The third dimension in landscape metrics analysis applied to Central Alentejo-Portugal

Landscape metrics have been widely developed over the last two decades, although the question remains: How does landscape metrics relates with ecological processes? One of the major recent developments in landscape metrics analysis was the third dimension integration. Topography has an extremely important role on ecosystems function and structure, even though the common analysis in landscape ecology only conceives planimetric surface which leads to some erroneous results, particularly in mountain areas. The analytical process tested patch, class and landscape metrics behavior in 11 sample areas of 100 sqkm each in several topographical conditions of Central Alentejo. It is presented the significance analysis of the results achieved in planimetric and 3D environments

Surficial sediment texture database for the south-western Iberian Atlantic margin

Assessing the impact of changes on the environment driven by natural or anthropogenic forcers includes the comparison between antecedent and post-event conditions. The latter is particularly relevant in order to better understand to which extent those changes actually impact or alter a particular environment and associated services and to determine the resilience of a system. In this regard, it becomes essential to create or provide databases to inform about baseline conditions. Here, we present a database that integrates surficial sediment samples collected and analysed for textural characterization within the framework of a series of research projects over circa 20 years. Collected samples along the south-western Atlantic margin of the Iberian Peninsula extend from estuaries and beaches to the adjacent continental shelf. For the case of the more dynamic environments, namely coastal sandy barriers, samples were repeated over time in order to capture the intrinsic variability of the system. Examples of the utility of this data set for a variety of purposes and environments are also included within this paper through three examples. Therefore, here we show the added value of the database as it can be used to assess the impact of a particular event or activity at an estuary by providing baseline conditions, evaluate the continental shelf sediment suitability for nourishment activities, or contribute to the understanding of the morphodynamics and classification of beaches. Finally, it is worth stating the importance of such databases to analyse medium- to long-term variability as the one induced by sea level rise, changes in storminess, or human activities.FCT Investigator programme [IF/01047/2014]info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Suitable methods for landscape evaluation and valorization: the third dimension in landscape metrics

Landscape metrics have been widely developed over the last two decades. One of the major recent developments in landscape metrics analysis was the integration of the third dimension. Topography has an extremely important role in ecosystems function and structure, even though the common analysis in landscape ecology only considers a planimetric surface, which leads to some erroneous results particularly in mountain areas. In this study we tested landscape metrics behaviour in 13 sample areas of 10,000 m2 each in several topographical conditions of Central Alentejo, Portugal. The significance analysis of the results achieved in planimetric and three-dimensional environments is presented

Dynamic Phenomenological Modeling of Pec Cells for Water Splitting Under Outdoor Conditions

AbstractA dynamic phenomenological model is proposed for better understanding the underlying mechanisms of photoelectrochemical (PEC) cells for water splitting. The main assumptions of the one-dimensional transient model are (1) that bulk recombination occurs between conduction band electrons and holes in the valence band; (2) that mobile charge transport takes place via diffusion and migration; and (3) that the effects of microscopic electric fields and screening in the cell are negligible. For modeling purposes, the photoanode was assumed to be a homogeneous nanocrystalline hematite structure, with thickness L, porosity ep and tortuosity x. The TCO/semiconductor interface was modeled as an ideal ohmic contact, while the electrolyte/platinised TCO interface was described by the Butler-Volmer equation. The continuity and transport governing equations were defined for the mobile species involved: electrons, holes and hydroxyl ions. The effect of outdoor conditions on the performance of the PEC cells, such as temperature and solar radiation variations during the day and for different seasons of the year, was simulated

Question Generation based on Lexico-Syntactic Patterns Learned from the Web

THE MENTOR automatically generates multiple-choice tests from a given text. This tool aims at supporting the dialogue system of the FalaComigo project, as one of FalaComigo's goals is the interaction with tourists through questions/answers and quizzes about their visit. In a minimally supervised learning process and by leveraging the redundancy and linguistic variability of the Web, THE MENTOR learns lexico-syntactic patterns using a set of question/answer seeds. Afterward, these patterns are used to match the sentences from which new questions (and answers) can be generated. Finally, several ï¬lters are applied in order to discard low quality items. In this paper we detail the question generation task as performed by T- Mand evaluate its performance

Organizational Values and Innovative Organizational Knowledge Creation

Innovation is a source of competitive advantage and is based on the continuous creation of organizational knowledge, which is supported by the individual learning. The individual learning of traditional / comportamentalist and constructivist nature can be understood, by extension, as organizational learning. The knowledge can be innovative if, along with the enabling conditions that characterize it - intention, fluctuation or chaos, autonomy, redundancy and variety of requirements – the process of learning is based on a constructivist nature, the only one capable to generate new learning solutions. The organizational values are beliefs that guide the organizations behavior and constitute motivational goals. This work had as aim to identify the relationship between organizational values and the creation of knowledge. The descriptive exploratory research used the quantitative method. The organizational values appeared in this study mainly associated to the knowledge creation aspects in the internal sphere of the organizations. The orientation towards the external environment appeared less related to the organizational values

A Genuine ‘Miteinander’: On Becoming a Team in an International Virtual Simulation Game

Megacities is a simulation game which uses the Internet as a transnational virtual space for developing intercultural competence, thereby fostering intercultural dialogue. The experience of over a hundred people of several nationalities in this simulation game is at the core of this study, which aims to understand how individuals succeed in creating a genuine ‘Miteinander’ despite language barriers, the constraints of virtual communication, and expected cultural differences. ‘Miteinander’ is a German word which combines the concept of collaboration with that of cohesion. The introduction of this term allows us to further clarify the focus of this investigation, which aims to observe how a diverse group becomes a team in an online environment. This study is a qualitative one and its corpus is composed of reflection sheets in which participants share the feelings, thoughts and perceptions they had before, during, and after their experience in the game Megacities. The analysis of the data revealed that participants had similar fears and perceptions, despite their diversity. Out of their reflections, an interplay of factors related to individual, social, and technical-organizational dimensions emerges. Two factors which have a particularly high impact on the process of building trust and creating culture are looked at in depth in this paper: language and the virtual setting of communication

Macao air quality forecast using statistical methods

UID/AMB/04085/2019The levels of air pollution in the cities of Greater Bay Area in Southern China, including Macao, are extremely high and often exceeded the levels recommended by World Health Organization Air Quality Guidelines. In order for the population to take precautionary measures and avoid further health risks un- der high pollutant exposure, it is important to develop a reliable air quality forecast. Statistical models based on multiple regression analysis were developed successfully for Macao to predict the next-day concentrations of particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) for Taipa Ambient, a background representative station located within the area of Macao (32.9 km2), at Taipa Grande, the headquarter of Macao Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau. The two developed models were statistically significantly valid, with a 95% confidence level with high coefficients of determination. A wide range of meteorological and air quality variables were identified, and only some were selected as significant dependent variables. The meteorological variables such as geopotential height and relative humidity at different vertical levels were selected from an extensive list of variables. The air quality variables that translate the resilience of the recent past concentrations of each pollutant were the ones selected. The models were based in meteorological and air quality variables with five years of historical data, from 2013 to 2017. The data from 2013 to 2016 were used to develop the statistical models and data from 2017 were used for validation purposes, with high coefficients of determination between predicted and observed daily average concentrations (0.92 and 0.89 for PM10 and PM2.5 , respectively). The results are expected to be the basis for an operational air quality forecast for the region.publishersversionpublishe

Violência de Gênero e Direito Penal: Tipificação do Feminicídio e Possíveis Respostas Penais

O presente artigo visa descobrir se a tipificação do femicídio/feminicídio é via legítima para a prevenção e erradicação da violência de gênero. Sabe-se que a violência contra a mulher é histórica e estrutural atrelada à sua posição de subordinação na ordem sociocultural patriarcal. Foi para dar resposta à essa realidade que se insurgiram diversas convenções internacionais. Diante de tais avanços, vários países latino-americanos passaram a realizar reformas para adequar suas legislações aos padrões internacionais de direitos humanos. Nessa toada, deu-se a tipificação do femicídio/feminicídio em diversos países o que pode ser questionado pelo simbolismo penal. Portanto, a partir do estudo comparado e de uma perspectiva crítica – uma análise da tipificação no contexto latino-americano – à luz do Garantismo Penal e do Direito Penal Mínimo busca-se confirmar se essa é ou não uma alternativa legítima e racional em termos de política criminal

Pole Dance em tirinhas: quadrinhos que apresentam a pr?tica em meio a uma sociedade machista e a rela??o das mulheres com o corpo

Este trabalho apresenta discuss?es sobre a percep??o da figura feminina no pole dance, de aspectos individuais como benef?cios da pr?tica, at? aspectos sociais como a marginaliza??o da atividade e crivos sociais que as polerinas enfrentam devido a contextos hist?ricos patriarcais presentes na nossa sociedade. Essa discuss?o fundamenta o desenvolvimento pr?tico de cinco tirinhas que retratam situa??es presentes na realidade das pole dancers. A fundamenta??o te?rica percorre da origem do pole dance at? a sua rela??o com o feminismo e discuss?o de problem?ticas desencadeadas pelo machismo. A partir desse ponto apresentamos a import?ncia dos movimentos feministas e marcos hist?ricos, al?m da relev?ncia do design gr?fico e exemplos de pe?as gr?ficas que colaboraram com pautas feministas. Para a contextualiza??o do desenvolvimento das tirinhas, s?o apresentadas a hist?ria das hist?rias em quadrinhos, seus diversos g?neros, exemplos de artista da ?poca e o feminismo nesse meio. Utilizando a metodologia de pesquisa qualitativa, foi aplicado um question?rio para mulheres que praticam pole dance, a fim de coletar relatos de experi?ncias vividas por elas para al?m de validar as discuss?es levantadas, tamb?m inspirar a cria??o dos roteiros das hist?rias. A elabora??o das tirinhas utiliza metodologias da bibliografia de Scott McCloud, aplicando t?cnicas de cria??o de hist?rias em quadrinhos adaptado ao formato das tirinhas, sendo todo o processo documentado. O trabalho ? conclu?do com a apresenta??o do resultado das pe?as produzidas, conforme as etapas mostradas no decorrer do desenvolvimento