Effects of growth reducer and nitrogen fertilization on morphological variables, SPAD index, interception of radiation and productivity of wheat

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of growth reducer and nitrogen fertilization on morphological variables, SPAD index, radiation interception, and grain yield of three cultivars of wheat. The experimental design was a randomized block in factorial scheme 3x5x2, with three cultivars (Mestre, Iguaçú and Itaipú), five nitrogen doses (0, 40, 80, 120, 160 Kg ha-1), and application or no application of a growth reducer, with three replications. The following characteristics were evaluated: plant height, SPAD index, leaf area index (LAI), Global Radiation Interception (GRI) and grain yield. The Tukey test (p < 0.05) was used for the comparison between the means of cultivar and growth reducer factors, and for a regression analysis to evaluate N levels. Increasing the dose of nitrogen promotes an increase in LAI of plants of wheat crops differently among cultivars, which leads to a greater degree of global radiation interception. At doses higher or equal to 120 Kg ha-1 of nitrogen, there are significant differences in grain yield between treatments with and without the application of the growth reducer. The significant interaction between growth reducer and nitrogen dose, showed that applications of growth reducer increase the GRI at doses above and below 80 Kg ha-1 of nitrogen. Nitrogen rates of 138 and 109 Kg ha-1 are responsible for maximum grain yields of wheat, which is 4235 and 3787 Kg ha-1 with and without the use of growth reducer, respectively.

Competitividade das nações: análise da métrica utilizada pelo World Economic Forum

A competitividade das nações é assunto relevante aos tomadores de decisão quando se trata da escolha do país que poderá render melhores resultados aos investimentos. Nessa linha, busca-se analisar a métrica de competitividade dos países utilizando conceitos da estatística multivariada, a fim de simplificar e evitar resultados dúbios quanto ao tema. Para isso, utilizaram-se as bases de dados de 2010 publicadas pelo World Economic Forum (WEF), que utiliza 12 pilares para estabelecer a condição competitiva de 133 países. Verificou-se que a métrica utilizada pelo WEF é redundante, já que utiliza pilares que representam o mesmo constructo. Verificou-se, ainda, que a prontidão tecnológica explica a competitividade do país em 86,5% e que a combinação entre estabilidade macroeconômica, qualidade do ensino superior e sofisticação dos negócios eleva esse percentual para 95,7%.

Earnings management and economic crises in the brazilian capital market

The 2008 economic crisis challenged accounting, either demanding recognition and measurement criteria well adjusted to this scenario or even questioning its ability to inform appropriately entities' financial situation before the crisis occurred. So, our purpose was to verify if during economic crises listed companies in the Brazilian capital market tended to adopt earnings management (EM) practices. Our sample consisted in 3,772 firm-years observations, in 13 years - 1997 to 2009. We developed regression models considering discretionary accruals as EM proxy (dependent variable), crisis as a macroeconomic factor (dummy variable of interest), ROA, market-to-book, size, leverage, foreign direct investment (FDI) and sector as control variables. Different for previous EM studies two approaches were used in data panel regression models and multiple crises were observed simultaneously. Statistics tests revealed a significant relation between economic crisis and EM practices concerning listed companies in Brazil in both approaches used.