Late pest control in determinate tomato cultivars

O uso de plantas inseticidas e de variedades pode ser forte aliado ao Manejo Integrado de Pragas (MIP), podendo reduzir o número de aplicações de inseticidas e minimizar seus efeitos ao homem e ao meio ambiente. em condições de campo, visando o controle de pragas tardias do tomateiro em duas cultivares de crescimento determinado, compararam-se as seguintes táticas de controle: a) Convencional - pulverizações com os produtos metamidofós, buprofezin, acefato, cipermetrina, abamectina, permetrina, teflubenzuron e lufenuron, aplicados em intervalos de três a seis dias; b) MIP - nível de ação de cada praga para aplicações de imidacloprid, triflumuron, lufenuron e abamectina; c) MIP - Azadirachta indica (nim) - nível de ação de cada praga para aplicações de óleo de nim (1,2% de azadiractina) a 0,5%. As táticas de controle MIP e MIP - nim foram eficientes no controle das pragas tardias do tomateiro, quando a pressão da população é baixa, não diferindo do tratamento convencional que apresentou as menores médias de infestação. As táticas de controle convencional, MIP e MIP-nim promoveram maiores produções do tomateiro, com incrementos de até 74%. O número de pulverizações foi reduzido em até 77% com as táticas MIP e MIP - nim, comparado ao método convencional. O produto nim pode ser alternativa promissora no controle de pragas tardias do tomateiro em campo, que se ajusta ao MIP.

Brain monoaminergic neurons and ventilatory control in vertebrates

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

Effects of a ferment soy product on the adipocyte area reduction and dyslipidemia control in hypercholesterolemic adult male rats

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Parameter-dependent Lyapunov functions for state-derivative feedback control in polytopic linear systems

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Experimental Active Vibration Control in Truss Structures Considering Uncertainties in System Parameters

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

Effects of chronic acetazolamide administration on gas exchange and acid-base control in pulmonary circulation in exercising horses

P>Reasons for performing study:Carbonic anhydrase (CA) catalyses the hydration/dehydration reaction of CO(2) and increases the rate of Cl- and HCO(3)- exchange between the erythrocytes and plasma. Therefore, chronic inhibition of CA has a potential to attenuate CO(2) output and induce greater metabolic and respiratory acidosis in exercising horses.Objectives:To determine the effects of Carbonic anhydrase inhibition on CO(2) output and ionic exchange between erythrocytes and plasma and their influence on acid-base balance in the pulmonary circulation (across the lung) in exercising horses with and without CA inhibition.Methods:Six horses were exercised to exhaustion on a treadmill without (Con) and with CA inhibition (AczTr). CA inhibition was achieved with administration of acetazolamide (10 mg/kg bwt t.i.d. for 3 days and 30 mg/kg bwt before exercise). Arterial, mixed venous blood and CO(2) output were sampled at rest and during exercise. An integrated physicochemical systems approach was used to describe acid base changes.Results:AczTr decreased the duration of exercise by 45% (P < 0.0001). During the transition from rest to exercise CO(2) output was lower in AczTr (P < 0.0001). Arterial PCO(2) (P < 0.0001; mean +/- s.e. 71 +/- 2 mmHg AczTr, 46 +/- 2 mmHg Con) was higher, whereas hydrogen ion (P = 0.01; 12.8 +/- 0.6 nEq/l AczTr, 15.5 +/- 0.6 nEq/l Con) and bicarbonate (P = 0.007; 5.5 +/- 0.7 mEq/l AczTr, 10.1 +/- 1.3 mEq/l Con) differences across the lung were lower in AczTr compared to Con. No difference was observed in weak electrolytes across the lung. Strong ion difference across the lung was lower in AczTr (P = 0.0003; 4.9 +/- 0.8 mEq AczTr, 7.5 +/- 1.2 mEq Con), which was affected by strong ion changes across the lung with exception of lactate.Conclusions:CO(2) and chloride changes in erythrocytes across the lung seem to be the major contributors to acid-base and ions balance in pulmonary circulation in exercising horses.

Postural control in Down syndrome: the use of somatosensory and visual information to attenuate body sway

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of visual and somatosensory information on body sway in individuals with Down syndrome (DS). Nine adults with DS (19-29 years old) and nine control subjects (CS) (19-29 years old) stood in the upright stance in four experimental conditions: no vision and no touch; vision and no touch; no vision and touch; and vision and touch. In the vision condition, participants looked at a target placed in front of them; in the no vision condition, participants wore a black cotton mask. In the touch condition, participants touched a stationary surface with their right index finger; in the no touch condition, participants kept their arms hanging alongside their bodies. A force plate was used to estimate center of pressure excursion for both anterior-posterior and medial-lateral directions. MANOVA revealed that both the individuals with DS and the control subjects used vision and touch to reduce overall body sway, although individuals with DS still oscillated more than did the CS. These results indicate that adults with DS are able to use sensory information to reduce body sway, and they demonstrate that there is no difference in sensory integration between the individuals with DS and the CS.

Use of monocular and binocular visual cues for postural control in children

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

Magnetic flux inversion in charged BPS vortices in a Lorentz-violating Maxwell-Higgs framework

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Optimal and sub-optimal control in Dengue epidemics

This work concerns the application of the optimal control theory to Dengue epidemics. The dynamics of this insect-borne disease is modelled as a set of non-linear ordinary differential equations including the effect of educational campaigns organized to motivate the population to break the reproduction cycle of the mosquitoes by avoiding the accumulation of still water in open-air recipients. The cost functional is such that it reflects a compromise between actual financial spending (in insecticides and educational campaigns) and the population health (which can be objectively measured in terms of, for instance, treatment costs and loss of productivity). The optimal control problem is solved numerically using a multiple shooting method. However, the optimal control policy is difficult to implement by the health authorities because it is not practical to adjust the investment rate continuously in time. Therefore, a suboptimal control policy is computed assuming, as the admissible set, only those controls which are piecewise constant. The performance achieved by the optimal control and the sub-optimal control policies are compared with the cases of control using only insecticides when Breteau Index is greater or equal to 5 and the case of no-control. The results show that the sub-optimal policy yields a substantial reduction in the cost, in terms of the proposed functional, and is only slightly inferior to the optimal control policy. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Radioactivity distribution in some Permian sediments from the Irati and Corumbatal formations of the Parana basin, southeastern Brazil

in the city of Limeira, southeastern Brazil, an important exposure of Permian sediments of the Parana basin was revealed by an open pit mine that exploits limestone for production of soil correction compounds and raw materials for the ceramic industry. The radioactivity of these sediments was investigated in some detail and the results provided a general view of the vertical distributions of uranium, thorium and potassium concentrations and of the element ratios U/K, U/Th and Th/K. In general, the concentrations of the main natural radioactive elements are low, with uranium being enriched in some limestone and shale levels. In addition the results showed that the U-238 series is in radioactive disequilibrium in many of the analyzed samples. Although the origin of the observed disequilibrium has not been investigated, the results suggest that it is due to weathering processes and water interaction with the rock matrix. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Mercury in soils and sediments from gold mining liabilities in Southern Amazonia

The 1980-1990 Amazonian gold rush left an enormous liability that increasingly has been substituted by developing fish aquaculture. This work aimed at the identification of the mercury levels in the environment, associated with fish farms located in the North of Mato Grosso State, Southern Amazon. Sediment and soil samples were analyzed for total organic carbon and total mercury. Results indicate that the chemical characteristics of the sediment largely depend on the management procedures of the fish pond (liming, fish food used and fish population). The soils presented relatively low concentrations when compared with other data from the literature.

On an acute case of Chagas disease in a region under vector control in the state of São Paulo, Brazil

Desde a década de 1970 não se notificavam casos autóctones de doença de Chagas aguda em São Paulo. em março de 2006 a Vigilância Epidemiológica registrou óbito por doença de Chagas aguda, em Itaporanga, de paciente de seis anos de idade. Exame histopatológico post mortem realizado no Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina de Botucatu confirmou o diagnóstico. Consultamos prontuários de hospitais e entrevistamos profissionais de saúde envolvidos além de familiares do paciente. Descrevemos medidas adotadas in loco para identificar a via de transmissão, reservatórios e vetores. Discutimos as possíveis fontes de infecção. Na região não foram identificados outros casos humanos, vetores ou reservatórios vertebrados infectados por Trypanosoma cruzi. Salientamos a importância de manter a vigilância, mesmo em áreas onde a transmissão de doença de Chagas está interrompida e naquelas ainda infestadas por triatomíneos. Deve-se admitir a hipótese diagnóstica de doença de Chagas quando observados: edema palpebral (uni ou bilateral), insuficiência cardíaca, miocardite, pericardite, anasarca, quadros similares aos de síndrome nefrótica ou glomerulonefrite sem causas outras aparentes, em pacientes com dados epidemiológicos positivos. Encontro, mesmo em raras ocasiões, de triatomíneos na região ou ainda contato com alimento contaminável com formas infectantes de T. cruzi.