Pine wilt disease and the pinewood nematode

Pine wilt disease (PWD) is one of the most damaging events affecting conifer forests (in particular Pinus spp.), in the Far East (Japan, China and Korea), North America (USA and Canada) and, more recently, in the European Union (Portugal). In Japan it became catastrophic, damaging native pine species (Pinus thunbergii and P. densiflora), and becoming the main forest problem, forcing some areas to be totally replaced by other tree species. The pine wilt nematode (PWN) Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, endemic, with minor damage, to North America, was introduced in Japan in the early XX century and then spread to Asia (China and Korea) in the 1980s. In 1999 it was detected for the first time in Portugal, where, due to timely detection and immediate government action, it was initially (1999-2008) contained to a small area 30 km SE of Lisbon. In 2008, the PWN spread again to central Portugal, the entire country now being classified as “affected area”. Being an A1 quarantine pest, the EU acted to avoid further PWN spreading and to eradicate it, by actions including financial support for surveyes and eradication, annual inspections and research programs. Experience from control actions in Japan included aerial spraying of insecticides to control the insect vector (the Cerambycid beetle Monochamus alternatus), injection of nematicides to the trunk of infected trees, slashing and burning of large areas out of control, beetle traps, biological control and tree breeding programs. These actions allowed some positive results, but also unsuccessful cases due to the PWN spread and virulence. Other Asian countries also followed similar strategies, but the nematode is still spreading in many regions. In Portugal, despite lower damage than Asia, PWD is still significant with high losses to the forestry industry. New ways of containing PWD include preventing movement of contaminated wood, cutting symptomatic trees and monitoring. Despite a national and EU legislative body, no successful strategy to control and eventually eradicate the nematode and the disease will prevail without sound scientific studies regarding the nematode and vector(s) bioecology and genetics, the ecology and ecophysiology of the pine tree species, P. pinaster and P. pinea , as well as the genomics and proteomics of pathogenicity (resistance/ susceptibility).

Portuguese Version of the Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire-Revised: Validation Data and the Establishment of a Cut-Score for Screening Purposes

The aim of the present study is to provide validation data regarding the Portuguese version of the Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire Revised in nonclinical individuals. Two studies were undertaken with two different nonclinical samples in order to demonstrate reliability, concurrent, predictive, and construct validity, and in order to establish an appropriate cut-score for nonclinical individuals. A sample of 810 community adults participated in Study 1. Results from this study provided information regarding scale internal consistency, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, and concurrent validity. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis established a cut-off score to be used for screening purposes with nonclinical individuals. A sample of 440 young adults participated in Study 2, which demonstrated scale score internal consistency and 5-month predictive validity. Further, 5-month test-retest reliability was also evaluated and the correlations of SBQ-R scale scores with two other measures that assess constructs related to suicidality, depression and psychache, were also performed. In addition, confirmatory factor analysis was undertaken to demonstrate the robustness of the result obtained in Study 1. Overall, findings supported the psychometric appropriateness of the Portuguese Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire-Revise

Convento de S. José da Esperança - Évora: proposta de valorização histórico-arquitectónica

A presente dissertação de mestrado visa a apresentação de uma proposta de valorização para o espaço edificado do Convento de S. José da Esperança, da cidade de Évora. Procurámos traçar a história do Convento de S. José ao longo de um período de cerca de 200 anos, apresentando ainda as várias funções do imóvel, desde a sua extinção até à atualidade. Abordámos a questão da instalação física do cenóbio, relacionando-a com as razões da escolha da Ordem Carmelita Descalça. Contextualizámos este especto com as origens da Ordem do Carmo, a reforma desta Ordem, originando o nascimento da Ordem Carmelita Descalça, e a sua entrada em Portugal. Sublinhámos a importância das fundadoras e o seu legado testamentário para a subsistência desta instituição religiosa e como essa subsistência conheceu vicissitudes e contrariedades várias ao longo da vida da comunidade. Procurámos depois entender o espaço conventual edificado, pelo que procedemos a uma análise histórico-arquitetónica do conjunto conventual, nomeadamente a ampliação dos espaços, e depois da extinção e da mudança de propriedade, a adaptação a novas funções e as necessárias intervenções nele ocorridas. Por fim, atendendo à história do Convento, à riqueza patrimonial que ele representa tanto para a sociedade em geral como para os Eborenses em particular, atendendo à sua inserção no Centro Histórico de Évora - CHE, com a classificação de Património Mundial atribuída pela UNESCO em 1986, e atendendo ao vasto quadro legislativo nacional e internacional relativo à proteção e valorização do património cultural, apresentámos a nossa proposta de valorização do Conjunto Conventual, que nos parece, em conformidade com o exposto, a mais apropriada àquele espaço. ABSTRACT: This master's thesis aims to propose a recovery area for the valorization of the building space of Convento de S. José da Esperança, in Évora. We traced the history of the Convent of S. José over a period of about 200 years, by exploring the various functions of the building, since its extinction as religious community until now. We addressed the question of the physical installation the life of the religious community, linking it with the reasons for the choice of the Ordem Carmelita Descalça's to settle there. This aspect was then contextualized with the origins of the Ordem do Carmo, the reform of the Order, resulting in the birth of the Ordem Carmelita Descalça, and its entry into Portugal. We emphasized the importance of the founders and their legacy to the livelihood of the subsistence of this religious institution. Along the history the Ordem experienced several setbacks and problems over the life of the community. Our study led to an understanding of the conventual space as a physical building. For that we undertook an historical and architectonical analysis of the conventual set, namely the enlargement of spaces, and after the extinction and the property change, the adaptation to new functions and the necessary interventions that it suffered. We presented our proposal of historical and architectonical valorization of the convent, taking into account the history of the Convent, as a rich heritage, not only for the city of Évora, but also to the country, as a whole. We took into account the fact that the convent is inside the historical centre of Évora (World Heritage City- UNESCO- since 1986), and it must comply to national and international legislative framework for the protection and enhancement of cultural heritage. Our proposal of recovery of the conventual set is, in line with the above, the most appropriate to that space.