GIS Applications on the Essential Public Services in Mozambique

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor in Information Management, specialization in Geographic Information SystemsWater supply and health are considered essential public services and are therefore a fundamental right for human development. The use of GIS in public services has had a tremendous growth as result of the availability of various information technology services and software, and is currently being considered useful to the understanding and treatment of health problems in different geographic areas and and optimize the locations of infrastructure and public services. The aim of this study is to measure the geographic accessibility of population to existing healthcare centers, and find the most suitable locations for small dams/water reservoirs in the Tete province region, Mozambique, which has a pronounced water deficit. The objectives were achieved using the GIS approach, where accessibility to health services was first measured using travel time and driving scenarios to the health centers. On the other hand, to find the most suitable locations for small dams / reservoirs a multi-criteria evaluation (MCE) analysis through an Analytic Hierarchical Process (AHP) were implemented, including local experts ’consultation. The study consider 9 criteria including slope, elevation, rainfall, stream density, lineaments, soil, land-use, distance to roads and distance to villages as the most important criteria in locating a dam.Findings from this study highlight accessibility problems, especially in the walking scenario, in which 90.2% of Mozambique was considered an underserved area. In this scenario, Maputo City (69.8%) is the province with the greatest coverage of HC. On the other hand, Tete (93.4%), Cabo Delgado (93%) and Gaza (92.8%) are the provinces with the most underserved areas. The driving scenario was less problematic, with about 66.9 % of Mozambique being considered a served area. For dam/reservoir site location study, the results show three main categories of suitability: “Not suitable” (15% of total area), “Modestly suitable” (78%), and “Suitable” (7%). We found that 92% abandoned small dams/reservoirs were in areas classified as “Modestly suitable” confirming the robustness of our model. We also found that most of the dams/reservoirs currently operating (78%) and planned (73%) are in modestly suitable areas. This finding suggests that the decision to construct dams/reservoirs may not have considered the most critical suitability factors identified in this study. The mapped outputs may have policy implications and could be used for future decision-making processes and analysis for both the health and water resources managemen

Etiology of Childhood Otorrhea in Luanda, Angola, and a Review of Otitis Media in African Children

Background: In resource-poor settings, otorrhea causes a significant burden of disease in children. Etiologic studies and structured data on otorrhea and chronic otitis media among African children remain scarce. Methods: Here, we reviewed 678 bacteriologically analyzed otorrhea samples from Luanda Children's Hospital from children Results: Overall, 32 different bacteria were identified among 542 isolates from 654 children in Luanda. Gram-negative bacteria constituted the majority of all isolates (85%), whereby Pseudomonas spp. was the most common (n = 158; 29%), followed by Proteus spp. (n = 134; 25%). Among Staphylococcus aureus (n = 54; 10%), 69% of tested isolates were Methicillin-resistant S. aureus, and among Enterobacteriaceae, 14% were expanded-spectrum beta-lactamase isolates. Resistance to quinolones was rare. Furthermore, in a review of the literature, we found a high occurrence of otorrhea and chronic suppurative otitis media in children as well as possible gaps in existing knowledge. Conclusions: In Angola, Gram-negative rods emerged as common causative agents of otorrhea in children followed by S. aureus. The magnitude of chronic otorrhea in Africa represents a cause for public health concern.Peer reviewe

Topografia e variabilidade espacial de propriedades físicas do solo

O relevo é um dos fatores de formação do solo mais usados em mapeamento de solos devido sua forte correlação com a variabilidade espacial de atributos do solo na paisagem. O objetivo desse trabalho foi avaliar a relação entre topografia e a variabilidade espacial de algumas propriedades físicas de solos. Em uma pastagem com 2,84 ha instalou-se uma grade regular com espaçamento de 20 m, nas proximidades de Seropédica, RJ, onde cada ponto de amostragem foi georreferenciado. Em cada ponto de amostragem foi medida a altitude e foram coletadas amostras indeformadas nas profundidades de 0,0-0,1; 0,1-0,2 e 0,2-0,3 m. Determinaram-se os teores de carbono, textura, densidade do solo e das partículas e retenção de água a 10, 80 e 1500 kPa. Estatística descritiva foi usada para avaliar a tendência central e a dispersão dos dados. Semivariogramas simples e cruzados foram usados para avaliar a variabilidade espacial da altitude, e dos atributos físicos do solo, bem como a relação entre altitude e atributos físicos do solo. Com exceção da fração silte (nas três profundidades), densidade do solo (0,2-0,3 m) e densidade das partículas (0,0-0,1 m), todos os atributos apresentaram forte dependência espacial. Encontraram-se maiores teores de argila, bem como de retenção de água a 10, 80 e 1500 kPa, nas cotas mais elevadas. A correlação entre altitude e atributos físicos decresceu com o aumento da profundidade. Os semivariogramas cruzados comprovaram a viabilidade do uso da altitude, por cokrigagem, para aperfeiçoar a interpolação de areia e argila na camada de 0.0-0.3 m, e de retenção de água a 10, 80 e 1500 kPa na camada de 0.0-0.2 m.Among the soil formation factors, relief is one of the most used in soil mapping, because of its strong correlation with the spatial variability of soil attributes over a landscape. In this study the relationship between topography and the spatial variability of some soil physical properties was evaluated. The study site, a pasture with 2.84 ha, is located near Seropédica, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil, where a regular square grid with 20 m spacing was laid out and georreferenced. In each sampling point, altitude was measured and undisturbed soil samples were collected, at 0.0-0.1, 0.1-0.2, and 0.2-0.3 m depths. Organic carbon content, soil texture, bulk density, particle density, and soil water retention at 10 (Field Capacity), 80 (limit of tensiometer reading) and 1500 kPa (Permanent Wilting Point) were determined. Descriptive statistics was used to evaluate central tendency and dispersion parameters of the data. Semivariograms and cross semivariograms were calculated to evaluate the spatial variability of elevation and soil physical attributes, as well as, the relation between elevation and soil physical attributes. Except for silt fraction content (at the three depths), bulk density (at 0.2-0.3 m) and particle density (at 0.0-0.1 m depth), all soil attributes showed a strong spatial dependence. Areas with higher elevation presented higher values of clay content, as well as soil water retention at 10, 80 and 1500 kPa. The correlation between altitude and soil physical attributes decreased as soil depth increased. The cross semivariograms demonstrated the viability in using altitude as an auxiliary variable to improve the interpolation of sand and clay contents at the depth of 0.0-0.3 m, and of water retention at 10, 80 and 1500 kPa at the depth of 0.0-0.2 m

Design and evaluation of a choreography-based virtual reality authoring tool for experiential learning in industrial training

The use of virtual reality (VR) for industrial training helps minimize risks and costs by allowing more frequent and varied use of experiential learning activities, leading to active and improved learning. However, creating VR training experiences is costly and time-consuming, requiring software development experts. Additionally, current authoring tools lack integration with existing data and are desktop-oriented, which detach the pedagogic process of creating the immersive experience from experiencing it in a situated context. In this article, we present a novel interactive approach for immersive authoring of VR-based experiential training by the trainers themselves, from inside the virtual environment and without the support of development experts. The design includes identifying interactable elements, such as 3-D models, equipment, tools, settings, and environment. The trainer also specifies by demonstration the actions to be performed by trainees, as a virtual choreography. During course execution, trainees’ activities are also registered as virtual choreographies and matched to those specified by the trainer. Thus, trainer and trainee are culturally situated within their area semantics and social discourse, rather than adopting concepts of the VR system for the learning content. We conducted a usability case study with professionals from an international wind energy company, using detailed models of wind turbines and real-world procedures. Trainers set up a training course using the immersive authoring tool, and trainees executed the course. The learning experience and usability were analyzed, and the training was certified by comparing real-world task completion between a user who had undergone virtual training and a user who did not.Manuscript received 25 June 2021; revised 30 November 2021 and 18 February 2022; accepted 2 March 2022. Date of publication 7 March 2022; date of current version 21 October 2022. This work was supported in part by the ERDF - European Regional Development Fund through the Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalisation - COMPETE 2020 under the Portugal 2020 Partnership Agreement, in part by the Portuguese National Innovation Agency (ANI) under Project POCI-01-0247-FEDER038524, and in part by Portuguese funding agency, FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, under Project UIDB/50014/2020. An earlier version of this paper was presented in part at the 2021 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D UserInterfaces[DOI: 10.1109/VRW52623.2021.00199].(Corresponding author: Fernando Cassola.) Fernando Cassola, Daniel Mendes, and Ant onio Coelho are with the INESC TEC, and Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, 4099-002 Porto, Portugal (e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]). Manuel Pinto and Hugo Paredes are with the INESC TEC and University of Tras-os-Montes e Alto Douro, 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal (e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]). Leonel Morgado is with the INESC TEC and Universidade Aberta, 1250-100 Lisboa, Portugal (e-mail: [email protected]). Sara Costa, Luıs Anjos, David Marques, Filipe Rosa, Ana Maia, and Helga Tavares are with the Vestas Wind Systems, 2670-327 Loures, Portugal (email: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]). Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TLT.2022.3157065info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A auto-eficácia na adaptação aos desafios do envelhecimento

Este artigo aborda a problemática do envelhecimento com qualidade de vida e bem-estar, estudada no contexto de adultos portugueses que frequentam Universidades Seniores em Portugal. Pretende-se especificamente, numa análise exploratória, conhecer a perceção da auto-eficácia na compreensão do bem-estar e qualidade de vida destas pessoas, através do construto de bem-estar subjetivo (BES). Para o efeito, foi realizado um trabalho empírico de natureza não experimental correlacional, que abrangeu 214 alunos de 7 Universidades Seniores portuguesas, com idades compreendidas entre os 51 e 86 anos, média de 68,26 anos. Os dados foram recolhidos por questionário, através dos seguintes instrumentos: questionário sociodemográfico, Escala de Satisfação com a Vida (SWLS) e Escala de Afeto Positivo e de Afeto Negativo (PANAS) e Escalas PALADIN. Verificou-se nos principais resultados que a maioria das correlações encontradas são significativas, exceto no caso da auto-eficácia na área das finanças com a afetividade negativa. Estes resultados permitem corroborar que seniores mais ativos em termos das 5 áreas centrais da vida, consideradas neste estudo, apresentam níveis superiores de bem-estar. Palavras-Chave: auto-eficácia; bem-estar subjetivo; envelheciment

DEFESA, SEGURANÇA INTERNACIONAL E FORÇAS ARMADAS.

D´ARAUJO, Maria Celina; SOARES, Samuel Alves; MATHIAS, Suzeley. Kalil. (Orgs). DEFESA, SEGURANÇA INTERNACIONAL E FORÇAS ARMADAS. Campinas: Mercado de Letras, 2008, 328 p

Sessão IV - Ensino Básico e Secundário

As Sessões III e IV destinaram-se a ouvir as reflexões e as propostas das Instituições de Ensino Básico e Secundário, Públicas, Privadas, Cooperativas e Confessionais, no que concerne aos métodos e ênfases dados no âmbito dos seus projectos educativos ao desenvolvimento do carácter, da liderança e da cidadania dos estudantes. Pretendeu-se recolher nesta sessão a participação alargada de todos os corpos sociais que compõem estas instituições, nomeadamente professores, alunos, funcionários, pais e também a dos representantes dos contextos económicos e sociais onde estas se inserem, nomeadamente autarquias e regiões