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)

Treatment of adriamycin-induced nephropathy with erythropoietin and G-CSF

Background: Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) and Erythropoietin (EPO) are known to stimulate the growth and differentiation of progenitor cells to prevent acute renal injury. This study aimed to assess the use of growth factors to mobilize stem cell in a mouse model of adriamycin-induced chronic kidney disease. Methods: All animals were injected with adriamycin for kidney injury and allocated into three treatment groups (G-CSF, EPO and G-CSF + EPO), and a control group (adriamycin alone). Results: Number of atrophic sites, glomerulosclerosis rate and interstitial fibrosis severity score were assessed in all groups. In all treatment groups, histologic parameters did not significantly differ, but were lower than in the control group (P<.001). Scal and CD34 expressions among treatment groups showed no statistically significant difference, but were higher than in the control group (P<.0001). CD105 expression was higher in EPO and G+EPO as compared to G-CSF and the control group (P<.0001), with no statistically significant difference between the latter two groups (P = NS). Conclusion: G-CSF and EPO had a histologic protective effect, while treatment with EPO + G-CSF had no additive effects in a model of adriamycin-induced chronic kidney disease. © 2013 Societá Italiana di Nefrologia.

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..