Elements of gamification in virtual learning environments: a systematic review

Information technologies have introduced several changes in teaching and learning environments. In this scenario, the gamification technique emerges as a promissing approach, considering the impact on the students’ motivation and appealing to their participation. This paper describes a systematic review addressing gamification in virtual learning environments (VLE), presenting an overview on how gamification has been applied in these scenarios. This review was based on papers published in highly scored journals in the field of computers in education. The papers were selected according to the gamification theme, and the content was analyzed and a state of the art built, according to the retrieved qualitative data. The results seem to reveal that there are significant gains derived from the adoption of gamification in VLE. However, some gains are not unanimous and it depends on how the elements are applied. This paper also suggests a basis for future work aiming at applying gamification in a VLE.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Gaseificação de materiais lignocelulósicos para geração de energia elétrica.

The objective of this work was to build a countercurrent gasifier in hardened mortar to evaluate the potential of generating electrical energy of eucalyptus species grown in the state of Minas Gerais, from agroindustry residues and from the mixture of those materials. The immediate chemical composition and the heat power of the materials utilized were determined. The different lignocellulosic materials were experienced, and gas was used as the control. For the factors being tested, measurements of the electric yields and consumptions of the materials were performed. The statistical design was the completely randomized with seventeen treatments and three replicates done at 5% of significance. On the basis of the results obtained and on the statistical analyses performed, it follows that the gasifier-generator set is easy to build, made with easily purchased and low cost materials. Among the materials evaluated the coal of the species, Corimbia citriodora, with 78% of fixed carbon, presented the best performance of generated power, obtaining 1,391 watts, with a constant tension of 230 volts. The residues utilized of cane bagasse, rice straw, corn cob, coffee husk and coal chaff presented no potential to generate energy by the sort of gasifier utilized.O objetivo deste trabalho foi construir um gaseificador contracorrente em alvenaria para avaliar o potencial de geração de energia elétrica de espécies de eucalipto cultivadas no estado de Minas Gerais, de resíduos da agroindústria e da mistura desses materiais. Determinaram-se a composição química imediata e o poder calorífico dos materiais utilizados. Experimentaram-se os diferentes materiais lignocelulósicos e a gasolina, como testemunha. Para os fatores testados, foram executadas medições dos rendimentos elétricos e de consumos dos materiais. O delineamento estatístico foi o inteiramente casualizado, com 17 tratamentos e três repetições e as análises estatísticas feitas a 5% de significância. Com base nos resultados obtidos e nas análises estatísticas realizadas, concluiu-se que o conjunto gaseificador-gerador é de fácil construção, fabricado com materiais de fácil aquisição e de custo reduzido; dentre os materiais avaliados o carvão da espécie Corimbia citriodora, com 78% de carbono fixo, apresentou o melhor desempenho de potência gerada, obtendo-se 1.391 watts, com tensão constante de 230 volts. Os resíduos utilizados de bagaço de cana, palha de arroz, casca de café, sabugo de milho e moinha de carvão não apresentaram potencial para geração de energia pelo tipo de gaseificador utilizado

Marxan with Zones: Software for optimal conservation based land- and sea-use zoning

Marxan is the most widely used conservation planning software in the world and is designed for solving complex conservation planning problems in landscapes and seascapes. In this paper we describe a substantial extension of Marxan called Marxan with Zones, a decision support tool that provides land-use zoning options in geographical regions for biodiversity conservation. We describe new functions designed to enhance the original Marxan software and expand on its utility as a decision support tool. The major new element in the decision problem is allowing any parcel of land or sea to be allocated to a specific zone, not just reserved or unreserved. Each zone then has the option of its own actions, objectives and constraints, with the flexibility to define the contribution of each zone to achieve targets for pre-specified features (e.g. species or habitats). The objective is to minimize the total cost of implementing the zoning plan while ensuring a variety of conservation and land-use objectives are achieved. We outline the capabilities, limitations and additional data requirements of this new software and perform a comparison with the original version of Marxan. We feature a number of case studies to demonstrate the functionality of the software and highlight its flexibility to address a range of complex spatial planning problems. These studies demonstrate the design of multiple-use marine parks in both Western Australia and California, and the zoning of forest use in East Kalimantan

Under-reporting of COVID-19 cases among indigenous peoples in Brazil : a new expression of old inequalities

Objective: To estimate the incidence, mortality and lethality rates of COVID-19 among Indigenous Peoples in the Brazilian Amazon. Additionally, to analyze how external threats can contribute to spread the disease in Indigenous Lands (IL). Methods: The Brazilian Amazon is home to nearly half a million Indigenous persons, representing more than 170 ethnic groups. As a pioneer in heading Indigenous community-based surveillance (I-CBS) in Brazil, the Coordination of the Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (COIAB) started to monitor Indigenous COVID-19 cases in March of 2020. Brazil's Ministry of Health (MOH) was the main source of data regarding non-Indigenous cases and deaths; to contrast the government's tally, we used the information collected by I-CBS covering 25 Special Indigenous Sanitary Districts (DSEI) in the Brazilian Amazon. The incidence and mortality rates of COVID-19 were calculated using the total number of new cases and deaths accumulated between the 9th and 40th epidemiological weeks. We studied (a) the availability of health care facilities to attend to Indigenous Peoples; (b) illegal mines, land grabbing, and deforestation to perform a geospatial analysis to assess how external threats affect Indigenous incidence and mortality rates. We used the Generalized Linear Model (GLM) with Poisson regression to show the results. Results: MOH registered 22,127 cases and 330 deaths, while COIAB's survey recorded 25,356 confirmed cases and 670 deaths, indicating an under-reporting of 14 and 103%, respectively. Likewise, the incidence and mortality rates were 136 and 110% higher among Indigenous when compared with the national average. In terms of mortality, the most critical DSEIs were Alto Rio Solimões, Cuiabá, Xavante, Vilhena and Kaiapó do Pará. The GLM model reveals a direct correlation between deforestation, land grabbing and mining, and the incidence of cases among the Indigenous. Conclusion: Through this investigation it was possible to verify that not only the incidence and mortality rates due to COVID-19 among Indigenous Peoples are higher than those observed in the general population, but also that the data presented by the federal government are underreported. Additionally, it was evident that the presence of illegal economic activities increased the risk of spreading COVID-19 in ILs

Gasification of lignocellulosic materials for generation of electric energy.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi construir um gaseificador contracorrente em alvenaria para avaliar o potencial de gera\ue7\ue3o de energia el\ue9trica de esp\ue9cies de eucalipto cultivadas no estado de Minas Gerais, de res\uedduos da agroind\ufastria e da mistura desses materiais. Determinaram-se a composi\ue7\ue3o qu\uedmica imediata e o poder calor\uedfico dos materiais utilizados. Experimentaram-se os diferentes materiais lignocelul\uf3sicos e a gasolina, como testemunha. Para os fatores testados, foram executadas medi\ue7\uf5es dos rendimentos el\ue9tricos e de consumos dos materiais. O delineamento estat\uedstico foi o inteiramente casualizado, com 17 tratamentos e tr\ueas repeti\ue7\uf5es e as an\ue1lises estat\uedsticas feitas a 5% de signific\ue2ncia. Com base nos resultados obtidos e nas an\ue1lises estat\uedsticas realizadas, concluiu\u2013se que o conjunto gaseificador-gerador \ue9 de f\ue1cil constru\ue7\ue3o, fabricado com materiais de f\ue1cil aquisi\ue7\ue3o e de custo reduzido; dentre os materiais avaliados o carv\ue3o da esp\ue9cie Corimbia citriodora, com 78% de carbono fixo, apresentou o melhor desempenho de pot\ueancia gerada, obtendo-se 1.391 watts, com tens\ue3o constante de 230 volts. Os res\uedduos utilizados de baga\ue7o de cana, palha de arroz, casca de caf\ue9, sabugo de milho e moinha de carv\ue3o n\ue3o apresentaram potencial para gera\ue7\ue3o de energia pelo tipo de gaseificador utilizado.The objective of this work was to build a countercurrent gasifier in hardened mortar to evaluate the potential of generating electrical energy of eucalyptus species grown in the state of Minas Gerais, from agroindustry residues and from the mixture of those materials. The immediate chemical composition and the heat power of the materials utilized were determined. The different lignocellulosic materials were experienced, and gas was used as the control. For the factors being tested, measurements of the electric yields and consumptions of the materials were performed. The statistical design was the completely randomized with seventeen treatments and three replicates done at 5% of significance. On the basis of the results obtained and on the statistical analyses performed, it follows that the gasifier-generator set is easy to build, made with easily purchased and low cost materials. Among the materials evaluated the coal of the species, Corimbia citriodora, with 78% of fixed carbon, presented the best performance of generated power, obtaining 1,391 watts, with a constant tension of 230 volts. The residues utilized of cane bagasse, rice straw, corn cob, coffee husk and coal chaff presented no potential to generate energy by the sort of gasifier utilized. Keywords: gasification; electric power; plant coal; residues

A social and ecological assessment of tropical land uses at multiple scales: the Sustainable Amazon Network

Science has a critical role to play in guiding more sustainable development trajectories. Here, we present the Sustainable Amazon Network (Rede Amazonia Sustentavel, RAS): a multidisciplinary research initiative involving more than 30 partner organizations working to assess both social and ecological dimensions of land-use sustainability in eastern Brazilian Amazonia. The research approach adopted by RAS offers three advantages for addressing land-use sustainability problems: (i) the collection of synchronized and co-located ecological and socioeconomic data across broad gradients of past and present human use; (ii) a nested sampling design to aid comparison of ecological and socioeconomic conditions associated with different land uses across local, landscape and regional scales; and (iii) a strong engagement with a wide variety of actors and non-research institutions. Here, we elaborate on these key features, and identify the ways in which RAS can help in highlighting those problems in most urgent need of attention, and in guiding improvements in land-use sustainability in Amazonia and elsewhere in the tropics. We also discuss some of the practical lessons, limitations and realities faced during the development of the RAS initiative so far.Keywords: Social–ecological systems, Tropical forests, Land use, Interdisciplinary research, Sustainability, Trade-off

Conservation planning for successional landscapes

The systematic conservation planning literature invariably assumes that the biodiversity features being preserved in sites do not change through time. We develop a conservation planning framework for ecosystems where disturbance events and succession drive vegetation dynamics. The framework incorporates three key attributes of disturbance theory: heterogeneity in disturbance rates, spatial correlation between disturbance events and different impacts of disturbance. In our conservation problem we wish to maximise the chance that we represent a certain number of successional types given a cap on the number of sites we can conserve. Correlation between disturbance events dramatically complicates the problem of choosing the optimal suite of sites. However, in our problem we discover that spatial correlation in disturbances affects the optimal reserve network very little. The reason is twofold: (i) through our probabilistic framework we focus on the long-term effectiveness of reserve networks and (ii) in the dynamics considered in our model the state of a site is not only affected by the most recent (correlated) disturbance event but also by the site's long-term stochastic history which blurs the impact of spatial correlation. If successional states are the conservation target rather than individual species then, conserving a site can only contribute to meeting one target. However, given that correlation of disturbance events may be ignored, we show that if the number of candidate reserves is sufficiently large the statistical dependence of different conservation targets may be ignored, too. We conclude that the computational complexity of reserve selection methods for dynamic ecosystems can be much simpler than they first appear

Systematic Zoning Applied to Biosphere Reserves: Protecting the Pantanal Wetland Heritage

Biosphere Reserves (BR) were introduced into the conservation arena in the late sixties almost concomitantly with the launch of the United Nations' Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB-UNESCO). They were conceived as a "way to a more sustainable future" or "spaces to reconcile people and nature" (UNESCO 2002). They represent the concerns of the United Nations to secure the protection of natural diversity while maintaining the cultural heritage of traditional communities. This concept is intended to be implemented through a network of reserves representative of all ecosystems, and should serve as models of "sustainable societies" and sustainable development (Batisse 1990). The current network includes 529 sites in 105 countries (UNESCO 2002, 2007), six of them located in Brazil

Planning for reserve adequacy in dynamic landscapes; maximizing future representation of vegetation communities under flood disturbance in the Pantanal wetland

Aim Using a probabilistic modelling framework, we aimed to incorporate landscape spatiotemporal dynamics into reserve design. We employed a spatially explicit stochastic model, which integrates both hydrological and biological processes, to simulate the wetland's biological succession. Location Pantanal wetland (with 140,000 km²) between Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay. Methods We used the reserve design software Marxan to optimize the current and future representation (up to 50 years) of 20% of five plant communities with maximum reliability (i.e. smallest uncertainty). The Kappa statistic was used to compare selection frequencies of individual sites through a set of planning timeframes (5, 17, 25 and 50 years) and the likely pattern of biological succession over these periods. Results Solutions based on static vegetation distributions were significantly dissimilar from solutions based on the expected modelled changes resulting from the flood disturbance and succession dynamics. Increasing the required reliability of biodiversity outcomes resulted in more expensive reserve solutions. We demonstrated the flexibility of probabilistic decision-making methods to illuminate the trade-offs between reliability and efficiency of site selection. Main conclusions Considering the importance of habitat heterogeneity to the principles and practice of systematic conservation planning, it is notable that landscape dynamics have not been a central theme in conservation planning. In the case of the Pantanal hydrosere, acknowledging and planning for temporal dynamics required an ability to model succession and define acceptable levels of outcome reliability, but ultimately improved the long-term Adequacy of resulting reserve networks