Tradition and change in the built space of Yemen: the description of a process as observed in the former Yemen Arab republic between 1970 and 1990

Built space In Yemen is observed through the forms taken from the earliest phases of the process of building and dwelling In an agricultural territory to the Increasingly complex expressions of settling and developing urban structures, before and after the Republican Revolution of 1962. The Revolution is seen as a turning point in building methods and attitudes; and the twenty years that followed the consolidation of the Republican regime in 1970 exuberantly illustrate the results of the country’s consequent exposure to an industrial culture hitherto unknown. The manifestations of pre-Revolution times and those taking shape in the subsequent twenty years are approached from parallel points of view. The later period, however, includes not only a study of built form but also the declared intentions for planning growth and conservation within the environment as a whole. Disruption appears as a consequence of cultural change and the mitigation of its effect as a government responsibility. Consolidated forms of domestic architecture are studied and a basic distribution pattern of regional variations is proposed. New approaches in the process of building may be creating original idioms and radicalising economic and stylistic differences between the urban and the rural contexts. An attempt is made to identify meaningful trends

Tradition stereotypes and cultural resistance through building forms: the case of Yemen

Malha Urbana: Revista Lusófona de UrbanismoAté Maio de 1990 o que é hoje a República do Yemen dividia-se entre dois estados separados: a República Árabe do Yemen também conhecida como Yemen do Norte e a República Popular Democrática do Yemen, ou Yemen do Sul. A Reunificação implicou uma complexa e delicada distribuição de poderes em que o presidente do Yemen do Norte ficava o presidente do novo país e o presidente do Yemen do Sul o seu vice-presidente. Isto era um acordo difícil de se aguentar e em pouco tempo o vice presidente chefiou uma tentativa de secessão que levou a uma curta Guerra civil ganha pelo presidente estabelecido.A partir daí a intenção óbvia de criar um carácter nacional homogéneo manifestou-se em acções como a transfusão da população do sul para norte e vice-versa. Do ponto de vista específico de uma gramática arquitectónica, um dos aspectos mais evidentes para um visitante agora é a difusão de estereótipos característicos das cidades do norte e que parece estarem a ser muito bem aceites, por muito estranhos que apareçam no tecido consolidado pelas maneiras próprias de construir no sul. Percebe-se que se apresentam como uma versão deste tempo de um “Estilo Yemenita” que é suposto sobrepor-se à enorme variedade de tradições regionais de construção, tal como foram documentadas por este autor em publicações anteriores.Contudo isto não é uma regra geral; e um caso exemplar é o do Hadramaute onde uma sólida tradição de construção em terra ao serviço de uma linguagem arquitectónica com uma forte identidade não perdeu nenhum do seu vigor. Isto pode-se explicar por várias razões mas há uma que é abertamente expressa: o sentido de identidade dos Hadramitas e a resistência que parecem opor a quaisquer influências que ameacem a relativa independência que mantiveram ao longo da sua história.Este artigo tenta ilustrar o confronto entre os estereótipos do que deseja ser uma representação de “arquitectura nacional” e os sinais identitários de formas e técnicas, umas consolidadas outras em evolução, tal como se observaram numa área significativa do Hadramaute durante o trabalho de campo levado a cabo em 2006.Until May 1990 the present day Yemen Republic was divided into two separate states: the Yemen Arab Republic also known as North Yemen and the People‟s Democratic Republic of Yemen, or South Yemen. The Re-unification involved a fairly complex and delicate balance of power where the president of North Yemen became the president of the new country and the president of South Yemen its vice-president. This agreement was hard to maintain and, shortly after, an attempt at secession led by the vice-president ended with the victory of the established president of the country. From there on, the obvious intention of homogenising a national character took such forms as the transfusion of southern population to the north and vice versa. From the specific point of view of architectural idioms one of the aspects that strikes the visitor in the present is the diffusion of stereotypes that were characteristically northern and urban, to most of the southern half and which seem to have been gladly accepted however alien they might appear in the architectural fabrics consolidated by their own ways of building until then. They tend to be presented as the contemporary version of a “Yemeni Style” which is supposed to overlay the enormous variety of regional traditions of building, as they were documented by this author in previous published surveys. Yet this is not always the rule; and one case in point is that of the Hadhramawt where a solid tradition of earth construction at the service of an architectural language with a strong identity has not lost any of its vigour. This may be explained by a variety of reasons but one, at least, is openly expressed: the Hadhramis sense of identity and the resistance they seem to oppose to influences that may be a threat to the relative independence they have maintained throughout their history. This article attempts to illustrate the confrontation between the stereotypes of what appears to be intended as a representation of “national architecture” and the identity traits of forms and techniques, both consolidated and in evolution, as they were observed throughout a significant area of the Hadhramawt during a field survey undertaken in the year 2006

Spatial and temporal variation of fungal endophytic richness and diversity associated to the phyllosphere of olive cultivars

Fungal endophytes are micro-organisms that colonize healthy plant tissues without causing disease symptoms. They are described as plant growth and disease resistance promoters and have shown antimicrobial activity. The spatial-temporal distribution of endophytic communities in olive cultivars has been poorly explored. This study aims to investigate the richness and diversity of endophytic fungi in different seasons and sites, within the Alentejo region, Portugal. Additionally, and because the impact of some pathogenic fungi (e.g. Colletotrichum spp.) varies according to olive cultivars; three cultivars, Galega vulgar, Cobrançosa and Azeiteira, were sampled. 1868 fungal isolates were identified as belonging to 26 OTUs; 13 OTUs were identified to the genera level and 13 to species level. Cultivar Galega vulgar and season autumn showed significant higher values in terms of endophytic richness and diversity. At site level, Elvas showed the lowest fungal richness and diversity of fungal endophytes. This study reinforces the importance of exploring the combined spatio-temporal distribution of the endophytic biodiversity in different olive cultivars. Knowledge about endophytic communities may help to better understand their functions in plants hosts, such as their ecological dynamics with pathogenic fungi, which can be explored for their use as biocontrol agents

Antagonistic activity of fungi of Olea europaea L. against Colletotrichum acutatum

Fungi naturally present in olive trees were isolated, identified and tested for their potential to be used as biological agents against C. acutatum, the causal agent of anthracnose, one of the most important olive diseases. Antagonistic activity and effect of their secondary metabolites was evaluated through dual culture growth, agar-diffusion and volatile tests. A total of 14 isolates were identified from olive leaves, 12 belonged to genera Alternaria, Epicoccum, Fusarium, Aspergillus, Anthinium, Chaetomium, Diaporthe, Nigrospora, 1 to family Xylariaceae and 1 was unclassified. The most frequent isolates, composing half of the isolates identified, belonged to genera Alternaria, Fusarium or to species Epicoccum nigrum. All fungal isolates, when grown in dual culture, showed some inhibitory action over the growth of C. acutatum. Maximum inhibition was observed with A. niger (86.3%), N. oryzae (66.7%) and the unclassified endophyte (68.6%). Volatiles tests showed that all fungal isolates produced volatiles that caused similar inhibition rates of C. acutatum growth. Significant differences on C. acutatum growth inhibition were obtained when agar diffusible tests were performed, where only 5 fungal isolates caused C. acutatum growth inhibition: Alternaria sp. isolate 2 (26.8%), the fungus from Xylariaceae family (14.3%), Alternaria sp. isolate 1 (10.7%); Diaporthe sp. (10.7%), Nigrospora oryzae (3.5%). Volatile substances produced by these different isolates were identified through gas chromatography techniques, as phenylethyl alcohol, 4-methylquinazoline, benzothiazole, benzyl alcohol, lilial, galaxolide, among others. These inhibitory volatiles could play a significant role in reduction of C. acutatum expansion in olive and their study as potential biocontrol agents should be further explored. This would be of great interest to meet one of the main concerns of public health that is the excess of chemical fungicides on crop plants.Inalentejo ALENT-07-0324- FEDER-001747, OPERAC¸ ÃO: Gestão Integrada da Protec¸ ão do Olival Alentejano. Contributos para o seu desenvolvimento e implementac¸ ão. Carla Marisa R. Varanda is recipient of a PhD fellowship from Fundac¸ ão para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), SFRH/BPD/76194/2011, financed by QREN – POPH – Typology 4.1—co-financed by MES national funding and the European Social Fund. This work has been supported by FEDER and National funds, through the Programa Operacional Regional do Alentejo (InAlentejo) Operation ALENT-07-0262-FEDER-001871/Laboratório de Biotecnologia Aplicada e Tecnologias Agro-Ambientais

Spatial and temporal variation of fungal endophytic richness and diversity associated to the phyllosphere of olive cultivars

Fungal endophytes are micro-organisms that colonize healthy plant tissues without causing disease symptoms. They are described as plant growth and disease resistance promoters and have shown antimicrobial activity. The spatial-temporal distribution of endophytic communities in olive cultivars has been poorly explored. This study aims to investigate the richness and diversity of endophytic fungi in different seasons and sites, within the Alentejo region, Portugal. Additionally, and because the impact of some pathogenic fungi (e.g. Colletotrichum spp.) varies according to olive cultivars; three cultivars, Galega vulgar, Cobrançosa and Azeiteira, were sampled. 1868 fungal isolates were identified as belonging to 26 OTUs; 13 OTUs were identified to the genera level and 13 to species level. Cultivar Galega vulgar and season autumn showed significant higher values in terms of endophytic richness and diversity. At site level, Elvas showed the lowest fungal richness and diversity of fungal endophytes. This study reinforces the importance of exploring the combined spatio-temporal distribution of the endophytic biodiversity in different olive cultivars. Knowledge about endophytic communities may help to better understand their functions in plants hosts, such as their ecological dynamics with pathogenic fungi, which can be explored for their use as biocontrol agents

Effect of long-term fungicide applications on virulence and diversity of Colletotrichum spp. Associated to olive anthracnose

In this study, the presence and variability of Colletotrichum spp. was evaluated by comparing fungal isolates obtained from olive trees under long-time phytosanitary treatments with trees without any phytosanitary treatments (treated and untreated, respectively). Olive fruits of trees of the highly susceptible ‘Galega vulgar’ cultivar growing in the Alentejo region were used as samples. From the 210 olive trees sampled (half from treated and half from untreated orchards), 125 (59.5%) presented Colletotrichum spp., with a significant lower number of infected trees in treated (39) when compared to untreated orchards (86). The alignment and analysis of beta-tubulin (tub2), glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), actin (ACT), chitin synthase (CHS-1) and histone H3 (HIS-3) gene sequences allowed the identification of all 125 isolates as belonging to the C. acutatum complex. The vast majority of the isolates (124) were identified as C. nymphaeae and one isolate, from an untreated tree, was identified as C. godetiae. Isolates were divided into five different groups: Group A: 39 isolates from treated trees matched in 100% with C. nymphaeae sequences from the database; Group B: 76 isolates from untreated trees matched in 100% with C. nymphaeae sequences from the database; Group C: one isolate from untreated trees presenting a single nucleotidic difference in the HIS-3 sequence; Group D: eight isolates from untreated trees presenting differences in two nucleotides in the tub2 sequences that changed the protein structure, together with differences in two specific nucleotides of the GAPDH sequences; Group E: one isolate, from untreated olive trees, matched 100% with C. godetiae sequences from the database in all genes. Considering the similarities of the sampled areas, our results show that the long-time application of fungicides may have caused a reduction in the number of olive trees infected with Colletotrichum spp. but an increase in the number of fruits positive to Colletotrichum spp. within each tree, which may suggest different degrees of virulence of Colletotrichum isolates from trees growing different management regimes. It is imperative that the fungicides described as causing resistance are applied at appropriate times and intervals, since their efficiency decreases when applied incorrectly and new and more virulent species may arise

New Perspectives for olive anthracnose control

The olive tree (Olea europaea L.) is affected by several diseases, including anthracnose, a disease of major concern in most olive-producing countries, that is able to destroy an entire production. Olive anthracnose is caused by diverse species of Colletotrichum; in Portugal, most of them belong to Colletotrichum acutatum complexes. Our studies have addressed many aspects of olive and Colletotrichum spp. interactions such as: 1) Colletotrichum spp. colonization and primary infection in olive trees of three important olive cultivars, ‘Galega vulgar’, ‘Cobrançosa’, and ‘Azeiteira’; 2) spatial and temporal distribution of endophytic communities in olive cultivars with different degrees of susceptibility to anthracnose; 3) level of infection and variability of Colletotrichum spp. isolated from fruits of the major Portuguese olive cultivar ‘Galega vulgar’ grown under different modes of management. Our results showed that C. godetiae was detected in Alentejo for the first time and that C. nymphaeae is the key pathogen in olive anthracnose in Alentejo. We also verified that the cultivar 'Galega vulgar’ presents a significant higher number of infected trees and higher percentages of infected organs when compared to ‘Azeiteira’ and ‘Cobrançosa’. Our results showing that one particular isolate of C. nymphaeae was present in different organs of the same tree, suggest that the fungus may travel from the stems to other parts of the plant in a systemic movement. In addition, spatial-temporal analysis of endophytic communities showed that cultivar ‘Galega vulgar’ and season autumn present significant higher values in terms of fungal richness and diversity. Lastly, our advances suggest that the application of fungicides may have increased the selection pressure of Colletotrichum spp., since we observed that the fungicide treatment decreases the number of trees positive to Colletotrichum spp., but those that remain positive show a higher number of fruits infected. Overall, our results show the different impact anthracnose has in different olive cultivars and the importance of developing alternative strategies for the effective and timely management of the disease, in order to change the use of unnecessary fungicide applications that no longer show effect on many emerging resistant and highly virulent Colletotrichum spp. isolates

Aplicabilidade das equações de referência para o teste de caminhada de seis minutos em adultos e idosos saudáveis de um município do estado de São Paulo

O teste de caminhada de seis minutos (TC6) tem sido considerado simples, seguro, de fácil administração, além de fornecer resultados representativos sobre atividades habituais do dia a dia. Os objetivos do estudo foram avaliar e comparar a distância percorrida no TC6 com as distâncias previstas por equações disponíveis na literatura científica em adultos e idosos saudáveis do município de São Carlos (SP), e verificar a aplicabilidade dessas equações nessa população. Foram avaliados 43 indivíduos (23 homens), dos 55 aos 78 anos, por meio da avaliação física, espirometria e do TC6. Observamos que a distância percorrida no TC6 foi significativamente (teste t-pareado: pThe six-minute walk test (6MWT) has been considered simple, safe, easy administration, and provide representative results about normal activities of day-to-day. The objective of the study was to evaluate and compare the 6-min walk distance (6MWD) with predicted distance by reference equations available in the scientific literature in healthy elderly adults, and to verify the applicability of these reference equations in this population. Forty-three elderly adults apparently healthy (23 males) between 55 to 78 years old were assessed by means of general physical assessment, the spirometry and 6MWT. The 6MWT was performed twice, with 30-min interval between them. The 6MWD was significantly (paired t-test: pEl test de marcha de seis minutos (TM6) es considerado simple, seguro y de fácil administración, además de entregar resultados representativos sobre actividades habituales del día a día. Los objetivos del estudio fueron evaluar y comparar la distancia recorrida en el TM6 con las distancias previstas por ecuaciones disponibles en la literatura científica en adultos y adultos mayores saludables del municipio de Sao Carlos/SP, y verificar la aplicabilidad de esas ecuaciones en esta población. Fueron evaluados 43 individuos (23 hombres), entre los 55 a los 78 años, por medio de evaluación física, espirometría y del TM6. Observamos que la distancia recorrida en el TM6 fue significativamente (test t-pareado:

Canopy management through crop forcing impacts grapevine cv. ‘Touriga Nacional’ performance, ripening and berry metabolomics profile

Climate changes are speeding up the maturation of grapes in numerous areas of the world, including in the Mediterranean basin, but warmer temperatures often uncouple technical and phenolic maturity, resulting in unbalanced wines. We tested the efficacy of crop forcing (CF) in delaying the maturation of cv. ‘Touriga Nacional’ vines of the Douro Region, and their impacts on plant performance, berry quality attributes and metabolome were also evaluated. In two consecutive seasons (2019 and 2020), CF was conducted 15 (CF1) and 30 (CF2) days after fruit set by hedging growing shoots to five nodes and removing summer laterals, leaves and clusters. Results showed that while CF2 delayed ripening up to 51 days till first autumn rainfall, which compromised optimal sugar ripeness, CF1 delayed the technical maturation by one month, but both treatments severely impacted the production, mainly CF1, which reduced grapevine yield up to 90 %. The effect of CF in protecting vines against drought stress was not evident, judging by the values of leaf pre-dawn water potential measured along both seasons. CF1 and CF2 resulted in berries with lower pH and higher titratable acidity than controls, while total phenolics content increased by up to 48 % in 2020. A UPLC–MS-based targeted metabolomic analysis showed that CF increased the relative abundance of key metabolites like flavan-3-ols (i.e., catechin gallate increased by up to 661 %), trihydroxylated anthocyanins (i.e., delphinidin-3-O-glucoside increased by up to 656 % after CF2) and stilbenes (resveratrol increased by up to 700 % after CF2) with potential positive impacts in wine quality

Comparison of two methods of equine bone marrow aspiration and two solutions for mononuclear cell isolation

O objetivo do presente estudo foi avaliar a concentração e viabilidade da fração de células mononucleares (FCM) a partir de diferentes técnicas de colheita e processamento de medula óssea (MO) em equinos. Foram avaliados cinco equinos adultos, hígidos e sem raça definida. Obtiveram-se frações de medula óssea (MO) do osso esterno, de acordo com dois protocolos: na colheita A, utilizou-se 10mL de solução de heparina dentro da seringa e em seguida, aspirou-se a MO; na colheita B, 10mL de solução de heparina foi injetada na MO e a aspiração foi realizada após 20 segundos. Todos os animais foram submetidos aos dois protocolos de colheitas, realizadas em sequência, sem intervalo entre os dois procedimentos. Após isolamento da fração de células mononucleares (FCM), das amostras de MO obtidas nas colheitas A e B, cada amostra foi dividida em dois tubos, um contendo solução de DMEM e outro contendo PBS. Assim, alternando-se o tipo de colheita e a solução diluidora, obteve-se quatro tubos de amostras por animal. Os tubos foram centrifugados e os sedimentos foram homogeneizados nos respectivos meios obtendo-se o volume final de 100μL. Realizou-se determinação da concentração e viabilidade celular, obtendo-se as concentrações médias de FCM. Para ambos os meios de diluição, a colheita B apresentou valor numérico maior em comparação à colheita A, porém não foi significativo (p>0,05). Atribui-se tal tendência à menor ocorrência de coagulação da MO no momento da colheita B, sugerindo-se melhor aproveitamento da FCM. Não houve diferença (p>0,05) entre os meios DMEM ou PBS, indicando que os mesmos não alteraram a viabilidade celular. Os protocolos utilizados para colheita de MO e separação da FCM se mostraram eficientes, para o uso em terapia celular em equinos.The aim of this study was to evaluate mononuclear cells fraction (MCF) concentration and viability from different techniques of bone marrow (BM) aspiration and processing in horses. Five adult horses, healthy and of unknown breed were evaluated. BM was obtained from sternum bone, according two protocols: in aspiration A, 10mL of heparin solution was used inside the syringe and BM was aspirated; in aspiration B, 10mL of heparin solution was injected into the BM, and aspiration was done after 20 seconds. All the animals were submitted by both protocols realized in sequence, without a gap between the procedures. After MCF isolation, of BM samples obtained from A and B aspiration, each sample was divided into two tubes; one contained DMEM solution and the other with PBS solution. Therefore, interchanging the aspiration protocol and the dilution solution, four sample tubes were obtained for each horse. The tubes were centrifuged and the pellet was homogenized with the respectively solution to obtain the final volume of 100μL. Cellular concentration and viability were determined to obtain the FCM medium concentration. For both solutions, the aspiration B had higher numeric values comparing with aspiration A; however, it was not significant (p>0.05). This tendency is attribute for the less BM coagulation observed in the aspiration B, suggesting greater improvement of MCF. No difference (p>0.05) was found between DMEM and PBS solution, indicating that both do not alter the cell viability. The protocols used for BM aspiration and MCF isolation were efficient for application in equine cellular therapy