A vida selvagem e as ondas do rádio: apenas uma técnica chamada telemetria.

O objetivo deste documento é descrever o princípio de funcionamento da rádio telemetria convencional, permitindo aos potenciais usuários uma visão crítica sobre as aplicações e limitações dessa técnica para a pesquisa animal. As informações apresentadas são baseadas na literatura especializada e na experiência prática dos autores e de colaboradores.bitstream/CPAP/55980/1/DOC71.pdfFormato Eletrônic

Severe population decline of marsh deer, Blastocerus dichotomus (Cetartiodactyla: Cervidae), a threatened species, caused by flooding related to a hydroelectric power plant.

Balancing power production and environmental conservation can be problematic. The objective of this study was to investigate the abundance of marsh deer in the Paraná River Basin, above the Sergio Motta (Porto Primavera) Dam, before and after the impact of the dam closure. A fixed-wing, flat window aircraft was used to survey study transects. Observations were recorded based on the distance sampling line transect method, assuming that the detection probability decreases with increased distance

Whale, whale, everywhere: increasing abundance of western South Atlantic humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in their wintering grounds

The western South Atlantic (WSA) humpback whale population inhabits the coast of Brazil during the breeding and calving season in winter and spring. This population was depleted to near extinction by whaling in the mid-twentieth century. Despite recent signs of recovery, increasing coastal and offshore development pose potential threats to these animals. Therefore, continuous monitoring is needed to assess population status and support conservation strategies. The aim of this work was to present ship-based line-transect estimates of abundance for humpback whales in their WSA breeding ground and to investigate potential changes in population size. Two cruises surveyed the coast of Brazil during August-September in 2008 and 2012. The area surveyed in 2008 corresponded to the currently recognized population breeding area; effort in 2012 was limited due to unfavorable weather conditions. WSA humpback whale population size in 2008 was estimated at 16,410 (CV = 0.228, 95% CI = 10,563–25,495) animals. In order to compare abundance between 2008 and 2012, estimates for the area between Salvador and Cabo Frio, which were consistently covered in the two years, were computed at 15,332 (CV = 0.243, 95% CI = 9,595–24,500) and 19,429 (CV = 0.101, 95% CI = 15,958–23,654) whales, respectively. The difference in the two estimates represents an increase of 26.7% in whale numbers in a 4-year period. The estimated abundance for 2008 is considered the most robust for the WSA humpback whale population because the ship survey conducted in that year minimized bias from various sources. Results presented here indicate that in 2008, the WSA humpback whale population was at least around 60% of its estimated pre-modern whaling abundance and that it may recover to its pre-exploitation size sooner than previously estimated.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Recent neutronics developments for reactor safety studies with SIMMER code at KIT

The SIMMER family of codes is applied for safety studies of sodium fast reactors and reactors of other types. Both neutronics and fluid-dynamics parts of SIMMER are under development. In the paper new neutronics capabilities are presented. In particular developments for neutron transport solvers and a new technique for taking into account thermal expansion effects are described. These new capabilities facilitate 3D simulations and improve accuracy of modelling for the initiation transient phase during a hypothetical severe accident

Influence of environmental parameters on movements and habitat utilization of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in the Madagascar breeding ground

© The Author(s), 2016. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Royal Society Open Science 3 (2016): 160616, doi:10.1098/rsos.160616.Assessing the movement patterns and key habitat features of breeding humpback whales is a prerequisite for the conservation management of this philopatric species. To investigate the interactions between humpback whale movements and environmental conditions off Madagascar, we deployed 25 satellite tags in the northeast and southwest coast of Madagascar. For each recorded position, we collated estimates of environmental variables and computed two behavioural metrics: behavioural state of ‘transiting’ (consistent/directional) versus ‘localized’ (variable/non-directional), and active swimming speed (i.e. speed relative to the current). On coastal habitats (i.e. bathymetry < 200 m and in adjacent areas), females showed localized behaviour in deep waters (191 ± 20 m) and at large distances (14 ± 0.6 km) from shore, suggesting that their breeding habitat extends beyond the shallowest waters available close to the coastline. Males' active swimming speed decreased in shallow waters, but environmental parameters did not influence their likelihood to exhibit localized movements, which was probably dominated by social factors instead. In oceanic habitats, both males and females showed localized behaviours in shallow waters and favoured high chlorophyll-a concentrations. Active swimming speed accounts for a large proportion of observed movement speed; however, breeding humpback whales probably exploit prevailing ocean currents to maximize displacement. This study provides evidence that coastal areas, generally subject to strong human pressure, remain the core habitat of humpback whales off Madagascar. Our results expand the knowledge of humpback whale habitat use in oceanic habitat and response to variability of environmental factors such as oceanic current and chlorophyll level.Funding was provided by Total Foundation to NeuroPSI, and by individuals and foundations to the WCS Ocean Giants Program

Relativistic dips in entangling power of gravity

The salient feature of both classical and quantum gravity is its universal and attractive character. However, less is known about the behavior and build-up of quantum correlations when quantum systems interact via graviton exchange. In this work, we show that quantum correlations can remain strongly suppressed for certain choices of parameters even when considering two adjacent quantum systems in delocalized states. Using the framework of linearized quantum gravity with post-Newtonian contributions, we find that there are special values of delocalization where gravitationally induced entanglement drops to negligible values, albeit nonvanishing. We find a pronounced cancellation point far from the Planck scale, where the system tends toward classicalization. In addition, we show that quantum correlations begin to reemerge for large and tiny delocalizations due to Heisenberg's uncertainty principle and the universal coupling of gravity to the energy-momentum tensor, forming a valley of gravitational entanglement

Gas-Modified Electrospinning with a Portable Device

Project Objective The objective of this work was to construct a miniaturized, portable electrospinning (ES) device for deposition on surfaces regardless of charge. We hope this device can be used by doctors in rural areas to deliver drug delivery bandages. Mathematical modeling was used to improve predictability of the completed portable ES device

Deposition of Drug-delivering Bandages via a Combined Electrostatic and Air-Driven Electrospinning Device

Electrospinning (ES) is an affordable manufacturing process to produce nanoscale, polymer fibers. During ES, a high voltage differential is required to draw out polymer fibers from a polymer solution at a charged spinneret. Fibers produced are then deposited onto an oppositely charged electrode. ES typically requires large, immovable equipment and conductive surfaces for deposition of fibers. Portability and on-demand ES of fiber mats onto non-conductive surfaces would enable use in re- mote locations with limited access to medicine

The Minimal Clinically Important Difference Changes Greatly Based on the Different Calculation Methods

Background: The minimal clinically important difference (MCID) for patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) expresses both the extent of the improvement and the value that patients place on it. MCID use is becoming increasingly widespread to understand the clinical efficacy of a given treatment, define guidelines for clinical practice, and properly interpret trial results. However, there is still large heterogeneity in the different calculation methods. Purpose: To calculate and compare the MCID threshold values of a PROM by applying various methods and analyzing their effect on the study results interpretation. Study Design: Cohort study (Diagnosis); Level of evidence, 3. Methods: The data set used to investigate the different MCID calculation approaches was based on a database of 312 patients affected by knee osteoarthritis and treated with intra-articular platelet-rich plasma. MCID values were calculated on the International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) subjective score at 6 months using 2 approaches: 9 methodologies referred to an anchor-based approach and 8 methodologies to a distribution-based approach. The obtained threshold values were applied to the same series of patients to understand the effect of using different MCID methods in evaluating patient response to treatment. Results: The different methods employed led to MCID values ranging from 1.8 to 25.9 points. The anchor-based methods ranged from 6.3 to 25.9, while the distribution-based ones were from 1.8 to 13.8 points, showing a 4.1× variation of the MCID values within the anchor-based methods and a 7.6× variation within the distribution-based methods. The percentage of patients who reached the MCID for the IKDC subjective score changed based on the specific calculation method used. Among the anchor-based methods, this value varied from 24.0% to 66.0%, while among the distribution-based methods, the percentage of patients reaching the MCID varied from 44.6% to 75.9%. Conclusion: This study proved that different MCID calculation methods lead to highly heterogeneous values, which significantly affect the percentage of patients achieving the MCID in a given population. The wide-ranging thresholds obtained with the different methodologies make it difficult to evaluate the real effectiveness of a given treatment questioning the usefulness of MCID, as currently available, in the clinical research

Orthobiologic therapies delay the need for hip arthroplasty in patients with avascular necrosis of the femoral head: A systematic review and survival analysis

Purpose: The aim of this systematic review and survival analysis was to quantify the benefits of orthobiologic augmentation therapies for the treatment of avascular necrosis (AVN) of the femoral head and identify the most effective approach to delay the need for total hip arthroplasty (THA). Methods: A systematic review of the literature was performed on PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane on clinical studies on orthobiologic therapies used alone or as an augmentation to core decompression or other procedures to address hip AVN. A qualitative analysis of the different biological therapies applied was performed. Afterward, the results of these procedures were quantitatively analysed to document their survivorship from THA compared to treatment groups without orthobiologics. Kaplan–Meier analysis was performed for all studies and then by categorising orthobiologics into treatment subgroups. Results: A total of 106 studies were included (4505 patients). Different orthobiologic approaches have been evaluated: cell-based therapies including bone marrow aspirate concentrate (BMAC) and bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells (BM-MSCs), platelet-rich plasma (PRP), or other bioactive molecules applied in the osteonecrotic area or as intra-arterial injections. The survival analysis at 120 months documented a higher (p &lt; 0.0005) cumulative survivorship with orthobiologics (69.4%) compared to controls (48.5%). The superiority was shown specifically for BMAC (p &lt; 0.0005), BM-MSCs (p &lt; 0.0005), intra-arterial (p &lt; 0.0005) and PRP (p = 0.011) approaches, but the direct comparison of these approaches with their controls confirmed benefits only for BMAC (p &lt; 0.0005). Conclusion: This systematic review and survival analysis demonstrated that orthobiologics have the potential to improve survivorship in patients affected by hip AVN. In particular, the specific analysis of different orthobiologic products supported relevant benefits for BMAC augmentation in terms of survival from the need for THA, while no clear benefits were confirmed for other orthobiologics. Level of Evidence: Level III