Influence of genetic group and feeding on performance of lambs in confinement

O objetivo deste trabalho foi estabelecer a influência do reprodutor e da alimentação sobre o desempenho de cordeiros em confinamento. O delineamento experimental foi o inteiramente casualizado, com arranjo fatorial 2x4, costituído de dois grupos genéticos (Santa Inês x sem raça definida (SRD) e Somalis x SRD) e concentrado de milho em gão, farelo de soja e sal mineral a 15%, 30%, 45% e 60%. Trinta e dois animais foram confinados em baias individuais e cada um constituiu uma repetição. As dietas eram compostas de feno de leucena (Leucaena leucocephala) e concentrado, na forma de ração completa. O aumento de concentrado na dieta dos animais causou incrementos lineares (P 0,05) entre os concentrados, porém o grupo genético Somalis x SRD mostrou-se superior (P 0.05) among concentrates; however, the genetic group Somalis x NDB was superior (P < 0.05) to Santa Inês x NDB

Food supplementation of Anglo-nubian goats in rainy season in semi-arid region of Northeast Brazil

Foi realizado um experimento para avaliar a influência da suplementação alimentar na produção de leite de cabras da raça Anglo-nubiana, durante a época chuvosa, na região semi-árida do Nordeste brasileiro. Vinte e quatro cabras foram mantidas em pastagem nativa rebaixada, distribuídas ao acaso, por tipo de parto e produção de leite, em três níveis de suplementação: N0 - sem suplementação, N1 -150 g de concentrado/animal/dia e N2 - 300 g de concentrado/animal/dia. Não houve diferença significativa (p > 0,05) entre os níveis de suplementação. A produção de leite foi descrita por uma regressão múltipla em função do período de lactação em semana. A interação semana x níveis de suplementação foi significativa (p 0.05) between supplementation levels. Milk production was described by multiple regression to lactation period, in week. The results showed that the best option to produce milk with Anglo-nubian, during the wet season, is 300 g of concentrate/animal/day

Comportamento de novas progênies de sorgo forrageiro para o Semi-Árido Pernambucano

This work is related to 45 recently developed forage sorghum varieties. It aims to offer to Pernambuco Semi-Arid region farmers forage sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) varieties with higher yield capacity. The trials were carried out in Caruaru, São Bento do Una, Arcoverde and Serra Talhada involving nine different environments made up with combinations of years and localities. The experimental design was in randomized blocks with three replications in 1982, and without replications in 1983 and 1984. Analysis of dry matter (DM) productivity stability was also realized using the linear regression coefficient following the Eberhart & Russel Model. Progenies 467-4-2, 380-5-1, 322-1-3 and 484-1-1 showed outstandig behavior across the environments. The two first ones yielded 12.47 and 11.45 t/ha of DM and had a linear regression b = 1.03. The last two ones yielded 10.67 and 10.49 t/ha of DM and had a linear regression b = 0.90, which characterizes them as adapted to a less favorable environment. The sorghum variety IPA 7301218, previously recommended for planting in Pernambuco, had inferior performance among all other treatments. Este trabalho relata o desempenho de 45 novas progênies de sorgo forrageiro (Sorghum bicolor L.) objetivando propiciar aos produtores do Semi-Árido de Pernambuco cultivares de sorgo mais produtivas. Os testes foram conduzidos em Caruaru, São Bento do Una, Arcoverde e Serra Talhada, totalizando nove ambientes distintos, formados pelas combinações de anos e locais. O delineamento experimental foi o de blocos ao acaso, com três repetições, em 1982, e sem repetição, em 1983 e 1984. Efetuou-se, também, a análise de estabilidade da produtividade de matéria seca, pela estimativa do coeficiente de regressão linear, de acordo com o modelo proposto por Eberhart & Russel. As progênies 467-4-2, 389-5-1, 322-1-3 e 484-1-1 destacaram-se favoravelmente nas avaliações. As duas primeiras apresentaram uma produtividade média de 12,47 e 11,45 t/ha, respectivamente, de MS, e um coeficiente de regressão linear b = 1,03 que as caracterizam como estáveis. As duas últimas apresentaram uma produtividade média de 10,67 e 10,49 t/ha de MS, respectivamente, e um coeficiente de regressão linear b = 0.90, que as caracterizam como adaptadas a ambiente menos favorável. A cultivar de sorgo forrageiro IPA 7301218, previamente recomendada para plantio em Pernambuco, teve um desempenho inferior a todos os demais tratamentos.

Performance of grain sorghum gonotypes

Foram avaliadas treze linhagens e oito híbridos de sorgo granífero em dez ambientes, formados pela combinação de cinco locais e dois anos. O delineamento experimental utilizado foi o de blocos ao acaso com três repetições, sendo observadas as produções de grãos, de palhada, ciclo, peso de 1.000 grãos e o percentual de acamamento. Procedeu-se à análise da variância e da estabilidade de produção para os dois primeiros parâmetros. Quanto à produtividade de grãos, as linhas IPA 7300201, 7300206, 7300940, 7300980, 7300985, 7300988, 7301011 e o híbrido BR 300 apresentaram-se como estáveis ou adaptados a ambientes desfavoráveis. A produtividade de grãos e de palha apresentou correlação significativa, indicando ser possível selecionar genótipos para estes dois caracteres simultaneamente. O acamamento foi mais severo em Arcoverde e São Bento do Una em 1985, tendo os híbridos sido mais tolerantes do que as linhagens. O híbrido BR 300 deve ser recomendado para plantio, face a elevada produtividade de grãos, estabilidade de produção e baixa incidência de acamamento. A linhagem IPA 7301011 pode continuar a ser recomendada, especialmente no Sertão de Serra Talhada e áreas similares.The experiments were conducted aiming to evaluate 13 lines and 12 hybrids of grain sorghum under different environments composed by five sites and two years, in the Semi-Arid region of the State of Pernambuco. The experimental design used was in randomized complete blocks with three replications. The following characters were studied grain yield, straw production, cycle, 1000 grain weight, and lodging. The variance and stability analysis for grain yield and straw production showed that lines IPA 7300201, 7300206, 7300940, 7300980, 7300985, 7300988 and 7301011 as well as the hybrid BR 300 had acceptable level of stability for adaptation under unfavorable environments. The data for grain yield and straw production demonstrated that there was a significative correlation, indicating that a selection procedure for both characters can be made simultaneously. The lodging effect was more important in Arcoverde and São Bento do Una in 1985, where the lines were more susceptible than the hybrids. The sorghum hybrid BR 300 can be recommended due to the high grain yield, stability and tow lodging percentage. The line IPA 7301011 can still be used, specially in Serra Talhada and similar regions

Influência da razão água/cimento na capacidade de suporte de carga de pastas cimentícias projetadas para impressão 3D

O princípio da impressão 3D é a construção de estruturas camada por camada a partir de um modelo digital. Os fatores de influência relacionados a viabilidade desta são, basicamente: as propriedades reológicas da mistura no estado fresco e a resistência mecânica no estado endurecido. Este estudo foca na reologia e capacidade de sobreposição de camadas de pastas cimentícias com diferentes teores de água. Pastas com razões de água/cimento (a/c) entre 0,28 e 0,32 foram testadas sobrepondo filamentos em camadas com um molde, e por ensaio de espalhamento (flow table). Os resultados mostram que as misturas com razão a/c de 0,28 apresentaram as propriedades reológicas aprimoradas para impressão. A capacidade de suporte de carga pode ser associada a um espalhamento na flow table inferior a 115 mm

The AlfaCrux CubeSat mission description and early results

On 1 April 2022, the AlfaCrux CubeSat was launched by the Falcon 9 Transporter-4 mission, the fourth SpaceX dedicated smallsat rideshare program mission, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida into a Sun-synchronous orbit at 500 km. AlfaCrux is an amateur radio and educational mission to provide learning and scientific benefits in the context of small satellite missions. It is an opportunity for theoretical and practical learning about the technical management, systems design, communication, orbital mechanics, development, integration, and operation of small satellites. The AlfaCrux payload, a software-defined radio hardware, is responsible for two main services, which are a digital packet repeater and a store-and-forward system. In the ground segment, a cloud-computing-based command and control station has been developed, together with an open access online platform to access and visualize the main information of the AlfaCrux telemetry and user data and experiments. It also becomes an in-orbit database reference to be used for different studies concerned with, for instance, radio propagation, attitude reconstruction, data-driven calibration algorithms for satellite sensors, among others. In this context, this paper describes the AlfaCrux mission, its main subsystems, and the achievements obtained in the early orbit phase. Scientific and engineering assessments conducted with the spacecraft operations to tackle unexpected behaviors in the ground station and also to better understand the space environment are also presented and discussed.Fundação de Apoio à Pesquisa del Distrito Federal (FAPDF), Brasil | Ref. N/

Novel ocellatin peptides mitigate LPS-induced ROS formation and NF-kB activation in microglia and hippocampal neurons

© The Author(s) 2020. Open Access. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Cre-ative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not per-mitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.Cutaneous secretions of amphibians have bioactive compounds, such as peptides, with potential for biotechnological applications. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the primary structure and investigate peptides obtained from the cutaneous secretions of the amphibian, Leptodactylus vastus, as a source of bioactive molecules. The peptides obtained possessed the amino acid sequences, GVVDILKGAAKDLAGH and GVVDILKGAAKDLAGHLASKV, with monoisotopic masses of [M + H]± = 1563.8 Da and [M + H]± = 2062.4 Da, respectively. The molecules were characterized as peptides of the class of ocellatins and were named as Ocellatin-K1(1-16) and Ocellatin-K1(1-21). Functional analysis revealed that Ocellatin-K1(1-16) and Ocellatin-K1(1-21) showed weak antibacterial activity. However, treatment of mice with these ocellatins reduced the nitrite and malondialdehyde content. Moreover, superoxide dismutase enzymatic activity and glutathione concentration were increased in the hippocampus of mice. In addition, Ocellatin-K1(1-16) and Ocellatin-K1(1-21) were effective in impairing lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation and NF-kB activation in living microglia. We incubated hippocampal neurons with microglial conditioned media treated with LPS and LPS in the presence of Ocellatin-K1(1-16) and Ocellatin-K1(1-21) and observed that both peptides reduced the oxidative stress in hippocampal neurons. Furthermore, these ocellatins demonstrated low cytotoxicity towards erythrocytes. These functional properties suggest possible to neuromodulatory therapeutic applications.Alexandra Plácido is a recipient of a post-doctoral grant from the project FCT (PTDC/BII-BIO/31158/2017). Renato Socodato and Camila Cabral Portugal hold postdoctoral fellowships from FCT (Refs: SFRH/BPD/91833/2012 and FRH/BPD/91962/2012, respectively). This work was funded through project UID/QUI/50006/2013-POCI/01/0145/FEDER/007265 (LAQV/REQUIMTE) with financial support from FCT/MEC through national funds and co-financed by FEDER, under the Partnership Agreement PT 2020info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A list of land plants of Parque Nacional do Caparaó, Brazil, highlights the presence of sampling gaps within this protected area

Brazilian protected areas are essential for plant conservation in the Atlantic Forest domain, one of the 36 global biodiversity hotspots. A major challenge for improving conservation actions is to know the plant richness, protected by these areas. Online databases offer an accessible way to build plant species lists and to provide relevant information about biodiversity. A list of land plants of “Parque Nacional do Caparaó” (PNC) was previously built using online databases and published on the website "Catálogo de Plantas das Unidades de Conservação do Brasil." Here, we provide and discuss additional information about plant species richness, endemism and conservation in the PNC that could not be included in the List. We documented 1,791 species of land plants as occurring in PNC, of which 63 are cited as threatened (CR, EN or VU) by the Brazilian National Red List, seven as data deficient (DD) and five as priorities for conservation. Fifity-one species were possible new ocurrences for ES and MG states