Tipologia dos sistemas de producao praticados pelos pequenos produtores do Estado do Ceara.

Esta pesquisa buscou tipificar e caracterizar os sistemas de producao praticados pelos pequenos produtores do Estado do Ceara. Foram selecionadas 23 Unidades Geoambientais representativas da regiao semi-arida do Estado, e para cada unidade, escolhido um municipio representativo. Em cada municipio, foi selecionada uma amostra de produtores e aplicado um questionario contendo 860 variaveis. As informacoes foram analisadas atraves de tecnicas estatisticas multivariadas. Os resultados mostraram a existencia de doze tipos distintos de pequenos produtores e que foram caracterizados de acordo com o tamanho da familia, dos rebanhos, producoes vegetais e animais, areas total e cultivadas (culturas comerciais, subsistencia e pastagens), indice de tecnologia e rendas diversas (agropecuarias, aposentadoria e outras atividades), e que estes tipos possuem demandas diferenciadas no que diz respeito a politica de difusao de tecnologias, priorizacao de acoes de pesquisa e de investimentos

Do all sporting prizes have a significant positive impact on attendance in a European national football league? Competitive intensity in the French Ligue 1

This article investigates the determinants of attendance at French football Ligue 1 matches over the 2008–2011 period, with a focus on the effect of competitive intensity. This is measured by dummies that are functions of the point difference for the home team in relation to the different sporting prizes: title, qualification in UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) club competitions, relegation. The objective is to answer the following question: do all sporting prizes have a significant positive impact on attendance? We specified and estimated a standard attendance equation including 35 explanatory variables of which 9 are related to sporting prizes. The estimations are based on a Tobit model with individual cut-off points to allow for truncation of attendance at the upper bound given by stadia capacity (i.e. sold-out games). 1135 observations are included. Our results show that all sporting prizes have a significant positive impact on attendance. In particular, there is a significant impaact of prizes for potential qualification in the UEFA Europa League which are dependent on the outcome of domestic cups (known only in the last part of season). This research contributes to the optimization of competition format and knowledge on competitive intensity and determinants of attendance. It provides an argument in favor of current sporting prizes for managers in the main European national football leagues

Adaptive thrust vector control during on-orbit servicing

On-orbit servicing missions often include a final propulsive phase where a spacecraft pushes the other one towards a different orbit. Specifically this is the case of the debris grasping mission where the chaser, after capturing the target by means of robotic arms, has to perform a de-orbit operation. The large thrust involved needs a perfect alignment with respect to the center of mass or the system composed by chaser and target, in order to avoid attitude changes. Such accurate alignment is quite difficult to achieve especially when the characteristics of the target are not perfectly known. A procedure is proposed in this paper, allowing a complete estimation of the center of mass position and of the moments of inertia of the system, starting from the data obtained by the gyros mounted on board of the spacecraft. The output is used to design a maneuver for correcting the target and chaser relative position by moving the robotic arms. Numerical simulations show the proficiency and the applicability of the estimation algorithm and of re-alignment maneuver to a selected mission scenario

Active space debris removal by a hybrid propulsion module

During the last 40 years, the mass of the artificial objects in orbit increased quite steadily at the rate of about 145 metric tons annually, leading to a total tally of approximately 7000 metric tons. Now, most of the cross-sectional area and mass (97% in LEO) is concentrated in about 4600 intact objects, i.e. abandoned spacecraft and rocket bodies, plus a further 1000 operational spacecraft. Simulations and parametric analyses have shown that the most efficient and effective way to prevent the outbreak of a long-term exponential growth of the catalogued debris population would be to remove enough cross-sectional area and mass from densely populated orbits. In practice, according to the most recent NASA results, the active yearly removal of approximately 0.1% of the abandoned intact objects would be sufficient to stabilize the catalogued debris in low Earth orbit, together with the worldwide adoption of mitigation measures. The candidate targets for removal would have typical masses between 500 and 1000 kg, in the case of spacecraft, and of more than 1000 kg, in the case of rocket upper stages. Current data suggest that optimal active debris removal missions should be carried out in a few critical altitude-inclination bands. This paper deals with the feasibility study of a mission in which the debris is removed by using a hybrid propulsion module as propulsion unit. Specifically, the engine is transferred from a servicing platform to the debris target by a robotic arm so to perform a controlled disposal. Hybrid rocket technology for de-orbiting applications is considered a valuable option due to high specific impulse, intrinsic safety, thrust throttle ability, low environmental impact and reduced operating costs. Typically, in hybrid rockets a gaseous or liquid oxidizer is injected into the combustion chamber along the axial direction to burn a solid fuel. However, the use of tangential injection on a solid grain Pancake Geometry allows for more compact design of the propulsion unit. Only explorative tests were performed in the past on this rocket configuration, which appears to be suitable as de-orbiting system of new satellites as well as for direct application on large debris in the framework of a mission for debris removal. The paper describes some critical aspects of the mission with particular concern to the target selection, the hybrid propulsion module, the operations as well as the systems needed to rendezvous and dock with the target, and the disposal strateg

Tipologia dos sistemas de produção praticados pelos pequenos produtores rurais do Estado do Rio Grande do Norte.

Esta pesquisa buscou tipificar e caracterizar os sistemas de producao praticados pelos pequenos produtores rurais do Estado do Rio Grande do Norte. Foram selecionadas 14 Unidades Geoambientais representativas da regiao semi-arida do Estado, e para cada unidade, escolhido um municipio representativo. Em cada municipio, foi selecionada uma amostra de produtores e aplicado um questionario contendo 860 variaveis. As informacoes foram analisadas atraves de tecnicas estatisticas multivariadas. Os resultados mostraram a existencia de doze tipos distintos de pequenos produtores, que foram caracterizados de acordo com o tamanho da familia, dos rebanhos, producoes vegetais e animais, areas total e cultivadas (culturas comerciais, subsistencia e pastagens), indice de tecnologia e rendas diversas (agropecuarias, aposentadoria e outra atividades), e que estes tipos possuem demandas diferenciadas no que diz respeito a politicas de difusao de tecnologias, priorizacao de acoes de pesquisa e de investimentos

Microsatellite instability as prognostic marker in bladder tumors: a clinical significance

BACKGROUND: Carcinoma of urinary bladder is one of the leading causes of death in India. Successful treatment of bladder cancer depends on the early detection & specific diagnostic approaches. In the present study, microsatellite instability (MSI) has been evaluated as a prognostic marker in patients with superficial urinary bladder cancer in lower urinary tract for determining risk of recurrence. METHODS: A total of 44 patients with bladder tumors diagnosed with Transitional Cell Carcinomas [TCC] from lower urinary tract were selected for the study. Tumors were staged and graded according to AJCC-UICC (1997) classification and patients were followed with cystoscopy as per the protocol. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was done to amplify microsatellite sequences at mononucleotide BAT – 26, BAT – 40, TGFβ RII, IGFIIR, hMSH3, BAX and dinucleotide D2S123, D9S283, D9S1851 and D18S58 loci in blood (control) and tumor DNA. PCR products were separated on 8% denaturing polyacrylamide gel and visualized by autoradiography. RESULTS: MSI was observed in 72.7% of tumors at BAT – 26, BAT – 40, D2S123, D9S283, D9S1851 and D18S58 loci. Good association of MSI was seen with tumor stage and grade. MSI – High (instability at > 30% of loci) was frequently observed in high stage (40.6%) and high grade (59.4%) tumors. Of 24 tumors of Ta-T1 stage with different grades, 11 (9/18 high grade and 2/6 low grade tumors) recurred in the mean duration of 36 months. MSI positivity was significantly high in patients who had one or more recurrences (p = 0.02 for high grade and 0.04 for low grade tumors). CONCLUSIONS: MSI may be an independent prognostic marker for assessing risk of recurrence in superficial tumors irrespective of the grade. Further studies on progression would help in stratifying the patients of T1G3 for early cystectomy vs bladder preservation protocol

Biogem: an effective tool-based approach for scaling up open source software development in bioinformatics

Summary: Biogem provides a software development environment for the Ruby programming language, which encourages community-based software development for bioinformatics while lowering the barrier to entry and encouraging best practices

Professional Sports Firm Values: Bringing New Determinants to the Foreground? A Study of European Soccer, 2005-2013

Since 2004, Forbes has proposed a list of the most valuable soccer clubs. One year later, Transfermarkt began to estimate European soccer players’ value. This article estimate the determinants of firm values in European soccer over the period 2005-2013 incorporating player valuations, clubs’ operating income, and new ownership, three variables not included previously. The results of this study demonstrate that these variables are significant factors in club valuations. More generally, club assets including stadium age, club ownership type, supporter numbers and income, and past sports performances all have a significant impact

The CERN Neutrino beam to Gran Sasso (NGS)

The conceptual technical design of the NGS (CERN neutrino beam to Gran Sasso) facility has been presented in the report CERN 98-02 / INFN-AE/98-05. Additional information, in particular an update on various neutrino beam options for the NGS facility, has been provided in a memorandum to the CERN-SPSC Committee (CERN-SPSC/98-35). In the present report, further improvements on the NGS design and performance, in particular new scenarios for SPS proton cycles for NGS operation and a new version of the NGS "high energy" neutrino beam for nt appearance experiments, are described. This new NGS reference beam is estimated to provide three times more nt events per year than the beam presented in the 1998 report. The radiological aspects of the NGS facility have been re-examined with the new beam design. An updated version of the construction schedule is also presented