Spatial distribution of aboveground biomass stock in tropical dry forest in Brazil

Climate change is being intensified by anthropogenic emission of greenhouse gasses, highlighting the value of forests for carbon dioxide storing carbon in their biomass. Seasonally dry tropical forests are a neglected, threatened, but potentially critical biome for helping mitigate climate change. In South America, knowing the amount and distribution of carbon in Caatinga seasonally dry vegetation is essential to understand its contribution to the global carbon cycle and subsequently design a strategic plan for its conservation. The present study aimed to model and map the spatial distribution of the potential forest biomass stock across 32 forest fragments of Caatinga, in the state of Bahia, Brazil, using regression kriging and Inverse Square of Distance techniques, building from point measurements of vegetation biomass made on-the-ground in ecological plots. First, a model for estimating biomass was fitted as a function of environmental variables to apply regression kriging, and then applied to the maps of the selected components. Elevation, temperature, and precipitation explained 46% of the biomass variations in the Caatinga. The model residuals showed strong spatial dependence and were mapped based on geostatistical criteria, selecting the spherical semivariogram model for interpolation by ordinary kriging. Biomass was also mapped by the Inverse Square of Distance approach. The quality of the regression model suggests that there is good potential for estimating biomass here from environmental variables. The regression kriging showed greater detail in the spatial distribution and revealed a spatial trend of increasing biomass from the north to south of the domain. Additional studies with greater sampling intensity and the use of other explanatory variables are suggested to improve the model, as well as to maximize the technique’s ability to capture the actual biomass behavior in this newly studied seasonally dry ecosystem

O programa de qualidade no setor hospitalar e as atividades reais da enfermagem: o caso da medicação The quality program in the hospital sector and the nursing activities: the medication case

O objetivo deste estudo é analisar a política de qualidade implementada pela gestão hospitalar na farmácia central e as características da atividade de medicar realizada pelo auxiliar de enfermagem (AE). Adotou-se a abordagem proposta pela escola francesa de ergonomia. Avaliou-se o funcionamento do hospital e estudou-se a atividade do trabalho do AE em tempo real, possibilitando compreender as dificuldades enfrentadas no cotidiano e as estratégias implementadas. Viu-se que a atividade de trabalho está inserida num paradoxo organizacional em que a qualidade exigida para o cumprimento da missão de medicar dificulta o cumprimento da própria tarefa, comprometendo, em última análise, a assistência ao paciente.<br>The aim of this study is to analyze the quality policy implemented by the hospital management in the central chemistry and the characteristics of the medication activities performed by the nursing assistants (NA).The approach of the French School of Ergonomics was adopted. It was assessed the Hospital working situation and the activity performed by the nursing assistant in real time which have allowed to understand the difficulties faced by the workers and the strategies adopted to overcome them. It was observed that the working activity is part of an organizational paradox where the expected quality to fulfil the medication mission has been difficult to achieve, endangering, ultimately the assistance to the patients