Produção de forragem, características estruturais e eficiência de utilização do nitrogênio em forrageiras tropicais sob adubação nitrogenada

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of increasing doses of nitrogen on the morphogenesis, structural and productive grass Panicum maximum cvs. Mombaca and Tanzania, and Brachiaria sp. Mulato. The experiment was conducted under field conditions. The experimental design was randomized blocks in a 3x4 factorial design with three forages (Panicum maximum cvs. Tanzania and Mombaca and Brachiaria sp. cv. Mulato), four N rates (0, 40, 80 and 160 kg ha(-1)) with three replications. Were evaluated the following parameters: fresh matter production (FMP), dry matter production (DMP), plant height, percentage of dry matter, leaves per tiller, dry matter accumulation rate (DMAR) and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE). Grasses Mombasa and Tanzania showed similar results, and both were superior to Mulato grass for the production of fresh and dry matter. The three species responded to nitrogen application, with an increase in FMP, DMP, DMAR, height and number of tillers. The maximum efficiency in use of N was obtained with a dose of 120 kg ha(-1).

Estudo das características físico-químicas e funcionalidade de bagaços de frutas tropicais desidratados em leito de jorro

Fruits are rich sources of bioactive compounds, including phenolic compounds. Tropical fruit cultivation is an important productive segment in Brazilian Northeast. Its industrialization generates solid wastes as co-products, with potential environmental impact. Considering the recognized bioactive content of fruit and its derivatives, this research has the objective of investigating acerola (Malpighia glabra L.), cajá-umbu (Spondia ssp), jambolan (Syzygium cumini) and pitanga (Eugenia uniflora) dried wastes obtained by spouted bed drier. It was analyzed the physical-chemical composition, solubility and microphotographic aspect of these dried wastes. Besides this, it was also evaluated the bioactive content, antioxidant activity and inhibitory activity against aamylase and a-glycosidase enzymes of water and ethanol (70%, 80% e 100% v/v) extracts prepared from fruit dried wastes, as well as their possible correlations. The dried fruit wastes showed high phenolic (606.04 to 3074.6 mg GAE eq/100 g sample), anthocyanin (478.7 mg/100 g for jambolan) and ascorbic acid (2748.03 mg/100 g for acerola) contents, as well as high antioxidant DPPH activity (14.27 a 36.30 mg Trolox eq/g sample). The extracts exhibited moderate to high a-amylase inhibition (23.97% a 76.58%) and high α-glycosidase inhibition, which 99.32% peak was reached for ethanol 70% pitanga extracts. It was also observed great positive correlation between phenolic content and DPPH activity (0.97 for acerola), anthocyanin (0.95 for jambolan) and α- glycosidase inhibition (0.98 for acerola). The α-glycosidase inhibition also correlated well with the antioxidant activity for all fruit extracts. The results show that these dried fruit wastes are valuable material for further applications as functional ingredients

Aplicação de microemulsão na recuperação de petróleo de reservatórios carbonáticos

The large investment in exploration activities offshore Brazil has generated new findings, generally in carbonate reservoirs, with different wettability conditions usually considered in the sandstone, strongly water-wet. In general, the carbonates reservoirs tend to be oil-wet, it difficult to mobilize of oil these reservoirs. These oils can be mobilized by different methods, or it may reverse the wettability of the surface of the reservoir and facilitate the flow of oil, improving production rates. Thus, the objective of this work was to study the influence of inversion on the wettability of the rock in the production and recovery of petroleum from carbonate reservoirs, using microemulsions. Three systems were chosen with different classes of surfactants: a cationic (C16TAB), an anionic (SDS) and nonionic (Unitol L90). Studies of the influence of salinity on the formation of the microemulsion as well as the characterization of fluids using density and viscosity measurements were also performed. To verify the potential of microemulsion systems in changing the wettability state of the chalk oil-wet to water-wet, contact angle measurements were performed using chalk of neutral-wet as surface material. Overall, with respect to the ionic character of the surfactants tested, the cationic surfactant (C16TAB) had a greater potential for reversal in wettability able to transform the rock wettability neutral to strongly water-wet, when compared with the anionic surfactant (SDS) and nonionic (Unitol L90), which showed similar behavior, improving the wettability of the rock to water. The microemulsions of all surfactants studied were effective in oil recovery, resulting in 76.92% for the system with C16TAB, 67.42% for the SDS and 66.30% for Unitol L90 of residual oil

Sistema de secagem solar para frutos tropicais e modelagem da secagem de banana em um secador de coluna estática

In this study were projected, built and tested an electric solar dryer consisting of a solar collector, a drying chamber, an exhaust fan and a fan to promote forced hot air convection. Banana drying experiments were also carried out in a static column dryer to model the drying and to obtain parameters that can be used as a first approximation in the modeling of an electric solar dryer, depending on the similarity of the experimental conditions between the two drying systems. From the banana drying experiments conducted in the static column dryer, we obtained food weight data as a function of aqueous concentration and temperature. Simplified mathematical models of the banana drying were made, based on Fick s and Fourier s second equations, which were tested with the experimental data. We determined and/or modeled parameters such as banana moisture content, density, thin layer drying curves, equilibrium moisture content, molecular diffusivity of the water in banana DAB, external mass transfer coefficient kM, specific heat Cp, thermal conductivity k, latent heat of water evaporation in the food Lfood, time to heat food, and minimum energy and power required to heat the food and evaporate the water. When we considered the shrinkage of radius R of a banana, the calculated values of DAB and kM generally better represent the phenomenon of water diffusion in a solid. The latent heat of water evaporation in the food Lfood calculated by modeling is higher than the latent heat of pure water evaporation Lwater. The values calculated for DAB and KM that best represent the drying were obtained with the analytical model of the present paper. These values had good agreement with those assessed with a numeric model described in the literature, in which convective boundary condition and food shrinkage are considered. Using parameters such as Cp, DAB, k, kM and Lfood, one can elaborate the preliminary dryer project and calculate the economy using only solar energy rather than using solar energy along with electrical energy

Secagem de misturas de polpa de frutas tropicais em leito de jorro

Drying of fruit pulps in spouted beds of inert particles has been indicated as a viable technique to produce fruit powders. Most of the processes employed to produce dried fruit pulps and juices, such as Foam Mat, encapsulation by co-crystallization and spray drying utilize adjuvant and additives (such as thickeners, coating materials, emulsifiers, acidulants, flavors and dyes), which is not always desirable. The fruit pulp composition exerts an important effect on the fruit powder production using a spouted bed. In the study by Medeiros (2001) it was concluded that lipids, starch and pectin contents play an important role on the process performance, enhancing the powder production; however, the drying of fruit pulps containing high content of reducing sugars (glucose and fructose) is practically unviable. This work has the objective of expanding the studies on drying of fruit pulps in spouted bed with aid of adjuvant (lipids, starch and pectin) aiming to enhance the dryer performance without jeopardizing the sensorial quality of the product. The optimum composition obtained by Medeiros (2001) was the basis for preparing the mixtures of pulps. The mixture formulations included pulps of mango (Mangifera indica), umbu (Spondias tuberosa) and red mombin (Spondia purpurea) with addition of cornstarch, pectin and lipids. Different products were used as lipids source: olive and Brazil nut oils, coconut milk, heavy milk, powder of palm fat and palm olein. First of all, experiments were conducted to define the best formulation of the fruit pulps mixture. This definition was based on the drying performance obtained for each mixture and on the sensorial characteristics of the dry powder. The mixture formulations were submitted to drying at fixed operating conditions of drying and atomizing air flow rate, load of inert particles, temperature and flow rate of the mixture. The best results were obtained with the compositions having powder of palm fat and palm olein in terms of the drying performance and sensorial analysis. Physical and physicochemical characteristics were determined for the dry powders obtained from the mixtures formulations. Solubility and reconstitution time as well as the properties of the product after reconstitution were also evaluated. According to these analyses, the powder from the mixtures formulations presented similar characteristics and compatible quality to those produced in other types of dryers. Considering that the palm olein is produced in Brazil and that it has been used in the food industry substituting the palm fat powder, further studies on drying performance were conducted with the composition that included the palm olein. A complete factorial design of experiments 23, with three repetitions at the central point was conducted to evaluate the effects of the air temperature, feeding flow rate and intermittence time on the responses related to the process performance (powder collection efficiency, material retained in the bed and angle of repose of the inert particles after the process) and to the product quality (mean moisture content, loss of vitamin C and solubility). Powder production was uniform for the majority of the experiments and the higher efficiency with lower retention in the bed (59.2% and 1.8g, respectively) were obtained for the air temperature of 80°C, mixture feed rate of 5ml/min in intervals of 10 min. The statistical analysis of the results showed that the process variables had individual or combined significant influences on the powder collection efficiency, material retention in the bed, powder moisture content and loss of vitamin C. At the experimental ranges of this work, the angle of repose and solubility were not influenced by the operating variables. From the results of the experimental design, statistical models were obtained for the powder moisture content and loss of vitamin C

O que controla o crescimento do Fitoplâncton em lagoas costeiras tropicais? um modelo para a lagoa de Extremoz (RN)

The phytoplankton growth is dependent of several abiotic (nutrients, temperature) and biotic (predation by zooplankton) variables. In this work, a mathematical model was developed in Stella software to understand the planktonic dynamics of Extremoz Lagoon (RN) and to simulate scenarios of different environmental conditions. Data were collected monthly at two points of the lagoon. The state variables are phytoplankton and zooplankton and forcing variables are nitrogen, phosphorus and temperature. The results show that: a) the model are well coupled, especially when some constants assume different values; b) simulated nutrient concentrations reduction decreases phytoplankton biomass, but the increase of nutrients does not stimulate the growth; c) changes in the temperature does not change the phytoplankton biomass; d) changes in zooplankton biomass affect directly and reduces the phytoplankton, indicating a topdown control mechanism; e) changes in the nutrient concentration modified the biomass of zooplankton suggesting a rapid flow of energy between nutrients, phytoplankton and zooplankton and a ecosystem likely arranged in an inverted pyramid (higher concentration of zooplankton than phytoplankton)

Caracterização espacial de reservatórios do semiárido em função da qualidade da água através do uso de componentes principais

A região semiárida sofre escassez hídrica. A fim de regularizar a disponibilidade hídrica nos períodos de estiagem, são construídas barragens. No entanto, a qualidade da água armazenada tem sofrido os efeitos do descarte irregular de resíduos no meio ambiente e das atividades antrópicas exercidas nas bacias hidrográficas. A degradação hídrica pode ser constatada a partir do monitoramento dos parâmetros de qualidade da água. Estes dados podem ser analisados através de métodos estatísticos tais como a Análise de Componentes Principais e a análise de agrupamento, que seleciona indivíduos com características semelhantes. O objetivo deste trabalho é realizar oagrupamento dos reservatórios do Rio Grande do Norte, com base nos parâmetros de qualidade da água, para a identificação de grupos homogêneos de reservatórios em termos de fontes de poluição. Serão objeto desse estudo as bacias Piranhas-Açu, Apodi-Mossoró, Trairí, Potengi e Ceará-Mirim. Os parâmetros mercúrio, chumbo, cromo, fósforo total, nitrogênio total e zinco contribuíram para a formação da primeira componente principal, que pode indicar poluição por metais pesados; sólidos totais, DBO, OD e cobre, para a segunda componente, que pode ser indicativo de poluição por matéria orgânica e atividades antrópicas; e clorofila a , cádmio e níquel, para a terceira componente, que pode indicar eutrofização e poluição por metais pesados. De posse das componentes principais se procedeu o agrupamento dos reservatórios, formando-se quatro grupos distintos. Os grupos 1 e 2 são constituídos por reservatórios da Bacia Piranhas-Açu, que apresentou maiores valores de metais pesados. O grupo 3, constituído por reservatórios das bacias Ceará-Mirim, Potengi e Trairí, apresentou maiores valores de DBO e sólidostotais e o grupo 4 é formado por reservatórios da Bacia Apodi-Mossoró. Nas Bacias do Trarí e Piranhas-Açu deve ser coibido o lançamento desordenado de efluentes e fontes de poluição difusas, e implantado um sistema de coleta de esgoto para minimizar a poluição por matéria orgânica

Os reservatórios eutrofizados da região tropical semiárida atuam como emissores ou como sequestradores de dióxido de carbono?

The aquatic ecosystems can play a role as carbon-dioxide-source or carbon-dioxide-sink systems due to the high predominance of heterotrophic or autotrophic metabolism. The primary production can strongly affect the carbon balance (CO2) through the consumption of carbon dioxide in the photosynthesis, especially in eutrophic environment, acting as a carbon sink. The present study tested the hypothesis that the eutrophic reservoirs in tropical semi-arid region are carbon dioxide-sink systems due to the high primary productivity presented in these systems. Five Brazilian reservoirs from the semi-arid in the northeast region were monitored monthly during four years (2010 to 2013) with a prolonged drought event identified during the study. The results showed an increasing level of eutrophication over the period of prolonged drought, with the predominance of autotrophy. Significant negative correlations were observed between the partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2) (p<0,001) and chlorophyll-a in the Boqueirão, Passagem das Traíras, Dourado and Gargalheiras reservoirs, showing a pattern of the carbon dioxide-sink systems. However, this pattern was not found in Cruzeta reservoir. In summary, in the tropical semi-arid region, hydrological and morphometric variables can lead to different behaviors of the water-supply reservoirs on the carbon metabolism. The eutrophic reservoirs evaluated showed a negative relationship between pCO2 and Chl-a, which suggests that these water bodies show an autotrophic metabolism and behave as carbon dioxide- sink systems

Uso do sensoriamento remoto orbital no monitoramento da dispersão de macrófitas nos reservatórios do complexo Tietê

A presença de algumas substâncias na água, como pigmentos fotossintetizantes, particulados, etc., afeta sua cor, provocando mudanças na radiância da água registrada por sensores orbitais. Nesse sentido, o sensoriamento remoto pode se constituir em uma fonte complementar de dados para o monitoramento da qualidade da água em grandes reservatórios (Novo et al., 1994). No contexto de um projeto de pesquisa realizado na AES Tietê S.A., com o objetivo de desenvolver técnicas para a avaliação da área com infestação de plantas aquáticas, imagens orbitais multiespectrais foram usadas tanto para mapear a dispersão espacial e estimar a área de ocorrência de macrófitas aquáticas, em duas épocas distintas, quanto para orientar a definição de pontos de amostragem in loco, visando a coleta e posterior análise da água e de sedimentos nos reservatórios. Este trabalho apresenta uma descrição do procedimento metodológico adotado na análise das imagens multiespectrais, bem como os resultados obtidos na caracterização dos reservatórios de Barra Bonita, Bariri, Ibitinga, Promissão e Nova Avanhandava, em termos de seu dimensionamento, variabilidade espectral da água e presença de macrófitas emersas, nas duas épocas do ano consideradas.

Aplicações da teoria da percolação à modelagem e simulação de reservatórios de petróleo

In this thesis we study some problems related to petroleum reservoirs using methods and concepts of Statistical Physics. The thesis could be divided percolation problem in random multifractal support motivated by its potential application in modelling oil reservoirs. We develped an heterogeneous and anisotropic grid that followin two parts. The first one introduce a study of the percolations a random multifractal distribution of its sites. After, we determine the percolation threshold for this grid, the fractal dimension of the percolating cluster and the critical exponents ß and v. In the second part, we propose an alternative systematic of modelling and simulating oil reservoirs. We introduce a statistical model based in a stochastic formulation do Darcy Law. In this model, the distribution of permeabilities is localy equivalent to the basic model of bond percolation

Avaliação de pastagens tropicais em sistemas de produção de ovinos de corte no nordeste brasileiro

He aim of this study was to evaluate the structural characters, herbage accumulation, nutritive value and performance of sheep in different tropical pastures. The treatments were two cultivars and two of the genera Panicum Brachiaria pastures under intermittent stocking and variable stocking rate, in the rainy season. We evaluated the masses and the components of herbage pre grazing in two layers, and after grazing. Chemical analyzes were made of the stems and leaf blades pre grazing in two layers. We used 48 male sheep and whole for the assessment of individual weight gain and area, and anestrous females to adjust the stocking rate. In the cv. Massai showed the highest herbage mass, leaf blades and dead material, and the largest volume density and leaf blade: stem pre grazing. There was no difference among cultivars for the percentage of leaf blade (PLB) in both strata, but the higher the PLB was higher than the bottom. The highest percentage of dead material (PDM) was observed in cvs. Massai and Marandu in the two strata. In cvs. Massai and Piatã were observed lower levels of crude protein in stem and leaf. In stratum 0-25 cm lower nutritional value was observed in the stem in the leaf blades did not grant the nutritional value among the strata. Herbage mass, leaf blade, PLB and proportion of stem in the residue of the Massai pastures were higher than cv. Aruana. There was no difference for efficiencies in harvest leaf and stem between the cultivars. The cv. Massai got the higher accumulation of leaf per cycle per day. Animals kept in grass swards Aruana had the highest average daily gain. The higher stocking rates and earnings per area were observed in grass swards and Marandu Massai. The cultivars are suitable for sheep meat production in the rainy season

Respostas morfogênicas e estruturais de gramíneas tropicais em regime de corte no nordeste brasileiro

The production of forage grasses is directly related to the morphogenesis. The knowledge of the morphogenetic and structural variables of forage plants is important for determining appropriate conditions of grazing livestock to ensure efficient and sustainable. Thus the objective of this study was to evaluate morphogenetic and structural responses of three genera of grasses, Brachiaria, Panicum and Cenchrus in a cutting regime. The experimental design was randomized blocks with three replications and six treatments. After each section were evaluated for forage production, appearance and elongation rates of leaves and stem, phyllochron, final leaf length, number of living leaves, leaf lifespan, leaf senescence rate, tiller density and tiller dynamics. On forage yield the highest values were obtained in cultivars Xaraes, Piata and Massai. The tiller density was higher for cv Massai. It is concluded that the cultivars of Panicum and Brachiaria had a higher tillering dynamics in increasing the turnover rate of tissues that are indicators of forage production, assuming that the cultivars of these genera are predisposed to use forage in the Northeast

Parâmetros parasitológicos e desempenho produtivo de ovinos naturalmente infectados com nematoides gastrintestinais mantidos em diferentes pastagens tropicais

The control of gastrointestinal nematodes of small ruminants is usually done with anthelmintics. However, due to the emergence of ever-increasing parasite resistance to these drugs, looking up an alternative control parasites. One of this is sought in pasture management, as these are the sources of animals` infection by L3 infective larvae of helminths. The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of sheep to natural infections by gastrointestinal nematodes grazing Panicum maximum cv. Massai and cv. Aruana, and Brachiaria brizantha cv. Piatã and cv. Marandu. The work was conducted from May to August-2011 with 48 male sheeps SRD versus Santa Inês breed. The animals were naturally infected with gastrointestinal nematodes, and maintained in four different cultivars of tropical forage grasses, naturally contaminated with eggs and larvae of gastrointestinal nematodes. Each week the animals were phenotypically characterized by parasitological examinations (eggs per gram of feces - EPG, and feces culture), hematological (packed cell volume PCV, and blood eosinophil count) method to evaluate the Famacha© colorof ocular mucosa, and the measures of body condition score and weight. In pastures was made the recovery of infective larvae in order to determine the quantity of L3 present in the pasture. The experimental design was a randomized completed block with two replications and before the entry of animals in the paddocks, they have been wormed. The experiment was ended when the animals reached 32.0 kg liveweight, and then were slaughtered and autopsies performed for the recovery and identify parasites of the abomasum, small intestine and large intestine. Results were subjected to analysis of variance, t test and Tukey`s test. The animals kept on pastures of Marandu grass had lower EPG counts, higher percentage of packed cell volume and higher average weight; those who remained in the Piatã pasture had lower eosinophil counts per microliter of blood. About the Famacha©, the highest prevalence was Famacha 2, and the body condition score ranged between 2 and 3. The results of feces cultures and recovery of larvae on pastures showed the presence of larvae of Trichostrongylus sp., and at the necropsy too. This way, it was concluded that the grass cultivars influences the sheep parasite load; the Famacha, together with EPG and packed cell volume are important indicators for use in controlling gastrointestinal nematode infections. The Trichostrongylus sp. was the most prevalent parasite in sheep during the rainy season

Secagem de misturas de polpa de frutas tropicais em leito de jorro

Drying of fruit pulps in spouted beds of inert particles has been indicated as a viable technique to produce fruit powders. Most of the processes employed to produce dried fruit pulps and juices, such as Foam Mat, encapsulation by co-crystallization and spray drying utilize adjuvant and additives (such as thickeners, coating materials, emulsifiers, acidulants, flavors and dyes), which is not always desirable. The fruit pulp composition exerts an important effect on the fruit powder production using a spouted bed. In the study by Medeiros (2001) it was concluded that lipids, starch and pectin contents play an important role on the process performance, enhancing the powder production; however, the drying of fruit pulps containing high content of reducing sugars (glucose and fructose) is practically unviable. This work has the objective of expanding the studies on drying of fruit pulps in spouted bed with aid of adjuvant (lipids, starch and pectin) aiming to enhance the dryer performance without jeopardizing the sensorial quality of the product. The optimum composition obtained by Medeiros (2001) was the basis for preparing the mixtures of pulps. The mixture formulations included pulps of mango (Mangifera indica), umbu (Spondias tuberosa) and red mombin (Spondia purpurea) with addition of cornstarch, pectin and lipids. Different products were used as lipids source: olive and Brazil nut oils, coconut milk, heavy milk, powder of palm fat and palm olein. First of all, experiments were conducted to define the best formulation of the fruit pulps mixture. This definition was based on the drying performance obtained for each mixture and on the sensorial characteristics of the dry powder. The mixture formulations were submitted to drying at fixed operating conditions of drying and atomizing air flow rate, load of inert particles, temperature and flow rate of the mixture. The best results were obtained with the compositions having powder of palm fat and palm olein in terms of the drying performance and sensorial analysis. Physical and physicochemical characteristics were determined for the dry powders obtained from the mixtures formulations. Solubility and reconstitution time as well as the properties of the product after reconstitution were also evaluated. According to these analyses, the powder from the mixtures formulations presented similar characteristics and compatible quality to those produced in other types of dryers. Considering that the palm olein is produced in Brazil and that it has been used in the food industry substituting the palm fat powder, further studies on drying performance were conducted with the composition that included the palm olein. A complete factorial design of experiments 23, with three repetitions at the central point was conducted to evaluate the effects of the air temperature, feeding flow rate and intermittence time on the responses related to the process performance (powder collection efficiency, material retained in the bed and angle of repose of the inert particles after the process) and to the product quality (mean moisture content, loss of vitamin C and solubility). Powder production was uniform for the majority of the experiments and the higher efficiency with lower retention in the bed (59.2% and 1.8g, respectively) were obtained for the air temperature of 80°C, mixture feed rate of 5ml/min in intervals of 10 min. The statistical analysis of the results showed that the process variables had individual or combined significant influences on the powder collection efficiency, material retention in the bed, powder moisture content and loss of vitamin C. At the experimental ranges of this work, the angle of repose and solubility were not influenced by the operating variables. From the results of the experimental design, statistical models were obtained for the powder moisture content and loss of vitamin C

Simulação de reservatórios de petróleo em ambiente MPSoC

The constant increase of complexity in computer applications demands the development of more powerful hardware support for them. With processor's operational frequency reaching its limit, the most viable solution is the use of parallelism. Based on parallelism techniques and the progressive growth in the capacity of transistors integration in a single chip is the concept of MPSoCs (Multi-Processor System-on-Chip). MPSoCs will eventually become a cheaper and faster alternative to supercomputers and clusters, and applications developed for these high performance systems will migrate to computers equipped with MP-SoCs containing dozens to hundreds of computation cores. In particular, applications in the area of oil and natural gas exploration are also characterized by the high processing capacity required and would benefit greatly from these high performance systems. This work intends to evaluate a traditional and complex application of the oil and gas industry known as reservoir simulation, developing a solution with integrated computational systems in a single chip, with hundreds of functional unities. For this, as the STORM (MPSoC Directory-Based Platform) platform already has a shared memory model, a new distributed memory model were developed. Also a message passing library has been developed folowing MPI standard