Repositório RCAAP

The dependence of modern societies upon critical raw materials (nearly all metals) is overwhelming. Some believe that demand is growing faster than offer, not only because of geological availability but also for political and economic reasons. For these reasons it is imperative to consider new sources for raw materials.The seafloor stands as a likely candidate. We must create readiness now to be prepared when the need comes. One of the greatest fears is the environmental cost involved in mining the deep seafloor. However, the mining industry no longer deserves its partially not favorable reputation. We need both the resources and the environment. And nIMBY (not In My Back Yard) will not help.

Swine production has been associated with health risks and workers' symptoms. In Portugal, as in other countries, large-scale swine production involves several activities in the swine environment that require direct intervention, increasing workers' exposure to organic dust. This study describes an updated protocol for the assessment of occupational exposure to organic dust, to unveil an accurate scenario regarding occupational and environmental risks for workers' health. The particle size distribution was characterized regarding mass concentration in five different size ranges (PM0.5, PM1, PM2.5, PM5, PM10). Bioburden was assessed, by both active and passive sampling methods, in air, on surfaces, floor covering and feed samples, and analyzed through culture based-methods and qPCR. Smaller size range particles exhibited the highest counts, with indoor particles showing higher particle counts and mass concentration than outdoor particles. The limit values suggested for total bacteria load were surpassed in 35.7% (10 out of 28) of samples and for fungi in 65.5% (19 out of 29) of samples. Among Aspergillus genera, section Circumdati was the most prevalent (55%) on malt extract agar (MEA) and Versicolores the most identified (50%) on dichloran glycerol (DG18). The results document a wide characterization of occupational exposure to organic dust on swine farms, being useful for policies and stakeholders to act to improve workers' safety. The methods of sampling and analysis employed were the most suitable considering the purpose of the study and should be adopted as a protocol to be followed in future exposure assessments in this occupational environment.

Santa Maria Island constitutes the oldest volcanic island within the Azores Archipelago, with no onshore record of eruptions younger than ≈2.8 Ma. A recent high-resolution multibeam bathymetric survey, however, revealed the presence of a seemingly young submerged wide volcanic edifice at approximately −70/−80 m, on the northeastern sector of the island shelf. The outer flanks of this volcanic edifice are partially eroded by marine erosion, but its general morphology is largely preserved, attesting to its relative youth. The edifice's aspect ratio and crater size are typical of a tuff ring formed by very violent surtseyan to taalian eruptions (with water/magma interaction ratios close to 1), implying extrusion at sea level or in very shallow waters, conditions that are incompatible with the present-day water depth at which this structure occurs. A detailed geomorphological analysis – coupled with a correlation with a modified reference eustatic curve – allowed the formulation and discussion of a formation model for the tuff ring, which involves extrusion during a period immediately preceding a rapid relative sea-level drop, most likely at ≈43 ka. Extrusion during such a period would have allowed for the subaerial consolidation and palagonitization of the tuff ring, increasing its resistance to erosion, before being finally submerged during the Last Glacial Termination. Submersion during the Last Glacial Termination – a period characterised by extremely fast sea-level rise – also helps to explain why this tuff ring was submerged without being completely razed by marine erosion. Our study offers insights on the formation and preservation of tuff rings in coastal environments, and in relation to sea-level oscillations, suggesting that consolidation plays a crucial role in the process. Crucially, our study suggests that Santa Maria's volcanism might have extended well into the very late Pleistocene, raising important hazard implications. Future work is scheduled to confirm this hypothesis, including sampling of the volcanic products by dredging and/or by remote operated vehicle. Our study also emphasises the importance of available high-resolution bathymetric surveys to the formulation of solid volcanic hazard assessments on volcanic islands.

Objective: It is unclear whether blockade of the angiotensin system has effects on mental health. Our objective was to determine the impact of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AT1R) blockers on mental health domain of quality of life. Study design: Meta-analysis of published literature. Data sources: PubMed and clinicaltrials.gov databases. The last search was conducted in January 2017. Study selection: Randomized controlled trials comparing any angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor or AT1R blocker versus placebo or non-angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor or non-AT1R blocker were selected. Study participants were adults without any major physical symptoms. We adhered to meta-analysis reporting methods as per PRISMA and the Cochrane Collaboration. Data synthesis: Eleven studies were included in the analysis. When compared with placebo or other antihypertensive medications, AT1R blockers and angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors were associated with improved overall quality of life (standard mean difference = 0.11, 95% confidence interval = [0.08, 0.14], p < 0.0001), positive wellbeing (standard mean difference = 0.11, 95% confidence interval = [0.05, 0.17], p < 0.0001), mental (standard mean difference = 0.15, 95% confidence interval = [0.06, 0.25], p < 0.0001), and anxiety (standard mean difference = 0.08, 95% confidence interval = [0.01, 0.16], p < 0.0001) domains of QoL. No significant difference was found for the depression domain (standard mean difference = 0.05, 95% confidence interval = [0.02, 0.12], p = 0.15). Conclusions: Use of angiotensin blockers and inhibitors for the treatment of hypertension in otherwise healthy adults is associated with improved mental health domains of quality of life. Mental health quality of life was a secondary outcome in the included studies. Research specifically designed to analyse the usefulness of drugs that block the angiotensin system is necessary to properly evaluate this novel psychiatric target.

O ponto de partida deste trabalho foi o desenvolvimento de um projecto de índole artística com alunos do 8º ano do Ensino Básico, no âmbito da disciplina de Oficina de Expressão Plástica. O projecto decorreu em vinte e uma sessões semanais de noventa minutos, dezanove em sala de aula e duas sessões de visitas guiadas num museu e numa oficina de cerâmica em horário extra-escolar. Teve como objectivo a criação de maquetas para esculturas a implantar no exterior da escola. Os alunos envolvidos no projecto foram adolescentes com idades compreendidas entre os 12 e os 16 anos, considerados pelos professores como “alunos desmotivados” e com “baixa auto-estima”. No sentido de criar uma maior envolvência, autonomia e vontade de saber dos alunos, foi implementada uma estratégia didáctica centrada na exploração da Identidade e da Alteridade. A propósito do trabalho desenvolvido, procurou-se verificar de que forma é que explorar a Identidade como estratégia de ensino em Expressão Plástica pode promover o reconhecimento da importância do Outro na construção de aprendizagens e o envolvimento dos adolescentes na procura do conhecimento, potenciando o sucesso escolar.

Macaronesia is a complex oceanic region spanning three tectonic plates in the northeast Atlantic ocean. It is composed of four archipelagos, widely distributed and limited to the east by the Iberian Peninsula and north-western coast of Africa. This study aims to clarify recent Macaronesian kinematics from 19 GNSS stations located on the four archipelagos and the Iberian and African coastlines. The analysis is based on nearly 15 years of common data acquisition and aimed to detect new effects of intraplate tectonics or similar local/regional events consistent with calculated ground displacements. Evaluating the GNSS stations residual velocities relative to those expected from the NNR-MORVEL56 model, higher residuals were found at continental coastal stations (Africa) than at oceanic ones (Canaries and Madeira). From the computed strain rate map, the possible existence of a shear zone connecting the Gloria and Transmoroccan fault systems, already mentioned by other authors, was depicted. Cluster statistical analysis of the horizontal residual velocities helped to identify tectonic boundaries in Macaronesia and four groups of analogous intraplate residual velocities within this region. Three of four groups were identified in the Azores, highlighting the African-Nubian-Eurasian diffuse plate boundary in this region. Furthermore, in the Canary Islands, two distinct kinematic behaviours were detected, possibly due to the activity along a previously detected tectonic fault between Tenerife and Gran Canaria, where some stations have similar intraplate residuals to those at Madeira and Cape Verde stations, while others have similar intraplate residuals to those of continental stations. Finally, all stations on oceanic crust, except Cape Verde, present recent ground subsidence which may be attributed to isostatic adjustment.

In the Central Atlantic archipelagos – the Canaries, Cape Verde, Madeira and the Azores – tsunami hazard is often regarded as low, when compared with other extreme wave events such as hurricanes and storms. The geological record of many of these islands, however, suggests that tsunami hazard may be underestimated, notwithstanding being lower than in areas adjacent to subduction zones, such as the margins of the Pacific and Indian oceans. Moreover, tsunamis in oceanic islands are generally triggered by local large-scale volcanic flank collapses, for which little is known about their frequency, making it difficult to estimate the probability of a new occurrence. Part of the problem lies in the fact that tsunami deposits are usually difficult to date, and few islands in the world exhibit evidence for repeated tsunami inundation on a protracted timescale. This study reports on the presence of abundant tsunami deposits (conglomerates and sandstones) on Maio Island (Cape Verde) and discusses their stratigraphy, sedimentological characteristics, probable age and tsunamigenic source. Observations indicate that four distinct inundation events of variable magnitude took place during the Pleistocene. One of the tsunami deposits yielded a high-confidence U/Th age of 78.8 +- 0.9 ka, which overlaps within error with the 73 +- 7 ka age proposed for Fogo volcano’s flank collapse, an event known to have had a significant tsunami impact on nearby Santiago Island. This shows that the Fogo tsunami also impacted Maio, resulting in runups in excess of 60 m above coeval sea-level at ca 120 km from the source. Two older deposits, possibly linked to recurrent flank collapses of the Tope de Coroa volcano in Santo Antão Island, yielded lower-confidence ages of 479 to 390 ka and 360 to 304 ka. A younger deposit (<78 ka) remains undated. In summary, the geological record of Maio exhibits well-preserved evidence of repeated tsunami inundation, reinforcing the notion that tsunami hazard is not so low at volcanic archipelagos featuring prominent and highly-active volcanoes such as in Cape Verde.

Males of several fish species aggregate and vocalize together, increasing the detection range of the sounds and their chances of mating. In the Lusitanian toadfish (Halobatrachus didactylus), breeding males build nests under rocks in close proximity and produce hundreds of boatwhistles (BW) an hour to attract females to lay their demersal eggs on their nest. Chorusing behaviour includes fine-scale interactions between individuals, a behavioural dynamic worth investigating in this highly vocal fish. Here we present a study to further investigate this species' vocal temporal patterns on a fine (individual rhythms and male-male interactions) and large (chorus daily patterns) scales. Several datasets recorded in the Tagus estuary were labelled with the support of an automatic recognition system based on hidden Markov models. Fine-scale vocal temporal patterns exhibit high variability between and within individuals, varying from an almost isochronous to an apparent aperiodic pattern. When in a chorus, males exhibited alternation or synchrony calling patterns, possibly depending on motivation and social context (mating or male-male competition). When engaged in sustained calling, males usually alternated vocalizations with their close neighbours thus avoiding superposition of calls. Synchrony was observed mostly in fish with lower mean calling rate. Interaction patterns were less obvious in more distanced males. Daily choruses showed periods with several active calling males and periods of low activity with no significant diel patterns in shallower intertidal waters. Here, chorusing activity was mainly affected by tide level. In contrast, at a deeper location, tide level did not significantly influence calling and there was a higher calling rate at night. These data show that photoperiod and tide levels can influence broad patterns of Lusitanian toadfish calling activity as in other shallow-water fishes, but fine temporal patterns in acoustic interactions among nesting males is more complex than previously known for fishes.

Stemming from a pervasive lack of knowledge on biodiversity, important areas for conservation are typically identified using a subset of well known species, commonly termed surrogate or indicator groups. Birds have been commonly used as biodiversity surrogates due to the good level of knowledge on their taxonomy, ecology and distribution. Raptors in particular have been often proposed as an effective surrogate for other biodiversity based on their dietary diversity, being at the top of the food chain, their preference for highly productive areas, their generally threatened status and high public appeal. However, so far the surrogacy effectiveness of raptors has been largely studied locally or using a narrow selection of surrogate and surrogated taxa. Here we use a spatial conservation planning tool to quantify the surrogacy performance of raptors, overall and by different raptor groups (hawks and eagles, falcons, vultures, owls) to represent important biodiversity areas (such as IUCN protected areas and key biodiversity areas), wilderness areas and the worlds ecoregions. We compared the above surrogacy performance with that of all other non-raptor avian species. We show that raptors perform marginally worse than all other avian species in representing important biodiversity areas and ecoregions. However, raptors representation for wilderness areas was similar or slightly better compared to that of using all non-raptor birds. We also report a large variation in the representation performance by the four raptor groups. Falcons had a particularly high potential in representing protected areas and wilderness areas, equaling or largely surpassing the representation potential provided by all raptors and all other non-raptor birds. Overall, the results suggest that raptors, and particularly falcons, can perform relatively well in representing some important areas for conservation, such as protected areas and wilderness areas, but are relatively poor surrogates for key biodiversity areas and ecoregions. These rather contrasting results call for caution on the use of raptors as global surrogates of wider biodiversity.

Large body size, the defining characteristic of “charismatic megafauna,” is often viewed as the most significant correlate of higher public interest in species. However, common, local species (many of which are not large) can also generate public interest. We explored the relative importance of body size versus local occurrence in patterns of online interest in birds using a large sample of digital human-wildlife interactions (367 million Wikipedia pageviews) that included more than 10,000 bird species and a range of cultural and geographic contexts (represented by 25 Wikipedia language editions). We compared interest in Wikipedia, as measured by pageviews, with a bird's body size and its regional observation frequency (using data from eBird.org). We found that local species (i.e., those that occur in the wild in the country responsible for the majority of a Wikipedia language edition's pageviews) attract more pageviews than global species. Both body size and observation frequency had a positive correlation with Wikipedia pageviews across languages, but eBird observation frequency explained more of the variance in pageviews on average. In a model that included both observation frequency and body size, observation frequency was a significantly better predictor of pageviews than body size in 24 of 25 languages. Our results demonstrate that the opportunity to encounter birds in the wild is a significant correlate of increased online interest in birds across multiple linguistic and geographic contexts. This relationship provides insight into why some species attract greater interest than others and emphasizes the overlooked potential of common species in conservation marketing.

In Faial Island (Azores Archipelago, North Atlantic Ocean), charcoalified and mummified wood fossils have been reported within late Holocene (Meghalayan) pyroclastic deposits from the Caldeira Formation. Due to their recent age, a detailed study conveys a snapshot into Azorean palaeophytodiversity and palaeovegetation, ca. 7–5 centuries before the arrival of Portuguese settlers to the Azores Islands. Here we provide the first detailed anatomical and taxonomical study of these wood fossils. In total, 41 samples were collected from seven localities, mainly from a ~1200 yr BP ignimbrite. Field work revealed autochthonous and paraautochthonous assemblages, with tree trunks in upright position. The anatomical study of the fossil woods resulted in the identification of Juniperus brevifolia, Laurus azorica, Myrsine retusa, Morella faya, Picconia azorica, Prunus lusitanica subsp. azorica, and Vaccinium cylindraceum. Two fossil assemblages are comparable to the proposed potential natural vegetation (PNV) for the Azores. Surprisingly, P. lusitanica subsp. azorica was the second most abundant fossil wood suggesting that this tree was more abundant in a recent past in Faial Island and probably in the archipelago. This is corroborated by historical accounts, and its modern scarcity was certainly anthropically driven. Identifying Holocene plant macrofossils is essential to properly reconstruct oceanic islands terrestrial palaeoecosystems, especially where forests with high percentage of entomophilous taxa are underrepresented in palaeopalynological limnic record. Further work is necessary to reconstruct Faial Island and Azores archipelago palaeovegetation which is essential to provide an ecosystem base-line for restoration and management.

Verifica-se presentemente um aumento acelerado da procura e consumo de recursos metálicos, muitos deles críticos, incluindo terras raras, cobalto, níquel, tungsténio, molibdénio, cobre, titânio, nióbio, platinídeos, índio, gálio, telúrio e muitos outros. A sociedade em geral mal se apercebe deste facto, alimentado pelo crescimento da população e sobretudo pelo aumento generalizado do poder de compra, e o concomitante crescimento do consumo de bens de alta tecnologia. A chamada economia circular terá de continuar a ser alimentada por mineração. A situação é particularmente grave para a UE, pois nela produzem-se apenas 5% dos recursos minerais utilizados pela indústria dessa mesma UE. Por este motivo, aumentou muito a procura de novas fontes de matérias-primas minerais, nomeadamente alvos a grande profundidade nos continentes, o Árctico, e os fundos marinhos, destacando-se estes últimos, onde são já conhecidas vastas quantidades de recursos. Mais que partir apressadamente para mineração sub-oceânia profunda em larga escala, precisamos de prontidão, o que implica, entre outras condicionantes, conhecer melhor o ecossistema. À ciência compete indicar o caminho, à indústria adoptar as descobertas científicas, à governança criar o quadro legal, e fazê-lo cumprir. A primeira regra terá de ser sempre “as operações ilegais ou não reguladas têm de ser encerradas”. Urge criar “mineração azul”, que respeite o ecossistema, da mesma forma que necessitamos de pescas e agricultura sustentáveis. Há bons exemplos a seguir, com relevo para o da Noruega. Sem prejuízo da necessária mudança de mentalidades (com menos consumismo), não queremos escolher entre indústria e ambiente, queremos ambos.

The rare earth elements (REE), comprising 15 elements of the lanthanum series (La-Lu) together with yttrium (Y) and scandium (Sc), have become of particular interest because of their use, for example, in modern communications, renewable energy generation, and the electrification of transport. However, the security of supply of REE is considered to be at risk due to the limited number of sources, with dependence largely on one supplier that produced approximately 63% of all REE in 2019. As a result, there is a growing need to diversify supply. This has resulted in the drive to seek new resources elsewhere, and particularly on the deep-ocean floor. Here, we give a summary of REE distribution in minerals, versatile applications, and an update of their economic value. We present the most typical onshore methods for the determination of REE and examine methods for their offshore exploration in near real time. The motivation for this comes from recent studies over the past decade that showed ΣREE concentrations as high as 22,000 ppm in ocean-floor sediments in the Pacific Ocean. The ocean-floor sediments are evaluated in terms of their potential as resources of REE, while the likely economic cost and environmental impacts of deep-sea mining these are also considered.

An annotated checklist of the species and subspecies of rose chafers (Scarabaeidae: Cetoniinae) hitherto known from Guinea-Bissau is given. This list includes historical and published species records, but also novel information from several entomological expeditions/missions to that country carried by the author (1983, 1992, 1995, 2006 and 2009). A total of 49 species and 3 subspecies are recorded for Guinea-Bissau. Endemic taxa are unknown for the country and some native species were recorded based on a single specimen only (some without precise locality data). Five genera and thirteen species are reported for the first time from Guinea-Bissau in this study. A historical review, as well as some considerations on the distribution and conservation status of these beetles in Guinea-Bissau is also presented.

Although haplodiploidy is widespread in nature, the evolutionary consequences of this mode of reproduction are not well characterized. Here, we examine how genome-wide hemizygosity and a lack of recombination in haploid males affects genomic differentiation in populations that diverge via natural selection while experiencing gene flow. First, we simulated diploid and haplodiploid “genomes” (500-kb loci) evolving under an isolation-with-migration model with mutation, drift, selection, migration, and recombination; and examined differentiation at neutral sites both tightly and loosely linked to a divergently selected site. So long as there is divergent selection and migration, sex-limited hemizygosity and recombination cause elevated differentiation (i.e., produce a “faster-haplodiploid effect”) in haplodiploid populations relative to otherwise equivalent diploid populations, for both recessive and codominant mutations. Second, we used genome-wide SNP data to model divergence history and describe patterns of genomic differentiation between sympatric populations of Neodiprion lecontei and N. pinetum, a pair of pine sawfly species (order: Hymenoptera; family: Diprionidae) that are specialized on different pine hosts. These analyses support a history of continuous gene exchange throughout divergence and reveal a pattern of heterogeneous genomic differentiation that is consistent with divergent selection on many unlinked loci. Third, using simulations of haplodiploid and diploid populations evolving according to the estimated divergence history of N. lecontei and N. pinetum, we found that divergent selection would lead to higher differentiation in haplodiploids. Based on these results, we hypothesize that haplodiploids undergo divergence-with-gene-flow and sympatric speciation more readily than diploids.

A escola é a formação base do indivíduo para o ingresso na vida ativa. A escola é um dos principais pilares sobre os quais assenta a construção do futuro capital social e humano. Torna-se necessário cativar e motivar os alunos para as situações do futuro, ou seja, para os desafios que terão de enfrentar e de resolver. Este é o caminho da aprendizagem. Que os alunos comecem a caminhar. “Um caminho de mil quilómetros começa com o primeiro passo.” (Lao-Tse) Este trabalho assume a forma de um relatório de prática de ensino supervisionada que pretende espelhar o percurso das atividades e promover uma reflexão sobre os mesmos. A área curricular não disciplinar em questão é a Área de Projeto. O tema é a promoção da motivação pela competição. O relatório pretende demonstrar o percurso realizado desde a apresentação da atividade, as alterações dos alunos, a competição como objeto final. O percurso deste trabalho inicia-se com uma introdução e contextualização. Segue-se a enunciação da problemática e das questões inerentes. Aflora-se a questão da motivação e competição. Aborda-se a Área de Projeto e o seu enquadramento na reforma curricular do ensino secundário. Refere-se de seguida a metodologia do trabalho em grupo, reafirmando-se a sua importância para este tipo de intervenção. De seguida, indicam-se várias iniciativas robóticas de forma a sustentar o tipo de ação realizada. Por fim, a descrição da atividade em si com a conclusão em forma de reflexão que pretende agregar e conciliar todos os pontos de percurso deste trabalho.

Advances in biologging techniques and the availability of high-resolution fisheries data have improved our ability to understand the interactions between seabirds and fisheries and to evaluate mortality risk due to bycatch. However, it remains unclear whether movement patterns and behaviour differ between birds foraging naturally or scavenging behind vessels and whether this could be diagnostic of fisheries interactions. We deployed novel loggers that record the GPS position of birds at sea and scan the surroundings to detect radar transmissions from vessels and immersion (activity) loggers on wandering albatrosses Diomedea exulans from South Georgia. We matched these data to remotely sensed fishing vessel positions and used a combination of hidden Markov and random forest models to investigate whether it was possible to detect a characteristic signature from the seabird tracking and activity data that would indicate fine-scale vessel overlap and interactions. Including immersion data in our hidden Markov models allowed two distinct foraging behaviours to be identified, both indicative of Area Restricted Search (ARS) but with or without landing behaviour (likely prey capture attempts) that would not be detectable with location data alone. Birds approached vessels during all behavioural states, and there was no clear pattern associated with this type of scavenging behaviour. The random forest models had very low sensitivity, partly because foraging events at vessels occurred very rarely, and did not contain any diagnostic movement or activity pattern that was distinct from natural behaviours away from vessels. Thus, we were unable to predict accurately whether foraging bouts occurred in the vicinity of a fishing vessel, or naturally, based on behaviour alone. Our method provides a coherent and generalizable framework to segment trips using auxiliary biologging (immersion) data and to refine the classification of foraging strategies of seabirds. These results nevertheless underline the value of using radar detectors that detect vessel proximity or remotely sensed vessel locations for a better understanding of seabird–fishery interactions.

This article enriches the existing literature on the importance and role of the social sciences and humanities (SSH) in renewable energy sources research by providing a novel approach to instigating the future research agenda in this field. Employing a series of in-depth interviews, deliberative focus group workshops and a systematic horizon scanning process, which utilised the expert knowledge of 85 researchers from the field with diverse disciplinary backgrounds and expertise, the paper develops a set of 100 priority questions for future research within SSH scholarship on renewable energy sources. These questions were aggregated into four main directions: (i) deep transformations and connections to the broader economic system (i.e. radical ways of (re)arranging socio-technical, political and economic relations), (ii) cultural and geographical diversity (i.e. contextual cultural, historical, political and socio-economic factors influencing citizen support for energy transitions), (iii) complexifying energy governance (i.e. understanding energy systems from a systems dynamics perspective) and (iv) shifting from instrumental acceptance to value-based objectives (i.e. public support for energy transitions as a normative notion linked to trust-building and citizen engagement). While this agenda is not intended to be—and cannot be—exhaustive or exclusive, we argue that it advances the understanding of SSH research on renewable energy sources and may have important value in the prioritisation of SSH themes needed to enrich dialogues between policymakers, funding institutions and researchers. SSH scholarship should not be treated as instrumental to other research on renewable energy but as intrinsic and of the same hierarchical importance.

O hiperparatiroidismo caracteriza-se pela disfunção de uma ou mais glândulas paratiroideias, com consequente desregulação do normal equilíbrio fosfocálcico, e níveis aumentados da hormona paratiroideia. Pode ser primário, secundário ou terciário consoante a etiologia, tendo consequências diferentes no metabolismo do cálcio. Os quistos paratiroideus são entidades incomuns, habitualmente assintomáticos, mas que podem cursar com sintomas compressivos por efeito de massa quando apresentam maiores dimensões. A maioria é não funcionante e, se funcionantes, correspondem a apenas 1-2% dos casos de hiperparatiroidismo primário e ainda mais raramente se associam a hiperparatiroidismo secundário. A hemorragia é uma complicação associada às lesões quísticas, embora raramente esteja descrita como manifestação de quisto da paratiroide. Relata-se o caso clínico de um doente com uma massa cervical compressiva à apresentação inaugural. Através de estudo imagiológico, laboratorial e histológico, conclui-se tratar-se de uma lesão quística paratiroideia, hemorrágica e hiperfuncionante, com hiperplasia multiglandular, associada a hiperparatiroidismo secundário. É evidente a peculiaridade e complexidade desde caso, que, tanto quanto foi possível aferir, se afigura único na literatura até à data, representando um desafio acrescido para os profissionais de saúde. Pretende-se alertar para a importância de incluir os quistos paratiroideus no diagnóstico diferencial de massas cervicais (compressivas ou não), bem como para a necessidade de garantir a vigilância, considerando a possibilidade de manutenção do hiperparatiroidismo após paratiroidectomia. Espera-se ampliar a compreensão e melhorar a abordagem clínica destes doentes.

Globalmente, cerca de 50 milhões de pessoas têm Demência e prevê‐se que este valor tenderá a triplicar até 2050. Esta doença devastadora ocupa um significativo fardo físico, emocional e financeiro para os doentes, os seus cuidadores e para a sociedade em geral. Na população idosa, mundialmente, a Demência é uma das principais causas de incapacidade e dependência. Apesar da curta gama de opções terapêuticas, esta doença está a encontrar novos desafios com a chegada da Tecnologia Assistiva Inteligente (Intelligent Assistive Technology‐ IAT). IAT refere‐se ao espectro de aplicações/dispositivos inteligentes para a população idosa e incapacitada (i.e. Robôs, sistemas de tomada de decisão automática, machine learning). Está aliado a oportunidades para acatar o fardo global do envelhecimento da população e para melhorar a qualidade dos serviços prestados a idosos com Demência. Para acompanhar os benefícios que esta nova era tecnológica providencia, sérias reflexões éticas deverão tomar lugar, permitindo a condução e monitorização de práticas de cuidados de saúde diários de pessoas idosas com Demência. O objetivo desta revisão sistemática é explorar e aceder aos aspetos éticos envolvidos no desenvolvimento, testagem e utilização de IAT de uma forma alargada, quer seja em hospitais, em centros de dia ou nos domicílios. Este estudo incluirá uma revisão da literatura científica e uma série de entrevistas a profissionais de saúde e stakeholders da respetiva área.