A new methodology for royalties distribution of the Itaipu hydroelectric plant: The hydrographic basin as the unit of analysis.

Over the past few years, many sectors such as energy generation, industry, domestic supply, and agriculture have encountered serious environmental problems due to the lack of rainfall. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to review the current methodology of royalties distribution from Itaipu hydroelectric plant. In the proposed approach, two criteria were considered to establish the division of Itaipu royalties: (1) the relative percentage of the water flow in the generation of electricity and, (2) the relative percentage of the drop in the height of water. 62 hydroelectric plants were evaluated in this study. In 52 plants the water flow was the factor that most contributed to the generation of electricity. In 2013, 346 municipalities benefited the Itaipu royalties. With the proposed methodology, 1,327 municipalities will receive the resource, what would increase the revenue of each of these municipalities by, on average, US$ 87,436.91 per year. The methodology presented herein proposes a reduction in the environmental disparity that now exists in Brazil, through improvement to Government instruments and environmental policies. The distribution of royalties throughout the watershed can provide additional resources to support payment programs for environmental services at the state and municipality levels.

Itaipu royalties: The role of the hydroelectric sector in water resource management.

For countries dependent on hydroelectricity, water scarcity poses a real risk. Hydroelectric plants are among the most vulnerable enterprises to climate change. Investing in the conservation of the hydrographic basin is a solution found by the hydropower sector. Given the importance of the Itaipu plant to the energy matrix of Brazil and Paraguay, the aim of this study is to review the current distribution of royalties from Itaipu, using the hydrographic basin as a of criterion of analysis. Approximately 98.73% of the Itaipu basin is in Brazil. The flow contributes 99% of the total electricity generated there, while the drop height of the water contributes only 1%. Under the current policy, royalties are shared equally between Brazil and Paraguay. In the proposed approach, each country would receive a percentage for their participation in the drop height and water flow in the output of the turbines, which are intrinsic factors for electricity generation. Thus, Brazil would receive 98.35% of the royalties and Paraguay, 1.65%. The inclusion of the hydrographic basin as a criterion for the distribution of royalties will promote more efficient water resource management, since the payment will be distributed throughout the basin of the plant. The methodology can be applied to hydroelectric projects worldwide.

Fuzzy logic applied to prospecting for areas for installation of wood panel industries.

Prospecting for suitable areas for forestry operations, where the objective is a reduction in production and transportation costs, as well as the maximization of profits and available resources, constitutes an optimization problem. However, fuzzy logic is an alternative method for solving this problem. In the context of prospecting for suitable areas for the installation of wood panel industries, we propose applying fuzzy logic analysis for simulating the planting of different species and eucalyptus hybrids in Espírito Santo State, Brazil. The necessary methodological steps for this study are as follows: a) agriclimatological zoning of different species and eucalyptus hybrids; b) the selection of the vector variables; c) the application of the Euclidean distance to the vector variables; d) the application of fuzzy logic to matrix variables of the Euclidean distance; and e) the application of overlap fuzzy logic to locate areas for installation of wood panel industries. Among all the species and hybrids, Corymbia citriodora showed the highest percentage values for the combined very good and good classes, with 8.60%, followed by Eucalyptus grandis with 8.52%, Eucalyptus urophylla with 8.35% and Urograndis with 8.34%. The fuzzy logic analysis afforded flexibility in prospecting for suitable areas for the installation of wood panel industries in the Espírito Santo State can bring great economic and social benefits to the local population with the generation of jobs, income, tax revenues and GDP increase for the State and municipalities involved. The proposed methodology can be adapted to other areas and agricultural crops.

Geotechnology and landscape ecology applied to the selection of potential forest fragments for seed harvesting.

The Atlantic Forest biome is recognized for its biodiversity and is one of the most threatened biomes on the planet, with forest fragmentation increasing due to uncontrolled land use, land occupation, and population growth. The most serious aspect of the forest fragmentation process is the edge effect and the loss of biodiversity. In this context, the aim of this study was to evaluate the dynamics of forest fragmentation and select potential forest fragments with a higher degree of conservation for seed harvesting in the Itapemirim river basin, Espírito Santo State, Brazil. Image classification techniques, forest landscape ecology, and multi-criteria analysis were used to evaluate the evolution of forest fragmentation to develop the landscape metric indexes, and to select potential forest fragments for seed harvesting for the years 1985 and 2013. According to the results, there was a reduction of 2.55% of the occupancy of the fragments in the basin between the years 1985 and 2013. For the years 1985 and 2013, forest fragment units 2 and 3 were spatialized with a high potential for seed harvesting, representing 6.99% and 16.01% of the total fragments, respectively. The methodology used in this study has the potential to be used to support decisions for the selection of potential fragments for seed harvesting because selecting fragments in different environments by their spatial attributes provides a greater degree of conservation, contributing to the protection and conscious management of the forests. The proposed methodology can be adapted to other areas and different biomes of the world.

Spatial and temporal distribution of urban heat islands.

The formation of an urban heat island (UHI) is one of the most common impacts of the urbanization process. To mitigate the effects of UHI, the planning of urban forests (e.g., creation of parks, forests and afforestation streets) has been the major tool applied in this context. Thus, the aim of this study is to evaluate the spatial and temporal distribution of heat islands in Vila Velha, ES, Brazil using the mono-window algorithm. The study followed these methodological steps: 1) mapping of urban green areas through a photointerpretation screen; 2) application of the mono-window algorithm to obtain the spatial and temporal patterns of land surface temperature (LST); 3) correlation between LST and the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and normalized difference build-up index (NDBI); 4) application of ecological evaluation index. The results showed that the mean values of LST in urban areas were at least 2.34 to 7.19°C higher than undeveloped areas. Moreover, the positive correlation between LST and NDBI showed an amplifying effect of the developed areas for UHI, while areas with a predominance of vegetation attenuated the effect of UHI. Urban centers, clustered in some parts of the city, received the worst ecological assessment index. Finally, the adoption of measures to guide the urban forest planning within urban centers is necessary to mitigate the effect of heat islands and provide thermal comfort in urban areas.

Influence of relief on permanent preservation areas.

Many countries have environmental legislation to protecting natural resources on private property. In Brazil, the Brazilian Forestry Code determines specific areas to maintain with natural vegetation cover, known as areas of permanent preservation (APP). Currently, there are few studies that relate topographic variables on APP. In this context, we sought to evaluate the influence of relief on the conservation of areas of permanent preservation (APP) in the areas surrounding Caparaó National Park, Brazil. By using the chi-squared statistical test, we verified that the presence of forest cover is closely associated with altitude. The classes of APP in better conservation status are slopes in addition to hilltops and mountains, whereas APP streams and springs are among the areas most affected by human activities. The most deforested areas are located at altitudes below 1100.00 m and on slopes less than 45°. All orientations of the sides were significant for APP conservation status, with the southern, southeastern, and southwestern sides showing the lower degrees of impact. The methodology can be adjusted to environmental legislation to other countries.

Estudo das telas cirúrgicas de polipropileno/poliglecaprone-25 e polipropileno monofilamentar no reparo de hérnias inguinais / Study of surgical meshes of polypropylene/poliglecaprone-25 and monofilament polypropylene in the repair of inguinal hernias

OBJETIVO: Aferir complicações pós-operatórias imediatas e tardias em pacientes portadores de hérnia inguinal submetidos à correção cirúrgica, comparando a utilização da tela de polipropileno monofilamentar com a tela de polipropileno/poliglecaprone-25. MÉTODOS: Estudo retrospectivo dos pacientes submetidos ao reparo inguinal com uso de tela cirúrgica, avaliando as complicações precoces e tardias por meio de levantamento de prontuários e contato telefônico. Foram utilizadas telas de polipropileno monofilamentar e telas polipropileno com poliglecaprone-25, sendo os pacientes alocados em cada um dos grupos de forma aleatorizada. RESULTADOS: Foram incluídos 114 pacientes no estudo submetidos ao reparo inguinal pela técnica de Lichtenstein. No grupo que utilizou a tela de polipropileno monofilamentar (81,5%), foram identificados quatro pacientes (4,30%) com seroma, dois (2,15%) com hematoma, dois (2,15%) apresentaram infecção de ferida operatória, três (3,22%) apresentaram hipoestesia, nove (9,67%) apresentaram dor ou desconforto crônico na região inguinal e não houve casos de recorrência da hérnia no período. No grupo que utilizou a tela de polipropileno/poliglecaprone-25 (18,5%), foram identificados um paciente (4,76%) com seroma e um (4,76%) com hipoestesia e dois pacientes (9,52%) apresentaram desconforto ou dor crônica. CONCLUSÃO: O reparo inguinal com uso de tela foi o meio mais eficiente para o tratamento da hérnia inguinal apresentando baixos índices de complicação e fácil aplicabilidade O uso das telas de polipropileno/poliglecaprone-25 ainda não está totalmente estabelecido, apresentando taxas globais de complicações iguais às telas de polipropileno monofilamentar.

OBJECTIVE: To assess postoperative early and late complications in patients with inguinal hernia undergoing surgical correction, comparing the use of monofilament polypropylene mesh with polypropylene/poliglecaprone-25 mesh. METHODS: A retrospective study of patients undergoing inguinal repair with the use of surgical mesh, evaluating early and late complications through the analysis of medical records, and telephone contact. Monofilament polypropylene mesh and polypropylene/polyglecaprone-25 mesh were used, with the patients being randomly allocated to each group. RESULTS:The study included 114 patients who underwent inguinal repair through Lichtenstein technique. In the group that used the monofilament polypropylene mesh (81.5%) 4 patients (4.30%) were identified with seroma, 2 patients (2.15%) with hematoma, 2 patients (2.15%) had surgical wound infection, 3 patients (3.22%) had hypoesthesia, 9 patients (9.67%) had chronic pain or discomfort in the groin, and there were no cases of recurrence of hernia in the period. In the group that used the polypropylene/poliglecaprone-25 mesh (18.5%), 1 patient (4.76%) had seroma, 1 patient (4.76%) had hypoesthesia, and 2 patients (9.52%) showed chronic discomfort or pain. CONCLUSION: The inguinal repair with mesh use is the most efficient treatment for inguinal hernia, showing low rate of complications, and being easy to apply. The use of polypropylene/poliglecaprone-25 mesh is not yet fully established, presenting overall rates of complications similar to monofilament polypropylene mesh.