Variable dose rate application of herbicides using optical sensors

The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate a variable dose rate application of herbicides using an online electronic control based system with optical sensors for weed detection in forested areas. The proposed concept was to apply a basic dose on 100% of the area (aiming to control small weeds) and to apply a complementary patch-spraying dose only on areas with higher weed infestation. For that purpose, a conventional spray boom was adjusted to apply 40% of the herbicide dose on the full area and the optical sensors were used to control the application of the complementary dose (60%) only on areas with higher infestation. The results showed that the system performed adequately. Field applications presented herbicide savings around 20 to 30%, with a similar weed control performance as compared to the full dose application on 100% of the area.

Comparação de métodos de mapeamento da distribuição espacial da infestação de plantas daninhas

Pós-graduação em Agronomia (Energia na Agricultura) - FCA

Systems of aerial spraying for soybean rust control

A ferrugem asiática da soja, causada pelo fungo Phakopsora pachyrhizi, é considerada a principal doença da soja, e, portanto, a escolha e o uso adequado dos equipamentos de pulverização são essenciais para seu controle. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o desempenho de diferentes equipamentos de pulverização aérea para o controle curativo da ferrugem da soja, utilizando o fungicida Impact 125 SC (flutriafol) a 0,5 L p c ha-1. Os seguintes tratamentos foram avaliados: atomizador Micronair AU 5000 (10 L ha-1 com óleo e 20 L ha-1 sem óleo na calda); atomizador Stol ARD (10 e 20 L ha-1 ambos com óleo) e o sistema eletrostático Spectrum (10 L ha-1 sem óleo a 64 e 71% de umidade relativa). Utilizou-se óleo de algodão (1,0 L ha-1) acrescido de emulsificante BR 455 a 0,025 L ha-1. O ensaio foi realizado na terceira aplicação de fungicidas, quando foram analisadas quatro repetições nas áreas aplicadas e quatro testemunhas não aplicadas para cada tratamento, avaliando-se a severidade da ferrugem, os depósitos de flutriafol nas folhas de soja e o percentual de redução de ferrugem. A análise dos depósitos nas folhas mostrou que não houve diferenças significativas entre os tratamentos. Os melhores controles da ferrugem foram obtidos com os tratamentos Micronair (10 L ha-1 com óleo), Stol (20 L ha-1 com óleo) e o sistema elestrostático (10 L ha-1) com a menor umidade relativa do ar (64 %).

Evaluation of WC-10Ni thermal spraying coating by HVOF on the fatigue and corrosion AISI 4340 steel

Shot peening is a surface process widely used to improve the fatigue strength of materials, through compressive residual stresses induced in their surface layers. Considering mechanical components for high responsible applications, wear and corrosion control is currently accomplished by the use of coated materials.In the case of chrome plating or hard anodizing, lower fatigue strength in comparison to uncoated parts are associated to high residual tensile stresses and microcracks density. Under constant or variable amplitude loading microcracks will propagate and cross the interface coating substrate without impediment.The aim of the present study is to analyze the influence of WC-10Ni coating applied by HVOF process on the axial fatigue strength of AISI 4340 steel. The shot peening effect on the fatigue performance of coated AISI 4340 steel was also evaluated. The fractured fatigue specimens were investigated using a scanning electron microscope in order to obtain information about the crack initiation points. (C) 2010 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Bovine pericardium retail preserved in glutaraldehyde and used as a vascular patch

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

Stochastic dynamics in exotic and native blowflies: an analysis combining laboratory experiments and a two-patch metapopulation model

In this study we explored the stochastic population dynamics of three exotic blowfly species, Chrysomya albiceps, Chrysomya megacephala and Chrysomya putoria, and two native species, Cochliomyia macellaria and Lucilia eximia, by combining a density-dependent growth model with a two-patch metapopulation model. Stochastic fecundity, survival and migration were investigated by permitting random variations between predetermined demographic boundary values based on experimental data. Lucilia eximia and Chrysomya albiceps were the species most susceptible to the risk of local extinction. Cochliomyia macellaria, C. megacephala and C. putoria exhibited lower risks of extinction when compared to the other species. The simultaneous analysis of stochastic fecundity and survival revealed an increase in the extinction risk for all species. When stochastic fecundity, survival and migration were simulated together, the coupled populations were synchronized in the five species. These results are discussed, emphasizing biological invasion and interspecific interaction dynamics.

Patch-size and isolation effects in the Fisher-Kolmogorov equation

We examine the classical problem of the existence of a threshold size for a patch to allow for survival of a given population in the case where the patch is not completely isolated. The surrounding habitat matrix is characterized by a non-zero carrying capacity. We show that a critical patch size cannot be strictly defined in this case. We also obtain the saturation density in such a patch as a function of the size of the patch and the relative carrying capacity of the outer region. We argue that this relative carrying capacity is a measure of the isolation of the patch. Our results are then compared with conclusions drawn from observations of the population dynamics of understorey birds in fragments of the Amazonian forest and shown to qualitatively agree with them, offering an explanation for the importance of dispersal and isolation in these observations. Finally, we show that a generalized critical patch size can be introduced resorting to threshold densities for the observation of a given species.

Influence of spraying parameters on the electrochemical behaviour of HVOF thermally sprayed stainless steel coatings in 3.4% NaCl

Stainless steel coatings obtained by High Velocity Oxygen Fuel (HVOF) were characterized using optical (OM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electron probe micro-analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD), open-circuit potential (E-OC) measurements, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and polarisation tests. Differences among coated steels were mainly related with the gun-substrate distance parameter (310 nm for samples A and B and 260 min for C and D). The open-circuit potential values measured for all the samples after 18 h of immersion in aerated and unstirred 3.4% NaCl solution were: - 0.334, - 0.360, - 0.379 and - 0.412 V vs. Ag/AgCl,KClsat. for samples A to D, respectively. For EIS measurements, Nyquist plots showed higher capacitive semi-circle for samples sprayed at longer distance, indicating higher corrosion resistance in NaCl solution. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Population variation in patch and party size in muriquis (Brachyteles arachnoides)

We examined the relationship between food patch size and feeding party size with comparative data from two populations of muriquis (Brachyteles arachnoides) in the 37,797-ha forest at the Parque Estadual de Carlos Botelho (PECB), São Paulo, and the 800-ha forest at the Estacao Biologica de Caratinga (EBC), Minas Gerais. Precipitation Mins more abundant and less seasonal at PECB than EBC, and the density of large trees (>25.0 cm) was higher at PECB (206 ha(-1)) than at EBC (132 ha(-1)). At both sites, the size of feeding parties is positively related to the size of food patches, As predicted, food parches at PECB are significantly larger than those at EBC for both fruit and leaf sources. Contrary to expectations, feeding parties were larger at EEC than PECB, the higher population density of muriquis and sympatric primates at EBC may make large associations more advantageous to these muriquis than to muriquis living at lower population densities in PECB.

Habitat patch size modulates terrestrial mammal activity patterns in Amazonian forest fragments

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Dental implants: Surface modification of cp-Ti using plasma spraying and the deposition of hydroxyapatite

The commercial pure titanium (cp-Ti) is currently being used with great success in dental implants. In this work we investigate how the cp-Ti implants can be improved by modifying the metal surface morphology, on which a synthetic material with properties similar to that of the inorganic part of the bone, is deposited to facilitate the bone/implant bonding. This synthetic material is the hydroxyapatite, HA, a calcium-phosphate ceramic. The surface modification consists in the application of a titanium oxide (TiO2) layer, using the thermal aspersion - plasma spray technique, with posterior deposition of HA, using the biomimetic method. The X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) with Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) and Diffuse Reflectance Infrared Fourier Transform (DRIFT) techniques have been used for characterizing phases, microstructures and morphologies of the coatings. The TiO2 deposit shows a mixture of anatase, rutilo and TiO2-x phases, and a porous and laminar morphology, which facilitate the HA deposition. After the thermal treatment, the previously amorphous structured HA coating, shows a porous homogeneous morphology with particle size of about 2-2.5 μm, with crystallinity and composition similar to that of the biological HA.

Potential of adjuvants to reduce drift in agricultural spraying

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Changes in plant species composition and functional traits along the successional trajectory of a restored patch of Atlantic Forest

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

Theoretical and experimental study of agricultural spraying using CFD

This paper presents a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) application about the axial fan design used in an agricultural spraying system with a theoretical and experimental analysis of comparative results between the characteristic curves of a fan for several rotations and numerical results for the influence of blade attack angle variation and optimization of the spraying system, both for a same rotation. Flow was considered three-dimensional, turbulent, isothermal, viscous and non-compressible in a steady state, disregarding any influence of the gravity field. The average turbulent field was obtained from the application of time average where the turbulence model required for closing the set of equations was the k-E model. Resolution of all connected phenomena was achieved with the help of a fluid dynamics computer, CFX, which uses the finite volumes technique as a numerical method. In order to validate the theoretical analysis, an experiment was conducted in a circular section of a horizontal wind tunnel, using a Pitot tube for pressure readings. The main results demonstrate that the methodology used, based on CFD techniques, is able to reproduce the phenomenological behavior of an axial fan in a spraying system because results were very reliable and similar to experimentally measured ones.