Influencia do tipo de estaca e de alguns reguladores de crescimento no enraizamento e desenvolvimento de estacas de figueira (Ficus carica L.).

O presente trabalho teve como objetivo estudar as influencias da posicao da estaca no ramo (apical, mediana e basal) e dos acidos naftalenoacetico (ANA) e indolbutirico (IBA), isolados e combinados, sobre o enraizamento e desenvolvimento da parte aerea de estacas de figueira. O delineamento experimental foi de blocos ao acaso com parcelas subdivididas. As estacas tinham 30 cm de comprimento, sendo que 5 cm da base foram imersas nas solucoes correspondentes durante 1 minuto, sendo depois tratadas com fungicida Captan a 25% para posterior plantio. As mudas mais vigorosas originaram-se das estacas de base dos ramos. Todos os tratamentos com auxinas proporcionaram um melhor enraizamento, sendo que a combinacao 250 ppm IBA + 250 ppm ANA foi mais eficiente na formacao das raizes, acarretando tambem um aumento de peso da parte aerea

Sombreamento da palma forrageira cv. Gigante ("Opuntia ficus indica" Mill.) pela algarobeira no Sertão de Pernambuco.

Visando-se determinar se havia influência do sombreamento pela algarobeira ("Prosopis juliflora" (Sw) DC) na produção da palma, uma pesquisa foi conduzida no Sertão de Pernambuco. Espaçamentos da algarobeira foram estudados nos seguintes tratamentos: Trat. 1 -5 x 5 m; Trat. 2- 7 x 7 m; Trat. 3 -10 x 10 m; Trat: 4- 12 x 12 m; Trat. 5 -Sem algarobeira. As algarobeiras foram plantadas em 1983. Após gradeada, a área foi sulcada e adubada com estrume de curral (25 Uha). Em seguida, plantou-se a palma em janeiro/1999, no espaçamento 1 x 0,5 m. Nova fertilização com estrume foi feita em 2001. Em dezembro/2002, deu-se o primeiro corte. A produção da palma após correção com base no "stand" foi de 2,31, 2,24, 2,44, 2,35 e 3,18 t MS/ha/ano, nos espaçamentos 5 x 5, 7 x 7, 10 x 10, 12 x 12 m, e sem algarobeira respctivamente, sendo o tratamento sem algarobeira superior (P0,05) entre eles. A maior produção sem sombreamento pode ser atribuída a falta de competição por umidade com a algarobeira. Houve mortalidade significativa (P<0,05) da algarobeira no Trat. 5 x 5 m (26,1 %), que pode ser atribuída a competição por umidade

Geographic patterns of vertebrate diversity and identification of relevant areas for conservation in Europe

The ‘EU Council conclusions on biodiversity post–2010′ re–enforced Europe’s commitment to halt biodiversity loss by 2020. Identifying areas of high–value for biodiversity conservation is an important issue to meet this target. We investigated the geographic pattern of terrestrial vertebrate diversity status in Europe by assessing the species richness, rarity, vulnerability (according to IUCN criteria), and a combined index of the three former for the amphibians, reptiles, bird and mammals of this region. We also correlated the value of all indices with climate and human influence variables. Overall, clear geographic gradients of species diversity were found. The combined biodiversity index indicated that high–value biodiversity areas were mostly located in the Mediterranean basin and the highest vulnerability was found in the Iberian peninsula for most taxa. Across all indexes, the proportion of variance explained by climate and human influence factors was moderate to low. The results obtained in this study have the potential to provide valuable support for nature conservation policies in Europe and, consequently, might contribute to mitigate biodiversity decline in this region

Neutrino Telescopes as a Direct Probe of Supersymmetry Breaking

We consider supersymmetric models where the scale of supersymmetry breaking lies between 5 $\times 10^6$ GeV and 5 $\times 10^8$ GeV. In this class of theories, which includes models of gauge mediated supersymmetry breaking, the lightest supersymmetric particle is the gravitino. The next to lightest supersymmetric particle is typically a long lived charged slepton with a lifetime between a microsecond and a second, depending on its mass. Collisions of high energy neutrinos with nucleons in the earth can result in the production of a pair of these sleptons. Their very high boost means they typically decay outside the earth. We investigate the production of these particles by the diffuse flux of high energy neutrinos, and the potential for their observation in large ice or water Cerenkov detectors. The relatively small cross-section for the production of supersymmetric particles is partially compensated for by the very long range of heavy particles. The signal in the detector consists of two parallel charged tracks emerging from the earth about 100 meters apart, with very little background. A detailed calculation using the Waxman-Bahcall limit on the neutrino flux and realistic spectra shows that km$^3$ experiments could see as many as 4 events a year. We conclude that neutrino telescopes will complement collider searches in the determination of the supersymmetry breaking scale, and may even give the first evidence for supersymmetry at the weak scale.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Ocorrência de Phyllocnistis citrella Stainton (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) em citros no Estado do Acre, Brasil.

Neste trabalho é relatada a ocorrência do minador dos citros, Phyllocnistis citrella Stainton, em citros no estado do Acre, mais precisamente no município de Rio Branco. Também é feito o registro do parasitóide Horismenus sp. (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae), proveniente de pupas do minador

Shotguns vs Lasers: Identifying barriers and facilitators to scaling-up plant molecular farming for high-value health products.

Plant molecular farming (PMF) is a convenient and cost-effective way to produce high-value recombinant proteins that can be used in the production of a range of health products, from pharmaceutical therapeutics to cosmetic products. New plant breeding techniques (NPBTs) provide a means to enhance PMF systems more quickly and with greater precision than ever before. However, the feasibility, regulatory standing and social acceptability of both PMF and NPBTs are in question. This paper explores the perceptions of key stakeholders on two European Union (EU) Horizon 2020 programmes-Pharma-Factory and Newcotiana-towards the barriers and facilitators of PMF and NPBTs in Europe. One-on-one qualitative interviews were undertaken with N = 20 individuals involved in one or both of the two projects at 16 institutions in seven countries (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Israel, Spain and the UK). The findings indicate that the current EU regulatory environment and the perception of the public towards biotechnology are seen as the main barriers to scaling-up PMF and NPBTs. Competition from existing systems and the lack of plant-specific regulations likewise present challenges for PMF developing beyond its current niche. However, respondents felt that the communication of the benefits and purpose of NPBT PMF could provide a platform for improving the social acceptance of genetic modification. The importance of the media in this process was highlighted. This article also uses the multi-level perspective to explore the ways in which NPBTs are being legitimated by interested parties and the systemic factors that have shaped and are continuing to shape the development of PMF in Europe

Irreducible actions and compressible modules

Any finite set of linear operators on an algebra $A$ yields an operator algebra $B$ and a module structure on A, whose endomorphism ring is isomorphic to a subring $A^B$ of certain invariant elements of $A$. We show that if $A$ is a critically compressible left $B$-module, then the dimension of its self-injective hull $A$ over the ring of fractions of $A^B$ is bounded by the uniform dimension of $A$ and the number of linear operators generating $B$. This extends a known result on irreducible Hopf actions and applies in particular to weak Hopf action. Furthermore we prove necessary and sufficient conditions for an algebra A to be critically compressible in the case of group actions, group gradings and Lie actions

X, Y and Z States

Many new states in the charmonium mass region were recently discovered by BaBar, Belle, CLEO-c, CDF, D0, BESIII, LHCb and CMS Collaborations. We use the QCD Sum Rule approach to study the possible structure of some of these states.Comment: Contribution for the proceedings of the "XII Quark Confinement and the Hadron Spectrum - CONF12" conferenc

Towards Spinfoam Cosmology

We compute the transition amplitude between coherent quantum-states of geometry peaked on homogeneous isotropic metrics. We use the holomorphic representations of loop quantum gravity and the Kaminski-Kisielowski-Lewandowski generalization of the new vertex, and work at first order in the vertex expansion, second order in the graph (multipole) expansion, and first order in 1/volume. We show that the resulting amplitude is in the kernel of a differential operator whose classical limit is the canonical hamiltonian of a Friedmann-Robertson-Walker cosmology. This result is an indication that the dynamics of loop quantum gravity defined by the new vertex yields the Friedmann equation in the appropriate limit.Comment: 8 page