Environmental issues and international relations, a new global (dis)order - the role of International Relations in promoting a concerted international system

Is it possible to talk about the rise of a new global (dis)order founded on the challenges posed by environmental issues? Through the review of the state of the art on the subject, this article analyzes the growing importance of the environment, and natural resources in particular, in international relations; and aims to raise awareness among International Relations scholars to the potential positive impact of the development of the discipline in integration with global environmental change studies.

Reshaping European Union development policy: collective choices and the new global order

Abstract The European Union (EU) is one of the world´s leading donors in official development assistance (ODA) to give a strong weight in the relationship with recipient partner countries, in particular with those that are more dependent on it. Besides the material weight of its funding, the EU has retained historical ties and influence in diplomatic, political and economic terms in many of its ODA recipient partner countries (particular in Sub-Saharan Africa). Since the 2000s, the EU development policy has not only undergone major structural changes in its institutional framework but also has started to face a new international aid scenario. This paper explores why a normative-based EU development policy is being challenged by reformed EU institutions and a new global order, and how the EU is attempting to respond to this context in face of the deepest recession since the end of the Second World War.

Biologia reprodutiva de Apidoras fuscoguttatus (Siluriformes, Callichthyidae) em riacho de cabeceira da bacia do alto Rio Paraná

The reproductive biology of Aspidoras fuscoguttatus Nijssen & Isbrücker, 1976 from a stream in São José do Rio Preto, northwestern São Paulo State, Brazil, was monthly investigated in the period of August 1999 to July 2000. Measurements of total length, body weight, gonadal weight and macroscopic assessment of gonadal maturation were performed. Environmental parameters were considered in order to verify associations with the reproductive period. Populational structure showed total length amplitude between 14.2 and 50.8 mm. Pronounced sexual dimorphism was verified. The largest mean values of gonadosomatic relation for females coincided with the rainy season (November to March). Mean length at first sexual maturity was different for males (30.5 mm) and females (37.1 mm). Fecundity varied between 51 and 166 oocytes. Gonadal maturation curve, frequency of maturation stages and size frequency distributions of oocytes in mature ovaries revealed a long reproductive period, suggesting fractional spawning.

Study of the mayfly order Ephemeroptera (Insecta) in Brazil: a scienciometric review

Study of the mayfly order Ephemeroptera (Insecta) in Brazil: a scienciometric review. Despite an increase in the number of studies in recent years of the aquatic insect order Ephemeroptera (the mayflies) much still remains to be learnt. In order to identify the current state of knowledge of this group in Brazil, we performed a scienciometric analysis with the purpose of identifying the strong and weak points of Brazilian research into the group. Our research used the "Institute for Scientific Information - ISI" database and was based on the abstracts, titles and keywords of manuscripts published between 1992 and 2011. We selected the papers with the combination of the words "Ephemeroptera" and "Brazil*" based on a search in February 2012. We analyzed 92 articles, and noted a lack of studies in some Brazilian states, no specific studies about some families, and an absence of phylogenetic studies. To improve ecological studies, it is necessary to fine-tune taxonomic resolution. Moreover, there is a lack of studies investigating the environmental variables which influence the distribution of mayflies. Despite these gaps, if the rate of publication with mayflies proceeds at the same pace, we anticipate that many of these knowledge gaps will be closed.

Análise estatística e optimização de perfis de redução termoprogramada (TPR)

The effect of operational variables and their interaction in TPR profiles was studied using a fractional factorial experimental design. The heating rate and the reducing agent concentration were found to be the most important variables determining the resolution and sensitivity of the technique. They showed opposite effects. Therefore, they should be manipulated preferentially in order to obtain optimized TPR profiles. The effect of sample particle size was also investigated. The tests were carried out within a Cu/Zn/Al2O3 catalyst used for the water-gas shift reaction that presented two distinct species of Cu2+ in TPR profiles.

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Starting from zero-, first-, and second-order integrated laws for chemical kinetics, some cases are shown which produce fractional orders. Taking the Michaelis-Menten mechanism as a first example, it is shown that substrate order can go from 1 to zero, depending on relative concentration of enzyme and substrate. Using other examples which show fractional orders higher than one and even negative (inhibition), it is shown that the presence of an equilibrium before or parallel to the rate determining step can be the reason for fractional orders, which is an indication of a more complex mechanism.

Performance characteristics of high performance liquid chromatography, first order derivative UV spectrophotometry and bioassay for fluconazole determination in capsules

The bioassay, first order derivative UV spectrophotometry and chromatographic methods for assaying fluconazole capsules were compared. They have shown great advantages over the earlier published methods. Using the first order derivative, the UV spectrophotometry method does not suffer interference of excipients. Validation parameters such as linearity, precision, accuracy, limit of detection and limit of quantitation were determined. All methods were linear and reliable within acceptable limits for antibiotic pharmaceutical preparations being accurate, precise and reproducible. The application of each method as a routine analysis should be investigated considering cost, simplicity, equipment, solvents, speed, and application to large or small workloads.

Harmonical oscillator and electro-mechanical analogy: an interdiscinary experiment to high precision mass variation measurements

In general, the traditional Physics courses needs examples of the aplications of the Physics concepts in other areas such as Chemistry and Biology. This lacks tend to demotivate Chemistry and Biology students regarding to deal with Physical concepts developed in classroom. In this work, the analogy among mechanic and electric oscillators is investigated to be applied in Chemistry and Biology areas, showing to be valuable due to its aplication in techniques that aims to measure mass variation with high precision. This measure could be made in a direct or indirect way. These techniques are known as electrogravimetric techniques and they are important in biosensor aplications. Thus, this paper explores the electromechanic analogy in an interdisciplinary way involving areas like Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Based on this analogy, it is proposed an experiment that can be applied in different ways, i.e. by an basic approach or more deeper, depending on the students specific formation, in other words, Physics, Chemistry or Biology.

An Investigation into Mechanisms of Loss of Safe Basins in a 2 D.O.F. Nonlinear Oscillator

In this work we consider the transient stability of coupled motions of a 2 D.O.F. nonlinear oscillator that can represent, for example, the motions of a sea vessel under the action of trains of regular lateral waves. Instability is studied as the escape of the system from a safe potential well. The set of initial conditions in phase space that lead to acceptable motions constitutes its safe basin. We investigate the evolution of these safe basins under variation of parameters such as frequency and amplitude of waves, and an internal tuning parameter. Complex nonlinear phenomena are known to play an important role in determining the loss of safe basins as, say, wave amplitude is increased. We therefore investigate those processes, and attempt to classify them in terms of their speed relative to changes in parameter values. "Mechanism basins" are produced depicting regions of parameter space in which rapid or slow losses of safe basin are observed. We propose that a comprehensive understanding of mechanisms of loss of safe basins can be a valuable tool in assessing stability properties of these systems, and we give a conceptual view of how such information could be used.

Chaos in a Two-Degree of Freedom Duffing Oscillator

High dimensional dynamical systems has intricate behavior either on temporal or on spatial evolution properties. Nevertheless, most of the work on chaotic dynamics has been concentrated on temporal behavior of low-dimensional systems. This contribution is concerned with the chaotic response of a two-degree of freedom Duffing oscillator. Since the equations of motion are associated with a five-dimensional system, the analysis is performed by considering two Duffing oscillators, both with single-degree of freedom, coupled by a spring-dashpot system. With this assumption, it is possible to analyze the transmissibility of motion between the two oscillators.

Modulation of the perception of temporal order by attentional and pre-attentional factors

When two stimuli are presented simultaneously to an observer, the perceived temporal order does not always correspond to the actual one. In three experiments we examined how the location and spatial predictability of visual stimuli modulate the perception of temporal order. Thirty-two participants had to report the temporal order of appearance of two visual stimuli. In Experiment 1, both stimuli were presented at the same eccentricity and no perceptual asynchrony between them was found. In Experiment 2, one stimulus was presented close to the fixation point and the other, peripheral, stimulus was presented in separate blocks in two eccentricities (4.8º and 9.6º). We found that the peripheral stimulus was perceived to be delayed in relation to the central one, with no significant difference between the delays obtained in the two eccentricities. In Experiment 3, using three eccentricities (2.5º, 7.3º and 12.1º) for the presentation of the peripheral stimulus, we compared a condition in which its location was highly predictable with two other conditions in which its location was progressively less predictable. Here, the perception of the peripheral stimulus was also delayed in relation to the central one, with this delay depending on both the eccentricity and predictability of the stimulus. We argue that attentional deployment, manipulated by the spatial predictability of the stimulus, seems to play an important role in the temporal order perception of visual stimuli. Yet, under whichever condition of spatial predictability, basic sensory and attentional processes are unavoidably entangled and both factors must concur to the perception of temporal order.

Measuring higher order optical aberrations of the human eye: techniques and applications

In the present paper we discuss the development of "wave-front", an instrument for determining the lower and higher optical aberrations of the human eye. We also discuss the advantages that such instrumentation and techniques might bring to the ophthalmology professional of the 21st century. By shining a small light spot on the retina of subjects and observing the light that is reflected back from within the eye, we are able to quantitatively determine the amount of lower order aberrations (astigmatism, myopia, hyperopia) and higher order aberrations (coma, spherical aberration, etc.). We have measured artificial eyes with calibrated ametropia ranging from +5 to -5 D, with and without 2 D astigmatism with axis at 45º and 90º. We used a device known as the Hartmann-Shack (HS) sensor, originally developed for measuring the optical aberrations of optical instruments and general refracting surfaces in astronomical telescopes. The HS sensor sends information to a computer software for decomposition of wave-front aberrations into a set of Zernike polynomials. These polynomials have special mathematical properties and are more suitable in this case than the traditional Seidel polynomials. We have demonstrated that this technique is more precise than conventional autorefraction, with a root mean square error (RMSE) of less than 0.1 µm for a 4-mm diameter pupil. In terms of dioptric power this represents an RMSE error of less than 0.04 D and 5º for the axis. This precision is sufficient for customized corneal ablations, among other applications.

A simple model for circadian timing by mammals

Circadian timing is structured in such a way as to receive information from the external and internal environments, and its function is the timing organization of the physiological and behavioral processes in a circadian pattern. In mammals, the circadian timing system consists of a group of structures, which includes the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), the intergeniculate leaflet and the pineal gland. Neuron groups working as a biological pacemaker are found in the SCN, forming a biological master clock. We present here a simple model for the circadian timing system of mammals, which is able to reproduce two fundamental characteristics of biological rhythms: the endogenous generation of pulses and synchronization with the light-dark cycle. In this model, the biological pacemaker of the SCN was modeled as a set of 1000 homogeneously distributed coupled oscillators with long-range coupling forming a spherical lattice. The characteristics of the oscillator set were defined taking into account the Kuramoto's oscillator dynamics, but we used a new method for estimating the equilibrium order parameter. Simultaneous activities of the excitatory and inhibitory synapses on the elements of the circadian timing circuit at each instant were modeled by specific equations for synaptic events. All simulation programs were written in Fortran 77, compiled and run on PC DOS computers. Our model exhibited responses in agreement with physiological patterns. The values of output frequency of the oscillator system (maximal value of 3.9 Hz) were of the order of magnitude of the firing frequencies recorded in suprachiasmatic neurons of rodents in vivo and in vitro (from 1.8 to 5.4 Hz).