Ocorrência e controle da lesma Omalonyx sp. (Gastropoda: Succineidae), praga de capim-elefante (Pennisetum purpureum) em Manaus, Amazonas.

Neste trabalho descreveu-se a ocorrência atípica de Omalonyx sp. como praga em capim-elefante (Pennisetum purpureum), em habitat de terra firme, em Manaus-AM e sugere-se uma alternativa para o seu controle

Estudo da herança da resistência a brusone em duas cultivares de arroz (Oryza sativa).

O objetivo do presente trabalho foi de identificar o número de alelos envolvidos na expressão da resistência qualitativa à brusone nas folhas nas cultivares Cica-8 e Metica-1.Conpeex 2010

Innovation reliability and variability strategies: the importance of absorptive capacity on systemic outcomes

The role of absorptive capacity (AC) has been widely recognized in the innovation literature. This study examines the predictive role of AC for business performance, and evaluates the mediation of market orientation (responsive-proactive) and innovation competences orientation (exploitation-exploration) in that relationship. It addresses the gap in the literature on the relative importance of innovation competence orientations versus market orientations. The findings show that innovation competence orientations are more important to business performance than market orientations and that innovation competences are better enhanced by AC than by market orientations. AC is not only confirmed as an antecedent of ambidextrous market and innovation competence orientation, but it also helps directly and indirectly to explain business performance. Responsive market orientation and innovation competence orientation mediate the positive relationship between AC and business performance. The intensity and significance of the indirect effects reveal the specific knowledge-transformative roles of market and innovation competences orientations. Firms seem to mitigate uncertainty by adjusting their preferences toward less risky innovation strategies. Managerial implications highlight the relevance of innovation competences orientation versus market orientation. Furthermore, firms seem to use proactive market orientation ineffectively, a finding that signals a structural marketing handicap.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Fostering knowledge creation to improve performance: the mediation role of manufacturing flexibility

Purpose This study examines the mediating role of manufacturing flexibility in the relationship between knowledge creation, technological turbulence, and performance. In an increasingly competitive and changing environment, firms need to boost their technological and management know-how to adequately develop manufacturing flexibility. Design/methodology/approach The study analyzes survey data collected from 370 manufacturing firms. Validity and reliability analyses were conducted using SPSS and Amos. The research hypotheses were tested using covariance-based structural equation modeling. Findings The main findings show that knowledge creation positively and significantly affects business and operational performances directly, and indirectly, through manufacturing flexibility. Moreover, technological turbulence has a positive and significant effect on it. This finding contributes to understanding why some firms get better outcomes from manufacturing flexibility than others, a disputed issue in the literature. Practical implications This study highlights the need for manufacturing firms to foster cultures of knowledge creation, to better educate and train employees, and to develop other instruments of knowledge creation. Originality/value This study makes several contributions to manufacturing flexibility literature: (i) establishing a link between technological turbulence and knowledge creation develop manufacturing flexibility; (ii) add empirical evidence on the relation between manufacturing flexibility and performance; (iii) contributes to consolidating the mediation role of manufacturing flexibility in the relations between knowledge creation and business performance, as studies focusing on such a role are scarce in the literature.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Baixas reservas energéticas corporais estão associadas à susceptibilidade ao jejum da espécie Glossophaga soricina

Morcegos nectarívoros que ocorrem na região Neotropical consomem grandes quantidades de carboidratos, e usam a energia obtida da dieta diretamente, a partir da glicose na circulação sanguínea. Esta adaptação sugere que morcegos nectarívoros tenham evoluído no sentido de apresentar adaptações fisiológicas que permitam o baixo armazenamento de reservas energéticas corporais. Nós testamos a hipótese de que morcegos Glossophaga soricina poupam o gasto energético envolvido com a formação de reservas energéticas teciduais, mesmo que isso represente uma arriscada suscetibilidade da espécie frente ao jejum. As concentrações de glicose apresentaram uma diminuição de 40% após 18 h de jejum. As concentrações de lipídios do músculo peitoral e do tecido adiposo, bem como as de ácidos graxos da carcaça e glicogênio hepático também diminuíram após 18 h de jejum. A incapacidade de manter a normoglicemia observada após o jejum de curto-prazo confirma que morcegos nectarívoros desta espécie não investem na formação de reservas energéticas, e apresentam, consequentemente, uma severa susceptibilidade ao jejum. Este estudo suporta a hipótese de que adaptações evolucionárias da espécie envolvem diminuição da massa corporal, reduzindo o custo energético do voo e aumentado o tempo de forrageamento.Neotropical nectar-feeding bats consume large amounts of sugar and use most of their energy-rich diet directly from the bloodstream, suggesting an adaptation towards lower body energy reserves. Here we tested the hypothesis that bats Glossophaga soricina spare the energy costs of storing energy reserves, even if this would represent a risky susceptibility during fasting. Blood glucose concentrations in 18 h fasted bats showed a 40% decrease. Breast muscle and adipose tissue lipids, as well as carcass fatty acids and liver glycogen, were also decreased following fasting. The inability to keep normoglycemia following a short-term fasting (i.e. 28 h) confirm that nectar bats invest little on storing energy reserves and show a severe fasting susceptibility associated to this pattern. Our study also support the general hypothesis that evolutionary specializations towards nectar diets involve adaptations to allow a decreased body mass, which reduces the energy costs of flight while increases foraging time

Effects of absorptive capacity and innovation spillover on manufacturing flexibility

Shifting demand and ever-shorter production cycles pressure manufacturing flexibility. Although the literature has established the positive effect of the firm’s absorptive capacity on manufacturing flexibility, the separate role of the innovation competencies of exploitation and exploration in such a relationship is still under-investigated. In this study, we examine how these competencies affect manufacturing flexibility. We use survey data from 370 manufacturing firms and analyze them using covariance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM). The results indicate that absorptive capacity has a strong, positive, and direct effect on exploitative and exploratory innovation competencies, proactive and responsive market orientations, and manufacturing flexibility. Our findings also demonstrate that the exploratory innovation competencies mediate the relation between responsive market orientation and manufacturing flexibility. Essentially, these exploitative innovation competencies produce a direct positive effect on manufacturing flexibility while simultaneously being a vehicle for absorptive capacity’s indirect effects on it. An exploration innovation strategy does not significantly affect manufacturing flexibility. This study contributes by combining key strategic features of firms with manufacturing flexibility, while providing new empirical evidence of the mediation of the exploratory innovation competencies in the relation between responsive market orientation and manufacturing flexibility.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Constraints of a pulsation frequency on stellar parameters in the eclipsing spectroscopic binary system: V577 Oph

We present a preliminary spectroscopic analysis of the binary system V577Oph, observed during the summer of 2007 on the 2.6m NOT telescope on La Palma. We have obtained time series spectroscopic observations, which show clear binary motion as well as radial velocity variations due to pulsation in the primary star. By modelling the radial velocities we determine a full orbital solution of the system, which yields M_A sin^3 i = 1.562 +/- 0.012 M_solar and M_B sin^3 i = 1.461 +/- 0.020 M_solar. An estimate of inclination from photometry yields a primary mass of 1.6 M_solar. Using this derived mass, and the known pulsation frequency we can impose a lower limit of 1 Gyr on the age of the system, and constrain the parameters of the oscillation mode. We show that with further analysis of the spectra (extracting the atmospheric parameters), tighter constraints could be imposed on the age, metallicity and the mode parameters. This work emphasizes the power that a single pulsation frequency can have for constraining stellar parameters in an eclipsing binary system.Comment: Accepted by A

Some observations on asymmetrical separation in thermal diffusion columns

Data have been obtained in steady-state batch operated thermogravitational separation columns using different binary mixtures to test the theory recently published by Morgado et al. The experimental results confirm that separations by thermal diffusion are asymmetrical except when the initial concentration is 0.5 and that the asymmetry is larger as the initial concentration deviates from 0.5 and as the separation potential increases