An optimization approach to study the phase changing behavior of multi-component mixtures

The appropriate design, construction, and operation of carbon capture and storage (CCS) and enhanced oil recovery (EOR) processes require a deep understanding of the resulting phases behavior in hydrocarbons-CO_2 multi-component mixtures under reservoir conditions. To model this behavior a nonlinear system consists of the equation of states and some mixing rules (for each component) needed to be solved simultaneously. The mixing usually requires to model the binary interaction between the components of the mixture. This work employs optimization techniques to enhance the predictions of such model by optimizing the binary interaction parameters. The results show that the optimized parameters, although obtained mathematically, are in physical ranges and can reproduce successfully the experimental observations, specially for the multi-component hydrocarbons systems containing Carbon dioxide at reservoir temperatures and pressuresComment: To be published in Cadernos do IME - S\'erie Matem\'atica da UER

Estratégia digital: Como aumentar a notoriedade e intenção de compra digital da marca Ameias

O e-commerce, em Portugal e no mundo, tem demonstrado grandes índices de crescimento, sendo um dos principais produtos em expansão o mercado têxtil, nomeadamente, a roupa. A presente investigação tem o intuito de aumentar a notoriedade e a intenção de compra digital de uma marca de meias portuguesa, que vende exclusivamente online. Para tal, é necessário entender qual o perfil do cliente Ameias, bem como qual a rede social mais orientada para a venda, ou o tipo de produto mais vendido, contando com a elaboração de um diagnóstico da marca. Relativamente à metodologia, o presente estudo utiliza uma metodologia qualitativa, sendo uma pesquisa conclusiva de carácter descritivo, como também uma análise de dados secundários na realização do plano de marketing digital para a marca. Nesse sentido, estamos diante de um estudo de caso com recurso à netnografia ao longo do diagnóstico da Ameias, especialmente na análise das redes sociais das restantes marcas. Através do plano de marketing digital, são sugeridas ações à marca de meias, tendo como objetivo aumentar a notoriedade e intenção de compra digital dos utilizadores da loja até ao final do ano de 2022

Maldição dos recursos naturais e qualidade institucional : uma análise de municípios

Dissertação (mestrado)—Universidade de Brasília, Faculdade de Economia, Administração e Contabilidade, Departamento de Economia, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Econômicas, 2019.Estudos sobre a influência dos recursos naturais na dinâmica econômica são um tema antigo entre os economistas. Recentemente, esse debate ganhou novo fôlego sob a alcunha de a maldição dos recursos naturais, em razão de indícios de que economias abundantes em recursos naturais tendem a alcançar menores taxas de crescimento econômico. O objetivo deste trabalho é avaliar o impacto da renda proveniente de recursos naturais, a saber, royalty de petróleo e gás natural, Contribuição Financeira pela Utilização de Recursos Hídricos (CFURH) e Compensação Financeira pela Exploração de Recursos Minerais (CFEM), sobre a taxa de crescimento dos municípios do estado da Bahia, considerando a hipótese institucional como um importante canal de transmissão da maldição dos recursos naturais. Utilizou-se a equação de convergência de Mehlum, Moene e Torvik (2006) para avaliar o canal de transmissão da qualidade institucional e o modelo de Método Generalizados dos Momentos (GMM system) como estratégia de identificação para corrigir os problemas de endogeneidade presentes nas variáveis explicativas. Os resultados apontam evidências de que a melhoria na qualidade institucional é capaz de reverter o impacto negativo que recursos naturais exercem sobre a taxa de crescimento municipal.Studies on the influence of natural resources on economic dynamics are an old topic among economists. Recently, this debate has gained new impetus under the nickname of the natural resource curse, due to evidence that natural resource rich economies tend to achieve lower rates of economic growth. The objective of this work is to evaluate the impact of natural resource income, such as oil and natural gas royalty, Financial Contribution for the Use of Water Resources (FCUWR) and Financial Compensation for the Exploration of Mineral Resources (MEFC), on the rate of the state of Bahia, considering the institutional hypothesis as an important channel of transmission of the curse of natural resources. The Mehlum, Moene and Torvik (2006) convergence equation was used to evaluate the institutional quality transmission channel and the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM system) model as an identification strategy to correct the problems of endogeneity present in the explanatory variables.The results suggest that the improvement in institutional quality is capable of reversing the negative impact that the abundance of natural resources exert on the municipal growth rate

A preliminary assessment of the potential health and genetic impacts of releasing confiscated passerines into the wild: A reduced-risk approach

The illegal capture and trade of wild birds have long been threats to biodiversity. The rehabilitation and release of confiscated animals may be a useful conservation tool in species management. However, differences between populations regarding health (e.g., different pathogens) and adaptation (e.g., local adaptation) must be taken into account, since both can negatively impact the recipient population. In this pilot study, we used two of the most illegally trafficked Brazilian wild passerine species, namely the red-crested cardinal (Paroaria coronata) and green-winged saltator (Saltator similis) as case studies and assessed some of the health threats that the release of confiscated passerines may pose to free-living birds. We also investigated the level of difference in mitochondrial genetic structure among populations living in different ecoregions. Blood, feces, and oropharyngeal swabs from confiscated (n = 115) and free-living (n = 120) passerines from the release sites were tested for the Newcastle disease virus, Salmonella spp., and Mycoplasma gallisepticum. These are considered major avian diseases by the Brazilian National Avian Health Program. We analyzed mtDNA to study the difference in genetic structure between populations using samples from 127 free-living passerines. We found no evidence of the Newcastle disease virus or Salmonella spp. in confiscated or free-living passerines from either species. However, the levels of infection with M. galissepticum detected in our study for red-crested cardinals and green-winged saltators calls for a high degree of caution in captive release programs. The difference in genetic structure between populations occurring in different regions was low, and was not significant between those from the Pampa/Subtropical Grasslands region. These results suggest that it may be possible to establish a cost-effective and sensitive protocol for releasing confiscated songbirds, provided that further genome-wide studies indicate that the functional genetic diversity among (at least some of the) populations is also low.Fil: Cruz, Cláudio E. F.. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; BrasilFil: Funkler, Gustavo R.. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; Brasil. Laboratório Porto Belo; BrasilFil: Zani, André L. S.. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; BrasilFil: Wagner, Paulo G. C.. Centro de Triagem de Animais Silvestres; BrasilFil: Andretta, Ines. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; BrasilFil: Segura, Luciano Noel. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. División Zoología de Vertebrados; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Fagundes, Nelson J. R.. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; Brasi

Wild animals housed at the IBAMA triage center in Southern Brazil, 2005–2021: a glimpse into the endless conflicts between man and other animals

Spurred on by the illegal billion-dollar revenue, the capture and trade of wild fauna remain the leading illegal activities in Brazil, and elsewhere. We present and discuss insights into the wild animals housed at the Wild Animal Triage Center in Southern Brazil. Recorded data from 2005 to 2021 were used. A total of 36,950 animals were sheltered in that period, and most of them were common passerines (24,182) such as the Saffron Finch, and Red-crested Cardinal, among many others confiscated after inspections or reports. Passerines have long been the top trafficked species in Brazil and abroad, where birdkeeping has strong cultural and economic values. The totals per class were 29,784 birds (80.6%), 2,584 (7.0%) insects, 2,237 (6.1%) reptiles, and 2,170 (5.9%) mammals. Since they were mostly surrendered by the population rather than seized, most mammals, insects, and reptiles were probably unwanted guests in human spaces, tendency that illustrates the human difficulty in coexisting with wildlife. A total of 3,085 animals exhibited some threat or risk of extinction, which, as a general rule, grants them conservation priority. However, regardless of class, most animals (31,142) in this study were rated as least concern on the red lists, a trend in wildlife trafficking linked to the category criteria of being widely distributed species with abundant populations, and often, in close contact with human neighbors. Maintaining an abundance of common and nonthreatened species can be justified by the greater extent of their ecosystem services, from a local to global scale. Our results further highlight the urgent need to change our ways of interacting with wildlife, outstandingly the irresponsible ownership of animals

Environmental factors determining the diversity of darkling beetles (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) in arid, high-altitude environments in Northwestern Argentina

Abstract Factors influencing the diversity of tenebrionid beetles in arid, high-altitude environments in the northwest of Argentina are little-known. Using pitfall traps and suction sampling in 30 sites, we collected these beetles in Altos Andes (AA) and Puna (PU) ecoregions and evaluated how local and regional factors influenced their assemblages. During each sampling date, we registered variables related to climate, vegetation, and soil in each sampling site. In total, we recorded 270 individuals from 21 species, richness of species was higher in PU than in AA, but without a statistically significant difference. Twelve species were present exclusively in PU, while two in AA. Tenebrionid assemblages in both ecoregions had different dominant species, in PU, Psectrascelis cariosicollis while Epipedonota interandina in AA. Beta diversity between ecoregions was moderate and we recorded a high beta diversity and high turnover of species in each ecoregion. The geographical distance between the sites influenced the similarity of the assemblages inside and between ecoregions, therefore, an increase in the geographical distance between sites determined a decrease in the similarity of the assemblages. The increase in elevation of the sampled sites did not produce significant changes in the abundance and richness of Tenebrionidae. There is no individual factor responsible for the darkling beetle communities structuration in these high-altitude environments. Different combinations of both local (soil and vegetation) and regional (climate and geographical distance) environmental factors together explain the ecoregional tenebrionid assemblages. We suggest including them among the focus groups in conservation studies to evaluate anthropogenic activities in this area

En-tender los textos : ¿Tender a qué? Construyendo categorías sociales; el foco: la enseñanza de los deportes

En este momento de la investigación, el equipo se encuentra trabajando en el análisis y categorización de entrevistas realizadas a entrenadores destacados de nuestro país; paralelamente se está realizando el mismo trabajo metodológico en investigaciones sobre la enseñanza de los deportes y a su vez se está trabajando en fichajes y categorización de textos técnicos específicos de la enseñanza de los deportes. Este trabajo presentará el estado de avance actual con respecto a las categorías sociales relevadas en el trabajo de los fichajes; fichajes que fueron realizados sobre un total de 20 libros y 18 textos referidos a 10 deportes. A partir de este trabajo hemos podido detectar, hasta este momento, 4 categorías sociales: Etapas evolutivas, Fases del aprendizaje, Fases de la enseñanza y Talento Natural. En el desarrollo del trabajo entonces, expondremos el contenido de cada una de las categorías sociales, y los análisis que hemos construidos a partir de las mismas.Departamento de Educación Físic

Acute Toxicity and Determination of the Active Constituents of Aqueous Extract of Uncaria tomentosa

Uncaria tomentosa is a medicinal plant used in folk medicine by Amazon tribes. In this study the constituents of aqueous extract of U. tomentosa bark were quantified by chromatographic technique and its lethal concentration 50 (48 h) in Hyphessobrycon eques was determined. The chromatography showed high levels of oxindole alkaloids, quinovic acid glycosides, and low molecular weight polyphenols. The CL50 48 h was 1816 mg/L. Fish showed behavior changes at concentrations above 2000 mg/L, accompanied by a significant decrease of dissolved oxygen. At the highest concentration 100% mortality was observed attributed to oxygen reduction by the amount of oxindole alkaloids, polyphenols accumulation of the extract in the gills, and the interaction of these compounds with dopamine. In conclusion, the aqueous extract of U. tomentosa did not alter the chemical components and it was shown that U. tomentosa has low toxicity to H. eques; therefore, it can be used safely in this species