E.C. Araújo, J.A. Johann, M.A. Uribe-Opazo, and E.C.G. Camargo. 2013. Classification of areas associated with soybean yield and agrometeorological variables through fuzzy clustering. Cien. Inv. Agr. 40(3): 617-627. This study aimed to apply an approach based on fuzzy clustering for the classification of areas associated with soybean yield combined with the following agrometeorological variables: rainfall, average air temperature and average global solar radiation. The study was conducted with 48 municipalities in the western region of Paraná State, Brazil, with data from the crop-year 2007/2008. Through the fuzzy c-means algorithm, it was possible to form groups of municipalities that were similar in soybean yield using the Method of Decision by the Higher Degree of Relevance (MDMGP) and Method of Decision by Threshold β (β MDL). Subsequently, the identification of the appropriate number of clusters was obtained using Modified Partition Entropy (MPE). To measure the degree of similarity for each cluster, the Cluster Similarity Index (ISCl) was constructed and implemented. From the perspective of this study, the method used was adequate, allowing the identification of clusters of municipalities with degrees of similarities between 63 and 94%.

E.C. Araújo, J.A. Johann, M.A. Uribe-Opazo e E.C.G. Camargo. 2012. Clasificación de las áreas asociadas con la producción de la soya y de las variables agrometeorológicas, usando el agrupamiento difuso. Cien. Inv. Agr. 40(3): 617-627. Este trabajo tuvo como objetivo aplicar un enfoque basado en el análisis de agrupamiento fuzzy para la clasificación de áreas asociadas con la productividad de la soya, juntamente con las variables meteorológicas: nivel de precipitaciones, temperatura media del aire y la media de la radiación solar. El estudio se llevó a cabo con la participación de 48 municipios de la región oeste del Estado de Paraná, Brasil, con los datos de la temporada de cultivo del año 2007/2008. Mediante el algoritmo Fuzzy C-Means, fue posible formar grupos de municipios similares al rendimiento de la soya, utilizando el método de decisión de mayor grado de relevancia (MDMGP) y el método de decisión por Threshold β (MDL β). Seguidamente, se obtuvo la identificación del número apropiado de conglomerados utilizando la entropía de particiones modificada. Para medir el grado de similitud de cada grupo, se definió el Índice de Similitud de Agrupamiento (ISC). Dentro de la perspectiva de este estudio, el método utilizado se presentó adecuado, lo que permitió identificar grupos de municipios con grados de similitudes en el orden de 63 a 94%.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is the most common sexually transmitted disease in the world and is related to the etiology of cervical cancer. The most common high-risk HPV types are 16 and 18; however, the second most prevalent type in the Midwestern region of Brazil is HPV-33. New vaccine strategies against HPV have shown that virus-like particles (VLP) of the major capsid protein (L1) induce efficient production of antibodies, which confer protection against the same viral type. The methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris is an efficient and inexpensive expression system for the production of high levels of heterologous proteins stably using a wild-type gene in combination with an integrative vector. It was recently demonstrated that P. pastoris can produce the HPV-16 L1 protein by using an episomal vector associated with the optimized L1 gene. However, the use of an episomal vector is not appropriate for protein production on an industrial scale. In the present study, the vectors were integrated into the Pichia genome and the results were positive for L1 gene transcription and protein production, both intracellularly and in the extracellular environment. Despite the great potential for expression by the P. pastoris system, our results suggest a low yield of L1 recombinant protein, which, however, does not make this system unworkable. The achievement of stable clones containing the expression cassettes integrated in the genome may permit optimizations that could enable the establishment of a platform for the production of VLP-based vaccines.