Relação entre uso do solo e composição de insetos aquáticos de quatro bacias hidrográficas do Estado de São Paulo

Four watersheds with different degrees of human occupation had their communities of aquatic insects analyzed in relation to the landuses, terrain slope as well as chemical and physical variables of water. The watersheds studied were Alto Paranapanema, Peixe, Aguapei and São José dos Dourados. Samples of aquatic insects were taken with baskets filled with artificial substrates, during August and October/2002. Eighteen samples were taken from eachriver and the aquatic insects were identified until family level and counted. To analyze the results, total and percentage numbers of individuals and taxons were used, as well as community indeces. Information about the watersheds were generated from digital maps. Thirty-two families were identified, Elmidae, Leptohyphidae, Leptophlebiidae, Chironomidae, Simuliidae and Hydropsychidae showed numeric dominance. Ten chemical and physical variablestested were able to characterize the rivers; percentages of the main landuses and terrain slope were calculated. Pearson’s correlation index, analysis of variance and analysis of correspondence were used in order to establish the relationship between abiotic components and the entomofauna. The study showed that the land use condition immediately adjacent tothe sampling site is the most important factor influencing that fauna.Key words: aquatic macroinvertebrates, lotic environments, riparian forest, rivers, Southern.As comunidades de insetos aquáticos de quatro bacias hidrográficas sob diferentes graus de ocupação humana foram analisadas em relação aos usos do solo, à declividade do terreno e às variáveis físicas e químicas da água. As bacias hidrográficas estudadas foram Alto Paranapanema, Peixe, Aguapeí e São José dos Dourados. Amostras de insetos aquáticos foram coletadas utilizando-se cestos com substrato artificial, entre agosto e outubro de 2002. Foram colocadas 18 repetições em cada rio, e os insetos amostrados foram identificados em nível de família e contados. Os dados foram analisados em números absolutos e percentuais de indivíduos e de táxons, e também índices comunitários. Informações sobre as bacias hidrográficas foram geradas a partir de mapas digitais. Foram identificadas 32 famílias, Elmidae, Leptohyphidae, Leptophlebiidae, Chironomidae, Simuliidae e Hydropsychidae apresentaram dominância. Dez variáveis físicas e químicas da água apresentaram relação direta sobre os rios; porcentagens dos usos do solo e das declividades foram calculadas. Utilizou-se a correlação de Pearson, Análise de Variância (ANOVA) e análise de correspondência para integraros dados abióticos e biológicos. O estudo mostrou a importância do uso do solo imediatamente adjacente ao local de coleta como o fator de maior influência sobre a entomo fauna.Palavras-chave: ambientes lóticos, macroinvertebrados aquáticos, rios, sudeste do Brasil, vegetação ripária

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in Assessing Dental Health

The present study investigated the distribution profile of dental caries and its association with areas of social deprivation at the individual and contextual level. The cluster sample consisted of 1,002 12-year-old schoolchildren from Piracicaba, SP, Brazil. The DMFT Index was used for dental caries and the Care Index was used to determine access to dental services. On the individual level, variables were associated with a better oral status. On the contextual level, areas were not associated with oral status. However, maps enabled determining that the central districts have better social and oral conditions than the deprived outlying districts

Agriculture and forest: A sustainable strategy in the Brazilian Amazon

Abstract Large-scale agriculture is increasing in anthropogenically modified areas in the Amazon Basin. Crops such as soybean, maize, oil palm, and others are being introduced to supply the world demand for food and energy. However, the current challenge is to enhance the sustainability of these areas by increasing efficiency of production chains and to improve environmental services. The Amazon Basin has experienced a paradigm shift away from the traditional slash-and-burn agricultural practices, which offers decision makers the opportunity to make innovative interventions to enhance the productivity in previously degraded areas by using trees to ecological advantage. This study describes a successful experiment integrating the production of soybean and paricá (Glycine max L. and Schizolobium amazonicum) based on previous research that indicated potential topoclimatic zones for planting paricá in the Brazilian state of Pará. This paper shows that a no-tillage system reduces the effects of drought compared to conventional tillage still used by many farmers in the region. The integrated system was implemented during the 2014/2015 season in 234.6 ha in the high-potential zone in the municipality of Ulianópolis, Pará. Both soybean and paricá were planted simultaneously. Paricá was planted in 5 m x 2 m inter-tree spacing totaling 228x10 3 trees per hectare and soybean, in 4 m x 100 m spacing, distributed in nine rows with a 0.45 m inter-row distance, occupying 80% of the area. The harvested soybean production was 3.4 t ha -1 , higher than other soybean monocultures in eastern Pará. Paricá benefited from soybean fertilization in the first year: It exhibited rapid development in height (3.26 m) and average diameter (3.85 cm). Trees and crop rotation over the following years is six years for forest species and one year for each crop. Our results confirm there are alternatives to the current production systems able to diminish negative impacts resulting from monoculture. In addition, the system provided environmental services such as reduced soil erosion and increased carbon stock by soil cover with no-tillage soybean cultivation. The soybean cover contributes to increased paricá thermal regulation and lower forestry costs. We concluded that innovative interventions are important to show local farmers that it is possible to adapt an agroforest system to large-scale production, thus changing the Amazon

Bioactive extracts from persimmon waste: influence of extraction conditions and ripeness

In this work, a bioactive persimmon extract was produced from discarded fruits. A central composite design was used to evaluate the effect of different extraction parameters and ripeness stages of persimmon fruits on the total phenolic content and antioxidant activity of the resulting extracts. Significantly greater phenolic contents were obtained from immature persimmon (IP) fruits. The optimum IP extract with the conditions set by the experimental design was industrially up-scaled and its composition and functional properties were evaluated and compared with those obtained under lab-scale conditions. Both extracts contained significant protein (>20%) and phenolic contents (similar to 11-27 mg GA/g dry extract) and displayed significant antiviral activity against murine norovirus and hepatitis A virus. Moreover, the extract showed no toxicity and significantly reduced the fat content and the cellular ageing of Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) without affecting the worm development. These effects were mediated by down-regulation of fat-7, suggesting an anti-lipogenic activity of this extract