Growth of seven perennial plant species adapted to the Brazilian Semi-Arid.

Growth of seven perennial plant species adapted to the Brazilian Semi-Arid. Abstract - Measuring plant height (y) and canopy diameter (x) in trees may not be an easy task, but stem diameter (z) can be more easily evaluated. This work's objective was two-fold: evaluate the growth of species adapted to the Brazilian Semi-Arid Region in the first two years of age, and obtain linear equations to estimate y and x from z, in those species. A random block design with four replications was employed. The values for x, z, and y were measured biannually from October/2003 to March/2005. Prosopis juliflora and Mimosa caesalpiniaefolia showed the highest stem diameter and plant height values, respectively, and both showed the highest canopy diameter. In the equations to estimate plant height from the stem diameter the value of the coefficient of determination (R2) ranged from 0.76 (Tamarindus indica and Leucaena leucocephala) to 0.92 (Prosopis juliflora and Azadirachta indica). In the equations that allowed to estimate the crown diameter from the stem diameter the R2 value ranged from 0.70 (Leucaena leucocephala) to 0.92 (Azadirachta indica). Crescimento de sete espécies vegetais perenes adaptadas ao Semi-Árido brasileiro. Resumo - A mensuração da altura da planta (y) e do diâmetro da copa (x) em árvores pode não ser tarefa fácil, mas o diâmetro do caule (z) pode ser avaliado mais facilmente. Este trabalho teve por objetivos avaliar o crescimento de espécies adaptadas ao Semi-Árido brasileiro, nos primeiros dois anos de idade, e obter equações lineares para estimar y e x a partir de z, nessas espécies. Utilizou-se o delineamento de blocos ao acaso com quatro repetições. Os valores de x, z e y foram medidos semestralmente de outubro/2003 a março/2005. Prosopis juliflora e Mimosa caesalpiniaefolia apresentaram os maiores diâmetros do caule e altura da planta, respectivamente, e ambas apresentaram o maior diâmetro da copa. Nas equações para estimar a altura da planta a partir do diâmetro do caule, o valor do coeficiente de determinação (R2) variou de 0,76 (Tamarindus indica and Leucaena leucocephala) a 0,92 (Prosopis juliflora and Azadirachta indica). Nas equações que permitiram estimar o diâmetro da copa a partir do diâmetro do caule, o valor de R2 variou de 0,70 (Leucaena leucocephala) a 0,92 (Azadirachta indica)

The effect of spatial resolution on optical and near-IR studies of stellar clusters: Implications for the origin of the red excess

Recent ground based near-IR studies of stellar clusters in nearby galaxies have suggested that young clusters remain embedded for 7-10Myr in their progenitor molecular cloud, in conflict with optical based studies which find that clusters are exposed after 1-3Myr. Here, we investigate the role that spatial resolution plays in this apparent conflict. We use a recent catalogue of young ($5000$~\msun) clusters in the nearby spiral galaxy, M83, along with Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging in the optical and near-IR, and ground based near-IR imaging, to see how the colours (and hence estimated properties such as age and extinction) are affected by the aperture size employed, in order to simulate studies of differing resolution. We find that the near-IR is heavily affected by the resolution, and when aperture sizes $>40$~pc are used, all young/blue clusters move red-ward in colour space, which results in their appearance as heavily extincted clusters. However, this is due to contamination from nearby sources and nebular emission, and is not an extinction effect. Optical colours are much less affected by resolution. Due to the larger affect of contamination in the near-IR, we find that, in some cases, clusters will appear to show near-IR excess when large ($>20$~pc) apertures are used. Our results explain why few young ($<6$~Myr), low extinction (\av < 1~mag) clusters have been found in recent ground based near-IR studies of cluster populations, while many such clusters have been found in higher resolution HST based studies. Additionally, resolution effects appear to (at least partially) explain the origin of the near-IR excess that has been found in a number of extragalactic YMCs.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

Effect of weed control in corn with cowpea intercropping on soil chemical characteristics.

Weeds interfere with nutrient absorption by crops. Therefore, there has been interest in knowing the effects of weeds on soil chemical characteristics, aiming at better fertilization management in order to save fertilizers and reduce pollution problems. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effects of weed control on soil pH and soil Ca, Mg, K, Na, P, and SB contents (sum of bases), when the soil is cultivated with corn. The experiment was conducted as random blocks with 5 replicates and split-plots. Four cultivars (BA 8512, BA 9012, EX 4001 and EX 6004) were grown with weed control (two hoeing operations, or intercropped with cowpea, Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.) or without weed control. The weed control measures were assigned to subplots, while cultivars were assigned to plots. Ten weed species predominated in the experiment. The weeding operations increased P content, but reduced S content, while the lack of weed control increased pH (in water). These effects were independent from the cultivars evaluated, which were not different with regard to their effects on soil characteristics

Divergência genético-morfológica entre acessos de feijão caupi de porte semi-ereto e ereto.

O estudo da divergência é essencial para o melhoramento vegetal, pois possibilita a quantificação da variabilidade genética..

Estimativas de parâmetros genéticos de linhagens de feijão-caupi da subclasse comercial fradinho.

O feijão-caupi, feijão-de-corda ou feijão macassar (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.) tem grande importância econômica e social para a região Nordeste do Brasil, uma vez que é um dos alimentos básicos das populações de baixa renda dessa região (Lima 2011). Assim, objetivou-se objetivo estimar os parâmetros genéticos de linhagens de feijão-caupi tipo fradinho de acordo com os caracteres agronômicos e inferir sobre a possibilidade de ganhos com a seleção. O ensaio foi conduzido na Embrapa Meio-Norte, Teresina, Piauí. O delineamento experimental adotado foi o do Blocos Aumentados de Federer, com cindo blocos. Foram avaliados os seguintes caracteres quantitativos: peso de vagem (PV), número de grãos por vagem (NGV), peso de grãos por vagem (PGV), peso de cem grãos (P100G), produção (PROD), comprimento de vagem (CV), comprimento do folíolo terminal (CFT), largura do folíolo terminal (LFT). As estimativas da herdabilidade foram maiores para PV e P100G, 97,17% e 82,56%, respectivamente. A estimativa do coeficiente de variância genética se mostrou superior para a característica PV (85%), indicando eficiência na seleção em relação a esse caráter. Enfim, a existência de variabilidade genética entre linhagens referente aos caracteres PV e P100G, detectada por meio de parâmetros genéticos, enfatiza a possibilidade de ganhos genéticos substanciais para esses caracteres

The age of data-driven proteomics : how machine learning enables novel workflows

A lot of energy in the field of proteomics is dedicated to the application of challenging experimental workflows, which include metaproteomics, proteogenomics, data independent acquisition (DIA), non-specific proteolysis, immunopeptidomics, and open modification searches. These workflows are all challenging because of ambiguity in the identification stage; they either expand the search space and thus increase the ambiguity of identifications, or, in the case of DIA, they generate data that is inherently more ambiguous. In this context, machine learning-based predictive models are now generating considerable excitement in the field of proteomics because these predictive models hold great potential to drastically reduce the ambiguity in the identification process of the above-mentioned workflows. Indeed, the field has already produced classical machine learning and deep learning models to predict almost every aspect of a liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) experiment. Yet despite all the excitement, thorough integration of predictive models in these challenging LC-MS workflows is still limited, and further improvements to the modeling and validation procedures can still be made. In this viewpoint we therefore point out highly promising recent machine learning developments in proteomics, alongside some of the remaining challenges

Displaying desire and distinction in housing

The article discusses the significance of cultural capital for the understanding of the field of housing in contemporary Britain. It explores the relationship between housing and the position of individuals in social space mapped out by means of a multiple correspondence analysis. It considers the material aspects of housing and the changing contexts that are linked to the creation and display of desire for social position and distinction expressed in talk about home decoration as personal expression and individuals' ideas of a `dream house'. It is based on an empirical investigation of taste and lifestyle using nationally representative survey data and qualitative interviews. The article shows both that personal resources and the imagination of home are linked to levels of cultural capital, and that rich methods of investigation are required to grasp the significance of these normally invisible assets to broaden the academic understanding of the field of housing in contemporary culture

The generator coordinate method in time-dependent density-functional theory: memory made simple

The generator coordinate (GC) method is a variational approach to the quantum many-body problem in which interacting many-body wave functions are constructed as superpositions of (generally nonorthogonal) eigenstates of auxiliary Hamiltonians containing a deformation parameter. This paper presents a time-dependent extension of the GC method as a new approach to improve existing approximations of the exchange-correlation (XC) potential in time-dependent density-functional theory (TDDFT). The time-dependent GC method is shown to be a conceptually and computationally simple tool to build memory effects into any existing adiabatic XC potential. As an illustration, the method is applied to driven parametric oscillations of two interacting electrons in a harmonic potential (Hooke's atom). It is demonstrated that a proper choice of time-dependent generator coordinates in conjunction with the adiabatic local-density approximation reproduces the exact linear and nonlinear two-electron dynamics quite accurately, including features associated with double excitations that cannot be captured by TDDFT in the adiabatic approximation.Comment: 10 pages, 13 figure

Estimativas de parâmetros genéticos em linhagens de feijão-caupi nos municípios de Balsas, MA e Primavera do Leste, MT.

Atualmente, o cultivo de feijão-caupi (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp) no Brasil se concentra nas regiões Norte e Nordeste ganhando expansão para a região Centro-Oeste, em consequência do desenvolvimento de cultivares com características que favorecem o cultivo mecanizado. O objetivo deste trabalho foi estimar parâmetros genéticos para a produtividade de grãos em linhagens de feijão-caupi avaliadas em dois ensaios preliminares instalados no município de Balsas, MA e em Primavera do Leste, MT, no ano agrícola de 2009. O teste F revelou que houve diferença significativa entre as linhagens avaliadas em Primavera do Leste. O coeficiente de variação entre os dois locais foi 22,42% e 26,57% para Primavera do Leste e Balsas, respectivamente. O coeficiente de variação genético apresentado para produtividade de grãos em Primavera do Leste (27,25 %) confirma que o caráter para este local mostrou maior variabilidade. A relação CVg/CVe mostra que a seleção em relação ao caráter produção de grãos é facilitada em Primavera do Leste. A análise de variância conjunta para produtividade de grãos entre os dois locais indica que não houve variabilidade genética entre as linhagens em relação aos dois locais experimentais, ou seja, elas não se comportaram diferentemente em relação às variações ambientais. As linhagens avaliadas em Primavera do Leste apresentaram maior variabilidade genética, facilitando a seleção para o caráter produtividade de grãos.CONAC 2012. Disponível em: http://www.conac2012.org/resumos/pdf/132a.pdf. Acesso em: 22 jul. 2013