Avaliação de implementação de biorefinarias rurais e sociais na Colômbia

Mestrado em Engenharia Alimentar - Instituto Superior de AgronomiaA natural fuel, from renewable sources, like ethanol, can generate social and environmental gains in the medium and long term. The feasibility of ethanol production through micro-refineries in areas of small farms encourages the growth of regions and small farmers, reducing migration to urban centers, creating sustainable jobs, steady income for smallholders, and other social and environment benefits. This work, conducted with the support of CIAT (International Center for Tropical Agriculture) and included in the Project CLAYUCA (Consortium of Research Support and Development of Cassava in Latin America and Caribbean), the study focused on the installation of social bio-refineries, in poor communities of Colombia. These bio-refineries will use cassava mainly as raw material for obtaining bio-ethanol. Cassava, besides being a very abundant crop in tropical and subtropical regions, is also easy to grow, it grows in marginal conditions where many other crops do not survive. As a source of starch is a highly competitive culture: the roots contain more starch in dry weight, then the average of food crops and more easily extracted with simple technologies. Thus, as the starch-based production of bio-ethanol, cassava becomes a potential source of bio-energy. The bio-ethanol from cassava can provide electricity to every rural community that never had access to it and that depends on wood, dung or coal as energy sources. Can be used in cooking stoves in these communities, saving them time and energy spent for other energy sources, and can also be used as motor fuel in vehicles fitted with a kit or blended with gasoline at a rate of 30%. This study was designed primarily to analyze, evaluate, compare and propose improvements to the technical and economic feasibility of the implementation of micro-bio-refineries, which use cassava as feedstock to produce ethanol, in three rural regions of Colombia where self-sufficiency energy is scarce or very expensive. CIAT is a nonprofit institution that conducts research on social and environmental. Founded in 1976, this regional center, located in Latin America, specifically in Colombia, has a global reach with about two thirds of its resources devoted to research in Latin America and the Caribbean, and the remaining third devoted to research in Africa and Asia. CIAT's mission is to reduce hunger and poverty and improve human health in the tropics through research based on a vision of eco-efficient agriculture, ie agriculture, which uses the resources more efficiently, to become more competitive and achieve productivity growth more sustainable, with a smaller footprint.After this study concluded that project implementation is not feasible in Leticia and Puerto Carreño, due to the cost of ethanol production is not competitive with local fuel prices. But in La Macarena may be feasible, depending on the actual cost of biogas and the possibility of no taxes. With the implementation of a micro-refinery in La Macarena 0.5% of rural population can be given access to electricity and secondly to 7.3% of the volume of gasoline sold in rural areas may be mixed with 30% ethanol. We suggest the introduction of improved varieties of cassava to obtain higher yields per hectare and the identification of technological improvements on the conversion process of cassava into ethanol. The associations, support and training for farmers will also improve the eficiency of the studied project

Rótulo de serviço público sustentável: aplicação ao serviço de licenciamentos e apoio às actividades económicas da Câmara Municipal de Oeiras

Dissertação apresentada na Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa para a obtenção do grau de Mestre em Engenharia do Ambiente, perfil Ordenamento do Território e Impactes AmbientaisA sustentabilidade dos serviços públicos constitui uma área de particular importância para a população e decisores. Os serviços públicos têm verificado a necessidade de justificar a sua existência e o modo como desenvolvem as suas operações e actividades inerentes. Tendo em conta a necessidade crescente de integrar a sustentabilidade na gestão das organizações, o sector público assume também um papel central devido à sua influência junto dos cidadãos e dos restantes sectores da sociedade. Este trabalho de investigação visa desenvolver uma proposta de rótulo de sustentabilidade de serviços públicos, contribuindo para a integração dos aspectos sociais, ambientais e económicos nas actividades e operações dos serviços públicos. Para a concretização do rótulo de sustentabilidade proposto foram adaptados critérios do rótulo ecológico da União Europeia, sendo também desenvolvidos novos critérios de modo a avaliar as várias vertentes da sustentabilidade. O rótulo sustentável é atribuído caso o serviço cumpra os requisitos necessários que foram estipulados, demonstrando que segue uma política activa de utilização de fontes de energia renováveis, de economia de energia e de água, de redução de resíduos e de melhoria do ambiente. O modelo conceptual criado foi testado ao serviço de licenciamentos e apoio às actividades económicas da Câmara Municipal de Oeiras. Na aplicação preliminar do rótulo concluiu-se que o serviço apenas cumpria 23%. No entanto o cumprimento da totalidade dos critérios é possível se vierem a ser implementadas novas medidas ambientais, sociais e económicas neste serviço particular e no conjunto da autarquia. O modelo conceptual proposto é potencialmente aplicável a qualquer outro serviço público, podendo adaptar-se os requisitos para serviços públicos a diferentes escalas e serem desenvolvidos outros estudos sobre a avaliação da sustentabilidade do sector público

Projetos TEIP e novos perfis profissionais nas escolas: agentes de desenvolvimento local?

A presente investigação procura discutir o papel da escola como agente de desenvolvimento local à luz do Programa Territórios Educativos de Intervenção Prioritária (TEIP). Com efeito, esta investigação incidirá numa reflexão sobre a relação escola-comunidade através da intervenção dos técnicos contratados ao abrigo deste programa no envolvimento da comunidade nos agrupamentos, assim como o envolvimento dos agrupamentos nos territórios. Partindo de uma metodologia qualitativa na forma de estudo de caso, foram seleccionados quatro agrupamentos de escolas TEIP de forma a compreender como o projecto de intervenção lançado concebe a relação da escola com a comunidade/território e como se propõe a transformar essa relação, assim como um técnico de cada agrupamento no sentido de perceber o papel dos técnicos nessa relação. Assim, através da análise documental e da realização de entrevistas em profundidade foi possível concluir que o reforço da relação escola-comunidade está ainda longe de ser uma prioridade das escolas TEIP.The following research seeks to discuss the role of school as a local development agent in the framework of the Educational Territories of Priority Intervention Program (TEIP). In fact, this research will focus on a reflection about the school-community relationship, concerning not only the technicians collaborating in this framework, as well as the participation of the groupings in the territories. Starting from a qualitative methodology in the form of case study, four groupings of TEIP schools were selected in order to understand how the intervention project released conceives the relationship between the school, community and territory, and how it proposes to transform this relationship, as well as a technician for each grouping in order to realize the role of technicians in this relationship. Thus, through documentary analysis and conducting in-depth interviews it was possible to conclude that the reinforcement of school-community relationship is still far from being a priority at TEIP schools

Contributo para a compreensão do conceito de família pelos técnicos de acolhimento residencial

O número de crianças em medida de acolhimento residencial revela-se, ainda hoje, bastante significativo. Devido a este facto e à escassez de estudos a nível nacional torna-se pertinente compreender o conceito de família em contexto residencial pelos psicólogos que as trabalham. Assim este estudo pretende compreender as perceções dos psicólogos do acolhimento residencial acerca das famílias com as quais trabalham, o papel que desempenham no contexto de acolhimento residencial e a perspetiva que têm acerca do seu trabalho. Com base na metodologia qualitativa, realizaram-se entrevistas semiestruturadas a 5 psicólogos que exercem funções em casas de acolhimento residencial, que acolhe crianças até aos 12 anos localizadas no distrito do Porto, sendo que a metodologia utilizada para a análise dos dados foi baseada na teoria semi-indutiva. Como principais resultados salientam-se a atribuição de caraterísticas principalmente negativas para caraterizar as famílias; os principais facilitadores e obstáculos identificados pelos psicólogos no momento de intervenção com as famílias; e a importância que as equipas externa e interna como facilitadores no desempenho de funções no contexto de acolhimento residencial.The number of children in residential care reveals itself, yet today, quite significant. Due to this fact and to the scarcity of national studies it becomes pertinent to investigate how psychologist understand families they work with. Thus, this study intends to understand the perceptions of residential care psychologists about the families with whom they work, the role they play in the context of residential care, and the perspective they have about their work. Based on the qualitative methodology, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 5 psychologists who work in residential care homes, housing children up to 12 years old, located in the district of Porto, the methodology used for data analysis was bases on the semi-inductive theory. The main results highlight the attribution of mainly negative characteristics to characterize the families; the main facilitators and obstacles identified by psychologists at the time of intervention with the families; and the importance of external and internal teams as facilitators in performing function in the context of residential care

Co-limitation of phytoplankton by N and P in a shallow coastal lagoon (Ria Formosa): implications for eutrophication evaluation

The Ria Formosa coastal lagoon is a highly productive shallow ecosystem in southern Portugal, subjected to nutrient inputs from anthropogenic and natural sources. Nutrients are major abiotic drivers of phytoplankton in this system, but their effects on phytoplankton assemblages and the occurrence of nutrient limitation are still poorly understood. The main goal of this study was, thus, to evaluate the occurrence, type, and effects of nutrient limitation on phytoplankton community and specific functional groups in the Ria Formosa coastal lagoon. We conducted nutrient enrichment experiments with factorial additions of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) using natural phytoplankton assemblages from distinct locations in the Ria Formosa, throughout a yearly cycle. Phytoplankton composition and abundance were evaluated using inverted and epifluorescence microscopies, and spectrophotometric methods were used for biomass. Limitation was defined as higher phytoplankton growth following enrichment with a particular nutrient in relation to the non-enriched control. The most common type of phytoplankton limitation was simultaneous co-limitation by N and P; diatoms, as r-strategists, were the most frequently limited group. Single N and P limitation, and serial P limitation were also observed, as well as negative responses to nutrient enrichment. Group-specific responses to nutrient enrichment were not reflected in the relative abundance of phytoplankton groups within the whole assemblage, due to the numerical dominance of pico-sized groups (cyanobacteria and eukaryotic picophytoplankton). Ambient nutrient ratios and concentrations did not predict phytoplankton nutrient limitation, given the different nutrient utilisation traits among phytoplankton functional groups. Therefore, nutrient ratios should not be used as indicators of nutrient limitation in eutrophication assessment.LA/P/0069/2020info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A role for the small GTPases RAC1 and RAC1b in the modulation of NIS expression: potentiation of therapy with radioactive iodine in differentiated thyroid carcinoma

Introduction or Background: The Sodium Iodide Symporter (NIS) is responsible for active transport of iodide into thyroid follicular cells. The retention of its functional expression in most of the well-differentiated thyroid carcinomas (DTCs) enables the use of radioactive iodine (RAI) for treatment of metastatic disease. Still, about 30% of patients with advanced forms of DTC became refractory to RAI which makes their management very challenging. The main reason for impaired iodide uptake in refractory-DTC is the defective functional expression of NIS. Several molecular players have been described as critical for TSH-induced NIS expression, an example being the p38 mitogenic kinase. In breast cancer cells, the small GTPase RAC1 was shown to mediate the positive impact of p38 kinase activity on NIS expression. We, on the other hand, have previously shown that overexpression of RAC1b, a tumor-related splicing variant of RAC1, is associated with worse outcomes in DTC and correlates with the MAPK-activating BRAFV600E mutation, which has been related to the loss of NIS. Since RAC1 and RAC1b may act in an antagonistic fashion to regulate specific cellular responses, we asked if RAC1b would be implicated in NIS downregulation observed in DTCs. Methods Section: NIS expression levels were analyzed by RT-qPCR in a RAC1/RAC1b expression model system developed in non-transformed thyroid cell lines. A non-radioactive iodide influx assay was used to confirm the impact of RAC1-signaling on the efficacy of iodide uptake. Results Section: We demonstrate that ectopic overexpression of RAC1b is sufficient to decrease TSH-induced NIS expression, antagonizing the positive effect of RAC1 GTPase. Moreover, we clearly document, for the first time in thyroid cells, that both NIS expression and iodide uptake are downregulated upon RAC1 inhibition, supporting the role of canonical RAC1 signaling in promoting TSH-induced NIS expression. Conclusion: Our findings provide evidence that RAC1 and RAC1b signaling are implicated in the regulation of NIS expression in thyroid cells and suggest that RAC1b overexpression may be one of the mechanisms contributing to the low levels of NIS observed in some subgroups of DTCs, antagonizing RAC1 stimulatory effect on the TSH/cAMP-mediated induction of NIS expression.FCT - PTDC/BIAMOL/31787/2017N/

River damming leads to decreased phytoplankton biomass and disappearance of cyanobacteria blooms

The large Alqueva dam was built in the early 2000s in the Guadiana River (southern Portugal) and has highly controlled the freshwater flowing into the Guadiana estuary, leading to significant changes in the natural hydrological regime. To evaluate the impacts of water restriction and flow regularization on estuarine phytoplankton and their environmental variables, sampling campaigns were conducted in the Guadiana estuary throughout a 14-year period, covering different phases related to the Alqueva dam construction. Significant alterations in phytoplankton and their environmental drivers were observed. In the post-filling period, river flow became more constant throughout the year and its natural seasonal variability, with maxima in the winter and minima in the summer, was greatly reduced, leading to higher river flows in the summer and lower in the winter, in relation to the pre-filling phase. Nutrient and light availability and, hence, phytoplankton dynamics, were greatly affected. Phytoplankton abundance and biomass decreased in the post-filling phase related to a decrease in diatoms and cyanobacteria. Since cyanobacteria blooms in the Guadiana are frequently dominated by toxic species, this constitutes an improvement in water quality. However, the overall decrease in phytoplankton biomass and, specifically, the decline in diatom biomass, will have major consequences for the higher trophic levels that depend on planktonic food