Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:22:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2004-01-29Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T18:48:48Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 souza_fs_me_botfca.pdf: 722599 bytes, checksum: bddbe2539a4c9c196d08d8670e432f38 (MD5) / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) / O presente trabalho teve por objetivo avaliar o comportamento de plantas de algodão submetidas à aplicação de doses de cloreto de mepiquat e precipitações pluviais ocorrendo em diferentes momentos após a aplicação do produto. Procurou-se ainda desenvolver um método simples de estimativa da dose do produto a ser aplicada. Os tratamentos foram constituídos de três doses do regulador a base de cloreto de mepiquat (PIX®): 7,5, 15,0 e 22,5 g ha-1 e seis intervalos de tempo para aplicação de chuva simulada de 20 mm de intensidade: 0, 1, 3, 6, 12 e 24 horas, mais um tratamento sem a aplicação de chuva. Foram utilizados vasos de 12 litros de capacidade e seis sementes pré-germinadas com posterior desbaste para duas plantas por vaso. O delineamento experimental utilizado foi o inteiramente casualizado com quatro repetições. Os parâmetros avaliados foram: altura de plantas, número de ramos reprodutivos, massa de matéria seca, retenção de estruturas reprodutivas (coleta de estruturas reprodutivas e estruturas perdidas) e área foliar. Os resultados mostraram que o efeito do regulador foi prejudicado pela ocorrência de chuva nos momentos mais próximos a sua pulverização. As maiores doses mostraram ter efeito mais significativo nos parâmetros de crescimento avaliados, mostrando que chuvas ocorridas em momentos mais próximos após a pulverização causam maior comprometimento da ação do regulador nas plantas de algodão. É possível calcular a dose de regulador a ser aplicada conhecendo-se a altura atual das plantas. / The research had the objective to evaluate the behavior of cotton plants submitted to the application of doses of Mepiquat Chloride and precipitations happening in different times after the application of the product. A tentative for developing a simple method for estimating the dose of the product that would be applied was tried. The treatments were constituted of three doses of the growth regulator, mepiquat chloride (PIX®): 7,5, 15,0 and 22,5 g ha-1 and six time intervals for the application of simulated rain of 20mm of intensity: 0, 1, 3, 6, 12 and 24 hours, and one treatment without rain. Plots of 12 liters of capacity and six pre-germinated seeds were used with subsequent rough-hewing for two plants per plot. The experimental design used was the completely randomized with four replications. The parameters analyzed were: height of plants, number of reproductive branches, weight of dry matter, collecting of reproductive structures and lost structures, and leaf area. The results showed that the effect of the growth regulator was harmed by the rain occurrence in the closest moments of the application of the growth regulator. It was possible to calculate the regulator dose to be applied knowing the actual height of the plants.

Orientador: Ciro Antonio Rosolem / Banca: João Domingos Rodrigues / Banca: Ederaldo José Chiavegato / Resumo: O presente trabalho teve por objetivo avaliar o comportamento de plantas de algodão submetidas à aplicação de doses de cloreto de mepiquat e precipitações pluviais ocorrendo em diferentes momentos após a aplicação do produto. Procurou-se ainda desenvolver um método simples de estimativa da dose do produto a ser aplicada. Os tratamentos foram constituídos de três doses do regulador a base de cloreto de mepiquat (PIX®): 7,5, 15,0 e 22,5 g ha-1 e seis intervalos de tempo para aplicação de chuva simulada de 20 mm de intensidade: 0, 1, 3, 6, 12 e 24 horas, mais um tratamento sem a aplicação de chuva. Foram utilizados vasos de 12 litros de capacidade e seis sementes pré-germinadas com posterior desbaste para duas plantas por vaso. O delineamento experimental utilizado foi o inteiramente casualizado com quatro repetições. Os parâmetros avaliados foram: altura de plantas, número de ramos reprodutivos, massa de matéria seca, retenção de estruturas reprodutivas (coleta de estruturas reprodutivas e estruturas perdidas) e área foliar. Os resultados mostraram que o efeito do regulador foi prejudicado pela ocorrência de chuva nos momentos mais próximos a sua pulverização. As maiores doses mostraram ter efeito mais significativo nos parâmetros de crescimento avaliados, mostrando que chuvas ocorridas em momentos mais próximos após a pulverização causam maior comprometimento da ação do regulador nas plantas de algodão. É possível calcular a dose de regulador a ser aplicada conhecendo-se a altura atual das plantas. / Abstract: The research had the objective to evaluate the behavior of cotton plants submitted to the application of doses of Mepiquat Chloride and precipitations happening in different times after the application of the product. A tentative for developing a simple method for estimating the dose of the product that would be applied was tried. The treatments were constituted of three doses of the growth regulator, mepiquat chloride (PIX®): 7,5, 15,0 and 22,5 g ha-1 and six time intervals for the application of simulated rain of 20mm of intensity: 0, 1, 3, 6, 12 and 24 hours, and one treatment without rain. Plots of 12 liters of capacity and six pre-germinated seeds were used with subsequent rough-hewing for two plants per plot. The experimental design used was the completely randomized with four replications. The parameters analyzed were: height of plants, number of reproductive branches, weight of dry matter, collecting of reproductive structures and lost structures, and leaf area. The results showed that the effect of the growth regulator was harmed by the rain occurrence in the closest moments of the application of the growth regulator. It was possible to calculate the regulator dose to be applied knowing the actual height of the plants. / Mestre

Orchid growing is a hobby that includes not only acquiring and caring for orchids, but also learning about the diverse care requirements of various orchids, attending meetings of orchid groups, having one’s orchids evaluated by American Orchid Society judges or being a judge, or even creating hybrids. In this way, orchid hobbyists compose a distinctive subculture (Hansen 2000). Yet the activity of orchid growing also forms a nexus between the non-human and the human, two categories that are often constructed as an opposing binary. This thesis focuses on how orchid growing represents both the embedded, institutionalized characteristic of the binary between the non-human and the human and how this binary is actively deconstructed; that is, orchid growers often reinforce this binary through positioning their orchids as a part of “nature” and also blur it by participating in the activity of orchid growing. Through observations of monthly meetings of two local orchid groups and affiliated events and walking tours of individual participants’ orchid growing spaces and semi-structured interviews with them, I show how orchid growing represents such a “hybrid” form of nature (Whatmore 2002). Specifically, the ways in which orchid growers appreciate the novelty of their orchids, care for them, and establish authenticity in orchid growing demonstrates the nuanced ways orchid growing forms a relationship with “nature.”

Cotton is a high-value commercial crop in Australia. Although cotton is largely self-pollinating, previous researchers have reported that honeybees, Apis mellifera, can assist in cross-pollination and contribute to improved yield. Until recently, use of bees in cotton had, however, been greatly limited by excessive use of pesticides to control arthropod pests. With the widespread use of transgenic (Bt) cotton varieties and the associated reduction in pesticide use, I decided to investigate the role and importance of honeybees in Bt cotton, under Australian conditions. I conducted two major field trials at Narrabri, in the centre of one of Australia’s major cotton-growing areas, in the 2005-6 and 2006-7 seasons. In the first trial, I particularly assessed methods of manipulating honeybee colonies by feeding pollen supplements of pollen/soybean patties, and by restricting pollen influx by the fitting of 30% efficient pollen traps. I aimed to test whether either of these strategies increased honeybee flight activity and, thus, increased foraging on cotton flowers. My results showed that although supplementary feeding increased bee flight activity and brood production, it did not increase pollen collection on cotton. Pollen traps initially reduced flight activity. They also reduced the amount of pollen stored in colonies, slowed down brood rearing activity, and honey production. However, they did not contribute to increased pollen collection in cotton. In the second trial, I spent more time investigating honeybee behaviour in cotton as well as assessing the effect of providing flowering cotton plants with access to honeybees for different time periods (e.g. 25 d, 15 d, 0 d). In this year, I used double the hive stocking rate of (16 colonies / ha) than in the previous year, because in 2005-6 I observed few bees in cotton flowers. I also conducted a preliminary investigation to assess whether there was any gene flow over a 16 m distance from Bt cotton to conventional cotton, in the presence of a relatively high honeybee population. Both of my field experiments showed that honeybees significantly increased cotton yield via increased boll set, mean weight of bolls, number of seeds / boll, and weight of lint / boll. It was obvious that cotton flowers, and particularly cotton pollen, were not attractive to honeybees, and this was also reflected in the low proportion (5.3% w/w) of pollen from cotton collected in the pollen traps. However, flower visitation rate was generally above the 0.5% level regarded as optimal for cross-pollination in cotton, and this was reflected in increased yield parameters. I recorded a gene flow of 1.7 % from Bollgard®II cotton to conventional cotton, over a distance of 16 m. This is much higher than had previously been reported for Australia, and may have been a result of high honeybee numbers in the vicinity, associated with my managed hives. In an attempt to attract more honeybees to cotton flowers, I conducted an investigation where I applied synthetic Queen Mandibular Pheromone (QMP) (Fruit Boost®) at two rates, 50 QEQ and 500 QEQ / ha, and for two applications, 2 d apart. Neither rate of QMP increased the level of bee visitation to flowers, either on the day of application or the subsequent day. There was also no increase in boll set or yield in plants treated with QMP. My observations of honeybee behaviour in cotton brought some interesting findings. First, honeybees totally ignored extra floral nectaries. Second, most flower-visiting honeybees collected nectar, but the overwhelming majority of them (84%) collected floral nectar from outside flowers: this meant these bees did not contribute to pollination. Those nectar gatherers which entered flowers did contribute to pollination. However, they were observed to exhibit rejection of cotton pollen by scraping pollen grains from their body and discarding them, prior to returning to their hives. Pollen gatherers collected only small, loose pellets from cotton. SEM studies showed that cotton pollen grains were the largest of all pollen commonly collected by bees in my investigations, and that they also had large spines. It is likely that these characteristics make cotton pollen unattractive to honeybees. Another possible reason for the unattractiveness of cotton flowers was the presence of pollen beetles, Carpophilus aterrimus, in them. I conducted a series of studies to determine the role of pollen beetles in pollination of cotton. I found that they did not contribute to pollination at low levels; at high populations they damaged flowers (with ≥ 10 beetles / flower, no flowers set bolls); and that honeybees, when given the choice, avoid flowers with pollen beetles. Because the insecticide fipronil was commonly used in Australian cotton at flowering time, and because I had some experience of its toxic effects against honeybees in my field investigations, I conducted a series of laboratory and potted plant bioassays, using young worker bees. The studies confirmed its highly toxic nature. I recorded an acute dermal LD50 of 1.9 ng / bee, and an acute oral LC50 of 0.62 ppm. Fipronil’s residual toxicity also remained high for an extended period in both laboratory and potted plant trials. For example, when applied to cotton leaves in weather-exposed potted cotton plants, it took 25 d and 20 d for full and half recommended rates of fipronil, respectively, to become non- toxic to honeybees. I had previously investigated whether a shorter period of exposure of cotton plants to honeybees would contribute adequately to increased yield, and concluded that a 10 d window within a 25 d flowering period would contribute 55% of the increase in total weight of bolls contributable to honeybee pollination, but only 36% of the increase in weight of lint. Given the highly residual activity of fipronil I recorded, the only opportunity for an insecticide-free period during flowering would be at its commencement. I concluded that, while there is evidence that honeybees can contribute to increased cotton yield in Bt cotton in Australia, this is unlikely with the continued use of fipronil at flowering. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

In Lombok (Indonesia), annual cropping patterns in irrigated areas are divided into three cropping cycles of four months each. In better irrigation schemes, there are normally two irrigated flooded-rice crops, i.e. wet season and dry season lowland rice crops in sequence, followed by one non-rice crop cycle during the driest months (this is referred to as the twice-rice system). In less developed irrigation schemes, one lowland rice crop is normally grown during the rainy season, followed during the driest months by two cycles of non-rice crops, or a non-rice crop and a fallow (this is referred to as the once-rice system). In rainfed areas, especially in the vertisol soil areas, there are upland rice systems in the highland or hillsides, and “Gora” (dry seeded-flooded) rice systems in the lowland. In this area, rice is grown only once a year during the rainy season of the monsoon. Farmers in Lombok do not normally fertilise the non-rice crops such as soybean and mungbean grown following rice, and application rates of fertiliser to rice have fallen since the economic crisis in 1998. Therefore phosphorus (P) deficiency may be expected, which may explain the very low yields of soybean and mungbean achieved by farmers in Lombok. With low P, arbuscular mycorrhizas (AM) might be expected to play an important role in plant nutrition, but inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) increased root colonisation and yield of these crops in a recent field experiment in Lombok. There had been no survey of AMF populations in rice-based systems in Lombok prior to the work reported here, and little such work anywhere internationally. Therefore, an extensive survey was conducted in Lombok on the two main soil types with rice-based systems. Another field survey was conducted in the Riverina rice-growing area (Australia), as a comparative study to the Lombok survey. In Lombok, rice systems with longer total annual flooding duration had lower populations compared with upland or Gora rice systems. It was therefore suggested that the lower colonisation level in flooded rice was due to the flooded conditions, as well as soil chemical properties associated with flooded conditions, rather than the rice plant itself. There are options for improving AMF population for better growth of non-rice rotation crops, or even for rice crop in Lombok as fertilisers become less affordable and their use on flooded rice is declining. The easiest option is to inoculate AM fungi in the nursery or to make nursery beds in a paddock previously cropped with AMF-stimulating species, such as soybean, to start infection on rice seedlings, which should be better with a dry nursery. The second option is to modify the technique of growing rice, such as applying the SRI (System of Rice Intensification) principles, in which rice is grown without flooded conditions but intermittent short flooded and upland conditions. This will keep the soil in an aerobic condition much of the time and should facilitate the development of beneficial microbial populations and activities in the soil, such as AMF and nitrogen fixers. The SRI method has been reported to increase rice yield dramatically, even in soil with low fertility levels. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Cotton has been grown in central Asia for over 2,000 years, and is a major crop in Turkmenistan, where medium staple G. hirsutum is the dominant species, cultivated on 80%of the cotton growing area. Many of the cultivars used in Turkmenistan until the time of independence from Russia were from Uzbekistan. Since independence, the original suite of long staple G. barbadense and medium staple Uzbek cultivars has been considerably changed in Turkmenistan by selection for early maturity and productivity. Cotton yields in Turkmenistan have been declining since independence and were below 2t/ha in 2001 when the TACIS ‘Support to the Cotton Sector Project’ commenced, of which research reported in this thesis was a part. The main factors determining seed cotton yields in this country are quantity of irrigation water applied, nitrogen fertilization, deep ploughing, and plant population. Of these four important factors, plant density is the only one that individual farmers can control, as the others are either state controlled or require equipment held collectively. The aim of the research described in this thesis was to improve cotton production in Turkmenistan through optimising plant population. The use of optimum plant populations in the cotton fields of Turkmenistan has a substantial potential for economic benefit to the farmers of that country. Changing plant populations would require none of the structural changes involved in changing the other important yield factors. Quantity of irrigation water applied is controlled by the state; nitrogen fertilizer is a state controlled input in Turkmenistan and deep ploughing depends on equipment communally held and sometimes unavailable. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) (Agriculture)

The rise in atmospheric CO2 partial pressures that is predicted for the 21st Century is likely to increase productivity and alter nutrient of C3 crop plants. Consequently, physiological data on plant growth and nutrition at elevated CO2 are required, because these data underpin simulation models, which are needed for management of crops under the CO2 scenario for the mid to late 21st Century.In particular, information is required about management of nitrogen(N) fertilisation because this mineral nutrient plays a central role in the growh of many crops. Rice was chosen as a model plant because of its widespread consumption throughout the world and its responsiveness to CO2 and N fertilisation. There were three major hypotheses: first, that early exposure of rice plants to high CO2 is required to achieve the maximum growth and tillering response; secondly, that early increases in growth and tillering at high CO2 are associated with the phytohormone, ethylene; and thirdly, that growth at elevated CO2 decreases leaf N concentrations required to support maximum dry mass production and photosynthetic rates (critical concentrations).Several tests and experiments were conducted and results noted. It is likely that grain yield will be greater as the atmospheric CO2 partial pressure rises even when N supplies are low, providing that high CO2 does not cause accelerated tiller abortion at low N. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Delaware, 2006. / Principal faculty advisor: Wallace G. Pill, Dept. of Plant & Soil Sciences. Includes bibliographical references.

No description available.

Conventional ultrasonographic examination of the bovine ovary is based on a sequence of two-dimensional (2D) cross-section images. Day-to-day estimation of the number, size, shape and position of the ovarian follicles is one of the most important aspects of ovarian research. Computer-assisted follicle segmentation of ovarian volume can relieve physicians from the tedious manual detection of follicles, provide objective assessment of spatial relationships between the ovarian structures and therefore has the potential to improve accuracy. Modern segmentation procedures are performed on 2D images and the three-dimensional (3D) visualization of follicles is obtained from the reconstruction of a sequence of 2D segmented follicles. <p>The objective of this study was to develop a semi-automatic 3D follicle segmentation method based on seeded region growing. The 3D datasets were acquired from a sequence of 2D ultrasound images and the ovarian structures were segmented from the reconstructed ovarian volume in a single step. A seed is placed manually in each follicle and the growth of the seed is controlled by the algorithm using a combination of average grey-level, standard deviation of the intensity, newly-developed volumetric comparison test and a termination criterion. One important contribution of this algorithm is that it overcomes the boundary leakage problem of follicles of conventional 2D segmentation procedures. The results were validated against the aspiration volume of follicles, the manually detected follicles by an expert and an existing algorithm.<p>We anticipate that this algorithm will enhance follicular assessment based on current ultrasound techniques in cases when large numbers of follicles (e.g. ovarian superstimulation) obviate accurate counting and size measurement.