Perfil conceitual complexo : a interação entre perfis conceituais

A noção de perfil conceitual refere-se às várias representações (zonas) que um indivíduo possui de um conceito e como essas são utilizadas em contextos. Propomos aqui, realizar uma argumentação de uma noção de perfil conceitual complexo, que se refere à relação de perfis conceituais menos complexos. Neste sentido, definimos como marco teórico as noções de perfil conceitual (Mortimer, 1995) e de contexto (Bernstein,1990), juntamente com a visão de conceitos em rede da psicologia cognitiva. Além disto, apresentamos uma breve análise de dados colhidos, em uma turma de professores de física em formação inicial, por meio de um questionário delimitador de contextos de uso das zonas dos perfis conceituais de aprender e ensinar. Procuramos identificar a existência do perfil conceitual complexo de aprender-ensinar que engloba os menos complexos de aprender e ensinar

Managing the environmental adaptation of vehicle operations

The growing vehicle fleet, which is the largest consumer of the hydrocarbon fuels and the emitter of toxic substances and greenhouse gases, creates the serious environmental challenges that require an integrated approach to solve them. Simulation of the alternative scenarios for the traffic flows distribution allows evaluating the impact of various schemes of the road traffic organization and changes of the road infrastructure on the state of atmospheric air. It is necessary to consolidate the application of the legislative, economic and management mechanisms, orienting parties responsible for the negative consequences of the car operation to implement the optimal technological solutions. Possible economic incentives for the manufacturers of the vehicles, fuel producers, and the car owners are discussed, which enable to improve the environmental safety of the motor vehicles operation. The proposed model of an environmental fuel tax has been tested in the evaluating of the annual value of the possible additional tax revenues from a number of Russian refineries. The introduction of the proposed tax model can significantly reduce the negative consequences of vehicles operation. © 2017 WIT Press.Government Council on Grants, Russian FederationThe work was supported by the Act 211 of the Russian Federation Government, contract № 02.A03.21.0006

Managing the environmental adaptation of vehicle operations

The growing vehicle fleet, which is the largest consumer of the hydrocarbon fuels and the emitter of toxic substances and greenhouse gases, creates the serious environmental challenges that require an integrated approach to solve them. Simulation of the alternative scenarios for the traffic flows distribution allows evaluating the impact of various schemes of the road traffic organization and changes of the road infrastructure on the state of atmospheric air. It is necessary to consolidate the application of the legislative, economic and management mechanisms, orienting parties responsible for the negative consequences of the car operation to implement the optimal technological solutions. Possible economic incentives for the manufacturers of the vehicles, fuel producers, and the car owners are discussed, which enable to improve the environmental safety of the motor vehicles operation. The proposed model of an environmental fuel tax has been tested in the evaluating of the annual value of the possible additional tax revenues from a number of Russian refineries. The introduction of the proposed tax model can significantly reduce the negative consequences of vehicles operation

Reactions of C+ + Cl-, Br-, and I--A comparison of theory and experiment.

Rate constants for the reactions of C+ + Cl-, Br-, and I- were measured at 300 K using the variable electron and neutral density electron attachment mass spectrometry technique in a flowing afterglow Langmuir probe apparatus. Upper bounds of <10-8 cm3 s-1 were found for the reaction of C+ with Br- and I-, and a rate constant of 4.2 ± 1.1 × 10-9 cm3 s-1 was measured for the reaction with Cl-. The C+ + Cl- mutual neutralization reaction was studied theoretically from first principles, and a rate constant of 3.9 × 10-10 cm3 s-1, an order of magnitude smaller than experiment, was obtained with spin-orbit interactions included using a semiempirical model. The discrepancy between the measured and calculated rate constants could be explained by the fact that in the experiment, the total loss of C+ ions was measured, while the theoretical treatment did not include the associative ionization channel. The charge transfer was found to take place at small internuclear distances, and the spin-orbit interaction was found to have a minor effect on the rate constant

A statistical approach for rain intensity differentiation using Meteosat Second Generation-Spinning Enhanced Visible and InfraRed Imager observations

Abstract. This study exploits the Meteosat Second Generation (MSG)–Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI) observations to evaluate the rain class at high spatial and temporal resolutions and, to this aim, proposes the Rain Class Evaluation from Infrared and Visible observation (RainCEIV) technique. RainCEIV is composed of two modules: a cloud classification algorithm which individuates and characterizes the cloudy pixels, and a supervised classifier that delineates the rainy areas according to the three rainfall intensity classes, the non-rainy (rain rate value < 0.5 mm h-1) class, the light-to-moderate rainy class (0.5 mm h−1 ≤ rain rate value < 4 mm h-1), and the heavy–to-very-heavy-rainy class (rain rate value ≥ 4 mm h-1). The second module considers as input the spectral and textural features of the infrared and visible SEVIRI observations for the cloudy pixels detected by the first module. It also takes the temporal differences of the brightness temperatures linked to the SEVIRI water vapour channels as indicative of the atmospheric instability strongly related to the occurrence of rainfall events. The rainfall rates used in the training phase are obtained through the Precipitation Estimation at Microwave frequencies, PEMW (an algorithm for rain rate retrievals based on Atmospheric Microwave Sounder Unit (AMSU)-B observations). RainCEIV's principal aim is that of supplying preliminary qualitative information on the rainy areas within the Mediterranean Basin where there is no radar network coverage. The results of RainCEIV have been validated against radar-derived rainfall measurements from the Italian Operational Weather Radar Network for some case studies limited to the Mediterranean area. The dichotomous assessment related to daytime (nighttime) validation shows that RainCEIV is able to detect rainy/non-rainy areas with an accuracy of about 97% (96%), and when all the rainy classes are considered, it shows a Heidke skill score of 67% (62%), a bias score of 1.36 (1.58), and a probability of detection of rainy areas of 81% (81%)

Sustainability in automotive transport: Russian and Italian experience concerning actual situation and intervention tools

The air quality in metropolitan areas of Russia and Italy, although with different distribution and intensity, raises similar concerns for the respective public authorities about vehicle emissions, as well as about the stagnation of toxic pollutants in urban areas. This article discusses some typical situations in both these countries. In order to obtain suitable solutions to diminish this form of impact, different tools that are based on different approaches can be proposed. It is necessary to consider both the practical possibility of application and the cost-benefit balance that takes into account the realization cost and industrial system transformation on one side, and the results in terms of air quality improvement on the other. The different instruments (technological intervention on engines, chemical modification of fuels, mobility and road infrastructural planning) are presented for the considered countries, and also in more developed European and American areas, with a concentrated interest in areas of applicability, costs and obtained results. The externality of this form of pollution is presented and discussed, and the aspect of limitation of impact and consequent external costs is evaluated in comparison with monetary and infrastructural costs for emissive system modification. © 2016 WIT Press, www.witpress.com

Pleiotropic Outcomes of Glyphosate Exposure: From Organ Damage to Effects on Inflammation, Cancer, Reproduction and Development.

Glyphosate is widely used worldwide as a potent herbicide. Due to its ubiquitous use, it is detectable in air, water and foodstuffs and can accumulate in human biological fluids and tissues representing a severe human health risk. In plants, glyphosate acts as an inhibitor of the shi-kimate pathway, which is absent in vertebrates. Due to this, international scientific authorities have long‐considered glyphosate as a compound that has no or weak toxicity in humans. Howev-er, increasing evidence has highlighted the toxicity of glyphosate and its formulations in animals and human cells and tissues. Thus, despite the extension of the authorization of the use of glypho-sate in Europe until 2022, several countries have begun to take precautionary measures to reduce its diffusion. Glyphosate has been detected in urine, blood and maternal milk and has been found to induce the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and several cytotoxic and genotoxic effects in vitro and in animal models directly or indirectly through its metabolite, ami-nomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA). This review aims to summarize the more relevant findings on the biological effects and underlying molecular mechanisms of glyphosate, with a particular focus on glyphosateʹs potential to induce inflammation, DNA damage and alterations in gene expression profiles as well as adverse effects on reproduction and development

In Vivo Mapping of the Choriocapillaris in High myopia: a Widefield Swept Source Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography

To report variation of choriocapillaris (CC) flow in widefield in high in myopic subjects compared with an age-matched normal control group using ultra widefield optical coherence tomography angiography (UW-OCTA). This is a Prospective, cross-sectional study. Thirty high myopia subjects and fifty healthy subjects were enrolled. Healthy and high myopia subjects were imaged with the SS-OCTA system (PLEX Elite 9000, Carl Zeiss Meditec Inc., Dublin, CA, USA). For each eye, five 12 × 12-mm OCTA volume scans were acquired. The en face CC images were then exported to imageJ and a semi-automated algorithm was used for subsequent quantitative analysis. The main outcome was a quantitative analysis of the CC. This analysis was performed in three different regions: (i) peripapillary, (ii) macular, and (iii) periphery. In addition, CC variables were further investigated in distinct fields within these three different regions. Thirty myopic eyes (32 subjects; myopic group) and fifty eyes (50 subjects; control group) without elevated myopia were included in the analysis. Mean ± SD age was 26.9 ± 2.9 years [median: 27 years; range: 20.0–40.0 years]. Mean ± SD axial length was 26.6 ± 0.6 mm [median: 26.2 mm; range: 26.1 to 28.0 mm]. Mean ± SD axial length was 26.6 ± 0.6 mm [median: 26.2 mm; range: 26.1 to 28.0 mm] in the myopic group and 23.9 ± 1.1 mm [median: 23.9 mm; range: 21.8 to 25.9 mm] in the control group. The total signal void area was significantly greater in myopic eyes compared with control group. The peripapillary region exhibited the greatest total signal void area (p &lt; 0.0001 vs macular region, p &lt; 0.0001 vs peripheral region). Within the macular region, the foveal area exhibited a greater total signal void area in comparison with both the parafoveal area (p &lt; 0.0001) and the perifoveal area (p &lt; 0.0001). In conclusion we report quantitative mapping of the choriocapillaris in myopic eyes compared with an age-matched normal control group. The CC perfusion appears to have a wide topographical variation

Increased Panel Height Enhances Cooling for Photovoltaic Solar Farms

Solar photovoltaic (PV) systems suffer substantial efficiency loss due to environmental and internal heating. However, increasing the canopy height of these systems promotes surface heat transfer and boosts production. This work represents the first wind tunnel experiments to explore this concept in terms of array flow behavior and relative convective heat transfer, comparing model solar arrays of varied height arrangements - a nominal height, extended height, and a staggered height configuration. Analyses of surface thermocouple data show average Nusselt number () to increase with array elevation, where panel convection at double height improved up to 1.88 times that of the nominal case. This behavior is an effect of sub-array entrainment of high velocity flow and panel interactions as evidenced through flow statistics and mean kinetic energy budgets on particle image velocimetry (PIV) data. The staggered height arrangement encourages faster sub-panel flow than in the nominal array. Despite sub-array blockage due to the lower panel interaction, heat shedding at panel surfaces promotes improvements on over 1.3 times that of the nominal height case