Influência do relevo e erodibilidade nos atributos químicos em área degradada de Gilbués, PI

Soil degradation can be defined as a process that reduces the ability of soil to produce property or services. Thus, the objective was to study the influence of topography and erodibility in the distribution of the chemical attributes of an Alfissol in degraded areas of Gilbués in the State of Piaui, Brazil. In the chosen area a sampling grid of 1 ha was demarcated, with points spaced at 10 x 10 m, and 121 samples were collected at intersections, in 0-0.20 m depth. Each point was georeferenced as a way to demarcate the area and prepare a topography map. For all samples pH, organic matter, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, hydrogen and aluminum were determined. The estimate of erodibility was calculated from the equation proposed by Denardin. Based on the experiment and the results obtained it is concluded that the number of samples used was sufficient to determine the variability of soil in degraded areas of the Gilbués municipality. The discontinuity in the topography of the landscape and erodibility cause a moderate degree of heterogeneity in most chemical properties of the studied soil, establishing specific management zones.

Loss of sleep spindle frequency deceleration in Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Objective: Sleep spindles have been suggested as surrogates of thalamo-cortical activity. Internal frequency modulation within a spindle's time frame has been demonstrated in healthy subjects, showing that spindles tend to decelerate their frequency before termination. We investigated internal frequency modulation of slow and fast spindles according to Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) severity and brain topography. Methods: Seven non-OSA subjects and 21 patients with OSA contributed with 30 min of Non-REM sleep stage 2, subjected to a Matching pursuit procedure with Gabor chirplet functions for automatic detection of sleep spindles and quantification of sleep spindle internal frequency modulation (chirp rate). Results: Moderate OSA patients showed an inferior percentage of slow spindles with deceleration when compared to Mild and Non-OSA groups in frontal and parietal regions. In parietal regions, the percentage of slow spindles with deceleration was negatively correlated with global apnea-hypopnea index (r s = -0.519, p = 0.005). Discussion: Loss of physiological sleep spindle deceleration may either represent a disruption of thalamo-cortical loops generating spindle oscillations or some compensatory mechanism, an interesting venue for future research in the context of cognitive dysfunction in OSA. Significance: Quantification of internal frequency modulation (chirp rate) is proposed as a promising approach to advance description of sleep spindle dynamics in brain pathology. © 2013 International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology.