O envelhecimento está associado a várias alterações biológicas, psicológicas e sociais que vão decorrendo ao longo da vida. A doença de Alzheimer é responsável por mais de metade dos quadros de demência e é caracterizada por um declínio progressivo das faculdades cognitivas do indivíduo. O presente estudo teve como principal objetivo identificar o impacto da doença de Alzheimer nos cuidadores informais. Especificamente, pretendeu-se identificar o perfil do cuidador, a qualidade de vida dos mesmos antes, durante e após a prestação de cuidados e perceber as diferenças entre dois grupos de cuidadores entrevistados (os que são acompanhados pelo Alzheimer Portugal e os que não têm esse apoio). Trata-se de uma pesquisa qualitativa e a amostra foi composta por 16 cuidadores informais, dos quais 9 são acompanhados pela Alzheimer Portugal – Núcleo do Ribatejo e 7 que não têm esse apoio. Foram realizados inquéritos por entrevista aos cuidadores de doentes de Alzheimer e às técnicas do Núcleo (Assistente Social e Psicóloga). A técnica utilizada para a análise de dados foi a análise de conteúdo temática. O impacto da DA nos cuidadores informais aponta para uma sobrecarga negativa na vida dos cuidadores. São referidos sentimentos de tristeza, revolta, medo, saturação e desgaste físico e psicológico. Nos últimos anos têm surgido vários estudos que indicam que as pessoas que prestam cuidados a familiares idosos (principalmente dependentes e dementes) durante longos períodos, frequentemente experienciam problemas de saúde devido à sobrecarga e desgaste prolongado. É importante o apoio e acompanhamento destes cuidadores, encontrando estratégias para cuidar do doente mas principalmente para cuidar de si, pois só assim poderá cuidar do seu familiar.

The current study reports the first occurrence and the spread of the European catfish Silurus glanis (Family: Siluridae) in the Portuguese section of the Douro River, suggesting a potential expansion of its distribution in Portugal either via westward dispersal across international rivers and/or human-assisted introductions into new reservoirs and drainages. The European catfish has unique features (e.g., opportunistic predator, hunting, and aggregation behaviour) that make it highly suitable for establishing self-sustaining populations in new areas and likely contribute to its invasion success. The species may severely affect native prey communities and modify food web structure and ecosystem functioning. Efficient and sustainable management actions are needed to prevent further introductions in the future.

Patches of natural vegetation remaining in landscapes occupied by man are continuously under threat due to the edge effects and also to land use types around these remnants. The most frequent threats and land use types in the vicinity of 81 Cerrado (tropical savanna type) fragments in the State of São Paulo, Brazil, were analyzed in order to verify if the frequency of every type of disturbance to the natural ecosystem depends on the neighboring land use. The hypothesis of the study assumes that environmental threats are correlated with land use around protected areas. From the 81 areas, the most frequent human-induced land cover types around the Cerrado remnants were: pasture (recorded in 78% of the areas), sugarcane plantations (26%), roads (19%), annual crops and reforestation (14% each). The most frequent sources of threats were invasive grasses (35% of the areas partially or totally invaded) and cattle (observed in 32% of the areas), followed by deforestation (21%), and fire (21%). The chi-square analysis revealed that, with the exception of deforestation, which does not depend on land use, all other threats are influenced by the neighboring land use. The occurrence of invasive grasses and fires are strongly favored by the presence of roads and urban areas. Sugarcane, reforestation, and permanent crops were the less impacting land use types found in the study area, when only considering impact frequency. These land use types have fire and weed control, and also exclude cattle, indirectly protecting natural ecosystems.

Harvest operations are currently the main source of mechanical injury of strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa Duch.). Experiments were designed to simulate conditions encountered during commercial handling. Individual fruits were subjected to impact or compression forces with similar energy to determine the sensitivity to mechanical injury. Bruise volume was used as the measurement of injury. Bruise severity increased as a function of impact energy for both impact types. However, dropped fruits had larger bruise volume than fruits submitted to pendulum impactor at the same energy level. Doubling the impact energy (0.040 to 0.083 J) increased bruise volume by 7 times (13 to 91 mm³). Fruits dropped from 380 mm (0.075 J) showed 71% greater bruise volume than those dropped from either 130 mm (0.025 J) or 200 mm (0.040 J). Compressed fruits showed higher bruise volume than other tests. Some cultivars are more susceptible to compression forces than others. 'Sweet Charlie' berries showed bruise volume 40% higher than the others cultivars when subjected to compression. Fruits subjected to impact showed bruise volume lower than the compressed fruits, indicating the possibility to be handled and graded in a packing line.

Bovine mastitis is the most common disease of dairy cows. To implement efficient control measures, it is generally necessary to diagnose the relevant aetiologic agents. Coagulasenegative staphylococci (CNS) and Corynebacterium spp. are considered minor mastitis pathogens because of the mild impact they have on udder health. Despite that, they are the most common agents isolated from milk samples in several large scale surveys worldwide. The objectives of this study were to evaluate if there were differences in pathogenicity between individual CNS species, to evaluate if alternative sampling or diagnostic techniques could more accurately determine in which cases the aforementioned minor pathogens were responsible for mastitis, and to determine if treatment of CNS infected quarters was a costeffective control measure. We followed 111 intramammary infections due to CNS for up to 48 weeks in four commercial dairy farms. Duration of infection had a mean of 188 days and was not significantly different between CNS species; geometric mean quarter somatic cell count (SCC) overall was 132,000 cells/ml and was also not significantly different between CNS species. There were differences in diversity between CNS species, with Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staphylococcus simulans showing less diversity than Staphylococcus haemolyticus, the epidemiological significance of which is debated. Freezing milk samples overnight at -20ºC did not increase detection of intramammary bacteria in milk samples. Use of a real-time PCR-based test allowed for detection of udder pathogens beyond the ones identified using conventional bacteriology in milk samples with a high SCC that were culture negative or that yielded CNS or Corynebacterium bovis shown by conventional bacteriology. Single quarter milk samples were collected in duplicate from 132 dairy cows in a commercial dairy farm, with the standard technique and by use of a cannula surpassing the teat canal. There was a significant difference between the two sampling techniques for recovery of Corynebacterium spp. and for culture-negative samples. The observed difference could not be attributed to a particular sampling order and no significant change was observed in quarter SCC between the sampling day and seven days later, indicating iatrogenic IMI following use of the alternative technique was not an issue. Use of a deterministic economic model allowed to determine that in most situations lactational treatment of subclinical mastitis due to CNS would result in a net financial loss, on average of €38.74 per treated quarter. Taken together, these results indicate that CNS have a low impact in terms of udder health, with little differences between individual species. Treating CNS subclinical mastitis during the lactation is not cost-efficient and should therefore not be advised. Using a RTPCR and sampling with a teat cannula might improve diagnosis of mastitis etiology.

Interactions among nitrogen (N) management and water resources quality are complex and enhanced in transboundary river basins. This is the case of Tagus River, which is an important river flowing from Spain to Portugal in the Iberian Peninsula. The aim was to provide a N assessment review along the Tagus River Basin regarding mostly agriculture, livestock, and urban activities. To estimate reactive nitrogen (Nr) load into surface waters, emission factor approaches were applied. Nr pressures are much higher in Spain than in Portugal (~13 times), which is mostly because of livestock intensification. Some policy and technical measures have been defined aiming at solving this problem. Main policy responses were the designation of Nitrate Vulnerable and Sensitive Zones, according to European Union (EU) directives. Nitrate Vulnerable Zone comprise approximately one third of both territories. On the contrary, Sensitive Zones are more extended in Spain, attaining 60% of the watershed, against only 30% in Portugal. Technical measures comprised advanced urban and industrial wastewater treatment that was designed to remove N compounds before discharge in the water bodies. Given this assessment, Tagus River Basin sustainability can only be guaranteed through load inputs reductions and effective transnational management processes of water flows

Mediterranean pastures are experiencing strong changes in management, involving shifts from sheep to cattle-based livestock systems. The impacts of such shifts on biodiversity are still poorly understood. Here, we sought to contrast the grazing regime, vegetation structure, bird species richness and abundance, between sheep and cattle grazed parcels, to understand the mechanisms through which management decisions impact farmland birds. During spring 2019, we characterized livestock management, bird populations and sward structure in 23 cattle and 27 sheep grazed parcels. We used a Structural Equation Model to infer the direct and indirect effects of sheep and cattle grazing on birds. Although no effects were found on overall species richness, there were species-specific responses to sheep and cattle grazed systems. Grazing pressure (variable integrating stocking rate and the number of days in the parcel) had negative impacts on the prevalence/abundance of Zitting Cisticola, Corn Bunting and Little Bustard, either directly or indirectly, through the effects of grazing pressure on vegetation height. Animal density and vegetation cover had direct positive effects in Galerida spp. and Common Quail, respectively. Zitting Cisticola and Little Bustard also showed a direct response to livestock type. Our study emphasizes the importance of grazing pressure as a driver of negative impacts for bird populations in Mediterranean grasslands. Since the ongoing transition from sheep to cattle-based systems involves increases in stocking rate, and therefore potentially higher grazing pressure, we propose a policy change to cap the maximum allowed grazing pressure. At the landscape scale, a mix of sheep and cattle grazed fields would be beneficial for maintaining bird diversity

A presente investigação tem por objectivo efectuar uma reflexão sobre a temática da análise do risco, como fase do planeamento operacional e de tomada de decisão, em termos sociológicos e policiais. Na primeira vertente analisam-se os riscos que caracterizam as sociedades modernas e que justificam a necessidade de se efectuarem análises de risco. Na segunda vertente apresentam-se vários modelos de análise de risco, nacionais e internacionais, militares e policiais. Pretende-se caracterizar o modo como a análise de risco é trabalhada na PSP e quais as dificuldades dos elementos policiais que executam esse trabalho de análise. A metodologia da investigação reparte-se entre uma componente teórica, em que é adoptado um método descritivo/expositivo e, uma componente prática com a realização de um inquérito, realizado através da aplicação de um questionário electrónico, que foi remetido aos responsáveis operacionais dos Núcleos de Operações/Informações e das Divisões Policiais, da DN/PSP, UEP e Comandos territoriais da PSP. A hipótese que formulámos foi a de que, com base na nossa experiência profissional, a actividade de análise de risco, no planeamento de operações policiais de segurança, de fiscalização, de busca, ou outras, não é efectuada, ou sendo-o, é de forma empírica, não estruturada e sem cumprir metodologia cientifica. Da análise dos resultados do questionário que foi aplicado concluímos que a hipótese formulada estava correcta, pois a maioria dos inquiridos considera que a análise de risco na sua Unidade/Comandos é suficiente, há necessidades de formação, embora considerem importante a análise de risco no planeamento operacional.

Cerebral palsy enforces multiples challenges to parents carers. Therefore, the present study has as its main objective to understand the impact that cerebral palsy has on the life of parents carers, identifying the difficulties perceived over time. Six semi-structured joint interviews were conducted with mothers-carers of children and adolescents with cerebral palsy, aged between 30 and 50 years. After the thematic analysis carried out on the collected data, the results were divided into five central themes: (1) discovery of the diagnosis, (2) care delivery, (3) treatments and rehabilitation, (4) family relationships, and (5) worries about the future. The experience of discovering the diagnosis was marked by uncertainty in the pre-diagnosis period and by the emotional impact when discovering cerebral palsy, specially the shock reaction. After confirming the diagnosis of cerebral palsy, some mothers-carers found it difficult to recognize the diagnosis. According to the interviewees' perception, the demands resulting from cerebral palsy are continuous, articulating with other tensions experienced at the moment, and can lead to constant concern and care and also to different repercussions at a physical, professional, personal and family level. The future is perceived with fear and uncertainty about how the child with cerebral palsy will live. Thus, the present study contributes to the understanding of the experience of cerebral palsy and to the discovery of the main difficulties experienced by parents-carers, so that it is possible, in the future, to reduce these same difficulties.

Este estudo examina os motivos que levam fornecedores de outsourcing a mudar o modo como executam este negócio com a introdução de Delivery Center's (DC's), os desafios e os riscos que enfrentam e o impacto dessa mudança. Este estudo baseia-se num caso transversal exploratório. Os dados foram recolhidos através de entrevistas e questionários. Os resultados obtidos mostram a existência de uma relação entre os objectivos e expectativas do negócio de outsourcing e da introdução dos DC's e que a redução de custos é o factor principal. A introdução de DC's no negócio de outsourcing afecta negativamente as equipas locais, bem como a qualidade de serviço.