Evaluation of petrogenetic models for intermediate and silicic plutonic rocks from the Sierra de Valle Fertil-La Huerta, Argentina: Petrologic constraints on the origin of igneous rocks in the Ordovician Famatinian-Puna paleoarc

The whole Valle Fertil-La Huerta section appears as a calc-alkaline plutonic suite typical of a destructive plate margin. New Sr and Nd isotopic whole-rock data and published whole-rock geochemistry suggest that the less-evolved intermediate (dioritic) rocks can be derived by magmatic differentiation, mainly by hornblende + plagioclase +/- Fe-Ti oxide fractional crystallization, from mafic (gabbroic) igneous precursors. Closed-system differentiation, however, cannot produce the typical intermediate (tonalitic) and silicic (granodioritic) plutonic rocks, which requires a preponderant contribution of crustal components. Intermediate and silicic plutonic rocks from Valle Fertil-La Huerta section have formed in a plate subduction setting where the thermal and material input of mantle-derived magmas promoted fusion of fertile metasedimentary rocks and favored mixing of gabbroic or dioritic magmas with crustal granitic melts. Magma mixing is observable in the field and evident in variations of chemical elemental parameters and isotopic ratios, revealing that hybridization coupled with fractionation of magmas took place in the crust. Consideration of the whole-rock geochemical and isotopic data in the context of the Famatinian-Puna magmatic belt as a whole demonstrates that the petrologic model postulated for the Sierra Valle Fertil-La Huerta section has the potential to explain the generation of plutonic and volcanic rocks across the Early Ordovician paleoarc from central and northwestern Argentina. As the petrologic model does not require the intervention of old Precambrian continental crust, the nature of the basement on which thick accretionary turbiditic sequences were deposited remains a puzzling aspect. Discussion in this paper provides insights into the nature of magmatic source rocks and mechanisms of magma generation in Cordilleran-type volcano-plutonic arcs of destructive plate margins. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Gestão transdisciplinar das ações de transformação: um olhar sobre a implantação das UPAS 24 horas no Estado do Rio de Janeiro

This research emerged from the contemporary need of a public management focused on results, in which the State must reach the effectiveness of public policies implemented, put these into practice through transformation actions. However, these actions should not be seen in isolation, cause, when implemented in a certain environment, interact with actions of various actors, generating social dynamics that will be fundamentals to achieving the expected results. The transdisciplinarity approach may enable an object be seen in its essence, considering all environmental aspects around it as well as various social dynamics that might emerge, in order to facilitate the State reach the effectiveness of their actions, providing the transformation wanted to society. For this reason, are presented in this study the basis of a management model with focus on transdisciplinarity, considering the various challenges, searched the literature on the management of public policies. To verify the adequacy of the basis of the proposed model, was done a case study of the government project called "Implantação das UPAS 24 horas" in Rio de Janeiro. In applying the basis of the model in that project, we find that the transdisciplinarity management can maximize the effectiveness of State intervention.

Uso de operações estruturadas para financiamento de projetos no setor sucroenergético brasileiro

O setor sucroenergético brasileiro passou por um intenso ciclo de crescimento nos últimos anos. Ainda assim, a demanda de etanol no país continua a superar a capacidade de produção, principalmente devido ao sucesso dos carros flex-fuel. As usinas voltaram também a atenção à bioeletricidade, aos alcoolquímicos e a diversos outros subprodutos e coprodutos do processo de produção de açúcar e etanol. Por estes motivos, se faz necessária a realização de maiores investimentos em ampliação e modernização das atuais usinas, e no aumento do número de unidades de produção. Para que tais investimentos sejam realizados da maneira mais eficiente, é necessário conhecer todas as opções de linhas de crédito disponíveis. Uma delas, pouco usada e com bons resultados é a Structured Project Finance. O presente trabalho tem como objetivo discutir o modelo de Structured Project Finance e apresentá-lo como uma possível alternativa de financiamento de projetos de usinas de açúcar e etanol no Brasil. Sua principal contribuição é apresentar uma alternativa de financiamento que agregue mais valor ao negócio.

Do modelo geométrico ao modelo físico: o tridimensional na educação do arquiteto e urbanista

In the teaching practice of architecture and urbanism in Brazil, educational legislation views modeling laboratories and workshops as an indispensable component of the infrastructure required for the good functioning of any architectural course of study. Although the development of information technology at the international level has created new possibilities for digital production of architectural models, research in this field being underway since the early 1990s, it is only from 2007 onwards that such technologies started to be incorporated into the teaching activity of architecture and urbanism in Brazil, through the pioneering experience at LAPAC/FEC/UNICAMP. It is therefore a recent experiment whose challenges can be highlighted through the following examples: (i) The implementation of digital prototyping laboratories in undergraduate courses of architecture and urbanism is still rare in Brazil; (ii) As a new developing field with few references and application to undergraduate programs, it is hard to define methodological procedures suitable for the pedagogical curricula already implemented or which have already been consolidated over the years; (iii) The new digital ways for producing tridimensional models are marked with specificities which make it difficult to fit them within the existing structures of model laboratories and workshops. Considering the above, the present thesis discusses the tridimensional model as a tool which may contribute to the development of students skills in perceiving, understanding and representing tridimensional space. Analysis is made of the relation between different forms of models and the teaching of architectural project, with emphasis on the design process. Starting from the conceptualization of the word model as it is used in architecture and urbanism, an attempt is made to identify types of tridimensional models used in the process of project conception, both through the traditional, manual way of model construction as well as through the digital ones. There is also an explanation on how new technologies for digital production of models through prototyping are being introduced in undergraduate academic programs of architecture and urbanism in Brazil, as well as a review of recent academic publications in this area. Based on the paradigm of reflective practice in teaching as designed by Schön (2000), the experiment applied in the research was undertaken in the integrated workshop courses of architectural project in the undergraduate program of architecture and urbanism at Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte. Along the experiment, physical modeling, geometric modeling and digital prototyping are used in distinct moments of the design process with the purpose of observing the suitability of each model to the project s phases. The procedures used in the experiments are very close to the Action Research methodology in which the main purpose is the production of theoretical knowledge by improving the practice. The process was repeated during three consecutive semesters and reflection on the results which were achieved in each cycle helped enhancing the next one. As a result, a methodological procedure is proposed which consists of the definition of the Tridimensional Model as the integrating element for the contents studied in a specific academic period or semester. The teaching of Architectural Project as it is developed along the fifth academic period of the Architecture and Urbanism undergraduate program of UFRN is taken as a reference

Maturidade em gerenciamento de projetos no contexto da gestão estratégica no setor público: análise na Secretaria de Estado da Tributação do Rio Grande do Norte

This paperwork attempts to measure the project management maturity in the State Department of Taxation in Rio Grande do Norte. Project management has shown to be a critical component to any organization success, as the projects are directly related to a set of activities resulting into organizational innovations such as products, services and processes; and its improvement is directly aligned with the strategic management. Methodologically, this paperwork uses both a quantitative and qualitative approach that will be applied to the coordinators, sub-coordinators, and directors of the Regional Offices of the State Department of Taxation. In the theoretical reference it is about the public management and analyzes the strategic management in contemporary public administration. Presents the maturity in project management is by discussing the main models: CMM, Capability Maturity Model; PMMM, Project Management Maturity Model; OPM3, Organization Project Maturity Model and the Prado-MMGP, Modelo de Maturidade em Gerenciamento de Projetos. From this analysis, considering attributes as an aid in taking strategic positioning, access to the model, possibility of benchmarking and continuous improvement, the Prado-MMGP model was the most appropriate for this research process. It has been proved that the State Department of Taxation shows a very low project management maturity level. Regarding the acceptance of the maturity dimensions by the State Department, it is still in an early developmental stage, as one of the dimensions showed a poor performance while the rest showed a regular one. In contrast with similar organizations, the maturity results have shown to be below the national average. The maturity assessment enables in the institution the implementation of a plan for institutional growth with the creation of sector strategic and project management

Schizophrenic active neutrinos and exotic sterile neutrinos

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Renormalization-group calculation of excitation properties for impurity models

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Produção de ciclodextrina glicosiltransferase por Bacillus sp subgrupo alcalophilus: otimização por planejamento experimental

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

O entroncamento das políticas agrárias no Maranhão: encontros e desencontros institucionais na Microrregião Geográfica de Itapecuru Mirim

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Modelo epidemiológico discreto para a transmissão de Acinetobacter baumannii em UTIs brasileiras

Pós-graduação em Biometria - IBB

Estimativa das emissões de monóxido de carbono por veículos automotivos na cidade de Campinas/SP utilizando o modelo CAL3QHCR

Air pollution is an environmental issue worldwide and frequently cause negative effects on population health and ecosystems on cities. The relationship between climate and atmospheric pollution can be used as a surrogate to the intensity of air pollution. The present and quantity of some gases can be used as indicators to air quality: particulate matter (PM), sulfur dioxide (SO2), carbon monoxide (CO), ozone (O3), and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). Among those gases, CO has its major source within the cities, where automobiles are the main emitter. But measure pollutant concentration are challenging, sometimes because the lack of good equipments due to high costs and of the large variability of models that varies in precision, way of measure and distribution of sellers. Modeling are useful when there are an intend to evaluate air pollution, its sources and evaluate scenarios. This work aims to use CAL3QHCR model developed by the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to generate predictive surfaces of CO concentration distribution on a site within Campinas city, located in São Paulo state, Brazil. CAL3QHCR model use data urban automobile circulation to generate spatial results for CO distribution. We observed that the pollution concentration was lower on our modeling than the concentrations measured by Companhia Ambiental do Estado de São Paulo (CETESB), the main environmental company on the São Paulo state. Also the correlation between average estimates of our model and the measure by CETESB was weak, indicating that the model used on this study need to be or better parameterized, or the scale we measured of CO emissions need to be rescaled. Although the model failed to correlate to CETESB data, maybe one that explore the estimated emissions distributed within the sites to understand spatial distributions of CO on the regions. Also, the generated information can also be used to other studies, and come to be useful to explain heat island

SCWDS BRIEFS: Volume 20, Number 2 (July 2004)

National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, Iowa, confirmed vesicular stomatitis (VS) in horses at one premises in Texas. As of July 21, 2004, infected animals were identified on a total of 45 premises in Colorado (11), New Mexico (21), and Texas (13). These are the first reports of VS in livestock in the United States since the 1998 epizootic. SCWDS VS Studies Chronic Wasting Disease Developments: nearly 118,000 wild white-tailed deer, mule deer, and elk were tested in the United States from October 2002 to September 2003, with 592 animals testing positive for the CWD prion. More than $38,000,000 was spent by federal and state wildlife and animal health agencies on CWD-related activities during this same period. The Second International Chronic Wasting Disease Symposium, hosted by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, will be held in Madison, Wisconsin, July 12-14, 2005. Crow Decoys Used in West Nile Virus Study Although Lyme disease caused by a spirochete bacterium, Borrelia burgdorferi, is relatively rare in the southeastern United States, a Lyme disease-like infection referred to as Southern Tick-Associated Rash Illness (STARI) and thought to be caused by Borrelia lonestari, has been recognized in people in this region. The Ohio Division of Wildlife joined SCWDS as an associate member beginning July 1, 2004. The Final Report of the 2003 Hemorrhagic Disease (HD) Surveillance project has been completed and distributed to all cooperators. New of Caroline Duffie, Robbie Edalgo and wife Jen, Clay George, Darrell Kavanaugh, Lynn Lewis-Weiss’s husband, Dr. Kevin Weiss, and Nate Mechlin. New SCWDS staff include Brian Chandler, Jay Cumbee, Ginger Goekjian, Bill Hamrick, Sabrina McGraw, Kerri Pedersen, and Ben Wilcox. Recent SCWDS Publications Available

Nonlocal asymmetric exclusion process on a ring and conformal invariance

We present a one-dimensional nonlocal hopping model with exclusion on a ring. The model is related to the Raise and Peel growth model. A nonnegative parameter u controls the ratio of the local backwards and nonlocal forwards hopping rates. The phase diagram, and consequently the values of the current, depend on u and the density of particles. In the special case of half-lling and u = 1 the system is conformal invariant and an exact value of the current for any size L of the system is conjectured and checked for large lattice sizes in Monte Carlo simulations. For u > 1 the current has a non-analytic dependence on the density when the latter approaches the half-lling value.

The relationship between enterotoxigenic {\it Escherichia coli\/} infection and environmental risk factors in Bilbeis, Egypt, 1981--1983

Diarrheal disease associated with enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) infection is one of the major public health problems in many developing countries, especially in infants and young children. Because tests suitable for field laboratories have been developed only relatively recently, the literature on the environmental risk factors associated with ETEC is not as complete as for many other pathogens or for diarrhea of unspecified etiology.^ Data from a diarrheal disease surveillance project in rural Egypt in which stool samples were tested for a variety of pathogens, and in which an environmental questionnaire was completed for the same study households, provided an opportunity to test for an association between ETEC and various risk factors present in those households. ETEC laboratory-positive specimens were compared with ETEC laboratory-negative specimens for both symptomatic and asymptomatic children less than three years of age at the individual and household level using a case-comparison design.^ Individual children more likely to have LT infection were those who lived in HHs that had cooked food stored for subsequent consumption at the time of the visit, where caretakers used water but not soap to clean an infant after a diarrheal stool, and that had an indoor, private water source. LT was more common in HHs where the caretaker did not clean an infant with soap after a diarrheal stool, and where a sleeping infant was not covered with a net. At both the individual and HH level, LT was significantly associated with good water supply in terms of quantity and storage.^ ST was isolated more frequently at the individual level where a sleeping infant was covered with a net, where large animals were kept in or around the house, where water was always available and was not potable, and where the water container was not covered. At the HH level, the absence of a toilet or latrine and the indiscriminate disposal of animal waste decreased risk. Using animal feces for fertilizer, the presence of large animals, and poor water quality were associated with ST at both the individual and HH level.^ These findings are mostly consistent with those of other studies, and/or are biologically plausible, with the obvious exception of those from this study where poorer water supplies are associated with less infection, at least in the case of LT. More direct observation of how animal ownership and feces disposal relates to different types of water supply and usage might clarify mechanisms through which some ETEC infection could be prevented in similar settings. ^

BAYESIAN STATISTICAL METHODS IN GENE-ENVIRONMENT AND GENE-GENE INTERACTION STUDIES

Complex diseases such as cancer result from multiple genetic changes and environmental exposures. Due to the rapid development of genotyping and sequencing technologies, we are now able to more accurately assess causal effects of many genetic and environmental factors. Genome-wide association studies have been able to localize many causal genetic variants predisposing to certain diseases. However, these studies only explain a small portion of variations in the heritability of diseases. More advanced statistical models are urgently needed to identify and characterize some additional genetic and environmental factors and their interactions, which will enable us to better understand the causes of complex diseases. In the past decade, thanks to the increasing computational capabilities and novel statistical developments, Bayesian methods have been widely applied in the genetics/genomics researches and demonstrating superiority over some regular approaches in certain research areas. Gene-environment and gene-gene interaction studies are among the areas where Bayesian methods may fully exert its functionalities and advantages. This dissertation focuses on developing new Bayesian statistical methods for data analysis with complex gene-environment and gene-gene interactions, as well as extending some existing methods for gene-environment interactions to other related areas. It includes three sections: (1) Deriving the Bayesian variable selection framework for the hierarchical gene-environment and gene-gene interactions; (2) Developing the Bayesian Natural and Orthogonal Interaction (NOIA) models for gene-environment interactions; and (3) extending the applications of two Bayesian statistical methods which were developed for gene-environment interaction studies, to other related types of studies such as adaptive borrowing historical data. We propose a Bayesian hierarchical mixture model framework that allows us to investigate the genetic and environmental effects, gene by gene interactions (epistasis) and gene by environment interactions in the same model. It is well known that, in many practical situations, there exists a natural hierarchical structure between the main effects and interactions in the linear model. Here we propose a model that incorporates this hierarchical structure into the Bayesian mixture model, such that the irrelevant interaction effects can be removed more efficiently, resulting in more robust, parsimonious and powerful models. We evaluate both of the 'strong hierarchical' and 'weak hierarchical' models, which specify that both or one of the main effects between interacting factors must be present for the interactions to be included in the model. The extensive simulation results show that the proposed strong and weak hierarchical mixture models control the proportion of false positive discoveries and yield a powerful approach to identify the predisposing main effects and interactions in the studies with complex gene-environment and gene-gene interactions. We also compare these two models with the 'independent' model that does not impose this hierarchical constraint and observe their superior performances in most of the considered situations. The proposed models are implemented in the real data analysis of gene and environment interactions in the cases of lung cancer and cutaneous melanoma case-control studies. The Bayesian statistical models enjoy the properties of being allowed to incorporate useful prior information in the modeling process. Moreover, the Bayesian mixture model outperforms the multivariate logistic model in terms of the performances on the parameter estimation and variable selection in most cases. Our proposed models hold the hierarchical constraints, that further improve the Bayesian mixture model by reducing the proportion of false positive findings among the identified interactions and successfully identifying the reported associations. This is practically appealing for the study of investigating the causal factors from a moderate number of candidate genetic and environmental factors along with a relatively large number of interactions. The natural and orthogonal interaction (NOIA) models of genetic effects have previously been developed to provide an analysis framework, by which the estimates of effects for a quantitative trait are statistically orthogonal regardless of the existence of Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium (HWE) within loci. Ma et al. (2012) recently developed a NOIA model for the gene-environment interaction studies and have shown the advantages of using the model for detecting the true main effects and interactions, compared with the usual functional model. In this project, we propose a novel Bayesian statistical model that combines the Bayesian hierarchical mixture model with the NOIA statistical model and the usual functional model. The proposed Bayesian NOIA model demonstrates more power at detecting the non-null effects with higher marginal posterior probabilities. Also, we review two Bayesian statistical models (Bayesian empirical shrinkage-type estimator and Bayesian model averaging), which were developed for the gene-environment interaction studies. Inspired by these Bayesian models, we develop two novel statistical methods that are able to handle the related problems such as borrowing data from historical studies. The proposed methods are analogous to the methods for the gene-environment interactions on behalf of the success on balancing the statistical efficiency and bias in a unified model. By extensive simulation studies, we compare the operating characteristics of the proposed models with the existing models including the hierarchical meta-analysis model. The results show that the proposed approaches adaptively borrow the historical data in a data-driven way. These novel models may have a broad range of statistical applications in both of genetic/genomic and clinical studies.