Statistical and spatial analysis of landslide susceptibility maps with different classification systems

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12665-016-6124-1A landslide susceptibility map is an essential tool for land-use spatial planning and management in mountain areas. However, a classification system used for readability determines the final appearance of the map and may therefore influence the decision-making tasks adopted. The present paper addresses the spatial comparison and the accuracy assessment of some well-known classification methods applied to a susceptibility map that was based on a discriminant statistical model in an area in the Eastern Pyrenees. A number of statistical approaches (Spearman’s correlation, kappa index, factorial and cluster analyses and landslide density index) for map comparison were performed to quantify the information provided by the usual image analysis. The results showed the reliability and consistency of the kappa index against Spearman’s correlation as accuracy measures to assess the spatial agreement between maps. Inferential tests between unweighted and linear weighted kappa results showed that all the maps were more reliable in classifying areas of highest susceptibility and less reliable in classifying areas of low to moderate susceptibility. The spatial variability detected and quantified by factorial and cluster analyses showed that the maps classified by quantile and natural break methods were the closest whereas those classified by landslide percentage and equal interval methods displayed the greatest differences. The difference image analysis showed that the five classified maps only matched 9 % of the area. This area corresponded to the steeper slopes and the steeper watershed angle with forestless and sunny slopes at low altitudes. This means that the five maps coincide in identifying and classifying the most dangerous areas. The equal interval map overestimated the susceptibility of the study area, and the landslide percentage map was considered to be a very optimistic model. The spatial pattern of the quantile and natural break maps was very similar, but the latter was more consistent and predicted potential landslides more efficiently and reliably in the study area.Peer ReviewedPreprin

Estudio comparativo de métodos para la evaluación de la susceptibilidad del terreno a la formación de deslizamientos superficiales : aplicación al Pirineo Oriental

Human and economic losses caused by landslides have attracted the interest of the scientific community for the identification of the threatened areas and preventing their consequences. The goal of the landslide susceptibility analysis is the identification of zones prone to produce slope failures, their size, and run-out, which is the first step of landslide risk management. During the last years new methods have been developed for landslide susceptibility assessment and zoning. Even though most of them yield satisfactory results few analyses exist on their performance and validation of the results. In this Thesis it has been performed a comparative analysis of three well known landslide susceptibility assessment methods: discriminant analysis (DA), logistic regression (LR) and neural networks (ANN). In order to compare, it has been required using a common metrics, the probability of slope failure, to express the terrain susceptibility; the same input data; and the analysis of the results cell by cell. The existing codes for LR and ANN allow the determination of the landslide susceptibility in terms of probability while for DA it has required a post-process of the results using the Bayes Theorem. The comparative study is based on the same input variables for the three procedures meaning that differences in the results should be the consequence of the discriminant capability of the generated models. The algorithm generated in this Thesis, based on the application of Boolean functions for all the possible combinations of the models selected and for all the susceptibility levels defined has the goal of comparing the results cell by cell. This has allowed concluding that the relative density indexes or the ROC curves show a similar global behaviour for all the models: However, the analysis cell by cell highlights significant differences on the performance of the models. All the methods have been applied to a pilot area of La Pobla de Lillet, Eastern Pyrenees, Spain. The results obtained with all three methods are similar, being the best performance that of discriminant analysis model closely followed by the rest for both the data sample used to generate the model and for the sample used for validation. The coincidence rate between models exceeds 87%. In order to evaluate the robustness of the methods used, it has been performed an external validation in the area of Berga located 20km Southwards from the former. In this application the coincidence level between models have been reduced to a slightly more than 66%. The results obtained in both pilot areas show a significant disagreement between the ANN and the other methods. It is particularly relevant that a percentage (although small) of cells considered of low landslide susceptibility are identified as of high susceptibility by the rest of the models and viceversa. The agreemnt between the DA and LR is much more consistent. Finally, the study has highlighted the sensitivity of all the models to the quality and resolution of the input data, in particular to the Digitial Elevation Model, the landslide inventoryand to the map of surficial formation. It was found that changing the minimum size of the inventoried failures allows a significant improvement of the results of the landslide susceptibility mapLas pérdidas humanas y económicas causadas por los deslizamientos en todo el mundo, ha despertado un interés creciente de la comunidad científica por la identificación de las áreas más afectadas y prevenir sus consecuencias. El análisis de la susceptibilidad de terreno a los deslizamientos tiene por objetivo identificar las zonas propensas a producir roturas, sus dimensiones y alcance, y constituye el primer eslabón de la gestión del riesgo. En los últimos años se han desarrollado diversos métodos para la evaluación y zonación de la susceptibilidad. Si bien la mayoría de ellos proporcionan resultados que han sido evaluados como satisfactorios, apenas se han realizado análisis que permitan comparar su desempeño y validar los resultados de sus predicciones. En la presente Tesis se ha realizado un estudio comparativo de tres métodos muy extendidos de evaluación de la susceptibilidad: el análisis discriminante (AD), la regresión logística (RL) y las redes neuronales (RN). Para poder proceder a su comparación ha sido necesario utilizar una métrica común, la probabilidad de rotura, para expresar la susceptibilidad del terreno; los mismos datos de entrada y un análisis de los resultados celda a celda. Las aplicaciones existentes para la RL y las RN permiten obtener directamente la susceptibilidad de cada celda en términos de probabilidad mientras que para el AD ha sido necesario un tratamiento posterior aplicando el Teorema de Bayes. El estudio comparativo ha considerado las mismas variables de entrada para los tres procedimientos, por lo que las diferencias en los resultados deberían ser consecuencia de la capacidad discriminante de los modelos generados. El algoritmo desarrollado en la Tesis, basado la aplicación de funciones booleanas para todas las combinaciones posibles de los diferentes modelos elegidos y los diferentes niveles de susceptibilidad establecidos, tiene como finalidad la comparación de los resultados obtenidos celda a celda. Esto ha permitido concluir que, si bien los índices de densidad relativa o las curvas ROC muestran un comportamiento similar en todos modelos a nivel global, el análisis celda a celda pone en evidencia diferencias significativas en el desempeño de los mismos. Los tres métodos han sido aplicados en un área piloto de La Pobla de Lillet, Pirineo Oriental. Los resultados obtenidos con los tres métodos son bastantes similares, siendo el modelo discriminante de forma general, el de mejor desempeño, seguido muy de cerca por los demás modelos, tanto en la muestra de datos utilizados para los cálculos como en la reservada para la validación, como considerando toda la extensión del área de estudio. El nivel de coincidencia entre los modelos supera el 87%. Para evaluar la robustez de los métodos utilizados se ha realizado una validación externa en el área de Berga, situada 20km al Sur de la anterior. En esta aplicación, el nivel de coincidencia entre los modelos se ha reducido a poco más del 66%. Los resultados obtenidos en las dos áreas de aplicación muestran también una notable desavenencia entre las RN y los demás modelos de carácter estadístico. Es especialmente relevante que un porcentaje (aunque pequeño) celdas consideradas de muy baja susceptibilidad por las RN son identificadas como de muy alta susceptibilidad por los otros modelos y viceversa. La concordancia entre los resultados del AD y RL es sensiblemente más consistente. Finalmente, el estudio ha puesto en evidencia la sensibilidad de todos los modelos a la calidad y resolución de los datos de entrada, en particular el Modelo Digital de Elevaciones, el inventario de roturas y el mapa de formaciones superficiales. Se ha podido comprobar que un cambio en el tamaño mínimo de las roturas inventariadas, permite mejorar de manera significativa los resultados de los mapas de susceptibilidadPostprint (published version

Brazil’s quest for autonomy in Asia: the role of strategic partnerships with China and Japan

This article aims at examining the strategic partnerships Brazil developed with China and Japan, between 2003 and 2020, and assessing how these privileged rapports contributed to the country’s quest for autonomy. This will be made through the lenses of Pragmatic Institutionalism and against the backdrop of major developments in global and regional governance that impacted on the Brazilian autonomist project.This study was conducted at the Research Center in Political Science (UIDB/CPO/00758/2020), University of Minho/University of Evora and supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and the Portuguese Ministry of Education and Science through national funds. The authors would like to thank Joao Mourato Pinto and Livia Grault for their valuable comments on earlier drafts

Host-derived biomarkers for risk assessment of invasive fungal diseases

Host-Derived Biomarkers for Risk Assessment of Invasive Fungal DiseasesInvasive fungal diseases are major complications associated with the treatment of hematologic malignancies. The integration of host-derived biomarkers into clinical processes to predict the risk and progression of fungal disease is a promising approach in immunocompromised patients. Recent insights into human antifungal immunity have highlighted the remarkable influence of host genetics in modulating susceptibility to infection. In this chapter, we describe protocols to examine human genetic variation and to assess its functional consequences using the pattern recognition receptor PTX3 as an example.European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (Research Grant 2012 to A.C.) and the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) (SFRH/BPD/96176/2013 to C.C. and IF/00735/2014 to A.C.). Further support was provided by FCT, cofunded by Programa Operacional Regional do Norte (ON.2—O Novo Norte), the Quadro de Referência Estratégico Nacional (QREN) through the Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER), and the Projeto Estratégico PEst-C/SAU/LA0026/2013info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Prevalência lesiva do guarda-redes no futebol: revisão bibliográfica

Projeto de Graduação apresentado à Universidade Fernando Pessoa como parte dos requisitos para obtenção do grau de Licenciado em FisioterapiaObjetivo: obter um maior conhecimento sobre a prevalência de lesões em guarda-redes de futebol. Metodologia: a pesquisa computorizada foi realizada na base de dados PubMed, Web of Science e EBSCOhost. A análise metodológica dos artigos selecionados foi feita com base na Checklist for Prevalence Studies. Resultados: um total de 5 estudos foram incluídos nesta revisão, respeitando os critérios de seleção com um número interveniente de 124 guarda-redes de futebol, do sexo masculino, de diferentes nacionalidades, Turquia, Polónia, Nigéria e Brasil, com idades compreendidas entre 12 e 29 anos. A região anatómica mais comumente atingida foi o joelho (variando de 12% a 45.4%), seguida pelo pé (de 18.2% a 23.9%), enquanto o tipo de lesão mais frequente foram as contusões (63.6%) e fraturas (de 1.2% a 50%). A severidade foi abordada por apenas um estudo em que todas as lesões foram mínimas. Na taxa lesiva em que um artigo abordou a mesma em treinos e jogos (6,48/1000 horas) e outro apenas em jogos (8,33/1000h). Conclusão: o perfil lesivo dos guarda-redes não é consensual, mas o local de lesão mais comum é o joelho e o tipo é a contusão. São necessários mais estudos epidemiológicos para estimar com maior precisão a incidência e taxa lesiva.N/

Serious Games for Stroke Telerehabilitation of Upper Limb - A Review for Future Research

Maintaining appropriate home rehabilitation programs after stroke, with proper adherence and remote monitoring is a challenging task.  Virtual reality (VR) - based serious games could be a strategy used in telerehabilitation (TR) to engage patients in an enjoyable and therapeutic approach. The aim of this review was to analyze the background and quality of clinical research on this matter to guide future research. The review was based on research material obtained from PubMed and Cochrane up to April 2020 using the PRISMA approach.  The use of VR serious games has shown evidence of efficacy on upper limb TR after stroke, but the evidence strength is still low due to a limited number of randomized controlled trials (RCT), a small number of participants involved, and heterogeneous samples. Although this is a promising strategy to complement conventional rehabilitation, further investigation is needed to strengthen the evidence of effectiveness and support the dissemination of the developed solutions

Educação para o empreendedorismo: a educação para o empreendedorismo nos cursos de licenciatura de Educação Social em Portugal

A presente investigação tem como objetivo analisar a existência da educação para o empreendedorismo na organização curricular dos cursos de licenciatura em educação social. Paralelamente importa identificar as instituições do ensino superior que lecionam este tipo de curso e analisar a perceção dos seus coordenadores relativamente à incorporação do empreendedorismo nos respetivos planos de estudos. Dada a atual conjuntura nacional e europeia o estudo do empreendedorismo assume um papel relevante no âmbito da economia social. Por outro lado não se verifica qualquer estudo no que respeita à educação para o empreendedorismo na educação social, o que vem acrescentar valor à investigação. Deste modo releva-se para o contributo que adiciona originalidade mas também limitações no que respeita ao acesso de material bibliográfico. Ao nível metodológico foi necessário verificar, através dos sítios na internet das instituições de ensino superior, se integram unidades curriculares ou conteúdos programáticos ligados ao empreendedorismo. Na fase posterior foram selecionadas para a realização de uma entrevista quatro instituições de ensino superior das quais duas integram unidades curriculares ou conteúdos programáticos relacionados com o empreendedorismo e outras duas que não integram. Esta investigação analisa vários conceitos, como a educação social e o seu surgimento como licenciatura em Portugal, o empreendedorismo social, o intrapreendedorismo e a educação para o empreendedorismo, demonstrando a sua relação com o tema da investigação. Os resultados demonstram que existe por parte das instituições de ensino superior que não integram o empreendedorismo na sua organização curricular uma preocupação evidente em fazê-lo. Relativamente às instituições de ensino superior que lecionam o curso referido e que integram conteúdos programáticos ou unidades curriculares ligadas ao empreendedorismo manifestam uma opinião muito positiva no que respeita ao impacto no futuro dos seus diplomados, uma vez que pode favorecer a sua integração no mercado de trabalho, bem como potenciar a autonomização das suas populações alvo das suas intervenções.This research aims to analyze the existence of entrepreneurship education in the curricular organization of degree courses in social education. Alongside important to identify the institutions of higher education who teach this type of course and analyze the perception of their coordinators with regard to the incorporation of entrepreneurship in their respective curricula. Given the current national situation and the study of European entrepreneurship plays an important role in the social economy. On the other hand there is no any study with regard to entrepreneurship education in social education, which adds value to the research. Thus falls to the contribution that adds originality but also limitations on access to library materials. At the methodological level was necessary to check through the internet websites of higher education institutions, integrate courses or syllabus linked to entrepreneurship. In the later stage were selected to conduct an interview four institutions of higher learning which integrate two courses or syllabus related to entrepreneurship and two others who are not members. This research examines various concepts such as social education and its emergence as a degree in Portugal, social entrepreneurship, and the intrapreendedorismo entrepreneurship education, demonstrating its relationship to the subject of the investigation. The results show that there is on the part of institutions of higher education that do not integrate entrepreneurship in their curriculum organization a concern evident in doing so. For institutions of higher education who teach the course and said that integrate syllabuses or courses related to entrepreneurship show a very positive opinion regarding the future impact of their graduates, since they can promote their integration in the labor market as well as enhance the empowerment of their target populations of their interventions

Effects of lubricooling conditions on machining forces and surface roughness in radial grooving

Radial grooving is a machining process usually applied to generate grooves for thread relief, O-ring positioning, or even cutting-off operations. Due to the high machining forces and difficult chip removal, radial grooving is considered a critical process,and cutting fluids are usually applied for cooling, lubricating, and assistance on the chip removal. Compressed air (AIR) and minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) are lubri-cooling methods studied as environmentally-friendly alternatives to conventional flood (WET) applications of cutting fluids. Although already applied for years in several machining processes, the research associated with using alternative lubri-cooling techniques in radial grooving is incipient. This work presents a comparative analysis of these methods (WET, MQL, and AIR) and their radial grooving effects. In each case, a factorial design of experiments was used to evaluate the influence of lubri-cooling conditions, cutting speed, and feed rate over feed force, cutting force, and surface roughness. Results indicate that both AIR and MQL may be suitable substitutes for traditional WET lubrication when active force components and surface finish are considered. Besides, smaller cutting forces were obtained with AIR machining for radial grooving, followed by MQL and WET machining

Tribological behavior of TiO2 PEEK composite and stainless steel for pediatric crowns

Dental decay still presents a major health problem among children. Its treatment usually requires the use of stainless steel crowns. This study compares the wear behavior of 316 L stainless steel and polyetheretherketone (PEEK) composite under identical test conditions. The wear tests were conducted in a reciprocating ball-on-plate tribometer (Plint TE67/R) using alumina balls as a counterface and artificial saliva as a lubricant at 37 °C to faithfully mimic oral conditions. The coefficient of friction (COF) and specific wear rate (k) values were determined and SEM/EDS examinations were performed to identify the predominant wear mechanisms. Results showed that PEEK exhibited a significantly lower coefficient of friction (COF = 0.094 ± 0.004) and thus lower wear volume (ΔV = 0.0078 ± 0.0125 mm3) and higher wear resistance, with an average value of specific wear rate of k = 9.07 × 10−6 mm3N−1m−1 when compared to stainless steel (COF = 0.32 ± 0.03, ΔV = 0.0125 ± 0.0029 mm3, k = 1.45 × 10−5 mm3N−1m−1). PEEK was revealed to be a potential material for use in pediatric crowns due to its high wear resistance while overcoming the disadvantages associated with steel at both an aesthetic and biological level.This research was funded by FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia) through projects UIDB/04436/2020, UIDP/04436/2020, and UIDB/00285/2020