Estudo da camada limite atmosférica em regiões metropolitanas costeiras com simulações de brisa marítima

O principal objetivo deste trabalho foi identificar e caracterizar a evolução diária da Camada Limite Atmosférica (CLA) na Região da Grande Vitória (RGV), Estado do Espírito Santo, Brasil e na Região de Dunkerque (RD), Departamento Nord Pas-de-Calais, França, avaliando a acurácia de parametrizações usadas no modelo meteorológico Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) em detectar a formação e atributos da Camada Limite Interna (CLI) que é formada pelas brisas marítimas. A RGV tem relevo complexo, em uma região costeira de topografia acidentada e uma cadeia de montanhas paralela à costa. A RD tem relevo simples, em uma região costeira com pequenas ondulações que não chegam a ultrapassar 150 metros, ao longo do domínio de estudos. Para avaliar os resultados dos prognósticos feitos pelo modelo, foram utilizados os resultados de duas campanhas: uma realizada na cidade de Dunkerque, no norte da França, em Julho de 2009, utilizando um sistema light detection and ranging (LIDAR), um sonic detection and ranging (SODAR) e dados de uma estação meteorológica de superfície (EMS); outra realizada na cidade de Vitória – Espírito Santo, no mês de julho de 2012, também usando um LIDAR, um SODAR e dados de uma EMS. Foram realizadas simulações usando três esquemas de parametrizações para a CLA, dois de fechamento não local, Yonsei University (YSU) e Asymmetric Convective Model 2 (ACM2) e um de fechamento local, Mellor Yamada Janjic (MYJ) e dois esquemas de camada superficial do solo (CLS), Rapid Update Cycle (RUC) e Noah. Tanto para a RGV quanto para a RD, foram feitas simulações com as seis possíveis combinações das três parametrizações de CLA e as duas de CLS, para os períodos em que foram feitas as campanhas, usando quatro domínios aninhados, sendo os três maiores quadrados com dimensões laterais de 1863 km, 891 km e 297 km, grades de 27 km, 9 km e 3 km, respectivamente, e o domínio de estudo, com dimensões de 81 km na direção Norte-Sul e 63 km na Leste-Oeste, grade de 1 km, com 55 níveis verticais, até um máximo de, aproximadamente, 13.400 m, mais concentrados próximos ao solo. Os resultados deste trabalho mostraram que: a) dependendo da configuração adotada, o esforço computacional pode aumentar demasiadamente, sem que ocorra um grande aumento na acurácia dos resultados; b) para a RD, a simulação usando o conjunto de parametrizações MYJ para a CLA com a parametrização Noah produziu a melhor estimativa captando os fenômenos da CLI. As simulações usando as parametrizações ACM2 e YSU inferiram a entrada da brisa com atraso de até três horas; c) para a RGV, a simulação que usou as parametrizações YSU para a CLA em conjunto com a parametrização Noah para CLS foi a que conseguiu fazer melhores inferências sobre a CLI. Esses resultados sugerem a necessidade de avaliações prévias do esforço computacional necessário para determinadas configurações, e sobre a acurácia de conjuntos de parametrizações específicos para cada região pesquisada. As diferenças estão associadas com a capacidade das diferentes parametrizações em captar as informações superficiais provenientes das informações globais, essenciais para determinar a intensidade de mistura turbulenta vertical e temperatura superficial do solo, sugerindo que uma melhor representação do uso de solo é fundamental para melhorar as estimativas sobre a CLI e demais parâmetros usados por modelos de dispersão de poluentes atmosféricos.

A creative solution for rapid and inexpensive model-making in product design processes

Innovative Developments in Virtual and Physical Prototyping

A creative solution for rapid and inexpensive model-making in product design processes

Rapid prototyping (RP) is an approach for automatically building a physical object through solid freeform fabrication. Nowadays, RP has become a vital aspect of most product development processes, due to the significant competitive advantages it offers compared to traditional manual model making. Even in academic environments, it is important to be able to quickly create accurate physical representations of concept solutions. Some of these can be used for simple visual validation, while others can be employed for ergonomic assessment by potential users or even for physical testing. However, the cost of traditional RP methods prevents their use in most academic environments on a regular basis, and even for very preliminary prototypes in many small companies. That results in delaying the first physical prototypes to later stages, or creating very rough mock-ups which are not as useful as they could be. In this paper we propose an approach for rapid and inexpensive model-making, which was developed in an academic context, and which can be employed for a variety of objects.

Global banking: origins and evolution

This article reviews the origins and evolution of global banking and addresses the emerging patterns for the year 2000 and beyond.

The institutional configuration of sport policy in Brazil: organization, evolution and dilemmas

Brazil has become the center of the spotlight of the whole world recently, amongst many other reasons, one of them was because it was chosen to host a series of mega sporting events - Pan American Games in 2007, Confederations Football Cup in 2013, Fifa Football World Cup 2014 Games and 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2016. However, little is known about the country's administrative governmental structure focused on sport policy. The available studies focus their analysis on the sport policies content, but not on the arrangement of its structural decision-making. The main aim of this article is indeed to describe, based on official documentation, the evolution and the current arrangements of the government responsible for the administrative structure for the planning and implementation of sports policies in Brazil. Thus, we tried to list the main problems arising from the organization of the Brazilian sports' management. These problems are: (1) inappropriate institutional structure in terms of human resources and obstacles to participation by other social actors beyond the officials (parliament and members of the Ministry of Sports) in the sports policy; (2) disarticulation between public institutions generating redundancies and conflicts of jurisdiction due to the poor division of labor between bureaucracy agencies; and (3) inadequate planning proved by the lack of organization of some institutions, and by the lack of assessment and continuity of public policies over time. Therefore, we must emphasize those problems from above, and due to these administrative arrangements, Brazilian sports' policy has big challenges in the sport development in this country, which includes the creation of a national "system" for sports and a priority investment in sport education.

Computational evaluation of hydraulic system behaviour with entrapped air under rapid pressurization

The pressurization of hydraulic systems containing entrapped air is considered a critical condition for the infrastructure's security due to transient pressure variations often occurred. The objective of the present study is the computational evaluation of trends observed in variation of maximum surge pressure resulting from rapid pressurizations. The comparison of the results with those obtained in previous studies is also undertaken. A brief state of art in this domain is presented. This research work is applied to an experimental system having entrapped air in the top of a vertical pipe section. The evaluation is developed through the elastic model based on the method of characteristics, considering a moving liquid boundary, with the results being compared with those achieved with the rigid liquid column model.

Multi-stage evolution of a sub-aerial volcanic ridge over the last 1.3 Myr: S. Jorge Island, Azores Triple Junction

New K/Ar dating and geochemical analyses have been carried out on the WNW-ESE elongated oceanic island of S. Jorge to reconstruct the volcanic evolution of a linear ridge developed close to the Azores triple junction. We show that S. Jorge sub-aerial construction encompasses the last 1.3 Myr, a time interval far much longer than previously reported. The early development of the ridge involved a sub-aerial building phase exposed in the southeast end of the island and now constrained between 1.32 +/- 0.02 and 1.21 +/- 0.02 Ma. Basic lavas from this older stage are alkaline and enriched in incompatible elements, reflecting partial melting of an enriched mantle source. At least three differentiation cycles from alkaline basalts to mugearites are documented within this stage. The successive episodes of magma rising, storage and evolution suggest an intermittent reopening of the magma feeding system, possibly due to recurrent tensional or trans-tensional tectonic events. Present data show a gap in sub-aerial volcanism before a second main ongoing building phase starting at about 750 ka. Sub-aerial construction of the S. Jorge ridge migrated progressively towards the west, but involved several overlapping volcanic episodes constrained along the main WNW-ESE structural axis of the island. Malic magmas erupted during the second phase have been also generated by partial melting of an enriched mantle source. Trace element data suggest, however, variable and lower degrees of partial melting of a shallower mantle domain, which is interpreted as an increasing control of lithospheric deformation on the genesis and extraction of primitive melts during the last 750 kyr. The multi-stage development of the S. Jorge volcanic ridge over the last 1.3 Myr has most likely been greatly influenced by regional tectonics, controlled by deformation along the diffuse boundary between the Nubian and the Eurasian plates, and the increasing effect of sea-floor spreading at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

A theoretical model of the evolution of virulence in sexually transmitted HIV/AIDS

INTRODUCTION: The evolution of virulence in host-parasite relationships has been the subject of several publications. In the case of HIV virulence, some authors suggest that the evolution of HIV virulence correlates with the rate of acquisition of new sexual partners. In contrast some other authors argue that the level of HIV virulence is independent of the sexual activity of the host population. METHODS: Provide a mathematical model for the study of the potential influence of human sexual behaviour on the evolution of virulence of HIV is provided. RESULTS: The results indicated that, when the probability of acquisition of infection is a function both of the sexual activity and of the virulence level of HIV strains, the evolution of HIV virulence correlates positively with the rate of acquisition of new sexual partners. CONCLUSION: It is concluded that in the case of a host population with a low (high) rate of exchange of sexual partners the evolution of HIV virulence is such that the less (more) virulent strain prevails.

Computational evaluation of hydraulic system behaviour with entrapped air under rapid pressurization

The pressurization of hydraulic systems containing entrapped air is considered a critical condition for the infrastructure's security due to transient pressure variations often occurred. The objective of the present study is the computational evaluation of trends observed in variation of maximum surge pressure resulting from rapid pressurizations. The comparison of the results with those obtained in previous studies is also undertaken. A brief state of art in this domain is presented. This research work is applied to an experimental system having entrapped air in the top of a vertical pipe section. The evaluation is developed through the elastic model based on the method of characteristics, considering a moving liquid boundary, with the results being compared with those achieved with the rigid liquid column model.

Análise de desempenho em redes móveis Long Term Evolution (Parceria CELFINET)

A rede móvel Long Term Evolution (LTE) é uma tecnologia que está a ser fortemente implementada, não só em Portugal mas no resto do mundo. A adoção do LTE deve-se em grande parte à maior capacidade e à baixa latência oferecidas, para além de ser expansível ao LTE-Advanced. O trabalho apresentado tem por objetivo a análise do desempenho de uma rede LTE piloto e comparar os resultados com o teoricamente expectável. Foi adotada uma metodologia de planeamento em LTE e comprovada através das medidas empíricas realizadas. Dessas medições são também sugeridos dois novos modelos de propagação para LTE nos 2,6 GHz. Para distâncias inferiores a 1 km sugere-se o modelo LTE-PL. Para distâncias superiores a 1 km foi feita uma adaptação ao modelo Okumura-Hata para que se aproximasse aos resultados obtidos. Das medições efetuadas observou-se que em boas condições rádio, os débitos bináriossão bastante próximos dos máximos teóricos. Além disso foi obtido o desvio padrão em LTE de uma área Urbano Denso de 12 dB. Foi ainda possível definir uma margem para as perdas de penetração in-car de 2,7 dB. Efetuou-se uma análise de vários Key Performance Indicators que permitem avaliar o desempenho do LTE, tendo também sido definidas categorias de qualidade de serviço. Por último foi avaliado o impacto da velocidade e da distância, pelas medidas realizadas.

Mantle source heterogeneity, magma generation and magmatic evolution at Terceira Island (Azoresarchipelago): Constraints from elemental and isotopic (Sr, Nd, Hf, and Pb) data

This work addresses the present-day (<100 ka) mantle heterogeneity in the Azores region through the study of two active volcanic systems from Terceira Island. Our study shows that mantle heterogeneities are detectable even when "coeval" volcanic systems (Santa Barbara and Fissural) erupted less than 10 km away. These volcanic systems, respectively, reflect the influence of the Terceira and D. Joao de Castro Bank end-members defined by Beier et at (2008) for the Terceira Rift Santa Barbara magmas are interpreted to be the result of mixing between a HIMU-type component, carried to the upper mantle by the Azores plume, and the regional depleted MORB magmas/source. Fissural lavas are characterized by higher Ba/Nb and Nb/U ratios and less radiogenic Pb-206/Pb-204, Nd-143/Nd-144 and Hf-176/Hf-177, requiring the small contribution of delaminated sub-continental lithospheric mantle residing in the upper mantle. Published noble gas data on lavas from both volcanic systems also indicate the presence of a relatively undegassed component, which is interpreted as inherited from a lower mantle reservoir sampled by the ascending Azores plume. As inferred from trace and major elements, melting began in the garnet stability field, while magma extraction occurred within the spinel zone. The intra-volcanic system's chemical heterogeneity is mainly explained by variable proportions of the above-mentioned local end-members and by crystal fractionation processes. (C) 2011 Elsevier By. All rights reserved.

Society and technological evolution: challenges and opportunities

Starting from the assumption that, the organizational learning process influences, in a positive way, the innovative environment and that it shows positive effects on individual, group and organizational performance, this paper deals with the analysis of companies that provide knowledge-intensive products. Referring to the initial information obtained through an adequate survey that is still being performed since May 2009, the main goal is to identify the ways to an organizational learning, measure its importance and identify the effects on the social and economic development. Our reflexion study handles two Portuguese knowledge-rich-organizations, based on the metropolitan area of Lisbon. The paper has the following methodological structure: in the first chapter we will make a theoretical contextualization about the organizational learning; in the second chapter we will handle the data recovered using the SPSS statistics software and, afterwards, presenting the main results. Finally, starting from the main conclusions achieved, we willgive clues to an ongoing reflection.

The problems of the european union film industry: an evolution from "subsidy trap" to the advent of "virtual print fee" model

Dissertação de Mestrado, Gestão de Empresa (MBA), 16 de Julho de 2013, Universidade dos Açores.

Análise do padrão de recrutamento abdominal em crianças com dor espinal, entre os 7 e os 10 anos, durante a flexão rápida do ombro, com recurso a electromiografia de superfície

Estudos epidemiológicos dão conta de um aumento exponencial de crianças que reportam dor espinal nalgum momento da vida, tendo-se vindo a atribuir a esta um interesse crescente. Nesta sequência têm vindo a ser estudados factores de risco para a dor espinal, cujo leque tem aumentado devido ao contexto social em que nos inserimos. Um dos aspectos sobre o qual recai a nossa investigação relaciona-se com a activação muscular nas crianças com dor espinal, aspecto ainda não estudado nesta população em particular. A literatura indica que, na população adulta sem dor espinal existe pré-activação muscular abdominal aquando da flexão rápida do ombro e a maioria dos estudos revistos apontam para a inexistência da mesma nos indivíduos com dor espinal. Apesar disso, não existem evidências que o demonstrem em crianças pelo que o nosso estudo pretende descrever o padrão de recrutamento abdominal utilizado pelas crianças com dor espinal, aquando do movimento rápido do membro superior bem como analisar os principais factores de risco. Para recolha dos dados utilizou-se o Questionário de Dor Adaptado, para rastrear a amostra com dor espinal e descrever a sua história ocupacional, e Electromiografia de Superfície, com utilização do acelerómetro, que nos deu conta do início do movimento. Os dados obtidos neste estudo indicam que existe activação muscular abdominal, no momento imediatamente prévio ao início do movimento de flexão do ombro, em quase toda a musculatura abdominal, em crianças com dor espinal excepto em dois participantes que revelam um atraso na activação do músculo oblíquo interno direito e num outro que revela um atraso na activação do recto abdominal. Um dos participantes apresentou pré-activação em todos os músculos estudados. Isto provavelmente encontra-se relacionado com o processo de maturação e indica que possivelmente esta é uma boa altura para prevenir a evolução da dor e possíveis futuros problemas ocupacionais daí advindos, como faltar ao trabalho e ter uma baixa participação social. Estudos futuros devem debruçar-se sobre esta temática e sobre a delineação de novos programas, desta feita de prevenção, de modo a evitar problemas ocupacionais na idade adulta, já que crianças com dor são mais susceptíveis de se tornarem adultos com dor crónica.

Gene expression regulation and lineage evolution: the North and South tale of the hybrid polyploid Squalius alburnoides complex

The evolution of hybrid polyploid vertebrates, their viability and their perpetuation over evolutionary time have always been questions of great interest. However, little is known about the impact of hybridization and polyploidization on the regulatory networks that guarantee the appropriate quantitative and qualitative gene expression programme. The Squalius alburnoides complex of hybrid fish is an attractive system to address these questions, as it includes a wide variety of diploid and polyploid forms, and intricate systems of genetic exchange. Through the study of genome-specific allele expression of seven housekeeping and tissue-specific genes, we found that a gene copy silencing mechanism of dosage compensation exists throughout the distribution range of the complex. Here we show that the allele-specific patterns of silencing vary within the complex, according to the geographical origin and the type of genome involved in the hybridization process. In southern populations, triploids of S. alburnoides show an overall tendency for silencing the allele from the minority genome, while northern population polyploids exhibit preferential biallelic gene expression patterns, irrespective of genomic composition. The present findings further suggest that gene copy silencing and variable expression of specific allele combinations may be important processes in vertebrate polyploid evolution.