Water erosion in a Yellow-Red Ultisol under different patterns of simulated rain

Visou-se, neste trabalho, determinar as perdas de solo, água e nutrientes em um Argissolo Vermelho-Amarelo submetido a quatro diferentes padrões de chuva simulada. O estudo foi conduzido no Campo Experimental da Embrapa-Agrobiologia, localizado no município de Seropédica, RJ, e consistiu na aplicação de chuvas simuladas com diferentes padrões caracterizados como avançado (AV), intermediário (IN), atrasado (AT) e constante (CT), em uma área amostral de 0,80 m de largura por 1,0 m de comprimento. As chuvas tiveram duração de 60 min com uma lâmina total aplicada de 30 mm e um pico de 110 mm h-1, para os padrões de intensidade variável. Os resultados obtidos possibilitaram concluir que após 60 min de chuva simulada as perdas de solo e água observadas para o padrão atrasado foram, em média, superiores em 61,6, 46,4 e 13,6%, respectivamente, para o CT, AV e IN (solo), e de 42,0, 19,0 e 19,0%, respectivamente, para o AV, IN e CT (água) e as perdas de nutrientes não diferiram entre os padrões de precipitação, sendo mais influenciadas pelas perdas de água escoada superficialmente que pelo material sólido em suspensão.This study was carried out in order to determine the soil, water and nutrient losses in a Yellow-Red Ultisol, under four different patterns of simulated rainfall. The experiment was conducted at the Embrapa Agrobiologia experimental field, located in the municipality of Seropédica, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The study consisted in the application of simulated rains using variable rainfall intensity classified in different patterns as: advanced (AD), intermediate (IN), delayed (DE), and constant (CT), in plots 0.8 m wide and 1.0 m long. The rain had a duration of 60 min, with a total applied depth of 30 mm, and a peak of 110 mm h-1, for the variable intensity patterns. With the results obtained it was possible to verify that after 60 min of simulated DE pattern provided losses higher than CT, AD and IN, in 61.6, 46.4 and 13.6%, respectively (soil), and 42.0, 19.0 and 19.0% (run-off), respectively, for the AD, IN and CT patterns; and the nutrients losses did not differ among the rainfall patterns, being more affected by water run-off than solid material in suspension

Dose-dependent protective and inductive effects of xanthohumol on oxidative DNA damage in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The effect of xanthohumol, a prenylflavonoid isolated from the hop plant (Humulus lupulus L.), on Saccharomyces cerevisiae DNA oxidative damage and viability was evaluated. Yeast cultures under oxidative stress, induced by H2O2, displayed stronger growth in the presence of 5 mg/L of xanthohumol than cultures with only H2O2. Likewise, DNA damage assessed by the comet assay was significantly lower in cells co-incubated with xanthohu- mol and H2O2. Accordingly, fluorescence of dichlorofluorescein in cells treated with H2O2 and xanthohumol was considerably lower than in cells exclusively treated with H2O2, in- dicative of a reactive oxygen species scavenging mechanism and consequent formation of oxidation products, as detected by mass spectrometry. However, at concentrations above 5 mg/L, xanthohumol elicited an opposite effect, leading to a slower growth rate and signifi- cant increase in DNA damage. A yeast yap1 deletion mutant strain sensitive to oxidative stress grew more slowly in the presence of at least 5 mg/L of xanthohumol than cultures of the wild type, suggesting that xanthohumol toxicity is mediated by oxidative stress. This evidence provides further insight into the impact of xanthohumol on yeast cells, support- ing dose-dependent antioxidant/antigenotoxic and prooxidant/genotoxic effects.This work was funded by FEDER through the Operational Programme for Competitiveness Factors – COMPETE and by National Funds through FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology, under the projects UID/ QUI/50006/2013 and NORTE-07-0124-FEDER-000069. DC wishes to acknowledge FCT for his PhD studentship (SFRH/BD/79939/2011). BJ acknowledges the support of FCT through project PTDC/AAC-AMB/120940/2010 'MYCOFAT'. DC wishes to acknowledge FCT for his PhD studentship (SFRH/BD/79939/2011). We thank Martin Biendl, from Hopsteiner (New York, NY, USA), for donating the xanthohumol and Cristina Ribeiro for help in fl ow cytometry analyses. Mass spectrometry analyses were conducted at CEMUP (Materials Centre of the University of Porto, Portugal).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Desempenho do cultivo da berinjela em plantio direto submetida a diferentes lâminas de irrigação.

Este estudo foi conduzido no município de Seropédica, RJ, com o objetivo de se determinar, em cultivo orgânico e sistema de plantio direto, a produtividade da cultura da berinjela sob diferentes lâminas de irrigação e sistemas de cultivo (consorciada com leguminosa e solteira). O delineamento experimental adotado foi o de blocos ao acaso, no esquema de parcela subdividida com quatro repetições caracterizando, na parcela, os tratamentos equivalentes à lâmina de irrigação (40; 70; 100 e 120% ETc) e, na subparcela, os sistemas de cultivo consorciado com feijão caupi e solteiro. Ambos os sistemas de cultivo não influenciaram a produtividade final da berinjela; no entanto, considerando as diferentes lâminas, a maior produtividade comercial foi de 65,41 Mg ha-1, obtida para uma lâmina total de 690,04 mm (106,8% ETc). A menor lâmina aplicada resultou em qualidade inferior dos frutos em relação às maiores lâminas, sendo a taxa de descarte dos frutos de 3 e 14%, respectivamente, para a maior e a menor lâmina

Brewer’s spent grains protects against oxidative DNA damage in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Brewer’s spent grain (BSG), obtained from barley malt during brewing, contains high amounts of phenolic acids, predominantly ferulic and p-coumaric acids. The protective effects of BSG extracts against oxidative DNA damage induced by H2O2 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells were investigated using an optimized yeast comet assay and flow cytometry. The results indicated that BSG extracts from black malt exhibited a 5-fold reduction in the genotoxic effects of H2O2, compared to the 2-fold decrease by the BSG extracts from pilsen malts. Flow cytometry analysis with dichlorofluorescein diacetate demonstrated that the intracellular oxidation of S. cerevisiae is also reduced to approximately 50% in the presence of 20-fold diluted BSG extracts. BSG extracts obtained from pilsen and black malt types exert dose-dependent protective properties against the genotoxic effects induced by ROS and decrease intracellular oxidation of yeast cells.This work received financial support from the European Union (FEDER Funds through COMPETE) and National Funds (FCT, Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia) through project Pest-C/EQB/LA0006/2013 and PEst-C/BIA/UI4050/2011. The work also received financial support from the European Union (FEDER funds) under the framework of QREN through Project NORTE-07-0124-FEDER-000069. DOC receives a postdoc grant through the project Operação Norte-01-0145-FEDER-000011. MMM wishes to acknowledge to FCT for her postdoctoral grant (SFRH/BPD/97049/2013). The authors also thank Unicer – Bebidas de Portugal, S. A. for the supply of BSG samples.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Water requirement and yield of fig trees under different drip irrigation management.

This work aimed to study the effect of drip irrigation management on growth and yield of the 'Roxo de Valinhos' fig tree (Ficus carica L.), at three years old, and to determine crop coefficients (Kc) and its water requirement (ETc) under Baixada Fluminense climate and soil conditions, state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The study was carried out in the experimental area of SIPA (Sistema Integrado de Produção Agroecológica) in Seropédica, Rio de Janeiro State, from July 2011 to May 2012. The experimental area was divided in two blocks, named B1 (sandy clay loam texture) and B2 (loamy sand texture). In each block, irrigation frequencies (IF) of two (T1) and four days (T2) were evaluated, as well as the irrigation absence (T3). Irrigation management and water consumption determination were performed through the soil water balance, using the TDR technique. Plant growth was not affected by IF, differing only in the number of produced internodes. For both soil textures, the mean Kc was 0.60, with a significant difference (p<0.05) only for IF. The estimated mean yield showed no significant differences between both textural classes, ranging from 6,612 kg ha-1 (T3) to 8,554 kg ha-1 (T1). This study indicates the importance of irrigation frequency in the irrigation management of fig trees cultivated in soils with different physical characteristics

Radio Properties of z>4 Optically-Selected Quasars

We report on two programs to address differential evolution between the radio-loud and radio-quiet quasar populations at high (z>4) redshift. Both programs entail studying the radio properties of optically-selected quasars. First, we have observed 32 optically-selected, high-redshift (z>4) quasars with the VLA at 6 cm (5 GHz). These sources comprise a statistically complete and well-understood sample. We detect four quasars above our 3-sigma limit of ~0.15 mJy, which is sufficiently sensitive to detect all radio-loud quasars at the probed redshift range. Second, we have correlated 134 z>4 quasars, comprising all such sources that we are aware of as of mid-1999, with FIRST and NVSS. These two recent 1.4 GHz VLA sky surveys reach 3-sigma limits of approximately 0.6 mJy and 1.4 mJy respectively. We identify a total of 15 z>4 quasars, of which six were not previously known to be radio-loud. The depth of these surveys does not reach the radio-loud/radio-quiet demarcation luminosity density (L(1.4 GHz) = 10^32.5 h(50)^(-2) ergs/s/Hz) at the redshift range considered; this correlation therefore only provides a lower limit to the radio-loud fraction of quasars at high-redshift. The two programs together identify eight new radio-loud quasars at z>4, a significant increase over the seven currently in the published literature. We find no evidence for radio-loud fraction depending on optical luminosity for -25 > M_B > -28 at z~2, or for -26>M_B>-28 at z>4. Our results also show no evolution in the radio-loud fraction between z~2 and z>4 (-26>M_B>-28).Comment: 19 pages, 7 figures; to appear in The Astronomical Journal (April 2000

Arctic and Antarctic forcing of ocean interior warming during the last deglaciation

Funding was provided by an Antarctic Bursary awarded to J.A.S., ERC and NERC grants awarded to L.F.R. (278705, NE/S001743/1, NE/R005117/1) and L.F.R. and J.W.B.R. (NE/N003861/1).Subsurface water masses formed at high latitudes impact the latitudinal distribution of heat in the ocean. Yet uncertainty surrounding the timing of low-latitude warming during the last deglaciation (18–10 ka) means that controls on sub-surface temperature rise remain unclear. Here we present seawater temperature records on a precise common age-scale from East Equatorial Pacific (EEP), Equatorial Atlantic, and Southern Ocean intermediate waters using new Li/Mg records from cold water corals. We find coeval warming in the tropical EEP and Atlantic during Heinrich Stadial 1 (+ 6 °C) that closely resemble warming recorded in Antarctic ice cores, with more modest warming of the Southern Ocean (+ 3 °C). The magnitude and depth of low-latitude ocean warming implies that downward accumulation of heat following Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) slowdown played a key role in heating the ocean interior, with heat advection from southern-sourced intermediate waters playing an additional role.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe