Orientador: Eliana Mara Braga / Resumo: Introdução: O cuidado em saúde mental na Atenção Básica representa um desafio para o sistema de saúde em suas dimensões políticas, organizacionais e técnico-assistenciais. A transposição do modelo biomédico e da fragmentação do cuidado são condições fundamentais para reverter a lógica de atenção à saúde e compor novos arranjos de cuidado. Essa pesquisa procurou agregar dois recursos terapêuticos, Aromaterapia e Terapia Floral, ao Relacionamento Terapêutico para pluralizar o cuidado aos usuários em sofrimento psíquico no contexto da Estratégia Saúde da Família. Objetivos: Compreender a dinâmica do cuidado formal e informal oferecido aos usuários em uso crônico de psicofármacos no contexto do processo de trabalho da Estratégia Saúde da Família e proporcionar o cuidado em saúde mental por meio da oferta de Aromaterapia e Terapia Floral associadas ao Relacionamento Terapêutico para usuários em uso crônico de psicofármacos. Método: Pesquisa qualitativa realizada em uma Unidade de Saúde da Família de uma município do interior do estado de São Paulo. Ocorreu em duas etapas inter-relacionadas, iniciando pelo referencial microssociológico que incorporou na coleta de dados a observação participante, o diário de campo, as conversas ocasionais, a entrevista etnográfica e a análise documental; foram participantes os trabalhadores de saúde da referida unidade. Na segunda etapa, guiada pelo referencial da pesquisa clínico-qualitativa, participaram usuários da unidade de saúde que faziam uso... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Introduction: The care in mental health in Primary Health care represents a challenge to the health system in its political, organizational and technical-supportive dimensions. The transposition of both the biomedical model and the care fragmentation is a fundamental condition to reverse the actual approach of health attention and set new arrangements for the service. This research aimed to aggregate two therapeutic resources, Aromatherapy and Bach Flowers remedies, to the Therapeutic Relationship in order to amplify the care offered to the users under psychological distress in the context of the Family Health Strategy. Objective: To understand the dynamics of formal and informal care provided to the users under chronic use of psychotropic drugs in the context of the working process of the Family Health Strategy and provide mental health care through Aromatherapy and Bach Flowers associated with the Therapeutic Relationship to users under chronic use of psychotropic drugs. Method: Qualitative Research carried out in a Family Health Unit in the countryside of São Paulo State. It was performed in two interrelated phases, beginning with the microsociological model which incorporated the participative observation, the health diary, the occasional talks, the ethnographic interview and the documental analysis in its data collecting; the health care workers of the referred unit took part in this phase. In the second moment, guided by the clinical qualitative research model, the pati... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

A automação da classificação visual de produtos vem ganhando cada vez mais importância nos processos produtivos agrícolas. Isto posto, uma das principais dificuldades encontradas por produtores de flores e plantas ornamentais é garantir o crescimento homogêneo de suas plantas. Nesse cenário, as mudas utilizadas para gerar as plantas são importantes uma vez que se pode estimar seu potencial de crescimento através de uma inspeção visual. Sendo assim, um sistema de visão computacional pode ser empregado para automatizar essa tarefa. Porém, diferentemente de indústrias tradicionais, a indústria agrícola apresenta grande variabilidade entre os produtos analisados. Técnicas de aprendizado de máquina supervisionado conseguem avaliar um conjunto de atributos referentes ao objeto inspecionado para classificá-lo corretamente, de forma a lidar tanto com a variabilidade dos produtos em inspeção quanto com a incorporação do conhecimento de especialistas pelo sistema. A definição do conjunto de atributos a ser extraído das imagens dos produtos é de extrema importância, pois é ele quem fornece toda a informação utilizada no sistema. Um conjunto com diversos atributos assegura que toda a informação necessária é capturada, porém atributos irrelevantes ou redundantes podem prejudicar o desempenho dos classificadores. Técnicas de seleção de atributos podem ser utilizadas para equilibrar essas necessidades. O objetivo do trabalho foi o de avaliar a eficácia dessas técnicas para a classificação de mudas de violeta. Vinte e seis parâmetros foram extraídos de seiscentas imagens rotuladas em quatro níveis de qualidade. Em seguida, os desempenhos de seis classificadores foram comparados considerando-se um universo de subconjuntos gerados por quatro técnicas de seleção de atributos. Os resultados mostraram que essas técnicas são realmente vantajosas, gerando ganhos de até 8,8% nas taxas de acertos e ao mesmo tempo reduzindo de 26 para 11 o número médio de atributos utilizados. O classificador Logistic Regression associado ao subconjunto gerado pelo Chi-quadrado foi o que apresentou melhor desempenho global, atingindo 80% de acerto. O classificador Random Forest ficou em segundo lugar, porém se mostrou menos sensível a seleção de atributos. / The automation of visual classification of products is gaining more importance in agricultural production processes. That said, one of the main difficulties encountered by ornamental plants and flowers producers is to ensure homogeneous growth of their plants. In this scenario, the seedlings used to grow the plants are very important since it is possible to estimate their growth potential by means of a visual inspection. Therefore, a computer vision system can be used to automate this task. Unlike traditional industries, the agricultural industry shows great variability among the products inspected. Supervised machine learning techniques can evaluate an attribute set representing the inspected object in order to correctly classify it, making it possible not only to deal with the variability of the inspected products but also with the incorporation of experts knowledge into the system. The definition of the attribute set to be extracted from the images of the products is of utmost importance, as it is it that provides all information used by the system. A set with several attributes ensures that all necessary information is captured; however irrelevant or redundant attributes can affect the performance of classifiers. Attribute selection techniques can be used to balance these needs. The aim of this study was then to evaluate the effectiveness of these techniques regarding the classification of African violet seedlings. Twenty- six parameters were extracted from six hundred images, labeled into four quality groups. Then, the performances of six classifiers were compared by considering the universe of subsets generated by four attribute selection techniques. The results showed that these techniques are indeed advantageous, generating gains of up to 8.8% in accuracy rate while reducing from 26 to 11 the average number of attributes used. Logistic Regression classifier, associated with the subset generated by the Chi-squared filter showed the best overall performance, achieving 80 % accuracy. Random Forest was second, but was less sensitive to attribute selection.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-10T17:40:42Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Neusa_Francisca_Michelon_Herzog_Tese.pdf: 1684844 bytes, checksum: 1dea8e85b06380395c232da8430d6092 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-11-08 / Pinhão-manso (Jatropha curcas L.) belonging to the Euphorbiaceae family from Americas has been disseminated in tropical and sub-tropical regions in the globe and also largely distributed in Asiatic and African continents. This specie has its seeds as the main way of spreading itself. Generally the reproductive material (seeds and fruit) is strongly influenced by the genitor plants, by the local climatic conditions that act on the development that comprises since the pollination process, the physiological maturity of the seed, to the plantation success. Due to its importance, this research aimed to characterize the flower and fruit production of the specie in an intercropped and monocultivation system, as well as to determine the production, the physical quality of the Jatropha curcas L. seeds, in Pato Bragado city in West of Paraná state. The study assessment period took 13 months and started in December 2010. The field experiment was set in areas of intercropped with Tifton and in a monocultivation system. The emission of floral buds and the flower and fruit abortion were weekly registered computing the formed fruit and quantifying the developed seeds. The number of locules was evaluated with formed seeds in fruitage, and some aspects related to the seeds were measured such as: the weight in grams, the length and the width in centimeters. The quality tests in the seeds were: germination in sand, germination speed index and tetrazolium test. The variance was analyzed by the Sisvar program, and the statistic difference between the average were compared by the Tukey test of 5% of error probability. The monocultivation favored the productivity. Four periods of flourishing were observed and the most expressive one occurred during the August to November period. The tendency to concentrate a bigger number of female flowers was noticed since the trees got older, and the most vigorous seed were produced during August to November period / O pinhão-manso (Jatropha curcas L.) pertencente à família Euphorbiaceae, é nativo das Américas, apresenta-se disseminado nas regiões tropicais e subtropicais do globo e amplamente distribuído nos continentes Asiático e Africano. Esta espécie tem as sementes como principal forma de dispersão. De modo geral, sabe-se que o material reprodutivo (sementes e frutos) é bastante influenciado pelas características das plantas genitoras, pelas condições climáticas do local em que atua sobre o desenvolvimento, que compreende desde a polinização, maturidade fisiológica da semente, ao sucesso do plantio. Dada a sua importância, esta pesquisa objetivou caracterizar a produção de flores e frutos da espécie, em cultivo consorciado e monocultivo, determinar a produção, a qualidade física e fisiológica das sementes de Jatropha curcas L., no município de Pato Bragado no Oeste do Paraná. O período das avaliações compreendeu 13 meses, tendo início em dezembro de 2010. O experimento à campo, foi realizado em áreas de cultivo consorciado com tifton e sistema de monocultivo. Semanalmente, a emissão de botões florais e abortamento de flores e frutos, foram anotados, computando os frutos formados, abortados e quantificando as sementes desenvolvidas. Em frutos, avaliou-se o número de lóculos com sementes formadas. Mensurou-se nas sementes: massa em gramas; comprimento e largura em centímetros. Os testes de qualidade em sementes foram: germinação em areia, índice de velocidade de germinação e teste de tetrazólio. Para a análise estatística, realizou-se análise de variância pelo programa Sisvar, no caso de diferença estatística entre as médias foram comparadas pelo teste de Tukey a 5% de probabilidade de erro. A monocultura favoreceu a produtividade. Foram observados quatro períodos de florescimento, sendo que o mais expressivo ocorreu no período de agosto a novembro. Houve tendência a concentrar maior número de flores femininas á medida que as árvores ficaram mais velhas. As sementes mais vigorosas, foram produzidas no período de agosto a novembro

牛樟芝 (Antrodia camphorata; AC) 為台灣特有的藥用真菌,是常見的傳統 中藥,富含三萜類化合物及多醣體。本研究使用牛樟芝、葛花、枳椇子與山楂共 四種萃取物製成之牛樟芝複方飲品 (A. camphorate drink, ACD)為原料,評估此一 複方飲品之抗疲勞功效。本研究從運動表現、疲勞生化指標、肌肉損傷生化指數 以及能量儲存等做為抗疲勞評估標準。將 5 週齡雄性 ICR (Institute of Cancer Research) 小鼠,分為三組,每組各 10 隻,分組如下:(1) 對照組 (vehicle, V); (2) 餵食 15.625 mL/kg 牛樟芝複方飲品 (ACD-1X);(3) 餵食 31.25 mL/kg 牛樟芝 複方飲品 (ACD-2X),連續經口餵食 28 天後進行以下試驗: 1. 測試小鼠前肢抓 力、2. 測試 5%負重游泳力竭時間、3. 進行游泳運動 15 分鐘後立即進行採血觀 察乳酸、血氨、血糖及肌酸激酶、4. 小鼠犧牲後,採集肝臟及肌肉組織進行肝醣 分析與切片。結果顯示,ACD-1X 組 (1124 g) 與 ACD-2X 組 (125 6 g) 在前肢 抓力與對照組 (95 6 g) 相比,分別顯著提升 1.19 與 1.32 倍 (p < 0.05)。ACD-1X 組 (56.714.3 min) 與 ACD-2X 組 (60.717.7 min) 在游泳力竭時間與對照組 (18.23.7 min) 比較分別延長 3.12 及 3.34 倍,均有顯著差異 (p < 0.05)。游泳運 動結束後,ACD-1X 組與 ACD-2X 組之乳酸、血氨及肌酸肌酶均顯著低於對照組 (p < 0.05),而血糖方面則顯著高於對照組(p < 0.05)。肌肉肝醣部分,ACD-1X 組 (1.79 ± 0.12 mg/g) 與 ACD-2X 組 (2.36 ± 0.21 mg/g) 相較於對照組 (1.54 ± 0.06 mg/g),2倍牛樟芝複方飲品組顯著提升1.53倍。肝臟肝醣部分,ACD-1X組 (48.9± 4.1 mg/g) 與 ACD-2X 組 (54.1 ± 5.8 mg/g) 與對照組 (27.0 ± 2.4 mg/g) 比較分別 增加 1.18 及 2.00 倍。研究結果顯示,牛樟芝複方飲品具有增加肝臟及肌肉組織 中的肝醣儲存量,且在游泳運動過程中降低血乳酸、血氨及肌酸激酶的產生。進 一步延長負重游泳力竭的時間及前肢抓力表現。因此,本研究證實牛樟芝複方飲 品具有抗疲勞及提升運動表現之功效。 / Antrodia camphorata is an endemic medical mushroom in Taiwan and has been reported to have multi-biological activities such as anti-fatigue, liver protection, anti-cancer, and anti-inflammation. This study was designed to ascertain the ergogenic and anti-fatigue properties of an A. camphorata drink (ACD) (comprising A. camphorata, Pueraria flos flowers, Hovenia dulcis Thunb, and Crataegus pinnatifida) by forelimb grip strength, load-weighted swimming test, and biochemical examinations in mouse model. Thirty male ICR mice (5-week-old) were randomly divided into three groups (n=10 per group): (1) vehicle; (2) a recommended dosage of 15 mg per 75 mL once per day for adult human (ACD-1X); (3) a 2-fold of recommended usage for adult human (ACD-2X). Mice were given orally either vehicle or A. camphorate drink by gavage for 28 days. The groups ACD-1X and ACD-2X showed significant increases in forelimb grip strength, swimming time to exhaustion skeletal, and muscle glycogen as compared to the vehicle group. Blood lactate and ammonia levels in the ACD-1X and ACD-2X groups were significantly lower than in the vehicle group post a swimming test. Moreover, the activity of plasma creatine kinase (CK), a marker of muscular damage, was significantly decreased in the ACD-1X and ACD-2X groups than vehicle group after swimming exercise. These results suggest that A. camphoratahas great potential for application in relevant fields for its ergogenic and anti-fatigue activities. / 第一章 緒論 .........................................................................................................................1 第一節 研究目的..............................................................................................................2 第二章 文獻探討 .................................................................................................................3 第一節 牛樟芝成份及相關研究......................................................................................3 第二節 葛花成份及相關研究..........................................................................................6 第三節 枳椇子成份及相關研究......................................................................................7 第四節 山楂成份及相關研究..........................................................................................8 第五節 運動與疲勞..........................................................................................................9 第三章 材料與方法 ...........................................................................................................12 第一節 實驗測試樣品....................................................................................................12 第二節 實驗動物之飼養與實驗流程............................................................................14 第三節 血液與組織樣本之收集與前處理....................................................................16 第四節 統計分析............................................................................................................17 第四章 結果與討論 ...........................................................................................................18 第一節 補充牛樟芝複方飲品對於小鼠游泳運動能力表現之測試............................18 第二節 補充牛樟芝複方飲品對於小鼠游泳運動後血液中乳酸、血氨、血糖濃 度以及 CK 活性之分析..................................................................................................19 第三節 補充牛樟芝複方飲品對於小鼠前肢抓力表現之測試....................................20 第四節 補充牛樟芝複方飲品對於小鼠肌肉與肝臟部位肝醣含量之分析................21 第五章 結論 .......................................................................................................................22 參考文獻.............................................................................................................31

Plant-pollinator interactions figure as key elements promoting the natural regeneration of terrestrial vegetation, as most plants depend on animals to transfer their gametes between flowers and produce seeds. Bees are the most common pollinators of plants and their interactions with flowers have served as model systems for the study of specialized mutualisms since Darwin's time. While most plants offer nectar as a reward and attract a variety of floral visitors, others produce distinctive types of resources which are sought by particular groups of pollinators. Such associations may involve specialization at the morphological, behavioral, or physiological levels and are especially common in tropical habitats. The interactions between oil-producing flowers of Neotropical Malpighiaceae and oil-collecting bees are an example of a specialized mutualism in which plants offer lipids to attract pollinators that use the resource to build nest cells and feed their offspring. Although several studies have focused on specialized pollination at the species level, their effects on the organization of tropical communities remain largely unexplored. This dissertation aims to help fill this gap through an analysis of the mechanisms of pollinator partitioning in multi-species assemblages of specialists as well as a study of the organization of communities in which they occur. The motivation for pursuing the study of specialized interactions using Neotropical species of Malpighiaceae as a model system is outlined in the first chapter. In Chapter 2, I present an evaluation of the structural properties of a plant-pollinator community from the Cerrado, a seasonal ecosystem that hosts a large diversity of oil flowers. The third chapter analyzes pollinator partitioning and reproductive strategies promoting the coexistence of closely related Malpighiaceae. A possible outcome for the selective pressures imposed by the coexistence of specialists is presented in Chapter 4 by a case study providing evidence for a shift from specialized to generalized pollination in a Neotropical Malpighiaceae species. The last chapter includes reports of active floral oil foraging by males of Tetrapedia and a description of an oil storage structure without precedence among bees and unique to males of this genus suggesting that floral oils may also play a role in bees mating systems. / text

Pollinators are believed to have played a key role in the radiation of flowering plants. The Grant-Stebbins model of pollinator-mediated speciation, in which evolutionary shifts between pollinators result in phenotypic diversification and enforce reproductive isolation, is one of the most compelling hypotheses for the rapid diversification of angiosperms. A key principle in this model is that plant pollination systems tend towards specialization, resulting in convergent suites of floral traits (syndromes) associated with particular types of pollinators. However, the expectation of pollination system specialization is not always supported by ecological data and has also been questioned on theoretical grounds. In this thesis, I examine pollination by Hemipepsis spider-hunting wasps (Hymenoptera, Pompilidae, Pepsinae) and use this system to address questions about levels and proximal mechanisms of floral specialization, floral shifts and convergent evolution of floral traits. Specialized pollination by Hemipepsis wasps is a newly described pollination system within the angiosperms. I document pollination by these wasps for the first time in 15 South African grassland plant species, including two species of Eucomis (Hyacinthaceae) and 13 asclepiads (Apocynaceae: Asclepiadoideae). In one of the asclepiads, Xysmalobium undulatum, I describe a bimodal pollination system involving both Hemipepsis wasps and a cetoniine beetle. I also describe an unusual and potentially antagonistic pollination mechanism whereby wasps are systematically dismembered during the insertion of pollinia in the two asclepiads Pachycarpus asperifolius and P. appendiculatus. I have used these and previous case studies to establish the existence of a new pollination guild, consisting of at least 21 plant species (across 10 genera and three families), that are reliant on four functionally similar species of Hemipepsis wasp for pollination. Plants in the guild are distributed throughout the moist grasslands of eastern South Africa and flower from September through until early May, peaking in December/January. The Hemipepsis-wasp pollination guild is characterized by high levels of functional specialization (17 of the 21 known guild members are pollinated exclusively by Hemipepsis wasps), despite the absence of morphological adaptations to prevent non-pollinating insects from accessing nectar. I used field and laboratory based experiments to explore the function of floral traits in enforcing specialization. These showed that Hemipepsis wasps primarily use scent, rather than visual cues, to locate flowers, but I was unable to firmly identify specific compounds responsible for the attraction of these wasps (compounds that elicited antennal responses in preliminary GC-EAD experiments did not attract wasps in bioassays). The chemical composition of the floral scents of guild members was examined for 71 individuals representing 14 species in addition to previous studies, and found to comprise complex blends of volatiles (usually containing between 30 and 50 compounds), typically dominated by aliphatics and monoterpenes with small amounts of aromatics. I also showed that the floral colours of guild members are similar to background vegetation, suggesting that floral colours are adapted for crypsis to avoid detection by non-pollinating insects. Palatability choice experiments with honeybees showed that non-pollinating insects find the nectars of at least three of the asclepiad guild members distasteful. Plants in this guild thus appear to achieve specialization through biochemical filters (scent as an attractant and differentially palatable nectar) and cryptic coloration. Pollinator-mediated convergence in floral traits is the fundamental basis for pollination syndromes, but has seldom been rigorously analyzed. Flowers in the Hemipepsis-wasp pollination guild share several qualitative traits, including dull greenish- or brownish-white colour, often with purple blotches, exposed sucrose dominant nectar with a relatively high sugar concentration (typically over 50% sugar by weight) and a sweet/spicy fragrance to the human nose. To test for convergent evolution in guild members, I compared scent, nectar and colour traits of guild members to those of congeners with different pollinators. Although traits often differed between guild members and their congeners, I found little evidence for overall convergence in floral scent profiles and nectar properties, but floral colours in the guild were significantly closer to the colour of background vegetation than those of congeners. At this stage, the lack of knowledge about specific floral volatiles that influence Hemipepsis-wasp behaviour and secondary nectar constituents that limit non-pollinator visits makes it difficult to identify the extent of biochemical convergent evolution within the guild. The directions and functional traits involved in evolutionary transitions between pollination by Hemipepsis wasps and other vectors are currently difficult to ascertain as there is limited phylogenetic data for the plant families concerned. In the genus Eucomis, fly and Hemipepsis-wasp pollinated species are very similar in floral morphology and colour, but differ strongly in floral scent. Using manipulative field experiments in conjunction with detailed analyses of colour, scent and morphology, I was able to show that a shift between wasp and fly pollination could be induced simply by manipulating oligosulphides in the scent emission from inflorescences. When considered in combination with other experiments highlighting the importance of scent as a pollinator attractant for all guild members, this suggests that scent properties may have played a key role in the evolutionary transitions between pollination by Hemipepsis wasps and other vectors. This research has established that pollination by Hemipepsis spider-hunting wasps is more geographically and phylogenetically widespread than was previously known, and has confirmed that these wasps are important and consistent pollinators in southern African grassland ecosystems. I have shown that a distinct guild of plants is specialized for pollination by these wasps. The high levels of specialization within this guild highlight the effectiveness of biochemical filters and cryptic coloration in limiting the spectrum of flower visitors. The major challenge ahead will be to identify the floral volatiles that attract Hemipepsis wasps and the non-sugar constituents that make the nectars of some guild members differentially palatable. These would both contribute greatly to our understanding of floral specialization and the mechanisms involved in the radiation of the angiosperms. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2011.

Der Sanskrittext Puṣpacintāmaṇi (PuCi) behandelt Blüten als Darbringungen (upacāra) im wichtigsten hinduistischen Verehrungsritual, der pūjā. In ca. 400 Strophen werden über 200 Namen von Blüten genannt und für verschiedene Gottheiten und pūjās als geeignete oder ungeeignete Gaben vorgeschrieben. Der Text ist eine Kompilation (Nibandha), in der die Inhalte aus 47 namentlich genannten Quellentexten referiert werden. Ziel der Dissertation ist es nicht nur, diesen Text, der 1966 zum ersten Mal herausgegeben wurde, auf der Grundlage aller überlieferter Handschriften neu zu edieren und erstmals zu übersetzen, sondern darüberhinaus in seinen Kontext einzuordnen. Dabei werden der historische Entstehungszusammenhang des Textes, die Stellung des PuCi in der Texttradition und die Möglichkeiten der Deutung seines Inhalts berücksichtigt. Ein engmaschiges Netz 29 nahe verwandter nepalischer Abschriften des Textes, das durch eine textkritische Untersuchung in Bereiche vertikaler und horizontaler Überlieferung geordnet werden konnte, reicht bis in die Entstehungszeit des PuCi zurück. Aufgrund der ältesten Textzeugen konnte eine Edition angefertigt werden, die der Urschrift des PuCi nahe kommt und im Vergleich zur editio princeps von 1966 eine authentischere Textgestalt wiedergibt. Erstmals wurde dabei auch die Übertragung ins Klassische Newari ediert, die in der Übersetzung des Textes bezüglich ihrer Ergänzungen zum und Abweichungen vom Sanskrittext Beachtung findet. Zur Aufbereitung des Materials, das die Grundlage für die anschließenden Analysen bildet, gehören darüberhinaus die botanischen Identifikationen aller im Text genannter Blüten, die in einer alphabetischen Liste und teilweise in Abbildungen zugänglich gemacht werden. Anhand der vorletzten Strophe des Textes, die in der Erstedition fehlt, konnte die Entstehungszeit des PuCi auf die Dekade zwischen 1641 und 1651 eingegrenzt werden. In diesem Vers wird der Verfasser des Textes, Māyāsiṃha, genannt sowie dessen Patron, Pratāpa Malla, der die Königsstadt Kathmandu zwischen 1641 und 1674 regierte. Eine Person namens Mayāsiṃha wird in verschiedenen Quellen mit der Ermordung eines Verwandten des Königs in Verbindung gebracht. Anhand der in der Arbeit ausgewerteten historischen Dokumente ist aber nicht sicher festzustellen, ob der mutmaßliche Intrigant Mayāsiṃha und der Verfasser der PuCi Māyāsiṃha ein und dieselbe Person waren. Der Autor, der durch die Neuedition erstmals greifbar wird, entzieht sich zugleich wieder. Unabhängig von der konkreten Verfasserschaft lässt sich der Text als Teil des Herrschaftsprogramms von Pratāpa Malla auffassen. Dieser König gilt als einer der bedeutendsten Herrscher der späten nepalischen Malla-Dynastie und stilisierte sich als ein dem dharma, der kosmischen, politischen und sozialen Ordnung, verpflichteter König. Dazu gehörte die Förderung von allen Bereichen kulturellen Lebens in Ausrichtung auf diese Weltordnung. Besonderes Interesse hegte der Herrscher für die Verehrung der in seinem Reich ansässigen hinduistischen Gottheiten. Der PuCi, in dem Normen für einen Aspekt des wichtigsten Verehrungsrituals gesammelt und geordnet sind, folgt dieser Agenda. In der späteren Manuskripttradition geht die Strophe, aus der Entstehungszeit und -ort ableitbar sind, verloren. Bemerkenswert ist, dass der Text auch ohne Autor und sogar ohne autoritativen Hinweis auf die Patronage durch einen der Kulturheroen der Malla-Zeit überlebt hat und weiter tradiert wurde. Als wichtigster Grund, der dem PuCi das Überleben sicherte, ist wohl die Tatsache anzusehen, dass im Text die panindische gelehrte Tradition auf nepalische Verhältnisse bezogen wird. Der Text behandelt mit der Kombination der Verehrung exoterischer (Smārta) Gottheiten (Śiva, Viṣṇu und Durgā) und esoterischer (Kaula) Göttinnen in den Traditionslinien der nepalischen Tantriker ein Pantheon, das für den höfischen Kult und mit ihm für die Religion der nepalischen Eliten seit der Malla-Zeit repräsentativ ist. Der Verfasser bediente sich dabei des Genres der Kompilation (Nibandha), das zu dieser Zeit in ganz Südasien beliebt und vor allem in der höfischen Kultur angesiedelt war. Die meisten Quellen, aus denen der PuCi zitiert, konnten identifiziert werden. Der Herstellungsprozess wurde weitgehend aufgeklärt. Es zeigt sich, dass der Kompilator als Primärquellen meist auf solche Texte zurückgriff, die in Nepal zu dieser Zeit als literarische Klassiker galten. Für einen nicht unwesentlichen Teil der Zitate konnte nachgewiesen werden, dass diese samt Textverweisen und teilweise sogar Kommentarpassagen aus anderen Nibandhas übernommen wurden. In erster Linie handelte es sich bei diesen Sekundärquellen um damals aktuelle Werke nordindischer Gelehrter. Das Milieu am Königshof von Kathmandu gab, so wird argumentiert, nicht nur den wichtigsten Impuls zum Verfassen des PuCi, sondern war einer der wenigen Orte, an dem ein solcher Text zu dieser Zeit überhaupt entstehen konnte. Pratāpa Malla belebte Kultur und Kunst u.a. durch Importe von Gelehrten und Textmaterialien aus den südlich angrenzenden indischen Reichen und machte so einige Quellentexte erst verfügbar. Popularität und Einfluss des PuCi als nepalischer Lehrtext (Śāstra) zeigt sich nicht nur an seiner eigenen Überlieferung. Darin finden sich Handschriften, die Hinweise auf die anhaltene Bedeutung im royalen Umfeld tragen. Die Newariübertragung entwickelt sich eigenständig weiter. Daneben konnte in nepalischen Manuskripten eine ganze Texttradition zu pūjā-Blüten nachgewiesen werden. Der PuCi ist darin eine zwar wichtige, vielleicht sogar die älteste indigen nepalische, aber eben nur eine Artikulation des Themas in einem verzweigten Strom aufeinander aufbauender Kompilationen, in denen ähnliches Material immer wieder neu zusammengestellt wurde. Anhand derjenigen Texte, die als direkte Nachfahren des PuCi bestimmt werden konnten, wurde demonstriert, wie spätere Autoren den PuCi als Grundlage für neue Werke nutzten. Die nepalische Texttradition zu Blüten – vielleicht kann man sogar von einem eigenen Textgenre sprechen – erlebte, wie die überlieferten Handschriften belegen, im späten 17. und frühen 18. Jahrhundert einen regelrechten Boom. Sie reicht bis in die jüngste Vergangenheit und zeigt eine anhaltende Tendenz zur Übertragung in die Regionalsprachen Nepals. Der PuCi wird, nach allem was bisher bekannt ist, nicht außerhalb von Nepal kopiert oder rezipiert. Er fließt jedoch in Form von gekennzeichneten oder stillschweigenden Zitaten in andere nepalische Nibandhas ein, die ihrerseits überregionale Bedeutung erlangt haben. So trägt der PuCi indirekt zur panindischen gelehrten Tradition bei. Wie der PuCi als Text seinen Verfasser und Patron verliert, verliert sich im Laufe der Zeit auch der Text als solcher und geht in neue Kompositionen auf. Die im PuCi gesammelten Informationen werden weiter tradiert, Verfasserschaft oder konkrete Textgestalt erscheinen dabei nebenrangig. Der PuCi ist ein hochspezialisierter Lehrtext, in dem enzyklopädisch Vorschriften zur Materialkunde des upacāras Blüte (puṣpa) aufgeführt werden, ohne Kontext oder Begründungen zu geben. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wird gezeigt, wie sich das Regelwerk des PuCi in den weiteren Kontext panindischer Gelehrsamkeit einbetten lässt. Dazu wurden die Regeln nach ihren Gültigkeitsbereichen geordnet und sukzessive analysiert. Es sind allgemeine und spezielle Regeln unterscheidbar. In den allgemeinen Regeln, die festlegen, was eine Blüte als Gabe an Gottheiten qualifiziert, kommen ästhetische Ansprüche zum Ausdruck. Wie wohl für Ritualgegenstände allgemein, zielen diese Vorschriften aber vor allem auf die Wahrung von Reinheit. Die śāstrische Behandlung von Blüten zeigt Parallelen zu derjenigen von Speisen (anna) oder Gaben (dāna) und lässt sich so als Teil eines allgemeineren Diskurses erfassen, wie er vor allem von Autoren des Dharmaśāstra entwickelt wurde. Die speziellen Regeln sind zumeist einfache Zuordnungsregeln. Die wichtigsten Komponenten dieser Vorschriften sind Blüten und Gottheiten, also die dargebrachte Materie und der Empfänger dieser Gabe. Der Verehrer oder Geber wird in vielen Regeln genannt, jedoch recht selten charakterisiert. Die Handlung selbst, das Darbringen der Blüten, ist nur indirekt über die Resultate, die sie produziert, greifbar. Diese Komponenten sind in den drei Arten, in die pūjā traditionell eingeteilt wird, verschieden ausgeprägt und gewichtet. Besonders lassen sich die regelmäßige (nitya) Verehrung und diejenige mit einem Begehren (kāmya) kontrastieren, wohingegen die fallweise (naimittika) Verehrung zur nityapūjā tendiert und insgesamt vergleichsweise blass bleibt. Verdienste, die für die nitya- und naimittikapūjā sehr allgemein formuliert werden, sind in der pūjā mit einem Begehren (kāmya) erwartungsgemäß viel konkreter. Dagegen wird die innere Einstellung, für die in nitya- und naimittikapūjā devotionale Hingabe (bhakti) gefordert ist, in dieser Art von pūjā kaum thematisiert. Durch die Analyse zeigte sich weiter, dass die physischen und kulturellen Charakteristika der Blüten mit der jeweils zentralen Komponente der Regeln in Beziehung gesetzt werden können. In der nityapūjā lassen sich Parallelen zwischen Eigenschaften der Blüten, wie deren Namen, Formen, Standorten oder kulturellen Assoziationen, und denen der Gottheiten feststellen. Der zeitliche Anlass (nimitta) ist diejenige Komponente, die für die Verwendung von Blüten in der naimittikapūjā von Bedeutung ist. Wie in der kāmyapūjā scheinen die jeweils verehrten Gottheiten nur zweitrangig, wenn darüber zu entscheiden ist, welche Blüten zu verwenden sind. Blüten, die für die Verehrung mit einem Begehren (kāmyapūjā) vorgeschrieben sind, lassen sich über ihre Charakteristika mit eben diesem Begehren verknüpfen. Die Eigenschaften der Blüten lassen sich so als rituelle Potenzen betrachten, welche die jeweils unterschiedlichen Ausrichtungen der drei Arten von pūjā betonen. Neben Unterschieden zwischen den Vorschriften für die drei Arten der pūjā werden auch diejenigen zwischen den ersten drei Kapiteln und dem vierten behandelt. Dies entspricht der Grenze zwischen exoterischer Ritualtradition, die auf Schriften der Smārtas rekurriert, und der esoterischen der Kaulas. Für die exoterische Tradition ist tendenziell eine Anbindung an die vedische Ritualistik festzustellen. Pflanzen, die zur materiellen Ausstattung von Śrauta-Ritualen gehören, gelten als wichtige pūjā-Blüten, obwohl es sich häufig nicht um Blüten im eigentlichen Sinne, sondern um Gräser oder Blätter handelt. Vedische Rituale werden in Vergleichen herangezogen, in denen die Verdienstlichkeit der pūjā betont wird. Im vierten Kapitel spielt die Welt der vedischen Rituale dagegen kaum eine Rolle. Pflanzen mit vedischen Wurzeln werden kaum erwähnt oder sogar abgelehnt, Śrauta-Rituale bilden keine Vergleichsmomente. Ein weiterer Punkt, in welchem die Ansichten zu pūjā-Blüten aus exoterischer und esoterischer Perspektive auseinanderzugehen scheinen, ist das verbale Gewicht, das auf die Befolgung der Regeln gesetzt wird. Für die Darbringung der falschen Blüten werden im vierten Kapitel des PuCi viel drastischere Konsequenzen angedroht als in den ersten drei Kapiteln. Aussagen, dass fehlende Blütengaben ersetzt und durch bloße Hingabe (bhakti) substituiert werden können, sind Teil der Smārta-, nicht aber der Kaula-Vorschriften. Obgleich sich also Kaula-Ritual in seiner Materialität von der vedischen Ritualistik abgrenzt, ähnelt es ihr in seiner hyperritualistischen Einstellung. Im Großen und Ganzen sind die im Text referierten Vorschriften nicht willkürlich. Es lassen sich Regelmäßigkeiten der Zuordnungen feststellen. Für diese Zuordnungen von Blüten und Göttern, Blüten und Zeiten oder Blüten und Resultaten finden sich vielerlei Parallelen in anderen Gebieten der in Sanskritschriften überlieferten Gelehrtenkultur. Der Text enthält jedoch auch Stellen, die widersprüchlich oder unverständlich sind. Einige Widersprüche werden vom Kompilator harmonisiert, andere bleiben unvereint stehen. Neben Namen prominenter Blüten, die häufig genannt werden und in regelmäßigen Beziehungen zu Gottheiten stehen, werden solche erwähnt, die wenig bekannt sind oder die schlicht Textkorruptionen darstellen. Der Verfasser einer Kompilation muss fast zwangsläufig Korruptes und Unverständliches – ich habe dies „blinde Flecken“ genannt – im Text akzeptieren, will er seine Quellen, die ihm nicht in kritischen Editionen sondern in Handschriften unterschiedlicher Qualität vorliegen, möglichst treu wiedergeben. Dies gilt in besonderem Maße für einen Text, der wie der PuCi viele Eigennamen enthält. Vor allem die Übersetzung dieser Eigennamen erscheint als das zentrale Anliegen der Übertragung des Textes ins Newari. Die sprachlichen Strukturen, die im Sanskrittext schon recht stereotyp sind, werden dabei weiter vereinfacht, und es finden sich kaum Erläuterungen zum Grundtext. Die Übertragung ist daher in erster Linie lexikographisch zu nennen. Verschiedene Übersetzungstechniken kommen zum Einsatz. Bekannte Blüten werden meist stabil übersetzt. Sie tragen eigene Newarinamen oder zumindest solche, die durch Lautverschiebungen aus dem Sanskrit adaptiert wurden. Unbekannte Blüten werden dagegen mechanisch durch das Anfügen des Newaribegriffs für „Blüte“ übertragen oder komplett unterschlagen. Anhand einiger Newariglossen konnte gezeigt werden, wie lokal bedeutsame Ritualflora mit der gelehrten Tradition verknüpft wird. Dabei nutzte der Übersetzer u.a. die Interpretationsspielräume, die ihm der Text durch nicht eindeutig definierte oder unverständliche Sanskritnamen von Blüten – durch seine „blinden Flecken“ – bot. Insgesamt betrachtet ist der PuCi als ein erfolgreicher Versuch zu bewerten, translokale normative Tradition auf lokale Gegebenheiten zu beziehen. Dabei ist der Text in erster Linie eine intellektuelle Angelegenheit. Es handelt sich um einen allgemeinen Charakterzug der Sanskritgelehrsamkeit, dass Śāstras nicht beschreiben, was in der Welt vor sich geht, sondern vielmehr wiedergeben, was als Wissen darüber überliefert ist. Der PuCi ist damit eher ein Prestigegegenstand, der einer Luxuskultur, nämlich dem höfischen Milieu, entstammt, als ein Gebrauchstext. / The Puṣpacintāmaṇi (PuCi), a compendium (nibandha) containing rules for the use of flowers in Hindu pūjā, was written between 1641 and 1651 at the royal court of Kath-mandu, Nepal under one of the most illustrious rulers of the late medieval Malla dynasty, Pratāpa Malla. The dense manuscript evidence reaches back to the time of composition and allows for reconstructing a text close to the original. Moreover, on the basis of the quoted sources the procedure of compilation becomes almost tangible. The PuCi reflects the medieval Hindu religion of the Nepalese elites, which tradi-tionally and up to recently was centred on the king as its major ritual patron. The struc-ture of the text mirrors a peculiar Nepalese combination of exoteric and esoteric cult practices. Flowers for Śiva, Viṣṇu, Sūrya and the other Grahas as well as in the śrāddha as prescribed in the common Dharmaśāstranibandhas are dealt with in the first two chapters. The third chapter might be seen as a hinge between the two ritual modi: con-cluding the area of smārta worship it deals with flowers for Durgā, who is considered to be the exoteric identity of the multitude of esoteric goddesses unfolding into different lines of transmission (āmnāya) of the Kaula traditions dealt with in the last chapter of the text. Furthermore, the analysis of the texts used for composing the PuCi attests to a strong link to the pan-Indian Sanskrit tradition and yet at the same time to its Nepalese prov-enance. There are texts quoted which by the 17th century must have become the “clas-sics” among the authorities on Nepalese ritual matters, such as the Śivadharma literature or the Manthānabhairavatantra. On the other hand the text heavily draws on works by North Indian Nibandhakāras, which must have been “brand new” at that time, such as Narasiṃha Ṭhakkura’s Tārābhaktisudhārṇava. The findings affirm that Pratāpa Malla was one of those royal figures who actually imported scholars and new texts in order to update the Nepalese version of Hinduism. In a wider perspective the text bears evidence to how fast knowledge and texts travelled in medieval South Asia. Research into Nepalese manuscripts has uncovered a larger textual tradition on pūjā flowers surviving in about 100 manuscripts. These texts are closely interrelated. Newly emerging texts may take material from older compilations as their skeleton and coat it with new references or may be self-sustained developments of parts of their predecessors. Texts are translated into the vernaculars, into Newari and later on into Nepali. The Puṣpacintāmaṇi may be considered paradigmatic for this tradition. Its translation into Classical Newari in course of time comes to lead a life of its own, the Sanskrit text or parts thereof form the bones for later texts, and so forth. Looking at the contents of the Puṣpacintāmaṇi several observations can be made. The text belongs to the prescriptive śāstra literature, which, according to its self-conception, relates back to earlier authorities to establish normative discourse rather than to nor-malize existing practice. The text is highly specialised by focusing on a single material aspect of ritual and consequently dropped all information of its sources that went be-yond its immediate scope. The text is purely encyclopaedic. It only presents the rules according to a certain order without linking them theoretically. In the set of regulations general and special rules can be distinguished. The general rules for procurement, treatment and disposal of pūjā flowers allow for statements about the general conception of the same. They echo Brahmanical values of purity and show parallels to rules formulated for food and gifts. The special rules, in which particular flower species are prescribed (vihita) or prohibited (niṣiddha), can not only be ordered according to the deities, as in the text itself, but also according to the types of ritual they relate to, namely nitya, naimittika and kāmya. Notably, the flowers in their physical characteristics and cultural associations can be linked to different components of the rules stated. In nityapūjā the features of the flowers tend to correspond to that of the deities, in naimittikapūjā to the time component and in kāmyapūjā to the result to be achieved. Moreover, in nityapūjā a certain looseness of stress on the compliance with the rules is discernible. After all, devotion (bhakti) plays a major role, which may refer back to the deep rootedness of pūjā in the bhakti traditions. In contrast, prescriptions for kāmyapūjā are very precise and results are related to certain flowers almost mechanically. Moreover, statements of bhakti as superior means of worship are restricted to the first three chapters of the texts. In other regards too distinctions between rules for exoteric and esoteric worship are discernible. For example, there is a strong tendency in text portions of dharmaśāstric origin to keep on with the prestigious Vedic heritage in ritual flora—even if this requires the category “flower” (puṣpa) to be stretched considerably to include grasses or leaves—whereas plants known to be efficient in Vedic ritual tend to be more rarely prescribed or even prohibited in the Kaula texts. Despite remarks on the systemic character of the rules, from an overall perspective it must be said that the text does not seem to aim at presenting a closed and thoroughly composed system. There are obvious contradictions, incomprehensible passages and unidentifiable flower names. These make the text have its dark and impenetrable edges. The translation into Newari confirms the impression that the text was not meant to be a highly sophisticated product well-conceived to the core, meaningful and understood in every detail. Many flower names mentioned in the text are either translated quite mechanically into Newari or they are completely dropped. But there are also some few cases in which the Newari text seems to take up names that are either unintelligible or whose botanical identity is a matter of discussion in order to provide plants of impor-tance in local pūjā practice with a Sanskrit identity. But still, the text stays remote from actual practice. It was surely not meant to serve as a practical guide (prayoga). It operates on a different level. It assembles śāstric refer-ences in a specific tailoring and at maximum its use might have been to provide a le-gitimatory backup (pramāṇa). It is a link in the chain that loosely connects the trans-local śāstric discourse with a local pūjā practice. The translation into Newari can be seen as the next stride towards ritual application. There was no need whatsoever for a text like this. The world could have lived without it. Pratāpa Malla would not have been a less illustrious king and Newar ritual flora would not have been less manifold. But the cultural climate of the 17th century, with three intensely competing kingdoms within the narrow confines of the Kathmandu valley and the court of a king who, personally, was very fond of the divine inhabitants of his realm, provided the ideal breeding ground for a composition specializing in and thereby highlighting a minute detail of one of the or even the most prominent ritual practice of that time. It may have been a mere intellectual exercise of some pandits, a true l’art pour l’art, but nevertheless it appears to be a rewardingly informative witness of the way in which medieval Nepalese religion was conceived and constructed in elite circles.

Viticultural practices such as trunk girdling and shoot topping along with defoliation, shading and node number per vine treatments were used to alter the carbohydrate physiology of mature Chardonnay grapevines growing in the cool climate of Canterbury, New Zealand. The timing of vine defoliation in the season previous to fruiting decreased concentrations of over-wintering carbohydrate reserves (mostly starch) in both the trunks and roots of grapevines. Roots were particularly sensitive, with defoliation as early as 4 weeks after bloom in the previous season reducing starch concentrations to 1.5%Dwt at bud burst compared with 17%Dwt in non-defoliated vines. In contrast, partial vine defoliation as early as bloom in the previous season reduced root starch concentrations to 4-7%Dwt at bud burst compared with 15%Dwt in non-defoliated vines. Vine shading and trunk girdling treatments at bloom in the previous season, resulted in small reductions in root starch concentrations (16%Dwt) compared with non-shaded and non-girdled vines (19%Dwt), but shoot topping did not. Study across three growing seasons established that higher concentrations of over-wintering trunk and root carbohydrate reserves were associated with warmer and sunnier weather in the previous growing season. Individual shoot leaf removal at either the beginning or towards the end of the inflorescence initiation period, reduced shoot starch concentrations to 3-6%Dwt compared with 11 %Dwt for no leaf removal, such reductions persisted through to the following season. Shoot topping at the start of the initiation period had no effect on shoot carbohydrate accumulation, but trunk girdling temporarily increased shoot starch concentrations during the first 31 days after treatment. Reductions in over-wintering trunk and root carbohydrate reserves were associated with a reduction in inflorescences per shoot and flowers per inflorescence in the following season, the reduction as much as 50% compared with non carbohydrate stressed vines. While there were strong linear or curvilinear relationships between the concentration of starch in trunks and roots at bud burst and inflorescences per shoot and flowers per inflorescence, in case the of inflorescences per shoot, there was not an immediate cause and effect because inflorescences were initiated in the previous season. Individual shoot leaf removal during the inflorescence initiation period illustrated that leaf removal directly inhibited the initiation of inflorescences in latent buds. Shoot carbohydrate measurements showed a strong curvilinear relationship to the number of inflorescences per shoot, with a threshold starch concentration of 10-12%Dwt during the inflorescence initiation period required for a maximum number of inflorescences per shoot. Furthermore, examination of individual node positions emphasised the importance of the subtending leaf on the initiation of inflorescences within the latent bud. The number of inflorescences per shoot post bud burst was reduced on vines that were both carbohydrate reserve stressed (by previous season's defoliation) and had a high node (108) number retained per vine after winter pruning compared with little or no reduction in inflorescences per shoot on carbohydrate reserve stressed vines that had a low (20) node number per vine. The reduction in inflorescences per shoot on high node vines was associated with reduced carbohydrate reserves and reduced shoot vigour (thinner and lighter shoots). Flowers per inflorescence were reduced by as much 50% in response to lower overwintering carbohydrate reserves. Fewer flowers per inflorescence were attributed to a reduction in primary branching of the inflorescence and also a reduction in flowers per branch. Strong linear relationships between the concentrations of starch in trunks and roots and flowers per inflorescence indicate that the determination of flowers per inflorescence, unlike inflorescences per shoot, may be dependent on the level of overwintering carbohydrate reserves. This is most likely due to changes in branching of the inflorescence and individual flower formation occurring during the bud burst period. Per cent fruitset was not affected by reductions in carbohydrate reserves, so fewer inflorescences per shoot and flowers per inflorescence resulted in reduced vine yield. The findings of this thesis indicate that changes in the level of carbohydrate production and partitioning in response to a range of viticultural management practices and seasonal weather contribute to seasonal variation in grapevine flowering and yields in New Zealand's cool climate environment. The relationships between carbohydrate reserves and flowering illustrate the potential to use this information to predict grapevine flowering and forecast yields. The practical implications of this research illustrate that the viticulturist must manage grapevines not only for the current crop, but also for subsequent crops by maintaining sufficient carbohydrate reserves for balanced growth flowering and fruiting from season to season.

Flowers from members of the genus Leucadendron have colourful bracts and long vase life that make them highly desirable cut-flowers. Breeding programs based on interspecific hybridization would encounter difficulty if pre- or post-fertilization barriers exist in the distant crosses. Embryo rescue is one of the commonly used approaches to overcome post-fertilization barriers in wide hybridization. In this study, intersectional and intersubsectional hybridization of Leucadendron was attempted. Observation of pollen-pistil interactions revealed that post-zygotic rejection was the main reason for the incompatibility of the crosses, therefore embryo rescue was adopted and a protocol was developed to raise the hybrids. To better understand the genome structure in the genus, karyotypes of selected species were analyzed. Chromosome examination indicated that all (27) Leucadendron species examined were diploid and had a chromosome number of 2n = 26. The chromosomes were small in size and had predominantly median to submedian centromeres. The karyotypes of the species were rather symmetrical and seemed to be primitive according to Stebbins' karyotype classification. DNA based PCR-RFLP and RAMP markers were developed to identify Leucadendron hybrids at an early age. RAMP analysis showed more discrimination in identifying Leucadendron hybrids than did PCR-RFLP. The occurrence of PCR recombination also proved to be a troublesome issue when using the PCR-RFLP method, whereas the clarity of the interpretion of the RAMP method was not influenced by PCR recombination. Interspecific hybridization in a breeding program can provide valuable information on grouping of the species for systematic purposes. Regression analysis between cross success rate and cpDNA character difference revealed that there was a highly significant correlation between them. Patterns of success for intersectional hybridizations in Leucadendron were generally consistent with current taxonomic hypotheses regarding the sectional division of the genus. Success was generally lower for intersectional crosses than for intrasectional crosses.

A automação da classificação visual de produtos vem ganhando cada vez mais importância nos processos produtivos agrícolas. Isto posto, uma das principais dificuldades encontradas por produtores de flores e plantas ornamentais é garantir o crescimento homogêneo de suas plantas. Nesse cenário, as mudas utilizadas para gerar as plantas são importantes uma vez que se pode estimar seu potencial de crescimento através de uma inspeção visual. Sendo assim, um sistema de visão computacional pode ser empregado para automatizar essa tarefa. Porém, diferentemente de indústrias tradicionais, a indústria agrícola apresenta grande variabilidade entre os produtos analisados. Técnicas de aprendizado de máquina supervisionado conseguem avaliar um conjunto de atributos referentes ao objeto inspecionado para classificá-lo corretamente, de forma a lidar tanto com a variabilidade dos produtos em inspeção quanto com a incorporação do conhecimento de especialistas pelo sistema. A definição do conjunto de atributos a ser extraído das imagens dos produtos é de extrema importância, pois é ele quem fornece toda a informação utilizada no sistema. Um conjunto com diversos atributos assegura que toda a informação necessária é capturada, porém atributos irrelevantes ou redundantes podem prejudicar o desempenho dos classificadores. Técnicas de seleção de atributos podem ser utilizadas para equilibrar essas necessidades. O objetivo do trabalho foi o de avaliar a eficácia dessas técnicas para a classificação de mudas de violeta. Vinte e seis parâmetros foram extraídos de seiscentas imagens rotuladas em quatro níveis de qualidade. Em seguida, os desempenhos de seis classificadores foram comparados considerando-se um universo de subconjuntos gerados por quatro técnicas de seleção de atributos. Os resultados mostraram que essas técnicas são realmente vantajosas, gerando ganhos de até 8,8% nas taxas de acertos e ao mesmo tempo reduzindo de 26 para 11 o número médio de atributos utilizados. O classificador Logistic Regression associado ao subconjunto gerado pelo Chi-quadrado foi o que apresentou melhor desempenho global, atingindo 80% de acerto. O classificador Random Forest ficou em segundo lugar, porém se mostrou menos sensível a seleção de atributos. / The automation of visual classification of products is gaining more importance in agricultural production processes. That said, one of the main difficulties encountered by ornamental plants and flowers producers is to ensure homogeneous growth of their plants. In this scenario, the seedlings used to grow the plants are very important since it is possible to estimate their growth potential by means of a visual inspection. Therefore, a computer vision system can be used to automate this task. Unlike traditional industries, the agricultural industry shows great variability among the products inspected. Supervised machine learning techniques can evaluate an attribute set representing the inspected object in order to correctly classify it, making it possible not only to deal with the variability of the inspected products but also with the incorporation of experts knowledge into the system. The definition of the attribute set to be extracted from the images of the products is of utmost importance, as it is it that provides all information used by the system. A set with several attributes ensures that all necessary information is captured; however irrelevant or redundant attributes can affect the performance of classifiers. Attribute selection techniques can be used to balance these needs. The aim of this study was then to evaluate the effectiveness of these techniques regarding the classification of African violet seedlings. Twenty- six parameters were extracted from six hundred images, labeled into four quality groups. Then, the performances of six classifiers were compared by considering the universe of subsets generated by four attribute selection techniques. The results showed that these techniques are indeed advantageous, generating gains of up to 8.8% in accuracy rate while reducing from 26 to 11 the average number of attributes used. Logistic Regression classifier, associated with the subset generated by the Chi-squared filter showed the best overall performance, achieving 80 % accuracy. Random Forest was second, but was less sensitive to attribute selection.