Testing landscape metrics as indicators of habitat loss and fragmentation in continuous eucalypt forests (Queensland, Australia)

Landscape metrics are widely applied in landscape ecology to quantify landscape structure. However, many are poorly tested and require rigorous validation if they are to serve as reliable indicators of habitat loss and fragmentation, such as Montreal Process Indicator 1.1e. We apply a landscape ecology theory, supported by exploratory and confirmatory statistical techniques, to empirically test landscape metrics for reporting Montreal Process Indicator 1.1e in continuous dry eucalypt forests of sub-tropical Queensland, Australia. Target biota examined included: the Yellow-bellied Glider (Petaurus australis); the diversity of nectar and sap feeding glider species including P. australis, the Sugar Glider P. breviceps, the Squirrel Glider P. norfolcensis, and the Feathertail Glider Acrobates pygmaeus; six diurnal forest birds species; total diurnal bird species diversity; and the density of nectar-feeding diurnal bird species. Two scales of influence were considered: the stand-scale (2 ha), and a series of radial landscape extents (500 m - 2 km; 78 - 1250 ha) surrounding each fauna transect. For all biota, stand-scale structural and compositional attributes were found to be more influential than landscape metrics. For the Yellow-bellied Glider, the proportion of trace habitats with a residual element of old spotted-gum/ironbark eucalypt trees was a significant landscape metric at the 2 km landscape extent. This is a measure of habitat loss rather than habitat fragmentation. For the diversity of nectar and sap feeding glider species, the proportion of trace habitats with a high coefficient of variation in patch size at the 750 m extent was a significant landscape metric. None of the landscape metrics tested was important for diurnal forest birds. We conclude that no single landscape metric adequately captures the response of the region's forest biota per se. This poses a major challenge to regional reporting of Montreal Process Indicator 1.1e, fragmentation of forest types.

The use of stochastic dynamic programming in optimal landscape reconstruction for metapopulations

A decision theory framework can be a powerful technique to derive optimal management decisions for endangered species. We built a spatially realistic stochastic metapopulation model for the Mount Lofty Ranges Southern Emu-wren (Stipiturus malachurus intermedius), a critically endangered Australian bird. Using diserete-time Markov,chains to describe the dynamics of a metapopulation and stochastic dynamic programming (SDP) to find optimal solutions, we evaluated the following different management decisions: enlarging existing patches, linking patches via corridors, and creating a new patch. This is the first application of SDP to optimal landscape reconstruction and one of the few times that landscape reconstruction dynamics have been integrated with population dynamics. SDP is a powerful tool that has advantages over standard Monte Carlo simulation methods because it can give the exact optimal strategy for every landscape configuration (combination of patch areas and presence of corridors) and pattern of metapopulation occupancy, as well as a trajectory of strategies. It is useful when a sequence of management actions can be performed over a given time horizon, as is the case for many endangered species recovery programs, where only fixed amounts of resources are available in each time step. However, it is generally limited by computational constraints to rather small networks of patches. The model shows that optimal metapopulation, management decisions depend greatly on the current state of the metapopulation,. and there is no strategy that is universally the best. The extinction probability over 30 yr for the optimal state-dependent management actions is 50-80% better than no management, whereas the best fixed state-independent sets of strategies are only 30% better than no management. This highlights the advantages of using a decision theory tool to investigate conservation strategies for metapopulations. It is clear from these results that the sequence of management actions is critical, and this can only be effectively derived from stochastic dynamic programming. The model illustrates the underlying difficulty in determining simple rules of thumb for the sequence of management actions for a metapopulation. This use of a decision theory framework extends the capacity of population viability analysis (PVA) to manage threatened species.

Stratigraphy, facies architecture and tectonic implications of the Upper Devonian to Lower Carboniferous Campwyn Volcanics of the northern New England Fold Belt

Upper Devonian to Lower Carboniferous strata of the Campwyn Volcanics of east central Queensland preserve a substantial sequence of first-cycle volcaniclastic sedimentary and coeval volcanic rocks that record prolonged volcanic activity along the northern New England Fold Belt. The style and scale of volcanism varied with time, producing an Upper Devonian sequence of mafic volcano-sedimentary rocks overlain by a rhyolitic ignimbrite-dominated sequence that passes upward into a Lower Carboniferous limestone-bearing sedimentary sequence. We define two facies associations for the Campwyn Volcanics. A lower facies association is dominated by mafic volcanic-derived sedimentary breccias with subordinate primary mafic volcanic rocks comprising predominantly hyaloclastite and peperite. Sedimentary breccias record episodic and high energy, subaqueous depositional events with clastic material sourced from a mafic lava-dominated terrain. Some breccias contain a high proportion of attenuated dense, glassy mafic juvenile clasts, suggesting a syn-eruptive origin. The lower facies association coarsens upwards from a lithic sand-dominated sequence through a thick interval of pebble- to boulder-grade polymict volcaniclastic breccias, culminating in facies that demonstrate subaerial exposure. The silicic upper facies association marks a significant change in eruptive style, magma composition and the nature of eruptive sources, as well as the widespread development of subaerial depositional conditions. Crystal-rich, high-grade, low- to high-silica rhyolite ignimbrites dominate the base of this facies association. Biostratigraphic age controls indicate that the ignimbrite-bearing sequences are Famennian to lower-mid Tournaisian in age. The ignimbrites represent extra-caldera facies with individual units up to 40 m thick and mostly lacking coarse lithic breccias. Thick deposits of pyroclastic material interbedded with fine-grained siliceous sandstone and mudstone (locally radiolarian-bearing) were deposited from pyroclastic flows that crossed palaeoshorelines or represent syn-eruptive, resedimented pyroclastic material. Some block-bearing lithic-pumice-crystal breccias may also reflect more proximal subaqueous silicic explosive eruptions. Crystal-lithic sandstones interbedded with, and overlying the ignimbrites, contain abundant detrital volcanic quartz and feldspar derived from the pyroclastic deposits. Limestone is common in the upper part of the upper facies association, and several beds are oolitic (cf. Rockhampton Group of the Yarrol terrane). Overall, the upper facies association fines upward and is transgressive, recording a return to shallow-marine conditions. Palaeocurrent data from all stratigraphic levels in the Campwyn Volcanics indicate that the regional sediment-dispersal direction was to the northwest, and opposed to the generally accepted notion of easterly sediment dispersal from a volcanic arc source. The silicic upper facies association correlates in age and lithology to Early Carboniferous silicic volcanism in the Drummond (Cycle 1) and Burdekin Basins, Connors Arch, and in the Yarrol terranes of eastern Queensland. The widespread development of silicic volcanism in the Early Carboniferous indicates that silicic (rift-related) magmatism was not restricted to the Drummond Basin, but was part of a more substantial silicic igneous province.

A yield architecture framework to explain adaptation of pearl millet to environmental stress

Functional knowledge of the physiological basis of crop adaptation to stress is a prerequisite for exploiting specific adaptation to stress environments in breeding programs. This paper presents an analysis of yield components for pearl millet, to explain the specific adaptation of local landraces to stress environments in Rajasthan, India. Six genotypes, ranging from high-tillering traditional landraces to low-tillering open-pollinated modern cultivars, were grown in 20 experiments, covering a range of nonstress and drought stress patterns. In each experiment, yield components (particle number, grain number, 100 grain mass) were measured separately for main shoots, basal tillers, and nodal tillers. Under optimum conditions, landraces had a significantly lower grain yield than the cultivars, but no significant differences were observed at yield levels around 1 ton ha(-1). This genotype x environment interaction for grain yield was due to a difference in yield strategy, where landraces aimed at minimising the risk of a crop failure under stress conditions, and modem cultivars aimed at maximising yield potential under optimum conditions. A key aspect of the adaptation of landraces was the small size of the main shoot panicle, as it minimised (1) the loss of productive tillers during stem elongation; (2) the delay in anthesis if mid-season drought occurs; and (3) the reduction in panicle productivity of the basal tillers under stress. In addition, a low investment in structural panicle weight, relative to vegetative crop growth rate, promoted the production of nodal tillers, providing a mechanism to compensate for reduced basal tiller productivity if stress occurred around anthesis. A low maximum 100 grain mass also ensured individual grain mass was little affected by environmental conditions. The strategy of the high-tillering landraces carries a yield penalty under optimum conditions, but is expected to minimise the risk of a crop failure, particularly if mid-season drought stress occurs. The yield architecture of low-tillering varieties, by contrast, will be suited to end-of-season drought stress, provided anthesis is early. Application of the above adaptation mechanisms into a breeding program could enable the identification of plant types that match the prevalent stress patterns in the target environments. (C) 2003 E.J. van Oosterom. Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

O pátio jesuítico no Palácio Anchieta: narrativas tipomorfológicas e paisagísticas na cidade de Vitória (ES)

A hipótese defendida nesta pesquisa se baseia na possibilidade de a arquitetura jesuítica implantada em terras brasileiras (século XVI) dialogar e agenciar, num mesmo corpo edificado, e de modo inter-relacionado, aspectos relativos à morfologia urbana, tipologia e paisagem. Lama explica que, como disciplina, a morfologia urbana agrega para si não somente o ambiente construído, mas os meios pelos quais este foi construído em sua interação com a forma urbana, ou seja, os “fenômenos sociais, econômicos e outros motores da urbanização” (LAMAS, 1992). Entender a forma urbana é entender seus elementos constituintes, “quer em ordem à leitura ou análise do espaço, quer em ordem à sua concepção ou produção” (LAMAS, 1992). Estudar a forma urbana significa compreender o lugar onde se insere a cidade e seus elementos constituintes, seus espaços e a inter-relação entre eles e seu contexto, em um espectro abrangente do que se denomina cidade, e urbano. A tipologia arquitetônica e a morfologia urbana estão interligadas no cerne de suas análises, considerando que ambas, segundo Pereira, estudam “duas ordens de fatos homogêneos” (PEREIRA, 2012); estudam elementos constituintes da cidade – arquitetônicos e espaciais – que se sobrepõem ou se complementam de acordo com a escala de análise utilizada. A arquitetura jesuítica do Brasil colonial modela de modo determinante a construção de distintos núcleos urbanos originários na costa brasileira no século XVI. Isso, por meio da implantação de tipologia edilícia que acompanha a doutrina jesuítica de localização e escolha do sítio para suas construções, preconizando segurança, visibilidade do entorno e facilidade de acesso por rios ou pelo mar. Essas construções, realizadas em áreas elevadas, marcaram, por conseguinte, no tempo e no espaço, a paisagem dos primeiros núcleos urbanos brasileiros. A pesquisa analisou um dos exemplares históricos da arquitetura jesuítica no Estado do Espírito Santo, especificamente na cidade de Vitória, capital e núcleo urbano original da colonização portuguesa neste Estado. A instalação dos jesuítas na antiga Vila da Vitória, no séc. XVI, através de sua igreja dedicada a São Tiago e de seu colégio anexo, marca a presença tipológica de uma arquitetura religiosa que influencia a própria morfologia da cidade – caracterizando esta arquitetura como um tipomorfológico - e, por reflexo, participa da construção de sua paisagem urbana secular. Entende-se que o antigo complexo jesuítico de São Tiago e atual Palácio Anchieta, sede governamental e prédio cultural capixaba, é uma arquitetura que permeia estas três grandes narrativas arquitetônicas e urbanas: a tipologia, a morfologia e a paisagem.

Representing organizational structures in enterprise architecture : an ontology-based approach

Arquitetura Corporativa promove o estabelecimento de uma visão holística da estrutura e forma de trabalho de uma organização. Um dos aspectos abordados em Arquitetura Corporativa está associada a "estrutura ativa" da organização, que diz respeito a “quem" realiza as atividades organizacionais. Várias abordagens têm sido propostas a fim de proporcionar um meio para a representação de Arquitetura Corporativa, entre as quais ARIS, RM-ODP, UPDM e ArchiMate. Apesar da aceitação por parte da comunidade, as abordagens existentes se concentram em propósitos diferentes, têm limitações de escopo e algumas não têm semântica de mundo real bem definida. Além das abordagens de modelagem, muitas abordagens de ontologias têm sido propostas, a fim de descrever o domínio de estrutura ativa, incluindo as ontologias de SUPER Project, TOVE, Enterprise Ontology e W3C Org Ontology. Embora especificadas para fundamentação semântica e negociação de significado, algumas das abordagens propostas têm fins específicos e cobertura limitada. Além disso, algumas das abordagens não são definidas usando linguagens formais e outras são especificadas usando linguagens sem semântica bem definida. Este trabalho apresenta uma ontologia de referência bem fundamentada para o domínio organizacional. A ontologia organizacional de referência apresentada abrange os aspectos básicos discutidos na literatura organizacional, tais como divisão do trabalho, relações sociais e classificação das unidades estruturais. Além disso, também abrange os aspectos organizacionais definidos em abordagens existentes, levando em consideração tanto abordagens de modelagem quanto abordagens ontológicas. A ontologia resultante é especificada em OntoUML e estende os conceitos sociais de UFO-C.

Historical and conceptual landscape of the character

This paper was developed with the intention of broadly demonstrating the complexity of the area known recently as character development, as a creative process methods and implementation. It searches the understanding of the character itself, its place in the narrative and its reception by the reader or target audience. It is a multidisciplinary tool that faces a multitude of challenges from an increasingly demanding public and with specific goals in mind, and yet it also gives us valuable insight over how we interact with one another and the world around us, teaching us how to transfer such knowledge into fiction promoting empathic bonds between the reader and the characters. The human tendency to create is limitless and as old as mankind itself, we create, recreate and reinterpret and then populate such tales with believable characters from who we learn, and experience events and tales that shape our very lives.

Phenotypic correlations and path analysis for plant architecture traits and grain production in three generations of cowpea

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to analyze the phenotypic correlation and path analysis of traits related to plant architecture, earliness and grain yield in F2, BC1 and BC2 generations, from crosses between cowpea cultivars BRS Carijó and BR14 Mulato. Most phenotypic correlations of the examined traits were concordant in statistical significance, with approximate values ​​among the examined generations. For the trait seed weight, significant and positive phenotypic correlations were observed in the three generations only for the trait number of secondary branches. The values ​​of the direct effects were in agreement with the values ​​of the phenotypic correlations, which indicate true association by the phenotypic correlation among the traits of grain yield examined. Path analysis indicated that the selection of productive plants will result in early plants and an increased number of secondary branches. In F2, plants with shorter length of the main branch and shorter length of secondary branches can be obtained. The causal model explained 15 to 30% of the total variation in grain weight in relation to the traits examined. The analyses indicated the possibility of selecting plants with a higher and early grain yield, shorter length of primary branches and lower number of nodes, which are important variables for mechanical or semi-mechanical harvesting.

A bot spooler architecture to integrate virtual worlds with e-learning management systems for corporate training

Joining efforts of academic and corporate teams, we developed an integration architecture - MULTIS - that enables corporate e-learning managers to use a Learning Management System (LMS) for management of educational activities in virtual worlds. This architecture was then implemented for the Formare LMS. In this paper we present this architecture and concretizations of its implementation for the Second Life Grid/OpenSimulator virtual world platforms. Current systems are focused on activities managed by individual trainers, rather than groups of trainers and large numbers of trainees: they focus on providing the LMS with information about educational activities taking place in a virtual world and/or being able to access within the virtual world some of the information stored in the LMS, and disregard the streamlining of activity setup and data collection in multi-trainer contexts, among other administrative issues. This architecture aims to overcome the limitations of existing systems for organizational management of corporate e-learning activities.

Stacked photo-sensing devices based on SiC alloys A non-pixelled architecture for imagers and demultiplexing devices

In this review paper different designs based on stacked p-i'-n-p-i-n heterojunctions are presented and compared with the single p-i-n sensing structures. The imagers utilise self-field induced depletion layers for light detection and a modulated laser beam for sequential readout. The effect of the sensing element structure, cell configurations (single or tandem), and light source properties (intensity and wavelength) are correlated with the sensor output characteristics (light-to-dark sensivity, spatial resolution, linearity and S/N ratio). The readout frequency is optimized showing that scans speeds up to 104 lines per second can be achieved without degradation in the resolution. Multilayered p-i'-n-p-i-n heterostructures can also be used as wavelength-division multiplexing /demultiplexing devices in the visible range. Here the sensor element faces the modulated light from different input colour channels, each one with a specific wavelength and bit rate. By reading out the photocurrent at appropriated applied bias, the information is multiplexed or demultiplexed and can be transmitted or recovered again. Electrical models are present to support the sensing methodologies.

An architecture for an effective usage of data mining in business intelligence systems

Business Intelligence (BI) is one emergent area of the Decision Support Systems (DSS) discipline. Over the last years, the evolution in this area has been considerable. Similarly, in the last years, there has been a huge growth and consolidation of the Data Mining (DM) field. DM is being used with success in BI systems, but a truly DM integration with BI is lacking. Therefore, a lack of an effective usage of DM in BI can be found in some BI systems. An architecture that pretends to conduct to an effective usage of DM in BI is presented.