Stock assessment and fishery management of the pink shrimp Farfantepenaeus brasiliensis Latreille, 1970 and F. paulensis Pérez-Farfante, 1967 in Southeastern Brazil (23° to 28° S)

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

Brazilian consensus on gastroesophageal reflux disease: Proposals for assessment, classification, and management

The Brazilian Consensus on Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease considers gastroesophageal reflux disease to be a chronic disorder related to the retrograde flow of gastroduodenal contents into the esophagus and/or adjacent organs, resulting in a variable spectrum of symptoms, with or without tissue damage. Considering the limitations of classifications currently in use, a new classification is proposed that combines three criteria - clinical, endoscopic, and pH-metric - providing a comprehensive and more complete characterization of the disease. The diagnosis begins with the presence of heartburn, acid regurgitation, and alarm manifestations (dysphagia, odynophagia, weight loss, GI bleeding, nausea and/or vomiting, and family history of cancer). Also, atypical esophageal, pulmonary, otorhinolaryngological, and oral symptoms may occur. Endoscopy is the first approach, particularly in patients over 40 yr of age and in those with alarm symptoms. Other exams are considered in particular cases, such as contrast radiological examination, scyntigraphy, manometry, and prolonged pH measurement. The clinical treatment encompasses behavioral modifications in lifestyle and pharmacological measures. Proton pump inhibitors in manufacturers' recommended doses are indicated, with doubling of the dose in more severe cases of esophagitis. The minimum time of administration is 6 wk. Patients who do not respond to medical treatment, including those with atypical manifestations, should be considered for surgical treatment. Of the complications of gastroesophageal reflux disease, Barrett's esophagus presents a potential development of adenocarcinoma; biopsies should be performed, independent of Barrett's esophagus extent or location. In this regard the designation short Barrett's is not important in terms of management and prognosis. © 2002 by Am. Coll. of Gastroenterology.

Succession and management of tropical dry forests in the Americas: Review and new perspectives

Understanding tropical forest succession is critical for the development of tropical forest conservation strategies worldwide, given that tropical secondary forests can be considered the forests of the future. Tropical dry forests (TDF) are among the most threatened tropical ecosystems, there are more secondary forests and forest restoration efforts that require a better understanding of successional processes. The main goal of this synthesis for this special issue on the ecology and management of tropical dry forests in the Americas is to present a summarized review of the current knowledge of the ecology and management implications associated to TDF succession. We explore specific issues associated to tropical dry forest succession with emphasis on the use of chronosequences, plant diversity and composition, plant phenology and remote sensing, pollination, and animal-plant interactions; all under the integrating umbrella of ecosystem succession. We also emphasize the need to conduct socio-ecological research to understand changes in land-use history and its effects on succession and forest regeneration of TDF. We close this paper with some thoughts and ideas associated with the strong need for an integrating dimension not considered until today: the role of cyberinfrastructure and eco-informatics as a tool to support sound conservation, management and understanding of TDF in the Americas. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Assessment and statistics of Brazilian hydroelectric power plants: Dam areas versus installed and firm power

The Brazilian relief, predominantly composed by small mountains and plateaus, contributed to formation of rivers with high amount of falls. With exception to North-eastern Brazil, the climate of this country are rainy, which contributes to maintain water flows high. These elements are essential to a high hydroelectric potential, contributing to the choice of hydroelectric power plants as the main technology of electricity generation in Brazil. Though this is a renewable source, whose utilized resource is free, dams must to be established which generates a high environmental and social impact. The objective of this study is to evaluate the impact caused by these dams through the use of environmental indexes. These indexes are ratio formed by installed power with dam area of a hydro power plant, and ratio formed by firm power with this dam area. In this study, the greatest media values were found in South, Southeast, and Northeast regions respectively, and the smallest media values were found in North and Mid-West regions, respectively. The greatest encountered media indexes were also found in dams established in the 1950s. In the last six decades, the smallest indexes were registered by darns established in the 1980s. These indexes could be utilized as important instruments for environmental impact assessments, and could enable a dam to be established that depletes an ecosystem as less as possible.

Model of a game for improving integrated decisions in production management

This paper presents the results obtained with a business game whose model represents the decision making process related to two moments at an industrial company. The first refers to the project of the industrial plant, and the second to its management. The game model was conceived so the player's first decision would establish capacity and other parameters such as quantities of each product to produce, marketing expenses, research and development, quality, advertising, salaries, if purchases will be made in installments or in cash, if there will be credit sales and how many installments will be allowed and the number of workers in the assembly area. An experiment was conducted with employees of a Brazilian company. Data obtained indicate that the players have lack of contents, especially in finances. Although these results cannot be generalized, they confirm prior results with undergraduate and graduate students and they indicate the need for reinforcement in this undergraduate area. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.

Integrated quality assessment of sediments from harbour areas in Santos-São Vicente Estuarine System, Southern Brazil

Santos-São Vicente Estuarine System is a highly populated coastal zone in Brazil and where it is located the major port of Latin America. Historically, port activities, industrial and domestic effluents discharges have constituted the main sources of contaminants to estuarine system. This study aimed to assess the recent status of sediment quality from 5 zones of Port of Santos by applying a lines-of-evidence approach through integrating results of: (1) acute toxicity of whole sediment and chronic toxicity of liquid phases; (2) grain size, organic matter, organic carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, trace metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, linear alkylbenzenes and butyltins; (3) benthic community descriptors. Results revealed a gradient of increasing contamination for metals and organic compounds, alongside with their geochemical carriers. Sediment liquid phases were more toxic compared to whole sediment. Low number of species and individuals indicated the impoverishment of benthic community. The use of site-specific sediment quality guidelines was more appropriate to predict sediment toxicity. The integration of results through Sediment Quality Triad approach and principal component analysis allowed observing the effects of natural stressors and dredging on sediment quality and benthic distribution. Even with recent governmental efforts to control, pollution is still relevant in Port of Santos and a threat to local ecosystems. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.

Ratoon sugarcane yield integrated drip-irrigation and nitrogen fertilization

The aim of this study was to compare the use of water and nitrogen on ratoon sugarcane during irrigated and rain-fed conditions, and to assess the production potential of stalks and sugar with different rates of N-fertilizer on the subsurface drip-irrigated management. The experimental design was a randomized block with four replications for each experiment and treatments: (T1) irrigated, 0kg N ha-1; (T2) irrigated, 70kg N ha-1; (T3) irrigated, 140kg N ha-1; (T4) irrigated, 210kg N ha-1; (T5) not irrigated, 0kg N ha-1, and (T6) not irrigated, 140kg N ha-1. Biometric, technological, dry matter and yield variables were analyzed among the treatments. The irrigation system together with the application of N-fertilizer at 140kg ha-1 presented significant differences in dry matter accumulation of shoots, and for the production of stalks and sugar, respectively 94, 105 and 106%, higher when compared to the not irrigated, without N-fertilizer (T5). There was a positive and synergistic effect of irrigation with N-fertilizer on the productivity of stalks and sugar. Ratoon sugarcane irrigated with subsurface dripping had the highest yield (22Mg ha-1 of sugar) with the dosage of 140kg ha-1 N.