Exploring Analytical Issues Associated with Oxidation Kinetics in Drinking Water

This dissertation contains two different section that pertain to two different subjects. Section One (Haloamines): Disinfection with ozone and chlorine is critical in protecting the public and animals from pathogens in pools. Disinfection results in in the formation of haloamines from the unintended reactions of human and animal inputs and bromide/chloride with oxidants and disinfectants which cause health problems. The purpose of this research was to examine the occurrence of haloamines during the chlorination of saltwaters. In this study, the effect of bromide concentration was observed to exert a significant effect on the stability of Haloamines, and with no bromide present, the half-life for Haloamines was on the order of two to six hours. Section Two (Cyanotoxins): There is an alarming increase in the frequency and magnitude of cyanobacterial blooms worldwide. Cyanobacteria produce a variety of toxins including microcystins and cylindrospermopsin. Microcystins are the most commonly detected cyanotoxins of major health concernin surface and drinking water. Utilities commonly use enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) to monitor concentration of cyanotoxins within their plants due to the cost effectiveness of ELISA versus LC-MS/MS. ELISA often produces higher indicated concentrations as compared to LC-MS/MS because ELISA measures mixture of microcystins variants in a water sample. However, regulatory authorities need to be convinced that the ELISA results are reliable, even when it disagrees with LC-MS/MS result. The objective of this work is to assess the difference in apparent removal rates for microcystins based on ELISA analysis versus based on LC-MS/MS analysis. The data demonstartes that ELISA readings averaged greater than LC-MS/MS concentrations for the split samples

Arranjo institucional, articulação governamental, gestão de recursos financeiros e planejamento na governança metropolitana : a referência de Montreal e a experiência brasileira

As forças globalizadoras, a intensa urbanização e os fluxos de informação, mercados e pessoas atuam dinamicamente na formação de grandes aglomerados de cidades interligadas, constituindo metrópoles. Em conjuntos metropolitanos de diferentes continentes, a amplitude de problemas e a necessidade de serviços de interesse comum requerem formas complexas de gerenciamento. No Brasil, uma fase desenvolvimentista definiu inicialmente nove regiões metropolitanas e representou décadas de institucionalização centralizada. Mesmo diante de processos estabelecidos de planejamento e disponibilidade de recursos, essas áreas apresentaram dificuldades crescentes. Uma fase de redemocratização estabeleceu tendências a um aumento das entidades metropolitanas, em um quadro de descentralização, descrédito do planejamento centralizado e reduzido apoio financeiro. Uma fase mais recente, neodesenvolvimentista, encontra mais de 50 regiões metropolitanas e mostra tendências a uma descentralização e a diferentes tipos de gestão, sem contar com recursos suficientes para enfrentar problemas que se propagam. Um dos pressupostos da análise é que o percurso histórico e o contexto socioeconômico e político influenciam na construção de distintas formas de enfrentamento das questões metropolitanas. Considera-se ainda que o agenciamento desses processos relaciona-se ao que tem sido chamado de governança - um conjunto de condições que permitiriam não apenas a formulação de projetos comuns como também sua implementação. Uma aproximação sobre a região metropolitana de Montreal explora quatro critérios que expressariam condições básicas de governança: 1) arranjo institucional e marcos regulatórios; 2) articulação e coordenação das esferas de ação governamental; 3) gestão de recursos financeiros; 4) formas de planejamento e concertação. Considerando os avanços e limitações observados, a abordagem corrobora os critérios propostos e ressalta como requisitos de uma governança eficaz a criação de capacidades para a cooperação interinstitucional e a participação cidadã. Essas condições permitiriam ainda construir bases para uma governança efetiva e justa. O trabalho teve como objetivo analisar, à luz da experiência internacional, o alcance e os limites no Brasil de distintas estruturas de governança na construção de uma agenda metropolitana compartilhada. Partindo de percursos históricos e contextos diferentes, a aplicação das quatro dimensões nas Regiões Metropolitanas de Salvador, Curitiba, Belo Horizonte, e no Consórcio Intermunicipal Grande ABC, revela condições e formas distintas de governança. Dado um patamar reduzido de participação federal e diferentes prioridades dos governos estaduais e municipais envolvidos, a cada uma dessas experiências estão associados alguns avanços e inúmeros limites. O processo se reflete não apenas nos enormes obstáculos para a construção de uma agenda metropolitana compartilhada como na crônica dificuldade para oferecer serviços de interesse comum. O estudo indica que não existe um modelo privilegiado de governança metropolitana, mas torna-se essencial um processo de aprendizagem. Em um quadro de interesses conflitantes, a eficiência institucional voltada para a justiça social, econômica e territorial representariam avanços em direção a um sistema de governança metropolitana sólido e colaborativo. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACTGlobalizing forces, intense urbanization and information flows, markets and people, act dynamically in the forming of large clusters and interconnected cities, constituting metropolises. In metropolitan clusters in different continents, the breadth of problems and the need for services of common interest require complex forms of management. In Brazil, a developmental phase initially defined nine metropolitan regions and represented decades of centralized institutionalization. Although in light of established planning processes and available resources, increasing difficulties were observed in these areas. A phase of redemocratization established a trend of growing metropolises, in a context of decentralization, discredit of centralized planning, and reduced financial support. A more recent, neo developmental phase, presents more than 50 metropolitan regions and shows trends towards decentralization and different types of management, without sufficient resources to deal with spreading problems. One of the assumptions of the analysis is that the historical course and socioeconomic and political context influence the development of different ways of tackling metropolitan issues. One also considers that the agency of these processes is related to what has been called governance – a set of conditions supposed to allow not only the formulation of common projects, but also their implementation. An approximation to the metropolitan region of Montreal explores four criteria supposed to express basic governance conditions: 1) institutional arrangement and regulatory frameworks; 2) articulation and coordination of governmental action spheres; 3) financial resources management; 4) forms of planning and concertation. These conditions would also allow for the development of bases for efficient and just governance. Considering the advancements and limitations observed, the approach corroborates the criteria proposed, and highlights, as requisites for effective governance, the creation of capacities for interinstitutional cooperation and citizen participation. The research aimed to analyze, in light of international experience, the reach and limits, in Brazil, of different governance structures, in the development of a shared metropolitan agenda. Starting from different histories and contexts, application of the four dimensions in the Metropolitan Regions of Salvador, Curitiba, Belo Horizonte, and the ―ABC‖ Intercity Consortium, reveals different conditions and forms of governance. Due to a low threshold of public participation and different priorities of the state and municipal governments involved, a few advancements and numerous limits are associated to each one of these experiences. The process is reflected not only in the enormous obstacles for the development of a shared metropolitan agenda, as in the chronic difficulty to offer services of common interest. The study indicates that there is no privileged model of metropolitan governance, rather a learning process becomes essential. In a setting of conflicting interests, institutional effectiveness aimed at social, economic and territorial justice would represent advances towards a solid and collaborative system of metropolitan governance. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ RÉSUMÉLes forces mondialisantes, l‘intense urbanisation et les flux d‘information, des marchés et des gens agissent dynamiquement dans la formation de grandes agglomérations de villes inter-connectées, constituant les métropoles. Dans les ensembles métropolitains de différents continents l‘amplitude des problèmes et la nécessité pour les services d‘intérêt commun exigent des formes complexes de gestion. Au Brésil, une phase de développement a défini initialement neuf régions métropolitaines et a représenté des décennies d‘institutionnalisation centralisée. Même face à des processus établis de planification et de disponibilité de ressources, ces domaines présentent des difficultés croissantes. Une phase de redémocratisation a mis en place une augmentation d‘entités métropolitaines dans un cadre de décentralisation, discrédit de la planification centralisée et soutien financier réduit. Une phase plus récente, neodéveloppementiste, trouve plus de 50 régions métropolitaines et montre des tendances à une décentralisation et à de différents types de gestion, sans compter avec les ressources suffisantes pour faire face aux problèmes qui se propagent. L‘une des hypothèses de l‘analyse est que le parcours historique et le contexte socio-économique et politique influencent la construction de différentes façons de faire face aux enjeux métropolitains. On considère encore que la disposition de ces processus est liée à ce qui est appelé gouvernance - un ensemble de conditions qui permettraient non seulement la formulation de projets communs mais aussi sa mise en oeuvre. Une approximation sur la région métropolitaine de Montréal exploite quatre critères qui exprimeraient des conditions de base de la gouvernance : 1) l‘arrangement institutionnel et les cadres réglementaires; 2) l‘articulation et la coordination des sphères d‘action gouvernementale; 3) la gestion des ressources financières; 4) les formes de planification et réparation. En considérant les avances et limitations observées, l‘approche renforce les critères proposés et souligne comme exigences d‘une gouvernance efficace à la création des capacités pour la coopération interinstitutionnelle et la participation du citoyen. Ces conditions ont permis encore de construire les bases pour une gouvernance effective et équitable. L‘étude vise à analyser à la lumière de l‘expérience internationale, la portée et les limites au Brésil de structures distinctes de gouvernance dans la construction d‘un agenda métropolitain commun. En partant de trajectoires historiques et des contextes différents, l‘application des quatre dimensions dans les Régions Métropolitaines de Salvador, Curitiba, Belo Horizonte et dans le Consórcio Intermunicipal do ABC révèle des conditions et des formes distinctes de gouvernance. Compte tenu d‘une participation fédérale réduite et des différentes priorités des gouvernements d‘État et municipaux impliqués, à chacune de ces expériences sont associées certaines avances et de nombreuses limites. Le processus se reflète non seulement dans d‘énormes obstacles à la construction d‘un agenda métropolitain commun mais aussi à la difficulté chronique en fournissant des services d‘intérêt commun. L‘étude indique qu‘il n‘y pas de modèle privilégié de gouvernance métropolitaine, mais il est essentiel un processus d‘apprentissage. Dans un contexte d‘intérêts en conflit, l‘efficience institutionnelle tournée vers la justice sociale, économique et territoriale représenteraient des progrès vers un système de gouvernance métropolitaine solide et collaborative

Abuso sexual infantil intrafamiliar: aspectos transgeracionais

O abuso sexual infantil intrafamiliar é a forma de violência que mais ocorre no âmbito familiar independente de raça, credo ou situação social. Diante do assunto, busca-se uma compreensão geral de como se dá a dinâmica das famílias envolvidas no abuso, analisando aspectos da transgeracionalidade do abuso sexual. Com isso, torna-se presente um estudo dos mitos familiares que são geradores de uma repetição de crenças familiares, que levam os protagonistas do abuso a repetirem papéis sociais definidos em cada geração. A vitimização da criança se mantém no núcleo familiar por meio de segredos não revelados que criam alianças entre os parentes, mesmo acreditando na incoerência das atitudes e, em conseqüência, gera-se o silêncio, que é mantenedor do abuso através das gerações. Dessa forma, se apresenta uma proposta para que haja uma quebra na repetição transgeracional do abuso, sendo de grande importância o trabalho do psicólogo diretamente no núcleo familiar promovendo o fim da violência, com isso enfocando em uma reorganização dos mitos familiares e priorizando o fim do silêncio

Quantum Sensing with Scanning Near-Field Optical Photons Scattered by an Atomic-Force Microscope Tip

Scattering scanning near-field optical microscopy (s-SNOM) is known as a promising technique for overcoming Abbe diffraction limit and substantially enhancing the spatial resolution in spectroscopic imaging. The s-SNOM works by exposing an atomic force microscope (AFM) tip to an optical electromagnetic (EM) field, while the tip is so close to a sample that the incident beam lies within the near-field regime and displays nonlinear behaviour. We suggest replacing the incident field by quantized EM fields, i.e. photons, and propose a quantum model for the suggested system, by employing electric-dipole approximation, image theory, and perturbation theory. Quantum state of scattered photons from the AFM tip is extracted from the proposed model, which contain information about electrical permittivity of the dielectric material beneath the tip. The permittivity of the sample can be extracted through spectroscopic setups. Our proposed scheme can be used for quantum imaging or quantum spectroscopy with high resolution.Comment: 4 pages and 3 figure

Discriminação de gênero: a política de combate à violência doméstica no Brasil nas varas de violência doméstica e familiar no Distrito Federal

A desigualdade entre homens e mulheres ainda é uma realidade que aos poucos se busca combater. Quando se fala em violência doméstica essas desigualdades além de serem enormes são transferidas à mulher através de meios cruéis como a agressão física, verbal, sexual e outras. Políticas públicas nos últimos anos têm sido implementadas para que o enfrentamento à violência contra a mulher seja possível através de mecanismos estatais para o seu combate. Neste trabalho apresento como a política pública de enfrentamento à violência doméstica contra a mulher foi construída, o papel do poder judiciário nesta política através da aplicação da Lei Maria da Penha e os diferentes mecanismos que foram e são utilizados por magistrados para que possam, de certa maneira, contribuir no combate à violência doméstica com as ferramentas que dispõem. Também apresento as alternativas a serem propostas para que a política pública possa ser (re)construída a partir de uma nova perspectiva de circulação de poderes entre todos aqueles que dela e nela participam

Smartphone-based Video of Demodex folliculorum In Biopsied Human Eyelash Follicles

The ability of smartphone technology to document static microscopy images has been well documented and is gaining widespread use in ophthalmology, where slit-lamp biomicroscopy is frequently utilized. However, little has been described regarding the use of smartphone technology to relay video of tissue microscopy results to patients, particularly when a tissue sample integrates motility of organisms as a characteristic feature of the disease. Here, we describe the method to use smartphone video to document motility of Demodex folliculorum in human eyelashes, individual results of which can be shown to patients for education and counseling purposes. The use of smartphone video in documenting the motility of organisms may prove to be beneficial in a variety of medical fields; producers of electronic medical records, therefore, may find it helpful to integrate video drop box tools

The Effect of Understory Shrub Species on the Natural Regeneration of Hyrcanian Mixed Broad-Leaved Forests (Kheyrud, Iran)

Iran’s Hyrcanian forests are part of the temperate forests and have survived since Tertiary. These forests have experienced severe damages in recent decades because of socio-economic issues such as overgrazing. This study aimed at investigating the Nurse-protégé interaction and the impact of understory shrub species on the regeneration of the Hyrcanian main tree species in Kheyrud Forests. Filed sampling was carried out using the random-systematic method. Regeneration and their features under and outside of the canopy of shrub species, as well as some environmental variables were recorded in strip plots. According to the results, the canopy cover percentage of 25-50% provides the best regeneration protection efficiency for the six nurse shrub species. Overall, regeneration density was found to be higher outside the canopy area of the shrub species than beneath their canopy area; however, regeneration under the shrub species caused higher mean height and age. Moreover, the mean cover and the depth of the litter under the shrub canopy were significantly higher than that of outside the canopy area. Although the shrub species allow more durable and complete development of seedlings by providing protection against grazing, suitable conditions for seed germination and seedling growth may not be provided because of high litter depth and insufficient sunlight due to the massive canopy of trees as well as nurse shrubs’ dense foliage (especially, evergreen understory species)

Smartphone-based Video of Demodex folliculorum In Biopsied Human Eyelash Follicles

The ability of smartphone technology to document static microscopy images has been well documented and is gaining widespread use in ophthalmology, where slit-lamp biomicroscopy is frequently utilized. However, little has been described regarding the use of smartphone technology to relay video of tissue microscopy results to patients, particularly when a tissue sample integrates motility of organisms as a characteristic feature of the disease. Here, we describe the method to use smartphone video to document motility of Demodex folliculorum in human eyelashes, individual results of which can be shown to patients for education and counseling purposes. The use of smartphone video in documenting the motility of organisms may prove to be beneficial in a variety of medical fields; producers of electronic medical records, therefore, may find it helpful to integrate video drop box tools

GROUNDWATER LEVEL PREDICTION USING DEEP RECURRENT NEURAL NETWORKS AND UNCERTAINTY ASSESSMENT

Groundwater is one of the most important sources of regional water supply for humans. In recent years, several factors have contributed to a significant decline in groundwater levels (GWL) in certain regions. As a result of climate change, such as temperature increase, rainfall decrease, and changes in relative humidity, it is necessary to investigate and model the effects of these factors on GWL. Although a number of researches have been conducted on GWL modeling with machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) algorithms, only a limited number of studies have reported model uncertainty. In this paper, GWL modeling of some piezometric wells has been conducted by considering the effects of the meteorological parameters with Long-Short Term Memory (LSTM) and Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU) algorithms. The models were trained on one piezometric well data and predictions were executed on six other wells. To perform an uncertainty assessment, the models were run 10 times and their means were calculated. Subsequently, their standard deviations were considered to evaluate the outcomes. In addition, the prediction power of the models was validated using Mean Absolute Error (MAE), Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), Normalized Root Mean Square Error (NRMSE), and R-Squared (R2). Finally, for all the six wells that did not participate in the training phase, the prediction functions of the trained models were run 10 times and their accuracy was assessed. The results indicate that LSTM (R2=95.6895, RMSE=0.4744 m, NRMSE=0.0558, MAE=0.3383 m) had a better performance compared to that of GRU (R2=95.2433, RMSE=0.4984 m, NRMSE=0.0586, MAE=0.3658 m) on the GWL modeling

Identification of Prdm genes in human corneal endothelium

Corneal endothelial cells (CECs) are essential for maintaining corneal stromal hydration and ensuring its transparency, which is necessary for normal vision. Dysfunction of CECs leads to stromal decompensation, loss of transparency and corneal blindness. Corneal endothelium has low proliferative potential compared to surface epithelial cells leading to poor regeneration of CEC following injury. Additionally, the tissue exhibits age related decline in endothelial cell density with re-organisation of the cell layer, but no regeneration. The mechanisms which control proliferation and differentiation of neural crest derived CEC progenitors are yet to be clearly elucidated. Prdm (Positive regulatory domain) family of transcriptional regulators and chromatin modifiers are important for driving differentiation of a variety of cellular types. Many Prdm proteins are expressed in specific precursor cell populations and are necessary for their progression to a fully differentiated phenotype. In the present work, we sought to identify members of the Prdm gene family which are specifically expressed in human (h) CECs with a view to begin addressing their potential roles in CEC biology, focussing especially on Prdm 4 and 5 genes. By performing semi-quantitative reverse transcription coupled to PCR amplification we found that in addition to Prdm4 and Prdm5, Prdm2 and Prdm10 genes are expressed in hCECs. We further found that cultured primary hCECs or immortalised HCEC-12 cells express all of the Prdm genes found in CECs, but also express additional Prdm transcripts. This difference is most pronounced between Prdm gene expression patterns of CECs isolated from healthy human corneas and immortalised HCEC-12 cells. We further investigated Prdm 4 and Prdm 5 protein expression in cultured primary hCECs and HCEC-12 cells as well as in a human cadaveric whole cornea. Both Prdm 4 and Prdm 5 are expressed in human corneal endothelium, primary hCECs and in HCECs- 12 cells, characterised by expression of the Naþ/Kþ-ATPase. We observed that both proteins exhibit cytosolic (intracellular, but non-nuclear and distinct from extracellular fluid) as well as nuclear localisation within the endothelial layer, with Prdm 5 being more concentrated in the nuclei of the endothelial cells than Prdm 4. Thus, our work identifies novel Prdm genes specifically expressed in corneal endothelial cells which may be important in the control of CEC differentiation and proliferation