Avaliação da contaminação de coliformes fecais em alface (Lactuca sativa), água de irrigação e lavagem em sistemas de produção orgânica e convencional.

Foram analisados níveis de contaminação de coliformes fecais em alface (não lavada e pré-lavada), água de irrigação e água de lavagem em doze propriedades (seis orgânicas e seis convencionais), localizadas em Ibiúna, Jaguariúna, Campinas e Morungaba-SP. Em laboratório, as amostras foram submetidas à análise de coliformes fecais pela técnica de contagem do Número Mais Provável (MNP). Em todas as análises foram constatadas presença de coliformes fecais em níveis abaixo do tolerado. O cultivo convencional apresentou níveis superiores de contaminação em todos os tratamentos analisados

GEOMATICS FOR SMART CITIES: OBTAINING THE URBAN PLANNING BAF INDEX FROM EXISTING DIGITAL MAPS

The urban analytics expression is spreading out. To our understanding, it deals with the capability of measuring cities and their communities, as a support to their effective planning and management. In other words, being an analytically well-known city is a precondition for pursuing smartness. Urban planning is a very important item for city management and is interrelated with many layers, including urban environmental quality, air quality and well-being. Effective urban planning is based on the knowledge of quantitative parameters such as the biotope area factor (BAF), which was originally proposed for the city of Berlin and is currently used in other cities. The BAF index is used to evaluate the degree of soil permeability and measures, to a certain extent and from a specific point of view, how a city is eco-friendly. The usual way of evaluating the BAF is based on the manual construction of dedicated maps, using existing orthophotos and oblique imagery as a support. But this method is expensive, time-consuming and non-objective, as it is prone to different interpretations. The paper presents a newly-developed methodology for calculating the BAF. It is based on the use of existing digital cartography and on the application of geoprocessing techniques from GIS science: it is therefore fully automated and objective. The Pavia city (Northern Italy) is used as a testsite and a careful validation of the developed methodology is carried out, by comparison to 12 manually surveyed test areas, corresponding to 5% of the built-up areas of the municipality

Grid services for the MAGIC experiment

Exploring signals from the outer space has become an observational science under fast expansion. On the basis of its advanced technology the MAGIC telescope is the natural building block for the first large scale ground based high energy gamma-ray observatory. The low energy threshold for gamma-rays together with different background sources leads to a considerable amount of data. The analysis will be done in different institutes spread over Europe. Therefore MAGIC offers the opportunity to use the Grid technology to setup a distributed computational and data intensive analysis system with the nowadays available technology. Benefits of Grid computing for the MAGIC telescope are presented.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figures, to be published in the Proceedings of the 6th International Symposium ''Frontiers of Fundamental and Computational Physics'' (FFP6), Udine (Italy), Sep. 26-29, 200

A PMMA valveless micropump using electromagnetic actuation

We have fabricated and characterized a polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) valveless micropump. The pump consists of two diffuser elements and a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membrane with an integrated composite magnet made of NdFeB magnetic powder. A large-stroke membrane deflection (~200μm) is obtained using external actuation by an electromagnet. We present a detailed analysis of the magnetic actuation force and the flow rate of the micropump. Water is pumped at flow rates of up to 400µl/min and backpressures of up to 12mbar. We study the frequency-dependent flow rate and determine a resonance frequency of 12 and 200Hz for pumping of water and air, respectively. Our experiments show that the models for valveless micropumps of A. Olsson et al. (J Micromech Microeng 9:34, 1999) and L.S. Pan et al. (J Micromech Microeng 13:390, 2003) correctly predict the resonance frequency, although additional modeling of losses is necessar

Technical note: Rapid mineral determination in forages by X-ray fluorescence

A large portion of the cow's ration is composed of forages that can vary greatly in mineral concentrations, which may affect animal performance and health. Current methods for mineral analysis require sample destruction either through wet or dry ashing and complex analytical techniques for individual minerals. Energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) is a nondestructive, multi-mineral, spectroscopy technique, which makes mineral quantification simple, direct, and affordable. The study objective was to evaluate the prediction performance of EDXRF of Na, Mg, P, S, Cl, Ca, K, Mn, Fe, Cu, and Zn concentrations in forages. Twelve certified plant samples with a wide range in mineral concentrations were used to develop calibrations, and 35 forages (18 alfalfa hays, 10 grass hays, 7 corn silages) with measured mineral concentrations, which were collected over several years from 3 proficiency programs, were used as an independent validation set. All the samples were previously dried and finely ground and were prepared by compressing them into a round dense pellet, 40 mm in diameter, using a 40-ton pneumatic laboratory press. Samples were scanned using an EDXRF instrument enhanced for lighter minerals like Na and Mg. Samples were scanned at 20 keV and at 40 KeV associated with an Al filter, for a total analysis time of approximately 6 min. Calibrations were developed with Bruker SpectraEDX (Bruker, Hamburg, Germany) software and optimized to minimize the standard error of calibration. All of the minerals had acceptable calibration performance with coefficient of determination ranging from 0.93 (P) and 0.99 (Cl, Ca, and Mn) and coefficients of variation within 5 to 14%, which are similar to the coefficients of variation of the reference analysis. The coefficients of variation for Na was an exception, with a coefficients of variation of 29%. The validation set obtained similar statistical results as that observed in calibration. The root mean square error of prediction corrected for bias was similar to the standard error of calibration, indicating that it is possible to build a robust calibrations that performed well across different type of forages by using 12 reference samples with a sufficient range in mineral concentrations that were determined accurately. A bias correction was necessary to improve prediction accuracy only for K (−0.23% dry matter) and Ca (−0.16% dry matter). Energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence demonstrated the ability to be an accurate, direct, and simple technique for forage mineral analysis

Framing the ultimatum game: the contribution of simulation

It has now become widely accepted that economic decisions are influenced by cognitive and emotional processes. In the present study, we aimed at disentangling the neural mechanisms associated with the way in which the information is formulated, i.e., framing effect, in terms of gain or loss, which influences people\u2019s decisions. Participants played a fMRI version of the Ultimatum Game (UG) where we manipulated bids through two different frames: the expression \u201cI give you\u201d (gain) focusing on money the respondent would receive if she/he agreed with the proponent, and the expression \u201cI take\u201d (loss) focusing on the money that would be removed from the respondent in the event that she/he accepted the offer. Neuroimaging data revealed a frame by response interaction, showing an increase of neural activity in the right rolandic operculum/insular cortex, the anterior cingulate, among other regions, for accepting the frame \u201cI take\u201d vs. rejecting, as compared to accepting the frame \u201cI give you\u201d vs. rejecting. In addition, the left occipito-temporal junction was activated for \u201cI take\u201d vs. \u201cI give you\u201d for offer 5, corresponding to the equal offer made unpleasant by the presence of the frame \u201cI take,\u201d where is the proposer that takes the money. Our data extend the current understanding of the neural substrates of social decision making, by disentangling the structures sensitive to the way in which the information is formulated (i.e., framing effect), in terms of gain or loss

Avaliação da contaminação de alface (Lactuca sativa) por coliformes termotolerantes e Escherichia coli em sistemas de cultivo orgânico e convencional.

A alface (Lactuca sativa) é a hortaliça folhosa mais consumida no Brasil, sendo classificada como um importante alimento para a população por ser uma rica fonte de vitaminas. Em função das práticas adotadas, o seu cultivo pode ser orgânico ou convencional. No entanto, alface pode ser um veículo transmissor de microrganismos patogênicos ao homem, como coliformes termotolerantes e Escherichia coli, uma vez que se encontra em contato com esses contaminantes presentes freqüentemente no solo, na água, nos insumos naturais (cama de frango) propiciando o desenvolvimento e a sobrevivência dos mesmos. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar quantitativamente, a presença de Coliformes termotolerantes e de E.coli em água de irrigação e de pré-lavagem, assim como, o produto alface não lavada e pré-lavada, cultivada sob cultivo orgânico e convencional, em relação a recomendação da ANVISA. As coletas foram realizadas em dez propriedades, cinco de cultivo orgânico e cinco de cultivo convencional, localizadas nas cidades de Ibiúna, Jaguariúna, Campinas e Morungaba - SP. Em laboratório, as amostras foram submetidas à análise de tubos múltiplos e série bioquímica e procedeu-se a avaliação pela técnica de contagem do Número Mais Provável. Os resultados mostraram um alto índice de coliformes termotolerantes e E. coli, na água de irrigação sendo um fator importante pela contaminação da alface, independente do sistema de cultivo. Todavia, o cultivo convencional apresentou índices de contaminação por esse microrganismos na água superiores ao do cultivo orgânico. No produto alface, a pré lavagem contribuiu para a redução da contaminação por coliformes termotolerantes e E. coli, que no entanto essa contaminação pelo primeiro foi mais alta em ambos os sistemas de cultivos. Além disso, outras práticas utilizadas nas propriedades como, a higiene pessoal, o uso de adubos compostados não adequados e a presença de animais nas áreas de cultivo são fontes de contaminação.Dissertação (Mestrado em Agroecologia e Desenvolvimento Rural) - Centro de Ciências Agrárias, UFSCar, Araras. Orientador: Pedro José Valarini, Embrapa Meio Ambiente