Post legal positivism: new paradigm of legal science (jurisprudence) and practice in Brazil

The relation between law, moral, society and science is shifting in Brazil as it is changing in democratic contemporary societies. This paper proposes to reflect about this change in the Brazilian legal and social context. Jurisprudence and legal practice have been transformed intensively after the Brazilian redemocratization that began in 1985 and Federal Constitution of 1988. In the field of Jurisprudence (Legal Theory), a new legal theory called post-positivism progressively has been overcoming legal critical studies and legal positivism. In recent years, ideas as any moral values can be improved by law (positivism) or law is one of many oppressive institutions in capitalist society (legal critical studies – Marxism) have been losing place in legal theory. Nowadays, when Brazilian Constitution implements just society and legal system, different from the authoritarian military regime (1964 – 1985), it is difficult to work with a complete relativistic idea of law (positivism) or difficult to accept that law is necessarily oppressive in capitalistic societies. Otherwise the idea of science in law at post-positivistic point of view try to overcome in a dialectic way a pure science methodology (normativistic positivism) and the complete political and economic studies of law (critical legal studies – Marxism). After that, the text will show that Brazilian legal practice have changed intensively after post positivistic methodology of law and will reflect about same dilemmas of post-positivism in Brazil in the legal theory and practice

Size-scaling limits of impulsive elastic energy release from a resilin-like elastomer

Elastically-driven motion has been used as a strategy to achieve high speeds in small organisms and engineered micro-robotic devices. We examine the size-scaling relations determining the limit of elastic energy release from elastomer bands with mechanical properties similar to the biological protein resilin. The maximum center-of-mass velocity of the elastomer bands was found to be size-scale independent, while smaller bands demonstrated larger accelerations and shorter durations of elastic energy release. Scaling relationships determined from these measurements are consistent with the performance of small organisms which utilize elastic elements to power motion. Engineered devices found in the literature do not follow the same size-scaling relationships, which suggests an opportunity for improved design of engineered devices.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure

Symmetry Plays a Key Role in the Erasing of Patterned Surface Features

We report on how the relaxation of patterns prepared on a thin film can be controlled by manipu- lating the symmetry of the initial shape. The validity of a lubrication theory for the capillary-driven relaxation of surface profiles is verified by atomic force microscopy measurements, performed on films that were patterned using focused laser spike annealing. In particular, we observe that the shape of the surface profile at late times is entirely determined by the initial symmetry of the perturba- tion, in agreement with the theory. Moreover, in this regime the perturbation amplitude relaxes as a power-law in time, with an exponent that is also related to the initial symmetry. The results have relevance in the dynamical control of topographic perturbations for nanolithography and high density memory storage

Cooking impact in color, pigments and volatile composition of grapevine leaves (Vitis vinifera L. var. Malvasia Fina and Touriga Franca)

Grapevine leaves (Vitis vinifera L. var. Malvasia Fina and Touriga Franca) under culinary treatment (blanching and boiling at 60, 75 and 90 min) were studied for their color, pigments and volatile fraction changes. Blanching and boiling caused a decrease in luminosity and a loss of green coloration in both varieties, while a yellow-brownish color arose. Significant correlations were established between the loss of green color (monochromatic variable a ∗ ) and the total chlorophylls content. The main volatiles in fresh leaves [(Z)-3-hexenal, (Z)-3-hexen-1-ol, and (Z)-3-hexenyl acetate] were drastically reduced by blanching and suppressed by boiling. Other compounds like pentanal and 6-methyl-5-hepten-2 one arose from blanching and boiling. A boiling time of 60 min is adequate for the culinary process of grapevine leaves, since the product is considered edible and the pigments and volatile changes are not as drastic as observed at 75 and 90 min of boiling.The authors are grateful to PRODER (Programa de Desenvolvimento Rural) for the financial support under the project ‘‘Proteção da videira contra pragas e doenças em modo de produção biológico para obtenção de vinho biológico” (n 47476).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Quantized contact angles in the dewetting of a structured liquid

We investigate the dewetting of a disordered melt of diblock copolymer from an ordered residual wetting layer. In contrast to simple liquids where the wetting layer has a fixed thickness and the droplets exhibit a single unique contact angle with the substrate, we find that structured liquids of diblock copolymer exhibit a discrete series of wetting layer thicknesses each producing a different contact angle. These quantized contact angles arise because the substrate and air surfaces each induce a gradient of lamellar order in the wetting layer. The interaction between the two surface profiles creates an effective interface potential that oscillates with film thickness, thus, producing a sequence of local minimums. The wetting layer thicknesses and corresponding contact angles are a direct measure of the positions and depths of these minimums. Self-consistent field theory is shown to provide qualitative agreement with the experiment

Why do Large Animals Never Actuate Their Jumps with Latch-Mediated Springs? Because They can Jump Higher Without Them.

As animals get smaller, their ability to generate usable work from muscle contraction is decreased by the muscle's force-velocity properties, thereby reducing their effective jump height. Very small animals use a spring-actuated system, which prevents velocity effects from reducing available energy. Since force-velocity properties reduce the usable work in even larger animals, why don't larger animals use spring-actuated jumping systems as well? We will show that muscle length-tension properties limit spring-actuated systems to generating a maximum one-third of the possible work that a muscle could produce-greatly restricting the jumping height of spring-actuated jumpers. Thus a spring-actuated jumping animal has a jumping height that is one-third of the maximum possible jump height achievable were 100% of the possible muscle work available. Larger animals, which could theoretically use all of the available muscle energy, have a maximum jumping height that asymptotically approaches a value that is about three times higher than that of spring-actuated jumpers. Furthermore, a size related "crossover point" is evident for these two jumping mechanisms: animals smaller than this point can jump higher with a spring-actuated mechanism, while animals larger than this point can jump higher with a muscle-actuated mechanism. We demonstrate how this limit on energy storage is a consequence of the interaction between length-tension properties of muscles and spring stiffness. We indicate where this crossover point occurs based on modeling and then use jumping data from the literature to validate that larger jumping animals generate greater jump heights with muscle-actuated systems than spring-actuated systems

Seismic hazard in Nicaragua: a case study of Managua

Nicaragua, país centroamericano de 6.2 millones de habitantes, conocido por sus grandes lagos y volcanes activos, se encuentra en el cinturón de fuego del Pacífico, en la zona de subducción de la Placa Coco bajo la Placa Caribe. El país tiene un amplio historial de destrucción causado por sucesivos terremotos de fuerte magnitud. Centenas de fallas geológicas causan sismos frecuentes en la capital, Managua. El propósito de este trabajo es analizar el caso singular de Managua y su alto riesgo de sufrir pérdidas y daños por desastres naturales catastróficos, presentando para eso, el escenario tectónico-volcánico del país; el estudio se enfoca en los episodios más extremos ocurridos, analizando la amenaza sísmica en Managua. Como resultado de este trabajo se entrega un panorama general de los tipos de amenazas geológicas que desafían Nicaragua, concentrándose en las amenazas sísmicas y algunos episodios trágicos en el historial de desastres naturales geológicos, contribuyendo así con la difusión de conocimientos necesarios al planteamiento de políticas de mitigación y prevención de desastres geológicos sísmicos y volcánicos.Nicaragua, Central American country of 6.2 million people, is known for its large lakes and active volcanoes. Yet, the country has a long history of destruction caused by successive strong earthquakes, due to its location on the Pacific Ring of Fire in the subduction zone of the Cocos plate under the Caribbean plate. As such, Managua, the capitol, with 1.480.000 million inhabitants, is the most susceptible area to disasters, as a result of hundreds of faults that cause frequent earthquakes. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the risks that the city of Managua faces of suffering material and human losses, in the event of an extreme natural disaster, by describing the tectonic-volcanic conditions of the country, taking as theoretical reference the concepts of natural hazards and natural disasters. The empirical section analyzes data from Nicaraguan scientific institutes and specialized literature, from which an overview of the types of geological hazards that prevail in the country is laid out. By focusing on seismic hazards and on some tragic episodes in the history of geological disasters,the paper aims to contribute to the current body of knowledge necessary for the definition of mitigation and prevention policies of seismic and volcanic geological disasters

Selection of grapevine leaf varieties for culinary process based on phytochemical composition and antioxidant properties

Grapevine leaves are an abundant sub-product of vineyards which is devalued in many regions. The objective of this work is to study the antioxidant activity and phytochemical composition of ten grapevine leaf varieties (four red varieties: Tinta Amarela, Tinta Roriz, Touriga Franca, and Touriga Nacional; and six white varieties: Côdega do Larinho, Fernão Pires, Gouveio, Malvasia Fina, Rabigato, and Viosinho) to select varieties to be used as food ingredients. White grapevine leaves revealed higher antioxidant potential. Malvasia Fina reported better antioxidant properties contrasting with Touriga Franca. Phenolic content varied between 112 and 150 mg GAE g -1 of extract (gallic acid equivalents), hydroxycinnamic acid derivatives and flavonols varied between 76 and 108 mg CAE g -1 of extract (caffeic acid equivalents) and 39 and 54 mg QE g -1 of extract (quercetin equivalents). Malvasia Fina is a good candidate for culinary treatment due to its antioxidant properties and composition in bioactive compounds.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Inhomogeneous Magnetic-Field Response of YBa2Cu3Oy and La2-xSrxCuO4 Persisting above the Bulk Superconducting Transition Temperature

We report that in YBa2Cu3Oy and La2-xSrxCuO4 there is a spatially inhomogeneous response to magnetic field for temperatures T extending well above the bulk superconducting transition temperature Tc. An inhomogeneous magnetic response is observed above Tc even in ortho-II YBa2Cu3O6.50, which has highly ordered doping. The degree of the field inhomogeneity above Tc tracks the hole doping dependences of both Tc and the density of the superconducting carriers below Tc, and therefore is apparently coupled to superconductivity.Comment: Modified discussio

Nanoscale oxygen defect gradients in UO2+x surfaces.

Oxygen defects govern the behavior of a range of materials spanning catalysis, quantum computing, and nuclear energy. Understanding and controlling these defects is particularly important for the safe use, storage, and disposal of actinide oxides in the nuclear fuel cycle, since their oxidation state influences fuel lifetimes, stability, and the contamination of groundwater. However, poorly understood nanoscale fluctuations in these systems can lead to significant deviations from bulk oxidation behavior. Here we describe the use of aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy to resolve changes in the local oxygen defect environment in [Formula: see text] surfaces. We observe large image contrast and spectral changes that reflect the presence of sizable gradients in interstitial oxygen content at the nanoscale, which we quantify through first-principles calculations and image simulations. These findings reveal an unprecedented level of excess oxygen incorporated in a complex near-surface spatial distribution, offering additional insight into defect formation pathways and kinetics during [Formula: see text] surface oxidation