Response of black oats (Avena strigosa Schreb) on the aspersion irrigation and nitrogen fertilization

The objective of the study was assessing the effect of the nitrogen and the aspersion irrigation on the growth and dry matter yield of black oats (Avena strigosa Schreb). The experiment was conducted in the Campus of USP in Pirassununga, Sao Paulo State. In the study were evaluated four nitrogen levels (0, 50, 100 and 150 kg of N ha(-1)) and also the presence or absence of the irrigation. The plant variables evaluated were: mean height, dry matter percentage, yield and growth rate. The results had disclosed to greater height of plant in the irrigated condition, reflecting in the higher production of dry matter. In dry land area, percentage of DM was 24.7% and in irrigated area 18.7%. The nitrogen was significantly only for plant mean height that showed linear fit when carried through the irrigation. The effect of the irrigation was better for the production of black oats than nitrogen.

Effects of competition on sexual and clonal reproduction of a tunicate: the importance of competitor identity

Individual fitness and the structure of marine communities are strongly affected by spatial competition. Among the most common space holders are the colonial ascidians, which have the ability to monopolize large areas of hard substrate, overgrowing most other competitors. The effects of competition on colony growth and on gonad production of the ascidian Didemnum perlucidum were studied in southeastern Brazil by experimentally removing surrounding competitors. Colonies of D, perlucidum competing for space exhibited a growth rate 9 times less than that of colonies that were competitor free. Among the colonies subject to competition, growth rates were unrelated to the percentage of colony border that was free of competitors. However, the identity of the competitor was important in the outcome of border contacts. At the beginning of the experiment, most border encounters of D. perlucidum were with solitary organisms, which in most cases were overgrown. These were progressively replaced by colonial ascidians and bryozoans, resulting mostly in stand-off interactions. Besides reducing asexual growth, spatial competition also affected female gonad production. Colonies free of competitors had a significantly higher proportion of zooids with ovaries. Thus, our findings show that spatial competition reduces both ascidian colony size and gonad production.

Quasinormal modes of black holes immersed in a strong magnetic field

We found quasinormal modes, both in time and frequency domains, of the Ernst black holes, that is neutral black holes immersed in an external magnetic field. The Ernst solution reduces to the Schwarzschild solution, when the magnetic field vanishes. It is found that the quasinormal spectrum for massless scalar field in the vicinity of the magnetized black holes acquires an effective ""mass"" mu = 2B vertical bar m vertical bar, where m is the azimuthal number and B is parameter describing the magnetic field. We shall show that in the presence of a magnetic field quasinormal modes are longer lived and have larger oscillation frequencies. The perturbations of higher-dimensional magnetized black holes by Ortaggio and of magnetized dilaton black holes by Radu are considered. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Construction of Hamiltonian-Minimal Lagrangian submanifolds in Complex Euclidean Space

We describe several families of Lagrangian submanifolds in complex Euclidean space which are H-minimal, i.e. critical points of the volume functional restricted to Hamiltonian variations. We make use of various constructions involving planar, spherical and hyperbolic curves, as well as Legendrian submanifolds of the odd-dimensional unit sphere.

Optimization of incubation time of protein Tc85 in the construction of biosensor: Is the EIS a good tool?

Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) in pH 6.9 phosphate buffer solution was used to investigate each step of the procedure employed to modify a screen-printed electrode (SPE). The SPE was modified with self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of cystamine (CYS, deposited from 20 mM solution), followed by glutaraldehyde (GA, 0.3 M solution). The Trypanosoma cruzi antigen was immobilized using different deposition times. The influence of incubation time (2-18 h) of protein was also investigated. The topography of modified electrode with this protein was investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM). Interpretation of impedance data was based on physical and chemical adsorption, and degradation of the layer at high and meddle frequencies, and charge transfer reaction involving mainly the reduction of oxygen at low frequencies. EIS studies on modified electrodes with Tc85 protein immobilized for different incubation times indicated that the optimum incubation time was 6-8 h. It was demonstrated that EIS is a good technique to evaluate the different steps and the integrity of the surface modifications, and to optimize the incubation time of protein in the development of biosensors. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.