Solar energy in Portugal: development perspectives based on a comparison with Germany

JEL Classification: Q42 - Alternative energy sources; Q43 - Government PolicySolar energy is one of the renewable energies that has greater potential for future development. Portugal is one of the European countries with better solar conditions, but is certainly not one of the countries that has been taking the best advantage of it. It is therefore appropriate to know why Portugal is not using and developing solar energy in accordance with its wide availability. On the other hand, Germany is using solar energy as no other country and is currently one of the leading nations in this sector. After a comparative study of the photovoltaic and solar thermal markets in Portugal and Germany, the conclusion is that the different stage of development between the two countries is largely the result of the different policies adopted. That is, the development of solar energy depends not only on the solar radiation of each country, but above all on the policies adopted to promote its development and enhance these markets. According to the findings of this comparative study and taking in consideration the trends in the solar energy sector, a set of strategic guidelines for the future development of solar industry in Portugal was defined.A energia solar é uma das energias renováveis que apresenta maior potencial de desenvolvimento futuro. Portugal é um dos países da Europa com melhores condições para a utilização da energia solar, mas não é certamente um dos países que melhor as têm aproveitado. Interessa, pois, saber porque é que Portugal não tem aproveitado a energia solar e potenciado o seu desenvolvimento de acordo com a sua vasta disponibilidade. Por outro lado, a Alemanha tem aproveitado a energia solar como nenhum outro país e é actualmente uma das nações líderes neste sector. Através de um estudo comparativo dos mercados de energia solar fotovoltaica e solar termal de Portugal e da Alemanha, concluiu-se que a diferença de desenvolvimento entre os dois países é em grande parte resultado das diferentes políticas adoptadas. Ou seja, o desenvolvimento da energia solar depende não só da radiação solar de cada país, mas sobretudo das políticas adoptadas para promover o seu desenvolvimento e dinamizar os respectivos mercados. De acordo com as conclusões deste estudo comparativo e tendo em consideração as futuras tendências do sector da energia solar, foram definidas uma série de orientações estratégicas para o futuro desenvolvimento da indústria solar em Portugal

Terapêutica Fotodinâmica Tópica como Opção de Tratamento de Doença de Bowen Periocular: Caso Clínico

Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma in situ of the eyelid and periorbital skin malignancies is common and its management is demanding. Surgical excision is considered the first-line treatment, but these techniques have limitations. Topical photodynamic therapy is currently approved for the treatment of squamous cell carcinoma in situ in other areas, but the reports of its use in this sensitive anatomic location area are scarce. Herein we report the case of a 61-year-old-man with extensive periocular Bowen disease that was treated successfully with photodynamic therapy. Photodynamic therapy may be an option as neoadjuvant or curative therapy in selected cases, especially in sensitive anatomic locations where surgery might lead to distortion of the structures or where techniques as micrographically controlled surgery are not available.O carcinoma epidermóide in situ localizado na pálpebra e região peri-ocular é comum e o seu tratamento é desafiante. A excisão cirúrgica é considerada opção terapêutica de primeira-linha, mas tem limitações. A terapia fotodinâmica tópica está atualmente aprovada para o tratamento do carcinoma epidermoide in situ em outras localizações, mas os relatos do seu uso em nesta zona anatómica são escassos. Apresentamos o caso de um homem de 61 anos, com um carcinoma epidermoide in situ de grandes dimensões localizado na região periocular tratado eficazmente com terapia fotodinâmica. A terapia fotodinâmica poderá ser uma opção terapêutica neoadjuvante ou curativa nos casos selecionados, sobretudo em áreas anatómicas complexas nas quais a cirurgia pode causar distorção das estruturas ou técnicas cirúrgicas com controlo micrográfico não estão disponíveis. &nbsp

The Olive Oil Tourism as a Development Factor in Rural Areas

The olive oil production is a socio-economic activity largely extended in the Mediterranean area and which forms the basis of the so-called “Mediterranean Diet”. Therefore, the olive oil, and all the elements related to it, has become a key element for the development of rural areas, also presenting a growing interest, in what concerns to the visit, by travelers. In this paper we present an analysis from the olive oil tourism supply perspective, in the province of Córdoba (Spain), one of the largest areas in the world of olive oil production. The main results show the increasing importance of the olive oil mills related to the tourism and the culture, in order to generate additional income as also for the commercialization of the product itself, the olive oil.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Qualidade fisiológica de sementes de arroz submetidas à solução de hipoclorito de sódio

Objetivou-se verificar a eficiência do hipoclorito de sódio (NaClO) na superação de dormência e na qualidade fisiológica de sementes de arroz. O experimento foi conduzido no Laboratório de Análise de Sementes, no Centro de Ciências Agroveterinárias da Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina (CAV/Udesc). Utilizaram-se sementes de arroz cultivar SCS122 Miura, com delineamento experimental inteiramente casualizado e quatro repetições, sendo os tratamentos: T1 – sementes dormentes imersas em NaClO; T2 – sementes com dormência superada, em NaClO; T3 – sementes dormentes, em água; T4 – sementes com dormência superada, em água. O NaClO provocou aumento da condutividade elétrica (CE) para sementes com e sem dormência de 28,77 e 26,24 µS cm-1 .g-1 respectivamente, quando comparadas à imersão em água, indicando degradação das células. Sementes com e sem dormência imersas em NaClO apresentaram, respectivamente, aumento de 6,52 e 10,54 para o índice de velocidade de germinação (IVG) em relação às dormentes em água (9,2). Para a primeira contagem de germinação, a amostra com dormência em NaClO apresentou aumento de 5% em relação à imersão em água. No teste de germinação, obteve-se incremento de 5,81% para ambas as amostras com NaClO, comparadas a sementes com dormência em água (86%). Concluiu-se que o método de imersão em NaClO e em água promoveu a superação da dormência em arroz, mas afetou o vigor das sementes no teste de CE

DESENHO DO TRABALHO E DESEMPENHO DO SERVIDOR: um estudo em uma universidade federal brasileira

A forma como as universidades públicas organizam o trabalho guarda relação com inúmeros resultados organizacionais: da satisfação pessoal ao desempenho de indivíduos, grupos e da própria organização. A características do trabalho, ou seja, a forma como o trabalho é desenhado de modo a gerar os resultados esperados de equipes e unidades organizacionais é um fenômeno que precisa receber mais atenção dos pesquisadores no campo da gestão universitária. O presente trabalho teve como objetivo caracterizar o desenho do trabalho em uma instituição universitária pública do Nordeste brasileiro, revelando como tais características se distribuem no seu interior, explorando como tais características se associam ao desempenho do servidor. Participaram do estudo 675 servidores técnico-administrativos da educação (TAEs) que responderam a um questionário online que, além de dados demográficos e ocupacionais utilizou a escala de ‘desenho do trabalho’ proposta por Morgeson e Humphrey (2006) e a escala de autoavaliação do desempenho de Queiroga, Borges-Andrade e Coelho Junior (2015). Os resultados mostram níveis mais críticos de avaliação do contexto de trabalho. Avaliações mais positivas de várias dimensões do desenho de trabalho associam-se positiva e significativamente com melhores avaliações de desempenho dos servidores. Os dados fornecem insumos para a gestão dos processos de trabalho na instituição

Engolo and Capoeira. From Ethnic to Diasporic Combat Games in the Southern Atlantic

This article provides a re-examination of the main Afrocentric narrative of capoeira origins, the engolo or ‘Zebra Dance’, in light of historical primary sources and new ethnographic evidence gathered during fieldwork in south-west Angola. By examining engolo’s bodily techniques, its socio-historical context and cultural meanings, the piece emphasises its insertion into a pastoral lifestyle and highlights the relatively narrow ethnic character of the practice in Angola. This analysis and the comparison with capoeira helps us to develop certain hypotheses about the formation, migration, and re-invention of diasporic combat games between southern Angola and coastal Brazil, and more broadly, to increase our understanding of how African cultures spread across the southern Atlantic

Height and body-mass index trajectories of school-aged children and adolescents from 1985 to 2019 in 200 countries and territories: a pooled analysis of 2181 population-based studies with 65 million participants

Summary Background Comparable global data on health and nutrition of school-aged children and adolescents are scarce. We aimed to estimate age trajectories and time trends in mean height and mean body-mass index (BMI), which measures weight gain beyond what is expected from height gain, for school-aged children and adolescents. Methods For this pooled analysis, we used a database of cardiometabolic risk factors collated by the Non-Communicable Disease Risk Factor Collaboration. We applied a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate trends from 1985 to 2019 in mean height and mean BMI in 1-year age groups for ages 5–19 years. The model allowed for non-linear changes over time in mean height and mean BMI and for non-linear changes with age of children and adolescents, including periods of rapid growth during adolescence. Findings We pooled data from 2181 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in 65 million participants in 200 countries and territories. In 2019, we estimated a difference of 20 cm or higher in mean height of 19-year-old adolescents between countries with the tallest populations (the Netherlands, Montenegro, Estonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina for boys; and the Netherlands, Montenegro, Denmark, and Iceland for girls) and those with the shortest populations (Timor-Leste, Laos, Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea for boys; and Guatemala, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Timor-Leste for girls). In the same year, the difference between the highest mean BMI (in Pacific island countries, Kuwait, Bahrain, The Bahamas, Chile, the USA, and New Zealand for both boys and girls and in South Africa for girls) and lowest mean BMI (in India, Bangladesh, Timor-Leste, Ethiopia, and Chad for boys and girls; and in Japan and Romania for girls) was approximately 9–10 kg/m2. In some countries, children aged 5 years started with healthier height or BMI than the global median and, in some cases, as healthy as the best performing countries, but they became progressively less healthy compared with their comparators as they grew older by not growing as tall (eg, boys in Austria and Barbados, and girls in Belgium and Puerto Rico) or gaining too much weight for their height (eg, girls and boys in Kuwait, Bahrain, Fiji, Jamaica, and Mexico; and girls in South Africa and New Zealand). In other countries, growing children overtook the height of their comparators (eg, Latvia, Czech Republic, Morocco, and Iran) or curbed their weight gain (eg, Italy, France, and Croatia) in late childhood and adolescence. When changes in both height and BMI were considered, girls in South Korea, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and some central Asian countries (eg, Armenia and Azerbaijan), and boys in central and western Europe (eg, Portugal, Denmark, Poland, and Montenegro) had the healthiest changes in anthropometric status over the past 3·5 decades because, compared with children and adolescents in other countries, they had a much larger gain in height than they did in BMI. The unhealthiest changes—gaining too little height, too much weight for their height compared with children in other countries, or both—occurred in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, New Zealand, and the USA for boys and girls; in Malaysia and some Pacific island nations for boys; and in Mexico for girls. Interpretation The height and BMI trajectories over age and time of school-aged children and adolescents are highly variable across countries, which indicates heterogeneous nutritional quality and lifelong health advantages and risks

Elective cancer surgery in COVID-19-free surgical pathways during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: An international, multicenter, comparative cohort study

PURPOSE As cancer surgery restarts after the first COVID-19 wave, health care providers urgently require data to determine where elective surgery is best performed. This study aimed to determine whether COVID-19–free surgical pathways were associated with lower postoperative pulmonary complication rates compared with hospitals with no defined pathway. PATIENTS AND METHODS This international, multicenter cohort study included patients who underwent elective surgery for 10 solid cancer types without preoperative suspicion of SARS-CoV-2. Participating hospitals included patients from local emergence of SARS-CoV-2 until April 19, 2020. At the time of surgery, hospitals were defined as having a COVID-19–free surgical pathway (complete segregation of the operating theater, critical care, and inpatient ward areas) or no defined pathway (incomplete or no segregation, areas shared with patients with COVID-19). The primary outcome was 30-day postoperative pulmonary complications (pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, unexpected ventilation). RESULTS Of 9,171 patients from 447 hospitals in 55 countries, 2,481 were operated on in COVID-19–free surgical pathways. Patients who underwent surgery within COVID-19–free surgical pathways were younger with fewer comorbidities than those in hospitals with no defined pathway but with similar proportions of major surgery. After adjustment, pulmonary complication rates were lower with COVID-19–free surgical pathways (2.2% v 4.9%; adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.62; 95% CI, 0.44 to 0.86). This was consistent in sensitivity analyses for low-risk patients (American Society of Anesthesiologists grade 1/2), propensity score–matched models, and patients with negative SARS-CoV-2 preoperative tests. The postoperative SARS-CoV-2 infection rate was also lower in COVID-19–free surgical pathways (2.1% v 3.6%; aOR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.36 to 0.76). CONCLUSION Within available resources, dedicated COVID-19–free surgical pathways should be established to provide safe elective cancer surgery during current and before future SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks

Elective Cancer Surgery in COVID-19-Free Surgical Pathways During the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic: An International, Multicenter, Comparative Cohort Study.

PURPOSE: As cancer surgery restarts after the first COVID-19 wave, health care providers urgently require data to determine where elective surgery is best performed. This study aimed to determine whether COVID-19-free surgical pathways were associated with lower postoperative pulmonary complication rates compared with hospitals with no defined pathway. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This international, multicenter cohort study included patients who underwent elective surgery for 10 solid cancer types without preoperative suspicion of SARS-CoV-2. Participating hospitals included patients from local emergence of SARS-CoV-2 until April 19, 2020. At the time of surgery, hospitals were defined as having a COVID-19-free surgical pathway (complete segregation of the operating theater, critical care, and inpatient ward areas) or no defined pathway (incomplete or no segregation, areas shared with patients with COVID-19). The primary outcome was 30-day postoperative pulmonary complications (pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, unexpected ventilation). RESULTS: Of 9,171 patients from 447 hospitals in 55 countries, 2,481 were operated on in COVID-19-free surgical pathways. Patients who underwent surgery within COVID-19-free surgical pathways were younger with fewer comorbidities than those in hospitals with no defined pathway but with similar proportions of major surgery. After adjustment, pulmonary complication rates were lower with COVID-19-free surgical pathways (2.2% v 4.9%; adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.62; 95% CI, 0.44 to 0.86). This was consistent in sensitivity analyses for low-risk patients (American Society of Anesthesiologists grade 1/2), propensity score-matched models, and patients with negative SARS-CoV-2 preoperative tests. The postoperative SARS-CoV-2 infection rate was also lower in COVID-19-free surgical pathways (2.1% v 3.6%; aOR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.36 to 0.76). CONCLUSION: Within available resources, dedicated COVID-19-free surgical pathways should be established to provide safe elective cancer surgery during current and before future SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks