Nitrogen and phosphorus limitation and the management of small productive lakes

Many inland waters are enriched with nutrients, causing deleterious effects to their ecology and the benefits they provide for society, but their effective management first requires identification of the nutrient(s) that limit algal production. Concentrations of nutrients and chlorophyll a (Chl-a) were used to assess nutrient limitation seasonally at 17 meres over 2 time periods: historic (2005–2009; 1995–1998 at one site) and contemporary (2014–2018). Different approaches were used to assess nutrient limitation because they reflect different aspects of nutrient availability and their conversion into biomass. In the historic period, 3 meres were phosphorus (P) limited, 3 nitrogen (N) limited, 5 co-limited; the remaining 6 meres were not nutrient limited. For this period, ecological status assessed using phytoplankton Chl-a was only at good or high ecological status (sensu the Water Framework Directive) at 2 sites. The contemporary period was slightly improved, with 4 sites at good status. At the sites that failed to meet good ecological status, the required reduction in P concentration was least in P-limited sites and, conversely, the reduction in N was least in N-limited sites, suggesting that remediation by nutrient reduction would be most efficient if it was targeted using site-specific information. Even in primarily P-limited sites, once input of P has been reduced, further ecological benefit of reducing N at targeted sites should be explored

The importance of serological assays in diagnosing acute pulmonary histoplasmosis

Histoplasmosis is a systemic mycosis caused by inhalation of Histoplasma capsulatum microconidia. The disease does not normally affect immunocompetent individuals after a single, transient inhalation exposure. However, longer exposure may cause chronic or disseminated acute pulmonary infection. Herein, we report the case of a 24-year-old immunocompetent patient, who presented fever, cough and dyspnea for one month. The chest radiography revealed interstitial infiltrate and diffuse micronodules. The patient reported having had close and prolonged contact with bats. Diagnosis was confirmed by positive double immunodifusion and immunoblotting assays. She was treated with ketoconazole (400 mg) and there was complete resolution of the disease

Artificial neural networks to prediction fuel rate in the blast furnace operation.

This paper proposes the use of artificial neural networks for the prediction of fuel consumption in the blast furnace. For this purpose, a dataset of 270 records, with 19 input variables were considered, based on the historical data of operation from the years 2014 to 2017 of a blast furnace of a Brazilian steel mill, and it was verified that model presented good results with correlation coefficient of 0.837, consisting of an input layer with 19 neurons, intermediate layer with 19 neurons and output layer with 1 neuron

Uma an?lise comparativa entre as compet?ncias requeridas na atua??o profissional do engenheiro contempor?neo e aquelas previstas nas diretrizes curriculares nacionais dos cursos de engenharia.

The notion of competence is increasingly present in the academic and professional environments. In this context, engineering education in Brazil has established, through curricular guidelines, a roll of competences to be developed during the undergraduate courses. Based on this legislation, a question arises on the adequacy of these definitions regarding what is actually required to professionals. Thus a survey was conducted with engineers in the work market to verify the adequacy of the established legislation to the competences required in practice. It was observed that technical knowledge is fundamental, and well-developed in educational institutions; however, the management area, although addressed to some degree in the guidelines, is not developed during graduation, becoming a deficiency to be corrected by professional engineers.A no??o de compet?ncia ? cada vez mais presente no ambiente acad?mico e no mundo do trabalho. Nesse contexto, o ensino de engenharia no Brasil estabeleceu, atrav?s das Diretrizes Curriculares para a gradua??o em engenharia, um roll de compet?ncias a serem desenvolvidas durante o curso. Com base nessa legisla??o, surge o questionamento a respeito da adequa??o dessas defini??es ao realmente requerido pelos profissionais em atua??o. Dessa forma, procedeu-se ? pesquisa junto a engenheiros atuantes no mundo do trabalho, a fim de verificar a adequa??o do estabelecido na legisla??o e ao requerido na pr?tica. Observa-se que o conhecimento t?cnico ? de fundamental import?ncia e bem desenvolvido nas Institui??es de Ensino; contudo, a ?rea de gest?o, embora prevista em algum grau nas diretrizes, n?o ? desenvolvida durante a gradua??o, sendo detectada como uma defici?ncia a ser corrigida pelos engenheiros

Internationalization and altmetric performance from the International Engineering Journal (REM) : (2013 to 2015) and (2016 to 2018).

Objetivo: Este trabalho avalia os indicadores altm?tricos de um conjunto de artigos cient?ficos do peri?dico REM ? International Engineering Journal, fazendo um paralelo de seu desempenho antes e depois de a??es de internacionaliza??o, como a de publica??o de artigos em ingl?s e a altera??o do t?tulo do peri?dico da l?ngua portuguesa para a inglesa. Metodologia: Os dados foram coletados via Dimensions e Altmetric, considerando dois per?odos: tr?s anos antes da mudan?a do t?tulo (2013 a 2015) e tr?s ap?s (2016 a 2018). Resultados e discuss?es: Dos 185 artigos publicados pela REM (t?tulo antigo) entre 2013 e 2015, 27 itens (13%) obtiveram indicadores altm?tricos de aten??o on-line nas redes sociais. J? dos 172 artigos publicados pela REM (t?tulo atual) entre 2016 e 2018, seis trabalhos (03%) alcan?aram aten??o on-line nas redes sociais. Conclus?o: Notou-se que os artigos do peri?dico REM receberam mais aten??o on-line antes do ano de 2016. Os dados tamb?m permitem problematizar a rela??o entre internacionaliza??o e desempenho altm?trico, em que, no caso, parece haver uma rela??o fraca. Portanto, adequar e mudar algumas estruturas dos peri?dicos que j? s?o reconhecidas pelo grande p?blico, assim como pela ?rea acad?mica para atender a crit?rios de produtores de bases de dados cient?ficos deve ser uma a??o cautelosa que requer um planejamento. De acordo com os estudos e os resultados, reflete-se que efetuar a??es de internacionaliza??o requer planejamento, j? que o ambiente de gest?o de um peri?dico cient?fico se mostra como uma atividade muito complexa.Objective: This paper evaluates the altmetric indicators of a set of scientific articles of the REM - International Engineering Journal, paralleling their performance before and after internationalization actions such as publishing articles in English and changing the journal?s title from Portuguese to English. Methodology: Data were collected via Dimensions and Altmetric, considering two periods: three years before the title change (2013 to 2015) and three after (2016 to 2018). Results and discussions: Of the 185 articles published by REM (old title) between 2013 and 2015, 27 items (13%) obtained altmetric indicators of online attention on social networks, while of the 172 articles published by REM (current title) between 2016 and 2018, six studies (3%) reached online attention on social networks.. Conclusion: We found that the articles in the REM journal received more attention online before the year 2016. The data also allow problematizing the relationship between internationalization and altmetric performance, which, in this case, seems to be a weak relationship. Therefore, adapting and changing some structures of journals that are already recognized by the general public and the academic area to meet the criteria of producers of scientific databases must be a cautious action that requires planning. According to the studies and results, it is reflected that carrying out internationalization actions requires planning since a scientific journal?s management environment is shown to be a very complex activity

Artificial neural network-based committee machine for predicting fuel rate and sulfur contents of a coke blast furnace.

Being developed over the centuries, it currently occupies a prominent role in the world production scenario, being the stage of the process related to the obtaining of hot metal an element of great importance to establish the competitiveness of national steel. From this perspective, the control of the process of obtaining hot metal is relevant to ensure competitive prices and a sustainable process. Considering the presented situation, this research developed a committee machine, being three networks to predict each of the study variables, namely: i) fuel rate; ii) sulfur content in hot metal. The committee machine was developed to model the hot metal during the operation of a coke blast furnace, according to the input parameters provided. The results obtained by the committee machine were lower than those of the neural networks acting alone, and the following RMSE values were verified: i) fuel rate: 4.88 (network 1), 4.74 (network 2), 6.14 (network 3) and 4.67 (committee); ii) sulfur content: 0.00915 (network 1), 0.00917 (network 2), 0.00974 (network 3) and 0.00726 (committee). Considering the results obtained, the model can be used to provide important support in monitoring and decision making during the operation

DYNAMICS OF THE Manilkara huberi (DUCKE) A. CHEV. POPULATION DURING 26 YEARS AFTER LOGGING IN A TERRA FIRME FOREST IN THE BRAZILIAN AMAZONIA

Changes in the structure of Manilkara huberi population in a 64 ha area at the Tapajos National Forest were evaluated in a 26-year period after logging. Data were obtained in 36 50m x 50m permanent sample plots that were assessed in eight occasions from 1981 to 2007, after the timber harvest, considering trees with DBH (diameter at 1,30m above the ground) 655cm. Density, frequency, basal area and importance value index of the species in the eight occasions were calculated. Diameter distribution of Manilkara huberi four years before logging was compared to diameter distribution 28 years after logging. Manilkara huberi population was lightly dynamic on abundance, frequency and basal area in the study area during the 26-year period after logging, indicating the need of a special and suitable management and silvicultural treatments to boost its natural regeneration and the growth of the young trees. Basal area of the species is growing very slowly indicating that it will probably need more than one hundred years to recover the initial stock.Foram avaliadas as mudan\ue7as ocorridas na estrutura da popula\ue7\ue3o de Manilkara huberi (Ducke) A. Chev. em uma \ue1rea de 64 ha na Floresta Nacional do Tapaj\uf3s, em um per\uedodo de 26 anos ap\uf3s a explora\ue7\ue3o. Os dados foram obtidos em 36 parcelas permanentes de 50 m x 50 m, que foram medidas em oito ocasi\uf5es, de 1981 a 2007, ap\uf3s a colheita da madeira, considerando os indiv\uedduos com DAP (di\ue2metro a 1,30 m do solo) 655 cm. Foi calculada a densidade, frequ\ueancia, domin\ue2ncia e \uedndice de valor de import\ue2ncia da esp\ue9cie nas oito ocasi\uf5es. Comparou-se a distribui\ue7\ue3o diam\ue9trica dos indiv\uedduos de Manilkara huberi aos quatro anos antes da explora\ue7\ue3o com a distribui\ue7\ue3o aos 28 anos ap\uf3s a explora\ue7\ue3o. A popula\ue7\ue3o de Manilkara huberi foi pouco din\ue2mica em densidade, frequ\ueancia e domin\ue2ncia, no per\uedodo de 26 anos ap\uf3s a explora\ue7\ue3o, indicando que necessita de manejo espec\uedfico e da aplica\ue7\ue3o de tratamentos silviculturais que venham a promover o aumento da sua regenera\ue7\ue3o natural na floresta e o crescimento das plantas mais jovens. A reposi\ue7\ue3o da \ue1rea basal da esp\ue9cie \ue9 muito lenta, indicando que vai precisar de, provavelmente, mais de cem anos para recuperar seu estoque inicial, considerando a intensidade de explora\ue7\ue3o aplicada

The DistoX2: a methodological solution to archaeological mapping in poorly accessible environments

Spatial information is crucial to archaeological field research. From the plane-table to the total station, recent technological advances have enabled data collection to become fully digital and highly accurate. Nevertheless, the recent expansion of archaeological expeditions to novel environments often incompatible with modern mapping equipment, e.g. tropical forests or ephemeral shorelines, calls for further methodological innovations. Such projects, as well as those under logistic or financial limitations, are still largely reliant on more time consuming, less accurate, traditional approaches, e.g. offset or tape and compass methods. The DistoX2 is a digital, highly portable, and versatile hand-held instrument originally developed for speleological surveys where total stations and DGPSs are not feasible. However, the potential of the DistoX2 system as a spatial mapping tool in above-ground contexts has been surprisingly overlooked. Here, we present a first assessment of the applicability of the DistoX2 for archaeological mapping in non-speleological environments. We investigate precision and accuracy in controlled above-ground settings relative to two common methods of data collection - total station, and tape and compass. We test the relative precision of the DistoX2 when mounted on a tripod or operated in hand-held mode and discuss its applicability, and potential combined used, in the context of other increasingly popular methods - GNSS and SfM photogrammetry. With a mean error of approximate to 5.00 cm for horizontal readings and approximate to 2.00 cm for vertical readings, the DistoX2 is considerably more accurate than the tape and compass method (mu approximate to 67.00 cm horizontal; mu approximate to 3.00 cm vertical). While the DistoX2 exceeds the error thresholds of projects that require high spatial sensitivity (e.g. Palaeolithic excavations), it provides a reliable, low-cost and more accurate alternative to many projects that resort to more traditional methods. This fills an existent methodological and financial gap amongst the growing diversity of archaeological expeditions.SFRH/BD/115085/2016; UIDB/04211/2020; EC-399R-18info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Redundancy in Genotyping Arrays

Despite their unprecedented density, current SNP genotyping arrays contain large amounts of redundancy, with up to 40 oligonucleotide features used to query each SNP. By using publicly available reference genotype data from the International HapMap, we show that 93.6% sensitivity at <5% false positive rate can be obtained with only four probes per SNP, compared with 98.3% with the full data set. Removal of this redundancy will allow for more comprehensive whole-genome association studies with increased SNP density and larger sample sizes

Academic stress and coping: Contributions to the adaptation of the MMC

Este estudo enquadra-se na investiga??o das estrat?gias de coping utilizadas perante dificuldades associadas ao quotidiano escolar. Utilizando entrevistas a 30 alunos, o estudo (1) identificou as principais situa??es geradoras de stress, reconhecendo a import?ncia relativa do stress acad?mico na vida dos alunos, e (2) analisou a validade cultural para o contexto portugu?s das situa??es stressantes usadas na escala Multidimensional Measure of Coping (MMC), avaliando as perce??es dos alunos quanto ao n?vel de stress induzido e controlo percebido relativamente a essas situa??es. Os resultados confirmaram a import?ncia da escola enquanto fonte significativa de stress, e a adequa??o da MMC ao contexto portugu?s.8C1E-AFB9-6BE1 | Maria Teresa Martins Gon?alvesN/