A governança da água em bacias hidrográficas: um estudo dos modelos de gestão adotados no Brasil e no Quebec

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro Tecnológico. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia Ambiental.A diminuição da disponibilidade da água assim como a contínua degradação dos corpos hídricos, vem gerando conflitos em diferentes lugares do mundo. A gestão de bacias no Brasil existe desde uma longa data, e mesmo existindo vários modelos para esta, não há a implementação dos mesmos, nem melhorias nas bacias hidrográficas. Apesar de Quebec, no Canadá, apresentar uma Política Nacional de Águas recente e de não possuir uma lei de recursos hídricos, tem uma gestão de bacias muito evoluída em relação à qualidade, à quantidade e à governança de seus recursos hídricos. Este trabalho é um estudo comparativo da gestão de bacias hidrográficas no Brasil e no Quebec, analisando as políticas de recursos hídricos de cada país, estudando os instrumentos das políticas para identificar os elementos metodologias utilizados em cada país, assim como os diferentes fatores que interagem na gestão de bacias hidrográficas, aumentando a governança local da água. A partir dos resultados das pesquisas documentais e bibliográficas, foram identificados os documentos oficiais de cada país, que estipulam como deve ser feita a gestão de bacias, ressaltando os elementos metodológicos do ciclo da gestão, da confecção do plano diretor de bacias e foi elaborada uma matriz de comparação dos modelos de gestão de cada país, analisando a existência e implementação no território de cada instrumento e a participação dos atores da bacia na construção dos mesmos e como essas características de cada modelo contribuem para aumentar a governança local da água. The reduction of the water availability, and as well as the continuous degradation of rivers have generated conflicts all over the world. Watershed management in Brazil has existed since long ago, but although there are several watershed management models, neither have these models been implemented nor have the watersheds been improved. On the other hand, Quebec, Canada, which has a recent national water policy and does not have a water resources law, has both very advanced watershed management concerning quality and quantity and water resources governance. This study compared the watershed management in Brazil and Quebec in order to analyze the policies, instruments and methodology used in each country, as well as the different factors that integrate water management and improve the local water governance. Official documents of both countries establishing how watersheds should be managed were identified as the result of the documental and bibliographical researches. These documents highlight the methodological elements of the management cycle, the preparation of the watershed management plan and elaborate a comparative matrix of the management models of each country, analyzing the existence and implementation in the territory of each instrument and the participation of the actors of the watershed in the construction of the same ones and how they contribute to improve the local water governance

Rotation curve bifurcations as indicators of close recent galaxy encounters

Rotation curves of interacting galaxies often show that velocities are either rising or falling in the direction of the companion galaxy. We seek to reproduce and analyse these features in the rotation curves of simulated equal-mass galaxies suffering a one-to-one encounter, as possible indicators of close encounters. Using simulations of major mergers in 3D, we study the time evolution of these asymmetries in a pair of galaxies, during the first passage. Our main results are: (a) the rotation curve asymmetries appear right at pericentre of the first passage, (b) the significant disturbed rotation velocities occur within a small time interval, of ~ 0.5 Gyr h^-1, and therefore the presence of bifurcation in the velocity curve could be used as an indicator of the pericentre occurrence. These results are in qualitative agreement with previous findings for minor mergers and fly-byes.Comment: 4 pages, 7 figure

GIRAFFE multiple integral field units at VLT: a unique tool to recover velocity fields of distant galaxies

The GIRAFFE spectrograph is unique in providing the integral field spectroscopy of fifteen distant galaxies at the same time. It has been successfully implemented at the second VLT unit within the FLAMES facility. We present GIRAFFE observations acquired during the Guaranteed Time Observation of the Paris Observatory, using total exposure times ranging from 6 to 12 hours. The reduced 3D cube of each galaxy has been deconvolved using our new package DisGal3D. This software has been written using the only assumption that UV light traces the emission line regions. The comparison between GIRAFFE spectra and HST imagery allows us to recover details on velocity fields as small as 0.3-0.4 arcsec. It has been successfully tested using Fabry Perot observations of nearby galaxies purposely redshifted to large distances. We present here preliminary results for three distant galaxies at 0.45< z < 0.65, whose velocity fields have been derived with exquisite spectral (R=10000) and spatial resolutions. Observed velocity fields range from disturbed fields expected in major merger events to those of regular spiral with minor perturbations. For the latter, one could accurately derive the dynamical major axis and the maximal rotational velocity. We conclude that dynamical properties of a large number of distant galaxies can be routinely derived at VLT. This opens a new avenue towards the understanding of the galaxy formation and evolution during the last 8 Gyr.Comment: 4 pages, 3 jpeg figures. to appear in A&

Thalidomide modulates Mycobacterium leprae-induced NF-κB pathway and lower cytokine response

AbstractIt is widely accepted that tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) plays a critical role in the development of tissue and nerve damage in leprosy and during the reactional episodes of acute inflammation. Thalidomide (N-α-phthalimidoglutarimide), a drug used to treat leprosy reaction, modulates immune response, inhibits inflammation and NF-κB activity. Here we investigated whether thalidomide inhibits NF-κB activation induced by Mycobacterium leprae, p38 and ERK1/2 MAPK activation. EMSA and supershift assays were performed to investigate NF-κB activation in response to M. leprae and its modulation following in vitro treatment with thalidomide. Luciferase assay was assayed in transfected THP-1 cells to determine NF-κB transcriptional activity. Flow cytometry and immunofluorescence were used to investigate p65 accumulation in the nucleus. Immunoblotting was used to investigate p38 and ERK1/2 phosphorylation. Following activation of PBMC and monocytes with M. leprae, the formation and nuclear localization of NF-κB complexes composed mainly of p65/p50 and p50/p50 dimers was observed. Induction of NF-κB activation and DNA binding activity was inhibited by thalidomide. The drug also reduced M. leprae-induced TNF-α production and inhibited p38 and ERK1/2 activation. Definition of the activation mechanisms in cells stimulated with M. leprae can lead to the development of new therapy applications to modulate NF-κB activation and to control the inflammatory manifestations due to enhanced TNF-α response as observed in leprosy and in leprosy reactions

The Compact Group of Galaxies HCG 31 is in an early phase of merging

We have obtained high spectral resolution (R = 45900) Fabry-Perot velocity maps of the Hickson Compact Group HCG 31 in order to revisit the important problem of the merger nature of the central object A+C and to derive the internal kinematics of the candidate tidal dwarf galaxies in this group. Our main findings are: (1) double kinematic components are present throughout the main body of A+C, which strongly suggests that this complex is an ongoing merger (2) regions $A2$ and E, to the east and south of complex A+C, present rotation patterns with velocity amplitudes of $\sim 25 km s^{-1}$ and they counterrotate with respect to A+C, (3) region F, which was previously thought to be the best example of a tidal dwarf galaxy in HCG 31, presents no rotation and negligible internal velocity dispersion, as is also the case for region $A1$. HCG 31 presents an undergoing merger in its center (A+C) and it is likely that it has suffered additional perturbations due to interactions with the nearby galaxies B, G and Q.Comment: 5 pages + figures - Accepted to ApJ Lette

Improved 3D Fabry-Perot Data Reduction Techniques

Improved data reduction techniques for 3D data cubes obtained from Fabry-Perot integral field spectroscopy are presented. They provide accurate sky emission subtraction and adaptive spatial binning and smoothing. They help avoiding the effect analogous to the beam smearing, seen in HI radio data, when strong smoothing is applied to 3D data in order to get the most extended signal coverage. The data reduction techniques presented in this paper allow one to get the best of both worlds: high spatial resolution in high signal-to-noise regions and large spatial coverage in low signal-to-noise regions.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

Estudo da relação entre a espessura do ligamento cruzado anterior, os dados antropométricos e as medidas anatômicas do joelho

ResumoObjetivoObter as medidas da espessura do ligamento cruzado anterior (LCA) em seu terço médio em exames de ressonância magnética e avaliar se existe associação entre a variação da espessura do ligamento com a altura e a idade dos pacientes, bem como com as variações das medidas anatômicas do joelho.MétodosForam avaliados os exames de ressonância magnética de 48 joelhos, aferidas as medidas do tamanho anteroposterior dos côndilos femorais, distância interepicondilar, distância intercondilar e as espessuras anteroposterior e mediolateral do LCA e avaliamos se existe relação estatística entre a espessura do LCA e a idade ou a altura dos pacientes e as demais medidas avaliadas.ResultadosA média da espessura no terço médio do LCA foi de 4,5mm no plano sagital e 4,3mm no plano frontal. A espessura anteroposterior do LCA no seu terço médio tem relação positiva com o tamanho do côndilo lateral. A espessura mediolateral do LCA no seu terço médio tem relação positiva com o tamanho do côndilo lateral e com a distância intercondilar no plano axial. Não encontramos relação entre a espessura do LCA e a idade ou a altura dos pacientes.ConclusãoA espessura do LCA apresenta uma associação positiva com o tamanho do côndilo femoral lateral e a distância intercondilar.AbstractObjectivesTo ascertain thickness measurements on the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in its middle third on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans and to assess whether there is any association between variations in ligament thickness and patients’ heights and ages, along with variations in the anatomical measurements on the knee.MethodsMRI scans on 48 knees were evaluated. The anteroposterior size of the femoral condyles, interepicondylar distance, intercondylar distance and anteroposterior and mediolateral thicknesses of the ACL were measured. It was assessed whether there was any statistical relationship between ACL thickness and the patients’ age, height or other measurements evaluated.ResultsThe mean thickness of the middle third of the ACL was 4.5mm in the sagittal plane and 4.3mm in the frontal plane. The anteroposterior thickness of the ACL in its middle third had a positive relationship with the size of the lateral condyle. The mediolateral thickness of the ACL in its middle third had a positive relationship with the size of the lateral condyle and with the intercondylar distance in the axial plane. There was no relationship between the thickness of the ACL and the patients’ age or height.ConclusionThe thickness of the ACL presented positive associations with the size of the lateral femoral condyle and the intercondylar distance