Maladaptive Planning and the Pro-Innovation Bias: Considering the Case of Automated Vehicles

This article argues that a more critical approach to innovation policy within planning is needed and offers recommendations for achieving this. These recommendations entail rethinking the values, focus, speed, and legitimacy of innovations. It takes a critical perspective on how contemporary societies treat rapid innovation as having necessarily positive results in the achievement of objectives such as sustainability and justice. This critical perspective is needed because innovation can both contribute to and drive a form of maladaptive planning: a collective approach to reality that imposes constant and rapid changes to societal configurations due to an obsession with the new and with too little rapport with the problems in place or that it creates. A maladaptive direction for transport planning is used as a sectorial illustration of the broader conceptual ideas presented: for both sustainability and social justice reasons, it would be desirable to see peak car occurring. However, the car industry is presenting driving automation as an innovation with the potential to restore the vitality of the private vehicles market while creating effective means to dismiss alternatives to car dominance

“NÓS PROPOMOS” EM MARABÁ: PROJETO DE ENSINO E EXTENÃO ACADÊMICA NO COLÉGIO DEUZUITA DE MELO ALBUQUERQUE.

Muito se assemelha a concepção de que a Geografia serve apenas para se memorizar algumas informações, sem haver uma discussão dos seus conhecimentos adquiridos. A educação geográfica e de forma geral, possibilita ao aluno o enfretamento à pobreza e corrobora na formação cidadã dos sujeitos presentes. Com esse intuito, surge o “Nós Propomos”, projeto este na qual tem origem portuguesa e recentemente expandiu-se para a Espanha e Brasil, atualmente está sendo realizado em parceria com mais de 20 instituições de ensino no território brasileiro. Por fim, esse trabalho tem como objetivo discutir e promover a ativa cidadania do território junto ao público escolar da rede básica de ensino, como proposta didática, sobretudo de extensão acadêmica e de ensino, promovendo a participação social no colégio Deuzuita de Melo Albuquerque, identificando os problemas locais, pesquisando sobre tais mazelas e procurando soluções de resolve-los juntamente aos alunos e comunidade

Evaluación de las propiedades físico-mecánicas de morteros de albañilería producidos en base de cemento y cal con áridos reciclados mixtos

This study investigated the physical-mechanical effects of cement-lime mortars containing recycled aggregate of construction and demolition waste (CDW). The natural aggregate (NA) was replaced by volume at 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% by mixed recycled aggregate (MRA) obtained from the CDW crushing. Five types of mortars were prepared with a volumetric ratio of 1:1:6 (cement, lime and aggregate) and water/binder ratio based on the fixed consistency of 260 mm. The effects of MRA on fresh and hardened mortars’ properties were analyzed. The results were analyzed using a one-way ANOVA. MRA incorporation improved most of the physical-mechanical properties of mortars tested, except for hardened bulk density, water absorption and porosity. In the long-run, mechanical strengths significantly increased in all compositions, especially those with higher percentages of MRA. The results obtained showed that the use of MRA in masonry mortars is an alternative to reduce the generation of waste and consumption of natural resources.Este estudio investigó los efectos físico-mecánicos de los morteros de cemento y cal con áridos reciclados de residuos de construcción y demolición (RCD). El árido natural (AN) se reemplazó en volumen al 25%, 50%, 75% y 100% por el árido reciclado mixto (ARM) obtenido de la trituración de RCD. Se prepararon cinco tipos de morteros con una relación volumétrica de 1: 1: 6 (cemento, cal y áridos) y una relación de agua / aglomerante en función de la consistencia fija de 260 mm. Se analizaron los efectos del ARM en las propiedades de los morteros frescos y endurecidos. Los resultados se analizaron utilizando un ANOVA-simple. La incorporación de ARM mejoró la mayoría de las propiedades físico-mecánicas de los morteros, excepto la densidad aparente endurecida, la absorción de agua y la porosidad. A largo plazo, las resistencias mecánicas aumentaron significativamente en todas las composiciones, especialmente en aquellas con porcentajes más altos de ARM. Los resultados obtenidos mostraron que el uso de ARM en morteros de albañilería es una alternativa para reducir la generación de residuos y el consumo de recursos naturales

Acute neuroinflammation elicited by TLR-3 systemic activation combined with early life stress induces working memory impairments in male adolescent mice

Toll-like Receptors (TLRs) are implicated with the pathogenesis of cognitive impairment induced by inflammation. Early life stress is associated with altered trajectories of neuroimmune signaling with implications for cognitive development. However, effects of TLR-3 activation on early life stress-related cognitive outcomes are understudied. We investigated the effects of maternal separation (MS) during postnatal development and a viral immune challenge during adolescence on working memory performance. BALB/c mice exposed to MS were separated from their dams daily for 180-min from postnatal day (PND) 2 to 15. At PND 45, animals were challenged with a single i.p. injection of either Poly (I:C) or sterile saline, and then subjected to a spatial working memory test in a Y-maze apparatus. Gene expression was determined by qPCR. Protein levels of oxidative stress markers were also assessed. A single peripheral administration of a TLR-3 agonist was able to induce working memory impairments in adolescent mice exposed to MS. At a molecular level, exposure to MS was associated with lower mRNA levels of Tlr3 in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). However, when MS animals were exposed to Poly (I:C), a more robust activation of Tlr3, Il6 and Nfkb1 gene transcription was observed in these mice compared with control animals. These modifications did not result in oxidative stress. Finally, higher mRNA levels of Nfkb1 in the mPFC were correlated with lower working memory performance, suggesting that altered NF-\u3baB signaling might be related with poor cognitive functioning. These results have implications for how ELS affects neuroimmune signaling in the mPFC

Qualitative Properties of Magnetic Fields in Scalar Field Cosmology

We study the qualitative properties of the class of spatially homogeneous Bianchi VI_o cosmological models containing a perfect fluid with a linear equation of state, a scalar field with an exponential potential and a uniform cosmic magnetic field, using dynamical systems techniques. We find that all models evolve away from an expanding massless scalar field model in which the matter and the magnetic field are negligible dynamically. We also find that for a particular range of parameter values the models evolve towards the usual power-law inflationary model (with no magnetic field) and, furthermore, we conclude that inflation is not fundamentally affected by the presence of a uniform primordial magnetic field. We investigate the physical properties of the Bianchi I magnetic field models in some detail.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures in REVTeX format. to appear in Phys. Rev.

Prevalence of Clostridioides difficile in dogs (Canis familiaris) with gastrointestinal disorders in Rio de Janeiro

Clostridioides difficile infections (CDI) have a high morbidity and mortality rate and have always been considered a nosocomial disease. Nonetheless, the number of cases of community-acquired CDI is increasing, and new evidence suggests additional C. difficile reservoirs exist. Pathogenic C. difficile strains have been found in livestock, domestic animals, and meat, so a zoonotic transmission has been proposed. Objective: The goal of this study was to isolate C. difficile strains in dogs at a veterinary clinic in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and characterize clinical and pathological findings associated with lower gastrointestinal tract disorders. Methods: Fifty stool samples and biopsy fragments from dogs were obtained and cultured in the CDBA selective medium. All suggestive C. difficile colonies were confirmed by MALDI-TOF MS and PCR (tpi gene). Vancomycin, metronidazole, moxifloxacin, erythromycin, and rifampicin were tested for antibiotic susceptibility. Biofilm, motility assays, and a PCR for the toxins (tcdA, tcdB, and cdtB), as well as ribotyping, were also performed. Results: Blood samples and colonic biopsy fragments were examined in C. difficile positive dogs. Ten animals (20%) tested positive for C. difficile by using stool samples, but not from biopsy fragments. Most C. difficile strains were toxigenic: six were A+B+ belonging to RT106; two were A+B+ belonging to RT014/020; and two were AB- belonging to RT010. All strains were biofilm producers. In the motility test, 40% of strains were as motile as the positive control, CD630 (RT012). In the disc diffusion test, two strains (RT010) were resistant to erythromycin and metronidazole; and another to metronidazole (RT014/020). In terms of C. difficile clinicopathological correlations, no statistically significant morphological changes, such as pseudomembranous and "volcano" lesions, were observed. Regarding hematological data, dogs positive for C. difficile had leucopenia (p = 0.02) and lymphopenia (p = 0.03). There was a significant correlation between senility and the presence of C. difficile in the dogs studied (p = 0,02). Conclusions: Although C. difficile has not been linked to canine diarrheal disorders, it appears to be more common in dogs with intestinal dysfunctions. The isolation of ribotypes frequently involved in human CDI outbreaks around the world supports the theory of C. difficile zoonotic transmission.Molecular basis of bacterial pathogenesis, virulence factors and antibiotic resistanc