Mapping and classification of ecologically sensitive marine habitats using unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) imagery and object-based image analysis (OBIA)

Nowadays, emerging technologies, such as long-range transmitters, increasingly miniaturized components for positioning, and enhanced imaging sensors, have led to an upsurge in the availability of new ecological applications for remote sensing based on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), sometimes referred to as “drones”. In fact, structure-from-motion (SfM) photogrammetry coupled with imagery acquired by UAVs offers a rapid and inexpensive tool to produce high-resolution orthomosaics, giving ecologists a new way for responsive, timely, and cost-effective monitoring of ecological processes. Here, we adopted a lightweight quadcopter as an aerial survey tool and object-based image analysis (OBIA) workflow to demonstrate the strength of such methods in producing very high spatial resolution maps of sensitive marine habitats. Therefore, three different coastal environments were mapped using the autonomous flight capability of a lightweight UAV equipped with a fully stabilized consumer-grade RGB digital camera. In particular we investigated a Posidonia oceanica seagrass meadow, a rocky coast with nurseries for juvenile fish, and two sandy areas showing biogenic reefs of Sabelleria alveolata. We adopted, for the first time, UAV-based raster thematic maps of these key coastal habitats, produced after OBIA classification, as a new method for fine-scale, low-cost, and time saving characterization of sensitive marine environments which may lead to a more effective and efficient monitoring and management of natural resource

Inference from adiabatic analysis of solar-like oscillations in Red giants

The clear detection with CoRoT and KEPLER of radial and non-radial solar-like oscillations in many red giants paves the way to seismic inferences on the structure of such stars. We present an overview of the properties of the adiabatic frequencies and frequency separations of radial and non-radial oscillation modes, highlighting how their detection allows a deeper insight into the properties of the internal structure of red giants. In our study we consider models of red giants in different evolutionary stages, as well as of different masses and chemical composition. We describe how the large and small separations computed with radial modes and with non-radial modes mostly trapped in the envelope depend on the stellar global parameters and evolutionary state, and we compare our theoretical predictions and first KEPLER data.Finally, we find that the properties of dipole modes constitute a promising seismic diagnostic of the evolutionary state of red-giant stars.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures. Proceedings of IV Helas International Conference: "Seismological Challenges for Stellar Structure", Lanzarote (Canary Islands, Spain), 1-5 February 201

Effects of lack of microRNA-34 on the neural circuitry underlying the stress response and anxiety

Stress-related psychiatric disorders, including anxiety, are complex diseases that have genetic, and environmental causes. Stressful experiences increase the release of prefrontal amygdala neurotransmitters, a response that is relevant to cognitive, emotional, and behavioral coping. Moreover, exposure to stress elicits anxiety-like behavior and dendritic remodeling in the amygdala. Members of the miR-34 family have been suggested to regulate synaptic plasticity and neurotransmission processes, which mediate stress-related disorders. Using mice that harbored targeted deletions of all 3 members of the miR-34-family (miR-34-TKO), we evaluated acute stress-induced basolateral amygdala (BLA)-GABAergic and medial prefrontal cortex (mpFC) aminergic outflow by intracerebral in vivo microdialysis. Moreover, we also examined fear conditioning/extinction, stress-induced anxiety, and dendritic remodeling in the BLA of stress-exposed TKO mice. We found that TKO mice showed resilience to stress-induced anxiety and facilitation in fear extinction. Accordingly, no significant increase was evident in aminergic prefrontal or amygdala GABA release, and no significant acute stress-induced amygdalar dendritic remodeling was observed in TKO mice. Differential GRM7, 5-HT2C, and CRFR1 mRNA expressionwas noted in the mpFC and BLA between TKO andWT mice. Our data demonstrate that the miR-34 has a critical function in regulating the behavioral and neurochemical response to acute stress and in inducing stress-related amygdala neuroplasticity

Floristic Inventory of Ethnobotanically Important Halophytes of North-Western Mediterranean Coastal Brackish Areas, Tuscany, Italy

Plants have always been used by people for multiple purposes, but over the centuries knowledge of useful plants has largely been lost. Through ethnobotanical studies it is possible to retrieve information on the uses of plants and renew the ancient attention to plants which could be useful to apply in modern applications. In this context, the ethnobotanical use of halophytes has not been explored in depth. The present study focused on the flora of two brackish areas of the north-western Mediterranean sited in Tuscany, Italy. This research aimed to identify the halophyte species of ethnobotanical interest and create a relative map database of the study areas. The floristic list of the two areas, including 78 halophyte and non-halophyte species, was created following periodic field sampling, localization of the species by GPS, and taxonomic identification. The ethnobotanical information was acquired through a bibliographic survey. Botanical, geographic, and ethnobotanical information was filed and included in floristic maps produced using the free Open Source QGIS software. Of the total wild species surveyed, 50% were halophytes with ethnobotanical properties, with a predominance for medicinal ones. Some of them are the subject of numerous studies today such as those on antioxidants. Both investigated areas showed a high floristic and ethnobotanical value. This makes them interesting as potential germplasm banks to be used in various application contexts of ethnobotany

Diesel Engine Cycle to Cycle Feed-forward plus Closed-loop Combustion Control

A model-based open-loop compensator has been combined with a cycle to cycle closed-loop controller with the aim of managing engine load and NOx (Nitrogen Oxides)emission. Both the control strategies employ a virtual sensor realized through a predictive combustion model calibrated on real test bench measurements. Thanks to the virtual sensor no direct in-cylinder pressure measurement is required. Injected fuel quantity and start of injection of the main pulse are regulated to target the desired engine load and NOx respectively. In the closed-loop control the regulation of the manipulated variables is performed by two separate loops implementing PI and lag regulators, one to control the engine load and the other the NOx. Both open-loop and closed-loop strategies have been tested separately and then in cooperation between them in order to improve the closed-loop controller time response. Model-in-the-Loop technique was exploited to develop and assess the three control strategies by co-simulation between Simulink and GT-Power executing a fast-running model of a light-duty FPT F1C Euro VI diesel engine. Simulations show promising results and real-time capacity, therefore the strategies are suitable for successive implementation on the real engine through rapid prototyping

PLANEJAMENTO DEPARTAMENTAL - UM ESTUDO DE CASO DO SISTEMA PAAD-PLANEJAMENTO E ACOMPANHAMENTO DAS ATIVIDADES DOCENTES DA UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DE SANTA CATARINA

Realizou-se neste trabalho um diagnóstico do sistema PAAD – Planejamento e Acompanhamento das Atividades Docentes da Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. As recentes mudanças nas universidades demandam profissionalização e aperfeiçoamento nas ferramentas de gestão. Neste contexto, esta pesquisa foi idealizada com o objetivo de analisar o planejamento departamental na UFSC. Classifica-se como científica aplicada. Quanto aos fins é descritiva, quanto aos meios trata-se de um estudo de caso, do tipo documental e bibliográfico. Apresenta-se como qualitativa no sentido de estudar um plano que pode ser melhorado. Analisou-se o funcionamento, a origem e as características, a utilização das informações, bem como suas vantagens e desvantagens. Para coleta de dados foi utilizada entrevista semiestruturada com um gestor universitário, orientada por um roteiro de entrevista. A população escolhida foi universidades federais do Brasil. A população amostral foi realizada por acessibilidade sendo escolhido um gestor de uma universidade federal do Brasil, a UFSC. Limitou-se o método desta pesquisa à escolha da população amostral. Os dados foram tratados de maneira não estatística e codificados através da análise de conteúdo. O trabalho foi estruturado a fim de abordar os tópicos: Planejamento, Planejamento Escolar e Planejamento Estratégico, estabelecendo relações com os dados da pesquisa. Observou-se que o referido plano apresenta diferenças entre sua forma e objetivo e que embora tenha hoje uma plataforma web bem elaborada, ainda apresenta deficiências em sua metodologia. Estas incorreções estão sendo aprimoradas a fim de transformar a ferramenta num instrumento de tomada de decisão compatível com as necessidades da instituição

Fatal blunt trauma with rare and undetected superior vena cava rupture: A case report and literature review

Laceration of the superior vena cava is an uncommon clinical entity almost always related to penetrating trauma. Rarely, however, it may occur after blunt thoracic trauma. The authors describe an unusual case of rupture of the vena cava and tear of the aortic arch in a 51-year-old man struck on the chest by a falling tree he was felling. The man arrived at the emergency ward still conscious, but after about 4 hours from the accident was pronounced dead. Autopsy findings consisted in a rupture at the lower third of the superior vena cava, just above the cavo-atrial junction, and an aortic laceration at the level of the isthmus, measuring approximately 3 cm in length. The mechanism of death was attributed to cardiac arrest secondary to hypovolemic shock from massive hemorrhage resulting from rupture of the superior vena cava and aorta laceration