Cultures mediàtiques adolescents: Un estudi psicosocial centrat en el telèfon mòbil

Des de la perspectiva psicosocial s'analitzen alguns aspectes de les interaccions entre progenitors i fills/es adolescents entre 12 i 16 anys en relació a l'ús del telèfon mòbil en el marc de la societat acceleradament canviant. S'ha emprat un mètode plural o multimètode que s'ha articulat en dues fases d'investigació, una quantitativa i una qualitativa, per l'estudi dels fenòmens socials complexes com ho són les relacions intergeneracionals. Els resultats posen de manifest que existeixen interaccions entre les actituds dels adolescents i dels progenitors en l'ús del telèfon mòbil. També apunten que les tecnologies audiovisuals com el mòbil estan mediatitzant les relacions intergeneracionals. És a dir, no només els adolescents utilitzen molt més les tecnologies que els adults, sinó que a més sobre el context social que té impacte aquest ús és fonamentalment amb els amics. Cal un major apropament intergeneracional pel que fa a mantenir converses entre adults i adolescents al voltant dels temes que els motiven i interessen, com és el cas de les TICs.

A dendrochemical study of Pinus sylvestris from Siljansfors Experimental Forest, central Sweden

Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was used to investigate changes in trace element concentration in two high resolution sequences of tree rings from central Sweden. Individual annual growth increments from 18002002 to 1930-2002 were sampled from two Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) trees from the Siljansfors Experimental Forest. The aims of the study were: to test the viability of conventional solution induction ICP-MS as a technique for investigating the multi-elemental chemistry of long tree ring sequences at annual resolution, and, to test this specifically with a view to detecting changes in elemental concentrations of Swedish tree rings contemporary with the major (and relatively proximal) Icelandic eruption of Askja (1875). It was found that despite a time consuming sample preparation process, it was possible to use conventional ICP-MS for multi-elemental analysis of a long sequence of tree rings at annual resolution. Although promising data were produced, no truly conclusive concentration anomaly could be detected in the sequence to indicate the impact of the Askja eruption on environmental chemistry. Overall findings underlined the complexity of the tree/environment interaction and the cautious approach to data interpretation essential for any dendrochemical study. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Assessing the environmental performance of English arable and livestock holdings using data from the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN)

Agri-environment schemes (AESs) have been implemented across EU member states in an attempt to reconcile agricultural production methods with protection of the environment and maintenance of the countryside. To determine the extent to which such policy objectives are being fulfilled, participating countries are obliged to monitor and evaluate the environmental, agricultural and socio-economic impacts of their AESs. However, few evaluations measure precise environmental outcomes and critically, there are no agreed methodologies to evaluate the benefits of particular agri-environmental measures, or to track the environmental consequences of changing agricultural practices. In response to these issues, the Agri-Environmental Footprint project developed a common methodology for assessing the environmental impact of European AES. The Agri-Environmental Footprint Index (AFI) is a farm-level, adaptable methodology that aggregates measurements of agri-environmental indicators based on Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA) techniques. The method was developed specifically to allow assessment of differences in the environmental performance of farms according to participation in agri-environment schemes. The AFI methodology is constructed so that high values represent good environmental performance. This paper explores the use of the AFI methodology in combination with Farm Business Survey data collected in England for the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN), to test whether its use could be extended for the routine surveillance of environmental performance of farming systems using established data sources. Overall, the aim was to measure the environmental impact of three different types of agriculture (arable, lowland livestock and upland livestock) in England and to identify differences in AFI due to participation in agri-environment schemes. However, because farm size, farmer age, level of education and region are also likely to influence the environmental performance of a holding, these factors were also considered. Application of the methodology revealed that only arable holdings participating in agri-environment schemes had a greater environmental performance, although responses differed between regions. Of the other explanatory variables explored, the key factors determining the environmental performance for lowland livestock holdings were farm size, farmer age and level of education. In contrast, the AFI value of upland livestock holdings differed only between regions. The paper demonstrates that the AFI methodology can be used readily with English FADN data and therefore has the potential to be applied more widely to similar data sources routinely collected across the EU-27 in a standardised manner.

Comment on "Tropospheric temperature response to stratospheric ozone recovery in the 21st century" by Hu et al. (2011)

Abstract. In a recent paper Hu et al. (2011) suggest that the recovery of stratospheric ozone during the first half of this century will significantly enhance free tropospheric and surface warming caused by the anthropogenic increase of greenhouse gases, with the effects being most pronounced in Northern Hemisphere middle and high latitudes. These surprising results are based on a multi-model analysis of CMIP3 model simulations with and without prescribed stratospheric ozone recovery. Hu et al. suggest that in order to properly quantify the tropospheric and surface temperature response to stratospheric ozone recovery, it is necessary to run coupled atmosphere-ocean climate models with stratospheric ozone chemistry. The results of such an experiment are presented here, using a state-of-the-art chemistry-climate model coupled to a three-dimensional ocean model. In contrast to Hu et al., we find a much smaller Northern Hemisphere tropospheric temperature response to ozone recovery, which is of opposite sign. We suggest that their result is an artifact of the incomplete removal of the large effect of greenhouse gas warming between the two different sets of models.

Sustainable urban metabolism as a link between bio-physical sciences and urban planning: the BRIDGE project

Urban metabolism considers a city as a system with flows of energy and material between it and the environment. Recent advances in bio-physical sciences provide methods and models to estimate local scale energy, water, carbon and pollutant fluxes. However, good communication is required to provide this new knowledge and its implications to endusers (such as urban planners, architects and engineers). The FP7 project BRIDGE (sustainaBle uRban plannIng Decision support accountinG for urban mEtabolism) aimed to address this gap by illustrating the advantages of considering these issues in urban planning. The BRIDGE Decision Support System (DSS) aids the evaluation of the sustainability of urban planning interventions. The Multi Criteria Analysis approach adopted provides a method to cope with the complexity of urban metabolism. In consultation with targeted end-users, objectives were defined in relation to the interactions between the environmental elements (fluxes of energy, water, carbon and pollutants) and socioeconomic components (investment costs, housing, employment, etc.) of urban sustainability. The tool was tested in five case study cities: Helsinki, Athens, London, Florence and Gliwice; and sub-models were evaluated using flux data selected. This overview of the BRIDGE project covers the methods and tools used to measure and model the physical flows, the selected set of sustainability indicators, the methodological framework for evaluating urban planning alternatives and the resulting DSS prototype.

Functional identity and diversity of animals predict ecosystem functioning better than species-based indices

Drastic biodiversity declines have raised concerns about the deterioration of ecosystem functions and have motivated much recent research on the relationship between species diversity and ecosystem functioning. A functional trait framework has been proposed to improve the mechanistic understanding of this relationship, but this has rarely been tested for organisms other than plants. We analysed eight datasets, including five animal groups, to examine how well a trait-based approach, compared with a more traditional taxonomic approach, predicts seven ecosystem functions below- and above-ground. Trait-based indices consistently provided greater explanatory power than species richness or abundance. The frequency distributions of single or multiple traits in the community were the best predictors of ecosystem functioning. This implies that the ecosystem functions we investigated were underpinned by the combination of trait identities (i.e. single-trait indices) and trait complementarity (i.e. multi-trait indices) in the communities. Our study provides new insights into the general mechanisms that link biodiversity to ecosystem functioning in natural animal communities and suggests that the observed responses were due to the identity and dominance patterns of the trait composition rather than the number or abundance of species per se.

Oriented Percolation in One-dimensional 1/vertical bar x-y vertical bar(2) Percolation Models

We consider independent edge percolation models on Z, with edge occupation probabilities. We prove that oriented percolation occurs when beta > 1 provided p is chosen sufficiently close to 1, answering a question posed in Newman and Schulman (Commun. Math. Phys. 104: 547, 1986). The proof is based on multi-scale analysis.

Macroeconomic announcements, price discovery, and order flow efects in the stock market: evidence from incomplete data and multiple financial markets

This paper investigates heterogeneity in the market assessment of public macro- economic announcements by exploring (jointly) two main mechanisms through which macroeconomic news might enter stock prices: instantaneous fundamental news im- pacts consistent with the asset pricing view of symmetric information, and permanent order ow e¤ects consistent with a microstructure view of asymmetric information related to heterogeneous interpretation of public news. Theoretical motivation and empirical evidence for the operation of both mechanisms are presented. Signi cant in- stantaneous news impacts are detected for news related to real activity (including em- ployment), investment, in ation, and monetary policy; however, signi cant order ow e¤ects are also observed on employment announcement days. A multi-market analysis suggests that these asymmetric information e¤ects come from uncertainty about long term interest rates due to heterogeneous assessments of future Fed responses to em- ployment shocks.

Variabilidade genética e sensibilidade de acessos de Pistia stratiotes ao herbicida glyphosate

A alface-d'água (Pistia stratiotes) é uma das principais entre as macrófitas aquáticas que causam problemas em corpos hídricos no Brasil e são consideradas como plantas daninhas. O presente trabalho foi realizado com os objetivos de conhecer melhor a variabilidade genética dessa macrófita e relacionar essa variabilidade com a resposta à aplicação do herbicida glyphosate. Para isso, foram coletados indivíduos em 12 corpos hídricos em diferentes cidades do território nacional (Americana, Cambaratiba, Curitiba, Itapura, Jaboticabal, Lagoa Santa, Piraí, Rio Grande, Rubinéia, Salto Grande, Santa Gertrudes e Três Lagoas). Os acessos foram caracterizados pelo uso de marcadores RAPD (DNA Polimórfico Amplificado ao Acaso), que permitiram, com o auxílio de iniciadores aleatórios, a caracterização dos locos polimórficos identificados por uma matriz de ausência e presença de bandas. Utilizando essa matriz, a análise de agrupamento permitiu nítida classificação dos acessos em três grupos com diferenças genéticas entre eles. Um ensaio de controle químico, com plantas mantidas em vasos plásticos (5 L) e pulverizadas com o herbicida glyphosate nas concentrações de 0,0, 0,6, 1,2, 1,8 e 2,4 kg ha-1, identificou, utilizando avaliações aos 7, 14 e 21 dias após aplicação, que as duas maiores doses promoveram melhor efeito herbicida. Foi verificado também que os acessos de Curitiba e Cambaratiba apresentaram menor suscetibilidade ao herbicida glyphosate. Não houve correspondência entre a estrutura de grupos dos acessos pela análise multivariada de agrupamento com a técnica RAPD e a suscetibilidade da alface-d'água ao glyphosate.

Estimates of genetic parameters for visual scores and daily weight gain in Brangus animals

(Co) variance components were estimated for visual scores of conformation (CY), early finishing (PY) and muscling (MY) at 550 days of age (yearling), average daily gain from weaning to yearling (GWY), conformation (CW), early finishing (PW) and muscling (MW) scores at weaning, and average daily gain from birth to weaning (GBW) in animals forming the Brazilian Brangus breed born between 1986 and 2002 from the livestock files of GenSys Consultants Associados S/C Ltda. The data set contained 53 683; 45 136; 52 937; 56 471; 24 531; 21 166; 24 006 and 25 419 records for CW, PW, MW, GBW, CY, PY, MY and GWY, respectively. Data were analyzed by the restricted maximum likelihood method using single-and two-trait animal models. Direct heritability estimates obtained by single-trait analysis were 0.12, 0.14, 0.13 and 0.14 for CY, PY and MY scores and GWY, respectively. A positive association was observed between the same visual scores at weaning and yearling, with correlations ranging from 0.64 to 0.94. Estimated correlations between GBW and weaning and yearling scores ranged from 0.60 to 0.77. The genetic correlation between GBW and GWY was low (0.10), whereas correlations of 0.55, 0.37 and 0.47 were observed between GWY and CY, PY and MY, respectively. Moreover, GWY showed a weak correlation with CW (0.10), PW (-0.08) and MW (-0.03) scores. These results indicate that selection of the traits that was studied would result in a small response. In addition, selection based on average daily gain may have an indirect effect on visual scores as the correlations between GWY and visual scores were generally strong.

Genotype-environment interaction for post-weaning traits in Nellore beef cattle

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Genotype by environment interaction in Nelore cattle from five Brazilian states

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Análise de critérios de decisão em estratégia de arranjos produtivos locais: um estudo aplicando o processo de hierarquia analítica (AHP) no setor de cerâmica

This master thesis has the objective of investigating the strategic decision criteria of participants of Local Production Arrangements (LPA) in Brazil. The LPA s are an initiative of support agents to enterprises with the purpose of organizing joint actions for the development of groups (clusters) of enterprises. The choice of the actions is a decision of the participating enterprises and this paper aims at applying a Multi-criteria Analysis Method to analyze the criteria of entrepreneurs that are participating of a LPA. The used method is the Process of Analytical Hierarchy (PAH) and an application is presented along with questionnaires to participants of a ceramic LPA in the northeast of Brazil. The main results show that, in first place, from the implicit strategy of each enterprise there is only one objective for the LPA group and so, at the beginning, an action decided by all of them tends to favor some more than others. In second place, it was observed that there are general inconsistencies between the strategic objectives and the importance as to criteria, even though there have been cases of coherency. As the main conclusion it is pointed that the use of Methods of MCDA is useful to improve the decision making process and to bring more transparency to the logic of the found results