Caracterização espacial de reservatórios do semiárido em função da qualidade da água através do uso de componentes principais

A região semiárida sofre escassez hídrica. A fim de regularizar a disponibilidade hídrica nos períodos de estiagem, são construídas barragens. No entanto, a qualidade da água armazenada tem sofrido os efeitos do descarte irregular de resíduos no meio ambiente e das atividades antrópicas exercidas nas bacias hidrográficas. A degradação hídrica pode ser constatada a partir do monitoramento dos parâmetros de qualidade da água. Estes dados podem ser analisados através de métodos estatísticos tais como a Análise de Componentes Principais e a análise de agrupamento, que seleciona indivíduos com características semelhantes. O objetivo deste trabalho é realizar oagrupamento dos reservatórios do Rio Grande do Norte, com base nos parâmetros de qualidade da água, para a identificação de grupos homogêneos de reservatórios em termos de fontes de poluição. Serão objeto desse estudo as bacias Piranhas-Açu, Apodi-Mossoró, Trairí, Potengi e Ceará-Mirim. Os parâmetros mercúrio, chumbo, cromo, fósforo total, nitrogênio total e zinco contribuíram para a formação da primeira componente principal, que pode indicar poluição por metais pesados; sólidos totais, DBO, OD e cobre, para a segunda componente, que pode ser indicativo de poluição por matéria orgânica e atividades antrópicas; e clorofila a , cádmio e níquel, para a terceira componente, que pode indicar eutrofização e poluição por metais pesados. De posse das componentes principais se procedeu o agrupamento dos reservatórios, formando-se quatro grupos distintos. Os grupos 1 e 2 são constituídos por reservatórios da Bacia Piranhas-Açu, que apresentou maiores valores de metais pesados. O grupo 3, constituído por reservatórios das bacias Ceará-Mirim, Potengi e Trairí, apresentou maiores valores de DBO e sólidostotais e o grupo 4 é formado por reservatórios da Bacia Apodi-Mossoró. Nas Bacias do Trarí e Piranhas-Açu deve ser coibido o lançamento desordenado de efluentes e fontes de poluição difusas, e implantado um sistema de coleta de esgoto para minimizar a poluição por matéria orgânica

Cidade e identidade: discursividades imagético-espaciais e a construção da identidade espacial do Recife, Veneza Brasileira

This treatise analyzes the identitary setting called Veneza Brasileira (Brazilian Venice) which is subscribed to the discoursive materialization related to the imagetic setting (literary and mediatic) produced about the city of Recife. The main investigation of this research is to examine the way how the identitary setting called Veneza Brasileira has been constructed in the imagetic setting practices about the city of Recife in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This study is subscribed to the Applied Linguistics and considers the theoretical perspectives that come from the Cultural Studies which investigation basis is focused on authors such as: Hall (2006); Bauman (1999; 2001;2005); Silva (2000); and Castells (2000) related to the discussion over identity, as well as the discussion over Urban Studies presented in Santos (1997; 1999); Ferrara (1998); and Pesavento (2001). Moreover it is also based on the theoretical basis found in Foucault (2004; 2006; 2007). Furthermore theoretical-methodological approaches rely on the French Discourse Analysis (DA) found in Orlandi (2001); Gregolin (2007); and Courtine (2006). On being so, this treatise aims to: analyze the meaning effects over the production of the identitary setting, especially the so-called Veneza Brasileira, in the imagetic setting discoursive practices (Poems, Post Cards and Touristic Guides) which are produced over the urban setting of the city of Recife. This research is characterized by being qualitative and interpretative and the theoretical analytical approaches contributed to the reading of both poetic and iconic images presented in the excerpts of poems from the nineteenth century and early twentieth century in: Manuel Bandeira s poems, Carlos Pena Filho s poems, and João Cabral de Melo Neto s poems which were produced in the early and late twentieth century. Moreover, this study observed some photographic images in Post Cards and Touristic Guides related to the visiting of historical sites in Recife. One could conclude that the imagetic setting discourse about Recife produced different identitary effects over the so-called Veneza Brasileira along these three centuries: in the nineteenth century, the poetry constructed the utopia city along with the meaning effect of identitary unit; as for the twentieth century, one observed an oscillation between a utopia/heteroutopia city meaning effect of both united and fragmented identity, the latter one is prevalent. As for the twenty-first century, the media reconstructed over again the utopia city, and consequently, produced meaning effect of identitary unit. These same meaning effects of identity either corroborate or contradict to/with the concepts of the postmodernism over identity along these three centuries. In other words, considering the imagetic setting, this oscillation occurs in the proportion of one finds an (ex) inclusion of social agents that construct these same identities.

Morfologia em alta resolução espacial de estrelas de tipo Mira e R Corenae Borealis

Mira and R Coronae Borealis (R CrB) variable stars are evolved objects surrounded by circumstellar envelopes (CSE) composed of the ejected stellar material. We present a detailed high-spatial resolution morfological study of the CSE of three stars: IRC+10216, the closest and more studied Carbon-Rich Mira; o Ceti, the prototype of the Mira class; and RY Sagitarii (RY Sgr), the brightest R CrB variable of the south hemisphere. JHKL near-infrared adaptive optics images of IRC+10216 with high dynamic range and Vband images with high angular resolution and high depth, collected with the VLT/NACO and VLT/FORS1 instruments, were analyzed. NACO images of o Ceti were also analyzed. Interferometric observations of RY Sgr collected with the VLTI/MIDI instrument allowed us to explore its CSE innermost regions (»20 40 mas). The CSE of IRC+10216 exhibit, in near-infrared, clumps with more complex relative displacements than proposed in previous studies. In V-band, the majority of the non-concentric shells, located in the outer CSE layers, seem to be composed of thinner elongated shells. In a global view, the morphological connection between the shells and the bipolar core of the nebulae, located in the outer layers, together with the clumps, located in the innermost regions, has a difficult interpretation. In the CSE of o Ceti, preliminar results would be indicating the presence of possible clumps. In the innermost regions (.110 UA) of the CSE of RY Sgr, two clouds were detected in different epochs, embedded in a variable gaussian envelope. Based on a rigorous verification, the first cloud was located at »100 R¤ (or »30 AU) from the centre, toward the east-north-east direction (modulo 180o) and the second one was almost at a perpendicular direction, having aproximately 2£ the distance of the first cloud. This study introduces new constraints to the mass-loss history of these kind of variables and to the morphology of their innermost CSE regions

O (in)imaginável elefante mal-ajambrado: a questão de limites entre o Ceará e o Rio Grande do Norte e o exame da formação espacial e identitária norte-rio-grandense na Primeira República

This study s main goal is to analyze the way the limits between Ceará and Rio Grande do Norte states, the so called Grossos matter, has been associated to the norte-rio-grandense spacial and identity formation during the first republic period. Thus, a consistet number of sources: RN and CE old newspapers, as well as a república from Natal and Fortaleza and o mossoroense ; historical drafts from the historical and geographical institute associated and historical, gographical and anthropological institute of Ceará; the Ação Cível Originária de nº 6 from the supreme federal tribunal and many other cartographies. The documents haven t been hierarchized, neither accepted as proof effects, but understood as the base matter for this text composition by the deconstruction of the analyzed discusses. In order to do that the ablação or bricolagem method, without quotations marks or long quotations themselves, has been used. Along the three analyzed charpters: the two phases the litigious was found, since its beginning yet in the XVIII century until 1888 and its return within the republic proclamation, in the 1920 resolution; the development of the documental, historical and identity dispute between IHGA-CE and IHG-RN; and, at last, the political game existing between the Albuquerque Maranhão oligarchy , Manuel Pereira Reis and Rui Barbosa, explaining the intentions, silent and miths built along the time by these intellectual participations

Mundo de medo: inquisição e cristãos-novos nos espaços coloniais capitanias de Pernambuco, Itamaracá e Paraíba (1593-1595)

Founded in 1536, the Court of the Holy Office of the Portuguese Inquisition was established as an ecclesiastical institution, but at the same time subordinate to the real powers. Among the main victims of persecution effected by the Holy Office, were the New Christians - Jews forcibly converted in 1497 or their descendants - that due to their socio-religious were repeatedly accused of heresy. This paper conducted a survey that sought to understand the historical performance of the Inquisition in Brazil in the sixteenth century on the New Christians, especially those accused of secretly retaining the religious customs of the Mosaic law, given the investigative and punitive procedures employed by the Inquisition as part of a set of actions that produce social insecurities and producers / broadcasters of fear in the populations under scrutiny. In this sense, the approach was based on the analysis of documents produced on the first visit of inspection performed in Brazil inquisitorial sixteenth century, concerning the captaincy of Pernambuco and Paraiba Itamaracá (1593-1595), not excluding, however, the sources of the first stage of visitation that occurred between 1591-1593 in the province of Bahia de Todos os Santos, even though its use is ancillary and punctual. The objective of this research was to understand the consequences of inquisitorial procedures generated on the imaginary, and the Inquisition, using the expressions and signs of fears relating to individuals contained in the New Christian complaints to the Holy Office as documentary evidence of the fear caused by the Holy Tribunal. The adoption of specific behaviors by the New Christians in the home - these spaces are appropriate and adapted to the detriment of the religious practices of Judaism features - characterizes the spatial perspective of the study, thus indicating a further objective of the study: to understand how the New Christians experienced domestic spaces in a historical context marked by behavioral surveillance generally considered morally condemned and suspected of heresy. The research was conducted to analyze the complaints and quantitative survey of some indices of documentation for the understanding of overall charges and how individuals New Christians were concerned with the domestic space, using them to maintain criptojudaica religiosity, transformed places housing often esnogas, makeshift synagogue for meetings and celebrations of Judaizing New Christians. The formulations of Michel de Certeau on appropriations and meanings of space - presented by the author in the metaphor of "practice areas" - were integrated into the workforce in order to understand the ways in which the New Christians appropriated the colonial houses, designed these spaces a very specific language in the Crypto, in which women are prominent figures. The works of Jean Delumeau and Bartholomé Benassar integrate the discussion of the Inquisition and the sensibilities of fear in the work performed. The analysis allowed the documentation to understand the meaning and the extent related to the general fear that the Inquisition represented. Some complaints are indicative of fears that can be perceived implicitly based on behaviors and attitudes adopted by the New Christians, others, however, are direct expressions of fear caused by allusion or initiative of the actions of the Inquisition in colonial Brazil in the sixteenth century

A capitania de São José do Piauhy na racionalidade espacial Pombalina (1750-1777)

Em meio às intervenções políticas, econômicas e administrativas realizadas no Brasil a partir de 1750, é possível observar como se deram as tentativas de organização da capitania de São José do Piauhy e até mesmo o seu reconhecimento como importante área pecuarista da colônia. Neste trabalho, realizou-se um recorte espacial priorizando a região em que a apropriação territorial teria se dado de forma mais diversa em tal capitania, pois além dos procedimentos de aquisição de sesmarias, existiram ainda os processos de herança e confisco. Sobre estes últimos, os mesmos incidiram sobre as fazendas que pertenceram ao sertanista baiano Domingos Afonso Mafrense, e que após serem deixadas de herança para os religiosos da Companhia de Jesus (1711), foram confiscadas pela Coroa Portuguesa (1759). Isso aconteceu em meio ao planejamento e execução de medidas governamentais que atingiram todos os domínios portugueses durante esse período, a chamada Política Pombalina. Tais intervenções administrativas, por sua vez, puderam ser analisadas tomando-se como referência a confecção da primeira representação cartográfica destinada a tal capitania, o Mappa Geográfico da Capitania do Piauhy, produzido pelo engenheiro italiano Henrique Antônio Galúcio. Deste modo, considerando-se as particularidades da política portuguesa destinada ao interior do Brasil, em meados do séc. XVIII, com destaque para as medidas incidentes sobre os modos de vida indígena e rural, observou-se a tentativa de implantar-se uma nova forma de organização espacial, a partir de modos e instalações urbanas. Neste contexto, São José do Piauhy passa a ser alvo de intensas investidas enquanto área oficialmente pertencente ao Estado do Grão-Pará e Maranhão

Dowscaling estocástico para extremos climáticos via interpolação espacial

Present day weather forecast models usually cannot provide realistic descriptions of local and particulary extreme weather conditions. However, for lead times of about a small number of days, they provide reliable forecast of the atmospheric circulation that encompasses the subscale processes leading to extremes. Hence, forecasts of extreme events can only be achieved through a combination of dynamical and statistical analysis methods, where a stable and significant statistical model based on prior physical reasoning establishes posterior statistical-dynamical model between the local extremes and the large scale circulation. Here we present the development and application of such a statistical model calibration on the besis of extreme value theory, in order to derive probabilistic forecast for extreme local temperature. The dowscaling applies to NCEP/NCAR re-analysis, in order to derive estimates of daily temperature at Brazilian northeastern region weather stations

Impacto sócio-dentário das oclusopatias e suas respectivas necessidades de tratamento na qualidade de vida de adolescentes

Nas últimas décadas, com a significativa redução da cárie dentária em crianças e adolescentes, uma maior atenção tem sido dada a outros problemas bucais como as oclusopatias. Em termos epidemiológicos no Brasil, esta tem ocupado o terceiro lugar dentre os problemas de saúde oral na população e, portanto, a inclusão destas como um problema de saúde pública se deve não apenas à sua alta prevalência, mas também ao impacto social, que interfere diretamente na qualidade de vida das pessoas. Diante do exposto é que este estudo objetiva buscar o impacto da presença e severidade das oclusopatias e suas respectivas necessidades de tratamento na qualidade de vida de adolescentes escolares de um município. Sendo assim, foram examinados 356 escolares na faixa etária de 15 -19 anos e determinadas a prevalência, severidade e necessidade de tratamento de oclusopatias através dos índices DAI, IOTN e ICON. O impacto sócio dentário das oclusopatias na qualidade de vida dos adolescentes foi analisado através do índice CS-OIDP. A fim de se verificar possíveis influências de variáveis estudadas na determinaçao do impacto na qualidade de vida das oclusopatias, estas serão coletadas através do estatus sócio-econômico, gênero, idade e tipo escola. Nos resultados parciais, relacionado a 50% da amostra, se observou uma maior prevalência do escolares de escola pública(68,1%), idade entre 15-16 anos(74,7%), gênero feminino(52,7%) e maior prevalência do SES baixo(77,5%). A análise estatística usando o teste qui-quadrado mostrou uma associação significativa do impacto da oclusopatia na qualidade de vida apenas quando avaliada com o índice ICON e o A-IOTN do examinado, comprovando uma associação da necessidade de tratamento com a presença do impacto na qualidade de vida. Com isso, busca-se comprovar e enfatizar a necessidade de se estabelecer políticas públicas que trabalhem na prevenção e interceptação dessas oclusopatias na população, melhorando, portanto, a qualidade de vida e saúde oral dos adolescentes.

Impacto sócio-dentário das ocusopatias e suas respectivas necessidades de tratamento na qualidade de vida de adolescentes

Nas últimas décadas, com a significativa redução da cárie dentária em crianças e adolescentes, uma maior atenção tem sido dada a outros problemas bucais como as oclusopatias. Em termos epidemiológicos no Brasil, esta tem ocupado o terceiro lugar dentre os problemas de saúde oral na população e, portanto, a inclusão destas como um problema de saúde pública se deve não apenas à sua alta prevalência, mas também ao impacto social, que interfere diretamente na qualidade de vida das pessoas. Diante do exposto é que este estudo objetiva buscar o impacto da presença e severidade das oclusopatias e suas respectivas necessidades de tratamento na qualidade de vida de adolescentes escolares de um município. Sendo assim, foram examinados 356 escolares na faixa etária de 15 -19 anos e determinadas a prevalência, severidade e necessidade de tratamento de oclusopatias através dos índices DAI, IOTN e ICON. O impacto sócio dentário das oclusopatias na qualidade de vida dos adolescentes foi analisado através do índice CS-OIDP. A fim de se verificar possíveis influências de variáveis estudadas na determinaçao do impacto na qualidade de vida das oclusopatias, estas serão coletadas através do estatus sócio-econômico, gênero, idade e tipo escola. Nos resultados parciais, relacionado a 50% da amostra, se observou uma maior prevalência do escolares de escola pública(68,1%), idade entre 15-16 anos(74,7%), gênero feminino(52,7%) e maior prevalência do SES baixo(77,5%). A análise estatística usando o teste qui-quadrado mostrou uma associação significativa do impacto da oclusopatia na qualidade de vida apenas quando avaliada com o índice ICON e o A-IOTN do examinado, comprovando uma associação da necessidade de tratamento com a presença do impacto na qualidade de vida. Com isso, busca-se comprovar e enfatizar a necessidade de se estabelecer políticas públicas que trabalhem na prevenção e interceptação dessas oclusopatias na população, melhorando, portanto, a qualidade de vida e saúde oral dos adolescentes.

Ecologia comportamental de tropidurus Hispidus e Tropidurus Semitaeniatus (Squamata, Tropiduridae) em Simpatria, em área de caatinga do nordeste do Brasil.

This study evaluated the spatial, time and alimentary niches of Tropidurus hispidus and Tropidurus semitaeniatus in sympatry in a caatinga of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, as well as their foraging and termoregulatory behaviors, the activity body temperature and their reproductive and fat body cycles. Monthly excursions, from October 2006 to May 2008, were conducted at the Ecological Station of the Seridó (ESEC Seridó), Serra Negra do Norte municipality, using specific methodology for investigation of the aforementioned objectives. The two species presented similarities in space niche use, mainly in rocky habitat, however they differed in vertical microhabitat use with T. hispidus using a larger vertical microhabitat range. In the dry season the time of activity of both species was bimodal. In the wet season T. semitaeniatus showed a unimodal activity period, while T. hispidus maintained an bimodal activity period. In terms of importance in the diet, to both species, Hymenoptera/Formicidae and Isoptera predominated during the dry season. In the wet season, although Hymenoptera/Formicidae had larger importance among the prey items, lizards opportunistically predated on Lepidoptera larvae, Coleoptera larvae/adults and Orthoptera nymphs/adults. The foraging intensity revealed differences between the species, mainly in the wet season, when T. semitaeniatus was more active than T. hispidus. The mean activity body temperature of T. semitaeniatus was significantly higher than that of T. hispidus. The thermoregulatory behavior showed that during the dry season T. hispidus and T. semitaeniatus spent more time in shade or under filtered sun. In the wet season, T. hispidus did not show differences in the amount of time spent among the light exposure locations, however T. semitaeniatus spent most of their time exposed to direct sun or filtered sun. The reproductive cicle of T. hispidus and T. semitaeniatus occurred from the middle of the dry season to the beginning of the wet season. In both species, female reproductive activity was influenced by precipitation, whereas males exhibited spermatozoa in their testes throughout the year, and their reproductive activity was not related with any of the climatic variables analysed. In the two species, the fat storage varied inversely with reproductive activity, and there was no difference in fat body mass between females and males. We concluded that the segregation between T. hispidus and T. semitaeniatus in this caatinga area occurs in vertical space use, in the largest vagility of T. hispidus in microhabitat use and larger range size of their alimentary xviii items. Additionally, significant seasonal differences in relation to the activity period, body temperature, and foraging and termoregulatory behaviors between these two Tropidurus species facilitate their coexistence.

Distribuição espacial, formação de grupos, uso do hábitat e ecologia comportamental de jovens de tubarão limão, negaprion brevirostris (poey 1868), no arquipélago de fernando de noronha

Lemon sharks, Negaprion brevirostris, are common in the Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, but detailed information about the species in this site is lacking. The aim of this study was to describe the spatial distribution, grouping behavior, habitat use and behavioral ecology of juvenile lemon sharks in the archipelago, and their interaction with some environmental and ecological factors. During 2006 and 2007, the presence and spatial distribution of juvenile sharks were quantified through scuba diving and snorkeling at several sites of the archipelago. In 2008 the habitat use of juvenile sharks was quantified through visual census while snorkeling along 300 x 8 m strip transects. During these transects the grouping behavior of lemon sharks was quantified by ad libitum. Results indicate that Fernando de Noronha Archipelago is used as a nursery area for lemon sharks, and the parturition occurs from November to April. Juveniles preferred using shallower areas available by the tide variation and formed groups only in the presence of adult conspecifics. This preference for shallower habitats and the group behavior probably are anti-predatory tactics used by juvenile lemon sharks, in response to the low availability of shelter and high predation risk of the studied areas. Quantifications of prey availability and predation risk of juveniles showed that, in general, lemon sharks are trading-off food by security and investing in sites with higher possibility of energetic return. Behavioral observations enabled to record juvenile carangid fishes following juvenile lemon sharks, remora host-parasite and juvenile sharks foraging on schools of herrings and octopuses. We also recorded the behavior of juvenile sharks following conspecifics of similar size, circling with two or three individuals and smaller individuals giving way to larger juveniles. When adults are present, juvenile lemon sharks are more social than solitary, indicating that predation is one of the factors that contribute to social behaviors of the species. Results also suggest that when grouped the juveniles have a hierarchical organization according to body size. Furthermore, observation of large adult females with several fresh mating bites and scars in the same habitats used by juvenile lemon sharks, indicates that Fernando de Noronha Archipelago is used as nursery and mating grounds by this species

Oscilações Teta no hipocampo do rato durante tarefa de tomada de decisão espacial

The processing of spatial and episodic information during memory tasks depends on hippocampal theta oscillations. In the present study, I investigated the relationship between theta power and choice selection during spatial decision-making. I recorded local field potentials from the CA1 region of rats retrieving reward locations in a 4-arm maze. In trained but not in naïve animals, I observed a significant increase in theta power during decision-making, which could not be explained by changes in locomotion speed. Furthermore, a Bayesian decoder based on theta power predicted choice outcomes in speed-matched trials. The decoding time course revealed that performance increased above chance before the decision moment exclusively for theta power, remaining flat for other frequency bands. These results occurred for trained animals, but no significant prediction could be made for naïve animals. Altogether, the data support a mnemonic function of theta rhythm during spatial decision-making, indicating that these oscillations correlate with the retrieval of memories required for successful decisions

Aprendizado espacial-temporal em um ambiente complexo sem restrição alimentar em ratos

Timeplace learning is the capacity of organisms to associate both space and time with a biological relevant stimulus such as food. Experiments are usually done with food restricted animals due to the belief that food system activation is necessary for timeplace learning. Another line of thought suggest that, in addition to food system activation, response cost should be increased to effectively allow timeplace discrimination. The purpose of this experiment was to test whether a complex environment, which presumably implied in a heightened response cost, would facilitate timeplace association in satiated rats using a highly palatable food as reward. Nine rats were trained in a timeplace task for 30 nonconsecutive days. A large experimental box (1x1m) divided in four compartments was used. To access each compartment the animal had to overcome a series of obstacles such as ramps, staircases and mazes. Two feeders localized in opposite compartments were rewarded with sunflower seeds in two daily sessions. One feeder offered the reward during the morning sessions while the second feeder in afternoon sessions. After the 15th day of training, the animals began to show a preference for the correct feeder during the correct time of day expressed by increased frequency of visits as well as lower latency to access the feeders. These results suggest that satiated animals are also capable of learning a timespace task as far as the experimental context is complex enough to result in a higher response cost

Neurofisiologia hipocampal durante sessões de sono intercaladas por exploração espacial: Reverberação do passado ou predição do futuro?

The ability to predict future rewards or threats is crucial for survival. Recent studies have addressed future event prediction by the hippocampus. Hippocampal neurons exhibit robust selectivity for spatial location. Thus, the activity of hippocampal neurons represents a cognitive map of space during navigation as well as during planning and recall. Spatial selectivity allows the hippocampus to be involved in the formation of spatial and episodic memories, including the sequential ordering of events. On the other hand, the discovery of reverberatory activity in multiple forebrain areas during slow wave and REM sleep underscored the role of sleep on the consolidation of recently acquired memory traces. To this date, there are no studies addressing whether neuronal activity in the hippocampus during sleep can predict regular environmental shifts. The aim of the present study was to investigate the activity of neuronal populations in the hippocampus during sleep sessions intercalated by spatial exploration periods, in which the location of reward changed in a predictable way. To this end, we performed the chronic implantation of 32-channel multielectrode arrays in the CA1 regions of the hippocampus in three male rats of the Wistar strain. In order to activate different neuronal subgroups at each cycle of the task, we exposed the animals to four spatial exploration sessions in a 4-arm elevated maze in which reward was delivered in a single arm per session. Reward location changed regularly at every session in a clockwise manner, traversing all the arms at the end of the daily recordings. Animals were recorded from 2-12 consecutive days. During spatial exploration of the 4-arm elevated maze, 67,5% of the recorded neurons showed firing rate differences across the maze arms. Furthermore, an average of 42% of the neurons showed increased correlation (R>0.3) between neuronal pairs in each arm. This allowed us to sort representative neuronal subgroups for each maze arm, and to analyze the activity of these subgroups across sleep sessions. We found that neuronal subgroups sorted by firing rate differences during spatial exploration sustained these differences across sleep sessions. This was not the case with neuronal subgroups sorted according to synchrony (correlation). In addition, the correlation levels between sleep sessions and waking patterns sampled in each arm were larger for the entire population of neurons than for the rate or synchrony subgroups. Neuronal activity during sleep of the entire neuronal population or subgroups did not show different correlations among the four arm mazes. On the other hand, we verified that neuronal activity during pre-exploration sleep sessions was significantly more similar to the activity patterns of the target arm than neuronal activity during pre-exploration sleep sessions. In other words, neuronal activity during sleep that precedes the task reflects more strongly the location of reward than neuronal activity during sleep that follows the task. Our results suggest that neuronal activity during sleep can predict regular environmental changes

Imagem sócio-ambiental do bairro de Cidade Nova, Natal-RN, por seus moradores

This dissertation investigates how the neighborhood of Cidade Nova, located in the western side of the of Natal, is perceived by its residents in order to understand its socio-environmental image, intending to contribute both to define strategies of urban intervention and environmental education in the area and to consolidate a methodology that addresses this kind of problem. The completion of field research used a multimethod strategy to study the socio-environmental image of urban areas. It consists of: (a) review of local history from literature research, data recorded by the City Hall, news published on the city's newspapers and interviews with former inhabitants, (b) application of questionnaires to inhabitants including emotions, visual perception, memory and local social activities, (c) development of a drawing of the district, (d) conducting focus groups with inhabitants, using as a starting point the results obtained in the previous activities. In steps "b" and "c" attended 32 neighborhood residents, 16 of them being Community Health Workers and other 16 persons appointed by them. In step "d" 10 individuals took part, divided into two groups. The result of the research showed a picture of residents coincident with the image conveyed by the media in relation to the issues: violence, garbage, public policy/social support and appreciation of the beauties of environmental (dunes and Parque da Cidade park). Although Cidade Nova has been regarded as a dirty, noisy and dangerous place, most of the participants say they enjoy living on the neighborhood. Overall, the results corroborate and gain theoretical explanations, as they are interrelated. The socio-environmental image is expressed for instance in the elements dunes, dump, railroad tracks and Central Avenue that gain symbolic connotation influenced by time and socio-economic context. The insecurity and other negative characteristics assigned by the inhabitants and the media are parallel to the place attachment, since the environmental legibility, the time/familiarity and territoriality offer inhabitants the preference for place of residence, setting up their social identity.