Growth of sugar cane varieties under salinity

ABSTRACT Large salty areas in the Brazilian semi-arid region have limited farming in Northeastern Brazil. One example is the sugar cane cultivation, which reinforces the need of selecting varieties that are more tolerant to salinity. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of salinity on growth of ten varieties of sugar cane. The experiment was conducted in a greenhouse, set in the experimental field of Embrapa Semiárido, in Petrolina, Pernambuco State. The experimental design was randomized blocks arranged in a 6 X 10 factorial arrangement, comprised of six levels of salinity (0, 1.0, 2.0, 4.0, 6.0 and 8.0 dS m-1) and ten sugar cane varieties (VAT 90212; RB 72454; RB 867515; Q 124; RB 961003; RB 957508; SP791011; RB 835089; RB 92579 and SP 943206). Salt levels of irrigation water were obtained by adding NaCl, CaCl2.2H2O and MgSO4.7H2O to achieve an equivalent ratio among Na:Ca:Mg of 7:2:1. Sixty days later, plant height, stem diameter (base), number of leaves, stalks and sprouts, leaf area and fresh and dry mass of the aerial part and roots were all measured. The varieties of sugar cane showed similar responses for growth reduction as soil salinity increases, being considered moderately sensitive to salinity.

New source-material for the socio-economic history of the Hindus of Goa

The Mhamai brothers were the suppliers of daily commodities / stationery to the viceroys / governors of Goa. Since late 18th century their agency house worked in partnership with several other trading houses all over the west coast of India. They also served as brokers for the French East India company in Goa during the critical period of anglo-french wars. The Mhamais were also revenue farmers, particularly customs and tobacco tax farming. I had the privilege of taking their family archives to the Xavier Centre of Historical Research in 1979 and making the history of the family known worldwide.

Environmental exposure to toxicants mixtures from a multi-purpose estuary: perspectives for a biomonitoring study in Portugal

This work was focused on a multi-purpose estuarine environment (river Sado estuary, SW Portugal) around which a number of activities (e.g., fishing, farming, heavy industry, tourism and recreational activities) coexist with urban centres with a total of about 200 000 inhabitants. Based on previous knowledge of the hazardous chemicals within the ecosystem and their potential toxicity to benthic species, this project intended to evaluate the impact of estuarine contaminants on the human and ecosystem health. An integrative methodology based on epidemiological, analytical and biological data and comprising several lines of evidence, namely, human contamination pathways, human health effects, consumption of local produce, estuarine sediments, wells and soils contamination, effects on commercial benthic organisms, and genotoxic potential of sediments, was used. The epidemiological survey confirmed the occurrence of direct and indirect (through food chain) exposure of the local population to estuarine contaminants. Furthermore, the complex mixture of contaminants (e.g., metals, pesticides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) trapped in the estuary sediments was toxic to human liver cells exposed in vitro, causing cell death, oxidative stress and genotoxic effects that might constitute a risk factor for the development of chronic-degenerative diseases, on the long term. Finally, the integration of data from several endpoints indicated that the estuary is moderately impacted by toxicants that affect also the aquatic biota. Nevertheless, the human health risk can only be correctly assessed through a biomonitoring study including the quantification of contaminants (or metabolites) in biological fluids as well as biomarkers of early biological effects (e.g., biochemical, genetic and omics-based endpoints) and genetic susceptibility in the target population. Data should be supported by a detailed survey to assess the impact of the contaminated seafood and local farm products consumption on human health and, particularly, on metabolic diseases or cancer development.

Avaliação da caracterização de lesões em mamografia com recurso a sistemas CAD (Diagnóstico Assistido por Computador)

Mestrado em Radiações Aplicadas às Tecnologias da Saúde. Área de especialização: Imagem Digital com Radiação X.

Implementação da técnica Silver In Situ Hibridization para avaliação do status do gene EGFR em doentes com CPNPC

Avaliação do estado do gene Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR), por Silver In Situ Hibridization (SISH), tem-se destacado como biomarcador preditivo na resposta à terapêutica. O principal objectivo foi optimizar a etapa de recuperação por calor da metodologia automatizada SISH Dual-Colour, em carcinomas pulmonares fixados em formol durante 24 e 72 horas. A optimização levou a um aumento da preservação do contorno nuclear e da intensidade e contraste dos sinais para os dois tempos de fixação, permitindo avaliar o estado do EGFR em 83,3% dos casos em estudo. A SISH Dual-Colour é uma alternativa para avaliar o estado do EGFR.

Exposure to particles in Portuguese swine production

Several studies have shown that human exposures to airbome dust and microorganisms, such as bacteria and fungi, can cause respiratory diseases. Agricultural workers have been found to be at high risk of exposures to airborne particles. From a human health perspective dust exposure in pig farming is the most important risk because of the large number of workers needed in pig production and the increasing number of working hours inside enclosed buildings. In the pig buildings, particulate matters like dust play a role in not only deteriorating indoor air quality but also can cause an adverse health effect on workers. Generally, dust is recognized to adsorb and transport odorous compounds and biological agents. The aim of this study was to determine particles contamination in 7 swine farms located in Lisbon district, Portugal.

Pesticides and respiratory symptoms among farmers

OBJECTIVE: Despite the intensive use of pesticides in agriculture there are few studies assessing the risk of respiratory conditions from this exposure. The study aimed at quantifying the prevalence of respiratory symptoms among farmers and evaluating its relationship with occupational use of pesticides and the prevalence of respiratory symptoms. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 1,379 farmers from two municipalities of Southern Brazil in 1996. Frequency and type of chemical exposure and pesticide poisoning were recorded for both sexes. All subjects aged 15 years or older with at least 15 weekly hours of agricultural activity were interviewed. An adapted questionnaire developed by the American Thoracic Society was used for the assessment of respiratory symptoms. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was carried out. RESULTS: More than half (55%) of interviewees were male. The prevalence of asthma symptoms was 12% and chronic respiratory disease symptoms was 22%. Higher odds ratios for both asthma (OR=1.51; 95% CI: 1.07-2.14) and chronic respiratory disease (OR=1.34; 95% CI 1.00-1.81) symptoms were found in women. Logistic regression analysis identified associations between many forms of exposure to pesticides and increased respiratory symptoms. Occurrence of pesticide poisoning was associated with higher prevalence of asthma symptoms (OR=1.54; 95% CI: 1.04-2.58) and chronic respiratory disease symptoms (OR=1.57; 95% CI: 1.08-2.28). CONCLUSIONS: In spite of causality limitations, the study results provide evidence that farming exposure to pesticides is associated with higher prevalence of respiratory symptoms, especially when the exposure is above two days per month.

Diffuse liver disease classification from ultrasound surface characterization, clinical and laboratorial data

In this work liver contour is semi-automatically segmented and quantified in order to help the identification and diagnosis of diffuse liver disease. The features extracted from the liver contour are jointly used with clinical and laboratorial data in the staging process. The classification results of a support vector machine, a Bayesian and a k-nearest neighbor classifier are compared. A population of 88 patients at five different stages of diffuse liver disease and a leave-one-out cross-validation strategy are used in the classification process. The best results are obtained using the k-nearest neighbor classifier, with an overall accuracy of 80.68%. The good performance of the proposed method shows a reliable indicator that can improve the information in the staging of diffuse liver disease.

Avaliação técnica e econômica de um biodigestor de fluxo tubular: estudo de caso do modelo implantado na etec "orlando quagliato" em Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, SP

Pós-graduação em Agronomia (Energia na Agricultura) - FCA

Comparação de dano testicular entre ratos provenientes de explorações agrícolas orgânicas e convencionais

Dissertação de Mestrado em Ambiente, Saúde e Segurança.

Growth responses of Macrocystis pyrifera (Laminariales), Southern Chile, juvenile sporophytes to nutrient limitation

1st Mares Conference on Marine Ecosystems Health and Conservation. Olhão, Portugal 17-21 November 2014.

Melhoria da qualidade na produção biológica de vegetais

Dissertação de Mestrado, Tecnologia e Segurança Alimentar, 1 de Outubro de 2015, Universidade dos Açores.

Otimização das condições de cultivo de Ulva lactuca (Chlorophyta, Chlorophyceae) para alimentação de Haliotis tuberculata

Dissertação de Mestrado, Estudos Integrados dos Oceanos, 26 Fevereiro de 2016, Universidade dos Açores.

STIR, SPIR and SPAIR techniques in magnetic resonance of the breast: a comparative study

The amount of fat is a component that complicates the clinical evaluation and the differential diagnostic between benign and malign lesions in the breast MRI examinations. To overcome this problem, an effective erasing of the fat signal over the images acquisition process, is essentials. This study aims to compare three fat suppression techniques (STIR, SPIR, SPAIR) in the MR images of the breast and to evaluate the best image quality regarding its clinical usefulness. To mimic breast women, a breast phantom was constructed. First the exterior contour and, in second time, its content which was selected based on 7 samples with different components. Finally it was undergone to a MRI breast protocol with the three different fat saturation techniques. The examinations were performed on a 1.5 T MRI system (Philips®). A group of 5 experts evaluated 9 sequences, 3 of each with fat suppression techniques, in which the frequency offset and TI (Inversion Time) were the variables changed. This qualitative image analysis was performed according 4 parameters (saturation uniformity, saturation efficacy, detail of the anatomical structures and differentiation between the fibroglandular and adipose tissue), using a five-point Likert scale. The statistics analysis showed that anyone of the fat suppression techniques demonstrated significant differences compared to the others with (p > 0.05) and regarding each parameter independently. By Fleiss’ kappa coefficient there was a good agreement among observers P(e) = 0.68. When comparing STIR, SPIR and SPAIR techniques it was confirmed that all of them have advantages in the study of the breast MRI. For the studied parameters, the results through the Friedman Test showed that there are similar advantages applying anyone of these techniques.

Avaliação da caracterização de lesões em mamografia com recurso a sistemas CAD (Computer-Aided Diagnosis)

Os sistemas Computer-Aided Diagnosis (CAD) auxiliam a deteção e diferenciação de lesões benignas e malignas, aumentando a performance no diagnóstico do cancro da mama. As lesões da mama estão fortemente correlacionadas com a forma do contorno: lesões benignas apresentam contornos regulares, enquanto as lesões malignas tendem a apresentar contornos irregulares. Desta forma, a utilização de medidas quantitativas, como a dimensão fractal (DF), pode ajudar na caracterização dos contornos regulares ou irregulares de uma lesão. O principal objetivo deste estudo é verificar se a utilização concomitante de 2 (ou mais) medidas de DF – uma tradicionalmente utilizada, a qual foi designada por “DF de contorno”; outra proposta por nós, designada por “DF de área” – e ainda 3 medidas obtidas a partir destas, por operações de dilatação/erosão e por normalização de uma das medidas anteriores, melhoram a capacidade de caracterização de acordo com a escala BIRADS (Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System) e o tipo de lesão. As medidas de DF (DF contorno e DF área) foram calculadas através da aplicação do método box-counting, diretamente em imagens de lesões segmentadas e após a aplicação de um algoritmo de dilatação/erosão. A última medida baseia-se na diferença normalizada entre as duas medidas DF de área antes e após a aplicação do algoritmo de dilatação/erosão. Os resultados demonstram que a medida DF de contorno é uma ferramenta útil na diferenciação de lesões, de acordo com a escala BIRADS e o tipo de lesão; no entanto, em algumas situações, ocorrem alguns erros. O uso combinado desta medida com as quatro medidas propostas pode melhorar a classificação das lesões.