Wildfire patterns and landscape changes in Mediterranean oak woodlands

Fire is infrequent in the oak woodlands of southern Portugal (montado) but large and severe fires affected these agro-forestry systems in 2003–2005. We hypothesised transition from forest to shrubland as a fire-driven process and investigated the links between fire incidence and montado change to other land cover types, particularly those related with the presence of pioneer communities (generically designed in this context as “transitions to early-successional communities”). We present a landscape-scale framework for assessing the probability of transition from montado to pioneer communities, considering three sets of explanatory variables: montado patterns in 1990 and prior changes from montado to early-successional communities (occurred between 1960 and 1990), fire patterns, and spatial factors. These three sets of factors captured 78.2% of the observed variability in the transitions from montado to pioneer vegetation. The contributions of fire patterns and spatial factors were high, respectively 60.6% and 43.4%, the influence of montado patterns and former changes in montado being lower (34.4%). The highest amount of explained variation in the occurrence of transitions from montado to earlysuccessional communities was related to the pure effect of fire patterns (19.9%). Low spatial connectedness in montado landscape can increase vulnerability to changes, namely to pioneer vegetation, but the observed changes were mostly explained by fire characteristics and spatial factors. Among all metrics used to characterize fire patterns and extent, effective mesh size provided the best modelling results. Transitions from montado to pioneer communities are more likely in the presence of high values of the effective mesh size of total burned area. This cross-boundary metric is an indicator of the influence of large fires in the distribution of the identified transitions and, therefore, we conclude that the occurrence of large fires inmontado increases its probability of transition to shrubland

Ancient clay bricks: manufacture and properties

The physical, mechanical and chemical properties of ancient fired clay bricks are addressed. A literature survey is carried out and samples of old Portuguese bricks dated from the 12th to 18th centuries are considered. A high porosity (15-40 %) and water absorption (10-20 %) is found. The suction rate can be rather high (up to 0.35 g/cm2/min), while the specific mass is low (1,500 to 1,800 kg/m3). The compressive strength shows a huge scattering with frequent values ranging from 1.5 to 30 N/mm2. In general, raw clays used in old clay bricks seem to have some consistency with respect to proportion of the main chemical constituents, while bricks of the same origin generally exhibit a strong chemical similarity. Finally, it is shown that a minor-destructive test (microdrilling) allows to adequately assess the compressive strength of old clay bricks, using appropriate correlations

Clustering and disjoint principal component analysis of emissions and driving volatility data collected from a hybrid electric vehicle in real drive conditions

Despite the fuel use and emission benefits of Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs), few studies have characterized in detail emission patterns and driving volatility profiles from HEVs in different road types under Real Driving Emission (RDE) conditions. This paper characterized second-by-second tailpipe emissions, vehicle engine, and dynamics from a 2020 Toyota HEV sub-compact on a 44 km driving route over rural, urban, and highway roads in the Aveiro region (Portugal). Driving volatility was represented by six driving styles based on combinations of acceleration/deceleration and vehicular jerk (the rate at which an object’s acceleration changes with respect to the time). Clustering and Disjoint Principal Component Analysis (CDPCA) was applied to examine the relationships between emissions, engine, internal combustion engine (ICE) status, roadway characteristics, and vehicular jerk types. Although the urban route yielded lower carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxides emissions than rural and highway routes did, it resulted in highly volatile driving behaviors at low speeds (< 45 km.h-1). Both route type and HEV ICE operating behavior showed to have an impact on the distribution of vehicular jerk types. CDPCA constrained to road sector exhibited different shapes in the clusters of the jerk types between ICE operation status. This paper can provide insights into RDE analysis of the new generation of HEVs about the characterization of volatile driving behaviors. Such information can be integrated into vehicle electronic car units and navigation systems to provide feedback for drivers about their driving behavior in terms of high emission rates and jerkings to the vehicle.publishe

Does sentiment matter for stock market returns? evidence from a small European market

An important issue in finance is whether noise traders, those who act on information that has no value, influence prices. Recent research indicates that investor sentiment affects the return distribution of a few categories of assets in some stock markets. Other studies also document that US investor sentiment is contagious. This paper investigates whether Consumer Confidence (CC) and the Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) – as proxies for investor sentiment – affects Portuguese stock market returns, at aggregate and industry levels, for the period between 1997 to 2009. Moreover the impact of US investor sentiment on Portuguese stock market returns is also addressed. We find several interesting results. First, our results provide evidence that consumer confidence index and ESI are driven by both, rational and irrational factors. Second, ESI is significantly negative related to stock returns. Sentiment negatively forecasts aggregate stock market returns, but not all industry indices returns. Finally, we don’t find a contagious effect of US investor sentiment in Portuguese market returns

Reordenamento da indústria extractiva : proposta para o Núcleo de Pardais, Anticlinal de Estremoz

O presente estudo pretende contribuir para o planeamento e reordenamento do território, numa das unidades de ordenamento do anticlinal de Estremoz-Borba-Vila Viçosa, o Núcleo de Pardais - UNOR 5, envolvendo a indústria extractiva dos mármores. Foi estudado o conjunto de descritores geológicos e ambientais que melhor caracterizam o espaço analisado. Toda a informação obtida foi cruzada num SIG, de modo a definir áreas favoráveis ou desfavoráveis à exploração, tendo em atenção os condicionalismos encontrado

Congenital adrenal hyperplasia: a qualitative study on disease and treatment, doubts, anguishes and relationships (part I)

OBJECTIVE: To understand the meanings/thoughts of a group of parents, patients and physicians regarding congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), and to evaluate their anguishes, doubts and anxieties. METHODS: We selected 21 subjects: 7 pediatric endocrinologists from five Brazilian Public Health System institutions, 9 parents and 6 patients with CAH, according to the qualitative research model. Three of the studied categories are presented: disease and treatment, doubts and anguishes and relationships. RESULTS: Parents' main anguishes relate to the situation of an unnamed sex at birth. A sense of loneliness when dealing with the disease is the major anguish among patients, whereas physicians show hopelessness with the passivity parents and patients. CONCLUSIONS: The apparent submissiveness of patients/parents during consultations must be evaluated cautiously. University Hospitals outpatient clinic dynamics have a direct effect on this behavior: physicians do not talk openly with parents who in turn do not talk with their children, whereas patients chose to protect their parents from additional suffering. Thus, some miscommunication is noticeable among these subjects. These observations suggest that a special mindful measure should be built for these patients.OBJETIVO: Compreender significados e pensamentos de um grupo de pais, pacientes e médicos sobre a hiperplasia adrenal congênita (HAC) e analisar angústias, dúvidas e ansiedades. MÉTODOS: Foram selecionados 21 sujeitos: 7 especialistas de cinco instituições do Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS), 9 familiares e 6 pacientes com HAC, seguindo padrões da pesquisa qualitativa. Neste artigo, apresentaram-se três categorias: doença e tratamento, dúvidas e angústias e relacionamentos. RESULTADOS: As principais angústias dos pais relacionam-se à indefinição sexual ao nascimento. Para pacientes, a angústia maior relaciona-se ao sentimento de solidão ao lidar com a doença e seu tratamento, enquanto médicos mostram-se inconformados com a passividade dos pais/pacientes. CONCLUSÕES: A passividade de pacientes/familiares nas consultas deve ser avaliada com cautela, pois a dinâmica do ambulatório dos hospitais-escola tem efeito neste comportamento: os médicos não conversam abertamente com os pais, enquanto estes não conversam com seus filhos, que, por sua vez, poupam os pais de mais sofrimento. Constatou-se dificuldade de comunicação entre esses vários sujeitos. Essas observações permitem sugerir que uma medida especial de atenção a esses pacientes deva ser construída.Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Departamento de MedicinaHospital Infantil Darcy VargasUNIFESP Departamento de PediatriaHospital e Maternidade São LuizUNIFESP, Depto. de MedicinaUNIFESP, Depto. de PediatriaSciEL

Radar investigation on civil structures using 3D data reconstruction and transmission tomography

Non-destructive investigation using Ground Penetrating Radar is becoming more popular during the inspection of civil structures. Currently, traditional 2D imaging is also used as a preliminary tool to find possible areas of interest for more detailed inspection, which can be accomplished by 3D image reconstruction or tomography techniques. In this paper, a general overview of the work done at University of Minho regarding these techniques is presented. Data acquisition was performed on two masonry walls and on one large concrete specimen. In case of masonry specimens traditional 2D imaging was supplemented by the use of transmission tomography. Data acquisition on the concrete specimen was done in reflection mode and results were further processed using 3D reconstruction software. Results from these specimens are very promising. Radar tomography and 3D image reconstruction techniques provided much more detailed information about structural integrity and shapes and location of the voids placed inside the tested specimens relatively to 2D imaging originally used for potential target identification.Portuguese Foundation for the Science and Technology (FCT) - “Sustainable Bridges” European project by the grant number FP6-PLT-01653, grant number POCTI SFRH/BD/6409/200

Metaheuristic Approaches for Hydropower System Scheduling

This paper deals with the short-term scheduling problem of hydropower systems. The objective is to meet the daily energy demand in an economic and safe way. The individuality of the generating units and the nonlinearity of their efficiency curves are taken into account. The mathematical model is formulated as a dynamic, mixed integer, nonlinear, nonconvex, combinatorial, and multiobjective optimization problem. We propose two solution methods using metaheuristic approaches. They combine Genetic Algorithm with Strength Pareto Evolutionary Algorithm and Ant Colony Optimization. Both approaches are divided into two phases. In the first one, to maximize the plant’s net generation, the problem is solved for each hour of the day (static dispatch). In the second phase, to minimize the units’ switching on-off, the day is considered as a whole (dynamic dispatch). The proposed methodology is applied to two Brazilian hydroelectric plants, in cascade, that belong to the national interconnected system. The nondominated solutions from both approaches are presented. All of them meet demand respecting the physical, electrical, and hydraulic constraints