Dynamics of aggregate stability influenced by soil management and crop residues

The type of tillage and crop systems used can either degrade or cause a recovery of the structure of agricultural soils. The objective of this study was to determine the structural stability of the soil using mean weight diameter (MWD) of soil aggregates in three different periods of a succession of crops consisting of beans/cover plants/maize under no tillage (NT) and conventional tillage (CT) management systems. Soils were sampled at 0- to 5-cm and 5- to 15-cm depths in three periods (P1, P2, P3): 1) November 2002 (spring/summer), 2) April 2003 (beginning of autumn), and 3) December 2003 (end of spring/beginning of summer). Aggregate stability was determined by wet sieving. The effects of the tillage systems, vegetal residues, and sampling depths on the structural stability of the aggregates were assessed and then related to organic matter (OM) contents. Aggregate stability showed temporal variation as a function of OM contents and sampling period. No tillage led to high MWD values in all study periods. The lowest MWD values and OM contents were observed 4 months after the management of the residues of cover plants. This finding is consistent with the fact that at the time of the samplings, most of the OM had already mineralized. The residues of sunn-hemp, millet, and spontaneous vegetation showed similar effects on soil aggregate stability.

Nutritional management and weight changes during hospitalization of Brazilian infants with diarrhoea: Primary reliance on oral feeding or continuous nasogastric drip with locally made, modulated minced chicken formula

The nutritional management of infants admitted with diarrhoea to the University Hospital of Botucatu includes a change from bolus feeding of a modulated minced-chicken formula to a continuous nasogastric drip (NGD) feeding, whenever the required calorie intake is not achieved or the diarrhoea does not subside. To evaluate this approach, the clinical course and weight changes of 63 children, aged 1-20 months, were reviewed; most (81 per cent) were below the third percentile for weight at admission and 76 per cent had a total duration of diarrhoea ≥10 days. Associated infections, mainly systemic, were present at or after admission in 70 per cent of them. Twenty-five survivors needed nutritional support (NS), predominantly NGD, for a median duration of 30 per cent of their admission time, and were compared to 31 survivors managed without NS. Those who necessitated NS lost weight for a significantly longer median time (12x4 days, p<0.005), but their total weight loss was similar (5x4 per cent) as well as diarrhoea's duration (8x7 days). There was a tendency for a longer hospitalization (21x16 days 0.05and a longer span to begin weight gain after diarrhoea's end for the group with NS (p<0.05), but subsequent growth quotient and daily weight gain during admission were similar for both groups. Both groups of survivors received similar amounts of energy, although the initial increase was delayed for those who needed the NGD. Seven infants (11 per cent) died, most of overwhelming infection, and presented a high total weight loss, albeit receiving NS for 71 per cent of their admission's time. It was concluded that feeding diarrhoeic infants with a NGD when necessary, possibly prevented a greater nutritional insult for the survivors. The NGD can be safely employed and should be valued, provided weight losses are carefully monitored in order to detect infants at highest risk.

Corporate risk management and exchange rate volatility in Latin America

Includes bibliography

Quality management and competitiveness: the diffusion of the ISO 9000 standards in Latin America and recommendations for government strategies

Includes bibliography

Overview of results focused management and budgeting in OECD member countries

Includes bibliography

Corporate risk management and exchange rate volatility in Latin America

Includes bibliography

Effects of spray nozzles and spray volume on spodoptera frugiperda management and narrow row corn performance

The high demand of pesticides in the production systems makes the application technology one of the main alternatives to optimize the products efficiency. In this context, the study aimed to evaluate the effects of spray nozzles and spray volumes on spraying deposits, armyworm control and crop corn performance in narrow row sowing system. The experiment was carried out at experimental area of Sao Paulo State University, Campus of Botucatu/SP, Brazil, during the 2009/2010 agricultural season, in randomized blocks with factorial scheme (2x2+1) and four replications. It was tested two flat fan spray nozzles (with and without air induction) combined with two spray volumes (100 and 200 L ha-1) plus a control treatment. There was no influence of spray nozzles (without air induction) in the spray deposits levels on plants. However, the flat fan nozzle with air induction was more effective on fall armyworm, with 100% of control against 47.84% from other at 15 days after spraying. The increase in the spray volume promoted high spray deposits (415.4 and 388.6 μL g-1 dry mass for flat fan nozzle with and without air induction, respectively at V10 growth stage) and consequently, the highest spray volume (200 L-1) was more efficient in the fall armyworm suppression, with 100% of control. All the technologies tested showed lower plant injury from fall armyworm. The insecticide sprayed with different technologies did not affect the parameters of plant height and leaf area index. The corn productivity was directly related with control efficiency of fall armyworm. © 2012 Academic Journals Inc.

Evaluation of soil management and use in an Ultisol in a guava orchard in comparison with a sugarcane field and native forest area

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Water management and river basins in Latin America

Includes bibliography

Environmental management and operational performance in automotive companies in Brazil: The role of human resource management and lean manufacturing

The main objective of this study is to verify the influence of Environmental Management (EM) on Operational Performance (OP) in Brazilian automotive companies, analyzing whether Lean Manufacturing (LM) and Human Resources (HR) interfere in the greening of these companies. Therefore, a conceptual framework listing these concepts was proposed, and three research hypotheses were presented. A questionnaire was elaborated based on this theoretical background and sent to respondents occupying the highest positions in the production/operations areas of Brazilian automotive companies. The data, collected from 75 companies, were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The main results are as follows: (a) the model tested revealed an adequate goodness of fit, showing that overall, the relations proposed between EM and OP and between HR, LM and EM tend to be statistically valid; (b) EM tends to influence OP in a positive and statistically weak manner; (c) LM has a greater influence on EM when compared to the influence HR has over EM; (d) HR has a positive relationship over EM, but the statistical significance of this relationship is less than that of the other evaluated relationships. The originality of this paper lies in its gathering the concepts of EM, LM, HR and OP in a single study, as they generally tend not to be treated jointly. This paper also provided valid empirical evidence for a littlestudied context: the Brazilian automotive sector. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Dairy goat health management and milk production on organic and conventional system in Brazil

The aimed of this article is to measure risk factors on health and milk production on organic and conventional dairy goats in Brazil. Two experimental groups (organic and conventional) were evaluated simultaneously. The study design was completely randomized. The organic herd consisted of 25 goats and 15 kids. In the conventional production system, a dairy herd comprising 40 goats and 20 kids participated in the study. Data on milk production and health management were available from January 2007 to December 2009. The abortion rate in the conventional system was 5% (2/40) whereas in organic system no abortion was diagnosed (0/25). The mortality rate at weaning in the conventional system was 5% (2/40) and in the organic system was 8% (2/25). Milk production was lower (2.20 kg/day) in organic than conventional system (2.66 kg/day). Goats and kids in organic farm had a higher FEC (386±104 and 900±204, respectively) (p<0.05) than those in conventional farm (245±132 and 634±212, respectively). In addition, Saanen kids had higher FEC (p<0.001) than goats. Treatment with antiparasitic drugs was higher in conventional system (50%) than organic system (1.3%).

Composition and quantification of the anthropogenic and natural fractions of wastes collected from the stormwater drainage system for discussions about the waste management and people behavior

A study was made of the composition of wastes collected from the pipes of the stormwater drainage system of Sorocaba, SP, Brazil (600 thousand inhabitants). A total of 10 samples weighing at least 100 kg each were sorted into 19 items to determine the fraction that can be considered natural (earth/sand, stones, organic matter, and water, the latter determined after oven-drying the samples) and the anthropogenic fraction (the remaining 15 items, especially construction and demolition wastes and packaging). Soil/sand was found to be the main item collected (52.5 % dry weight), followed by the water soaked into the waste (24.3 %), which meant that all the other wastes were saturated in mud, whose contents varied from 6.4 % (glass) to 87.2 % (metalized plastics packaging). In general, 83 % of the collected wastes can be classified as natural, but the remaining 17 % represent 2,000 kg of the most varied types of wastes discarded improperly every day on the streets of the city. This is an alarming amount of wastes that may clog parts of the drainage systems, causing troubles for all the population (like flooding) and must be strongly considered in municipal solid wastes management and in environmental education programs. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.

Management and water resources in Latin America and the Caribbean

Includes bibliography