Determinação de parâmetros (sólidos solúveis, pH e acidez titulável) em ameixas intactas usando espectroscopia no infravermelho próximo e seleção de comprimento de onda

The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential of near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) as a rapid and non-destructive method to determine the soluble solid content (SSC), pH and titratable acidity of intact plums. Samples of plum with a total solids content ranging from 5.7 to 15%, pH from 2.72 to 3.84 and titratable acidity from 0.88 a 3.6% were collected from supermarkets in Natal-Brazil, and NIR spectra were acquired in the 714 2500 nm range. A comparison of several multivariate calibration techniques with respect to several pre-processing data and variable selection algorithms, such as interval Partial Least Squares (iPLS), genetic algorithm (GA), successive projections algorithm (SPA) and ordered predictors selection (OPS), was performed. Validation models for SSC, pH and titratable acidity had a coefficient of correlation (R) of 0.95 0.90 and 0.80, as well as a root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) of 0.45ºBrix, 0.07 and 0.40%, respectively. From these results, it can be concluded that NIR spectroscopy can be used as a non-destructive alternative for measuring the SSC, pH and titratable acidity in plums

Uma abordagem sistemática para implementação, gerenciamento e customização de testes de linhas de produto de software

Through the adoption of the software product line (SPL) approach, several benefits are achieved when compared to the conventional development processes that are based on creating a single software system at a time. The process of developing a SPL differs from traditional software construction, since it has two essential phases: the domain engineering - when common and variables elements of the SPL are defined and implemented; and the application engineering - when one or more applications (specific products) are derived from the reuse of artifacts created in the domain engineering. The test activity is also fundamental and aims to detect defects in the artifacts produced in SPL development. However, the characteristics of an SPL bring new challenges to this activity that must be considered. Several approaches have been recently proposed for the testing process of product lines, but they have been shown limited and have only provided general guidelines. In addition, there is also a lack of tools to support the variability management and customization of automated case tests for SPLs. In this context, this dissertation has the goal of proposing a systematic approach to software product line testing. The approach offers: (i) automated SPL test strategies to be applied in the domain and application engineering, (ii) explicit guidelines to support the implementation and reuse of automated test cases at the unit, integration and system levels in domain and application engineering; and (iii) tooling support for automating the variability management and customization of test cases. The approach is evaluated through its application in a software product line for web systems. The results of this work have shown that the proposed approach can help the developers to deal with the challenges imposed by the characteristics of SPLs during the testing process

Uso de modelos i* para enriquecer requisitos em métodos ágeis

The activity of requirements engineering is seen in agile methods as bureaucratic activity making the process less agile. However, the lack of documentation in agile development environment is identified as one of the main challenges of the methodology. Thus, it is observed that there is a contradiction between what agile methodology claims and the result, which occurs in the real environment. For example, in agile methods the user stories are widely used to describe requirements. However, this way of describing requirements is still not enough, because the user stories is an artifact too narrow to represent and detail the requirements. The activities of verifying issues like software context and dependencies between stories are also limited with the use of only this artifact. In the context of requirements engineering there are goal oriented approaches that bring benefits to the requirements documentation, including, completeness of requirements, analysis of alternatives and support to the rationalization of requirements. Among these approaches, it excels the i * modeling technique that provides a graphical view of the actors involved in the system and their dependencies. This work is in the context of proposing an additional resource that aims to reduce this lack of existing documentation in agile methods. Therefore, the objective of this work is to provide a graphical view of the software requirements and their relationships through i * models, thus enriching the requirements in agile methods. In order to do so, we propose a set of heuristics to perform the mapping of the requirements presented as user stories in i * models. These models can be used as a form of documentation in agile environment, because by mapping to i * models, the requirements will be viewed more broadly and with their proper relationships according to the business environment that they will meet

O Turismo como um tema de pesquisa: um diálogo epistemológico a partir das produções dos programas de pós-graduação stricto sensu da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, no período de 2007 a 2011

The study consists in an analysis of researches with tourism issues, in Master s and Doctoral level, investigating their epistemological trends, regarding the type of study that is being produced and the methods used. It is characterized as exploratory, documental and bibliographical, having undertaken a cross-sectional study which covers the period from 2007 to 2011. It analyzes the context of academically production in tourism, the nature of these researches, the methodological aspects adopted in these theses and dissertations, the philosophical inclinations and the coherence and contribution of the same. This research uses, the Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (BDTD) and the secretariats of the Academic Centers of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN) as means to collect data. It employs the technique of sampling by judgment and undertakes the research in various Academic Centers in UFRN, using the method of content analysis. It shows that, from the 643 studies analyzed, 43 of them have themes related to tourism, which characterized this study sample. This study realizes that PPGA is the largest producer of researches on tourism issues, ahead of PPGTur, which ranks the third position, in this aspect. Also realizes that all surveys analyzed are crosssectional and the theme further investigated, with 21% of the sample, is related to the marketing aspects of tourism, with the theme Directors of Hotels and Restaurants (DHR) . This research demonstrates that all sample surveys make use of interviews, and these are, mostly, structured. Also realizes that most of these studies, with 21% of the sample, employ the method of content analysis. The references in Portuguese are surveyed about five times more than the ones in other languages. It estimates that more than half of the sample is characterized as positivist, associated with aspects of functionalism. A minority of 21% of these researches seeks to identify and recommend solutions to the tourism issues, or even represent part of them. This research concludes that the studies in tourism are mostly unifocal, being driven by issues related to the touristic trade. PPGTur produces a number still unrepresentative of studies. The theses and dissertations of the sample are limited and/or unable to analyze the changes of the phenomenon caused by the time. The studies from the sample present criteria and make use of other methods and techniques to associate with the interviews and content analysis to obtain more solid and reliable data and results. They use a low number of references in languages other than Portuguese. Most of these studies, characterized as positivist-functionalist, investigate the functioning, planning, coordination and expectations in organizations, leaving aside other issues, also relevant for tourism. The number of studies aimed at identifying solutions to the problems of tourism, or that even represents part of them, is not expressive

Evolução da paisagem do baixo curso do rio de Piranhas-Assu (1988-2024): uso de autômatos celulares em modelo dinâmico espacial para simulação de cenários futuros

The lower course of Piranhas-Assu river, located in the north coast of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, arouses a keen interest as a study field, once it concentrates, besides petroleum and gas exploration, activities related to shrimp culture, salt and horticulture, factors that also deserve special attention. Thus, the awareness of the study field environmental stage demands studies from researchers and discernment from society, as a way of understanding the inter-relation between environment and men. Therefore, this work attempts at understanding and studying the dynamics of land use in the lower course of Piranhas-Assu river, through a multitemporal analysis of present and past, accomplishing future projections through simulation models. The work is divided in stages that include the research, analysis, interpretation of results, and the generation of simulation models, to analyze the landscape tendencies, making possible to identify indicators which cause such changes in the lower course of the river. From Geographical Database, the necessary exploratory analyses were accomplished to the following items: land use evolution, natural and environmental vulnerability, multiple geodiversity indexes, and preparation of the data to be used in the simulation model. Later, the construction of the landscape simulation model was conducted. Sequentially, simulations of future sceneries were accomplished through the execution of the model in a specific software environment. Last, the analyses of landscape tendencies in the study field were carried out. The lower course of Piranhas-Assu River didn't show any intense dynamics in landscape changing, once in the period taken into account (from 1988 to 2004) class stability proved to be superior to its transformations. Activities related to agriculture and livestock are the ones that influence, mostly, the landscape dynamics. The production of sea shrimp and petroleum also infers in the landscape, although in smaller proportion. INCRA s public policies excessively determined the dynamics of the landscape in the lower course of Piranhas-Assu River, RN. In respect to its natural vulnerability, the lower course of Piranhas-Assu River, RN, features more vulnerable than stable areas. The landscape simulation, in the first taken period (2004-2009), indicated considerable increases and decreases of antropic activities, if compared to its sequent periods (2009-2014, 2014-2019 and 2019-2024). The simulation, in a wider analysis, showed that the determining factors for the space mobility of antropic activities, in the focused area, are related to the pre-existence of communities with agricultural capability and to the existence of access routes and drainage. Considering the area that features fixed and mobile dunes, located in Porto do Mangue district, we recommend its conversion into a conservation area

Avaliando o impacto da utilização de renderizações panorâmicas para a navegação em ambientes virtuais

Panoramic rendering is the visualization of three-dimensional objects in a virtual environment through a wide viewing angle. This work investigated if the use of panoramas is able to promote faster searches in a virtual environment. Panoramas allow the presentation of space through less need to change the orientation of the camera, especially for the case of projections spanning 360º surrounding the user, which can benefit searching. However, the larger the angle, more distorted is the visualization of the environment, causing confusion in navigation. The distortion is even bigger when the user changes the pitch of the camera, by looking up or down. In this work we developed a technique to eliminate specifically the distortions caused by changes in pitch, which was called hemispheric projection. Experiments were done to evaluate the performance of search navigation through perspective, cylindrical and hemispherical projections. The results indicate that navigating with perspective projection is superior than navigating with panoramic projections, possibly due to factors such as (i) lack of experience of the participants in understanding the scenes displayed as panoramas, (ii) the inherent presence of distortion in panoramic projections and (iii) a lower display resolution because the objects are presented in smaller sizes in panoramic projections, making the perception of details more difficult. However, the hemispherical projection was better than the cylindrical, indicating that the developed technique provides benefits for navigation compared to current techniques of panoramic projection. The hemispheric projection also provided the least amount of changes of camera orientation, which is an indication that the hemispheric projections may be particularly useful in situations where there are restrictions on the ease to change the orientation. Future research will investigate the performance of cameras interactions on slower devices, such as using only keyboard, or brain-machine interfaces

Geologia e paleontologia de depósitos fossilíferos pleistocênicos do Rio Grande do Norte

This study deals with origin, sedimentary filling and fossil content of three tanks situated at Antônio Martins, Barcelona, Rui Barbosa, and Apodi counties, Rio Grande do Norte State. In addition, fossil materials from the Câmara Cascudo Museum - UFRN - Fundação Amigos do Lajedo Soledade - FALS, and from private ownership were investigated. The following families were identified: Megatberiidae, Gomphotheriidae, Mylodontidae, Equidae, Felidae, Canidae, Hydrochoeridae, Camelidae, Cervidae, Dasypodidae, Glyptodontidae, Macraucheniidae, Toxodontidae, and an undetermined Edentata Pilosa. The megafauna analysis indicated that herbivorc families occur mainly in tanks, whereas carnivore families occur in a vast proportion in an investigated ravine. Taphonomie analyses were limited to physical features because the vast majority of fossils were previously colleted without appropriate care for this kind of study. The main fossization processes were identified during diagenetie investigation. Permineralization is the most important process and replacement is the secondary one during fossilization. The study concluded that paleoenvironmental conditions during the late Pleistocene were more humid than the current one. Tropical savana, characterized by fields and cerrados , was the dominant vegetation

Papilomatose laríngea: análise morfológica pela microscopia de luz e eletrônica do HPV-6

Papilomatose laríngea é neoplasia benigna mais freqüente nas crianças, causada pelo HPV, principalmente subtipos 6 e 11 e caracteriza-se pela presença de lesões proliferativas exofíticas e recidivantes sobre a mucosa das vias aérea, em especial na laringe. Forma de Estudo: Clínico prospectivo. OBJETIVOS: Demonstrar alterações epiteliais morfológicas (pela microscopia de luz e eletrônica) em lesões papilíferas casadas pelo HPV-6. MATERIAL E MÉTODOS: Fragmentos de lesões de papilomatose laríngea, colhidos durante procedimento cirúrgico de quatro crianças (1 masculino, 3 femininas), foram submetidos à tipagem do HPV (por método de PCR), análise pela microscopia de luz e microscopia eletrônica (varredura e transmissão). RESULTADOS: Na tipagem, todos os papilomas eram do subtipo 6. A microscopia de varredura identificou projeções epiteliais de vários tamanhos, com células superficiais em descamação. A microscopia de luz demonstrou lesões exofíticas, revestidas por epitélio hiperplásico com coilócitos e binucleações, característicos do HPV. A membrana basal e o córion adjacente estavam íntegros. À microscopia eletrônica de transmissão identificou-se vacuolização perinuclear e alargamento das junções intercelulares. CONCLUSÕES: As alterações morfológicas apresentadas pelo HPV-6 demonstram o caráter não-invasivo da lesão, sendo necessário estudos morfológicos adicionais relacionando os outros tipos de HPV, considerados mais agressivos, com os achados ultra-estruturais.

Estudo da evolução dos acidentes do trabalho registrados pela Previdência Social no período de 1995 a 1999, em Botucatu, São Paulo

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

Digital dermatitis of the accessory digits of dairy cows

Esse estudo caracteriza lesões de dermatite digital (DD) nos dígitos acessórios de vacas leiteiras, além de apresentar a terapia aplicada. Foram utilizados 15 bovinos leiteiros da raça Holandês com DD nos dígitos acessórios dos membros pélvicos. Os animais eram provenientes de quatro fazendas leiteiras com histórico prévio de dermatite digital (DD). Todos os quinze animais foram tratados da mesma forma: após excisão das lesões e sutura das feridas cutâneas, aplicou-se oxitetraciclina pó topicamente sob bandagem e oxitetraciclina (20mg/kg) de longa ação, via intramuscular. Obtiveram-se amostras de tecidos para histopatologia, inclusive por microscopia eletrônica de transmissão (MET). Observou-se cicatrização em todos os animais após 15 dias do procedimento cirúrgico. A maioria das lesões macroscópicas foram projeções papilomatosas ou em forma de verrugas. Os achados histopatológicos de todas as amostras revelaram hiperplasia da epiderme com hiperceratose, inúmeras mitoses no estrato basal, com invasões alongadas em forma de rede na derme superficial e intermediária. A MET evidenciou organismos com formas longas, afiladas e espiraladas, presumivelmente espiroquetas. Tanto as características morfológicas, quanto a resposta à terapia das lesões foram comparáveis às descritas para DD.

Potencial de transdiferenciação neural das células-tronco mesenquimais da medula óssea de equino

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

Morphological regional differences of epithelial cells along the midgut in Diatraea saccharalis Fabricius (Lepidoptera : Crambidae) larvae

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

Concepções e práticas de educação ambiental de professores de uma escola pública

Os dados e análises que apresentaremos neste artigo resultam de investigação sobre a realização de projetos de educação ambiental na escola pública, cujo objetivo principal foi investigar as concepções e práticas de Educação Ambiental de professores que afirmam realizar tais ações. A coleta de dados foi feita por meio de análise documental, entrevistas semi-estruturadas e de observação. As concepções de professores acerca da Educação Ambiental orientam, de certa forma, a maneira como eles interpretam as finalidades atribuídas a ela e o tipo de práticas a que recorrem para alcançá-las. Na investigação feita, constatou-se que essas concepções e práticas eram de natureza comportamental e focavam-se na resolução de problemas de modo pragmático, revelando-se limitadas no desenvolvimento de atividades de Educação Ambiental por meio de projetos.

Biodiversidade e considerações biogeográficas das Cyanobacteria de uma área de Manguezal do Estado de Pernambuco, Brasil

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Integração de métodos geofísicos na modelagem crustal da Bacia de Santos

A Bacia de Santos é uma bacia de margem passiva gerada durante o Neocomiano, associado com o evento de ruptura do Supercontinente de Gondwana. A espessura da seção sedimentar pode alcançar 15 km, incluindo a seqüência rifte, e foi depositada sobre uma crosta afinada cuja espessura original era de cerca de 35 km. Foi realizada uma modelagem crustal em 8 linhas, aproximadamente perpendiculares ao mergulho deposicional da bacia, objetivando o reconhecimento da geometria da fase rifte e a estimativa do estiramento crustal. Foram utilizados durante a modelagem quatro horizontes sísmicos em profundidade, mapas magnético e gravimétrico além de dados da profundidade do embasamento magnético. Foi reconhecido um pronunciado estiramento crustal em toda a bacia (fatores de estiramento crustal variando entre 1.2 e 3.1), evidenciando ampla acomodação da deformação. Os resultados da modelagem necessitaram, ainda, de espessas e contínuas camadas de rochas vulcânicas para ajuste do modelo. Estas cunhas de rochas vulcânicas, limitadas lateralmente por falhas normais, são feições comuns em bacias rifte. Os resultados da modelagem foram confrontados com dados da profundidade do embasamento magnético, obtidos anteriormente, e evidenciaram forte correlação, sobretudo nas áreas rasas da bacia.