Our eyes are constantly moving yet our perception remains stable. Neurons in lateral intraparietal cortex (LIP) update spatial representations by remapping visual information at the time of an eye movement. In order for remapping to occur over a wide range of eye movements, neurons must have access to visual information from the entire visual scene. The forebrain commissures appear to be the primary pathway for the transfer of visual information across hemispheres but they are not necessary. If the forebrain commissures are transected, behavior dependent on accurate spatial updating is impaired, but recovers. In three sets of experiments we examined different mechanisms of spatial updating in split brain monkeys. First, we studied the relationship between neural activity in LIP and the behavior of the monkey. We found across the population a small but significant relationship between the activity in LIP and the performance of the split brain monkey on the double-step task. This result showed that information about the opposite visual field still reaches LIP, and this activity contributes to the overall behavior of the monkey. Second, we determined if LIP neurons in the split brain monkeys have bilateral receptive fields. One explanation for the observed across-hemifield remapping is that information from both visual fields are represented in a single hemisphere. We found no neurons in the split brain monkeys with ipsilateral representations. We concluded that there must be a subcortical source for the across-hemifield remapping observed in the split brain monkeys. Third, we examined the difference in spatial updating between intact and split brain monkeys in the superior colliculus (SC). In both the intermediate layers of the SC and LIP, neural activity is selectively reduced for the across-hemifield condition in split brain compared to intact animals. This suggest that remapping activity is passed from LIP to the intermediate layers of the SC. In contrast, remapping activity in the superfical layers did not differ between the intact and split brain monkeys. It may be that the superfical neurons contribute to recovered remapping activity observed in LIP.

As a foveate animal, the primate must redirect its gaze with saccadic eye movements to subject different objects to high resolution analysis. Though beneficial in extending the range of visual analysis, the saccade-and-fixate oculomotor strategy poses a problem to the visual system as it performs its analyses. Each saccade results in a whole-field displacement of the visual image across the retina. Nevertheless, we experience a stable visual percept, implying a brain mechanism for visuo-spatial correction. The experiments reported here examine the neural mechanisms underwriting this correction. In the first study, we sought to understand how the frontal eye field (FEF) gains access to information about ipsilateral space. Information about all of space, not just the contralateral hemifield, is a prerequisite for omnidirectional processes such as spatial remapping, a putative mechanism of visual stability. We found that one source of ipsilateral information is the superior colliculus (SC) on the opposite side of the brain. In the second study, we set out to test a major prediction of one theory of visual stability. This theory invokes the function of neurons with shifting receptive fields (RFs) as a mechanism for achieving transaccadic visual stability. Shifting RFs effectively sample the same region of space twice, presaccadically and postsaccadically, and a percept of stability may rely on how well the samples match. This theory has the salient prediction that neurons in areas where shifting RFs are found should be sensitive to changes that occur to stimuli during saccades. We tested this prediction by recording from FEF neurons while monkeys performed a task during which a probe changed along a particular dimension during a saccade. We found that FEF neurons are indeed sensitive to intrasaccadic alterations of visual stimuli. In a third and final study, we sought to bridge the neuron-behavior gap by recording from FEF neurons while monkeys performed a visual stability judgment task that probed their capacity to detect changes occurring during saccades. We found that monkeys are clearly able to discern whether a stimulus is stable or unstable during a saccade and moreover that FEF neural activity is predictive of monkey psychophysical performance.

We see the world as it unfolds in both space and time. Neuroscience research so far, however, has largely focused on the spatial aspects of vision, including orientation and size. No less important to a comprehensive understanding of brain function is an understanding of how visual input is transformed into knowledge about the timing of events in the world. To begin to address this issue, we recorded the activity of single neurons in the frontal eye field (FEF), an area of prefrontal cortex thought to help mediate conscious visual perception. For comparison, we recorded from two portions of the superior colliculus (SC) in the midbrain. The superficial SC receives inputs from the retina and early visual areas, and intermediate SC is associated with early visual processing and the control of eye movements. In two experiments, we measured visual responses to time-varying stimuli and tested whether the magnitudes or latencies of the responses might be used by the brain as a source of timing information. First, we measured visual responses in individual neurons while two consecutive flashes of light were presented during passive fixation. We found that when stimulus intervals were brief (~200 milliseconds), neurons responded robustly to the first flash but not the second one ("neuronal adaptation"). As intervals lengthened, neurons fired more robustly for the second flash. Thus, information about time was implicit in the size of successive visual responses. We then asked if this timing information is exploited by the brain. We recorded activity in FEF and SC while monkeys performed a time interval discrimination task. We evaluated the "magnitude hypothesis", stemming from our adaptation findings, and the "latency hypothesis", which predicts that time intervals are encoded by the relative latencies of visual responses. We found that performance in the task was best described by the magnitude hypothesis; larger visual responses were associated with longer passages of time. We conclude that neuronal adaptation may play a functional role in time perception. Thus, the timing of visual events in the world, at short naturalistic timescales, is partly encoded by the magnitude--not just the latency--of neuronal activity.

The basal ganglia are critical for motor behavior, and a well-known deficit of basal ganglia disorders is the loss of voluntary control over movements. Many studies on the role of basal ganglia in saccadic eye movements have focused on the caudate and substantia nigra pars reticulata (SNr). It has remained unclear, however, whether neurons in other nuclei of the basal ganglia are active during oculomotor behavior and, if they are, whether their activity is preferential for voluntary saccades. We ventured beyond the caudate-SNr pathway to study the globus pallidus externa (GPe) and interna (GPi). First we recorded from neurons in GPe and GPi (and for comparison, in SNr) in monkeys that made memory-guided saccades. Neurons in all three structures had activity synchronized with saccade generation, visual stimulation, or reward. GPe activity was strongly visual-related while GPi activity was more reward-related. The distribution of signals in GPe, but not GPi, resembled that found in SNr. Response fields of neurons in all three structures were more spatially tuned early in trials (during visual and saccadic events) than later in trials (during reward). In our second study, we examined whether saccade-related activity in GPe and GPi was preferentially active for voluntary saccades as defined in two ways: made in the absence of visual stimulation and made in the absence of instructions. We designed tasks that covered all four permutations of presence or absence of visual stimulation and instruction, and analyzed neuronal activity associated with the same vectors of saccades across all the tasks. For about half of the saccade-related neurons in all three structures, saccade-related activity varied with task context. The most prominent factor accounting for differential saccade-related activity was instructional context. Surprisingly, we found higher activity for instructed saccades. Preferential activity for non-instructed (highly voluntary) tasks was rare in individual neurons and absent at the population level. We conclude that GPe and GPi, in addition to SNr, may contribute to oculomotor behavior, and that none of these structures are preferentially active for voluntary saccades. Both of these results provide new views on the role of basal ganglia in eye movements.

Esta dissertação apresenta a metodologia para o Projeto de Engenharia de Reatores Anaeróbios de Fluxo Ascendente com Manta de Lodo para tratamento de esgoto sanitário. A metodologia desenvolvida apresenta os parâmetros de cálculo e os condicionamentos técnicos físicos envolvidos no projeto e construção da unidade de tratamento. O trabalho contém uma proposta de protocolo para o projeto, construção e operação do Reator UASB. / This disquisition presents a methodology for the Project of Anaerobic Reactors Engineering of Sludge Blanket for sanitary sewage treatment. The methodology developed presents the calculus parameters and physic technical involved in the project and construction in the treatment unit. The work contains a protocol propose for the project, construction and operation of UASB Reactor.

O Complexo Lagunar de Jacarepaguá, localizado no município do Rio de Janeiro, região sudeste do Brasil, é formado pelas lagunas de Jacarepaguá, Camorim, Tijuca e Marapendi. Estas lagunas estão interligadas ao mar pelo canal da Joatinga e têm como afluentes rios e canais que vertem dos maciços da Tijuca e da Pedra Branca. Recebem esgotos sanitários e efluentes industriais, além de contribuições difusas de águas de drenagem e circulação das massas de águas de várias origens, com elevada carga de poluição. A eutrofização cultural aliada aos processos de evolução de ecossistemas costeiros produziu um estado de degradação destas águas com constantes florações de cianobactérias potencialmente tóxicas. O presente estudo tem como objetivo avaliar a ocorrência das cianobactérias (Classe Cyanophyceae) no Complexo Lagunar de Jacarepaguá e corroborar a hipótese de serem boas indicadoras de qualidade ambiental de águas salobras. Foi realizado um monitoramento ambiental nas lagunas de Jacarepaguá, Camorim, Tijuca e Marapendi, nos anos de 2004 a 2006, sendo analisados parâmetros físicos, químicos e biológicos. Os resultados obtidos demonstraram a dominância e a persistência das cianobactérias em elevadas concentrações de nutrientes, caracterizando a hipereutrofização dessas lagunas. As estratégias ecológicas das cianobactérias garantiram sua dominância em quase todo o período amostral e demonstraram ser um refinado sensor das variáveis ambientais. A salinidade não foi um fator de limitação ao desenvolvimento desses microorganismos. Desta forma, este estudo, oferece subsídios para gestão de recursos hídricos, corroborando com a legislação CONAMA 357/05-MMA, na sugestão de indicação deste parâmetro de qualidade ambiental também para ambientes salobros na classe 1. / The Jacarepaguá Lagoon Complex, located in the state of the Rio of Janeiro, in Southeast of Brazil, is formed by the lagoons of Jacarepaguá, Camorim, Tijuca and Marapendi. These lagoons are interconnected to the sea by the Joatinga canal and receive contribution from tributary rivers and channels that come from Tijuca and Pedra Branca massifs. They receive industrial and domestic effluents, including diffuse contributions of the drainage basin, as well as water circulation from several origins, with a high pollution load. The cultural eutrophication associated with coastal ecosystems evolution processes, have produced a state of degradation of these waters with frequent waterblooms of potentially toxic cyanobacteria. The objective of the present study is to evaluate the presence of Cyanobacteria (Class Cyanophyceae) in the Jacarepaguá Lagoon Complex and also to corroborate the hypothesis of using them as a good bioindicators of environmental quality in brackish waters. An environmental monitoring program has been carried out in the lagoons of Jacarepaguá, Camorim, Tijuca and Marapendi from 2004 to 2006, including physical, chemical and biological parameters analysis. The results showed the dominance and persistence of Cyanobacteria at high concentrations of nutrients, characterizing the hypereutrofication of these lagoons. The ecological strategies of Cyanobacteria were responsible for their dominance in almost the whole period of study and demonstrated that they can be used as a good sensor of environmental variables. The salinity did not demonstrate to be a limiting factor to the development of these microorganisms. In this way, this study provides subsidies for water resources management, corroborating with Brazilian legislation (CONAMA 357/05- MMA) suggesting the inclusion of Cyanobacteria as a parameter of environmental quality in brackish environments classified as Class 1.

O projeto de Estações de Tratamento de Efluentes Industriais (ETEIs) deve objetivar um desempenho médio, o qual não pode ser ultrapassado certo número de vezes durante seu tempo operacional. Este trabalho propõe a aplicação da metodologia conhecida como Coeficiente de Confiabilidade (CDC) para quantificação da confiabilidade das etapas de tratamento físico (Separação Águaóleo SAO e flotação) e biológico (lodos ativados com aeração prolongada), considerando efluente oleoso proveniente de refino de petróleo. Tal metodologia, entretanto, não possibilita a identificação das prováveis causas do baixo desempenho na tratabilidade. Por isso também é proposta a aplicação da ferramenta de gestão riscos conhecida como FMECA (Failure Modes, Effects and Criticality Analysis), que permite a quantificação das observações qualitativas de campo, tornando os valores comparáveis para definir a hierarquização dos riscos e criticidade das etapas de tratamento estudadas. A etapa biológica para o parâmetro NH3 apresentou a maior confiabilidade, ainda que a análise de risco tenha apontado esta etapa como mais crítica. Ou seja, um sistema confiável não necessariamente apresenta menor criticidade, pois uma má gestão implicará em possíveis infrações às metas pré-fixadas ou à própria legislação ambiental.

O estudo da dinâmica dos parâmetros físicos, químicos e biológicos da água em lagoas costeiras é essencial para entender o funcionamento destes ecossistemas; o que por sua vez permite o desenvolvimento de estratégias adequadas de gerenciamento e conservação de seus recursos. Neste estudo, analisou-se a qualidade da água da Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas (Rio de Janeiro/RJ) e dos seus principais tributários. Foram utilizados os dados oriundos do projeto de monitoramento da qualidade da água realizado pela SMAC/RJ, entre dezembro de 2011 e dezembro de 2012. O objetivo precípuo foi compreender a dinâmica espacial e temporal da variação do estado trófico e da qualidade da água, assim como avaliar a exequibilidade e aplicabilidade de índices multimétricos (IQA, IET, ICE, IC, TRIX) ao projeto de monitoramento ambiental da LRF. Para tanto, foram realizadas coletas mensais e semanais da água superficial em cinco pontos amostrais, na LRF, e cinco pontos nos rios/canais. Em seguida, análises físico-químicas e biológicas foram realizadas. Os resultados obtidos mostraram relativa homogeneidade espacial e elevada variação sazonal da qualidade da água superficial. Os índices aplicados aos dados indicaram uma variação temporal representativa do estado trófico e da qualidade da água, sendo as classificações para os rios e canais diferentes às verificadas na LRF. Esta apresentou variação entre supereutrófica e hipereutrófica, já os primeiros foram mesotróficos. A qualidade da água da LRF apresentou majoritariamente entre moderada a boa. Os rios e canais foram classificados ruins e médios. Concluiu-se que diferentes modelos podem resultar em diferentes classificações de níveis de trofia e qualidade da água. Análises estatísticas de tendência indicaram estabilidade da qualidade da água, sem uma projeção representativa de melhoria da qualidade hídrica. Já análises multivariadas (RDA, PCA BEST, SIMPER, ANOSIM, MDS e CLUSTER) mostraram um elevado dinamismo da comunidade fitoplanctônica com nítida resposta às oscilações de variáveis físico-químicas específicas, apesar da dominância recorrente por cianobactérias. / The study of the dynamics of physical, chemical and biological parameters in coastal lagoons is essential to understand how these ecosystems function, which enables the development of appropriate strategies for management and conservation of its water resources. This research analyzed the water quality of the Rodrigo de Freitas lagoon (LRF), located in the city of Rio de Janeiro/RJ, and its main tributaries. Data from the Water Quality Monitoring Program conducted by Secretaria Municipal de Meio Ambiente do Rio de Janeiro between December 2011 and December 2012 were used. The main objective of this study is clarify the spatiotemporal dynamic of the variation of the trophic state and water quality of the LRF, and assess the applicability and feasibility of specific multimetric indices (IQA, IET, ICE, IC, TRIX). In order to achieving this goal, weekly and monthly surface water samplings were performed at five stations in the LRF and five stations in the rivers/channels. Physico-chemical and microbiological (bacteriological and phytoplankton) variables were analyzed in situ or in the laboratory. The results showed relative spatial homogeneity and high temporal variation of the water quality. The trophic state and water quality indices classified the rivers/channels as mostly mesotrophic and the LRF between supereutrophic and hypereutrophic. The water quality was classified between moderate to good in the LRF and medium and bad for the rivers/channels. It was concluded, therefore, that different assessment models may result in contradictory classifications of the trophic and and water quality conditions. Trend statistical analysis indicated stability of trophic conditions but without a representative prediction of improving water quality. Finally, it is emphasized that the multivariate statistical analysis (RDA, PCA BEST, SIMPER, ANOSIM, MDS and CLUSTER) demonstrated a high dynamism of the phytoplankton community in response to fluctuations in the physico-chemical characteristics, despite the recurrent dominance by cyanobacteria.

A constante exploração da água de forma descontrolada tem comprometido a sua qualidade e quantidade para os seus diversos fins, dentre os quais se destaca o uso recreativo por contato primário. O presente estudo levanta um problema frequente no litoral brasileiro: cidades que recebem um elevado número de visitantes em determinados períodos do ano e sofrem crises ambientais por conta da mudança drástica no volume populacional, já que a população flutuante dificulta a gestão de insumos públicos como o abastecimento de água potável, os serviços de saúde, o descarte de lixo e o tratamento de esgoto, sendo muitas vezes responsável por uma poluição local. Nesse sentido, utilizou-se como modelo o balneário de Muriqui, distrito de Mangaratiba, no Estado do Rio de Janeiro, e objetivou-se diagnosticar a poluição hídrica e a balneabilidade da praia. A metodologia empregada para o desenvolvimento desta pesquisa foi baseada em pesquisas bibliográficas, por trabalhos técnico-científicos publicados, livros e instrumentos legais, e em um plano de amostragem. . Foram também realizadas visitas às secretarias municipais para recolher dados atuais sobre o município. Por fim, para confrontar os resultados analíticos obtidos em campo, realizou-se uma investigação da série histórica da pluviosidade das estações pluviométricas mais próximas ao distrito de Muriqui. Para verificar a qualidade da água da praia e dos dois rios que desembocam nela, foi realizado um plano de amostragem com coletas quinzenais, às segundas-feiras pela manhã, entre setembro de 2012 e agosto de 2013, totalizando 25 campanhas. Em cada campanha foram coletados cinco pontos de amostragem: três na praia de Muriqui, um no Rio da Prata e outro no Rio Catumbi. Assim, realizou-se o monitoramento de parâmetros físicos, químicos e biológicos, com o intuito de compará-los aos valores permitidos pelas legislações vigentes e correlacioná-los entre si para verificar o nível de degradação dos corpos hídricos da região. Constatou-se com o estudo que o ponto no Rio da Prata é o mais deteriorado e impactado pela ação antrópica, já que estava localizado mais próximo à sua foz. A avaliação da qualidade da água da praia indicou que o local apresentava condições excelentes de balneabilidade em 96% do período monitorado, apresentando apenas um episódio impróprio para banho. De modo geral, verificou-se com a pesquisa que alguns parâmetros demonstraram episódios característicos de poluição difusa por esgoto sanitário, aparentemente em estado inicial de degradação. / The uncontrolled exploration of the wather has been compromised its quality and quantity for several uses, among which the primary contact recreational usage can be highlighted. This study brings a common problem in the brazilian coast: cities that receive a high number of visitors during some periods of the year and suffer environmental crisis due the drastic change of population volume, since the floating population difficults the public input management like the water supplying, health services, waste discard and the sewerage system treatment, which can pollute these areas. Muriqui resort, a city in Mangaratiba, in Rio de Janeiro State, was chosen as a model for this study, which object was to diagnose the hydric pollution and the balneability of the beach. The methodology of the exploration was based into reviewing scientifcs publications, books and legal material and creating a sampling plan. . Besides, some municipal departaments were visited so as to collect present data about the city and, in order to confront the water analysis, an investigation of the rain history of the area was made . Aiming toverify the beach and two rivers water quality, samples were collected twice a month on mondays mornings, from september 2012 to august 2013, totalizing 25 collects. In each collect, five sampling poins were made: three points at the beach, one at Pratas river and other at Catumbi river. Physical, chemical and biological parameters were monitored, in order to compare these data with the numbers alowed by law and correlating them to verify the degradation level of the water. The results of this study demonstrate that the point of Pratas river was the most degradated, because it was the nearest point of the rivers mouth. The assessment of the beach water quality indicated that the site had excellent balneability during 96% of the monitored period, and it was improper only once. During the study some parameters show pollution promoted by domestic effluents, apparently in initial degradation.

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / Desde 2004, o CONAMA (Conselho Nacional de Meio Ambiente), através de sua Resolução n 344, vem exigindo que as análises físicas, químicas e biológicas em matrizes ambientais sejam realizadas em laboratórios ambientais que possuam sua competência técnica reconhecida formalmente através da acreditação concedida pelo Inmetro. Assim, algumas Unidades Federativas vem adotando o mesmo critério para cadastramento de laboratórios em seus bancos de dados. Com isso, houve um crescimento no número de acreditações: em 2002 haviam 12 laboratórios acreditados e em 2012 foram concedidas 198 acreditações a laboratórios ambientais. A adoção da ABNT NBR ISO/IEC 17025 como padrão de trabalho, além de atender as legislações vigentes, possui as seguintes vantagens: satisfação do cliente, credibilidade e melhoria contínua do laboratório, melhoria da capacitação profissional e a conquista de um mercado mais amplo. Buscando adequar-se a essa realidade, apesar de todas as dificuldades inerentes ao processo de implementação dos requisitos da ABNT NBR ISO/IEC 17025 em laboratórios universitários e de pesquisa, o Laboratório de Engenharia Sanitária (LES/DESMA) priorizou a adequação da determinação da demanda química de oxigênio (DQO) aos requisitos técnicos da ABNT NBR ISO/IEC 17025:2005, por ser um parâmetro indicador global de matéria orgânica em águas residuárias e superficiais e ser amplamente utilizado no monitoramento de estações de tratamento de efluentes líquidos e pelo fato deste poder ser determinado por duas técnicas analíticas distintas: espectrofotometria e colorimetria. Em razão deste cenário, o objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o desempenho dos métodos 5220 B e 5220 D descritos pelo Standard Methods, através dos parâmetros de validação de métodos analíticos. Ambos os métodos mostraram-se adequados ao uso a que se destinam e o limite de quantificação determinado apresentou-se compatível com o praticado com os laboratórios acreditados. As incertezas foram calculadas de forma a quantificar a qualidade do resultado. / Since 2004, CONAMA - National Council for the Environment - through its Resolution No. 344, has demanded that the physical, chemical and biological environmental matrices are performed in environmental laboratories that have formally acknowledged their technical competence through accreditation granted by Inmetro. Since then, some Federal Units has adopted the same criteria for laboratories registration in their databases. With that, there was an increase in the number of accreditations: in 2002 there were 12 accredited laboratories and in 2012 were granted accreditation to 198 environmental laboratories. The adoption of ABNT NBR ISO / IEC 17025 as the standard of work, in addition to attend the existing laws, has the following advantages: customer satisfaction, continuous improvement and credibility of the lab, professional skills improvement and the gain of a broader market. Seeking to adapt to this reality, despite of all the difficulties inherent in the process of implementing the requirements of ABNT NBR ISO / IEC 17025 in university and research laboratories, the Laboratory of Sanitary Engineering - LES / DESMA - prioritized to determine the suitability of Chemical Oxygen Demand - COD to the technical requirements of ABNT NRB ISO / IEC 17025:2005, as a global indicator parameter of organic matter in wastewater and surface and be widely used in monitoring liquid effluent treatment stations and because this it can be determined by two different analytical techniques: colorimetry and spectrophotometry. Given this scenario, the objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of the methods 5220 B and 5220 D described by Standard Methods, using validation parameters of analytical methods. Both methods proved to be suitable for the intended use and the limit of quantification determined appeared to be compatible with the practiced with accredited laboratories. The uncertainties were calculated to quantify the quality of the result.