Yield mapping, soil fertility and tree gaps in an orange orchard

The current high competition on Citrus industry demands from growers new management technologies for superior efficiency and sustainability. In this context, precision agriculture (PA) has developed techniques based on yield mapping and management systems that recognize field spatial variability, which contribute to increase profitability of commercial crops. Because spatial variability is often not perceived the orange orchards are still managed as uniform and adoption of PA technology on citrus farms is low. Thus, the objective of the present study was to characterize the spatial variability of three factors: fruit yield, soil fertility and occurrence of plant gaps caused by either citrus blight or huanglongbing (HLB) in a commercial Valencia orchard in Brotas, São Paulo State, Brazil. Data from volume, geographic coordinates and representative area of the bags used on harvest were recorded to generate yield points that were then interpolated to produce the yield map. Soil chemical characteristics were studied by analyzing samples collected along planting rows and inter-rows in 24 points distributed in the field. A map of density of tree gaps was produced by georeferencing individual gaps and later by counting the number of gaps within 500 m² cells. Data were submitted to statistical and geostatistical analyses. A t test was used to compare means of soil chemical characteristics between sampling regions. High variation on yield and density of tree gaps was observed from the maps. It was also demonstrated overlapping regions of high density of plant absence and low fruit yield. Soil fertility varied depending on the sampling region in the orchard. The spatial variability found on yield, soil fertility and on disease occurrence demonstrated the importance to adopt site specific nutrient management and disease control as tools to guarantee efficiency of fruit production.

Hemoglobina extracelular gigante de Glossoscolex paulistus: um extraordinário sistema supramolecular hemoproteico

Giant extracellular hemoglobins are considered the summit of complexity in systems that carry oxygen, constituting an extraordinary model system to the study of hemoproteins. This class includes the hemoglobin of the annelid Glossoscolex paulistus that presents high cooperativity, great oligomeric and redox stabilities and ability of oligomeric reassociation. These properties have motivated evaluations about its utilization as prototype of artificial blood and biosensor. Kinetic studies involving autoxidation and detailed spectroscopic characterizations of its ferrous and ferric species have propitiated information about the structure-activity relationship of this macromolecule. The present review analyzes several biochemical issues, evaluating the state-of-art of this subject.

Towards new botanical pesticides: the toxic effect of Eremanthus goyazensis (Asteraceae) leaves essential oil against Brevipalpus phoenicis (Acari: Tenuipalpidae)

This work reports the chemical characterization of Eremanthusgoyzensis essential oil and its toxic effect over Brevipalpus phoenicis. The essential oil displayed a major composition of sesquiterpenes (61.87%) including trans-caryophillene (26.81%) and germacrene-D (13.31%). The fumigation test indicated a promising bioactivity over adult B. phoenicis individuals at 24 h (2.03 µL/L of air) and 48 h (1.08 µL/L of air) of exposition. A brief discussion of essential oils composition and their singular role on the toxic effect over B. phoenicis is provided here. Our results may contribute to a new and profitable use of a species of Brazilian flora on agribusiness.

CONSTRUÇÃO DE UM DISPOSITIVO DE PRESSURIZAÇÃO A VÁCUO PARA A PREPARAÇÃO DE FASES ESTACIONÁRIAS MONOLÍTICAS VIA PROCESSO SOL-GEL

The filling of capillaries via the sol-gel process is growing. Therefore, this technical note focuses on disseminating knowledge acquired in the Group of Analytical Chemistry and Chemometrics over seven years working with monolithic stationary phase preparation in fused silica capillaries. We believe that the detailed information presented in this technical note concerning the construction of an alternative high pressurization device, used to fill capillary columns via the sol-gel process, which has promising potential for applications involving capillary electrochromatography and liquid chromatography in nano scale, may be enlightening and motivating for groups interested in developing research activities within this theme.

Medical students' knowledge about end-of-life decision-making

The influence of medical students' knowledge concerning end-of-life care, considering ethical theories and clinical practice, remains controversial. We aimed to investigate medical students' knowledge of bioethical concepts related to moral kinds of death (euthanasia, disthanasia, and orthothanasia) and to analyze the influence of their clinical experience on practicing such approaches in a tertiary hospital in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. We interviewed 180 medical students [distributed in Group 1 (G1) - first to third- year students, and Group 2 (G2) - fourth to sixth-year students] to evaluate the influence of the course on "medical ethics" on ethical theories and clinical practice, using a closed questionnaire. The course on "medical ethics" did not distinguish the groups (P=0.704) in relation to bioethical concepts. Neologisms such as "cacothanasia" and "idiothanasia" were incorrectly viewed as bioethical concepts by 28% of the interviewees. Moreover, 45.3% of the sample considered health care professionals incapable of managing terminally ill patients, especially G2 (29%) as compared to G1 (16.5%, P=0.031). The concept of euthanasia was accepted by 41% of sample, as compared to 98.2% for orthothanasia. Among medical students that accepted ways to abbreviate life (22.9%), 30.1% belonged to G1, and only 16.1% to G2 (P=0.049). These medical students were unfamiliar with common bioethical concepts. Moreover, they considered healthcare professionals incapable of managing terminally ill patients. The ethical ideal of the "good death" reflects better acceptance of orthothanasia by medical students, suggesting a tendency to apply it in their future clinical practice.

Tumor estromal gastrointestinal: análise de 146 casos do centro de referência do Instituto Nacional do Câncer - INCA

OBJETIVO: Avaliar os resultados do tratamento de GIST no INCA. MÉTODOS: Análise retrospectiva de todos os casos de GIST tratados no INCA no período de 1997 a 2009. RESULTADOS: Analisamos 146 pacientes, com média de idade de 44,5 anos e predomínio do sexo feminino. O principal sintoma foi dor abdominal. Tivemos ocorrência de segundo primário em 22% dos casos e na imuno-histoquímica, 92% foram positivos para CD117. A localização mais frequente foi estômago e predominou o grupo de alto risco. A cirurgia foi R0 (extenso) em 70% e os principais sítios de metástases foram fígado e peritônio. A sobrevida global foi, respectivamente, em dois e cinco anos de 86% e 59%. Houve significante diferença entre a sobrevida global (p=0,29) do grupo de alto risco versus os demais. CONCLUSÃO: Os nossos pacientes apresentam-se principalmente sob forma de doença de alto risco com repercussão óbvia na sobrevida. O uso de Imatinib melhorou a sobrevida dos pacientes com doença metastática e recidivada. Devemos estudar seu uso no cenário de adjuvância e neoadjuvancia visando melhorar os índices do grupo de alto risco. A criação de centros referenciais é uma necessidade para o estudo de doenças pouco frequentes.

The introduction of navigation in liver surgery in Brazil

The authors thoroughly report the development, the technical aspects and the performance of the first navigated liver resections, by laparotomy and laparoscopy, in Brazil, done at the National Cancer Institute, Ministry of Health, using a surgical navigator.

Tumor estromal esclerosante de ovário associado à síndrome de Meigs e gestação: relato de caso

O tumor estromal esclerosante de ovário é uma neoplasia benigna extremamente rara, mais frequente em mulheres jovens e sem sintomas específicos na maioria dos casos. Menos de 150 casos foram descritos, dos quais 8 diagnosticados durante a gestação. Neste relato, documentamos a associação entre tumor estromal esclerosante de ovário, síndrome de Meigs e elevação dos níveis de CA-125 em gravidez a termo.

Parto pré-termo com e sem rotura prematura de membranas: características maternas, obstétricas e neonatais

OBJETIVO: Avaliação das caraterísticas maternas, obstétricas e neonatais nos partos pré-termo (PPT) associados ou não à rotura prematura de membranas pré-termo.MÉTODOS: Estudo retrospetivo de gestações de feto único, com um parto pré-termo, entre 2003 e 2012. Critérios de inclusão: a ocorrência de parto associado ou não à rotura prematura de membranas pré-termo. Critérios de exclusão: partos motivados por comorbidades fetal e/ou maternas (iatrogênicos); e processos não disponíveis ou incompletos para consulta. Foram comparadas caraterísticas entre os dois grupos de PPT: PPT espontâneo (PPTe)versusrotura prematura de membranas pré-termo (RPM-PT), tendo sido utilizados na análise estatística os testes Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Levene, χ2, t de Student e Mann-Withney.RESULTADOS: Dos 2.393 partos pré-termo de feto único, foram analisados 1.432, dos quais 596 foram espontâneos (PPTe) e 836 foram associados à RPM-PT. Das variáveis analisadas, os fatores socioeconômicos foram sobreponíveis em ambos os grupos. Foram mais frequentes no grupo PPTe (p<0,001) a multiparidade (50,7 versus40,3%), os antecedentes obstétricos de PPT (20,8 versus10,2%), o comprimento cervical (18,2 versus27,2 mm), o baixo índice de massa corpórea (IMC) (23,4 versus24,3 kg/m2) e a elevação dos marcadores infecciosos como a Proteína C reativa (2,2 versus1,2 mg/L) e os leucócitos (13,3 versus12,4x109). O desfecho neonatal, em termos de comorbilidade, foi mais adverso no grupo PPTe, sobretudo à custa de piores resultados neurológicos (4,7 versus2,8%, p<0,001).CONCLUSÕES: Os mecanismos etiológicos do PPT, com ou sem RPM-PT, são bastante complexos. Das várias caraterísticas analisadas no nosso estudo, apenas o baixo IMC, a multiparidade com PPT anterior, o comprimento cervical foram os piores parâmetros infeciosos que foram predominantes no grupo PPTe. Esse último grupo mostrou ainda piores resultados perinatais sobretudo neurologicamente.

Spatial variability of soil fertility and its relationship with seed physiological potential in a soybean production area

The correlation of soil fertility x seed physiological potential is very important in the area of seed technology but results published with that theme are contradictory. For this reason, this study to evaluate the correlations between soil chemical properties and physiological potential of soybean seeds. On georeferenced points, both soil and seeds were sampled for analysis of soil fertility and seed physiological potential. Data were assessed by the following analyses: descriptive statistics; Pearson's linear correlation; and geostatistics. The adjusted parameters of the semivariograms were used to produce maps of spatial distribution for each variable. Organic matter content, Mn and Cu showed significant effects on seed germination. Most variables studied presented moderate to high spatial dependence. Germination and accelerated aging of seeds, and P, Ca, Mg, Mn, Cu and Zn showed a better fit to spherical semivariogram: organic matter, pH and K had a better fit to Gaussian model; and V% and Fe showed a better fit to the linear model. The values for range of spatial dependence varied from 89.9 m for P until 651.4 m for Fe. These values should be considered when new samples are collected for assessing soil fertility in this production area.

La enseñanza de la física general en la universidad : propuestas de investigación.

El fracaso en la asignatura de Física General del primer año de las licenciaturas de Ciencias e Ingeniería es elevado en las universidades portuguesas. Sobre este problema existen muchos estudios que valoran factores no académicos. Existen también investigaciones sobre el aprendizaje de física en la universidad que, sin embargo, abordan aspectos más específicos. El interés de esta investigación está puesto en la calidad del aprendizaje de Física General: cómo se puede evaluar y mejorar. Presentamos un marco teórico que sirve de fundamento a un conjunto de instrumentos de evaluación (evaluation toolbox) del aprendizaje. Este conjunto de instrumentos permite evaluar de forma extensiva -en varios cursos- y, a la vez supervisar la calidad de aprendizaje de Física General mientras se imparte, de forma que se pueda incrementar la calidad de dicho aprendizaje.

El trabajo de los docentes de secundaria : estudio biográfico de su cultura profesional.

Resumen tomado de la revista

Handbook of curriculum development. 'Manual de desarrollo curricular'.

Incluye índice temático. Resumen basado en el de la publicación

Mineração e a questão ambiental : estudo do caso da mina de carvão de Candiota-RS

As grandes reservas de carvão existentes no Estado do Rio Grande do Sul e as crescentes necessidades energéticas do país estabelecem o cenário para um incremento no aproveitamento deste bem mineral. A presente pesquisa trata-se de um estudo de caso abordando o processo de recuperação ambiental de áreas mineradas na mina de carvão da Companhia Riograndense de Mineração, em Candiota, RS, através do levantamento da atual situação ambiental e dos impactos causados pelo empreendimento, além de procurar identificar as percepções que a empresa e a comunidade têm do atual desempenho ambiental da mineração. Os resultados visam amostrar tendências comportamentais que podem contribuir para o estabelecimento de políticas e ações no sentido de melhorar o relacionamento entre a mineração e a comunidade onde está inserida. Por fim, são apresentadas recomendações para a empresa, a partir dos dados levantados em campo, bem como sugestões para futuros trabalhos nesta área.