Implementation of a Passive Acoustic Barrier for Surveillance

Dias, A. R., Santos, N. P., & Lobo, V. (2023). Implementation of a Passive Acoustic Barrier for Surveillance. In OCEANS 2023 - Limerick (pp. 1-6). IEEE Computer Society. https://doi.org/10.1109/OCEANSLimerick52467.2023.10244682With the end of the cold war, the interest in underwater warfare decreased dramatically. However, recent developments have brought underwater warfare back to center stage. Anti-submarine warfare is always one of the major concerns of a navy since it is difficult to detect an enemy submarine in the vast ocean. Conjugating the recent developments in unmanned vehicles and active and passive acoustic surveillance, we can perform better data fusion and increase our knowledge about the events occurring in our waters. The processed data originating from acoustic surveillance can potentially be an essential source of naval intelligence. An acoustic barrier can perform this detection with success. Still, these systems require highly qualified personnel to operate, present a costly infrastructure, and are hard to implement and maintain. Data fusion from multiple sources, and even from low-cost sensors with noisy measures, are a promising solution, especially if resource optimization is a priority. The implementation described in this paper is intended to be proof of concept of a low-cost implementation in shallow waters that can be easily expanded and evolved to different scenarios. The preliminary results obtained confirm that this is a viable solution.authorsversionpublishe

Apresentação: poética, a terceira margem

“Questionar e pôr em questão é a única tarefa do pensamento”. Eis o grande desafio posto e proposto pelo pensamento de Martin Heidegger. Nele, a certeza em que se funda a modernidade, originada de uma dúvida formal, se vê atingida em sua raiz. Com ela, também é atingida a variação relativista da certeza: a pós-modernidade. Só se desce à raiz questionando. A raiz é sempre a terceira margem, enquanto a história são as margens do tempo. Seu vigor é a terceira margem enquanto o acontecer do questionar

Arte-política na margem: entrevista com Antonio Jardim

Entrevista concedida pelo músico Antonio Jardim, professor adjunto do Depto. de Ciência da Literatura da UFRJ. Com nuances, modulações e dissonâncias, a conversa versou sobre temas como: a relação entre música e política, a distinção entre realidade e realizações no âmbito da verdade, a questão dos suportes em música e em literatura, o re-pensamento da história como presença, a educação, o pensamento de Marx, as relações de Heidegger com o nazismo

The TSE jurist ministers: An analysis of the choice of lawyers to act as ministers of the Brazilian Electoral Court

Este trabalho tem o objetivo de estudar os advogados escolhidos para ministros do Tribunal Superior Eleitoral (TSE) – os chamados de ministros juristas, conforme classificação do próprio tribunal. Trata-se de um trabalho predominantemente descritivo onde se verificou as listas tríplices apresentadas aos Presidentes da República entre 2008 e 2018 para escolha destes ministros. A Constituição Federal de 1988 estabelece que o TSE será composto, no mínimo, por sete ministros: três provenientes do Supremo Tribunal Federal (STF), dois do Superior Tribunal de Justiça (STJ) e dois escolhidos dentre os advogados de notável saber jurídico e idoneidade moral; dois conceitos entendidos como abertos e subjetivos. Foram analisados fatores relevantes no perfil dos ministros escolhidos que sinalizassem para um padrão de escolha, utilizando-se na análise as variáveis sexo, formação acadêmica e vínculo familiar. Constatou-se que a maioria dos escolhidos é do sexo masculino, porém a formação acadêmica com doutorado e pertencimento às famílias com magistrados não se apresentaram como fatores determinantes nas escolhas. Ainda em relação à formação acadêmica, nenhum dos indicados e escolhidos tinha em seus currículos especialização em direito eleitoral.This paper aims at studying the lawyers who were chosen for Superior Electoral Court (TSE). This is a predominantly descriptive analysis that checked the triple lists presented to the Presidents of the Republic between 2008 and 2018 by the ministers choice. The Federal Constitution of 1988 establishes that the TSE will be composed of at least seven ministers: three from the Federal Supreme Court (STF), two from the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) and two chosen among lawyers of legal knowledge and good moral character; two concepts that are understood as open and subjective. Relevant factors were analyzed in the profile of the chosen ministers that signaled a pattern of choice, using in the analysis the variables gender, academic background and family bond. It was found that most of the chosen ones are male, but the academic background with doctorate degree and belonging to families with magistrates did not appear as determining factors in the choices. Still in relation to academic training, none of the nominees and chosen ones had in their curriculum specialization in electoral law

A Prospective Cohort Study

Funding Information: The present publication was funded by Fundação Ciência e Tecnologia, IP national support through CHRC (UIDP/04923/2020). Publisher Copyright: © 2023 by the authors.Torque teno virus (TTV) was recently identified as a potential biomarker for the degree of immunosuppression, and potentially as a predictor of rejection and infection in solid organ transplant patients. We evaluated TTV viral load in kidney transplant (KT) patients during the first year post-transplant to examine overall kinetics and their relationships with deleterious events, including episodes of infection and the formation of de novo donor-specific antibodies (DSAs). In a single-center, prospective observational cohort study, 81 KT patients were monitored at baseline, week 1, and month 1, 3, 6, 9 and 12, post-KT, and whenever required by clinical events. Kidney function, plasma TTV load, immunoglobulins and lymphocyte subpopulations were assessed at each time point. Twenty-six patients (32.1%) presented a total of 38 infection episodes post-KT. Induction immunosuppression with thymoglobulin, compared to basiliximab, was not associated with more infections (p = 0.8093). Patients with infectious events had lower T-cells (p = 0.0500), CD8+ T-cells (p = 0.0313) and B-cells (p = 0.0009) 1 month post-KT, compared to infection-free patients. Patients with infection also showed higher increases in TTV viral loads between week 1- month 1, post-KT, with TTV viral load variations >2.65 log10 cp/mL predicting the development of infectious events during the 12-month study period (p < 0.0001; sensitivity 99.73%; specificity 83.67%). Patients who developed de novo DSAs had lower TTV DNA viral loads at month 12 after KT, compared to patients who did not develop DSA (3.7 vs. 5.3 log10 cp/mL, p = 0.0023). Briefly, evaluating early TTV viremia is a promising strategy for defining infectious risk in the 1st year post-KT. The availability of standardized commercial real-time PCR assays is crucial to further validate this as an effective tool guiding immunosuppression prescription.publishersversionpublishe

Torquetenovirus viral load is associated with anti-spike antibody response in SARS-CoV-2 mRNA BNT162b2 vaccinated kidney transplant patients

Introduction: Kidney transplant patients (KT) are at high risk for severe COVID-19 and presented attenuated antibody responses to vaccination when compared to immunocompetent individuals. Torquetenovirus (TTV) has recently gained attention as a potential surrogate marker of the net state of immunosuppression. We evaluated the association between pre-vaccination TTV viral load and anti-spike total antibody response to SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in KT. Material and Methods: The 114 adult KT recipients enrolled in this prospective single-center cohort study received two doses of SARS-CoV-2 mRNA BNT162b2 vaccine. Serum samples were collected immediately before vaccination at the days when patients received both the first (T0) and the second dose (T1) and 16–45 days after the second dose (T2). Primary endpoint was the development of anti-spike total antibodies after vaccination. Demographic, clinical, and laboratorial parameters were compared between patients with and without detectable SARS-CoV-2 antibodies at T2. Results: Ninety-nine patients (86.8%) were naïve for SARS-CoV-2 before vaccination. Fifty-six (56.6%) patients developed anti-spike total antibodies at T2. The use of mTOR inhibitors was associated with a favorable response (p =.005); conversely, mycophenolic acid (MPA) was associated with a negative response (p =.006). In a multivariable model, the presence of TTV at T0 ≥ 3.36 log10 cp/ml was associated with unfavorable vaccine response (OR: 5.40; 95% CI: 1.47–19.80; p =.011), after adjusting for age and eGFR at T0. Conclusions: Higher TTV viral loads before vaccination are associated with reduced anti-spike total antibody response in SARS-CoV-2 mRNA BNT162b2 vaccinated KT patients. The association between TTV viral load and vaccine response may be an added-value in the optimization of vaccination regimens in KT.publishersversionpublishe

DISTRIBUIÇÃO DA MEIOFAUNA EM DOIS HABITATS ESTUARINOS DA APA DO RIO MAMANGUAPE (NE BRASIL)

As assembleias infaunais são conhecidas por terem um papel importante em termos do uso da energia em ecossistemas estuarinos através de processos de decomposição. Estes organismos têm diferentes funções ecológicas, tais como ciclagem de nutrientes, degradação de poluentes, a dispersão, o processo de produção secundária, aeração e bioturbação, desempenhando um papel chave na cadeia alimentar dos ecossistemas de mangue. O objetivo deste estudo foi comparar as assembleias infaunais de dois ambientes estuarinos com diferentes tipos de sedimentos. As amostras foram coletadas em quatro estações ao longo do estuário, considerando dois tipos de substrato (areia e lama). Um total de 102 indivíduos pertencentes a nove táxons foram registrados. Foram observadas diferenças significativas na densidade dentro e entre os substratos amostrados, observando-se o maior número médio de indivíduos por cm³ e diversidade no fundo lamacento. Maior riqueza e equitabilidade foram encontradas na areia. Assim, as informações sobre as assembleias infaunais nos dois tipos de substratos estudados , contribui para a descrição biológica da área de estudo , tornando-se estudos adicionais necessários que se concentram em fatores físico- químicos, tamanho de partículas e matéria orgânica , uma vez que esses fatores têm sido fortemente correlacionada com a distribuição de organismos bentônicos