Assessing texture pattern in slum across scales: an unsupervised approach

According to the Global Report on Human Settlements (United Nations, 2003), almost 1 billion people (32% of the world ’s population) live in squatter settlements or slums. Recently, the perception of these settlements has changed, from harmful tumours which would spread around sickly and unhealthy cities, to a new perspective that interpret them as social expressions of more complex urban dynamics. However, considering a report from UNCHS - United Nations Center for Human Settlements, in relation to illegal and disordered urbanisation issue, some of the main challenges faced by cities are related to mapping and registering geographic information and social data spatial analysis. In this context, we present, in this paper, preliminary results from a study that aims to interpret city from the perspective of urban texture, using for this purpose, high resolution remote sensing images. We have developed analytic experiments of "urban tissue" samples, trying to identify texture patterns which could (or could not) represent distinct levels of urban poverty associated to spatial patterns. Such analysis are based on some complex theory concepts and tools, such as fractal dimension and lacunarity. Preliminary results seems to suggest that the urban tissue is fractal by nature, and from the distinct texture patterns it is possible to relate social pattern to spatial configuration, making possible the development of methodologies and computational tools which could generate, via satellite, alternative and complementary mapping and classifications for urban poverty

Enhancing urban analysis through lacunarity multiscale measurement

Urban spatial configurations in most part of the developing countries showparticular urban forms associated with the more informal urban development ofthese areas. Latin American cities are prime examples of this sort, butinvestigation of these urban forms using up to date computational and analyticaltechniques are still scarce. The purpose of this paper is to examine and extendthe methodology of multiscale analysis for urban spatial patterns evaluation. Weexplain and explore the use of Lacunarity based measurements to follow a lineof research that might make more use of new satellite imagery information inurban planning contexts. A set of binary classifications is performed at differentthresholds on selected neighbourhoods of a small Brazilian town. Theclassifications are appraised and lacunarity measurements are compared in faceof the different geographic referenced information for the same neighbourhoodareas. It was found that even with the simple image classification procedure, animportant amount of spatial configuration characteristics could be extracted withthe analytical procedure that, in turn, may be used in planning and other urbanstudies purposes

Lumbosacral column arthtodesis with a system's implant

Lumbosacral column arthrodesis with bone graft and metallic fixation (A-Systems implant) was carried out in 40 patients with spondylolisthesis and lumbosacral instability of the following types: isthmic-lytic in 13, degenerative in 19, traumatic in 2, pathological in 1, and surgical in 5. Preoperative, immediate postoperative, and late postoperative clinical and radiological evaluation was carried out. Clinical follow-up ranged from 10 to 46 months (mean follow-up: 11 months). Patient's and Physician's overall evaluation showed the following results: good results in 36 (39%) patients; improvement as compared to preoperative condition in 3 (7.5%); unchanged condition in 1 (2.5%); normalized labor capability in 29 (72.5%) patients; improvement of 75% in labor capability in 9 (22.5%) patients; and improvement of 50% in 2 (5%) patients. As for the Prolo rate, an increase to 9-10 (excellent) was seen in 21 (52.5%) patients; an increase to 7 and 8 (good) was seen in 14 (35%); an increase to 5 to 6 (moderate) was found in 5 (12.5%) patients. No patient had a Prolo rate of 2, 3, or 4 (poor). Mean time until return to normal activities ranged from 3 to 12 months (mean: 7 months). As compared to similar methods reported in literature, the implant has been shown to be equaally effective, with the following advantages: simplicity, use at different levels; rigidity following assembly.Foram avaliados 40 pacientes com espondilolistese e instabilidade lombossacra: 13 pacientes do tipo ístmica-lítica, 19 do tipo degenerativa, 2 pacientes do tipo traumática, 1 tipo do patológica, e 5 do tipo cirúrgica, nos quais foram realizadas 40 artrodeses da coluna lombossacra com enxerto ósseo e fixação metálica com o implante A-Systems. A avaliação dos pacientes foi realizada clínica e radiograficamente, nos períodos pré-operatório, pós-operatório imediato e pós-operatório tardio. O tempo de acompanhamento clínico máximo foi de 46 meses, o mínimo de 10 meses, obtendo-se um acompanhamento médio de 11 meses. A avaliação global tanto do ponto vista do paciente como da equipe médica mostrou que: 36 (90%) dos pacientes obtiveram bom resultado; três pacientes (7,5%) apresentaram melhora em relação ao pré-operatório e um paciente (2,5%) não obteve melhora. Vinte e nove pacientes (72,5%) tiveram sua capacidade de trabalho normalizada, nove (22,5%) pacientes tiveram sua capacidade melhorada em 75% e dois (5%) pacientes tiveram a capacidade melhorada em 50%. Vinte e um pacientes (52,5%) tiveram o índice de Prolo aumentado entre 9 e 10 (excelente); 14 (35%) tiveram índice de Prolo aumentado para 7 e 8 (bom); em 5 (12,5%) o índice ficou entre 5 e 6 (regular) e nenhum paciente teve índice 2, 3 ou 4 (mau). O tempo médio de retorno para as atividades normais variou de três a doze meses, com uma média de sete meses. Em comparação com métodos similares relatados pela literatura, o implante mostrou-se tão eficiente quanto eles, com as vantagens da simplicidade, da possibilidade de ser usado em vários níveis e da rigidez após montado.Pontíficia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul Hospital São Lucas Serviço de Ortopedia e TraumatologiaUniversidade de São Paulo Faculdade de MedicinaUniversidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Escola Paulista de Medicina Departamento de Ortopedia e TraumatologiaUNIFESP, EPM, Depto. de Ortopedia e TraumatologiaSciEL

Atherogenic Lipid Profile Of Brazilian Near-term Newborns.

Cardiovascular disease is the primary cause of death in Brazil. Recent studies have shown that low birth weight and preterm birth are linked to a higher prevalence of cardiovascular disease. The aim of the present study was to compare the levels of lipids and apolipoproteins and atherogenic indexes between term and near-term newborn infants. A sample of umbilical cord blood was obtained from 135 newborns (66 males) divided into two groups: 25 near-term neonates (35-36.6 weeks of gestational age) and 110 term neonates (37-42 weeks of gestational age). The total cholesterol concentrations were higher in the near-term neonates than in the term group (94.04 +/- 8.02 vs 70.42 +/- 1.63 mg/dl, P < 0.01), due to an increase in the LDL-cholesterol fraction in the near-term group (57.76 +/- 6.39 vs 34.38 +/- 1.29 mg/dl, P < 0.001). The atherogenic indexes (total cholesterol/HDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol/HDL-cholesterol and apolipoprotein B/apolipoprotein A-I) were higher in the near-term group (P < 0.001, P < 0.001, and P < 0.05, respectively). The gestational age of the newborns was inversely correlated with total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol, and also with the total cholesterol/HDL-cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol/HDL-cholesterol indexes. These findings demonstrate that the lipid profile is worse in the group of near-term neonates compared with the term group. Future studies are needed to determine if this atherogenic profile in near-term neonates can affect body metabolism, increasing the risk for cardiovascular diseases in adult life.38755-6

Head circumference: why always measure it

A review on the importance of head circumference anthropometry is present by authors in this study. It includes a description of the techniques and curves frequently used, the secular trends of the head circumference in different populations, its correlation to the size of the brain and the characteristics of cerebral growth. Cerebral growth differs from that of the other parts of the body – 83,6% of its growth takes place within the first year of life and therefore the head circumference (HC) is an anthropometric measure that could provide information regarding the first two years of an individual’s life. The vulnerable periods of the human brain with regard to nutrition can be seen by the sequels left due to early malnutrition – the reduction in the cerebral mass, a reduced number of glia cells and Purkinje’s cerebellar granular cells and a reduction in the size of network, ramifications and the number of synapses. The authors used these evidences to study populations that suffered malnutrition during the first two years of life and show that the development of the neuro-motor potential was hampered and that it worsens or improves according to the environment. Recent studies suggest that malnutrition during the early years of life is correlated to an increase in cardiovascular diseases at adult stage as a result of adaptation mechanisms used by the mother and infant to face the nutritional situation. A head circumference below normal standards is a risk factor for the onset of Alzheimer’s disease in adults who have a predisposition to this disease. The authors recommend that the measure of the head circumference, should be included together with other anthropometric measures in studies that evaluate the health and nutrition of population.Este trabalho procura revisar algumas observações relatadas na literatura, referentes ao perímetro cefálico, como as técnicas antropométricas, as curvas de referência, a tendência secular, sua relação com o crescimento cerebral, sua relação com a desnutrição precoce, com o desenvolvimento neuromotor e com algumas patologias da idade adulta, resgatando a pertinência de usá-lo, não só para avaliação nos três (3) primeiros anos de vida, mas, também, em idades posteriores, como indicador de agravos nutricionais no início da vida. Os autores descrevem as características do crescimento cerebral, que diferentemente de outras partes do corpo, tem 83,6% de seu crescimento completado dentro do primeiro (1º) ano de vida. Assim sendo, o perímetro cefálico (P.C.) é uma medida antropométrica que pode fornecer dados sobre a nutrição ocorrida nos dois (2) primeiros anos de vida. Assinalando os períodos de maior vulnerabilidade do cérebro humano, e os insultos nutricionais, apontam as evidências das seqüelas da desnutrição precoce para o cérebro, como a redução da massa cerebral, redução do número de células gliais, de células granulosas cerebelares, de Purkinje e do tamanho das redes, dos padrões de ramificação e do número de sinapses. Apresentam estudos realizados em populações que sofreram desnutrição nos dois (2) primeiros anos de vida e que mostram prejuízo no potencial para o desenvolvimento neuromotor, que é agravado ou minimizado pelas condições ambientais. Estudos recentes sugerem que a desnutrição precoce está correlacionada com o aumento das doenças cardiovasculares na idade adulta, conseqüente aos mecanismos de adaptação da gestante e do lactente à situação nutricional. O perímetro cefálico menor também é fator de risco para a instalação mais precoce e gravidade da doença de Alzheimer, em adultos predispostos. Os autores recomendam que a medida do perímetro cefálico conste em estudos de avaliação de saúde e nutrição populacionais, ao lado de outras medidas antropométricas comumente usadas

PH e condutividade elétrica do solo sob lâminas de irrigação e doses de adubação nitrogenada em bananeira.

O nitrogênio é um dos nutrientes mais necessários ao bom desenvolvimento e produção da bananeira. A adubação nitrogenada pode ser preparada por fontes de sais inorgânicos rapidamente disponíveis como o amônio, o nitrato e a uréia. A utilização da uréia pelos produtores se traduz pelo menor custo que esses fertilizantes possuem, porém, a possibilidade de aumento da acidez do solo, ou seja, a redução do pH e da saturação de base se tornam aspectos indesejados na aplicação desse fertilizante. Nas condições irrigadas, pode haver interações entre os níveis de água aplicados e as dosagens de adubos, fazendo com que o pH do solo e os níveis de condutividade elétrica (CE) do solo apresentem diferentes comportamentos em relação as condição de sequeiro. Além disso, a CE está relacionada ao conteúdo de água presente no solo, sendo que sua alteração está relacionada à diluição dos sais da solução. O objetivo do trabalho foi avaliar o comportamento do pH do solo e da CE do extrato de saturação ao longo do segundo ciclo da bananeira BRS Tropical com três doses de uréia sob quatro lâminas de irrigação nas condições edafoclimáticas do projeto Gorutuba, Norte de Minas.PDF. 097

Influence of soil attributes on ?Petit Verdot? productivity in the São Francisco Valley, Brazil

The São Francisco Valley is a pioneer in the production of fine grapes for wine. The region has excelled on the national economy, being the only region in the world that produces two harvests a year. Studies aiming to characterize the potential grapevine growing regions indicate the potential of several cultivars adapted to local conditions and suitable to contribute for the typicality of the grapevine products of the region, as for example, the Petit Verdot cultivar (Ibravin, 2012). Some soil attributes, important to grape and wine quality, are related to water and nutrient availability (Leewen et al., 2004; Wang et al., 2015). The objective of this work is to relate the physical and chemical properties of soils to the productivity of the vine, Petit Verdot cultivar, in the São Francisco Valley

Fermi-Energy-Dependent Structural Deformation of Chiral Single-Wall Carbon Nanotubes

In this work, we use an extended tight-binding approach for calculating the Fermi-energy dependence of the structural deformation of chiral single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs). We show that, in general, nanotube strains occur in such a way as to avoid a net charge from being accumulated on the nanotube. We also investigate the effect of the Fermi-energy-induced strains on the electronic structure of SWNTs, showing that the optical transition energies change by up to 0.5 eV due to the induced strains and that this change is nearly independent of how the nanotube is deformed. Finally, we also consider the contribution of the electron-electron Coulomb repulsion to the total energy by using an effective regularized potential energy model. We show that the inclusion of the Coulomb repulsion leads to larger strains and smaller net charges transferred to the nanotube.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant DMR-1004147

Potencial genético de progênies de feijão-caupi segregantes quanto ao tipo de inflorescência.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o potencial genético produtivo de progênies de feijão?caupi (Vigna unguiculata) segregantes quanto ao tipo da inflorescência

Subtidal benthic marine algae of the Marine State Park of Laje de Santos (São Paulo, Brazil)

O Parque Estadual Marinho da Laje de Santos tem sido apontado como local de elevada diversidade marinha. Apesar de sua importância para a conservação da biota marinha não existem resultados efetivamente publicados. O objetivo deste trabalho é o de caracterizar a flora marinha bentônica desse Parque Marinho. Amostragens foram realizadas por mergulho autônomo: uma qualitativa que incluiu a zona do sublitoral até a profundidade de 26 m e outra quantitativa em duas profundidades pré-determinadas, 10 e 20 m.. Dentre os 129 táxons encontrados, foram identificadas pela primeira vez, 5 espécies para o Estado de São Paulo, 3 espécies para o litoral brasileiro e 1 espécie para o Atlântico sul. As algas mais abundantes foram Sargasum vulgare e tufos compostos de coralináceas geniculadas e algas filamentosas. A freqüência de ocorrência dos táxons revelou que a maioria deles ocorreu em menos de 20 % das amostras. A análise da flora marinha bentônica demonstra que o Parque Estadual Marinho da Laje de Santos é um local de elevada riqueza e que sua composição florística esta relacionada a uma estrutura de comunidade bentônica dominada por populações de S. vulgare e grupos formadores de tufos.Laje de Santos Marine State Park has been pointed out as a site of high marine diversity. In spite of its importance to conservation of marine biota no results of investigations about its marine biodiversity have been published. The aim of this work was to characterize the subtidal seaweed flora of this Marine Park. Samplings were performed by scuba diving: a qualitative one that included the subtidal zone down to 26 m depth and other quantitative at two pre-determined depths, 10 and 20 m. Among the 129 taxa identified, 5 species were identified for the first time for the São Paulo State, 3 for the Brazilian coast and 1 for the South Atlantic Ocean. The most abundant algae were Sargassum vulgare and turf composed by geniculate coralline and filamentous groups. The frequency of occurrence of taxa revealed that most of species are restricted to frequencies less than 20 % in all samples. The analyses of the subtidal marine benthic algal flora indicate the Marine State Park of Laje de Santos as a site of elevated species richness and that its floristic composition is related to a benthic community structure dominated by turf-forming groups and population of S. vulgare