Efeito do dano mecânico na qualidade fisiológica e na capacidade de expansão de sementes de milho pipoca.

Com o objetivo de dar subsidio aos produtores de sementes e/ou graos de milho pipoca, para melhorar a qualidade fisiologica da producao, sementes da cultivar CMS-43 foram submetidas a tres niveis de danificacao mecanica (sem danos, com danos e com danos dobrados), e avaliadas pelos testes de germinacao, vigor (condutividade eletrica) e capacidade de expansao. Os resultados demonstraram que sementes danificadas reduzem significativamente a germinacao, o vigor e a capacidade de expansao das sementes. Concluiu-se que indiferente a finalidade da producao, sementes e/ou graos, a colheita do milho pipoca precisa ser feita com o minimo de danificacao mecanica possivel, para propiciar um produto com maxima qualidade

Amendment application in a multi-contaminated mine soil: Effects on soil enzymatic activities and ecotoxicological characteristics

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11356-013-2412-4Several amendments were tested on soils obtained from an arsenopyrite mine, further planted with Arrhenatherum elatius and Festuca curvifolia, in order to assess their ability to improve soil's ecotoxicological characteristics. The properties used to assess the effects were: soil enzymatic activities (dehydrogenase, β-glucosidase, acid phosphatase, urease, protease and cellulase), terrestrial bioassays (Eisenia fetida mortality and avoidance behaviour), and aquatic bioassays using a soil leachate (Daphnia magna immobilisation and Vibrio fischeri bioluminescence inhibition). The treatment with FeSO4 1 % w/w was able to reduce extractable As in soil, but increased the extractable Cu, Mn and Zn concentrations, as a consequence of the decrease in soil pH, in relation to the unamended soil, from 5.0 to 3.4, respectively. As a consequence, this treatment had a detrimental effect in some of the soil enzymatic activities (e.g. dehydrogenase, acid phosphatase, urease and cellulase), did not allow plant growth, induced E. fetida mortality in the highest concentration tested (100 % w/w), and its soil leachate was very toxic towards D. magna and V. fischeri. The combined application of FeSO4 1 % w/w with other treatments (e.g. CaCO3 1 % w/w and paper mill 1 % w/w) allowed a decrease in extractable As and metals, and a soil pH value closer to neutrality. As a consequence, dehydrogenase activity, plant growth and some of the bioassays identified those as better soil treatments to this type of multi-contaminated soi

Pilocytic Astrocytoma Following Radiotherapy For Craniopharyngioma: Case Report.

Administration of fractionated doses of irradiation is part of the adjutant therapy for CNS tumours such as craniopharyngiomas and pituitary adenomas. It can maximise cure rates or expand symptom-free period. Among the adverse effects of radiotherapy, the induction of a new tumour within the irradiated field has been frequently described. The precise clinical features that correlate irradiation and oncogenesis are not completely defined, but some authors have suggested that tumors are radiation induced when they are histologically different from the treated ones, arise in greater frequency in irradiated patients than among normal population and tend to occur in younger people with an unusual aggressiveness. In this article, we report a case of a papillary astrocytoma arising in a rather unusual latency period following radiotherapy for craniopharyngioma.58731-

Differential expression of molecular rust resistance components have distinctive profiles in Coffea arabica - Hemileia vastatrix interactions.

Countering the economic hurdle caused by coffee leaf rust disease is most appealing at this time as it has posed a major threat to coffee production around the world. Establishing differential expression profiles at different times following pathogen invasion in both innate and acquired immunities unlocks the molecular components of resistance and susceptibility. Suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) was used to identify genes differentially over-expressed and repressed during incompatible and compatible interactions between Coffea arabica and Hemileia vastatrix. From 433 clones of expressed sequence tags (ESTs) sequenced, 352 were annotated and categorized of which the proportion of genes expressed during compatible interaction were relatively smaller. The result showed upregulation and downregulation of various genes at 12 and 24 h after pathogen inoculation in both interactions. The use of four different databases in searching for gene homology resulted in different number of similar sequences. BLASTx against EMBL-EBI (European Molecular Biology Laboratory-European Bioinformatics Institute) database being with the maximum (100%) hits for all the annotated sequences. RT-qPCR analysis of seven resistance-signaling genes showed similar expression patterns for most of the genes in both interactions, indicating these genes are involved in basal (nonspecific) defense during which immune reactions are similar. Using SSH, we identified different types of resistance related genes that could be used for further studies towards resistant cultivar development. The potential role of some of the resistance related proteins found were also discussed

Avaliação do rendimento forrageiro de milheto (Pennisetun glaucum) em plantio consorciado com capim Piatã (Brachiaria brizantha) e capim Massai (Panicum maximum).

Objetivou-se com este trabalho avaliar o rendimento forrageiro do plantio consorciado de Milheto (Pennisetum glaucum) com os capins Piatã (Brachiaria brizantha) e Massai (Panicum maximum). Foi utilizado um delineamento em blocos casualizados com dois tratamentos e dezesseis repetições. Os tratamentos consistiram do plantio consorciados de Milheto cv. Piatã e Milheto cv. BRS 1501 com campim Massai. Foram avaliados o número de plantas, a altura e a produção de matéria seca de forragem em dois cortes. Os dados foram submetidos à análise de variância seguindo o DBC e as médias comparadas pelo teste e Tukey a 5% de probabilidade. O plantio consorciado de Milheto com os capins Massai e Piatã apresentou grande produção de forragem (4.250 kg ha-1 de matéria seca) e mostrou ser uma tecnologia viável para a implantação e reforma de pastagens perenes. Sugere-se a realização de novos estudos visando avaliar a densidade de plantas de Milheto que integre a alta produção de forragem com o melhor desenvolvimento do capim

Rendimento forrageiro de milheto, capim Piatã e capim Massai em plantios consorciados e solteiros.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o rendimento forrageiro do Milheto BR 1501 (Pennisetum glaucum). Piatã (Brachiaria brizantha) e Massai (Panicum maximum) em plantios consorciados e solteiros. Os tratamentos consistiram de: T1-Milheto + Piatã (7 kg ha-1 + 10 kg ha-1 de sementes, respectivamente); T2-Milheto + Massai (7 kg ha-1 + 12 kg ha-1 de sementes, respectivamente); T3-Milheto solteiro (7 kg ha-1 de sementes); T4 Piatã (10kg ha-1 de sementes); T5-Massai (12 kgha-1 de sementes). Foram realizados dois cortes em cada parcela, aos 44 e 69 dias após o plantio. Em cada corte foi avaliado o estande, altura de plantas e a produção da matéria seca da fitomassa de forragem. O delineamento experimental foi o de blocos ao acaso com cinco tratamentos e quatro repetições. Os dados foram submetidos à análise de variância e médias comparadas pelo teste Tukey a 5%. Não observou-se diferença para o número de plantas, altura e produtividade nos tratamentos com Milheto solteiro e consorciado com capim Massai e Piatã. Entre as consorciações, embora não apresente diferença significativ há uma tendência de maiores valores para as variáveis avaliadas quando da consorciação do Milheto com capim Piatã. Uma maior produção foi observada para os capins quando em plantio solteiro. A produção total de matéria seca foi superior quando da consorciação do Milheto com ambos capins

Quantum Cosmology in Scalar-Tensor Theories With Non Minimal Coupling

Quantization in the minisuperspace of non minimal scalar-tensor theories leads to a partial differential equation which is non separable. Through a conformal transformation we can recast the Wheeler-DeWitt equation in an integrable form, which corresponds to the minimal coupling case, whose general solution is known. Performing the inverse conformal transformation in the solution so found, we can construct the corresponding one in the original frame. This procedure can also be employed with the bohmian trajectories. In this way, we can study the classical limit of some solutions of this quantum model. While the classical limit of these solutions occurs for small scale factors in the Einstein's frame, it happens for small values of the scalar field non minimally coupled to gravity in the Jordan's frame, which includes large scale factors.Comment: latex, 18 page