Delineation of specific management areas for coffee cultivation based on the soil-relief relationship and numerical classification

Predicting and mapping productivity areas allows crop producers to improve their planning of agricultural activities. The primary aims of this work were the identification and mapping of specific management areas allowing coffee bean quality to be predicted from soil attributes and their relationships to relief. The study area was located in the Southeast of the Minas Gerais state, Brazil. A grid containing a total of 145 uniformly spaced nodes 50 m apart was established over an area of 31. 7 ha from which samples were collected at depths of 0. 00-0. 20 m in order to determine physical and chemical attributes of the soil. These data were analysed in conjunction with plant attributes including production, proportion of beans retained by different sieves and drink quality. The results of principal component analysis (PCA) in combination with geostatistical data showed the attributes clay content and available iron to be the best choices for identifying four crop production environments. Environment A, which exhibited high clay and available iron contents, and low pH and base saturation, was that providing the highest yield (30. 4l ha-1) and best coffee beverage quality (61 sacks ha-1). Based on the results, we believe that multivariate analysis, geostatistics and the soil-relief relationships contained in the digital elevation model (DEM) can be effectively used in combination for the hybrid mapping of areas of varying suitability for coffee production. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media New York.

Morphological modifications and surface amorphization in ZnO sonochemically treated nanoparticles

Application of nanoscale materials in photovoltaic and photocatalysis devices and photosensors are dramatically affected by surface morphology of nanoparticles, which plays a fundamental role in the understanding of the physical and chemical properties of nanoscale materials. Zinc oxide nanoparticles with an average size of 20 nm were obtained by the use of a sonochemical technique. X-ray diffraction (XRD) associated to Rietveld refinements and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to study structural and morphological characteristics of the samples. An amorphous shell approximately 10 nm thick was observed in the ultrasonically treated sample, and a large reduction in particle size and changes in the lattice parameters were also observed. © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Seasonal effects on semen and testosterone in zebu and taurine bulls

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Local and regional ecological drivers of fish assemblages in Brazilian estuaries

Spatial patterns in assemblage structures are generated by ecological processes that occur on multiple scales. Identifying these processes is important for the prediction of impact, for restoration and for conservation of biodiversity. This study used a hierarchical sampling design to quantify variations in assemblage structures of Brazilian estuarine fish across 2 spatial scales and to reveal the ecological processes underlying the patterns observed. Eight areas separated by 0.7 to 25 km (local scale) were sampled in 5 estuaries separated by 970 to 6000 km (regional scale) along the coast, encompassing both tropical and subtropical regions. The assemblage structure varied significantly in terms of relative biomass and presence/absence of species on both scales, but the regional variation was greater than the local variation for either dataset. However, the 5 estuaries sampled segregated into 2 major groups largely congruent with the Brazilian and Argentinian biogeographic provinces. Three environmental variables (mean temperature of the coldest month, mangrove area and mean annual precipitation) and distance between estuaries explained 44.8 and 16.3%, respectively, of the regional-scale variability in the species relative biomass. At the local scale, the importance of environmental predictors for the spatial structure of the assemblages differed between estuarine systems. Overall, these results support the idea that on a regional scale, the composition of fish assemblages is simultaneously determined by environmental filters and species dispersal capacity, while on a local scale, the effect of environmental factors should vary depending on estuary-specific physical and hydrological characteristics © 2013 Inter-Research.

Structure and dynamics of the community of periphytic algae in a subtropical reservoir (state of São Paulo, Brazil)

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Association between physical activity and cardiovascular risk factors in individuals undergoing cardiac rehabilitation program

Introduction: Physical activity (PA) practice presents an inverse relation with risk factors (RF) of cardiovascular disease, with positive effects in quality of life and other physical and psychological variables. However, the benefits of daily activities have not been established. Objective: To investigate the prevalence and association of cardiovascular risk factors and physical activity in different categories of patients under a cardiac rehabilitation program. Methods: 69 participants of a cardiac rehabilitation program were evaluated and weight, height and blood pressure were checked. Afterwards, the patients answered questionnaires to assess self-reported physical activity level, stress level and verify the presence of RF. Logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratio. Results: High prevalence of RF was found in the subjects, age and hypertension were more prevalent while smoking and stress had lower prevalence. Most individuals were classified as sedentary, except for locomotion PA (LPA). Conclusion: That there is high prevalence of RF in patients attending cardiac rehabilitation programs, while sedentary ones are more likely to have the RF hypertension, obesity, smoking, alcohol and stress than the active ones, depending on the PA category.

Sorption and desorption of phosphate on biochar and biochar-soil mixtures

The term biochar refers to materials with diverse chemical, physical and physicochemical characteristics that have potential as a soil amendment. The purpose of this study was to investigate the P sorption/desorption properties of various slow biochars and one fast pyrolysis biochar and to determine how a fast pyrolysis biochar influences these properties in a degraded tropical soil. The fast pyrolysis biochar was a mixture of three separate biochars: sawdust, elephant grass and sugar cane leaves. Three other biochars were made by slow pyrolysis from three Amazonian tree species (Lacre, Ingá and Embaúba) at three temperatures of formation (400 °C, 500 °C, 600 °C). Inorganic P was added to develop sorption curves and then desorbed to develop desorption curves for all biochar situations. For the slow pyrolysis, the 600 oC biochar had a reduced capacity to sorb P (4-10 times less) relative to those biochars formed at 400 °C and 500 °C. Conversely, biochar from Ingá desorbed the most P. The fast pyrolysis biochar, when mixed with degraded tropical mineral soil, decreased the soil's P sorption capacity by 55% presumably because of the high soluble, inorganic P prevalent in this biochar (909 mg P/kg of biochar). Phosphorus desorption from the fast pyrolysis biochar/soil mixture not only exhibited a common desorption curve but also buffered the soil solution at a value of ca. 0.2 mg/L. This study shows the diversity in P chemistry that can be expected when biochar is a soil amendment and suggests the potential to develop biochars with properties to meet specific objectives. © 2013 British Society of Soil Science.

Avaliação do desempenho de tilápias (Oreochromis niloticus, Trewavas, 1983) em tanques-rede na represa de Jurumirim/Alto Rio Paranapanema

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Produção de amido modificado de mandioca com propriedade de expansão

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Estudo de lipoxigenases em extrato hidrossolúvel de soja (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) submetido a diferentes tratamentos

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Utilização de resíduos de concreto em concreto auto-adensável

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Caracterização das propriedades físico-mecânica e de desempenho no lixamento de chapas particuladas (Dendrocalamus Giganteus)

Pós-graduação em Engenharia Mecânica - FEB

Cloud computing in Latin America: Current situation and policy proposals

Includes bibliography.

Dimensões de cavacos industriais de eucalipto e relações com polpação, resistência e morfologia de fibras na polpa

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Mangrove sedimentary characteristics and implications for crab Ucides cordatus (Crustacea, Decapoda, Ucididae) distribution in an estuarine area of the Amazonian region

Na zona costeira, sedimentos, água e organismos interagem intensamente. Nas costas equatoriais dominadas por maré os manguezais são abundantes. Estas áreas são conhecidas por sua importância ecológica. No caso dos manguezais da costa atlântica da América do Sul o caranguejo-uçá Ucides cordatus (Linnaeus, 1763) se destaca por sua relevância ecológica e econômica, sendo que altas densidades deste organismo são encontradas na zona costeira amazônica. O presente estudo investiga a distribuição de sedimentos nos manguezais de Bragança (costa Amazônica, Brasil) e suas correlações com a vegetação e a distribuição do caranguejo-uçá. Quarenta e sete amostras de sedimento foram avaliadas, assim como caranguejos de 8 destas áreas foram coletados, onde o tipo dominante de vegetação foi também identificado. Os resultados demonstram que os sedimentos superficiais, assim como no extrato 0,8 a 1 m de profundidade, na área são principalmente compostos por silte (59%), incluindo em média 21% de areia e 20% de argila. O tipo de vegetação predominante foi significativamente correlacionado com a abundância e tamanho/peso dos caranguejos. As características sedimentares também foram substancialmente diferentes dependendo da vegetação. Áreas dominadas por Avicennia germinans tiveram mais areia e argila que as áreas dominadas por Rizophora mangle, onde a fração silte prevalece grandemente e os caranguejos eram significativamente maiores e mais abundantes. Os resultados demonstraram que sedimentos, invertebrados bentônicos e vegetação estão intimamente relacionados nos manguezais e devem ser estudados de maneira integrada.