Osteoarthrosis of the Antebrachiocarpal Joint of 7 Riding Horses

Osteoarthrosis (OA) of the antebrachiocarpal joint from 7 riding horses is described. The horses were old mares and developed severe OA, with ankylosis in some of the joints. The lesions were bilateral, and the owners noticed the lameness in a late event. The cause of severe OA in these mares is not clear. The fact that OA was bilateral indicates that a single traumatic injury is unlikely as an etiologic factor. Considering the severe joint lesions it took long time before the horse-owners noticed the lameness. It is discussed if the threshold of pain is higher in the antebrachiocarpal joint compared with the middle carpal joint

Clustering of vacancy defects in high-purity semi-insulating SiC

Positron lifetime spectroscopy was used to study native vacancy defects in semi-insulating silicon carbide. The material is shown to contain (i) vacancy clusters consisting of 4--5 missing atoms and (ii) Si vacancy related negatively charged defects. The total open volume bound to the clusters anticorrelates with the electrical resistivity both in as-grown and annealed material. Our results suggest that Si vacancy related complexes compensate electrically the as-grown material, but migrate to increase the size of the clusters during annealing, leading to loss of resistivity.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure

Atividades terrestres dos jacarés no Pantanal, Brasil.

O movimento terrestre coordenado não tem sido previamente reportado em crocodilianos. Entretanto, entre 1989 e 1999, 94% dos 525 Caiman crocodilus yacare descobertos na terra no Pantanal estavam coordenados em grupos (N = 73) andando um atras do outro, em linhas quase retas. Os jacarés saíram das poças e iniciaram movimentos terrestres espontaneamente, ou em resposta as perturbações por pesquisadores e caçadores. A razão sexual dos grupos foi tendenciosa para machos (0,8 ± 0,24), e foi semelhante daquela encontrada em ambientes aquáticos na área de estudo. No entanto, dois grupos consistiram apenas de fêmeas. Quando os jacarés saíram das poças sujeitas a perturbações, como caça clandestina e captura para pesquisa, eles andaram em linhas um atrás do outro e depois se enterraram na lama perto das poças ou em serapilheira na floresta.bitstream/item/37410/1/BP41.pd

New rr-Matrices for Lie Bialgebra Structures over Polynomials

For a finite dimensional simple complex Lie algebra $\mathfrak{g}$, Lie bialgebra structures on $\mathfrak{g}[[u]]$ and $\mathfrak{g}[u]$ were classified by Montaner, Stolin and Zelmanov. In our paper, we provide an explicit algorithm to produce $r$-matrices which correspond to Lie bialgebra structures over polynomials

Comportamento de termorregulação do jacaré-do-pantanal, Caiman crocodilus yacare.

A temperatura corpórea de 51 jacarés do Pantanal foi monitorada nos períodos de frio e calor em áreas de lagos e rios. A massa corpórea desses jacarés variou de 2 a 42 kg e seu tamanho afetou a temperatura média e a amplitude corpórea. A temperatura média corpórea alcançou 25oC, na estação fria, e 30oC, na estação quente, com valor mínimo de 16,9 oC e máximo de 37,9 oC. A temperatura corpórea de Caiman crocodilus yacare na natureza variou com temperatura do ambiente nas estações fria e quente. No período quente, os jacarés permaneceram mais tempo em áreas sombreadas, tanto na terra como na água, do que expostos diretamente aos raios solares. Sua temperatura corpórea manteve-se próxima à da superfície da água, independente de estarem no sol, na sombra, na terra ou na água. Na estação fria, em dias quentes, os jacarés ficaram expondo aos raios solares, tanto na terra como na água, mas sua temperatura aproximou-se da temperatura do ar. Em ambas as estações, a temperatura corporal dos jacarés, à noite foi similar com à da água. Em temporadas quentes e secas, os jacarés movimentaram-se regularmente entre terra e água, durante o dia e à noite, mas esses movimentos não tiveram significado óbvio de termorregulação. O padrão dominante observado no calor, quando a temperatura do ar chegava, geralmente acima de 30 oC, foi o de termoconformidade e, no frio, com índice menor que 30oC , os jacarés pareceram estar termorregulando, selecionando microambientes mais quentes ou ensolarados. As vocalizações e interações agressivas ocorreram primariamente pela manhã, quando as temperaturas do ambiente eram mais baixas. A temperaturas corpóreas das cinco fêmeas com folículos pré-ovulatórios foram similares às das outras fêmeas monitoradas no mesmo período. Os jacarés jovens adotaram diferentes padrões diurnos de exposição ao sol e de atividade terrestres, em diferentes dias, e esses movimentos não pareceram ser, inicialmente de termorregulação. Todos os resultados deste estudo sugerem que o ambiente termal no Pantanal está dentro de uma área de muitas atividades e que vários comportamentos não são primariamente para termorregulação.bitstream/item/37399/1/BP51.pd

Where are the black caimans, Melanosuchus niger (Crocodylia: Alligatoridae), in the Xingu River basin, Brazil?

The black caiman, Melanosuchus niger (Spix, 1825), which can reach a length of 6 meters (Medem, 1981), was considered endangered due to intense hunting for its skin in the 1970s (Rebelo and Magnusson, 1983), but densities in several areas have recovered after the implementation of environmental laws and conservation programs (Da Silveira and Thorbjarnason, 1999), as well as changes in contraband routes.Na publicação: Zilca Campos

A Characterisation Framework for Parametric Building Performance Simulation Tools

Implementing Building Performance Simulation (BPS) in a parametric design framework is a prevalent way of facilitating environmental assessments in early design stages. However, no up-to-date overviews of potential approaches are available, and no characterisation frameworks adapted for parametric BPS tools are present. In this study, such a framework was developed and its use demonstrated through an investigation of eleven available BPS tools for the parametric design framework Grasshopper\uae. It was found that the framework was able to successfully differentiate tools based on the level of BPS expertise integrated in the tools, and the allocation of responsibility for data entry and interpretation. A contrast was found between streamlined tools, and tools which provide more versatility. The characterisation framework, and the resulting overview of approaches, can be used to guide the future development of parametric environmental analysis frameworks for buildings

Tool characterisation framework for parametric building LCA

Connecting Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to parametric design has been suggested as a way of facilitating performing environmental assessments in early design stages. However, no overviews of potential approaches and tools are available within recent research. Also, no characterisation frameworks adapted for parametric LCA tools are present. In order to guide the development of workflows for environmental analysis aimed at the early design stage of buildings, the goal of this paper is to provide such a framework, and to demonstrate its use by characterising a number of available LCA plug-ins for the commonly used parametric design framework Grasshopper\uae (GH). First, a framework for classification and characterisation of tools based on workflow, adaptability, and required user knowledge was developed. Second, a tool inventory was performed, identifying 13 parametric LCA plug-ins for GH. Finally, four of these plug-ins were further investigated using the developed evaluation framework, a user persona approach, and a simplified test case. It was found that the characterisation framework was able to differentiate tools based on the level of LCA expertise integrated in the tools, and the allocation of responsibility for data entry and interpretation. A contrast was found between streamlined tools, and tools which provide more versatility. The characterisation framework, and the resulting overview of approaches can be used to guide the future development of parametric environmental analysis frameworks

Optical properties of carbon nanofiber photonic crystals

Carbon nanofibers (CNF) are used as components of planar photonic crystals. Square and rectangular lattices and random patterns of vertically aligned CNF were fabricated and their properties studied using ellipsometry. We show that detailed information such as symmetry directions and the band structure of these novel materials can be extracted from considerations of the polarization state in the specular beam. The refractive index of the individual nanofibers was found to be n_CNF = 4.1.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure

Interactional Structure Applied to the Identification and Generation of Visual Interactive Behavior: Robots that (Usually) Follow the Rules

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