The germination niche of coastal dune species as related to their occurrence along a sea–inland gradient

Aims: The early phases in the life cycle of a plant are the bottleneck for successful species establishment thereby affecting population dynamics and distribution. In coastal environments, the spatial pattern of plant communities (i.e. vegetation zonation) follows the ecological gradient of abiotic stress changing with the distance from the sea. This pattern has been mainly explained based on the adaptation and tolerance to the abiotic stress of adult plants. However, the adult niche may considerably differ from the germination niche of a plant species. The aim of this work was to investigate to what extent abiotic factors (specifically salinity, temperature, nitrogen and their interactions) constrain seed germination along the sea–inland gradient. Location: Latium coast (Central Italy). Methods: Germination tests were performed on seeds of focal species of three different plant communities which establish at increasing distances from the coastline: Cakile maritima subsp. maritima, Elymus farctus, Crucianella maritima. We tested increasing concentrations of NaCl (one of the main abiotic factors which decrease across the sea–inland gradient), and their interactions with temperature and KNO3, to consider other factors which drive germination processes. Results: The tolerance to salinity significantly decreased in relation to the position of species along the coastal zonation. Crucianella maritima was shown to be the least tolerant species, having a decrease in germination >80% across all conditions. KNO3 significantly (although slightly) increased the germination percentage in Cakile maritima subsp. maritima and Elymus farctus. When combined with NaCl, KNO3 alleviated the negative effects of salinity only in Cakile maritima subsp. maritima. Conclusions: The germination responses to the interaction among the tested factors suggest that the germination niche may explain vegetation zonation filtering species at their early stages. Quantifying environmental niches in different phases of the life cycle of plants may provide important insights into community assembly processes

PHYSIOLOGICAL RESPONSES OF HOLSTEIN COW’S FACE TO RESOURCE OF FAN IN FREE-STALL

Este estudo teve como objetivo avaliar a influência do recurso de ventilação sobre a fisiologia de vacas Holandesas alojadas em free-stall, durante o verão do sudeste brasileiro. Foram utilizadas 20 vacas Holandesas submetidas a dois tratamentos: controle e ventilação. Os parâmetros ambientais registrados foram temperatura e umidade relativa do ar e temperatura de globo negro. As variáveis fisiológicas avaliadas foram temperatura retal e frequência respiratória. Para obtenção das estatísticas descritivas utilizou-se a metodologia de quadrados mínimos. Apesar das diferenças estatísticas obtidas para as variáveis fisiológicas, as mesmas não foram biologicamente efetivas e indicaram que os animais se encontravam em conforto térmico

CONTRATOS ELETRÔNICOS ESTENDIDOS COM ACORDOS EM NÍVEL DE NEGÓCIOS VISANDO APOIAR O ALINHAMENTO ESTRATÉGICO ENTRE NEGÓCIO E TI

Through electronic contracts, using partner organizations, it is possible to outsource electronic services to be composed into business processes and set Service Level Agreements (SLA), which do not ensure per se the strategic alignment between the IT department and business areas of the involved organizations. This paper presents a pre-existent approach for e-contract settlement which was extended in order to encompass a Business Level Agreement (BLA), which is used to align the organization's goals and objectives. This extended approach aims at making it possible to ensure that technical services under the IT responsibility do not cause negative impacts on the execution of business processes requested by the business areas of the organizations. In this paper, we briefly present the approach used as the grounds for the proposed extension as well as an analysis of its pros and cons, based on examples of artifacts produced using the extended approach.Por meio de contratos eletrônicos é possível subcontratar serviços eletrônicos de organizações parceiras, a serem compostos em processos de negócio, e definir acordos de qualidade em nível de serviço, o que não garante necessariamente o alinhamento estratégico entre as áreas de TI e as áreas de negócio de cada organização envolvida. Este artigo apresenta uma abordagem preexistente de estabelecimento de contratos eletrônicos que foi estendida para incluir o tratamento de acordos de qualidade em nível de negócio, os quais são usados para alinhar metas e objetivos de uma organização. O objetivo desta extensão é facilitar que serviços técnicos de responsabilidade de TI não causem impactos negativos durante a realização dos processos de negócio necessários para as áreas de negócio das organizações. Neste artigo, é apresentada a extensão proposta, assim como a abordagem base usada, além de uma análise dos benefícios e limitações tendo como base exemplos de artefatos produzidos com o uso da abordagem estendida

Improving Reproducibility whilst Maintaining Accuracy in Function Point Analysis

Existing proposals to improve the measurement reproducibility of Function Point Analysis (FPA) oversimplify its standard rules, threatening its measurement accuracy. We introduce a new artifact called Function Point Tree (FPT), which allows for full data collection required to count function points, reducing the experts’ personal interpretation and thus the size variation. The new measurement method, called FPT-based FPA (FPT-FPA), enlarges FPA standardization and systematization. Using this method allows to improve measurement reproducibility whilst maintaining its accuracy. Preliminary results of an empirical study show coefficients of variation for FTP-FPA lower than the maximum expected for both reproducibility and accuracy for some scenarios

Influence of pre-slaughter management on cortisol level in lambs

This study aimed to verify the influence of the transport in open or closed compartments, followed by two resting periods (1 and 3 hours) for the slaughter process on the levels of cortisol as a indicative of stress level in lambs. The slaughterhouse was located 85 km away from the place of confinement and the transportation of the lambs was carried out in a cage truck type, each cage had a divider in the middle making the front without external visual access to the environment, and the back portion of the cages with visual access to the road. At the slaughterhouse, blood samples were taken from 86 lambs after the transport and before slaughter (1 or 3 hours of resting) for plasma cortisol analysis. Variables were evaluated through the PROC GLM procedure from the Statistical Analysis System ©, version 9.1.3 software.The method of transport influenced in the cortisol concentration (P<0.01), the animals transported in the closed compartment had a lower level. After the resting period in the slaughterhouse, there was a decline in the plasmatic cortisol concentration, with the animals subjected to three hours of rest presenting the lower average cortisol value (P<0.05). It can be inferred that the lambs that remained three hours in standby before slaughter had more time to recover from the stress of the transportation than those that waited just one hour. Visual access to the external environment during the transport of the lambs is a stressful factor changing the level of plasmatic cortisol, and the resting period before slaughter was effective in lowering stress, reducing the plasmatic cortisol in the lambs

Identificação e eficiência de Bacillus spp. inibidor do crescimento de Macrophomina phaseolina.

O presente trabalho visou quantificar a eficiência do gênero Bacillus no controle de Macrophomina phaseolina

Pollination and dispersal trait spectra recover faster than the growth form spectrum during spontaneous succession in sandy old‐fields

Question: Spontaneous succession is the most natural and cost‐effective solution for grassland restoration. However, little is known about the time required for the recovery of grassland functionality, i.e., for the recovery of reproductive and vegetative processes typical of pristine grasslands. Since these processes operate at different scales, we addressed the question: do reproductive and vegetative processes require different recovery times during spontaneous succession? Location: Kiskunság sand region (Central Hungary). Methods: As combinations of plant traits can be used to highlight general patterns in ecological processes, we compared reproductive (pollination‐ and dispersal‐related) and vegetative (growth form) traits between recovered grasslands of different age (&lt;10 years old; 10–20 years old; 20–40 years old) and pristine grasslands. Results: During spontaneous succession, the reproductive trait spectra became similar to those of pristine grasslands earlier than the vegetative ones. In arable land abandoned for 10 years, pollination‐ and dispersal‐related trait spectra did not show significant difference to those of pristine grasslands; anemophily and anemochory were the prevailing strategies. Contrarily, significant differences in the growth form spectrum could be observed even after 40 years of abandonment; in recovered grasslands erect leafy species prevailed, while the fraction of dwarf shrubs and tussock‐forming species was significantly lower than in pristine grasslands. Conclusions: The recovery of the ecological processes of pristine grasslands might require different amounts of time, depending on the spatial scale at which they operate. The reproductive trait spectra recovered earlier than the vegetative one, since reproductive attributes first determine plant species sorting at the regional level towards their respective habitats. The recovery of the vegetative trait spectrum needs more time as vegetative‐based interactions operate on a smaller spatial scale. Thus, vegetative traits might be more effective in the long‐term assessment of restoration success than the reproductive ones

The combined effects of the microcirculatory status and cardiopulmonary bypass on platelet count and function during cardiac surgery

ACKGROUND: Cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass is associated with important changes in the microcirculation, usually attributed to endothelial dysfunction. Another common finding of cardiac surgery is postoperative thrombocytopenia and platelet loss of function. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between microvascular flow pattern and postoperative changes in platelet count and function in cardiac surgery patients. METHODS: Twelve adult cardiac surgery patients received microvascular circulation (sidestream darkfield sublingual mucosa analysis) and platelet count and function (multiple electrode aggregometry ADPtest and TRAPtest) assessment before and after cardiopulmonary bypass. RESULTS: After cardiopulmonary bypass, sublingual microcirculation showed a significantly (P = 0.001) decreased microvascular flow index and increased heterogeneity index (P = 0.006). Platelet function significantly decrease after cardiopulmonary bypass both at ADPtest (P = 0.011) and TRAPtest (P = 0.002). Preoperative patterns of poor microvascular perfusion (low perfused vessels density and total vessels density) were significantly associated with lower values of post-cardiopulmonary bypass platelet function (ADPtest, P = 0.009, TRAPtest, P = 0.031) and count (P = 0.048). CONCLUSIONS: A preoperative disturbance of the microcirculation is associated with a greater postoperative platelet dysfunction. Endothelial damage, chemical and mechanical stimuli are the possible link between the two patterns