Identification of spatial patterns in the distribution of meningitis in the State of Mato Grosso - Brazil, from 2007 to 2019

Objective: to analyze the underreporting of meningitis records in the state of Mato Grosso, under conditions of vulnerability, based on spatial analysis. Methodology: Meningitis cases and estimated population were collected from DataSUS, organized by municipality of residence in the state of Mato Grosso and year of notification. Incidence rates were calculated by dividing the number of cases by the population, multiplying the result by 100,000. For spatial autocorrelation analysis, mean rates were used for the entire period, in addition to the variables percentage of poor, percentage of the population living in households with toilets and running water, and Municipal Human Development Index - Income (MHDI Income), obtained from the Atlas of Human Development in Brazil. Results: in general, inverse autocorrelation was observed for the percentage variable of the population living in households with toilets and running water, with municipalities in the center and southeast of the state under high-high autocorrelation and municipalities in the northwest and northeast under low -low. As for the MHDI Income, cities in the center presented high-high autocorrelation and cities in the south and northwest, low-low. Conclusion: the scenario suggests that there is underreporting of meningitis cases in Mato Grosso, as situations marked by less privileged socioeconomic conditions are risk factors for disease transmission. Improvement of health services is suggested, seeking equitable public policies that aim to reduce the existing inequalities in this country

FMR de materiais com transição de reorientação de spin

Mestrado em Engenharia FísicaDois filmes finos altamente texturados de NdCo5 policristalino produzidos por deposição de laser pulsado (PLD), com diferentes direcções de crescimento, [0001] e ̅ (amostras Nd015 e Nd010, respectivamente), foram caracterizados estrutural- e magneticamente por difracção de raios-X (DR-X) e ressonância ferromagnética (FMR). O estudo por DR-X foi realizado com um difractómetro X’Pert da Philips. O estudo por FMR foi efectuado na região de temperaturas entre os 5 K e 315 K, usando um espectómetro ESP 300E da Bruker, cavidade cílindrica (TE011) e crióstatos de hélio e azoto. A direcção não usual de crescimento de um dos filmes, [10 ̅0], requereu o desenvolvimento de expressões não dísponíveis na literatura para análise das constantes de anisotropia da energia magnetocristalina. Foram desenvolvidos métodos numéricos para a análise das dependências angulares e das dependências com a temperatura dos campos de ressonância. Os estudos por FMR confirmaram a forte dependência das constantes de anisotropia com a temperatura, o seu elevado valor e a influência da energia do campo de desmagnetização nas temperaturas de transição de reorientação de spin. As elevadas constantes de anisotropia e energia do campo de desmagnetização são responsáveis pelo desvio dos campos de ressonância dos modos saturados para janelas de medição muito além da capacidade experimental (1.5 T) e permitem apenas analisar modos não saturados num restrito número de ângulos e temperaturas. Apesar de serem filmes altamente texturados, a presença de várias fontes de alargamento da linha de ressonância e a sobreposição de vários modos não saturados numa só linha FMR resultou em larguras da ordem dos 5 kG e dificultou o cálculo das constantes de anisotropia da energia magnetocristalina. Para a amostra Nd015, calcularam-se as constantes K1 e K2, tendo-se determinado que à temperatura ambiente as constantes valiam -2.45105 J/m3 e 1.35105 J/m3, respectivamente. Este resultado confirma os resultados obtidos através de medições de magnetização num SQUID e indica que a magnetização se encontra num regime de cone-fácil à temperatura ambiente.Two highly textured thin films of polycrystalline NdCo5 prepared by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) and with different growth directions, [0001] and [10 ̅0], were caractherized structuraly and magnetically by X-ray diffraction and ferromagnetic resonance (FMR), respectively. The XRD analysis was carried out with a Philips X’Pert diffractometer. The FMR measurements were performed at temperatures ranging from 5 K to 315 K equipped with a Bruker ESP 300 E spectrometer in the X-band (9.36 GHz), a cylindrical (TE011) cavity and a helium and nitrogen flux cryostat. The unusual growth direction of one of the samples required a development of magnetocrystalline energy expressions not available in literature in order to study the evolution of the anisotropy constants with the temperature and confirm the spin reorientation transitions. Numerical methods were developed to analyse the angular and temperature dependences of the resonant fields. FMR studies confirm a strong temperature dependence of the anisotropy constants, their high value and the influence of shape anisotropy in the spin reorientation transition temperatures. The large anisotropy constants are responsible for the shift of the resonance fields of the saturated modes to values much above than those of the measurement window and allow only to analise non-saturated modes for a restricted number of temperatures and angles. Even though the films are highly textured, the presence of several sources of linewidth broadening and the superposition of several non-saturated modes in a single FMR line resulted in large linewidths and made it difficult to obtain numerical values to the anisotropy constants. For the Nd015 sample, we calculated room temperature values of the anisotropy constants K1 and K2 to be -2.45105 J/m3 and 1.35105 J/m3, respectively. This result confirms the results of SQUID measurements obtained by other groups and indicates that the magnetization is in an easy-cone regime at room temperature

Digital platform/mobile App to boost cycling for the promotion of sustainable mobility in mid-sized starter cycling cities

According to the United Nations, cities will represent two-thirds of the world’s population in 2050, which presents some challenges, especially to the transportation sector. To improve the population’s quality of life and the sustainability of cities, mobility must be sustainable, and cycling will play an important role in achieving this. Literature shows that we can promote cycling with better infrastructures, through multimodality, and through behavioral changes. Promoting the use of bicycles through behavior can involve a number of aspects, but in this work, we explore what a digital platform should have in order to promote and increase bicycle usage, as well as to improve cycling conditions in a city. To evaluate what is needed, we conducted an analysis on different types of digital platforms that are available on the market in order to assess the main characteristics and outputs that they provide to cyclists, as well as the type of information that can and should be added to promote the use of bicycles in cities. Moreover, we also carried out a survey in a Portuguese mid-sized “starter cycling city”, which showed, among other data, the relevance and type of information that a digital platform dedicated to cyclists should have in such types of cities.The authors would like to thank all participants of the survey in Braga. They would like to thank the administration of TUB (Transportes Urbanos de Braga) for all the support and Adolfo and Nuno Ferreira from BSB who helped in the development of the application

Weed Seedbank in Rice Fields

The weed seedbank in the soil is the major source of weeds in rice fields. Therefore, information on ecological aspects of weeds occurring in rice, including their potential seed production, is crucial for weed management. The size of the weed seedbank in rice fields is highly variable depending on the climate, relief position, soil moisture content, depth of sampling, history of the areas and management practices used by farmers. As a survival strategy, colonization and persistence in the communities, most common weeds in rice fields produce huge number of seeds and vegetative propagules with physical and physiological dormancy mechanisms, insuring seed viability in the soil for long periods. A large proportion of weed seedbank remains generally on or close to the soil surface after seed rain. Sampling protocols involve the use soil cores at variable soil depths. Determination of the size of the weed seedbank can be made by seed direct extraction and germination methods. The latter is more precise with respect to enumeration of viable seeds in the soil. Weed management in rice fields should focus on methods suitable to decrease the weed population in the soil seedbank

Sport Policy and Sports Development: Study of Demographic, Organizational, Financial and Political Dimensions to the Local Level in Portugal

This research aims to understand the effects of public policies on sports for people in local level, through the study of factors influencing the process of regional sport development in Portugal. The chosen framework presented here considers to sever-al variables such as the demographic dimensions, organizational levels, financial resources, political parties through the num-ber of athletes variable. This applied methodology studies the development of sports for 2000-2009, using spatial economet-rics to explain the variables in the database. The results obtained, indicate an increasing number of athletes who were fa-voured and recruited by sports leaders (sporting director), the expenditure and investment on culture and sport as well as the politics of sports are influenced by prevailing political parties. We conclude that the growth policies for sports should include 1: promote an active demography, 2: prioritize deprived areas, 3: invest in the human factors, 4: increase spending on culture and sport, and 5: preferably choosing a municipal Social Democrat or Independent management team

Scale-invariant large nonlocality in polycrystalline graphene

The observation of large nonlocal resistances near the Dirac point in graphene has been related to a variety of intrinsic Hall effects, where the spin or valley degrees of freedom are controlled by symmetry breaking mechanisms. Engineering strong spin or valley Hall signals on scalable graphene devices could stimulate further practical developments of spin- and valleytronics. Here we report on scale-invariant nonlocal transport in large-scale chemical vapour deposition graphene under an applied external magnetic field. Contrary to previously reported Zeeman spin Hall effect, our results are explained by field-induced spin-filtered edge states whose sensitivity to grain boundaries manifests in the nonlocal resistance. This phenomenon, related to the emergence of the quantum Hall regime, persists up to the millimeter scale, showing that polycrystalline morphology can be imprinted in nonlocal transport. This suggests that topological Hall effects in large-scale graphene materials are highly sensitive to the underlying structural morphology, limiting practical realizations.Comment: Main paper (14 pages, 5 figures) and Supplementary information (8 pages, 8 figures