Prevalence and extent of coral diseases in shallow and mesophotic reefs of the Southwestern Atlantic

Coral reef ecology has advanced in many fields, but disease patterns across depth gradients remain unclear. By comparing the prevalence and extent of bleaching and diseases in 160 colonies of Siderastrea stellata between shallow and mesophotic reefs, we observed that prevalence was high (75%) regardless of depth, but the extent was about two times greater in mesophotic than shallow reefs (14.4% vs. 6.6% of colony area, respectively). Across the shallow reefs, where S. stellata co-occurred with Montastraea cavernosa, M. cavernosa showed lower prevalence (27% of 30 colonies) and extent (1.8% of colony area) compared to S. stellata. Besides bleaching, five coral diseases afflicted S. stellata and two affected M. cavernosa. Because diseases are spread over the entire gradient of depth, any attempt of managing the diseases should consider both shallow and deep reefs to be effective

Direct Selling: The Role of Risk In Consumer’s Acceptance and Satisfaction

This paper considers the role of perceived risk in consumer’s satisfaction and acceptance of direct selling. Direct selling has been exhibiting in the last decade substantial growth in sales revenues and number of salespeople involved. Also the acceptance on the part of the consumers has been increasing; in spite of they show more and more demanding and informed. The literature reveals that the relationship between customer satisfaction and direct selling has not been sufficiently studied, yet. This paper, applying a quantitative approach attempts to provide some data on this relation. Results indicate that there is a negative correlation between perceived risk and direct selling acceptance and also a positive correlation between direct selling acceptance and satisfaction

A global synthesis of the current knowledge on the taxonomic and geographic distribution of major coral diseases

Although knowledge on the diseases affecting corals has been accumulating exponentially since the 2000s, even more effort is required to summarize and guide further investigation. Here, we used the Web of Science database to review 226 studies published, between 2000 and 2020, to identify the major geographic and taxonomic gaps in the literature, and propose future directions for the study of coral diseases. We classified the studies according to the ocean, ecoregion, coral species, disease types, approach (e.g., observational or experimental), and depth. In total, 22 types of diseases were reported for 165 coral species. Acropora spp. was the most studied taxa with 12 types of diseases and 8.2% of the records. Black band, white plague, white syndromes, skeletal eroding, dark spot, and yellow band were the six most common diseases, accounting together for 76.8% of the records. As expected, most studies were conducted in the Caribbean and Indo-Pacific (34.0% and 28.7%, respectively), but only in 44 of the 141 global ecoregions that harbour corals. Observational approaches were the most frequent (75.6% of the records), while experimental approaches accounted for 19.9% and were mainly done on Acropora. The vast majority of studies (∼98%) were performed in shallow waters (<30 m depth). We conclude that over the past two decades, coral diseases have been assessed on a very small fraction of coral species, in very few locations around the globe, and at a limited range of their depth distribution. While monitoring bleaching is mandatory for reef ecology and conservation, the ecoepidemiology of coral diseases deserves more space in the research agenda of reef ecosystems

Determinants Of Consumers’ Satisfaction and Acceptance of Direct Selling

This paper studies the factors that influence the consumers’ satisfaction and acceptance of direct selling. Direct selling has been exhibiting in the last decade substantial growth in sales revenues and number of salespeople involved. Also the acceptance on the part of the consumers has been increasing; in spite of they show more and more demanding and informed. The literature reveals that the relationship between customer satisfaction and direct selling has not been sufficiently studied, yet. This paper, applying a quantitative approach attempts to provide some data on this relation. Results indicate that the consumer former experience is the major factor that leads to direct selling acceptance and satisfaction

Direct Selling: Finding Consumer Segments

This paper considers the segmentation of direct selling customers applying a quantitative approach with cluster analysis. Direct selling has been exhibited in the last decade a substantial growth in sales revenues and number of salespeople involved. Also the acceptance of the consumers is increasing; in spite of they are showing more and more demanding and informed. The literature reveals that some segmentation had been made, but we haven’t found any cluster analysis. The results show that three clusters have been identified with different characteristics. These results can have great importance for direct salespeople who seek better understanding and predict post consumption behaviours

Walter Benjamin's concept of aura and the cultural industry

This is an analysis of the text The Work of art in the era of its technical reproducibility, written in 1935 by Walter Benjamin, in which the author examines the changes made by the new techniques of art production in the cultural sphere and develops, as the main argument, the thesis that technical reproducibility causes the overcoming of aura by a work of art. Based on the contrast between Benjamin's text and The culture industry: enlightenment as mass deception, written in 1947 by Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer, and the observation of cinema, music and book production (arts that are necessarily reproducible), this article (a) analyzes the thesis of the overcoming of the concept of aura by the work of art in the era of technical reproducibility, (b) contrasts this thesis with Adorno and Horkheimer's reflection on the cultural industry and with the characteristics of the work of art produced during the 20th and 21st centuries, and (c) presents the contributions that arise from this analysis to the reflection regarding the impact of Internet and digital technology over contemporaneous cultural production. As the main conclusion, the article considers that the techniques analyzed by Benjamin, despite having made the work of art independent of a single substratum, did not emancipate it from its auratic character. The key elements of the aura (authenticity and uniqueness) were not overcome, but were instead adapted to the technical changes. Such adaptation occurred around the industrialization that marked cultural production during the 20th century.El presente trabajo hace un análisis del texto La obra de arte en la época de su reproductibilidad técnica, escrito por Walter Benjamin en 1935, en la que el autor examina los cambios introducidos por las nuevas técnicas de producción artística en el ámbito de la cultura, y desarrolla, como componente principal, la tesis de que la reproductibilidad técnica provoca la superación del aura por la obra de arte. Apoyándose en el contraste del texto de Benjamin con el texto La industria cultural: Iluminismo como mistificación de masas, de Theodor Adorno y Max Horkheimer, de 1947, y en la observación de la producción del cine, de la música y del libro (artes necesariamente reproducibles), este artículo (a) examina la tesis de la superación del concepto de aura por la obra de arte en la época de la reproductibilidad técnica, (b) contrasta esa tesis con la reflexión sobre la industria cultural de Adorno y Hokheimer y con las características de la obra de arte producida en el curso del siglo 20 e inicio del siglo 21, y (c) presenta las contribuciones que se puede extraer de este análisis para la reflexión actual acerca de los impactos de la Internet y de las tecnologías digitales sobre la producción cultural contemporánea. Como resultado principal y del que resultan otras conclusiones, el artículo considera que las técnicas analizadas por Benjamin, aunque han tornado la obra de arte independiente de un sustrato único, no la han emancipado de su carácter aurático. Los elementos centrales del aura (autenticidad y unicidad) no han sido superados, al contrario, se han adaptado a los cambios técnicos, adaptación que se ha producido en torno a la industrialización, que marcó la producción cultural en el siglo 20.Trata-se de uma análise do texto A obra de arte na era da reprodutibilidade técnica, de 1935, de Walter Benjamin, no qual o autor analisa as alterações provocadas pelas novas técnicas de produção artística na esfera da cultura, e desenvolve, como elemento principal, a tese de a reprodutibilidade técnica provocar a superação da aura pela obra de arte. Tendo como apoio o contraste do texto de Benjamin com o texto A indústria cultural: O esclarecimento como mistificação das massas, de Theodor Adorno e Max Horkheimer, de 1947, e a observação da produção do cinema, da música e do livro (artes necessariamente reprodutíveis), este artigo (a) analisa a tese da superação do conceito de aura pela obra de arte na era da reprodutibilidade técnica, (b) contrasta essa tese com a reflexão sobre indústria cultural de Adorno e Horkheimer e com as características da obra de arte produzida no decorrer do século 20 e início do século 21, e (c) apresenta as contribuições que podem ser retiradas dessa análise para a atual reflexão a respeito dos impactos da Internet e das tecnologias digitais sobre a produção cultural contemporânea. Como resultado principal e do qual decorre outras conclusões, o artigo considera que as técnicas analisadas por Benjamin, apesar de terem tornado a obra de arte independente de um substrato único, não a emanciparam de seu caráter aurático. Os elementos centrais da aura (autenticidade e unicidade) não foram superados, mas, ao contrário, adaptaram-se às mudanças técnicas, adaptação essa que ocorreu em torno da industrialização, a qual marcou a produção cultural no século 20

Genome visualization in space

Phylogeny is an important field to understand evolution and the organization of life. However, most methods depend highly on manual study and analysis, making the construction of phylogeny error prone. Linear Algebra methods are known to be efficient to deal with the semantic relationships between a large number of elements in spaces of high dimensionality. Therefore, they can be useful to help the construction of phylogenetic trees. The ability to visualize the relationships between genomes is crucial in this process. In this paper, a linear algebra method, followed by optimization, is used to generate a visualization of a set of complete genomes. Using the proposed method we were able to visualize the relationships of 64 complete mitochondrial genomes, organized as six different groups, and of 31 complete mitochondrial genomes of mammals, organized as nine different groups. The prespecified groups could be seen clustered together in the visualization, and similar species were represented close together. Besides, there seems to be an evolutionary influence in the organization of the graph

Análise de mecanismos de controle de acesso nas redes sociais

SCIELO:S1645-44642010000200006 (Nº de Acesso Web of Science)Redes sociais na internet vêm se tornando cada vez mais populares, pois facilitam o contato com amigos, parentes distantes, clientes e consumidores através da troca de mensagens e da visualização de fotos, vídeos e áudios. Contudo a apresentação de tantos dados pessoais pode expor a vida privada de alguém ou informações internas de uma empresa a pessoas desconhecidas. Desse modo as redes sociais devem prover mecanismos flexíveis e de fácil utilização para que seus usuários possam manter controle sobre a visualização de seus dados. Esse artigo apresenta-se como um survey onde será visto como as atuais redes sociais provêem esse tipo de mecanismo, analisando alguns de seus aspectos positivos e negativos e apresentando novas propostas específicas para o âmbito de redes sociais na internet