Transitioning from Natural Conservationism to Sustainable Development: A Shift in Environmental Policy

Contrasting the conservationist bias of environmental balance with that of sustainable development the author distinguishes the influence of both in the current formulation of environmental policies including trends respectively more regulatory or redistributive as public policies In this sense it highlights the global need to overcome natural conservationism a remnant of the 19th century and whose obsession with the untouchability of nature does not admit the synergies between nature and humanity fundamental to promoting sustainability Which if assumed as a progressive ideology it transcends the left-right differentiation implying broad coalitions both political and socioeconomic so that we become socially ecologica

From Nations to the European Union: A New Emerging Type of Society

Revisiting the sociological concepts of nation and reciprocities formulated by Marcel Mauss the hypothesis of the European Union is put forward as a new type of society in which each member is integrated by the multiple differences in and between themselves unlike nations whose homogenizing tendency comes from direct reciprocity between each member and the entire society In this sense supranational unions would result in communities that are both originally and intentionally diverse while such international relations of indirect reciprocities within their scope would make national citizenships permeable to human diversity mainly cultural in general Therefore the current unification of European nations is a case whose study can foresee problems and possibilities of such unions to be undertaken in other planetary quadrant

A Comprehensive In Silico Analysis of the Functional and Structural Impact of SNPs in the IGF1R Gene

Insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF1R) acts as a critical mediator of cell proliferation and survival. Many single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) found in the IGF1R gene have been associated with various diseases, including both breast and prostate cancer. The genetics of these diseases could be better understood by knowing the functions of these SNPs. In this study, we performed a comprehensive analysis of the functional and structural impact of all known SNPs in this gene using publicly available computational prediction tools. Out of a total of 2412 SNPs in IGF1R retrieved from dbSNP, we found 32 nsSNPs, 58 sSNPs, 83 mRNA 3′ UTR SNPs, and 2225 intronic SNPs. Among the nsSNPs, a total of six missense nsSNPs were found to be damaging by both a sequence homology-based tool (SIFT) and a structural homology-based method (PolyPhen), and one nonsense nsSNP was found. Further, we modeled mutant proteins and compared the total energy values with the native IGF1R protein, and showed that a mutation from arginine to cysteine at position 1216 (rs61740868) on the surface of the protein caused the greatest impact on stability. Also, the FASTSNP tool suggested that 31 sSNPs and 3 intronic SNPs might affect splicing regulation. Based on our investigation, we report potential candidate SNPs for future studies on IGF1R mutations

Obstacle avoidance strategy based on adaptive potential fields generated by an electronic stick

In our previous work, an obstacle avoidance algorithm, which used potential fields and a similar strategy to that adopted by a blind person to avoid obstacles whilst walking, was proposed. The problem analyzed consists of an AGV (Autonomous Guided Vehicle) which moves within an office environment with a known floor plan and uses an ”electronic stick” made up of infrared sensors to detect unknown obstacles in its path. Initially, a global potential navigation function, defined for each room in the floor plan, incorporates information about the dimensions of the room and the position of the door which the AGV must use to leave the room. Whilst the AGV moves, this global potential navigation function is properly modified to incorporate information about any newly detected obstacle. The main interesting aspect of the proposed approach is that the potential function adaptation involves very low computational burden allowing for the use of Ultra-fast AGVs. Other distinctive features of the algorithm are that it is free from local minima, the obstacles can have any shape, low cost sensors can be used to detect obstacles and an appropriate balance is achieved between the use of the global and the local approaches for collision avoidance. Our present work is a refinement of this strategy that allows for an automatic real time adaptation of the algorithm’s parameters. Now, the algorithm’s functioning requires only that the minimum distance at which the AGV can approach an obstacle (i.e. the closest it can get to any obstacle) is defined a priori. Aspects of the real implementation of the algorithm are also discussed

A trajetória da indústria carbonífera e impactos ambientais no sul de Santa Catarina

Orientador : Timni VieiraMonografia (especialização) - Universidade Federal do Paraná, Setor de Ciências Agrárias, Curso de Especialização em Economia e Meio AmbienteInclui referênciasResumo : A cidade de Criciúma, assim como os demais municípios que compõem a região carbonífera de Santa Catarina, possui importância a nível nacional no que diz respeito à produção de carvão. Esta cidade foi considerada a capital nacional do carvão em uma determinada fase da longa trajetória de exploração mineral na região, e vê-se que a produção de carvão alavancou o progresso da mesma. Assim, na forma de compilação, o estudo busca demonstrar que o espaço ao qual nos referimos configurou-se a partir da exploração do carvão mineral. A partir da exploração do minério de carvão, os elementos naturais e a população sofreram grandes impactos, mudando consideravelmente ao longo da história, ficando vulneráveis às condições de vida e da atividade mineradora. As transformações causadas por este progresso aprofundaram uma crise de ordem ambiental imensa, produzindo uma série de passivos ambientais dos quais se tornam quase que inviável seu reparo. É neste sentido que se propõe o Desenvolvimento Sustentável, buscando alternativas para mineração dos dias de hoje pensando no futuro. Palavras-chave: Desenvolvimento regional, recuperação de áreas degradadas e desenvolvimento sustentável

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Application of a blind person strategy for obstacle avoidance with the use of potential fields

This paper proposes a new obstacle avoidance algorithm for the CONTROLAB AGV which uses a similar strategy adopted by a blind person to avoid obstacles while walking. The AGV moves within an office environment with a known floorplan and uses an "electronic stick" consisting of infraredsensors to detect unknown obstacles. Initially a global potential field function is defined for each floorplan room. While the AGV is moving, the original potential function is modified each time an obstacle is detected by the infrared sensors. This modification is simply performed by the addition of previously calculated potentlal field values on a grid which represents the room working area. The interestlng aspects of the proposed approach are that the potential function adaptation involves very low computational burden, the algorithm is free from local minima, the obstacles can have any shape and low cost sensors can be used to detect obstacles