Aplicação de SIG no Processamento do Inventário Florestal Nacional – Cabo Verde

Cabo Verde desde do século passado tem envidado esforço na florestação, sobretudo depois de 1975 para atenuar os efeitos da seca e da desertificação criando deste modo grandes áreas arborizadas. Entretanto, à medida que os recursos florestais foram sendo criados, a problemática da sua avaliação e da sua gestão sustentável, passaram a merecer maior atenção das autoridades nacionais. A lei florestal, promulgada em 1998 define como uma das atribuições e acções do Estado, através dos serviços florestais, a elaboração dos planos de gestão das zonas florestais. Este plano de gestão implica a análise e a apreciação de dados concretos e actualizados sobre a situação real das zonas florestais, sendo possível apenas através do inventário florestal nacional (IFN). Neste trabalho é proposta uma metodologia de processamento do IFN em que se utilizam as potencialidades dos Sistemas de Informação Geográfica (SIG). Foram utilizados para este trabalho os programas: ArcGis 9.1, para produção cartográfica, geoprocessamento e análise espacial e o Field-Map 8.1 para a classificação de ortofotos num esquema de classificação hierárquica, em cinco níveis, adaptado a Cabo Verde (classes de uso do solo adoptado ao esquema de classificação do território europeu – CORINE Land Cover e da Organização das Nações Unidas para a Agricultura e Alimentação (FAO). Os dados utilizados foram compilados no âmbito do projecto do inventário florestal. Os resultados obtidos, para a Ilha de Santiago, constituem uma base cartográfica para o IFN com diversos temas cartográficos, nomeadamente, mapas das zonas florestadas, mapas de ocupação do solo e mapas de amostras inventariáveis cuja metodologia de elaboração poderá ser facilmente replicada para as restantes ilhas do arquipélago.

Improving the sensitivity of the sequence profile method.

The sequence profile method (Gribskov M, McLachlan AD, Eisenberg D, 1987, Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 84:4355-4358) is a powerful tool to detect distant relationships between amino acid sequences. A profile is a table of position-specific scores and gap penalties, providing a generalized description of a protein motif, which can be used for sequence alignments and database searches instead of an individual sequence. A sequence profile is derived from a multiple sequence alignment. We have found 2 ways to improve the sensitivity of sequence profiles: (1) Sequence weights: Usage of individual weights for each sequence avoids bias toward closely related sequences. These weights are automatically assigned based on the distance of the sequences using a published procedure (Sibbald PR, Argos P, 1990, J Mol Biol 216:813-818). (2) Amino acid substitution table: In addition to the alignment, the construction of a profile also needs an amino acid substitution table. We have found that in some cases a new table, the BLOSUM45 table (Henikoff S, Henikoff JG, 1992, Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 89:10915-10919), is more sensitive than the original Dayhoff table or the modified Dayhoff table used in the current implementation. Profiles derived by the improved method are more sensitive and selective in a number of cases where previous methods have failed to completely separate true members from false positives.

A Gestão da Formação na Sucursal da Mundiserviços em Cabo Verde

O presente Relatório de Estágio insere-se no âmbito da Unidade Curricular de Estágio, realizado na empresa MundiServiços, Consultoria de Gestão e Formação, Sucursal de Cabo Verde, conducente ao grau de Mestre em Ciências da Educação com especialização na área de Formação de Adultos. A Sucursal da MundiServiços em Cabo Verde centra a sua intervenção no mercado cabo-verdiano essencialmente em dois eixos: Consultoria na área de Gestão de Recursos Humanos e Formação Profissional. O meu Projecto de Estágio tem a sua incidência na área da Formação Profissional e visa responder a uma solicitação da ARFA - Agência de Regulação e Supervisão de Produtos Farmacêuticos e Alimentares - organização cliente da MundiServiços em Cabo Verde. Neste contexto, o Projecto de Estágio tem como finalidade a realização de um Estudo de Diagnóstico de Necessidades de Formação e a Elaboração de um Plano Estratégico de Formação que possa satisfazer as necessidades organizacionais, profissionais e pessoais da Agência e dos seus trabalhadores. Este trabalho enquadra-se numa medida estratégica da entidade, que passa pelo desenvolvimento de competências chave dos seus recursos humanos, como forma de responder a novos desafios estratégicos e organizacionais e de aumentar a motivação e satisfação interna dos seus trabalhadores. De acordo com os objectivos pré-estabelecidos para a execução deste estudo, tentou-se combinar as metodologias qualitativa e quantitativa, com recurso a diferentes técnicas de recolha, análise e tratamento de dados, com a principal finalidade de obter informações que permitam responder, de forma efectiva, à solicitação da agência, transformando as necessidades formativas dos trabalhadores em potencialidades.

Measuring subcompositional incoherence

Subcompositional coherence is a fundamental property of Aitchison s approach to compositional data analysis, and is the principal justification for using ratios of components. We maintain, however, that lack of subcompositional coherence, that is incoherence, can be measured in an attempt to evaluate whether any given technique is close enough, for all practical purposes, to being subcompositionally coherent. This opens up the field to alternative methods, which might be better suited to cope with problems such as data zeros and outliers, while being only slightly incoherent. The measure that we propose is based on the distance measure between components. We show that the two-part subcompositions, which appear to be the most sensitive to subcompositional incoherence, can be used to establish a distance matrix which can be directly compared with the pairwise distances in the full composition. The closeness of these two matrices can be quantified using a stress measure that is common in multidimensional scaling, providing a measure of subcompositional incoherence. The approach is illustrated using power-transformed correspondence analysis, which has already been shown to converge to log-ratio analysis as the power transform tends to zero.

Regional variations in ABC transporter expression along the mouse intestinal tract.

The ATP-binding cassette (ABC) family of proteins comprise a group of membrane transporters involved in the transport of a wide variety of compounds, such as xenobiotics, vitamins, lipids, amino acids, and carbohydrates. Determining their regional expression patterns along the intestinal tract will further characterize their transport functions in the gut. The mRNA expression levels of murine ABC transporters in the duodenum, jejunum, ileum, and colon were examined using the Affymetrix MuU74v2 GeneChip set. Eight ABC transporters (Abcb2, Abcb3, Abcb9, Abcc3, Abcc6, Abcd1, Abcg5, and Abcg8) displayed significant differential gene expression along the intestinal tract, as determined by two statistical models (a global error assessment model and a classic ANOVA, both with a P < 0.01). Concordance with semiquantitative real-time PCR was high. Analyzing the promoters of the differentially expressed ABC transporters did not identify common transcriptional motifs between family members or with other genes; however, the expression profile for Abcb9 was highly correlated with fibulin-1, and both genes share a common complex promoter model involving the NFkappaB, zinc binding protein factor (ZBPF), GC-box factors SP1/GC (SP1F), and early growth response factor (EGRF) transcription binding motifs. The cellular location of another of the differentially expressed ABC transporters, Abcc3, was examined by immunohistochemistry. Staining revealed that the protein is consistently expressed in the basolateral compartment of enterocytes along the anterior-posterior axis of the intestine. Furthermore, the intensity of the staining pattern is concordant with the expression profile. This agrees with previous findings in which the mRNA, protein, and transport function of Abcc3 were increased in the rat distal intestine. These data reveal regional differences in gene expression profiles along the intestinal tract and demonstrate that a complete understanding of intestinal ABC transporter function can only be achieved by examining the physiologically distinct regions of the gut.

Spatial evaluation of larvae of Culicidae (Diptera) from different breeding sites: application of a geospatial method and implications for vector control

Spatial evaluation of Culicidae (Diptera) larvae from different breeding sites: application of a geospatial method and implications for vector control. This study investigates the spatial distribution of urban Culicidae and informs entomological monitoring of species that use artificial containers as larval habitats. Collections of mosquito larvae were conducted in the São Paulo State municipality of Santa Bárbara d' Oeste between 2004 and 2006 during house-to-house visits. A total of 1,891 samples and nine different species were sampled. Species distribution was assessed using the kriging statistical method by extrapolating municipal administrative divisions. The sampling method followed the norms of the municipal health services of the Ministry of Health and can thus be adopted by public health authorities in disease control and delimitation of risk areas. Moreover, this type of survey and analysis can be employed for entomological surveillance of urban vectors that use artificial containers as larval habitat.

Paper 4: EUROCAT statistical monitoring: identification and investigation of ten year trends of congenital anomalies in Europe.

BACKGROUND: As part of EUROCAT's surveillance of congenital anomalies in Europe, a statistical monitoring system has been developed to detect recent clusters or long-term (10 year) time trends. The purpose of this article is to describe the system for the identification and investigation of 10-year time trends, conceived as a "screening" tool ultimately leading to the identification of trends which may be due to changing teratogenic factors.METHODS: The EUROCAT database consists of all cases of congenital anomalies including livebirths, fetal deaths from 20 weeks gestational age, and terminations of pregnancy for fetal anomaly. Monitoring of 10-year trends is performed for each registry for each of 96 non-independent EUROCAT congenital anomaly subgroups, while Pan-Europe analysis combines data from all registries. The monitoring results are reviewed, prioritized according to a prioritization strategy, and communicated to registries for investigation. Twenty-one registries covering over 4 million births, from 1999 to 2008, were included in monitoring in 2010.CONCLUSIONS: Significant increasing trends were detected for abdominal wall anomalies, gastroschisis, hypospadias, Trisomy 18 and renal dysplasia in the Pan-Europe analysis while 68 increasing trends were identified in individual registries. A decreasing trend was detected in over one-third of anomaly subgroups in the Pan-Europe analysis, and 16.9% of individual registry tests. Registry preliminary investigations indicated that many trends are due to changes in data quality, ascertainment, screening, or diagnostic methods. Some trends are inevitably chance phenomena related to multiple testing, while others seem to represent real and continuing change needing further investigation and response by regional/national public health authorities.

Reconeixement de gestos de la mà amb el sensor Kinect

El reconeixement dels gestos de la mà (HGR, Hand Gesture Recognition) és actualment un camp important de recerca degut a la varietat de situacions en les quals és necessari comunicar-se mitjançant signes, com pot ser la comunicació entre persones que utilitzen la llengua de signes i les que no. En aquest projecte es presenta un mètode de reconeixement de gestos de la mà a temps real utilitzant el sensor Kinect per Microsoft Xbox, implementat en un entorn Linux (Ubuntu) amb llenguatge de programació Python i utilitzant la llibreria de visió artifical OpenCV per a processar les dades sobre un ordinador portàtil convencional. Gràcies a la capacitat del sensor Kinect de capturar dades de profunditat d’una escena es poden determinar les posicions i trajectòries dels objectes en 3 dimensions, el que implica poder realitzar una anàlisi complerta a temps real d’una imatge o d’una seqüencia d’imatges. El procediment de reconeixement que es planteja es basa en la segmentació de la imatge per poder treballar únicament amb la mà, en la detecció dels contorns, per després obtenir l’envolupant convexa i els defectes convexos, que finalment han de servir per determinar el nombre de dits i concloure en la interpretació del gest; el resultat final és la transcripció del seu significat en una finestra que serveix d’interfície amb l’interlocutor. L’aplicació permet reconèixer els números del 0 al 5, ja que s’analitza únicament una mà, alguns gestos populars i algunes de les lletres de l’alfabet dactilològic de la llengua de signes catalana. El projecte és doncs, la porta d’entrada al camp del reconeixement de gestos i la base d’un futur sistema de reconeixement de la llengua de signes capaç de transcriure tant els signes dinàmics com l’alfabet dactilològic.

Single-trial topographic analysis of human EEG: A new image of event-related potentials

We present a novel approach for analyzing single-trial electroencephalography (EEG) data, using topographic information. The method allows for visualizing event-related potentials using all the electrodes of recordings overcoming the problem of previous approaches that required electrode selection and waveforms filtering. We apply this method to EEG data from an auditory object recognition experiment that we have previously analyzed at an ERP level. Temporally structured periods were statistically identified wherein a given topography predominated without any prior information about the temporal behavior. In addition to providing novel methods for EEG analysis, the data indicate that ERPs are reliably observable at a single-trial level when examined topographically.

High-performance payload data handling system for Gaia

Gaia is the most ambitious space astrometry mission currently envisaged and is a technological challenge in all its aspects. We describe a proposal for the payload data handling system of Gaia, as an example of a high-performance, real-time, concurrent, and pipelined data system. This proposal includes the front-end systems for the instrumentation, the data acquisition and management modules, the star data processing modules, and the payload data handling unit. We also review other payload and service module elements and we illustrate a data flux proposal.

Method to assess and optimise dependability of complex macro-systems: application to a railway signalling system

Achieving a high degree of dependability in complex macro-systems is challenging. Because of the large number of components and numerous independent teams involved, an overview of the global system performance is usually lacking to support both design and operation adequately. A functional failure mode, effects and criticality analysis (FMECA) approach is proposed to address the dependability optimisation of large and complex systems. The basic inductive model FMECA has been enriched to include considerations such as operational procedures, alarm systems. environmental and human factors, as well as operation in degraded mode. Its implementation on a commercial software tool allows an active linking between the functional layers of the system and facilitates data processing and retrieval, which enables to contribute actively to the system optimisation. The proposed methodology has been applied to optimise dependability in a railway signalling system. Signalling systems are typical example of large complex systems made of multiple hierarchical layers. The proposed approach appears appropriate to assess the global risk- and availability-level of the system as well as to identify its vulnerabilities. This enriched-FMECA approach enables to overcome some of the limitations and pitfalls previously reported with classical FMECA approaches.

Uso de la estadística en la oncología y la hematología

En este artículo abordamos el uso y la importancia de las herramientas estadísticas que se utilizan principalmente en los estudios médicos del ámbito de la oncología y la hematología, pero aplicables a muchos otros campos tanto médicos como experimentales o industriales. El objetivo del presente trabajo es presentar de una manera clara y precisa la metodología estadística necesaria para analizar los datos obtenidos en los estudios rigurosa y concisamente en cuanto a las hipótesis de trabajo planteadas por los investigadores. La medida de la respuesta al tratamiento elegidas en al tipo de estudio elegido determinarán los métodos estadísticos que se utilizarán durante el análisis de los datos del estudio y también el tamaño de muestra. Mediante la correcta aplicación del análisis estadístico y de una adecuada planificación se puede determinar si la relación encontrada entre la exposición a un tratamiento y un resultado es casual o por el contrario, está sujeto a una relación no aleatoria que podría establecer una relación de causalidad. Hemos estudiado los principales tipos de diseño de los estudios médicos más utilizados, tales como ensayos clínicos y estudios observacionales (cohortes, casos y controles, estudios de prevalencia y estudios ecológicos). También se presenta una sección sobre el cálculo del tamaño muestral de los estudios y cómo calcularlo, ¿Qué prueba estadística debe utilizarse?, los aspectos sobre fuerza del efecto ¿odds ratio¿ (OR) y riesgo relativo (RR), el análisis de supervivencia. Se presentan ejemplos en la mayoría de secciones del artículo y bibliografía más relevante.

Adaptive tracking of EEG oscillations.

Neuronal oscillations are an important aspect of EEG recordings. These oscillations are supposed to be involved in several cognitive mechanisms. For instance, oscillatory activity is considered a key component for the top-down control of perception. However, measuring this activity and its influence requires precise extraction of frequency components. This processing is not straightforward. Particularly, difficulties with extracting oscillations arise due to their time-varying characteristics. Moreover, when phase information is needed, it is of the utmost importance to extract narrow-band signals. This paper presents a novel method using adaptive filters for tracking and extracting these time-varying oscillations. This scheme is designed to maximize the oscillatory behavior at the output of the adaptive filter. It is then capable of tracking an oscillation and describing its temporal evolution even during low amplitude time segments. Moreover, this method can be extended in order to track several oscillations simultaneously and to use multiple signals. These two extensions are particularly relevant in the framework of EEG data processing, where oscillations are active at the same time in different frequency bands and signals are recorded with multiple sensors. The presented tracking scheme is first tested with synthetic signals in order to highlight its capabilities. Then it is applied to data recorded during a visual shape discrimination experiment for assessing its usefulness during EEG processing and in detecting functionally relevant changes. This method is an interesting additional processing step for providing alternative information compared to classical time-frequency analyses and for improving the detection and analysis of cross-frequency couplings.

Seizure detection with automated EEG analysis: a validation study focusing on periodic patterns.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate an automated seizure detection (ASD) algorithm in EEGs with periodic and other challenging patterns. METHODS: Selected EEGs recorded in patients over 1year old were classified into four groups: A. Periodic lateralized epileptiform discharges (PLEDs) with intermixed electrical seizures. B. PLEDs without seizures. C. Electrical seizures and no PLEDs. D. No PLEDs or seizures. Recordings were analyzed by the Persyst P12 software, and compared to the raw EEG, interpreted by two experienced neurophysiologists; Positive percent agreement (PPA) and false-positive rates/hour (FPR) were calculated. RESULTS: We assessed 98 recordings (Group A=21 patients; B=29, C=17, D=31). Total duration was 82.7h (median: 1h); containing 268 seizures. The software detected 204 (=76.1%) seizures; all ictal events were captured in 29/38 (76.3%) patients; in only in 3 (7.7%) no seizures were detected. Median PPA was 100% (range 0-100; interquartile range 50-100), and the median FPR 0/h (range 0-75.8; interquartile range 0-4.5); however, lower performances were seen in the groups containing periodic discharges. CONCLUSION: This analysis provides data regarding the yield of the ASD in a particularly difficult subset of EEG recordings, showing that periodic discharges may bias the results. SIGNIFICANCE: Ongoing refinements in this technique might enhance its utility and lead to a more extensive application.

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in Switzerland: a comprehensive quality control report on centre effect.

Interest groups advocate centre-specific outcome data as a useful tool for patients in choosing a hospital for their treatment and for decision-making by politicians and the insurance industry. Haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) requires significant infrastructure and represents a cost-intensive procedure. It therefore qualifies as a prime target for such a policy. We made use of the comprehensive database of the Swiss Blood Stem Cells Transplant Group (SBST) to evaluate potential use of mortality rates. Nine institutions reported a total of 4717 HSCT - 1427 allogeneic (30.3%), 3290 autologous (69.7%) - in 3808 patients between the years 1997 and 2008. Data were analysed for survival- and transplantation-related mortality (TRM) at day 100 and at 5 years. The data showed marked and significant differences between centres in unadjusted analyses. These differences were absent or marginal when the results were adjusted for disease, year of transplant and the EBMT risk score (a score incorporating patient age, disease stage, time interval between diagnosis and transplantation, and, for allogeneic transplants, donor type and donor-recipient gender combination) in a multivariable analysis. These data indicate comparable quality among centres in Switzerland. They show that comparison of crude centre-specific outcome data without adjustment for the patient mix may be misleading. Mandatory data collection and systematic review of all cases within a comprehensive quality management system might, in contrast, serve as a model to ascertain the quality of other cost-intensive therapies in Switzerland.