Genetic variability of rice recurrent selection populations as affected by male sterility or manual recombination

The objective of this work was to determine the effect of male sterility or manual recombination on genetic variability of rice recurrent selection populations. The populations CNA-IRAT 4, with a gene for male sterility, and CNA 12, which was manually recombined, were evaluated. Genetic variability among selection cycles was estimated using14 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. A total of 926 plants were analyzed, including ten genitors and 180 individuals from each of the evaluated cycles (1, 2 and 5) of the population CNA-IRAT 4, and 16 genitors and 180 individuals from each of the cycles (1 and 2) of CNA 12. The analysis allowed the identification of alleles not present among the genitors for both populations, in all cycles, especially for the CNA-IRAT 4 population. These alleles resulted from unwanted fertilization with genotypes that were not originally part of the populations. The parameters of Wright's F-statistic (F IS and F IT) indicated that the manual recombination expands the genetic variability of the CNA 12 population, whereas male sterility reduces the one of CNA-IRAT 4.

CO2-response function of radiation use efficiency in rice for climate change scenarios

The objective of this work was to evaluate a generalized response function to the atmospheric CO2 concentration [f(CO2)] by the radiation use efficiency (RUE) in rice. Experimental data on RUE at different CO2 concentrations were collected from rice trials performed in several locations around the world. RUE data were then normalized, so that all RUE at current CO2 concentration were equal to 1. The response function was obtained by fitting normalized RUE versus CO2 concentration to a Morgan-Mercer-Flodin (MMF) function, and by using Marquardt's method to estimate the model coefficients. Goodness of fit was measured by the standard deviation of the estimated coefficients, the coefficient of determination (R²), and the root mean square error (RMSE). The f(CO2) describes a nonlinear sigmoidal response of RUE in rice, in function of the atmospheric CO2 concentration, which has an ecophysiological background, and, therefore, renders a robust function that can be easily coupled to rice simulation models, besides covering the range of CO2 emissions for the next generation of climate scenarios for the 21st century.

Fast Bias Field Correction for 9.4 Tesla Magnetic Resonance Imaging

In this paper the problem of intensity inhomogeneity athigh magnetic field on magnetic resonance images isaddressed. Specifically, rat brain images at 9.4Tacquired with a surface coil are bias corrected. Wepropose a low- pass frequency model that takes intoaccount not only background-object contours but alsoother important contours inside the image. Twopre-processing filters are proposed: first, to create avolume of interest without contours, and second, toextrapolate the image values of such masked area to thewhole image. Results are assessed quantitatively andvisually in comparison to standard low pass filterapproach, and they show as expected better accuracy inenhancing image intensity.

Ammonium and nitrate in soil and upland rice yield as affected by cover crops and their desiccation time

The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of cover crops and their desiccation times on upland rice yield and on the levels of nitrate and ammonium in a no-tillage soil. The experiment was carried out in a randomized blocks, with split plots and three replicates. Cover crops (plots) were sowed in the off-season (March 2009). In November 2009, at 30, 20, 10 and 0 days before rice sowing (split plots), herbicide was applied on the cover crops (fallow, Panicum maximum, Urochloa ruziziensis, U. brizantha and millet). Straw and soil were sampled (0 - 10 cm) at the sowing day, and after 7, 14, 21, 28 and 35 days. Straws from millet and fallow were degraded more rapidly and provided the lowest level of nitrate in the soil. Urochloa ruziziensis, U. brizantha and P. maximum produced higher amounts of dry matter, and provided the highest levels of nitrate in the soil. Millet provides the lowest nitrate/ammonium ratio and the highest upland rice yield. Desiccations carried out at 30 and 20 days before sowing had the largest levels of nitrate in the soil at the sowing date. Nitrogen content and forms in the soil are affected by cover crops and their desiccation times.

Storage protein profile and amino acid content in wild rice Oryza glumaepatula

- The objective of this work was to determine the total protein profile and the contents of the four major protein fractions (albumin, globulin, prolamin and glutelin) and of the amino acids in the endosperm of the rice wild species Oryza glumaepatula. The experiment was performed with 29 accessions of this species, collected from 13 Brazilian locations, and two commercial cultivars. Protein samples were prepared using dried, polished, and ground grains to obtain homogeneous, dry flour used in the preparation of extracts. Oryza glumaepatula accessions were identified with the highest levels of total protein, albumin and glutelin protein fractions, and amino acids (with the exception of tryptophan) in comparison to the two analized rice cultivars. The albumin and glutelin profiles in SDS-Page were distinct between rice cultivars and O. glumaepatula. This wild species has the potential to increase the nutritional quality of rice storage protein through interspecific crosses.

Rice yield estimation based on weather conditions and on technological level of production systems in Brazil

The objective of this work was to evaluate an estimation system for rice yield in Brazil, based on simple agrometeorological models and on the technological level of production systems. This estimation system incorporates the conceptual basis proposed by Doorenbos & Kassam for potential and attainable yields with empirical adjusts for maximum yield and crop sensitivity to water deficit, considering five categories of rice yield. Rice yield was estimated from 2000/2001 to 2007/2008, and compared to IBGE yield data. Regression analyses between model estimates and data from IBGE surveys resulted in significant coefficients of determination, with less dispersion in the South than in the North and Northeast regions of the country. Index of model efficiency (E1') ranged from 0.01 in the lower yield classes to 0.45 in higher ones, and mean absolute error ranged from 58 to 250 kg ha‑1, respectively.

Population receptive field estimates of human auditory cortex.

Here we describe a method for measuring tonotopic maps and estimating bandwidth for voxels in human primary auditory cortex (PAC) using a modification of the population Receptive Field (pRF) model, developed for retinotopic mapping in visual cortex by Dumoulin and Wandell (2008). The pRF method reliably estimates tonotopic maps in the presence of acoustic scanner noise, and has two advantages over phase-encoding techniques. First, the stimulus design is flexible and need not be a frequency progression, thereby reducing biases due to habituation, expectation, and estimation artifacts, as well as reducing the effects of spatio-temporal BOLD nonlinearities. Second, the pRF method can provide estimates of bandwidth as a function of frequency. We find that bandwidth estimates are narrower for voxels within the PAC than in surrounding auditory responsive regions (non-PAC).

Parboiled rice whole bran in laying diets for Japanese quails

The objective of this work was to evaluate the effects of parboiled rice whole bran (PRWB) inclusion in laying diets for Japanese quails, on their performance, egg quality, and economic viability. A total of 448 17-week-old quails were weighed and distributed in a completely randomized design with seven treatments and eight replicates of eight birds each. A control diet (no PRWB) and six diets, containing 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30% of PRWB, were tested. The increasing levels of PRWB did not affected nutrient digestibility coefficient, dietary energy use, feed intake, egg production, egg weight, egg mass, and the economic viability indices. However, there was a linear decrease in egg shell percentage, specific weight, and yolk color. The inclusion of up to 30% PRWB in the diet allows nutrient utilization and performance similar to those obtained by the control group, and it is economically viable.

Field performance of hybrid aspen clones planted in summer

[Abstract]

Cultivation of Flammulina velutipesmushroom using various agro-residues as a fruiting substrate

The objective of this work was to evaluate the feasibility of different agro-residues as a carbon source in the fruiting substrates of Flammulina velutipesmushroom and the effect of supplementation with the nitrogen sources spent brewer's yeast and rice bran. The following fruiting substrates were evaluated: rubber wood sawdust (SD), paddy straw (PS), palm empty fruit bunches (EFB), and palm-pressed fiber (PPF). Cultivation was done on each agro-residue, based on formulations consisting of two substrates at the ratios of 3:1, 1:1, and 1:3. Mycelial growth rate and basidiocarp yield were evaluated. The best fruiting substrates were PS+EFB (25:75), PS+PPF (50:50), and PPF (100), with biological efficiency of 185.09±36.98, 150.89±50.35, and 129.06±14.51%, respectively. No significant effects of supplementation with rice bran and spent yeast were observed on mycelial growth rate and biological efficiency. The cultivation of F. velutipes on oil palm wastes does not require additional nitrogen sources.

The Role of Transnational Elites in shaping the evolving Field of Internet Governance

La gouvernance de l'Internet est une thématique récente dans la politique mondiale. Néanmoins, elle est devenue au fil des années un enjeu économique et politique important. La question a même pris une importance particulière au cours des derniers mois en devenant un sujet d'actualité récurrent. Forte de ce constat, c ette recherche retrace l'histoire de la gouvernance de l'Internet depuis son émergence comme enjeu politique dans les années 1980 jusqu'à la fin du Sommet Mondial sur la Société de l'Information (SMSI) en 2005. Plutôt que de se focaliser sur l'une ou l'autre des institutions impliquées dans la régulation du réseau informatique mondial, cette recherche analyse l'émergence et l'évolution historique d'un espace de luttes rassemblant un nombre croissant d'acteurs différents. Cette évolution est décrite à travers le prisme de la relation dialectique entre élites et non-élites et de la lutte autour de la définition de la gouvernance de l'Internet. Cette thèse explore donc la question de comment les relations au sein des élites de la gouvernance de l'Internet et entre ces élites et les non-élites expliquent l'emergence, l'évolution et la structuration d'un champ relativement autonome de la politique mondiale centré sur la gouvernance de l'Internet. Contre les perspectives dominantes réaliste et libérales, cette recherche s'ancre dans une approche issue de la combinaison des traditions hétérodoxes en économie politique internationale et des apports de la sociologie politique internationale. Celle-ci s'articule autour des concepts de champ, d'élites et d'hégémonie. Le concept de champ, développé par Bourdieu inspire un nombre croissant d'études de la politique mondiale. Il permet à la fois une étude différenciée de la mondialisation et l'émergence d'espaces de lutte et de domination au niveau transnational. La sociologie des élites, elle, permet une approche pragmatique et centrée sur les acteurs des questions de pouvoir dans la mondialisation. Cette recherche utilise plus particulièrement le concept d'élite du pouvoir de Wright Mills pour étudier l'unification d'élites a priori différentes autour de projets communs. Enfin, cette étude reprend le concept néo-gramscien d'hégémonie afin d'étudier à la fois la stabilité relative du pouvoir d'une élite garantie par la dimension consensuelle de la domination, et les germes de changement contenus dans tout ordre international. A travers l'étude des documents produits au cours de la période étudiée et en s'appuyant sur la création de bases de données sur les réseaux d'acteurs, cette étude s'intéresse aux débats qui ont suivi la commercialisation du réseau au début des années 1990 et aux négociations lors du SMSI. La première période a abouti à la création de l'Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) en 1998. Cette création est le résultat de la recherche d'un consensus entre les discours dominants des années 1990. C'est également le fruit d'une coalition entre intérêts au sein d'une élite du pouvoir de la gouvernance de l'Internet. Cependant, cette institutionnalisation de l'Internet autour de l'ICANN excluait un certain nombre d'acteurs et de discours qui ont depuis tenté de renverser cet ordre. Le SMSI a été le cadre de la remise en cause du mode de gouvernance de l'Internet par les États exclus du système, des universitaires et certaines ONG et organisations internationales. C'est pourquoi le SMSI constitue la seconde période historique étudiée dans cette thèse. La confrontation lors du SMSI a donné lieu à une reconfiguration de l'élite du pouvoir de la gouvernance de l'Internet ainsi qu'à une redéfinition des frontières du champ. Un nouveau projet hégémonique a vu le jour autour d'éléments discursifs tels que le multipartenariat et autour d'insitutions telles que le Forum sur la Gouvernance de l'Internet. Le succès relatif de ce projet a permis une stabilité insitutionnelle inédite depuis la fin du SMSI et une acceptation du discours des élites par un grand nombre d'acteurs du champ. Ce n'est que récemment que cet ordre a été remis en cause par les pouvoirs émergents dans la gouvernance de l'Internet. Cette thèse cherche à contribuer au débat scientifique sur trois plans. Sur le plan théorique, elle contribue à l'essor d'un dialogue entre approches d'économie politique mondiale et de sociologie politique internationale afin d'étudier à la fois les dynamiques structurelles liées au processus de mondialisation et les pratiques localisées des acteurs dans un domaine précis. Elle insiste notamment sur l'apport de les notions de champ et d'élite du pouvoir et sur leur compatibilité avec les anlayses néo-gramsciennes de l'hégémonie. Sur le plan méthodologique, ce dialogue se traduit par une utilisation de méthodes sociologiques telles que l'anlyse de réseaux d'acteurs et de déclarations pour compléter l'analyse qualitative de documents. Enfin, sur le plan empirique, cette recherche offre une perspective originale sur la gouvernance de l'Internet en insistant sur sa dimension historique, en démontrant la fragilité du concept de gouvernance multipartenaire (multistakeholder) et en se focalisant sur les rapports de pouvoir et les liens entre gouvernance de l'Internet et mondialisation. - Internet governance is a recent issue in global politics. However, it gradually became a major political and economic issue. It recently became even more important and now appears regularly in the news. Against this background, this research outlines the history of Internet governance from its emergence as a political issue in the 1980s to the end of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in 2005. Rather than focusing on one or the other institution involved in Internet governance, this research analyses the emergence and historical evolution of a space of struggle affecting a growing number of different actors. This evolution is described through the analysis of the dialectical relation between elites and non-elites and through the struggle around the definition of Internet governance. The thesis explores the question of how the relations among the elites of Internet governance and between these elites and non-elites explain the emergence, the evolution, and the structuration of a relatively autonomous field of world politics centred around Internet governance. Against dominant realist and liberal perspectives, this research draws upon a cross-fertilisation of heterodox international political economy and international political sociology. This approach focuses on concepts such as field, elites and hegemony. The concept of field, as developed by Bourdieu, is increasingly used in International Relations to build a differentiated analysis of globalisation and to describe the emergence of transnational spaces of struggle and domination. Elite sociology allows for a pragmatic actor-centred analysis of the issue of power in the globalisation process. This research particularly draws on Wright Mill's concept of power elite in order to explore the unification of different elites around shared projects. Finally, this thesis uses the Neo-Gramscian concept of hegemony in order to study both the consensual dimension of domination and the prospect of change contained in any international order. Through the analysis of the documents produced within the analysed period, and through the creation of databases of networks of actors, this research focuses on the debates that followed the commercialisation of the Internet throughout the 1990s and during the WSIS. The first time period led to the creation of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) in 1998. This creation resulted from the consensus-building between the dominant discourses of the time. It also resulted from the coalition of interests among an emerging power elite. However, this institutionalisation of Internet governance around the ICANN excluded a number of actors and discourses that resisted this mode of governance. The WSIS became the institutional framework within which the governance system was questioned by some excluded states, scholars, NGOs and intergovernmental organisations. The confrontation between the power elite and counter-elites during the WSIS triggered a reconfiguration of the power elite as well as a re-definition of the boundaries of the field. A new hegemonic project emerged around discursive elements such as the idea of multistakeholderism and institutional elements such as the Internet Governance Forum. The relative success of the hegemonic project allowed for a certain stability within the field and an acceptance by most non-elites of the new order. It is only recently that this order began to be questioned by the emerging powers of Internet governance. This research provides three main contributions to the scientific debate. On the theoretical level, it contributes to the emergence of a dialogue between International Political Economy and International Political Sociology perspectives in order to analyse both the structural trends of the globalisation process and the located practices of actors in a given issue-area. It notably stresses the contribution of concepts such as field and power elite and their compatibility with a Neo-Gramscian framework to analyse hegemony. On the methodological level, this perspective relies on the use of mixed methods, combining qualitative content analysis with social network analysis of actors and statements. Finally, on the empirical level, this research provides an original perspective on Internet governance. It stresses the historical dimension of current Internet governance arrangements. It also criticise the notion of multistakeholde ism and focuses instead on the power dynamics and the relation between Internet governance and globalisation.

Computational and Experimental Analysis of Flow Field in the Diffusers of Centrifugal Compressors

Centrifugal compressors are widely used for example in process industry, oil and gas industry, in small gas turbines and turbochargers. In order to achieve lower consumption of energy and operation costs the efficiency of the compressor needs to be improve. In the present work different pinches and low solidity vaned diffusers were utilized in order to improve the efficiency of a medium size centrifugal compressor. In this study, pinch means the decrement of the diffuser flow passage height. First different geometries were analyzed using computational fluid dynamics. The flow solver Finflo was used to solve the flow field. Finflo is a Navier-Stokes solver. The solver is capable to solve compressible, incompressible, steady and unsteady flow fields. Chien's k-e turbulence model was used. One of the numerically investigated pinched diffuser and one low solidity vaned diffuser were studied experimentally. The overall performance of the compressor and the static pressure distribution before and after the diffuser were measured. The flow entering and leaving the diffuser was measured using a three-hole Cobra-probe and Kiel-probes. The pinch and the low solidity vaned diffuser increased the efficiency of the compressor. Highest isentropic efficiency increment obtained was 3\% of the design isentropic efficiency of the original geometry. It was noticed in the numerical results that the pinch made to the hub and the shroud wall was most beneficial to the operation of the compressor. Also the pinch made to the hub was better than the pinchmade to the shroud. The pinch did not affect the operation range of the compressor, but the low solidity vaned diffuser slightly decreased the operation range.The unsteady phenomena in the vaneless diffuser were studied experimentally andnumerically. The unsteady static pressure was measured at the diffuser inlet and outlet, and time-accurate numerical simulation was conducted. The unsteady static pressure showed that most of the pressure variations lay at the passing frequency of every second blade. The pressure variations did not vanish in the diffuser and were visible at the diffuser outlet. However, the amplitude of the pressure variations decreased in the diffuser. The time-accurate calculations showed quite a good agreement with the measured data. Agreement was very good at the design operation point, even though the computational grid was not dense enough inthe volute and in the exit cone. The time-accurate calculation over-predicted the amplitude of the pressure variations at high flow.

Field performance of new cowpea cultivars inoculated with efficient nitrogen-fixing rhizobial strains in the Brazilian Semiarid

The objective of this work was to evaluate the contribution of efficient nitrogen-fixing rhizobial strains to grain yield of new cowpea cultivars, indicated for cultivation in the Brazilian Semiarid region, in the sub-medium of the São Francisco River Valley. Two experiments were set up at the irrigated perimeters of Mandacaru (Juazeiro, state of Bahia) and Bebedouro (Petrolina, state of Pernambuco). The treatments consisted of single inoculation of five rhizobial strains - BR 3267, BR 3262, INPA 03-11B, UFLA 03-84 (Bradyrhizobiumsp.), and BR 3299T(Microvirga vignae) -, besides a treatment with nitrogen and a control without inoculation or N application. The following cowpea cultivars were evaluated: BRS Pujante, BRS Tapaihum, BRS Carijó, and BRS Acauã. A randomized complete block design, with four replicates, was used. Inoculated plants showed similar grain yield to the one observed with plants fertilized with 80 kg ha-1 N. The cultivars BRS Tapaihum and BRS Pujante stood out in grain yield and protein contents when inoculated, showing their potential for cultivation in the sub-medium of the São Francisco River Valley.

Field data and prediction models of pesticide spray drift on coffee crop

The objective of this work was to generate drift curves from pesticide applications on coffee plants and to compare them with two European drift-prediction models. The used methodology is based on the ISO 22866 standard. The experimental design was a randomized complete block with ten replicates in a 2x20 split-plot arrangement. The evaluated factors were: two types of nozzles (hollow cone with and without air induction) and 20 parallel distances to the crop line outside of the target area, spaced at 2.5 m. Blotting papers were used as a target and placed in each of the evaluated distances. The spray solution was composed of water+rhodamine B fluorescent tracer at a concentration of 100 mg L-1, for detection by fluorimetry. A spray volume of 400 L ha-1 was applied using a hydropneumatic sprayer. The air-induction nozzle reduces the drift up to 20 m from the treated area. The application with the hollow cone nozzle results in 6.68% maximum drift in the nearest collector of the treated area. The German and Dutch models overestimate the drift at distances closest to the crop, although the Dutch model more closely approximates the drift curves generated by both spray nozzles.