Modelagem da hidrografia em planos de manejo e critérios para definição de árvores em APP pelo Modeflora.

Novas tecnologias, sendo advindas do geoprocessamento e do sensoriamento remoto, vêm sendo desenvolvidas a fim de auxiliar no processo de delimitação das APPs e demarcação das árvores. No entanto, faltam estudos para investigar e comprovar sua eficácia. Não há registro de trabalhos, publicados no Brasil, que utilizem diferentes metodologias na definição de APPs para avaliá-las. O presente trabalho teve como objetivo propor uma metodologia precisa para o mapeamento de áreas de preservação permanente e definição de árvores protegidas e exploráveis na região de influência das APPs, comprovando a sua aplicabilidade nos PMFS.bitstream/CPAF-AC-2010/23132/1/circtec-n50.pd

Species-people correlations and the need to account for survey effort in biodiversity analyses

Aim Positive regional correlations between biodiversity and human population have been detected for several taxonomic groups and geographical regions. Such correlations could have important conservation implications and have been mainly attributed to ecological factors, with little testing for an artefactual explanation: more populated regions may show higher biodiversity because they are more thoroughly surveyed. We tested the hypothesis that the correlation between people and herptile diversity in Europe is influenced by survey effor

Microstability analysis of pellet fuelled discharges in MAST

Reactor grade plasmas are likely to be fuelled by pellet injection. This technique transiently perturbs the profiles, driving the density profile hollow and flattening the edge temperature profile. After the pellet perturbation, the density and temperature profiles relax towards their quasi-steady-state shape. Microinstabilities influence plasma confinement and will play a role in determining the evolution of the profiles in pellet fuelled plasmas. In this paper we present the microstability analysis of pellet fuelled H-mode MAST plasmas. Taking advantage of the unique capabilities of the MAST Thomson scattering system and the possibility of synchronizing the eight lasers with the pellet injection, we were able to measure the evolution of the post-pellet electron density and temperature profiles with high temporal and spatial resolution. These profiles, together with ion temperature profiles measured using a charge exchange diagnostic, were used to produce equilibria suitable for microstability analysis of the equilibrium changes induced by pellet injection. This analysis, carried out using the local gyrokinetic code GS2, reveals that the microstability properties are extremely sensitive to the rapid and large transient excursions of the density and temperature profiles, which also change collisionality and beta e significantly in the region most strongly affected by the pellet ablation.Comment: 21 pages, 10 figures. This is an author-created, un-copyedited version of an article submitted for publication in Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion. IOP Publishing Ltd is not responsible for any errors or omissions in this version of the manuscript or any version derived from i

Supporting direct care workers in dementia care: effects of a psycho-educational intervention

YesAn experimental study using a pre-posttest control group design was conducted to assess the effects of a person-centred care based psycho-educational intervention on direct care workers’ stress, burnout and job satisfaction. The intervention aimed to develop person-centred care competences and tools for stress management. Four aged care facilities were randomly assigned to a psycho-educational or an education-only intervention (control). Data were collected from fifty-six direct care workers (female, mean age 44.72±9.02) through measurements of burnout (Maslach Burnout Inventory), job satisfaction (Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire-short form) and stress (Perceived Stress Scale) and focus-group interviews. Results showed significant positive effects in emotional exhaustion (p=0.029) and positive but no significant effects in stress and job satisfaction. According to qualitative data, the experimental group perceived enhanced group cohesion, emotional management and self-care awareness. Psycho-educational interventions may contribute to reduce direct care workers’ burnout. Further work is needed to determine the extent of its benefits.Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technolog

Person-centredness in direct care workers caring for residents with dementia: effects of a psycho-educational intervention

YesThis study assessed the effects of a psycho-educational intervention on direct care workers' person-centredness during morning care to residents with dementia. A controlled pretest–posttest study was conducted in four aged-care facilities with 56 direct care workers (female, mean age 44.72 ± 9.02). Two experimental facilities received a psycho-educational intervention comprising person-centred care competences and stress management skills; control facilities received an education-only intervention, without stress support. In total, 112 video-recorded morning care sessions were coded using the Global Behaviour Scale. Both groups reported significantly higher scores on eight of 11 items of the Global Behaviour Scale and on the Global Behaviour Scale total score at posttest (F=10.59; p=0.02). Global Behaviour Scale total score improvements were higher for the experimental group, with values close to significance (F=3.90; p=0.054). The findings suggest that a psycho-educational intervention may increase care workers' person-centredness. Further research is needed to explore the long-term sustainability and extent of its benefits on workers and residents.Foundation for Science and Technolog

Statistical models of mixtures with a biaxial nematic phase

We consider a simple Maier-Saupe statistical model with the inclusion of disorder degrees of freedom to mimic the phase diagram of a mixture of rod-like and disc-like molecules. A quenched distribution of shapes leads to the existence of a stable biaxial nematic phase, in qualitative agreement with experimental findings for some ternary lyotropic liquid mixtures. An annealed distribution, however, which is more adequate to liquid mixtures, precludes the stability of this biaxial phase. We then use a two-temperature formalism, and assume a separation of relaxation times, to show that a partial degree of annealing is already sufficient to stabilize a biaxial nematic structure.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figure

Phase transitions in simplified models with long-range interactions

We study the origin of phase transitions in some simplified models with long range interactions. For the ring model, we show that a possible new phase transition predicted in a recent paper by Nardini and Casetti from an energy landscape analysis does not occur. Instead of such phase transitions we observe a sharp, although without any non-analiticity, change from a core-halo to an only core configuration in the spatial distribution functions for low energies. By introducing a new class of solvable simplified models without any critical points in the potential energy, we show that a similar behaviour to the ring model is obtained, with a first order phase transition from an almost homogeneous high energy phase to a clustered phase, and the same core-halo to core configuration transition at lower energies. We discuss the origin of these features of the simplified models, and show that the first order phase transition comes from the maximization of the entropy of the system as a function of energy an an order parameter, as previously discussed by Kastner, which seems to be the main mechanism causing phase transitions in long-range interacting systems

Existence of positive solutions of a superlinear boundary value problem with indefinite weight

We deal with the existence of positive solutions for a two-point boundary value problem associated with the nonlinear second order equation $u''+a(x)g(u)=0$. The weight $a(x)$ is allowed to change its sign. We assume that the function $g\colon\mathopen{[}0,+\infty\mathclose{[}\to\mathbb{R}$ is continuous, $g(0)=0$ and satisfies suitable growth conditions, so as the case $g(s)=s^{p}$, with $p>1$, is covered. In particular we suppose that $g(s)/s$ is large near infinity, but we do not require that $g(s)$ is non-negative in a neighborhood of zero. Using a topological approach based on the Leray-Schauder degree we obtain a result of existence of at least a positive solution that improves previous existence theorems.Comment: 12 pages, 4 PNG figure

Prepose: privacy, security, and reliability for gesture-based programming

With the rise of sensors such as Microsoft Kinect, gesture-based interfaces have become practical. However, to recognize such gestures, applications need access to users' depth and video, exposing sensitive data about individuals and their environment. Prepose, a domain-specific language for building gesture recognizers, combined with a system architecture that protects privacy, security, and reliability with untrusted applications, addresses these threats