Substrate with Organosuper® for cucumber seedlings formation in protected environments and polystyrene trays

Culture environments, trays and doses of organic compost were evaluated in the formation of cucumber seedlings (Cucumis sativus L.). Five environmental conditions were tested: (A1) a greenhouse with height of 2.5 m, covered with polyethylene film, (A2) nursery with height of 2.5 m, monofilament fabric, 50% shading, (A3) nursery with height of 2.5 m, heat-reflective screen, 50% shading, (A4) nursery with a height of 1.8 m, covered with coconut tree straw and (A5) greenhouse with height of 4.0 m, covered with polyethylene film, with zenith opening and thermo-reflective cloth under the plastic. Trays of 72 (R1) and 128 (R2) cells were filled with 93% soil and 7% organic compound (S1), 86% soil and 14% organic compound (S2) and 79% soil and 21% organic compound (S3). It was used a randomized design in split-split-plot scheme, with five replicates (environments x trays x substrates). The greenhouses provide the best environments for the formation of cucumber seedlings. A tray of 72 cells is the best container, promoting more vigorous seedlings in substrate with soil and 7 or 14% organic compound.

Formation of beetroot seedlings in different protected environments, substrates and containers in Aquidauana region, State of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil

This study with beetroot seedlings, cultivar Top Tall Early Wonder, was carried out at the State University of Mato Grosso do Sul (UEMS/Aquidauana), from October to November 2008. Three environments of cultivation were used: greenhouse; nursery with monofilament screen of 50 % of shading; and nursery with aluminized thermal reflective screen of 50% of shading. In these environments, three polystyrene trays of 72, 128 and 200 cells, filled with four substrates, were tested: soil; Plantmax®; coconut fiber and vermiculite. There were no replication environments and then each one was considered an experiment alone. For each environment, it was adopted a completely randomized design in factorial scheme 3x4 (three trays x four substrates), with four replications, performing individual analysis of variance and joint analysis of experiments for environment comparisons. The monofilament screen is the best environment for seedlings produced in tray of 72 cells, and the greenhouse was the best environment for seedlings produced in trays of 128 cells. The best seedlings were formed in the tray of 72 cells. Vermiculite was the best substrate.

Production of baruzeiro seedling in different protected environments and substrates

The high seedlings quality is essential for deployment of homogeneous orchards. This study evaluated the baruzeiro (Dipteryx alata Vog) seedlings formation on different substrates within protected environments. It was used substrates with100% of cattle manure; 100% of cassava stems; 100% of vermiculite; 50% of cattle manure + 50% of cassava stems; 50% of cattle manure + 50% of vermiculite; 50% of cassava stems + 50% of vermiculite; and + ⅓ of cattle manure + ⅓ of cassava stems + ⅓ of vermiculite. These substrates were tested in protected areas: greenhouse; black shade net of 50% shading; and aluminized thermo-reflective screen of 50% shading. A completely randomized experimental design with five replicates of four plants was adopted. Initially, data were submitted to analysis of individual variance of the substrates, in each environment of cultivation, then performing the evaluation of the residual mean square and the analysis of these environments together for comparison. The best substrate for baruzeiro seedlings was pure vermiculite. The substrates with 100% of manure and the substrate with 33.33% of the mixed studied materials can be used for seedlings formation. The environment with screen can be indicated for the production of baruzeiro seedlings, since it gave vigor to the seedlings.

Production of tomato seedlings using different substrates and trays in three protected environments

The seedlings production is an essential part for vegetables production. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the environment, the substrates and the containers in the development of tomato seedlings, cv. Santa crus Kada Gigante, in Aquidauana -MS, Brazil region, from October to November, 2008. Polystyrene trays with 72; 128 and 200 cells, filled with four substrates (soil; Plantmax®; coconut fiber and vermiculite) were tested in three protected environments (greenhouse; screened with Sombrite® and screened with Aluminet®). The experimental design was completely randomized, factorial scheme 3x4 (three trays x four substrates), with four replications, being analyzed individual variance analysis and joint analysis for the environments. The environment with screens (Sombrite® and Aluminet®), the trays with 72 cells and the vermiculite produced better results.

Volume of polyethylene bags for development of papaya seedlings in protected environments

The objective of this study was to test container of polyethylene bags and protected environments on the papaya seedlings production, from May to August of 2008, in Aquidauana state of Mato Grosso do Sul (MS), Brazil. Five bags of polyethylene were used: 7.5 cm x 11.5 cm, 205.9 cm³; 8.4 cm x 10.6 cm, 238.1cm³; 10.0 cm x 16.5 cm, 525.2 cm³; 12.0 cm x 12.0 cm, 550.0 cm³ and 15.0 cm x 21.5 cm, 1539.8 cm³. These containers were placed in three protected environments: greenhouse; screened nursery with Sombrite® and screened nursery with Aluminet®. Because there is no replication of growing environment, each one was considered an experiment. For each cultivation environment, it was adopted a completely randomized design with eight replications of two plants each. Initially, data were submitted to analysis of individual variance of the container (for each cultivation environment), then performing the evaluation of the residual mean squares and the combined analysis of these environments for comparison of protected environments. The greenhouse and nursery with thermal reflector screen produced the best seedlings. The bags of 15.0 x 21.5 cm produced the best papaya seedlings. The Dickson Quality Index pointed the nursery with screen of thermal reflector as the environment that produced the most vigorous seedlings, when using the best container.

Coffee seedlings in different substrates and protected environments

The production of high-quality seedlings is a critical factor for successful implementation of a determined crop in the field. In order to evaluate the production of coffee seedlings, experiments were conducted with different substrates and in different protected environments. Treatments consisted of evaluation of the following substrates: 50% cattle manure + 50% commercial substrate, 50% cattle manure + 50% vermiculite, 50% commercial substrate + 50% vermiculite, 1/3 cattle manure + 1/3 commercial substrate + 1/3 vermiculite, 50% cattle manure + 50% sand, 1/3 sand + 1/3 cattle manure + 1/3 commercial substrate and 50% commercial substrate + 50% sand. These substrates were tested in different protected environments: agricultural greenhouse, mesh screen with 50% shading, aluminized screen with 50% shading, black screen with 30% shading, black screen with 70% shading, nursery with a buriti straw roof and full sunlight. In each environment, the experiments were conducted in a completely randomized design with five replicates of four plants each followed by joint analysis. The substrates containing 50% cattle manure associated with vermiculite or the commercial substrate may be indicated for production of coffee seedlings. Screened environments with 30, 50 and 70% shading resulted in the highest quality seedlings.

Technical and economic analysis of irrigation of asparagus bean in protected environment

This experiment was conducted in Lavras - state of Minas Gerais (MG), Brazil, in a protected environment, and aims to estimate the irrigation depths that maximize productivity and economic returns in the cultivation of asparagus bean and analyze the economic viability of irrigation management. The experimental delineation was randomized blocks with five treatments and four replications. The treatments consisted of five drip irrigation depths: 40, 70, 100, 130 and 160% of water replacement depth up to field capacity. The depths of water that maximize productivity and economic returns were obtained from the regression model adjusted to productivity data, cost of product relations and water cost. The economic viability was achieved on the benefit/cost ratio basis. The depth with the maximum economic return was estimated in 434.4mm, with a productivity of 35,160.6kg ha-1, which is economically viable for the cultivation of asparagus bean, with a expected profitability of R$ 1.70 for every real invested.

Seedlings of Acrocomia aculeata in diferent substrates and protected environments

The seedling production stage is the key to achieve uniformity in tree breeding stage. This study evaluated "bocaiúva" (Acrocomia aculeata) seedling formation, with pre-germinated seeds in different substrates and protected environments, in the University of Mato Grosso do Sul State, Aquidauana, MS. As substrates, we used 100% cattle manure (M), 100% cassava branches (CB), 100% vermiculite (V), 50% cattle manure + 50% cassava branches, 50 % cattle manure + 50% vermiculite, 50% cassava branches + 50% vermiculite and ⅓ cattle manure + ⅓ cassava branches + ⅓ vermiculite. These substrates were tested in a greenhouse covered with 150 µm low density polyethylene (LDPE) film under thermo-reflective screen with 50% shading under film; black screen with 50% shading on the sides; black monofilament screen with 50% shading set on roof and sides; and aluminized thermo- reflective screen with 50% shading set on roof and sides. The completely randomized experimental design with 5 replications of 5 plants each was adopted. Initially, data were submitted to analysis of substrate individual variance in each growing environment, then performing the waste mean square evaluation and their environment joint analysis for comparison. The best growing environment is the thermo-reflective screen compared to LDPE greenhouse and black screen set. All substrates containing manure are recommended for bocaiúva seedlings formation. The pure cassava branch is not indicated for seedling, even using chemical fertilizer.

Scheduling of guarded command based models

Formal methods provide a means of reasoning about computer programs in order to prove correctness criteria. One subtype of formal methods is based on the weakest precondition predicate transformer semantics and uses guarded commands as the basic modelling construct. Examples of such formalisms are Action Systems and Event-B. Guarded commands can intuitively be understood as actions that may be triggered when an associated guard condition holds. Guarded commands whose guards hold are nondeterministically chosen for execution, but no further control flow is present by default. Such a modelling approach is convenient for proving correctness, and the Refinement Calculus allows for a stepwise development method. It also has a parallel interpretation facilitating development of concurrent software, and it is suitable for describing event-driven scenarios. However, for many application areas, the execution paradigm traditionally used comprises more explicit control flow, which constitutes an obstacle for using the above mentioned formal methods. In this thesis, we study how guarded command based modelling approaches can be conveniently and efficiently scheduled in different scenarios. We first focus on the modelling of trust for transactions in a social networking setting. Due to the event-based nature of the scenario, the use of guarded commands turns out to be relatively straightforward. We continue by studying modelling of concurrent software, with particular focus on compute-intensive scenarios. We go from theoretical considerations to the feasibility of implementation by evaluating the performance and scalability of executing a case study model in parallel using automatic scheduling performed by a dedicated scheduler. Finally, we propose a more explicit and non-centralised approach in which the flow of each task is controlled by a schedule of its own. The schedules are expressed in a dedicated scheduling language, and patterns assist the developer in proving correctness of the scheduled model with respect to the original one.

Social tagging within task management

Social tagging evolved in response to a need to tag heterogeneous objects, the automated tagging of which is usually not feasible by current technological means. Social tagging can be used for more flexible competence management within organizations. The profiles of employees can be built in the form of groups of tags, as employees tag each other, based on their familiarity of each other’s expertise. This can serve as a replacement for the more traditional competence management approaches, which usually become outdated due to social and organizational hurdles, and obsolete data. These limitations can be overcome by people tagging, as the information revealed by such tags is usually based on most recent employee interaction and knowledge. Task management as part of personal information management aims at the support of users’ individual task handling. This can include collaborating with other individuals, sharing one’s knowledge, both functional and process-related, and distributing documents and web resources. In this context, Task patterns can be used as templates that collect information and experience around tasks associated to it during run time, facilitating agility. The effective collaboration among contributors necessitates the means to find the appropriate individuals to work with on the task, and this can be made possible by using social tagging to describe individual competencies. The goal of this study is to support finding and tagging people within task management, through the effective exploitation of the work/task context. This involves the utilization of knowledge of the workers’ expertise, nature of the task/task pattern and information available from the documents and web resources attached to the task. Vice versa, task management provides an excellent environment for social tagging due to the task context that already provides suitable tags. The study also aims at assisting users of the task management solution with the collaborative construction of light-weight ontology by inferring semantic relations between tags. The thesis project aims at an implementation of people finding & tagging within the java application for task management that consumes web services, which provide the required ontology for the organization.

Task Force on Librarians’ Competencies in Support of E-Research and Scholarly Communication

Presentation at Open Repositories 2014, Helsinki, Finland, June 9-13, 2014

Task-based information interaction

Esitys KDK-käytettävyystyöryhmän järjestämässä seminaarissa: Miten käyttäjien toiveet haastavat metatietokäytäntöjämme? / How users' expectations challenge our metadata practices? 30.9.2014.

Involvement of hippocampal AMPA glutamate receptor changes and the cAMP/protein kinase A/CREB-P signalling pathway in memory consolidation of an avoidance task in rats

Training in step-down inhibitory avoidance (0.3-mA footshock) is followed by biochemical changes in rat hippocampus that strongly suggest an involvement of quantitative changes in glutamate AMPA receptors, followed by changes in the dopamine D1 receptor/cAMP/protein kinase A (PKA)/CREB-P signalling pathway in memory consolidation. AMPA binding to its receptor and levels of the AMPA receptor-specific subunit GluR1 increase in the hippocampus within the first 3 h after training (20-70%). Binding of the specific D1 receptor ligand, SCH23390, and cAMP levels increase within 3 or 6 h after training (30-100%). PKA activity and CREB-P levels show two peaks: a 35-40% increase 0 h after training, and a second increase 3-6 h later (35-60%). The results correlate with pharmacological findings showing an early post-training involvement of AMPA receptors, and a late involvement of the D1/cAMP/PKA/CREB-P pathway in memory consolidation of this task

Effect of training on the ability of dual-task coordination

Within the framework of the working memory model proposed by A. Baddeley and G. Hitch, a dual-task paradigm has been suggested to evaluate the capacity to perform simultaneously two concurrent tasks. This capacity is assumed to reflect the functioning of the central executive component, which appears to be impaired in patients with dysexecutive syndrome. The present study extends the investigation of an index ("mu"), which is supposed to indicate the capacity of coordination of concurrent auditory digit span and tracking tasks, by testing the influence of training on the performance in the dual task. The presentation of the same digit sequence lists or always-different lists did not differently affect the performance. The span length affected the mu values. The improved performance in the tasks under the dual condition closely resembled the improvement in the single-task performance. So, although training improved performance in the single and dual conditions, especially for the tracking component, the mu values remained stable throughout the sessions when the single tasks were performed first. Conversely, training improved the capacity of dual-task coordination throughout the sessions when dual task was performed first, addressing the issue of the contribution of the within-session practice to the mu index.