Cultura jurídica e tradição: o conflito entre os usos e costumes tradicionais moçambicanos e a herança jurídica dos colonizadores

A presente pesquisa procurou compreender o conflito entre os usos e costumes tradicionais e a cultura jurídica colonial dentro da atual dinâmica social de Moçambique, guiando-se na seguinte questão: De que forma se pode compreender o conflito entre os usos e costumes tradicionais e a cultura jurídica colonial, inseridas na dinâmica social contemporânea de Moçambique? Na mesma aborda-se um caso de conflito entre o sistema de justiça estatal e uma prática tradicional denominada muáwelo do norte da Província de Nampula, concretamente na cidade de Nacala-Porto. O principal objetivo foi analisar o contexto social moçambicano atual, buscando compreender os fatores de indução de conflitos entre grupos defensores das normas jurídicas coloniais e dos costumes tradicionais. Para além disso, foram descritas as formas de articulação (atuais) entre o sistema de justiça e as comunidades tradicionais em Moçambique e analisados alguns casos práticos de conflitos atuais entre os usos e costumes tradicionais moçambicanos e a cultura jurídica. O trabalho foi dividido em duas partes. A primeira parte, composta por dois capítulos, nas quais se apresenta um breve historial de Moçambique, dando-se maior ênfase às questões relativas à evolução dos seus povos, desde a chegada dos colonizadores portugueses e à ocupação efetiva do território moçambicano. Analisa-se, também, a forma como os colonizadores encararam os povos locais e os seus usos e costume, os choques culturais e a introdução do sistema jurídico colonial e seu impacto nas formas de resolução de conflitos entre os povos locais. Na segunda parte aborda-se a questão do conflito entre os usos e costumes e a cultura jurídica transmitida pelos colonizadores a partir da discussão do caso de muáwelo, anteriormente referenciado.This research sought to understand the conflict between practices and traditional usages and the colonial legal culture within the current social dynamics of Mozambique, leading to the following question: how can the conflict between usages and traditional practices and the colonial legal culture embedded in the contemporary social dynamics of Mozambique can be understood? It addresses a case of conflict between the state justice system and a traditional practice called muáwelo in the northern of Nampula Province, concretely in Nacala-Porto city. The main objective was to analyze the current Mozambican social context, seeking to understand the inducing factors of the conflicts between groups in favor of colonial legal rules and the traditional usages. Furthermore, we described the forms of articulation (current) between the justice system and traditional communities in Mozambique and analyzed some practical cases of the present conflicts between traditional practices and Mozambicans usages and the legal culture. However, the work was divided into two parts. The first part consists of two chapters, that gives a brief history of Mozambique, emphasizing in to issues relating to their people, since the Portuguese colonists arrival of and the effective occupation of the territory of Mozambique. The research also analyzes how the colonists faced the local people and their practices and traditional usages, cultural clashes and the introduction of the colonial legal system and its impact on ways of solving conflicts between the local people. The second part consists of a chapter. This part addresses the issue of conflict between practices and traditional usages and legal culture transmitted by settlers from discussing the case of muáwelo previously referenced

Linefish resources annual report for the year 2000. Part 1: fisheries assessment

This work reflects the activities of line and trap fishing in Southern Mozambique in 2000. The catch in line fishing has been estimated at 441 mt, according to the DNAP records. The same sources indicated that 1767 days were spent at sea and the estimated catch rate was 250 Kg per boaticlay. Most of the line fishing effort shifted away from Maputo and moved to Inhambane region. The monthly analysis of fishing vessels, stricter controls over catch and effort data submission, development of long-term research programme and the continuation of the on board sampling to improve the data collection are the recommendation for line fishing. The catch of trap vessels increases from 30mt in 1997 to 172 mt in 2000, during which the total number of traps increased from 25 to 300. During this time the number of fishing days has remained relatively constant, as well the soak time. These data sets are thus not compatible with each other, reflecting an increase in daily catch from 243 Kg to 791 kg. The species composition is mainly dominated by P. coeruleopunctatus, C. puniceus, C. nufar and E. andersoni

Effect of TGFβ signalling on CFTR protein: consequences for epithelial differentiation in CF

Tese de mestrado em Bioquímica, apresentada à Universidade de Lisboa, através da Faculdade de Ciências, 2015A fibrose quística (FQ) é a doença letal autossómica recessiva mais comum na população caucasiana. A doença é causada por mutações na proteína CFTR (do inglês cystic fibrosis conductance regulator), a mais comum sendo uma deleção do resíduo de fenilalanina 508 (F508del). A CFTR encontra-se bem estabelecida como um canal iónico activado por AMP cíclico expresso na superfície apical de células epiteliais numa variedade de tecidos. A CFTR F508del no entanto adopta uma conformação anormal que potencia a sua retenção no reticulo endoplasmático e degradação. A maioria desta proteína não atinge a membrana plasmática. A CFTR tem um papel conhecido como transportador de cloro e bicarbonato. Além do transporte aniónico, esta proteína também tem um papel regulador em relação a outros canais na membrana, como a ENaC (do inglês epithelial sodium channel). Mutações na CFTR estão na origem das manifestações clínicas da doença. Os tecidos e orgãos mais afectados incluem as vias respiratórias, o tracto gastrointestinal e o sistema reprodutor. Insuficiência pancreática, mecónio e hepatopatia são sintomas recorrentes. A infertilidade masculina também é praticamente universal em pacientes. No entanto a maior causa de mortalidade resultante da FQ está associada com as vias respiratórias. Enquanto reguladora de conductância, a CFTR influencia o conteúdo em água e iões do ASL (do inglês, airway surface liquid) e a sua desregulação causa um volume reduzido do ASL e muco espesso e desidratado. Este muco obstrói as vias respiratórias mais pequenas e afecta a limpeza mucociliar, prejudicando a eliminação das bactérias e outros patogénicos inalados. Assim, o defeito na CFTR promove infecções persistentes por patogénicos resistentes a tratamento. Isto gera estimulação contínua por antigénios que resulta numa resposta inflamatória exacerbada e dano progressivo das vias respiratórias. Eventualmente isto conduz a fibrose e destruição do tecido. A fraca correlação entre o genótipo da CFTR e a doença pulmonar na FQ sugere o envolvimento de factores ambientais ou genéticos (genes modificadores da FQ) que afectam o desenvolvimento, progressão e severidade da doença. O TGFβ1 (do inglês transforming growth factor beta 1) tem sido dos mais estudados. O TGFβ controla a diferenciação, migração e morte celular programada. É também um poderoso regulador de respostas imunes, exercendo funções pro- e anti-inflamatórias e tem também um papel central na remodelação epitelial, equilibrando a síntese e degradação da matriz extracelular (MEC). A sinalização intracelular do TGFβ ocorre através de repectores específicos tipo II (TbR-II) que complexam com, e subsequente fosforilam, receptores tipo I (TbR-I). A via intracelular canónica para o TGFβ é mediada por uma família de factores de transcrição chamadas as proteínas Smad. Polimorfismos no TGFβ1 que aumentam a sua expressão foram encontrados em pacientes com FQ e correlacionados com baixa função pulmonar e doença pulmonar mais severa. Assim é especulado que o TGFβ1 funciona estabelecendo uma ponte entre a inflamação e a remodelação epitelial na FQ, modificando a progressão da doença. O TGFβ é também um importante indutor da transição epitélio-mesenquima (TEM). Uma TEM é um processo complexo em que células epiteliais completamente diferenciadas transitam para um fenótipo mesenquimal. A TEM é responsável pela morfogénese de tecidos e organogénese no embrião, bem como remodelação e reparação do tecido em adultos. No entanto é também um elemento importante na progressão do cancro e outras malignidades, como fibrose. A transição de células epiteliais para mesenquimais ocorre através de um programa conservado com certos passos. Primeiro ocorre a dissolução das junções celulares, seguido da perda da polaridade apical-basal. Isto é procedido pela reorganização da arquitectura do citosqueleto e alterações na forma celular, bem como desenvolvimento de protusões e motilidade e, em muitos casos, uma capacidade de degradar proteínas da MEC e promover comportamento invasivo. Finalmente, ocorre uma diminuição da expressão de genes/proteínas epiteliais e a activação de genes que ajudam a definir o fenótipo mesenquimal. Curiosamente, a CFTR já foi descrita como sendo não só dependente de mas também envolvida na diferenciação epitelial, possuindo um papel no desenvolvimento, fibrose e cancro. A diferenciação e regeneração das vias respiratórias foi encontrada como estando debilitada na FQ, mesmo na ausência de inflamação. No entanto, a inflamação exacerbada também possui um papel na expressão da CFTR. Num epitélio remodelado com inflamação severa, a expressão de CFTR foi identificada de forma difusa no citoplasma das células ou encontrava-se ausente. A descoberta das vias de sinalização do TGFβ, incluindo aquelas envolvidas na TEM, revelou mediadores da actividade transcripcional das Smads. Estes mediadores envolvem as proteínas C/EBP (do inglês CCAAT-enhancer binding proteins). Desta família de proteínas, o C/EBPβ é o factor de transcrição dominante no epitélio respiratório em adultos. O C/EBPβ tem funções ao nível da diferenciação de adipócitos, macrófagos e células epiteliais mamárias, controlo metabólico, inflamação e resposta de fase aguda e promoção da proliferação celular. O C/EBPβ possui dois tipos de isoformas distintos, incluindo dois activadores de transcrição (LAPs) e um inibidor de transcrição (LIP). O LIP reprime a expressão génica, inibindo as isoformas LAP de forma dominantemente negativa. A sinalização do TGFβ pode inibir as funções do C/EBPβ através das Smads. No entanto o C/EBPβ é também um co-factor do TGFβ: a indução do p15INK4b (do inglês cyclin-dependent kinase 4 inhibitor B) e repressão do c-Myc (ambos necessários para a resposta citóstatica do TGFβ) são dependentes do C/EBPβ. Curiosamente, um nível elevado de LIP (e nível diminuído de LAP) foi ligado a uma perda das respostas citostáticas dependentes do TGFβ em células metásticas de pacientes com cancro da mama. Consistentemente, um aumento do LIP em vários tipos de células epiteliais resultou num aumento de proliferação, diminuição na diferenciação e formação de hiperplasias. Além do TGFβ, o C/EBPβ é também regulado pelo miR-155. Este miRNA está envolvido em vários processos biológicos que incluem inflamação e imunidade. A estimulação com TGFβ aumenta os níveis de miR-155, que por sua vez aumenta o TEM dependente do TGFβ. A perda de C/EBPβ mediada pelo miR-155 foi descoberta como um mecanismo de promoção da progressão do cancro da mama por desviar a resposta do TGFβ de morte celular para TEM, invasão e metástase. Além disto, a expressão do miR-155 encontra-se aumentada em células pulmonares de FQ, comparando com os controlos. O objectivo principal deste trabalho era explorar a significância fisiológica da sinalização do TGFβ na ausência de CFTR functional, nomeadamente o seu papel na activação de TEM. Com este fim procurou-se: determinar se a TEM era um componente da FQ; avaliar o estado e localização do C/EBPβ na ausência de CFTR funcional; investigar o possível papel do C/EBPβ como mediador do TEM induzido por TGFβ; e avaliar o papel do miR-155 nos processos acima referidos. Tecido pulmonar (de controlos e pacientes de FQ) e células epiteliais brônquicas de FQ (do inglês, CFBE), expressando CFTR normal (CFTR wt) ou com a mutação F508del (CFTR F508del), foram usados para realizar estas tarefas. Análise do tecido de um paciente com FQ revelou remodelação consistente com inflamação crónica e ainda perda de diferenciação epitelial. A presença de marcadores mesenquimais e ausência/diminuição de marcadores epiteliais era consistente com a ocorrência de TEM. As diferenças no estado de diferenciação dos dois epitélios reflectiram as diferenças nos níveis de C/EBPβ. Este encontrava-se reduzido (ao nível de proteína e mRNA) nas células com CFTR F508del. Apesar de o C/EBPβ e a CFTR não interagirem ao nível proteico, redução de CFTR wt na membrana plasmática quando a expressão de C/EBPβ foi inibida sugere um envolvimento deste factor de transcrição no tráfego da CFTR para a membrana plasmática. Se este envolvimento é da isoforma LAP ou LIP ainda não é claro. O tratamento de células CFBE polarizadas com TGFβ reduziu a resistência transepitelial (do inglês, TEER) e a expressão da E-caderina, consistente com a indução de TEM. Apesar das funções anti-inflamatórias e anti-proliferativas do TGFβ, uma exposição de 48h a esta citocina parece desviar definitivamente a sua resposta para inflamação crónica e indução de TEM. Isto é consistente com o que foi encontrado no tecido do paciente com FQ. A TEER e a expressão de C/EBPβ encontravam-se mais reduzidas em células com F508del-CFTR após tratamento com TGFβ. Isto pode ser devidos aos níveis de LIP mais elevados encontrados para estas células mas pode também apontar para uma desregulação de outras vias, resultados do defeito na CFTR. Em apoio desta hipótese, observou-se que o miR-155 reprime a expressão de C/EBPβ em ambas as linhas celulares. No entanto nas células com CFTR F508del este impacto foi maior, o que sugere uma desregulação intrínseca dos níveis deste miRNA, podendo esta via estar desregulada sinergicamente com a do TGFβ. Surpreendemente os níveis de CFTR wt aumentaram com o tratamento com TGFβ e miR-155, enquanto os de CFTR F508del se mantiveram inalterados. Como isto é contraditório a um papel encontrado recentemente para o TGFβ em afectar a biogénese da CFTR, provavelmente o modelo utilizado não foi o melhor para avaliar estes níveis, já que a CFTR se encontra sobrexpressa. Este trabalho contribuiu para o melhor conhecimento do papel regulatório da CFTR na diferenciação epitelial e inflamação crónica na FQ.Cystic fibrosis (CF) is the most common life-threatening autosomal recessive disease in Caucasians. CF is caused by mutations in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator (CFTR). The most common one is the deletion of residue phenylalanine 508 (F508del). CFTR is well established as a cyclic AMP-activated anion channel, expressed in the apical surface of epithelial cells of a wide variety of tissues. F508del-CFTR, however, adopts an abnormal conformation which potentiates endoplasmic reticulum retention and degradation of the protein. Most of this protein fails to reach the plasma membrane. CFTR is known to conduct chloride and bicarbonate. In addition to anion transport, CFTR also has a regulatory role towards other epithelial channels, like the epithelial Na+ channel (ENaC). CFTR mutations are in the origin of the clinic manifestations of CF. The more severely damaged tissues and organs are the airways, gastrointestinal tract and reproductive system. Pancreatic insufficiency, meconium ileus and liver disease are recurrent symptoms. Male infertility is almost universal. However, most CF morbidity and mortality is associated with the respiratory tract. As a conductance regulator, CFTR influences the ion and water content of the airway surface liquid (ASL) and its dysregulation causes a reduced ASL volume as well as thick and dehydrated airway mucus. This mucus obstructs the small airways and impairs mucociliary clearance, prejudicing the removal of inhaled bacteria and other pathogens. Hence the CFTR defect promotes persistent infections by pathogens resistant to therapy. This generates continuous antigen stimulation which results in exacerbated inflammation and progressive airway damage. This eventually leads to airway fibrosis and destruction. The poor correlation between CFTR genotype and lung disease phenotype suggests the influence of environmental and secondary genetic factors (CF modifier genes) which affect the development, progression and disease severity. The transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGFβ1) has been among the most studied. TGFβ controls differentiation, migration, and programed cell death. It is a master regulator of immune responses, exerting powerful pro- and anti-inflammatory functions and also has a central role in epithelial remodeling, balancing the extracellular matrix (ECM) production and degradation. Intracellular TGFβ signaling occurs via specific type II receptors (TbR-II) which complex with, and subsequently phosphorylate, type I receptors (TbR-I). The canonical intracellular signaling pathway for TGFβ1 is mediated by a family of transcription factors, the Smad proteins. TGFβ1 polymorphisms which increase its expression have been found on CF patients and reported to correlate with low lung function and a more severe pulmonary disease. TGFβ1 is therefore speculated to bridge the inflammatory and remodeling pathways in CF, modifying CF lung disease progression. TGFβ is also a major inducer of epithelial-mesenchymal transitions (EMTs). An EMT is a complex process whereby fully differentiated polarized epithelial cells transition into a mesenchymal phenotype. EMT underlies tissue morphogenesis and organogenesis in the embryo, as well as tissue remodelling and repair in adults. However, it is also an important element in cancer progression and malignancy, such as fibrosis. The transition of epithelial cells into mesenchymal cells occurs through a conserved programme with hallmarks. Firstly, there is the dissolution/disassembly of the epithelial cell–cell junctions, followed by loss of apical–basal polarity. This is followed by reorganization of the cytoskeletal architecture and changes in cell shape, as well as development of cell protrusions and motility and, in many cases, an ability to degrade ECM proteins to enable invasive behavior. Finally, there is a downregulation of the epithelial gene expression signature and activation of genes that help defining the mesenchymal phenotype. Interestingly, CFTR has been described to be not only dependent on but also involved in epithelial differentiation, having reported roles in development, fibrosis and cancer. Importantly, airway epithelial differentiation and regeneration has been reported to be impaired in bronchial epithelial CF cells, even in the absence of airway infection. However exacerbated inflammation can also affect CFTR expression. In a remodeled surface epithelium with severe inflammation, CFTR protein presented either a diffuse distribution in the cytoplasm of ciliated cells or was absent. Unveiling of TGFβ pathways, including those involved in EMT, has revealed mediators regulating the downstream Smad transcriptional activity. These include the CCAAT-enhancer binding proteins (C/EBP). Among this family, C/EBPβ has been reported to be the dominant DNA binding factor in the adult airway epithelium. C/EBPβ is known to have roles in the differentiation of adipocytes, macrophages and mammary epithelial cells; in metabolic control; in inflammation and acute-phase response; and in promoting cellular proliferation. C/EBPβ possesses distinct types of isoforms, including two transcriptional activators (LAPs) and one transcriptional inhibitor (LIP). LIP represses gene expression, inhibiting LAP isoforms in a dominant negative fashion. TGFβ signaling is known to induce Smad-dependent inhibition of C/EBPβ function. However, C/EBPβ can also serve as a cofactor for TGFβ signaling: induction of the cyclindependent kinase 4 inhibitor B (p15INK4b) and repression of c-Myc (both needed for the cytostatic response of TGFβ) were found to depend on C/EBPβ. Interestingly, a higher level of LIP (and decreased level of LAP) has successfully been linked to a loss of TGFβ-dependent cytostatic responses in metastatic cells from breast cancer patients. LIP increase in several epithelial cells resulted in an increase in proliferation, decrease in differentiation and formation of hyperplasias. In addition to TGFβ, C/EBPβ is also regulated by miR-155. This miRNA is reported to be involved in numerous biological processes including inflammation and immunity. TGFβ stimulation is also known to enhance miR-155 expression levels, augmenting the TGFβ-dependent EMT. Accordingly, miR-155-mediated loss of C/EBPβ was also found as a mechanism of promotion of breast cancer progression, by shifting the TGFβ response from growth inhibition to EMT, invasion and metastasis. Finally, expression of miR-155 was found to be elevated in CF lung epithelial cells, compared with control cells. The main goal of the present work was to explore the physiological significance of TGFβ signaling in the absence of functional CFTR, namely its possible role in activating EMT pathways. To achieve this it was sought to: determine if EMT was a component of CF disease; assessing the localization and status of transcription factor C/EBPβ in the absence of functional CFTR; investigating C/EBPβ’s possible role in mediating TGFβ induced EMT; and evaluating the role of miR-155 on these processes. Both lung tissue (from control and CF patients) and cystic fibrosis bronchial epithelial cells (expressing either wt or F508del-CFTR) were used to perform these tasks. Analysis of the CF tissue revealed tissue remodeling consistent with a chronic inflammation environment in the lung and a loss of epithelial differentiation. Furthermore, the presence of mesenchymal markers and loss of epithelial markers supported the notion of an EMT occurrence. The differences in the differentiation status seemed to reflect on the C/EBPβ levels. F508del-CFTR CFBE cells show reduced C/EBPβ protein and mRNA levels. Although CFTR and C/EBPβ were not found to interact on protein level, reduction of wt-CFTR at the plasma membrane when C/EBPβ was knocked down suggests an involvement of C/EBPβ in the traffic of CFTR to the plasma membrane. It is still unclear if this is mediated by the LAP or LIP isoform. TGFβ treatment of both polarized CFBE cell lines resulted in decreases in transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) and loss of E-cadherin expression, consistent with a TGFβ-induced EMT. Despite the anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic roles known for TGFβ, a 48 hour exposure to this cytokine seemed to shift definitively the response towards chronic inflammation and EMT induction. This response is consistent with the findings on CF lung tissue. Accordingly, TEER and C/EBPβ expression were found to be more reduced in F508del- CFTR cells compared to wt after TGFβ treatment. This could be due to more increased LIP levels (which were observed on F508del-CFTR cells) but could also point to the involvement of other dysregulated pathways resulting from the CFTR defect. Accordingly, miR-155 was found to be repressing C/EBPβ on both cell types. However, on F508del-CFTR cells addition of miR- 155 had a larger impact on C/EBPβ levels. This could suggest that the CFTR dysfunction produces increased baseline levels of miR-155 which further contributes to decreasing C/EBPβ. This is in agreement with the TGFβ results, which point to additional dysregulated pathways resultant from CFTR defect affecting C/EBPβ levels. Surprisingly, the wt-CFTR levels increased with TGFβ and miR-155 treatment whereas F508del-CFTR showed no changes in expression. Since this is contradictory to recent findings that TGFβ impairs CFTR biogenesis, CFBE cells could not be the best model to assess CFTR levels in response to TGFβ treatment. This can be because these cell lines are overexpressing CFTR and, in this respect, do not perfectly recapitulate the in vivo situation. This work contributes to our understanding of the regulatory role of CFTR in epithelial differentiation and chronic inflammation in cystic fibrosis

Relearning traditional knowledge to achieve sustainability: honey gathering in the miombo woodlands of northern Mozambique

Mozambique’s Niassa Reserve contains Africa’s best preserved miombo woodlands. Half of the households there gather wild honey from natural hives for consumption and income. However, most collectors used destructive techniques: setting fire to the grasses under the hive tree to create smoke and then felling the tree. Cutting trees to obtain honey was the principal source of tree mortality. Trees grow very slowly, about 0.25 cm diameter [dbh]/yr, meaning an average hive tree was nearly 200 years old. Furthermore, of the trees > 20 cm dbh of species important for nectar and hives, only about 15% had cavities. Although fire is intrinsic to miombo woodlands, the increased frequency resulting from anthropogenic sources impedes regeneration of some tree species as well as affecting bees, other wildlife and villages. A few people in the reserve had learned from earlier generations how to gather honey in a nondestructive way, using certain plant species to keep bees from stinging and climbing the trees using ropes to take the honey combs out of the hives. Traditional practices included leaving the larval combs behind so the colony continued to grow. Previously, the older men who had this knowledge had not been willing to share it with younger men. The project arranged for one of the traditional honey hunters to participate in an international conference on honey collection with other indigenous collectors from around the world. This helped him recognize the value of his knowledge. The project team then arranged for him to demonstrate these traditional techniques to groups of honey hunters in nine communities within the Reserve. A yearlater, monitoring revealed that many collectors had adopted these nondestructive techniques. They found them less time consuming, and appreciated that they allowed collectors to return to the same trees repeatedly to obtain honey. Sharing traditional knowledge made honey hunting compatible with the conservation of miombo woodlands

Women's dietary changes before and during pregnancy: A systematic review

Background: dietary intake before and during pregnancy has significant health outcomes for both mother and child, including a healthy gestational weight gain. To ensure effective interventions are successfully developed to improve dietary intake during pregnancy, it is important to understand what dietary changes pregnant women make without intervention. Aims: to systematically identify and review studies examining women's dietary changes before and during pregnancy and to identify characteristics of the women making these changes. Methods: a systematic search strategy was employed using three databases (Web of Science, CINAHL and PubMed) in May 2016. Search terms included those relating to preconception, pregnancy and diet. All papers were quality assessed using the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network methodology checklist for cohort studies.The search revealed 898 articles narrowed to full-text review of 23 studies. In total, 11 research articles were included in the review, describing nine different studies. The findings were narratively summarised in line with the aims of the review. Findings: the included studies showed marked heterogeneity, which impacts on the findings. However, the majority report an increase in energy intake (kcal or kJ) during pregnancy. Of the studies that reported changes through food group comparisons, a majority reported a significant increase in fruit and vegetable consumption, a decrease in egg consumption, a decrease in fried and fast food consumption and a decrease in coffee and tea consumption from before to during pregnancy. The characteristics of the women participating in these studies, suggest that age, education and pregnancy intention are associated with healthier dietary changes; however these factors were only assessed in a small number of studies. Key conclusions: the 11 included articles show varied results in dietary intake during pregnancy as compared to before. More research is needed regarding who makes these healthy changes, this includes consistency regarding measurement tools, outcomes and time points. Implications for practice: Midwives as well as intervention developers need to be aware of the dietary changes women may spontaneously engage in when becoming pregnant, so that care and interventions can build on these

Alternative architecture approaches for distributed control of smart buildings

With the increasing distribution and density of devices in smart communities or buildings, factors like reliability and integrity are put to the test in the resource and management processes of automation platforms, when delegation of device control is intended. For this reason, there is a need for an architecture that can address such challenges. This work aims to study different approaches for distributed control in IoT (Internet of Things) environments and their architectures, and it also intends to analyze how these approaches can be installed and performed in the context of distributed control in smart building management platforms. The main goal of this dissertation is to design and compare alternative architectures for the integration of building automation platforms envisaging the distributed management of resources. To achieve the aim of this dissertation, four integration alternatives have been proposed combining two approaches for communication, MQTT and Rest API, with two placements of communications services, in edge and cloud servers. According to tests, all alternatives achieve the desired integration, and the best response time result was 33.49ms when communicating via Rest API edge services. However, the integration via Rest API left exposed items that could be undesirably controlled and, as such, it is less secure. However, this is not the case when communication via MQTT, which presents an acceptable response time of slightly over 100ms, whether using edge or cloud servers.Com a crescente distribuição e densidade de dispositivos em comunidade ou edifício inteligente, fatores como fiabilidade e a integridade são postos à prova nos processos de gestão de recursos e de plataformas de automação, quando se pretende delegar o controlo de dispositivos. Por esta razão, existe a necessidade de uma arquitetura que possa responder a tais desafios. Este trabalho tem como objetivo estudar diferentes abordagens para controlo distribuído em ambientes IoT (internet das coisas) e as respetivas arquiteturas, e pretende ainda analisar como estas abordagens podem ser instaladas e executadas no contexto do controlo distribuído em plataformas de gestão de edifícios inteligentes. O principal objetivo desta dissertação é conceber e comparar arquiteturas alternativas para integração de plataformas de automação de edifícios que prevejam a gestão distribuída de recursos. Para atingir o objetivo desta dissertação, foram propostas quatro alternativas de integração que combinam duas abordagens de comunicação, MQTT e Rest API, com duas colocações de serviços de comunicação, em servidores de borda e nuvem. De acordo com os testes, todas as alternativas alcançam a integração desejada, sendo que o melhor resultado de tempo de resposta foi de 33,49ms na comunicação via Rest API dos serviços de borda. No entanto, a integração via Rest API deixa expostos itens que poderiam ser controlados de forma indesejada e, como tal, é menos segura. Este não é o caso quando a comunicação via MQTT apresenta um tempo de resposta aceitável de pouco mais de 100ms, quer utilizando servidores de borda ou de nuvem

Alternative architecture approaches for distributed control of smart buildings

With the increasing distribution and density of devices in smart communities or buildings, factors like reliability and integrity are put to the test in the resource and management processes of automation platforms, when delegation of device control is intended. For this reason, there is a need for an architecture that can address such challenges. This work aims to study different approaches for distributed control in IoT (Internet of Things) environments and their architectures, and it also intends to analyze how these approaches can be installed and performed in the context of distributed control in smart building management platforms. The main goal of this dissertation is to design and compare alternative architectures for the integration of building automation platforms envisaging the distributed management of resources. To achieve the aim of this dissertation, four integration alternatives have been proposed combining two approaches for communication, MQTT and Rest API, with two placements of communications services, in edge and cloud servers. According to tests, all alternatives achieve the desired integration, and the best response time result was 33.49ms when communicating via Rest API edge services. However, the integration via Rest API left exposed items that could be undesirably controlled and, as such, it is less secure. However, this is not the case when communication via MQTT, which presents an acceptable response time of slightly over 100ms, whether using edge or cloud servers.Com a crescente distribuição e densidade de dispositivos em comunidade ou edifício inteligente, fatores como fiabilidade e a integridade são postos à prova nos processos de gestão de recursos e de plataformas de automação, quando se pretende delegar o controlo de dispositivos. Por esta razão, existe a necessidade de uma arquitetura que possa responder a tais desafios. Este trabalho tem como objetivo estudar diferentes abordagens para controlo distribuído em ambientes IoT (internet das coisas) e as respetivas arquiteturas, e pretende ainda analisar como estas abordagens podem ser instaladas e executadas no contexto do controlo distribuído em plataformas de gestão de edifícios inteligentes. O principal objetivo desta dissertação é conceber e comparar arquiteturas alternativas para integração de plataformas de automação de edifícios que prevejam a gestão distribuída de recursos. Para atingir o objetivo desta dissertação, foram propostas quatro alternativas de integração que combinam duas abordagens de comunicação, MQTT e Rest API, com duas colocações de serviços de comunicação, em servidores de borda e nuvem. De acordo com os testes, todas as alternativas alcançam a integração desejada, sendo que o melhor resultado de tempo de resposta foi de 33,49ms na comunicação via Rest API dos serviços de borda. No entanto, a integração via Rest API deixa expostos itens que poderiam ser controlados de forma indesejada e, como tal, é menos segura. Este não é o caso quando a comunicação via MQTT apresenta um tempo de resposta aceitável de pouco mais de 100ms, quer utilizando servidores de borda ou de nuvem

Indoor radon related with the geology in romanian urban agglomerations (cluj-napoca)

Radon is a natural radioactive gas that occurs due to the radioactive decay of radium (226Ra) present in rocks which, in turn, cames from the radioactive decay of uranium (238U), a primordial natural element. Along with factors such as porosity, permeability and humidity of the rocks and soils, pressure and temperature, geology setting plays one of the most important roles in the release of radon into the environment. Depending on the mineralogical compositions and characteristics of the bedrock from a certain area, a higher or lower concentration of radioactive minerals can be found in the rocks, which will directly influence the level of radon in the atmosphere, implicitly the concentration of radon measured in houses. In this study, a six months concentration of radon (222Rn) was assessed in 256houses from Cluj-Napoca area using CR-39 nuclear track detectors. Correlations between the indoor radon levels and the geological setting was further analyzed. The aim is to better understand the influence of geology on the concentration of radon levels in homes, in order to further identify other risk areas in terms of exposure to radon. Further investigation is needed on other factors influencing the accumulation of radon in high concentrations indoor, such as ventilation, occupation patterns or constructive and architectural features for typical houses. Therefore, the results of this work are considered to be important for indoor radon management in Romania

Finding joy, creativity and meaning through unusual interdisciplinary collaborations

Academics are increasingly calling for and asked to, work in interdisciplinary teams to address pressing social-ecological challenges. However, there are significant barriers to pursuing interdisciplinary collaborations within current university structures. Taking the first two years of our Centre for Unusual Collaborations (CUCo) as a case study of setting up a space for exploration and experimentation, we discuss how unusual interdisciplinary collaborations had unexpected effects, beyond the potential for societal impact. Most surprisingly, we found the CUCo model offered a welcome opportunity to break away from the productivism and competition that is common in academia while stimulating exploration of our own disciplines. This often led to an expansion of ideas and deepened understanding in ways that sparked joy, curiosity, creativity and meaning. We discuss how academic culture currently hampers collaboration: key roadblocks are identified, specifically rewards and recognition, the lack of spaces for trust-building, and competence and skills that are not geared towards collaboration. We present lessons learned in overcoming roadblocks to stimulate research across disciplinary lines and explain how unusual interdisciplinary collaborations provide opportunities for opening and deepening research lines, and how they can be fun and meaningful. We argue that, at a moment when academia faces growing rates of burnout and stress, such collaborations are fundamental