A cidade e o rio: origem e evolução da frente ribeirinha de Lisboa

Em Lisboa, ao longo dos séculos, o homem foi conquistando as águas do Tejo. Hoje, após os diversos aterros, a frente ribeirinha da cidade é uma consolidada faixa de terreno, rematada por muros que, contra a «ondulação» do Tejo, definem uma expandida área que acolhe uma intensa actividade portuária. Foi nesta faixa junto do rio que se desenrolou parte importante da história de Lisboa, desde as ocupações romana e muçulmana, e também muito particularmente aquando do período dos Descobrimentos, da reconstrução pombalina pós-terramoto e do surto industrial do século XIX. Alguns destes momentos históricos encontram-se reflectidos nas inúmeras plantas, cartas e mapas disponíveis neste estudo, desde a Planta da Cidade de Lisboa : 1650, de João Nunes Tinoco, até ao Plano de Melhoramentos do Porto de Lisboa, de 1946. É com base nessas plantas, mas também em cartas manuscritas, relatos de época, gravuras e fotografias antigas – documentos em grande parte inéditos –, que este trabalho de investigação propõe cartografar este território, realizando desenhos originais que possibilitam um novo olhar sobre o seu processo de crescimento e consolidação. Assim, este estudo concilia todos estes elementos, constituindo uma análise completa que se debruça sobre a evolução da frente ribeirinha de Lisboa e que permite descobrir inúmeros aspectos até aqui desconhecidos, ajudando a responder à pergunta que hoje se coloca: perante o cenário que o porto actual atravessa, como melhor poderá Lisboa recuperar a relação com o rio?; THE CITY AND THE RIVER: ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF LISBON'S RIVERFRONT ABSTRACT: In Lisbon, over the centuries, man was conquering the waters of the Tagus. Today, after the various landfills, the city's riverfront is a consolidated strip of land, finished by walls that, against the "ripple" of the Tagus, define an expanded area that hosts an intense port activity. It was in this band along the river that unfolded important part of the history of Lisbon, from the Roman and Muslim occupations, and also very particularly during the period of the Discoveries, the post-earthquake reconstruction, and the industrial boom of the nineteenth century. Some of these historical moments are reflected in many plans, charts and maps available in this study, since the plan designated Planta da Cidade de Lisboa : 1650, made by João Nunes Tinoco, to the plan called Plano de Melhoramentos do Porto de Lisboa, drawn in the year of 1946. Based on these plans, but also in handwritten letters, time reports, antique prints and photographs – documents that are mostly unpublished – this research work proposes map this territory, performing original drawings that provide a new look at their growth process and consolidation. Thereby, this study combines all these elements, providing a complete analysis which focuses on the evolution of the Lisbon riverfront and that allows you to discover many aspects unknown until now, helping to answer the question that now arises: according to the present scenario that the harbour is going through, how can Lisbon recover the relationship with the river?

Abad y señor de Rute. Don Juan de Córdoba y la repoblación de la banda morisca cordobesa

Study on the foundation of the new village of Rute close to the former border with the Muslim kingdom of Granada and the repopulation project and economic revitalization in the Sixteenth century by the dean don Juan Fernández de Córdoba, abbot and lord of Rute.

Conquerors, Brides and Concubines. Interfaith Relations and Social Power in Medieval Iberia.

As its title indicates, this book, which is divided into four chapters, seeks to provide an overview of “the diverse political, social and cultural functions that interfaith marriage alliances and other sexual encounters fulfilled within the overall dynamic of Christian- Muslim relations in the Iberian Peninsula during the medieval period, both within al- Andalus (…) and the expansionist Christian-dominated polities of the North” (4). In this sense, its chronological span reaches from the early eighth century (the conquest of the Iberian Peninsula by the Muslims) to 1492 (the Christian conquest of the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada)

"Portuguese Observatory of Taeniasis and Cysticercosis": A "One Health" example for epidemiological surveillance of one neglected disease in a European country

Cysticercosis results from the ingestion Taenia solium eggs directly by faecal-oral route or contaminated food or water. Human tapeworm carriers who have become infected after ingesting pork meat contaminated with cysticerci release these eggs. Cysticercosis occurs after tapeworm eggs are ingested by an intermediate host (pig or human) and then hatch, migrate, and lodge in the host's tissues, where they develop onto larval cysticerci. When they lodged in the central nervous system of humans, results in the disease condition called Neurocysticercosis (NCC), with a heterogeneous manifestations depending of the locations of cysts, number, size and their stage of evolution (1). Consequently the prognostic ranges from asymptomatic to situations leading to death in 2% to 9.8%. of cases (7) In swine’s there are few studies, but recent works have proved that animals, for the same reasons, also have neurological abnormalities, expressed by seizures, stereotypic walk in circles, chewing motions with foamy salivation included tonic muscle contractions followed by a sudden diminution in all muscle tone leading to collapse (2). Conventional domestic wastewater treatment processes may not be totally effective in inactivating parasites eggs from Taenia solium, allowing some contamination of soils and agricultural products (11). In Portugal there are some evidence of aggregation of human cysticercosis cases in specific regions, bases in ecological design studies (6). There are few information about human tapeworm carriers and social and economic factors associated with them. Success in knowledge and consequently in lowering transmission is limited by the complex network of biological and social factors that maintain the spread. Effective control of mostly zoonosis require One Health approach, after a real knowledge and transparency in the information provided by the institutions responsible for both animal and human health, allowing sustained interventions targeted at the transmission cycle's crucial nodes. In general, the model used to control, reflects a rural reality, where pigs are raised freely, poor sanitation conditions and incipient sanitary inspection. In cysticercosis, pigs are obligate intermediate hosts and so considered as first targets for control and used as sentinels to monitor environmental T. solium contamination (3). Usually environmental contamination with Taenia spp. eggs is a key issue in most of studies with landscape factors influencing presence of Taenia spp. antigens in both pigs and humans (5). Soil-related factors as well as socio-economic and behavioural factors are associated with the emergence of significant clustering human cysticercosis (4,5). However scarce studies has been produced in urban environmental and in developed countries with the finality to characterize the spatial pattern. There are still few data available regarding its prevalence and spatial distribution; Transmission patterns are likely to exhibit correlations as housing conditions, water supply, basic sanitation, schooling and birthplace of the individual or relatives, more than pigs rearing free, soil conditions (9). As a matter of fact, tapeworm carriers from endemic zones can auto-infect or transmit infection to other people or arrive already suffering NCC (as a result of travelling to or being a citizen from an endemic cysticercosis country) to a free cysticercosis country. Transmission is fecal-oral; this includes transmission through person-to-person contact, through autoinfection, or through contaminated food This has been happening in different continents as North America (5.4–18% been autochthonous), Europe and Australia (7). Recently, case reports of NCC have also emerged from Muslim countries. (10). Actually, different papers relate an epidemic situation in Spain and Portugal (7, 8). However the kind of study done does not authorize such conclusion. There are no evidence that infections were acquired in Portugal and there are not characterized the mode of transmission. Papers with these kind of information will be allow to have economic consequences resulted from artificial trade barriers with serious consequences for pig producers and pig meat trade. We need transparency in information’s that allow provide the basis to support the development and targeting of future effective control programmes (and prove we need that). So, to have a real picture of the disease, it is necessary integrate data from human, animal and environmental factors surrounding human and pig cases to characterize the pattern of the transmission. The design needs to be able to capture unexpected, and not common outcomes (routine data). We need to think “One Health” to get a genuine image of the situation.