Emprego da submucosa intestinal suína em uretroplastias complexas

We report the use of Porcine Intestinal Submucosa (PIS) in association with Johanson technique for urethroplasty, in the treatment of recurring urethral stenosis. The patient had obliterans xerotica balanitis and had previously undergone 15 internal uretotomies as well as various unsuccessful urethral dilations. As a result of stenotic extension, another surgery was planned using Johanson technique. During the first part of the surgery, intense local fibrosis was observed, which required greater care and protection to avoid fistulae formation. PIS was interposed to reduce the chances of the occurrence of this dreaded complication. During the second part of the surgery, a skin flap obtained from tissue parallel to the urethral plateau was used to prepare a neourethra according to the norms of this technique. PIS was fixed at its extremities, and interposed between the neourethral suture and the skin suture to prevent any contact between them. The procedure was completed with the use of meatoplasty and glandulaplasty. After 6-month follow up, clinical and urodynamic improvement could be seen. If these results can be confirmed by more extensive studies, PIS will provide new perspectives for complex urethroplasties.

Drama in education : deconstructing the role of movement in text

The purpose of this study was to conduct a comparative textual analysis on the role of movement in 3 texts in Drama in Education in Canada. As the subject is holistic and encourages creative, active participation, movement was expected to appear, even inadvertently, in both theory and practice. It was hoped that guidelines for the use of movement within Drama in Education would emerge from the texts and that these guidelines would serve as models for others to use. A total of 26 Drama in Education experts in Canada were each asked to list the 10 most important texts in the field. Those who answered were assigned numbers and charted according to age, gender, and geography. An objective colleague helped narrow the group to 16 participants. A frequency count was used, assigning 10 points to the first text on each list, and descending to 1 point for the tenth text listed. Based on the highest number of points calculated, the 5 most frequently used texts were identified. These were compared to ascertain the widest representation ofthe authors' geographic location and gender, as well as differences in theory and practice. The final selection included 3 texts that represented differing approaches in their presentation and discussion of Drama in Education theories and practices. Analysis involved applying 5 levels of commitment to determine if,how, why, when, and with what results movement was explicitly or implicitly addressed in the 3 texts. Analysis resulted in several unexpected surprises around each of the 3 texts. The study also provided suggestions for extending and clarifying the role of movement in teaching and learning in general, as well as for Drama in Education in particular.

Improving flood models using LiDAR: progress and problems

Airborne scanning laser altimetry (LiDAR) is an important new data source for river flood modelling. LiDAR can give dense and accurate DTMs of floodplains for use as model bathymetry. Spatial resolutions of 0.5m or less are possible, with a height accuracy of 0.15m. LiDAR gives a Digital Surface Model (DSM), so vegetation removal software (e.g. TERRASCAN) must be used to obtain a DTM. An example used to illustrate the current state of the art will be the LiDAR data provided by the EA, which has been processed by their in-house software to convert the raw data to a ground DTM and separate vegetation height map. Their method distinguishes trees from buildings on the basis of object size. EA data products include the DTM with or without buildings removed, a vegetation height map, a DTM with bridges removed, etc. Most vegetation removal software ignores short vegetation less than say 1m high. We have attempted to extend vegetation height measurement to short vegetation using local height texture. Typically most of a floodplain may be covered in such vegetation. The idea is to assign friction coefficients depending on local vegetation height, so that friction is spatially varying. This obviates the need to calibrate a global floodplain friction coefficient. It’s not clear at present if the method is useful, but it’s worth testing further. The LiDAR DTM is usually determined by looking for local minima in the raw data, then interpolating between these to form a space-filling height surface. This is a low pass filtering operation, in which objects of high spatial frequency such as buildings, river embankments and walls may be incorrectly classed as vegetation. The problem is particularly acute in urban areas. A solution may be to apply pattern recognition techniques to LiDAR height data fused with other data types such as LiDAR intensity or multispectral CASI data. We are attempting to use digital map data (Mastermap structured topography data) to help to distinguish buildings from trees, and roads from areas of short vegetation. The problems involved in doing this will be discussed. A related problem of how best to merge historic river cross-section data with a LiDAR DTM will also be considered. LiDAR data may also be used to help generate a finite element mesh. In rural area we have decomposed a floodplain mesh according to taller vegetation features such as hedges and trees, so that e.g. hedge elements can be assigned higher friction coefficients than those in adjacent fields. We are attempting to extend this approach to urban area, so that the mesh is decomposed in the vicinity of buildings, roads, etc as well as trees and hedges. A dominant points algorithm is used to identify points of high curvature on a building or road, which act as initial nodes in the meshing process. A difficulty is that the resulting mesh may contain a very large number of nodes. However, the mesh generated may be useful to allow a high resolution FE model to act as a benchmark for a more practical lower resolution model. A further problem discussed will be how best to exploit data redundancy due to the high resolution of the LiDAR compared to that of a typical flood model. Problems occur if features have dimensions smaller than the model cell size e.g. for a 5m-wide embankment within a raster grid model with 15m cell size, the maximum height of the embankment locally could be assigned to each cell covering the embankment. But how could a 5m-wide ditch be represented? Again, this redundancy has been exploited to improve wetting/drying algorithms using the sub-grid-scale LiDAR heights within finite elements at the waterline.

Modelos matemáticos para estimar as exigências de lisina digestível para aves de corte ISA Label

O objetivo neste estudo foi avaliar diferentes modelos ajustados às respostas de ganho de peso obtidas em experimento com aves da linhagem ISA Label no período de 1 a 28 dias de idade. Foram utilizados 480 pintos de ambos os sexos, distribuídos em delineamento inteiramente casualizado, em arranjo fatorial 4 X 2 (níveis de lisina X sexo), com três repetições, com 20 aves por unidade experimental. Uma ração basal foi formulada para atender às exigências das aves, exceto em lisina. Essa ração foi suplementada com L-lisina HCl em substituição ao ácido L-glutâmico, resultando em rações experimentais isonitrogênicas e isoenergéticas contendo 0,85; 0,97; 1,09 e 1,21% de lisina digestível. As respostas de ganho de peso foram ajustadas de acordo com os níveis de lisina da ração pelos modelos Linear Reponse Plateau (LRP), segmentado de duas inclinações, polinomial quadrático e exponencial. A primeira intersecção da equação quadrática com o platô do LRP também foi utilizado para estimar o nível ótimo. Os níveis de lisina digestível estimados pelos modelos LRP, segmentado e quadrático, foram 0,999; 1,010 e 1,116%, respectivamente. Na combinação do modelo quadrático com o LRP, a estimativa da exigência de lisina digestível foi de 1,041%. O modelo exponencial proporcionou estimativa de 1,066%, considerando 95% da resposta assintótica. Com base nos custos com alimentação, esse mesmo modelo gerou estimativas de 1,000 e 1,030% quando o custo do quilograma de L-lisina HCl foi R$ 8,50 e R$ 6,50, respectivamente. Considerando as limitações de cada um dos modelos propostos, o procedimento para estimar as exigências de lisina digestível pela primeira intersecção da equação quadrática com o platô do LRP foi o mais adequado para melhorar o ganho de peso das aves quando variáveis econômicas não foram consideradas.

Estudo dos parâmetros de extração de fenol de efluentes aquosos por um tensoativo não iônico

Environmental sustainability has become one of the topics of greatest interest in industry, mainly due to effluent generation. Phenols are found in many industries effluents, these industries might be refineries, coal processing, pharmaceutical, plastics, paints and paper and pulp industries. Because phenolic compounds are toxic to humans and aquatic organisms, Federal Resolution CONAMA No. 430 of 13.05.2011 limits the maximum content of phenols, in 0.5 mg.L-1, for release in freshwater bodies. In the effluents treatment, the liquid-liquid extraction process is the most economical for the phenol recovery, because consumes little energy, but in most cases implements an organic solvent, and the use of it can cause some environmental problems due to the high toxicity of this compound. Because of this, exists a need for new methodologies, which aims to replace these solvents for biodegradable ones. Some literature studies demonstrate the feasibility of phenolic compounds removing from aqueous effluents, by biodegradable solvents. In this extraction kind called "Cloud Point Extraction" is used a nonionic surfactant as extracting agent of phenolic compounds. In order to optimize the phenol extraction process, this paper studies the mathematical modeling and optimization of extraction parameters and investigates the effect of the independent variables in the process. A 32 full factorial design has been done with operating temperature and surfactant concentration as independent variables and, parameters extraction: Volumetric fraction of coacervate phase, surfactant and residual concentration of phenol in dilute phase after separation phase and phenol extraction efficiency, as dependent variables. To achieve the objectives presented before, the work was carried out in five steps: (i) selection of some literature data, (ii) use of Box-Behnken model to find out mathematical models that describes the process of phenol extraction, (iii) Data analysis were performed using STATISTICA 7.0 and the analysis of variance was used to assess the model significance and prediction (iv) models optimization using the response surface method (v) Mathematical models validation using additional measures, from samples different from the ones used to construct the model. The results showed that the mathematical models found are able to calculate the effect of the surfactant concentration and the operating temperature in each extraction parameter studied, respecting the boundaries used. The models optimization allowed the achievement of consistent and applicable results in a simple and quick way leading to high efficiency in process operation.

Posicionamento por ponto de alta precisão utilizando o GPS: Uma solução para a geodinâmica

Point positioning from GPS data can provide precision varying from 100 meters to a few millimeters at the level of 95% probability. To reach the best level of accuracy, users need proper equipment and software, as well as access capability to GPS products available at the International GPS Geodynamics Service. In this paper, the theory related to point positioning using GPS is presented as well as the results of an experiment conducted using data from the Brazilian Active Control System. The results show repeatability better than 5mm and 10mm for the N and E baseline components respectively, and 6mm + 4ppb (parts per billion) for the vertical. Comparison with SIRGAS campaign showed results at the same level of uncertainty as that of the stations used to tie the SIRGAS frame to ITRF94. Therefore, precise point positioning is a powerful tool to be used in applications requiring high level of precision, such as Geodynamics.

Variabilidade espacial da umidade do solo em irrigação por gotejamento sob cultivo protegido

Pós-graduação em Agronomia (Irrigação e Drenagem) - FCA

Variabilidade Espacial da Umidade do Solo em Irrigação por Gotejamento Sob Cultivo Protegido

Foi estudada a variabilidade espacial da umidade do solo num sistema de irrigação por gotejamento em uma estufa (5,0 x 20,0m) na Fazenda Experimental São Manuel, da Faculdade de Ciências Agronômicas, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Estado de São Paulo, Brasil. Foi estabelecida a malha de amostragem no espaçamento de 1,0 x 0,5m, acrescida de quatro adensamentos de 0,25m. Foram utilizados dados da umidade do solo em 178 pontos. A análise da dependência espacial foi obtida com o auxílio do Programa GS+. Foi construído o variograma experimental e definido o modelo de ajuste, de modo que a curva que melhor se ajustou aos pontos obtidos representasse a magnitude, alcance e intensidade da variabilidade espacial da variável estudada. A umidade do solo apresentou distribuição espacial anisotrópica. Para a direção 0°, pode-se notar uma dependência espacial caracterizada como alta, com o alcance de aproximadamente 3,30m, no sentido do comprimento da estufa. Entretanto, no sentido da largura da estufa, não foi possível ajustar modelos. Utilizando a representação gráfica da superfície, a área estudada apresentou um maior teor de água na parte inicial e menor na parte final das linhas de distribuição de água. A krigagem mostrou-se um bom interpolador para mapeamento da umidade do solo.

Impact of patient training patterns on peritonitis rates in a large national cohort study

Background. Ideal training methods that could ensure best peritoneal dialysis (PD) outcome have not been defined in previous reports. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the impact of training characteristics on peritonitis rates in a large Brazilian cohort.Methods. Incident patients with valid data on training recruited in the Brazilian Peritoneal Dialysis Multicenter Study (BRAZPD II) from January 2008 to January 2011 were included. Peritonitis was diagnosed according to International Society for Peritoneal Dialysis guidelines; incidence rate of peritonitis (episodes/patient-months) and time to the first peritonitis were used as end points.Results. Two thousand two hundred and forty-three adult patients were included in the analysis: 59 +/- 16 years old, 51.8% female, 64.7% with <= 4 years of education. The median training time was 15 h (IQI 10-20 h). Patients were followed for a median of 11.2 months (range 3-36.5). The overall peritonitis rate was 0.29 per year at risk (1 episode/41 patient-months). The mean number of hours of training per day was 1.8 +/- 2.4. Less than 1 h of training/day was associated with higher incidence rate when compared with the intervals of 1-2 h/day (P = 0.03) and > 2 h/day (P = 0.02). Patients who received a cumulative training of > 15 h had significantly lower incidence of peritonitis compared with < 15 h (0.26 per year at risk versus 0.32 per year at risk, P = 0.01). The presence of a caregiver and the number of people trained were not significantly associated with peritonitis incidence rate. Training in the immediate 10 days after implantation of the catheter was associated with the highest peritonitis rate (0.32 per year), compared with training prior to catheter implantation (0.28 per year) or > 10 days after implantation (0.23 per year). More experienced centers had a lower risk for the first peritonitis (P = 0.003).Conclusions. This is the first study to analyze the association between training characteristics and outcomes in a large cohort of PD patients. Low training time (particularly < 15 h), smaller center size and the timing of training in relation to catheter implantation were associated with a higher incidence of peritonitis. These results support the recommendation of a minimum amount of training hours to reduce peritonitis incidence regardless of the number of hours trained per day.

Contributions of demography and dispersal parameters to the spatial spread of a stage-structured insect invasion

Stage-structured models that integrate demography and dispersal can be used to identify points in the life cycle with large effects on rates of population spatial spread, information that is vital in the development of containment strategies for invasive species. Current challenges in the application of these tools include: (1) accounting for large uncertainty in model parameters, which may violate assumptions of ‘‘local’’ perturbation metrics such as sensitivities and elasticities, and (2) forecasting not only asymptotic rates of spatial spread, as is usually done, but also transient spatial dynamics in the early stages of invasion. We developed an invasion model for the Diaprepes root weevil (DRW; Diaprepes abbreviatus [Coleoptera: Curculionidae]), a generalist herbivore that has invaded citrus-growing regions of the United States. We synthesized data on DRW demography and dispersal and generated predictions for asymptotic and transient peak invasion speeds, accounting for parameter uncertainty. We quantified the contributions of each parameter toward invasion speed using a ‘‘global’’ perturbation analysis, and we contrasted parameter contributions during the transient and asymptotic phases. We found that the asymptotic invasion speed was 0.02–0.028 km/week, although the transient peak invasion speed (0.03– 0.045 km/week) was significantly greater. Both asymptotic and transient invasions speeds were most responsive to weevil dispersal distances. However, demographic parameters that had large effects on asymptotic speed (e.g., survival of early-instar larvae) had little effect on transient speed. Comparison of the global analysis with lower-level elasticities indicated that local perturbation analysis would have generated unreliable predictions for the responsiveness of invasion speed to underlying parameters. Observed range expansion in southern Florida (1992–2006) was significantly lower than the invasion speed predicted by the model. Possible causes of this mismatch include overestimation of dispersal distances, demographic rates, and spatiotemporal variation in parameter values. This study demonstrates that, when parameter uncertainty is large, as is often the case, global perturbation analyses are needed to identify which points in the life cycle should be targets of management. Our results also suggest that effective strategies for reducing spread during the asymptotic phase may have little effect during the transient phase. Includes Appendix.

Letteratura e realia. Le espressioni culturo-specifiche nelle traduzioni italiane della Wendeliteratur

Il presente lavoro affronta il problema della traduzione dei termini culturo-specifici nella letteratura contemporanea di lingua tedesca ambientata nella DDR. L’analisi della produzione narrativa della Wendeliteratur consente di osservare come il lessico e le espressioni tipiche della DDR vengano utilizzati nelle opere letterarie in funzione citazionale per denotare e connotare la realtà della Germania dell’Est. Attraverso un approccio integrato che coniuga i contributi teorici degli studi sulla traduzione con gli aspetti della pratica traduttiva il lavoro indaga il tema dei realia attraverso una presentazione delle ricerche esistenti, propone una classificazione specifica per i realia della DDR e procede a una ricognizione delle strategie e dei procedimenti traduttivi concreti, che consente di evidenziare le diverse scelte adottate dai traduttori. Attraverso un’analisi ermeneutica dei testi e lo strumento dell’isotopia come indicatore di coerenza le traduzioni italiane delle opere della Wendeliteratur sono oggetto di un’analisi critica. I risultati dell’analisi vengono infine utilizzati come riferimento per la traduzione dei realia nel racconto di F.C. Delius, Die Birnen von Ribbeck.

A refined TALDICE-1a age scale from 55 to 112 ka before present for the Talos Dome ice core based on high-resolution methane measurements

A precise synchronization of different climate records is indispensable for a correct dynamical interpretation of paleoclimatic data. A chronology for the TALDICE ice core from the Ross Sea sector of East Antarctica has recently been presented based on methane synchronization with Greenland and the EDC ice cores and δ18Oice synchronization with EDC in the bottom part (TALDICE-1). Using new high-resolution methane data obtained with a continuous flow analysis technique, we present a refined age scale for the age interval from 55–112 thousand years (ka) before present, where TALDICE is synchronized with EDC. New and more precise tie points reduce the uncertainties of the age scale from up to 1900 yr in TALDICE-1 to below 1100 yr over most of the refined interval and shift the Talos Dome dating to significantly younger ages during the onset of Marine Isotope Stage 3. Thus, discussions of climate dynamics at sub-millennial time scales are now possible back to 110 ka, in particular during the inception of the last ice age. Calcium data of EDC and TALDICE are compared to show the impact of the refinement to the synchronization of the two ice cores not only for the gas but also for the ice age scale.

Geological Report of Conrow Wood Creek Area 8 Miles N.E. of Whitehall, Montana

Plane table and pacing methods were used in the mapping of the individual areas, but an automobile traverse was used to tie the independent areas into a composite group that would be useful for the entire zone. All land marks, section corners, roads, fence lines, drainage, and geologic features were plotted in the field and later transferred to a master map.

Plattform Musikalische Bildung

Bei der Plattform Musikalische Bildung handelt es sich um ein Projekt der Hochschule für Musik Detmold. Die Plattform vereinigt in sich Ideen zum vernetzten Musiklernen, neu entwickelten Online-Musiklern-Tools sowie den Austausch und die Modifizierung dieser erstellten Kurse durch andere Dozenten und Lehrenden. Die Plattform steht allen Dozenten und Lehrern, Studierenden und Schülern an Hochschulen, aber auch Musikschulen und allgemein bildenden Schulen kostenlos zur Verfügung. Auf die Einblendung von Werbebannern wird verzichtet. Die Inbetriebnahme einer Betaversion ist im Oktober 2014 erfolgt. Weitere Ausbaustufen sind in Planung aber noch nicht gegenfinanziert.

Chronology of Lake El'gygytgyn sediments – a combined magnetostratigraphic, palaeoclimatic and orbital tuning study based on multi-parameter analyses

A 318-metre-long sedimentary profile drilled by the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP) at Site 5011-1 in Lake El’gygytgyn, Far East Russian Arctic, has been analysed for its sedimentologic response to global climate modes by chronostratigraphic methods. The 12 km wide lake is sited off-centre in an 18 km large crater that was created by the impact of a meteorite 3.58 Ma ago. Since then sediments have been continuously deposited. For establishing their chronology, major reversals of the earth’s magnetic field provided initial tie points for the age model, confirming that the impact occurred in the earliest geomagnetic Gauss chron. Various stratigraphic parameters, reflecting redox conditions at the lake floor and climatic conditions in the catchment were tuned synchronously to Northern Hemisphere insolation variations and the marine oxygen isotope stack, respectively. Thus, a robust age model comprising more than 600 tie points could be defined. It could be shown that deposition of sediments in Lake El’gygytgyn occurred in concert with global climatic cycles. The upper �160m of sediments represent the past 3.3 Ma, equivalent to sedimentation rates of 4 to 5 cm ka−1, whereas the lower 160m represent just the first 0.3 Ma after the impact, equivalent to sedimentation rates in the order of 45 cm ka−1. This study also provides orbitally tuned ages for a total of 8 tephras deposited in Lake El’gygytgyn.