Comparative chromosomal analyses in species of the genus Pimelodella (Siluriformes, Heptapteridae): occurrence of structural and numerical polymorphisms

Cytogenetic analyses were carried out in five species of Pimelodella from the main sub-basins of Upper Parana River and Paraiba do Sul River. The diploid number ranged from 2n = 46 to 2n = 58 chromosomes, and all populations differed in the karyotype constitution. The presence of supernumerary chromosomes as well as the occurrence of a XX/XY sex chromosome system and heterochromatin polymorphisms were detected. The 18S rDNA FISH confirmed the presence of single NORs and revealed additional sites on supernumerary chromosomes. The number and location of 5S rDNA sites were variable. Aspects related to the karyotypic evolution within the genus are discussed.

Fatty acids as trophic biomarkers in vitellogenic females in an impounded tropical river

Fatty acids have been used in marine biogeochemistry as food chain biomarkers, but in freshwater these studies are rare. In order to evaluate the fatty acid potential as biomarkers in freshwater, their profile was analyzed during vitellogenesis in two fish species, in both waterfall and reservoir environments of the Paraiba do Sul River Basin. Detrivorous Hypostomus affinis and omnivorous Geophagus brasiliensis seem to elongate and desaturate polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and transfer them to the ovaries` phospholipids. Waterfall Geophagus brasiliensis have more highly unsaturated fatty acids in the liver, but in the reservoir, accumulation mainly occurs in muscle and ovary triglycerides, suggesting trophic opportunism and a plasticity during vitellogenesis. In Hypostomus affinis, PUFA alteration occurs only in the reservoir, suggesting a high phytoplankton occurrence. Eutrophication and water speed is reflected in Hypostomus affinis ovaries by higher PUFAn3 and bacterial fatty acids. As in marine environments, analysis of mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acids during vitellogenesis can be used as a tool in food chain studies in freshwater.

Sediment deformation in Miocene and post-Miocene strata, Northeastern Brazil: Evidence for paleoseismicity in a passive margin

Stratigraphic intervals characterized by varied and complex styles of soft-sediment deformation structures are well preserved in Miocene and Late Pleistocene to Holocene deposits of a sedimentary basin located in Northeastern Brazil. The Miocene strata, represented by the Barreiras Formation, record only brittle structures, including numerous faults and fractures with straight and high angle-dipping planes that are often filled with sands derived from overlying beds. Folds consisting of broad anticlines and synclines are also present in this unit. The late Pleistocene to Holocene deposits, named Post-Barreiras Sediments, contain an indurated sandy package with a large variety of ductile and brittle deformation structures (i.e., massive sandstones with isolated sand fragments and breccias, undulatory strata, sand dykes and diapirs, sinks and bowls, pebbly pockets, plunged sediment mixtures, fitted sand masses, cone-shaped cracks, fault grading and sedimentary enclaves). These features, confined to sharp-based stratigraphic horizons that progressively grade downward into undisturbed deposits, are related to seismic shocks of high surface-wave magnitude (i.e., Ms>5 or 6). Amalgamated seismites suggest that previously formed seismites were affected by subsequent seismic-wave propagation. Seismic waves caused by activity along one, or most likely, several tectonic structures would have propagated throughout the depositional environment, producing laterally extensive seismites. The close proximity to earthquake epicenters would have promoted pervasive re-sedimentation due to pore overpressure, resulting high volumes of massive sandstones and breccia. The similarity between deposits with correlatable strata from many other areas along the Brazilian coast allows raise the hypothesis that the seismic episodes might have affected sedimentation patterns in a large (i.e., extension of several hundreds of kilometers) geographic area. Thus, the modern seismicity recorded along Northeastern Brazil was recurrent during the Quaternary and, perhaps, also in the Pliocene. The estimated high magnitude of the seismic events and the great regional extent of the affected area demonstrate that the Brazilian coast experienced tectonic stress through the last geological episodes of its evolution, which would have favored sediment accumulation and penecontemporaneous re-sedimentation. This geological context is unexpected in a passive margin, inducing to revisit the debate on how active is a passive margin. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Flood Risk Management In Small Urban River Using A Sustainable Urban Drainage System: Wortley Beck, Leeds, Uk

In the UK, urban river basins are particularly vulnerable to flash floods due to short and intense rainfall. This paper presents potential flood resilience approaches for the highly urbanised Wortley Beck river basin, south west of the Leeds city centre. The reach of Wortley Beck is approximately 6km long with contributing catchment area of 30km2 that drain into the River Aire. Lower Wortley has experienced regular flooding over the last few years from a range of sources, including Wortley Beck and surface and ground water, that affects properties both upstream and downstream of Farnley Lake as well as Wortley Ring Road. This has serious implications for society, the environment and economy activity in the City of Leeds. The first stage of the study involves systematically incorporating Wortley Beck’s land scape features on an Arc-GIS platform to identify existing green features in the region. This process also enables the exploration of potential blue green features: green spaces, green roofs, water retention ponds and swales at appropriate locations and connect them with existing green corridors to maximize their productivity. The next stage is involved in developing a detailed 2D urban flood inundation model for the Wortley Beck region using the CityCat model. CityCat is capable to model the effects of permeable/impermeable ground surfaces and buildings/roofs to generate flood depth and velocity maps at 1m caused by design storm events. The final stage of the study is involved in simulation of range of rainfall and flood event scenarios through CityCat model with different blue green features. Installation of other hard engineering individual property protection measures through water butts and flood walls are also incorporated in the CityCat model. This enables an integrated sustainable flood resilience strategy for this region.

Estudo de modelos composicionais de óleo na injeção contínua de vapor

The objective of the thermal recovery is to heat the resevoir and the oil in it to increase its recovery. In the Potiguar river basin there are located several heavy oil reservoirs whose primary recovery energy provides us with a little oil flow, which makes these reservoirs great candidates for application of a method of recovery advanced of the oil, especially the thermal. The steam injection can occur on a cyclical or continuous manner. The continuous steam injection occurs through injection wells, which in its vicinity form a zone of steam that expands itself, having as a consequence the displace of the oil with viscosity and mobility improved towards the producing wells. Another possible mechanism of displacement of oil in reservoirs subjected to continuous injection of steam is the distillation of oil by steam, which at high temperatures; their lighter fractions can be vaporized by changing the composition of the oil produced, of the oil residual or to shatter in the amount of oil produced. In this context, this paper aims to study the influence of compositional models in the continuous injection of steam through in the analysis of some parameters such as flow injection steam and temperature of injection. Were made various leading comparative analysis taking the various models of fluid, varying from a good elementary, with 03 pseudocomponents to a modeling of fluids with increasing numbers of pseudocomponents. A commercial numerical simulator was used for the study from a homogeneous reservoir model with similar features to those found in northeastern Brazil. Some conclusions as the increasing of the simulation time with increasing number of pseudocomponents, the significant influence of flow injection on cumulative production of oil and little influence of the number of pseudocomponents in the flows and cumulative production of oil were found

Ecologia da ictiofauna de um córrego de cabeceira da bacia do alto rio Paraná, Brasil

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Ordem econômica e política nacional de recursos hídricos: hermenêutica constitucional para o desenvolvimento sustentável

This research proposes a study about the interpretative techniques application that are compatible with the national legal system under the principles for Sustainable Development characterized in Brazilian Constitution. It verifies the actual possibility of reconciliation between national development and environment protection, with reflections under the water legal protection. It was proposed, therefore, to point subsidies for jurisdictional decisions involving development and the environmental goods, protected as constitutionally guaranteed principles. It was assumed that, both development and environment protection represents basic rights that are eventually placed in conflict situations, considering the many legitimate economic activities within the Brazilian State. A representative case analysis was elected within the current national scene, detailing the judicial and political conflict involving the Transboundery water Project from the São Francisco River Basin to another Northeastern river basin in Brazil. The implementation of several constitutional principles with elements from legal hermeneutics provides subsidies for the legal analysis about the conflict between development and environmental protection. It was assumed that the main discussion item about rights due to development today is the institutions influence and their results, among them the rules, laws and interpretative elements for the constitutional text objectivity, as the institutions credibility and the Supreme Courts interpretations. The use of interpretative resources for specific conflict situations about constitutional principles by Superior Courts, on the search, would bring a contributory factor for decision safety, related to sustainable development principles, elimination of inequalities and regional protecting for the environment. Specific aspects of Law No. 9.433/97 that introduced the National Water Resources Policy were examined, with its instruments, in order to specifically contextualize aspects of the Brazilian water resources management politics

Detection of Ehrlichia chaffeensis in Brazilian marsh deer (Blastocerus dichotomus)

Ehrlichia chaffeensis was detected for the first time in blood samples from Brazilian marsh deers (Blastocerus dichotomus) captured in the marshes of Parana River in Southeast Brazil in 1998. Seven EDTA-blood samples from deers were analyzed by PCR and nested PCR for presence of Ehrlichia chaffeensis, Ehrlichia ewingii, Ehrlichia canis, Neoriickettsia risticii, Anaplasma phagocytophilum and Anaplasma marginale. Three samples showed positive reactions for E. chaffeensis and Anaplasma marginale. None contained detectable A. phagocytophilum, E. ewingii, E. canis or Neorickettsia risticii DNA. In Brazil, the wild marsh deer may be a natural reservoir of the agents that cause human monocytotropic ehrlichiosis and ruminant erythrocytic anaplasmosis. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Implantação de Reservas Legais: uma nova perspectiva na conservação dos recursos naturais em paisagem rural

According to the Forest Code of 1965, it is mandatory that every rural property destine part of its land to the establishment of Legal Reserves. When a diagnosis is made over all Brazil, the reality is quite different from what is demanded by law. Therefore, this work, as a general objective, proposes ways of establishing Legal Reserves based on the analysis of the environmental deterioration in a river basin. For this purpose, the environmental deterioration was detected based on three diagnoses: physical-conservational, socioeconomical, and environmental quality. In this way, from a quantitative and qualitative diagnosis, it was possible to identify the main aggressive factors in the studied river basin and to indicate the main vulnerabilities that the area is subjected. According to such diagnosis, some proposals for the establishment of Legal Reserves are discussed here based on scientific arguments aimed at the conservation of water resources, soil and biodiversity. It is hoped, that from this study, the environment receives a new tool for diagnosis, pollution control, recovery and conservation of natural resources.

Sensoriamento remoto e geoprocessamento aplicados ao uso da terra em microbacias hidrográficas, Botucatu - SP

O presente trabalho teve como objetivo identificar e quantificar o uso da terra em dez microbacias ocorrentes na bacia do Rio Capivara, município de Botucatu - SP, a partir da estruturação de um banco de dados utilizando o Sistema de Informações Geográficas (SIG) - IDRISI. Os resultados mostram que as classes de uso da terra, uso agrícola e pastagem, foram as mais significativas, pois ocuparam mais da metade da área das microbacias. O alto índice de uso da terra por pastagens, capoeiras, reflorestamento e matas reflete a predominância de solos arenosos com baixa fertilidade. As imagens obtidas do satélite LANDSAT 5 permitiram o mapeamento do uso da terra de maneira rápida, além de fornecer um excelente banco de dados para futuro planejamento e gerenciamento das atividades agropecuárias regionais. O SIG-IDRISI permitiu identificar, por meio de seus diferentes módulos para georreferenciamento, classificação digital e modelo matemático, as classes de uso da terra com rapidez.

Soil erosion fragility assessment using an impact model and geographic information system

A study was taken in a 1566 ha watershed situated in the Capivara River basin, municipality of Botucatu, São Paulo State, Brazil. This environment is fragile and can be subjected to different forms of negative impacts, among them soil erosion by water. The main objective of the research was to develop a methodology for the assessment of soil erosion fragility at the various different watershed positions, using the geographic information system ILWIS version 3.3 for Windows. An impact model was created to generate the soil's erosion fragility plan, based on four indicators of fragility to water erosion: land use and cover, slope, percentage of soil fine sand and accumulated water flow. Thematic plans were generated in a geographic information system (GIS) environment. First, all the variables, except land use and cover, were described by continuous numerical plans in a raster structure. The land use and cover plan was also represented by numerical values associated with the weights attributed to each class, starting from a pairwise comparison matrix and using the analytical hierarchy process. A final field check was done to record evidence of erosive processes in the areas indicated as presenting the highest levels of fragility, i.e., sites with steep slopes, high percentage of soil fine sand, tendency to accumulate surface water flow, and sites of pastureland. The methodology used in the environmental problems diagnosis of the study area can be employed at places with similar relief, soil and climatic conditions.

Levantamento florístico das comunidades de macroalgas da bacia do Rio das Pedras, região centro-sul do estado do Paraná, sul do Brasil

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Indicadores de alteração hidrológica no Alto Rio Paraná: intervenções humanas e implicações na dinâmica do ambiente fluvial

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Synthesis, characterization, and application of modified silica in the removal and preconcentration of lead ions from natural river water

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

Revegetation on a Removed Topsoil: Effect on Aggregate Stability

The construction of a large reservoir on the Parana River (Selviria, MS, Brazil) disturbed the soil of an extensive agricultural area in which between 5 and 8m of topsoil were removed. In this area, a restoration process was carried out using revegetation with green manure without or with amendments (for 4 years), crops (2 years), and Brachiaria decumbens cultivation for 6 years. The following treatments were used: control plots, T0 (residual subsoil) and T1 (soil tillage without culture); plots with green manure and without amendments: T2 (velvet bean) and T3 (pigeon pea); plots with green manure and with amendments: T4 (limed + velvet bean), T5 (limed + pigeon pea); T6 (limed + gypsum + velvet bean) and T7 (limed + gypsum + pigeon-pea). They were arranged in randomized blocks. After 13 years of rehabilitation process, when the soil was cultivated with brachiaria, the structural stability in three depths was evaluated. Organic-matter content and others chemical properties did not show any relationship with the stability of aggregates of the experimental area as measured by mean weight diameter (MWD). Significant differences between depths were found for MWD and the other parameters measured. Nevertheless, there were no significant differences observed between treatments, independent of the adopted system of revegetation. By taking an absolute value of MWD, the stability of superficial layer was observed in the following sequence: T7 T5 T6 T1 T2 T3 T4 T0. The control plot (T0) gave the lowest value of MWD (1.76mm) in relation to the plots in restoration process. Treatment T7 was the most effective in recovering the stability of aggregates (2.63mm). However, treatments T5 and T6 displayed a similar value. After 13 years of revegetation practices, a slight recovery of the stability was observed, although this is still lower than stability in soils of similar edaphic conditions in the original topsoil of experimental area.