The Effect of Physical Application Parameters on Herbicide Efficacy and Droplet Size.

One of the largest challenges in agriculture is weed management. Improper or sub-optimal application techniques can cause decreased weed control and increased environmental contamination. Effective weed management is highly correlated with the product and the application method. Herbicide performance are affected by environmental conditions; they influence the physiology and growth of a plant and as well the herbicide performance. Among all environmental factors, rain shortly after herbicide application is one of the most harmful issues to the performance of the herbicide. Droplet size is a key factor in pesticide applications in regards to both drift and efficacy. Droplet size can be altered by several application parameters, such as the nozzle type, pressure, orifice size and spray solution. Droplet size is a key component in pesticide application with respect to overall application efficacy and off-target movement. As tank mix ingredients can significantly influence the resulting droplet size, agitation systems are critical to ensuring proper mixing of all components and overall performance. Sitting time, a period where the tank is held in a non-agitated state, potentially affects droplet size as well. The objectives of this research were: 1) understand the influence of nozzle spacing, boom height, nozzle type, on weed control, also expand the scientific knowledge on aforementioned parameters. 2) Evaluate the effect of rainfall after herbicide application on weed control, following certain intervals in order to understand the wash off effect. 3) Analyze the impact of nozzle type, application speed and pressure on weed control, in order to contribute to a more reliable recommendation of such parameters. This research highlights the impact of parameters regulated by the sprayer on weed control and allow a better understanding of how non-chemical parameters affect the efficacy on weed management, as well as a greater understanding on absorption and evaporation of herbicide plus losses of application efficacy. The results will clarify some of the most concerning question on one of the most complex process in agriculture. Adviser: Greg R. Kruge

Innovative performance of Brazilian public higher educational institutions Analysis of the remuneration of research groups and companies

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify the compensation between research groups and companies that contribute the most for the innovative performance of Brazilian public higher educational institutions (PHEI), using as database the 2010’s tabular plan from CNPq’s Directory of Research Groups. Design/methodology/approach – Descriptive and multivariate statistical techniques such as spearman correlation, cluster analysis, ANOVA and discriminant analysis were used. Findings – Compensations that contribute the most for the updating of the PHEI are identified as transfer of financial resources from the partner to the group; providing grants for the group; transfer of material supplies to partner’s activities; temporary physical transfer of human resources from the group to the activities conducted by the partner; other forms of compensation that do not fit in the previous categories; and partnering with transfers of resources of any kind going in any direction. Research limitations/implications – As a limitation, it is pointed out the discontinuity of the tabular plan, which presents 2010 as the last available data. Practical implications – The results can contribute to programs and policies to encourage innovation within universities. Originality/value – It may be inferred that the stimulus to specific compensations may expand the quantitative idea of interaction points between the university and companies, linking qualitative aspects, which leads to an understanding that such interactions may, in fact, contribute directly to the activity of generating and spreading knowledge and innovatio

Inter e intra-variability of the best ranked teams : a network analysis in male high-level volleyball

The present research objective was to analyze the offensive phase from Complex I in highlevel male volleyball teams in a macro- and micro-level view, through the inter e intra-team variability analysis of eight best teams of the 2018 Men’s Volleyball World Championship over the social network analysis and eigenvector centrality. The sample consisted of 22 matches and 2,743 offensive actions, resulting in 8 sub-networks with 368 nodes and 6221 edges. The results showed from macro view the variables that presented highest centrality values were Attack Zone 4 (range 0.56–0.90), Attack Tempo 2 (0.65–0.87), Power Attack (0.62–0.94), No Touch Block (0.61–1), Attack Effect Continuity (0.59–0.94), and Middle Blocker Centralized (0.60–0.95). In a micro view, Reception Effect, Play Position, Reception Zone, and Block Composition showed high variability in each sub-network. The intra- and inter-team variability presented the importance of to respect each team idiosyncrasies and to consider the different approaches to the game and success

Fungal communities in pressmud composting harbour beneficial and detrimental fungi for human welfare

Pressmud is a substrate derived from sugarcane juice filtrate, and around 26-40  kg of this residue are produced per ton of sugarcane. It is mainly used as fertilizer in crops, and its application in the field is often made without any prior treatment, but, in this research, it was studied for the risk this practice poses for human health. This research was stimulated by previous results indicating the presence of opportunistic pathogens in residues used in various composting systems and the extensive use of fresh pressmud in agriculture. Here, It was assessed the fungal diversity present in both fresh and composting pressmud using 454 pyrosequencing. In addition, heat-tolerant fungi were isolated and surveyed for their enzymatic repertoire of biomass-degrading enzymes (cellulase, xylanase, laccase and polygalacturonase). A wide range of opportunistic pathogens was found among the most abundant taxa in the fresh pressmud, such as Lomentospora prolificans (43.13 %), Trichosporon sp. (10.07 %), Candida tropicalis (7.91 %), and Hormographiella aspergillata (8.19 %). This indicates that fresh pressmud might be a putative source of human pathogenic fungi, presenting a potential threat to human health if applied as fertilizer without any treatment. With regard to the heat-tolerant fungi found in this substrate, all the 110 isolates screened were able to produce at least one of the tested enzymes. The pressmud composting process not only effectively reduces the load of pathogenic fungi, but also creates an interesting environment for fungi able to produce thermostable hydrolytic and oxidative enzymes with biotechnological applications

A single session of a beach volleyball exergame did not improve state anxiety level in healthy adult women

This study evaluated the acute effect of the exergame Kinect Sports$^{®}$ beach volleyball on state anxiety level in adult women. Thirty healthy adult women (age: 21 [4] years, body mass: 54.70 [19.50] kg, height: 1.61 ± 0.05 m, and body mass index: 21.87 [5.76] kg/m$^{2}$, data are expressed as median [interquartile range] and as the mean ± standard deviation) were assigned to play an exergame of beach volleyball in singleplayer mode session (intervention session) for ~ 30 min using the Xbox 360 Kinect$^{®}$ or remained seated (control session). State anxiety was evaluated before and after the intervention and control sessions through the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. State anxiety obtained in both sessions (exergame and control) was classified as intermediate before (median: 36.00 [IQR: 4.75] and mean = 38.73 ± 7.23, respectively) and after (mean: 34.86 ± 6.81 and mean: 37.66 ± 8.44, respectively). Friedman test found no time significant effect on state anxiety of the sessions (χ$^{2}$ [3] = 6.45, p-value = 0.092, Kendall's W = 0.07 "trivial"). In conclusion, the present study showed that there were no significant differences in the state anxiety level after an acute session of the exergame beach volleyball

Topological speckles

The time evolution of a topological Su-Schrieffer-Heeger chain is analyzed through the statistics of speckle patterns. The emergence of topological edge states dramatically affects the dynamical fluctuations of the wavefunction. The intensity statistics is found to be described by a family of noncentral chi-squared distributions, with the noncentrality parameter reflecting on the degree of edge-state localization. The response of the speckle contrast with respect to the dimerization of the chain is explored in detail as well as the role of chiral symmetry-breaking disorder, number of edge states, their energy gap, and the locations between which the transport occurs. In addition to providing a venue for speckle customization, our results appeal to the use of speckle patterns for characterization of nontrivial topological properties.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Robust orienting to protofacial stimuli in autism

Newborn infants exhibit a remarkable tendency to orient to faces. This behavior is thought to be mediated by a subcortical mechanism tuned to the protoface stimulus: a face-like configuration comprising three dark areas on a lighter background. When this unique stimulus translates across their visual field, neurotypical infants will change their gaze or head direction to track the protoface [1–3] . Orienting to this low spatial frequency pattern is thought to encourage infants to attend to faces, despite their poor visual acuity [2,3] . By biasing the input into the newborn’s visual system, this primitive instinct may serve to ‘canalize’ the development of more sophisticated face representation. Leading accounts attribute deficits of face perception associated with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) [4] to abnormalities within this orienting mechanism. If infants who are later diagnosed with ASD exhibit reduced protoface orienting, this may compromise the emergence of perceptual expertise for faces [5] . Here we report a novel effect that confirms that the protoface stimulus captures adults’ attention via an involuntary, exogenous process (Experiment 1). Contrary to leading developmental accounts of face perception deficits in ASD, we go on to show that this orienting response is intact in autistic individuals (Experiment 2)

Desenvolvimento de tecnologia para estimativa da recarga hídrica sob diferentes condições de cobertura vegetal

A influência da cobertura vegetal sobre o balanço hídrico do solo tem sido estudada com mais rigor diante da necessidade de resiliência do ambiente a eventos extremos de precipitação e estiagem. A Região Hidrográfica IX-RJ sofre um intenso processo de degradação do solo em áreas de morro com pastagem degradada. Os planos de recuperação de mananciais e produção de água necessitam de estudos mais precisos sobre essa influência com dados regionais visando à eficiência no uso do recurso público. Neste contexto, o objetivo desta pesquisa é avaliar o efeito da cobertura vegetal sobre a recarga hídrica do subsolo com base em uma simulação hidrológica com parâmetros de modelagem calibrados e validados em campo. Para isso foi desenvolvido um dispositivo eletrônico para monitoramento da umidade do solo e da precipitação. Estão sendo estudadas as coberturas vegetais predominantes da RH-IX: pastagem degradada, pastagem manejada e floresta. Os resultados podem embasar os planos de recuperação de manancial para abastecimento público e ações de redução da pegada hídrica