Owls (Strigiformes) in Parque Nacional Peneda-Gerês (PNPG) – Portugal

Owls (Strigiformes) are particularly difficult to study and the existing information is still scarce. In PNPG area there are records of the seven species present in Portugal; the Long-eared Owl and the Short-eared Owl are here occasional species. This work aims to determine the distribution, density and abundance of Strigiformes in PNPG (Northwest of Portugal). Between December 2007 and June 2008, 106 passive hearing point counts of 15 minutes each were done in the centre of each of 106 squares (2x2 km). Distribution maps for each species were obtained. Therefore, we recorded a total of 98 contacts for Tawny Owl and 67 contacts for Scops Owl. We also obtained 7 contacts of Little Owl, 2 contacts of Barn Owl and one of Eagle Owl. The habitat selection by Scops Owl and Tawny Owl was also studied. Scops Owls seems to avoid low shrub and preferred forested areas. Tawny Owls also avoid low shrub areas, preferring forested areas, and were found in urban areas. The populations of these two species in PNPG show a considerable expansion, while the other ones reveal a marked decline regarding the previous situation. The implementation of monitoring and conservation measures is suggested to stop the decline of these three species

Schreier type theorems for bicrossed products

We prove that the bicrossed product of two groups is a quotient of the pushout of two semidirect products. A matched pair of groups $(H, G, \alpha, \beta)$ is deformed using a combinatorial datum $(\sigma, v, r)$ consisting of an automorphism $\sigma$ of $H$, a permutation $v$ of the set $G$ and a transition map $r: G\to H$ in order to obtain a new matched pair $\bigl(H, (G,*), \alpha', \beta' \bigl)$ such that there exist an $\sigma$-invariant isomorphism of groups $H {}_{\alpha} \bowtie_{\beta} G \cong H {}_{\alpha'} \bowtie_{\beta'} (G,*)$. Moreover, if we fix the group $H$ and the automorphism \sigma \in \Aut(H) then any $\sigma$-invariant isomorphism $H {}_{\alpha} \bowtie_{\beta} G \cong H {}_{\alpha'} \bowtie_{\beta'} G'$ between two arbitrary bicrossed product of groups is obtained in a unique way by the above deformation method. As applications two Schreier type classification theorems for bicrossed product of groups are given.Comment: 21 pages, final version to appear in Central European J. Mat

Pressure-induced radial collapse in few-wall carbon nanotubes: A combined theoretical and experimental study

Brazilian authors acknowledge funding from CNPq (grant 307317/2010-2, INCT NanoBioSimes) and Central Analítica-UFC/CT-INFRA-FINEP/Pró-Equipamentos-CAPES/CNPq-SisNano-MCTI (grant 402284/2013-5). R. S. Alencar is also in debt to Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior under the grant No. 99999.004227/2014-00 for financial support. Alexander Soldatov (University of Lulea, Sweden) is warmly acknowledged for discussions on the RBM Raman spectra interpretation at the collapse region

From mesoscale to nanoscale mechanics in single-wall carbon nanotubes

The experimental work was carried out in collaboration with W. Wenseleers and S. Cambré at the University of Antwerp, Belgium. The computational results presented have been achieved in part using the Vienna Scientific Cluster (VSC). DJD is grateful for support from the Region Rhône-Alpes through the programme “Accueil-PRO 2014” and from the iMUST Labex programme “Mobility in 2015”. ACTD, TFTC, WC, MALM, SB, DM and ASM acknowledge support from the French Agence Nationale de la Recherche through contract ANR-11-NANO-025 “TRI-CO”. ACTD acknowledges postdoctoral grant from Brazilian Ministry of Education (CAPES)

Um balanço das políticas do governo Lula para a educação superior: continuidade e ruptura

Resumo O trabalho apresenta e analisa as principais políticas para o setor privado de educação superior adotadas pelo governo de Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (2003/2010). A partir de uma retrospectiva histórica e de uma análise de sua implementação, as políticas são consideradas por meio de uma revisão crítica da literatura e dos dados oficiais. O trabalho demonstra que, apesar de ter realizado políticas para o setor público bastante distintas das do governo de Fernando Henrique Cardoso, no caso do setor privado, há antes um aprofundamento das opções políticas já desenvolvidas durante o governo de Cardoso. Essas opções se traduzem em ações de fomento ao desenvolvimento do setor privado, na medida em que ampliaram o financiamento deste e consolidaram um marco legal que proporcionou segurança jurídica às mantenedoras. Esse fomento, entretanto, veio acompanhado de um sensível aumento e aperfeiçoamento dos mecanismos de controle sobre o crescimento do setor privado