Caracteriza����o do desporto de natureza no Parque Natural da Arr��bida: riscos e potencialidades

Disserta����o para obten����o do Grau de Mestre em Engenharia do Ambiente, perfil em Gest��o e Sistemas Ambientais

Isolation of Fonsecaea pedrosoi from thorns of Mimosa pudica, a probable natural source of chromoblastomycosis

We report the isolation of Fonsecaea pedrosoi from thorns of the plant Mimosa pudica L. at the place of infection identified by one of our patients. Clinical diagnosis of chromoblastomycosis was established by direct microscopic examination and cultures from the patient's lesion. The same species was isolated from the patient and from the plant. Scanning electron microscopy of the surface of the thorns showed the characteristic conidial arrangement of F. pedrosoi. These data indicate that M. pudica could be a natural source of infection for the fungus F. pedrosoi.

Detection of Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Vibrio cholerae in oyster, Crassostrea rhizophorae, collected from a natural nursery in the Coc�� river estuary, Fortaleza, Cear��, Brazil

Oysters are edible organisms that are often ingested partially cooked or even raw, presenting therefore a very high risk to the consumers' health, especially in tropical regions. The presence of Vibrio cholerae and Vibrio parahaemolyticus in oysters sampled at an estuary in the Brazilian northeastern region was studied, with 300 oysters tested through an 8-months period. The salinity of the water at the sampling point varied between 3% and 27��. V. cholerae was the most frequently detected species (33.3% of the samples), and of the 22 V. cholerae isolates, 20 were identified as non-O1/non-O139, with two of the colonies presenting a rough surface and most of remaining ones belonging to the Heiberg II fermentation group. V. parahaemolyticus was isolated from just one of the samples. Other bacteria such as Providencia spp., Klebsiella spp. and Morganella morganii were also isolated.

Casualties distribution in human and natural hazards

Catastrophic events, such as wars and terrorist attacks, big tornadoes and hurricanes, huge earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, and landslides, are always accompanied by a large number of casualties. The size distribution of these casualties have separately been shown to follow approximate power law (PL) distributions. In this paper, we analyze the number of victims of catastrophic phenomena, in particular, terrorism, and find double PL behavior. This means that the data set is better approximated by two PLs instead of one. We have plotted the two PL parameters corresponding to all terrorist events occurred in every year, from 1980 to 2010. We observe an interesting pattern in the chart, where the lines, that connect each pair of points defining the double PLs, are roughly aligned to each other.

Rapid turnover of Plasmodium falciparum var gene transcripts and genotypes during natural non-symptomatic infections

The var genes of Plasmodium falciparum code for the antigenically variant erythrocyte membrane proteins 1 (PfEMP1), a major factor for cytoadherence and immune escape of the parasite. Herein, we analyzed the var gene transcript turnover in two ongoing, non-symptomatic infections at sequential time points during two weeks. The number of different circulating genomes was estimated by microsatellite analyses. In both infections, we observed a rapid turnover of plasmodial genotypes and var transcripts. The rapidly changing repertoire of var transcripts could have been caused either by swift elimination of circulating var-transcribing parasites stemming from different or identical genetic backgrounds, or by accelerated switching of var gene transcription itself.

Constitui����o da baseline para projectos de carbono no Parque Natural da Cufada no ��mbito do mecanismo REDD+

Disserta����o para obten����o do Grau de Mestre em Engenharia do Ambiente, perfil de Gest��o e Sistemas Ambientais

Gait Analysis of Natural and Artificial Walking Systems

This paper studies periodic gaits of multi-legged locomotion systems based on dynamic models. The purpose is to determine the system performance during walking and the best set of locomotion variables. For that objective the prescribed motion of the robot is completely characterized in terms of several locomotion variables such as gait, duty factor, body height, step length, stroke pitch, foot clearance, legs link lengths, foot-hip offset, body and legs mass and cycle time. In this perspective, we formulate three performance measures of the walking robot namely, the mean absolute energy, the mean power dispersion and the mean power lost in the joint actuators per walking distance. A set of model-based experiments reveals the influence of the locomotion variables in the proposed indices.

New Features to Look at Natural Phenomena

Proceeding of the 3rd International Conference on Fractional Systems and Signals, at Ghent, Belgium

A Gest��o do Turismo de Natureza na Rede Nacional de ��reas Protegidas: a Carta de Desporto de Natureza do Parque Natural de Sintra-Cascais

Disserta����o apresentada para cumprimento dos requisitos necess��rios �� obten����o do grau de Mestre em Gest��o do Territ��rio

Aeromonas spp. isolated from oysters (Crassostrea rhizophorea) from a natural oyster bed, Cear��, Brazil

Between April and October 2002, thirty fortnightly collections of oysters (Crassostrea rhizophorea) from a natural oyster bed at the Coc�� River estuary in the Sabiaguaba region (Fortaleza, Cear��, Brazil) were carried out, aiming to isolate Aeromonas spp. strains. Oyster samples were submitted to the direct plating (DP) and the presence/absence (P/A) methods. Aeromonas were identified in 15 (50%) samples analyzed by the DP method and in 13 (43%) analyzed by the P/A method. A. caviae, A. eucrenophila, A. media, A. sobria, A. trota, A. veronii bv. sobria, A. veronii bv. veronii and Aeromonas sp. were isolated. The predominant species was A. veronii (both biovars), which was identified in 13 (43%) samples, followed by A. media in 11 (37%) and A. caviae in seven (23%). From the 59 strains identified, 28 (48%) presented resistance to at least one of the eight antibiotics tested.

Natural infection of phlebotomines (Diptera: Psychodidae) in a visceral-leishmaniasis focus in Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil

The main purpose of this study was to investigate natural infection by Leishmania in phlebotomine females in a visceral-leishmaniasis focus in Antonio Jo��o county in Mato Grosso do Sul State, Brazil. Between June and October 2003, the digestive tracts of 81 females captured in Aldeia Campestre, Aldeia Marangatu and Povoado Campestre were dissected. The females were separated by species, location, area and date of capture into 13 groups and kept in ethanol 70%. To identify the Leishmania species using the PCR technique, amplifications of the ribosomal-DNA (rDNA) and mini-exon genes were analyzed. Of the 81 specimens, 77 (95%) were Lutzomyia longipalpis, making this the most common species; only one specimen of each of the species Brumptomyia avellari, Evandromyia cortelezzii, Evandromyia lenti and Nyssomyia whitmani was found. Trypanosomatids were identified in eight of the nine groups of Lutzomyia longipalpis (10.39%) one group from Aldeia Campestre, one from Aldeia Marangatu and six from Povoado Campestre; of the eight groups, one from Aldeia Marangatu and another, with promastigotes forms also confirmed by dissection (1.23%) from Povoado Campestre, were identified by PCR as Leishmania chagasi (2.6%). The other groups gave negative results. These findings indicate that there is a high risk of leishmaniasis transmission in this area.

A study in cross-cultural transmission of natural philosophy: the Kenkon Bensetsu

Disserta����o apresentada para cumprimento dos requisitos necess��rios �� obten����o do grau de Doutor em Hist��ria dos Descobrimentos e da Expans��o Portuguesa

Classifica����o Internacional de Funcionalidade (CIF): Conceitos, Preconceitos e Paradigmas. Contributo de um Construto para o Percurso Real em Meio Natural de Vida.

A autora aborda o historial, g��nese e objectivos da Classifica����o Internacional de Funcionalidade para crian��as e jovens, implementada pela Organiza����o Mundial de Sa��deem 2007. Sublinha o papel de complementaridadade da CIF relativamente a outras classifica����es como a Classifica����o Internacional de Doen��as (CID), em que a primeira visa caracterizar as capacidades e dificuldades de crian��as e jovens com defici��ncia, ou seja, caracterizar do ponto de vista funcional cada crian��a e jovem, independentemente do diagn��stico etiol��gico m��dico. Trata-se da mudan��a de paradigma bio-m��dico para a do indiv��duo que apresenta determinadas compet��ncias e dificuldades, em que estas ��ltimas s��o definidas em fun����o do ambiente ��� facilitador ou actuando como barreira. Assim, �� dado enfoque ao ambiente para que este seja modificado transformando os factores que actuam como barreira em facilitadores, que anulem ou atenuem as dificuldades. Sendo a defici��ncia e ou doen��a uma experi��ncia universal, a CIF vem colmatar uma importante lacuna na dificuldade de comunica����o e articula����o entre os diversos actores intervenientes no apoio socio educativo e m��dico destas crian��as,criando uma linguagem acess��vel aos t��cnicos envolvidos ��� educadores, terapeutas e outros profissionais ligados �� inf��ncia, por for��a envolvidos, dando uma maior ��nfase �� interac����o crian��a/meio numa perspectiva hol��stica de bem estar bio-psico-social.