Serviços dos ecossistemas prestados pelos estuários : especiação e capacidade de retenção do fósforo

O fator nutricional presente nos sapais não é só importante para os organismos que nele habitam como também apresenta uma importância ecológica a uma maior escala. Exemplifica-se este fato com a capacidade de retenção do Fósforo (P) por parte das plantas podendo estas competir como produto químicos para sua imobilização através da incorporação da sua fração biodisponível para cumprimento dos mecanismos básicos de sobrevivência. O rizosedimento dessas plantas é uma importante fonte de nutrientes necessários para garantia básica da perpetuação de todos os serviços (regulação, provisão, cultural) gerados pelo ambiente. A perda de áreas de sapal foi o motivo principal para a elaboração desta tese visto a preocupação em relação aos impactes que a perda de serviços associados à área de estudo escolhida, o sistema lagunar da Ria de Aveiro, poderá vir sofrer caso aconteçam alterações hídricas (naturais ou antrópicas) mais acentuadas no futuro. Essa tese assume como compromisso chamar a atenção para essa questão como também investigar os mecanismos do ciclo do P este importante nutriente considerado essencial para a manutenção da vida em nosso planeta. Para este estudo foram escolhidas 3 espécies de plantas halófitas representantes do sapal amostral, são elas: Bolbochenous maritimus, Spartina maritima e de Juncus maritimus. As questões levantadas buscam compreender o papel do P nas transformações que ocorrem no rizosedimento das halófitas em 3 diferentes contextos: (i) quando comparados os valores da biomassa de P associado às halófitas estudadas (estudo realizado nos sapais povoados por Spartina maritima e Juncus maritimus) em toda extensão da Ria de Aveiro (ii) quando da disponibilidade de P perante a presença de poluentes inorgânicos no Largo do Laranjo, que corresponde a uma zona historicamente contaminada por metais (estudo realizado no rizosedimento das espécies Bolbochenous maritimus e Juncus maritimus) e (iii) quanto à intrusão superficial da água salgada da laguna (estudo focado na avaliação da perda do P próximo às raízes das halófitas que habitam a zona externa do dique do Baixo Vouga Lagunar (BVL) que corresponde à zona de confluência do Rio Vouga com a Ria de Aveiro). Por meio da análise do rizosedimento e da biomassa das diferentes halófitas predominantes do sapal foi possível verificar que, em relação à carga nutritiva fosfática, de Norte (Canal de São Jacinto/Ovar) a Sul (Canal de Mira) da Ria de Aveiro, a cota do sapal é mais importante do que a natureza espacial do sistema. Esta informação é primordial para a assertividade de futuras medidas de criação e reabilitação das áreas de sapal na Ria de Aveiro. Os estudos realizados nas áreas impactadas (Largo do Laranjo e BVL) incidiram na análise do perfil vertical rizosedimentar das halófitas pertencentes ao sapal médio-alto. Estes estudos revelaram que o rizosedimento dessas halófitas possui características peculiares que definem a dinâmica do ciclo do P de forma bastante característica. O rizosedimento das halófitas presentes no Largo do Laranjo apresentaram teores biodisponíveis de P equivalentes àqueles presentes no rizosedimento de área mais afastada da fonte pontual de contaminação para as mesmas espécies. Numa visão otimista, os resultados revelam que ambos sapais, Largo de Laranjo e Cais do Bico, apresentam condições equiparável para perpetuação dos serviços por eles gerados, que nesse caso se tornam ainda mais valiosos devido a garantia da fitoestabilização dos contaminantes (prevenção da entrada de contaminantes na coluna d’água e na cadeia alimentar). No Baixo Vouga Lagunar a análise espacial do sapal na zona exterior ao dique revelou a perda da diversidade das espécies bem como o aumento da área de vasa e consequentemente a perda dos teores de P associados ao rizosedimento das halófitas mais expostas aos efeitos da compressão costeira intensificados pelas ações naturais e antrópicas a que a Ria está sujeita. Em geral, a degradação dessa área de sapal devido aos fenômenos de assoreamento ou de erosão não pode ser separada dos processos sedimentares na área envolvente, principalmente no caso da Ria de Aveiro que tem sofrido constantes mudanças para atender às necessidades das atividades humanas. Essa tendência provavelmente não mudará no futuro próximo. Consequentemente, a evolução da laguna será principalmente dependente do resultado direto das ações humanas que deverão sempre encontrar formas de compensar os danos causados no âmbito de intervenções de reabilitação do sistema hídrico. A recriação de áreas de sapal pode ter lugar como medida mitigadora no âmbito de intervenções de reabilitação de áreas degradadas e ainda poderá servir como forma de captura de P para programas de utilização de fertilizantes naturais (componente desejável para a agricultura moderna o que é particularmente importante para as regiões altamente dependentes do mercado de importação). Deste modo, recomenda-se que a recuperação das áreas de sapal seja enquadrada no âmbito de intervenções mais amplas de valorização dos sistemas estuarinos e lagunares.

Dieta do ouriço-branco, Tripneustes ventricosus (Lamarck, 1816), no Arquipélago de Fernando de Noronha, PE

Sea urchins are benthic macroinvertebrates that inhabit shallow coastal waters in tropical and temperate zones. Urchins are usually classified as generalists or omnivores as they can adjust their diet according to the food resources available in the environment. Due to the strong grazing pressure they may exert, urchins have an important role in marine ecosystems, occupying different trophic levels and stimulating the intensification of the dynamics of communities where they occur. In 2004, a monitoring program focused on the population dynamics of the white sea urchin, Tripneustes ventricosus, has been initiated in the Fernando de Noronha Archipelago. At the same time, a surprisingly lack of information on the species biology has been noted, despite their wide geographical distribution and economic importance in many parts of its range. Hence, this work was developed to provide information on the feeding habits of T. ventricosus in the archipelago. Ten specimens were collected between December 2006 and July 2007 at two sites of the archipelago, Air France and Sueste Bay for biometrics and analysis of gut contents. Test diameters ranged from 9.19 cm (± 1.1) to 10.08 cm (± 0.58). Calculated stomach repletion index (IRE) was higher (p <0.05) in the Air France site and also during January and July. The IRE was not correlated to the gonad index. Fifteen different species of algae were detected in a total of 120 stomachs examined: 4 Chlorophytas, 4 Phaeophytas and 6 Rhodophytas. Food diversity (p <0.05) was higher in December 2006 and January 2007. Although several items had a high frequency of occurrence, they were low represented in terms of weight, and consequently, had a low level of relative importance. The brown algae Dictyopteris spp and Dictyota spp, followed by the green algae Caulerpa verticillata accounted for the greatest importance in T. ventricosus diet, comprising about 90% of the consumed items

Caracterização ecológica dos peixes recifais do Atol das Rocas

The present work was carried out at the Atol das Rocas (3º 51 S; 33º 49 W), the only atoll of the South Atlantic and the first Brazilian marine protected area. It was guided by the following hypothesis: the composition of the fish communities varies in agreement with the position of the pools; in other words, with or without permanent ocean connection. To test the validity of this hypothesis, the fish abundance was estimated in the connected pools (Barretinha/Barreta Falsa) and unconnected ones (Cemiteriozinho/Âncoras), carrying an ecological characterization of the fishes that inhabit these pools. Additionally, the structural complexity of the sampled places was also evaluated intending to verify the variations of the abundance and diversity of fishes in function to this factor. By the fact of this research was being carried out through the limits of a conservation unit, the samples was realized using visual census techniques. The results generated through uni and multivariate analytic techniques allowed the evidence that decisive factor in the density, richness and diversity variations of fishes are linked to the substratum type (Hard / Soft bottom) and not by the fact that the pool are or are not connected permanently to the ocean. In relation to the structural complexity; 58% of the variations in the diversity of fishes were attributed to changes in the structural complexity, while 12% of the variations in the abundance were attributed to the structural complexity

Barbie: Apenas uma boneca?: Estudo exploratório

Dissertação de Mestrado apresentada no Instituto Superior de Psicologia Aplicada para obtenção de grau de Mestre na especialidade de Psicologia Clínica

The New Jersey Meadowlands: Inhabiting an Urban Wilderness

The New Jersey Meadowlands is a thirty square mile industrial wetland between New York City and the commercial district of East Rutherford, NJ. The place is both strange and fascinating; many mysteries are hidden between the reed grasses and scattered garbage. Often exposed to subjectivity, the Meadowlands is commonly perceived as a weird, polluted, industrial, and even an other-worldly space; few know its beauty. These differing perceptions create a challenge when thinking of a cohesive identity and sense of place in the marsh. Over time, the once pure landscape has suffered from infrastructural slices, illegal dumping, and environmental abuse, resulting in fragmented land areas along the Hackensack River’s edge. This thesis explores how to inhabit an ecologically devalued and residual landscape through ideas of place-making and re-connecting communities. Investigating the paradox of this massive urban landscape and capitalizing on the ecological and educational potential of the site, lends also to a challenge of converging modern and forgotten life. Designing a place-based ecological research community within this currently placeless environment, will engage the public, re-connect lost communities, and bring a sense of renewal to the marsh.

Tackling health inequalities in primary care: an exploration of GPs’ experience at the frontline

In Scotland, life expectancy and health outcomes are strongly tied to socioeconomic status. Specifically, socioeconomically deprived areas suffer disproportionately from high levels of premature multimorbidity and mortality. To tackle these inequalities in health, challenges in the most deprived areas must be addressed. One avenue that merits attention is the potential role of general medical practitioners (GPs) in helping to address health inequalities, particularly due to their long-term presence in deprived communities, their role in improving patient and population health, and their potential advocacy role on behalf of their patients. GPs can be seen as what Lipsky calls ‘street-level bureaucrats’ due to their considerable autonomy in the decisions they make surrounding individual patient needs, yet practising under the bureaucratic structure of the NHS. While previous research has examined the applicability of Lipsky’s framework to the role of GPs, there has been very little research exploring how GPs negotiate between the multiple identities in their work, how GPs ‘socially construct’ their patients, how GPs view their potential role as ‘advocate’, and what this means in terms of the contribution of GPs to addressing existing inequalities in health. Using semi-structured interviews, this study explored the experience and views of 24 GPs working in some of Scotland’s most deprived practices to understand how they might combat this growing health divide via the mitigation (and potential prevention) of existing health inequalities. Participants were selected based on several criteria including practice deprivation level and their individual involvement in the Deep End project, which is an informal network comprising the 100 most deprived general practices in Scotland. The research focused on understanding GPs’ perceptions of their work including its broader implications, within their practice, the communities within which they practise, and the health system as a whole. The concept of street-level bureaucracy proved to be useful in understanding GPs’ frontline work and how they negotiate dilemmas. However, this research demonstrated the need to look beyond Lipsky’s framework in order to understand how GPs reconcile their multiple identities, including advocate and manager. As a result, the term ‘street-level professional’ is offered to capture more fully the multiple identities which GPs inhabit and to explain how GPs’ elite status positions them to engage in political and policy advocacy. This study also provides evidence that GPs’ social constructions of patients are linked not only to how GPs conceptualise the causes of health inequalities, but also to how they view their role in tackling them. In line with this, the interviews established that many GPs felt they could make a difference through advocacy efforts at individual, community and policy/political levels. Furthermore, the study draws attention to the importance of practitioner-led groups—such as the Deep End project—in supporting GPs’ efforts and providing a platform for their advocacy. Within this study, a range of GPs’ views have been explored based on the sample. While it is unclear how common these views are amongst GPs in general, the study revealed that there is considerable scope for ‘political GPs’ who choose to exercise discretion in their communities and beyond. Consequently, GPs working in deprived areas should be encouraged to use their professional status and political clout not only to strengthen local communities, but also to advocate for policy change that might potentially affect the degree of disadvantage of their patients, and levels of social and health inequalities more generally.

Otolith shape variation provides a marker of stock origin for north Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus)

Two stocks of bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) inhabit the north Atlantic; the western and eastern stocks spawn in the Gulf of Mexico and the Mediterranean Sea respectively. Trans-Atlantic movements occur outside spawning time whereas natal homing maintains stock structure. Commercial fisheries may exploit a mixed assemblage of both stocks. The incorporation of mixing rates into stock assessment is precluded by uncertainties surrounding stock discrimination. Otolith shape descriptors were used to characterise western and eastern stocks of Atlantic bluefin tuna in the present study and to estimate stock composition in catches of unknown origin. Otolith shape varied with length and between locations and years. Within a restricted size range (200-297-cm fork length (FL)) the two stocks were distinguished with an accuracy of 83%. Bayesian stock mixture analysis indicated that samples from the east Atlantic and Mediterranean were predominantly of eastern origin. The proportion assigned to the eastern stock showed slight spatial variation; however, overlapping 95% credible intervals indicated no significant difference (200-297 cm FL: central Atlantic, 73-100%; Straits of Gibraltar, 73-100%; Morocco, 50-99%; Portugal 64-100%). Otolith shape could be used in combination with other population markers to improve the accuracy of mixing rate estimates for Atlantic bluefin tuna.

The Architecture of Waste: Creating New Avenues for Public Engagement with Trash

The relationship between industry, waste, and urbanism is one fraught with problems across the United States and in particular American cities. The interrelated nature of these systems of flows is in critical need of re-evaluation. This thesis critiques the system of Municipal Solid Waste Management as it currently exists in American cities as a necessary yet undesirable ‘invisible infrastructure’. Industry and waste environments have been pushed to the periphery of urban environments, severing the relationship between the urban environment we inhabit and the one that is required to support the way we live. The flow of garbage from cities of high density to landscapes of waste has created a model of valuing waste as a linear system that separates input from output. This thesis aims to investigate ways that industry, waste, and urban ecologies can work to reinforce one another. The goal of this thesis is to repair the physical and mental separation of waste and public activity through architecture. This thesis will propose ways to tie urban waste infrastructure and public amenities together through the merging of architecture and landscape to create new avenues for public engagement with waste processes.

Relações interétnicas em conflito entre Makuxi e Wapixana na terra indígena Raposa Serra do Sol

This dissertation present an analysis of the interethnic conflict between Makuxi and Wapixana at the current moment in the Maloca of the Adobe, Aboriginal Land Fox-Mountain range of the Sun, in the State of Roraima. The theoretical field was boarded in the Ethnology, pursuing situations in local history, with edges in ethno-history. The research elapsed of the deepening necessity on the social relations and aboriginal politics, for the intercultural professional exercise of educator, appealing the bibliographical survey and participant comment as method; not directive interviews, photographs, filmings and daily register in of field, as techniques carried through in the period of 2006 to 2007. Although to inhabit in the same area and to establish marriages between itself, individuals and groups express tensions, aggravated with the landmark and legal recognition of the area, which generated inter dispute and intraetnias, mainly with the intrusion of farmers, rizicultores and the form of governmental influence. A relation of rivalry, individual and collective was evidenced, suggesting the strengthenig and not it fractionly, of the fights external politics, interns and in way to the cultural diversity and social adversity

Beyond the human genome: microbes, metaphors and what it means to be human in an interconnected post-genomic world

Four years after the completion of the Human Genome Project, the US National Institutes for Health launched the Human Microbiome Project on 19 December 2007. Using metaphor analysis, this article investigates reporting in English-language newspapers on advances in microbiomics from 2003 onwards, when the word “microbiome” was first used. This research was said to open up a “new frontier” and was conceived as a “second human genome project”, this time focusing on the genomes of microbes that inhabit and populate humans rather than focusing on the human genome itself. The language used by scientists and by the journalists who reported on their research employed a type of metaphorical framing that was very different from the hyperbole surrounding the decipherment of the “book of life”. Whereas during the HGP genomic successes had been mainly framed as being based on a unidirectional process of reading off information from a passive genetic or genomic entity, the language employed to discuss advances in microbiomics frames genes, genomes and life in much more active and dynamic ways.

Parques lineares ao longo de corpos hídricos urbanos : conflitos e possibilidades; o caso da orla do lago Paranoá – DF

Tese (doutorado)—Universidade de Brasília, Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo, Programa de Pesquisa e Pós-Graduação da Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo, 2016.

Flexibilidade no espaço doméstico

Dissertação para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Arquitectura, apresentada na Universidade de Lisboa - Faculdade de Arquitetura.

Criação do espaço de habitar como um processo colaborativo

A criação do espaço de habitar está na origem do Homem. Através do seu entendimento da paisagem, o Homem foi ao longo dos tempos adaptando o seu espaço segundo as suas atividades e necessidades específicas. Desde o abrigo até à casa contemporânea, novas formas foram sendo criadas e adaptadas, acompanhando a evolução humana, baseada nas novas formas, atividades e requisitos definidos na realização pessoal. Numa época onde os requisitos habitacionais são cada vez mais estritos na garantia de um conforto e segurança padronizada, verificamos a existência de díspares formas de habitar. Juntamente com a valorização contemporânea dos direitos humanos podemos entender grande parte da população não tem o devido acesso a espaços verdadeiramente adaptados aos seus requisitos de habitar. Socialmente encerrados em torno de uma civilização globalizada, vivemos cúmplices de uma desigualdade social, que não consegue garantir o direito a uma habitação adequada para todos. Desta forma procura-se perceber as causas das falhas no cumprimento dos direitos humanos fundamentais e das desigualdades no sector habitacional. Entendendo o papel fundamental das populações e do sector da construção na criação dos seus habitares e tentando esclarecer o papel fundamental da arquitetura na requalificação dos espaços de habitar, oferecendo soluções e formas práticas acessíveis a todos os habitantes para a construção de um futuro sustentável, adaptado e dignificante da vida humana; ABSTRACT: The creation of the space of inhabiting is in the Man’s origin, through his under- standing of the landscape, the Man was along the times adapting his space second their activities and specific needs. From the shelter to the contemporary house, new forms were being created and adapted, accompanying the human evolution, based on the new forms, activities and defined requirements in the personal accomplishment. In a time where the habitational requirements are more and more strict in the warranty of a comfort and standardized safety, we verified the existence of disparate ways of inhabiting. Together with the contemporary valorization of the human rights we can understand great part of the population doesn’t have the access to spaces truly adapted to their requirements of inhabiting. This way we try to notice the causes of the flaws in the execution of the fundamental human rights and of the inequalities in the habitational sector. Understanding the fundamental paper of the populations and of the construction sector in the creation of our inhabit and trying to explain the fundamental paper of the architecture in the qualification of the spaces of inhabiting, offering solutions and accessible practical forms to all of the inhabitants for the construction of a maintainable future, adapted and dignifying the human life

A marginália como imagem transgressiva: Ligações entre a página medieval e o graffiti contemporâneo

Propõe-se uma reflexão sobre imagens que habitam a margem enquanto lugar menor ou secundário de representação. Este trabalho parte de exemplos encontrados em manuscritos medievais e em graffitis contemporâneos e centra-se nas relações que estas imagens marginais (marginália) estabelecem com o texto central e oficial, tratando-se do texto escrito medievo ou da própria cidade contemporânea. Consideramos que a marginália tende a transgredir esse texto oficial, questionando a sua autoridade e imutabilidade através de uma expansão ou mesmo inversão das suas significações. Nestes fenómenos, a paródia e o humor desempenham um papel relevante. No entanto, a transgressividade da marginália surge como ambígua, facto decorrente da indefinição própria da imagem e da margem onde se inscreve. ABSTRACT: The dissertation explores the issue of images that inhabit the margin as a minor or secondary place of representation. Using examples from medieval manuscripts and contemporary graffiti’s, this work focuses on the connections established between this marginal imagery (marginalia) and the official and central 'text ', whether a written medieval one or one relating more closely with our experience of the contemporary city. lt is considered that marginalia tend to transgress this official text by questioning its authority and immutability through an expansion or even inversion of its original meaning. Parody and humor often play a part in these phenomena. However, the described transgression is filled with ambiguity, which finds its origins within the indefiniteness of the image and the margin where it is inscribed.

Casas para um planeta pequeno

Dissertação de Mestrado para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Arquitectura, apresentada na Universidade de Lisboa - Faculdade de Arquitectura.