Relatório de atividades desenvolvidas : triénio 2012-2015 (ao abrigo do disposto no Decreto-Lei 124/99)

O presente relatório enquadra-se no previsto pelo Estatuto da Carreira de Investigação Científica, reportando as atividades desenvolvidas pelo Investigador Auxiliar Eduardo José Louçã Florêncio Isidro, no triénio 2012 – 2015 (de setembro de 2012 a setembro de 2015)

Experimental harvesting of juvenile common octopus Octopus vulgaris, for commercial ongrowing in the Azores

Octopus aquaculture is currently restricted to ongrowing of sub-adult to commercial size because culture of paralarvae remains a bottleneck. In most countries, commercial ongrowing rely upon existing pot fisheries for octopuses for obtaining their specimens. In the Azores, such fishery does not exist and effective methods of harvest are required if farming is to be implemented. In this study, we investigated the potential of obtaining subadult octopuses on the coast of Faial Island, Azores. Two sets of traps (n=30) consisting of 3 PVC tubes within cement blocks were set-up on two different substrates; soft sediment (Pedro Miguel) and rocky-sand (Pasteleiro) at depth varying between 10 and 30 metres. From June to August 2006, 11 hauls per site were performed. A total of 191 octopuses (from 1.1 to 989 g; average = 135.3 g) were captured. Catches in the soft sediment site were significantly higher than in the other location (CPUE: mean ± SD: 0.33 ± 0.17 vs. 0.15 ± 0.17 octopus trap-1 hour-1*100). The catch was initially dominated by octopus of 300-400 g but as fishing continued, this size classes disappeared and was replaced by smaller individuals. As a result, half of the catch at both sites (51.8%) was composed of specimens with a weight equal or inferior to 50 grams. The occurrence of summer recruitment event combined with a natural displacement of larger individuals into deeper waters is most probably responsible for this pattern. Our results showed that in shallow water and during this period of the year, individuals inferior to 50 grams are far more abundant than larger octopuses and should be the target size class for ongrowing activities

Fish larvae and zooplankton biomass around Faial Island (Azores archipelago). A preliminary study of species occurrence and relative abundance.

Plankton hauls were conducted off Faial island (Azores archipelago, NE Atlantic), to a depth of 100 m, between February and June 1998, covering the spawning period of a number of commercially important fish species. Seventy-three fish larvae taxa were identified, of which 51 were quantified, one of them a new record for the region, Glossanodon leioglossus (Valenciennes, 1848). The fish larvae community was dominated by mesopelagic and bathypelagic elements (namely Myctophidae and Gonostomatidae), a typical oceanic island environment composition. Total zooplankton showed a biomass peak in May that could correspond to the Spring “bloom”. However, the fish larvae showed an abundance minimum in May and a maximum in June, presenting a general negative relationship with zooplankton biomass and indicating a temporal asynchrony between their annual cycles of production. The comparison of fish larvae abundance with those of other NE Atlantic regions suggests that the zooplankton production in the Azores may be similar to the one found in the Iberian Peninsula continental shelf. Significant spatial density gradients (for fish larvae and zooplankton) were not found with either bathymetry or distance from shore

Recruitment and growth of Megabalanus azoricus (Pilsbry, 1916) on artificial substrates: first steps towards commercial culture in the Azores

This paper reports the results of preliminary research evaluating the potential of farming Megabalanus azoricus. From March 2006 to September 2006, artificial substrates were immersed bi-monthly in a shallow water bank located in the channel separating the islands of Faial and Pico, Azores. They were monitored monthly for a period of 12 months by scuba-diving. M. azoricus rapidly colonised the immersed substrates, establishing itself as the dominant organism. Even though recruitment was observed year round, there was a peak in recruitment between June and October. The substrate immersed for the longest period (15 months) presented final densities of 1109 ind. m-2, from which 20.2% were of edible size. Growth was monitored for 18 isolated barnacles for 8 months. Growth rate proved to be high (base diameter; 0.08 ± 0.02 mm day-1; mean ± SD), with individuals reaching diameters of 21.35 ± 6.2 mm after 8 months. Considering this growth rate, it was estimated that after a further 9 months, over 80% of the total densities (on the oldest substrate ) would be harvestable, thus suggesting a production cycle of 17 to 24 months. Although much further research is needed, the species presents all characteristics of a potential candidate to initiate the aquaculture industry in the Azores

Conferencia magistral: “La identificación y la clasificación en al ámbito de la actividad cognitiva del sujeto” / Identifying and classifying subjects’ cognitive activity

En la Universidad de Ciencias Pedagógicas “José Martí se celebra cada dos años un evento científico especializado en temas de Botánica y Educación Ambiental. Estas reuniones se horran con el nombre del destacado naturalista Johannes Bisse. La Revista Transformación tiene ahora la oportunidad de brindar a sus lectores el texto íntegro de la conferencia magistral impartida en la XI edición, por parte del Dr. C. Isidro E. Méndez Santos, Director del Centro de Estudios de Medio Ambiente y Educación Ambiental y Presidente del Comité Organizador del referido evento. En esta conferencia, el autor pretende sistematizar ideas dispersas en artículos ya publicados, así como discutir nuevas interpretaciones que puedan resultar de interés fuera del ámbito de las ciencias biológicas

La formación de educadores ambientales como investigadores

La necesidad de preparar al educador ambiental para la investigación, es analizada a la luz de las exigencias planteadas por su perfil y las que en este campo deben caracterizar al personal de la educación. Se reseña la experiencia de la Universidad Pedagógica “José Martí” de Camagüey, Cuba, donde se ha establecido un sistema de formación en el cuarto nivel de enseñanza para este tipo de profesional, en el cual la preparación como investigador se asume como uno de los objetivos priorizados y como eje de articulación curricular

Significación epistémica de la hipótesis Gaia para los proyectos de educación ambiental / Epistemic significance of the Gaia hypothesis for environmental education projects

Se propone la incorporación de la hipótesis Gaia al sustento epistémico de los proyectos de educación ambiental. Se discute la posición de esta en el contexto del holismo ambientalista y los denominados saberes emergentes que, sobre bases ético-humanistas, complejas y con sentido cultural, están dirigidos a preservar la especie humana. Se sistematizan sus postulados esenciales, a partir de 13 de las categorías básicas que se manejan como parte de su cuerpo teórico y 11 corolarios que resumen sus principales deducciones. Se discute la importancia de cada uno, no solo para elevar el nivel cognitivo del sujeto, sino también como referente para desarrollar las esferas de autorregulación inductora (motivacional - afectiva) y ejecutora (instrumental) de la personalidad.The incorporation of the hypothesis Gaia how epistemic support for the environmental education projects, are promoted. The position of the same one in the context of the environmental holism and the emergent knowledge that are directed to preserve the human species on ethical-humanist principle, complexity and with cultural sense, are systematised. Their essential postulates are systematized to starting from 13 of the basic categories that are managed like part of their theoretical body and 11 corolaries that summarize their main deductions. The importance of each one for to elevate the cognitive level of fellow and to develop the self-regulating (motivacional - affective) and executer (instrumental) spheres of the personality, are discussed

Intermediador de serviços na Nuvem

Mestrado em Engenharia de Computadores e TelemáticaDe acordo com história dos sistemas informáticos, os engenheiros têm vindo a remodelar infraestruturas para melhorar a eficiência das organizações, visando o acesso partilhado a recursos computacionais. O advento da computação em núvem desencadeou um novo paradigma, proporcionando melhorias no alojamento e entrega de serviços através da Internet. Quando comparado com abordagens tradicionais, este apresenta vantajens por disponibilizar acesso ubíquo, escalável e sob demanda, a determinados conjuntos de recursos computacionais partilhados. Ao longo dos últimos anos, observou-se a entrada de novos operadores que providenciam serviços na núvem, a preços competitivos e diferentes acordos de nível de serviço (“Service Level Agreements”). Com a adoção crescente e sem precedentes da computação em núvem, os fornecedores da área estão se a focar na criação e na disponibilização de novos serviços, com valor acrescentado para os seus clientes. A competitividade do mercado e a existência de inúmeras opções de serviços e de modelos de negócio gerou entropia. Por terem sido criadas diferentes terminologias para conceitos com o mesmo significado e o facto de existir incompatibilidade de Interfaces de Programação Aplicacional (“Application Programming Interface”), deu-se uma restrição de fornecedores de serviços específicos na núvem a utilizadores. A fragmentação na faturação e na cobrança ocorreu quando os serviços na núvem passaram a ser contratualizados com diferentes fornecedores. Posto isto, seria uma mais valia existir uma entidade, que harmonizasse a relação entre os clientes e os múltiplos fornecedores de serviços na núvem, por meio de recomendação e auxílio na intermediação. Esta dissertação propõe e implementa um Intermediador de Serviços na Núvem focado no auxílio e motivação de programadores para recorrerem às suas aplicações na núvem. Descrevendo as aplicações de modo facilitado, um algoritmo inteligente recomendará várias ofertas de serviços na núvem cumprindo com os requisitos aplicacionais. Desta forma, é prestado aos utilizadores formas de submissão, gestão, monitorização e migração das suas aplicações numa núvem de núvens. A interação decorre a partir de uma única interface de programação que orquestrará todo um processo juntamente com outros gestores de serviços na núvem. Os utilizadores podem ainda interagir com o Intermediador de Serviços na Núvem a partir de um portal Web, uma interface de linha de comandos e bibliotecas cliente.Throughout the history of computer systems, experts have been reshaping IT infrastructure for improving the efficiency of organizations by enabling shared access to computational resources. The advent of cloud computing has sparked a new paradigm providing better hosting and service delivery over the Internet. It offers advantages over traditional solutions by providing ubiquitous, scalable and on-demand access to shared pools of computational resources. Over the course of these last years, we have seen new market players offering cloud services at competitive prices and different Service Level Agreements. With the unprecedented increasing adoption of cloud computing, cloud providers are on the look out for the creation and offering of new and valueadded services towards their customers. Market competitiveness, numerous service options and business models led to gradual entropy. Mismatching cloud terminology got introduced and incompatible APIs locked-in users to specific cloud service providers. Billing and charging become fragmented when consuming cloud services from multiple vendors. An entity recommending cloud providers and acting as an intermediary between the cloud consumer and providers would harmonize this interaction. This dissertation proposes and implements a Cloud Service Broker focusing on assisting and encouraging developers for running their applications on the cloud. Developers can easily describe their applications, where an intelligent algorithm will be able to recommend cloud offerings that better suit application requirements. In this way, users are aided in deploying, managing, monitoring and migrating their applications in a cloud of clouds. A single API is required for orchestrating the whole process in tandem with truly decoupled cloud managers. Users can also interact with the Cloud Service Broker through a Web portal, a command-line interface, and client libraries

La sensibilidad como objetivo de la formación ambiental

La consideración del desarrollo de la sensibilidad como un objetivo de la educación ambiental, se remonta a la Carta de Belgrado, probada en el Seminario Internacional de Educación Ambiental celebrado en 1975 en la antigua Yugoslavia, aunque en ella no se definió como un fin en sí mismo, sino como una condición necesaria para la toma de conciencia al respecto