Virgin forests are relatively rare in the European temperate zone. This is due to the continuous use of forests historically and to increasing high population densities. Virgin forests are forests where the structure and dynamics have developed entirely under natural conditions, without any human interference or influence. This article assesses the Plješevica forest in Bosnia Herzegovina to establish whether it can be classified as a virgin forest. The structure and components of the forest were assessed in a 1 ha sample plot and four 400 m2 quadrats. The values of the biodiversity indexes (as defined by Shannon and Weaver, Krebs and Meyer), species richness and evenness, the distribution of the different stand development stages and the proportion of deadwood lead to the conclusion that Plješevica forest presents a set of structural and dynamic characteristics close to the ones typical for virgin forests in Europe, so in order to maintain its status as such, in the meantime, it should undergo a protection management program.

We explore phonon decay processes necessary to the design of efficient rough semiconductor nanowire (NW) thermoelectric devices. A novel approach to surface roughness-limited thermal conductivity of Si, Ge, and GaAs NW with diameter D < 500 nm is presented. In particular, a frequency-dependent phonon scattering rate is computed from perturbation theory and related to a description of the surface through the root-mean-square roughness height Δ and autocovariance length L. Using a full phonon dispersion relation, the thermal conductivity varies quadratically with diameter and roughness as (D/Δ)2. Computed results are in agreement with experimental data, and predict remarkably low thermal conductivity below 1 W/m/K in rough-etched 56 nm Ge and GaAs NW at room temperature.

We study phonons produced by transitions between the equivalent X valleys in silicon. We use the Monte Carlo method first to select stochastically the time between phonon collisions, and then to select a final-state pair of phonons from the probability distribution for anharmonic decay. Our results show that intervalley phonons decay into one near-equilibrium transverse acoustic phonon and another intermediate longitudinal phonon either on the acoustic or optical branch. This second phonon has energies between 40 and 50 meV and undergoes another decay before turning into a pair of near-equilibrium transverse acoustic phonons, presenting an additional potential bottleneck.

This work had as purpose to analyze the possible factors related with the occurrences of Hepatitis in the neighborhoods of Grande Vitoria, Estrelinha and Inhangueta located in the city of Vitoria, State of the Espirito Santo, from April the June, 2006, and the quality of the water consumed by the population. The indicators for the water quality used were the Free Residual Chlorine concentrations (FRC) and the presence of thermotolerant coliforms. The microbiological analyses performed in the water consumed for the studied communities did not presented results indicating contamination by thermotolerants coliforms and the percentage of FRC determined between January and June were always above of the minimum limit demanded by the legislation (Act 518/2004). The results showed that the occurrence of a Hepatitis A outbreak can be related with the absence of physical barriers that impede the contact of people with the contaminated water and the practical deficiencies in the hygienic practices adopted, individually, by the local population.