Ecologia alimentar e reprodutiva da piaba-do-rabo-amarelo, Astyanax cf. lacustris (Reinhardt, 1874) (Osteichthyes: Characidae) na Lagoa do Piató, Assu, Rio Grande do Norte, Brasil

The feeding habits and biological aspects of the reproductive cycle of two-spot astyanax, Astyanax cf. lacustris (Reinhardt, 1874) were investigated. Fish samples were captured on a monthly basis, using gillnets of 4 cm mesh size, from the Piató Lake, Assu, Rio Grande do Norte, during the period of September, 2006 to August, 2007. Physico-chemical parameters, such as, temperature, electrical conductivity and dissolved oxygen of the lake were registered. The monthly values of rainfall also were obtained. The 360 individuals captured, were measured, weighed, dissected, and stomach weight and the stage of gonadal maturity were registered. The stomach contents analyses were carried out based on volumetric method, points, frequency of occurrence and applying the Index of Relative Importance. The degrees of repletion of the stomachs were determined besides the Index of Repletion relating to feeding activity variations and frequency of ingestion with limnological parameters and rainfall. The food items identified were separated into distinct groups according to their origin. Sex ratio and Gonadosomatic Relation of females were verified to determine the spawning period and fecundity. The physico-chemical parameters presented the following annual mean values: temperature = 28.8ºC, electrical conductivity = 992.5 µS.cm-1; dissolved oxygen = 4.9 mg.L-1 during the study period. The annual mean of the rainfall was 63.5 mm. The results indicate that this species present an omnivorous feeding habit with a tendency towards insectivory, with an increase in feeding activity during the dry season. The aquatic oxygen to interfere very importance in the feeding activity than the others factors physico-chemicals of water and rainfall. There was a predominance of females, with a sex proportion of 1M:7F. The macroscopic characteristics of the ovaries and testicles revealed four stages of gonadal development: immature, maturing, mature and spent. A temporal variation was observed for the gonadal development of males and females. There was reproductive activity through out the year, with peaks in the months of February, April and June to correspond with the rain of precipitation of the region. The mean fecundity was 7.681 mature oocytes, varying from 4.476 to 12.036, with mean of 7.681. There was positive relation between fecundity and body mass. Condition Factor is not an efficient indicator of the reproductive period of this species. The species A. cf. lacustris is an opportunist and is well adapted to the conditions of the semi-arid Caatinga Biome

O direito social fundamental de acesso à energia elétrica e a atuação estatal

Electrical energy today is an essential element in the life of any human being. Through the access to electrical energy it is possible to enjoy dignified conditions of life, having in mind the possibility of making use of minimal material conditions of life. The lack of access to electricity is directly linked to poverty and degrading conditions of life, in which are some communities in Brazil, especially the more isolated from urban centers. Access to the electric service is a determining factor for the preservation of human dignity, constitutional principle inscribe in the art.1 of the Federal Constitution, and the promotion of development, being a right of everyone and a duty of the State to promote universal access. For that reason, focuses mainly on the analysis of their setting as a fundamental social right and its importance for national development. For this, the theoretical and descriptive method was used, with normative and literary analysis, in particular the Constitution of 1988. This study also discusses the form of action of the State in the energy sector, to give effect to the fundamental social right of access to electricity, the characteristics of public service and the principles that guide it, in addition to the role of public policies in universalization of access, in particular the analysis of the Program Luz para Todos, and the function of regulation in the implementation of these policies and the provision of adequate public services.

Desenvolvimento energético e energia eólica na ordem jurídica do Brasil: aspectos Institucionais e Socioambientais

A conformação do desenvolvimento propugnado pela Constituição Federal de 1988 como objetivo fundamental da república, certamente perpassa pela racionalização das questões energéticas e pela diversificação da matriz nacional enquanto estratégia de aprovisionamento. O desenvolvimento energético em toda a sua complexidade deve ser alicerçado não em uma relação de contraposição à sustentabilidade, mas cooperativismo normativo e de projetos sociais que objetivam a melhorias para a população nestes dois seguimentos. O advento das energias renováveis nesse contexto se consolida como uma alternativa viável, apesar do tratamento dado pela Lei Maior ao tema ter sido apenas com relação à geração em pequena escala. A interpretação sistemática dos postulados da ordem econômica e as exigências da sociedade estimulam o aproveitamento dos potenciais renováveis em escala comercial e regional, além do fortalecimento nos segmentos de autoprodução e produção independente. Dentre as energias tratadas como prioritárias neste contexto, a eólica revela-se como carecedora de aprofundamento das estruturas dogmáticas de sua positivação, que envolve um vasto manancial de regras pulverizadas na regulação econômica do setor elétrico e no controle ambiental. Esta textura submete os empreendimentos elioelétricos aos instrumentos da política nacional do meio ambiente e às determinações do poder concedente dos serviços de energia elétrica, responsável pela pormenorização da geração, transmissão, distribuição e comercialização de energia, independentemente da fonte primária utilizada no processo de transformação. Tratar destas questões com o compromisso na formulação de raciocínios críticos e propositivos, especialmente acerca de temas como a liberdade energética e controle de mercado, é imperioso para superar juridicamente as limitações presentes inclusive no discurso da delimitação de marcos normativos adequados. Havendo vantagens ambientais, tecnológicas e comerciais na exploração da energia cinética do vento como propulsora do desenvolvimento no modelo civilizatório estabelecido, cumpre também ao Estado dar a sua contribuição setorial na forma de incentivos, desburocratização e aprimoramento do modelo concorrencial. O estudo adota os métodos histórico-evolutivo, dialético e sistêmico de abordagem, encarando as hipóteses formuladas no aspecto das consequências multilaterais que as soluções encontradas apontam, exigindo que a estabilização de expectativas sociais por parte do ordenamento jurídico não ignorem o sentido material cognitivamente aberto do desenvolvimento. Hodiernamente, a perspectiva de desenvolvimento energético alia tendências econômicas e tecnológicas em favor das fontes alternativas mais eficientes, revelando a energia eólica como uma representante adequada em termos pragmáticos de normatização e preservação ambiental

Extração e Representação de Conhecimento de Séries Temporais de Demanda de Energia Elétrica Usando TSKR

The opening of the Brazilian market of electricity and competitiveness between companies in the energy sector make the search for useful information and tools that will assist in decision making activities, increase by the concessionaires. An important source of knowledge for these utilities is the time series of energy demand. The identification of behavior patterns and description of events become important for the planning execution, seeking improvements in service quality and financial benefits. This dissertation presents a methodology based on mining and representation tools of time series, in order to extract knowledge that relate series of electricity demand in various substations connected of a electric utility. The method exploits the relationship of duration, coincidence and partial order of events in multi-dimensionals time series. To represent the knowledge is used the language proposed by Mörchen (2005) called Time Series Knowledge Representation (TSKR). We conducted a case study using time series of energy demand of 8 substations interconnected by a ring system, which feeds the metropolitan area of Goiânia-GO, provided by CELG (Companhia Energética de Goiás), responsible for the service of power distribution in the state of Goiás (Brazil). Using the proposed methodology were extracted three levels of knowledge that describe the behavior of the system studied, representing clearly the system dynamics, becoming a tool to assist planning activities

Superando os riscos da segurança baseada em perímetro - Uma abordagem com identificação federada através de certificados digitais A3/ICP-Brasil e SAML

The traditional perimeter-based approach for computer network security (the castle and the moat model) hinders the progress of enterprise systems and promotes, both in administrators and users, the delusion that systems are protected. To deal with the new range of threats, a new data-safety oriented paradigm, called de-perimeterisation , began to be studied in the last decade. One of the requirements for the implementation of the de-perimeterised model of security is the definition of a safe and effective mechanism for federated identity. This work seeks to fill this gap by presenting the specification, modelling and implementation of a mechanism for federated identity, based on the combination of SAML and X.509 digital certificates stored in smart-cards, following the A3 standard of ICP-Brasil (Brazilian official certificate authority and PKI)

Perspectivas de inserção da energia solar fotovoltaica na geração de energia elétrica no Rio Grande do Norte

The generation of electricity in Brazil is predominantly renewable, with internal hydraulic generation being more than 70% of its energy matrix. The electricity rationing occurred in 2001 due to lack of rain, led the country to increase the participation of alternative energy sources. This need for new sources of energy makes the regional potential to be exploited, which configures the change of generation model from centralized generation to distributed generation. Among the alternative sources of energy, the solar energy is presented as very promising for Brazil, given that most of its territory is located near to the equator line, which implies days with greater number of hours of solar radiation. The state of Rio Grande do Norte (RN) has one of the highest levels of solar irradiation of the Brazilian territory, making it eligible to receive investments for the installation of photovoltaic solar plants. This thesis will present the state-of-the-art in solar photovoltaic power generation and will examine the potential for generation of solar photovoltaic power in Brazil and RN, based on solarimetrics measurements conducted by various institutions and also measurements performed in Natal, the state capital

Variação da qualidade da água do escoamento superficial de duas bacias de drenagem de Natal/RN - Brasil

The urban drainage is one of the powers of environmental sanitation and its scope is the quantitative and qualitative aspects. In decision making of managers and the engineering aspects of design are almost always taken into account only the quantitative aspects. However, the waters of the runoff have the highest concentrations of pollutants at the beginning of precipitation. Thus, if the plot pollution removed, the remaining portion can be used for other purposes. This work has aimed to present the variation of water quality of two drainage basins in the city of Natal / RN-Brazil to support the implementation of drainage to consider the qualitative aspect, and identify potential for the use of water. The basins (M and C) are analyzed closed-type, are in the urban area, are predominantly residential occupation and its waters are used for detention ponds and infiltration. The samples were divided into three phases, the first two direct to final points in a basin and the third in traps distributed over the surface drainage. The parameters had been analyzed were pH, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, Color, Turbidity, COD, Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, total phosphorus, orthophosphate, Sediments solids, total solids, chloride, sulfate, alkalinity, calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, Heavy Metals (Chromium, Cadmium, Lead, Zinc and Copper), Eschichia coli and total coliforms. The parameters studied showed high initial pollution load, events and located in different proportions, except nitrite, heavy metals and biological indicators. The size of the surface drainage and topographic its features influence the quality of water. However, the form of sampling is crucial in the qualitative study in the basin. The samplers developed at work, were generated economic and representative results. The urban rainwater presents organic faecal indicators. The runoff of water from both basins shows no risk of salinity and sodicity for use in irrigation, should be noted the content of chloride in the choice of method of irrigation

O impacto dos custos não-gerenciáveis na determinação das tarifas de energia elétrica: um estudo nas companhias distribuidoras do nordeste que tiveram revisão tarifária nos exercícios de 2003 e 2004

This work presents results derived from a study related to impact on non-controllable costs in the determination of energy taxes. This is done analyzing tax review practiced by concessionaries responsible for the distribution of electrical energy located in the Northeastern Region of Brazil, between 2003 and 2004. This Region was chosen as a study area due to the researcher s expectation in congregating companies that deliver services to markets that have similar social-economical profiles. A brief explanation related to the restructuring of the electrical sector in Brazil is presented, pointing out that there was privatization of the great majority of these companies. The study also points out the definition of regulating rules in service delivery process. The components of taxes that are practiced by these companies aimed at final consumers, as well as the market as a whole and the revision process that is executed by Agência Nacional de Energia Elétrica ANEEL for the definition of these taxes are demonstrated in the research. A brief historical of the concessionaires that were focus of the research is presented, totaling five companies. Some data used by ANEEL in the tax review process was analyzed as well as data on components of approved taxes. It is concluded that as a media 47, 49% of the components of taxes in the researched companies correspond to the non-controllable costs. These is done considering previous classification by ANEEL in the tax review process. Although, if it is considered that these companies since 2006, by the means of participation in energy auctions are able to negotiate energy prices for their own needs, it is concluded that these concession contracts guarantee the delivery of the service to the costumer in the total tribute. The percentage of non-controllable costs is 16, 27% average of the tax. This means, amongst other information, that the government has a great deal of responsibility in the formation of price practiced by these companies and its target markets

Impacto do racionamento nos resultados das empresas concessionárias do serviço público de distribuição de energia elétrica: um estudo nas empresas privadas da Região Nordeste

This work verifies the impact caused by the Emergencial Program of Reduction of Consumption of Electric Energy (energy-rationing program) in the results of the concessionary private companies of the public service of electric energy distribution localized in the Northeast Area. As the rationing invigorated from June 2001 to February 2002, its effects are diluted in the results presented by these companies in the second semester of 2001 and first quarter of 2002, with prominence for the last quarter of 2001, when the revenue of extraordinary tariff restore was instituted by the National Agency of Electric Energy (ANEEL), consequence of the so-called General Agreement of the Electric Sector made between the federal government and the companies of the electric sector. The structure of a generic electric sector and a historical review of the Brazilian electric sector from the time it was controlled by the private enterprises, including the State control period, about 1960, and returning to the control of the private enterprises in 1990, under a new regulation structure are presented. An explanation of the models of economic regulation that Brazil used for the electric sector is made, with prominence for the price cap that is the actual effective model. The process of tariff revision foreseen in the concession contracts signed by the federal government and the concessionary companies is presented, highlighting its two stages: the tariff rebalancing that defines the new price cap and the calculation of the factor X that establishes the efficiency goals for the companies. There is made a presentation of the Emergencial Program of Reduction of Consumption of Electric Energy and of the consequent General Agreement of the Electric Sector, which created the revenue of extraordinary tariff restore. A conceptual revision on reviews is presented, regarding to concepts, accomplishment and recognition. A brief review of the six companies that made part of the worked sample is also presented. Analyzing the quarters historical review and of amount of sold energy, it was possible to conclude that the energy-rationing altered the results of the studied companies significantly and that alteration was masked by the accounting process of the revenue of extraordinary tariff restore

O desenvolvimento da indústria da reciclagem dos materiais no Brasil: motivação econômica ou benefício ambiental conseguido com a atividade?

A indústria de reciclagem vem se desenvolvendo no Brasil desde o começo dos anos noventa, o que resulta em elevados índices de reciclagem e tecnologia de ponta na reciclagem de alguns materiais. Requisitada como estratégia para a gestão dos resíduos no destino final, a reciclagem possui a particularidade de ser uma atividade econômica bastante rentável. Este artigo analisa os índices da indústria de reciclagem dos materiais no Brasil. Com base nos resultados obtidos através da consulta bibliográfica e dados estatísticos oriundos de fontes primárias e secundárias, conclui-se que a atividade da reciclagem dos materiais no Brasil se presta a satisfazer exclusivamente às demandas econômicas do setor. Neste sentido, a contribuição ambiental da reciclagem perde relevância visto que o crescimento da atividade está condicionado às demandas da cadeia produtiva industrial

Automação residencial microcontrolada para transmissão de dados via rede elétrica

This work deals with the specification and the implementation of a protocol for controlling communication between two programmable interface microcontrollers (PIC), using power line communication (PLC), making communication more secure and economically viable. The Protocol was implemented in C language, with reference to some protocols developed for automotive use. A circuit to test the communication between the PLC and the Protocol was also implemented.

Controle em modo dual adaptativo robusto aplicado a um sistema de geração de energia elétrica

Synchronous machines, widely used in energy generation systems, require constant voltage and frequency to obtain good quality of energy. However, for large load variati- ons, it is difficult to maintain outputs on nominal values due to parametric uncertainties, nonlinearities and coupling among variables. Then, we propose to apply the Dual Mode Adaptive Robust Controller (DMARC) in the field flux control loop, replacing the tradi- tional PI controller. The DMARC links a Model Reference Adaptive Controller (MRAC) and a Variable Structure Model Reference Adaptive Controller (VS-MRAC), incorpora- ting transient performance advantages from VS-MRAC and steady state properties from MRAC. Moreover, simulation results are included to corroborate the theoretical studies.

Benchmarking e regulação do setor de distribuição de energia elétrica nacional: proposta para avaliação dos custos operacionais eficientes

In Brazil, the National Agency of Electric Energy (ANEEL) represents the energy regulator. The rates review have been one of its main tasks, which establish a pricing practice at a level to cover the efficient operating costs and also the appropriate return of the distributors investments. The changes in the procedures to redefine the efficient costs and the several studies on the methodologies employed to regulate this segment denote the challenge faced by regulators about the best methodological strategy to be employed. In this context, this research aims to propose a benchmarking evaluation applied to the national regulation system in the establishment of efficient operating costs of electricity distribution utilities. The model is formulated to promote the electricity market development, partnering with government policies ant to society benefit. To conduct this research, an integration of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) with the Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) is adopted in a three stages procedure to correct the efficiency in terms of environmental effects: (i) evaluation by means of DEA to measure operating costs slacks of the utilities, in which environmental variables are omitted; (ii) The slacks calculated in the first stage are regressed on a set of environmental variables by means of SFA and operating costs are adjusted to account the environmental impact and statistical noise effects; and, (iii) reassess the performance of the electric power distribution utilities by means of DEA. Based on this methodology it is possible to obtain a performance evaluation exclusively expressed in terms of management efficiency, in which the operating environment and statistical noise effects are controlled.

Estudo sobre a relação entre a atividade geomagnética e cintilações de sinais de GPS em Natal-RN (Brasil)

To identify the relationship between GPS scintillation in Natal-RN (Brazil) and geomagnetic disturbances of any intensities and variations, this work made analysis of the ionospheric behavior and magnetic indexes (Dst , AE and Bz of the interplanetary magnetic field) concerning to different periods of the solar cycle between 2000 and 2014. Part of the data of this research originated at the UFRN observatory, from a GEC Plessey board connected to an ANP -C 114 antenna, modified by Cornell University’s Space group Plasma Physics in order to operate the ScintMon, a GPS monitoring program. This study, therefore, found several cases of inhibited scintillations after the main phase of magnetic storms, a fact that, along with others, corroborated with categorization of Aarons (1991) and models of disturbed dynamo (according to Bonelli, 2008) and over-shielding penetration, defended by Kelley et al. (1979) and Abdu (2011) [4]. In addition to these findings, different morphologies were noted in such disruptions in the GPS signal in accordance with previous magnetic activities. It also found a moderate relationship (R2 = 0.52) between the Dst rate (concerning to specific time) and the average of S4 through a polynomial function. This finding therefore, corroborating Ilma et al. (2012) [17], is an important evidence that the scintillation GPS are not directly controlled by magnetic induction of storms. Completing this work, this relation did show itself as a way of partial predicting of scintillations.

Contribuições para estratégia de controle aplicada à geração fotovoltaica interconectada à rede elétrica

Generation systems, using renewable sources, are becoming increasingly popular due to the need for increased use of electricity. Currently, renewables sources have a role to cooperate with conventional generation, due to the system limitation in delivering the required power, the need for reduction of unwanted effects from sources that use fossil fuels (pollution) and the difficulty of building new transmission and/or distribution lines. This cooperation takes place through distributed generation. Therefore, this work proposes a control strategy for the interconnection of a PV (Photovoltaic) system generation distributed with a three-phase power grid through a connection filter the type LCL. The compensation of power quality at point of common coupling (PCC) is performed ensuring that the mains supply or consume only active power and that his currents have low distorcion. Unlike traditional techniques which require schemes for harmonic detection, the technique performs the harmonic compensation without the use of this schemes, controlling the output currents of the system in an indirect way. So that there is effective control of the DC (Direct Current) bus voltage is used the robust controller mode dual DSMPI (Dual-Sliding Mode-Proportional Integral), that behaves as a sliding mode controller SM-PI (Sliding Mode-Proportional Integral) during the transition and like a conventional PI (Proportional Integral) in the steady-state. For control of current is used to repetitive control strategy, which are used double sequence controllers (DSC) tuned to the fundamental component, the fifth and seventh harmonic. The output phase current are aligned with the phase angle of the utility voltage vector obtained from the use of a SRF-PLL (Synchronous Reference Frame Phase-Locked-Loop). In order to obtain the maximum power from the PV array is used a MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracking) algorithm without the need for adding sensors. Experimental results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control system.