Morfologia matemática aplicada à detecção de sombras e nuvens em imagens de alta resolução

The spatial resolution improvement of orbital sensors has broadened considerably the applicability of their images in solving urban areas problems. But as the spatial resolution improves, the shadows become even a more serious problem especially when detailed information (under the shadows) is required. Besides those shadows caused by buildings and houses, clouds projected shadows are likely to occur. In this case there is information occlusion by the cloud in association with low illumination and contrast areas caused by the cloud shadow on the ground. Thus, it's important to use efficient methods to detect shadows and clouds areas in digital images taking in count that these areas care for especial processing. This paper proposes the application of Mathematical Morphology (MM) in shadow and clouds detection. Two parts of a panchromatic QuickBird image of Cuiab-MT urban area were used. The proposed method takes advantage of the fact that shadows (low intensity - dark areas) and clouds (high intensity - bright areas) represent the bottom and top, respectively, of the image as it is thought to be a topographic surface. This characteristic allowed MM area opening and closing operations to be applied to reduce or eliminate the bottom and top of the topographic surface.

Estudo de raios cósmicos utilizando uma câmara de nuvens de baixo custo

A partir de imagens de raios cósmicos obtidas com uma câmara de nuvens de baixo custo, são apresentados, discutidos e classificados os principais fenômenos observados em tal experimento.

Desenvolvimento de solução para o problema de alocação de navios em berços de terminais portuários: aplicação de algoritmos genéticos e otimização por nuvens de partículas

This work proposes two optimization algorithms for the solution of the Berth Allocation Problem (PAB). Due to the economic development of the country, it became necessary for the improvement of means of transport, which mainly shipping. For this, you need a better system management port, you will receive a lot of ships carrying cargo. In this work the PAB is approached so that the goals are to reduce costs and time handling in ports. For this, we applied two computational techniques, genetic algorithms and optimization for cloud particles, to obtain the best results for this problem. The results obtained with each type of algorithm are compared to conclude which method is more efficient for the port system

Estudo da distribuição de tamanho e composição iônica de aerossóis e seus efeitos na capacidade de nuclear gotas de nuvens

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Improvement of the oral praziquantel anthelmintic effect by cyclodextrin complexation

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

Nuclear-follower foraging associations among Characiformes fishes and Potamotrygonidae rays in clean waters environments of Teles Pires and Xingu rivers basins, Midwest Brazil

Por meio de observações sub e supra-aquáticas foram registradas associações alimentares do tipo nuclear-seguidor entre três espécies de peixes characiformes - Chalceus epakros, Hemiodus semitaeniatus e Hemiodus unimaculatus - e uma espécie de raia de água doce - Potamotrygon orbignyi - nas bacias dos rios Teles Pires e Xingu, no Centro-Oeste do Brasil. Os peixes teleósteos foram observados seguindo as raias quando estas revolviam o substrato à procura de invertebrados, formando discretas nuvens de sedimento. Essas situações atraíram os peixes que se aproximaram das raias para se alimentar de pequenas presas e outros tipos de alimentos expostos desta forma. Esse é um típico exemplo de relação comensal onde um participante é beneficiado enquanto o outro não é prejudicado e representa o segundo registro na literatura de associação alimentar do tipo nuclear-seguidor entre raias potamotrigonídeas e peixes teleósteos, demonstrando o potencial de estudos naturalísticos para a descoberta de novas interações envolvendo espécies de peixes de água doce.

Renal- and calcium-dependent vascular effects of Polybia paulista wasp venom

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Characterization of a plankton community in a fish farm

Aim: The objective of this study was to analyze the composition of phytoplankton and zooplankton communities related to the dynamics of a fish farm; Methods: Samples were collected every other day, within a period of twenty consecutive days, during the dry and rainy seasons. Two samples were collected upstream from the fish pond (reservoir); the other four samples were collected in the fish farm area; Results: Rotifera and Chlorophyceae species were found in high densities at almost all sampling sites during both seasons under analysis. The higher phytoplankton species richness from site P3 to P6 was influenced by the management employed within the fish farm. The zooplankton community showed low values of density, species richness and equitability during the dry season; Conclusions: The continuous water flow and the addition of fertilizers (organic and inorganic) in the fish ponds had an influence on the plankton community, leading to a reduction in water quality and Cyanobacteria dominance.

Photosynthesis in eucalyptus studied by the open photoacoustic technique: Effects of irradiance and temperature

This work demonstrates the usefulness of the Open Photoacoustic Cell Technique to study the effects of irradiance and temperature on photosynthesis. bl vivo and ill situ photosynthetic induction measurements were performed in three different species of eucalyptus plants (E. grandis, E. urophylla, and E, urograndis) previously dark-adapted at different temperatures. Photosynthetic activity curves were built as a function of light intensity, indicating the occurrence of photosynthesis saturation. E. urograndis presented higher photosynthetic activity than the other species, especially at low temperature, indicating its tolerance to stress conditions. The incidence of background saturation light of various intensities allowed the irt situ study of photoinhibition in eucalyptus plants through open photoacoustics. (C) 2001 MAIK Nauka/Interperiodica.

Photosynthetic induction in Eucalyptus urograndis seedlings and cuttings measured by an open photoacoustic cell

Photosynthetic induction in leaves of four-month-old Eucalyptus urograndis seedlings and of cuttings obtained from adult trees that were previously dark-adapted was studied by the in vivo and in situ Open Photoacoustic Cell Technique, Results for the gas exchange component of the photoacoustic (PA) signal were interpreted considering that the gas uptake component would have a phase angle nearly opposite to that of the oxygen evolution component. By subtracting the thermal component from the total PA signal, we studied the competition between gas uptake and oxygen evolution during the photosynthetic induction. Seedlings presented a net oxygen evolution prior to cuttings, but cuttings reached a higher steady-state photosynthetic activity. The chlorophyll (Chl) a/b ratio and the Chl fluorescence induction characteristic F-v/F-m were significantly higher for cuttings, while there was no difference between samples in stomata density and leaf thickness. Thus the differences in PA signals of seedlings and cuttings are associated to differences between the photosystem 2 antenna systems of these samples.

Draft Genome Sequence of the Nitrogen-Fixing Symbiotic Bacterium Bradyrhizobium elkanii 587

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

Subdosages of Bacillus thuringiensis on Plutella xylostella) (Lepepidoptera: plutellidae) and Trichogramma pretiosum (Hymenoptera: trichogrammatidae)

The aim of this paper was to evaluate the biological aspects of Plutella xylostella and Trichogramma pretiosum in eggs of the F2 generation of P. xylostella under the influence of Bacillus thuringiensis in laboratory conditions. The experiment was conducted in the Laboratorio de Biologia and Criacao de Insetos of Faculdade de Ciencias Agrarias e Veterinarias de Jaboticabal - UNESP reen collars contaminated with strains and commercial product based on B. thuringiensis in the laboratory. The eggs obtained from the F2 generation of P. xylostella evaluated the biological parameters of T. pretiosum. It was observed that some biological characteristics of P. xylostella showed changes by the treatment with B. thuringiensis. The viability of the larvae and pupae stages, pupae weight were the biological parameters more influenced by treatments, with values significantly reduced when compared to control. However, the larvae length and pupae stages and sex ratio were similar in all treatments, with no significant biological variations. Thus, this bacterium isolated from this behavior may provide greater exposure of larvae to other natural enemies as well as generation of adults less viable, which makes them potential programs in pest control, since the interaction of the methods of control is one of the main ways to enhance the biological control of insect pests. It was observed sublethal effects on P. xylostella biology, and B. thuringiensis negative influence on the parasitism capacity and emergency of T. pretiosum.

Fecundity and pre-imaginal period of Chrysoperla externa (hagen) (neuroptera: chrysopidae) under different populations and laboratory generations

The lacewings appear in many agroecosystems, preying several species of agricultural pests. They have great search capability, high voracity, high reproductive potential and are easily maintained in laboratory conditions. In laboratory rearing, to avoid problems in the mass production are recommended adjustments in the type and quality of prey to be used in order to obtain individuals with desirable characteristics. It is necessary special care with the laboratory populations, avoiding problems from inbreeding. Larvae were reared individually in Petri dishes (9.0 cm diameter) and fed with eggs of Sitotroga cerealella (Olivier, 1789) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), in the amount of 25 mg / larva, while the adults were kept in PVC cylindrical cages (10 cm x 30 cm). Thus, the study analyzed the influence of the size of the population of Chrysoperla externa (Hagen, 1861) (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae) on the pre-imaginal period (egg to adult) and reproductive capacity of this specie come from different populations and generations of laboratory. To this end, we used two populations, one of Jaboticabal (F-8 and F-21) and one of Piracicaba (F-6 and F-15), and subpopulations of 1, 5, 10, 15 and 20 couples, analyzing the incubation of eggs and the number of eggs per female in each population, generation and subpopulation. The pre-imaginal period (egg to adult) and the number of eggs per female of C. externa are influenced by the generation and the number of founding individuals, being these parameters favored when laboratory populations are established with the largest number of couples.

Ecological aspects of the free-living ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) on animal trails within Atlantic rainforest in south-eastern Brazil

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Construction of an alkaline phosphatase-liposome system: a tool for biomineralization study

Alkaline phosphatase is required for the mineralization of bone and cartilage. This enzyme is localized in the matrix vesicle, which plays a role key in calcifying cartilage. In this paper. we standardize a method for construction an alkaline phosphatase liposome system to mimic matrix vesicles and examine a some kinetic behavior of the incorporated enzyme. Polidocanol-solubilized alkaline phosphatase, free of detergent, was incorporated into liposomes constituted from dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC), dilaurilphosphatidylcholine (DLPC) or dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC). This process was time-dependent and >95% of the enzyme was incorporated into the liposome after 4 h of incubation at 25 degreesC. Although, incorporation was more rapid when vesicles constituted from DPPC were used, the incorporation was more efficient using vesicles constituted from DMPC. The 395 nm diameter of the alkaline phosphatase-liposome system was relatively homogeneous and more stable when stored at 4 degreesC.Alkaline phosphatase was completely released from liposome system only using purified phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C (PIPLC). These experiments confirm that the interaction between alkaline phosphatase and lipid bilayer of liposome is via GPI anchor of the enzyme, alone. An important point shown is that an enzyme bound to liposome does not lose the ability to hydrolyze ATP, pyrophosphate and p-nitrophenyl phosphate (PNPP), but a liposome environment affects its kinetic properties, specifically for pyrophosphate.The standardization of such system allows the study of the effect of phospholipids and the enzyme in in vitro and in vivo mineralization, since it reproduces many essential features of the matrix vesicle. (C) 2002 Elsevier B.V. Ltd. All rights reserved.