Availability of floral resources in yellow passion fruit cultivars

The reproductive strategies and resources available in the flower are characteristics that stimulate research studies on the genetic improvement and fruit yield of commercial cultivars. In this sense, this study aimed to study the floral biology aspects of passion fruit cultivars in Tangará da Serra region, Mato Grosso State, Brazil at different evaluation times. The experiment was carried out with eight cultivars of yellow passion fruit from an ex situ germplasm bank of the State University of Mato Grosso. The floral resources (pollen and nectar) were evaluated in a completely randomized, factorial arrangement (8 cultivars x 5 evaluation times), with five replications. Throughout anthesis, the pollen viability, stigma receptivity, and sugar volume and concentration in the nectar were evaluated. The evaluations were carried out in 1-h intervals, between 1:30 and 5:30 p.m. The highest nectar volume production was at 2:30 p.m., decreasing gradually thereafter at the later evaluation times, for all cultivars. Pollen viability increased from the first to the second evaluation time and then decreased gradually until the last evaluation. Stigma receptivity was higher than 90% in all cultivars, at all evaluation times. BRS Rubi do Cerrado and FB 200 were the most promising cultivars for nectar volume and concentration, pollen viability, and stigma receptivity characteristics.The reproductive strategies and resources available in the flower are characteristics that stimulate research studies on the genetic improvement and fruit yield of commercial cultivars. In this sense, this study aimed to study the floral biology aspects of passion fruit cultivars in Tangará da Serra region, Mato Grosso State, Brazil at different evaluation times. The experiment was carried out with eight cultivars of yellow passion fruit from an ex situ germplasm bank of the State University of Mato Grosso. The floral resources (pollen and nectar) were evaluated in a completely randomized, factorial arrangement (8 cultivars x 5 evaluation times), with five replications. Throughout anthesis, the pollen viability, stigma receptivity, and sugar volume and concentration in the nectar were evaluated. The evaluations were carried out in 1-h intervals, between 1:30 and 5:30 p.m. The highest nectar volume production was at 2:30 p.m., decreasing gradually thereafter at the later evaluation times, for all cultivars. Pollen viability increased from the first to the second evaluation time and then decreased gradually until the last evaluation. Stigma receptivity was higher than 90% in all cultivars, at all evaluation times. BRS Rubi do Cerrado and FB 200 were the most promising cultivars for nectar volume and concentration, pollen viability, and stigma receptivity characteristics

Towards a virtual coach for boccia: developing a virtual augmented interaction based on a boccia simulator

Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved. Disability can be a factor that leads to social exclusion. Considering that involvement in society is paramount for a person with disability, participation in sports can be a powerful tool for inclusion. Based on this premise, the authors propose an intelligent virtual coach for Boccia to encourage the practice of this sport on persons with disabilities, while promoting social inclusion and shortening the learning curve for individuals new to the sport by learning about game strategy. The envisioned virtual coach will rely on Artificial Intelligence models, thus requiring the creation of large datasets, namely for ball placement and throwing movement recommendations. To answer these problems, this work is focused on the development of a Boccia simulator. With this simulator, it is possible to generate artificial gameplay images and allow the user to control an avatar with body tracking. Gesture recognition was implemented with a state-machine, thus enabling the player to throw the ball, with customizable physics, by performing one of two different throwing movements. This functionality can allow the recording of data describing the body movement associated with the placement of the ball in a certain position within the virtual court, which is essential for the proposed recommendation system.FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia(690874).This article is supported by the project Deus ex Machina: NORTE – 01 – 0145 – FEDER - 000026, supported by Norte Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and by national funds through FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the Project Scope: UID/CEC/00319/2019. Vinicius Silva also thanks FCT for the PhD scholarship SFRH/BD/133314/2017

Brazilian physicists community diversity, equity, and inclusion: a first diagnostic

We report the results of a survey applied to students and professionals in the area of physics in Brazil, pursuing to draw a portrait of the composition of this community in terms of the social markers of difference age, race, ethnicity, geographical origin, sex, gender, sexual orientation, and disabilities. The main goal was to quantify the representativeness of different groups in the community and to detect motivations and difficulties encountered by each group throughout their studies and career. This survey was open to the members of the Brazilian Physics Society from July to September 2018. Our outcomes reveal that (i) the Brazilian physicists community is poorly diverse even in comparison with the population composition, (ii) the main obstacle to pursue the career is socioeconomic vulnerability, and (iii) harassment is high in our society, being more pronounced among women. We hope that these results will be useful to scientific and educational institutions to develop different strategies and policies to change this current situation

Brazilian physicists community diversity, equity and inclusion: a first diagnostic

We report the results of a survey applied to students and professionals in the area of physics in Brazil, pursuing to draw a portrait of the composition of this community in terms of the social markers age, race, ethnicity, geographical origin, sex, gender, sexual orientation, and disabilities. The main goal was to quantify the representativeness of different groups in the community and to detect motivations and difficulties encountered by each group throughout their studies and career. This survey was open to the members of the Brazilian Physics Society (SBF) from July to September 2018. Our outcomes reveal that (i) the Brazilian physicists community is poorly diverse even in comparison with the population composition, (ii) the main obstacle to pursue the career is socioeconomic vulnerability and (iii) harassment is high in our society, being more pronounced among women. We hope that these results will be useful to scientific and educational institutions to develop different strategies and policies to change this current situation

Short-term exercise training improves cardiac function associated to a better antioxidant response and lower type 3 iodothyronine deiodinase activity after myocardial infarction

Aims: We assessed the effects of a short-term exercise training on cardiac function, oxidative stress markers, and type 3 iodothyronine deiodinase (D3) activity in cardiac tissue of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) following experimental myocardial infarction (MI). Methods: Twenty-four SHR (aged 3 months) were allocated to 4 groups: sham+sedentary, sham+trained, MI+sedentary and MI+trained. MI was performed by permanent ligation of the coronary artery. Exercise training (treadmill) started 96 hours after MI and lasted for 4 weeks (~60% maximum effort, 4x/week and 40 min/day). Cardiac function (echocardiography), thioredoxin reductase (TRx), total carbonyl levels, among other oxidative stress markers and D3 activity were measured. A Generalized Estimating Equation was used, followed by Bonferroni’s test (p<0.05). Results: MI resulted in an increase in left ventricular mass (p = 0.002) with decreased cardiac output (~22.0%, p = 0.047) and decreased ejection fraction (~41%, p = 0.008) as well as an increase in the carbonyl levels (p = 0.001) and D3 activity (~33%, p<0.001). Exercise training resulted in a decrease in left ventricular mass, restored cardiac output (~34%, p = 0.048) and ejection fraction (~20%, p = 0.040), increased TRx (~85%, p = 0.007) and reduced carbonyl levels (p<0.001) and D3 activity (p<0.001). Conclusions: Our short-term exercise training helped reverse the effects of MI on cardiac function. These benefits seem to derive from a more efficient antioxidant response and lower D3 activity in cardiac tissue

A agricultura familiar nos dados do censo agropecuário 2017: uma análise comparativa do seu “tamanho” e perfil entre os três estados do sul

The objective of this work is to analyze indicators of family farming (FA) in the 2017 Agricultural Census in the South Region, developing a comparison of its `size' and profile between the three states and between the groups of family farmers present in the census statistics [groups V (AF-V), B (AF-B) and non-Pronafian (AF-NP)]. Methodologically, the work is based on quantitative data from the 2017 Agricultural Census on family farming, taken from the Automatic Data Recovery System of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, analyzing fourteen (14) census indicators. The results demonstrate that southern AF is expressive in relation to the national one. Southern AFs are predominantly white, middle-aged to advanced men and have a low level of education. The AF in the South Region also presents a more commercialized profile in relation to the national one, as it seeks more Technical Assistance and Rural Extension (ATER), credit and commercialize its production in commercial circuits. Among the three states that make up the Southern Region, the results are similar in terms of the dynamics of the AF, with a great difference between the groups of AFs, in which there are, on the one hand, several socioeconomic and productive vulnerabilities of poor households (group B) and, on the other, more developed census indicators of the two other groups (V and NP). Keywords: Family farming. Agricultural Census 2017. Southern Region. Rural and regional development.El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar los indicadores de la agricultura familiar (AF) en el Censo Agropecuario 2017 de la Región Sur, desarrollando una comparación de su 'tamaño' y perfil entre los tres departamentos y entre los grupos de agricultores familiares presentes en el Censo. estadística [grupos V (AF-V), B (AF-B) y no Pronafiano (AF-NP)]. Metodológicamente, el trabajo se basa en datos cuantitativos del Censo Agropecuario de Agricultura Familiar 2017, extraído del Sistema de Recuperación Automática de Datos del Instituto Brasileño de Geografía y Estadística (SIDRA/IBGE), analizando catorce (14) indicadores censales. Los resultados demuestran que la AF del Sur es expresiva en relación con la nacional. Los AF del sur son predominantemente hombres blancos, de mediana edad a avanzados y tienen un bajo nivel de educación. La AF en la Región Sur también presenta un perfil más comercializado con relación al nacional, ya que busca más Asistencia Técnica y Extensión Rural (ATER), crédito y comercializar su producción en circuitos comerciales. Entre los tres departamentos que conforman la Región Sur, los resultados son similares en cuanto a la dinámica de las AF, con una gran diferencia entre los grupos de AFs, en los que existen, por un lado, diversas vulnerabilidades socioeconómicas y productivas de los AFs pobres (grupo B) y, por otro, indicadores censales más desarrollados de los otros dos grupos (V y NP). Palavras clave: Agricultura familiar. Censo Agropecuario 2017. Región Sur. Desarrollo rural y regional.O objetivo deste trabalho é analisar indicadores da agricultura familiar (AF) no Censo Agropecuário 2017 na Região Sul, desenvolvendo uma comparação do `tamanho´ e perfil da mesma entre os três estados e entre os grupos dos agricultores familiares presentes nas estatísticas censitárias [grupos V (AF-V), B (AF-B) e não Pronafianos (AF-NP)]. Metodologicamente, o trabalho se ancora nos dados quantitativos do Censo Agropecuário de 2017, sobre a agricultura familiar, retirados do Sistema Automático de Recuperação de Dados do Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (SIDRA/IBGE), analisando-se quatorze (14) indicadores censitários. Os resultados demonstram que a AF sulina é expressiva em relação a nacional. Os AFs sulinos são predominantemente homens, brancos, de meia idade a avançada e possuem baixa escolaridade. A AF da Região Sul também apresenta um perfil mais mercantilizado em relação a nacional, pois busca mais Assistência Técnica e Extensão Rural (ATER), crédito e comercializar sua produção em circuitos mercantis. Entre os três estados que compõe a Região Sul, os resultados são similares em termos de dinâmicas da AF, ficando a grande diferenciação entre os grupos de AFs, em que se tem, de um lado, várias vulnerabilidades socioeconômicas e produtivas dos AFs pobres (grupo B) e, de outro, indicadores censitários mais desenvolvidos dos dois outros grupos (V e NP). Palavras-chave: Agricultura familiar. Censo agropecuário 2017. Região Sul. Desenvolvimento rural e regional