Soil spectral library and its use in soil classification

Soil science has sought to develop better techniques for the classification of soils, one of which is the use of remote sensing applications. The use of ground sensors to obtain soil spectral data has enabled the characterization of these data and the advancement of techniques for the quantification of soil attributes. In order to do this, the creation of a soil spectral library is necessary. A spectral library should be representative of the variability of the soils in a region. The objective of this study was to create a spectral library of distinct soils from several agricultural regions of Brazil. Spectral data were collected (using a Fieldspec sensor, 350-2,500 nm) for the horizons of 223 soil profiles from the regions of Matão, Paraguaçu Paulista, Andradina, Ipaussu, Mirandópolis, Piracicaba, São Carlos, Araraquara, Guararapes, Valparaíso (SP); Naviraí, Maracajú, Rio Brilhante, Três Lagoas (MS); Goianésia (GO); and Uberaba and Lagoa da Prata (MG). A Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of the data was then performed and a graphic representation of the spectral curve was created for each profile. The reflectance intensity of the curves was principally influenced by the levels of Fe2O3, clay, organic matter and the presence of opaque minerals. There was no change in the spectral curves in the horizons of the Latossolos, Nitossolos, and Neossolos Quartzarênicos. Argissolos had superficial horizon curves with the greatest intensity of reflection above 2,200 nm. Cambissolos and Neossolos Litólicos had curves with greater reflectance intensity in poorly developed horizons. Gleisols showed a convex curve in the region of 350-400 nm. The PCA was able to separate different data collection areas according to the region of source material. Principal component one (PC1) was correlated with the intensity of reflectance samples and PC2 with the slope between the visible and infrared samples. The use of the Spectral Library as an indicator of possible soil classes proved to be an important tool in profile classification.

Building the future: the Brazilian university library in 2010

Information technology will affect academic activities as well as the nature of the high education sector. This sector besides the need to assimilate these technologies will need to attend the requisites of market globalization and, as consequence, all theses changes will be reflected in the university library. Prospectives impacts will affect the structure (emphasis in user services, outsourcing of several services), in the financing aspect (growing of consortia in order to reduce costs), in services (electronic reference, support to long distance education programs, intelligent agents) and in the clientele (attending the great demand por high education which implies a diversity of people).

Technology and research in a global Networked University Digital Library (NUDL)

Digital Libraries (DLs) are extremely complex information systems that support the creation, management, distribution, and preservation of complex information resources, while allowing effective and efficient interaction among the several societies that benefit from DL content and services. In this paper, we focus on our experience facing challenges of building, maintaining, and developing the Networked University Digital Library (www.nudl.org), an extension of the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (www.ndltd.org). NUDL is a worldwide initiative that addresses making the intellectual property produced in universities more accessible, stimulating international collaboration across all disciplines. We detail technological aspects of our solutions and research activities carried out to provide powerful and enriched services for the communities served by this initiative.

A model of multilingual digital library

This paper addresses the problem of multilingual digital libraries. The motivation for a such a digital library comes from the diversity of languages of the Internet users as well as the diversity of content authors, from e-book authors to writers of courseware. The basic definitions of such a system, the specifications of its functionality and the identification of the items it holds are discussed. The impact of multilinguism in each of the former aspects is presented. A case study of a multilingual digital library - in the Maxwell System in PUC-Rio - is described in the last sections. Its main characteristics are described and the current status of its digital library is shown.

Working in a digital world: new leadership practices for the development of a digital library workforce

Digital library developments are part of a global move in many sectors of society toward virtual work and electronic services made possible by the advances in information technology. This environment requires new attitudes and skills in the workforce and therefore leaders who understand the global changes underlying the new information economy and how to lead and develop such a workforce. This article explores ways to develop human resources and stimulate creativity to capitalize on the immense potential of digital libraries to educate and empower social change. There is a shortage of technically skilled workers and even more so of innovators. Retention and recruitment is one of the greatest obstacles to developing digital library services and information products.

The Brazilian electronic theses and dissertations digital library: providing open access for scholarly information

This paper describes a project led by the Instituto Brasileiro de Informações em Ciência e Tecnologia (Ibict), a government institution, to build a national digital library for electronic theses and dissertations - Bibliteca Digital de Teses e Dissertações (BDTD). The project has been a collaborative effort among Ibict, universities and other research centers in Brazil. The developers adopted a system architecture based on the Open Archives Initiative (OAI) in which universities and research centers act as data providers and Ibict as a service provider. A Brazilian metadata standard for electronic theses and dissertations was developed for the digital library. A toolkit including open source package was also developed by Ibict to be distributed to potential data providers. BDTD has been integrated with the international initiative: the Networked Digital Library of Thesis and Dissertation (NDLTD). Discussions in the paper address various issues related to project design, development and management as well as the role played by Ibict. Conclusions highlight some important lessons learned to date and challenges for the future in expanding the BDTD project.

New microsatellite markers developed from an enriched microsatellite common bean library

The objective of this work was to develop new microsatellite markers in common bean. Ninety nine new microsatelitte loci were developed from a microsatellite enriched library for (CT)8 and (GT)8 motifs, from CAL-143 line. The majority of microsatellite sequences (51%) was related to cellular metabolism. The remaining sequences were associated to transcription functions. Only 17.2% of the sequences presented some level of similarity with other plant species genes.

Genetic associations in the detection of QTLs for wheat spike-related traits

The objective of this work was to assess the genetic diversity and population structure of wheat genotypes, to detect significant and stable genetic associations, as well as to evaluate the efficiency of statistical models to identify chromosome regions responsible for the expression of spike-related traits. Eight important spike characteristics were measured during five growing seasons in Serbia. A set of 30 microsatellite markers positioned near important agronomic loci was used to evaluate genetic diversity, resulting in a total of 349 alleles. The marker-trait associations were analyzed using the general linear and mixed linear models. The results obtained for number of allelic variants per locus (11.5), average polymorphic information content value (0.68), and average gene diversity (0.722) showed that the exceptional level of polymorphism in the genotypes is the main requirement for association studies. The population structure estimated by model-based clustering distributed the genotypes into six subpopulations according to log probability of data. Significant and stable associations were detected on chromosomes 1B, 2A, 2B, 2D, and 6D, which explained from 4.7 to 40.7% of total phenotypic variations. The general linear model identified a significantly larger number of marker-trait associations (192) than the mixed linear model (76). The mixed linear model identified nine markers associated to six traits.

Frequencies of candidate genes and associations with carcass and meat traits in Nellore and crossbred cattle

Abstract: The objective of this work was to estimate allelic frequencies of the polymorphisms IGF2/MboII (G > T) of the insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2) gene, DQ499531.1:g.134A > T of the pro-melanin-concentrating hormone (PMCH) gene, and DQ667048.1:g.3290G > T of the RARrelated orphan receptor C (RORC) gene in beef cattle of different genetic groups, and to evaluate the associations between these polymorphisms and traits related to carcass composition and meat quality. Data on carcass and meat quality of 499 animals was used: of 313 Nellore (Bos indicus) and of 186 Nellore crossed with different taurine (Bos taurus) breeds. For the IGF2/MboII polymorphism, the frequencies found for the G allele were 0.231 and 0.631 for Nellore and crossed breeds, respectively. For the DQ499531.1:g.134A > T polymorphism, the allelic frequencies of A were 0.850 for Nellore and 0.905 for crossed breeds. For the DQ667048.1:g.3290G > T polymorphism, the allelic frequencies of G were 0.797 and 0.460 for Nellore and crossed breeds, respectively. The evaluated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are not significantly associated with carcass and meat traits (rib eye area, back fat thickness, shear force, total lipids, and myofibrillar fragmentation index), suggesting little utility of the analyzed polymorphisms of the IGF2, PMHC, and RORC genes as selection markers in the studied cattle populations.

A microsatellite library for Carica papaya L. cv. Sunrise solo

In experimental areas of the Education and Researches Ilha Solteira and Jaboticabal UNESP/Campus farms were selected and tagged 20 hermaphrodite plants and 20 feminine of cultivar Sunrise Solo, Improved Sunrise Solo cv.72/12 and Baixinho of Santa Amália.The seeds origined of the selected fruits were cropped to be analysed the self-pollination efficiency and frequency of the sex in the progenies. After that, samples of the young leaf of the matrix plants were colected for the extration of the DNA. It was built five library enriched of microsatellite sequencies, using probes (TCA)10, (TC)13, (GATA)4, (CAC)10 e (TGAG)8.It was possible the development of the primers only in the library that has utilized the probe (TCA)10. This probe allowed the design of 32 primer pairs. From these, 31 presented pattern of unique band in agarose Metaphor and in acrilamide. For primer S36 were observed 2 bands, but with no polymorphism to differentiation in the sexual form at papaya tree culture. However, these primers can be tested, in the futures, in the investigation of the others features in segregated populations of this specie and the related species, germoplasm analysis, cultivars identification, parent evolution and molecular markers for the assisted plant breeding programs.