Gas exchange, phisiological indexes and ionic accumulation in Annona emarginata (Schltdl.) H. Rainer seedlings in nutrients solution

"Araticum-de-terra-fria" (Annona emarginata (Schltdl.) H. Rainer) has been consider a good alternative in rootstock production for the main commercial Annonaceae species. Although this species develops in different soil and climate conditions, there is no understanding by the physiological responses of this species at different nutritional levels. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of different ionic strengths on development of vegetative species known as "Araticum-de-terra-fria". It was evaluated in seedlings grown in different ionic strengths (25% I, 50% I, 75% I and 100% I) of the complete nutrient solution Hoagland and Arnon (1950) nº 2, for 140 days, the following characteristics: Gas Exchange (CO2 assimilation rate, stomatal conductance, internal CO2 concentration, transpiration rate, water use efficiency, Rubisco carboxylation efficiency); Vegetative growth characteristics (diameter, leaf number, dry matter); Physiological Indexes (leaf area ratio, specific leaf area, relative growth rate, net assimilation rate, leaf weight ratio) and Ionic Accumulation (nutrients leaf analysis). Seedlings grown under 50% I showed the highest values of Leaf CO2 assimilation rate, water use efficiency, carboxylation efficiency, growth, relative growth rate, net assimilation rate and ionic accumulation in the total dry matter. So it is concluded that "Araticum-de-terra-fria" seedlings grown under intermediate nutrient concentrations of complete nutrient solution Hoagland and Arnon (1950) nº 2, explored more adequately their physiological potential that justify their adaptation in different nutritional conditions and allow reducing the amount of mineral nutrition of seedlings production.

The causal factors of international inequality in CO2 emissions per capita: a regression-based inequality decomposition analysis

This paper uses the possibilities provided by the regression-based inequality decomposition (Fields, 2003) to explore the contribution of different explanatory factors to international inequality in CO2 emissions per capita. In contrast to previous emissions inequality decompositions, which were based on identity relationships (Duro and Padilla, 2006), this methodology does not impose any a priori specific relationship. Thus, it allows an assessment of the contribution to inequality of different relevant variables. In short, the paper appraises the relative contributions of affluence, sectoral composition, demographic factors and climate. The analysis is applied to selected years of the period 1993–2007. The results show the important (though decreasing) share of the contribution of demographic factors, as well as a significant contribution of affluence and sectoral composition.

Multivariate study of Nile tilapia byproducts enriched with omega-3 and dried with different methods

Abstract The present work aimed at studying the effect of different drying methods applied to tilapia byproducts (heads, viscera and carcasses) fed with flaxseed, verifying the contents of omega-3 fatty acids. Two diets were given to the tilapia: a control and a flaxseed formulation, over the course of 60 days. After this period, they were slaughtered and their byproducts (heads, viscera and carcasses) were collected. These fish parts were analyzed in natura, lyophilized and oven dried. Byproducts from tilapia fed with flaxseed presented docosapentaenoic, eicopentaenoic and docosahexanoic fatty acids as a result of the enzymatic metabolism of the fish. The byproducts from the oven drying process had lower levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids. In the multivariate analysis, the byproducts from fish fed with flaxseed had a greater composition of fatty acids. The addition of flaxseed in fish diets, as well as the utilization of their byproducts, may become a good business strategy. Additionally, the byproducts may be dried to facilitate transport and storage.

L’incidence du programme Vers le pacifique sur les buts de maîtrise et le sentiment d’appartenance à l’école

La présente étude avait pour but de déterminer si un programme de prévention de la violence par l’entraînement aux habiletés en résolution de conflits et en médiation pouvait avoir une incidence sur la motivation scolaire et le sentiment d’appartenance à l’école. De par ses trois missions fondamentales (instruire, qualifier et socialiser), l’école québécoise est pour l’élève à la fois un milieu de vie et un milieu d’apprentissage. Toutefois, des problèmes de comportement et de motivation à apprendre peuvent freiner la réussite de certains jeunes. Pour remédier à la situation, des programmes visant à améliorer le comportement des élèves et à prévenir la violence à l’école ont été mis sur pied et évalués, indiquant une amélioration de certains comportements. Quelques études ont aussi noté une corrélation entre ces programmes et la motivation à apprendre. Sachant que l’adoption de buts de maîtrise et le sentiment d’appartenance à l’école sont des variables qui agissent positivement sur la motivation à apprendre, il est pertinent de se demander si un tel programme peut avoir une incidence sur ces variables. Des analyses secondaires de données issues du Rapport final d’évaluation des impacts du programme Vers le pacifique pour les quatre années de sa mise en œuvre (Bowen, 2006) ont été effectuées afin de vérifier si le programme Vers le Pacifique avait un impact sur les buts de maîtrise et le sentiment d’appartenance et déterminer quels comportements appris grâce au programme agissaient sur ces deux mêmes variables. De plus, le sexe des participants, ainsi que le niveau d’implantation du programme dans les écoles, ont été considérés dans les analyses. Les résultats aux analyses de variance ont révélé que le programme Vers le pacifique n’avait pas d’incidence sur les buts de maîtrise et le sentiment d’appartenance. Peu importe le groupe et le sexe, les buts de maîtrise et le sentiment d’appartenance ont diminué au deuxième temps de mesure. Toutefois, un des comportements appris grâce à Vers le pacifique, la gestion des émotions, agit positivement sur l’adoption de buts de maîtrise. À la lumière de ces résultats, qui cadrent avec certaines théories présentes dans la littérature, il est recommandé aux praticiens d’intégrer de manière plus explicite un volet motivationnel au programme Vers le pacifique, dans le but de contrer la diminution des buts de maîtrise et du sentiment d’appartenance et ainsi favoriser le développement de la motivation à apprendre et la réussite scolaire.

Code clones in program test sequence identification

Code clones are portions of source code which are similar to the original program code. The presence of code clones is considered as a bad feature of software as the maintenance of software becomes difficult due to the presence of code clones. Methods for code clone detection have gained immense significance in the last few years as they play a significant role in engineering applications such as analysis of program code, program understanding, plagiarism detection, error detection, code compaction and many more similar tasks. Despite of all these facts, several features of code clones if properly utilized can make software development process easier. In this work, we have pointed out such a feature of code clones which highlight the relevance of code clones in test sequence identification. Here program slicing is used in code clone detection. In addition, a classification of code clones is presented and the benefit of using program slicing in code clone detection is also mentioned in this work.

Spatio-temporal surface soil heat flux estimates from satellite data: results for the AMMA experiment at the Fakara (Niger) supersite

This paper describes a method that employs Earth Observation (EO) data to calculate spatiotemporal estimates of soil heat flux, G, using a physically-based method (the Analytical Method). The method involves a harmonic analysis of land surface temperature (LST) data. It also requires an estimate of near-surface soil thermal inertia; this property depends on soil textural composition and varies as a function of soil moisture content. The EO data needed to drive the model equations, and the ground-based data required to provide verification of the method, were obtained over the Fakara domain within the African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analysis (AMMA) program. LST estimates (3 km × 3 km, one image 15 min−1) were derived from MSG-SEVIRI data. Soil moisture estimates were obtained from ENVISAT-ASAR data, while estimates of leaf area index, LAI, (to calculate the effect of the canopy on G, largely due to radiation extinction) were obtained from SPOT-HRV images. The variation of these variables over the Fakara domain, and implications for values of G derived from them, were discussed. Results showed that this method provides reliable large-scale spatiotemporal estimates of G. Variations in G could largely be explained by the variability in the model input variables. Furthermore, it was shown that this method is relatively insensitive to model parameters related to the vegetation or soil texture. However, the strong sensitivity of thermal inertia to soil moisture content at low values of relative saturation (<0.2) means that in arid or semi-arid climates accurate estimates of surface soil moisture content are of utmost importance, if reliable estimates of G are to be obtained. This method has the potential to improve large-scale evaporation estimates, to aid land surface model prediction and to advance research that aims to explain failure in energy balance closure of meteorological field studies.

Thermodynamic efficiency and entropy production in the climate system

We present an outlook on the climate system thermodynamics. First, we construct an equivalent Carnot engine with efficiency and frame the Lorenz energy cycle in a macroscale thermodynamic context. Then, by exploiting the second law, we prove that the lower bound to the entropy production is times the integrated absolute value of the internal entropy fluctuations. An exergetic interpretation is also proposed. Finally, the controversial maximum entropy production principle is reinterpreted as requiring the joint optimization of heat transport and mechanical work production. These results provide tools for climate change analysis and for climate models’ validation.

Climate change: dichotomy of drought and deluge

Freshwater deficits and heavy rainfall have been projected to intensify in a warming climate. An analysis of hydrological data suggests that past changes in wet and dry extremes were more complex than a simple amplification of existing patterns.

EthoSeq: A tool for phylogenetic analysis and data mining in behavioral sequences

This article introduces the software program called EthoSeq, which is designed to extract probabilistic behavioral sequences (tree-generated sequences, or TGSs) from observational data and to prepare a TGS-species matrix for phylogenetic analysis. The program uses Graph Theory algorithms to automatically detect behavioral patterns within the observational sessions. It includes filtering tools to adjust the search procedure to user-specified statistical needs. Preliminary analyses of data sets, such as grooming sequences in birds and foraging tactics in spiders, uncover a large number of TGSs which together yield single phylogenetic trees. An example of the use of the program is our analysis of felid grooming sequences, in which we have obtained 1,386 felid grooming TGSs for seven species, resulting in a single phylogeny. These results show that behavior is definitely useful in phylogenetic analysis. EthoSeq simplifies and automates such analyses, uncovers much of the hidden patterns of long behavioral sequences, and prepares this data for further analysis with standard phylogenetic programs. We hope it will encourage many empirical studies on the evolution of behavior.

Aplicativos computacionais para geografia: classificacao multivariada por agrupamento

This paper presents a method for multidimensional classification (Cluster Analysis), as well as a 8 bits microcomputer program in BASIC that automates the process. A practical application of the model is also presented. -English summary

A program for terpenoid skeleton prediction based on botanical information

This paper describes a new program developed to the SISTEMAT expert system, the SISOCBOT program. This program employs the botanical data analysis and predicts, at the end of analysis, the probable skeleton of a compound based on the input of family or genus names. The SISOCBOT program was tested with 78 samples involving 302 substances, pertaining to 38 carbon skeletons, and showed a high hit index on skeleton prediction, thus emphasizing the potential importance of these data for structural determination of natural products. © 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Spontaneous eye blink analysis in the normal individual

Purpose: Spontaneous eye blink activity in the primary eye position and its relationship to age and gender were assessed using digital image processing techniques to quantify blink opening and closing time. Methods: One hundred-and-eighty healthy volunteers (90 males and 90 females), divided into the age groups 0-3, 4-12, 13-20, 21-40, 41-60 and ≥60 years old, were evaluated prospectively. They were videotaped digitally in a standard setting and the images were transferred to a personal computer (Macintosh 400) and processed with the iMovie software. Blink opening and closing time were measured at 30 frames/second. The data were then subjected to statistical analysis. Results: The closing time was significantly longer than the opening time for all ages and both genders. Elderly individuals (≥41 years old) and women had significantly longer closing times. Conclusion: Image processing techniques made possible the observation of differences in spontaneous eye blink opening and closing time in relation to age and gender. Copyright © 2005 Taylor & Francis LLC.

The CND-Goiaba 1.0 software for nutritional diagnosis of guava (Psidium guajava L.) 'Paluma', in Brazil

Computer programs enable the transformation of raw data into useful information for decision making in many fields, including agriculture. Various programs have been developed to assist farmers to make better decisions about crop management practices and plant nutrition parameters. This article introduces the CND-Goiaba 1.0 software (C Sharp) and its use as a tool to perform the mathematical calculations involved in determining the compositional nutrient diagnosis (CND) indexes for the guava tree. This program was developed in Brazil, the world's leading producer of red guavas. A database was created based on 205 leaf samples collected in commercial plots (sampling units) of cultivated 'Paluma' guava trees (Psidium guajava L.) with ages between 5 and 20 years, during the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 growing seasons. The production data were normally distributed according to the Shapiro-Wilk test (W=0.988; p=0.11). The software made it possible to diagnose that 63% of the orchards evaluated needed to improve the nutritional status of their trees. The CND method showed severe nutritional imbalances in Mg and Zn in these orchards. © ISHS.

Estado nutricional de mangueiras determinado pelos métodos DRIS e CND

Different procedures for the integrated method of diagnosis and recommendation may influence the accuracy of foliar diagnosis of mango. Thus, the objective of this study was to compare the diagnosis of nutritional status of mango obtained by different methods of assessing nutritional status, comparing multivariate relations (method CND) with bivariate relationships (DRIS) i.e., variations in the use of specific or preliminary standards and a logarithmic transformation of the data. The macro and micronutrient leaf analysis results of 63 mango orchards of Lower-middle São Francisco River Valley, Brazil, were used. To interpret nutritional status the Potential Response to Fertilization (PRA) criteria was used. The CND and DRIS methods, with and without logarithmic transformation and using specific or preliminary standards, which showed similar performance in assessing the nutritional status of the mango in Lower-middle San Francisco. Mango orchards in the semiarid region of northeast Brazil, the micronutrient deficiencies (Zn, Fe and Cu) were more frequent than macronutrient deficiency.

Trocas gasosas, índices fisiológicos e acúmulo iônico em plantas jovens de Annona emarginata (Schltdl.) H. Rainer em solução nutritiva

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)