Comportamento espacial de atributos de planta e de perdas na colheita mecanizada de feijão (Phaseolus vulgaris L.)

The mechanized harvest of common bean is a growing practice in the farming systems of Santa Catarina State, especially due to the reduction of production costs. However, this advantage has been mitigated for the losses in the process. Harvest losses have been blamed as one of the causes for the crop low productivity in Brazil. One way to minimize such damages is to improve the knowledge about the behavior of theses losses inside a production site and to identity their existing relations with plant and soil attributes, so that growers can act on management practices and machine regulation. This work aimed to analyze variable related to the losses in the mechanized common bean harvest and to evaluate the spatial relations between land altitude, plant height, first legume insertion height, weed natural incidence, grain yield, natural harvest losses, harvest losses in the cut platform and total losses. The total average loss was 14%, with 2% losses due to natural causes, 6% due to the machine internal mechanisms and 6% due to the platform cut. The coefficients of variation were high for almost all variables. There were strong spatial dependences among variables, with the entire reaches being higher than the inter-sample distance. Places with higher altitude had greater grain yield, higher loss on the platform cut, lower natural loss and lower loss in the internal mechanisms. The main causes for losses due to internal mechanisms were the presence of weeds and wet grains at the track.A colheita mecanizada de feijão vem se constituindo em prática comum nas lavouras tecnificadas de Santa Catarina, especialmente pela diminuição dos custos de produção. Entretanto, este ganho tem sido prejudicado pelas perdas no processo de colheita. Estas perdas têm sido apontadas como uma das causas do baixo rendimento da cultura no Brasil. Um caminho para se minimizar tais prejuízos é conhecer como as perdas se comportam dentro de um sítio de produção e quais são as relações existentes com atributos de plantas e do relevo, de modo que o produtor possa agir sobre o manejo da cultura e a regulagem da máquina. Este trabalho objetivou analisar variáveis relacionadas a perdas na colheita mecanizada de feijão e avaliar as relações espaciais entre altura do terreno, incidência de plantas espontâneas, altura de plantas, altura de inserção da primeira vagem, produtividade, perdas naturais, perdas na plataforma de corte e perdas totais. A perda total média foi de 14%, sendo 2% devidas às perdas naturais, 6% devidas aos mecanismos internos da máquina e 7% à plataforma de corte. Os coeficientes de variação mostraram-se altos em praticamente todas as variáveis. Obtiveram-se fortes dependências espaciais entre as variáveis, sendo todos os alcances superiores à distância inter-amostral. Os locais mais altos apresentaram maior produtividade, maior perda na plataforma, menor perda natural e menor perda nos mecanismos internos. As principais causas para ocorrência de perdas por mecanismos internos deveram-se a presença de plantas espontâneas e de grãos mais úmidos no momento da trilha

Neurotrophins, cytokines, oxidative parameters and funcionality in Progressive Muscular Dystrophies

We investigated the levels of brain derived-neurotrophic factor (BDNF), cytokines and oxidative parameters in serum and tried to correlate them with the age and functionality of patients with Progressive Muscle Dystrophies (PMD). The patients were separated into six groups (case and controls pared by age and gender), as follows: Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD); Steinert Myotonic Dystrophy (SMD); and Limb-girdle Muscular Dystrophy type-2A (LGMD2A). DMD patients (±17.9 years old) had a decrease of functionality, an increase in the IL-1β and TNF-α levels and a decrease of IL-10 levels and superoxide dismutase activity in serum. SMD patients (±25.8 years old) had a decrease of BDNF and IL-10 levels and superoxide dismutase activity and an increase of IL-1β levels in serum. LGMD2A patients (±27.7 years old) had an decrease only in serum levels of IL-10. This research showed the first evidence of BDNF involvement in the SMD patients and a possible unbalance between pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokine levels, along with decreased superoxide dismutase activity in serum of DMD and SMD patients