Assessment of agroeconomic indices in polycultures of lettuce, rocket and carrot through uni- and multivariate approaches in semi-arid Brazil

The polyculture among vegetables is an activity that to have good results, needs a proper planning. Although it often requires more labor, has several advantages over monoculture, among them is that polycultures are generally are more productive, provide with productivity of various plant constituents and a more balanced human diet, contribute to economic return, economic and yield stability, social benefits and farmer's direct participation in decision-making. The objective of this study was to evaluate agroeconomic indices of polycultures derived from the combination of two cultivars of lettuce with two cultivars of rocket in two cultures strip-intercropped with carrot cultivar 'Brasilia' through uni-multivariate approaches in semi-arid Brazil. The experimental design used was of randomized complete blocks with five replications and the treatments arranged in a factorial scheme of 2 x 2. The treatments consisted of the combination of two lettuce cultivars (Baba de Verao and Taina) with two rocket cultivars (Cultivada and Folha Larga) in two cultures associated with carrot cv. Brasilia. hi each block were grown plots with two lettuce cultivars and two rocket cultivars, and carrot in sole crop. In each system was determined the lettuce leaf yield, rocket green mass yield and carrot commercial yield. Agrieconomic indices such as operational cost, gross and net income, monetary advantage, rate of return, profit margin, land equivalent ratio and yield efficiency for DEA were used to measure the efficiency of intercropping systems. In the bicropping of lettuce and rocket associated with carrot cv. 'Brasilia', suggests the use of lettuce cultivar 'Taina' combined with rocket cultivars 'Cultivada' or 'Folha Larga'. It was observed significant effect of lettuce cultivars in the evaluation of polycultures of lettuce, carrot and rocket, with strong expression for the lettuce cultivar 'Taina'. Both uni- and multivariate approaches were effective in the discrimination of the best polycultures. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Efeito da restrição alimentar no desempenho produtivo e econômico de cabritos F1 Boer x Saanen

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

Análise textual dos discursos: responsabilidade enunciativa no texto jurídico

This investigation aims at describing, analyzing and interpreting the Commitment in Initial Petitions, which is a genre circumscribed in the judicial domain. For this purpose, we have chosen sections, facts as found and relevant law , sections of the petition, with the understanding that, in this way, respectively, the narration of events, which gives margin to the propositioning to the judicial action, and the exposition of the law that upholds the author s intention. We base our discussion on the field of Linguistics, more precisely, Textual Discourse Analysis (TDA), whose theoretical basis is derived from Textual Linguistics (TL) and Enunciative Linguistics. We foreground, particularly, the way in which the author of texts, objects of analysis, use discursive strategies that evidence ER. The relevance of this study, then, is in the formation of a critique of the judicial text, as it conceives of a dialogical approach to the point of view, raising not only questions about the way in which a linguistic instance conceives an object of discourse, but also considering questions of language inherent to technical writing and, in this aspect, contributing to the work of those operating in Law about the many ways ER is formed in the body of a petition. We selected two categories to analyze that, according to Adam (2011), characterize the degree of ER in the textual material of the propositional enunciations: the different types of representation of speech and the indications of profile of mediators. In this sense, with this task as an objective, we base our study regarding point of view on Rabatel (2003, 2009a, 2010) with relation to the enunciative approach, including the study of PDV in polyphonic and dialogical theoretical framework to study the ER from different types of speech representations that conceive forms of transmission of discourse and the role of the enunciating subject, mainly the responsibility and the prerogative by the propositional contents. In the same way, intending to study the indications of the mediator profiles, we observed the postulations of Guentchéva (1994, 1996), which develop the notion of mediative grammatical categories, of which permit the linguistic marking of distance and engagement of the enunciator with regard to the information expressed. The methodology we adopted was based on qualitative research, of an interpretive and introspective nature, in light of the fact that his study focuses on processes and strategies underlying language use. The corpus of the research is comprised of Initial Petitions, which gave rise to actions originating in the Civil Court of Currais Novos County RN. The data analysis shows that an object of discourse is always perspective oriented and presents the point of view of one or more enunciators. Consequently, the producer of a text, using the PDV of other enunciators, influences and establishes the argumentative orientation of the text. In the same way, it evidences the relevance of the use of mediated constructions in the judicial text, as they function as strategies attenuated to the responsibility of the producer of the text with what is said, and at the same time points to a discourse of authority through the entrance of the sources of law. Moreover, it reveals the documental and international importance of this practice, at the same time that it exposes the compositional and normative difficulties with regard to legal and linguistic aspects

Continuous ethanol production in a nonconventional five-stage system operating with yeast cell recycling at elevated temperatures

Three ranges of increasing temperatures (35-43, 37-45, 39-47degreesC) were sequentially applied to a five-stage system continuously operated with cell recycling so that differences of 2degreesC (between one reactor to the next) and 8degreesC (between the first reactor at the highest temperature and the fifth at the lowest temperature) were kept among the reactors for each temperature range. The entire system was fed through the first reactor. The lowest values of biomass and viability were obtained for reactor R-3 located in the middle of the system. The highest yield of biomass was obtained in the effluent when the system was operated at 35-43degreesC. This nonconventional system was set up to simulate the local fluctuations in temperature and nutrient concentrations that occur in different regions of the medium in an industrial bioreactor for fuel ethanol production mainly in tropical climates. Minimized cell death and continuous sugar utilization were observed at temperatures normally considered too high for Saccharomyces cerevisiae fermentations.

A Management Tool for the Replication of Operating Systems in Wireless Communication Networks

To simplify computer management, various administration systems based on wired connections adopt advanced techniques to manage software configuration. Nevertheless, the strong relation between hardware and software makes for an individualism of that management, besides penalizing computational mobility and ubiquity. All these issues lead to degradation of scalability, flexibility and the facility to install and maintain distributed applications. This article presents an environment for centralized wireless communication network management, named WSE-OS (Wireless Sharing Environment - Operating Systems): a model based on Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) which associates virtualization techniques and safe remote access systems to create a distributed architecture as a base for a managing system. WSE-OS is capable of accomplishing the replication of operating system images using wireless communication network, besides offering abstraction of hardware to its clients, making the management more flexible and independent of wired connections. Results obtained from this work indicate that WSE-OS allows disseminating, through a single software configuration, the execution of data related to operating system images in client computers. WSE-OS can also be used as a management tool for operating systems in a wireless network.

Experimental performance of a direct evaporative cooler operating during summer in a Brazilian city

This paper presents the basic principles of the evaporative cooling process for human thermal comfort, the principles of operation for the direct evaporative cooling system and the mathematical development of the equations of thermal exchanges, allowing the determination of the effectiveness of saturation. It also presents the results of experimental tests in a direct evaporative cooler that take place in the Air Conditioning Laboratory at the University of Taubate Mechanical Engineering Department, and the experimental results are used to determinate the convective heat transfer co-efficient and to compare with the mathematical model. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd and IIR. All rights reserved.

Experimental measurements of the NOx and CO concentrations operating in oscillatory and non-oscillatory burning conditions

The effects of combustion driven acoustic oscillations in carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides emission rates of a combustor operated with liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) were investigated. Because the fuel does not contain nitrogen, tests were also conducted with ammonia injected in the fuel, in order to study the formation of fuel NOx. The main conclusions were: (a) the pulsating combustion process is more efficient than the non-pulsating one and (b) the pulsating combustion process generates higher rates of NOx, with and without ammonia injection, as shown by CO and NO concentrations as function of the O-2 concentration. An increase in the LPG flow rate, keeping constant the air to fuel ratio, increased the acoustic pressure amplitude and the frequency of oscillation. The injection of ammonia had no influence on either pressure amplitude or frequency. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Single-phase high power-factor boost ZCS pre-regulator operating in critical conduction mode

This paper presents a new single-phase interleaved high power factor boost pre-regulator operating in critical conduction mode, where the switches and boost diode performing zero-current commutations during its turn-off, eliminating the disadvantages related to the reverse recovery losses and electromagnetic interference problems of the boost diode, when operating in the continuous conduction mode. The interleaving technique is applied in the power cell, providing a significant input current ripple reduction in comparison to discontinuous mode of operation, due to its input current continuous conduction operation. This paper presents a complete modeling for the converter operating in critical conduction mode, resulting in an improved design procedure for interleaved techniques with high input power factor, a complete design procedure, and main simulation results from a design example with two interleaved cells rated at 1kW, 400V output voltage and 220V rms input voltage.

Real power losses reduction and loading margin improvement via continuation method

This letter presents an alternative approach for reducing the total real power losses by using a continuation method. Results for two simple test systems and for the IEEE 57-bus system show that this procedure results in larger voltage stability margin. Besides, the reduction of real power losses obtained with this procedure leads to significant money savings and, simultaneously, to voltage profile improvement. Comparison between the solution of an optimal power flow and the proposed method shows that the latter can provide near optimal results and so, it can be a reasonable alternative to power system voltage stability enhancement.

Técnicas de parametrização global para o fluxo de carga continuado

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

Scanning tunneling microscope operating as a spin diode

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Análise econômica da produção de feijão em função de doses de nitrogênio e coberturas vegetais

O nitrogênio é o nutriente aplicado em maior quantidade à cultura do feijão, o mais limitante ao crescimento e desenvolvimento das plantas e o que mais onera o custo de produção. Uma boa opção para o produtor diminuir custos, com a utilização de fertilizantes nitrogenados, é a utilização de plantas de cobertura do solo, também conhecidas como adubos verdes. Assim, este trabalho objetivou avaliar os custos de produção e índices de lucratividade de diferentes tratamentos envolvendo coberturas vegetais e doses de nitrogênio em cobertura, na cultura do feijoeiro irrigado, em sistema plantio direto, nas safras de inverno de 2010 e 2011. O trabalho foi realizado em área experimental localizada no município de Selvíria (MS), em Latossolo Vermelho distrófico típico. Os tratamentos constituíram-se de seis coberturas vegetais (Crotalaria juncea, milheto, guandú, Crotalaria juncea + milheto, guandú + milheto e pousio) e quatro doses de N (0 kg ha-1, 30 kg ha-1, 60 kg ha-1 e 90 kg ha-1). Foram estimados o custo operacional total, receita bruta, lucro operacional, índice de lucratividade, produtividade de equilíbrio e o preço de equilíbrio. Concluiu-se que o uso da Crotalaria juncea, como cobertura vegetal do solo, proporcionou os maiores valores de custo operacional total e lucro operacional e os melhores índices de lucratividade, e que o incremento nas doses de nitrogênio aumentou o custo operacional total, com tendência de aumento na produtividade e, consequentemente, no preço de equilíbrio.

Quantitative comparison of mobility and gross motor function in Brazilian children with cerebral palsy

Background: Cerebral palsy (CP) presents changes in posture and movement as a core characteristic, which requires therapeutic monitoring during the habilitation or rehabilitation of children. Besides clinical treatment, it is fundamental that professionals use systems of evaluation to quantify the difficulties presented to the individual and assist in the organization of a therapeutic program. The aim of this study was to quantitatively verify the performance of children with spastic di-paresia type CP.Methods: The Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI) and Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFM) tests were used and classification made through the GMFCS in the assessment of 7 patients with CP, 4 females and 3 males, average age of 9 years old.Results: According to GMFCS scales, 17% (n=1) were level II and 83% (n=6) were level III. The PEDI test and 88 GMFM items were used in the area of mobility. We observed that there was high correlation between mobility and gross motor function with Pearson's correlation coefficient =0.929) showing the likely impact of these areas in the functional skills and the quality of life of these patients.Conclusion: We suggest the impact of the limitation of the areas in functional skills and quality of life of these patients.

Effects of beta-aminopropionitrile fumarate and exercise on equine tendon healing: Gross and histological aspects

In the present study, the effects of intralesional injections of beta-aminopropionitrile fumarate (BAPN-F) was assessed in equine experimental tendinitis. BAPN-F is a lathyrogen which inhibits crosslinking of collagen, permitting more time for parallel reorientation of the repair tissue. Sixteen two-year-old Arabian horses without health problems were used in this experiment. The animals were divided into two groups: group one was left in box rest, and group two was submitted to controlled exercise during the experiment. Tendinitis was induced with collagenase in the superficial flexor tendon of both forelimbs. Twenty days after the induction of tendinitis, intralesional treatment with BAPN-F was performed and the contralateral limbs received saline. A biopsy was obtained and gross and histopathological analysis was performed on the 150th day of the experiment. The collagen fibrillar alignment pattern in the heating area was better in the BAPN-F group submitted to controlled exercise than in the other group, as observed by sonographic and histopathologic examination. The present results indicate that BAPN-F in combination with controlled loading improved sear remodeling and tendon wound collagen maturation.

Níveis de proteína bruta em dietas comerciais para suínos em crescimento e terminação

Avaliaram-se quatro níveis de proteína bruta (PB) em dietas consideradas comerciais fornecidas a suínos machos castrados nas fases de crescimento e terminação. Foram utilizados 48 machos castrados de mesma linhagem genética, com pesos iniciais de 30,8 ± 0,12 kg (fase de crescimento) e 61,2 ± 0,89 kg (fase de terminação), segregados no sistema de produção. Os animais foram distribuídos em delineamento experimental de blocos ao acaso, compostos de quatro tratamentos (níveis de PB) e seis repetições e dois animais por unidade experimental. Os níveis de PB testados foram 19,5; 18,0; 16,5 e 15,0% na fase crescimento e 18,0; 16,5; 15,0 e 13,5% na fase terminação. Na fase crescimento, não foram constatadas diferenças no desempenho dos machos castrados. Independentemente do nível de PB na dieta, as exigências nutricionais foram atendidas, não obstante, a dieta com 16,5% PB indicou maior viabilidade econômica, calculada como margem bruta decorrente da alimentação. Semelhante à fase de crescimento, na fase de terminação os níveis de PB da dieta não promoveram diferenças no desempenho e nas características de carcaça dos animais ao abate. Ao considerar a margem bruta atribuída à alimentação, a dieta com 15,0% PB permitiria maior retorno econômico no período correspondente ao intervalo dos 60 aos 100 kg. A variação da proteína dietética com a suplementação dos principais aminoácidos não prejudicou o desempenho de suínos machos castrados nas fases de crescimento e terminação criados em condições desejáveis de saúde, segregados, em sistema de criação comercial. Pequenas variações entre aminoácidos não prejudicam o desempenho de suínos machos castrados nas fases de crescimento e terminação, desde que as exigências de lisina digestível e dos demais aminoácidos limitantes sejam mantidas próximas às relações mínimas atualmente indicadas.