O voluntariado: um recurso em valorização na sociedade portuguesa

Nas últimas décadas o trabalho voluntário tem vindo a assumir um protagonismo e um papel importante, dada a pertinência que desenvolve junto das instituições da Economia Social e, por conseguinte, da sociedade. Assim, é possível afirmar que o voluntariado constitui um recurso valioso na resposta às crescentes necessidades sociais. Nessa conformidade, o objetivo geral da presente investigação consiste na caraterização e na realização de uma análise sobre o voluntariado em Portugal, permitindo realçar a relevância da sua contabilização. Nesse sentido, a metodologia de pesquisa assumiu um caráter quantitativo. As principais conclusões a reter deste estudo assentam na ideia que em 2012, 11,5% da população residente em Portugal e 24% na União Europeia, com idade igual ou superior a 15 anos participou numa atividade voluntária. Sendo assim, a pesquisa evidencia que a contabilização do voluntariado é essencial e significativa devido à sua preponderância. Palavras-chave: Economia Social, voluntariado, determinantes do voluntariado, contabilização do voluntariado, Portugal

Identifying and assessing vegetation behaviour in riparian zones at large scale in the Brazilian Savannah

Riparian zones (RZs) have a clear distinct behaviour than the rest of the landscape. Particularly in water-limited regions, such as the Brazilian Savannah (Cerrado biome), where dry season may extend 5 months, the difference between riparian and upland zones is highly pronounced due to vegetation water access to groundwater, and this can have implications on the climatic and hydrological cycles. In order to quantify this difference at large-scale, it was herein proposed to (1) map RZs using topographical information, (2) investigate how land cover is distributed among topographic gradients and (3) investigate vegetation behaviour through remote sensing vegetation measurements and evapotranspiration (ET) estimation. A 140,000 km² upland region inside the Cerrado biome, called the Urucuia aquifer system, was chosen as study site. The region has seen a huge agricultural expansion during the last decades, with mechanized and irrigated crops increasingly using water from its underground reserves, which associated with climate change can have a big impact on the ecosystem, and understanding the role of RZs can be essential to quantify this impact. The height above nearest drainage (HAND) index was used to map RZs, by visually assessing bellow which values the index provided a reasonable RZ buffer comparing with Google Earth imagery. We also used HAND to quantify across its values the historical land cover distribution obtained by the MapBiomas database, and analyse vegetation behaviour in RZs and upland zones (UZs) using remote sensing vegetation measurements of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and normalized difference moisture index (NDMI) and ET estimation from the surface energy balance algorithm for land (SEBAL). A necessary step for HAND computation is a defined stream network, for which the main challenge is identifying channel heads. Herein it was developed an algorithm that produced a varying draining area threshold (vDAT) map for channel initiation, using the topographic position index (TPI) as an auxiliary variable. This algorithm was tested using MERIT-DEM. With the stream network, HAND values bellow 5 m provided the best RZ buffer. As for land cover distribution, we captured that forests naturally occur more densely in the extreme values of HAND (very shallow and very deep) and that farmland historical occupation in the Urucuia region occur more in the upper portions of the terrain, possibly due to soil conditions stablished during landscape formation and evolution. As for vegetation activity, the land cover class seems to have more influence on vegetation behaviour than topographic position, for all indicators computed. Yet, NDMI values in Riparian Forests are greater than in Upland Forests, particularly towards drier conditions, in terms of both seasonality (drier months) and inter-annual variability (drier years). Despite this indication of more water available in RZs than UZs, the ET estimation could not capture these differences, possibly due to difficulties in estimating this variable in natural vegetation with high degree of water stress

Maxillary disjunction: the effectiveness of MARPE method in the palatine suture - a narrative review

A disjunção da maxila com finalidade de corrigir a atresia do arco dentário superior, consiste na abertura da sutura intermaxilar e consequente aumento transversal da base óssea. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar através de uma revisão narrativa a ação do método de disjunção “Microimplant Assisted rapid Maxillary Expansion” (MARPE) na sutura palatina, bem como avaliar outros parâmetros como inclinação dentária, efeitos periodontais e ósseos além da resultante da distribuição de stress causado pela disjunção. A fim de identificar os estudos relevantes, foi realizada uma busca através do motor de pesquisa PubMed, incluindo estudos publicados entre os anos de 2010 a 2021. A seleção dos estudos respeitou os critérios de inclusão e exclusão pré - definidos. Após a avaliação dos artigos selecionados, os resultados das pesquisas permitiram concluir que o método MARPE é eficaz na abertura da sutura palatina, porém apresenta efeitos dentários secundários.The maxillary disjunction with the purpose of correcting the atresia of the superior dental arch, consists in the opening of the intermaxillary suture and consequent transversal increase of the bone base. The objective of this work was to evaluate, through a narrative review, the action of the disjunction method "Microimplant Assisted rapid Maxillary Expansion" (MARPE) in the palatal suture, as well as to evaluate other parameters such as dental inclination, periodontal and bone effects in addition to the resultant of the distribution of stress caused by the disjunction. In order to identify the relevant studies, a search was performed using the PubMed search engine, including studies published between the years 2010 to 2021. The selection of studies respected the pre-defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. After evaluating the selected articles, the results of the research allowed to conclude that the MARPE method is effective in opening the palatal suture, but it has secondary dental effects

The Effect of Bid-Ask Prices on Brazilian Options Implied Volatility: A Case Study of Telemar Call Options

Although not explicitly reported, option traders on the Bovespa exchange pay an implicit bid-ask spread on each trade. Reported transaction prices that comprise the databases previously used to study the Brazilian options markets do not reflect actual option values at the time of the trades, but actual values plus (for purchases) or minus (for sales) the bid-ask spread. We use a chooser American option model to estimate Telemar call options bid-ask spreads, and to create a database of spread-adjusted trade prices. We find that the bid-ask spreads explain several previously reported puzzles regarding asset price volatility.

Digital image processing techniques for detecting, quantifying and classifying plant diseases.

Abstract. This paper presents a survey on methods that use digital image processing techniques to detect, quantify and classify plant diseases from digital images in the visible spectrum. Although disease symptoms can manifest in any part of the plant, only methods that explore visible symptoms in leaves and stems were considered. This was done for two main reasons: to limit the length of the paper and because methods dealing with roots, seeds and fruits have some peculiarities that would warrant a specific survey. The selected proposals are divided into three classes according to their objective: detection, severity quantification, and classification. Each of those classes, in turn, are subdivided according to the main technical solution used in the algorithm. This paper is expected to be useful to researchers working both on vegetable pathology and pattern recognition, providing a comprehensive and accessible overview of this important field of research

Automatic method for counting and measuring whiteflies in soybean leaves using digital image processing.

Abstract. This paper presents an automatic method based on digital image processing for analyzing the leaves of soybean plants hosting whiteflies. The method is capable not only of counting and measuring whitefly nymphs and adults, but it is also capable of counting and measuring empty whitefly exoskele- tons, as well as lesions that may be present in the leaf. The approach used in the algorithm is very simple, employing color model transformations to isolate the elements of interest in the image, and mathematical morphology to fine tune the results. This approach provides very accurate estimates under the tested conditions, and preliminary tests have shown that the algorithm is flexible enough to be used in other situations with only a few minor adjustments.SBIAgro 2013

Unified framework for counting agriculture-related objects in digital images.

Abstract-Counting objects is an important activity in the daily routine of many areas of industry. This is particularly true in agriculture, in which objects like cells, microorganisms, seeds and other structures have to be quantified as a source of relevant information. This paper proposes a framework that aggregates three different algorithms into a single tool able to tackle a wide variety of counting problems that exist in the agriculture industry. The factor that brings all those algorithms together is the input by the user of some templates for the objects, which allows the resulting method to select the best option for those particular conditions. As a desirable side effect, problems related to resolution and scale dependencies that plagued those previous algorithms are mostly solved by this new approach.SIBGRAPI 2012

Proposta de dinamização do geoturismo no concelho de Mirandela

Mirandela possui um vasto património cultural e natural que se considera ter potencial e características singulares para desenvolver o geoturismo. O conhecimento do património cultural e natural do território do concelho de Mirandela e o levantamento das suas potencialidades permite criar formas de dinamização do geoturismo, sendo possível a sua promoção e consequente valorização e salvaguarda. Assim, propõe-se a classificação de 24 locais: 19 geossítios, três monumentos naturais e duas árvores monumentais, a serem promovidos através da criação de duas rotas turísticas: a Rota GeoNatural e a Rota MiraD’Ela, cuja finalidade é salvaguardar o património e dá-lo a conhecer de forma organizada.As propostas que se elaboraram pressupõem a dinamização do geoturismo no concelho de Mirandela, potenciando, assim, o seu desenvolvimento sustentável, tornando este concelho mais atrativo e transformando-o num destino turístico diferenciado.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Computer-aided disease diagnosis in aquaculture: current state and perspectives for the future.

ABSTRACT. Automation of essential processes in agriculture is becoming widespread, especially when fast action is required. However, some processes that could greatly benefit from some degree of automation have such difficult characteristics, that even small improvements pose a great challenge. This is the case of fish disease diagnosis, a problem of great economic, social and ecological interest. Difficult problems like this often require a interdisciplinary approach to be tackled properly, as multifaceted issues can greatly benefit from the inclusion of different perspectives. In this context, this paper presents the most recent advances in research subjects such as expert systems applied to fish disease diagnosis, computer vision applied to aquaculture, and image-based disease diagnosis applied to agriculture, and discusses how those advances may be combined to support future developments towards more effective diagnosis tools. The paper finishes suggesting a possible solution to increase the degree of automation of fish disease diagnosis tools

Interdisciplinary week in game design: a learning experience

Interdisciplinarity promotes competencies like asking meaningful questions about a complex problem, examine, and synthesize multiple sources of information, methods, and perspectives, in order to integrate knowledge and ways of thinking across two or more established disciplines to produce cognitive advancement. The Interdisciplinary Week of Game Design challenges the students to demonstrate an interdisciplinary understanding of a complex problem that students define, organized by teams, having as its starting point a given theme. Teamwork between members of different academic years favors the sharing of knowledge among peers with different aptitudes, technical skills, and degrees of competence.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio