Classroom discipline, classroom environment and student performance in Chile

This paper assesses the extent to which teachers’ actions in the classroom influence the school environment. The assessment is based on a statistical analysis of videotaped classroom observations of 51,329 teachers. The classroom environment was found to have a significant influence on students’ performance. More specifically, the teacher’s ability to handle the class as a group is consistently more significant than other measures of class environment. It was also founds that the overall school environment is a better predictor of students’ test results than the environment in the classrooms of the students whose test results are being reported. This suggests that the most effective course of action would be to improve the overall school environment, although individual teachers have less control over this factor.

Identificação de áreas preferenciais para uso de espécies florestais potenciais em sistemas agroflorestais no Arco Verde Paraense

O desmatamento é um processo evidente na Amazônia oriundo da ação antrópica predatória dos recursos naturais. A extração madeireira e a agropecuária são as principais atividades que tem promovido a destruição da floresta no Arco do desmatamento. Entretanto, o reflorestamento tem sido o foco de políticas públicas que o Governo tem desenvolvido por meio do Programa Arco Verde. No Pará este projeto está sendo aplicado em 16 municípios que integram as áreas críticas de desmatamento devido às pressões antrópicas exercidas. Nesse contexto, os sistemas agroflorestais tem sido uma das alternativas para reflorestamento dessas áreas. Neste trabalho objetivou-se a identificação de áreas preferenciais para plantio de 15 espécies florestais potenciais para uso em sistema agroflorestais. A partir do mapeamento da ocorrência das espécies florestais selecionadas, e do cruzamento de dados geográficos de tipologia climática e deficiência hídrica, identificou-se 24 zonas bioclimáticas no Arco Verde paraense. Os resultados para o plantio das espécies florestais em áreas preferenciais foram: J. copaia, T. serratifolia e B. excelsa são potenciais para serem plantadas em 100% do Arco Verde Paraense; C. pentandra, H. courbaril, S. morototoni e T. vulgaris são indicadas para serem plantadas em 98% da área alvo; C. odorata, C. goeldiana, D. odorata, S. macrophylla são indicadas para serem inseridas em 75% do Arco Verde paraense; C. guianensis, S. parahyba var. amazonicum, B. guianensis e V. maxima em 60% da área estudada. Em suma, é necessário se intensificar estudos em espécies florestais que são indicadas para as áreas preferenciais mais abrangentes.

NaOCl effect on biofilm produced by Staphylococcus aureus isolated from the milking environment and mastitis infected cows

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

Environment and dispersal paths override life strategies and residence time in determining regional patterns of invasion by alien plants

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Sistemas agroflorestais em assentamentos rurais: uma contribuição para a construção de sistemas produtivos sustentáveis? Uma visão a partir dos agricultores

Pós-graduação em Agronomia - FEIS

Organic acids and protein compounds causing the photoluminescence properties of natural rubber membranes and the quenching phenomena from Au nanoparticle incorporation

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

Evaluation of area contaminated by wood treatment activities: genetic markers in the environment and in the child population

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Recycling residues from the pulp and paper industries in the civil construction

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Avaliação da erosão hídrica por meio da Equação Universal de Perda de Solo Modificada (MEUPS) na bacia hidrográfica do Ribeirão Jacutinga, Rio Claro (SP)

Water erosion is one of the main processes responsible for soil degradation, resulting in loss of parcels of land suitable for agriculture, to the loss of agricultural inputs and the resulting drift of pesticides and excess sediment to rivers, causing phenomena such as the siltation and eutrophication of water bodies. Such a scenario makes it necessary to perform work of a technical and scientific to provide subsidies to land-use planning, in order to protect natural resources biotic and abiotic. To develop this work is necessary to find a unit of analysis capable of integrating the different elements of the landscape, hydrosphere, atmosphere, biosphere and lithosphere. Therefore we adopt for this work the watershed as main unit studies. From this question, this project will focus on the assessment of surface water erosion through MEUPS (Equation Modified Universal Soil Loss) predictive model. With the aid of maps, remote sensing products, and the use of geotechnology, this study aims to evaluate for the for Natural Erosion Potential the basin of the Jacutinga river, located in Rio Claro - SP

Dogs Gone Wild: Feral Dog Damage in the United States

Feral dogs have been documented in all 50 states and estimates of damage in the U.S. from these animals amount to >$620 million annually. In Texas alone, it is estimated that over $5 million in damage to livestock annually can be attributed to feral dogs. We reviewed national statistics on feral dog damage reported to USDA, APHIS, Wildlife Services for a 10-year period from 1997 through 2006. Damage by feral dogs crossed multiple resource categories (e.g., agriculture, natural resources); some examples of damage include killing and affecting the behavior and habitat use of native wildlife; killing and maiming livestock; and their role as disease vectors to wildlife, domestic animals, and humans. We review the role of dog damage in the U.S., synthesize the amount of damage between resource categories (agriculture, human health and safety, disease, and natural resources), and report trends in dog damage during the 10-year period. Results showed an increase in dog damage across all resource categories indicating the importance of management.

The Perception of Natural, Cell Phone, and Computer-Synthesized Speech During The Performance Of Simultaneous Visual-Motor Tasks

This study investigated the influence of top-down and bottom-up information on speech perception in complex listening environments. Specifically, the effects of listening to different types of processed speech were examined on intelligibility and on simultaneous visual-motor performance. The goal was to extend the generalizability of results in speech perception to environments outside of the laboratory. The effect of bottom-up information was evaluated with natural, cell phone and synthetic speech. The effect of simultaneous tasks was evaluated with concurrent visual-motor and memory tasks. Earlier works on the perception of speech during simultaneous visual-motor tasks have shown inconsistent results (Choi, 2004; Strayer & Johnston, 2001). In the present experiments, two dual-task paradigms were constructed in order to mimic non-laboratory listening environments. In the first two experiments, an auditory word repetition task was the primary task and a visual-motor task was the secondary task. Participants were presented with different kinds of speech in a background of multi-speaker babble and were asked to repeat the last word of every sentence while doing the simultaneous tracking task. Word accuracy and visual-motor task performance were measured. Taken together, the results of Experiments 1 and 2 showed that the intelligibility of natural speech was better than synthetic speech and that synthetic speech was better perceived than cell phone speech. The visual-motor methodology was found to demonstrate independent and supplemental information and provided a better understanding of the entire speech perception process. Experiment 3 was conducted to determine whether the automaticity of the tasks (Schneider & Shiffrin, 1977) helped to explain the results of the first two experiments. It was found that cell phone speech allowed better simultaneous pursuit rotor performance only at low intelligibility levels when participants ignored the listening task. Also, simultaneous task performance improved dramatically for natural speech when intelligibility was good. Overall, it could be concluded that knowledge of intelligibility alone is insufficient to characterize processing of different speech sources. Additional measures such as attentional demands and performance of simultaneous tasks were also important in characterizing the perception of different kinds of speech in complex listening environments.

Water Quality Variability in a Bioswell and Concrete Drainage Pipe, Southwest Lincoln, Nebraska

Abstract The goal of this project is to evaluate the effectiveness of bioswells in protecting water quality from urban runoff. The hypothesis tested in this project is that water in bioswells improves water quality. Water quality in both a bioswell and an underground concrete lined ditch, both containing ground and surface water, were tested for certain water quality parameters. These parameters consisted of: Dissolved Oxygen, pH, water temperature, weather temperature, Total Dissolved Solids, Specific Conductivity, Alkalinity, Total Dissolved Carbon, Chemical Oxygen Demand, and depth and width of the sampling site. An additional contaminant that was looked at was motor oil. This was measured by comparing Total Organic Carbon with Chemical Oxygen Demand. A variety of different methods to measure the water quality parameters were utilized. The concrete site had more stable readings, but much higher water temperatures. However, the bioswell water is mainly from surface water runoff, and the underground concrete lined pipe is from underground water, so the two cannot be directly compared. The bioswell had high readings, especially pertaining to Oxygen Demand, Total Organic Carbon, and Specific Conductivity in early test dates. But, these readings improved as they were filtered though the bioswell. As plant activity increased and the weather began to warm up there were more stable readings. It is concluded that bioswells are an effective way to reduce problems associated with urban runoff pertaining to certain water quality parameters.

Impacts of Plant Size, Density, Herbivory, and Desease on Native Platte Thistle (Cirsium Canescens)

Abstract. Based on prior field observations, we hypothesized that individual and interacting effects of plant size, density, insect herbivory, and especially fungal disease, influenced seedling and juvenile plant growth in native Platte thistle populations (Cirsium canescens Nutt.). We worked at Arapaho Prairie in the Nebraska Sandhills (May - August 2007), monitoring plant growth, insect damage, and fungal infection within different density thistle patches. In the main experiment, we sprayed half of test plants in different density patches with fungicide (Fungonil© Bonide, containing chlorothalonil) and half with a water control. Fungal infection rates were very low, so we found no difference in fungal attack between these treatments. However, plants that received the fungicide treatment had significantly faster growth over the season than did the control plants. At the same time, plants in the fungicide treatment had significantly reduced insect herbivory. These results strongly suggest that the fungicide had insecticidal effects and that insect herbivory significantly decreases juvenile Platte thistle growth. Further, damage by insect herbivores tended to be higher for larger plants, and herbivory was variable among different patches. However, plant density did not appear to have a large effect on the amount of insect herbivory that individual juvenile Platte thistle plants received. In the second experiment, we examined germination and survival success in relationship to seed density, and found that germination success was higher in areas of lower seed density. In the third experiment, we tested germination for filled seeds categorized primarily by color variation and size, and found no difference in germination related to either color or seed weight. We conclude that seed density, but not seed quality as estimated by color or size, affects germination success. Further, although herbivory was not significantly affected by plant density at any of the scales examined, insect herbivory significantly reduces the growth and success of juveniles of this characteristic native sand prairie plant.