Evaluation of race distance, track surface and season of the year on exercise-induced pulmonary haemorrhage in flat racing Thoroughbreds in Brazil

Reasons for performing study: To our knowledge no studies evaluating risk factors to EIPH have been undertaken with such a population of horses in Brazil, which is one of the few countries in the racing community to accept the use of frusemide (FUR) as a prerace medication for bleeders. We also compared national results with those already in the literature. Objectives: To verify the influence of variables such as distance of the race, racetrack surface, going and season of the year in the recurrence and severity of EIPH and its effect on the finishing position of flat racing Thoroughbreds in Brazil. Methods: 2118 post race respiratory endoscopies were recorded, in a total of 1003 individual horses. All horses in the study were certified bleeders (deemed positive by registered veterinarians following one or more endoscopies) and were administered FUR prior to each race. Data was analysed using both ordinary logistic regression and multiple logistic regression. Results: The results suggest that race distance, season of the year and racetrack surface affect the recurrence of EIPH. Also, despite the use of FUR, the majority (62%) of horses continued to display some degree of haemorrhage. Conclusions: There was a tendency for horses that remained positive despite the use of FUR to finish unplaced in a race. Horses which had a significant reduction in bleeding and became HPIE negative after the use of FUR, tended to finish in top positions. It was not possible to determine a pattern of severity of EIPH in horses with more than one endoscopy. Further studies are required to improve our understanding of this syndrome and its correlations to performance in the racing Thoroughbred, together with the role of FUR and its possible enhancing performance effects and efficacy in consistently diminishing EIPH. Potential relevance: This study enabled a better understanding of the use of FUR in Brazilian Thoroughbred racehorses and showed there was a tendency towards improvement in performance after administrion of FUR in bleeders. The fact that a large number of horses remained positive for EIPH despite the use of FUR should encourage the scientific community to search for better ways of reducing, or preventing, this syndrome. © 2006 EVJ Ltd.

Preliminary selection of acerola genotypes in Brazil

Introduction. Breeding studies for acerola (Malpighia glabra) improvement aim at obtaining plants that produce fruits with uniform chemical and physical attributes, including high levels of vitamin C, which can provision the market with fresh fruit and frozen pulp. High variability in fruit quality is observed in Brazilian acerola crops, especially those propagated by seeds. In this context, the objective of our research was to evaluate the physical and chemical characteristics of Brazilian acerola genotype fruits. Materials and methods. Sixteen acerola genotypes were studied in Jaboticabal, São Paulo State, Brazil. A completely randomized design with sixteen treatments and six replications was adopted. Each treatment was represented by one genotype. Several parameters related to fruit quality, such as width, length, weight, pulp percentage, soluble solids (SS), titratable acidity (TA), [SS / TA] ratio and vitamin C content, were evaluated in fruits of the acerola genotypes. The results were submitted to variance analyses, the Tukey test and cluster analysis. Results and discussion. There was a statistical difference between the acerola genotypes studied. Three of them stood out as natural sources of vitamin C. In spite of fruit size, two acerola genotypes were found to have potential for fresh fruit production. In a general form, genotypes that presented a high [SS / TA] ratio had low vitamin C content. Conclusion. The acerola genotypes studied in Jaboticabal presented high variability, forming eleven groups in relation to fruit quality parameters. © 2007 Cirad/EDP Sciences All rights reserved.

High temperature tolerance of determinate tomatoes in Brazil

The experiment was conducted in the experimental area belonging to the Section of Crop Production and Aromatic Medicinal Plants of the FCAV-UNESP, Jaboticabal Campus - Sao Paulo, Brazil. Tolerance to high temperature was studied in six determinate genotypes of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum L.): Agrocica 8, Apex 1000, Botu-13, Calmech VFAS, Nemadoro and Jab-2, which were cultivated in a greenhouse at temperatures above 33oC for at least 2 h/day during blooming. The objectives of the study were to identify the genetic diversity of the genotypes studied and to determine their performance associated with tolerance to high temperature. Dissimilarity was determined by the generalized Mahalanobis distance. Delineation groups were optimized with the Tocher technique. A random block design was utilized with six treatments and with three replications. Two similarity groups were identified: 1 - Apex 1000, Botu-13, Calmech VFAS, Jab-2, Nemadoro and 2 - Agrocica 8. Crossing of genotypes within one group has no advantage because little genetic divergence and no heterotic response would be expected. However, the crossing of genotypes between groups is suggested. Knowledge of these groups will be important for efficiency future breeding efforts.

High temperature tolerance of indeterminate tomatoes in Brazil

The study was conducted at the Section of Crop Production and Aromatic Medicinal Plants of FCAV-UNESP, Jaboticabal Campus - Sao Paulo, Brazil. Nine indeterminate tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) genotypes, Jumbo, Santa Clara, Cláudia VF, Concorde, Débora Plus, FM-9, Carmen, Príncipe Gigante, and CL 5915, were evaluated for high temperature tolerance. Three determinate tomato genotypes, FM-9, Suncoast and TSW-10, were cultivated in a greenhouse at more than 33°C air temperature for at least 2 h/day during bloom. The objective was to identify variable genotypes to determine their tolerance of high temperature. Four replications of fifteen treatments were planted in a randomized block design. Dissimilarity was determined by the generalized Mahalanobis distance. Delineation groups were optimized with the Tocher technique. The tomatoes were classified into six groups of similar temperature responses. CL 5915 was the most tolerant of high temperatures. Crossing of genotypes within one group has no advantage because little genetic divergence and no heterotic response would be expected. However, the crossing of genotypes between groups is suggested. Knowledge of these groups will be important for efficient future breeding efforts.

Panoramic view of the occurrence of Yersinia species other than Y. pestis in Brazil

Data on the occurrence of Yersinia species, other than Y. pestis in Brazil are presented. Over the past 40 years, 767 Yersinia strains have been identified and typed by the National Reference Center on Yersinia spp. other than Y. pestis, using the classical biochemical tests for species characterization. The strains were further classified into biotypes, serotypes and phagetypes when pertinent. These tests led to the identification of Yersinia cultures belonging to the species Y. enterocolitica, Y. pseudotuberculosis, Y. intermedia, Y. frederiksenii and Y. kristensenii. Six isolates could not be classified in any of the known Yersinia species and for this reason were defined as Non-typable (NT). The bio-sero-phagetypes of these strains were diverse. The following species of Yersinia were not identified among the Brazilian strains by the classical phenotypic or biochemical tests: Y. aldovae, Y. rhodei, Y. mollaretti, Y. bercovieri and Y. ruckeri. The Yersinia strains were isolated from clinical material taken from sick and/or healthy humans and animals, from various types of food and from the environment, by investigators of various Institutions localized in different cities and regions of Brazil.

Tourism for whom?: Different paths to development and alternative experiments in Brazil

The tourism policies pursued by the Brazilian government since the 1990s have not produced the benefits that were expected from mass tourism. The example of two very successful cases of community-based tourism, stressing paths rooted in a development model that is fair and environmentally responsible, shows that tourism development can improve the quality of life in communities that receive an influx of tourists provided that the local community is taken into account and the planning and implementation of such development focus on creating opportunities and benefits for its members. © 2008 Latin American Perpectives.

Financial development, growth and equity in Brazil

Includes bibliography

Land parceling and neighborhood impacts in Brazil

The proposal and implementation of parceling real estate into smaller lots in Brazil is done according to legal and technical formalities. However, these instruments have proved inefficient in reducing the resulting environmental impacts. The ambiguities of the federal, state and municipal laws and regulations have limited the effectiveness of the actions of urban administrators. Law 10257/2001 emerged as an alternative to overcome these difficulties, proposing the adoption of neighborhood impact studies as an instrument to evaluate new proposals of urban occupation for purposes of environmental licensing. Thus, the purpose of this law is to provide the foundations for municipal public authorities to establish criteria for the assessment, mitigation and compensation of impacts resulting from new occupations. However, the very vagueness of the generic nature of this federal law and its incorrect application in the municipal sphere has posed the greatest obstacles to the good use of this instrument of urban environmental management. These deficiencies are classified herein in the categories of philosophical, technical and operational problems. The problems of a philosophical nature lead to technical difficulties, which in turn trigger operational deficiencies. This article discusses these deficiencies and points out ways to reduce them. © 2009 Journal of Urban and Environmental Engineering (JUEE). All rights reserved.

Dynamics of change of mathematics education in Brazil and a scenario of current research

Mathematics education in Brazil, if we consider what one may call the scientific phase, is about 30 years old. The papers for this special issue focus mainly on this period. During these years, many trends have emerged in mathematics education to address the complex problems facing Brazilian society. However, most Brazilian mathematics educators feel that the separation of research into trends is a theoretical idealization that does not respond to the dynamics of the problems we face. We raise the conjecture that the complexity of Brazilian society, where pockets of wealth coexist with the most shocking poverty, has contributed to the adoption and generation of different strands in mathematics education, crossing the boundaries between trends. At a more micro level, we also raise the conjecture that Brazilian trends in research are interwoven because of the way that Brazilian mathematics educators have experienced the process of globalization over these 30 years. This tapestry of trends is a predominant characteristic of mathematics education in Brazil. © FIZ Karlsruhe 2009.

Climatic variables and altitude as predictors of anuran species richness and number of reproductive modes in Brazil

Because anuran species are highly dependent on environmental variables, we hypothesized that anuran species richness and the number of reproductive modes from different Brazilian localities vary according to climatic and altitudinal variables. Published data were compiled from 36 Brazilian localities and climatic and altitudinal data were extracted from an available database. A partial redundancy analysis (pRDA) showed that 23.5% of the data set's variation was explained by climatic and altitudinal data, while the remaining 76.5% remained unexplained. This analysis suggests that other factors not analysed herein may also be important for predicting anuran species richness and the number of reproductive modes in Brazil. Altitude and total annual rainfall were positively correlated with anuran species richness and the number of reproductive modes, and total annual rainfall was strongly associated with these two biotic variables in the triplot of pRDA. The positive association of total annual rainfall and the negative association of the concentration of annual rainfall were already expected based on physiological and reproductive requirements of anurans. On the other hand, temperature was not associated with richness or the number of reproductive modes. Copyright © 2010 Cambridge University Press.

Conservation and use of palm trees in Brazil's landscaping

Palm trees belong to the Arecaceae family and are widely utilized in landscaping of tropical countries. Although there are many species, just a few are used in Brazil's landscaping, the majority coming from other countries. So, this study had the objective to characterize the plants in the collection of palm trees at UNESP/FCAV, Campus of Jaboticabal, Sao Paulo State, Brazil. The germination of seeds was also studied to increase the production of seedlings for use in landscaping, as this is the biggest difficulty for spreading new species. The introduction of new species in the collection was accomplished. It was also made a survey of major pests and diseases that occur in the collection. The most common pests found were: Brassolis sophorae, Parisoschoenus obesulus, Rhynchophorus palmarum and Coraliomela sp., and the most common disease causing fungi: Colletrotrichum sp., Curvularia sp., Bipolaris sp., Helminthosporium sp., Alternaria sp., Phyllosticta sp., Pestalotia sp., Exosporium palmivorum and Ceratocystis pardoxa.

The rise in global demand for ethanol and poverty in Brazil

Incluye Bibliografía

The rise in global demand for ethanol and poverty in Brazil

Includes bibliography

A case study of concurrent engineering application on the development of parts for the white goods industry in Brazil

This classical way to manage product development processes for massive production seems to be changing: high pressure for cost reduction, higher quality standards, markets reaching for innovation lead to the necessity of new tools for development control. Into this, and learning from the automotive and aerospace industries factories from other segments are starting to understand and apply manufacturing and assembly oriented projects to ease the task of generate goods and from this obtain at least a part of the expected results. This paper is intended to demonstrate the applicability of the concepts of Concurrent Engineering and DFM/DFA (Design for Manufacturing and Assembly) in the development of products and parts for the White Goods industry in Brazil (major appliances as refrigerators, cookers and washing machines), showing one case concerning the development and releasing of a component. Finally is demonstrated in a short term how was reached a solution that could provide cost savings and reduction on the time to delivery using those techniques.