PROPOSAL OF A SET OF INDICATORS FOR SUSTAINABILITY EVALUATION OF FOOD PRODUCTION IN AN URBAN CONTEXT

Urban agriculture (UA) is steadily gaining supporters worldwide, and this is partly because constantly growing urban populations recognize the need to increase food production and promote a healthy diet. UA can also generate extra income, promote socialization leading to valorisation of urban areas. Nevertheless, UA faces several challenges, including limited available space, stressed natural resources, pollution in a context characterized by climate change and new consumption patterns. At the same time, if UA is practiced in the same way as other forms of agriculture, it may have some undesirable environmental impacts on urban areas. The use of indicators can provide decision makers with a tool to evaluate the sustainable insertion of agriculture in cities. This work aims to propose a minimum set of indicators as the basis for an index to assess progress of urban vegetable production towards sustainability. Nineteen urban sustainability indexes, composed of several indicators founded in the literature and already used by several institutions, were analysed. These indexes were broken down into a set of 1579 indicators. Analysis of the relevancy to issues such as food, energy, water, land and pollution, and the selection based on the criteria of being measurable, sensitive to stress, predictable, anticipatory, controllable, integrative, responsive and stable, led to a 26 basic indicators selection. These are proposed as the basis for an innovative UA sustainability index. This will be built based on the Delphi method and is intended to support communities in establishing sustainable and resilient cities

PAYMENTS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES (PES): CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR RURAL PRODUCERS AT SENHORA DE OLIVEIRA, MINAS GERAIS

Payment for Environmental Services (PES) is an important tool for environmental conservation and is a relevant practice in many countries for the maintenance of forests. Thus, the objective of the present study was to evaluate challenges and opportunities of implementing a Payment for Environmental Services program in the municipality of Senhora de Oliveira, Minas Gerais. Socioeconomic and environmental diagnosis was performed using the Rapid Participatory Diagnosis technique. The total of 20 socioeconomic and environmental questionnaires were applied in the municipality, aiming to know in detail the local reality, raising potentialities and demands. The number of members of the 20 families that participated in the rural diagnosis was 72, of which 36 were men and 36 were women, with an average of 3.6 persons per family. Of the 20 rural properties that participated in the rural diagnosis, 35% have delimited RL areas and none of them has a management plan. The exploration of Legal Reserve occurs in 15% of the evaluated properties, being the production of firewood and cuttings the predominant activity. The average value of disposition receivable by rural producers was R$ 220.00 ha-1year-1, in which the producers who did not respond to this question were not considered. The municipality of Senhora de Oliveira, Minas Gerais has the necessary conditions to implement the PES, however the producers still do not receive any incentive to provide environmental services. If this process of PES is implemented, there will certainly be advances in environmental conservation and will bring social benefits throughout the region

Sistemas de Informação como Elementos Viabilizadores do Desenvolvimento Sustentável no Contexto Empresarial

This research aims to discuss conceptually information systems as enabling elements of sustainable development. As justification for choosing the theme conceive about its contemporaneity, beyond the expectation of contributing to the academic field. The methodology employed is qualitative in nature, with bibliographic research. Among the main findings, it was possible to conclude that the relations between society and environment are increasingly linked and evident in daily life, considering the concerns implied in human practices and their environmental impacts, as well as the need for environmental awareness. Therefore, it is necessary to apply one of the greatest human benefits in favor of sustainable development, when information technologies, through information systems, become coherent to promote a more efficient, effective and quality environmental management in maintaining the environment. sustainable development.A presente pesquisa tem como objetivo geral, debater conceitualmente sobre os sistemas de informação como elementos viabilizadores do desenvolvimento sustentável. Como justificativa para a escolha do tema conceba sobre sua contemporaneidade, além da expectativa de contribuir para o campo acadêmico. A metodologia empregada é de natureza qualitativa, com pesquisa bibliográfica. Dentre os principais achados, foi possível concluir que as relações entre sociedade e meio ambiente surgem cada vez mais atreladas e evidentes no cotidiano, considerando as preocupações implicadas nas práticas humanas e seus impactos ambientais, bem como a necessidade de conscientização ambiental. Sendo assim, é necessário aplicar um dos maiores benefícios humanos a favor do desenvolvimento sustentável, momento em que as tecnologias da informação, por meio dos sistemas de informação, se tornam coerentes para promover uma gestão ambiental mais eficiente, efetiva e de qualidade na manutenção do desenvolvimento sustentável

Geology and hypsometry of river basins at central-northern Santa Catarina (Brazil): implications for the coastal zone

The central-northern region of the Santa Catarina State (Brazil) is composed basically by the Itapocu, Itajaí-Açu and Tijucas river basins, draining directly to the South Atlantic. The present study uses the hypsometric analysis of those three basins to improve the understanding of the Holocene evolution and dynamics of the respective estuaries and coastal plains. Data on the lithological coverage, topography, hydrography, climate and dimensions were considered, analyzed and interpreted in the geomorphologic context. Information regarding hydrodynamics and sedimentology of the estuaries and stratigraphy of the coastal plains were also considered. The results have shown important differences in the geology, topography, thalweg profile and hypsometry between the studied drainage basins. In the corresponding estuaries and coastal plains substantial differences in the morphology, dynamic and stratigraphy were observed, which could be largely explained by the differences in the drainage basin characteristics.A região centro-norte do Estado de Santa Catarina/Brasil é composta basicamente pelas bacias hidrográficas dos rios Itajaí-Açu, Itapocu e Tijucas, drenando diretamente para o Atlântico Sul. O objetivo do presente trabalho é analisar e correlacionar a hipsometria dessas bacias para melhor entender a evolução holocênica e a dinâmica dos estuários e planícies costeiras associadas àqueles rios. Foram compilados dados gerais da cobertura geológico-sedimentar, topografia, dimensões e clima de cada bacia hidrográfica. Esses dados foram analisados e interpretados no contexto geomorfológico. Dados de hidrodinâmica e sedimentologia dos estuários e estratigrafia das planícies costeiras foram também considerados. Os resultados apontam diferenças importantes na geologia, topografia, perfis de talvegue e hipsometria das bacias estudadas. Foram também identificadas diferenças significativas na morfologia, dinâmica e estratigrafia das respectivas regiões estuarinas e planícies costeiras, que foram diretamente correlacionadas com as características das bacias de drenagem

Histological observations on Montenegro's reaction in man

The Montenegro skin test is widely used as a diagnostic method for American cutaneous leishmaniasis (ACL) but little is known about the histological changes that occur in the skin after administration of the antigen. This report is based on histological studies of biopsied material obtained, from inoculation sites, 48 hours after individuals had been given intradermal injections with a standardized Montenegro antigen. The material examined was obtained from four distinctly different test groups: naturally infected patients with parasitologically proved ACL and with positive Montenegro's reaction; individuals without previous history of ACL and not previously tested with Montenegro antigen; participants in anti-ACL vaccine trials who developed positive reactions to Montenegro antigen after vaccination; other participants in vaccine trials who had negative Montenegro responses after vaccination or had served as controls in the trials. The histological pictures of each group are described and discussed. Histologically, the reactions of vaccinated individuals were indistinguishable from those with naturally acquired infections.Foi realizado o estudo histológico do material obtido nas biópsias do local de inoculação do antígeno para teste de Montenegro (T.M.) nos seguintes grupos de indivíduos: I) Seis pacientes com leishmaniose cutânea comprovados parasitologicamente, com Montenegro positivo; II) Cinco indivíduos normais, não residentes em zona endêmica, com Montenegro negativo; III) Nove soldados participantes de ensaios clínicos com vacina anti-LTA - MAYRINK e cols. 1979 e que tiveram o TM positivo 35 dias após vacinação. IV) Um último grupo constituído de quatro soldados, também participantes de ensaio clínico com a mesma vacina acima, dois vacinados que não mostraram TM positivo 35 dias após vacinação e dois que receberam placebo. As biópsias foram realizadas 48 hs após a inoculação do antígeno. O material foi fixado em formol à 10% (pH 7.2). Histologicamente, excetivando o grupo II (controle negativo), os grupos I-I1I-IV mostraram diferenças quantitativas no infiltrado mononuclear. Os quadros histológicos de cada grupo são descritos e discutidos

MIXED MODELS FOR NUTRIENTS PREDICTION IN SPECIES OF THE BRAZILIAN CAATINGA BIOME

ABSTRACT Nutrient prediction models applied to tree species from Brazilian Caatinga can be a crucial tool in understanding this biome. The study aimed to fit a mixed model to predict nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) content in tree species native to the Caatinga biome located in Floresta municipality, Pernambuco State – PE, Brazil. The following species were considered the area’s most important and evaluated in the present study: Poincianella bracteosa (Tul.) L.P.Queiroz, Mimosa ophtalmocentra Mart. ex Benth, Aspidosperma pyrifolium Mart, Cnidoscolus quercifolius (Mull. Arg.) Pax. & Hoffm, and Anadenanthera colubrina var. cebil (Griseb.) Altschul. Four trees, representing the average circumference in each diameter class, were harvested for NPK quantification. The Spurr model was evaluated for NPK prediction, and species inclusion as a random effect was significant (p > 0.05) in all models. The Spurr model with fixed and random effects presented better statistics than fixed-effect models in all parameters for all nutrients. Generated NPK predicting equations can be a handy tool to understand the impact of wood extraction over Caatinga’s biogeochemical cycles and guide forest management strategies in semi-arid regions of the world