Are uranium-contaminated soil and irrigation water a risk for human vegetable consumers? A study case with Solanum tuberosum L., Phaseolus vulgaris L. and Lactuca sativa L.

The knowledge of uranium concentration, in the products entering the human diet is of extreme importance because of their chemical hazard to health. Controlled field experiments with potatoes, beans and lettuce (Solanum tuberosum L., Phaseolus vulgaris L. and Lactuca sativa L.) were carried out in a contaminated soil used by local farmers located near a closed Portuguese uranium mine (Cunha Baixa, Mangualde). The soil with high average uranium levels (64–252 mg/kg) was divided in two plots, and irrigated with non-contaminated and uranium-contaminated water (\20 and [900 lg/L). Uranium maximum average concentration in the edible vegetables parts (mg/kg fresh weight) ranged in the following order: lettuce (234 lg/kg)[green bean (30 lg/kg)[potatoes without peel (4 lg/kg). Although uranium in soil, irrigation water and vegetables was high, the assessment of the health risk based on hazard quotient indicates that consumption of these vegetables does not represent potential adverse (no carcinogenic) effects for a local inhabitant during lifetime

Exogenous Influences on the Growth Dynamics of High Quality Timber Species from the Amazon .

In this study special attend was given to the important species for high quality wood production Swietenia macrophylla, Carapa guianensis, and Cedrela odorata (Meliaceae)

Records of new localities and hosts for crustacean parasites in fish from the eastern Amazon in northern Brazil.

The aim of this study was to investigate parasites crustacean fauna in Arapaima gigas, Cichla monoculus, Cichla ocellaris, Cichla jariina, Satanoperca jurupari, Leporinus friderici, Leporinus fasciatus, Hoplias malabaricus, Phractocephalus hemioliopterus, Serrasalmus altispinis, Pseudoplatystoma tigrinum and Potamotrygon motoro of the State Amapa´ and Para´, in northern Brazil. A total of 242 parasites, including Argulus elongatus, Argulus multicolor, Argulus juparanaensis, Argulus nattereri, Dolops discoidalis, Dolops longicauda, Braga patagonica, Braga fluviatilis, Livoneca guianensis and undetermined Lernaeidae, were collected from these hosts. The Argulus species had the greatest richness among the community of parasitic crustaceans. There was a low abundance of parasites among the hosts, other than D. discoidalis, was most abundant in the integument of A. gigas and P. tigrinum. Finally, the present study reported nine new hosts for the crustacean parasite species and expanded knowledge of the occurrence of some parasite species in the Jari River basin, in eastern Amazon

Exogenous influences of the growth dynamics of plantation growth tree species of the central Amazon.

Study on the important species (mogno, andiroba, cedro) for high quality wood production. During six years of experiments the influence of light, of the mineral element supply of the soil, and of the water supply on the growth dynamics of the trees was studied in a monoculture and an enrichment plantation installed at the Research Station of the Embrapa Amazonia Ocidental (Manaus-AM-Brasil). It was that the site preparation and the plantation management had a significant influence on the light conditions, the nutrient supply, and the water supply of the plantation. In comparison in the enrichment plantation the photoactive radiation (PAR) was strongly reduced, whereas the nutrient supply of the soil was better balanced and the seasonal oscillation of the water supply of the trees was reduced compared to the monoculture

Correlação entre heterose e divergência genética em genótipos de maracujá amarelo.

Este trabalho avaliou a heterose de híbridos de maracujá amarelo, obtidos por cruzamentos dialélicos entre genótipos divergentes e a sua correlação com a distância genética obtida por meio de marcadores ISSR (Inter Simple Sequence Repeats). Os trinta híbridos resultantes do dialelo parcial apresentaram diferenças significativas para as variáveis: número de frutos (NF), peso do fruto (PF), produtividade (PROD), rendimento (REND) e sólidos solúveis totais (SST). Apenas a variável número de frutos apresentou efeitos aditivos no controle genético. Não foi observada correlação significativa pela estatística de Mantel entre distância genética vs heterose, capacidade específica de combinação e a média para as características analisadas, o que não permite predizer o comportamento dos híbridos de maracujazeiro