In the context of a retrospective investigation about the various outbreaks occurred in Portugal during the first half of the twentieth century (bubonic plague, epidemic typhus, smallpox and pneumonic influenza), the author analyzes in this paper the problem of the bubonic plague.Official statistics provide data on the plague only for the period 1930-1949, period of time when this nosological entity persisted only in the Azores, which will be the subject of this study. The Azores islands suffered outbreaks in 1931 and 1932, which entered an endemic phase, and ended with deaths from the plague in 1950.The author analyzes the occurrence of the plague in the Azores addressing the following parameters: the epidemic’s evolution over the years, distribution of deaths by gender, age groups, months of the year and affected districts.

Introduction: Gestational diabetes (GD) is a frequent complication in pregnancy. There is evidence of an association between maternal hyperglycemia and the risk of obstetric andneonatal complications. The concern with early diagnosis hasallowed, among others, to reduce these complications. Horta Hospital has perceived with concern, a persistenthigher disease prevalence comparing to national data. Thegoal of this study was to characterize the population with GDfollowed and with delivery in the hospital in 2021. Methods: Retrospective study of pregnant women with GDfollowed in medical appointment and pregnant women with GD that delivered in this hospital. Data were collected from the hospital computer register and recorded in a database. Demographic and clinical characteristics of the pregnant women were analyzed, as well as the characteristics of the babies born from these pregnancies. Results: Of all women who gave birth at hospital, 35% hada diagnosis of GD. In this group, 58% were from 30 to 39 yearsold. Pregnant women with GD that were followed in medicalappointment, had 35% BMI of obesity, 35% overweight, and the remaining 30% had normal weight. Family history of diabetes mellitus (DM) was present in 36% of pregnant women, and 35% had GD in a previous pregnancy. Conclusion: The prevalence of GD in this institution remainshigher than data from mainland Portugal, showing the importance of increased attention to these pregnant women, in order to reduce the risk of complications. Although not enough data were collected to draw conclusions about possible causes for these results disparity, it is essential to do further investigation.

Introdução: O uso inapropriado dos serviços de urgência,com todas as consequências negativas para os sistemas desaúde, é um fenómeno generalizado multifactorial e com tendência crescente. Métodos: Para conhecer a nossa realidade fizemos um estudo do comportamento do utilizador do serviço de urgência do Hospital da Horta através de um inquérito, tendo sido analisados 463 casos, representando 6,5% de todos os episódios do período de estudo, dos quais 44% eram do género masculino e 56% feminino e dois terços dos quais tinham idades entre 24 e os 66 anos. Resultados: Com base na triagem de Manchester 60% dos inquiridos foram classificados não urgentes (Verdes, Azuise Brancos). Apenas 5% tinha contactado a linha Saúde24 e só 12% tentou consulta no médico de família. Conclusão: Os motivos principais pela opção hospitalar foram a auto percepção de urgência clínica, a busca na celeridade do Serviço de Urgência para resolução do problema, o menor tempo de espera no atendimento, a maior probabilidade de acesso a um especialista hospitalar e/ou a exames diagnósticos e a uma expectativa de maior qualidade no serviço prestado.

In the European Union (EU) there are nine outermost regions (ORs), among which are the Autonomous Region of the Azores (ARA) and the Autonomous Region of Madeira (ARM). The ORs have several specificities that limit their economic and social development, but their strategic importance is significant compared to the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), so it is important to know. The aim of this paper is to deepen the knowledge and describe the evolution of the business sector in the ARA and ARM. Through a descriptive study using secondary data published by the Serviço Regional de Estatística dos Açores [the Azores Regional Statistics Service], Direção Regional de Estatística da Madeira [Madeira Regional Directorate of Statistics] and Instituto Nacional de Estatística [the National Statistical Institute], it was possible to verify that in the ARA and ARM between 2008 and 2017 there was initially a regression in the number of companies and a later recovery until 2017. In the ARA the total number of companies in 2017 still does not equal the number of 2008. In addition, in both regions, the total number of small, medium and large companies in 2017 still do not add up to the figures for 2008. As for the legal form, in the ARA individual companies show a decrease in their expression, while in the ARM the trend is reversed. Regarding the sectors of economic activity, there were some variations over this period, in both regions, namely the construction sector has been decreasing its expression and the accommodation, catering and similar sector has increased its expression in relation to the overall number of companies evidencing a paradigm shift.

Background. The hypothesis that breasteeding has a protectve effect in childhood obesity is not new; however, controversial results have been published. Since the Azores reported the lowest rate of breasteeding in Portugal and a high prevalence of childhood obesity, it becomes important to understand whether these facts are related or not. Objectves. To investgate the relatonship between breasteeding and childhood obesity in a populaton of Azorean children. Material and methods. A cross-sectonal study was carried out on 183 Azorean children between 5–10 years of age between September and December 2016. The weight and height of the children were measured at the consultaton and other variables were investgated through a questonnaire. The associaton between breasteeding and childhood obesity was tested using logistc regression models. Results. 18.6% of the children were obese and 74.3% were breasted. The exclusive breasteeding rate at 6 months was 3.3%. Complementary breasteeding was present in 39.3% at 6 months and 7.1% at 2 years. Obese children were breasted less tme than non-obesechildren, suggestng a dose-effect relatonship (p = 0.025). We found a signifcant and independent relatonship between infant obesity and total tme of breasteeding (RR = 0.906; 95% CI [0.842, 0.974]; p = 0.008), physical actvity (RR = 0.883; 95% CI [0.801, 0.972]; p = 0.012) and maternal nutritonal status (RR = 3.452; 95% CI [1.361, 8.755]; p = 0.009). Conclusions. Breasteeding and physical actvity behaved as protectve factors for childhood obesity, while the nutritonal status of the mother acted as a risk factor. Childhood obesity is a current problem in the Azores, and breasteeding can be an effectve, simple and affordable tool to reduce this.

Em pleno século XXI, caracterizado pelo impacto generalizado das tecnologias digitais, torna-se imperativo que a Escola, na prossecução da sua missão, integre ferramentas e estratégias pedagógicas inovadoras para promover nos alunos conhecimentos, capacidades e atitudes que lhes proporcionem uma cidadania plena. Assim, os RED assumem um papel preponderante na potencialização do processo de ensino-aprendizagem, conforme sustentado pela literatura científica e recomendado pelos organismos governamentais. Esta investigação visa aprofundar a compreensão sobre a relação dos professores do 3.º ciclo do ensino básico e do ensino secundário do sistema educativo da RAA com os RED, permitindo aos seus diferentes atores fundamentar ações de melhoria, a nível dos processos de administração e organização da aprendizagem escolar, da capacitação dos docentes e da resolução de desafios profissionais. Os participantes evidenciaram um amplo reconhecimento da relevância dos RED, um uso frequente destes e motivação para aperfeiçoarem as suas competências digitais, apesar das barreiras externas identificadas.

Rain chemistry has been the subject of extensive research over the last few decades in order to determine the geochemical mechanisms that control the water composition (e.g., Négrel et al., 2007). In the present work rain samples were collected at Furnas and Fogo volcanoes, located in São Miguel (Fig.1a), in order to characterize the chemical fingerprint of the rainwaters and to investigate a possible interaction with fumarolic gases. The collected samples are plotted along the seawater dilution line in the Na+ vs. Cl- binary plot (Fig.1b). Despite the fact that some samples are close to the line, showing the influence of marine aerosols, the majority, with the exception of CRQ, depict an enrichment in Cl-, representing a local chlorine source (Fig.1b). The chlorine enrichment presented by CC is accompanied by an increment in SO4 2- (Fig.1c), which can be attributed to a volcanogenic origin (Madonia & Liotta, 2009). On the other hand, the other samples show a small increment of Cl-, which can be attributed to the fumarolic contribution, to a third source contribution (e.g., anthropogenic) or to the Cl or Na+ fractionation. The remaining sample show an increment in sodium, which can be attributed to the influence of dust particles. In order to decipher the chemical complexity of the rainwaters the sea salts and terrestrial component were calculated. Sodium was used as a reference element for the sea salt component. The marine origin ranges from 11.5 to 100 % for Cl-, 4.7 to 100 % for SO4 2-, 4.4 to 35.1 % for Ca2+, 64.2 to 90.6 % for Mg2+ and 10.3 to 48.2 % for K+. This demonstrates not only the influence of marine aerosols over the chemistry of these waters, but also the importance of other sources such as fumarolic fluids and mineral dust. Most of the rainwater samples have 87Sr/86Sr that vary from 0.70849 to 0.71027 (Fig.1d) similar or slightly higher than that of the seawater (87Sr/86Sr=0.70918 ± 1; Faure and Mensing, 2005), suggesting that sea salts are the main source of the strontium isotopic ratios. Results are within the range of values presented by rainwater in mainland Portugal (87Sr/86Sr = 0.708965 ± 31 – 0.710345 ± 38; Ribeiro et al., 2014). One sample deviates from these values, exhibiting a lower strontium isotopic ratio (0.70701). This sample is exposed to the fumarolic fluids, which are mainly composed of steam water (e.g., Caliro et al., 2015). The boiling pools that produce the steam have strontium isotopic values ranging from 0.705408 (Caldeira Asmodeu) to 0.705432 (Caldeira Grande; Ferreira et al., 2023). This confirms that the sample results from the mixture between rainwater and fumarolic fluids (Fig.1d), as interpreted from the main elemental hydrogeochemical data.

This study focused on 13 water samples collected from two of the main active volcanoes (Furnas and Fogo) at São Miguel, Azores. Based on the major element composition, the waters are classified into Na-HCO3 and Na-Cl types. While the concentrations of chloride seem to reflect the contribution of sea salt aerosols, the behavior of the main cationic species and Sr in the analyzed waters appear to have been largely controlled by the interaction between meteoric waters and the underlying bedrock. The temperature and input of CO2 from the secondary volcanic activity are enhancing the silicate leaching. The stable isotopic data show that these waters have a meteoric origin (δ18O = −2.03 to −4.29‰; δ2H = −7.6 to −17.4‰) and are influenced by a deep hydrothermal/volcanic carbon source (δ13C = −4.36 to −7.04‰). The values of δ34S (0.13 to 12.76‰) reflects a juvenile sulfur source derived from the leaching of volcanic rocks. The Sr isotopic ratios show a slight difference between the values from Furnas (87Sr/86Sr = 0.705235–0.705432) and Fogo (87Sr/86Sr = 0.705509–0.707307) whereas the Furnas waters are less radiogenic. The Sr isotope also shows that the hydrochemical signatures of the groundwater was controlled by the rock leaching, and the samples Furnas reached water-rock isotopic equilibrium.

Information and knowledge about the patterns of activity in pelagic sharks, especially in blue shark (Prionace glauca), are quite limited. Since this species is the most abundant pelagic shark, with global distribution and commercial value, it is important to collect data on this species. There is a difficulty in collecting data, even with the use of accelerometers, because the huge amount of data generated is difficult to be transmitted via satellite. Given this situation, the present study seeks to find an alternative that allows the collection of data for longer periods than usually used when using accelerometers. For this, three blue sharks were marked using the tag Trident, which incorporates an accelerometer, and the tag PSAT-ATS, which combines satellite technology Argos and Wild Computers, eliminating the need for physical recovery of the device. This double marking is used to analyze the data collection and transmission capability of the PSAT-ATS tag and to compare the activity and Overall Dynamic body acceleration (ODBA) data. The results showed that there is a low correlation between the data obtained by both methodologies. The use of a PSAT-ATS tag instead of an accelerometer in blue shark research is feasible as long as it is aligned with research goals and priorities. The choice should be made based on the specific data required, budget considerations and ethics, and should be driven by the project objectives.