Medição de parâmetros dendrométricos através de fotografia aérea estereoscópica

A estimativa da altura dominante média de árvores (Pinus pinaster) foi efectuada em 37 parcelas circulares de 500 m2 através de 3 métodos de medição: (1) medição directa no campo com um hipsómetro de Blume Leiss (hd); (2) medição com barra de paralaxe sobre pares estereoscópicos analógicos (hPRX); (3) com sistema CAD (hCAD) sobre pares estereoscópicos de imagens digitais ou de fotos digitalizadas. Através dum teste t de Student avaliou-se a significância das diferenças entre hd e hCAD (P= 0.4436) e entre hd e hPRX (P= 0.2420), concluindo-se não serem estatisticamente diferentes. Concluiu-se também não haver diferenças significativas entre hd e hCAD para várias espécies e locais diferentes, com base em medições efectuadas em 105 parcelas de 500 m2: Bétula no Marão-Campeã (P= 0.3847); Pinheiro negral no Marão-Campeã (P= 0.7729); Eucalipto em Amarante-Aboim (P= 0.9704), Pinheiro bravo em Vidago-Boticas- (P= 0.7615). Os métodos propostos e aplicados permitem assim abrir perspectivas de utilização futura no Inventário Florestal de povoamentos correctamente ordenados, dadas as suas vantagens económicas e temporais

Effects of Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) Supplementation to Improve Ovarian Response and IVF Outcomes on Women with Poor Ovarian Response

There is still no clear consensus on the poor responder (PR) definition, however, the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) suggested, in 2011, the Bologna criteria, which includes, for a poor ovarian response definition, at least two of the following three characteristics: age > 40 years, the number of oocytes previously recovered equal to or less than three, and low ovarian reserve tests score. It is noticed that, despite the use of different effective ovulation stimulation protocols, clinical pregnancy rates remain low in PR. In recent years, however, many authors, including Casson et al., reported the beneficial of DHEA supplementation on ovarian response in this group. Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), a precursor of estradiol (E2) and testosterone (T), originates from the reticularis adrenal zone and from ovarian theca cell. In this chapter, we intend to demonstrate the potential benefits of DHEA supplementation in women with poor response in IVF outcomes

DICA-VE - Driving Information in a Connected & Autonomous Vehicle Environment: Impacts on Safety & Emissions

Integrating connected and autonomous vehicle (CAV) technologies with the existing road environment leads to important challenges. Their biggest potential is the improvement of the urban mobility, road safety, and reduction on energy use and emissions. Communications between vehicles offer relevant opportunities to reduce driving volatility, which are characterized by hard accelerations and decelerations, sudden movements (such as lane changes) and higher circulation speeds than the recommended for a certain area or road condition. This 36-month project main objective is to develop an integrated research focused on advanced algorithms to reduce driving behavior volatility through safety warnings and emissions reductions in a connected vehicle environment. A particular attention will be given to the interaction of motor vehicles (including autonomous vehicles) with vulnerable road users (pedestrians and cyclists). The essence of assessing driving volatility aims the capture of the existence of strong accelerations and aggressive maneuvers. Alerts and warnings can enable calmer driving, reduce volatility and potentially improve road safety, traffic flow performance, fuel consumption and emissions. A fundamental understanding of instantaneous driving decisions, distinguishing normal from anomalous ones, is needed to develop a framework for optimizing road transportation impacts. Thus, the research questions are: 1) Which strategies are adopted by each driver when he/she performs short-term driving decisions and how can these intentions be mapped, in a certain road network? 2) How is driver's volatility affected by the proximity of other road users, namely pedestrians or cyclists? 3) How can driving volatility information be integrated into a platform to alert road users about potential dangers in the road environment and take control previously to the occurrence of crash situations? 4) How can anomalous driving variability be reduced in autonomous cars, in order to prevent road accidents and have a performance with a minimum degree of emissions? Finally, the specific deliverables of this project will be: 1) a complete and micro characterization of individual driver decision mechanisms; 2) a prototype of a driver warning and control assist mechanism to be applicable in connected or autonomous vehicles. The National Strategy for Intelligent Specialization vision for 2020 is based on key pillars, which are directly or indirectly addressed in the DICA-VE. Thus, it is considered that it is aligned with the following axes: "Transport mobility and Logistics: Secure and sustainable transport” and “Mobility and urban space"; "Automotive, Aeronautics and Space: Advanced Technologies Applied to the Automotive Sector"; and "Energy: Efficient Transport".Scholarship SFRH/BPD/100703/2014.publishe

Inserção comercial externa e dinâmica territorial no Brasil: especialização regressiva e desconcentração produtiva regional

The analysis of the external sector allows us to understand the connection between the regional productive structures of a country (on different scales) and the global economy.  At the same time this also helps us understand how intra- and inter-regional economic relations are defined and redefined. The aim of this paper is to analyze the effects of increased internationalization of the productive structure in the performance of regional and urban economies after 1990, with particular emphasis on the period following 2002, when Brazil's economy began to grow again, driven by the dynamics of global trade, especially factoring in the influence of China. The results show that the type of commercial integration of the country – marked by the predominance of primary exports and a declining manufacturing industry - has strengthened the process of productive decentralization, through a greater exploitation of the mineral resource base and the incorporation of new areas of the agricultural frontier for capitalist accumulation, especially in Northern, Midwestern and Northeastern Brazil.A análise do setor externo permite compreender a conexão entre a estrutura das economias regionais de um país (em diferentes escalas) e a economia global e, ao mesmo tempo, como são definidas e redefinidas as relações econômicas intra e inter-regionais. O objetivo deste artigo é verificar os efeitos da maior internacionalização da estrutura produtiva no desempenho das economias regionais e urbanas no período pós-1990, com especial ênfase para o período pós-2002, quando a economia do Brasil voltou a crescer impulsionada pelo dinamismo do comércio mundial, particularmente influenciada pelo “efeito-China”. Os resultados mostram que o tipo de inserção comercial do país - com forte presença de recursos naturais e queda na participação da indústria de transformação -, reforçou o processo de desconcentração produtiva regional ao acionar à base mineral e ao incorporar novas áreas da fronteira agropecuária à acumulação capitalista, especialmente na região Norte, Centro-Oeste e cerrados do Nordeste

Apontamentos sobre a rede urbana do Ceará: níveis de centralidade, interações espaciais e dinâmica econômica

This article aims to present some considerations on the urban network of Ceara compared to dynamic economic centers of the components of its hierarchy. It starts from the assumption that the process of urbanization reflects and affects both the structure and process changes, restrained in social relations and forms of production for specific conformation of a social totality. From this perspective, the spatial organization represents a form of understanding of this whole and can be represented by the urban network. The spatial pattern of cities, functional complexity and the degree of spatial interactions articulate the whole society into an urban network which guarantees its existence and reproduction. But in the context of new ways of exploiting diversity territorial resulting from the transformation of the capitalist regime of accumulation on a global level, the cities of higher hierarchical level of Ceará are concentrating the total GDP and GDP per activity? What role has played the cities of lower hierarchical level in the economic dynamics of Ceará? This movement has been captured by studies of the “Regiões de Influência”  of the IBGE? These are the questions to be treated in this article.Este artigo tem por objetivo apresentar algumas considerações sobre a rede urbana do Ceará comparativamente a dinâmica econômica dos centros componentes da sua hierarquia. Parte-se do pressuposto de que o processo de urbanização reflete e condiciona ao mesmo tempo a estrutura e o processo de mudanças, contidos nas relações sociais e nas formas de produção, para conformação específica de uma totalidade social. Nessa perspectiva, a organização espacial representa uma forma de apreensão dessa totalidade e pode ser representada através da rede urbana. O padrão espacial das cidades, a complexidade funcional das mesmas e suas interações espaciais, articulam toda a sociedade em uma rede urbana que garante sua existência e reprodução. Mas, no contexto das novas formas de exploração da diversidade territorial resultantes da transformação do regime de acumulação capitalista em nível mundial, os centros de maior nível hierárquico do Ceará estão concentrando cada vez mais o PIB total e o PIB por atividades? Que papel tem desempenhado as cidades de menor nível hierárquico na da dinâmica econômica do Ceará? Este movimento tem sido captado pelos estudos das Regiões de Influência do IBGE? São estas as questões que se pretende tratar neste artigo

Regiões metropolitanas do Ceará: dispersão produtiva e concentração de serviços

As últimas décadas do século XX registraram mudanças no paradigma dominante (técnico-econômico-produtivo-social), a partir do desenvolvimento tecnológico integrado (transportes, comunicação, eletrônica), que conformam um novo regime de acumulação de capital, marcadamente com dominância financeira. Mudanças que marcam o que há de novidade na criação e expansão das atividades de serviços, através do aparecimento de serviços com elevado conteúdo informacional, que permitem hipermobilidade ao capital com implicações importantes na geografia econômica, em diferentes níveis escalares. A diversificação dos serviços com níveis de complexidades cada vez maiores indica seu papel crescente na organização da economia e dos territórios, particularmente no que diz respeito à questão metropolitana. Neste contexto, o artigo analisa os processos de dispersão produtiva e de concentração de serviços no Ceará, a partir da escala metropolitana constituída pelas regiões metropolitanas de Fortaleza e do Cariri

Mechanical properties and antimicrobial activity of pumice stone/sludge filled thermosetting composites

The exploitation of natural quarries generates a high amount of waste as a result of the extraction, screening and segmentation processes. These usually inert wastes are not typically reused and end up in landfills. There is an urgent need for sustainable solutions aiming at the valorisation of these mineral wastes through the development of innovative products with greater added value and active functionalities. In this work, the applicability of different mineral wastes was tested on the development of advanced active ecocomposites. Several formulations/ conditions, using green epoxy and polyester matrixes, were assessed in order to determine the reasonable production parameters. Additionally, two different antibacterial agents were added and the efficacy was tested. The overall mechanical performance of the ecocomposite was evaluated during every stage of development. The combination of dried sludge and green epoxy resin (SE_70), containing 70% of mineral waste, revealed to be most promising composition with interesting mechanical properties (tensile strength 91.63 ± 3.31 (MPa); strain (%) 0.69 ± 0.05; and Young’s modulus (GPa) 13.65 ± 0.64). The functionalization of these samples was successful and the antibacterial activity was confirmed. However, the active agent affected the short-term mechanical properties. Nevertheless, the QUV® accelerated weathering test confirmed that the main long-term properties were unaffected. Thus, it is concluded that mineral waste from quarry activities can be use in the development of new sustainable added value advanced products.This work was supported by Operational Programme “Regional Azores 2014–2020”, through project Basalt Waste Composite (ACORES01-0247-FEDER-000013), Portugal

Metodologia para determinação das classes de risco de incêndio florestal usando a Fórmula de Monte Alegre modificada

The objective of this study was to calculate the Modified Monte Alegre Formula (FMA⁺) and adjust the wildfire risk classes of areas of forests planted in the northern-central coast of the state of Espírito Santo state and the southern coast of Bahia state. The methodology used included six stages: risk calculation; spreadsheet development according to the occurrence, or not, of forest fires; spreadsheet development according to the wildfire season in the study region; risk class definition; result analysis of the determined classes; best fit selection. It was observed that the class definition methodology for the FMA⁺ system obtained excellent results. It increased by 19.3, 21.53, and 31.3% for the percentage of success for subzones 1, 2, and 3, respectively, which implies this an important study for the successful implementation of FMA⁺ in other areas.O objetivo deste estudo foi calcular a Fórmula Modificada de Monte Alegre (FMA⁺) e ajustar as classes de risco de incêndio em áreas de florestas plantadas na costa norte-central do estado do Espírito Santo e na costa sul do estado da Bahia. A metodologia utilizada incluiu seis etapas: cálculo de risco; desenvolvimento de planilhas de acordo com a ocorrência, ou não, de incêndios florestais; desenvolvimento de planilhas de acordo com a estação de incêndios florestais na região estudada; definição de classe de risco; análise de resultados das classes determinadas; seleção de melhor ajuste. Observou-se que a metodologia de definição de classe para o sistema FMA⁺ obteve excelentes resultados. Aumentou em 19,3; 21,53 e 31,3% para o percentual de sucesso nas subzonas 1, 2 e 3, respectivamente, o que traduz em resultados este importante estudo para a implementação bem-sucedida da FMA⁺ em outras áreas

System for calculating and defining classes in modified Monte Alegre Formula - FMA + Sisclass

The objective of this work was to develop a computational system for the calculation, storage, and definition of new classes for the forest fire hazard index classified by the Monte Alegre Altered Formula - FMA+, which aims to store the occurrence of forest fires, allowing the generation of statistics on the hazard index and its occurrence, in addition to generating graphical plots and statistics on the performance of the FMA+, the contingency matrix and the monthly analysis of the hazard classes demanded by Nunes et al. (2006) and Eugenio et al. (2020 a). The Sisclass FMA+ application obtained excellent results in previous tests, achieving an increase of up to 31.30% in the percentage of success of the FMA + index. Sisclass FMA+ is accessible to the scientific community and available free of charge