Territorio y cambio tecnológico

The use that man has reached in knowledge has allowed him to convert the natural medium. In this process incorporating the techniques in an unequal manner is like adding an extra data to the territory, have participated in the definition of the various uses that have characterized the territories. Therefore, each historic moment can be learnable through the use that society has thrust upon territory. If in all moments the technological changes that are known to have accompanied the changes in the manner of using the territory, How is the transformation of technological model declares itself in the geographical space? How the techniques help us to understand the new uses that define the territories? These and others subjects are the bases of this essay.El uso que el hombre social ha hecho del conocimiento le ha permitido transformar el medio natural. En este proceso, las técnicas al incorporarse de manera desigual y como un dato más al territorio, han participado de la definición de los diversos usos que han caracterizado y caracterizan a los territorios. Por tanto, cada momento histórico se puede aprehender a través del uso que la sociedad le ha impuesto al territorio. Si todos los momentos de cambios tecnológicos que ha conocido el hombre se han acompañado de cambios en la forma de usar el territorio ¿Cómo esta transformación de patrón tecnológico se manifiesta en el espacio geográfico? ¿En qué medida las técnicas nos ayudan a entender los nuevos usos que definen a los territorios? Estas y otras interrogantes son la base de las reflexiones que guían este trabajo

Effect of intranasal calcitonin in a patient with McCune-Albright Syndrome, fibrous dysplasia, and refractory bone pain

McCune-Albright syndrome (MAS) is a rare disease defined by the triad of polyostotic fibrous dysplasia of bone, caf´e-au-lait skin spots, and precocious puberty. No available treatment is effective in changing the course of fibrous dysplasia of bone, but symptomatic patients require therapeutic support to reduce bone pain and prevent fractures and deformities.We report the case of a 27-year-old woman withMAS and severe fibrous dysplasia. She was diagnosed withMAS at 4 years of age and, during follow-up, she had multiple pathological fractures and bone pain refractory to treatment with bisphosphonates, tricyclic antidepressants, and opioids. The pain was incapacitating and the patient required a wheelchair. Intranasal calcitonin was then started, and, 30 days later, the patient already showed significant improvement in pain severity at the affected sites. After 3 months, she was able to walk without assistance. No adverse effects were observed, nor were any significant changes in serum levels of calcium, phosphorus, and alkaline phosphatase. Calcitonin has a well-recognized analgesic effect on bone tissue. Despite the small number of studies involving patients with MAS, calcitonin may be considered a short-term therapeutic option in cases of severe and refractory bone pain

The sustainability of rural diversification into tourism: a study in the Italian regions of the «convergence» objective

This paper deals with the issue of the sustainability of policies of agricultural diversification towards tourism which is emphasised in the programmes of rural development in many agricultural regions, like those of the “convergence objective” on which the analysis concentrated. In the paper it is pointed out that the way the regional authorities incentivate or assist farms to diversify into tourism could have implications for sustainability, examined in this study thorough the presence of five indicators. The weight of these per region, obtained from the combination of structural variables (number of accommodation facilities and of beds) and of flows (arrivals and presences) registered in farm tourism, was estimated by applying Index Decomposition Analysis (IDA) to the variation in presences recorded in the period 2002-2011. By introducing the institutional aspect of the sustainability of rural development processes, the paper also identifies “integrated rural tourism” as the most effective model of tourism diversification for farms, since this brings the focus back onto the local food producing system

Microengineered Electrochemical Tools for in-situ Monitoring of Marine Environment

Measuring the concentration of different compounds in aquatic ecosystem and understanding their impact on the environment are some of the main objectives in the environmental monitoring field. Trace metals, nutrients, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), biotoxins and algaes are among the most important targets of such assessment. Their quantification at an appropriate time scale is crucial in order to understand their dynamics in the marine biogeochemical processes. In situ continuous monitoring is the key to achieve these objectives. This thesis is focused on the development of new micro-engineered tools for improving the performance of electroanalytical techniques by exploiting microfabrication techniques. The developed devices were fabricated by using different techniques, such as thin-film technology, printing and additive manufacturing techniques. The quantification of nutrients is hampered by the high sodium chloride content present in the seawater. Literature is weak concerning systems which provide a selective removal of chloride with respect to other ions. One of the developed tools of this thesis is an environmentally-friendly microfluidic platform for selective sodium chloride removal prior to nutrients detection: chloride removal occurs upon bulk electrolysis in a thin-layer configuration and a ten times-fold reduction was achieved. Trace metals speciation may vary continuously reflecting changing in aquatic system physicochemical conditions. Their quantification is commonly achieved by voltammetric techniques. Voltammetric probes have been reported in literature for detection of trace metals such as lead, cadmium, copper and zinc. The core of these systems is a miniaturized sensor composed by an array of microelectrodes serving as WE and a CE. The reference electrode is a crucial component for the functioning of such sensors however its integration is still challenging. The second tool developed in the framework of this thesis is a three-electrode on-chip sensor for the detection of trace metals, where RE integration is achieved by using a PVC membrane plasticized with ionic liquids as diffusion barrier on top of a silver/silver chloride electrode. These sensors were capable to detect trace metals, but further improvement is required for their quantification. Marine biotoxins are compounds with toxic activity that accumulate in fish and shellfish. Among the various species of biotoxins, another target of this work is saxitoxin, a low molecular weight neurotoxin. Its detection is hindered by its low concentration, therefore a pre-concentration unit is required. Another herein developed tool is a simple microfluidic platform predisposed for pre-concentration of saxitoxin; its working principle is based on the binding of the saxitoxin to a specific aptamer and its release upon a temperature increase. VOCs, such as hydrocarbons and chlorinated hydrocarbons, are considered as significant indicators of urban and industrial pollution. Mid-infrared fiber-optic evanescent wave sensors constitute one of the most promising approaches for continuous VOCs pollution monitoring in seawater. In this thesis a microfluidic platform designed to optimize the enrichment of the polymer layer coating the fiber with the target analytes is developed. The optimization of the device design allowed the simultaneous detection of ten VOCs species. All the tools developed are intended to be integrated in submersible probes for in situ deployment

As mudanças de nosso tempo e o ensino da Geografia

As mudanças que experimenta o mundo de finais do século XX têm contribuído para criar a ilusão de que o território já não seria importante na realização da vida dos homens. Quais poderiam ser as razões disto? Como estamos transmitindo aos futuros geógrafos o que esta disciplina tem a dizer diante das transformações que caracterizam este fim de século

Terapia hormonal cruzada, densidade mineral óssea e composição corporal em indivíduos transgêneros

A disforia de gênero é definida pela incongruência entre o sexo de nascimento e o sexo de identidade, com duração superior a 6 meses. Esta condição está associada a sofrimento pessoal e prejuízo em diferentes áreas, e os indivíduos submetidos à terapia hormonal (TH) cruzada podem apresentar melhora da qualidade de vida com o tratamento adequado. A TH cruzada tem como objetivo principal suprimir os hormônios endógenos e as características sexuais secundárias do sexo biológico e induzir características sexuais compatíveis com o sexo de identidade. Em indivíduos submetidos à cirurgia de afirmação sexual (CAS), a TH cruzada é utilizada como forma de reposição hormonal, uma vez que o procedimento gera uma situação de hipogonadismo persistente. A TH cruzada inadequada ou irregular, neste contexto, poderia acarretar prejuízo à saúde óssea e maior risco de baixa massa óssea e/ou fraturas. No que se refere às mulheres trans, os estudos mostram aumento ou preservação da densidade mineral óssea (DMO) na coluna lombar quando avaliada a massa óssea antes e após a terapia estrogênica. Quando comparadas aos controles do sexo masculino, a terapia estrogênica parece não afetar significativamente a DMO nos sítios avaliados. No presente estudo, uma elevada prevalência de baixa massa óssea foi observada em mulheres trans quando comparadas a controles de ambos os sexos. A maior parte das mulheres trans avaliada utilizava terapia estrogênica por longo período de forma irregular, e um terço já havia realizado CAS. No que se refere aos homens trans, não foi observada diferença significativa na DMO considerando a massa óssea antes e após a terapia androgênica, ou quando comparado aos controles do sexo feminino. As evidências atuais indicam que a TH cruzada não afeta a DMO em homens trans, e em mulheres trans está associada a aumento da DMO na coluna lombar. Contudo, as evidências são de baixa à moderada qualidade, e estudos com maior tempo de acompanhamento e uso regular da TH são necessários para confirmar estes dados.Gender dysphoria is defined by the incongruence between the biological sex and the sex of identity, lasting more than 6 months. This condition may be associated with personal distress and impairment in different areas, and individuals undergoing cross-sex hormone therapy (CSHT) may have improvement in quality of life with appropriate treatment. The main objective of CSHT is to suppress endogenous hormone secretion and the sex characteristics of the expressed gender and maintain sex hormone levels and sex characteristics consistent with the other gender. In individuals undergoing gender affirmation surgery (GAS), CSHT is used as hormone replacement, since the procedure generates a condition of persistent hypogonadism. Inadequate or irregular CSHT in this context could lead to bone health impairment and increased risk of low bone mass and / or fractures. Regarding trans women, studies showed a preservation or increase in bone mineral density (BMD) in the lumbar spine when evaluated bone mass before and after estrogen therapy. When compared to male controls, estrogen therapy did not significantly affect BMD at any site evaluated. In our study, higher prevalence of low bone mass was observed in trans women compared to natal men and women. Most of the trans women evaluated used irregular estrogen therapy for long period, and a third had already performed CAS. Regarding trans men, no significant difference was observed in BMD considering bone mass before and after androgen therapy, or when compared to female controls. Current evidence indicates that CSHT does not affect BMD in trans men, and in trans women it is associated with increased BMD in lumbar spine. However, the evidence is of low and moderate quality and further studies with regular CSHT and longer follow-up are needed to confirm this data in trans women

Broadband Transmit Phased Array Analysis and Design

This thesis has two parts with a common theme of broadband microwave circuit and antenna co-simulation and co-design for phased array front ends, where the prefix "co-'' implies linear and nonlinear circuit and full-wave electromagnetic methods. The thesis is organized around a 6-12 GHz, 4-element active array. In the first part, the active sub-array radiating element with the microstrip-to-waveguide transition and power amplifier MMIC is presented, followed by the 4x1 spatial power combiner array design details. The study of this 4-element linear array when fed in phase as a spatial power combiner is performed over a broad frequency range (full octave), a wide range of input powers, and a wide range of PA drain voltages. Over-the-air (OTA) simulations and measurements show how these parameters affect efficiency and radiation pattern, as well as signal linearity. This study is then extended to a beam-steering phased array. The performance of the active beam-steering network and phase-shifter performance, steering angle versus progressive phase shift, and analysis of coupling effects as a function of supply-voltage amplitude tapering are presented, and an experimental array is fabricated to validate the analysis. In the second part of the thesis, isolation components for simultaneous transmit-and-receive arrays are considered, with trade-offs in component design for octave bandwidth operation. Co-simulations, design, and characterization are presented for three types of circulators with array integration as a goal. Ferrite circulators that use different magnetic biasing approaches to achieve miniaturization and reconfigurable bandwidth are shown, together with a comprehensive analysis of the effect of magnetization distribution on circulator design. The analysis is applied to obtain initial results in self-magnetized circulators with built-in shape anisotropy that can potentially be integrated with MMICs. Finally, a broadband active circulator, validated with measurements on a fabricated 7-13 GHz GaAs MMIC, is presented and the performance of this circulator in a phased array environment is analyzed. The thesis concludes with a list of contributions and an overview of exciting continuing and future work research topics.</p

Espacio, técnica y geografía

Con este trabajo se pretende discutir sobre la técnica en tanto que expresión concreta -transformadora- de las relaciones esenciales del hombre, en su condición de ser social, con la naturaleza y sobre el espacio en tanto que categoría analítica esencial -y definidora- de la ciencia geográfica. Esto significa adentrarse en el proceso mediante el cual el hombre, como creador de su historia, produce, construye y transforma espacio, aceptando, en consecuencia, la carga social presente en cada objeto material, y por extensión geográficos, pues éstos existirán gracias a la técnica.Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educació