Temporal distribution and composition of the ichthyoplankton from Leopoldo's Inlet on the Upper Parana River floodplain (Brazil)

Temporal distribution and composition of ichthyoplankton and their relationships with some environmental variables of Leopoldo's Inlet (Ressaco do Leopoldo) on the upper Parana River floodplain, southern Brazil, were analysed. Samples were taken from February 1991 to February 1992, and 3480 larvae were collected. The highest density of larvae was observed in November 1991 (36.79 larvae/ 10 m(3)) at night (night/day ratio 7: 1). Species composition showed a predominance of Characiformes (80%). There was a high density (4.28 larvae/10 m(3)) of Bryconamericus stramineus throughout almost the whole study period, the majority of the species were more frequently collected at night. Pearson's correlation indicated a relationship between larval density, temperature, and pluviometric index. Leopoldo's Inlet, whose ichthyofauna is mainly composed of grazing and resident species. shows favourable conditions for fish reproduction and development.

Genetic parameters estimate for milk and mozzarella cheese yield, fat and protein percentage in dairy buffaloes in Brazil

The aim of this study was analyze the (co)variance components and genetic and phenotypic relationships in the following traits: accumulated milk yield at 270 days (MY270,), observed until 305 days of lactation; accumulated milk yield at 270 days (MY270/A) and at 305 days (MY305), observed until 335 days of lactation; mozzarella cheese yield (MCY) and fat (FP) and protein (PP) percentage, observed until 335 days of lactation. The (co)variance components were estimated by Restricted Maximum Likelihood methodology in analyses single, two and three-traits using animal models. Heritability estimated for MY270, MY270/A, MY305, MCY, FP and PP were 0.22; 0.24, 0.25, 0.14, 0.29 and 0.40 respectively. The genetic correlations between MCY and the variables MY270, MY270/A, MY305, PP and FP was: 0.85; 1.00; 0.89; 0.14 and 0.06, respectively. This way, the selection for the production of milk in long period should increase MCY. However, in the search of animals that produce milk with quality, the genetic parameters suggest that another index should be composed allying these studied traits.

KARYOTYPIC ANALYSIS AND CHROMOSOME BIOMETRY OF CELL-CULTURES OF THE YELLOW-THROATED ALLIGATOR (CAIMAN-LATIROSTRIS DAUDIN)

Blood from eight specimens of both sexes of the alligator Caiman latirostris was collected and incubated in culture medium. Conventional as well as chromosomal banding (C and NOR) techniques were used.The diploid number was determined as 42, being 24 telocentric, 12 metacentric and six submetacentric, with real lengths varying from 1.49 to 6.08, 1.63 to 3.71, and 2.41 to 3.19 mum, respectively. The fundamental number was 60. About 81% of the chromosomes were small and 19% medium in size. NOR-banding was presented for the first time for this species and it was verified that only one submetacentric pair (no. 20) was marked on arm q, and under conventional staining it presented a secondary constriction. There was no association between NOR marked chromosomes.

Experimental and theoretical study of workpiece temperature when end milling hardened steels using (TiAl)N-coated and PcBN-tipped tools

The present work shows an experimental and theoretical study on heat flow when end milling, at high-speed, hardened steels applied to moulds and dies. AISI H13 and AISI D2 steels were machined with two types of ball nose end mills: coated with (TiAl)N and tipped with PcBN. The workpiece geometry was designed to simulate tool-workpiece interaction in real situations found in mould industries, in which complex surfaces and thin walls are commonly machined. The compressed and cold air cooling systems were compared to dry machining Results indicated a relatively small temperature variation, with higher range when machining AISI D2 with PcBN-tipped end mill. All cooling systems used demonstrated good capacity to remove heat from the machined surface, especially the cold air. Compressed air was the most indicated to keep workpiece at relatively stable temperature. A theoretical model was also proposed to estimate the energy transferred to the workpiece (Q) and the average convection coefficient ((h) over bar) for the cooling systems used. The model used a FEM simulation and a steepest decent method to find the best values for both variables. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Ancestral polymorphism and recent invasion of transposable elements in Drosophila species

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Temporal variation in C, N and P of the periphyton on the tropical aquatic macrophyte echinochloa polystachya (H.B.K.) hitch. In Jurumirim Reservoir (São Paulo, Brazil)

The temporal variations in C, N and P concentrations of the periphyton on the natural substratum (Echinochloa polystachya) and its relationships to the water's climatological (air temperature and precipitation), hydrodynamic (water discharge and water level), physical (temperature, transparency) and chemical variables (conductivity, total suspended solids, nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, silica, total phosphorus and orthophosphate) were evaluated in a lagoon at the Paranapanema River mouth into the Jurumirim Reservoir (São Paulo, Brazil) from August 1993 to July 1994. An amplitude variation of 2.0 m in water level was observed. Depending on to the hydrologic conditions, the lagoon presents intermediate conditions of lentic and lotic environments. The amplitude variations in C, N and P were 14.5-52.1% C DW-1, 0.5-3.2% N DW-1, and 0.03-0.4% P DW-1, respectively. The periphyton presented a decreased protein content. The environmental trophic degree appears to be decisive in chemical periphyton composition.

Bayesian and multivariate methods applied to favorability quantification in recôncavo Basin and Ribeira Belt, Brazil

A methodology to define favorable areas in petroleum and mineral exploration is applied, which consists in weighting the exploratory variables, in order to characterize their importance as exploration guides. The exploration data are spatially integrated in the selected area to establish the association between variables and deposits, and the relationships among distribution, topology, and indicator pattern of all variables. Two methods of statistical analysis were compared. The first one is the Weights of Evidence Modeling, a conditional probability approach (Agterberg, 1989a), and the second one is the Principal Components Analysis (Pan, 1993). In the conditional method, the favorability estimation is based on the probability of deposit and variable joint occurrence, with the weights being defined as natural logarithms of likelihood ratios. In the multivariate analysis, the cells which contain deposits are selected as control cells and the weights are determined by eigendecomposition, being represented by the coefficients of the eigenvector related to the system's largest eigenvalue. The two techniques of weighting and complementary procedures were tested on two case studies: 1. Recôncavo Basin, Northeast Brazil (for Petroleum) and 2. Itaiacoca Formation of Ribeira Belt, Southeast Brazil (for Pb-Zn Mississippi Valley Type deposits). The applied methodology proved to be easy to use and of great assistance to predict the favorability in large areas, particularly in the initial phase of exploration programs. © 1998 International Association for Mathematical Geology.

Consistency of side choice in the milking parlour by holstein-friesian cows and its relationship with their reactivity and milk yield

Dairy cows often have to choose which of two sides to enter in the milking parlour. Some cows are very consistent in this choicė, and it is common to assume that when these cows are more disturbed are being milked in their non-preferred side. Such disturbance might involve significantly poor welfare. In order to assess this assumption, we decided to study the behaviour and milk yield of dairy cows and their relationships with side preference in the milking parlour. The study was carried out at Cambridge University Farm, in a two-sided tandem milking parlour. The data collection followed the daily management routine. We recorded the side chosen by each cow (left or right) during 40 milking sessions. Data from 70 cows, which were present in at least 25 milking sessions (mode = 36), were included in the statistical analysis. Cows' reactivity (CR) during premilking udder preparation, time spent fitting the milking cluster (FT), milk yield (MY) and duration of milking (DM) were measured. There was evident individual variation in the consistency of side choice. Individual differences (ANOVA, P < 0.001) were also found in CR, FT, MY and DM; although these variables were not significantly affected by the side or the interaction animal × side (ANOVA, P < 0.05). The comparison between left and right side means (paired t-test) of these variables did not show significant differences (P < 0.05). We concluded that there is no evidence that the cows were discomforted or stressed when milked in the non-preferred side of the milking parlour. © 2001 Elsevier Science B.V.

Description of electrophoretic and chromatographic hemoglobin profile of Rhinoclemmys punctularia

Studies of the hemoglobin pattern in Brazilian reptiles are important for determining ecological and phylogenetic relationships, but they are scarce. Peripheral blood samples were obtained from 7 males and 18 females of Rhinoclemmys punctularia. The hematological profile was based on the total hemoglobin and hematocrit values. The hemoglobin profile was obtained using electrophoretic procedures at different pH, isoelectric focusing, globin chain electrophoresis, and HPLC. The hematocrit (31 ± 2%) and total hemoglobin (7.5 ± 0.2 g/dL) values did not indicate gender variations. Alkaline pH electrophoresis of the total blood samples treated with 1% saponin demonstrated the presence of four well-defined hemoglobin fractions, one major component (fraction I), showing cathodic migration and three others faster than fraction I with anodic migration. When the samples were precipitated with chloroform, only two hemoglobin fractions were observed, similar to fractions I and III from the first procedure. Isoelectric focusing and HPLC showed the same pattern. With acid and neutral pH electrophoresis, two fractions with anodic migration were observed. The globin chain identification at alkaline pH showed two fractions, but four fractions were observed at acidic pH, suggesting that different polypeptide chains are involved in the hemoglobin molecule. The chromatographic separation of the total blood sample demonstrated that the major fraction comprised 81.9% and the minor 18.1%. The results obtained demonstrated a similarity between these hemoglobin components and those of some Chelidae reported in the literature for both land and aquatic animals, reflecting the adaptation to environmental conditions. ©FUNPEC-RP.

Leg muscles recruitment pattern in soccer players and active individuals during isometric contractions

This study aimed to compare the torque, torque ratio (Hamstrings:Quadriceps - H:Q), electromyographic (EMG) activity and EMG ratio (knee flexors:knee extensors EMG) in soccer players (SG, N=10) and active subjects (AG, N=10). Subjects performed three maximal voluntary isometric knee extensions and flexions at 45° and 90° to determine the peak torque and EMG activity. Torque and EMG activity of the knee flexor (biceps femoris [BF] and semitendinosus [ST]) were divided by the torque and EMG activity of the knee extensor (vastuls lateralis [VL] and rectus femoris [RF]) to calculate torque ratios (H:Q) and EMG ratios (BF:VL, BF:RF, ST:VL, ST:RF). The flexion torque was significantly higher for SG (p<0.05) in 45° and 90°. EMG activity for SG was significantly higher in agonist contractions for VL, RF and ST, and significantly lower in antagonist contractions for RF and ST when compared to AG Torque and EMG ratios were similar between groups and there were good correlations between torque ratio and BF:VL ratio (r=0.71, p=0.02) and BF:RF ratio (r=0.81, p=0.004) at 45. The EMG results could overestimate the joint balance calculated using torque ratios. Differences in recruitment pattern between soccer players and non-athletes can be related to the training routines and the EMG ratios presents applicable in trained populations.

Chaos induced by turbulent and erratic functions

Let (X, d) be a compact metric space and f: X → X a continuous function and consider the hyperspace (K(X), H) of all nonempty compact subsets of X endowed with the Hausdorff metric induced by d. Let f̄: K(X) → K (X) be defined by f̄(A) = {f(a)/a ∈ A} the natural extension of f to K(X), then the aim of this work is to study the dynamics of f when f is turbulent (erratic, respectively) and its relationships.

Delineation of specific management areas for coffee cultivation based on the soil-relief relationship and numerical classification

Predicting and mapping productivity areas allows crop producers to improve their planning of agricultural activities. The primary aims of this work were the identification and mapping of specific management areas allowing coffee bean quality to be predicted from soil attributes and their relationships to relief. The study area was located in the Southeast of the Minas Gerais state, Brazil. A grid containing a total of 145 uniformly spaced nodes 50 m apart was established over an area of 31. 7 ha from which samples were collected at depths of 0. 00-0. 20 m in order to determine physical and chemical attributes of the soil. These data were analysed in conjunction with plant attributes including production, proportion of beans retained by different sieves and drink quality. The results of principal component analysis (PCA) in combination with geostatistical data showed the attributes clay content and available iron to be the best choices for identifying four crop production environments. Environment A, which exhibited high clay and available iron contents, and low pH and base saturation, was that providing the highest yield (30. 4l ha-1) and best coffee beverage quality (61 sacks ha-1). Based on the results, we believe that multivariate analysis, geostatistics and the soil-relief relationships contained in the digital elevation model (DEM) can be effectively used in combination for the hybrid mapping of areas of varying suitability for coffee production. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media New York.

Lifestyle factors and socioeconomic variables associated with abdominal obesity in Brazilian adolescents

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Composition and interrelationships of a large Neotropical freshwater fish group, the subfamily Cheirodontinae (Characiformes: Characidae): A case study based on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences

•Relationships of Cheirodontinae based on a broad taxonomic sample.•Results reject the monophyly of Cheirodontinae as previously conceived.•Exclusion of Amazonspinther and Spintherobolus from the subfamily Cheirodontinae.•The removal of Leptagoniates pi of the genus Leptagoniates and inclusion in Cheirodontinae.•Division of Cheirodontinae in three newly defined monophyletic tribes. Characidae is the most species-rich family of freshwater fishes in the order Characiformes, with more than 1000 valid species that correspond to approximately 55% of the order. Few hypotheses about the composition and internal relationships within this family are available and most fail to reach an agreement. Among Characidae, Cheirodontinae is an emblematic group that includes 18 genera (1 fossil) and approximately 60 described species distributed throughout the Neotropical region. The taxonomic and systematic history of Cheirodontinae is complex, and only two hypotheses about the internal relationships in this subfamily have been reported to date. In the present study, we test the composition and relationships of fishes assigned to Cheirodontinae based on a broad taxonomic sample that also includes some characid incertae sedis taxa that were previously considered to be part of Cheirodontinae. We present phylogenetic analyses of a large molecular dataset of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences. Our results reject the monophyly of Cheirodontinae as previously conceived, as well as the tribes Cheirodontini and Compsurini, and the genera Cheirodon, Compsura, Leptagoniates, Macropsobrycon, Odontostilbe, and Serrapinnus. On the basis of these results we propose: (1) the exclusion of Amazonspinther and Spintherobolus from the subfamily Cheirodontinae since they are the sister-group of all remaining Characidae; (2) the removal of Macropsobrycon xinguensis of the genus Macropsobrycon; (3) the removal of Leptagoniates pi of the genus Leptagoniates; (4) the inclusion of Leptagoniates pi in the subfamily Cheirodontinae; (5) the removal of Cheirodon stenodon of the genus Cheirodon and its inclusion in the subfamily Cheirodontinae under a new genus name; (6) the need to revise the polyphyletic genera Compsura, Odontostilbe, and Serrapinnus; and (7) the division of Cheirodontinae in three newly defined monophyletic tribes: Cheirodontini, Compsurini, and Pseudocheirodontini. Our results suggest that our knowledge about the largest Neotropical fish family, Characidae, still is incipient. © 2013 Elsevier Inc..

A new species of Metrodorea (Rutaceae) from Brazil: Morphology, molecular phylogenetics, and distribution

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)