Psychometric properties of 4-item questionnaire for sleep habits and time in a South American paediatric population

Objectives: To assess the psychometric properties of 4-item questionnaire about sleep habits and time in South American children (3-10 years) and adolescents (11-18 years). Material and Methods: We evaluated 459 participants from seven South American cities. Two items from week and weekend days wake up time and bedtime were asked twice, with a 2-week interval. We calculated time spent in bed (subtracting wake up time from bedtime). Participants also answered the Healthy Lifestyle in Europe by Nutrition in Adolescence (HELENA) sleep time questionnaire. Results: The questionnaire showed acceptable temporal stability in children and adolescents on total days (rho >= 0.30; p<0.05). For total days, the questionnaire presented acceptable convergent validity only in children (rho from 0.48 to 0.62; p <= 0.01) compared with the HELENA questionnaire. Conclusion: The 4-item questionnaire is a reliable and valid tool for children; however, its validity is not consistent in adolescents for sleep habits and time

Supressão de plantas daninhas por leguminosas anuais em sistema agroecológico na Pré-Amazônia.

Este trabalho teve por objetivos identificar e avaliar a agressividade potencial das plantas daninhas em um agrossistema com leguminosas herbáceas anuais como cobertura de solo. Foram plantadas, nas ruas de um sistema de aléias de sombreiro ( Clitoria fairchildiana) e no final do período agrícola, as leguminosas mucuna-preta, feijão-guandu, feijão-de-porco e calopogônio, em sistema de blocos ao acaso com cinco repetições. Para estudo da dinâmica da composição florística, avaliaram-se a freqüência, densidade, dominância, similaridade, diversidade de espécies e biomassa das plantas daninhas. Foram identificadas 42 espécies de plantas espontâneas, das quais as mais freqüentes e de maior densidade e dominância foram Leptochoa virgata, Panicumlaxum e Sidasp. Não foram detectadas diferenças significativas para densidade, número de espécies, diversidade e biomassa entre as plantas daninhas emergidas nos quatro tratamentos com leguminosas; nem destas em relação ao controle

Sistemas agroflorestais agroecológicos para a soberania alimentar, a geração de renda e a recuperação dos serviços ambientais de assentamentos rurais do território da cidadania de Manaus e entorno, AM ("Ajuri Agroflorestal").

O projeto visa a construção participativa de conhecimentos agroecológicos e a promoção da soberania alimentar, de serviços ambientais, de recuperação de áreas degradadas e do empoderaramento de agricultores por meio da adoção de sistemas agroflorestais de base ecológica e do manejo de recursos naturais em nível de paisagem

The use of mulch in cultivating the forage cactus optimizesyield in less time and increases the water use efficiency ofthe crop.

Measurements of crop evapotranspiration (ETC) and crop coefficients (kC)incactus have not yet been adjusted for the phenological stage using conserva-tion practices (i.e. mulching). In this study, soil water dynamics, ETCandkCwere measured in the forage cactus under cultivation systems with (WM) andwithout (NM) the use of mulch in the semi-arid region of Brazil.Opuntiastrictawas subjected to irrigation depths based on a percentage of the referenceevapotranspiration (ET0) (rainfed, 25, 50, 75 and 100%) and to two systems ofcultivation: WM and NM. Over time, the phenophases (?Ph) were established;the soil water balance components were calculated and the crop yield wasevaluated at harvest. The use of 8.2 Mg ha1mulch led to almost no reducedwater consumption by the crop when compared to the NM system; however,the mulch did maximize yield, at 839C day, when irrigated with 50% ET0. ThekCvalue was higher under the WM system, with the differences decreasingthroughout the cycle (?PhI, 36%;?PhII, 27%;?PhIII, 23%;?PhIV-HT, 17%; and?PhIV-RF, 14%). Therefore, the use of mulch in cultivating the cactus opti-mized forage production in less time and significantly increased the water useefficiency of the cro

Productivity, bromatological composition and economic benefits of using irrigation in the forage cactus under regulated deficit irrigation in a semiarid environment.

The use of irrigation can improve the productivity and nutritional quality of the forage cactus in environments with a water deficit, resulting in profit to the producer. The productive performance, bromatological composition and economic benefits of using irrigation were investigated in this study with forage cactus clones regulated deficit irrigation (RDI). The study was conducted in an experimental design of randomised blocks, in a factorial scheme with subdivided plots. The plots consisted of water regimes based on the crop evapotranspiration (ETc) (rainfed, 40, 80 and 120% ETc). The cactus clones [?Miúda? (MIU), ?Orelha de Elefante Mexicana? (OEM) and ?IPA Sertânia? (IPA)] comprised the subplots. The total number of cladodes per plant, the fresh and dry matter yields and the bromatological composition were evaluated. Economic viability was assessed using the net revenue and benefit to cost ratio (BCR). The irrigation depths did not increase the yield of the clones. The OEM clone showed 276 and 343% greater fresh and dry matter production, respectively, when compared to the IPA clone; however, when compared with the MIU clone, it was 63%, both on a fresh and dry matter production. The water regimes had no effect on the nutritional quality of the cactus. Only IPA showed no profit during the first cycle (BCR < 1). It can be concluded that planting one irrigated hectare with the OEM and MIU clones offer economic returns starting from the first production cycle (18 months)