Preserving Iron Gall Ink Objects in Collections in South and Central America and the Caribbean, Part 1: Assessing Preservation Needs of Ink-Corroded Materials

Most museums, libraries, and archives throughout the world have to deal with paper damaged by iron gall ink. For more than a decade international research has been devoted to the topic in an attempt to provide practical treatments for objects and formulate guidelines for the preservation of iron gall ink collections. A working group of conservators in South and Central America and the Caribbean have developed a program to disseminate research findings, collect data about the condition of iron gall ink collections in their countries and identify imminent training needs. The goal of this project is to combine the latest research with existing and acceptable conservation practices and share information about risk management, proper housing, examination and treatment of iron gall ink inscribed artefacts-at risk. Communications among colleagues were established to learn more about the current resources available in collections from various countries.

The effect of flex fuel vehicles in the Brazilian light road transportation

The retaking of the ethanol program in the year 2003 as a fuel for light road transportation in Brazil through the introduction of flex fuel vehicles fleet was a good strategy to overcome the difficulties of the ethanol production sector and did work to increase its market share relative to gasoline. This process, however, may cause a future disequilibrium on the food production and on the refining oil derivates structure. In order to analyze the substitution process resultant of the competition between two opponents fighting for the same market, in this case the gasoline/ethanol substitution process, a method derived from the biomathematics based on the non-linear differential equations (NLDE) system is utilized. A brief description of the method is presented. Numerical adherence of the method to explain several substitution phenomena that occurred in the past is presented in the previous author`s paper, in which the urban gas pipeline system substitution of bottled LPG in the dwelling sector and the substitution of the urban diesel transportation fleet by compressed natural gas (CNG) buses is presented. The proposed method is particularly suitable for prospective analysis and scenarios assessment. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

DIGITAL LIBRARIES AND LEARNING OBJECTS REPOSITORIES

Discusses the technological changes that affects learning organizations as well as the human, technical, legal and sustainable aspects regarding learning objects repositories creation, maintenance and use. It presents concepts of information objects and learning objects, the functional requirements needed to their storage at Learning Management Systems. The role of Metadata is reviewed concerning learning objects creation and retrieval, followed by considerations about learning object repositories models, community participation/collaborative strategies and potential derived metrics/indicators. As a result of this desktop research, it can be said that not only technical competencies are critical to any learning objects repository implementation, but it urges that an engaged community of interest be establish as a key to support a learning object repository project. On that matter, researchers are applying Activity Theory (Vygostky, Luria y Leontiev) in order to seek joint perceptions and actions involving learning objects repository users, curators and managers, perceived as critical assets to a successful proposal.

Classificação híbrida: pixel a pixel e baseada em objetos para o monitoramento da condição da superfície dos pavimentos rodoviários

Monitorar a condição de uso de toda a extensão das rodovias brasileiras é tarefa dispendiosa e demorada. Este trabalho trata de novas técnicas que permitem o levantamento da condição da superfície dos pavimentos rodoviários de forma ágil utilizando imagens hiperespectrais de sensor digital aeroembarcado. Nos últimos anos, um número crescente de imagens de alta resolução espacial tem surgido no mercado mundial com o aparecimento dos novos satélites e sensores aeroembarcados de sensoriamento remoto. Propõe-se uma metodologia para identificação dos pavimentos asfálticos e classificação das principais ocorrências dos defeitos na superfície do pavimento. A primeira etapa da metodologia é a identificação da superfície asfáltica na imagem, utilizando uma classificação híbrida baseada inicialmente em pixel e depois refinada por objetos. A segunda etapa da metodologia é a identificação e classificação das ocorrências dos principais defeitos nos pavimentos flexíveis que são observáveis nas imagens de alta resolução espacial. Esta última etapa faz uso intensivo das novas técnicas de classificação de imagens baseadas em objetos. O resultado final é a geração de índices da condição da superfície do pavimento a partir das imagens que possam ser comparados com os indicadores vigentes da condição da superfície do pavimento já normatizados pelos órgãos competentes no país.

A model of road effect using line integrals and a test of the performance of two new road indices using the distribution of small mammals in an Atlantic Forest landscape

Effects of roads on wildlife and its habitat have been measured using metrics, such as the nearest road distance, road density, and effective mesh size. In this work we introduce two new indices: (1) Integral Road Effect (IRE), which measured the sum effects of points in a road at a fixed point in the forest; and (2) Average Value of the Infinitesimal Road Effect (AVIRE), which measured the average of the effects of roads at this point. IRE is formally defined as the line integral of a special function (the infinitesimal road effect) along the curves that model the roads, whereas AVIRE is the quotient of IRE by the length of the roads. Combining tools of ArcGIS software with a numerical algorithm, we calculated these and other road and habitat cover indices in a sample of points in a human-modified landscape in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, where data on the abundance of two groups of small mammals (forest specialists and habitat generalists) were collected in the field. We then compared through the Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) a set of candidate regression models to explain the variation in small mammal abundance, including models with our two new road indices (AVIRE and IRE) or models with other road effect indices (nearest road distance, mesh size, and road density), and reference models (containing only habitat indices, or only the intercept without the effect of any variable). Compared to other road effect indices, AVIRE showed the best performance to explain abundance of forest specialist species, whereas the nearest road distance obtained the best performance to generalist species. AVIRE and habitat together were included in the best model for both small mammal groups, that is, higher abundance of specialist and generalist small mammals occurred where there is lower average road effect (less AVIRE) and more habitat. Moreover, AVIRE was not significantly correlated with habitat cover of specialists and generalists differing from the other road effect indices, except mesh size, which allows for separating the effect of roads from the effect of habitat on small mammal communities. We suggest that the proposed indices and GIS procedures could also be useful to describe other spatial ecological phenomena, such as edge effect in habitat fragments. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A SURVEY ON FREE OBJECTS IN DIVISION RINGS AND IN DIVISION RINGS WITH AN INVOLUTION

Let D be a division ring with center k, and let D-dagger be its multiplicative group. We investigate the existence of free groups in D-dagger, and free algebras and free group algebras in D. We also go through the case when D has an involution * and consider the existence of free symmetric and unitary pairs in D-dagger.

Rickettsial Infection in Ticks Collected from Road-Killed Wild Animals in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

During 2008D2010, ticks were collected from road-killed wild animals within the Serra dos Orgaos National Park area in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In total, 193 tick specimens were collected, including Amblyomma dubitatum Neumann and Amblyomma cajennense (F.) from four Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris (L.), Amblyomma calcaratum Neumann and A. cajennense from four Tamandua tetradactyla (L.), Amblyomma aureolatum (Pallas) and A. cajennense from five Cerdocyon thous L., Amblyomma longirostre (Koch) from one Sphiggurus villosus (Cuvier), Amblyomma varium Koch from three Bradypus variegatus Schinz, and A. cajennense from one Buteogallus meridionalis (Latham). Molecular analyses based on polymerase chain reaction targeting two rickettsial genes (gltA and ompA) on tick DNA extracts showed that 70.6% (12/17) of the A. dubitatum adult ticks, and all Amblyomma sp. nymphal pools collected from capybaras were shown to contain rickettsial DNA, which after DNA sequencing, revealed to be 100% identical to the recently identified Rickettsia sp. strain Pampulha from A. dubitatum ticks collected in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Phylogenetic analysis with concatenated sequences (gltA-ompA) showed that our sequence from A. dubitatum ticks, referred to Rickettsia sp. strain Serra dos Orgaos, segregated under 99% bootstrap support in a same cluster with Old World rickettsiae, namely R. tamurae, R. monacensis, and Rickettsia sp. strain 774e. Because A. dubitatum is known to bite humans, the potential role of Rickettsia sp. strain Serra dos Orgaos as human pathogen must be taken into account, because both R. tamurae and R. monacencis have been reported infecting human beings.

Physical objects on navigation channal simulation models

This paper presents the results of a simulation using physical objects. This concept integrates the physical dimensions of an entity such as length, width, and weight, with the usual process flow paradigm, recurrent in the discrete event simulation models. Based on a naval logistics system, we applied this technique in an access channel of the largest port of Latin America. This system is composed by vessel movement constrained by the access channel dimensions. Vessel length and width dictates whether it is safe or not to have one or two ships simultaneously. The success delivered by the methodology proposed was an accurate validation of the model, approximately 0.45% of deviation, when compared to real data. Additionally, the model supported the design of new terminals operations for Santos, delivering KPIs such as: canal utilization, queue time, berth utilization, and throughput capability