A ribeira da discórdia: terras, homens e relações de poder na territorialização do Assu colonial (1680-1720)

The internalization process of the Portuguese possession in Northern Captaincies - after the Dutch eviction and the development of activities related to livestock in the backlands (Sertão) – expanded the Portuguese territory in America. This process resulted in the advancement of Portuguese conquest over the region and conflicts involving agents of colonization and indigenous groups who inhabited that space, as well as conflicts of interest of captaincy’s major social groups and the defense policies of the Portuguese territory possession. Among the rivers which run through Rio Grande captaincy’s territory, the Açu was the one that aroused conquerors and colonizers of the back lands interest, making that spatiality an area where interest and power exercises converged and generated discord. This research aims to analyze the territorial process of Assu backlands, from the pioneers, conquerors and colonizers action over the space studied, during the event known as the War of the Barbarians in Assu, conflict that ensured the integration of the area the territory and the wishes of the Portuguese crown. Thus, it will be taken as objects of study social phenomena that characterized Assu’s riverside - at the turn of the 17th to the 18th century, in a cutout that extends from 1680 to 1720 - as an area of conflicts of interest, noticeable for analysis from period documents such as records of land grants concessions, correspondence between colonial and kingdom authorities, documents from the exercise of administration of Portuguese America and legislation.

A ribeira da discórdia: terras, homens e relações de poder na territorialização do Assu colonial (1680-1720)

The internalization process of the Portuguese possession in Northern Captaincies - after the Dutch eviction and the development of activities related to livestock in the backlands (Sertão) – expanded the Portuguese territory in America. This process resulted in the advancement of Portuguese conquest over the region and conflicts involving agents of colonization and indigenous groups who inhabited that space, as well as conflicts of interest of captaincy’s major social groups and the defense policies of the Portuguese territory possession. Among the rivers which run through Rio Grande captaincy’s territory, the Açu was the one that aroused conquerors and colonizers of the back lands interest, making that spatiality an area where interest and power exercises converged and generated discord. This research aims to analyze the territorial process of Assu backlands, from the pioneers, conquerors and colonizers action over the space studied, during the event known as the War of the Barbarians in Assu, conflict that ensured the integration of the area the territory and the wishes of the Portuguese crown. Thus, it will be taken as objects of study social phenomena that characterized Assu’s riverside - at the turn of the 17th to the 18th century, in a cutout that extends from 1680 to 1720 - as an area of conflicts of interest, noticeable for analysis from period documents such as records of land grants concessions, correspondence between colonial and kingdom authorities, documents from the exercise of administration of Portuguese America and legislation.

An alkalic volcanic suite of the Labrador Trough, Labrador

The Nimish Subgroup igneous suite is a linear belt of volcanic and plutonic rocks in the Dyke Lake area of the southern Labrador Trough. The volcanics are interbedded with the sediments of the Wishart and Sokoman Formations of the Aphebian aged, Knob Lake Group. The sokoman Formation forms a time stratigraphic horizon that separates the lower Petitsikapau Lake Formation from the upper Astray Lake formation of the Nimish Subgroup. The occurrence of these volcanics within the Knob Lake Group is unique relative to Labrador Trough stratigraphy, as elsewhere the Knob Lake Group is a dominantly sedimentary succession and volcanics are restricted to the younger Doublet Group. Stratigraphic relationships between the Nimish Subgroup and the Sokoman formation indicate contemporaneous volcanic, clastic and chemical sedimentary activity. The internal stratigraphy of the Sokoman Formation exhibits a three-fold subdivision that is broadly correlatable with similar subdivisions in the Schefferville "main ore zone", 30 miles to the northwest. A detailed facies and paleogeographic model relating the volcanic activity to iron formation deposition in the Dyke Lake is presented. The rocks of the Dyke Lake area have been affected by lower greenschist facies metamorphism during the Hudsonian orogenic event, circa 1735 my. Geochemical evidence indicates that the igneous rocks of the Nimish Subgroup have been metasomatized with large degrees of mobility in Na₂O, K₂O, CaO, MgO, SiO₂, FeO and Fe₂O₃ suspected. The "immobile trace elements", Ti, Zr, Nb, Y and Ga imply that the Nimish lavas are a mildly alkaline suite that has an alkali basalt-trachyandesite-comendite differentiation scheme. The rare earth element, REE, geochemistry of the Nimish Subgroup is supportive of the alkaline nature of the volcanics and has been used to model the fractional crystallization petrogenesis involved in the two volcanic cycles. The geological, geochemical and geophysical evidence indicates that the Nimish Subgroup lavas are possibly a rift facies, alkaline suite related to the tensional tectonic regime that preceeded the extrusion of voluminous tholeiitic lavas of the Doublet Group.

On the Mediterranean conveyor belt system

The Mediterranean Sea is a semi-enclosed sea, connected to the Atlantic Ocean through the Gibraltar Strait and subdivided in two different regions by the Sicily Strait. The geographical extension of the basin, the surface heat flux, and the water inflow from the Gibraltar Strait are some of the basic factors determining its horizontal and vertical circulation. In the Mediterranean strong salinity and temperature zonal gradients contribute to maintain the zonal-vertical circulation, while meridional-vertical cells are equally forced by winds and deep water mass formation in three regions, the Gulf of Lyon, the southern Adriatic and the Cretan Sea areas. The objective of this thesis is to study how these cells combine together to form the Mediterranean conveyor belt system. This has never been attempted before so the conclusions are necessarily preliminary. In the first part we discuss the vertical zonal and meridional circulation by reconstructing the Wust Mediterranean vertical salinity and temperature structures in an attempt to evaluate the water mass structure consistent with modern data. Our results confirm that Wust depicted vertical circulation from scarce data is reproduced by the past 27 years observations. The structure of both meridional and zonal circulations was discussed using velocity vertical streamfunctions with two different methods. The first one, eulerian, allowed us to observe vertical structures that were already reported in the literature. Recent studies in the Atlantic Ocean have shown that gyres and eddies have an important influence in the isopycnal vertical circulation. This is called the residual circulation which was computed in this study for the first time. A possible interpretation of horizontal connection between the meridional and zonal cells was discussed using horizontal streamfunction. In the last part of the thesis we have been developing an idealized numerical model to study the vertical circulation in the Mediterranean.

Pre-eclampsia is associated with a two-fold increase in diabetes : a systematic review and meta-analysis

Peer reviewed

Pre-eclampsia is associated with a two-fold increase in diabetes : a systematic review and meta-analysis

Peer reviewed

The Pratt Pouch Provides a Three-Fold Access Increase to Antiretroviral Medication for Births outside Health Facilities in Southern Zambia.

INTRODUCTION: Modern day antiretroviral therapy allows HIV+ pregnant women to lower the likelihood of viral transmission to their infants before, during, and after birth from 20-45% to less than 5%. In developing countries, where non-facility births may outnumber facility births, infant access to safe antiretroviral medication during the critical first three days after birth is often limited. A single-dose, polyethylene pouch ("Pratt Pouch") addresses this challenge by allowing the medication to be distributed to mothers during antenatal care. METHODS: The Pratt Pouch was introduced as part of a one year clinical feasibility study in two districts in Southern Province, Zambia. Participating nurses, community health workers, and pharmacists were trained before implementation. Success in achieving improved antiretroviral medication access was assessed via pre intervention and post intervention survey responses by HIV+ mothers. RESULTS: Access to medication for HIV-exposed infants born outside of a health facility increased from 35% (17/51) before the introduction of the pouch to 94% (15/16) after (p<0.05). A non-significant increase in homebirth rates from 33% (pre intervention cohort) to 50% (post intervention cohort) was observed (p>0.05). Results remained below the national average homebirth rate of 52%. Users reported minimal spillage and a high level of satisfaction with the Pratt Pouch. CONCLUSION: The Pratt Pouch enhances access to infant antiretroviral medication in a rural, non-facility birth setting. Wide scale implementation could have a substantial global impact on HIV transmission rates from mother to child.

Temperatures, salinity, wind speed, grain sizes and foraminifera abundance in the Great Belt Channel, western Baltic Sea

The Great Belt, the largest inlet to the Baltic Sea, has a deep and well defined channel system. A distinct thermohaline layer at roughly 18 to 20 m of water depth separates the saltier and generally cooler deeper North Sea water from the brackish and warmer surface water. It is practically a current dominated area, with the strongest bottom currents due to prolonged west winds. The size and shape of the surface sediments and their grain size distributions show a close relationship with the prevailing hydrographical conditions. Southerly current marks predominate while northerly directions are confined to 10 to 14 m of water depth. The degree of bioturbation is highest in the uppermost sedimentary cover where practically all original stratification has been destroyed. Various bioturbate structures have been identified with the fauna. Coiling ratios of Ammonia beccarii (Linnaeus) have been successfully applied for correlation in the postglacial sediments of the early Littorina Transgression. The succession shows that in the Boreal brackish water conditions were probably followed by peat and limnic sediments as the sea regressed. With the Littorina Transgression, the sea again entered the area and high sedimentation rates resulted in the major deposits of the Great Belt. At least for the last 4000 years, sedimentation rates had been very low. Present day currents sweep out the sediments, mainly to the southern marginal areas.

Análise da qualidade das águas, Ribeira Brava

O planeamento e gestão dos recursos hídricos é nos dias de hoje uma tarefa complicada, mas interessante e necessária, tendo em vista a satisfação de cada vez mais exigentes padrões de vida das populações e da qualidade do ambiente. Para que sejam possíveis escolhas e decisões judiciosas sobre a melhor forma de utilizar a água disponível, a sua gestão deve ser enformada por leis, actuações administrativas e disposições económico-financeiras, as quais determinam a necessidade da existência de sistemas institucionais competentes para as implementar. Sob o paradigma da sustentabilidade no contexto dos recursos hídricos, procedeu-se a uma avaliação do estado qualitativo das águas superficiais e subterrâneas do concelho da Ribeira Brava, quer a nível da distribuição de águas quer a nível das águas residuais. Inicialmente, caracterizou-se a região hidrográfica em estudo quanto aos aspetos geográficos, demográficos, socioeconómicos, bem como uma perspetiva quanto à caracterização hidrológica e geomorfológica da bacia hidrográfica a ser monitorizada. Posteriormente, apresentou-se, sob um manto teórico, o funcionamento de todo o sistema de abastecimento de água desde a captação até à sua devolução à natureza, passando pelas ETA, redes de distribuição e ETAR, passando a descrever-se a realidade em termos de infraestruturas existentes no concelho da Ribeira Brava. De seguida, procedeu-se à análise paramétrica temporal nas ETA e ETAR do concelho, cruzando esses dados com a legislação em vigor. Como etapa final, retratam-se as principais ilações quanto à monitorização efetuada, quer a nível de águas de distribuição, quer a nível das águas residuais, bem como se contribui com algumas recomendações, tendo em conta a manutenção e melhoria quantitativa e qualitativa da água no concelho da Ribeira Brava.

Seat Belt Convictions by County of Occurrence - 2011 to 2014, May 8, 2015

Convictions of seat belt violations by county for the state of Iowa from 2011-2014.

2000 Seat Belt Usage Survey, September 13, 2001

The good news is that safety belt usage on municipal road systems (city streets) increased 1.07 percent. This is encouraging since more than 45 percent of all motor vehicle crashes occur on city streets, and usage on the municipal road system has consistently been the lowest of the road systems studied. In communities where usage is good, enforcement and public education must be maintained in order to improve usage further; in communities where usage is still low, enforcement and public education must both be increased. Usage on the primary system (U.S. or state highways) rose 1.01 percent from the previous year. This is also welcome news because almost half of all fatalities (49 percent) occur on the primary road system. There was a decline in interstate belt use (-1.45 percent). Despite this decrease interstate usage is still traditionally the highest of all roadway categories presumably because the longer trips, higher travel speeds and large number of vehicles cause drivers to assume there is greater risk.

1999 Seat Belt Usage Survey, March 15, 2000

The 78 percent seat belt usage rate in 1999 (up 7 percent since 1992) reflects active enforcement and education efforts that have occurred in Iowa during the last few years. Through continuing education of the public, an active "Life Toll" campaign, seat belt enforcement, and other cooperative efforts between state and local law enforcement, Iowa will strive to increase the use of seat belts and save lives on Iowa roadways.

1998 Seat Belt Usage Survey, February 18, 1999

The 78 percent seat belt usage rate in 1999 (up 7 percent since 1992) reflects active enforcement and education efforts that have occurred in Iowa during the last few years. Through continuing education of the public, an active "Life Toll" campaign, seat belt enforcement, and other cooperative efforts between state and local law enforcement, Iowa will strive to increase the use of seat belts and save lives on Iowa roadways.

2001 Seat Belt Usage Survey, April 23, 2003

The 81 percent seat belt usage rate in 2001 (up 10 percent since 1992) reflects active enforcement and education efforts that have occurred in Iowa during the last few years. Through continuing education of the public, an active "Life Toll" campaign, seat belt enforcement, and other cooperative efforts between state and local law enforcement, Iowa will strive to increase the use of seat belts and save more lives on Iowa roadways.