Effects of soil water availability on water use efficiency of Eucalyptus cloeziana and Eucalyptus argophloia plants

Effects of soil water availability on transpiration efficiency (WUET), instantaneous water use efficiency (WUEi) and carbon isotope composition (delta(13)C) were investigated in 7-month-old plants of humid coastal (Gympie) and dry inland ( Hungry Hills) provenances of Eucalyptus cloeziana F. Muell. and in a dry inland provenance of E. argophloia Blakely (Chinchilla), supplied with 100 (W-100), 70 (W-70) and 50% (W-50) of their water requirements. At W-100, WUET of the three provenances were not significantly different but as available soil moisture decreased, E. argophloia produced greater biomass and demonstrated significantly higher WUET than either E. cloeziana provenance. Midday WUEi was not significantly affected by watering regime within each provenance but was lowest in E. argophloia. A decrease in soil water availability caused a consistent increase in delta(13)C values in all three provenances; however, delta(13)C values of E. argophloia in all three water regimes were significantly lower than those of E. cloeziana provenances, which did not differ significantly from each other. For all three provenances, delta(13)C was not correlated with WUEi but height and root collar diameter were negatively correlated to delta(13)C. There was little evidence of differences in delta(13)C, WUET and WUEi between E. cloeziana provenances but clear differences between E. cloeziana and E. argophloia. The high WUET, low WUEi and low delta(13)C for E. argophloia may have implications in the selection of Eucalyptus provenances for commercial forestry in low-rainfall regions.

Availability of heavy metals in contaminated soil evidenced by chemical extractants

Heavy metals have been accumulating in Brazilian soils, due to natural processes, such as atmospheric deposition, or human industrial activities. For certain heavy metals, when in high concentrations in the soil, there is no specific extractant to determine the availability of these elements in the soil. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the availability of Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb and Zn for rice and soybeans, using different chemical extractants. In this study we used seven soil samples with different levels of contamination, in completely randomized experimental design with four replications. We determined the available concentrations of Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb and Zn extracted by Mehlich-1, HCl 0.1 mol L-1, DTPA, and organic acid extractants and the contents in rice and soybeans, which extracts were analyzed by ICP-OES. It was observed that Mehlich-1, HCl 0.1 mol L-1 and DTPA extractants were effective to assess the availability of Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn for rice and soybeans. However, the same was not observed for the organic acid extractant.

Impacts of vinasse and methods of sugarcane harvesting on the availability of K and carbon stock of an Argisol

ABSTRACT Soils of tropical regions are more weathered and in need of conservation managements to maintain and improve the quality of its components. The objective of this study was to evaluate the availability of K, the organic matter content and the stock of total carbon of an Argisol after vinasse application and manual and mechanized harvesting of burnt and raw sugarcane, in western São Paulo.The data collection was done in the 2012/2013 harvest, in a bioenergy company in Presidente Prudente/SP. The research was arranged out following a split-plot scheme in a 5x5 factorial design, characterized by four management systems: without vinasse application and harvest without burning; with vinasse application and harvest without burning; with vinasse application and harvest after burning; without vinasse application and harvest after burning; plus native forest, and five soil sampling depths (0-10 10-20, 20-30, 30-40, 40-50 cm), with four replications. In each treatment, the K content in the soil and accumulated in the remaining dry biomass in the area, the levels of organic matter, organic carbon and soil carbon stock were determined. The mean values were compared by Tukey test. The vinasse application associated with the harvest without burning increased the K content in soil layers up to 40 cm deep. The managements without vinasse application and manual harvest after burning, and without vinasse application with mechanical harvesting without burning did not increase the levels of organic matter, organic carbon and stock of total soil organic carbon, while the vinasse application and harvest after burning and without burning increased the levels of these attributes in the depth of 0-10 cm.

Gradual correction of phosphorus availability in the no-tillage system

ABSTRACT In areas cultivated under no-tillage system, the availability of phosphorus (P) can be raised by means of the gradual corrective fertilization, applying phosphorus into sowing furrows at doses higher than those required by the crops. The objective of this work was to establish the amount of P to be applied in soybean crop to increase content of P to pre-established values at the depth of 0.0 to 0.10 m. An experiment was carried out on a clayey Haplorthox soil with a randomized block experimental design distributed in split-split plot, with four replications. Two soybean crop systems (single or intercropped with Panicum maximum Jaca cv. Aruana) were evaluated in the plots. In addition, it was evaluated four P levels (0, 60, 120 and 180 kg ha-1 P2O5) applied in the first year in the split plots; and four P levels (0, 30, 60 and 90 kg ha-1 P2O5) applied in the two subsequent crops in the split-split plot. Contents of P were extracted by Mehlich-1 and Anion Exchange Resin methods from soil samples collected in the split-split plot. It was found that it is necessary to apply 19.4 or 11.1 kg ha-1 of P2O5, via triple superphosphate as source, to increase 1 mg dm-3 of P extracted by Mehlich-1 or Resin, respectively, in the 0.0 to 0.10 m layer of depth. The soil drain P character decreases as the amount of this nutrient supplied in the previous crops is increased.

Increasing availability through maintainability growth using partial Multi Criteria Decision Making (pMCDM)

In the last decades considerations about equipments' availability became an important issue, as well as its dependence on components characteristics such as reliability and maintainability. This is particularly of outstanding importance if one is dealing with high risk industrial equipments, where these factors play an important and fundamental role in risk management when safety or huge economic values are in discussion. As availability is a function of reliability, maintainability, and maintenance support activities, the main goal is to improve one or more of these factors. This paper intends to show how maintainability can influence availability and present a methodology to select the most important attributes for maintainability using a partial Multi Criteria Decision Making (pMCDM). Improvements in maintainability can be analyzed assuming it as a probability related with a restore probability density function [g(t)].

Optimization, high availability and redundancy in information communications and technology using networks and systems virtualization architectures

Mestrado em Engenharia Informática

Forest resources in Graciosa Island (Azores) : biomass availability for sustainable energetic use

Dissertação de Mestrado em Ambiente, Saúde e Segurança.

How new online communication tools and the availability of content influence the audiences and the creative process

We live in a changing world. At an impressive speed, every day new technological resources appear. We increasingly use the Internet to obtain and share information, and new online communication tools are emerging. Each of them encompasses new potential and creates new audiences. In recent years, we witnessed the emergence of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other media platforms. They have provided us with an even greater interactivity between sender and receiver, as well as generated a new sense of community. At the same time we also see the availability of content like it never happened before. We are increasingly sharing texts, videos, photos, etc. This poster intends to explore the potential of using these new online communication tools in the cultural sphere to create new audiences, to develop of a new kind of community, to provide information as well as different ways of building organizations’ memory. The transience of performing arts is accompanied by the need to counter that transience by means of documentation. This desire to ‘save’ events reaches its expression with the information archive of the different production moments as well as the opportunity to record the event and present it through, for instance, digital platforms. In this poster we intend to answer the following questions: which online communication tools are being used to engage audiences in the cultural sphere (specifically between theater companies in Lisbon)? Is there a new relationship with the public? Are online communication tools creating a new kind of community? What changes are these tools introducing in the creative process? In what way the availability of content and its archive contribute to the organization memory? Among several references, we will approach the two-way communication model that James E. Grunig & Todd T. Hunt (1984) already presented and the concept of mass self-communication of Manuel Castells (2010). Castells also tells us that we have moved from traditional media to a system of communication networks. For Scott Kirsner (2010), we have entered an era of digital creativity, where artists have the tools to do what they imagined and the public no longer wants to just consume cultural goods, but instead to have a voice and participate. The creativity process is now depending on the public choice as they wander through the screen. It is the receiver who owns an object which can be exchanged. Virtual reality has encouraged the receiver to abandon its position of passive observer and to become a participant agent, which implies a challenge to organizations: inventing new forms of interfaces. Therefore, we intend to find new and effective online tools that can be used by cultural organizations; the best way to manage them; to show how organizations can create a community with the public and how the availability of online content and its archive can contribute to the organizations’ memory.

Demand for and availability of online support to stop smoking

OBJECTIVES: Estimate the frequency of online searches on the topic of smoking and analyze the quality of online resources available to smokers interested in giving up smoking. METHODS: Search engines were used to revise searches and online resources related to stopping smoking in Brazil in 2010. The number of searches was determined using analytical tools available on Google Ads; the number and type of sites were determined by replicating the search patterns of internet users. The sites were classified according to content (advertising, library of articles and other). The quality of the sites was analyzed using the Smoking Treatment Scale- Content (STS-C) and the Smoking Treatment Scale - Rating (STS-R). RESULTS: A total of 642,446 searches was carried out. Around a third of the 113 sites encountered were of the 'library' type, i.e. they only contained articles, followed by sites containing clinical advertising (18.6) and professional education (10.6). Thirteen of the sites offered advice on quitting directed at smokers. The majority of the sites did not contain evidence-based information, were not interactive and did not have the possibility of communicating with users after the first contact. Other limitations we came across were a lack of financial disclosure as well as no guarantee of privacy concerning information obtained and no distinction made between editorial content and advertisements. CONCLUSIONS: There is a disparity between the high demand for online support in giving up smoking and the scarcity of quality online resources for smokers. It is necessary to develop interactive, customized online resources based on evidence and random clinical testing in order to improve the support available to Brazilian smokers.

Reliability and availability in reconfigurable computing: a basis for a common solution

Dynamically reconfigurable SRAM-based field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) enable the implementation of reconfigurable computing systems where several applications may be run simultaneously, sharing the available resources according to their own immediate functional requirements. To exclude malfunctioning due to faulty elements, the reliability of all FPGA resources must be guaranteed. Since resource allocation takes place asynchronously, an online structural test scheme is the only way of ensuring reliable system operation. On the other hand, this test scheme should not disturb the operation of the circuit, otherwise availability would be compromised. System performance is also influenced by the efficiency of the management strategies that must be able to dynamically allocate enough resources when requested by each application. As those resources are allocated and later released, many small free resource blocks are created, which are left unused due to performance and routing restrictions. To avoid wasting logic resources, the FPGA logic space must be defragmented regularly. This paper presents a non-intrusive active replication procedure that supports the proposed test methodology and the implementation of defragmentation strategies, assuring both the availability of resources and their perfect working condition, without disturbing system operation.

Fire safety barrier availability analysis

This paper shows several ways to analyse the performance of a safety barrier, depending on the objective to be achieved and present a method to analyse binary components usually present on sensor systems of safety barriers. An application example of a water-based fire system is presented and the Probability of Failure on Demand (PFD) of the sensor system is determined based on the analysis of pressure switches installed in this safety barrier. The knowledge of such information will allow the determination of safety barrier’s availability.

Fasciola hepatica IN BOVINES IN BRAZIL: DATA AVAILABILITY AND SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION

Fasciolosis is a disease of importance for both veterinary and public health. For the first time, georeferenced prevalence data of Fasciola hepatica in bovines were collected and mapped for the Brazilian territory and data availability was discussed. Bovine fasciolosis in Brazil is monitored on a Federal, State and Municipal level, and to improve monitoring it is essential to combine the data collected on these three levels into one dataset. Data were collected for 1032 municipalities where livers were condemned by the Federal Inspection Service (MAPA/SIF) because of the presence of F. hepatica. The information was distributed over 11 states: Espírito Santo, Goiás, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Pará, Paraná, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina and São Paulo. The highest prevalence of fasciolosis was observed in the southern states, with disease clusters along the coast of Paraná and Santa Catarina and in Rio Grande do Sul. Also, temporal variation of the prevalence was observed. The observed prevalence and the kriged prevalence maps presented in this paper can assist both animal and human health workers in estimating the risk of infection in their state or municipality.

Access to essential medicines in Timor-leste: availability, prices and affordability

O acesso a medicamentos essenciais a preços acessíveis de forma sustentável é um dos indicadores do cumprimento dos Objectivos de Desenvolvimento do Milénio e pode ser considerado como parte do direito universal à saúde. Tal como acontece com outros bens essenciais, o acesso aos medicamentos depende de múltiplos factores, como a sua disponibilidade, preços e capacidade de aquisição por parte da população. Na última década, foram efectuados mais de 50 estudos para avaliar esses factores, em países de baixos e médios rendimentos, utilizando uma metodologia desenvolvida pela Organização Mundial de Saúde e a organização Health Action International, numa tentativa de compreender as possíveis causas para o baixo acesso aos medicamentos. Os resultados destes estudos revelam uma baixa disponibilidade de medicamentos essenciais de um modo geral, sobretudo no sector público, e preços elevados, sobretudo no sector privado. O objectivo deste estudo foi descrever a disponibilidade, os preços e a capacidade de aquisição de medicamentos essenciais em Timor-Leste, com recurso à metodologia da OMS/HAI. Foram recolhidos dados sobre a disponibilidade e os preços de uma lista de medicamentos em hospitais, centros de saúde e farmácias comunitárias. Embora os resultados pareçam apontar para uma disponibilidade global razoável de medicamentos genéricos no sector público (59,2%), algumas substâncias activas e classes terapêuticas encontravam-se sistematicamente esgotadas em vários pontos do país. Nas unidades situadas em locais mais remotos, a disponibilidade de medicamentos chegava a descer para valores na ordem dos 47,5%. Verificou-se que a disponibilidade de medicamentos nas farmácias privadas era ainda mais baixa do que nos serviços públicos (38,0%). Os medicamentos são dispensados gratuitamente nos hospitais e centros de saúde, mas nas farmácias privadas chegam a ultrapassar 40 vezes os seus preços de referência internacionais, mesmo como genéricos. Consequentemente, estima-se por exemplo, que um funcionário público que utilize diclofenac para o tratamento crónico da artrose, tenha de trabalhar durante mais de 2 dias para pagar o seu tratamento mensal com o medicamento genérico, ou 12,5 dias, se for prescrito o medicamento de marca. Durante o estudo, foram detectados vários outros problemas que podem comprometer a qualidade e segurança dos medicamentos. Apesar das limitações inerentes a uma investigação deste tipo, foi possível concluir através do presente estudo que, ao contrário da tendência geral observada em países similares, o sector público de cuidados de saúde em Timor-Leste parece ter um melhor desempenho do que o privado. No entanto, as condições limitadas da maioria das unidades de saúde públicas pode forçar alguns doentes a recorrer ao sector privado, onde os preços pagos pelos tratamentos são inaceitavelmente elevados. A ausência de regulamentação do sector farmacêutico (e fiscalização insuficiente da existente) parece estar a contribuir para a estagnação do sector privado e a encorajar indirectamente a falta de transparência nas práticas farmacêuticas. Dada a escassez de estudos sobre este assunto em Timor-Leste, espera-se que o presente trabalho forneça evidências importantes que possam ser utilizadas em estudos subsequentes e como base a uma intervenção por parte das autoridades com o objectivo de melhorar a disponibilidade de medicamentos no sistema público e de encorajar o desenvolvimento do sector privado como alternativa viável, segura e de custo aceitável.

Maternal attachment representations in relation to emotional availability and discipline behaviour

"Published online: 15 Sep 2015."

Project scheduling and cost minimization with multiple availability constrained resources under stochastic conditions

The authors propose a mathematical model to minimize the project total cost where there are multiple resources constrained by maximum availability. They assume the resources as renewable and the activities can use any subset of resources requiring any quantity from a limited real interval. The stochastic nature is inferred by means of a stochastic work content defined per resource within an activity and following a known distribution and the total cost is the sum of the resource allocation cost with the tardiness cost or earliness bonus in case the project finishes after or before the due date, respectively. The model was computationally implemented relying upon an interchange of two global optimization metaheuristics – the electromagnetism-like mechanism and the evolutionary strategies. Two experiments were conducted testing the implementation to projects with single and multiple resources, and with or without maximum availability constraints. The set of collected results shows good behavior in general and provide a tool to further assist project manager decision making in the planning phase.