Scaling laws in the dynamics of crime growth rate

The increasing number of crimes in areas with large concentrations of people have made cities one of the main sources of violence. Understanding characteristics of how crime rate expands and its relations with the cities size goes beyond an academic question, being a central issue for contemporary society. Here, we characterize and analyze quantitative aspects of murders in the period from 1980 to 2009 in Brazilian cities. We find that the distribution of the annual, biannual and triannual logarithmic homicide growth rates exhibit the same functional form for distinct scales, that is, a scale invariant behavior. We also identify asymptotic power-law decay relations between the standard deviations of these three growth rates and the initial size. Further, we discuss similarities with complex organizations.Comment: Accepted for publication in Physica

Longevity of risks in software development projects: a comparative analysis with an academic environment

The study presented in this paper was developed in an academic environment. All subjects involved in this research are enrolled in the Information Systems Master’s Degree of the University of Minho. The main objective of this study is to demonstrate the need for the continuity of studies about the risks presented in software development projects. For this purpose, we analyzed more than four hundred risks and about one hundred problems faced and documented by the working groups. With the collected data we defined a list of twenty risks and conducted a comparative study of these risks with others already formalized in previous industrial studies. The comparison data was analyzed and interpreted, and important conclusions were made.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

PARTICIPATION OF SILVICULTURE PRODUCTS IN THE GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT OF THE BRAZILIAN FOREST-BASED SECTOR FROM 2000 2019

This study aimed to analyze the evolution and participation of forestry products in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the Brazilian forest-based sector, from 2000 to 2019. To do so, secondary data collected from Instituto Brazilian Geography and Statistics, considering historical series referring to the produced/commercialized quantity in silviculture (m³) and production value in silviculture (Thousand dollars). To obtain the price evolution (P) of each product, the equation was applied, using the quotient between the value of the production and its respective produced quantities. The analysis of the evolution of the GDP, on the other hand, was conducted by calculating the geometric growth rate (GGR). In relation to the real GDP, the decline started in 2011, however in a more moderate way. The real Brazilian GDP presented a positive rate of 3.51%, different from the silviculture rate that was negative for all products, triggering a decline in the forestry sector rate

Geographical distribution and monitoring of dengue in 141 municipalities in the center-west of Brazil: Distribuição geográfica e monitoramento de dengue em 141 municípios no centro-oeste do Brasil

In fact, it appears that dengue is characterized as a disease that has relevance to public health in the country. For the year 2019, 1,544,987 cases of dengue could be reported, with the presence of 782 confirmed deaths. Regarding the interruption of dengue epidemic cycles, it was noted that measures associated with vector control have not been successful. This study aims to analyze the spatial distribution associated with dengue cases present in the municipalities of the state of Mato Grosso, from 2015 to 2018, in order to identify the municipalities that have the highest risk rates related to the presence of arbovirus. Gross and Smoothed Rates were used through the Local Empirical Bayesian method. In order to calculate these Bayesian rates, a neighborhood matrix was developed with the presence of the continuity criterion that removed the zero risk of dengue from this calculation, thus minimizing the effects associated with the random fluctuations present in the areas that were monitored. Of course, the SaTScan software was used to calculate the Relative Risk (RR), and it was found that in this spatial scan clusters of low, medium and high risks were identified, demonstrating statistically significant data. The use of statistical techniques and spatial analysis employed in the study expanded the more detailed examination of the risk of transmission in the monitored areas, contributing significantly to the formulation and planning of integrated prevention and control strategies aimed at monitoring the arbovirus present in the state of Mato Grosso

Remote electronics Workbench taking the lab home

Students usually regard lab classes as the opportunity to practice learnt theory. Some would even pass more time in the lab performing new or the same experiment with slightly different parameters, if allowed to. Benefiting from the experience gained in the PEARL (Practical Experimentation by Accessible Remote Learning) project, the University of Porto has developed a Remote Electronics Workbench (REW) that allows students to carry out real experiments in electronics, from their home computer, through web-based access. The REW includes: interfaces to experimental scenarios; real video feedback from the lab environment; video-conference facilities to enable student-tostudent and student-to-tutor dialogue; and registration and booking pages to new and registered users, respectively. It is also a constituting part of a proposal to create a Remote Experimentation Network covering both European and Latin-American countries, under the Alfa II programme

Digital computerized analysis of auricle measures in otoplasties

INTRODUCTION: Recently a number of studies have been published on quantitative measures mainly for the prominence of digital imaging processing, which is a non-invasive and precisely procedure. This study assessed measures in anterior view before and after surgery of patients who underwent otoplasty using computer analysis of digital images. METHODS: A retrospective study was performed on a consecutive series from February 2014 to April 2015. Measures were done in the upper third, middle and bottom of the ears. RESULTS: Of 103 patients, 47 were men and 56 women. We used the technique of weakening the cartilage by making multiple posterior islands associated with non-absorbable suture in 56 patients, an isolated conchal cartilage resection in 1 patient and combination of all techniques in 47 patients. The result of auricle measure in frontal viewing at previous measured points performed using computer analysis showed a significant mean reduction in the third month after surgery. CONCLUSION: Digital image assessment can estimate auricle measure with high repeatability, corroborating with the use of digital images in noninvasive procedures as less expensive and highly available option in clinical practice. The computed anthropometric analysis of digital images in direct frontal view using images taken before and after surgery is an alternative method for traditional measurements to evaluate results in otoplasties

Tree composition of a seasonal semideciduous forest in Pirenópolis, Goiás state

A Floresta Estacional Semidecidual é um ecossistema bastante ameaçado no Brasil, cuja condução de levantamentos florísticos em florestas remanescentes é fundamental para fornecer dados que contribuam para a proposição de estratégias de manejo e a recuperação desses ecossistemas. Neste sentido,o objetivo do trabalho foi realizar o levantamento florístico de um trecho de Floresta Estacional Semidecidual de aproximadamente 10 ha., localizado na Fazenda Raio de Sol (15º 45’ 54’’ S e 49º 04’03’’ W) próxima à cidade de Pirenópolis, Goiás, inserida na biorregião do Ecomuseu do Cerrado.Para o levantamento do componente arbóreo foram alocadas dez parcelas de 20 x 20 m. Todos osindivíduos com DAP igual ou superior a 5 cm foram incluídos na amostragem, excluindo-se as lianase os indivíduos mortos. Amostraram-se 742 indivíduos pertencentes a 83 espécies distribuídas em 67 gêneros e 36 famílias. As famílias de maior riqueza foram Fabaceae, Myrtaceae, Rubiaceae, Chrysobalanaceae e Apocynaceae, que contribuíram com 48% do total das espécies encontradas. ___________________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACTThe Seasonal Semideciduous Forest is one of the most threatened Brazilian ecosystems. Therefore, toconduct forest mensuration studies in these areas is of vital importance to provide data for development of management strategies and they are also important for recovery of degraded areas. In viewof this, the objective was to study the flora of a fragment of 10 ha of semideciduous forest at Raio deSol farm (15º 45’ 54’’ S and 49º 04’ 03’’ W) in Pirenópolis municipality, in the State of Goiás. It isinserted into the bioregion called Cerrado EcoMuseum. Ten sample plots (20 X 20 m) were sur-veyed. In these plots all living trees with 5 cm diameter at 1.30 m above ground (DBH) were mea-sured. 742 individuals belonging to 83 species, 67 genera, and 36 families were registered. The ri-chest families in number of species were Fabaceae, Myrtaceae, Rubiaceae, Chrysobalanaceae andApocynaceae, which contributed 48% of total species found

Influência da Tutoria na Participação dos Alunos em um Fórum de Discussão On-Line

O fórum é uma ferramenta de comunicação assíncrona muito utilizada em cursos online, visto que contribui para uma aprendizagem colaborativa entre os participantes. Os objetivos propostos para o fórum podem ser alcançados com a ajuda de um tutor ativo para mediar as discussões. No entanto, seria a ação do tutor, em fóruns de discussão on-line, essencial para estimular a participação dos alunos? O objetivo desta pesquisa foi investigar como esse profissional pode influenciar a participação ativa dos alunos em um fórum de discussão de um curso de formação de tutores on-line. Analisaram-se os relatórios obtidos na plataforma moodle, as postagens e as interações que ocorreram durante a discussão no fórum. O desempenho dos tutores e a participação dos alunos também foram analisados a partir das rubricas de avaliação. Conclui-se que o número de postagem de tutores não teve influência no número médio de participaçãode alunos, mas sim na adesão de alunos aos fóruns. A quantidade e a qualidade das participações de tutores, portanto, não estão diretamente associadas. A atuação dos tutores não influenciou no número de postagem de alunos, pois a média de postagem de cada aluno correspondeu às três ações solicitadas no enunciado do fórum

A distributed computation of Interpro Pfam, PROSITE and ProDom for protein annotation

Interpro is a widely used tool for protein annotation in genome sequencing projects, demanding a large amount of computation and representing a huge time-consuming step. We present a strategy to execute programs using databases Pfam, PROSITE and ProDom of Interpro in a distributed environment using a Java-based messaging system. We developed a two-layer scheduling architecture of the distributed infrastructure. Then, we made experiments and analyzed the results. Our distributed system gave much better results than Interpro Pfam, PROSITE and ProDom running in a centralized platform. This approach seems to be appropriate and promising for highly demanding computational tools used for biological applications