The study of dietary consumption is important to understanding the relationship between eating habits and natural resources, which may reflect adjustments and adaptations demanded by local ...environmental changes. This study aimed to understand the trophic relationships between the local families’ diets and the ichthyofauna present in an urban neighborhood of artisanal fishers in southern Brazil (Tijucas, Santa Catarina). Data were collected through semi-structured interviews in 88 households who reported the consumption of 62 types of fish, where the most consumed were the mullet (Mugil spp.) and croaker (Micropogonias furnieri). Fish is still an important source of animal protein for local families. Preferences and aversions observed can be explained by the relationship between environmental factors and cultural aspects that relate to the economic and social context of the community. In the last decade fish consumption was affected by local immigration and by contextual changes affecting local fisheries.
Background Chagas disease (ChD) is the most important endemy in Latin America. Some patients, develop chronic Chagasic cardiopathy (CCC) years after the acute phase. It is unknown if patients ...infected by the oral route have higher risk of developing early CCC. Methods and findings A prospective cohort study was conducted to assess morbidity and mortality during 10 years observation in 106 people simultaneously infected and treated in the largest known orally transmitted ChD outbreak in 2007. A preschooler died during the acute phase, but thereafter was no mortality associated to ChD. All acute phase findings improved in the first-year post-treatment. Each person was evaluated 8.7 times clinically, 6.4 by electrocardiogram (ECG)/Holter, and 1.7 by echocardiogram. Based on prevalence, the number of people who had any abnormalities (excluding repolarization abnormalities and atrial tachycardia which decreased) was higher than 2007, since they were found at least once between 2008-2017. However, when we evaluated incidence, except for clinical bradycardia and dizziness, it was observed that the number of new cases of all clinical and ECG findings decreased at the end of the follow-up. Between 2008-2017 there was not incidence of low voltage complex, 2.sup.nd degree AV block, long QT interval, left bundle branch block or left ventricular dysfunction that allowed the diagnosis of CCC. Total improvement prevailed over the persistence of all clinical and ECG/Holter findings, except for sinus bradycardia. Incomplete right bundle branch block, sinus bradycardia and/or T-wave inversion were diagnosed persistently in 9 children. The second treatment did not have significant influence on the incidence of clinical or ECG/Holter findings. Conclusions At the end of the 10-year follow-up, there were not clinical or ECG/Holter criteria for classifying patients with CCC. The incidence of arrhythmias and repolarization abnormalities decreased. However, special attention should be paid on findings that not revert as sinus bradycardia, or those diagnosed persistently in all ECG as sinus bradycardia, incomplete right bundle branch block or T-wave inversion. Early diagnosis and treatment may have contributed to the rapid improvement of these patients. In ChD follow-up studies prevalence overestimates the real dimension of abnormalities, the incidence looks as a better indicator.
Marine protected areas (MPAs) are being created worldwide and are important tools for conservation and fisheries management. However, the impact of MPAs on artisanal fishing communities is still ...poorly understood. In this research, we sought to understand the perceptions of artisanal fishers living around the Arvoredo Biological Reserve, a no-take MPA located in southern Brazil, and their relationship with the MPA. The fishing communities in this study are located in Tijucas Bay, an estuary located within the buffer zone of this MPA but outside its boundaries. Data collection was conducted using interviews and participatory mapping with artisanal fishers. The results show that fishers have detailed knowledge about different species, the bay, and the connections between the bay and the MPA. The fishers noted that the proper functioning of the MPA relies on avoiding industrial fishing in its borders and to limit trawling within the bay. Such measures are already in the MPA management plan, but lack of compliance is a perceived constraint. Data also show that local ecological knowledge is important to support the monitoring and evaluation of MPAs.
•The fishers perception compliances with the MPA scientific management plan.•The fishermen LEK is an important tool for monitoring and evaluating the MPA.•Detailed local knowledge about the species and the relation with the MPA.
ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to examine serum retinol and some mineral (zinc, iron, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and copper) levels in seven Mangalarga Marchador colts aged 329.48 ...days, reared on pasture in the city of Montes Claros, MG, Brazil, during the dry season. Equines were evaluated for four periods of 45 days during the total study period of five months. The foals had access to Panicum maximum cv. Tanzania pasture, while water and mineral salt lick were provided ad libitum. Blood samples were taken to determine serum retinol and levels of minerals, along with pasture samples to quantify beta-carotene in the grass. The results indicated that retinol levels varied (2.87 to 1.97 µg/dL) and remained below the standard levels. The levels of zinc, iron, calcium, and phosphorus did not vary significantly with average values of 36.79 µg/dL, 77.32 µg/dL, 10.33 mg/dL, and 9.99 mg/dL, respectively. However, zinc and calcium remained below standard concentrations of 60-120 µg/dL and 10.8-13.5 mg/dL, respectively, since the beginning of the study. On the other hand, copper and magnesium levels decreased over time (97.76 to 77.56 mg/dL and 2.86 to 2.21 µg/dL, respectively), but showed normal levels for horses during the research. Beta-carotene in grass showed a downward trend over time from 38.53 to 0.09 mg/kg of dry matter. The results also indicated a significant relationship between serum retinol and serum copper levels. Vitamin A supplementation is necessary whenever foals are fed pastures during the dry season.
Software Product Lines (SPL) approach has been widely developed in academia and successfully applied in industry. Based on the selection of features, stakeholders can efficiently derive tailor-made ...programs satisfying different requirements. While SPL was very successful at building products based on identified features, achievements and preservation of many nonfunctional properties (NFPs) remain challenging. A knowledge how to deal with NFPs is still not fully obtained. In this paper, we present a systematic literature review of NFPs analysis for SPL products, focusing on runtime NFPs. The goal of the paper is twofold: (i) to present an holistic overview of SPL approaches that have been reported regarding the analysis of runtime NFPs, and (ii) to categorize NFPs treated in the scientific literature regarding development of SPLs. We analyzed 36 research papers, and identified that system performance attributes are typically the most considered. The results also aid future research studies in NFPs analysis by providing an unbiased view of the body of empirical evidence and by guiding future research directions.
Software Product Lines (SPL) are generally specified using a Feature Model (FM), an artifact designed in the early stages of the SPL development life cycle. This artifact can quickly become too ...complex, which makes it challenging to maintain an SPL. Therefore, it is essential to evaluate the artifact’s maintainability continuously. The literature brings some approaches that evaluate FM maintainability through the aggregation of maintainability measures. Machine Learning (ML) models can be used to create these approaches.
This work proposes white-box ML models intending to classify the FM maintainability based on 15 measures.
To build the models, we performed the following steps: (i) we compared two approaches to evaluate the FM maintainability through a human-based oracle of FM maintainability classifications; (ii) we used the best approach to pre-classify the ML training dataset; (iii) we generated three ML models and compared them against classification accuracy, precision, recall, F1 and AUC-ROC; and, (iv) we used the best model to create a mechanism capable of providing improvement indicators to domain engineers.
The best model used the decision tree algorithm that obtained accuracy, precision, and recall of 0.81, F1-Score of 0.79, and AUC-ROC of 0.91. Using this model, we could reduce the number of measures needed to evaluate the FM maintainability from 15 to 9 measures. Furthermore, we created a mechanism to suggest FM refactorings to improve the maintainability of this artifact. FM maintainability evaluation and the refactoring suggestion mechanism were automated in the DyMMer tool.
We conclude this work by presenting a way to combine FM maintainability assessment with FM refactorings. The results of this work provide to domain engineers inputs that will allow them to carry out a continuous improvement of an SPL.
•The study compares two FM maintainability classification approaches described in the literature.•An ML-based approach to classifying the FM maintainability using white-box algorithms is proposed.•ML models are employed to suggest FM refactorings to improve maintainability.•Results show the nine most significant measures to assess FM maintainability.•Release of an updated version of the DyMMer tool, now supporting FM maintainability evaluation and FM refactoring suggestions.
Testing Software Product Lines da Mota Silveira Neto, Paulo Anselmo; Runeson, Per; do Carmo Machado, Ivan ...
IEEE software,
09/2011, Volume:
28, Issue:
5
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Two studies of testing practices for software product lines identify gaps between required techniques and existing approaches in the available literature. This Web extra offers extra details for the ...main article (specifically, the bibliography for the two studies described).
► We characterized the software inspection activity on features specifications in an industrial SPL project. ► The inspection activity reported incompleteness as the main non-conformity type found on ...features specifications. ► Correction was the most burdensome SPL Inspection task. ► Optional features presented higher non-conformity density than mandatory features. ► The risk attribute enabled to build a predictive model for estimating non-conformities in features specifications.
In software product lines (SPL), scoping is a phase responsible for capturing, specifying and modeling features, and also their constraints, interactions and variations. The feature specification task, performed in this phase, is usually based on natural language, which may lead to lack of clarity, non-conformities and defects. Consequently, scoping analysts may introduce ambiguity, inconsistency, omissions and non-conformities. In this sense, this paper aims at gathering evidence about the effects of applying an inspection approach to feature specification for SPL. Data from a SPL reengineering project were analyzed in this work and the analysis indicated that the correction activity demanded more effort. Also, Pareto's principle showed that incompleteness and ambiguity reported higher non-conformity occurrences. Finally, the Poisson regression analysis showed that sub-domain risk information can be a good indicator for prioritization of sub-domains in the inspection activity.
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