A study was carried out to evaluate the influence of the elephant-grass x leucena intercropping, in aspects like productivity, crude protein contents and tillering of the intercropped elephant grass, besides trying to find the best planting density of this intercropping, aiming both highest grass productivity and better produced forage quality. The experiment was carried out at the Fazenda Experimental Vale do Curu, located in Pentecoste- Ceará, using a completely randomized blocks design with four treatments and four replications. The used treatments were: elephant-grass x leucena intercropping in the following spacings: 1.00m x 0.25 m; 1.00m x 0.50m; 1.00m x 0.75m and 1.00m x 1.00m, between the lines and plants, respectively. Cuts were done each 60 days, being six cuts during the experimental period. Leucena and capim-elephant were cutted 40cm and 10cm above ground 10 cm above the soil. The intercropping using leucena did not influence elephant-grass crude protein contents. The smallest tillers number and the biggest dry matter production of the grass occurred in spacing 1.00m x 0.25m, being this the indicated for this intercropping.

Oils of andiroba (Carapa guianensis Aubl.), copaiba (Copaifera sp.), Eucaliptus globulus Labill. and Eucaliptus citriodora Hook., neem (Azadirachta indica A. Juss), eugenol, souari nut (Caryocar brasiliense Camb.), rosemary (Lippia gracillis HBK.), and cedar (Cedrela fissilis Vell.) were evaluated in adults of Sitophilus zeamais Mots. (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). In the non-choice test, 20 g of corn grains per plot were treated with 50¿L of each oil and homogenized for two minutes. The plot was infested with eight 0 to 15 days-old S. zeamais adults. The E. globulus, eugenol, rosemary, and neem oils caused 100% mortality in S. zeamais adults. Except for copaiba, all oils caused mortality above 87% and the reduction in emergence of 100%. In the free-choice tests, arenas consisting of two plastic containers symmetrically interconnected to a central box by two plastic tubes were used. Twenty grams of non-treated corn (control) were placed in one of the boxes and the same amount of grain treated with 50¿L of each oil comprised the other treatment. Sixteen non-sexed S. zeamais adults (0-15 days old) were released in the central box. The rosemary, E. citriodora, eugenol and copaiba oils were the most repellent for S. zeamais adults, with repellence percentage varying from 97.3 to 87.7. Rosemary, andiroba, neem, and cedar reduced S. zeamais emergence in 100%, while the reduction caused by the other oils ranged from 72.7 to 97.9%.

The knowledge of hemoglobin types may help in near future the selection of animals, serving as a genetic marker. The present work aimed to determine the types of hemoglobin in Santa Ines crossbreed sheep, and verify whether it has correlation with the erythron. It were collected 49 blood samples from different healthy Santa Ines crossbreed sheep, from Mossoró city, RN, Brazil. These samples were used for determination of packed cell volume, red blood cells counts, hemoglobin concentration, hematimetric indices (mean corpuscular volume - MCV, mean corpuscular hemoglobin - MCH, and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration - MCHC), and electrophoretic separation of hemoglobin. The electrophoresis revealed a slow band characterized as hemoglobin A (HbAA), a fast band characterized as hemoglobin B (HbBB) and both bands in the heterozygous hemoglobin A and B (HbAB). The type HbAB was the most frequently found, but all found types were present at representative amounts. The statistical analysis for comparison between the hemoglobin parameters and each parameter of the erythron revealed significant difference only for MCH; the other measurement were not statistically different. Thus, the hemoglobin types (HbAA, HbBB e HbAB) did not influence the erythron of sheep.

To evaluate the mandacaru (Cereus jamacaru P. DC.) consumption for goats in the drought period in the caatinga, they were selected to the 18 animals in the community of the Alto the Angico, Petrolina, PE, in the period of august to november of the 2004. The phytomass from mandacaru (Cereus jamacaru P. DC.) and the portion consumed by animals in the supplement period was determined. The animals were separate in two groups, and a group stayed in continuous pasture in the caatinga and the other received supplement with mandacaru in the period of 80 days. The animals consumed, on the average, 324.98 kg the mandacaru. The daily consumption the mandacaru for animal was of 5.16 kg/dia. The animals that received supplement had the period, while the other animals lost, on the average, 5.25% of the alive weight in relation to the initial weight.

This study had the objective of surveying the apicultural potential in the municipality of Petrolina flora (9o9'S; 40o22'W), aiming at identifying the nectariferous or polliniferous species visited by Apis mellifera. The observations were carried out from January 2004 to May 2005, in areas of hyperxerophilous Caatinga native vegetation and of irrigated fruit crops of Embrapa Tropical Semi-Arid. Fifty one species were observed, belonging to 42 genera and 25 botanic families. The families Leguminosae, Anacardiaceae, Convolvulaceae, Rubiaceae and Sterculiaceae were the most visited species by Apis mellifera, including 47.08% of the total visited plants. Among the species visited by Apis mellifera, 41.17% are herbaceous, showing the importance of this stratum as an apicultural source. Regarding the flora resource used as food source by the bees, it was found that A. mellifera made several visits for exclusive nectar extraction to 72.55% of the plants considered nectariferous. Among the remaining plants, it was found that in 19.60% the bee collecte pollen, being these species considered polliniferous, and in 7.85% there was pollen and nectar withdrawal. Among the herbaceous species, Borreria verticillata (L.) G.Mey., Diodia teres Walter (Rubiaceae), Waltheria rotundifolia Schrank (Sterculiaceae), Merremia aegyptia (L.) Hallier, Jacquemontia confusa Meisn. (Convolvulaceae), Hypenia salzmanni (Benth.) Hanley (Lamiaceae) distinguished as nectariferous source during the raining season, while the arboreal species Schinopsis brasiliensis Engl. and Myracrodruon urundeuva Allemão. are considered apicultural source for the dry season.

The yield of lettuce plants cultivated under agrotextile protection was evaluated in conditions of high temperatures and intensity of radiation. The experiment was carried out at the experimental area of the Universidade Federal Rural do Semi-Árido, in Mossoró, Rio Grande do Norte State, Brazil, in a red-yellow argissol. The randomized complete blocks design was used, with four replications, in a 3 x 3 factorial scheme. The treatments consisted of the combination of three lettuce cultivars (Tainá, Babá de Verão and Verônica) with three types of plant protection (non-protected, direct-on-the-plant agrotextile protection, and nonwoven polypropylene tunnel with height of 0.5 m). The best yield performance was observed when the lettuce cultivars were grown in low tunnel.

The purpose of this work was to evaluate the effects of phosphor dosages and sources on productivity and fruit quality of yellow passion fruit. The experiment was carried out in orchards in Lavrasmunicipality, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The experimental outline used was a 2 X 5 factorial on a randomized complete block design, with four replicates. The treatments were composed by two phosphor sources (super triple phosphate and termophosphate) and five dosages (6, 30, 60, 90 and 120 g/plant). Productivity, fruit number per plant, juice yield, total soluble solids (TSS), total titratable acidity (TTA), ratio TSS/TTA and peel thickness were evaluated. There was no productivity increase or improvement of the fruit quality for the treatments, except for the increases of TTA and peel thickness when Yoorin termophosphate was used as fertilizer.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of the synthetic compound Thiazolidines-2,4- dione on the ¿in vitro¿ development of Monosporascus cannonballus, the causal agent of the melon sudden wilt (vine decline) and Trichoderma sp., the biocontroller agent of the referred pathogen. The work was done through two experiments. In the first experiment the following concentrations of the composition were used: 0, 25, 50, 75, 100, 125, 150, 175 ìg.mL-1, combined with four isolates of M. cannonballus. The evaluated variables were mycelial growth inhibition (MGI), mycelial growth rate (MGR) and area below mycelial growth curve (ABMGC). In the second experiment the effect of the same concentrations of the synthetic compound were analyzed regarding a Trichoderma sp isolate. In the first experiment, there was a significant interaction between concentrations andisolates. High correlation coefficients confirmed the agreement of combination among the variables. The progress curves of the variables, according to compound concentrations, were adjusted by polynomial models. The most efficient concentration was 75 ìg.mL-1,, for inhibiting the mycelia growth until the experiment end, except for the Mc4 that showed TCM of 5.07. Regarding other isolates, Mc 3 was the least resistant, as with concentration of 50 g.mL- 1showed TCM of 2.36, while Mc1, Mc2 and Mc4 presented a higher growth rate, being 8.48; 8.08 and 8.97, respectively. The recommended dosage of the compound for the inhibition of M. cannonballus development when measured in vitro is 153 ug.mL .Neither concentrations influenced the mycelial development of Trichoderma sp.,as it didn¿t differ from control (P=0,05), demonstrating the potential of this synthetic compound as a complementary form of Monosporascus cannonballus control, together to the Trichoderma spp.

In order to analyze the morphological variability in natural populations, fourteen accesses of Manihot pseudoglaziovii were studied, collected in the Curimataú Paraibano micro-region, in Paraiba State, besides an esculent M. Cranz access (cassava) and a natural hybrid between these two species. Five plants of each access were multiplied through cutting and then cultivated in an experimental area of the PPGZ/CCA/UFPB under standardized conditions, aiming a homogeneous externalization of each genotype. For the morphometric analyses, 20 morphology characters were studied from which analyses of variance and t-test were done, for each character separately. Pearson correlation analyses between pairs of characters were also carried out, once the occurrence of significant correlation justifies the use of multivariate analyses. The cassava access differed regarding the accesses of maniçoba and manipeba, according to the first canonic axis of the multivariate variance analysis. On the other hand, the presumed hybrid between the cassava and maniçoba differed from the others regarding the second canonic axis. The 14 maniçoba accesses presented variation, but they did not differ among themselves, although accesses 1, 2, 8 and 13 revealed themselves distant regarding the other accesses of this species.

Eight domestic felines (Felis domestica), males, adults, healthy, without a defined breed, with variable weights and ages, were randomly divided into two groups of four animals and submitted to the enteral feeding techniques: nasoesophageal intubation and esophagostomy, aiming to compare clinically and surgically both techniques. The average time required for the nasoesophageal intubation (1min 15sec) was significantly smaller than for the esophagostomy (5min 25sec) according to Fisher¿s test. In the nasoesophageal intubation technique, an easiness in the positioning of the feeding tube was observed when compared to the esophagostomy technique, being accomplished only with local topical anesthetics. All the animals submitted to the nasoesophageal intubation technique presented sneezes and uneasiness during the feeding supply, compared to those submitted to the esophagostomy technique. Conclusions were that the nasoesophageal intubation technique allows smaller surgical and, consequently, anesthetic time; it is less traumatic; the animals submitted to the esophagostomy technique have accepted the tube better; the techniques are easily accomplished and allow the nutritional maintenance of the animals.