CIMO - Capítulos de Livros
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- Creating resilient silvopastoral systems: Mediterranean silvopastoralism as a model for agroforestryPublication . Castro, Marina; Souza, Júlio Henrique Germano de; Castro, JoséO capítulo analisa os sistemas silvopastoris na Península Ibérica como um modelo de agrofloresta resiliente que integra árvores (sobretudo carvalhos), estrato arbustivo/herbáceo e gado. Enquadra a importância histórica de sistemas como o montado (Portugal) e a dehesa (Espanha), hoje pressionados pela intensificação agrícola, pelas políticas agrárias e pelas alterações climáticas, mas ainda relevantes pelo seu valor económico, ecológico e cultural. Descreve as interações entre ungulados domésticos e selvagens e os ecossistemas florestais: alimentação seletiva, pisoteio, deposição de estrume/urina e descasque, com efeitos na dispersão de sementes, composição da vegetação e propriedades do solo. Sublinha a “dupla face” destes efeitos: podem aumentar heterogeneidade, reciclagem de nutrientes e reduzir combustíveis finos, mas também provocar compactação, erosão, degradação do habitat e falhas de regeneração quando há sobrepastoreio e gestão inadequada. Aborda ainda como a cobertura arbórea condiciona o microclima, a água, luz e nutrientes, influenciando produtividade e qualidade da forragem, e como a sombra é crucial para o bem-estar animal em verões quentes, reduzindo o stress térmico. Por fim, destaca espécies e práticas-chave (Quercus ilex, Q. suber, Q. pyrenaica; ovinos, caprinos, bovinos e suínos em “montanera”) e defende a gestão integrada, inovação e coesão comunitária para assegurar a sustentabilidade futura e manter os serviços de ecossistema associados.
- Learning in complexity: perspective of health sciences students after intensive and immersive training programPublication . Delgado, Jane; Lachovicz, Rebeca; Pereira, Fernando A.; Almeida-de-Souza, Juliana; Ferro-Lebres, VeraThis chapter presents the results of a qualitative study carried out as part of the European project ECOLAH - Embracing a Complexity-Oriented Learning Approach in Health, which evaluated the health student’s perspective an intensive, immersive and co-creation training programme. The programme took place in April 2024 in The Netherlands, involving 46 students and 15 professors from five European countries. The training was structured around four interdependent thematic modules: Complex Adaptive Systems, Futures and Epistemic Literacy, Becoming in Complexity and Holding and Facilitating Environment. Data was collected using questionnaires, written reflections and observations, and analysed using qualitative methodology. The results indicate relevant transformations in the pedagogical development of competences such as empathy, critical thinking, self-reflection, self-care and collaboration. Experiential learning in an immersive environment, combined with the co-creation of content and practices, proved to be a catalyst for future literacy and transformative education. It is concluded that complexity-oriented pedagogical approaches can contribute to the training of health professionals who are more resilient, ethical and prepared to act in uncertain and dynamic contexts.
- Museums and the Art Reforms of the First Portuguese Republic (1910–1926)Publication . Baião, JoanaThis volume introduces a global perspective to Portuguese art history encompassing three centuries, from the eighteenth to the twentieth century. It aims to analyse the histories of objects, museums, exhibitions, and collections in Portugal and the Portuguese-speaking world between the beginning of the eighteenth century and the late twentieth century, after the fall of the Estado Novo (New State) dictatorship in 1974 and the dismantling of the scattered remains of the Portuguese colonial empire in 1975. This was also the historical period that witnessed the development and proliferation of different collecting and displaying practices throughout the world. The aim of this volume is, hence, twofold: to understand the ways in which objects, collections, exhibitions, and cultural institutions contributed to shape Portuguese culture and identity, and to set the Portuguese case against a global, transnational, and transcolonial context and to present it as a reference for similar studies concerned with other national and colonial contexts.
- Natural antioxidants from marine sources and their application in foodsPublication . Silva, Aurora; Carpena, Maria; Grosso, Clara; Barciela, Paula; Pereira, Antía González; Cassani, Lucia; Barroso, Maria F.; Simal-Gandara, Jesus; Prieto Lage, Miguel A.This chapter provides an overview of recent studies assessing the antioxidant potential of marine organisms and their bioactive compounds to be incorporated into food products and supplements. Emphasis was given to marine flora, especially micro- and macroalgae and marine invertebrates, namely sponges, seagrasses, sea cucumbers, jellyfishes, crustaceans, and mollusks. The most relevant compounds such as vitamins A and C, polysaccharides, peptides and amino acids, phenolic compounds, and pigments (carotenoids and chlorophylls) were highlighted. Due to their biologically active compounds, these species have already been incorporated into food products available in the market like dairy products, yogurts, cookies, bread, pasta, and sausages, among others, creating a more sustainable and healthier alternative to synthetic preservatives and additives.
- Analysis of the Displacement Field Along a Surface Crack with Moiré InterferometryPublication . Ribeiro, J.E.; Rocha, JoãoStructural componentsmay have cracks, and in these components, a crack tip represents an extremely concentrated stress. Obtaining an accurate assessment of the related strain gradient is challenging when using discrete experimental methods. An efficient alternative is the use of optical techniques, which do not require physical contact. These techniques provide continuous information about displacement fields and their derivatives, allowing for strain evaluation. This paper presents the application of the Moiré interferometry method for comprehensive characterization of the displacement field in the vicinity of a crack tip in a flat plate. The plate crack resulted from a fatigue test, and it was subjected to a three-point bending test. In the crack region, a diffraction grating with 1200 l/mm was previously applied in two orthogonal directions.After assembling the experimental setup, measurements of the displacement field were carried out for different load values. Algorithms for deriving and filtering the displacement field have been developed to calculate the strain field.
- Experimental and Numerical Determination of Strain and Displacement Fields on Brazilian DiskPublication . Ribeiro, J.E.; Rocha, JoãoThe Brazilian test is a straightforward method of indirect testing that consists of applying a diametrically opposite load to a circular disk to determine the tensile strength of brittle materials, namely rock, concrete, and rock-like material. The indirect tensile strength is commonly determined by assuming that failure takes place at the location of the highest tensile stress, specifically at the center of the disk. However, prior studies have indicated that failure can happen outside the central region of the test disk when subjected to small angles of loading contact area for materials with low compression-tension ratios. So, to evaluate and visualize what happens during the test on the disk, we carried out an optical experimental test called Moiré interferometry, which can allow a field measurement of displacement and strain. To complete the study was implemented numerical simulations with the same conditions of the experimental work. It is safe to say that the interferometric Moiré technique works well for measuring the displacement field in this kind of test. This is held by the numerical simulation results.
- Toxicity and safety of nutraceuticalsPublication . Barciela, Paula; Perez-Vazquez, Ana; Mansour, Sepidar; Donn, Pauline; Garcia-Perez, P.; Carpena, Maria; Fraga-Corral, Maria; Simal-Gandara, Jesus; Prieto Lage, Miguel A.Currently, consumers are more conscious about the importance of having a good diet and lifestyle; so the demand for products with potential health benefits has increased. Nutraceuticals can be classified according to different criteria. Based on their chemical structure, they can be divided into phenolic compounds, fatty acids and structural lipids, carbohydrates and amino-acids derivatives, minerals, and terpenoids derivatives. All these compounds are linked to different health benefits, such as antioxidant, anticancer and anti-inflammatory activity, prevention of neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases, or health bones maintenance. However, the potential positive impact of these compounds when incorporated in the human body is limited because of their bioavailability, which is mainly affected because of the hydrophobic properties of these compounds. In this way, different delivery systems were developed as suitable pathways for the bioavailability improvement of nutraceuticals. The most successful delivery systems to incorporate nutraceuticals include micro and nanoemulsions, micelles, nanoparticles, hydrogels, and solid-lipid nanoparticles. They achieved several improvements such as higher bioavailability, bioactivity maintenance, shelf-life improvement, or incorporation of the nutraceutical in a target system/organ. In this way, and considering the increasing demand for these products, the development of regulation is needed so that consumers' safety is assured, although any country has developed it yet. Thus, considering the increasing demand for these compounds, the aim of this study was to compile the available current data of nutraceuticals and also their safety concerns. © 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston. All rights reserved.
- Nutraceuticals and oxidative stressPublication . Donn, Pauline; Seyyedi-Mansour, Sepidar; Perez-Vazquez, Ana; Barciela, Paula; Fraga-Corral, Maria; Chamorro, Franklin; Cassani, Lucia; Simal-Gandara, Jesus; Prieto Lage, Miguel A.Several studies have found a link between oxidative stress and a variety of noncommunicable diseases including diabetes, obesity, aging, Down syndrome, cancers, cardiovascular, and neurodegenerative diseases. All these pathologies are aided by oxidative stress, which is caused by the excessive production of free radicals or insufficient elimination of free radicals. To avoid, reduce, or eliminate this imbalance favoring prooxidants in organs and cells, one of the healthier and promising approaches is to use antioxidant compounds like nutraceuticals, which can scavenge the excessive free radicals and restore the balance. Nutraceuticals are dietary compounds that include dietary fibers, prebiotics, probiotics, polyunsaturated fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, polyphenols, and spices. Some of them have antioxidant activity, which can react with the free electron available in the outer layer of free radicals to make the unstable compounds more stable while avoiding free radicals’ proliferation and the induced damage to the different metabolisms that occur in the human body because of oxidative stress. Thus, each nutraceutical class performs specific functions in managing the onset of oxidative stress. Therefore, the purpose of this chapter is to sort out the mechanisms by which different classes of nutraceuticals can have beneficial effects on oxidative stress and related pathologies via their biological properties. However, it also observes that the efficacy of nutraceutical compounds can only be guaranteed if they can maintain their properties during production, preservation, consumption, digestion, and use by the various targeted active sites. Thus, it shows that the concepts of bioavailability and bio-accessibility are key factors for the effectiveness of nutraceuticals on oxidative stress when consumed by humans.
- Exploring Innovative Exogenous Green Stimulus Methods for Boosting Bioprocesses: Electric, Magnetic and Ultrasound Stimulation TechniquesPublication . Sampaio, Igor Carvalho Fontes; Moura, Isabela Viana Lopes de; Crugeira, Pedro Jorge Louro; Chinalia, Fábio Alexandre; Matos, Josilene Borges Tores Lima; Jones, Cleveland Maximino; Almeida, Paulo Fernando deThis book chapter provides an overview of the innovative exogenous green stimulus methods of electric, magnetic, and ultrasound stimulation and their appli- cations in boosting bioprocesses. These non-invasive and non-toxic techniques have been shown to enhance the metabolic activity and stress response of various micro- bial systems, including bacteria, yeasts, fungi, and microalgae, leading to increased yields of valuable bioproducts and bioremediation technologies. The chapter begins with an introduction to the concept of these green stimulus and the rationale behind its use in bioprocessing. This is followed by a discussion of the different principles and mechanisms of electric, magnetic, and ultrasound stimulation, including the physical and biological effects that underpin their efficacy. Additionally, the chapter covers the application of these techniques in various bioprocesses, including micro- bial fermentation, biosynthesis of enzymes, and bioconversion of biomass. Examples are provided to illustrate the benefits of green stimulus in enhancing the production of specific bioproducts, such as biofuels, pharmaceuticals, and biopolymers. Finally, we conclude with a critical evaluation of the potential of these techniques in the bioprocessing industry, highlighting the challenges and limitations that need to be addressed to fully harness their potential.
- Where Do RMAs Work?Publication . Santos, José M.R.C.A.; Varela, Carolina; Kerridge, Simon; Fischer, MelindaIn this chapter, we will explore where Research Management and Administrators (RMAs) work, in terms of the types of organisations and their structures. While the majority of RMAs work in research-performing organisations (RPOs), such as universities, research institutes and hospitals, some work in other related organisations, such as research funders, think tanks and consultancy firms (non-RPOs). These different working contexts will be critically analysed in light of previous studies, and data collected through surveys and interviews. Quotes will be used to illustrate different professional settings. The interviewees selected derive from two world regions (USA and Europe) to understand the different challenges and settings associated with the diverse research ecosystems that each region represents. Finally, major conclusions and recommendations will be highlighted.