Edible and poisonous fungi. (With 25 coloured plates.)

"The Board of agriculture published in 1910 a small handbook containing 25 coloured plates. This ... has been for some years out of print, and the Ministry ... has decided to republish. In the present edition the nomenclature and text-matter have been brought up-to-date. Some of the old plates have been omitted ... In their place seven new plates have been inserted."--Foreword.

Design de comunicação e a cultura visual portuguesa

Dissertação de Mestrado para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Design de Comunicação, apresentada na Universidade de Lisboa - Faculdade de Arquitectura.

Probabilistic methods for seasonal forecasting in a changing climate: Cox-type regression models.

For climate risk management, cumulative distribution functions (CDFs) are an important source of information. They are ideally suited to compare probabilistic forecasts of primary (e.g. rainfall) or secondary data (e.g. crop yields). Summarised as CDFs, such forecasts allow an easy quantitative assessment of possible, alternative actions. Although the degree of uncertainty associated with CDF estimation could influence decisions, such information is rarely provided. Hence, we propose Cox-type regression models (CRMs) as a statistical framework for making inferences on CDFs in climate science. CRMs were designed for modelling probability distributions rather than just mean or median values. This makes the approach appealing for risk assessments where probabilities of extremes are often more informative than central tendency measures. CRMs are semi-parametric approaches originally designed for modelling risks arising from time-to-event data. Here we extend this original concept beyond time-dependent measures to other variables of interest. We also provide tools for estimating CDFs and surrounding uncertainty envelopes from empirical data. These statistical techniques intrinsically account for non-stationarities in time series that might be the result of climate change. This feature makes CRMs attractive candidates to investigate the feasibility of developing rigorous global circulation model (GCM)-CRM interfaces for provision of user-relevant forecasts. To demonstrate the applicability of CRMs, we present two examples for El Ni ? no/Southern Oscillation (ENSO)-based forecasts: the onset date of the wet season (Cairns, Australia) and total wet season rainfall (Quixeramobim, Brazil). This study emphasises the methodological aspects of CRMs rather than discussing merits or limitations of the ENSO-based predictors.

Investigating energy and indoor environmental performance of aquatic centres

Aquatic centres are popular recreational facilities in Australia and other developed countries. These buildings have experienced exponential demand over the past few decades. The growing desire for better indoor environmental quality in aquatic centres has resulted in a marked increase in energy consumption in this sector. Community expectations in relation to aquatic centres are rising and these spaces are associated with wellness and health. Energy consumption in indoor swimming pool buildings is high due to the high indoor air temperatures, increased ventilation heat losses and the need to disinfect water. This study investigates the energy consumption and indoor environmental quality of seven aquatic centres in Australia. The construction and various energy consuming systems of the facilities are analysed and compared against the energy consumption. Thermal comfort data is collected through measuring the indoor environmental parameters. Building envelopes were found to be leaky in most of the buildings resulting in energy wastage. The main indicators for energy consumption were gross floor area, area of pool surface, and number of visitors. It was found that the set point temperatures were significantly high in some of the buildings resulting in high level of discomfort for the spectators and staff.

The next step in energy rating: the international ETTV method vs. BCA Section-J glazing calculator

The most important prevention in minimizing energy transfer in commercial buildings is the treatment of glazing in the building facade. In a commercial building, while the impacts of roof, walls and floors on the overall heating and cooling loads of the building have low effects, glazing is likely to be the most important factor. This paper investigates the BCA Section-J glazing calculator and the ETTV (Envelope Thermal Transfer Value) methods and tries to look for differences as well as similarities in calculation of building envelopes energy performance. For this investigation, a hypothetical high-rise commercial building in Melbourne, Australia is considered when evaluating the energy performance of the envelope through these two methods. Both methods consider the U-Value of glass and wall materials as well as Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC) and Shading Coefficient (SC) of the glass. Findings in this research project indicate differences and significant discrepancies between the BCA Section-J and ETTV methods in evaluating the energy performance of commercial building façades. Issues of calculation weaknesses are identified with the lack of air leakage and infiltration of a particular façade design or window to wall ratio (WWR). Suggestions have been made where improvement to the overall energy calculation through facades of a commercial building is needed.

Identifying the location of fire refuges in wet forest ecosystems

The increasing frequency of large, high-severity fires threatens the survival of old-growth specialist fauna in fire-prone forests. Within topographically diverse montane forests, areas that experience less severe or fewer fires compared with those prevailing in the landscape may present unique resource opportunities enabling old-growth specialist fauna to survive. Statistical landscape models that identify the extent and distribution of potential fire refuges may assist land managers to incorporate these areas into relevant biodiversity conservation strategies. We used a case study in an Australian wet montane forest to establish how predictive fire simulation models can be interpreted as management tools to identify potential fire refuges. We examined the relationship between the probability of fire refuge occurrence as predicted by an existing fire refuge model and fire severity experienced during a large wildfire. We also examined the extent to which local fire severity was influenced by fire severity in the surrounding landscape. We used a combination of statistical approaches, including generalized linear modeling, variogram analysis, and receiver operating characteristics and area under the curve analysis (ROC AUC). We found that the amount of unburned habitat and the factors influencing the retention and location of fire refuges varied with fire conditions. Under extreme fire conditions, the distribution of fire refuges was limited to only extremely sheltered, fire-resistant regions of the landscape. During extreme fire conditions, fire severity patterns were largely determined by stochastic factors that could not be predicted by the model. When fire conditions were moderate, physical landscape properties appeared to mediate fire severity distribution. Our study demonstrates that land managers can employ predictive landscape fire models to identify the broader climatic and spatial domain within which fire refuges are likely to be present. It is essential that within these envelopes, forest is protected from logging, roads, and other developments so that the ecological processes related to the establishment and subsequent use of fire refuges are maintained.

Upper lower triassic stromatolite from Anhui, South China: geobiologic features and paleoenvironmental implications

Widespread stromatolites and other microbialite deposits characterize Lower Triassic marine successions worldwide. This study documents a stromatolite deposit, 1.1. m thick, from the upper Spathian (Lower Triassic) of the Susong area, South China. The stromatolite comprises distinct laminated domes in the basal part and columns at the upper part. Dark laminae are loosely spaced and interlayered with thicker light colored laminae. Diffusive dark colored laminae are composed of peloidal micrite that grade locally into microclotted structures, and yield copies of bacteria clump-like and coccoid-like spheroid aggregates. The former are characterized by cloudy, micrite nuclei rimmed by coarse-grained, euhedral sparry calcite crystals, while the latter are comprised of solid calcite crystal nuclei coated with rather thin micrite envelopes. The cloudy, micrite nuclei resemble bacteria clump-like structures observed in present-day travertine. Both the coccoid-like spheroids and bacteria clump-like structures are surrounded by coarse-grained euhedral calcite crystals, suggesting a similar accretion mechanism. Both spherical structures therefore could be crucial in the accretion of the Susong stromatolite. The laminated/microclotted structures are interpreted as the result of variation in timing of lithification relative to the timing of the decay of microbes. Micro-analysis also unravels the common occurrence of authigenic micro-quartz crystals in association with Fe-bearing illite clay minerals in the stromatolite columns. Their coalescing nature with each other, together with the associated pyrite grains, strongly support the formation of micro-quartz crystals from microbial reduction of an Fe-bearing smectite precursor by sulfate reducing bacteria. A comparison of the Susong stromatolite with its counterparts from the upper Lower Triassic strata in Dajiang, South China reveals many similarities in stromatolite microstructures, suggesting that a harsh, euxinic-anoxic environment resulting in the bloom of sulfate reducing bacteria most likely extended into the latest Spathian in South China.

Developing an Enhanced Model for Combined Heat and Air Infiltration Energy Simulation

The need for efficient, sustainable, and planned utilization of resources is ever more critical. In the U.S. alone, buildings consume 34.8 Quadrillion (1015) BTU of energy annually at a cost of $1.4 Trillion. Of this energy 58% is utilized for heating and air conditioning. Several building energy analysis tools have been developed to assess energy demands and lifecycle energy costs in buildings. Such analyses are also essential for an efficient HVAC design that overcomes the pitfalls of an under/over-designed system. DOE-2 is among the most widely known full building energy analysis models. It also constitutes the simulation engine of other prominent software such as eQUEST, EnergyPro, PowerDOE. Therefore, it is essential that DOE-2 energy simulations be characterized by high accuracy. Infiltration is an uncontrolled process through which outside air leaks into a building. Studies have estimated infiltration to account for up to 50% of a building’s energy demand. This, considered alongside the annual cost of buildings energy consumption, reveals the costs of air infiltration. It also stresses the need that prominent building energy simulation engines accurately account for its impact. In this research the relative accuracy of current air infiltration calculation methods is evaluated against an intricate Multiphysics Hygrothermal CFD building envelope analysis. The full-scale CFD analysis is based on a meticulous representation of cracking in building envelopes and on real-life conditions. The research found that even the most advanced current infiltration methods, including in DOE-2, are at up to 96.13% relative error versus CFD analysis. An Enhanced Model for Combined Heat and Air Infiltration Simulation was developed. The model resulted in 91.6% improvement in relative accuracy over current models. It reduces error versus CFD analysis to less than 4.5% while requiring less than 1% of the time required for such a complex hygrothermal analysis. The algorithm used in our model was demonstrated to be easy to integrate into DOE-2 and other engines as a standalone method for evaluating infiltration heat loads. This will vastly increase the accuracy of such simulation engines while maintaining their speed and ease of use characteristics that make them very widely used in building design.

Concordance in phylogeography and ecological niche modelling identify dispersal corridors for reptiles in arid Australia

Aim: Using the rock-specialist agamid Ctenophorus caudicinctus as a model, we test hypothesized biogeographical dispersal corridors for lizards in the Australian arid zone (across the western sand deserts), and assess how these dispersal routes have shaped phylogeographical structuring. Location: Arid and semi-arid Australia. Methods: We sequenced a c. 1400 bp fragment of mtDNA (ND2) for 134 individuals of C. caudicinctus as well as a subset of each of the mtDNA clades for five nuclear loci (BDNF, BACH1, GAPD, NTF3, and PRLR). We used phylogenetic methods to assess biogeographical patterns within C. caudicinctus, including relaxed molecular clock analyses to estimate divergence times. Ecological niche modelling (Maxent) was employed to estimate the current distribution of suitable climatic envelopes for each lineage. Results: Phylogenetic analyses identified two deeply divergent mtDNA clades within C. caudicinctus - an eastern and western clade - separated by the Western Australian sand deserts. However, divergences pre-date the Pleistocene sand deserts. Phylogenetic analyses of the nuclear DNA data sets generally support major mtDNA clades, suggesting past connections between the western C. c. caudicinctus populations in far eastern Pilbara (EP) and the lineages to the east of the sand deserts. Ecological niche modelling supports the continued suitability of climatic conditions between the Central Ranges and the far EP for C. c. graafi. Main conclusions: Estimates of lineage ages provide evidence of divergence between eastern and western clades during the Miocene with subsequent secondary contact during the Pliocene. Our results suggest that this secondary contact occurred via dispersal between the Central Ranges and the far EP, rather than the more southerly Giles Corridor. These events precede the origins of the western sand deserts and divergence patterns instead appear associated with Miocene and Pliocene climate change.

Estudio molecular en dos hermanas afectadas por ictiosis congénita autosómica recesiva : descripción de una nueva mutación causal en TGM1

Se describe la variante homocigota c.320-2A>G de TGM1 en dos hermanas con ictiosis congénita autosómica recesiva. El clonaje de los transcritos generados por esta variante permitió identificar tres mecanismos moleculares de splicing alternativos.

Phytosociological survey on the Lusitan-Extremadurean grasslands of Dactylis hispanica subsp. lusitanica (Stebbins & D.Zohary) Rivas-Mart. & Izco

Deeply connected with forest serial dynamics, and present in almost semi-natural landscapes of Iberian Peninsula, Dactylis hispanica subsp. lusitanica perennial grasslands antalis a major issue on biogeographical analysis, once it lacks on syntaxonomical solutions for its affiliation and respective positioning on serial dynamics of distinct territories, which edaphoclimatic envelopes suggest different floristic assemblages. Mainly part of Agrostion castellanae-Stipion giganteae alliance, the Lusitan-Extremadurean grasslands were studied, with the objective of updating that biogeographic Province, and several phytosociological relevés were made, allowing the syntaxonomical update as well to resolve the serial-dynamics arrangement where this peculiar grasslands makes part of. At last this communities belong to priority 6220 [*Pseudo-stepe with grasses and annuals (Thero-Brachypodietea)], habitat that interests as well for conservational matters, due to its peculiar flora.