Avaliação da diversidade genética entre acessos de mamoneira (Ricinus communis L.) por meio de caracteres morfoagronômicos

A divergência genética é um dos mais importantes parâmetros avaliados por melhoristas de plantas na fase inicial de um programa de melhoramento genético. O objetivo deste trabalho foi caracterizar 15 acessos de mamoneira por meio de caracteres morfoagronômicos. O experimento foi conduzido em Lavras, MG, no período de fevereiro a agosto de 2008. O delineamento experimental foi o de blocos ao acaso, com três repetições, e 25 plantas por parcela. Os caracteres avaliados foram: altura da planta, altura do caule, número de internódios, diâmetro do caule e número de racemos. Verificou-se a ocorrência de diferenças significativas pelo teste de F (P < 0,01), para o efeito de acessos para todas as variáveis estudadas. Foram estimadas as distâncias genéticas entre os acessos pelo método euclidiano. de acordo com o agrupamento, utilizando o método de Tocher e o método Hierárquico do Vizinho Mais Próximo, baseado na distância euclidiana houve a formação de quatro grupos distintos. Com base nos resultados obtidos neste trabalho, recomendam-se os cruzamentos entre acessos dos grupos I e IV, II e IV, e III e IV.

Vortex lattice of a long superconducting wire with a columnar defect

In the present work we study a long superconducting wire with a columnar defect in the presence of an applied magnetic field. The cross section of the cylinder is assumed to be circular. The field is taken uniform and parallel to the cylinder axis. We use the London theory to investigate the vortex lattice inside the wire. Although this theory is valid in the limit of low vortex density, that is, when the nearest neighbor vortex distance is much larger than the coherence length, we can obtain a reasonable qualitative description of lattice properties. We calculate: (1) the vortex lattice structure using the simulated annealing technique; (2) the magnetization curve as a function of the applied field.

Sol phase and sol-gel transition in SnO2 colloidal suspensions

The effect of concentration on the structure of SnO2 colloids in aqueous suspension, on their spatial correlation and on the gelation process was studied by small angle x-ray scattering (SAXS). The shape of the experimental SAXS curves varies with suspension concentration. For diluted suspensions ([SnO2] less than or equal to 0.13 mol L-1), SAXS results indicate the presence of colloidal fractal aggregates with an internal correlation length xi congruent to 20 Angstrom, without any noticeable spatial correlation between them. This suggests that the aggregates are spatially arranged without any significant interaction like in ideal gas structures. For higher concentrations ([SnO2] = 0.16, 0.32, and 0.64 mol L-1), the colloidal aggregates are larger (xi = 24 Angstrom) and exhibit a certain degree of spatial correlation between them. The pair correlation function corresponding to the sol with the highest concentration (0.92 mol L-1) reveals a rather strong short range order between aggregates, characteristic of a fluid-like structure, with an average nearest-neighbor distance between aggregates d(1) = 125 Angstrom and an average second-neighbor distance d(2) = 283 Angstrom. The pair distribution function remains essentially invariant during the sol-gel transition, suggesting that gelation involves the formation of a few points of connection between the aggregates resulting in a gel network constituted by essentially linear chains of clusters..

Charge-orbital ordering and phase separation in the two-orbital model for manganites: Roles of Jahn-Teller phononic and Coulombic interactions

The main properties of realistic models for manganites are studied using analytic mean-field approximations and computational numerical methods, focusing on the two-orbital model with electrons interacting through Jahn-Teller (JT) phonons and/or Coulombic repulsions. Analyzing the model including both interactions by the combination of the mean-field approximation and the exact diagonalization method, it is argued that the spin-charge-orbital structure in the insulating phase of the purely JT-phononic model with a large Hund couphng J(H) is not qualitatively changed by the inclusion of the Coulomb interactions. As an important application of the present mean-held approximation, the CE-type antiferromagnetic state, the charge-stacked structure along the z axis, and (3x(2) - r(2))/(3y(2) - r(2))-type orbital ordering are successfully reproduced based on the JT-phononic model with large JH for the half-doped manganite, in agreement with recent Monte Carlo simulation results. Topological arguments and the relevance of the Heisenberg exchange among localized t(2g) spins explains why the inclusion of the nearest-neighbor Coulomb interaction does not destroy the charge stacking structure. It is also verified that the phase-separation tendency is observed both in purely JT-phononic (large JH) and purely Coulombic models in the vicinity of the hole undoped region, as long as realistic hopping matrices are used. This highlights the qualitative similarities of both approaches and the relevance of mixed-phase tendencies in the context of manganites. In addition, the rich and complex phase diagram of the two-orbital Coulombic model in one dimension is presented. Our results provide robust evidence that Coulombic and JT-phononic approaches to manganites are not qualitatively different ways to carry out theoretical calculations, but they share a variety of common features.

Contemporary pollen flow, mating patterns and effective population size inferred from paternity analysis in a small fragmented population of the Neotropical tree Copaifera langsdorffii Desf. (Leguminosae-Caesalpinioideae)

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

Smooth landscape solvent dynamics in electron transfer reactions

Solvent effects play a major role in controlling electron-transfer reactions. The solvent dynamics happens on a very high-dimensional surface, and this complex landscape is populated by a large number of minima. A critical problem is to understand the conditions under which the solvent dynamics can be represented by a single collective reaction coordinate. When this unidimensional representation is valid, one recovers the successful Marcus theory. In this study the approach used in a previous work [V. B. P. Leite and J. N. Onuchic; J. Phys. Chem. 100, 7680 (1996)] is extended to treat a more realistic solvent model, which includes energy correlation. The dynamics takes place in a smooth and well behaved landscape. The single shell of solvent molecules around a cavity is described by a two-dimensional system with periodic boundary conditions with nearest neighbor interaction. It is shown how the polarization-dependent effects can be inferred. The existence of phase transitions depends on a factor y proportional to the contribution from the two parameters of the model. For the present model, γ suggests the existence of weak kinetic phase transitions, which are used in the analysis of solvent effects in charge-transfer reactions. © 1999 American Institute of Physics.

Deformed Gaussian orthogonal ensemble and the statistical fluctuations in the spectra of the quartic oscillator

The nearest-neighbor spacing distributions proposed by four models, namely, the Berry-Robnik, Caurier-Grammaticos-Ramani, Lenz-Haake, and the deformed Gaussian orthogonal ensemble, as well as the ansatz by Brody, are applied to the transition between chaos and order that occurs in the isotropic quartic oscillator. The advantages and disadvantages of these five descriptions are discussed. In addition, the results of a simple extension of the expression for the Dyson-Mehta statistic Δ3 are compared with those of a more popular one, usually associated with the Berry-Robnik formalism. ©1999 The American Physical Society.

Modeling and identification of fertility maps using artificial neural networks

The application of agricultural fertilizers using variable rates along the field can be made through fertility maps previously elaborated or through real-time sensors. In most of the cases applies maps previously elaborated. These maps are identified from analyzes done in soil samples collected regularly (a sample for each field cell) or irregularly along the field. At the moment, mathematical interpolation methods such as nearest neighbor, local average, weighted inverse distance, contouring and kriging are used for predicting the variables involved with elaboration of fertility maps. However, some of these methods present deficiencies that can generate different fertility maps for a same data set. Moreover, such methods can generate inprecise maps to be used in precision farming. In this paper, artificial neural networks have been applied for elaboration and identification of precise fertility maps which can reduce the production costs and environmental impacts.

The assessment of the quality of sugar using electronic tongue and machine learning algorithms

The correct classification of sugar according to its physico-chemical characteristics directly influences the value of the product and its acceptance by the market. This study shows that using an electronic tongue system along with established techniques of supervised learning leads to the correct classification of sugar samples according to their qualities. In this paper, we offer two new real, public and non-encoded sugar datasets whose attributes were automatically collected using an electronic tongue, with and without pH controlling. Moreover, we compare the performance achieved by several established machine learning methods. Our experiments were diligently designed to ensure statistically sound results and they indicate that k-nearest neighbors method outperforms other evaluated classifiers and, hence, it can be used as a good baseline for further comparison. © 2012 IEEE.

Submerged macrophytes height estimation by echosounder data sample

Traditional methods of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) survey last long and then, they are high cost. Optical remote sensing is an alternative, but it has some limitations in the aquatic environment. The use of echosounder techniques is efficient to detect submerged targets. Therefore, the aim of this study is to evaluate different kinds of interpolation approach applied on SAV sample data collected by echosounder. This study case was performed in a region of Uberaba River - Brazil. The interpolation methods evaluated in this work follow: Nearest Neighbor, Weighted Average, Triangular Irregular Network (TIN) and ordinary kriging. Better results were carried out with kriging interpolation. Thus, it is recommend the use of geostatistics for spatial inference of SAV from sample data surveyed with echosounder techniques. © 2012 IEEE.

Inferência espacial de cianobactérias a partir da fluorescência in vivo do pigmento ficocianina

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Utilização de técnicas de análise de agrupamento do risco de geada no Estado do Paraná para a cultura do milho safrinha

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

Novo comportamento crítico da singularidade de Yang-Lee

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

A structure-activity relationship (SAR) study of neolignan compounds with anti-schistosomiasis activity

Um conjunto de dezoito compostos de neolignanas com atividade antiesquistossomose foi estudado com o método semi-empírico PM3 e outros métodos teóricos com o intuito de avaliar algumas propriedades (variáveis ou descritores) moleculares selecionadas e correlacioná-las com a atividade biológica. Análise exploratória dos dados (análise de componentes principais, PCA, e análise hierárquica de agrupamentos, HCA), análise discriminante (DA) e o método KNN foram utilizados na obtenção de possíveis correlações entre os descritores calculados e a atividade biológica em questão e na predição da atividade antiesquistossimose de algumas moléculas teste. Os descritores moleculares responsáveis pela separação entre os compostos ativos e inativos foram: energia de hidratação (HE), refratividade molecular (MR) e carga sobre o átomo C19 (Q19). Estes descritores fornecem informações a respeito do tipo de interação que pode ocorrer entre os compostos e seu respectivo receptor biológico. Após a construção do modelo para compostos ativos e inativos, os métodos PCA, HCA, DA e KNN foram empregados em um estudo de predição. Foram estudados 10 novos compostos e somente 5 deles foram classificados como ativos contra esquistossomose.

Mapeamento dos parâmetros florísticos e estruturais de floresta de mangue com dados LIDAR e SRTM

Este estudo apresenta a estimativa dos parâmetros florísticos e estruturais (determinação da espécie, altura, diâmetro a altura do Peito - DAP e biomassa) do mangue a partir de informações da superfície adquiridas remotamente com os sensores Laser Detection and Range (LIDAR), Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) e ortofotos na Ilha dos Guarás, conjunto de arquipélagos localizado a 30 km da desembocadura do rio amazonas. Para esse trabalho foram utilizadas informações do SRTM, LIDAR e fotografias aéreas processadas e ortorretificadas durante dois sobrevôos realizados entre o mês de julho e agosto de 2011. Com a ortofoto foi feito o mapa do reconhecimento de unidades geobotânicas que delimitou apenas a classe mangue. Em seguida, foi realizada a correção da altura elipsoidal para a altura ortométrica, onde a nuvem de pontos foi interpolada pelo método vizinho mais próximo, gerando Modelo Digital de Elevação (MDE) LIDAR (full points) com RMSE de 0,88 cm e por meio de uma linguagem macro foi estatisticamente separadas as informações do último pulso da superfície, conhecido também por ground points. Em seguida, os dados foram interpolados pelo método de krigeagem que gerou o valor de Modelo Digital de Superfície (MDS), o qual foi subtraído do MDE. Com base no Modelo Digital de Vegetação (MDV) foram definidos os sítios de coleta e selecionadas as árvores ascendentes, intermediárias e emergentes, porte no qual foi medido o DAP e altura. No total foram coletadas 212 amostras individuais de mangue e para assegurar o nível de acurácia do conjunto coletado, foi realizado o cálculo de RMSE entre as alturas do LIDAR e Campo, que resultou em RMSE= 1,10 m. Os modelos escolhidos para calibração LIDAR e altura de campo foi do tipo linear, com R² = 91% e RMSE= 0,98 cm e para calibração da DAP e altura de campo foi escolhido o modelo Logarítmico R² = 74,1%. Nos resultados da calibração do SRTM o modelo logarítmico também foi o mais adequado para a relação entre altura média e SRTM com R² = 91% e RMSE de 2,2 m e DAP Médio e SRTM, com R² = 88% e RMSE 2,2 cm. A partir de um inventário foi realizada a estimativa da biomassa por espécie por meio das equações alométricas de Fromard e posteriormente os resultados foram espacializados em forma de mapas com alto nível de detalhamento oriundo das informações LIDAR e SRTM corrigido e ortofotos.