Nitrogen and potassium concentrations in the nutrients solution for melon plants growing in coconut fiber without drainage

With the objective of evaluating the effects of N and K concentrations for melon plants, an experiment was carried out from July 1, 2011 to January 3, 2012 in Muzambinho city, Minas Gerais State, Brazil. The Bonus no. 2 was cultivated at the spacing of 1.1 × 0.4. The experimental design was a randomized complete block with three replications in a 4 × 4 factorial scheme with four N concentrations (8, 12, 16, and 20 mmol L-1) and four K concentrations (4, 6, 8, and 10 mmol L-1). The experimental plot constituted of eight plants. It was observed that the leaf levels of N and K, of N-NO3 and of K, and the electrical conductivity (CE) of the substrate increased with the increment of N and K in the nutrients' solution. Substratum pH, in general, was reduced with increments in N concentration and increased with increasing K concentrations in the nutrients' solution. Leaf area increased with increments in N concentration in the nutrients solution. Fertigation with solutions stronger in N (20 mmol L-1) and K (10 mmol L-1) resulted in higher masses for the first (968 g) and the second (951 g) fruits and crop yield (4,425 gm-2). © 2013 Luiz Augusto Gratieri et al.

Comparison of Brazilian plants used to treat gastritis on the oxidative burst of helicobacter pylori -stimulated neutrophil

Ten Brazilian medicinal plants used to treat gastritis and ulcers were carefully selected on the basis of ethnopharmacological importance and antiulcerogenic activity previously described. The antioxidant activity of the methanolic extracts was determined in analysis conditions that simulate a real biological activity on inhibition of the oxidative burst induced in neutrophils using Helicobacter pylori as activator, by a luminol-amplified chemiluminescence assay. The extracts, at low concentration (5 g/mL), exhibited a large variation in inhibitory effects of H. pylori-induced oxidative burst ranging from 48% inhibition to inactive, but all extracts, excluding Byrsonima intermedia, had inhibitory activity over 80% at the concentration of 100 g/mL. The total suppressive antioxidant capacity measured as the effective concentration, which represents the extract concentration producing 50% inhibition of the chemiluminescence induced by H. pylori, varies from 27.2 to 56.8 g/mL and was in the following order: Qualea parviflora > Qualea multiflora > Alchornea triplinervia > Qualea grandiflora > Anacardium humile > Davilla elliptica > Mouriri pusa > Byrsonima basiloba > Alchornea glandulosa > Byrsonima intermedia. The main groups of compounds in tested extracts are presented. Differences in the phytochemical profile, quantitatively and qualitatively, of these plants can explain and justify their protective effect on the gastric mucosa caused by the neutrophil-generated ROS that occurs when H. pylori displays its evasion mechanisms. © 2013 Cibele Bonacorsi et al.

On the parameters of performance of combined refrigeration and power plants

Combined Refrigeration and Power (CRP) plants generate power and refrigerate a thermal load simultaneously from the same fuel. The overall efficiency is a parameter based on the first law generally used to quantify the fuel saving, in the sense that a plant that has greater overall efficiency saves more fuel than others to generate the same useful energy. However, the literature shows that the overall efficiency and other parameters of performance are defined in several different ways. This heterogeneity is not desirable when considering a coherent and universally accepted parameter of performance based on the first law. In this work, some parameters found in the literature are critically analyzed in order to indicate the most proper one. The indicated parameter is then formally analyzed in order to verify its mathematical consistency. The primary energy rate is considered the most well-suited parameter based on the first law to characterize the performance of a CRP plant. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd and IIR.

Pulmonary and hepatic lesions caused by the dehydropyrrolizidine alkaloid-producing plants Crotalaria juncea and Crotalaria retusa in donkeys

The effects and susceptibility of donkeys to Crotalaria juncea and Crotalaria retusa poisoning were determined at high and low doses. Seeds of C. juncea containing 0.074% of dehydropyrrolizidine alkaloids (DHPAs) (isohemijunceines 0.05%, trichodesmine 0.016%, and junceine 0.008%) were administered to three donkeys at 0.3, 0.6 and 1g/kg body weight (g/kg) daily for 365 days. No clinical signs were observed and, on liver and lung biopsies, the only lesion was a mild liver megalocytosis in the donkeys ingesting 0.6 and 1g/kg/day. Two other donkeys that received daily doses of 3 and 5g seed/kg showed initial respiratory signs 70 and 40 days after the start of the administration, respectively. The donkeys were euthanized following severe respiratory signs and the main lung lesions were proliferation of Clara cells and interstitial fibrosis. Three donkeys ingested seeds of C. retusa containing 5.99% of monocrotaline at daily doses of 0.025, 0.05 and 0.1g/kg for 365 days. No clinical signs were observed and, on liver and lung biopsies, the only lesion was moderate liver megalocytosis in each of the three donkeys. One donkey that received a single dose of 5g/kg of C. retusa seeds and another that received 1g/kg daily for 7 days both showed severe clinical signs and died with diffuse centrilobular liver necrosis. No lung lesions were observed. Another donkey that received a single dose of 2.5g/kg of C. retusa seeds showed no clinical signs. The hepatic and pneumotoxic effects observed are consistent with an etiology involving DHPAs. Furthermore, the occurrence of lung or liver lesions correlates with the type of DHPAs contained in the seeds. Similarly as has been reported for horses, the data herein suggest that in donkeys some DHPAs are metabolized in the liver causing liver disease, whereas others are metabolized in the lung by Clara cells causing lung disease. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.

Economic aspects of combining thermal and hydroelectric plants

Includes bibliography

Efeitos alelopáticos de microcistinas em rúcula (Eruca sativa Mill.)

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Avaliação das atividades mutagênica, pró-inflamatória e estrogênica de Machaerium hirtum e Crotalaria pallida

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

Database of the Amazon aromatic plants and their essential oils

The aromatic flora of the Amazon has been inventoried for 30 years. In this sense, were made over 500 field trips to collect over 2500 plants and to obtain more than 2000 essential oils and aroma concentrates, all of them submitted to GC and GC-MS. This work led to the creation of a database for the aromatic plants of the Amazon, which catalogs general information about 1250 specimens. The database has allowed the publication of the chemical composition of the oils and aromas of more than 350 species, associated with a larger number of chemical types. The essential oils of many species offer optimum conditions for economic exploitation and use in national and international market of fragrances, cosmetics, agricultural and household pesticides.

Standardized plant extract, method for preparing an extract from plants of the Sclerolobium Genus, cosmetic composition, pharmaceutical composition and use of said extract

Extracts of plants of the Sclerolobium genus are disclosed, as well as methods for preparing same and cosmetic and pharmaceutical formulations containing these extracts. These extracts can be obtained by polar and/or apolar extraction, each fraction containing different anti-oxidants, all of which are useful for topical treatment. Also disclosed is the use of this extract in cosmetic and/or pharmaceutical formulations for topical use.

Accumulation of dry mass and macronutrients by sourgrass plants

The experiment was carried out aiming to analyze the dry mass production and distribution and the content and accumulation of macronutrients in sourgrass (Digitaria insularis) plants cultivated under mineral nutrition standard conditions. Plants grew in 7-liter pots filled with sand substrate and daily irrigated with nutrient solution, being maintained under greenhouse conditions. Treatments consisted of times of evaluation (21, 35, 49, 63, 77, 91, 105, 119, and 133 days after emergence - DAE) and were arranged in a completely randomized design with four replicates. Sourgrass showed small accumulation of dry mass (0.3 g per plant) and macronutrients (3.7 mg of N per plant, 0.4 mg of P per plant, 5.6 mg of K per plant, 0.9 mg of Ca per plant, 0.7 mg of Mg per plant, and 0.3 mg of S per plant) at vegetative growth stage (< 49 DAE). Those accumulations increased mainly after 77 DAE, reaching the maximum theoretical value at 143, 135, 141, 129, 125, 120, and 128 DAE, for dry mass (12.4 g per plant), N (163.2 mg per plant), P (27.1 mg per plant), K (260.5 mg per plant), Ca (47.6 mg per plant), Mg (30.9 mg per plant), and S (13.7 mg per plant), respectively. K and N were found with higher rates and, as a consequence, they were required and accumulated in greater amounts in plant tissues of sourgrass.

Portable meters for nutritional assessment in plants of gerbera fertigated with electrical conductivity levels

Rapid tests to assess the nutritional status of plants gerbera can make easier the decision of any adjustments in the fertilization of the substrate. The study was conducted to evaluate nutritionally fertigated gerbera plants with increasing levels of electrical conductivity (EC), using portable meters nitrate and potassium, and chlorophyll. For this, two experiments were conducted. A randomized block design with five levels of EC (0.5, 2.0, 3.5, 5.0 and 6.5 dS m-1) and four replications was used. Cherry cultivar was used in the first experiment. In the second experiment, two cultivars (Cherry and Salmon Rose) were used. In the first experiment, the sap of the leaves was subjected to rapid testing of N-NO3- (equipment Cardy Horiba C -141). N-NO3- and K+ (C-131) were determined in the substrate solution. The intensity of the green leaf, in the second experiment was evaluated with portable Chlorophyll Meter. The N content in the indicator leaf in the first and N and K contents in the plant in the second experiment were determined. Rapid tests are presented as good indicators of the level of N-NO3- and K+ in plant tissue, with the advantages of convenience and speed of determination, facilitating monitoring of fertilization of the substrate by producers and technicians.

Periphoba hircia (lepidoptera: saturniidae) defoliating plants of acacia mangium in the state of roraima, Brazil

Larvae of Periphoba hircia (Cramer) (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae) defoliated Acacia mangium in the state of Roraima, Brazil. This is the first report of this species defoliating A. mangium in Brazil. The damage to the foliage was substantial and P. hircia should be monitored to ascertain its significance as pest of this plant. The larval stage of this species had 6 instars. Its cocoons were woven either on A. mangium leaves or in the soil. The pupal period of P. hiricia reared on A. mangium lasted 6 months. Its adults were dimorphic with females larger and having more prominent abdomens than males.