Relationships between physiological traits and productivity of sugarcane in response to water deficit

The relationships between physiological variables and sugarcane productivity under water deficit conditions were investigated in field studies during 2005 and 2006 in Weslaco, Texas, USA. A total of 78 genotypes and two commercial varieties were studied, one of which was drought-tolerant (TCP93-4245) and the other drought-sensitive (TCP87-3388). All genotypes were subjected to two irrigation regimes: a control well-watered treatment (wet) and a moderate water-deficit stress (dry) treatment for a period of 90 days. Maximum quantum efficiency of photosystem II (F (v)/F (m)), estimated chlorophyll content (SPAD index), leaf temperature (LT), leaf relative water content (RWC) and productivity were measured. The productivity of all genotypes was, on average, affected negatively; however, certain genotypes did not suffer significant reduction. Under water deficit, the productivity of the genotypes was positively and significantly correlated with F (v)/F (m), SPAD index and RWC, while LT had a negative correlation. These findings suggest that genotypes exhibiting traits of high RWC values, high chlorophyll contents and high photosynthetic radiation use efficiency under low moisture availability should be targeted for selection and variety development in programmes aimed at improving sugarcane for drought prone environments.

Applying boron to coconut palm plants: effects on the soil, on the plant nutritional status and on productivity boron to coconut palm trees

Boron, one of the micronutrients frequently found in low levels in tropical soils affects nutrition and productivity of coconut palm trees essentially cultivated in tropical climates. The objective of this research study was to evaluate the effect of boron on the nutritional status of the plant and its productivity when artificially applied to the culture soil. The experiment was carried out in a four year old, artificially irrigated, dwarf coconut palm orchard in Brazil, between January, 2005 and October, 2006. The soil was a red yellow Latosol (B: 0.18 mg dm(-3)). The treatments consisted in the application of five boron dosages: zero, 1, 2, 4, and 6 kg ha(-1). In the field, the treatments were arranged according to a completely randomized block design, with four replications. Boron (borax) dosages were applied in equal halves directly into the soil in the months of January and February of 2005. Boron concentration in the soil and plant and plant productivity were evaluated. The higher palm tree production was associated to levels of 0.6mg dm(-3) of B in the soil and 23.5mg kg(-1) in leaves. Ninety five percent of palm trees maximum production was obtained with the use of a boron dosage of 2,1kg ha(-1).

Accumulated productivity and its genetic association with reproductive traits in females Brahman

Objective. Assessment of genetic parameters for accumulative productivity trait (ACP) and genetic correlations with age at first calving (AFC), between calving interval of first and second parity (BCI1) and longevity (LONG). Materials and methods. 8584 Brahman female records were used with an animal model in multi-trait analysis with restricted maximum likelihood method, implemented using the WOMBAT software. The models considered the fixed effects of contemporary group, parity and weaning weight of first calf covariate, the only random effect was the genetic additive direct. Weaning weight (P240) was included to reduce the effect of selection on the estimation of variance components. Results. The heritability estimates were 0.3 +/- 0.04, 0.11 +/- 0.03, 0.07 +/- 0.03 and 0.24 +/- 0.04 for AFC, BCI1, LONG and ACP respectively. Correlations between ACP and the other features were moderate to high and favorable. Conclusions. ACP can be included in breeding programs for Brahman, and used as selection criteria for its moderate heritability and genetic correlation with reproductive traits.

Taste and Temperature in Swallowing Transit Time after Stroke

Background: Oropharyngeal dysphagia is common in individuals after stroke. Taste and temperature are used in dysphagia rehabilitation. The influence of stimuli, such as taste and temperature, on swallowing biomechanics has been investigated in both healthy individuals and in individuals with neurological disease. However, some questions still remain unanswered, such as how the sequence of offered stimuli influences the pharyngeal response. The goal of the present study was to determine the influence of the sequence of stimuli, sour taste and cold temperature, on pharyngeal transit time during deglutition in individuals after stroke. Methods: The study included 60 individuals with unilateral ischemic stroke, 29 males and 31 females, aged 41–88 years (mean age: 66.2 years) examined 0–50 days after ictus (median: 6 days), with mild to moderate oropharyngeal dysphagia. Exclusion criteria were hemorrhagic stroke patients, patients with decreased level of consciousness, and clinically unstable patients, as confirmed by medical evaluation. The individuals were divided into two groups of 30 individuals each. Group 1 received a nonrandomized sequence of stimuli (i.e. natural, cold, sour, and sour-cold) and group 2 received a randomized sequence of stimuli. A videofluoroscopic swallowing study was performed to analyze the pharyngeal transit time. Four different stimuli (natural, cold, sour, and sour-cold) were offered. The images were digitalized and specific software was used to measure the pharyngeal transit time. Since the values did not present regular distribution and uniform variances, nonparametric tests were performed. Results: Individuals in group 1 presented a significantly shorter pharyngeal transit time with the sour-cold stimulus than with the other stimuli. Individuals in group 2 did not show a significant difference in pharyngeal transit time between stimuli. Conclusions: The results showed that the sequence of offered stimuli influences the pharyngeal transit time in a different way in individuals after stroke and suggest that, when the sour-cold stimulus is offered in a randomized sequence, it can influence the response to the other stimuli in stroke patients. Hence, the sour-cold stimulus could be used as a therapeutic aid in dysphagic stroke patients.

Diverse urban plantings managed with sufficient resource availability can increase plant productivity and arthropod diversity

Buildings structures and surfaces are explicitly being used to grow plants, and these "urban plantings" are generally designed for aesthetic value. Urban plantings also have the potential to contribute significant "ecological values" by increasing urban habitat for animals such as arthropods and by increasing plant productivity. In this study, we evaluated how the provision of these additional ecological values is affected by plant species richness; the availability of essential resources for plants, such as water, light, space; and soil characteristics. We sampled 33 plantings located on the exterior of three buildings in the urban center of Brisbane, Australia (subtropical climatic region) over 2, 6 week sampling periods characterized by different temperature and rainfall conditions. Plant cover was estimated as a surrogate for productivity as destructive sampling of biomass was not possible. We measured weekly light levels (photosynthetically active radiation), plant CO2 assimilation, soil CO2 efflux, and arthropod diversity. Differences in plant cover were best explained by a three-way interaction of plant species richness, management water regime and sampling period. As the richness of plant species increased in a planter, productivity and total arthropod richness also increased significantly likely due to greater habitat heterogeneity and quality. Overall we found urban plantings can provide additional ecological values if essential resources are maintained within a planter such as water, light and soil temperature. Diverse urban plantings that are managed with these principles in mind can contribute to the attraction of diverse arthropod communities, and lead to increased plant productivity within a dense urban context.

Productivity and costs of Beller-Buncher and forest processor in stands of eucalypts in first cut

The rationalization of forest harvesting and minimization costs is a constant search by the managers involved in this process, making them decide practices which are economically viable to optimize that operation. This study aimed to evaluate technically and economically the performance of feller-buncher and the forest processor in stands of eucalypts in first cut. The technique analysis included time and movements, productivity, efficiency operational and mechanical availability. The economic analysis included the parameters operational cost, harvesting cost and energy consumption. Aiming the optimization the cost of forest harvesting, the system composed by feller-buncher and processor forest presented itself as a technically and economically viable alternative to harvesting eucalypt in first cut or stands that do not have bifurcated trees.

PRODUCTIVITY OF CANE SUGAR: LINEAR AND SPATIAL VARIABILITY BETWEEN COMPONENTS AND TECHNOLOGICAL PRODUCTION

Nowadays, the culture of the sugarcane plays an important role regarding the Brazilian reality, especially in the aspect related to the alternative energy sources. In 2009, the municipality of Suzanapolis (SP), in the Brazilian Cerrado, an experiment was conducted with the culture of the sugarcane in a Red eutrophic, with the aim of selecting, using Pearson correlation coefficients, modeling, simple, linear and multiple regressions and spatial correlation, and also the best technological and productive components, to explain the variability of the productivity of the sugarcane. The geostatistical grid was installed in order to collect the data, with 120 sampling points, in an area of 14.53 ha. For the simple linear regressions, the plants population is the component of production that presents the best quadratic correlation with the productivity of the sugarcane, given by: PRO = -0.553**xPOP(2)+16.14*xPOP-15.77. However, for multiple linear regressions, the equation PRO = -21.11+4.92xPOP**+0.76xPUR** is the one that best presents in order to estimate that productivity. Spatially, the best correlation with yield of the sugarcane is also determined by the component of the production population of plants.

MORPHO-PHYSIOLOGICAL INDICES AND ECONOMIC PRODUCTIVITY OF JAMBU CULTIVARS INFLUENCED BY THE ORGANIC AND MINERAL FERTILIZERS

The jambu belongs to the family Asteraceae, tropical crop, nowadays, this plant has been considered as a promising vegetable crop, because to its pharmacological properties. Despite this novelty, the vegetable remains invisible in the statistics of production and market in the state of Para, Brazil. This research was carried out with the aim of comparing the economic productivity and phenological development by the morpho-physiological growth indexes of two cultivars of jambu organic manure and mineral fertilizers. The experiment was carried out at the Sao Manuel Experimental Farm (Sao Manuel-SP), which belongs to the Faculdade de Ciencias Agronomicas - UNESP, campus Botucatu. The experimental design was a factorial randomized blocks (2 x 2) with two fertilization (organic and mineral) and two cultivars (Jambuarana and Nazareth), with six replications, two fertilization (organic and mineral) and two cultivars (Jambuarana and Nazareth). The following characteristics were evaluated: Plant height (cm), Leaf area (cm(2)), Fresh mass (g), Dry mass (g), Leaf area index (LAI), Leaf area ratio (LAR), Specific leaf Area (SLA), Leaf Weight Ratio (LWR), Amount of water in the plant (QAPA) (g per plant set), Leaf specific weight (LSW) (g cm(-2) per plant set) and Economic productivity. All data were statistically analyzed by analysis of variance and the Tukey test (1%) for mean comparison, with the software SISVAR. In the conditions of this experiment was carried out, it was possible to verify that the cultivar Jamburana had not only a good agronomic development and economic productivity under organic fertilization but also the best morpho-physiological indexes, showing that this kind of fertilization increases the agronomic effectiveness of this cultivar.

Melhoria do nível de serviço no atendimento ao cliente por meio da estrutura direta de distribuição Transit Point

Increasingly competitive markets have driven the search for companies in many different ways to win and keep customers. The service level is basically the performance of companies in fulfilling the orders made, or how companies demonstrate to their clients efforts in their behalf. This work aims to solve the difficulties faced by a multinational company present in Brazil, in the distribution of its products in the category Ice Cream in order to improve the service level of their customers. Review the logistics network and concepts related to the distribution system of products is one of several ways to achieve this goal, as well as the use of IT and tools to assist in planning and programming of the physical distribution of products. In this study we used the concept of direct distribution system called Transit Point (TP). The TP provides at the same time, a strategy of rapid response, flexibility, low transportation costs and no inventory. A router - software capable of simulating the actual conditions experienced in the daily distribution - was used to assist in calculations. Results showed reductions of up to 47.5% in transportation costs and better conditions were provided in the distribution of products, positively impacting on service levels and in the maintenance of products quality, with a reduction of 1.6% of the total costs involve

Época da poda mecanizada em laranjeiras doces 'Hamlin' e 'Pera'

Pós-graduação em Agronomia (Produção Vegetal) - FCAV

Influence of post-transplant immunosuppressive therapy on gastrointestinal transit using biomagnetic method: a pilot study

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Morphogenic parameters and productivity of grass-Pioneer subjected to nitrogen

Objective of this work by evaluating the effect of nitrogen on forage yield and morphogenesis of elephant grass cv. Pioneer. The experimental design was randomized blocks with five replications, totaling 20 experimental units. Treatments consisted of four nitrogen levels (100, 200, 300 and 400 kg ha(-1) yr(-1)). The experiment was conducted under irrigated conditions. Evaluative cuts were made at 50 cm soil with values of light interception (95%) without pre-defined intervals. It was observed that N fertilization increased significantly (P<0.05) the production of dry matter per hectare, leaf appearance rate (leaves days(-1)tiller(-1)), leaf elongation rate (cm tiller(-1) day(-1)) and stem elongation rate (cm day(-1)). The process of this forage senescence is accelerated with increasing doses of nitrogen and leaf appearance rate, thereby reducing the phyllochron. It required a study on the economic viability of higher doses of nitrogen in grazed elephant grass cv. Pioneer.

Evaluation of productivity of sexually precocious Nelore heifers

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

Measured and modeled interactive effects of potassium deficiency and water deficit on gross primary productivity and light-use efficiency in Eucalyptus grandis plantations

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)