Consumption of antidepressants in Portugal increased by 23% between 2007 and 2011

According to latest report for health â€" Health at a Glance 2013 â€" the Organisation for economic co-operation and development (OECD), the consumption of antidepressants in developed countries increased by about 10% in the last decade.

Portugal is no exception. Between 2007 and 2011, the consumption of this type of medicines increased by about 23%. In 2011, were consumed 78 daily doses per thousand inhabitants, whereas in 2000 were consumed just over 35 daily doses. Such increase puts Portugal as the sixth OECD country that most antidepressants consumes. One of the explanations given by the OECD is the feeling of insecurity caused by the financial crisis. Like Portugal, the consumption of antidepressants also increased in Spain, approximately 23% between 2007 and 2011.

Other explanations pointed to by the Organization to a higher consumption of these drugs relates to the increased awareness of depression, which made the prescription drugs for these cases more socially accepted, refers to Quartz.

Interestingly, the Nordic countries, which are singled out as the happiest Nations are those who present a greater increase in the consumption of antidepressants. The Iceland is a Member State of the organization where the consumption of antidepressants has increased more in the last decade. In 2011, consume, on average, 106 daily doses per thousand inhabitants. In 2000, consumption was around 65 daily doses.

The Iceland, recalled, was the first country to be heavily hit by the financial crisis, which led to the bankruptcy of the three leading banks in the country. It is estimated that between 15% to 25% of the inhabitants of Iceland suffer from depression at some point in life.

The Australia is the second country where the inhabitants consume antidepressants, followed by Canada, Denmark and Sweden. The country that consumes less antidepressants is South Korea.

Foto:  Priscila justina / Creative Commons

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American company designs mega floating city

A company in Florida, in the United States, designed a floating city that spend all their time at sea. The Freedom Ship, as it was called, measures about 1.6 kilometers and weighs 2.7 million tons. With 25 floors, this floating city has a capacity of 50 thousand permanent residents and additional space to receive 30 daily visitors and accommodate 20 thousand members of the crew.

As a conventional city, Freedom Ship is home to schools, hospitals, leisure facilities, shops, a casino, parks, an airport and a port. Given the scale of this town ship, it would be impossible to dock at any port worldwide.

If built, the project would cost about €7,4 billion (R$23,1 billion). The Freedom Ship was designed for a global route, with a duration of two years each. The passage by Portugal would be in the month of October every two years. The starting location of the route would be on the East coast of the United States.

"The Freedom Ship would be the largest vehicle ever built, and would be the first floating city," says Roger Gooch, Vice President of Freedom Ship International, the company that designed the project. "This would be a project quite capitalised and the global economy of recent years has not been very inviting for hypothetical projects like ours," he explains.

This project is feasible? And what is its impact on the environment and how we plan our cities of the future?

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Portuguese will be the first Angel bike exposed at Miami Art River

The Angel, a bike designed by Tulika Amaro and with a strong environmental component, will have a presence at Miami Art River, an event inserted in Art Basel Miami Beach â€" the largest art exhibition in the world. This will be the first time that a bicycle will be exposed in this artistic event, as an object of design.

Angel heads to the United States at the invitation of Mexican gallerist Nina Torres and will promote its qualities related to robustness and recycling â€" the bike, it is recalled, is built from recycled wood and its derivatives.

To customize the vehicle, Tulika Amaro prepared the Angel template on Miami, still projecting a million buyers in the near term â€" and € 1,5 million ($ 4.6 million) collected for social purposes. "This is the motto to make the action a world event, making the bike in more expensive and with the largest number of owners in the world," explains Angel's release.

The creative back to reissue an initiative of 2004, for the Foundation of your old football Vítor Baía. At the time, the Angel raised an income of € 200 thousand to the Portuguese Institute of Oncology of the port, making that the third most singular bike guy in the world and the only one who has 200 thousand co-owners worldwide.

For January 2014 is scheduled for Portugal the presentation of more models Angel, directed to the domestic and international markets. The bet on expansion into new markets is one of the objectives of Ze Nuno Amaro into the new year, including the installation of a Studio in the city of Miami, which aims at attracting American investors for the development of the project.

The exhibition will take place from 5 to 8 December.

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Researchers develop piercing which allows to control wheelchairs

A group of researchers of the United States developed a piercing that is placed in the language of quadriplegics and allows them to control wheelchairs.

This piercing, which is actually a magnetic button and resembles a jewel, works like a joystick and provides more mobility and independence for people paralyzed. The new system was tested on 11 volunteers and, according to the researchers, patients learned quickly to use the equipment, which not only allows them to drive your wheelchair as well as using a computer.

"It's really powerful [equipment] because it's very intuitive," said John DiSanto, one of the volunteers, told Reuters.

The system of control of the wheelchair runs through a headset that detects the position of the tongue when the user moves the magnetic button. The headset sends movement information to a smartphone that the user owns. Subsequently, an application sends the information to the control of the wheelchair.

The researchers chose to develop this technology in the form of piercing the tongue because, second, biomedical engineer Maysam Ghovanloo who created the system, is an appliance that does not cause blockage is easy to use and flexible ". Most quadriplegics can't move the language, since it is a movement that does not involve the muscle contraction.

The appliance is already betraying the attention of various specialists, which reiterate the need of more assertive technologies, making it possible to customize the care for people with low mobility. "For people who have a very limited mobility to control an electric wheelchair there aren't many options," says Brad Dicianno, Centro Medico rehabilitation specialist at the University of University of Pittsburgh. "This control with the tongue promises to be something interesting," he adds.

The tests were only conducted in laboratories. In order to be able to commercialize the system you need to test it before the real everyday obstacles.

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Al Gore became vegan

The former Vice President of the United States, Al Gore, became vegan. Last weekend the Forbes published an article which stated that the former Vice President "who recently became vegan" was considering investing in Hampton Creek Foods.

The Washington Post investigated and found that the environmental activist decided to change your diet for several months, eliminating animal products from their diet.

Al Gore, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 for the global campaign launched on climate change, has been the target of criticism over the years for eating meat and, at the same time, point the finger at the livestock industry for contributing to global warming.

"I'm not a vegetarian, but substantially reduced the amount of meat I eat," said Al Gore in an interview with ABC in 2009, reports the Huffington Post. "It is absolutely right that the growing intensity of meat-based diets is one of the problems linked to global warming â€" not only by carbon dioxide involved as the water consumed," he claimed.

Several informational agencies indicate that Al Gore has changed his power in February when he ordered a vegan dish at a restaurant in St. Louis.

Foto:  Recyclebank / Creative Commons

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Left bloc wants parks carpooling at entrances of highways

The left bloc wants the Portuguese motorways concessionaires to create parking lots for vehicles sharing at the entrances of these pathways.

"The left bloc was admitted to a draft resolution, which is under discussion in the Committee of economy, for the Government to Institute parks for sharing vehicles at the entrances of motorways", according to a statement sent by the Press Secretary of the parliamentary group, Catarina Oliveira, Green Savers.

According to BE the current parking on the road require motorways at the entrance of the vehicle on the paid and thus go a stretch of several miles. "So, for the sharing of the vehicle are used other informal parks or displaced from the entrance of the highway" continues the statement.

Block argues that the motorways concessionaires must ensure their services to citizens and users not only to cars, including the example of several European countries, such as France, where these parks allow car sharing.

"This proposal aims to create parking for car sharing to be the rendezvous point and parking for carpool and that, as such, do not oblige the entry and travel on the highway", concludes the statement.

Foto:  curtis palmer / Creative Commons

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Compal promotes second edition of agricultural entrepreneurship. Winners receive € 20 thousand.

Compal will launch the second edition of the Academy's Center for Frutologia, an initiative to support and training in the area of horticulture. The Academy has addressed to agricultural entrepreneurs intending to install, increase or reconvert their agricultural holding.

The formation of the candidates chosen to integrate the Academy will consist of practical and theoretical modules and still inclusive of visits to farms and experimentation centres model, a total of 50 hours of training. The three best projects that arise in the course of the training will be comtemplados with installation grants amounting to € 20, 000 each.

The installation projects to be submitted by the participants of the second edition of the Academy must relate to at least one of the following fruits: Plum, plum Queen Claudia, Berry, cherry, Persimmon, Apple, Apple Bravo de Esmolfe, watermelon, melon, Melon, quince, peach or Pear rock.

According to the President of the Centro de Frutologia Compal, Joseph Jordan, this second edition of the Academy is "an opportunity for trainees to acquire the necessary knowledge that support sustainable practice of fruit growing in Portugal", as well as to strengthen the determination of "take agriculture as a promising career and a future activity."

Those interested in participating in the second edition of the Academy's Center for Frutologia from Compal may apply on the page until January 27, 2014 brand. This initiative by the Compal intends to stimulate innovation in the fruit sector, valuing and promoting national fruit throughout the value chain.

The winning projects of the first edition of the Academy's Center for Compal Frutologia aimed at the exploration of plum, peach and Quince.

Foto:  xornalcerto / Creative Commons

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