The response of surf-zone phytoplankton to nutrient enrichment (Cassino Beach, Brazil)

To understand the mechanisms that trigger changes in chlorophyll a and species composition in the phytoplankton of the surf-zone at Cassino Beach (RS), we performed two short nutrient-enrichment experiments (4–5 days each) during the summer and winter of 2010. Seawater was incubated under controlled conditions of temperature (summer 25± 3 °C, winter 18±1 °C), salinity (summer 28, winter 26) and irradiance (100 μmol m−2 s−1 ). Dissolved inorganic nutrients were added in various concentrations in the summer (silicate, Si; nitrate, N; phosphate, P) and winter (N, P) experiments. Samples were taken daily for cell counts and chlorophyll a analysis. In both experiments, chlorophyll a values and cell density showed a significant increase (mainly diatoms) in the treatments with nitrate addition, regardless of the proportion added. In the summer experiment, the largest chlorophyll a increase, approximately threefold (31.5 to 89.5 μg L−1 ), was observed in the NP treatment due to the growth of Asterionellopsis glacialis (Castracane) Round, Skeletonema tropicum Cleve, Thalassiosira sp. Cleve and Pseudo-nitzschia spp. Peragallo. The maximum growth was obtained in the SiNP treatment for S. tropicum (μ=0.7), Thalassiosira (μ= 1.9) and Pseudo-nitzschia (μ= 1.3) and in the SiN treatment for A. glacialis (μ= 1.0). In the winter experiment, the chlorophyll a content increased 4.2 and 5.5 times, respectively, in the N and NP treatments (maxima 38.8 μg L−1 and 31.5 μg L−1 ), where A. glacialis (μ= 1.7–1.9) and Cylindrotheca closterium (Ehrenberg) Reimann & J.C. Lewin (μ= 1.0–1.96) showed the highest amount of growth. These results indicate that nitrate is the most important nutrient controlling phytoplankton chlorophyll a at sandy Cassino Beach. However, the responses of different species to enrichment during the summer and winter indicated that other factors also played a role. A. glacialis, present during both seasons, presented the highest growth rate during the winter, whereas during the summer it was independent of nutrient enrichment but coincided with the lowest growth of S. tropicum. This finding suggested the occurrence of allelopathic interactions between these species. During the summer, multi-enrichment (SiNP) favoured the best growth of S. tropicum, Pseudo-nitzschia spp. and Thalassiosira sp. These results indicated that the phytoplankton composition and diversity in the surf zone of Cassino Beach are shaped by the availability of silicate and phosphorus as well as by the availability of nitrate.

Importância da avaliação baseada na actividade para o estudo da exposição ocupacional a partículas: o caso da produção de pranchas de surf

Na avaliação da exposição profissional a agentes químicos a monitorização do ar do ambiente de trabalho é a metodologia mais utilizada e o valor-limite mais frequentemente utilizado é a Concentração Média Ponderada. Recentemente alguns estudos têm sido realizados recorrendo a uma avaliação da exposição profissional baseada na actividade desenvolvida pelo trabalhador. O estudo desenvolvido numa empresa de produção de pranchas de surf demonstrou a utilidades desta metodologia na identificação da actividade mais crítica em matéria de exposição a partículas e, ainda, na definição de prioridades de intervenção e de investimento para eliminar e/ou controlar a exposição.

Observations of turbulence within the surf and swash zone of a field-scale sandy laboratory beach

Current coastal-evolution models generally lack the ability to accurately predict bed level change in shallow (<~2 m) water, which is, at least partly, due to the preclusion of the effect of surface-induced turbulence on sand suspension and transport. As a first step to remedy this situation, we investigated the vertical structure of turbulence in the surf and swash zone using measurements collected under random shoaling and plunging waves on a steep (initially 1:15) field-scale sandy laboratory beach. Seaward of the swash zone, turbulence was measured with a vertical array of three Acoustic Doppler Velocimeters (ADVs), while in the swash zone two vertically spaced acoustic doppler velocimeter profilers (Vectrino profilers) were applied. The vertical turbulence structure evolves from bottom-dominated to approximately vertically uniform with an increase in the fraction of breaking waves to ~ 50%. In the swash zone, the turbulence is predominantly bottom-induced during the backwash and shows a homogeneous turbulence profile during uprush. We further find that the instantaneous turbulence kinetic energy is phase-coupled with the short-wave orbital motion under the plunging breakers, with higher levels shortly after the reversal from offshore to onshore motion (i.e. wavefront).

Patrocínio no circuito nacional de surf : estudo da notoriedade, atitude e intenção de compra dos espectadores face a uma marca

Com a realização deste estudo pretendeu-se cumprir dois objetivos: i) aferir a eficácia do patrocínio desportivo através da utilização de medidas como a notoriedade da marca, a atitude face ao patrocinador e a intenção de compra dos espectadores presentes no circuito nacional de surf (Liga Moche); ii) analisar a forma como o envolvimento das pessoas com o surf pode ter influência na eficácia do patrocínio. Para cumprir estes objetivos foram aplicados 250 questionários a espectadores presentes nas provas do circuito nacional de surf. Os dados foram analisados através de estatística descritiva, testes de correlação de Pearson e de tstudent. Os resultados indicam que a marca patrocinadora do evento de surf, a Moche, apresenta elevados níveis de notoriedade espontânea (83,2%) e assistida (91,2%) entre os espectadores do circuito nacional e que os espectadores apresentam também atitudes favoráveis assim como intenções de compra favoráveis. Verificou-se também uma correlação significativamente positiva entre a atitude face ao patrocinador e as intenções de compra. Por último, os praticantes de surf e os espectadores dos eventos apresentam uma atitude mais favorável e maiores intenções de compra dos produtos patrocinadores do que os que não praticam surf nem costumam assistir a eventos de surf. Estes resultados devem ser levados em consideração pelos responsáveis de futuros eventos de surf.

Plan de marketing para el relanzamiento del jugo de naranja surf en el municipio de Soyapango, distribuido y comercializado por la Industria envasadora de refrescos de El Salvador.

En la actualidad las empresas se encuentran ante la necesidad de asumir nuevos retos, uno de los cuales es la obligación de conocer los gustos y preferencias de los clientes con el propósito de satisfacerlos ofreciéndoles productos de alta calidad y brindándoles un excelente servicio, si las empresas descuidan elementos tan importantes como las expectativas y sugerencias de los clientes éstas van perdiendo participación en el mercado y desaprovechando las oportunidades de crecimiento. Es por ello, que en la presente investigación se ha diseñado un Plan de Marketing para el Relanzamiento del jugo de naranja Surf con el propósito de conocer las causas por las cuales ha disminuido la preferencia del producto en estudio y realizar un nuevo lanzamiento para lograr un mayor crecimiento y aceptación del producto en el mercado consumidor del municipio de Soyapango; ya que la investigación se llevó a cabo en dicho municipio. La Industria Envasadora de Refrescos de El Salvador se ha visto en la necesidad de generar nuevas ideas y estrategias que permitan un mejor posicionamiento, demanda y aceptación de sus productos en el mercado por lo que ha optado en implementar un Plan de Marketing para el relanzamiento de sus productos El método utilizado para la realización de la investigación es el científico, basándose en el análisis deductivo, por cuanto consiste en que al estudiar un fenómeno se comienza por su comprensión general hasta llegar a las partes que lo componen; partiendo de conceptos generales que sirven de referencia para interpretar la situación actual del producto en estudio. El tipo de investigación utilizado fue el Correlacional, ya que este tipo de estudio tiene como propósito medir el grado de relación que existe entre dos o más variables, en donde se pretende demostrar si están o no relacionadas y analizar la correlación entre ellas, con el objeto de responder a interrogantes que se tienen sobre el tema en estudio. La muestra se determinó de tal manera que fuera representativa del universo en estudio. La investigación se realizó en el Municipio de Soyapango, para efectos de la determinación del universo se consideraron los diferentes tipos de negocios: tiendas, mini súper y supermercados así como los consumidores finales de jugo de naranja artificial correspondientes a dicho Municipio. La recolección de los datos se llevó a cabo por medio de un proceso orientado a obtener información objetiva de la situación actual en el mercado consumidor del Jugo de naranja de la marca Surf, perteneciente a la Industria Envasadora de Refrescos de El Salvador (IERESA). Información que permitió el diseño del Plan de Marketing. La investigación realizada permitió realizar un diagnóstico de la situación en que se encontraba el producto en estudio a través del análisis de las Fortalezas, Debilidades, Oportunidades y Amenazas a que se enfrenta dicho producto. Debido a que se realizó el diagnóstico en el cual se determinó que existen muchas deficiencias en la determinación de la filosofía empresarial, se propuso modificar la misión y visión, ya que faltan ciertos elementos fundamentales que son necesarios contemplar dentro de ellas. Además se propusieron una serie de valores físicos y organizacionales que rijan el accionar de cada uno de los miembros de la entidad. Se determinó que es necesario mejorar el diseño de la bolsa plástica para lograr un mayor posicionamiento en el mercado para lo cuaL se determinó debe emplearse la estrategia de ampliación de mercado e incremento de la fuerza de ventas. Con el propósito de aprovechar oportunidades de mercado y disminuir los aspectos negativos observados en el diagnóstico realizado y que afectan al jugo Surf en presentación bolsa plástica, se presenta un conjunto de estrategias respecto a las decisiones de Producto, Precio, Distribución, Promoción y Publicidad, que la empresa IERESA debe adoptar como base para planificar y ejecutar las actividades de comercialización de dicho producto.

Concepções didácticas e metodológicas do surf

Este estudo pretendeu determinar as características particulares do conhecimento acerca das concepções e metodologias dos treinadores de Surf e o modo como procedem à organização curricular dos conteúdos. Inspirado no modelo de Grossman e recorrendo ao quadro teórico de Rink, esta investigação assentou numa metodologia qualitativa. Determinaram-se as habilidades a ensinar em cada nível de prática e não se verificou a existência de progressões únicas, variando a sequência de ensino das técnicas entre os treinadores. O ensino das técnicas é realizado após um período de preparação geral e ao longo de toda a época, tendo sempre em consideração o calendário competitivo.

O surfista e a sua satisfação na componente da experiência turística de surf

Nos últimos anos o surf atingiu uma dimensão avassaladora, quer em termos de mediatização, quer em termos da importância e impacto que tem na economia das sociedades em geral. O caso português é exemplo disso, e muito particularmente Peniche, com o fenómeno a fazer já parte dos documentos estratégicos da chamada economia do mar, por via do denominado turismo de surf. Hoje em dia Portugal é referenciado como um dos países com maior atratividade ao nível de destinos turísticos para a prática do surf, e Peniche pelas suas particulares características naturais, constitui-se como um dos principais polos dinamizadores desta atividade, o que se reflete na crescente oferta de produtos turísticos diretamente relacionados com o surf. O presente estudo, para além do enquadramento histórico-cronológico imprescindível à compreensão do fenómeno surf, teve como propósito a caracterização sumária do perfil do surfista/turista de surf que se desloca a Peniche, bem como aferir da sua satisfação relativamente a Peniche como destino turístico de surf e verificar se essa satisfação é passível de sofrer alterações consoante o nível de surf em que se julga encontrar. Para atingir os objetivos, foi construído um questionário que foi aplicado a turistas praticantes de surf que se tenham deslocado a Peniche, extraindo-se uma amostra de 363 indivíduos. Os resultados obtidos e o conhecimento produzido por esta investigação, para além de permitirem tipificar o turista praticante de surf que se desloca a Peniche e os seus níveis de satisfação, permitirão ainda a possibilidade de adequar políticas e estratégias condizentes com as expectativas deste nicho de mercado de modo a que de forma sustentável se possa retirar o máximo partido desta atividade.

SurfScholar an advising service to attract international students to get entire academic degrees in Portugal’s most dynamic Surf-City: Lisbon.

The following text is a business plan for SurfScholar - an advising service to attract international students to get entire academic degrees in Portugal’s most dynamic Surf-City: Lisbon. SurfScholar is presented as a viable business concept with environmental, economic and socio-cultural sustainability as guiding principles. For a variety of reasons, Lisbon is becoming an increasingly popular destination for international student mobility. Additionally, Lisbon and its surrounding coastal areas have been experiencing a recent boom in surf related tourism. The text goes into detail about how SurfScholar combines educational tourism and surf tourism by promoting Lisbon as the perfect destination to be both an international student and a surf tourist. To test the market interest in this concept, a simple website was created with a call-toaction. With minimal marketing, SurfScholar received a robust amount of interest from people around the world. SurfScholar’s mission to is to be at the forefront of linking educational tourism and surf tourism and to explore Portugal’s potential as the premier global destination for this new niche segment of tourism. SurfScholar’s business plan is formatted in accordance with the United States Agency for International Development’s, Sustainable Tourism Enterprise Development: A Business Planning Approach, (Humke & Hilbrunner, n.d).

The Applicability Of Ordered Mesoporous Sba-15 And Its Hydrophobic Glutaraldehyde-bridge Derivative To Improve Ibuprofen-loading In Releasing System.

The mesoporous SBA-15 silica with uniform hexagonal pore, narrow pore size distribution and tuneable pore diameter was organofunctionalized with glutaraldehyde-bridged silylating agent. The precursor and its derivative silicas were ibuprofen-loaded for controlled delivery in simulated biological fluids. The synthesized silicas were characterized by elemental analysis, infrared spectroscopy, (13)C and (29)Si solid state NMR spectroscopy, nitrogen adsorption, X-ray diffractometry, thermogravimetry and scanning electron microscopy. Surface functionalization with amine containing bridged hydrophobic structure resulted in significantly decreased surface area from 802.4 to 63.0 m(2) g(-1) and pore diameter 8.0-6.0 nm, which ultimately increased the drug-loading capacity from 18.0% up to 28.3% and a very slow release rate of ibuprofen over the period of 72.5h. The in vitro drug release demonstrated that SBA-15 presented the fastest release from 25% to 27% and SBA-15GA gave near 10% of drug release in all fluids during 72.5 h. The Korsmeyer-Peppas model better fits the release data with the Fickian diffusion mechanism and zero order kinetics for synthesized mesoporous silicas. Both pore sizes and hydrophobicity influenced the rate of the release process, indicating that the chemically modified silica can be suggested to design formulation of slow and constant release over a defined period, to avoid repeated administration.

Advancing Bag-of-visual-words Representations For Lesion Classification In Retinal Images.

Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) is a complication of diabetes that can lead to blindness if not readily discovered. Automated screening algorithms have the potential to improve identification of patients who need further medical attention. However, the identification of lesions must be accurate to be useful for clinical application. The bag-of-visual-words (BoVW) algorithm employs a maximum-margin classifier in a flexible framework that is able to detect the most common DR-related lesions such as microaneurysms, cotton-wool spots and hard exudates. BoVW allows to bypass the need for pre- and post-processing of the retinographic images, as well as the need of specific ad hoc techniques for identification of each type of lesion. An extensive evaluation of the BoVW model, using three large retinograph datasets (DR1, DR2 and Messidor) with different resolution and collected by different healthcare personnel, was performed. The results demonstrate that the BoVW classification approach can identify different lesions within an image without having to utilize different algorithms for each lesion reducing processing time and providing a more flexible diagnostic system. Our BoVW scheme is based on sparse low-level feature detection with a Speeded-Up Robust Features (SURF) local descriptor, and mid-level features based on semi-soft coding with max pooling. The best BoVW representation for retinal image classification was an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC-ROC) of 97.8% (exudates) and 93.5% (red lesions), applying a cross-dataset validation protocol. To assess the accuracy for detecting cases that require referral within one year, the sparse extraction technique associated with semi-soft coding and max pooling obtained an AUC of 94.2 ± 2.0%, outperforming current methods. Those results indicate that, for retinal image classification tasks in clinical practice, BoVW is equal and, in some instances, surpasses results obtained using dense detection (widely believed to be the best choice in many vision problems) for the low-level descriptors.

Uv-vis Spectra As An Alternative To The Lowry Method For Quantify Hair Damage Induced By Surfactants.

It is well known that long term use of shampoo causes damage to human hair. Although the Lowry method has been widely used to quantify hair damage, it is unsuitable to determine this in the presence of some surfactants and there is no other method proposed in literature. In this work, a different method is used to investigate and compare the hair damage induced by four types of surfactants (including three commercial-grade surfactants) and water. Hair samples were immersed in aqueous solution of surfactants under conditions that resemble a shower (38 °C, constant shaking). These solutions become colored with time of contact with hair and its UV-vis spectra were recorded. For comparison, the amount of extracted proteins from hair by sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and by water were estimated by the Lowry method. Additionally, non-pigmented vs. pigmented hair and also sepia melanin were used to understand the washing solution color and their spectra. The results presented herein show that hair degradation is mostly caused by the extraction of proteins, cuticle fragments and melanin granules from hair fiber. It was found that the intensity of solution color varies with the charge density of the surfactants. Furthermore, the intensity of solution color can be correlated to the amount of proteins quantified by the Lowry method as well as to the degree of hair damage. UV-vis spectrum of hair washing solutions is a simple and straightforward method to quantify and compare hair damages induced by different commercial surfactants.

Nitric Oxide-releasing Poly(vinyl Alcohol) Film For Increasing Dermal Vasodilation.

Pathological conditions associated with the impairment of nitric oxide (NO) production in the vasculature, such as Raynaud's syndrome and diabetic angiopathy, have stimulated the development of new biomaterials capable of delivering NO topically. With this purpose, we modified poly(vinyl-alcohol) (PVA) by chemically crosslinking it via esterification with mercaptosuccinic acid. This reaction allowed the casting of sulfhydrylated PVA (PVA-SH) films. Differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray diffractometry showed that the crosslinking reaction completely suppressed the crystallization of PVA, leading to a non-porous film with a homogeneous distribution of -SH groups. The remaining free hydroxyl groups in the PVA-SH network conferred partial hydrophylicity to the material, which was responsible for a swelling degree of ca. 110%. The PVA-SH films were subjected to an S-nitrosation reaction of the -SH groups, yielding a PVA containing S-nitrosothiol groups (PVA-SNO). Amperometric and chemiluminescence measurements showed that the PVA-SNO films were capable of releasing NO spontaneously after immersion in physiological medium. Laser Doppler-flowmetry, used to assess the blood flow in the dermal microcirculation, showed that the topical application of hydrated PVA-SNO films on the health skin led to a dose- and time-dependent increase of more than 5-fold in the dermal baseline blood flow in less than 10min, with a prolonged action of more than 4h during continuous application. These results show that PVA-SNO films might emerge as a new material with potential for the topical treatment of microvascular skin disorders.

Breaking Oil-in-water Emulsions Stabilized By Yeast.

Several biotechnological processes can show an undesirable formation of emulsions making difficult phase separation and product recovery. The breakup of oil-in-water emulsions stabilized by yeast was studied using different physical and chemical methods. These emulsions were composed by deionized water, hexadecane and commercial yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae). The stability of the emulsions was evaluated varying the yeast concentration from 7.47 to 22.11% (w/w) and the phases obtained after gravity separation were evaluated on chemical composition, droplet size distribution, rheological behavior and optical microscopy. The cream phase showed kinetic stability attributed to mechanisms as electrostatic repulsion between the droplets, a possible Pickering-type stabilization and the viscoelastic properties of the concentrated emulsion. Oil recovery from cream phase was performed using gravity separation, centrifugation, heating and addition of demulsifier agents (alcohols and magnetic nanoparticles). Long centrifugation time and high centrifugal forces (2h/150,000×g) were necessary to obtain a complete oil recovery. The heat treatment (60°C) was not enough to promote a satisfactory oil separation. Addition of alcohols followed by centrifugation enhanced oil recovery: butanol addition allowed almost complete phase separation of the emulsion while ethanol addition resulted in 84% of oil recovery. Implementation of this method, however, would require additional steps for solvent separation. Addition of charged magnetic nanoparticles was effective by interacting electrostatically with the interface, resulting in emulsion destabilization under a magnetic field. This method reached almost 96% of oil recovery and it was potentially advantageous since no additional steps might be necessary for further purifying the recovered oil.

Intertidal life: field observations on the clingfish Gobiesox barbatulus in southeastern Brazil

The clingfish Gobiesox barbatulus shows nocturnal feeding activity, spending most part of the day stationary and adhered to the inferior part of stones. To feed, this species uses the sit-and-wait and particulate feeding tactics. It shows a carnivorous feeding habit mostly consuming small benthic crustaceans. It can move in two ways: (1) "stone-by-stone", sliding its ventral sucker disc across each stone and (2) "surf", when it takes advantage of the energy of the ebbing tide to quickly cross a distance up to four times its body length. Its reproductive season occurs between the end of spring and the beginning of summer, during which time it lays about 2,000 adhesive eggs of 1 mm each in a single layer under stones. It has more than one egg-laying session per reproductive season, therefore showing several different developmental stages. It performs fanning, mouthing and guarding of the eggs as forms of parental care. Data shown here also indicates that G. barbatulus has some shelter fidelity, being probably territorial.