Mapping vulnerability to climate change in Santiago de Chile

Städte sind heute bereits von negativen Auswirkungen des Klimawandels, in Form extremer Wetterereignisse, betroffen. Die Wissenschaft prognostiziert, dass diese Phänomene in Frequenz und Intensität zunehmen werden. Daher ist es ratsam, Adaptionsstrategien in lokale Entwicklungspläne einzubeziehen. Vulnerabilität ist ein akzeptiertes Konzept, um die verbundenen Risiken der Bevölkerung und umsetzbare Gegenmaßnahmen zu evaluieren und zu diskutieren. Vulnerabilität ist das Verhältnis aus Exposition gegenüber einem Risiko und der Anpassungsfähigkeit an die Auswirkungen des Risikos. Der Gegenstand dieser Arbeit ist eine Erhebung und ein Vergleich der Vulnerabilität der einzelnen Comunas von Santiago de Chile gegenüber den Risiken Überschwemmungen, Hitzewellen und Dürren. Dazu werden als Folge einer Literaturanalyse spezifische Indikatoren bestimmt, um den Grad an Exposition und Anpassungsfähigkeit der einzelnen Comunas zu bestimmen und zu kartieren. Diese Indikatoren beschreiben städtebauliche und –planerische Faktoren, wie Wohnbauqualität, Anteil an Grünflächen oder kommunale Planung. Ferner umfassen sie soziale und ökonomische Faktoren, wie demographische Struktur, Einkommen, kommunale Ausgaben, Qualität des Gesundheitssystems und Wasserverbrauch pro Haushalt. Die Auswertung der Indikatoren zeigt eine starke Ungleichverteilung der Vulnerabilitäten im Stadtraum. Obwohl diese je nach Risikofaktoren variieren, lässt sich zusammenfassend sagen, dass die Comunas nordöstlich des Zentrums und am Stadtrand durch eher niedrige Vulnerabilität gekennzeichnet sind. Die Comunas im Südosten und die zentrale Comuna Santiago haben meist moderate Vulnerabilität. Die Comunas, die einen Ring westlich um die Comuna Santiago bilden, weisen überwiegend eine kritische Vulnerabilität auf. Die hier dargestellte Analyse und Auswertung zeigen einen möglichen Weg, das Konzept Vulnerabilität zur Identifizierung der verletzlichsten Stadtteile zu verwenden. Auf Basis der Ergebnisse können prioritäre politische Leitlinien und administrative Handlungsstrategien erarbeitet werden. Durch Einbeziehung weiterer Indikatoren und/ oder einer geeigneten Gewichtung der Indikatoren lassen sich die Ergebnisse an neue Erkenntnisse anpassen.Cities are already affected by the negative impacts of climate change in the form of extreme weather events. The scientific literature predicts that these phenomena will increase in intensity and frequency. The integration of adaptation strategies into local development plans is therefore vital. Vulnerability is an agreed concept to discuss and evaluate the risks of the population and possible countermeasures. Vulnerability is defined as the ratio of exposure to a hazard and the adaptive capacity to the hazard‟s impact. The object of this paper is an assessment and a comparison of the vulnerability of the comunas of Santiago de Chile towards the risks floods, heat waves and droughts. Consequently, this work derives indicators out of an analysis of the pertinent scientific literature to measure and map the degree of exposure and adaptive capacity. These indicators describe different factors of urban development and planning, such as housing quality, share of urban green spaces or local regulatory planning. Additionally, they cover social and economic factors, such as demographical structure, income, municipal spending, quality of health care and water consumption per household. The analysis of the indicators shows an uneven distribution of vulnerabilities across the city. The distribution varies per indicator, but it can be summarized that the comunas in the northeast of the center and the outskirt comunas show rather low vulnerability. The comunas in the southeast and the central comuna Santiago in general show moderate vulnerability. The comunas that form an arc running westwards around the comuna Santiago show predominantly critically vulnerable. The presented analysis demonstrates a possible way to use the concept vulnerability to identify the most vulnerable urban areas. Based on the results, primary political guidelines and administrative strategies of action can be worked out. Including further indicators and/ or adapted weighting allows to adjust the results to new cognitions

How people describe their place: Approaches to interpreting and formalizing place descriptions

This cumulative thesis deals with human place descriptions and their interpretation. In particular, it poses four different research questions: What are dominant types of place descriptions? What different types of hierarchical structures do they use? What is the role of spatial relationships in defining the actual location? Can violations in form of flat structures or gaps in levels be related to the applied classification scheme

Beobachtungen zur Parasitierung von Radnetzspinnen (Araneidae) durch Polysphincta rufipes (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae)

We found the ichneumonid Polysphincta rufipes Gravenhorst, 1829 (tribus Polysphinctini) to be a koinobiont parasitoid of two species of araneid orb-weavers, Larinioides sclopetarius and Zygiella x-notata, in Central Europe. Some notes on the biology of P. rufipes are given, based on observations both in the field and in the laboratory. The wasps directly attack non-adult spiders sitting in the hubs of their webs. Parasitized spiders could be found from, at least, August to early December. The duration of the development of the wasp larvae, including the pupal stage, is about two months. It seems conceivable that at the end of the larval stage the larva somehow manipulates its host spider; i.e. the spider is forced to enter its retreat – a safe place where the larva can kill the host, complete its development and spin a cocoon for pupation (pupa libera)

O direito da criança e do adolescente: o protagonismo e a sustentabilidade ambiental como direito das presentes e futuras gerações

Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Ciências Jurídicas, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Direito, Florianópolis, 2015.A presente tese versa sobre o Direito da Criança e do Adolescente e o seu protagonismo no que tange a promoção da educação ambiental e de práticas sustentáveis para as presentes e futuras gerações. Justifica-se devido este direito ser o guardião insofismável da Doutrina da Proteção Integral e inter-relacionar-se com o Direito Ambiental. Questiona se o Direito da Criança e do Adolescente contempla mecanismos na seara internacional que sejam capazes de promover a sustentabilidade, bem como em que medida a promoção do protagonismo de crianças e adolescentes pode contribuir com os direitos das gerações presentes e futuras. Tem como objetivos específicos apresentar a Doutrina da Proteção Integral por meio da análise da Convenção dos Direitos da Criança da ONU de 1989, que norteará a discussão no âmbito brasileiro, por meio de seus sub- princípios do direito à liberdade, ao respeito e à dignidade. Após, delineiam-se os documentos internacionais a respeito das questões ambientais a fim de aproximar esses dois novos direitos ao desafio da sustentabilidade. Quer, ademais, apresentar a educação como meio de política pública e como prática interdisciplinar que se preocupa com a atuação dos demais atores da proteção integral e da interação das pessoas em sociedade. Por fim, objetiva, especificamente, promover uma cidadania participativa de crianças e adolescentes com vistas a formá-los, a promoverem ? enquanto sujeitos protagonistas ? a defesa do meio ambiente e de práticas sustentáveis. É possível prever que existam tais mecanismos na seara internacional e no âmbito nacional, no entanto, não há meios efetivos de sua implementação. Para tanto, utiliza-se o método de abordagem sistêmico, utilizando-se do método de procedimento monográfico.Abstract : The present thesis deals with the right of children and adolescents and its role in the promotion of environmental education and sustainable practices for the present and future generations. It is justified because of the right of children and adolescents be the guardian which cannot be mistaken for the doctrine of the Integral Protection and related is with the environmental law. Questions whether the right of children and adolescents comprises mechanisms in international field who are able to promote sustainability, as well as to what extent the promotion of the role of these infants may contribute with the rights of present and future generations. Aims, present the doctrine of Integral Protection by means of the analysis of the Convention on the rights of the Child 1989, UN that will guide the discussion within Brazil, through its sub principles of the right to freedom, respect and dignity. After, delineate the international documents regarding environmental issues in order to bring these two new rights to the challenge of sustainability. Want to also submit education as means of public policy and as an interdisciplinary practice that cares about the performance of other actors of the integral protection and the interaction of people in society. Finally, aims specifically to promote a participatory citizenship of children and adolescents in order to form them, to promote ? as subject?s protagonists-the protection of the environment and sustainable practices. It is possible to predict that there are such mechanisms in the international field and at the national level, however, that there is no effective means of implementation. For that, use-it or systemic abordagem method using the do procedimento monographic method

A novel disposable electrochemical microcell: construction and characterization

An alternative technique for the fabrication of disposable electrochemical microcells containing working, reference and auxiliary electrodes on a single device is reported. The procedure is based on thermal-transfer of toner masks onto CD-R (recordable compact discs) gold surfaces to define the layout of the electrodes (contour). In a subsequent step, the layout is manually painted with a permanent marker pen. The unprotected gold surface is conveniently etched (chemical corrosion) and the ink is then easily removed with ethanol, generating gold surfaces without contamination. The final and reproducible area of the electrodes is defined by heat transference of a second toner mask. Silver epoxy is deposited on one of the gold bands which is the satisfactorily used as reference electrode. These microcells were electrochemically characterized by cyclic, linear, and square wave voltammetry, and several electroactive species were used as model systems. The area reproducibility of the electrodes for different microcells was studied and a relative standard deviation better than 1,0% (n = 10) was obtained. Disposable electrochemical microcells were successfully used in analysis of liquid samples with volumes lower than 200 µL and good stability and reproducibility (RSD less than 2.0%) were achieved. These microcells were also evaluated for quantification of paracetamol and dipyrone in pharmaceutical formulations.Este trabalho apresenta uma técnica alternativa de microfabricação para construção de microcélulas eletroquímicas descartáveis contendo os eletrodos de trabalho, auxiliar e de referência em um único dispositivo. Trata-se de um processo simples no qual a termo-transferência de máscaras de toner sobre superfícies de ouro obtidas a partir de discos compactos graváveis (CD-R) definem o formato dos eletrodos (contornos). Numa etapa seguinte, o formato é manualmente coberto com tinta usando uma caneta de retroprojetor. A superfície de ouro não protegida pela tinta é convenientemente removida (corrosão química) e a tinta, por sua vez, é facilmente removida com etanol gerando superfícies de ouro sem contaminação. A área final e reprodutível dos eletrodos é definida pela termo-transferência de uma segunda máscara de toner. O eletrodo de referência é obtido por meio de uma deposição manual de cola de prata sobre uma banda de ouro. As microcélulas foram eletroquimicamente caracterizadas usando as técnicas de voltametria cíclica, voltametria linear e voltametria de onda quadrada e várias espécies eletroativas como sistemas modelo. A reprodutibilidade de área dos eletrodos para diferentes microcélulas foi estudada e um desvio-padrão relativo melhor do que 1,0% foi obtido. As microcélulas descartáveis foram usadas com sucesso para a análise de amostras em volumes menores que 200 µL demonstrando boa estabilidade e reprodutibilidade (RSD menor que 2,0%). Essas microcélulas também foram avaliadas para a quantificação de paracetamol e dipirona em formulações farmacêuticas.(FAPEMIG) Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas GeraisConselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq

Disaster Preparedness Information Needs of Individuals Attending an Adult Literacy Center : An Exploratory Study

Being prepared with accurate, credible, and timely information during a disaster can help individuals make informed decisions about taking appropriate actions. Unfortunately, many people have difficulty understanding health and risk-related resources. This exploratory, mixed methods study assessed disaster information-seeking behaviors and comprehension of public health disaster preparedness resources by individuals at an adult literacy center. A convenience pilot sample of 20 adult learners (mean age: 53.1) was recruited. Health literacy was assessed using Newest Vital Sign (NVS) and modified Cloze (multiple choice) tests on biological terrorism and avian influenza information. In-person interviews were conducted to determine participants’ knowledge, perceptions, and information needs about disasters. Thematic analysis of interviews was conducted using NVivo7. Mean NVS was 3.11/6.00 implying limited health literacy. Mean Cloze scores revealed marginal disaster comprehension (avian flu: .46/1.00; biological terrorism: .48/1.00). Over half of participants with inadequate Cloze comprehension self-rated their understanding as “good.” Key themes emerging from interviews were: multiple perceptions about disasters, limited access to preparedness resources, need for visuals and plain language information, and importance of knowing where to go during a disaster. Study findings advocate for multimedia, plain language, and visual communication to influence adult learners’ literacy practices and self-efficacy in interpreting instructions and acting appropriately in preparing for and responding to disasters

Combination of GNSS and SLR observations using satellite co-locations

Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) observations to Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) satellites may be used for several purposes. On one hand, the range measurement may be used as an independent validation for satellite orbits derived solely from GNSS microwave observations. On the other hand, both observation types may be analyzed together to generate a combined orbit. The latter procedure implies that one common set of orbit parameters is estimated from GNSS and SLR data. We performed such a combined processing of GNSS and SLR using the data of the year 2008. During this period, two GPS and four GLONASS satellites could be used as satellite co-locations. We focus on the general procedure for this type of combined processing and the impact on the terrestrial reference frame (including scale and geocenter), the GNSS satellite antenna offsets (SAO) and the SLR range biases. We show that the combination using only satellite co-locations as connection between GNSS and SLR is possible and allows the estimation of SLR station coordinates at the level of 1-2cm. The SLR observations to GNSS satellites provide the scale allowing the estimation of GNSS SAO without relying on the scale of any a priori terrestrial reference frame. We show that the necessity to estimate SLR range biases does not prohibit the estimation of GNSS SAO. A good distribution of SLR observations allows a common estimation of the two parameter types. The estimated corrections for the GNSS SAO are 119mm and −13mm on average for the GPS and GLONASS satellites, respectively. The resulting SLR range biases suggest that it might be sufficient to estimate one parameter per station representing a range bias common to all GNSS satellites. The estimated biases are in the range of a few centimeters up to 5cm. Scale differences of 0.9ppb are seen between GNSS and SL

Estado nutricional dos pacientes submetidos a transplante de células tronco hematopoiéticas em um centro do Sul do Brasil e a influência do estado nutricional e da perda de peso nos resultados do transplante

Introdução: O transplante de células-tronco hematopoiéticas é reconhecidamente uma opção terapêutica curativa para doenças neoplásicas hematológicas, deficiências imunológicas e doenças metabólicas. É um procedimento associado a uma alta frequência de complicações agudas e crônicas, causadas pela toxicidade do regime de condicionamento e pela doença do enxerto versus hospedeiro (DECH). Além das complicações, o estado nutricional é fortemente afetado durante o TCTH e pacientes com deficiências nutricionais antes do transplante têm um prognóstico negativo para os resultados do TCTH, sendo o tempo de pega menor em pacientes bem nutridos. Objetivo: Avaliar o estado nutricional dos pacientes submetidos ao transplante de células-tronco hematopoiéticas alogênico e a influência da perda de peso nos possíveis desfechos do transplante, tais como óbito, tempo de sobrevida livre de doença e sobrevida global. Métodos: Trata-se de um estudo observacional longitudinal retrospectivo, com coleta de dados de prontuário etrônico, dos pacientes que realizaram o transplante de células-tronco alogênico, aparentado e não aparentado, no período de janeiro de 2010 a janeiro de 2020, onde foram coletados dados de peso e altura, para cálculo de IMC, possíveis complicações que podem surgir em decorrência do transplante, doenças pré-existentes, exames séricos de perfil lipídico e glicemia. Resultados: foram incluídos no estudo 185 pacientes que realizaram o TCTH alogênico no período estabelecido, e destes 121 apresentaram IMC alterado no momento da internação, e não houve diferença significativa em relação à mortalidade, recidiva e as complicações avaliadas, decorrentes do transplante. Em relação à perda de peso durante o período de internação, 51 pacientes tiveram perda de peso de >10%, e quando associada com o tempo de sobrevida livre de doença, e ao tempo de sobrevida global, houve associação significativa (p=0,041), com essa perda, sendo que o risco de óbito para os pacientes com perda de peso > 10% é cerca de 2 vezes maior, quando comparado ao que perderam 10%, and when associated with disease-free survival time, and overall survival time, there was a significant association with this loss (p=0,041), and the risk of death for patients with weight loss > 10% is about 2 times greater, when compared to those who lost < 10% weight. Conclusion: Analyzing only the nutritional status through the calculation of BMI at the time of admission may not be enough to avoid possible complications resulting from the transplant. Weight loss during the hospitalization period seems to be associated with greater complications, such as recurrence and shorter survival time of these patients