Estimativa da profundidade do embasamento na bacia potiguar usando inversão gravimétrica

The gravity inversion method is a mathematic process that can be used to estimate the basement relief of a sedimentary basin. However, the inverse problem in potential-field methods has neither a unique nor a stable solution, so additional information (other than gravity measurements) must be supplied by the interpreter to transform this problem into a well-posed one. This dissertation presents the application of a gravity inversion method to estimate the basement relief of the onshore Potiguar Basin. The density contrast between sediments and basament is assumed to be known and constant. The proposed methodology consists of discretizing the sedimentary layer into a grid of rectangular juxtaposed prisms whose thicknesses correspond to the depth to basement which is the parameter to be estimated. To stabilize the inversion I introduce constraints in accordance with the known geologic information. The method minimizes an objective function of the model that requires not only the model to be smooth and close to the seismic-derived model, which is used as a reference model, but also to honor well-log constraints. The latter are introduced through the use of logarithmic barrier terms in the objective function. The inversion process was applied in order to simulate different phases during the exploration development of a basin. The methodology consisted in applying the gravity inversion in distinct scenarios: the first one used only gravity data and a plain reference model; the second scenario was divided in two cases, we incorporated either borehole logs information or seismic model into the process. Finally I incorporated the basement depth generated by seismic interpretation into the inversion as a reference model and imposed depth constraint from boreholes using the primal logarithmic barrier method. As a result, the estimation of the basement relief in every scenario has satisfactorily reproduced the basin framework, and the incorporation of the constraints led to improve depth basement definition. The joint use of surface gravity data, seismic imaging and borehole logging information makes the process more robust and allows an improvement in the estimate, providing a result closer to the actual basement relief. In addition, I would like to remark that the result obtained in the first scenario already has provided a very coherent basement relief when compared to the known basin framework. This is significant information, when comparing the differences in the costs and environment impact related to gravimetric and seismic surveys and also the well drillings

The influence of visual stimuli in ethnobotanical data collection using the listing task method

The listing task, a method used in social and behavioral sciences, is frequently used in ethnobotanical research to constructfolk taxonomies and select relevant itemsfor subsequent research. The objective of the present study was to determine whether visual stimuli are associated with responses to the theme plants or if context influences the answers. Interviews were conducted with 400 women in Rio Claro, São Paulo, Brazil, in four different locations: three with a visible presence of plants (a plant store, a supermarket, and a public plaza) and one with no plants (a street corner in the center of the city). The women were asked to name plants. Analysis indicates that visual stimuli influenced responses and that this is more marked in the plant store than in the other locations. The plants cited most often-roses, orchids, ferns, violets, and daisies-were, with little variation, the same in all the locales studied.

Anurofauna em uma área na Depressão Periférica, no centro-oeste do estado de São Paulo, Brasil

A anurofauna do estado de São Paulo, nas últimas oito décadas, tem sido foco do estudo de importantes grupos de pesquisa em anfíbios anuros. Porém, pesquisas realizadas com comunidades na área da Depressão Periférica do centro-oeste paulista ainda são escassas. A fim de trazer novas informações sobre essa região, nosso objetivo foi inventariar a anurofauna de uma área na Depressão Periférica, associando os resultados com dados da literatura e confrontando os mesmos com aqueles conhecidos para a anurofauna no altiplano da Cuesta de Botucatu. O inventário foi realizado a partir dos dados obtidos em 24 dias de amostragem, decorridos 13 meses de coleta (dezembro de 2008 a dezembro de 2009). Os anuros foram amostrados em potenciais sítios reprodutivos, pelos métodos de encontro visual e busca auditiva. Foram registradas 29 espécies distribuídas em 12 gêneros e seis famílias. Apesar da maioria das espécies serem predominantemente de áreas abertas, consideramos a riqueza elevada, e associamos essa riqueza à existência dos remanescentes de mata nos interflúvios. Entretanto, apesar da presença desses remanescentes, a ocorrência de espécies associadas exclusivamente a essas áreas foi pequena, se comparada aos fragmentos no altiplano, fato que aparentemente está associado às diferenças existentes entre os fragmentos contidos nos interflúvios e os fragmentos do altiplano. A atividade dos anfíbios foi concentrada no período quente e úmido, diminuindo à medida que se aproxima o ápice da estação fria e seca. Com base na análise de similaridade, observou-se a formação de agrupamentos com alta sobreposição. Entre esses agrupamentos, destacaram-se aqueles formados por espécies com atividade de vocalização prolongada, mas que diferiram quanto ao período de maior atividade (início e final da estação chuvosa) bem como, aqueles constituídos por espécies com período de vocalização mais curto, restrito a poucos dias, e que também diferiram no mês de pico de atividade (início e final da estação chuvosa). Com isso acreditamos que as diferenças quanto à distribuição temporal dos organismos da comunidade sejam importantes na partilha de recursos e no ajuste das espécies, fato que contribuiu para o elevado número de anfíbios observados e na coexistência dos táxons na área de estudo.

Physical and chemical matrix effects in soil carbon quantification using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

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

Mineralização de nitrogênio do esterco bovino e produção de alface em função de N-ureia

Pós-graduação em Agronomia (Ciência do Solo) - FCAV

Elaboração de um curso interativo voltado ao aprendizado de um sistema aplicativo em Odontologia, utilizando a plataforma Moodle

In universities, in any type of faculty or research institute, it is possible to observe innumerable informatics applications: database management, organization of catalogues, expediting diagnoses and many other applications. Within this context, distance learning could facilitate the learning of various professions. Distance education is the process of teaching-learning and the professional has to be prepared to deal with the new tools that are made available, using them to his/her benefit, and consequently in his/her professional capacity, to guarantee greater productivity and interaction with the various spheres in the work field. Methods: The aim of this research is to develop a course on the use of the Dentistry software application EasyDental, using the teaching at a distance methodology by means of the Moodle platform. The proposed course was composed of 14 modules, in order to enable a progressive and a rational learning. Conclusion: It could be concluded that this platform allowed the preparation of the proposed distance course, in a practical and versatile manner, considering the resources and activities it has. However, to use this platform, one must have dominion of the basic concepts of informatics, and the tools of the Moodle platform.

Tumor budding score based on 10 high-power fields is a promising basis for a standardized prognostic scoring system in stage II colorectal cancer

Tumor budding is recognized by the World Health Organization as an additional prognostic factor in colorectal cancer but remains unreported in diagnostic work due to the absence of a standardized scoring method. This study aims to assess the most prognostic and reproducible scoring systems for tumor budding in colorectal cancer. Tumor budding on pancytokeratin-stained whole tissue sections from 105 well-characterized stage II patients was scored by 3 observers using 7 methods: Hase, Nakamura, Ueno, Wang (conventional and rapid method), densest high-power field, and 10 densest high-power fields. The predictive value for clinicopathologic features, the prognostic significance, and interobserver variability of each scoring method was analyzed. Pancytokeratin staining allowed accurate evaluation of tumor buds. Interobserver agreement for 3 observers was excellent for densest high-power field (intraclass correlation coefficient, 0.83) and 10 densest high-power fields (intraclass correlation coefficient, 0.91). Agreement was moderate to substantial for the conventional Wang method (κ = 0.46-0.62) and moderate for the rapid method (κ = 0.46-0.58). For Nakamura, moderate agreement (κ = 0.41-0.52) was reached, whereas concordance was fair to moderate for Ueno (κ = 0.39-0.56) and Hase (κ = 0.29-0.51). The Hase, Ueno, densest high-power field, and 10 densest high-power field methods identified a significant association of tumor budding with tumor border configuration. In multivariate analysis, only tumor budding as evaluated in densest high-power field and 10 densest high-power fields had significant prognostic effects on patient survival (P < .01), with high prognostic accuracy over the full 10-year follow-up. Scoring tumor buds in 10 densest high-power fields is a promising method to identify stage II patients at high risk for recurrence in daily diagnostics; it is highly reproducible, accounts for heterogeneity, and has a strong predictive value for adverse outcome.

Magnetic anisotropy in natural amphibole crystals

Anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) is often used as a proxy for mineral fabric in deformed rocks. To do so quantitatively, it is necessary to quantify the intrinsic magnetic anisotropy of single crystals of rock-forming minerals. Amphiboles are common in mafic igneous and metamorphic rocks and often define rock texture due to their general prismatic crystal habits. Amphiboles may dominate the magnetic anisotropy in intermediate to felsic igneous rocks and in some metamorphic rock types, because they have a high Fe concentration and they can develop a strong crystallographic preferred orientation. In this study, the AMS is characterized in 28 single crystals and I crystal aggregate of compositionally diverse clino- and ortho-amphiboles. High-field methods were used to isolate the paramagnetic component of the anisotropy, which is unaffected by ferromagnetic inclusions that often occur in amphibole crystals. Laue imaging, laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry, and Mossbauer spectroscopy were performed to relate the magnetic anisotropy to crystal structure and Fe concentration. The minimum susceptibility is parallel to the crystallographic a*-axis and the maximum susceptibility is generally parallel to the crystallographic b-axis in tremolite, actinolite, and hornblende. Gedrite has its minimum susceptibility along the a-axis, and maximum susceptibility aligned with c. In richterite, however, the intermediate susceptibility is parallel to the b-axis and the minimum and maximum susceptibility directions are distributed in the a-c plane. The degree of anisotropy, k', increases generally with Fe concentration, following a linear trend: k' = 1.61 x 10(-9) Fe - 1.17 x 10(-9) m(3)/kg. Additionally, it may depend on the Fe2+/Fe3+ ratio. For most samples, the degree of anisotropy increases by a factor of approximately 8 upon cooling from room temperature to 77 K. Fen-oactinolite, one pargasite crystal and riebeckite show a larger increase, which is related to the onset of local ferromagnetic (s.l.) interactions below about 100 K. This comprehensive data set increases our understanding of the magnetic structure of amphiboles, and it is central to interpreting magnetic fabrics of rocks whose AMS is controlled by amphibole minerals.

Reporting and handling missing outcome data in mental health: a systematic review of Cochrane systematic reviews and meta-analyses

OBJECTIVES The purpose of the study was to provide empirical evidence about the reporting of methodology to address missing outcome data and the acknowledgement of their impact in Cochrane systematic reviews in the mental health field. METHODS Systematic reviews published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews after January 1, 2009 by three Cochrane Review Groups relating to mental health were included. RESULTS One hundred ninety systematic reviews were considered. Missing outcome data were present in at least one included study in 175 systematic reviews. Of these 175 systematic reviews, 147 (84%) accounted for missing outcome data by considering a relevant primary or secondary outcome (e.g., dropout). Missing outcome data implications were reported only in 61 (35%) systematic reviews and primarily in the discussion section by commenting on the amount of the missing outcome data. One hundred forty eligible meta-analyses with missing data were scrutinized. Seventy-nine (56%) of them had studies with total dropout rate between 10 and 30%. One hundred nine (78%) meta-analyses reported to have performed intention-to-treat analysis by including trials with imputed outcome data. Sensitivity analysis for incomplete outcome data was implemented in less than 20% of the meta-analyses. CONCLUSIONS Reporting of the techniques for handling missing outcome data and their implications in the findings of the systematic reviews are suboptimal.

Community diagnosis: A working tool for developing culturally appropriate diarrhea intervention programs

Most studies related to diarrhea have been focused narrowly on the etiological and pathophysiological factors involved in inducing the disease. Such studies have often failed to consider other facets contributing to and possibly prolonging the problem, namely: socio-economic conditions, educational opportunities and attainments, cultural characteristics and beliefs, and the political administration and its commitment towards fulfilling its moral and ethical obligations in responding to and fostering human development.^ This study utilized the diagnostic approach of the PRECEDE model. The acronym stands for the predisposing reinforcing, and enabling constructs in educational diagnosis and evaluation. The constituents of this model were identified by utilizing participant observation field methods, traditionally applied by ethnographers to collect data describing the multiple facets of a culture, and linguistic anthropology used to capture and define characteristic semantics and viewpoints. The household study sample was randomly selected from a defined list of households known to have at least one child less than five years of age. An open-ended questionnaire format was used to interview the 115 mothers in the selected households sample.^ Kalama, the study community, is characteristically an agricultural village, situated in the Governorate of Kaliobia and located approximately 25 Km (about 15.5 miles) from the capital, Cairo, Egypt. The 1986 census indicates a population size of 13,328 people in 4,818 households. There were 65 deaths occurring among children less than five years in 1986. The causes of death were primarily related to diarrhea, followed by upper respiratory infections, congenital anomalies and birth injuries.^ This study outlines (a) practices related to the management of diarrhea, including the administration of foods and drinks during such episodes; (b) influences of governmental policies; and (c) recommended strategies for overcoming barriers and promoting effective diarrhea intervention programs. ^

Magnetic anisotropy reveals Neogene tectonic overprint in highly strained carbonate mylonites from the Morcles nappe, Switzerland

The anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) has been measured with low- and high-field methods, in deformed carbonate rocks along the Morcles nappe shear zone (Helvetic Alps). High-field measurements at room temperature and 77 K enable the separation of the ferrimagnetic, paramagnetic and diamagnetic anisotropy. The ferrimagnetic sub-fabric is generally insignificant in these rocks, contributing less than 10% to the total AMS. AMS results for both the separated diamagnetic and paramagnetic subfabrics are consistent with the regional shear movement in the late-stage formation of the Helvetic nappes, as seen in the Morcles nappe, whose inverted limb indicate shear displacement towards the northwest. The diamagnetic anisotropy correlates well quantitatively with the calculated magnetic anisotropy based on the calcite texture. There is a gradational change in the degree of anisotropy related to the strain gradient along the shear zone. A more complex magnetic fabric, resulting from partial overprinting due to displacement along the Simplon–Rhône fault, is evident at one site near the root zone of the nappe. Partial overprinting of the magnetic fabric appears to have taken place in two locations farther up the shear zone as well. This late phase deformation is associated with recent exhumation of the Mont Blanc and Belledonne external massifs and orogen parallel extension, and is reflected by the AMS. Rocks with bulk susceptibility ∼0 SI, and simple mineral compositions are ideal for low temperature high-field torque, as this method helps to enhance the paramagnetic susceptibility and anisotropy, which may otherwise be masked by the mixed magnetic contributions of the composite magnetic fabric.

TAP for parity check error correcting codes

We employ the methods presented in the previous chapter for decoding corrupted codewords, encoded using sparse parity check error correcting codes. We show the similarity between the equations derived from the TAP approach and those obtained from belief propagation, and examine their performance as practical decoding methods.

The TAP approach to intensive and extensive connectivity systems

The Thouless-Anderson-Palmer (TAP) approach was originally developed for analysing the Sherrington-Kirkpatrick model in the study of spin glass models and has been employed since then mainly in the context of extensively connected systems whereby each dynamical variable interacts weakly with the others. Recently, we extended this method for handling general intensively connected systems where each variable has only O(1) connections characterised by strong couplings. However, the new formulation looks quite different with respect to existing analyses and it is only natural to question whether it actually reproduces known results for systems of extensive connectivity. In this chapter, we apply our formulation of the TAP approach to an extensively connected system, the Hopfield associative memory model, showing that it produces identical results to those obtained by the conventional formulation.

Phylogenetic and ecological significance in the evolution of Cetacean tonal sounds

Cetaceans are aquatic mammals that rely primarily on sound for most daily tasks. A compendium of sounds is emitted for orientation, prey detection, and predator avoidance, and to communicate. Communicative sounds are among the most studied Cetacean signals, particularly those referred to as tonal sounds. Because tonal sounds have been studied especially well in social dolphins, it has been assumed these sounds evolved as a social adaptation. However, whistles have been reported in ‘solitary’ species and have been secondarily lost three times in social lineages. Clearly, therefore, it is necessary to examine closely the association, if any, between whistles and sociality instead of merely assuming it. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain the evolutionary history of Cetacean tonal sounds. The main goal of this dissertation is to cast light on the evolutionary history of tonal sounds by testing these hypotheses by combining comparative phylogenetic and field methods. This dissertation provides the first species-level phylogeny of Cetacea and phylogenetic tests of evolutionary hypotheses of cetacean communicative signals. Tonal sounds evolution is complex in that has likely been shaped by a combination of factors that may influence different aspects of their acoustical structure. At the inter-specific level, these results suggest that only tonal sound minimum frequency is constrained by body size. Group size also influences tonal sound minimum frequency. Species that live in large groups tend to produce higher frequency tonal sounds. The evolutionary history of tonal sounds and sociality may be intertwined, but in a complex manner rejecting simplistic views such as the hypothesis that tonal sounds evolved ‘for’ social communication in dolphins. Levels of social and tonal sound complexity nevertheless correlate indicating the importance of tonal sounds in social communication. At the intraspecific level, tonal sound variation in frequency and temporal parameters may be product of genetic isolation and local levels of underwater noise. This dissertation provides one of the first insights into the evolution of Cetacean tonal sounds in a phylogenetic context, and points out key species where future studies would be valuable to enrich our understanding of other factors also playing a role in tonal sound evolution. ^

Phylogenetic and Ecological Significance in the Evolution of Cetacean Tonal Sounds

Cetaceans are aquatic mammals that rely primarily on sound for most daily tasks. A compendium of sounds is emitted for orientation, prey detection, and predator avoidance, and to communicate. Communicative sounds are among the most studied Cetacean signals, particularly those referred to as tonal sounds. Because tonal sounds have been studied especially well in social dolphins, it has been assumed these sounds evolved as a social adaptation. However, whistles have been reported in ‘solitary’ species and have been secondarily lost three times in social lineages. Clearly, therefore, it is necessary to examine closely the association, if any, between whistles and sociality instead of merely assuming it. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain the evolutionary history of Cetacean tonal sounds. The main goal of this dissertation is to cast light on the evolutionary history of tonal sounds by testing these hypotheses by combining comparative phylogenetic and field methods. This dissertation provides the first species-level phylogeny of Cetacea and phylogenetic tests of evolutionary hypotheses of cetacean communicative signals. Tonal sounds evolution is complex in that has likely been shaped by a combination of factors that may influence different aspects of their acoustical structure. At the inter-specific level, these results suggest that only tonal sound minimum frequency is constrained by body size. Group size also influences tonal sound minimum frequency. Species that live in large groups tend to produce higher frequency tonal sounds. The evolutionary history of tonal sounds and sociality may be intertwined, but in a complex manner rejecting simplistic views such as the hypothesis that tonal sounds evolved ‘for’ social communication in dolphins. Levels of social and tonal sound complexity nevertheless correlate indicating the importance of tonal sounds in social communication. At the intraspecific level, tonal sound variation in frequency and temporal parameters may be product of genetic isolation and local levels of underwater noise. This dissertation provides one of the first insights into the evolution of Cetacean tonal sounds in a phylogenetic context, and points out key species where future studies would be valuable to enrich our understanding of other factors also playing a role in tonal sound evolution.