both workshop and online surveys reflected, in general, similar opinions, thus allowing the selecting of the sustainable development indicators for the Algarve region. Additionally, the results showed that nearly 75% of the indicators can be obtained from national statistics and, therefore, can be used on the OBSERVE project, assuring a quick flow of information. As limitations, it is important to mention that the other 25% will need further development, in order to provide data for indicators, like carbon management and client satisfaction. With this approach, the observatory will survey and evaluate the sustainable development of the region (status and trends), based on indicators that answer to the strategic needs of system's main users, with social and economic implications, i.e., public institutions, economic agents, tourists, local communities and residents.ALG-01-0246-FEDER-027503info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Observatory of sustainability of the Algarve region for tourism - Overview and outset

The Observatory of Sustainability of the Algarve Region for Tourism (OBSERVE) is an instrument for monitoring and evaluating the sustainability levels of the region. Its principal main goal is to provide environmental, economic, social-cultural and institutional indicators to support the decision making process for a sustainable growth of the Algarve region.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Outurela I and Outurela II, two small Iron Age settlements north of the Tagus estuary (Oeiras council)

Outurela I and II are to two small Iron Age settlements, located in low altitudes, separated by only 500 m, apparently focused in agricultural and husbandry activities. The archaeological fieldwork that took place during the 80´s allowed the recovery of a significant set of artifacts, mostly ceramics. The thorough study of these materials and its comparative analyses with data available from other sites in the Tagus estuary, enable us to verify a strong connection among them (both with similar low altitude sites and with main riverside settlements as, for example, Lisbon). The existence of a considerable dense settlement network during the 5th and 4th centuries BC becomes evident, even if its origin may be related by links of either cooperation or subordination. On the other hand, the available data seems to indicate a relative antiquity of Outurela II in view of Outurela I, even if its contemporaneity is clear during the 5th century BC

Resilience of water supply systems – case study of Quinta do Lago

On the South of Portugal, namely in Quinta do Lago – Algarve the water consumption pattern changes from winter to summer, mainly due to the seasonality of touristic occupation and irrigation of green areas. In Quinta do Lago many plots have boreholes to extract groundwater for irrigation, however in summer, when the irrigation demand has its peak, the groundwater table lowers and it is observed saline intrusion into the aquifer. The increased concentration of salts in groundwater also increases the water demand for irrigation as the soil lixiviation must be attended. This phenomenon forces the owners to irrigate the private green areas with fresh water from the water supply system. In the last years, the number of plots irrigated with fresh water has increased and the current trend may cause the failure of the water supply system. In the present study the hydraulic and operational performance of the water supply system of Quinta do Lago is assessed, considering the increase on water demand for the irrigation of the private green areas. The used methodology is based on the hydraulic modelling of the water supply system and evaluation of performance indicators using penalty functions. From the analysis it is pointed out that undertaking appropriate operational modes, the water supply system may be resilient to the increase in water demand and investment in new infrastructure to attend this phenomenon may not be required.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Análisis de tres medidas de carga mental: juicios subjetivos, tamaño de la pupila y tasa de parpadeos

Ponència de la VI Reunión Científica sobre Atención (RECA 6), celebrada a Barcelona, 200

Analysis of the Interaction Interfaces of the N-Terminal Domain from Pseudomonas aeruginosa MutL

Mismatch Repair System corrects mutations arising from DNA replication that escape from DNA polymerase proofreadingactivity. This system consists of three main proteins, MutS-L-H, responsible for lesion recognition and repair. MutL is amember of GHKL ATPase family and its ATPase cycle has been proposed to modulate MutL activity during the repairprocess. Pseudomonas aeruginosa MutL (PaMutL) contains an N-terminal (NTD) ATPase domain connected by a linker to a C-terminal (CTD) dimerization domain that possesses metal ion-dependent endonuclease activity. With the aim to identifycharacteristics that allow the PaMutL NTD allosteric control of CTD endonuclease activity, we used an in silico andexperimental approach to determine the interaction surfaces of P. aeruginosa NTD (PaNTD), and compared it with the wellcharacterized Escherichia coli MutL NTD (EcNTD). Molecular dynamics simulations of PaNTD and EcNTD bound to or free ofadenosine nucleotides showed that a significant difference exists between the behavior of the EcNTD and PaNTDdimerization interface, particularly in the ATP lid. Structure based simulations of MutL homologues with endonucleaseactivity were performed that allowed an insight of the dimerization interface behavior in this family of proteins. Ourexperimental results show that, unlike EcNTD, PaNTD is dimeric in presence of ADP. Simulations in mixed solvent allowed usto identify the PaNTD putative DNA binding patch and a putative interaction patch located opposite to the dimerizationface. Structure based simulations of PaNTD dimer in presence of ADP or ATP suggest that nucleotide binding coulddifferentially modulate PaNTD protein-protein interactions. Far western assays performed in presence of ADP or ATP are inagreement with our in silico analysis.Fil: Miguel, Virginia. Consejo Nacional de Invest.cientif.y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnol.conicet - Cordoba. Centro de Invest.en Qca.biol.de Cordoba (p);Fil: Correa, Elisa María Eugenia. Consejo Nacional de Invest.cientif.y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnol.conicet - Cordoba. Centro de Invest.en Qca.biol.de Cordoba (p); ArgentinaFil: de Tullio, Luisina. Consejo Nacional de Invest.cientif.y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnol.conicet - Cordoba. Centro de Invest.en Qca.biol.de Cordoba (p); ArgentinaFil: Barra, Jose Luis. Consejo Nacional de Invest.cientif.y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnol.conicet - Cordoba. Centro de Invest.en Qca.biol.de Cordoba (p); ArgentinaFil: Argaraña, Carlos Enrique. Consejo Nacional de Invest.cientif.y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnol.conicet - Cordoba. Centro de Invest.en Qca.biol.de Cordoba (p);Fil: Villarreal, Marcos Ariel. Consejo Nacional de Invest.cientif.y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnol.conicet - Cordoba. Instituto de Investigaciones En Fisico- Quimica de Cordoba; Argentin

Insights into the determination of the templating nucleotide at the initiation of φ29 DNA replication

Background: The initiation of replication in φ29 mainly occurs opposite the 3' penultimate nucleotide of the template. Results: Mutations in the TP residue Phe-230 changed the specificity for the templating nucleotide. Conclusion: The results suggest a role for Phe-230 in determining the templating nucleotide. Significance: The results shed light on the positioning of the template nucleotide in organisms that initiate with proteinpriming mechanism.Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation Grant CSD2007–00015 (to M. S.), and a Institutional grant from the Fundación Ramón Areces of the Centro de Biología MolecularPeer Reviewe

Patient-based Literature Retrieval and Integration: A Use Case for Diabetes and arterial Hypertension

Specialized search engines such as PubMed, MedScape or Cochrane have increased dramatically the visibility of biomedical scientific results. These web-based tools allow physicians to access scientific papers instantly. However, this decisive improvement had not a proportional impact in clinical practice due to the lack of advanced search methods. Even queries highly specified for a concrete pathology frequently retrieve too many information, with publications related to patients treated by the physician beyond the scope of the results examined. In this work we present a new method to improve scientific article search using patient information. Two pathologies have been used within the project to retrieve relevant literature to patient data and to be integrated with other sources. Promising results suggest the suitability of the approach, highlighting publications dealing with patient features and facilitating literature search to physicians