Society seen through the prism of space: outline of a theory of society and space

Two questions challenge the student of space and society above all others: will new technologies change the spatial basis of society ? And if so, will this have an impact on society itself ? For the urbanist, these two questions crystallise into one: what will the future of cities have to do with their past ? Too often these questions are dealt with as though they were only matters of technology. But they are much more than that. They are deep and difficult questions about the interdependence of technology, space and society that we do not yet have the theoretical apparatus to answer. We know that previous �revolutions� in technology such as agriculture, urbanism and industrialisation associated radical changes in space with no less radical changes in social institutions. But we do not know how far these linkages were contingent or necessary. We do not, in short, have a theory of society and space adequate to account for where we are now, and therefore we have no reasonable theoretical base for speculating about the future. In this paper, I suggest that a major reason for this theoretical deficit is that most previous attempts to build a theory of society and space have looked at society and tried to find space in its output. The result has been that the constructive role of space in creating and and sustaining society has not been brought to the fore, or if it has, only in a way which is too general to permit the detailed specification of mechanisms. In this paper I try to reverse the normal order of things this by looking first at space and trying the discern society through space: by looking at society through the prism of space. Through this I try to define key mechanisms linking space to society and then use these to suggest how the questions about the future of cities and societies might be better defined

Wang-Landau sampling in three-dimensional polymers

Monte Carlo simulations using Wang-Landau sampling are performed to study three-dimensional chains of homopolymers on a lattice. We confirm the accuracy of the method by calculating the thermodynamic properties of this system. Our results are in good agreement with those obtained using Metropolis importance sampling. This algorithm enables one to accurately simulate the usually hardly accessible low-temperature regions since it determines the density of states in a single simulation.Comment: 5 pages, 9 figures arch-ive/Brazilian Journal of Physic

Comprometimento otológico como manifestação inicial de granulomatose de wegener: relato de caso.

Trabalho de Conclusão de Curso - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Departamento de Clínica Cirúrgica, Curso de Medicina, Florianópolis, 199

Floristic composition analysis and vegetal sucession after supression of exotic forest section with native species regeneration : is passive restoration a solution for invasive species management at Rio Vermelho State Reserve?

TCC (graduação) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Centro de Ciências Agrárias. Curso de Agronomia.As controvérsias com relação às populações de plantas exóticas na unidade de conservação do Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho (PAERV) levantam a necessidade de estudos in loco, tendo em consideração as particularidades do ecossistema Restinga, neste ambiente modificado por ações humanas em sucessivas ocasiões. A remoção dos talhões florestais estabelecidos na criação da Estação Florestal do Rio Vermelho (1962) deverá observar critérios baseados na época de dispersão de sementes de Pinus, assim como a eficiência do banco de sementes em providenciar colonização adequada para a sucessão vegetal, a evitar a reocupação das áreas com plântulas de espécies exóticas, ou a remobilização de dunas fixas pelas florestas plantadas. Assim, a observação da colonização vegetal em uma área onde houve corte de talhão florestal com moderada regeneração da vegetação nativa pode fornecer subsídios à gestão do PAERV. Para tanto foram avaliadas 60 parcelas de 1m x 1m em três tratamentos: Área perturbada, Zona de transição e Zona estável (talhão florestal). Foi avaliada a composição florística nas parcelas, bem como índices ecológicos de Shannon (H') e análise das coordenadas principais (PCoA). A partir dos resultados, foram obtidos indícios de que a restauração passiva é uma alternativa de baixo custo para o estabelecimento da vegetação típica da Restinga, tendo em vista o sucesso da ocupação da área por espécies nativas favorecedoras da sucessão vegetal. Todavia, deve ser observado o pico da dispersão de sementes de Pinus no agendamento da remoção de florestas.The controversies regarding exotic plants population in the conservation unit of Rio Vermelho State Reserve (PAERV) raise the necessities of in loco research, considering the peculiarities of Restinga ecossystem, in this area modified by human intervention in numerous ocasions. The removal of forest sections established along the creation of the Rio Vermelho Forest Station (1962) should observe criteria based on Pinus seeds dispersion period, equally with the effitiency of soil seedbank to provide adequade settling for vegetal sucession, in order to avoid it's reocupation with exotic species seedlings, or the remobilization of sand dunes settled by the planted forest. Therefore, the observation of vegetal colonization in an area where a forest section with moderate regeneration of native vegetation has been cut can offer subsidies for the PAERV management. For such, 60 parcels of 1m x 1m were installed within three treatmets: Disturbed area, Transition zone and Stable zone (forest section). Floristic composition and Shannon (H') indexes were evaluated, as well as the main coordinates analysis (PCoA). As a result, evidence was obtained that passive restoration is a low cost alternative for reestablishment of the Restinga typical vegetation, due to the success of area ocupation by native species favoring vegetal sucession. However, Pinus seeds dispersion peak should be observed for the forest removal schedule