Spatial distribution of wood volume in brazilian savannas

Here we model and describe the wood volume of Cerrado Sensu Stricto, a highly heterogeneous vegetation type in the Savanna biome, in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, integrating forest inventory data with spatial-environmental variables, multivariate regression, and regression kriging. Our study contributes to a better understanding of the factors that affect the spatial distribution of the wood volume of this vegetation type as well as allowing better representation of the spatial heterogeneity of this biome. Wood volume estimates were obtained through regression models using different environmental variables as independent variables. Using the best fitted model, spatial analysis of the residuals was carried out by selecting a semivariogram model for generating an ordinary kriging map, which in turn was used with the fitted regression model in the regression kriging technique. Seasonality of both temperature and precipitation, along with the density of deforestation, explained the variations of wood volume throughout Minas Gerais. The spatial distribution of predicted wood volume of Cerrado Sensu Stricto in Minas Gerais revealed the high variability of this variable (15.32 to 98.38 m3 ha-1) and the decreasing gradient in the southeast-northwest direction914COORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL DE NÍVEL SUPERIOR - CAPESSem informaçã

Tuberculose canina e sua importância em saúde pública

The present paper describes tuberculosis in a family whose dog also presented the disease. The importance of animal epidemiological investigation in cases of tuberculosis in man is discussed.Relata-se um caso de uma família com diagnóstico de tuberculose, cujo cão também apresentava a enfermidade. Discute-se a importância do rastreamento epidemiológico animal em casos de tuberculose humana

Age effects on EEG correlates of the Wisconsin card sorting test

Body and brain undergo several changes with aging. One of the domains in which these changes are more remarkable relates with cognitive performance. In the present work, electroencephalogram (EEG) markers (power spectral density and spectral coherence) of age-related cognitive decline were sought whilst the subjects performed the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). Considering the expected age-related cognitive deficits, WCST was applied to young, mid-age and elderly participants, and the theta and alpha frequency bands were analyzed. From the results herein presented, higher theta and alpha power were found to be associated with a good performance in the WCST of younger subjects. Additionally, higher theta and alpha coherence were also associated with good performance and were shown to decline with age and a decrease in alpha peak frequency seems to be associated with aging. Additionally, inter-hemispheric long-range coherences and parietal theta power were identified as age-independent EEG correlates of cognitive performance. In summary, these data reveals age-dependent as well as age-independent EEG correlates of cognitive performance that contribute to the understanding of brain aging and related cognitive deficits.The work was partially funded by the European Commission (FP7): “SwitchBox” (Contract HEALTH‐F2‐2010‐259772) and co‐financed by the Portuguese North Regional Operational Program (ON.2 – O Novo Norte) under the National Strategic Reference Framework (QREN), through the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER). This work was also co‐sponsored by FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology and Compete Program with the project reference FCOMP‐01‐0124‐FEDER‐021145 (PTDC/SAU‐ENB/118383/2010) and Agência De Inovação “DoIT ‐ Desenvolvimento e Operacionalização da Investigação de Translação” (project no. 13853, PPS4‐MyHealth), funded by Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER) through the Programa Operacional Factores de Competitividade (POFC)

Entanglement generation and transfer between remote atomic qubits interacting with squeezed field

A pair of two level atoms A1A2, prepared either in a separable state or in an entangled state, interacts with a single mode of two mode squeezed cavity field while a third atomic qubit B interacts with the second mode of the squeezed field in a remote cavity. We analyze, numerically, the generation, sudden death and revival of three qubit entanglement as a function of initial entanglement of qubits A1A2 and degree of squeezing of electromagnetic field. Global negativity of partially transposed state operator is used to quantify the entanglement of three atom state. It is found that the initial entanglement of two mode field as well as that of the pair A1A2, both, contribute to three atom entanglement. A maximally entangled single excitation Bell pair in first cavity and two mode field with squeeze parameter s=0.64 are the initial conditions that optimize the peak value of three qubit mixed state entanglement. A smaller value of s=0.4 under similar conditions is found to generate a three qubit mixed state with comparable entanglement dynamics free from entanglement sudden death.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures, sections III and IV merged with section II and analytic expressions moved to Appendices A and B. Figures improved and corrected typo