Soil erosion fragility assessment using an impact model and geographic information system

A study was taken in a 1566 ha watershed situated in the Capivara River basin, municipality of Botucatu, São Paulo State, Brazil. This environment is fragile and can be subjected to different forms of negative impacts, among them soil erosion by water. The main objective of the research was to develop a methodology for the assessment of soil erosion fragility at the various different watershed positions, using the geographic information system ILWIS version 3.3 for Windows. An impact model was created to generate the soil's erosion fragility plan, based on four indicators of fragility to water erosion: land use and cover, slope, percentage of soil fine sand and accumulated water flow. Thematic plans were generated in a geographic information system (GIS) environment. First, all the variables, except land use and cover, were described by continuous numerical plans in a raster structure. The land use and cover plan was also represented by numerical values associated with the weights attributed to each class, starting from a pairwise comparison matrix and using the analytical hierarchy process. A final field check was done to record evidence of erosive processes in the areas indicated as presenting the highest levels of fragility, i.e., sites with steep slopes, high percentage of soil fine sand, tendency to accumulate surface water flow, and sites of pastureland. The methodology used in the environmental problems diagnosis of the study area can be employed at places with similar relief, soil and climatic conditions.

Data information system to promote the organization data of collections - modeling considerations by the Unified Modelign Language (UML)

Pode-se afirmar que a evolução tecnológica (desenvolvimento de novos instrumentos de medição como, softwares, satélites e computadores, bem como, o barateamento das mídias de armazenamento) permite às Organizações produzirem e adquirirem grande quantidade de dados em curto espaço de tempo. Devido ao volume de dados, Organizações de pesquisa se tornam potencialmente vulneráveis aos impactos da explosão de informações. Uma solução adotada por algumas Organizações é a utilização de ferramentas de sistemas de informação para auxiliar na documentação, recuperação e análise dos dados. No âmbito científico, essas ferramentas são desenvolvidas para armazenar diferentes padrões de metadados (dados sobre dados). Durante o processo de desenvolvimento destas ferramentas, destaca-se a adoção de padrões como a Linguagem Unificada de Modelagem (UML, do Inglês Unified Modeling Language), cujos diagramas auxiliam na modelagem de diferentes aspectos do software. O objetivo deste estudo é apresentar uma ferramenta de sistemas de informação para auxiliar na documentação dos dados das Organizações por meio de metadados e destacar o processo de modelagem de software, por meio da UML. Será abordado o Padrão de Metadados Digitais Geoespaciais, amplamente utilizado na catalogação de dados por Organizações científicas de todo mundo, e os diagramas dinâmicos e estáticos da UML como casos de uso, sequências e classes. O desenvolvimento das ferramentas de sistemas de informação pode ser uma forma de promover a organização e a divulgação de dados científicos. No entanto, o processo de modelagem requer especial atenção para o desenvolvimento de interfaces que estimularão o uso das ferramentas de sistemas de informação.

GIS_EM (Geographic information system for environmental monitoring) - A software implemented at Paulínia refinery (REPLAN) for management of environmental data

The computational program called GIS_EM (Geographic Information System for Environmental Monitoring), a software devised to manage geographic information for monitoring soil, surface, and ground water, developed for use in the Health, Safety, and Environment Division of Paulinia Refinery is presented. This program enables registering and management of alphanumeric information pertaining to specific themes such as drilling performed for sample collection and for installation of monitoring wells, geophysical and other tests, results of chemical analyses of soil, surface, and groundwater, as well as reference values providing orientation for soil and water quality, such as EPA, Dutch List, etc. Management of such themes is performed by means of alphanumeric search tools, with specific filters and, in the case of spatial search, through the selection of spatial elements (themes) in map view. Documents existing in digital form, such as reports, photos, maps, may be registered and managed in the network environment. As the system centralizes information generated upon environmental investigations, it expedites access to and search of documents produced and stored in the network environment, minimizing search time and the need to file printed documents. This is an abstract of a paper presented at the AIChE Annual Meeting and Fall Showcase (Cincinnati, OH 10/30/2005-11/4/2005).

A medical information system to manage a cancer database

Cancer is the second main cause of death in Brazil, and according to statistics disclosed by INCA - National Cancer Institute 466,730 new cases of the disease are forecast for 2008. The storage and analysis of tumour tissues of various types and patients' clinical data, genetic profiles, characteristics of diseases and epidemiological data may provide more precise diagnoses, providing more effective treatments with higher chances for the cure of cancer. In this paper we present a Web system with a client-server architecture, which manages a relational database containing all information relating to the tumour tissue and their location in freezers, patients, medical forms, physicians, users, and others. Furthermore, it is also discussed the software engineering used to developing the system.

Absence motivated by illness: A non-concurrent prospective study of physical education teachers in the municipal education system of the city of Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil

The object of this investigation was to identify and analize aspects of the health status related to absenteism in physical education teachers in the municipal education system of the city of Campinas, Brazil, as related to the medical leave program. The non-concurrent prospective study was accomplished by means of a comparison with teachers who work only in the classroom, refering to a three year period. In the variables of greatest interest, the Pearson non-parametric chi-square (X2) statistical test was adopted. Calculations of relative risk and level of confidence were made using the Epi-info computer program. Significant differences were observed in the following diagnostic groups favoring the not exposed group: i) Supplementary Classification of factors that exercise influence over the health status and access to health services and ii) Digestive system illness; while the physical education teachers showed a significant difference in: i) diseases of the musculoskeletal and connective tissue system and ii) Injuries and poisoing. Possible explications for some of the adverse effects as well as the protective ones that were observed include physical activity as a way of life along with being a physical education teacher and on the other side, peculiar behavior of epidemiological descriptive characteristics, like sex and age, within the socio-economic context of the country. © Copyright Moreira Jr. Editora.

A study of habitat fragmentation in Southeastern Brazil using remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS)

The purpose of this work was to study fragmentation of forest formations (mesophytic forest, riparian woodland and savannah vegetation (cerrado)) in a 15,774-ha study area located in the Municipal District of Botucatu in Southeastern Brazil (São Paulo State). A land use and land cover map was made from a color composition of a Landsat-5 thematic mapper (TM) image. The edge effect caused by habitat fragmentation was assessed by overlaying, on a geographic information system (GIS), the land use and land cover data with the spectral ratio. The degree of habitat fragmentation was analyzed by deriving: 1. mean patch area and perimeter; 2. patch number and density; 3. perimeter-area ratio, fractal dimension (D), and shape diversity index (SI); and 4. distance between patches and dispersion index (R). In addition, the following relationships were modeled: 1. distribution of natural vegetation patch sizes; 2. perimeter-area relationship and the number and area of natural vegetation patches; 3. edge effect caused by habitat fragmentation, the values of R indicated that savannah patches (R = 0.86) were aggregated while patches of natural vegetation as a whole (R = 1.02) were randomly dispersed in the landscape. There was a high frequency of small patches in the landscape whereas large patches were rare. In the perimeter-area relationship, there was no sign of scale distinction in the patch shapes, In the patch number-landscape area relationship, D, though apparently scale-dependent, tends to be constant as area increases. This phenomenon was correlated with the tendency to reach a constant density as the working scale was increased, on the edge effect analysis, the edge-center distance was properly estimated by a model in which the edge-center distance was considered a function of the to;al patch area and the SI. (C) 1997 Elsevier B.V. B.V.

Políticas públicas em educação: contribuições para análise da oferta educacional no âmbito municipal (Araraquara/SP)

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

The first Brazilian municipal initiative of payments for environmental services and its potential for soil conservation

It has become evident that policies aimed at mitigating the growing water resources and water use conflicts in Brazil are crucial. The municipality of Extrema in Minas Gerais state in Brazil pioneered the first Brazilian municipal PES initiative (Conservador das Aguas program), based on the relationship between forests and the benefits they provide. This study aimed to assess soil loss in the Posses sub-basin, where the Conservador das Aguas program began. Additionally, we aimed to determine the potential that this PES initiative has for soil conservation, as well as to minimize the soil losses as a function of forest area size and location in order to propose a technical approach for implementing PES. In this sense, considering the prescribed conservation practices, land use situation, and soil cover in the Posses sub-basin, we analyzed the effectiveness of the Conservador das Aguas program before and after implementation in relation to reduced soil loss under 36 different land use and soil cover scenarios. We used a geographic information system (GIS) for spatializing and producing different information plans and the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) for estimating soil loss. As a result, we found that minimization of soil loss may be obtained by adopting pasture conservation practices. Additionally the expected average soil loss in the Posses sub-basin under conditions of land use and soil cover, before and after implementing the water conservation program was 30.63 and 7.06 Mg ha(-1) year(-1), respectively. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Ecologia da paisagem: mapeamento da vegetação da Reserva Biológica da Serra do Japi, Jundiaí, SP, Brasil

Foi realizado o mapeamento da vegetação da Reserva Biológica (REBIO) Municipal da Serra do Japi, Jundiaí, SP, por meio de fotointerpretação analógica, em escala 1:30.000. O mapa foi digitalizado e transferido para computador pelo sistema de informação geográfica (Idrisi) e posteriormente para o programa Corel Draw. Foram identificadas, mapeadas e descritas oito unidades de paisagem (UP) sendo três antrópicas (solo exposto, campo antrópico e reflorestamento homogêneo) e cinco naturais (floresta estacional semidecidual montana dossel uniforme - microfanerófitos; floresta estacional semidecidual montana dossel uniforme - mesofanerófitos; floresta estacional semidecidual montana dossel emergente; floresta estacional semidecidual aluvial dossel emergente e refúgio montano arbustivo). As unidades naturais somaram 98,46% do total dos 2.071,20 ha da área, indicando que a Reserva vem cumprindo seu papel na preservação do ecossistema em questão. No entanto, como algumas unidades não tem expressiva representatividade na área, e como existe grande extensão de floresta no entorno da Reserva, sugere-se a ampliação e a transformação da mesma em uma unidade que contemple inclusive a visitação pública como forma de auxiliar no processo de conservação. Sugere-se que a área seja transformada em parque estadual, cujo nome poderia ser Parque Estadual da Serra do Japi.

Minimização da erosão em função do tamanho e localização das áreas de floresta no contexto do programa conservador das águas

Com os crescentes conflitos de uso da água no Brasil, a implantação de políticas para a mitigação desses problemas tornou-se crucial. Nesse sentido, o conceito de Pagamentos por Serviços Ambientais (PSA) tem se difundido ao redor do mundo e, consequentemente, no Brasil. O município de Extrema, em Minas Gerais, implantou a primeira iniciativa municipal brasileira de PSA, conhecida como programa Conservador das Águas. Neste trabalho, objetivou-se avaliar a perda de solo na sub-bacia das Posses, onde se iniciou o programa Conservador das Águas, visando determinar a potencialidade que o conceito adotado nesse programa terá para a conservação do solo e otimizar o provimento desse serviço ambiental em função do tamanho e da localização da área de floresta. Quatorze diferentes cenários de uso e cobertura do solo foram analisados, utilizando-se um Sistema de Informações Geográficas e a Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation. A expectativa de perda de solo na sub-bacia das Posses antes e após a implementação do programa Conservador das Águas foi de 30,63 e 7,06 Mg ha-1 ano-1, respectivamente. A otimização da conservação do solo pode ser feita adotando-se práticas conservacionistas na pastagem e alocando-se a área de floresta de maneira mais otimizada.

A CASE tool for the modeling of methods and information systems

MODSI is a multi-models tool for information systems modeling. A modeling process in MODSI can be driven according to three different approaches: informal, semi-formal and formal. The MODSI tool is therefore based on the linked usage of these three modeling approaches. It can be employed at two different levels: the meta-modeling of a method and the modeling of an information system.In this paper we start presenting different types of modeling by making an analysis of their particular features. Then, we introduce the meta-model defined in our tool, as well as the tool functional architecture. Finally, we describe and illustrate the various usage levels of this tool.

Usage of enterprise modeling processes and information systems design to forecast demand

Managing the great complexity of enterprise system, due to entities numbers, decision and process varieties involved to be controlled results in a very hard task because deals with the integration of its operations and its information systems. Moreover, the enterprises find themselves in a constant changing process, reacting in a dynamic and competitive environment where their business processes are constantly altered. The transformation of business processes into models allows to analyze and redefine them. Through computing tools usage it is possible to minimize the cost and risks of an enterprise integration design. This article claims for the necessity of modeling the processes in order to define more precisely the enterprise business requirements and the adequate usage of the modeling methodologies. Following these patterns, the paper concerns the process modeling relative to the domain of demand forecasting as a practical example. The domain of demand forecasting was built based on a theoretical review. The resulting models considered as reference model are transformed into information systems and have the aim to introduce a generic solution and be start point of better practical forecasting. The proposal is to promote the adequacy of the information system to the real needs of an enterprise in order to enable it to obtain and accompany better results, minimizing design errors, time, money and effort. The enterprise processes modeling are obtained with the usage of CIMOSA language and to the support information system it was used the UML language.

Situação vacinal infantil e características individuais e familiares do interior de São Paulo

The aim of this study was to describe and analyze individual and family characteristics of children and those of health services, as well as their relationship with the immunization status for different kinds of vaccines and doses. Three sources of information were used: records from the Municipal Health Information System, immunization charts, and interviews using closed-ended questions. The families interviewed still had one or two growing children; caretakers were usually young unemployed mothers with easy access to health services. Around 30% of them were not instructed on the vaccine being given, its reactions or when to return for the next shot. The greatest levels of tardiness occurred with the vaccines against measles (6.3%) and Haemophilus influenzae B (4.2%). It was possible to observe that tardiness or absence of vaccinations seem to have a stronger relationship with service characteristics than with population characteristics.

A clinical decision support system for cancer diseases

The second main cause of death in Brazil is cancer, and according to statistics disclosed by National Cancer Institute from Brazil (INCA) 466,730 new cases of cancer are forecast for 2008. The analysis of tumour tissues of various types and patients' clinical data, genetic profiles, characteristics of diseases and epidemiological data may lead to more precise diagnoses, providing more effective treatments. In this work we present a clinical decision support system for cancer diseases, which manages a relational database containing information relating to the tumour tissue and their location in freezers, patients and medical forms. Furthermore, it is also discussed some problems encountered, as database integration and the adoption of a standard to describe topography and morphology. It is also discussed the dynamic report generation functionality, that shows data in table and graph format, according to the user's configuration. © ACM 2008.