Star Wars - an episodes battle

Mlodinow (2008) proposed a crazy market experiment: to release the same film under two titles: Star Wars: Episode A and Star Wars: Episode B. Their marketing campaigns and distribution schedule are identical except by their titles on trailers and ads. He looks at the first 20,000 moviegoers and record the film they choose to see. He claims it is most probable the lead never changes, and it is 88 times more likely that one of the two films will be int the lead through all 20,000 customers than it is that the lead continuously seesaw. We present a detailed mathematical explanation for Mlodinow claims

SENSIBILIDADE DE ESPECTROS DE ONDAS OCEÂNICAS RECUPERADOS POR RADAR DE ABERTURA SINTÉTICA

SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar ou Radar de Abertura Sintética) é o único sensor transportado por satélites capaz de medir o espectro direcional de ondas. Sua elevada cobertura espacial e temporal permite caracterizar o estado de mar, especialmente a região de baixa frequência do espectro de energia, que vem sendo assimilada em modelos numéricos de previsão de ondas em diversos centros operacionais espalhados pelo globo. Contudo, a extração do espectro de ondas de uma imagem SAR é um procedimento complexo. Alguns modos de operação não permitem o emprego de imagens sequenciais para resolver a ambiguidade direcional de propagação das ondas, o que requer informações adicionais, geralmente obtidas de um modelo de ondas. A dependência destas informações adicionais é investigada aplicando-se a inversão clássica de Hasselmann a alguns estados de mar teóricos. Esta abordagem é baseada na transformação analítica do espectro direcional de ondas sobre o espectro de imagem SAR correspondente. A solução deste problema inverso é determinada por um algoritmo numérico que minimiza um funcional não linear. Apesar de amplamente utilizado por diversos centros operacionais de previsão, este método não foi extensivamente testado em cenários experimentais bem definidos. Os resultados mostram que a dependência investigada é bastante significativa, sobretudo no que diz respeito à direção de propagação das ondas, levantando questionamentos sobre a acurácia da técnica

A note about a new method for solving Riccati differential equations

Al Bastami, Belić, and Petrović (2010) proposed a new method to find solutions to some Riccati differential equations. Initially, they obtain a second-order linear ordinary differential equation (ODE) through a standard variable change in the Riccati equation. They then propose a new variable change and discuss the resolution of the resulting ODE in two cases. In the first one, the resulting ODE has constant coefficients. In the second case, they claim that it is possible to arbitrarily choose one of the resulting ODE coefficients and solve particular Riccati ODEs. We show in this work that all Riccati equations that belong to the first case can also be solved by Chini’s method. Furthermore, we show that any Riccati equation fits the second case and that the choice of the resulting ODE coefficients is not free

INFLUENCE OF THE RESOLUTION OF DIGITAL ELEVATION MODEL IN DETERMINING THE TOPOGRAPHIC WETNESS INDEX AND ABILITY TO PREDICT THE SOIL ORGANIC CARBON CONTENT

Doi: 10.12957/geouerj.2015.13452   In this paper Digital Elevation Models (DEM's) were generated using altimetry data from two sources; topographic maps at 1:50.000 scale and altimetry surveys with Real Time Kinematic (RTK) positioning at scale 1:10.000. The objective was investigate the dependence of the scale in determining the Topographic Wetness Index (TWI) for a watershed plateau of Rio Grande do Sul, and evaluate the potential of this index discretize the levels of Total Organic Carbon (TOC) of the soil. The effect of different resolutions on the spatial distribution of TWI was evaluated using descriptive statistics. The analysis of the carbon content and carbon stock in 57 soil sampling points, with the values of the topographic wetness index content was made by linear correlation. The results show that the use of DEMs created with altimetry data from low spatial resolution are inadequate to discretize the area most likely to reach the state of water saturation, mainly due to limitations of positional and vertical accuracy. The use of DEM's created with the best altimetry data, RTK, delimited satisfactorily to areas prone to water saturation. The correlation coefficients between TOC and carbon stock with the values generated by the TWI-RTK data were statistically significant, demonstrating the great potential of this index in the prediction of the carbon in the five layers of soil evaluated and the stock of C to 60 cm for the watershed studied

CONHECIMENTOS E PRÁTICAS DAS MULHERES ACERCA DO EXAME PAPANICOLAU E PREVENÇÃO DO CÂNCER CÉRVICO-UTERINO

This descriptive-exploratory research has as the main purpose: describe the problems caused for the cultural influence for the accomplishment of the Papanicolau and identify and analyze critically the performance of nurse ahead of the accomplishment of the Papanicolau. It’s justified because it is increasing the number of women contaminated for the HPV. Methods: has as focus the field research, where questionnaires with sexually active women or not had been used in high school in Niterói/RJ. All women had signed the Term of Free and Clarified Assent. We analised the answers through quanti-qualitative survey and separated them in categories: Problems evidenced for the accomplishment of the Papanicolau; Cultural influence front to the accomplishment of the preventive examination; Know-making of the women in relation to the Papanicolau and the HPV; professional of health x Preventive. Results: the problems faced by women for the accomplishment of Papanicolau confront-in the ones with the lack of information yielded for the professionals; the belief in the linking of the examination as a close and sexual act; the familiar and the partner support for the accomplishment of the Papanicolau; the women’s unfamiliarity on the importance of the Papanicolau; the intense necessity of nurses to specializing among others.Pesquisa descritiva-exploratória com objetivo: descrever os problemas causados pela influência cultural para realização do Papanicolau e identificar e analisar criticamente a atuação do enfermeiro diante da realização deste. Justifica-se por ser crescente o número de mulheres contaminadas pelo HPV, cerca de 6,2 milhões de novos casos/ano. Métodos: Pesquisa de campo onde foram empregados questionários com mulheres sexualmente ativas ou não de uma escola em Niterói/RJ. Todas as mulheres assinaram o Termo de Consentimento Livre e Esclarecido. A análise possibilitou um levantamento quanti-qualitativo onde emergiram as categorias: Problemas evidenciados para realização do Papanicolau; Influência cultural frente à realização do exame preventivo; Saber-fazer das mulheres em relação ao Papanicolau/HPV; Profissional de saúde x Preventivo. Resultados: a vergonha (52%) e o desconforto (14%) da realização do exame são os sentimentos mais freqüentes em relação à realização do mesmo; a dificuldade de acesso (2%) e o constrangimento também são abordados (8%). Conclusão: problemas enfrentados pelas mulheres para realização do Papanicolau defronta-nos com a falta de informação cedida pelos profissionais; associação do exame como um ato sexual; apoio família/parceiro para a realização do Papanicolau; desconhecimento das mulheres sobre Papanicolau; necessidade de especialização do enfermeiro

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear understanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5,6,7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8,9,10,11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world's most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepresented in biodiversity databases.13,14,15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may eliminate pieces of the Amazon's biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological communities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple organism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region's vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most neglected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lost

Worldwide trends in hypertension prevalence and progress in treatment and control from 1990 to 2019: a pooled analysis of 1201 population-representative studies with 104 million participants

Background Hypertension can be detected at the primary health-care level and low-cost treatments can effectively control hypertension. We aimed to measure the prevalence of hypertension and progress in its detection, treatment, and control from 1990 to 2019 for 200 countries and territories. Methods We used data from 1990 to 2019 on people aged 30–79 years from population-representative studies with measurement of blood pressure and data on blood pressure treatment. We defined hypertension as having systolic blood pressure 140 mm Hg or greater, diastolic blood pressure 90 mm Hg or greater, or taking medication for hypertension. We applied a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate the prevalence of hypertension and the proportion of people with hypertension who had a previous diagnosis (detection), who were taking medication for hypertension (treatment), and whose hypertension was controlled to below 140/90 mm Hg (control). The model allowed for trends over time to be non-linear and to vary by age. Findings The number of people aged 30–79 years with hypertension doubled from 1990 to 2019, from 331 (95% credible interval 306–359) million women and 317 (292–344) million men in 1990 to 626 (584–668) million women and 652 (604–698) million men in 2019, despite stable global age-standardised prevalence. In 2019, age-standardised hypertension prevalence was lowest in Canada and Peru for both men and women; in Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, and some countries in western Europe including Switzerland, Spain, and the UK for women; and in several low-income and middle-income countries such as Eritrea, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Solomon Islands for men. Hypertension prevalence surpassed 50% for women in two countries and men in nine countries, in central and eastern Europe, central Asia, Oceania, and Latin America. Globally, 59% (55–62) of women and 49% (46–52) of men with hypertension reported a previous diagnosis of hypertension in 2019, and 47% (43–51) of women and 38% (35–41) of men were treated. Control rates among people with hypertension in 2019 were 23% (20–27) for women and 18% (16–21) for men. In 2019, treatment and control rates were highest in South Korea, Canada, and Iceland (treatment >70%; control >50%), followed by the USA, Costa Rica, Germany, Portugal, and Taiwan. Treatment rates were less than 25% for women and less than 20% for men in Nepal, Indonesia, and some countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Oceania. Control rates were below 10% for women and men in these countries and for men in some countries in north Africa, central and south Asia, and eastern Europe. Treatment and control rates have improved in most countries since 1990, but we found little change in most countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Oceania. Improvements were largest in high-income countries, central Europe, and some upper-middle-income and recently high-income countries including Costa Rica, Taiwan, Kazakhstan, South Africa, Brazil, Chile, Turkey, and Iran. Interpretation Improvements in the detection, treatment, and control of hypertension have varied substantially across countries, with some middle-income countries now outperforming most high-income nations. The dual approach of reducing hypertension prevalence through primary prevention and enhancing its treatment and control is achievable not only in high-income countries but also in low-income and middle-income settings