The aim of this study is the development of a statistical denoising method, to reduce noise in scintigraphic images, preserving image quality characteristics such as contrast, and resolution. The method is based on principal component analysis (PCA) reduces the volume of image data, preserving a large amount of useful information, by considering that a small number of independent image components contain useful information (signal), whereas a large number of independent components contain statistical noise. Therefore, applying PCA and discarding the image components, which correspond to noise, noise reduction can be achieved. PCA is a multivariate correlation analysis technique which explains algebraically a variance-covariance structure of observed data sets with a few linear combinations of original variables [28-30]. The motivation behind PCA is to find a direction, or a few directions, that explain as much of the variability as possible. This is achieved because each direction is associated with a linear sum of the variables, which are linear sums of the initial variables. Thus, the first principal component is the linear sum corresponding to the direction of greatest variability. The search for the second principal component is restricted to variables that are uncorrelated with the first principal component. To assess the performance of the proposed denoising method was compared to four conventional noise reduction methods, employing quantitative image quality characteristics (noise and spatial resolution characteristics). Specifically, the linear filter (smooth 3x3 and smooth 5x5), and the non-linear filter (median 3x3 and median 5x5) were used. Additionally to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed method, it was applied to clinical planar scintigraphic images. / Ο όρος Πυρηνική Ιατρική περιγράφει τις διαγνωστικές και θεραπευτικές διαδικασίες, που απαιτούν την εισαγωγή ραδιοφαρμάκων στον οργανισμό. Οι απεικονιστικές τεχνικές της πυρηνικής ιατρικής αξιοποιούν το γεγονός ότι η ακτινοβολία των ραδιενεργών νουκλιδίων μπορεί να διαπεράσει τους ιστούς και να ανιχνευθεί εξωτερικά, καθιστώντας δυνατή τη μελέτη φυσιολογικών και βιοχημικών διαδικασιών εν εξελίξει σε ζωντανούς οργανισμούς. Η απεικόνιση πυρηνικής ιατρικής χρησιμοποιείται ευρέως στην κλινική πράξη. Σε σύγκριση με άλλες απεικονιστικές τεχνικές έχει το πλεονέκτημα ότι μπορεί να δώσει ταυτόχρονα ανατομικές και λειτουργικές πληροφορίες. Το μειονέκτημα όμως των εικόνων πυρηνικής ιατρικής είναι ο πολύ χαμηλός λόγος σήματος-προς-θόρυβο (signal-to-noise ratio-SNR) σε σχέση με εικόνες άλλων απεικονιστικών τεχνικών. Η εικόνα στην πυρηνική ιατρική αντιστοιχεί στην κατανομή ραδιενεργού υλικού μέσα στο σώμα του ασθενούς. Η τιμή κάθε pixel της εικόνας σχετίζεται με τον αριθμό των γ-φωτονίων που ανιχνεύονται σε μια περίοδο χρόνου. Οι τιμές αυτές ακολουθούν μια στατιστική κατανομή (κατανομή Poisson), λόγω της τυχαίας φύσης της διάσπασης του χορηγούμενου ραδιενεργού υλικού. Η διακύμανση μιας τυχαίας Poisson μεταβλητής ισούται με τη μέση τιμή της και συνεπώς για να μειωθεί η επίδραση του Poisson θορύβου, ο αριθμός των φωτονίων που ανιχνεύονται πρέπει να αυξηθεί. Αυτό μπορεί να επιτευχθεί με τρεις τρόπους. Πρώτον, με αύξηση του χρόνου καταγραφής, που συνεπάγεται όμως αυξημένο κίνδυνο μετακίνησης του ασθενή. Δεύτερον, με αύξηση της δόσης ραδιενεργού υλικού, που δίνεται στον ασθενή, κάτι που προφανώς είναι ανεπιθύμητο. Η τελευταία λύση είναι η χρήση γ-κάμερας με πολλαπλούς ανιχνευτές ή με πολύ ευαίσθητο ανιχνευτή, που συνεπάγεται αυξημένο κόστος και πολυπλοκότητα. Για το λόγο αυτό, τεχνικές ψηφιακής επεξεργασίας για μείωση θορύβου εικόνας μπορούν να συνεισφέρουν σημαντικά στη βελτίωση της εικόνας στην πυρηνική ιατρική. Οι κλασικές τεχνικές μείωσης θορύβου κάνουν χρήση γραμμικών φίλτρων εξομάλυνσης (smoothing filters) για την αντικατάσταση της τιμής κάθε εικονοστοιχείου (pixel) με μια μέση τιμή ,η οποία προκύπτει από τη γειτονιά του. Τα φίλτρα αυτά όμως έχουν το μειονέκτημα ότι μειώνουν την αντίθεση και τη διακριτική ικανότητα της εικόνας. Μη γραμμικά φίλτρα, όπως το median φίλτρο, διατηρούν σε πολλές περιπτώσεις την αντίθεση των δομών, αλλά επίσης υποβαθμίζουν την ποιότητα εικόνας. Ένας από τους λόγους, που οι συμβατικές τεχνικές δεν έχουν ικανοποιητικά αποτελέσματα είναι ότι δεν αντιμετωπίζουν το γεγονός ότι ο θόρυβος σε κάθε pixel εξαρτάται από την ένταση του σήματος (signal dependent noise). Για το λόγο αυτό έχουν προταθεί πρασαρμοζόμενα (adaptive) φίλτρα μείωσης θορύβου. Η κατηγορία των φίλτρων αυτών χρησιμοποιεί στατιστικά κριτήρια για την επιλογή των γειτονικών pixels, που χρησιμοποιούνται για τον υπολογισμό της τιμής του κεντρικού pixel. Στη συγκεκριμένη διπλωματική εργασία υλοποιήθηκε μέθοδος μείωσης θορύβου, που βασίζεται στη Ανάλυση Κύριων Συνιστωσών (Principal Components Analysis, PCA), προσαρμοσμένη σε εικόνες πυρηνικής ιατρικής. Η μέθοδος αυτή στοχεύει στη μείωση του κβαντικού θορύβου Poisson κατανομής, που εμπεριέχεται σε εικόνες πυρηνικής ιατρικής. Η PCA είναι μια στατιστική τεχνική, που εξετάζει τις σχέσεις που διέπουν τις μεταβλητές ενός συνόλου δεδομένων και βρίσκει ένα υποσύνολο από τις πιο σημαντικές μεταβλητές. Οι νέες μεταβλητές περιγράφονται σαν γραμμικός συνδυασμός των αρχικών μεταβλητών και κατατάσσονται σε σειρά σημαντικότητας σε σχέση με τη διακύμανση των δεδομένων που η κάθε μια εκφράζει. Η πρώτη σημαντική συνιστώσα (principal component) είναι η μεταβλητή που εκφράζει το μέγιστο ποσό διακύμανσης. Η δεύτερη σημαντική συνιστώσα εκφράζει το επόμενο μεγαλύτερο ποσό διακύμανσης και είναι ανεξάρτητη από της πρώτης κ.ο.κ.. Ουσιαστικά, το σύνολο των αρχικών σχετιζόμενων μεταβλητών μετασχηματίζεται σε ένα σύνολο ασυσχέτιστων μεταβλητών, όπου οι λιγότερο σημαντικές μεταβλητές μπορούν να απομακρυνθούν χωρίς ουσιαστική απώλεια πληροφορίας. Η κύρια χρήση της PCA είναι να μειωθεί ο όγκος ενός συνόλου δεδομένων και να οδηγηθούμε σε μια βέλτιστη περιγραφή τους. Στην περίπτωση των εικόνων πυρηνικής ιατρικής μπορούμε να θεωρήσουμε ότι λόγω του στατιστικού χαρακτήρα του θορύβου η χρήσιμη πληροφορία περιέχεται σε μικρό αριθμό συνιστωσών, ενώ ο θόρυβος σε ένα μεγάλο αριθμό μη-σημαντικών συνιστωσών. Εφαρμόζοντας συνεπώς την PCA και αφαιρώντας τις συνιστώσες που αντιστοιχούν στον θόρυβο μπορούμε να επιτύχουμε σημαντική μείωση του. Επίσης πραγματοποιήθηκε συγκριτική αξιολόγηση μεταξύ της προτεινόμενης μεθόδου και άλλων μεθόδων μείωσης θορύβου σε εικόνες πυρηνικής ιατρικής. Συγκεκριμένα, η μέθοδος που βασίζεται στη PCA συγκρίθηκε με το φίλτρο εξομάλυνσης (smooth 3x3 και smooth 5x5) και το μη-γραμμικό φίλτρο (median 3x3 και median 5x5). Όλες οι μέθοδοι εφαρμόστηκαν σε πρότυπες εικόνες πυρηνικής ιατρικής, που αποκτήθηκαν με τη βοήθεια δυο ομοιωμάτων, ενός ομοιώματος με μικρές θερμές περιοχές (hot spots phantom) και ενός ομοιώματος μέτρησης διακριτικής ικανότητας (bar phantom) σε διαφορετικούς χρόνους. Στις επεξεργασμένες εικόνες μετρήθηκαν ο θόρυβος, η αντίθεση, ο λόγος αντίθεσης-προς-θόρυβο (Contrast-to-Noise-ratio, CNR) και το εύρος στο ήμισυ της μέγιστης τιμής (Full-Width-of-Half-Maximum, FWHM). Τα αποτελέσματα της σύγκρισης έδειξαν ότι η μέθοδος που βασίζεται στη PCA μειώνει σημαντικά το θόρυβο, ενώ ταυτόχρονα αυξάνει το λόγο αντίθεσης-προς-θόρυβο. Τέλος, πραγματοποιήθηκε πιλοτική μελέτη προτίμησης από δυο πυρηνικούς ιατρούς μεταξύ των μεθόδων μείωσης θορύβου σε δείγμα κλινικών εικόνων συγκεκριμένων εξετάσεων στατικών λήψεων (οστών, πνευμόνων, θυρεοειδούς, παραθυρεοειδούς και νεφρών). Η μελέτη αυτή έδειξε ότι η PCA μειώνει σημαντικά το θόρυβο, ενώ ταυτόχρονα βελτιώνει οπτικά τις ανατομικές δομές των εικόνων.

<p>This study investigates the most important reasons behind the rst-year students' decision to select University of the Western Cape (UWC) as higher education institution.<br /> These reasons were organized into a few factors for easy interpretation. The data to be analyzed for this project is a subsection of the data collected during the orientation period of 2008. During the orientation week of 2008, the questionnaires were completed on a voluntary basis by new rst-year students. All questionnaires were anonymously completed and therefore the data does not contain any information that could be linked to any individual. For the purpose of this study, only the black African and coloured students were considered. The other racial groups were not analyzed due to too small sample sizes. Questionnaires with missing information on the reasons for selecting UWC were not&nbsp / nalyzed. We ended up with a sample of size 600. The data were statistically analyzed, using descriptive statistics, bivariate analyses, factor analysis, coefficient of congruence and bootstrap factor analysis. The results indicated that the most important reasons aecting students to choose UWC were identied as good academic reputation, family member's advice, UWC graduates are successful and UWC graduates get good jobs. The least important reasons were found to be not accepted anywhere, parents / family members graduated from UWC, recruited by UWC and wanted to study near to home. The results also indicated that there were significant differences among students according to population groups, parent's monthly income and grade 12 average. Factor analysis of 12 variables yielded three extracted factors upon which student decisions were based. Similarities of these three factors were tested, and a high similarity among demographic characteristics and grade 12 average were found. Additional analyses were conducted to measure the accuracy of factor analyses models constructed using Spearman and Polychoric correlation matrices. The results indicated that both correlation matrices were&nbsp / nbiased, with higher variance and higher loadings when the Polychoric correlation matrix was used to construct a factor analysis model for categorical data.</p>

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal

Clustering, classification, and factor analysis are three popular data mining techniques. In this dissertation, we investigate these methods in high dimensional data analysis. Since there are much more features than the sample sizes and most of the features are non-informative in high dimensional data, dimension reduction is necessary before clustering or classification can be made. In the first part of this dissertation, we reinvestigate an existing clustering procedure, optimal discriminant clustering (ODC; Zhang and Dai, 2009), and propose to use cross-validation to select the tuning parameter. Then we develop a variation of ODC, sparse optimal discriminant clustering (SODC) for high dimensional data, by adding a group-lasso type of penalty to ODC. We also demonstrate that both ODC and SDOC can be used as a dimension reduction tool for data visualization in cluster analysis. In the second part, three existing sparse principal component analysis (SPCA) methods, Lasso-PCA (L-PCA), Alternative Lasso PCA (AL-PCA), and sparse principal component analysis by choice of norm (SPCABP) are applied to a real data set the International HapMap Project for AIM selection to genome-wide SNP data, the classification accuracy is compared for them and it is demonstrated that SPCABP outperforms the other two SPCA methods. Third, we propose a novel method called sparse factor analysis by projection (SFABP) based on SPCABP, and propose to use cross-validation method for the selection of the tuning parameter and the number of factors. Our simulation studies show that SFABP has better performance than the unpenalyzed factor analysis when they are applied to classification problems.

本文的主要目的，是找出一個簡單且有效的方法，預測台灣的股市報酬。比較許多不同的研究後，我發現無論面對多重共線性亦或變動要素結構等問題，主要要素模型(Principal Components Analysis)都可以表現地比其他模型優異。因此，在此篇文章中，我結合了資產訂價理論(Asset Pricing Theory)與主要要素模型的概念，來預測台灣八大產業股票指數的報酬。分析結果顯示，雖然主要要素模型在本文中的預測表現不如預期，但是整體仍優於隨機漫步(Random Walk)的預測。這意味著，主要要素模型對台灣股市的預測，可以在某種程度上推翻效率市場假說(Efficient Market Hypothesis)。 / The original purpose of this paper is to find a useful and simple way to forecast the return rates of Taiwan stock market. Comparing different empirical studies, I found that no matter with problems of multicollinearity or changing factor structure, the Principal Components Analysis (PCA) can usually outperform other models. Therefore, I combined the concepts of Asset Pricing Theory (APT) and PCA, to predict the movements of eight industrial indexes return rates of Taiwan stock market. The analysis indicates that, although PCA forecasting results couldn’t be very impressive in Taiwan stock market, it still can perform better than Random Walk Regression. That means the forecasting results of PCA to Taiwan stock market can overthrow the Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH), which represents the trends of stock return rates are unpredictable, to some extents.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 204-214).

Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-26T13:32:09Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 texto completo.pdf: 333830 bytes, checksum: 07934f2235753acb1a82537822011e42 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-02-04 / In order to quantify the direct and indirect effect through path analysis using phenotypic and genotypic values of yield components - number of stalks per plot, average diameter of stalks and their average length - affecting tons of cane per hectare, data from two experiments of sugarcane were considered. Regarding the productivity of cane per hectare data from two different experiments were obtained from cane plants and ratoon canes, in the beginning of the selection program of sugarcane improvement in the state of Minas Gerais. The following characteristics were evaluated at plot level: the tons of cane per hectare (TCH), as the main variable, and its yield components, number of stalks (NS), mean diameter of stalks (DS) and average length of stalks (LS) as explicative variables. The coefficient of determination were high in all path analyses, which, in turn, indicates that the evaluated components explain, considerably, the variation in TCH. Through the analysis of the direct fenotypic and genotypic effects, NS was the variable that best correlated to TCH in both experiments and stages showing a possibility of obtaining significant gain through indirect selection to TCH by NS. The evaluation of the cause and effect relations among the production components of sugarcane helped to verify the variation across the experiments, which is probably related to the different origins of the families evaluated. In the trail analysis, the parameters are estimated from matrix correlations that may be ill-conditioned by the multicollinearity effect among the involved variables. Due to this fact, the data were evaluated by using ratoon canes obtained from the program of sugarcane improvement at the Federal University of Viçosa in order to compare the method based on ridge regression and the exclusion of variables for main components to estimate the path coefficients under the presence of multicollinearity. Ten plants per plot were used to carry out the analyses on explaining variables Brix (percentage soluble solids), Pol, pH (potential of Hydrogen), RS (reduction sugar), TRS (Total reduction sugar), Cu (copper), Al (aluminum), Mg (magnesium), Ca (Calcium), K (Potassium), aconitic acid, phenolic compounds and the main variable sugarcane juice color (ICUMSA color). The matrix containing correlation obtained from the data were submitted to different methods to have the multicollinearity diagnostic. Under severe multicollinearity, the methods based on ridge regression and in main components presented similar results in the estimation of the path coefficients, causing sensitive reduction in the magnitude of the variance inflation factor associated with the direct and indirect effects of the path analysis. Therefore, in this study, it was possible to identify the variables Al, K and phenolic compounds as the ones that explain the sugarcane juice color. However, the other characters must be taken into account due to their great correlation and low magnitude of the direct effect, making evident the necessity of simultaneous selections of characters, with emphasis on characters that have significant indirect effect. For purposes of improvement, the indirect selection for the ICUMSA color through index selection involving variables such as Brix, Pol, RS, TRS, pH, Cu, Al, Mg, Ca, K, phenolic compounds and aconitic acid is recommended. / Com o objetivo de quantificar os efeitos diretos e indiretos, por meio da análise de trilha, utilizando valores fenotípicos e genotípicos dos componentes de produção - número de colmos por parcela, diâmetro médio de colmos e comprimento médio de colmos - sobre produtividade de colmos por hectare em cana-de-açúcar, foram obtidos dados de dois experimentos nas fases de cana-planta e cana-soca, em etapa inicial de seleção do programa de melhoramento da cana-de-açúcar no estado de Minas Gerais. Foram avaliados, ao nível de parcela, os caracteres tonelada de colmos por hectare (TCH), como variável principal, e seus componentes de produção, número de colmos (NC), diâmetro médio de colmos (DC) e comprimento médio de colmos (CC), como variáveis explicativas. Os coeficientes de determinação foram elevados em todas as análises de trilha, indicando que os componentes avaliados explicam grande parte da variação existente na produção de colmos. Pela análise dos efeitos diretos fenotípicos e genotípicos, NC foi a variável que melhor se correlacionou com TCH, em ambos os experimentos e estágios, demonstrando a possibilidade de obtenção de ganhos significativos por meio da seleção indireta para TCH via NC. A avaliação das relações de causa e efeito entre os componentes de produção em cana-de-açúcar possibilitou verificar que houve variação entre os experimentos, o que provavelmente se deve à origem diferenciada das famílias avaliadas. Como na técnica de análise de trilha os parâmetros são estimados a partir de matrizes de correlações que podem ser mal condicionadas por efeito de multicolinearidade entre as variáveis envolvidas, foram avaliados dados em cana-soca, obtidos do programa de melhoramento da cana-de-açúcar da Universidade Federal de Viçosa, para comparar o método baseado na regressão em crista e a exclusão de variáveis por componentes principais para a estimação dos coeficientes de trilha em presença de multicolinearidade. Foram amostradas dez plantas por parcela para realização das análises das variáveis explicativas Brix (teor de sólidos solúveis), Pol (teor de sacarose aparente), pH (indica o grau de acidez), AR (açúcares redutores), ART (açúcares totais recuperáveis), Cu (cobre), Al (alumínio), Mg (magnésio), Ca (cálcio), K (potássio), Ácido aconítico, Compostos fenólicos, e da variável principal Cor ICUMSA. A matriz de correlação obtida dos dados foi submetida a diferentes métodos para diagnóstico de multicolinearidade. Sob multicolinearidade severa, os métodos baseados na regressão em crista e em componentes principais apresentaram resultados semelhantes na estimação dos coeficientes de trilha, proporcionando sensível redução na magnitude dos fatores de inflação da variância associados aos efeitos diretos e indiretos da análise de trilha. Assim, foi possível identificar neste estudo, os caracteres alumínio (Al), potássio (K) e Compostos fenólicos como aqueles que melhor explicam a Cor do caldo. Contudo, os demais caracteres devem ser levados em consideração devido a elevada correlação existente e a baixa magnitude do efeito direto, evidenciando a necessidade de seleção simultânea de caracteres, com ênfase também nos caracteres cujos efeitos indiretos são significativos. Para fins de melhoramento, a seleção indireta para Cor do caldo, por meio de índice de seleção envolvendo as variáveis Brix, Pol, AR, ATR, pH, Cu, Al, Mg, Ca, K, Compostos fenólicos e Ácido aconítico é recomendável.

International bond market linkages are examined using monthly bond yield data and total return indices on government bonds with ten years to maturity. The bond yield data covers a nineteen-year period from January 1990 to July 2008, while the bond total return index data covers a nine-year period from August 2000 to July 2008. The international bond markets included in the study are Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The examination of international bond market linkages across these markets has important implications for the formulation of effective portfolio diversification strategies. The empirical analysis is carried out in three phases: the preliminary analysis, the principal component analysis (PCA), and the cointegration analysis. For each analysis and for each set of data the full sample period is first analysed and subsequently a five-year rolling window approach is implemented. Accordingly, this makes it possible to capture the time-varying nature of international bond market linkages. The preliminary analysis examines the bond market trends over the sample period, provides descriptive statistics, and reports the correlation coefficients between the selected bond markets. The PCA investigates the interrelationships among the bond markets according to their common sources of movement and identifies which markets tend to move together. The cointegration analysis is carried out using the Johansen cointegration procedure and investigates whether there is long-run comovement between South Africa and the selected bond markets. Where cointegration is found, Vector Error-Correction Models (VECMs) are estimated in order to examine the long-run equilibrium relationships in addition to their short-run adjustments over time. The empirical analysis results were robust, and overall integration between SA and the selected major bond markets remained weak and sporadic. In addition, the results showed that even after accounting for exchange rate differentials, international bond market diversification remained beneficial for a South African investor; and since international bond market linkages remained weak with no observable trend, international bond market diversification will remain beneficial for some time to come for a South African investor.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:27:23Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2010-02-24Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:56:23Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 borges_cd_me_jabo.pdf: 505108 bytes, checksum: 33787dd8b93a99178ecd21571bb71189 (MD5) / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) / A rotação de culturas é um processo de cultivo que pode modernizar e aumentar o rendimento da atividade agropecuária de forma sustentável agregando maior qualidade ao solo. Os objetivos deste estudo foram: (I) avaliar o efeito dos sistemas culturais em plantio direto conduzidos em rotação de culturas e monitorar as alterações das propriedades microbiológicas bioindicadoras da qualidade do solo; (II) investigar as mudanças bioquímicas nos solos decorrentes da adição de diferentes tamanhos de resíduos de soja e milho durante o período de incubação. Foram determinados as biomassas microbianas- C, N e P (CBM, NBM e PBM, respectivamente), a atividade respiratória (C-CO2) e das enzimas desidrogenase, fosfatase e urease, conteúdo do carbono orgânico (Corg), carbono solúvel (Csol), fósforo orgânico (Porg), matéria orgânica (MO), potencial de mineralização do N. O quociente metabólico (qCO2) e microbiano (qMIC) do solo foram calculados. Experimento (I): A avaliação foi realizada em amostras de solo coletadas após a colheita das culturas de verão do ano agrícola 2007/2008, na camada de 0-0,15 m de profundidade em um experimento conduzido sob sistema de semeadura direta, por seis anos. O delineamento experimental foi em blocos casualizados com esquema de faixas com três repetições. As sequências utilizadas foram as monoculturas de soja (Glycine max L.) (SS) e de milho (Zea mays L.) (MM) e a rotação de culturas soja/milho (SM). As culturas de inverno foram milho, girassol (Helianthus anuus L.), nabo forrageiro (Raphanus sativus L.), milheto (Pennisetum americanum (L.) Leeke), guandu (Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp), sorgo (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) e crotalária (Crotalária juncea L.). O conteúdo da biomassa microbiana-C, N e P do solo aumentou significativamente... / Crop rotation is a practice of growing dissimilar plants that can modernize and increase the farm economy in a sustainable form for adding more quality to the soil. The aims of this study were: (I) evaluate the effect of crop sequences under no-tillage systems on changes in the soil microbiological properties; (II) investigate the biochemistries changes during the incubation of the soil added with different sizes particles of soybean and corn. There were determined the contents of microbial biomass-C, N and P, the production of C-CO2, the activities of the enzymes dehydrogenase, urease and phosphatase, the organic carbon (Corg), soluble carbon (Csol), organic phosphorous (Porg) and organic matter (MO) contents and the potential of mineralization N. The soil metabolic (qCO2) and microbial (qMIC) quotients were calculated. Experiment (I): The evaluation was performed in soil samples collected after the summer crops harvest, on 2007/2008 growing season, at 0-0.15 m soil depth layer on an experiment conducted under no-tillage system through six years. The experimental had a completely randomized block design, in strips plots with three replications. The crop sequences were continuous soybean (Glycine max L.) (SS), continuous corn (Zea mays L.) (MM), and crop rotation soybean/corn (SM). Winter crops were corn, sunflower (Helianthus anuus L.), radish (Raphanus sativus L.), pearl millet (Pennisetum americanum (L.) Leeke), pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp), grain sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) and sunn hemp (Crotalária juncea L.). The content of microbial biomass-C, N and P in the soil increased significantly in crop sequence SM compared to continuous crop. The interactions SM-millet and MMsorghum influenced the content of biomass-C, SM-hemp and SM-millet in the biomass-N content... (Summary complete electronic access click below)

A textura e a cor têm influência na aquisição, consumo, aceitação e preferência de biscoitos. Alguns ingredientes e etapas de processo podem influenciar diretamente nestes parâmetros. O açúcar é um dos principais ingredientes utilizados nas formulações de biscoitos, sendo o tamanho, ou diâmetro dos cristais um fator importante para o comportamento da massa e consequentemente para a textura e cor do produto. Tendo em vista que a movimentação do açúcar na indústria de alimentos é realizada geralmente por transporte pneumático,e os cristais são quebrados, alterando a granulometria e consequentemente interferindo nas características do produto. Neste contexto, o objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a influência do transporte pneumático na granulometria e cor de açúcar cristal e consequentes modificações no comportamento da massa e nos parâmetros textura e cor de biscoitos rosca sabor leite. Para tal, foram realizadas análises de granulometria e cor de açúcar cristal, bem como análises da massa e dos biscoitos elaborados. O açúcar foi obtido de três diferentes fornecedores, codificados como A, B e C, e foi aplicado na produção das massas e dos biscoitos roscas sabor leite em duas condições: antes do transporte pneumático (ATP) e depois de submetido ao transporte pneumático (DTP), totalizando seis produções diferentes de massa e de biscoitos. Todos os demais ingredientes e condições de processo foram mantidas sem alteração em todas as produções. Através da análise de granulometria foi determinado o valor de diâmetro médio dos cristais de açúcar e a avaliação colorimétrica possibilitou determinar os valores dos intervalos de cores L, a* e b* (CIELab) do açúcar. O comportamento reológico da massa de biscoitos foi avaliado através de análise de consistência, estabilidade e dureza. Os biscoitos rosca sabor leite foram submetidos a análises instrumentais e sensoriais (teste descritivo e afetivo), onde foram avaliadas a textura (dureza e fraturabilidade) e cor (L, a* e b*). A granulometria nas amostras de açúcar ATP foi significativamente maior (p<0,05) que nas amostras de DTP. Por outro lado, a análise de cor nas amostras de açúcar ATP apresentou luminosidade menor do que nas DTP (p<0,05). A dureza da massa foi maior (p<0,05) nas amostras onde foi aplicado o açúcar DTP. A textura do biscoito (dureza e a fraturabilidade) com açúcar ATP foram significativamente menores que os produzidos com açúcar DTP. A cor do produto com açúcar DTP foi maior (p<0,05) que no produto com açúcar ATP. A ACP mostrou correlação entre os dados instrumentais e sensoriais. De acordo com os resultados obtidos observou-se que o transporte pneumático influencia diretamente na granulometria e cor do açúcar, bem como na textura e cor do produto final. Sendo assim, conclui-se que a utilização de açúcar cristal submetido ao transporte pneumático (DTP) na produção de biscoitos rosca sabor leite resulta em produtos mais escuros, e com maior dureza. / The texture and color influence the acquisition, consumption, acceptance and preference biscuits. Some ingredients and stages of process can directly influence these parameters. Sugar is one of the main ingredients used in the formulations biscuits, and the crystal size an important factor in the mass performance and consequently to the texture and color of the product. Having in view that the movement of the sugar in the food industry is carried out usually by pneumatic transport, and the crystals are broken by changing the particle size and consequently interfering with the characteristics of the product. In this context, the objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of pneumatic conveying in particle size and color of crystal sugar and consequent changes in mass behavior and parameters texture and color of thread biscuits flavored milk. For such, particle size and color of crystal sugar analyzes were conducted, as well as the dough analysis and biscuits prepared. The sugar was obtained from three different suppliers, coded as A, B and C, and has been applied in production of dough and biscuits flavored milk thread, in two conditions: before the pneumatic transport (BPT) and after being subjected to pneumatic transport (APT), totaling six different productions of dough and biscuits. All the other ingredients and process conditions were maintained without change in all productions. Through the analysis of particle size was determined the value of mean aperture of sugar crystals and the colorimetric evaluation allowed us to determine the values of color ranges L, a * and b * (Cielab) of sugar. The rheological behavior of cookie dough was evaluated using analysis of consistency stability and hardness. The biscuits thread flavor milk have been subjected to instrumental and sensory analysis (descriptive and affective tests), which were evaluated texture (hardness and fracturability) and color (L, a * and b *). The particle size distribution in the samples of sugar BPT was significantly higher (p< 0.05) than in samples of APT. On the other hand, the analysis of color in the samples of sugar BPT showed brightness lower than in APT (p< 0.05).The hardness of the dough was higher (p <0.05) in samples where the Sugar APT was applied. The biscuit texture (hardness and fracturability) sugar BPT were significantly lower than those produced with APT sugar. The product color APT sugar was higher (p <0.05) in the product with sugar ATP. The PCA showed correlation between instrumental and sensory analysis. According to the results obtained, it was observed that the pneumatic transport directly influences the size and color of sugar, as well as the texture and color of the final product. Thus, it is concluded that the use of crystal sugar submitted to pneumatic transport (APT) in the production of biscuits milk flavor results in products darker, and with greater hardness.