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BACKGROUND & AIMS: Infliximab is a safe and effective therapy for ulcerative colitis (UC). We conducted a multicenter retrospective cohort study that included 7 European countries and Israel to examine whether infliximab discontinuation can be considered for patients who achieve sustained remission. METHODS: We performed a retrospective cohort study, collecting medical records from 13 tertiary care referral inflammatory bowel disease centers of all patients with UC treated with infliximab (n = 193). We compared the disease course of patients with at least 12 months of clinical remission who discontinued infliximab (n = 111) with that of patients who continued scheduled treatment (controls, n = 82). We examined the incidence rates of relapse, hospitalization and colectomy, the comparative effectiveness of different therapeutic strategies after discontinuation, and assessed the rates of response, remission, and adverse effects after infliximab reinitiation. Statistical analyses used time-to-event methods. RESULTS: In the entire cohort, 67 patients (34.7%) relapsed during the follow-up period. The incidence rate of relapse was significantly higher after discontinuation (23.3 per 100 person-years) compared with the control group (7.2 per 100 person-years) in univariable analysis (logrank P < .001 hazard ratio, 3.41 95% confidence interval, 1.88-6.20) and multivariable analysis (hazard ratio, 3.70 95% confidence interval, 2.02-6.77). Rates of hospitalization and colectomy did not differ between groups. Thiopurines appeared to be the best treatment option after infliximab discontinuation (incidence of relapse: 15.0 per 100 person-years for thiopurines, 27.4 per 100 person-years for thiopurines plus aminosalicylates, and 31.2 per 100 person-years for aminosalicylates alone log-rank P = .032). Response was regained in 77.1% of patients and remission in 51.4% of patients who re-initiated infliximab. However, 17.1% had infusion reactions and 17.1% reported other adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: In a multinational retrospective cohort study of patients with UC in sustained clinical remission, we associated discontinuation of infliximab with an increased risk of relapse. Treatment reinitiation is effective and safe.

The Project "Movies and Health in Night talks" took place in Braga and Porto, northern Portugal, in the last 3 years. This Project demonstrated how medical knowledge may surround and integrate a cosmopolitan and holistic approach, so that we as doctors and the general public, are able to become much closer and much more prone to understand the vital cycles of our society.

The video shows an overview of the ISRobotCar, an experimental autonomous electric vehicle that integrates the robot operating system (ROS.org) and several sensors such as an IBEO laser scanner, inertial measurement units (IMU), RTK-GPS, vision cameras, and magnet detectors for magnetic guidance. The main purpose of this vehicle is to serve as a platform for experimental testing of algorithms required for autonomous navigation and cooperative navigation in urban environments. In the video, we present the ISRobotCar moving autonomously in a parking-like area as well as its main hardware and control modules.

The introduction of new distributed energy resources, based on natural intermittent power sources, in power systems imposes the development of new adequate operation management and control methods. This paper proposes a short-term Energy Resource Management (ERM) methodology performed in two phases. The first one addresses the hour-ahead ERM scheduling and the second one deals with the five-minute ahead ERM scheduling. Both phases consider the day-ahead resource scheduling solution. The ERM scheduling is formulated as an optimization problem that aims to minimize the operation costs from the point of view of a virtual power player that manages the network and the existing resources. The optimization problem is solved by a deterministic mixed-integer non-linear programming approach and by a heuristic approach based on genetic algorithms. A case study considering a distribution network with 33 bus, 66 distributed generation, 32 loads with demand response contracts and 7 storage units has been implemented in a PSCAD-based simulator developed in the field of the presented work, in order to validate the proposed short-term ERM methodology considering the dynamic power system behavior.

En este artículo se analizan la pedagogía transmisiva, caracterizada por su sentido unidireccional, que tiene algunos rasgos comunes con los medios de comunicación, y la pedagogía interactiva, caracterizada por la participación, el diálogo, la coautoría que tiene rasgos comunes con los principios de la Web 2.0. Los nuevos medios ponen en práctica modelos comunicativos que permiten que cada ciudadano pueda ser, potencialmente, un medio de comunicación. Este ecosistema comunicativo permite pensar en una sociedad de comunicadores donde todos alimentan con sus creaciones y participaciones los saberes individuales y colectivos. Se hace una revisión de las prácticas comunicativas que utilizan la retroalimentación (feed-back) como estrategia de interacción, cuando en verdad no dejan de ser un refuerzo planteado desde la óptica del emisor, y se ofrece una propuesta centrada en la alimentación de saberes colectivos que denominamos «modelo feed feed», basado en la participación individual y colectiva para la construcción de conocimientos. Estos saberes, que pueden organizarse presencial o virtualmente, caracterizan los principios fundamentales de la interactividad, que para algunos sectores no deja de ser una estrategia de marketing. En la cultura de la participación se hace referencia al silencio virtual y a sus consecuencias en el campo de la educomunicación. El artículo concluye con las búsqueda de otros modelos pedagógicos, y con el análisis de las consecuencias que implicaría seguir reproduciendo el modelo transmisivo frente a las posibilidades que ofrece la pedagogía de la interactividad., This paper analyzes the pedagogy of transmission, with its unidirectional nature and features that it has in common with traditional media, and the pedagogy of interaction, one of participation, dialogue and co-authorship which harmonizes with the principles of Web 2.0. New media have implemented new communication models that allow every citizen to become a potential media communicator. This communicative ecosystem suggests a society of communicators in which everyone feeds each other with his or her creations and shares individual and collective knowledge. We review communication practices that utilize feedback as a strategy of interaction, when in fact these practices still favor the perspective of the sender. We then propose a model for the collective power of knowledge called the «feed-feed model», based on the individual and collective construction of knowledge. This knowledge, which can be organized in a virtual or real setting, characterizes the fundamental principles of interactivity, even though some sectors still view these as marketing strategies. We examine the virtual silence that exists in the culture of participation, and its implications for educommunication. The article concludes with a search for other pedagogical models, and the analysis of the consequences of perpetuating the transmission model in the face of the possibilities offered by the pedagogy of interaction.

This paper describes the ISRobotCar, an experimental autonomous electric vehicle that integrates Robot Operating System (ROS) and several sensors such as IBEO laserscanner, Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), RTK-GPS, vision cameras, and magnet detectors for magnetic guidance. The development of a power steering controller and of a fuzzy path-following controller are particularly addressed. Finally simulations and experimental results of autonomous path-following control are presented.

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With the current increase of energy resources prices and environmental concerns intelligent load management systems are gaining more and more importance. This paper concerns a SCADA House Intelligent Management (SHIM) system that includes an optimization module using deterministic and genetic algorithm approaches. SHIM undertakes contextual load management based on the characterization of each situation. SHIM considers available generation resources, load demand, supplier/market electricity price, and consumers' constraints and preferences. The paper focus on the recently developed learning module which is based on artificial neural networks (ANN). The learning module allows the adjustment of users' profiles along SHIM lifetime. A case study considering a system with fourteen discrete and four variable loads managed by a SHIM system during five consecutive similar weekends is presented.

Resilience, load balancing and ubiquitous support can be improved by multihoming configurations that explore the plurality of wireless technologies available nowadays. Nevertheless, efficient multihoming configurations require support from all layers, as for instance in, network protocols which must incorporate mechanisms to support multiple addresses. Multiple Care of Addresses Registration (MCoA) is a protocol that extends Mobile IPv6 to enable the registration of multiple addresses. This paper presents mCoA++, our publicly available simulation model for OMNeT++ which implements the Multiple Care of Addresses Registration protocol recently standardized by IETF. Filling a gap in the MCoA specification, mCoA++ incorporates cross-layer mechanisms that tailor address selection according to application requirements. We evaluate our mCoA++ implementation and compare simulation code performance with xMIPv6. We find that mCoA++ adds multiple care of address support in OMNeT++ without introducing any significant overhead.

One of the most important environmental problems in large cities is the vehicular emission. Electric Vehicles (EVs) are a growing alternative for internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. Since this kind of vehicle has low autonomy yet, it is important to optimize energy consumption, for instance by planning a suitable infrastructure of battery recharge and/or battery-switch stations. This paper presents an architecture for EV simulation, important to analyze traffic flow, its dynamics and the performance when there are obstructions or intense traffic. There are several tools for traffic simulation, SUMO (Simulation of Urban MObility) is one of them. But none of the existing traffic simulators integrates models of EV that allow, for example, perform simulation studies regarding energy consumption. SUMO is a portable open source simulator with multi-modal traffic feature capabilities that permit the simulation of various types of vehicles. This work is an extension of the SUMO, two-dimensional (2D) vehicular simulation package. To allow the simulation of energy consumption of EV, two extensions were incorporated in SUMO: EV models and modeling of altitude, transforming SUMO into a three-dimensional (3D) simulator. The energy model effectiveness and correctness with 3D capabilities has been validated using two driving schedules (Urban Dynamometer Driving Schedule and Highway Fuel Economy Driving Schedule). This new tool will also support the study of better routes choice in 3D environment with EV aiming minimum energy consumption.

In recent years the use of several new resources in power systems, such as distributed generation, demand response and more recently electric vehicles, has significantly increased. Power systems aim at lowering operational costs, requiring an adequate energy resources management. In this context, load consumption management plays an important role, being necessary to use optimization strategies to adjust the consumption to the supply profile. These optimization strategies can be integrated in demand response programs. The control of the energy consumption of an intelligent house has the objective of optimizing the load consumption. This paper presents a genetic algorithm approach to manage the consumption of a residential house making use of a SCADA system developed by the authors. Consumption management is done reducing or curtailing loads to keep the power consumption in, or below, a specified energy consumption limit. This limit is determined according to the consumer strategy and taking into account the renewable based micro generation, energy price, supplier solicitations, and consumers' preferences. The proposed approach is compared with a mixed integer non-linear approach.

Blends of thermoplastic polyurethane elastomer (TPU) and ABS resin (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene) were observed by SEM (scanning electron microscopy) before and after their treatment with methyl ethyl ketone (MEK). Samples were treated with MEK for different periods of time and dried at two temperatures in order to optimize the etching conditions. It was found that 3 h of etching is adequate to reveal the phase morphology of these blends. In contrast, a 4 h period has provoked serious artifacts in the samples and no information about phase structure could be obtained. At appropriate conditions, this technique can be used to quantitatively estimate the component dispersion in these blends.

O presente estudo foi realizado no Laboratorio de Microbiologia do Centro de Pesquisa em Alimentos da Escola de Veterinaria da Universidade Federal de Goias, visando detectar a proteolise em leite causada por Pseudomonas fluorescens . Foram adquiridas cepas liofilizadas de P. fluorescens ATCC 13525 do Instituto Adolfo Lutz, Secao de Colecao de Culturas. Apos o crescimento das cepas de P. fluorescens determinaram-se quantidades que correspondessem a 100.000, 500.000 e 1.000.000 de UFC/mL para ser realizada a inoculacao in vitro em amostras de leite desnatado reconstituido a 12% (LDR 12%) e esterilizado. Os experimentos de crescimento das cepas de P. fluorescens foram conduzidos em aliquotas de 40 mL de LDR 12%, sendo as amostras incubadas a 4oC, 7oC e 10oC em refrigerador. Durante o periodo de incubacao, as amostras foram avaliadas a cada 24 horas ate se atingir o periodo de 120 horas. As amostras tambem foram submetidas a analise para verificar a presenca de caseinomacropeptideo (CMP) pela tecnica de Cromatografia a Liquido de Alta Eficiencia. O crescimento de P. fluorescens no leite desnatado reconstituido a 12% nao foi significativo nas temperaturas de estocagem de 4, 7 e 10oC, verificando-se significância apenas para o tempo de estocagem. Nao foi constatada a presenca de CMP nas amostras avaliadas. O presente estudo foi realizado no Laboratorio de Microbiologia do Centro de Pesquisa em Alimentos da Escola de Veterinaria da Universidade Federal de Goias, visando detectar a proteolise em leite causada por Pseudomonas fluorescens . Foram adquiridas cepas liofilizadas de P. fluorescens ATCC 13525 do Instituto Adolfo Lutz, Secao de Colecao de Culturas. Apos o crescimento das cepas de P. fluorescens determinaram-se quantidades que correspondessem a 100.000, 500.000 e 1.000.000 de UFC/mL para ser realizada a inoculacao in vitro em amostras de leite desnatado reconstituido a 12% (LDR 12%) e esterilizado. Os experimentos de crescimento das cepas de P. fluorescens foram conduzidos em aliquotas de 40 mL de LDR 12%, sendo as amostras incubadas a 4oC, 7oC e 10oC em refrigerador. Durante o periodo de incubacao, as amostras foram avaliadas a cada 24 horas ate se atingir o periodo de 120 horas. As amostras tambem foram submetidas a analise para verificar a presenca de caseinomacropeptideo (CMP) pela tecnica de Cromatografia a Liquido de Alta Eficiencia. O crescimento de P. fluorescens no leite desnatado reconstituido a 12% nao foi significativo nas temperaturas de estocagem de 4, 7 e 10oC, verificando-se significância apenas para o tempo de estocagem. Nao foi constatada a presenca de CMP nas amostras avaliadas.

Different commercial Y zeolites derivate from faujasite structure with similar total Si/Al ratio, NaY (Si/Al = 2.83), HY (Si/Al = 2.80), and HUSY (Si/Al = 3.00), but different framework Si/Al ratios were used to prepare α-poly(vinylidene fluoride) (α-PVDF)/zeolite nanocomposites. Structural and textural characterization of different Y zeolites was obtained by XRD, FTIR, elemental analysis and nitrogen adsorption isotherms. Nanocomposite films were prepared containing 14% (w/w) of zeolite and characterized in terms of the dielectric response and thermal stability. The best dielectric properties were obtained with NaY because of its smaller framework Si/Al ratio, which means a larger number of sodium in the zeolite structure. For this zeolite, the dielectric constant was increased by a factor higher than two, maintaining unaltered the dielectric loss for frequencies higher than 0.5 MHz. The zeolite HUSY, which presents an extended mesoporosity, shows the lowest onset temperature for thermal degradation. To clarify the origin of the dielectric response of the nancomposites, zeolites with different sodium amounts were obtained by ion exchange treatment using NaNO3 for HY and NH4NO3 for NaY. The dielectric constant was enhanced with increasing sodium content in the zeolite framework., Centro de Química and Centro de Física (University of Minho, Portugal) and FCT (Portugal) through POCTI and FEDER projects (ref: POCTI-SFA-3-686, PTDC/CTM/69316/2006, PTDC/CTM/69362/2006 and NANO/NMedSD/0156/2007).

A supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system is an integrated platform that incorporates several components and it has been applied in the field of power systems and several engineering applications to monitor, operate and control a lot of processes.

This paper presents a methodology to address reactive power compensation using Evolutionary Particle Swarm Optimization (EPSO) technique programmed in the MATLAB environment. The main objective is to find the best operation point minimizing power losses with reactive power compensation, subjected to all operational constraints, namely full AC power flow equations, active and reactive power generation constraints. The methodology has been tested with the IEEE 14 bus test system demonstrating the ability and effectiveness of the proposed approach to handle the reactive power compensation problem.

Classification of voice aging has many applications in health care and geriatrics. This work focuses on finding the most relevant parameters to classify voice aging. The most significant parameters extracted from the glottal signal are chosen to identify the voice aging process of men and women. After analyzing their statistics, the chosen parameters are used as entries to a neural network to classify male and female Brazilian speakers in three different age groups: young (from 15 to 30 years old), adult (from 31 to 60 years old), and senior (from 61 to 90 years old). The corpus used for this work was composed by one hundred and twenty Brazilian speakers (both males and females) of different ages. As compared to similar works, we employ a larger corpus and obtain a superior classification rate.

In this paper we present a multistage method applied in pedestrian detection using information from a LIDAR and a monocular-camera mounted on an electric vehicle driving in urban scenarios. The proposed method is a cascade of classifiers trained in two subsets of features, one with laser-based features and the other with a set of image-based features. A specific training approach was developed to adjust the cascade stages in order to enhance the classification performance. The proposed method differs from the conventional cascade regarding the way the selected samples are propagated through the cascade. Thus, the subsequent stages of the proposed cascade receive both negatives and positives from previous ones, relying on a decision margin process. Experiments were conducted in off-line mode, for a set of single component classifiers and for the proposed cascade technique. The results are compared in terms of classification performance metrics and ROC curves.

Classification of voice aging has many applications in health and geriatrics. This work focuses on finding the most significant parameters to identify voice aging. This work proposes to choose the most significant parameters extracted of the glottal signal to identify the voice aging process of men and women using the wrapper approach combining a genetic algorithm (as a search algorithm) with a neural network (as an induction algorithm). The chosen parameters will be used as entries in a neural network to classify male and female Brazilian speakers in three different age groups, which will be called young (from 15 to 30 years old), adult (from 31 to 60 years old) and senior (from 61 to 90 years old). The voice database used for this work was composed by one hundred twenty Brazilian people (male and female) of different ages. In this work we use the largest basis for classification of age compared with other similar works, and its rate of classification is superior to other studies reaching 91.6% in males and 83.33% in women.

This chapter proposes the use of a communicational approach to rethink conceptual and methodological aspects of learning assessment in the context of interactive online information and communication technologies. The approach makes use of the digital online portfolio interface together with cognitive mapping techniques (mind maps and concept maps) as devices for assessing learning in online education. The examples described in the text are the result of pedagogical practice and research undertaken by the authors.

This study investigates the Drosophilidae species associated to fruiting bodies of fungi in forested and anthropized environments of the Atlantic Rain Forest Biome, in south and southeastern Brazil. We collected samples of imagoes flying over and emerging from fruiting bodies of species of five fungi families, in six collection sites. We obtained 18 samples, from which emerged 910 drosophilids of 31 species from the genera Drosophila Fallen, 1823, Hirtodrosophila Duda, 1923, Leucophenga Mik, 1886, Mycodrosophila Oldenberg, 1914, Scaptomyza Hardy, 1849, Zaprionus Coquillett, 1901 and Zygothrica Wiedemann, 1830. The Drosophila species collected on fungi, as well as Zaprionus indianus Gupta, 1970, had previously been recorded colonizing fruits, demonstrating their versatility in resource use. Most of these species belong to the immigrans-tripunctata radiation of Drosophila. Our records expands the mycophagous habit (feeding or breeding on fungi) to almost all species groups of this radiation in the Neotropical region, even those supposed to be exclusively frugivorous. Assemblages associated to fungi of forested areas were more heterogeneous in terms of species composition, while those associated to fungi of anthropized areas were more homogeneous. The drosophilids from anthropized areas were also more versatile in resource use. Foi realizado um estudo das espécies de Drosophilidae associadas aos corpos de frutificação de fungos em ambientes florestais e antrópicos no Bioma Mata Atlântica, no sul e sudeste do Brasil. Foram realizadas coletas de adultos sobrevoando e emergindo de corpos de frutificação de espécies de fungos de cinco famílias, em seis pontos de coleta. Foram obtidas 18 amostras, onde foram coletados 910 indivíduos de 31 espécies, pertencentes aos gêneros Drosophila Fallen, 1823, Hirtodrosophila Duda, 1923, Leucophenga Mik, 1886, Mycodrosophila Oldenberg, 1914, Scaptomyza Hardy, 1849, Zaprionus Coquillett, 1901 e Zygothrica Wiedemann, 1830. As espécies de Drosophila coletadas, assim como Zaprionus indianus Gupta, 1970, já haviam sido registradas em frutos, evidenciando sua versatilidade na utilização dos recursos. A maioria destas espécies pertence à radiação immigrans-tripunctata de Drosophila. Em espécies desta radiação que habitam regiões temperadas, a micofagia é amplamente difundida; nossos registros (de sítios de alimentação e oviposição em fungos) expandem este hábito para quase todos os grupos de espécies desta radiação na região Neotropical, mesmo aquelas que se supunham ser exclusivamente frugívoras. As assembléias colonizadoras dos corpos de frutificação variaram entre as espécies de fungos e com o tipo de ambiente em que eles se desenvolviam, onde as espécies de drosofilídeos generalistas utilizam os fungos em ambientes mais degradados.

O gênero Rhinoleucophenga Hendel compreende 18 espécies nominais e possui distribuição Neotropical e Neártica. Uma nova espécie foi encontrada em coleta realizada em Florianópolis, SC, e é descrita como Rhinoleucophenga joaquina sp. nov. Os espécimes encontrados emergiram de fl ores de Dyckia encholirioides (Bromeliaceae) coletadas em região de restinga sobre dunas. Este é o primeiro registro da utilização de fl ores como sítio de oviposição para Rhinoleucophenga. The genus Rhinoleucophenga Hendel comprises 18 nominal species and has a Neotropical and Nearctic distribution. A new species was found in a collection in Florianópolis, SC, Brazil, and is described as Rhinoleucophenga joaquina sp. nov. The specimens found were reared from fl owers of Dyckia encholirioides (Bromeliaceae), collected in a region of restinga on the dunes. The use of fl owers as breeding site for Rhinoleucophenga has never been reported before.

Power systems are planed and operated according to the optimization of the available resources. Traditionally these tasks were mostly undertaken in a centralized way which is no longer adequate in a competitive environment. Demand response can play a very relevant role in this context but adequate tools to negotiate this kind of resources are required. This paper presents an approach to deal with these issues, by using a multi-agent simulator able to model demand side players and simulate their strategic behavior. The paper includes an illustrative case study that considers an incident situation. The distribution company is able to reduce load curtailment due to load flexibility contracts previously established with demand side players.

This article presents an Ethernet remote monitoring system for electric industrial power distributions. This system permits monitoring through the spread of low cost remote platforms, with synchronous acquisition, Ethernet communication, computational analysis programs, statistical treatment and creation of automatic reports. The dissemination of this system allows a fast and systematic approach to the harmonics disturbances problematic. It has the capability to remotely study the propagation of these disturbances in the industrial installations, to determine waveform distortion caused by harmonics sources, to quantify the impact of these disturbances and to elaborate daily quality indexes reports (IEEE Standard 519-1992) based on recent harmonics analysis techniques. This paper describes the hardware prototype of the data acquisition system architecture for power quality monitoring and analysis. The prototype was validated by statistical procedure and are presented experimental results made in real industrial plant, proving the system viability and value added in this problematic area.

Electric vehicles (EVs) are fundamental components for a sustainable mobility. Unless a major technological breakthrough is achieved in energy storage and battery technology, EVs future will pass by multiple energy sources hybridisation, to benefit from the best characteristics of the energy sources available. In this paper, the energy and the mobility problems are introduced as well as the relevance of EVs in advanced and sustainable transportation. The EVs energy management issue is addressed together with the need for multiple energy sources hybridisation. Finally, a detailed description of the multiple energy sources monitoring system, particularly of its sensor data acquisition network, developed by the authors for their EV prototype, is presented along with collected data drawn from tests to one of the EV battery banks.

O estudo da interação entre os indivíduos de uma mesma espécie ou de espécies diferentes é essencial para o entendimento das dinâmicas envolvidas na manutenção das comunidades ou assembléias na natureza. Assim, o estudo das preferências alimentares das larvas dos drosofilídeos, refletidas no padrão de emergência das mesmas dos sítios de oviposição, é de suma importância, uma vez que este grupo de organismos tornou-se um excelente modelo para o estudo de padrões ecológicos. Assim, esta tese busca identificar como as larvas de espécies de Drosophilidae se relacionam na utilização dos recursos tróficos, identificando quais os principais fatores que podem estar atuando na manutenção da diversidade de espécies de suas assembléias em áreas de Mata Atlântica e urbanas de Florianópolis (SC). Realizamos coletas de frutos em onze localidades do Estado de Santa Catarina, onde montamos uma listagem das espécies vegetais hospedeiras utilizadas como sítio de oviposição e das espécies de Drosophilidae que as utilizam. Observamos que as espécies de Drosophilidae colonizam os ambientes urbanos estudados, mas há uma perda de diversidade de espécies, evidenciada pela ausência de espécies raras nestas amostras. Ainda, as espécies de Drosophilidae coletadas apresentaram um caráter generalista quanto à utilização dos recursos tróficos, onde, nas assembléias de Mata Atlântica, verificou-se a formação de grupos ecológicos funcionais. Este tipo de organização não foi observado nas assembléias urbanas, onde há uma grande sobreposição dos nichos e uma menor diversidade de espécies. Além dos frutos, foram coletados também corpos de frutificação de fungos a fim de verificarmos as espécies de Drosophilidae emergentes dos mesmos. Dentre as espécies de moscas emergentes estão as dos gêneros Drosophila, Hirtodrosophila, Mycodrosophila e Leucophenga. Cabe ressaltar que as espécies neotropicais da radiação immigrans-tripunctata (gênero Drosophila) possuem a capacidade de colonizar fungos em ambientes preservados e alterados do bioma Mata Atlântica. Em outro estudo, buscamos verificar como a limitação de recursos alimentares para as larvas de drosofilídes pode influenciar a interação competitiva entre as mesmas. Para tal, foram coletados frutos de Buchenavia tomentosa (Combretaceae) e submetidos a dois tratamentos, um deles com uma suplementação alimentar. Assim, obtivemos evidências de que há restrições alimentares ou nutricionais em recursos naturais, que aumentam a interação competitiva entre espécies da família Drosophilidae. Entretanto, estas espécies possuem diferentes respostas à esta limitação, e o aumento da competição interespecífica parece ser maior que da intraespecífica. Finalmente, foi realizada uma revisão da ocorrência das espécies de Drosophilidae no Brasil, onde foram levantadas 304 espécies coletadas em nosso território. A maioria dos registros é de espécies do gênero Drosophila, o mais bem estudado da família. Os estados mais bem amostrados até o momento são São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul e Santa Catarina, além do Distrito Federal, onde há grupos de pesquisa enfocando a ecologia e taxonomia das espécies de Drosophilidae. Esta revisão auxiliou na avaliação dos objetivos anteriores, contribuindo com um panorama do conhecimento e distribuição desta moscas no Brasil. The study of the interaction among the individuals of a same species or of different ones is essential for the understanding of the dynamics involved in the communities or assemblies maintenance in nature. Thus, the study of the alimentary preferences of the drosophilids larvae, evidenciated by their emergency pattern of the breeding sites, is of highest importance once that this group of organisms became an excellent model for the study of ecological patterns. So, this thesis aimed to identify how the larvae of the Drosophilidae species use the trophic resources, identifying the main factors that can be acting in the maintenancement of the species diversity of assemblies in areas of Atlantic Rain Forest and urbanized of Florianópolis (SC). We collected fruits in eleven locations of the State of Santa Catarina, and we listed the vegetable host species used as breeding sites and the Drosophilidae species emerged of them. We observed that the Drosophilidae species colonize the studied urban environments, but there is a loss of species diversity, evidenced by the absence of rare species in these samples. Although, the collected Drosophilidae species presented a generalist character for the use of the trophic resources, where, the formation of functional ecological groups was verified in the assemblies of Atlantic Rain Forest. This kind of organization was not observed in the urban assemblies, where there are a high niche overlap and lower species diversity. Besides fruits collections, were carried out collections of fungi bodies of fructification in order to verify their emerging Drosophilidae species. Among the emerging fly species are the ones of the Drosophila, Hirtodrosophila, Mycodrosophila and Leucophenga genera. It to be useful to emphasize that the Neotropical species of the immigrans-tripunctata radiation (Drosophila genus) have capacity to colonize mushrooms in preserved Atlantic Rain Forest and antropic environments. In another study, we search for how the limitation in trophic resources for drosophilid larvae could influence the competitive interaction among them. For such, fruits of Buchenavia tomentosa (Combretaceae) were collected and submitted to two treatments, one of them with an alimentary supply. Thereby, we obtained evidences that there are alimentary or nutritional restrictions in natural resources, which increase the competitive interaction among species of the family Drosophilidae. However, these species have different answers to this limitation, and the increase of the interspecific competition seems to be larger than of the intraspecific. Finally, a revision of the occurrence of the Drosophilidae species in Brazil was accomplished, where were found 304 species recorded in our territory. Most of the records is of species of the Drosophila genus, the best studied of the family. The better evalueted states until the moment are São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina, besides Distrito Federal, where there are research groups focusing the ecology and taxonomy of the Drosophilidae species. This revision helped us in the evaluation of the previous objectives, contributing with a panorama of the knowledge and distribution of these flies in Brazil.

The faunal communities of four intertidal habitats namely sand, mud, seagrass (Zostera noltii) and seagrass patches (mixSM) of a temperate coastal lagoon, Ria Formosa (southern Portugal), were sampled. A total of 47 species were taken in 428 bottomless drop sampler samples, with the highest number of species and the more commonly occurring species belonging to the Mollusca phylum. The dominance of these gastropod species underlines the importance of the grazing food chain in these habitats. Bittium reticulatum was the most abundant species, being especially abundant in the seagrass habitat. The most frequent and highest biomass species in the community was Carcinus maenas, a predator that makes use of the available resources and that is adapted to the highly variable intertidal environment. Pomatoschistus microps was the most abundant fish species, with highest densities in the mud habitat, which demonstrates an ability to occupy a low depth area. The seagrass; habitat had the highest diversity, abundance and biomass, followed by the mixSM habitat and was different from all the others. Assemblages were highly influenced by the presence of vegetation, providing forage and refuge from predation. A well defined summer group was identified in all habitats. These results highlight the importance of seagrass beds and the idea that their decrease implies the decrease of lagoon production through the impoverishment of the trophic structure of the lagoon. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The present study aims to characterise the assemblages of Drosophilidae sampled from four sites subject to different levels of urbanisation, in the city of Florianópolis, South Brazil. Five samples were collected between August 2000 and August 2001 and five between August 2002 and August 2003 in each site. A gradual change in the dominant species was observed in the urbanisation gradient, with an increase in relative abundance of exotic species in urban areas. Among the native species, the relative abundance of Drosophila capricorni Dobzhansky & Pavan had an expressive decrease. In the other hand the richness in the low urbanisation site increased, probably due to the presence of urban gardens. The diversity index did not vary significantly among sites, but its correlation with evenness and richness changed. O presente estudo objetiva caracterizar as assembléias de Drosophilidae amostradas em quatro pontos sujeitos a diferentes níveis de urbanização, na cidade de Florianópolis, Sul do Brasil. Foram realizadas cinco amostragens entre agosto/2000 e agosto/2001 e cinco entre agosto/2002 e agosto/2003 em cada ponto. Uma mudança gradual nas espécies dominantes foi observada no gradiente de urbanização, com acréscimo na abundância relativa das espécies exóticas nas áreas urbanas. Entre as espécies nativas, houve um decréscimo expressivo na abundância relativa de Drosophila capricorni Dobzhansky & Pavan. Por outro lado, a riqueza no ponto de baixa urbanização aumentou, provavelmente devido à presença de áreas verdes na cidade. O índice de diversidade não variou significativamente entre os pontos, mas sua correlação com a eqüitabilidade e a riqueza se alterou.

Este texto traz reflexões sobre desafios que terá que enfrentar o professor acostumado à sala de aula presencial, secularmente baseada na pedagogia da transmissão, doravante convocado a lecionar online. O quadro teórico contempla o tratamento das interfaces online com suas características favoráveis ao compartilhamento e à colaboração entre docente e discentes. Parte dos pressupostos da teoria da interatividade e da teoria da cibercultura, e da crítica à prática docente presencial em Vygotsky, Freire e Tardif para mostrar que o investimento do professor na interatividade, entendida como colaboração e dialógica no uso das interfaces, potencializa a docência e a aprendizagem nos cursos via internet. Destaca a dinâmica comunicacional própria das diversas interfaces como possibilidades efetivas para qualidade em educação.

In this paper we describe the experimental validation of the technique of correction of wavefront aberration in the middle of the laser amplifying chain. This technique allows the correction of the aberrations from the first part of the laser system, and the pre-compensation of the aberrations built in the second part. This approach will allow an effective aberration management in the laser chain, to protect the optical surfaces and optimize performances, and is the only possible approach for multi-Petawatt laser system from the technical and economical point of view. This approach is now possible after the introduction of new deformable mirrors with lower static aberrations and higher dynamic than the standard devices.

The present paper brings together survey data from nine collection sites in Santa Catarina state, southern Brazil. Samples were obtained during about four years in forested, coastal and urban areas. Flies were attracted by fermented banana baits and captured in traps. Among the species of the genus Zygothrica Wiedemann 1830 collected, Zygothrica apopoeyi Burla 1956, Z. bilineata (Williston 1896), Z. dispar (Wiedemann 1830), Z./ lanceolata Burla 1956, Z. nigropleura Grimaldi 1987, and Z. poeyi (Sturtevant 1921) were recorded for the first time in Santa Catarina state and, except for Z. bilineata, also in southern Brazil. Apart from these species, we also collected Zygothrica hypandriata Burla 1956, Z. orbitalis (Sturtevant 1916) (as Z. parilis), Z. prodispar Duda 1925 and Z. vittimaculosa Burla 1956. Except for Z. bilineata and Z. hypandriata, these are the new southernmost records for the geographical distribution of these species. All the collected species were represented by few individuals, probably as a consequence of the collection method, and most of them was captured in winters and springs. Five species were restricted to the more preserved studied site, and most individuals were collected in forest sites. Nevertheless, four species were also captured in urban or xeric environments, indicating a higher tolerance and a wider ecological versatility in this genus as compared to what was previously thought, at least for some species.

The present paper brings together survey data from nine collection sites in Santa Catarina state, southern Brazil. Samples were obtained during about four years in forested, coastal and urban areas. Flies were attracted by fermented banana baits and captured in traps. Among the species of the genus Zygothrica Wiedemann 1830 collected, Zygothrica apopoeyi Burla 1956, Z. bilineata (Williston 1896), Z. dispar (Wiedemann 1830), Z./ lanceolata Burla 1956, Z. nigropleura Grimaldi 1987, and Z. poeyi (Sturtevant 1921) were recorded for the first time in Santa Catarina state and, except for Z. bilineata, also in southern Brazil. Apart from these species, we also collected Zygothrica hypandriata Burla 1956, Z. orbitalis (Sturtevant 1916) (as Z. parilis), Z. prodispar Duda 1925 and Z. vittimaculosa Burla 1956. Except for Z. bilineata and Z. hypandriata, these are the new southernmost records for the geographical distribution of these species. All the collected species were represented by few individuals, probably as a consequence of the collection method, and most of them was captured in winters and springs. Five species were restricted to the more preserved studied site, and most individuals were collected in forest sites. Nevertheless, four species were also captured in urban or xeric environments, indicating a higher tolerance and a wider ecological versatility in this genus as compared to what was previously thought, at least for some species. O presente estudo reúne dados de pesquisa de nove locais de coleta no estado de Santa Catarina, sul do Brasil. Foram obtidas amostras durante aproximadamente quatro anos em áreas florestais, litorâneas e urbanas. As moscas foram atraídas através de isca de banana fermentada e capturadas em armadilhas. Dentre as espécies do gênero Zygothrica Wiedemann 1830 coletadas, Zygothrica apopoeyi Burla 1956, Z. bilineata (Williston 1896), Z. dispar (Wiedemann 1830), Z. lanceolata Burla 1956, Z. nigropleura Grimaldi 1987, e Z./poeyi (Sturtevant 1921) foram registradas pela primeira vez no estado de Santa Catarina e, com exceção de Z. bilineata, também no sul do Brasil. Além destas espécies, também foram coletadas Zygothrica hypandriata Burla 1956, Z. orbitalis (Sturtevant 1916) (como Z. parilis), Z. prodispar Duda 1925 e Z. vittimaculosa Burla 1956. Com exceção de Z. bilineata e Z. hypandriata, estes registros representam os novos limites de distribuição geográfica sul para estas espécies. Todas as espécies coletadas foram representadas por poucos indivíduos, provavelmente como conseqüência do método de coleta, e a maioria delas foi capturada em invernos e primaveras. Cinco/espécies foram restritas ao local estudado mais preservado e a maioria dos indivíduos foi coletada em áreas de floresta. Entretanto, quatro espécies também foram capturadas em ambientes urbanos ou xéricos, indicando uma tolerância mais alta e uma versatilidade ecológica mais ampla do que previamente era pensado para este gênero, pelo menos para algumas de suas espécies.