Analytical hierarchical process to identify favorable areas to the coffee crop agroecosystem at municipal scale

O objetivo deste trabalho foi delimitar áreas favoráveis ao agroecossistema cafeeiro, em quatro municípios do Estado de Minas Gerais, pela aplicação do processo analítico hierárquico (AHP). Uma função de ponderação aritmética foi obtida, com base nas premissas de favorabilidade à cafeicultura, considerando-se as seguintes variáveis: solo, declividade, orientação de vertentes, altimetria e as possíveis áreas de preservação permanente. Essa função permitiu combinar as condições adequadas ao cultivo do café e ressaltar as áreas com maior favorabilidade. Foi verificado que os quatro municípios diferem entre si quanto à favorabilidade ao agroecossistema cafeeiro; porém, ao se considerar apenas as áreas cultivadas com café, foi verificado que os municípios de Boa Esperança e Cristais não diferem entre si.The objective of this work was to delimitate favorable areas to the coffee agroecosystem, in four municipalities of Minas Gerais State, Brazil, using the analytical hierarchical process (AHP). An arithmetic pondering function was obtained, based on the favorability premises to coffee crop production, with regard to the following variables: soil, slope, slope aspect, altimetry, and areas that should be under permanent protection. This function allowed to combine the adequate conditions to coffee crop cultivation and gave emphasis to the most favorable areas. It was observed that all four municipalities were different in terms of their favorability to the coffee agroecosystem; however, when considering only the coffee cultivated areas, it was observed that the municipalities of Boa Esperança and Cristais were not significantly different

Diagnóstico físico-ambiental da cafeicultura no Estado de Minas Gerais – Brasil

The State of Minas Gerais is the major coffee producer in Brazil. The crop is spread over different environments as wellas different management systems. Knowledge about environmental variables helps to establish and define appropriate managementpractices for the coffee crop. The objective of this study was to access spatially and quantitatively the occupation of coffee crop in MinasGerais and to elaborate a land use model for coffee crop in the state taking into account variables such as soil type, altitude, slope andaspect. We have used remote sensing data to map coffee areas and to derive relief data (altitude, slope and aspect). The relief data anda digital soil map were overlapped with the coffee area map in order to access the prevailing relationships. We have also consideredthe most favorable classes of each theme to determine the most suitable environment for coffee crop. Results show that the crop isdistributed within altitudes varying from 500 to 1.200 m. There are coffee fields in all classes of slope but slopes up to 15%predominate. The aspect does not seem to influence the occurrence of coffee since the proportions of coffee fields are about the samein all classes. However, we have found a slightly smaller proportion of coffee placed in west-facing slopes. In relation to soil types,Latossolos and Argissolos are the most occupied with coffee, that is, up to 80% of coffee fields are placed in those soils. About 70%of coffee fields are spread in appropriate environments over the best classes of soil, altitude, slope and aspect.O estado de Minas Gerais é o maior produtor de café no Brasil, onde a cultura está distribuída sob diferentes condiçõesde ambiente e cultivo. O conhecimento de variáveis ambientais favorece a implantação e definição do tipo de manejo adequado aocultivo do café. Objetivou-se, neste trabalho, avaliar em termos espaciais e quantitativos a ocupação da cafeicultura em Minas Geraise propor um modelo de ocupação das áreas cafeeiras com relação às variáveis do meio físico: altimetria, declividade, orientação devertentes e solos. Utilizaram-se dados de sensoriamento remoto para mapear o café e para derivar os dados de altimetria, declividadee orientação de vertentes. Os mapas gerados, juntamente com um mapa de solos, foram sobrepostos ao mapa de áreas cafeeiras,utilizando-se operadores estatísticos zonais para espacialização do café em relação a estes temas. As classes mais favoráveis ao cultivodo cafeeiro foram consideradas para definição de um ambiente mais apto à cultura. Os resultados demonstram que o parque cafeeiroestá distribuído em altitudes variando entre 500 e 1.200 m. São encontradas lavouras em praticamente todas as faixas de declividade,porém há um predomínio de lavouras em declividades entre 5 e 15%.A orientação de vertentes não parece influenciar na distribuiçãoespacial das lavouras de café uma vez que a proporção de lavouras é parecida em todas as classes de orientação. No entanto, aproporção de lavouras em faces orientadas a oeste é ligeiramente inferior. Com relação ao tipo de solo foi observado que 80% doscafezais encontra-se em Latossolos e Argissolos. Cerca de 70% do parque cafeeiro distribui-se adequadamente quando todas asvariáveis são analisadas simultaneamente, ou seja, sob condições favoráveis de altimetria, declividade, orientação de vertentes e solo

Post-intervention Status in Patients With Refractory Myasthenia Gravis Treated With Eculizumab During REGAIN and Its Open-Label Extension

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether eculizumab helps patients with anti-acetylcholine receptor-positive (AChR+) refractory generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG) achieve the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America (MGFA) post-intervention status of minimal manifestations (MM), we assessed patients' status throughout REGAIN (Safety and Efficacy of Eculizumab in AChR+ Refractory Generalized Myasthenia Gravis) and its open-label extension. METHODS: Patients who completed the REGAIN randomized controlled trial and continued into the open-label extension were included in this tertiary endpoint analysis. Patients were assessed for the MGFA post-intervention status of improved, unchanged, worse, MM, and pharmacologic remission at defined time points during REGAIN and through week 130 of the open-label study. RESULTS: A total of 117 patients completed REGAIN and continued into the open-label study (eculizumab/eculizumab: 56; placebo/eculizumab: 61). At week 26 of REGAIN, more eculizumab-treated patients than placebo-treated patients achieved a status of improved (60.7% vs 41.7%) or MM (25.0% vs 13.3%; common OR: 2.3; 95% CI: 1.1-4.5). After 130 weeks of eculizumab treatment, 88.0% of patients achieved improved status and 57.3% of patients achieved MM status. The safety profile of eculizumab was consistent with its known profile and no new safety signals were detected. CONCLUSION: Eculizumab led to rapid and sustained achievement of MM in patients with AChR+ refractory gMG. These findings support the use of eculizumab in this previously difficult-to-treat patient population. CLINICALTRIALSGOV IDENTIFIER: REGAIN, NCT01997229; REGAIN open-label extension, NCT02301624. CLASSIFICATION OF EVIDENCE: This study provides Class II evidence that, after 26 weeks of eculizumab treatment, 25.0% of adults with AChR+ refractory gMG achieved MM, compared with 13.3% who received placebo

Minimal Symptom Expression' in Patients With Acetylcholine Receptor Antibody-Positive Refractory Generalized Myasthenia Gravis Treated With Eculizumab

The efficacy and tolerability of eculizumab were assessed in REGAIN, a 26-week, phase 3, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study in anti-acetylcholine receptor antibody-positive (AChR+) refractory generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG), and its open-label extension