Agricultural land reform policy in western Ukraine : the influence of environmental history and ethics

Agricultural land privatization is an important environmental and economic policy within Ukraine, which is transitioning to a market-based economy. This thesis studied the influence of bioregional environmental history and environmental ethics on land privatization in Western Ukraine, within Lviv oblast, through historical research and field research of private farmers. Historical research showed that due to its environmental history, the study area was particularly receptive to land privatization after Ukraine\u27s independence in 1991. Field research indicated that farmers in the study area generally see private ownership of land as better for humans and the environment than collective land ownership. The farmers also displayed attitudes towards the land consistent with traditional Ukrainian ethical attitudes toward nature. Other findings were generally high levels of environmental awareness among private farmers in the study area, support for more-widespread organic farming, and the existence of regional government education policies which. strive to encourage sustainable farming techniques

Electric and magnetic fields in cryopreservation

Electromagnetic warming has a long history in cryobiology as a preferred method for recovering large tissue masses from cryopreservation, especially from cryopreservation by vitrification. It is less well-known that electromagnetic fields may be able to influence ice formation during cryopreservation by non-thermal mechanisms. Both theory and published data suggest that static and oscillating electric fields can respectively promote or inhibit ice formation under certain conditions. Evidence is less persuasive for magnetic fields. Recent claims that static magnetic fields smaller than 1 mT can improve cryopreservation by freezing are specifically questioned

Tardigrades as potential bioindicators in biological wastewater treatment plants

The aim of this study was the evaluation of the relationship between the presence of tardigrades and various levels of sewage pollution in different tanks of a wastewater treatment plant. The study was carried out in the wastewater treatment plant located near Poznań (Poland) during one research season. The study was conducted in a system consisting of three bioreactor tanks and a secondary clarifier tank, sampled at regular time periods. The presence of one tardigrade species, Thulinius ruffoi, was recorded in the samples. The tardigrades occurred in highest abundance in the tanks containing wastewater with a higher nutrient load. Thulinius ruffoi was mainly present in well-oxygenated activated sludge and its abundance was subject to seasonal fluctuations; however, its preference for more polluted tanks seems to be consistent across the year. Although more detailed experimental study is needed to support the observations, our data indicate that T. ruffoi has a high potential to be used as a bioindicator of nutrient load changes

Imunotrofismo placentário:o papel das citocinas no desenvolvimento embrionário

Orientadora: Maria da Graça BicalhoMonografia (Bacharelado) - Universidade Federal do Paraná. Setor de Ciencias Biológicas. Curso de Graduaçao em Ciencias Biológica

Avaliaçao da contaminaçao do solo por chumbo proveniente da reciclagem de sucatas de baterias em área de várzea no município de Paula Freitas (Pr)

Foram coletadas amostras de solo de várzea em cinco perfis e em quatro profundidades (0-10, 10-20, 20-40 e 40-80 cm) para identificar e quantificar os minerais da fração argila, determinar as diferentes formas de chumbo (Pb) e avaliar o potencial de contaminação ocasionado por efluentes de uma empresa recicladora de sucatas de baterias, no município de Paula Freitas - PR. Também foram coletadas amostras testemunhas em solo sob mata e classificados como LATOSSOLO VERMELHO Distrófico húmico. Os solos de várzea foram classificados como GLEISSOLO MELÂNICO Distrófico típico (perfis P1 e P3), GLEISSOLO MELÂNICO Alumínico típico (perfis P2 e P5) e ORGANOSSOLO HÁPLICO Sáprico típico (perfil P4). Após tratamentos específicos a fração argila foi analisada por difratometria de Raios-X (DRX), análise termodiferencial (ATD), análise termogravimétrica diferencial (ATGD) e métodos de extrações químicas (oxalato de amônio (OA) -extração de óxidos de alumínio e ferro amorfos e ditionito-citrato- bicarbonato (DCB) -extração de óxidos de ferro cristalinos). As características cristalográficas da hematita (Hm), goethita (Gt), gibbsita (Gb) e caulinita (Ct) foram determinadas por DRX (distância interplanar, relação GU(Gt+Hm), diâmetro médio do cristal, superfície específica, substituição isomórfica e índice de cristalinidade). Para avaliar o comportamento do Pb no solo foram realizadas a digestão total e extração fracionada seqüencial do metal determinando-se as formas Pb - solúvel, Pb - trocável, Pb - ligado à matéria orgânica, Pb - ligado aos óxidos de alumínio, Pb -ligado aos óxidos de ferro e Pb -residual. Os solos de várzea apresentaram alto potencial adsortivo de metais em decorrência dos elevados teores de matéria orgânica e argila. A fração argila é constituída principalmente por caulinita, com menor participação dos óxidos de Fe e AI e quantidades traços de vermiculita com AI hidroxi entre camadas (VHE). Os teores de óxidos de ferro cristalinos (Hm e Gt) para os perfis P1 a P5 foram baixos, em função da natureza do material de origem e as condições de redução e remoção de ferro da várzea. Os maiores teores de óxidos de Fe e AI amorfos dos solos da várzea em relação à testemunha foram atribuídos ao efeito negativo da matéria orgânica e do excesso de água na cristalização destes óxidos. Devido a alta superfície específica, estes minerais foram os mais importantes na adsorção de Pb nos solos contaminados da várzea (P1 a P5). O método de extração seletiva e seqüencial mostrou-se eficiente na estimativa das formas de Pb no solo. Todos os solos da várzea apresentaram teores de Pb bem superiores aos encontrados no solo sob mata (testemunha), evidenciando a contaminação ambiental em decorrência da atividade industrial na área. Maiores riscos ambientais estão associados a presença de altos teores de Pb na solução do solo ou adsorvidas de forma não específica na CTC de minerais, principalmente aqueles do tipo 2: 1, como a VHE. Desta forma o solo do perfil P2 possui o maior potencial de contaminação do nível hidrostático pois apresentou o maior teor de Pb total (2.399,6 Mg cm-3), associado com elevado teor do metal na forma trocável (adsorção não específica

Motivações visando o incremento da produtividade e qualidade

Orientador: Leszek CelinskiMonografia (Especialização) - Universidade Federal do Paraná, Setor de Ciências Sociais Aplicadas, Curso de Especialização em Gestão da QualidadeResumo: O presente trabalho identifica e caracteriza as ações necessárias as motivações das pessoas visando o incremento da qualidade e produtividade. Para o desenvolvimento do tema, a partir de uma análise das principais correntes que tratam do assunto, propõe-se uma metodologia para a observação e diagnóstico da situção motivacional nos quadros funcionais. O estudo finaliza com conclusões a respeito do objetivo proposto, incluindo uma sugestão para estudos futuro

Translating the complexity of disaster resilience with local leaders

Disaster resilience involves a complex web of processes, policies, regulatory requirements, and data that is difficult—if not impossible—to fully comprehend, even by seasoned experts. Yet resilience is not owned by “experts”—it is owned by local communities. Local leaders must be empowered to understand and trained to skillfully navigate complex systems to strengthen and continually build their resilience. Similarly, though billions of dollars in federal disaster recovery and mitigation funds are available to help local communities strengthen their resilience, additional work is needed to communicate, understand, assess, and address vulnerabilities at the local level, and particularly in small towns and in underserved communities, by harnessing local knowledge and data. In this article we present a framework developed to guide locally-owned resilience in Texas following Hurricane Harvey. The case study discusses methodologies to enhance the granularity of existing tools that assess resilience and social vulnerability by focusing on the local context for each, while building institutional to individual leadership needed to build disaster resilience over the longer-term. In particular, we discuss approaches being advanced by the Regional Resilience Partnership, which was formed to strengthen capacity for resilience in the 11 county Coastal Bend region, where Harvey first made landfall

Surface damage evaluation of honeycomb sandwich aircraft panels using 3D scanning technology

A 3D scanning method is proposed for the measurement of surface damage on aircraft structural panels. Dent depth measurements were shown to be within 0.04 ± 0.06 mm (95%) of those taken using a Starrett 643J dial depth gauge based on 54 flat panel dents, and 0.04 ± 0.05 mm (95%) based on 74 curved panel dents. Dent depths were quantified by the difference between a point cloud rendering of the damaged surface and a surface fit approximating the original, undamaged surface. Convergence studies were used to evaluate the accuracy of the surface fit, enabling this technique to be used as a stand-alone inspection method. Image processing was used to measure dent length and area, and the results showed that this method is more efficient and reliable compared to manual methods. This novel non-destructive evaluation technique thus demonstrates potential to enable the timely extraction of surface dent measurements during on-site aircraft inspections

Componential coding in the condition monitoring of electrical machines Part 2: application to a conventional machine and a novel machine

This paper (Part 2) presents the practical application of componential coding, the principles of which were described in the accompanying Part 1 paper. Four major issues are addressed, including optimization of the neural network, assessment of the anomaly detection results, development of diagnostic approaches (based on the reconstruction error) and also benchmarking of componential coding with other techniques (including waveform measures, Fourier-based signal reconstruction and principal component analysis). This is achieved by applying componential coding to the data monitored from both a conventional induction motor and from a novel transverse flux motor. The results reveal that machine condition monitoring using componential coding is not only capable of detecting and then diagnosing anomalies but it also outperforms other conventional techniques in that it is able to separate very small and localized anomalies