Decennial comparison of changes in social vulnerability: a municipal analysis in support of risk management

The concept of Social Vulnerability (SV) is characterized and distinguished by its complexity and multidisciplinarity. This concept takes into account the specific characteristics of the individual and his social and economic relations, as well as the physical environment where he is inserted. These differentiating characteristics make Social Vulnerability (SV) an indispensable work tool in the process of characterizing and understanding the degree of exposure of communities, as well as evaluating their capacity for resilience and recovery from hazardous events. This paper presents a comparison between the SV performed in 2008 with the results obtained in 2017 for the 278 municipalities of mainland Portugal. The methodology was based on the work developed by the Center for Social Studies of the University of Coimbra, which is distinguished by the fact that SV is composed of two components: Criticity and Support Capability. The analysis of SV and its components was done using Principal Components Analysis (PCA) starting from an initial set of 235 variables (90 for Criticality and 145 for Support Capability). With respect to Criticality, the results point out the importance of factors related to the economic condition, employment and factors related to the disadvantaged population and risk groups. Support Capability is strongly influenced by the population density and the most relevant factors for the final results are those related to civil protection response, economic and environmental dynamism and logistic and service capacity. Regarding the SV spatial distribution, the highest values are located mainly in the central and northern parts of the country, with emphasis on the Douro river valley and surrounding municipalities; also a general decrease of SV was recorded in the southern regions from 2008 to 2017.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A molecular dynamics study on the equilibrium magnetization properties and structure of ferrofluids

We investigate in detail the initial susceptibility, magnetization curves, and microstructure of ferrofluids in various concentration and particle dipole moment ranges by means of molecular dynamics simulations. We use the Ewald summation for the long-range dipolar interactions, take explicitly into account the translational and rotational degrees of freedom, coupled to a Langevin thermostat. When the dipolar interaction energy is comparable with the thermal energy, the simulation results on the magnetization properties agree with the theoretical predictions very well. For stronger dipolar couplings, however, we find systematic deviations from the theoretical curves. We analyze in detail the observed microstructure of the fluids under different conditions. The formation of clusters is found to enhance the magnetization at weak fields and thus leads to a larger initial susceptibility. The influence of the particle aggregation is isolated by studying ferro-solids, which consist of magnetic dipoles frozen in at random locations but which are free to rotate. Due to the artificial suppression of clusters in ferro-solids the observed susceptibility is considerably lowered when compared to ferrofluids.Comment: 33 pages including 12 figures, requires RevTex

Variation and genetic structure of Melipona quadrifasciata Lepeletier (Hymenoptera, Apidae) populations based on ISSR pattern

For a study of diversity and genetic structuring in Melipona quadrifasciata, 61 colonies were collected in eight locations in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. By means of PCR analysis, 119 ISSR bands were obtained, 80 (68%) being polymorphic. He and H B were 0.20 and 0.16, respectively. Two large groups were obtained by the UPGMA method, one formed by individuals from Januária, Urucuia, Rio Vermelho and Caeté and the other by individuals from São João Del Rei, Barbacena, Ressaquinha and Cristiano Otoni. The Φst and θB values were 0.65 and 0.58, respectively, thereby indicating high population structuring. UPGMA grouping did not reveal genetic structuring of M. quadrifasciata in function of the tergite stripe pattern. The significant correlation between dissimilarity values and geographic distances (r = 0.3998; p < 0.05) implies possible geographic isolation. The genetic differentiation in population grouping was probably the result of an interruption in gene flow, brought about by geographic barriers between mutually close geographical locations. Our results also demonstrate the potential of ISSR markers in the study of Melipona quadrifasciata population structuring, possibly applicable to the studies of other bee species

Range extensions along western Atlantic for Epialtidae crabs (Brachyura, Majoidea) genera Acanthonyx Latreille, 1828 and Epialtus H. Milne Edwards, 1834

The present study provided information extending the known geographical distribution of three species of majoid crabs, the epialtids Acanthonyx dissimulatus Coelho, 1993, Epialtus bituberculatus H. Milne Edwards, 1834, and E. brasiliensis Dana, 1852. Specimens of both genera from different carcinological collections were studied by comparing morphological characters. We provide new data that extends the geographical distributions of E. bituberculatus to the coast of the states of Paraná and Santa Catarina (Brazil), and offer new records from Belize and Costa Rica. Epialtus brasiliensis is recorded for the first time in the state of Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil), and A. dissimulatus is reported from Quintana Roo, Mexico. The distribution of A. dissimulatus, previously known as endemic to Brazil, has a gap between the states of Espírito Santo and Rio de Janeiro. However, this restricted southern distribution is herein amplified by the Mexican specimens