Traffic control with autopilot as an alternative to decrease soil compaction in sugarcane areas

Control the machinery traffic through autopilot and use the combined spacing of two rows are possible solutions to mitigate soil compaction problems. The objective of this study was to evaluate traffic control using autopilot in order to soften the problem of soil compaction in mechanically-harvested sugarcane areas. The study was conducted in two experimental areas belonging to Usina Santa Fe, in New Europe, São Paulo, Brazil. The design was a randomized block design, with 3 treatments: T1 = sugarcane planted in single spacing and without autopilot (1.50 m); T2 = sugarcane planted in single line spacing and managed on autopilot; T3 = sugarcane planted under combined spacing of two rows (1.50 × 0.90 m) and managed with autopilot, with 4 replications. Was collected samples in the wheel row (WR) and the seedbed (SB), which was located next to the plant row to, in layers from 0.00 to 0.15 and 0.15-0.30 m. It was observed that the seed bed area showed higher porosity in the treatments with autopilot in the second year of evaluation. There were no differences in pore sizes and shapes between the treatments in the two years studied. The large and complex pores were observed to be reduced in the second evaluation year.The authors thank the Foundation for Research Support of the State of São Paulo (FAPESP) for funding the research, through projects linked to the processes 2012 / 21094-0 and 2012 / 144-6

The antiapoptotic effect of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor reduces infarct size and prevents heart failure development in rats

Background/Aim. Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) reduces myocardial injury and improves cardiac function after myocardial infarction (MI). We investigated the early alterations provided by G-CSF and the chronic repercussions in infarcted rats. Methods. Male Wistar rats (200-250g) received vehicle (MI) or G-CSF (MI-GCSF) (50 mu g/kg, sc) at 7, 3 and 1 days before MI surgery. Afterwards MI was produced and infarct size was measured 1 and 15 days after surgery. Expression of anti-and proapoptotic proteins was evaluated immediately before surgery. 24 hours after surgery, apoptotic nuclei were evaluated. Two weeks after MI, left ventricular (LV) function was evaluated, followed by in situ LV diastolic pressure-volume evaluation. Results. Infarct size was decreased by 1 day pretreatment before occlusion (36 +/- 2.8 vs. 44 +/- 2.1% in MI; P<0.05) and remained reduced at 15 days after infarction (28 +/- 2.2 vs. 36 +/- 1.4% in MI; P<0.05). G-CSF pretreatment increased Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL protein expression, but did not alter Bax in LV. Apoptotic nuclei were reduced by treatment (Sham: 0.46 +/- 0.42, MI: 15.5 +/- 2.43, MI-GCSF: 5.34 +/- 3.34%; P<0.05). Fifteen days after MI, cardiac function remained preserved in G-CSF pretreated rats. The LV dilation was reduced in MI-G-CSF group as compared to MI rats, being closely associated with infarct size. Conclusion. The early beneficial effects of G-CSF were essentials to preserve cardiac function at a chronic stage of myocardial infarction2813340CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQFUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO - FAPESPsem informaçã

The role of maternal infection in preterm birth: evidence from the Brazilian Multicentre Study on Preterm Birth (EMIP)

OBJECTIVES: Evidence suggests that infection or inflammation is a major contributor to early spontaneous preterm birth (sPTB). Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the development and causes of maternal infection associated with maternal and neonatal outcomes in women with sPTB. METHODS: This was a secondary analysis of a multicenter cross-sectional study with a nested case–control component, the Brazilian Multicentre Study on Preterm Birth (EMIP), conducted from April 2011 to July 2012 in 20 Brazilian referral obstetric hospitals. Women with preterm birth (PTB) and their neonates were enrolled. In this analysis, 2,682 women undergoing spontaneous preterm labor and premature pre-labor rupture of membranes were included. Two groups were identified based on self-reports or prenatal or hospital records: women with at least one infection factor and women without any maternal infection (vulvovaginitis, urinary tract infection, or dental infection). A bivariate analysis was performed to identify potential individual risk factors for PTB. The odds ratios (ORs) with their respective 95% confidence intervals were calculated. RESULTS: The majority of women with sPTB fulfilled at least one criterion for the identification of maternal infection (65.9%), and more than half reported having urinary tract infection during pregnancy. Approximately 9.6% of women with PTB and maternal infection were classified as having periodontal infection only. Apart from the presence of a partner, which was more common among women with infectious diseases (p=0.026; OR, 1.28 [1.03–1.59]), other variables did not show any significant difference between groups. CONCLUSION: Maternal infection was highly prevalent in all cases of sPTBs, although it was not clearly associated with the type of PTB, gestational age, or any adverse neonatal outcomes

Performance and Energy Trade-Offs for Parallel Applications on Heterogeneous Multi-Processing Systems

This work proposes a methodology to find performance and energy trade-offs for parallel applications running on Heterogeneous Multi-Processing systems with a single instruction-set architecture. These offer flexibility in the form of different core types and voltage and frequency pairings, defining a vast design space to explore. Therefore, for a given application, choosing a configuration that optimizes the performance and energy consumption is not straightforward. Our method proposes novel analytical models for performance and power consumption whose parameters can be fitted using only a few strategically sampled offline measurements. These models are then used to estimate an application&rsquo;s performance and energy consumption for the whole configuration space. In turn, these offline predictions define the choice of estimated Pareto-optimal configurations of the model, which are used to inform the selection of the configuration that the application should be executed on. The methodology was validated on an ODROID-XU3 board for eight programs from the PARSEC Benchmark, Phoronix Test Suite and Rodinia applications. The generated Pareto-optimal configuration space represented a 99% reduction of the universe of all available configurations. Energy savings of up to 59.77%, 61.38% and 17.7% were observed when compared to the performance, ondemand and powersave Linux governors, respectively, with higher or similar performance

Tympanic paragangliomas: case reports

Glomus tumors, also called paragangliomas, originate from nonchromaffin cells. The tumor is typically vascular and grows from capillary and pre-capillary vessels in-between epithelial cells. It is worth mentioning that the most common symptoms are pulsating tinnitus and hearing loss. Imaging studies (CT and MRI) are necessary for diagnosis. This paper shows five patients seen at the Hospital between 1995 and 2001 presenting glomus tympanicum. Women were most commonly affected, and the age ranged from 48 to 60 years (mean age of 50 years). The most common complaints were pulsating tinnitus and hearing loss. All patients were treated surgically.Os tumores glômicos, também chamados de paragangliomas, são formados por células não cromafins. O tumor é tipicamente vascular formado por vasos capilares e pré-capilares, interposto por células epiteliais. Para a sua abordagem inicial, deve-se ressaltar que os sintomas mais comumentes encontrados são o zumbido pulsátil e hipoacusia. A investigação através de imagem (tomografia computadorizada e ressonância magnética) se faz necessária. Apresentaremos neste trabalho 5 pacientes portadores de paragangliomas timpânicos atendidos no Hospital (de 1995 a 2001). O sexo predominante foi o feminino, a idade variou de 48 a 60 anos, com média de 50 anos. A queixa predominante foi o zumbido pulsátil e a hipoacusia. A conduta foi cirúrgica em todos os casos.Hospital Paulista de OtorrinolaringologiaUNIFESP-EPMUNIFESP, EPMSciEL

Acerca de uma leitura geopolítica das relações entre Portugal e o Atlântico

O artigo pretende traçar uma breve perspectiva geopolítica da relação entre Portugal e o oceano Atlântico. Essa relação, embora sempre presente e importante, variou ao longo da nossa histó- ria. O autor, depois de tentar sumariamente caracterizar essas variações, analisa simplificadamente aquela relação no actual contexto do sistema global das relações internacionais. Dessa análise retira argumentos para afirmar que na ligação com o Atlântico poderão de novo ser encontradas as soluções mais adequadas para os nossos actuais problemas do desenvolvimento e da afirmação internacional, através da possível e desejável futura assumpção por Portugal de um papel de entreposto de importantes fluxos nas relações transatlânticas, em que as luso-brasileiras e as com a CPLP deverão desempenhar um papel centra

O contributo da articulação entre a família e o jardim de infância para o desenvolvimento da literacia emergente

O presente trabalho enquadra-se na realização do relatório final de Mestrado em Educação Pré-Escolar (EPE) e Ensino do 1.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico (1.º CEB) e tem como tema “O contributo da articulação entre a família e o jardim de infância no desenvolvimento da literacia emergente”. Este relatório final é o reflexo do percurso efetuado em contexto do referido Mestrado. Este relatório encontra-se estruturado em duas partes, sendo que a primeira se inicia com uma reflexão sobre as práticas em contexto de Prática de Ensino Supervisionada (PES) relativas aos semestres da PES II e PES III. Na segunda parte, é apresentado o trabalho de investigação. Com o intuito de perceber o contributo da família e do jardim de infância no desenvolvimento da literacia emergente foi realizada uma investigação de caráter quantitativo, utilizando o questionário direcionado aos educadores e pais/encarregados de educação de um agrupamento de escolas da cidade de Viseu. A análise dos dados recolhidos revelou que as educadoras de infância e os pais/encarregados de educação dizem promover atividades literácitas conducentes à articulação entre ambos os contextos: família e o jardim de infância. Os resultados obtidos permitiram concluir que existe articulação entre a família e as educadoras de infância de um agrupamento de escolas de Viseu, contribuindo para o desenvolvimento da literacia emergente. Assim, a família e o jardim de infância, contextos privilegiados e enriquecedores de literacia, podem contribuir de forma decisiva para o desenvolvimento da literacia emergente na criança.Abstract This work is part of the completion of the final report of Master in Pre-School Education (EPE) and education of the 1st cycle of basic education (1st CEB) and has as its theme "The contribution of the relationship between the family and kindergarten in the development of emergent literacy" This final report is a reflection of the journey effected in the said Master context. This report is structured in two parts, the first of which begins with a reflection on the practice Practice context Supervised Teaching (PES) for the six months of PES PES II and III. In the second part, the research work is presented. In order to realize the contribution of family and kindergarten in the development of emergent literacy one character quantitative research was carried out using a questionnaire directed to educators and parents / guardians of a group of Viseu of city schools. The analysis of the data collected revealed childhood educators and parents / guardians say promote activities leading to the linkage between the two contexts: family and kindergarten. The results showed that there is coordination between the family and the kindergarten teachers of a school group of Viseu, contributing to the development of emergent literacy. So the family and kindergarten, privileged and enriching contexts of literacy, can contribute decisively to the development of emergent literacy in children