This thesis is focusing on how global and local search engines retrieve information from the local domain. The three search engines tested are the global search engines Yahoo, Ask.com and the local search engine Web Wombat. The questions we examined were: which search engine has the best retrieval effectiveness? Could there be other reasons than retrieval effectiveness, to choosing a local search engine?For our test we constructed 20 questions related to Australia.We chose to divide the questions into topics like nature, sports and culture. For all questions we evaluated the relevance of the first 20 hits. We used the following measures in our test: Jaccard´s index, precision and average precision. We also looked at factors such as duplicates and error pages, because we consider this to be an important aspect to consider, when looking at the relevance of the first 20 hits. The results of our study showed that Yahoo had the best performance for precision. Web Wombat had faulty precision but results from Jaccard´s index revealed that Web Wombat had many unique documents. Web Wombat had the best average precision on one of our questions. In spite of Web Wombats faulty precision, we think that Web Wombat serve a purpose as an alternative to global search engines. / Uppsatsnivå: D

Orientador: Itamar Andrioli / Banca: José Frederico Centurion / Banca: Adilson Pelá / Banca: Renato de Mello Prado / Banca: Marlene Cristina Alves / Resumo: A avaliação da qualidade do solo é considerada um componente fundamental na sustentabilidade dos sistemas de produção agrícolas. O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar os indicadores físicos e químicos de qualidade do solo e a produtividade do milho sob sistemas de manejo em um Latossolo Vermelho distrófico argiloso. O experimento foi conduzido na fazenda experimental da UNESP/FCAV - Jaboticabal/SP, utilizando o delineamento em blocos casualizados com três repetições, em esquema de parcelas sub-subdivididas. Os tratamentos principais constituíram de nove sistemas de manejo do solo (parcelas), adubação de cobertura com N no milho (subparcelas) e as camadas: 0-5; 5-10; 10-20 e 20- 30 cm (sub-subparcelas). Os nove sistemas de manejo foram: 1. Preparo do solo com arado de aiveca (AI) + grade niveladora; 2. Plantio direto com feijão de porco (Canavalia ensiformes) após preparo com arado de aiveca - (D_AI_FP); 3. Plantio direto com lablab (Dolichus lablab ) após preparo com arado de aiveca (D_AI_LL); 4. Plantio direto com feijão de porco após preparo com arado de disco (D_DS_FP); 5. Plantio direto com lablab após preparo com arado de disco (D_DS_LL); 6. Plantio direto com feijão de porco após preparo com grade pesada (D_GR_FP);7. Plantio direto com lablab após preparo com grade pesada (D_GR_LL); 8. Preparo do solo com arado de disco (DS) + grade niveladora; 9.Preparo do solo com grade pesada (GR) + grade niveladora. Foram avaliados: porosidade total, macroporosidade, microporosidade, densidade do solo, diâmetro médio ponderado, diâmetro médio geométrico, grau de floculação da argila, índice de estabilidade de agregados, agregados maiores que 2 mm, pH, carbono orgânico, fósforo, potássio, cálcio, magnésio, acidez potencial, soma de bases, capacidade de troca de cátions, saturação de bases, curva de retenção de água no solo, índice S e produtividade do milho... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The assessment of soil quality is considered a fundamental component in the sustainability of agricultural production systems. The objective of this study was to evaluate the physical and chemical indicators of soil quality and productivity of maize under soil management systems on an clayey Oxisol. The experiment was conducted at the experimental farm of UNESP/FCAV - Jaboticabal/SP, using a randomized complete block with three replications in splitsplit- plot design. The main treatments were nine management systems (plots), top dressing with nitrogen in maize (subplots) and the layers: 0-5, 5-10, 10-20 and 20- 30 cm (sub-subplots). The nine management systems were: 1. Aiveca plow (AI) + leveling bars; 2. No-tillage with jackbean (Canavalia ensiformis) under aiveca (D_AI_FP); 3. No-tillage with lablab (Dolichus lablab) after aiveca (D_AI_LL); 4. No-tillage with jackbean after disk (D_DS_FP); 5. No-tillage with lablab after disk (D_DS_LL); 6. No-tillage with jackbean after heavy bars (D_GR_FP); 7. No-tillage with lablab after heavy bars (D_GR_LL); 8. Disk plow (DS) + leveling bars; 9. Heavy bars (GR) + leveling bars. Were evaluate: total porosity, macroporosity, microporosity, bulk density, the mean weight diameter aggregates, the mean geometric diameter of aggregates, the degree of clay flocculation, stable aggregates index, percentage of stable aggregates > 2 mm, pH, organic carbon, exchangeable calcium, exchangeable magnesium, exchangeable potassium and phosphorus, sum bases, potential CEC, cation exchange capacity, base saturation, retention curve of soil water, S index and maize yield. The physical quality indicators, bulk density and porous system did not evidenced differences among the soil management systems. The chemical quality indicators ranged from medium to high in all management systems. The aggregation indexes differentiated the no-tillage systems to conventional systems... (Complete abstract click eletronic access below) / Doutor

The aim of this study is to examine the impact of the South Eastern Anatolia Project (GAP) on the inter-regional inequality between the GAP region and the rest of Turkey. Cross-sectional analyses are carried out for the years of 1990 and 2000, that is, before the project is put into effect and 10 years after of its implementation. Although this thesis is ultimately concerned with the inter-regional inequality, the within and the total-region inequality are also discussed. Moreover, since not only the economic, infrastructure and service related variables, but also the sociodemographic variables are included in the analyses, it is a comprehensive evaluation, and the results provide current information about the success of the GAP. In this study, Theil&#039 / s inequality index is used as it provides the property of additive decomposability, which allows us to analyze the magnitudes and trends in inequality among regions and within regions as well as total inequality. The indicators include 17 socio-demographic, 12 economic, and 10 infrastructure and service related variables, i.e., total of 39 independent variables. Although the GAP region performed an improvement in absolute terms for most of the variables, the findings show that the inequality between the GAP region and the rest of Turkey increased for more than half of the variables during the last decade. These variables are mostly related to demography (i.e., infant mortality rate, fertility rate, etc.), health services, and GDP p.c.. On the other hand, the between-region inequality decreased for the variables related to infrastructure, urbanization, educational level (i.e., literacy and schooling ratios in primary education), and nonagricultural labor force.

Resumo: O monitoramento da qualidade do solo pelos atributos físicos é importante para a avaliação da sustentabilidade dos sistemas agrícolas. Um atributo indicador da qualidade do solo deve ser sensível às variações do manejo ao qual está sendo submetido. O intervalo hídrico ótimo (IHO) permite visualizar os efeitos dos sistemas de manejo na melhoria ou na degradação da qualidade física do solo. O índice S é um indicador de qualidade física do solo que indica a distribuição do tamanho dos poros. Objetivou-se com este estudo avaliar a qualidade física do solo utilizando como parâmetros a porosidade, a densidade do solo, o IHO, o índice S, a agregação e a produtividade de milho em um Latossolo Vermelho distrófico, após 11 anos de cultivo de plantas de cobertura em pré-safra ao milho, em sistema de plantio direto com as seguintes plantas de cobertura: crotalária (SDC), milheto (SDM), labe-labe (SDL) e sistema convencional (SC). O delineamento experimental foi o de blocos casualizados, com quatro tratamentos e seis repetições. Os sistemas de plantio direto resultaram em um incremento da porosidade total. O SC não diferiu do SDL e do SDC quanto à macroporosidade. O SC e o SDC apresentaram menor densidade do solo. O intervalo hídrico ótimo nos sistemas de plantio direto foi limitado na parte superior pelo conteúdo de água na capacidade de campo, e na parte inferior pela resistência do solo à penetração. O solo apresentou boa qualidade física, verificado através do IHO. Os sistemas de plantio direto apresentaram maior teor de matéria orgânica em relação ao SC nas camadas de 0-0,05 m. Maiores valores de diâmetro médio ponderado e geométrico dos agregados também foram observados nesse sistema. O solo apresentou boa qualidade física determinada pelo índice S, não apresentando valores inferiores a 0,035. / Abstract: The monitoring of soil quality by physical attributes is important for the evaluation of the sustainability of agricultural systems. An attribute indicator of soil quality should be sensitive to changes in management which is being submitted. The Least limiting water range (LLWR) will see the effects of management systems or in improving the degradation of soil physical quality. The parameter S is an index of soil physical quality that shows the size distribution of pores. The objective of this study to evaluate the soil physical quality parameters using the porosity, the density of the soil, the LLWR, the index S, the aggregation and productivity in an Oxisol after 11 years of cultivation of plant cover in pre-harvest maize in the conventional system and no tillage with cover plants, sunn hemp (Crotalaria juncea), millet (Pennisetum americanum sin.thiphoydes), lab-lab (Dolichus lablab). The experimental design was a randomized block design with four treatments with split-plot and six replications. The tillage systems resulted in an increase in total porosity. The conventional system did not differ from lablab and sunn hemp on macroporosity. The sunn hemp and the conventional system showed lower bulk density. The least limiting water range of tillage systems has been limited in part by the higher water content at field capacity, and in part by lower resistance to penetration. The soil showed a good physical quality, verified by the LLWR. The tillage systems had higher organic matter content in the layers of the conventional system 0-0.05 m. Higher mean weight diameter of aggregates were also observed in this system. The soil showed a good physical quality determined by the index S, which could not be less than 0.035. / Orientador: Itamar Andrioli / Coorientador: Amauri Nelson Beutler / Banca: José Frederico Centurion / Banca: Adilson Pelá / Mestre

The possibility of identifying single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that would be useful for rapid bacterial typing was investigated. Neisseria meningitidis was the organism chosen for modelling the approach since informative SNPs could be found amongst the sequence data available for multi-locus sequence typing (MLST) at http://www.mlst.net. The hypothesis tested was that a small number of SNPs located within the seven gene fragments sequenced for MLST provide information equivalent to MLST. Preliminary investigations revealed that a small number of SNPs could be utilised to highly discriminate sequence types (STs) of clinical interest. Laboratory procedures demonstrated that SNP fingerprinting of N. meningitidis isolates is achievable. Further tests showed that laboratory identification of a defining SNP in the genome of isolates was to be a practical method of obtaining relevant typing information. Identification of the most discriminating SNPs amongst the ever-increasing amount of MLST sequence data summoned the need for computer-based assistance. Two methods of SNP selection devised by the author of this thesis were translated into computer-based algorithms by contributing team members. Software for two computer programs was produced. The algorithms facilitate the optimal selection of SNPs useful for (1) distinguishing specific STs and (2) differentiating non-specific STs. Current input information can be obtained from the MLST database and consequently the programs can be applied to any bacterial species for which MLST data have been entered. The two algorithms for the selection of SNPs were designed to serve contrasting purposes. The first of these was to determine the ST identity of isolates from an outbreak of disease. In this case, isolates would be tested for their membership to any of the STs known to be associated with disease. It was shown that one SNP per ST could distinguish each of four hyperinvasive STs of N. meningitidis from between 92.5% and 97.5% of all other STs. With two SNPs per ST, between 96.7% and 99.0% discrimination is achieved. The SNPs were selected from MLST loci with the assistance of the first algorithm which scores SNPs according to the number of base mismatches in a sequence alignment between an allele of an ST of interest and alleles belonging to all other STs at a specified locus. The second purpose was to determine whether or not isolates from different sources belong to the same ST, regardless of their actual ST identity. It was shown that with seven SNPs, four sample STs of N. meningitidis could, on average, be discriminated from 97.1% of all other STs. The SNPs were selected with the aid of the second algorithm which scores SNPs at MLST loci for the relative frequency of each nucleotide base in a sequence alignment as a measure of the extent of their polymorphism. A third algorithm for selecting SNPs has been discussed. By altering the method of scoring SNPs, it is possible to overcome the limitations inherent in the two algorithms that were utilised for finding SNPs. In addition, the third approach caters for finding SNPs that distinguish members of a complex from non-members.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-04T18:36:44Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Jose Jorge Meschiatti Nogueira.pdf: 407232 bytes, checksum: 2e359a68104f4d773b63582ba4e7c86a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2004-02-17 / This dissertation describes the connection of Information Science with Economics in the environment of social exclusion, outlining the historical scenario of these two sciences. It inserts the economic environment of social and information exclusion in a context, and classifies them under various denominations provided by literature. Finally, it applies the empiric methodology based on econometric, which uses data from technical magazines and books, provided by IBGE, through Family Budget Research Pesquisa de Or?amento Familiar (POF). In order to do so, it takes as an evolution comparative basis the 1987 and 1996 POF results, in which it is focused from several perspectives the distribution and concentration of information under the income and education viewpoints. It measures the consumption patterns of the wealthier and poorer levels, as well as the education levels. / Esta disserta??o retrata a liga??o da Ci?ncia da Informa??o com a Economia no ambiente da exclus?o social, tra?ando um panorama hist?rico do encontro destas duas ci?ncias. Contextualiza o ambiente econ?mico da exclus?o social e informacional, conceituando-as sob as diversas denomina??es fornecidas na literatura. Por fim, aplica metodologia emp?rica baseada na econometria, utilizando-se dos dados de consumo de livros e revistas t?cnicas, fornecidos pelo IBGE, por interm?dio da sua Pesquisa de Or?amento Familiar (POF). Para tanto, toma como base comparativa de evolu??o a POF de 1987 e a de 1996, enfocando sob diversos aspectos a distribui??o e concentra??o de informa??o sob a ?tica da renda e da instru??o, na mensura??o das diferen?as de consumo entre os estratos mais ricos e os mais pobres, os mais instru?dos e os menos instru?dos.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-07-29T14:52:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 tese glenio g santos part 1.pdf: 422298 bytes, checksum: f55f5a007ac66f4eca51eb0700509f2e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-02-26 / When the agricultural usage becomes more intensive, the soil-water physical attributes can undergo significant modifications which are generally adverse to plant growth. The changes can be rather easily detected when the cultivated systems are compared with the same soil still under natural Cerrado vegetation. The use of the system of crop-livestock integration can lead to marked changes in the physical, chemical, and biological soil attributes that can affect the development and hence the productivity of the crops that come after the pasture. This study aimed at analyzing quantitatively by means of attributes of soil-water relations, the main changes in soil quality, resulting from long-term soil usage under integrated crop-livestock, conducted in Cerrado area. The study was carried out by sampling soil trenches dug in the Capivara Farm of Embrapa Rice and Beans, as well as, in a private farm, located nearby Embrapa property. The trenches were sampled in the following depths: 2.5-7.5 cm, 12.5-17.5 cm, 22.5-27.5 cm, 42.5-47.5 cm, 72.5-77.5 cm and 142.5-147.5 cm. The evaluations were carried in six production systems, with an average of 13.5 ha in each area, being characterized by its current usage as: P1 system (Brachiaria brizantha grazing managed for four years); P2 system (Brachiaria brizantha grazing managed for two years); P3 system (Brachiaria brizantha grazing managed for three years); C1 system (soybean under no-tillage); C2 system (rice under conventional tillage) and C3 system (maize + Brachiaria brizantha under no-tillage). It was also used a seventh area, kept under continuous grazing with Brachiaria decumbens managed for 19 years, identified as CP, and an eighth area of the native cerrado vegetation, identified as CE. Generally, the soil-water physical attributes, and among them, the soilwater retention curves and the respective S-index values are altered when managed with agricultural implements and animal grazing in comparison to native cerrado area, considered in this study as a reference area. The use of S-index to evaluate the soil physical quality from the point of view of its structure quality by means of the soil-water retention curve can be a viable option, since it does not have some of the restrictions found by using other soil quality indicators. However, its use requires a greater number of regionalized investigations for different tillage systems and crops, soil types, climate, soil biological activity, among others, in order to relate the critical values with average productivity, so it can used safely to appraise the "effective" soil physical quality / Na medida em que se intensifica o uso agrícola, os atributos físico-hídricos do solo sofrem alterações, geralmente adversas ao crescimento vegetal e essas modificações ficam mais nítidas, quando os sistemas de uso do solo são comparados com o estado do solo ainda sob vegetação natural de cerrado. A utilização do sistema de integração lavourapecuária pode acarretar mudanças acentuadas nos atributos físicos, químicos e biológicos do solo e que podem afetar o desenvolvimento e, consequentemente, a produção das culturas que venham em sequência ao pastejo. Este estudo teve como objetivo geral analisar, quantitativamente, por meio de atributos físico-hídricos, as principais alterações na qualidade do solo, decorrentes da utilização de longo prazo em sistema de integração lavoura-pecuária, conduzidos em ambiente de Cerrado. O estudo foi realizado a partir da abertura de trincheiras na Fazenda Capivara, Embrapa Arroz e Feijão, e em área particular, ao lado da propriedade da Embrapa, onde amostras de solo foram coletadas nas profundidades: 2,5-7,5 cm, 12,5-17,5 cm, 22,5-27,5 cm, 42,5 47,5 cm, 72,5-77,5 cm e 142,5-147,5 cm. As avaliações foram realizadas em seis sistemas, com área média de 13,5 ha cada, sendo caracterizadas pelo seu uso atual como: sistema P1 (pastagem de Brachiaria brizantha com quatro anos de uso); sistema P2 (pastagem de Brachiaria brizantha com dois anos de uso); sistema P3 (pastagem de Brachiaria brizantha com três anos de uso); sistema C1 (Soja sob plantio direto); sistema C2 (arroz sob plantio convencional) e; sistema C3 (milho + Brachiaria brizantha sob plantio direto). Foi também usada uma sétima área de cinco ha, mantida sob pastagem contínua de Brachiaria decumbens, por 19 anos após implantação designada por CP e uma oitava área de cerrado nativo chamada de CE. De uma forma geral, os atributos físico-hídricos e dentre eles as curvas de retenção de água do solo e os respectivos valores do índice-S são alterados, quando submetidos ao manejo com implementos agrícolas e ao pastoreio animal, se comparados à área de cerrado nativo, considerada área de referência neste estudo. O uso do índice-S para avaliar a qualidade física do solo, do ponto de vista da sua estrutura de qualidade por meio da curva de retenção de água pode ser uma opção viável, uma vez que não têm algumas das limitações encontradas no uso de outros indicadores de qualidade do solo. Contudo, sua aplicação demanda um número maior de investigações regionalizadas para diferentes sistemas de manejo e plantas cultivadas, tipos de solo, clima, atividade biológica do solo, dentre outros, relacionando seus valores críticos a índices médios de produtividade agrícola, para que se possa utilizá-lo com segurança na determinação da qualidade física efetiva do solo

This master´s work deals with the evaluation of the financial situation in the company DEAS ltd. and it´s results. Evalution of the financial situation was done with the indexes of financial analysis. Events of this master´s work are specified solutions for improve market position and their possible implementation into the company.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-17T14:53:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Werner Borges de Sampaio.pdf: 2991418 bytes, checksum: 1c3fd03c2e6ffea37ed00740d75d2ffd (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-08-31 / Breast cancer presents high occurrence frequency among the world population and its psychological effects alter the perception of the patient s sexuality and the own personal image. Mammography is an x-ray of the mamma that allows the precocious detection of cancer, since it is capable to showing lesions in their initial stages, typically very small lesions in the order of millimeters. The processing of mammographic images has been contributing to the detection and the diagnosis of mammary nodules, being an important tool, because it reduces the degree of uncertainty of the diagnosis, providing a supplementary source of information to the specialist. This work presents a computational methodology that aids the specialist in the detection of breast masses. The first step of the methodology aims at improvement the mammographic image, which consists of removal of unwanted objects, reduction of noise and enhancement of the breast internal structures. Then, Cellular Neural Networks are used to segment areas suspected of containing masses. These regions have their shapes analyzed by geometry descriptors (eccentricity, circularity, compactness, circular disproportion and circular density) and their textures are analyzed using geostatistical functions (Ripley's K function, Moran's and Geary's indices). Support Vector Machine were trained and used to classify the candidate regions in one of the classes, masses or no-mass, with sensibility of 80.00%, specificity of 85.68%, acuracy of 84.62%, a rate of 0.84 false positive for image and 0.20 false negative for image and an area under the curve ROC of 0.827. / Câncer de mama apresenta alta freqüência de ocorrência entre a população mundial e seus efeitos psicológicos alteram a percepção da sexualidade do paciente e a própria imagem pessoal. A mamografia é uma radiografia da mama que permite a descoberta precoce de câncer, sendo capaz a mostrar lesões nas fases iniciais, tipicamente lesões muito pequenas na ordem de milímetros. O processamento de imagens mamográficas tem contribuído para a descoberta e o diagnóstico de nódulos mamários, sendo uma importante ferramenta, pois reduz o grau de incerteza do diagnóstico, provendo uma fonte adicional de informação ao especialista. Este trabalho apresenta uma metodologia computacional que ajuda o especialista na descoberta de massas mamárias. O primeiro passo da metodologia visa à melhoria da imagem da mamografia que consiste em remoção de objetos externos à mama, redução de ruídos e realce das estruturas internas da mama. Então, Redes Neurais Celulares são usadas para segmentar áreas suspeitadas de conter massas. Estas regiões têm as suas formas analisadas por descritores de geometria (excentricidade, circularidade, densidade, desproporção circular e densidade circular) e as suas texturas analisadas por funções geoestatísticas (função de K de Ripley, e os índices de Moran e Geary). Máquinas de Vetores de Suporte são treinadas para classificar as regiões candidatas em um das classes, massas ou não-massa, com sensibilidade de 80,00%, especificidade de 85,68%, acurácia de 84,62%, uma taxa de 0,84 falsos positivos por imagem e 0,20 falsos negativos por imagem e uma área sob da curva ROC de 0,870.

Submitted by Carla Ferreira (carlaferreira66@gmail.com) on 2014-07-30T15:25:52Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) Efeitos_de_culturas_de_cobertura_na_qualidade_fisica_do_solo_sob_plantio_direto.PDF: 481433 bytes, checksum: 95bdb8ab9b60f7aec50abbdf26baae09 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2014-07-30T15:25:52Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) Efeitos_de_culturas_de_cobertura_na_qualidade_fisica_do_solo_sob_plantio_direto.PDF: 481433 bytes, checksum: 95bdb8ab9b60f7aec50abbdf26baae09 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-02-22 / The objective of this study was to verify the suitability of S index in the diagnostic of physical quality of Cerrado soils and, based upon it, to determine the effect of cover crop mulches on physical quality of a Dystrophic Red Latosol (Oxisol) under no-tillage. A total of 2364 samples were selected from the soil data base of Embrapa Rice & Beans and Embrapa Cerrados, covering Cerrado soils from Mid-West, North, and Northeast regions of Brazil. Values of S index, defined as the slope of the soil water retention curve at its inflection point, obtained from these samples were correlated to soil bulk density, macroporosity, and total porosity, considering the following textural classes: very clayey, clayey, sandy clay, sandy clay loam, loam/sandy loam e loamy sand/sand. Based on review of literature, critical values were established for the physical attributes that separated, according to the texture, soils with good and poor structural quality and, based upon they, critical values were established for the S index. In order to study the effect of cover crop mulches on soil physical quality, an experiment was carried out under center pivot at Embrapa Rice & Beans, in Santo Antônio de Goiás, GO, in a randomized block design, with eight replications. The treatments consisted of eight cover crops: Brachiaria brizantha; corn associated with B. brizantha; pigeon pea; millet; Panicum maximum; sorghum; Stylosanthes guianensis; and Crotalaria juncea. The first seven crops had been cultivated in summer season since December 2001 and C. juncea since November 2003. In the winter season, after cover crop desiccation, irrigated common bean crop was implemented under no-tillage. In February 2006, soil organic matter content, some soil physical attributes, and soil physical quality measured by S index were determined. This index was highly correlated to the physical attributes, showing to be an adequate indicator of physical quality of Cerrado soils. The limit value of S = 0.045 showed to be adequate to separate soils with good structure and soils with the tendency to be degraded, while values of S ≤ 0,025 indicate physically degraded soils. Cover crops, specially grasses, favored soil aggregation at surface layer. Soil cultivation modified its structure in comparison to native forest, increasing bulk density and reducing macroporosity and total porosity, and hence, reducing soil physical quality. Among the cover crops, pigeon pea, C. juncea, and corn associated with B. brizantha were those that maintained soil surface layer with good physical quality. / Os objetivos desse trabalho foram verificar a adequação do índice S no diagnóstico da qualidade física de solos de Cerrado e, com base nele, determinar o efeito de culturas de cobertura na qualidade física de um Latossolo Vermelho distrófico sob plantio direto. Foram selecionadas, nos bancos de dados dos Laboratórios de Solo das Embrapa Arroz e Feijão e Embrapa Cerrados, 2364 amostras abrangendo solos sob Cerrado das regiões CO, N e NE do Brasil. Valores de índice S, definido como sendo a declividade da curva característica de retenção da água do solo em seu ponto de inflexão, foram correlacionados com a densidade do solo, macroporosidade e porosidade total, considerando as classes texturais: muito argilosa, argilosa, argilo-arenosa, franco-argiloarenosa, franco/franco-arenosa e areia-franca/arenosa. Foram buscados na literatura valores limites de atributos físicos que separavam, de acordo com a textura, solos com boa e pobre qualidade estrutural e, com base neles, estabelecido valores limites para o índice S. Para o estudo do efeito de culturas de cobertura na qualidade física do solo, foi conduzido um experimento sob pivô central na Embrapa Arroz e Feijão, em Santo Antônio de Goiás, GO, no delineamento de blocos ao acaso, com oito repetições. Os tratamentos consistiram de oito culturas de cobertura: braquiária; milho consorciado com braquiária; guandu anão; milheto; mombaça; sorgo; estilosantes; e crotalária. As sete primeiras vêm sendo cultivadas no verão desde dezembro de 2001 e a crotalária a partir de novembro de 2003. No inverno de cada ano, após dessecação dessas culturas, foi implantado o feijoeiro irrigado. Em fevereiro de 2006 foram determinados o conteúdo de matéria orgânica do solo, alguns atributos físicos, e a sua qualidade física por meio do índice S. Esse índice correlacionou-se altamente com os atributos físicos, mostrando ser um adequado indicador da qualidade física de solos de Cerrado. O valor limite de S = 0,045 mostrou-se adequado à divisão entre solos de boa qualidade estrutural e solos com tendência a se tornar degradados, enquanto valores de S ? 0,025 indicam solos degradados fisicamente. As culturas de cobertura, especialmente as gramíneas, favoreceram a agregação do solo na camada superficial. O cultivo do solo modificou a sua estrutura comparativamente à mata nativa, aumentando sua densidade e reduzindo a macroporosidade, porosidade total e, consequentemente, a sua qualidade física. Entre as culturas de cobertura, guandu, crotalária e milho consorciado com braquiária foram as que mantiveram a camada superficial do solo com boa qualidade física.