Analysis of Farmland Abandonment and the Extent and Location of Agricultural Areas that are Actually Abandoned or are in Risk to be Abandoned

Farmland abandonment (FLA) can be defined as the cessation of agricultural activities on a given surface of land and not taken by another activity (such as urbanisation or afforestation). This process attracts the attention of policy-makers both at national and EU level, in particular within the context of the Rural Development Policy. And, considering its importance in environmental and socio-economic terms, it is necessary to better understand the geographic distribution and strength of farmland abandonment trends in the EU-27, and to develop indicators to identify the most important farmland abandonment tendencies. The first aim of this study was to establish the state of the art concerning farmland abandonment (definition, type) and methodologies for identifying/quantifying this phenomenon (dataset, period of analysis, scale). Then, it was about contributing to a new definition of Less Favoured Areas by assessing the driving forces of farmland abandonment and preparing the guidelines for agri-environmental indicator Nr 14 [COM2006 (508final)] by evaluating the state and risk of farmland abandonment. The proposed methodology was based on two main elements: the variation of the UAA and the definition of rural areas. After identifying clear definitions for each variable, the way to consider the main flows of land use changes was studied. Due to a lack of accurate data at the appropriate scale, farmland afforestation could not be separated from the flow of FLA and the flow from farmland to sealed soil was estimated based on the hypothesis that it was mainly located in urban areas where the population density is high or increases very fast. The methodology was tested in three of the main agricultural countries in the EU-27 in terms of surface (France, Spain and Poland). Then, five regions were chosen to cover different contexts where a high level of FLA was observed and interviews of experts and stakeholders completed the study. Based on the results on the main causes of FLA, indicators of risk were proposed and recommendations were formulated to improve the methodology and datasets.JRC.H.5-Rural, water and ecosystem resource

Cristãos-Novos e Judaísmo no início da Época Moderna: identidade religiosa e “Razão de Estado”

Texto a propósito da edição da obra "L’Identità Dissimulata: giudaizzanti iberici nell’Europa Cristina dell’Età Moderna", onde se pretende abordar a produção historiográfica relativamente à questão da passagem de uma identidade «cristã-nova» para uma «judia nova» na Península Ibérica durante a Idade moderna

Key sustainability issues and the spatial classification of sensitive regions in Europe

Cross-cutting environmental, social and economic changes may have harsh impacts on sensitive regions. To address sustainability issues by governmental policy measures properly, the geographical delineation of sensitive regions is essential. With reference to the European impact assessment guidelines from 2005, sensitive regions were identified by using environmental, social and economic data and by applying cluster analysis, United Nation Environmental Policy priorities and expert knowledge. On a regionalised ‘Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics’ (NUTS) level and for pre-defined sensitive region types (post-industrial zones, mountains, coasts and islands) 31 % of the European area was identified as sensitive. However, the delineation mainly referred to social and economic issues since the regional data bases on environmental indicators are limited and do not allow the separation of medium-term vital classes of sensitive regions. Overall, the sensitive regions showed indicator values differing from the EU- 25 average.peer-reviewe

Midline supraumbilical incision as an option for morbidly obese patients? : case report

Background: Nowadays we observe growing rates of obesity, mainly among women. It has a great impact on maternal and fetal morbimortality and requires a specific obstetric approach. Aim: To discuss different approaches to abdominal incision in cesarean section in obese patients. Case presentation: Patient with morbid obesity submitted to an elective cesarean section due to fetal macrosomia and who underwent a cesarean section with a supraumbilical median incision evolving without any postpartum complications. Conclusion: It’s important to evaluate and chose the best incision in morbidly obese pregnant women aiming to reduce difficulties in fetal extraction and postoperative complications. Midline supraumbilical incision is a good choice in these cases, reducing surgical time and postpartum hemorrhage

European achievements in soil remediation and brownfield redevelopment

With the aim of sharing best practices of soil restoration and management of contaminated sites among European countries and to raise awareness of the enormous efforts made to succeed in such difficult commitment, the experts of the EIONET Soil working group on contaminated sites and brownfields agreed to gather their country's interesting cases and successful stories of recovery of contaminated areas. This second edition of the monograph presents seventeen new cases from eight European countries and its Regions of how polluted sites and brownfields have been remediated like new methodologies of sustainable restoration of the subsoil, development of innovative technologies, and funding mechanisms etc. These stories have been compiled to present what national, regional or local governments are doing to improve the quality of the environment and the living conditions of their population. A second aim is the promotion of best practices among industry, consultancies and business operators.JRC.D.3-Land Resource

Hereditary angioedema in pregnancy and management without recombinant human C1-INH

A pregnant woman diagnosed with type 1 angioedema seeks care at a public hospital for planning the delivery. This report presents ways to prevent and manage an acute HAE crisis during childbirth and early postpartum without the availability of first-line medications, such as plasma-derived human C1-INH concentrate

Embolia por líquido amniótico: relato de caso

A case of cardiorespiratory failure in a healthy patient during a C-section is reported. The patient had been admitted to the Obstetrics Center of the Hospital de Clínicas. After the fetus was removed, the patient had an episode of cardiorespiratory failure that developed to pulmonary edema and disseminated intravascular coagulopathy. Clinical and laboratory examinations indicated embolism caused by amniotic fluid. Later, the patient presented positive development. Our objective is to discuss characteristics of etiopathogeny, diagnosis, and treatment of amniotic fluid embolism, a rare and fatal complication with a mortality rate of 90%. Os autores relatam um caso de parada cardiorrespiratória em uma paciente previamente hígida submetida à cesariana. A paciente foi atendida no Centro Obstétrico do Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre. Após a retirada do feto, a paciente teve uma parada cardiorrespiratória, evoluindo para um quadro de edema pulmonar e de coagulopatia intravascular disseminada (CIVD). O quadro clínico e laboratorial foi sugestivo de embolia por líquido amniótico e a paciente teve evolução favorável. O objetivo deste relato é discutir aspectos sobre a etiopatogenia, diagnóstico e tratamento da embolia por líquido amniótico (ELA), uma complicação rara e fatal na maioria dos casos, com taxas de mortalidade em torno de 90% dos casos.