Production Capacity Change in Industrial Sectors of Hachinohe City due to the 2011 Tohoku Tsunami

In this study, production capacity change was assessed for an inundation area due to the 2011 Tohoku tsunami. The study area was the coastal area of Hachinohe city, which was damaged and inundated by the earthquake and tsunami. Data for the activities of 10 industrial sectors were assembled from published information, newspaper articles, and public announcements. The results showed that the estimated amount of economic damage was approximately 101.9 billion yen because of the production capacity change in the industrial sectors of the area due to the earthquake and tsunami. The estimated amount was equivalent to approximately 84 % of the amount of the stock damage in the city. Time-series of production capacity rate in tsunami inundated area showed differences and showed slower recovery of production capacity rate from that of the earthquake affected area

Competências de trabalho em equipes de participantes de grupos de pesquisa : avaliando interáreas de conhecimento e características intragrupo

Dissertação (mestrado)—Universidade de Brasília, Faculdade de Economia, Administração e Contabilidade, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Administração, 2012.A presente pesquisa teve como objetivo identificar o grau de domìnio de competências para trabalhar em equipes (CTE) desenvolvidas com a participação em grupos de pesquisa, validar instrumento de coleta de dados, caracterizar os grupos de pesquisa quanto à área de conhecimento do grupo, e caracterizar os participantes dos grupos quanto às variáveis demográficas: idade, tempo de experiência, grau de formação e tipo de atuação. A pesquisa possui caráter descritivo, inferencial e aplicado, e para coletar os dados foram utilizados questionários estruturados de questões fechadas, aplicados em meio eletrônico e em meio fìsico. A análise fatorial foi utilizada para validação da escala de medida CTE. Para análise dos dados, foram realizadas análises descritivas, análises não paramétricas (Kruskall-Wallis e Mann-Whitney U) e regressão linear simples. A amostra foi constituìda por 396 participantes de grupos de pesquisa. A escala proposta apresenta evidências de validade estatìstica, atendendo a parâmetros estabelecidos na literatura. Foi observado alto domìnio das competências de trabalho em equipe pela área de conhecimento de ciências humanas e as áreas que apresentaram menor domìnio das competências foram as áreas de Ciências Agrárias, Ciências Sociais Aplicadas e Engenharias. Também foram observados indìcios de competências básicas e/ou necessárias que o indivìduo deve possuir para trabalhar em equipe no âmbito de grupos de pesquisa. Foi notado que os respondentes que possuìam maior idade dominaram mais a competência e perceberam maior contribuição do grupo de pesquisa em relação aos mais jovens. O mesmo ocorreu entre os pesquisados mais experientes para com os menos experientes, entre os pesquisados com maior grau de formação ante aos com menor formação. Também se pode notar que os pesquisadores e os lìderes também tiveram maior domìnio e maior percepção do que em relação aos estudantes. Ao final, são apontadas limitações desta pesquisa, recomendações e direções para realização de novos estudos. ______________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACTThis research aimed to identify the degree of mastery of teamwork competences (CTE) developed with participation in research groups, to validate data collection instrument, characterize research groups regarding the area of knowledge of the group, and characterize participants of groups regarding demographic variables: age, length of experience, level of education and type of activity. The research was a descriptive, inferential and applied, and collected data using structured questionnaires with closed questions that were applied electronically and in hard copy. Factor analysis was used to validate the measurement scale CTE. For data analysis, descriptive analyzes, nonparametric tests (Kruskall-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U) and simple linear regression were performed. The sample consisted of 396 participants from research groups. The proposed scale shows evidence of statistical validity, given the parameters established in the literature. It was observed a high mastery of teamwork competences through knowledge area of humanities and areas that had lower mastery of skills were the areas of Agricultural Sciences, Applied Social Sciences and Engineering. It was also observed evidence of basic and / or necessary skills that the individual should possess to work as a team within research groups. It was noted that respondents who had higher ages dominated more competence and perceived greater contribution of the research group compared to lower ages. The same was true among respondents with more experienced to the less experienced among respondents with higher levels of education compared to those with less education. Also it was perceived that researchers and leaders had also greater domain and greater perception than in relation to students. Finally, limitations of this research are identified and recommendations and directions to conduct further studies are shown

Características de la colaboración científica entre grupos de investigación de áreas de exactas, vida y humanas

Este estudo caracteriza a colaboração científica (CC) entre grupos de pesquisa (GP), atuantes nas áreas de exatas, vidas e humanas, abordando motivos da colaboração; dinâmica de interação; facilitadores, desafios, problemas e dificuldades enfrentados; principais resultados alcançados; e conteúdo aprendido. A pesquisa, de natureza teórico-empírica, descritiva e qualitativa, pautou-se em revisão bibliográfica para situar o panorama de estudos acerca dessa temática. Os dados coletados com base em roteiro de entrevista semiestruturado foram organizados em categorias definidas a priori e submetidos a análise de conteúdo. Os resultados indicam a necessidade de parcerias para atender a editais de fomento ou visando principalmente: 1) à ampliação de estudos e pesquisas, com diversificação de perspectivas teóricas e metodológicas, com o objetivo de obter maior conhecimento a respeito do tema, além do aproveitamento e troca de conhecimentos e experiência de outros integrantes da CC; e 2) ao compartilhamento de recursos financeiros e equipamentos. Contribuem para a formação de parcerias a proximidade entre as linhas de pesquisa e o conhecimento prévio dos pesquisadores, decorrente de situações de formação ou interação em eventos. Há sobreposição entre desafios, problemas, aspectos dificultadores e facilitadores, sendo a presença ou ausência de algumas condições determinante de como aquele aspecto é percebido. Entre os principais resultados estão o melhor aproveitamento de recursos, a melhoria da qualidade e a ampliação da produção e da disseminação do conhecimento. Além de focar o tema em contexto de GP brasileiros de diferentes áreas do conhecimento, o estudo contribui com a identificação de conteúdos aprendidos na atuação em CC.This study aims to characterize the scientific collaboration (SC) among research groups, active in the different areas of knowledge (exact sciences, biology, and humanities). It addresses the reasons for collaboration; interaction dynamics; facilitator aspects, challenges, problems and difficulties faced; main results achieved; and learned content. It is a theoretical, empirical, descriptive and qualitative research, based on a literature review that describes the panorama of studies on this subject. Data collected by semi-structured interview were organized in categories of analysis defined “a priori” and submitted to content analysis. The results identified that collaboration is driven by the need to meet the requirements of funding agencies and are aimed especially at: 1) the expansion of studies and research, with diversification of theoretical and methodological perspectives, with the objective of obtaining greater knowledge about the subject, in addition to the use and exchange of knowledge and experience of other members of the SC; and 2) sharing of financial resources and equipment. The proximity of the research groups line of study and the prior relationship among the researchers, which is gained in opportunities of study and interaction (events), contribute to form partnerships for scientific collaboration. There is an overlap between challenges, problems, hindering and facilitating aspects, with the presence or absence of certain conditions determining how the aspect is perceived. Among the main results are the best use of resources, quality improvement, production expansion, and the knowledge dissemination. In addition to focusing on the theme in the context of Brazilian research groups of different areas of knowledge, the study contributes to the identification of contents learned in the performance in SC.El objetivo de este estudio es caracterizar la colaboración científica (CC) entre grupos de investigación (GI) que operan en diferentes áreas del conocimiento (exactas, vidas y humanas), abordando los motivos de la colaboración; dinámica de la interacción; facilitadores, retos, problemas y dificultades enfrentados; los principales logros y el contenido aprendido. La investigación, de naturaleza teórico-empírica, descriptiva y cualitativa, se basó en la revisión de la literatura para situar el panorama de estudios sobre este tema. Los datos recolectados basados en un guión de entrevistas semiestructurado se organizaron en categorías definidas a priori y se sometieron a análisis de contenido. Los resultados identifican la necesidad de alianzas para satisfacer las convocatorias de fomento o principalmente para: 1) la ampliación de estudios e investigaciones, con diversas perspectivas teóricas y metodológicas, con el objetivo de obtener mayor conocimiento sobre el tema, además del aprovechamiento e intercambio de conocimientos y experiencias de otros miembros de la CC; y 2) la compartición de recursos financieros y equipos. Contribuyen a la formación de alianzas la proximidad entre las líneas de investigación y el conocimiento previo de los investigadores, resultantes de situaciones de formación o interacción en eventos. Hay superposición entre desafíos, problemas, aspectos dificultadores y facilitadores, y la presencia o ausencia de ciertas condiciones determinan cómo se percibe este aspecto. Entre los principales resultados están el mejor uso de los recursos, la mejora de la calidad y el aumento de la producción y difusión de conocimientos. Además de centrar el tema en el contexto de GI brasileños de diferentes áreas del conocimiento, el estudio contribuye a la identificación de los contenidos aprendidos en la actuación en la CC

Nest Structure, Seasonality and Female Behavior of Epicharis (Anepicharis) dejeanii Lepeletier (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Centridini) in a Restinga Ecosystem, in Southern Brazil

We investigated the nesting behavior of females of Epicharis dejeanii and the architecture of their nests, in a large aggregation in a Restinga area, on Ilha do Superagui, southern Brazil. Surveys were carried out intermittently through the warm-wet seasons from different years between 2013 and 2017. The nest aggregation occupied an area of approximately 2,000 m2 and was situated on a sand bank and on flat sandy soil. Each nest consisted of a long unbranched tunnel, averaging 1.45 ± 0.35 m (N = 8), connected to a single brood cell with a mean length of 3.13 ± 0.2 cm (N = 13) and mean diameter of 1.2 ± 0.1 cm (N = 11). On average, females carried out 4.0 ± 2.4 foraging trips per day (N = 109) to collect floral resources for provisioning brood cells. Similar times were spent by females in their foraging trips for: only pollen (15.8 ± 14.3 min, N = 72), oil (22.5 ± 15.7 min, N = 45), or both resources (17.0 ± 15.1, N = 63).  Our findings reveal that some variation in both nesting architecture and female behavior of E. dejeanii during nesting activities can occur in different locations from the same region

Diversidade genética de bovinos Brahman no Brasil por meio da análise de pedigree

The objective of this work was to evaluate the genetic diversity of Brahman cattle in Brazil with pedigree analysis. Genealogical records of a subpopulation were used considering all pedigree information (Pt) and the pedigree information divided into two periods (P1, from 1994 to 2004; and P2, from 2005 to 2012) or according to the raising system (Ppt, animals on pasture; or Pst, on stable). Estimates were obtained for average inbreeding coefficients, generation intervals (GI), number of equivalent known generation (CGE), number of founders (Nf), effective number of founders (fe), effective number of ancestors (fa), and founder genome equivalents (fg). The average inbreeding coefficients were 11.97, 7.79, 11.95, 11.74, and 11.31% for Pt, P1, P2, Ppt, and Pst, respectively. Average GI was 4.4 years, whereas CGE was 3.18. The fe values were similar to those of fa, which were greater than those of fg. The fe/fa and fg/fe ratios were close to 1, which indicates no genetic bottleneck and small losses by genetic drift. The genetic diversity in the Brazilian population of Brahman breed is not significantly reduced.O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a diversidade genética de bovinos da raça Brahman no Brasil com análise de pedigree. Registros genealógicos de uma subpopulação foram usados, tendo-se considerado toda a informação de pedigree (Pt) e a informação de pedigree dividida em dois períodos (P1, de 1994 a 2004; e P2, de 2005 a 2012) ou de acordo com sistema de criação (Ppt, animais a pasto; ou Pst, estabulados). Foram obtidas as estimativas de coeficientes médios de endogamia, intervalos de geração (IG), número equivalente de gerações conhecidas (EGC), número de fundadores (Nf), número efetivo de fundadores (fe), número efetivo de ancestrais (fa) e número efetivo de genomas remanescentes (fg). Os coeficientes médios de endogamia foram de 11,97, 7,79, 11,95, 11,74 e 11,31% para Pt, P1, P2, Ppt e Pst, respectivamente. O IG médio foi de 4,4 anos, enquanto o EGC médio foi de 3,18. O fe foi próximo de fa, cujos valores foram maiores que os de fg. As razões fe/fa e fg/fe foram próximas de 1, o que indica ausência de gargalo genético e pequenas perdas por deriva genética. A diversidade genética na raça Brahman no Brasil não está significativamente reduzida

Neuronal response sto face-like and facial stimuli in the monkey superior colliculus

The superficial layers of the superior colliculus (sSC) appear to function as a subcortical visual pathway that bypasses the striate cortex for the rapid processing of coarse facial information. We investigated the responses of neurons in the monkey sSC during a delayed non-matching-to-sample (DNMS) task in which monkeys were required to discriminate among five categories of visual stimuli [photos of faces with different gaze directions, line drawings of faces, face-like patterns (three dark blobs on a bright oval), eye-like patterns, and simple geometric patterns]. Of the 605 sSC neurons recorded, 216 neurons responded to the visual stimuli. Among the stimuli, face-like patterns elicited responses with the shortest latencies. Low-pass filtering of the images did not influence the responses. However, scrambling of the images increased the responses in the late phase, and this was consistent with a feedback influence from upstream areas. A multidimensional scaling (MDS) analysis of the population data indicated that the sSC neurons could separately encode face-like patterns during the first 25-ms period after stimulus onset, and stimulus categorization developed in the next three 25-ms periods. The amount of stimulus information conveyed by the sSC neurons and the number of stimulus-differentiating neurons were consistently higher during the 2nd to 4th 25-ms periods than during the first 25-ms period. These results suggested that population activity of the sSC neurons preferentially filtered face-like patterns with short latencies to allow for the rapid processing of coarse facial information and developed categorization of the stimuli in later phases through feedback from upstream areas

Population coding of facial information in the monkey superior colliculus and pulvinar

The superior colliculus (SC) and pulvinar are thought to function as a subcortical visual pathway that bypasses the striate cortex and detects fundamental facial information. We previously investigated neuronal responses in the SC and pulvinar of monkeys during a delayed nonmatching-to-sample task, in which the monkeys were required to discriminate among 35 facial photos of five models and other categories of visual stimuli, and reported that population coding by multiple SC and pulvinar neurons well discriminated facial photos from other categories of stimuli (Nguyen et al., 2013, 2014). However, it remains unknown whether population coding could represent multiple types of facial information including facial identity, gender, facial orientation, and gaze direction. In the present study, to investigate population coding of multiple types of facial information by the SC and pulvinar neurons, we reanalyzed the same neuronal responses in the SC and pulvinar; the responses of 112 neurons in the SC and 68 neurons in the pulvinar in serial 50-ms epochs after stimulus onset were reanalyzed with multidimensional scaling (MDS). The results indicated that population coding by neurons in both the SC and pulvinar classified some aspects of facial information, such as face orientation, gender, and identity, of the facial photos in the second epoch (50–100 ms after stimulus onset). The Euclidean distances between all the pairs of stimuli in the MDS spaces in the SC were significantly correlated with those in the pulvinar, which suggested that the SC and pulvinar function as a unit. However, in contrast with the known population coding of face neurons in the temporal cortex, the facial information coding in the SC and pulvinar was coarse and insufficient. In these subcortical areas, identity discrimination was face orientation-dependent and the left and right profiles were not discriminated. Furthermore, gaze direction information was not extracted in the SC and pulvinar. These results suggest that the SC and pulvinar, which comprise the subcortical visual pathway, send coarse and rapid information on faces to the cortical system in a bottom-up process

Snakes elicit earlier, and monkey faces, later, gamma oscillations in macaque pulvinar neurons

Gamma oscillations (30–80 Hz) have been suggested to be involved in feedforward visual information processing, and might play an important role in detecting snakes as predators of primates. In the present study, we analyzed gamma oscillations of pulvinar neurons in the monkeys during a delayed non-matching to sample task, in which monkeys were required to discriminate 4 categories of visual stimuli (snakes, monkey faces, monkey hands and simple geometrical patterns). Gamma oscillations of pulvinar neuronal activity were analyzed in three phases around the stimulus onset (Pre-stimulus: 500 ms before stimulus onset; Early: 0–200 ms after stimulus onset; and Late: 300–500 ms after stimulus onset). The results showed significant increases in mean strength of gamma oscillations in the Early phase for snakes and the Late phase for monkey faces, but no significant differences in ratios and frequencies of gamma oscillations among the 3 phases. The different periods of stronger gamma oscillations provide neurophysiological evidence that is consistent with other studies indicating that primates can detect snakes very rapidly and also cue in to faces for information. Our results are suggestive of different roles of gamma oscillations in the pulvinar: feedforward processing for images of snakes and cortico-pulvinar-cortical integration for images of faces

Effect of anticomplement agent K-76 COOH in hamster-to-rat and guinea pig- to-rat xenotransplantation

In normal rats, the xenobiotic K76 inhibited the C5 and probably the C2 and C3 steps of complement and effectively depressed classical complement pathway activity, alternative complement pathway activity, and the C3 complement component during and well beyond the drug's 3-hr half-life. It was tested alone and with intramuscular tacrolimus (TAC) and/or intragastric cyclophosphamide (CP) in rat recipients of heterotopic hearts from guinea pig (discordant) and hamster (concordant) donors. Single prevascularization doses of 100 and 200 mg/kg increased the median survival time of guinea pig hearts from 0.17 hr in untreated controls to 1.7 hr and 10.2 hr, respectively; with repeated injections of the 200-mg dose every 9-12 hr, graft survival time was increased to 18.1 hr. Pretreatment of guinea pig heart recipients for 10 days with TAC and CP, with or without perioperative splenectomy or infusion of donor bone marrow, further increased median graft survival time to 24 hr. Among the guinea pig recipients, the majority of treated animals died with a beating heart from respiratory failure that was ascribed to anaphylatoxins. Hamster heart survival also was increased with monotherapy using 200 mg/kg b.i.d.i.v. K76 (limited by protocol to 6 days), but only from 3 to 4 days. Survival was prolonged to 7 days with the addition to K76 of intragastric CP at 5 mg/kg per day begun 1 day before operation (to a limit of 9 days); it was prolonged to 4.5 days with the addition of intramuscular TAC at 2 mg/kg per day beginning on the day of transplantation and continued indefinitely. In contrast to the limited efficacy of the single drugs, or any two drugs in combination, the three drugs together (K76, CP, and TAC) in the same dose schedules increased median graft survival time to 61 days. Antihamster antibodies rapidly increased during the first 5 days after transplantation, and plateaued at an abnormal level in animals with long graft survival times without immediate humoral rejection. However, rejection could not be reliably prevented, and was present even in most of the xenografts recovered from most of the animals dying (usually from infection) with a beating heart. Thus, although effective complement inhibition with K76 was achieved in both guinea pig- and hamster-to-rat heart transplant models, the results suggest that effective interruption of the complement cascade will have a limited role, if any, in the induction of xenograft acceptance

Monkey pulvinar neurons fire differentially to snake postures

There is growing evidence from both behavioral and neurophysiological approaches that primates are able to rapidly discriminate visually between snakes and innocuous stimuli. Recent behavioral evidence suggests that primates are also able to discriminate the level of threat posed by snakes, by responding more intensely to a snake model poised to strike than to snake models in coiled or sinusoidal postures (Etting and Isbell 2014). In the present study, we examine the potential for an underlying neurological basis for this ability. Previous research indicated that the pulvinar is highly sensitive to snake images. We thus recorded pulvinar neurons in Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) while they viewed photos of snakes in striking and non-striking postures in a delayed non-matching to sample (DNMS) task. Of 821 neurons recorded, 78 visually responsive neurons were tested with the all snake images. We found that pulvinar neurons in the medial and dorsolateral pulvinar responded more strongly to snakes in threat displays poised to strike than snakes in non-threat-displaying postures with no significant difference in response latencies. A multidimensional scaling analysis of the 78 visually responsive neurons indicated that threat-displaying and non threatdisplaying snakes were separated into two different clusters in the first epoch of 50 ms after stimulus onset, suggesting bottom-up visual information processing. These results indicate that pulvinar neurons in primates discriminate between poised to strike from those in non-threat-displaying postures. This neuronal ability likely facilitates behavioral discrimination and has clear adaptive value. Our results are thus consistent with the Snake Detection Theory, which posits that snakes were instrumental in the evolution of primate visual systems