CLIMATE FORECASTING AND EMERGENCY POLICIES EVIDENCE OF OPPORTUNITIES FROM CEARÁ, BRAZIL

We take small steps towards the approximation between economic analysis and the science of climate forecasting in the formulation of policies to alleviate the impact of climatic shocks. We do so by estimating the relationship between climate variables and corn production in Ceará, an important State in the Brazilian semi-arid. Using parametric and non-parametric regression models, we first estimate the relationship between contemporaneous sea surface temperatures (SSTs) for the Pacific and Atlantic oceans and the local rainfed corn market. Next, we investigate the forecasting potential of future corn production conditional on information on current SSTs. We find strong evidence that climate determinants are important in determining current and future corn production, a key indicator of the climatic stress to which a large number of small farmers are subject in the Brazilian semi-arid. Additionally, corn production in the region is negatively correlated with federal government transfers meant to mitigate the impact of local droughts. These resources have been subject to lethargic bureaucracies, corruption and economic inefficiencies in general. The observation and forecasting of corn production can be invaluable in the design of more efficient, expeditious and transparent policies to mitigate the effects of droughts in the region.

Visualizing test diversity to support test optimisation

Diversity has been used as an effective criteria to optimise test suites for cost-effective testing. Particularly, diversity-based (alternatively referred to as similarity-based) techniques have the benefit of being generic and applicable across different Systems Under Test (SUT), and have been used to automatically select or prioritise large sets of test cases. However, it is a challenge to feedback diversity information to developers and testers since results are typically many-dimensional. Furthermore, the generality of diversity-based approaches makes it harder to choose when and where to apply them. In this paper we address these challenges by investigating: i) what are the trade-off in using different sources of diversity (e.g., diversity of test requirements or test scripts) to optimise large test suites, and ii) how visualisation of test diversity data can assist testers for test optimisation and improvement. We perform a case study on three industrial projects and present quantitative results on the fault detection capabilities and redundancy levels of different sets of test cases. Our key result is that test similarity maps, based on pair-wise diversity calculations, helped industrial practitioners identify issues with their test repositories and decide on actions to improve. We conclude that the visualisation of diversity information can assist testers in their maintenance and optimisation activities

“AIN’T THAT THE SAME?”: INTERSECTIONALITY AND THE SUPPLEMENTS IN TONI MORRISON’S SULA.

This research aims at discussing what happens when the concept of the “supplement”, as discussed by Ki Namaste (1994), is interfered by intersectionality, as coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw (1991). More specifically, this research establishes a dialogue between the theory of intersectional feminism and deconstruction by analyzing an excerpt from Toni Morrison’s Sula. This research shows how an argument between the characters Nel and Sula’s relates to the theory of intersectionality by illustrating the ways in which both gender and race issues shape black women’s experience. Moreover, this investigation argues that Sula’s interpretation of her own experience of race and gender relates to the concept of the “supplement” because she exposes how traditional (white, male) notions of womanhood are flawed and allow the concept “men” to be supplemented. This analysis suggests that Sula exposes how the meanings imposed upon gender are blurred and socially constructed, contributing to their reinterpretation and questioning. From this perspective, this research argues that Sula (subconsciously) engages in deconstruction by breaking with structuralist binary thinking and showing how this line of thought is questionable. Furthermore, this work points out the belief that the meanings imposed upon what it means to be a woman and to what it means to be a man are “always already” racialized. Finally, this research argues that, for Sula, the intersection of multiple forms of oppression gives her the possibility of agency, which indicates that “intersectionality” and “agency” seems to be somewhat intertwined

Role Of Periodontics In The Treatment To Traumatized Teeth: A 4year Retrospective Evaluation

Treatment of dental trauma should be planned based on a multidisciplinary approach. It is known that the maintenance of oral health in these situations depends not only on the viability of dental tissues, but also on the periodontal damage occurred and the emergency therapeutic procedures performed. Aim: The purpose of this epidemiological retrospective study was to assess the periodontal involvement in traumatized teeth treated at the Piracicaba Dental School/,UNICAMP Dental Trauma Attendance Service (DTAS), during a period of 4 years. Methods: Clinical charts of patients (n=203) treated between 2006 and 2009 at DTAS were retrospectively analyzed. Results: A total of 295 traumatized teeth were assessed about history, type of dental trauma, and periodontal tissue damage detected during clinical and radiographic examination. Moreover, the treatment associated with periodontal damage resolution was also determined. Of the 295 traumatized teeth, 184 had periodontal damage (62.3%) and from this total, crown-root fractures with invasion of biological width were found in 42% of the cases, followed by bone injury (30%). Regarding the periodontal treatment performed, periodontal surgery to re-establish the biological width prevailed between procedures with 39% of the cases. Conclusions: It could be concluded that Periodontics has an essential role in the multidisciplinary approach for the treatment of traumatized patients and that the conjunct work is important to re-establish the overall oral health.112154-15

Genomic selection in rubber tree breeding: A comparison of models and methods for managing G×E interactions

Several genomic prediction models combining genotype × environment (G×E) interactions have recently been developed and used for genomic selection (GS) in plant breeding programs. G×E interactions reduce selection accuracy and limit genetic gains in plant breeding. Two data sets were used to compare the prediction abilities of multienvironment G×E genomic models and two kernel methods. Specifically, a linear kernel, or GB (genomic best linear unbiased predictor [GBLUP]), and a nonlinear kernel, or Gaussian kernel (GK), were used to compare the prediction accuracies (PAs) of four genomic prediction models: 1) a single-environment, main genotypic effect model (SM); 2) a multienvironment, main genotypic effect model (MM); 3) a multienvironment, single-variance G×E deviation model (MDs); and 4) a multienvironment, environment-specific variance G×E deviation model (MDe). We evaluated the utility of genomic selection (GS) for 435 individual rubber trees at two sites and genotyped the individuals via genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Prediction models were used to estimate stem circumference (SC) during the first 4 years of tree development in conjunction with a broad-sense heritability (H2) of 0.60. Applying the model (SM, MM, MDs, and MDe) and kernel method (GB and GK) combinations to the rubber tree data revealed that the multienvironment models were superior to the single-environment genomic models, regardless of the kernel (GB or GK) used, suggesting that introducing interactions between markers and environmental conditions increases the proportion of variance explained by the model and, more importantly, the PA. Compared with the classic breeding method (CBM), methods in which GS is incorporated resulted in a 5-fold increase in response to selection for SC with multienvironment GS (MM, MDe, or MDs). Furthermore, GS resulted in a more balanced selection response for SC and contributed to a reduction in selection time when used in conjunction with traditional genetic breeding programs. Given the rapid advances in genotyping methods and their declining costs and given the overall costs of large-scale progeny testing and shortened breeding cycles, we expect GS to be implemented in rubber tree breeding programs