Anomalous diffusion: A basic mechanism for the evolution of inhomogeneous systems

In this article we review classical and recent results in anomalous diffusion and provide mechanisms useful for the study of the fundamentals of certain processes, mainly in condensed matter physics, chemistry and biology. Emphasis will be given to some methods applied in the analysis and characterization of diffusive regimes through the memory function, the mixing condition (or irreversibility), and ergodicity. Those methods can be used in the study of small-scale systems, ranging in size from single-molecule to particle clusters and including among others polymers, proteins, ion channels and biological cells, whose diffusive properties have received much attention lately.Comment: Review article, 20 pages, 7 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:cond-mat/0201446 by other author

Identificação e mapeamento de pastagens degradadas nos municípios de Corguinho e Rio Negro, MS, utilizando fusão de imagens CBERS-2B (CCD e HRC).

A degradação das pastagens pode ser definida como um processo evolutivo de perda de vigor, produtividade e capacidade de recuperação natural constituindo atualmente um dos maiores problemas para a pecuária brasileira. Estudos recentes apontam resultados promissores para identificar e mapear diferentes níveis de degradação em pastagens através de imagens de satélites, além de permitir o monitoramento do processo de degradação no âmbito local ou regional. O objetivo do presente estudo consiste em avaliar o uso de imagens fusionadas dos sensores CCD e HRC do satélite CBERS-2B, para identificação e caracterização de áreas com pastagens degradadas nos municípios de Corguinho e Rio Negro no Estado de Mato Grosso do Sul. Imagens CCD das bandas 2, 3 e 4 e HRC foram processados no aplicativo SPRING e por meio da classificação MAXVER , da segmentação e da classificação Bhattacharya foi elaborado um mapa na escala de 1:50.000 das áreas de pastagens degradadas.GeoPantanal 2009

Structuring functional groups of aquatic insects along the resistance/resilience axis when facing water flow changes

Understanding how differences in intensity and frequency of hydrological disturbances affect the resistance and resilience of aquatic organisms is key to manage aquatic systems in a fast-changing world. Some aquatic insects have strategies that improve the permanence (resistance), while others use strategies that favor recolonization (resilience). Therefore, we carried out a manipulative experiment to understand the influence of functional characteristics of aquatic insects in their permanence and recolonization against hydrological disturbances in streams in the biodiversity hotspot of the Cerrado of Brazil. We placed 200 artificial substrates in five streams and submitted them to changing water flow regimes that differed both in frequency and intensity, and we observed the response of the aquatic community for 39 days. We used a hierarchical Bayesian approach to estimate the probabilities of permanence and recolonization of each life strategy group (nine groups). We observed that the most intense changes in the water flow tended to affect the permanence of almost all groups, but the intensity of this effect reduced over time. On the other hand, less frequent disturbances, regardless of intensity, tended to reduce the permanence of most groups of aquatic insects over time. The different effects of disturbance intensity may have been related to a greater recolonization capacity of some groups. The results we present are worrisome in a scenario of reduced riparian vegetation around streams and with the expectation of precipitation becoming more concentrated in shorter periods of time due to climate change in the Cerrado hotspot, reducing the occurrence of many groups of aquatic insects in their habitat, particularly those with traits associated with resistance against hydrological disturbance

Expression of methylthioadenosine phosphorylase (MTAP) in pilocytic astrocytomas

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES Pilocytic astrocytomas (PAs) are the most frequent astrocytomas in children and adolescents. Methilthioadenosine phosphorylase(MTAP) is a tumor-suppressor gene, the loss of expression of which is associated with a poor prognosis and better response to specific chemotherapy in leukemia and non-small-cell lung cancer. The expression of MTAP in brain tumors remains largely unknown and its biological role in PA is still unexplored. Our aims were to describe the immunohistochemical MTAP expression in a series of PAs and relate it to the clinicopathological features of the patients. METHODS We assessed MTAP expression on immunohistochemistry in 69 pediatric and adult patients with PA in a tissue microarray platform. RESULTS Retained expression of MTAP was seen in >85% of the tumors compared to in the nonneoplastic adjacent tissue. Only 3 supratentorial tumors showed a complete loss of MTAP expression. No significant association with clinicopathological features or overall survival of the patients was found. CONCLUSIONS MTAP expression is retained in PAs and is not an outcome predictor for these tumors. Nevertheless, a subset of patients with PAs exhibiting a loss of MTAP could potentially benefit from treatment with specific chemotherapy, especially when lesions are recurrent or surgical resection is not recommended.This study was partially supported by the Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo (2012/19590-0) and an HCB program of financial support (Programa de Apoio e Incentivo a Pesquisa)

Implicações ambientais da destinação final de resíduos de obra no Município de Manaus (Amazonas - Brasil)

Este trabalho retrata a destinação de resíduos sólidos em obras na cidade de Manaus (Amazonas-Brasil. A cidade de Manaus foi escolhida para este estudo por estar localizada no centro da Floresta Amazônica, um patrimônio ambiental do planeta, por isto a preocupação com o descarte de resíduos sólidos. As práticas utilizadas pelas empresas de construção civil, na destinação final dos resíduos sólidos em suas obras, têm gerado dúvidas quanto a eficiência na proteção do meio ambiente. A metodologia aplicada para esta pesquisa foi a de elaboração de um questionário, o qual foi aplicado para os profissionais da área ambiental cadastrados no Conselho Regional de Engenharia e Agronomia do Amazonas – CREA/AM, sendo que o questionário foi aprovado pelo Comitê de Ética da Universidade Fernando Pessoa – UFP, Porto/Portugal. O questionário foi encaminhado, via correspondência eletrônica, para 954 profissionais (jun/2018) e aplicados pessoalmente em 2 empresas de grande porte de Manaus. Os resultados encontrados demonstraram que 5% de profissionais responderam o questionário, e 100% das empresas responderam o questionário, onde concluímos que que o índice de empregabilidade é baixo, a atuação dos profissionais é pouca em comparação com o trabalho existente, e que quanto às empresas entrevistadas constatamos um monopólio no serviço terceirizado de destinação final, o que compromete a qualidade da proteção do meio ambiente.The city of Manaus was chosen for this study because it is located in the center of the Amazon Forest, an environmental patrimony of the planet, for this reason the concern with the disposal of solid waste in works in the city of Manaus (Amazonas-Brazil. The practices used by construction companies in the final disposal of solid waste in their works have generated doubts about the efficiency of environmental protection. The methodology applied for this research was the elaboration of a questionnaire, the which was applied to the professionals of the environmental area registered in the Regional Council of Engineering and Agronomy of Amazonas - CREA / AM, and the questionnaire was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Fernando Pessoa University - UFP, Porto / via electronic correspondence, to 954 professionals (jun/2018) and personally applied in 2 large companies The results showed that 5% of professionals answered the questionnaire, and 100% of the companies answered the questionnaire, where we concluded that the employability index is low, the performance of the professionals is small compared to the existing work, and that as for the companies interviewed, we find a monopoly in the outsourced final destination service, which compromises the quality of the protection of the environment.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio