RCAAP Repository

ABSTRACT This study examined the use of soil and water conservation (SWC) practices among rice farmers in Iran. A random sample of 400 rice paddy farmers in the Foumanat plain of Guilan province, who use SWC measures, was drawn from a population of 52 thousand farmers. A two-part questionnaire was used to examine the level of utilization of SWC practices and to profile paddy farmers. Internal consistency was demonstrated with a coefficient alpha of 0.76, and the content and face validity of the instrument was confirmed by a panel of soil and water experts. Descriptive and analytical statistics were used to analyze the data. Results of ANOVA indicated that the mean levels of SWC practices vary considerably at the 0.01 level of significance by groups of age, education, non-agricultural income, production costs, yield, cultivated paddies and distance from home to the farm or to the main road. Similarly, significant differences were observed by groups of family size, rice production, ownership of livestock and profits from rice production at 0.05 level. The levels of experience in agriculture and ownership of poultry were found to have no significant effects on SWC practices.

ABSTRACT Bracatinga (Mimosa scabrella Bentham) is an important pioneer tree species in Ombrophylous Mixed Forest of Brazil and is widely used as an energy source. In traditional agroforestry systems, regeneration is induced by fire, then pure and dense stands known as bracatinga stands (bracatingais) are formed. In the first year, annual crops are intercalated with the seedlings. At that time the seedlings are thinned, then the stands remain at a fallow period and cut at seven years old. The species is very important mainly for small landowners. We studied the understory species that occur naturally during the succession over several years in order to manage them rationally in the future and maintain the natural vegetation over time. Three to 20 year-old Bracatinga stands were sampled between 1998 and 2011. All tree species with diameter at breast height (DBH) ≥ 5 cm were measured.The floristic evolution was assessed with respect to Sociability Index, the Shannon Diversity Index and the Pielou Evenness Index. Graphs of rank/abundance over different age groups were evaluated using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. We identified 153 species dispersed throughout the understory and tend to become aggregated over time.

Quail egg production has experienced a steep rise in the last decade. Nutrition is the main factor affecting productive potential in the poultry industry, as appropriate nutritional management is necessary to ensure the maintenance of optimal physical conditions, growth and the production of high quality products. Meat and bone meal (MBM) has often been used in the poultry industry as an alternative and cost-effective source of protein in partial replacement of corn and soybean meal. However, there have been no studies to date that have investigated the effect of dietary MBM on the performance of quail or on the costs of production in the starter phase. This is particularly important considering that this phase is characterized by large investments by producers, without immediate economic return. In this study, we investigated whether partial replacement of soybean meal (SBM) by meat and bone meal (MBM) in the diet of Japanese quail during the starter phase is a viable alternative that would maintain or improve their productive and economic performance. Our results show that the inclusion of MBM in the diet of quail reduces feeding costs by up to 6% without impairing productive performance.

Jatropha curcas L. has been identified for biofuel production but it presents limited commercial yields due to limited branching and a lack of yield uniformity. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of single application of ethephon or a combination of 6-benzyladenine (BA) with gibberellic acid isomers A4 and A7 (GA4+7) on branch induction, flowering and fruit production in jatropha plants with and without leaves. Plants with and without leaves showed differences for growth and reproductive variables. For all variables except inflorescence set, there were no significant statistical interactions between the presence of leaves and plant growth regulators concentration. The total number of flowers per inflorescence was reduced as ethephon concentration was increased. As BA + GA4 +7 concentration increased, seed dry weight increased. Thus, ethephon and BA + GA4 +7 applications appeared to affect flowering and seed production to a greater extent than branching. The inability to discern significant treatment effects for most variables might have been due to the large variability within plant populations studied and thus resulting in an insufficient sample size. Therefore, data collected from this study were used for statistical estimations of sample sizes to provide a reference for future studies.

Several volatile natural compounds produced by plant secondary metabolism have been proven to present antimicrobial action, enabling their use in phytopathogen control. They also present low environmental impact when compared to conventional pesticides. Essential oils contain these compounds and can be found in several plant species, such as Lippia alba (Mill.) N.E. Brown (Verbenaceae). Essential oils of four chemotypes of L. alba, characterized by their major compounds, namely camphor, citral, linalool and camphor/1,8-cineole, were tested against the phytopathogen Alternaria solani Sorauer (Pleosporaceae), which causes early blight on tomatoes and is responsible for great economic losses regarding production. Essential oils antifungal action was tested in vitro using potato dextrose agar medium with essential oil concentrations at 0.1, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 µL mL-1. The chemotype that had the best performance was citral, showing significant inhibition compared to the others, starting at the 0.5 µL mL-1 concentration. The essential oil belonging to the linalool chemotype was efficient starting at the 1.5 µL mL-1 concentration. Conversely, the camphor chemotype did not show any action against the phytopathogen. Moreover, the essential oils had no remarkable effect on tomato germination and growth. In conclusion, these essential oils presented fungicidal action against A. solani.

Probiotic effects on growth performance, carcass traits, blood parameters, cecal microbiota, and immune response of broilers were studied. Two hundred one-day-old male chickens were allocated to one of five treatments (four replicates of 10 birds per treatment): control, and the same control diet supplemented with 0.005%, 0.01%, 0.015% and 0.02% probiotics. Probiotics in feed at 0.01% or higher levels of supplementation improved body weight gain (+12%) and feed conversion rate (-5%) compared with the control. There were no effects on carcass traits, but the relative weights of drumsticks and wings showed increasing and decreasing linear responses, respectively, to probiotic supplementation level. Blood plasma glucose and albumin contents linearly increased (from 167.1 to 200.5 mg dl-1, and from 1.70 to 3.25 g dl-1) with increasing probiotic supplementation. Triglycerides and cholesterol contents were lower in probiotic supplemented treatments (average contents 71.3 and 125.3 mg dl-1 vs. 92.6 and 149.9 mg dl-1 in the control). Probiotics decreased cecal Escherichia coli counts, but had no effects on immunity related organs or immune response. The linear trends, either positive or negative, observed in many of the parameters studied, suggest that more studies are needed to establish the optimal concentration of probiotics in broiler feed.

Dichelops melacanthus was studied under controlled conditions (60 ± 10% RH and 14/10 h L/D photoperiod), and three constant temperatures (19, 25, and 31 ± 2 °C). Fresh pods of MON 87701 × MON 89788 soybeans and its near non-Bt isoline (A5547) were supplied to nymphs and adults. The biology of T. podisi was studied in the same controlled RH conditions, but only at the standard temperature of 25 ± 2 °C. Overall, the development of D. melacanthus was better at higher temperatures, which accelerated the development of the stink bug without affecting adult biological parameters. No influence of Bt-soybeans on the biology of the pest was observed in any temperature studied, which shows that D. melacanthus is not affected by this transgenic soybean. The egg parasitoid T. podisi also was not harmed when it parasitized eggs of the pest fed with MON 87701 × MON 89788 soybeans, with similar results to those obtained in non-Bt isogenic soybeans. Thus, this study demonstrates that D. melacanthus is favored at high temperatures (31 ± 2 °C), and that neither did MON 87701 × MON 89788 soybean pods affect the development of the pest nor its parasitoid T. podisi.

The activity and kinetics of soil phosphatases are important indicators to evaluate soil quality in specific sites such as the Cerrado (Brazilian Savanna). This study aimed to determine the activity and kinetic parameters of soil phosphatase in Cerrado systems. Soil phosphatase activity was assessed in samples of native Cerrado (NC), no-tillage (NT), conventional tillage (CT) and pasture with Brachiaria brizantha (PBb) and evaluated with acetate buffer (AB), tris-HCl buffer (TB), modified universal buffer (MUB) and low MUB. The Michaelis-Menten equation and Eadie-Hofstee model were applied to obtain the kinetic parameters of soil phosphatase using different concentrations of p-nitrophenol phosphate (p-NPP). MUB showed the lowest soil phosphatase activity in all soils whereas AB in NC and NT presented the highest. Low MUB decreased interferences in the assessment of soil phosphatase activity when compared to MUB, suggesting that organic acids interfere on the soil phosphatase activity. In NC and NT, soil phosphatase activity performed with TB was similar to AB and low MUB. Km values from the Michaels-Menten equation were higher in NC than in NT, which indicate a lower affinity of phosphatase activity for the substrate in NC. Vmax values were also higher in NC than in NT. The Eadie-Hofstee model suggests that NC had more phosphatase isoforms than NT. The study showed that buffer type is of fundamental importance when assessing soil phosphatase activity in Cerrado soils.

The Brazilian Cerrado is the richest savanna in the world. It is also one of the biomes more threatened in the country and a hotspot for conservation priorities. The main causes of deforestation in Cerrado are agricultural practices, livestock and charcoal production. Although charcoal has a minor impact, its consumption represents the deforestation of 16.000 Km² of the Cerrado. To contribute for the biomes's conservation it is very important to improve forestry supervision. Thus, in this work we present the macroscopic characterization of charcoal from 25 Cerrado's species. We simulate the real conditions of forest controllers by using the magnifications of 10x, 25x and 65x. Likewise, the charcoals micrographs are all of transverse sections due to the larger amount of anatomical information. We also analyzed texture, brightness, vitrification, ruptures and some special features. The species present several differences in their anatomical structure. Although some of them are very unique, this work does not intent to identify charcoals only by macroscopic analyses. But it might give directions to future identification of genera or species. It also provides knowledge for government agents to verify the documents of forestry origin by fast analyzing a sample of charcoal itself.

Beans are one of the most used foods to meet the energy needs of the Brazilian diet, requiring farmers to use high seed physiological potential. The aim was to evaluate the physiological quality of beans stored for 360 days. Analyses were performed at 0, 30, 90, 180, 270, and 360 days after receiving the seeds (S1 and S2) and grains (G1 and G2) of BRS Splendor. Tests of germination, accelerated aging, cold, speed of germination, average length of shoots, and root were performed. The experimental design was completely randomized split-plot in time and the means were compared through Tukey test at 5% probability. Seed germination was not affected in S2, while the drop in S1 and G1 was significant. The vigor of grains from field 1 declined from 91 to 50% and from 93% to 76% by accelerated aging and cold, respectively, after 360 days. The germination speed tests performed showed a decreased during the experiment. The grains from field 1 had lower physiological quality. The accelerated aging and cold tests, through the speed of germination parameter, showed decrease in the vigor of the Splendor BRS. The storage period influenced the physiological quality of the beans tested.

Crossbreeding with Duroc breed allows to improve meat quality, but no data is available regarding specific influence of Duroc breed on characteristics of meat in the case of crossbreeding with various breeds. The aim of the present research was to evaluate the effect of crossbreeding Polish Landrace dames with Duroc sires on quality features of meat in reference to Polish Landrace breed. The objects of the study were Longissimus dorsi lumborum pork muscles obtained from Polish Landrace breed and Polish Landrace x Duroc crossbreed animals. Sarcomere length measurements were conducted using microscopic method and basic chemical composition measurement was analyzed using spectrophotometric scanning. Texture analysis of meat samples, performed after thermal treatment was expressed by Warner-Bratzler shear force and color analysis was obtained using CIE L*a*b* color system. No differences in sarcomere length, shear force as well as components of color values between pork meat originated from Polish Landrace breed and Polish Landrace x Duroc crossbreed were observed. Analysis of basic chemical composition revealed higher fat and lower ash contents in the case of meat of Polish Landrace breed animals. It was concluded that the actual impact of breed on meat characteristics is possibly altered by other factors. It may be suggested that influence of basic chemical composition on color of meat is breed-related.

Modern Radio Frequency (RF) transceivers cannot be imagined without high-performance (Transmit/Receive) T/R switch. Available T/R switches suffer mainly due to the lack of good trade-off among the performance parameters, where high isolation and low insertion loss are very essential. In this study, a T/R switch with high isolation and low insertion loss performance has been designed by using Silterra 0.13µm CMOS process for 2.4GHz ISM band RF transceivers. Transistor aspect ratio optimization, proper gate bias resistance, resistive body floating and active inductor-based parallel resonance techniques have been implemented to achieve better trade-off. The proposed T/R switch exhibits 0.85dB insertion loss and 45.17dB isolation in both transmit and receive modes. Moreover, it shows very competitive values of power handling capability (P1dB) and linearity (IIP3) which are 11.35dBm and 19.60dBm, respectively. Due to avoiding bulky inductor and capacitor, the proposed active inductor-based T/R switch became highly compact occupying only 0.003mm2 of silicon space; which will further trim down the total cost of the transceiver. Therefore, the proposed active inductor-based T/R switch in 0.13µm CMOS process will be highly useful for the electronic industries where low-power, high-performance and compactness of devices are the crucial concerns.

An experimental study has been carried out to evaluate the microstructural and microhardness evolution on the directionally solidified binary Al-Cu and multicomponent Al-Cu-Si alloys and the influence of Si alloying. For this purpose specimens of Al-6wt.%Cu and Al-6wt.%Cu-8wt.%Si alloys were prepared and directionally solidified under transient conditions of heat extraction. A water-cooled horizontal directional solidification device was applied. A comprehensive characterization is performed including experimental dendrite tip growth rates (VL) and cooling rates (TR) by measuring Vickers microhardness (HV), optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy with microanalysis performed by energy dispersive spectrometry (SEM-EDS). The results show, for both studied alloys, the increasing of TR and VL reduced the primary dendrite arm spacing (l1) increasing the microhardness. Furthermore, the incorporation of Si in Al-6wt.%Cu alloy to form the Al-6wt.%Cu-8wt.%Si alloy influenced significantly the microstructure and consequently the microhardness but did not affect the primary dendritic growth law. An analysis on the formation of the columnar to equiaxed transition (CET) is also performed and the results show that the occurrence of CET is not sharp, i.e., the CET in both cases occurs in a zone rather than in a parallel plane to the chill wall, where both columnar and equiaxed grains are be able to exist.

This study investigates the relationships between yield and evaporation as a function of lake morphology in semi-arid Brazil. First, a new methodology was proposed to classify the morphology of 40 reservoirs in the Ceará State, with storage capacities ranging from approximately 5 to 4500 hm3. Then, Monte Carlo simulations were conducted to study the effect of reservoir morphology (including real and simplified conical forms) on the water storage process at different reliability levels. The reservoirs were categorized as convex (60.0%), slightly convex (27.5%) or linear (12.5%). When the conical approximation was used instead of the real lake form, a trade-off occurred between reservoir yield and evaporation losses, with different trends for the convex, slightly convex and linear reservoirs. Using the conical approximation, the water yield prediction errors reached approximately 5% of the mean annual inflow, which is negligible for large reservoirs. However, for smaller reservoirs, this error became important. Therefore, this paper presents a new procedure for correcting the yield-evaporation relationships that were obtained by assuming a conical approximation rather than the real reservoir morphology. The combination of this correction with the Regulation Triangle Diagram is useful for rapidly and objectively predicting reservoir yield and evaporation losses in semi-arid environments.

ABSTRACT This paper studying the impact of strategic customer behavior on decentralized supply chain gains and decisions, which includes a supplier, and a monopoly firm as a retailer who sells a single product over a finite two periods of selling season. We consider three types of customers: myopic, strategic and low-value customers. The problem is formulated as a bi-level game where at the second level (e.g. horizontal game), the retailer determines his/her equilibrium pricing strategy in a non-cooperative simultaneous general game with strategic customers who choose equilibrium purchasing strategy to maximize their expected surplus. At the first level (e.g. vertical game), the supplier competes with the retailer as leader and follower in the Stackelberg game. They set the wholesale price and initial stocking capacity to maximize their profits. Finally, a numerical study is presented to demonstrate the impacts of strategic behavior on supply chain gain and decisions; subsequently the effects of market parameters on decision variables and total profitability of supply chain's members is studied through a sensitivity analysis.

ABSTRACT We discuss two changes of paradigms that occurred in science along the XXth century: the end of the mechanist determinism, and the end of the apparent incompatibility between biology, where emergence of order is law, and physics, postulating a progressive loss of order in natural systems. We recognize today that three mechanisms play a major role in the building of order: the nonlinear nature of most evolution laws, along with distance to equilibrium, and with the new paradigm, that emerged in the last forty years, as we recognize that networks present collective order properties not found in the individual nodes. We also address the result presented by Blumenfeld (L.A. Blumenfeld, Problems of Biological Physics, Springer, Berlin, 1981) showing that entropy decreases resulting from building one of the most complex biological structures, the human being, are small and may be trivially compensated for compliance with thermodynamics. Life is made at the expense of very low thermodynamic cost, so thermodynamics does not pose major restrictions to the emergence of life. Besides, entropy does not capture our idea of order in biological systems. The above questions show that science is not free of confl icts and backlashes, often resulting from excessive extrapolations.

ABSTRACT In order to map scientists' views on media channels and explore their experiences interacting with journalists, the authors conducted a survey of about 1,000 Brazilian scientists. Results indicate that scientists have clear and high expectations about how journalists should act in reporting scientific information in the media, but such expectations, in their opinion, do not always seem to be met. Nonetheless, the results show that surveyed scientists rate their relation with the media positively: 67% say that having their research covered by media has a positive impact on their colleagues. One quarter of the respondents expressed that talking to the media can facilitate acquisition of more funds for research. Moreover, 38% of the total respondents believe that writing about an interesting topic for release on media channels can also facilitate research publication in a scientific journal. However, 15% of the respondents outright agree that research reported in the media beforehand can threaten acceptance for publication by a scientific journal. We hope that these results can foster some initiatives for improving awareness of the two cultures, scientists and journalists; increasing the access of journalists to Brazilian scientific endeavors; stimulating scientists to communicate with the public via social networks.

ABSTRACT A method was developed for determination of total antimony in hair samples from patients undergoing chemotherapy against Leishmaniasis based on the administration of pentavalent antimonial drugs. The method is based on microwave assisted digestion of the samples in a pressurized system, reduction of Sb5+ to Sb3+ with KI solution (10% w/v) in ascorbic acid (2%, w/v) and its subsequent determination by hydride generation atomic fluorescence spectrometry (HG-AFS). The proportions of each component (HCl, HNO3 and water) used in the digestion were studied applying a constrained mixtures design. The optimal proportions found were 50% water, 25% HNO3 and 25% HCl. Variables involved in the generation of antimony hydride were optimized using a Doehlert design revealing that good sensitivity is found when using 2.0% w/v NaBH4 and 4.4 mol L-1 HCl. Under the optimum experimental conditions, the method allows the determination of antimony in hair samples with detection and quantification limits of 1.4 and 4.6 ng g-1, respectively, and precision expressed as relative standard deviation (RSD) of 2.8% (n = 10 to 10.0 mg L-1). The developed method was applied in the analysis of hair samples from patients who take medication against Leishmaniasis.

ABSTRACT This study describes for the first time the chemical composition and olfactive description of floral scent from Brazilian Passiflora (Passiflora edulis Sim, Passiflora alata Curtis, Passiflora cincinnata Mast., Passiflora coccinea Aubl. and Passiflora quadrangularis L.). Five species were grown in greenhouse at the Agronomic Institute (IAC), São Paulo, Brazil. Volatile compounds were collected using dynamic headspace. Analyses of scent composition were performed by gas chromatograph coupled to mass spectrometer. Identification of chemical constituents was conducted through of retention index followed by comparative analysis of mass spectra with specialized databases. The olfactive descriptions of floral scent from each species was evaluated for a professional perfumer. High interspecific diversity was found between chemical compositions of floral scent within Passiflora and different bouquets were observed amount the studied species. Mayor constituents were linalool (P. alata), geraniol (P. quadrangularis), 1,4-dimethoxybenzene (P. edulis), benzaldehyde (P. cincinnata) and 2-methyl-3-pentanone (P. coccinea).

ABSTRACT The cultivation of sugarcane hybrids (X Saccharum officinarum L.) is an important revenue source for the Brazilian economy. Herein it is reported the evaluation of the cytotoxic activity of mid-polarity sugarcane extracts against human cancer cell lines, as well as the isolation of steroids sitosterol, stigmasterol and campesterol, phenolic acids p-hydroxybenzoic, p-hydroxycinnamic, vanillic and ferulic acid, terpenoids α-tocopherol and β-carotene and a novel substance in sugarcane, the flavonoid aglycone tricin (5,7,4-trihydroxy-3,5-dimethoxyflavone). The presence of large amounts of phenolic acids and the flavonoid tricin may explain the cytostatic activity observed for the mid-polarity crude extract and filtrates.