Outcome of the agrarian reform in Brazil during the last two decades

The agrarian reform allows for land redistribution and gives rural workers the opportunity to develop their life projects, rescuing the dignity of a historically excluded population. The conquest of the land carries significances that span from the rescue of citizenship to the improvement of living conditions due to the acquisition of goods, products and services. It is pointed out that in Brazil there still exists a marked concentration of large-landed estates. In this sense, this work had the objective of analyzing the Brazilian agrarian reform process during the last two decades. In this period the country had three Presidents, two of them elected with the support of the Rural Landless Workers Movement, increasing the expectations in relation to the fulfillment of the agrarian reform. The advances in the policies of rural settlements are notable; however, the structure of large-land estates remains unaltered. In the last two years (2011 and 2012) the number of settled families, as well as the number of settlements accomplished, were the worst since 2006. The priority of the current government is the eradication of extreme poverty and, in this sense, the agrarian reform becomes an essential policy to contribute to such goal, since with the distribution of the property of the land also diminishes the concentration of wealth.

AAUW- Rock Hill Chapter Records (American Association of University Women) - Accession 13

The AAUW- Rock Hill Chapter Records consists of minutes, membership lists, correspondence, newspaper clippings, financial statements, constitutions and by-laws and branch reports of the chapter’s presidents and committee chairmen to the national office, extending from 1925 to 1985.

Rotary Club of Rock Hill Records - Accession 223

The Rock Hill Rotary Club was chartered by the International Association of Rotary Clubs on February 1, 1919 as a service organization. The Rotary Club of Rock Hill Records consist of the club charter, correspondence, yearbooks, membership lists, minutes, financial records, program notes and other records relating to the historical development of the Club.

EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF FOLDED PLATE GIRDERS AND SLAB JOINTS USED IN MODULAR CONSTRUCTION

The folded plate girder, a newly proposed bridge girder, is investigated through this thesis. The folded plate girder is cold bent out of a single sheet of steel. The cold bending eliminates the costly and inconsistent shop welds found in traditional girders. The folded plate girder is meant for application in short span bridges. The girder was subjected to an equivalent 75 year lifetime loading to investigate the fatigue performance. The rebar detail used in the closure region between adjacent slabs has been investigated in the past by the NCHRP 12-68 project. This thesis will proposes a hooked rebar detail as a cost effective alternative to the previously recommended headed rebar detail. The proposed hooked rebar detail looks to improve upon the headed bar detail by increasing the clear cover, and reducing the cost of fabrication and shipment of the rebar. Six specimens containing closure regions are subjected to both positive and negative moment loading in order to investigate their behavior and failure modes under ultimate load.

Soil profile, relief features and their relation to structure and distribution of Brazilian Atlantic rain forest trees

In tropical forests, the environmental heterogeneity can provide niche partitioning at local scales and determine the diversity and plant species distribution. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the variations of tree species structure and distribution in response to relief and soil profile features in a portion of the largest remnant of Brazilian Atlantic rain forest. All trees >= 5 cm diameter at breast height were recorded in two 0.99 ha plots. Topographic survey and a soil characterization were accomplished in both plots. Topsoil samples (0-20 cm) were taken from 88 quadrats and analyzed for chemical and particle size properties. Differences for both diversity and tree density were identified among three kinds of soils. A canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) indicated that the specific abundance varied among the three kinds of soils mapped: a shallow Udept - Orthent / Aquent gradient, probably due to differences in soil drainage. Nutrient content was less likely to affect tree species composition and distribution than relief, pH, Al3+, and soil texture. Some species were randomly distributed and did not show restriction to relief and soil properties. However, preferences in niche occupation detected in this study, derived from the catenary environments found, rise up as an important explanation for the high tree species diversity in tropical forests.

Clinical and image findings in bisphosphonate-related osteonecrosis of the jaws

Abstract: Bisphosphonate-related osteonecrosis of the jaws (BRONJ) is characterized as exposed bone in the jaws for more than 8 weeks in patients with current or previous history of therapy with bisphosphonates (BPs) and no history of radiotherapy in the head and neck. We report a case series of 7 patients with BRONJ and analyze the variations of clinical and imaging signs, correlating them with the presence or absence of bone exposure. Among the patients, 6 were women and 1 was a man, aged 42–79 years. Five of the patients were using zoledronic acid and the other 2 alendronate. The use of BPs varied from 3 to 13 years. In 5 patients, tooth extraction was the triggering event of injuries. Panoramic radiographs and computed tomography (CT) were evaluated by a radiologist blinded to the cases. There were persistent unremodeled extraction socket even several months after tooth extraction in 3 of the cases that were consistent wit CT findings that also showed areas of osteosclerosis and osteolysis. Patients were treated according to the recommendations of the AAOMS, with surgical debridement and antibiotic coverage with amoxicillin in the symptomatic patients. The follow-up of these patients ranged from 8 to 34 months, with a good response to treatment. The image findings in this case series were not specific and showed no difference between each stages of BRONJ (AAOMS, 2009). The image features were similar in presence or absence of exposed bone.

Elastic Propagation in random media: applications to the imaging of volcano structures

High-frequency seismograms contain features that reflect the random inhomogeneities of the earth. In this work I use an imaging method to locate the high contrast small- scale heterogeneity respect to the background earth medium. This method was first introduced by Nishigami (1991) and than applied to different volcanic and tectonically active areas (Nishigami, 1997, Nishigami, 2000, Nishigami, 2006). The scattering imaging method is applied to two volcanic areas: Campi Flegrei and Mt. Vesuvius. Volcanic and seismological active areas are often characterized by complex velocity structures, due to the presence of rocks with different elastic properties. I introduce some modifications to the original method in order to make it suitable for small and highly complex media. In particular, for very complex media the single scattering approximation assumed by Nishigami (1991) is not applicable as the mean free path becomes short. The multiple scattering or diffusive approximation become closer to the reality. In this thesis, differently from the ordinary Nishigami’s method (Nishigami, 1991), I use the mean of the recorded coda envelope as reference curve and calculate the variations from this average envelope. In this way I implicitly do not assume any particular scattering regime for the "average" scattered radiation, whereas I consider the variations as due to waves that are singularly scattered from the strongest heterogeneities. The imaging method is applied to a relatively small area (20 x 20 km), this choice being justified by the small length of the analyzed codas of the low magnitude earthquakes. I apply the unmodified Nishigami’s method to the volcanic area of Campi Flegrei and compare the results with the other tomographies done in the same area. The scattering images, obtained with frequency waves around 18 Hz, show the presence of high scatterers in correspondence with the submerged caldera rim in the southern part of the Pozzuoli bay. Strong scattering is also found below the Solfatara crater, characterized by the presence of densely fractured, fluid-filled rocks and by a strong thermal anomaly. The modified Nishigami’s technique is applied to the Mt. Vesuvius area. Results show a low scattering area just below the central cone and a high scattering area around it. The high scattering zone seems to be due to the contrast between the high rigidity body located beneath the crater and the low rigidity materials located around it. The central low scattering area overlaps the hydrothermal reservoirs located below the central cone. An interpretation of the results in terms of geological properties of the medium is also supplied, aiming to find a correspondence of the scattering properties and the geological nature of the material. A complementary result reported in this thesis is that the strong heterogeneity of the volcanic medium create a phenomenon called "coda localization". It has been verified that the shape of the seismograms recorded from the stations located at the top of the volcanic edifice of Mt. Vesuvius is different from the shape of the seismograms recorded at the bottom. This behavior is justified by the consideration that the coda energy is not uniformly distributed within a region surrounding the source for great lapse time.

Models and Algorihtm for the Optimization of Real-World Routing and Logistics Problems

Logistics involves planning, managing, and organizing the flows of goods from the point of origin to the point of destination in order to meet some requirements. Logistics and transportation aspects are very important and represent a relevant costs for producing and shipping companies, but also for public administration and private citizens. The optimization of resources and the improvement in the organization of operations is crucial for all branches of logistics, from the operation management to the transportation. As we will have the chance to see in this work, optimization techniques, models, and algorithms represent important methods to solve the always new and more complex problems arising in different segments of logistics. Many operation management and transportation problems are related to the optimization class of problems called Vehicle Routing Problems (VRPs). In this work, we consider several real-world deterministic and stochastic problems that are included in the wide class of the VRPs, and we solve them by means of exact and heuristic methods. We treat three classes of real-world routing and logistics problems. We deal with one of the most important tactical problems that arises in the managing of the bike sharing systems, that is the Bike sharing Rebalancing Problem (BRP). We propose models and algorithms for real-world earthwork optimization problems. We describe the 3DP process and we highlight several optimization issues in 3DP. Among those, we define the problem related to the tool path definition in the 3DP process, the 3D Routing Problem (3DRP), which is a generalization of the arc routing problem. We present an ILP model and several heuristic algorithms to solve the 3DRP.

Development of a biorefinery scheme for the valorization of olive mill wastewaters and grape pomaces

In the Mediterranean area, olive mill wastewater (OMW) and grape pomace (GP) are among the major agro-industrial wastes produced. These two wastes have a high organic load and high phytotoxicity. Thus, their disposal in the environment can lead to negative effects. Second-generation biorefineries are dedicated to the valorization of biowaste by the production of goods from such residual biomasses. This approach can combine bioremediation approaches to the generation of noble molecules, biomaterials and energy. The main aim of this thesis work was to study the anaerobic digestion of OMW and GP under different operational conditions to produce volatile fatti acids (VFAs) (first stage aim) and CH4 (second stage aim). To this end, a packed-bed biofilm reactor (PBBR) was set up to perform the anaerobic acidogenic digestion of the liquid dephenolized stream of OMW (OMWdeph). In parallel, the solid stream of OMW (OMWsolid), previously separated in order to allow the solid phase extraction of polyphenols, was addressed to anaerobic methanogenic digestion to obtain CH4. The latter experiment was performed in 100ml Pyrex bottles which were maintained at different temperatures (55-45-37°C). Together with previous experiments, the anaerobic acidogenic digestion of fermented GP (GPfreshacid) and dephenolized and fermented GP (GPdephacid) was performed in 100ml Pyrex bottles to estimate the concentration of VFAs achievable from each aforementioned GPs. Finally, the same matrices of GP and not pre-treated GP (GPfresh) were digested under anaerobic methanogenic condition to produce CH4. Anaerobic acidogenic and methanogenic digestion processes of GPs lasted about 33 days. Instead, the anaerobic acidogenic and methanogenic digestion process of OMWs lasted about 121 and 60 days, respectively. Each experiment was periodically monitored by analysing volume and composition of produced biogas and VFA concentration. Results showed that VFAs were produced in higher concentrations in GP compared to OMWdeph. The overall concentration of VFAs from GPfreshacid was approximately 39.5 gCOD L-1, 29 gCOD L-1 from GPdephacid, and 8.7 gCOD L-1 from OMWdeph. Concerning the CH4 production, the OMWsolid reached a high biochemical methane potential (BMP) at a thermophilic temperature (55°) than at mesophlic ones (37-45°C). The value reached was about 358.7 mlCH4 gSVsub-1. In contrast, GPfresh got a high BMP but at a mesophilic temperature. The BMP was about 207.3 mlCH4 gSVsub-1, followed by GPfreshacid with about 192.6 mlCH4 gSVsub-1 and lastly GPdephacid with about 102.2 mlCH4 gSVsub-1. In summary, based on the gathered results, GP seems to be a better carbon source for acidogenic and methanogenic microrganism compared to OMW, because higher amount of VFAs and CH4 were produced in AD of GP than OMW. In addition to these products, polyphenols were extracted by means of a solid phase extraction (SPE) procedure by another research group, and VFAs were utilised for biopolymers production, in particular polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), by the same research group in which I was involved.

Social Policy Facing the Problems of Youth Employment

Rumiana Stoilova (Bulgaria). Social Policy Facing the Problems of Youth Employment. Ms. Stoilova is a researcher in the Institute of Sociology in Sofia and worked on this project from October 1996 to September 1998. This project involved collecting both statistical and empirical data on the state of youth employment in Bulgaria, which was then compared with similar data from other European countries. One significant aspect was the parallel investigation of employment and unemployment, which took as a premise the continuity of professional experience where unemployment is just a temporary condition caused by external and internal factors. These need to be studied and changed on a systematic basis so as to create a more favourable market situation and to improve individuals' resources for improving their market opportunities. A second important aspect of the project was an analysis of the various entities active on the labour market, including government and private institutions, associations of unemployed persons, of employers or of trade unions, all with their specific legal powers and interests, and of the problems in communication between these. The major trends in youth unemployment during the period studied include a high proportion of the registered unemployed who are not eligible for social assistance, a lengthening of the average period of unemployment, an increase in the percentage of people who are unemployed for the first time and an increasing percentage of these who are not eligible for assistance, particularly among newly registered young people. At the same time the percentage of those for who work has been found is rising and during the last three years an increasing number of the unemployed have started some independent economic activity. Regional differences are also considerable and in the case of the Haskovo region represent a danger of losing the youngest generation, with resulting negative demographic effects. One major weakness of the existing institutional structure is the large scale of the black labour market, with clear negative implications for the young people drawn into it. The role of non-governmental organisations in providing support and information for the unemployed is growing and the government has recently introduced special preferences for organisations offering jobs to unemployed persons. Social policy in the labour market has however been largely restricted to passive measures, mostly because of the risk that poverty poses to people continuously excluded from the labour market. Among the active measures taken, well over half are concerned with providing jobs for the unemployed and there are very limited programmes for providing or improving qualifications. The nature of youth employment in Bulgaria can be seen in the influence of sustained structures (generation) and institutions (family and school). Ms. Stoilova studied the situation of the modern generation through a series of profiles, mostly those of continuously unemployed and self-employed persons, but also distinguishing between students and the unemployed, and between high school and university students. The different categories of young people were studied in separate mini-studies and the survey was carried out in five town in order to gather objective and subjective information on the state of the labour market in the different regions. She conducted interviews with several hundred young people covering questions of family background, career plans, attitudes to the labour situation and government measures to deal with it, and such questions as independence, mobility, attitude to work, etc. The interviews with young people unemployed for a long period of time show the risk involved in starting work and its link with dynamics of economic development. Their approval of structural reforms, of the financial restrictions connected with the introduction of a currency board and the inevitability of unemployment was largely declarative. The findings indicate that the continuously unemployed need practical knowledge and skills to "translate" the macroeconomic realities in concrete alternatives of individual work and initiative. The unemployed experience their exclusion from the labour market not only as a professional problem but also as an existential threat, of poverty, forced mobility and dependence on their parents' generation. The exclusion from the market of goods and services means more than just exercising restraint in their consumption, as it places restrictions on their personal development. Ms. Stoilova suggests that more efficient ways of providing financial aid and mobilisation are needed to counteract the social disintegration and marginalisation of the continuously unemployed. In measuring the speed of reform, university students took both employment opportunities and the implementation of the meritocratic principle in employment into account. When offered a hypothetical choice between a well-paid job and work in one's own profession, 62% would prefer opt for the well-paid job and for working for a company that offered career opportunities rather than employment in a family or own company. While most see the information gained during their studies as useful and interesting, relatively few see their education as competitive on a wider level and many were pessimistic about employment opportunities based on their qualifications. Very similar attitudes were found among high school students, with differences being due rather to family and personal situations. The unemployed, on the other hand, placed greater emphasis on possibilities of gaining or improving qualifications on a job and for the opportunities it would offer for personal contacts. High school students tend to attribute more significance to opportunities for personal accomplishment. A significant difference that five times fewer high school students were willing to work for state-owned companies, and many fewer expected to find permanent employment or to find a job in the area where they lived, Within the family situation, actual support for children seems to be higher than the feelings of confidence expressed in interviews. The attitudes of the families towards past experience seems to be linked with their ability to cope with the difficulties of the present, with those families which show an optimistic and active attitude towards the future having a greater respect for parents experience and tolerance in communication between parents and children.

Utilizing the full Capacity of Sorting Systems with new Infeed Technology

Utilisation of sorting systems’ maximum performance demands continuous conveying of goods by infeed lines to sorters. This is the case especially for sorters with one single infeed line, because the sorters’ performance is limited by the performance of the infeed line. Within this paper different infeed line constructions at the Rotary Sorter with diverse performances will be presented. The focus lies on a specific conveying system to synchronise the goods with the sorter by a performance of 6000 pieces per hour with one dynamic infeed line. By this means there is no extensive adjustment control of serial conveyors in the infeed line any longer.

Clustering Assessment: Enhancing Synergies among Multilateral Environmental Agreements

Against the background of a widely fragmented and diluted international environmental governance architecture, different reform options are currently being discussed. This issue brief considers whether streamlining international environmental regimes by grouping or ‘clustering’ international agreements could improve effectiveness and efficiency. It outlines the general idea of the clustering approach, draws lessons from the chemicals and waste cluster and examines the implications and potentials of clustering multilateral environmental agreements.

Secondary Forests and Local Livelihoods along a Gradient of Accessibility: A Case Study in Northern Laos

Rural livelihoods in developing countries can be enhanced by improving access to natural resources, services, and markets. In remote rural areas of the humid or semihumid tropics, forests represent an important resource for livelihoods. In countries like Laos, where most primary forest has been converted to secondary forest, and where an intricate and interlinked mosaic of forest and farmland prevails, people depend on secondary forests as a prime source of goods and services. The linkages between local livelihoods and secondary forest resources are subject to changes caused by improving accessibility. This article studies how accessibility affects the condition of forests and local livelihoods by comparing three villages along a gradient of accessibility in Phonxay district, Luang Prabang province, northern Laos. The results of this research show that accessibility strengthens the influence of the government and of markets, and that local livelihoods improve with increasing accessibility, while forest condition deteriorates.

Practice Movements: The Politics of Non-sovereign Power

Practice movements, that is, forms of unorganized collective action, are a central site of politics. Their defining moments are that their goals are expressed in practices rather than in words, and that these “pre-ideological” practices aim at access to or redistribution of goods, whether material or symbolic, rather than at representation. They are transgression rather than resistance in that they transgress restrictions inherent in the material organization of space, property relations, status orders, and normative regulations, be they laws, morals, or customs. Practice movements are above all about access and participation rather than about autonomy, and thus have an ambiguous relation to the transformation of the status quo. Their politics are transformative and they can produce temporary or lasting changes in the material grounds or in the regulation of the everyday life of those who pursue them, and potentially of the normativity and the organization of the wider social order.