Thermal, rheological, and structural behaviors of natural and modified cassava starch granules, with sodium hypochlorite solutions

The use of chemically modified starches is widely accepted in various industries, with several applications. In this research, natural cassava starch granules were treated with standard sodium hypochlorite solution at 0.8, 2.0, and 5.0 g Cl/100 g starch. The native and modified starch samples were investigated by means of the following techniques: simultaneous thermogravimetry-differential thermal analysis, which allowed us to verify the thermal decomposition associated with endothermic or exothermic phenomena; and differential scanning calorimetry that was used to determine gelatinization enthalpy as well as the rapid viscoamylographic analysis that provided the pasting temperature and viscosity. By means of non-contact-atomic force microscopy method and X-ray powder patterns diffractometry, it was possible to observe the surface morphology, topography of starch granules, and alterations in the granules' crystallinity. © 2012 Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, Hungary.

Uma abordagem peptidômica do venedo do escorpião Tityus serrulatus

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

Componentes curriculares da área de solos e ambiente nos projetos pedagógicos dos cursos de engenharia agronômica/agronomia

Pós-graduação em Agronomia (Ciência do Solo) - FCAV

Os desdobramentos e conflitos da criação do Parque Estadual Ilha do Cardoso sob a ótica do modelo GTP (Geossistema – Território- Paisagem)

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Medium and large-sized mammals in a private reserve of natural heritage in the municipality of Jaú, São Paulo, Brazil

Medium and large-sized mammals control invertebrate and vertebrate populations and are important seed dispersers. These animals are losing their territory and living range due to deforestation and the fragmentation of natural areas, particularly in the Atlantic Forest and Cerrado. The Private Reserve of Natural Heritage (PRNH) Amadeu Botelho is isolated from other forest fragments and is thus a wildlife refuge in the region of Jaú, central-western region of state of São Paulo, southeastem Brazil. Animals as such as the puma (Puma concolor), ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) and jaguarundi (Puma yagouaroundi) have been sighted in the reserve by wildlife guards and residents. This reserve, which belongs to “Santo Antônio dos Ipês” farm, is surrounded by several plantations, and is very close to the center of the city of Jaú. In addition to surveying the mammal species in the reserve, this study diagnosed the influence of the farm’s activities and the proximity to the center of the municipality of Jaú on the fauna under study

Percepção e educação ambiental: contribuições metodológicas para o estudo das relações entre áreas naturais protegidas e instituições de ensino

Pós-graduação em Geografia - IGCE

Influência de fragmentos de cerrado na distribuição de ácaros em seringal

Este estudo teve como objetivo verificar se fragmentos de cerrado influenciam na composição da acarofauna de seringais. Foram estabelecidos cinco transectos, distantes 50 m entre si, em duas áreas de cultivo no sul do Mato Grosso, sendo o primeiro na borda com o limite das áreas nativas e o último a 200 m no interior do seringal. em cada transecto foram marcadas cinco plantas, sendo coletadas sete folhas de cada planta. Durante um ano foram realizadas 25 coletas quantitativas em dois cultivos de seringueiras. O menor número de fitófagos foi registrado no transecto próximo da vegetação nativa e o maior no mais distante. A maior diversidade também foi observada no transecto mais próximo da vegetação nativa. Dez espécies de ácaros predadores também foram registradas nas áreas nativas vizinhas. Os dados sugerem o deslocamento dos ácaros predadores das áreas naturais para o monocultivo. Essas áreas naturais podem fornecer alimento alternativo e hábitat para inimigos naturais de fitófagos no período de escassez de alimento no seringal. A presença de áreas nativas próximo a áreas de cultivo deve ser considerada na elaboração de programas de manejo ecológico de pragas.

Plant inhabiting mites (Acari) from the Cerrado biome of Mato Grosso State, Brazil

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Multi-criteria spatial decision analysis for demarcation of greenway: A case study of the city of Rio Claro, São Paulo, Brazil

Concern regarding hydrological resources has been a theme of growing importance in Brazil, associating the development of new management policies and maintenance of natural areas related to rivers. An efficient way to maintain natural areas around rivers has been the development of greenways, and some cites have already adopted specific legislation in this respect. Following this growing evolution in the treatment of hydrological resources, this study was carried out to demarcate a greenway along the Corumbatai River in the state of São Paulo, Using multi-criteria analysis in a GIS environment. First, thematic maps were elaborated based on Landsat 7 satellite, aerial photographs and digital topographic base, Supported by field activities. With the use of multi-criteria analysis, for which ad hoe consultations were conducted to attribute weights to the thematic maps, a suitability map was elaborated for the allocation of the greenway. Sites that should be included in the greenway were also selected, such as areas appropriate for leisure activities, and ecologically important areas. Based on the suitability map, a pathway analysis was done, connecting the relevant points of interest, thus generating a greenway that runs along the Corumbatai River, with the aim of contributing to the conservation of this important hydrological resource. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Detecção de cavidades em arenitos utilizando gravimetria, eletrorresistividade e GPR

Este trabalho mostra os resultados obtidos com a realização de ensaios geofísicos na em áreas de lavra de areia, no município de Descalvado, SP. O objetivo dos ensaios é o de detectar cavidades no interior de arenitos, pertencentes às Formações Pirambóia e Botucatu. Estas cavidades formaram-se com o rebaixamento do lençol freático, necessário para as operações de extração da areia. As técnicas geofísicas utilizadas foram: gravimetria, eletrorresistividade (caminhamento elétrico dipolo-dipolo) e radar de penetração no solo (GPR). Na primeira etapa dos trabalhos foram utilizados a gravimetria e a eletrorresistividade em uma bancada onde ocorreu um desmoronamento devido ao abatimento do teto de uma cavidade. Os resultados obtidos com estas duas técnicas foram coerentes pois a gravimetria mostrou baixos gravimétricos indicando uma ausência de massa na área de influência da cavidade e o caminhamento detectou um esperado aumento de resistividade elétrica nesta mesma área. Na segunda etapa, com a realização dos ensaios de GPR em uma bancada próxima à anterior, foi possível detectar cavidades por meio das feições hiperbólicas detectadas nos radargramas.

A review on soil carbon accumulation due to the management change of major Brazilian agricultural activities

Áreas agrícolas trocam enormes fluxos de CO2, oferecendo uma oportunidade para mitigar o efeito estufa. Neste trabalho, estudou-se o potencial de sequestro de carbono em razão da conversão no manejo das principais atividades agrícolas do Brasil. Dados de vários estudos têm indicado que no sistema soja/milho e nas respectivas rotações, ocorre um sequestro de carbono no solo significativo ao longo dos anos de conversão do plantio convencional para o plantio direto, com uma média de 0,41 Mg C ha-1 ano-1. O mesmo efeito tem sido observado nos canaviais, porém há maiores acúmulos de carbono no solo quando as áreas de cana-de-açúcar são convertidas da colheita baseada na queima para a mecanizada, em que grandes quantidades de palha são deixadas na superfície do solo (1,8 Mg C ha-1 ano-1). Esse maior potencial de acúmulo de carbono no solo nos canaviais, comparado com outras culturas, está diretamente relacionado com a maior produção primária dessa cultura. Apesar disso, muito desse potencial de sequestro é perdido, uma vez que os canaviais são reformados, sob preparo intensivo do solo. As áreas de pasto mostram uma depleção nos estoques de carbono, quando convertidas de áreas naturais; porém, a integração dessas áreas com agricultura pode promover o aumento nos estoques de carbono do solo. Os trabalhos têm mostrado que as principais atividades agrícolas do Brasil possuem um grande potencial de mitigação, especialmente na forma de acúmulo de carbono no solo, sendo uma oportunidade para estratégias futuras.

Mamíferos do município de Fênix, Paraná, Brasil: etnozoologia e conservação

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Tolerância de perdas de solo na bacia do rio Itiquira, Mato Grosso, Brasil

The geographic area of the present study corresponds to the basin of the Itiquira river high course (Figure 1), in the portion that extends from the tributaries of its source, in the east of the plateau Correntes/Itiquira, in the neighbourhoods the city of Alto Garç as, to the scarp of the São Jerônimo mountain range, toward the west of Itiquira, in the state of Mato Grosso, totalizing 5,361 km 2. The area is placed in the eastern part of the Alto Paraguai basin, in the western portion of the Paraná Sedimentary Basin plateau. Through GIS techniques, it was possible to asses total soil losses from the Itiquira river basin, considering the years of 1966, 1985 and 1996, being based on the Universal Soil Loss Equation. Thus, in 1966 the basin lost 201,546.94 ton of soil, with an average loss of 0.37 ton/ha/year. Considering that the total area of the Itiquira river basin is of 536,100 ha, while in 1985 the soil losses had passed to 1,760,833.40 ton, with an increase of approximately 8.5 times. The average of soil losses in 1985 was of 3.28 ton/ha/year. In 1996 the basin lost 1,662,043.24 ton, with a reduction of only 9.4% in relation to 1985 but, in relation the 1966, the increase continued in the order of 8 times. The average losses per hectare in this year was in the order of 3.10 ton/ha/year (Chart 1). The map of potential of the laminar erosion for 1966 (Figure 3), shows to the highest values in small areas, situated in the northeast of the area, in Alto Garças, with values between 10 the 20 ton/ha/year and some spots in sources of the Itiquira and Ariranha rivers, with values between 1 the 5 ton/ha/year. In a general way, however, the area presents low soil loss for laminar erosion in this year, with inferior values to 1 ton/ha/year. The higher class of erosion, over 10 ton/ha/year, occupied 2,947 ha in 1966. In the year of 1985 (Figure 4), the erosive process spread over the entire studied area, and the class of erosion over of 10 ton/ha/year, already started to occupy 78,437 ha, implying an increase of approximately 27 times in 19 years. A strong increment in the erosive process was noticed in the western part of the area, to along the BR-163 road, exactly where great areas of natural vegetation (open pasture) had been transformed in culture and pasture areas. In the north-eastern part of the area it was also noticed an increment in the erosive process in agreement with the increase of culture areas and reduction of the natural areas, but it was not of so intense form as in the western portion of the area. In the year of 1996 (Figure 5), the class of erosion over of 10 ton/ha/year had diminished for a total of 53.499 ha noticing a retraction of the erosive process in the western part of the area, alongside the BR-163 road. On the other hand, it occurred a strong increment in the northern part of the area, in the neighbourhoods of the city of Alto Garças, alongside the BR-364 road and part of the MT-040 road. In a general way, in the outskirts of the city of Itiquira, in the central part of the area, it was verified an increase of the amount of zones with erosion between 0-1 ton/ha/year, passing to the immediately superior class, of 1-3 ton/ha/year; scarce data of hydrosedimentology in the UHE Itiquira (1999), shows good agreement with the values gotten for the EUPS (Chart 2). Based on the hydric classification proposal for FAO (1967) (Chart 3), it is noticed that areas with high degree of erosion (> 50) in the analysed area are very restricted, occupying 493 ha in 1985 and 332 ha in 1996 (Chart 4). In 1996 appeared as isolated spots in the north of Itiquira and Alto Garças, however beyond limits of the Itiquira river basin. These areas require special cares in its use as agricultural areas. Aiming at identifying and indicating the areas of potential risk of erosion and that need implementation of conservation practices, it was elaborated the map of limit of tolerance to the soil losses. In 1966 (Figure 6), areas with soil losses over of the tolerable were restricted to small spots located in the eastern part of the area, occupying 0.43% of the total of the area; already in 1985 (Figure 7), this percentage passed to 5.86%, spreading for all the area; in 1996 (Figure 8) it is observed a fast reduction of the areas with soil losses over of the tolerance limit, passing 5.43% of the total of the area. All the areas with losses over of the tolerable value must be considered as risk areas and were done in these areas studies for implementation of conservation practices.

Mammal defaunation as surrogate of trophic cascades in a biodiversity hotspot

Preserving large tracts of natural habitats is essential to maintain biodiversity. Nevertheless, even large areas may still suffer from less visible impacts such as loss of ecological processes. Because mapping ecological processes over large scales is not practical, an alternative is to map surrogate species that are key for those processes. In this study, we chose four species of Neotropical large mammals (the largest apex predator: jaguar - Panthera onca; the largest herbivore: tapir - Tapirus terrestris; the largest seed predator: white-lipped peccary - Tayassu pecari; and the largest arboreal seed disperser: muriqui - Brachyteles spp.) in an ecosystem with an old history of human impact (the Atlantic Forest) to test whether areas with native forest still harbor ecological processes that may guarantee long-term ecosystem maintenance. We gathered 94 locations with recent presence of the four species to map current ranges and model suitable areas. Our results reveal that 96% of the remaining Atlantic Forest is depleted of at least one of the four surrogate species and 88% is completely depleted of all four surrogate species. We also found that only 16% is still environmentally suitable for all four, and 55% is completely unsuitable to all four of them. Our study highlights the importance of looking beyond land cover to fully depict intactness of natural areas, and suggests that ecosystems with a long history of human impact (such as the Atlantic Forest) may be suffering from ecological impacts not seen at a first glance. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.

Caracterização geoambiental como subsídio ao planejamento urbano e turístico em Amparo (SP)

Pós-graduação em Geociências e Meio Ambiente - IGCE