Influência da estrutura da paisagem nas comunidades de passeriformes no centro de Portugal

O presente trabalho tem como objetivo identificar a relação existente entre as comunidades de passeriformes que nidificam na região Centro de Portugal e a composição e estrutura da paisagem desse território. Procurou-se, igualmente, verificar a importância da rugosidade do terreno na distribuição destas comunidades. Identificaram-se um conjunto de indicadores espaciais (métricas da paisagem e variáveis morfométricas) que, no seu conjunto, caracterizam a estrutura da paisagem, bem como as tipologias fisionómicas de habitat passíveis de determinar a distribuição das comunidades de passeriformes nidificantes. A informação referente ao uso e ocupação do solo foi processada no programa QGIS, com recurso ao plug-in LecoS. Os dados produzidos, juntamente com a informação referente à presença/ausência das espécies de aves, foram posteriormente submetidos a uma análise estatística multivariada com o intuito de correlacionar a ocorrência das espécies com a estrutura da paisagem e topografia. O desenvolvimento deste trabalho permitiu verificar que, embora seja possível obter resultados para as métricas da paisagem por classes de uso, existem no entanto limitações na obtenção de valores referentes às métricas para a matriz de uso na sua totalidade

Revisão Integrativa Sobre Mindfulness e relacionamento de casal

The present study aimed at a short mapping by means of an integrative Review about what has been produced on the possible benefits recognized by couples that are taking part on the Interventions Based on Mindfulness-IBMs. The PUBMED, Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System on-line (Medline) and INDEXPSI databases were used. The search consists of available articles from January 2009 to December 2019. In the initial search 65 articles were obtained, however at the end, for a proper analysis of the proposed questions, in the total of 14 articles remained. Although the results appear to be promising, seeing that researches have shown greater states of Mindfulness awareness associated with the improvement of affective quality of couples' loving relationships, studies that use trained instructors and better methodological thoroughness are necessary.O presente estudo visou um breve mapeamento, via uma Revisão integrativa, do que tem sido produzido em relação aos possíveis benefícios de Intervenções Baseadas em Mindfulness (IBMs) reconhecidos por casais. Foram utilizadas as bases de dados PUBMED, Medical Literature Analysisand Retrieval Sistem on-line (Medline) e INDEXPSI. A busca constitui-se em artigos disponíveis de janeiro de 2009 a dezembro de 2019. Em busca inicial obteve-se 65 artigos, entretanto ao final, para devida análise das perguntas propostas permaneceu um total de 14 artigos. Apesar dos resultados se demonstrarem promissores, visto que as pesquisas apontaram maiores estados de consciência Mindfulness associados a melhora na qualidade afetiva dos relacionamentos amorosos dos casais, estudos que se utilizem de instrutores treinados e maior rigor metodológico se fazem necessários

The effect of organic matter management on the productivity of Eucalyptus globulus stands in Spain and Portugal: tree growth and harvest residue decomposition in relation to site and treatment

Sustainable management of forest resources, including nutrient retention and protection of the soil structure, is required to ensure long-term soil fertility and productivity of later rotations. Potential depletion of soil nutrients is particularly likely in production systems based on fast-growing trees, such as eucalypts. We have studied production of second rotation Eucalyptus globulus stands at two sites in northern Spain and two in central Portugal, after replanting or coppicing, under four treatments, in which plant residues from the ®rst crop were utilised. The residues were either removed from the sites (Treatment R), spread over the soil surface (Treatments S, uniform spreading, and W, in which the woody debris was con®ned to rows between the trees) or incorporated into the soil by harrowing to 15-cm depth (Treatment I). We measured tree height and girth at intervals over three growing seasons, and root biomass at the Portuguese sites. Decomposition of three residue components: leaves-plus-bark, twigs and branches, was measured in litter bags placed in the position corresponding to the placement of the organic residues. By the end of the experiment, tree height was signi®cantly greater in Treatment I than in Treatment R at both Spanish sites, if planted as seedlings, with intermediate growth in S and W. In Portugal, tree height was smaller in R, though not signi®cantly. DBH showed similar trends, although treatment differences were not signi®cant. Coppiced trees grew faster than seedling trees, but a signi®cant treatment effect on the growth was only observed at the inland Portuguese site, where it was better in Treatment I by the end of the experiment. The residues decomposed signi®cantly faster in I than S or W at the Portuguese sites, but not in Spain. Leaves-plus-bark decomposed faster than twigs, and twigs faster than branches. The results are discussed in relation to recommended management option

Determination of the Critical Exponents for the Isotropic-Nematic Phase Transition in a System of Long Rods on Two-dimensional Lattices: Universality of the Transition

Monte Carlo simulations and finite-size scaling analysis have been carried out to study the critical behavior and universality for the isotropic-nematic phase transition in a system of long straight rigid rods of length $k$ ($k$-mers) on two-dimensional lattices. The nematic phase, characterized by a big domain of parallel $k$-mers, is separated from the isotropic state by a continuous transition occurring at a finite density. The determination of the critical exponents, along with the behavior of Binder cumulants, indicate that the transition belongs to the 2D Ising universality class for square lattices and the three-state Potts universality class for triangular lattices.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figures, uses epl2.cls, to appear in Europhysics Letter

Breast feeding, parity and breast cancer subtypes in a Spanish cohort

Background: Differences in the incidence and outcome of breast cancer among Hispanic women compared with white women are well documented and are likely explained by ethnic differences in genetic composition, lifestyle, or environmental exposures. METHODOLGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: A population-based study was conducted in Galicia, Spain. A total of 510 women diagnosed with operable invasive breast cancer between 1997 and 2010 participated in the study. Data on demographics, breast cancer risk factors, and clinico-pathological characteristics were collected. The different breast cancer tumor subtypes were compared on their clinico-pathological characteristics and risk factor profiles, particularly reproductive variables and breastfeeding. Among the 501 breast cancer patients (with known ER and PR receptors), 85% were ER+/PR+ and 15% were ER-&PR-. Among the 405 breast cancer with known ER, PR and HER2 status, 71% were ER+/PR+/HER2- (luminal A), 14% were ER+/PR+/HER2+ (luminal B), 10% were ER-/PR-/HER2- (triple negative breast cancer, TNBC), and 5% were ER-/PR-/HER2+ (non-luminal). A lifetime breastfeeding period equal to or longer than 7 months was less frequent in case patients with TNBC (OR = 0.25, 95% CI = 0.08-0.68) compared to luminal A breast cancers. Both a low (2 or fewer pregnancies) and a high (3-4 pregnancies) number of pregnancies combined with a long breastfeeding period were associated with reduced odds of TNBC compared with luminal A breast cancer, although the association seemed to be slightly more pronounced among women with a low number of pregnancies (OR = 0.09, 95% CI = 0.005-0.54). Conclusions/significance: In case-case analyses with the luminal A cases as the reference group, we observed a lower proportion of TNBC among women who breastfed 7 or more months. The combination of longer breastfeeding duration and lower parity seemed to further reduce the odds of having a TNBC compared to a luminal A breast cancer

Breast feeding, parity and breast cancer subtypes in a Spanish cohort

Background: Differences in the incidence and outcome of breast cancer among Hispanic women compared with white women are well documented and are likely explained by ethnic differences in genetic composition, lifestyle, or environmental exposures. METHODOLGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: A population-based study was conducted in Galicia, Spain. A total of 510 women diagnosed with operable invasive breast cancer between 1997 and 2010 participated in the study. Data on demographics, breast cancer risk factors, and clinico-pathological characteristics were collected. The different breast cancer tumor subtypes were compared on their clinico-pathological characteristics and risk factor profiles, particularly reproductive variables and breastfeeding. Among the 501 breast cancer patients (with known ER and PR receptors), 85% were ER+/PR+ and 15% were ER-&PR-. Among the 405 breast cancer with known ER, PR and HER2 status, 71% were ER+/PR+/HER2- (luminal A), 14% were ER+/PR+/HER2+ (luminal B), 10% were ER-/PR-/HER2- (triple negative breast cancer, TNBC), and 5% were ER-/PR-/HER2+ (non-luminal). A lifetime breastfeeding period equal to or longer than 7 months was less frequent in case patients with TNBC (OR = 0.25, 95% CI = 0.08-0.68) compared to luminal A breast cancers. Both a low (2 or fewer pregnancies) and a high (3-4 pregnancies) number of pregnancies combined with a long breastfeeding period were associated with reduced odds of TNBC compared with luminal A breast cancer, although the association seemed to be slightly more pronounced among women with a low number of pregnancies (OR = 0.09, 95% CI = 0.005-0.54). Conclusions/significance: In case-case analyses with the luminal A cases as the reference group, we observed a lower proportion of TNBC among women who breastfed 7 or more months. The combination of longer breastfeeding duration and lower parity seemed to further reduce the odds of having a TNBC compared to a luminal A breast cancer

Study of Leading Hadrons in Gluon and Quark Fragmentation

The study of quark jets in e+e- reactions at LEP has demonstrated that the hadronisation process is reproduced well by the Lund string model. However, our understanding of gluon fragmentation is less complete. In this study enriched quark and gluon jet samples of different purities are selected in three-jet events from hadronic decays of the Z collected by the DELPHI experiment in the LEP runs during 1994 and 1995. The leading systems of the two kinds of jets are defined by requiring a rapidity gap and their sum of charges is studied. An excess of leading systems with total charge zero is found for gluon jets in all cases, when compared to Monte Carlo Simulations with JETSET (with and without Bose-Einstein correlations included) and ARIADNE. The corresponding leading systems of quark jets do not exhibit such an excess. The influence of the gap size and of the gluon purity on the effect is studied and a concentration of the excess of neutral leading systems at low invariant masses (<~ 2 GeV/c^2) is observed, indicating that gluon jets might have an additional hitherto undetected fragmentation mode via a two-gluon system. This could be an indication of a possible production of gluonic states as predicted by QCD.Comment: 19 pages, 6 figures, Accepted by Phys. Lett.

Calibration of the Logarithmic-Periodic Dipole Antenna (LPDA) Radio Stations at the Pierre Auger Observatory using an Octocopter

An in-situ calibration of a logarithmic periodic dipole antenna with a frequency coverage of 30 MHz to 80 MHz is performed. Such antennas are part of a radio station system used for detection of cosmic ray induced air showers at the Engineering Radio Array of the Pierre Auger Observatory, the so-called Auger Engineering Radio Array (AERA). The directional and frequency characteristics of the broadband antenna are investigated using a remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) carrying a small transmitting antenna. The antenna sensitivity is described by the vector effective length relating the measured voltage with the electric-field components perpendicular to the incoming signal direction. The horizontal and meridional components are determined with an overall uncertainty of 7.4^{+0.9}_{-0.3} % and 10.3^{+2.8}_{-1.7} % respectively. The measurement is used to correct a simulated response of the frequency and directional response of the antenna. In addition, the influence of the ground conductivity and permittivity on the antenna response is simulated. Both have a negligible influence given the ground conditions measured at the detector site. The overall uncertainties of the vector effective length components result in an uncertainty of 8.8^{+2.1}_{-1.3} % in the square root of the energy fluence for incoming signal directions with zenith angles smaller than 60{\deg}.Comment: Published version. Updated online abstract only. Manuscript is unchanged with respect to v2. 39 pages, 15 figures, 2 table