281 research outputs found
Estudo da evolução da fertilidade do solo em pomares de pessegueiros - situação inicial
A região da Beira Interior é a principal região de produção de pêssegos do país.
Esta cultura, pelo carácter plurianual, pode ter uma ação positiva ou negativa na melhoria
do teor em matéria orgânica e da fertilidade do solo, de acordo com as técnicas utilizadas
na manutenção do solo e gestão da sua fertilidade. No âmbito da manutenção do solo, a
técnica de enrelvamento da entrelinha e a técnica de destroçamento da lenha de poda, são
consideradas como positivas no aumento do teor em matéria orgânica do solo o que se
reflete na melhoria da sua fertilidade. Contudo, esse efeito será sempre a longo prazo, não
estando disponível informação sobre a evolução dos parâmetros de fertilidade do solo em
pomares de pessegueiros, para as condições de Portugal em geral e especificamente para
a Beira Interior. Para monitorizar o efeito da gestão inerente a um pomar nas
características de fertilidade do solo foram estabelecidas unidades de observação em 26
pomares de pessegueiros instalados na Beira Interior entre janeiro e março de 2018. Cada
unidade de observação, correspondente a um pomar, compreende a marcação de 10
plantas, distribuídas em três blocos, num total de 20 pontos de amostragem de terra, sendo
10 pontos na linha de plantação e 10 pontos correspondentes à entrelinha. Todos os pontos
de amostragem foram georreferenciados. Os resultados referentes à fertilidade do solo
dos pomares de pessegueiros após a instalação indicam uma média global do teor de
matéria orgânica de 2,8% não havendo diferenças significativas entre linha e entrelinha.
A média do pH foi de 6,3 na linha e 6,1 na entrelinha. A média do teor de K2O foi de 404
mg.kg-1 na linha e 242 mg.kg-1 na entrelinha e a média do teor de P2O5 mg.kg-1 foi de 201
mg.kg-1 na linha e 114 mg.kg-1 na entrelinha, indicando uma prática de fertilização de
fundo localizada na linha de plantação. Estes resultados correspondem à situação inicial
dos pomares, prevendo-se a recolha de amostras no mesmo local com uma periodicidade
de 4 anos, de modo a realizar a monitorização da fertilidade do solo ao longo da vida útil
do pomar, minimizando a variabilidade inerente à heterogeneidade dos solos uma vez que
os pontos de recolha estão georreferenciados.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Changes in intestinal microbiota, immune- and stress-related transcript levels in Senegalese sole (Solea senegalensis) fed plant ingredient diets intercropped with probiotics or immunostimulants
Author's accepted version (post-print).Available from 04/03/2018.Senegalese sole (Solea senegalensis) is a highly valued flatfish that grows well with diets containing plant ingredients but their effects on immune competence is still a matter of debate. The current study aimed to examine changes in innate immune parameters and gut microbiota in Senegalese sole fed with 35% or 72% of plant ingredients with or without probiotic or yeast supplementation. Overall, fish fed diets with 72% of plant ingredients showed lower transcript levels of key immune- and stress-related genes in distal intestine, rectum and head-kidney than the 35% diets. In particular, hsp90b mRNA levels in distal intestine were down-regulated by 70% and 60% with the use of high content of plant ingredients in the diet containing the multispecies probiotic and autolyzed yeast, respectively. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis showed lower similarity values for distal intestine than rectum. Also fish fed high content of plant ingredients displayed lower similarity values, pointing to a difference in the microbial populations between fish fed different plant ingredients content on the diet. Our data revealed that inclusion of plant ingredients was associated with differences in gene expression and a more diverse microbiota profile but without a significant effect on growth performance. Moreover, probiotic supplementation resulted in up-regulation of hsp90b, gpx, cat and apoa1 transcript levels in distal intestine concomitantly with a growth rate reduction compared to non-supplemented fish
Effect of dry cow therapy products on the in vitro phagocytic function of goat milk leukocytes
O uso de medicamentos antimamíticos específicos para vacas no período seco é indicado para prevenção de infecções na lactação seguinte. Não obstante, a ação das células envolvidas no período de secagem tem fundamental importância para a involução da glândula mamária e seu restabelecimento para a lactação subseqüente. A indisponibilidade de tais medicamentos para uso em cabras tem resultado na extrapolação do uso de produtos recomendados para vacas sem que se considerem as particularidades e diferenças anátomo-fisiológicas entre as espécies bovina e caprina. O presente estudo teve por objetivo avaliar a influência de cinco antimamíticos específicos para vacas secas sobre a função dos fagócitos provenientes de leite caprino. Para tal, fez-se o isolamento de células somáticas de 20 amostras de leite provenientes de 10 cabras lactantes, sem antecedentes de tratamento de mamite nos últimos 30 dias, sob condições higiênico-sanitárias de colheita e com resultados negativos ao cultivo microbiológico do leite. As células aderidas a lamínulas de vidro foram confrontadas com formulações contendo princípios ativos disponíveis no mercado como Gentamicina (M1), Cefalônio Anidro (M2), Ampicilina (M3), Cloxacilina Benzatínica (M4) e Cefapirina Benzatínica (M5). Avaliou-se, por microscopia, a fagocitose de partículas de Zymosan. As médias dos índices de fagocitose das células submetidas ao tratamento com M2 (15,12% ± 16,22), M3 (6,02% ± 7,96), M4 (4,54% ± 5,45) e M5 (2,47% ± 4,64) foram menores (p<0,001) que a média dos índices de fagocitose do grupo controle (40,67% ± 19,68). A média dos índices de fagocitose das células submetidas ao tratamento com M2 foi maior (p<0,05) que as médias dos tratamentos com M3, M4 e M5 enquanto estas foram estatisticamente iguais entre si. As amostras celulares submetidas ao medicamento M1 exibiram adesão insuficiente ou ausente às lamínulas, inviabilizando a avaliação da fagocitose por meio da técnica utilizada. Os resultados obtidos permitem concluir que os medicamentos estudados exerceram influência negativa sobre os fagócitos do leite, porém, esta interferência sobre as funções das células somáticas não pode por si só determinar o insucesso da terapia proposta para o período seco, pois deve ser considerada, outrossim, a eficácia do princípio ativo sobre o patógeno causador do processo infeccioso.The use of specific anti-mastitis drugs is indicated in dry cow therapy to prevent infections in the following lactation. Nonetheless, cells active in the dry period are of fundamental importance for the involution of the mammary gland and its recovery for the following lactation. Since there are no specific drugs for dry goat therapy, the dry cow therapy drugs tend to be misused in goats despite of the anatomical and physiological differences apart from the particularities of the two species. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the influence of five drugs specific for dry cow therapy on the function of goat milk phagocytes. Somatic cells were isolated from 20 milk samples of 10 lactating goats that had not been treated for mastitis during the previous 30 days. Milk samples were collected properly and microbiological culture yielded negative results. Cells adherent to glass coverslips were treated with commercially available dry cow therapy drugs containing active principles such as Gentamicin (M1), Cephalonium anhydrous (M2), Ampicillin (M3), Cloxacillin benzathine (M4) and Cephapirin benzathine (M5). Phagocytosis of Zymosan particles was evaluated. Mean phagocytosis indexes of cells treated with M2 (15.12% ± 16.22), M3 (6.02% ± 7.96), M4 (4.54% ± 5.45) and M5 (2.47% ± 4.64) were lower (p<0.001) than mean phagocytosis index of the control group (40.67% ± 19.68). Mean phagocytosis index of cells treated with M2 was greater (p<0.05) than those treated with M3, M4 and M5, whereas means of the latter three treatments were statistically similar. M1-treated cells did not adhere adequately to the cover slips, making it impossible to evaluate phagocytosis in this group. The results obtained enable the conclusion that drugs used affected milk phagocytes negatively. However, interference on somatic cell function is not the sole factor determining an unsuccessful dry period therapy, since the efficacy of the active principle on pathogens responsible for infectious processes also has to be considered
Effect of controlled atmospheres and environmental conditions on the physicochemical and sensory characteristics of sweet cherry cultivar Satin
Sweet cherry is a highly appreciated seasonal fruit with a high content of bioactive compounds;
however, this highly perishable fruit has a relatively short shelf-life period. Here, we
evaluated the evolution of the physicochemical and sensory qualities of sweet cherries (Prunus avium
(L.) cv. Satin) under different storage conditions, namely at a Farmers’ Organization (FO) and in
a Research Centre (RC) under normal and four different conditions of controlled atmosphere for
49 days. Additional parameters were monitored, such as rotten fruit incidence and stem appearance.
Temperature was the factor that most influenced the fruit quality changes over the study time. In fact,
fruits stored at higher mean temperatures showed higher weight loss, higher variation in CIE-Lab
colour parameters, higher firmness loss, and browner and more dehydrated stems and were less
appealing to the consumer. Controlled atmosphere conditions showed a smaller decrease in CIE-Lab
colour parameters and lower weight loss. The incidence of rotting was very low and was always
equal or lower than 2% for all conditions. Thus, RC chamber conditions were able to sustain fruit
quality parameters over 28 days under normal atmosphere conditions and 49 days under controlled
atmosphere conditions.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Excitation Spectrum of One-dimensional Extended Ionic Hubbard Model
We use Perturbative Continuous Unitary Transformations (PCUT) to study the
one dimensional Extended Ionic Hubbard Model (EIHM) at half-filling in the band
insulator region. The extended ionic Hubbard model, in addition to the usual
ionic Hubbard model, includes an inter-site nearest-neighbor (n.n.) repulsion,
. We consider the ionic potential as unperturbed part of the Hamiltonian,
while the hopping and interaction (quartic) terms are treated as perturbation.
We calculate total energy and ionicity in the ground state. Above the ground
state, (i) we calculate the single particle excitation spectrum by adding an
electron or a hole to the system. (ii) the coherence-length and spectrum of
electron-hole excitation are obtained. Our calculations reveal that for V=0,
there are two triplet bound state modes and three singlet modes, two anti-bound
states and one bound state, while for finite values of there are four
excitonic bound states corresponding to two singlet and two triplet modes. The
major role of on-site Coulomb repulsion is to split singlet and triplet
collective excitation branches, while tends to pull the singlet branches
below the continuum to make them bound states.Comment: 10 eps figure
Comparative analysis between synthetic vitamin E and natural antioxidant sources from tomato, carrot and coriander in diets for market-sized dicentrarchus labrax
Synthetic vitamin E is commonly used in aquafeeds to prevent oxidative stress in fish and delay feed and flesh oxidation during storage, but consumers’ preferences tend towards natural antioxidant sources. The potential of vegetable antioxidants-rich coproducts, dried tomato (TO), carrot (CA) and coriander (CO) was compared to that of synthetic vitamin E included in diets at either a regular (CTRL; 100 mg kg−1) or reinforced dose (VITE; 500 mg kg−1). Natural antioxidants were added at 2% to the CTRL. Mixes were then extruded and dried, generating five experimental diets that were fed to European sea bass juveniles (114 g) over 12 weeks. Vitamin E and carotenoid content of extruded diets showed signs of degradation. The experimental diets had very limited effects on fish growth or body composition, immunomodulatory response, muscle and liver antioxidant potential, organoleptic properties or consumer acceptance. Altogether, experimental findings suggest that neither a heightened inclusion dose of 500 mg kg−1 of vitamin E, nor a 2% inclusion of natural antioxidants provided additional antioxidant protection, compared to fish fed diets including the regular dose of 100 mg kg−1 of vitamin E.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Estado de nutrição de pomares de pessegueiro na região da Beira Interior
A Beira Interior possui a principal área portuguesa de produção de pêssego (1803 ha) e possui também o know-how sobre esta cultura, existindo a única indicação geográfica protegida de pêssego do país – IGP pêssego da Cova da Beira, canais de comercialização, assistência técnica e ações de I&D. Paralelamente existe uma constante procura de conhecimento e inovação por parte dos produtores de modo a maximizarem o rendimento da cultura. Sendo a fertilização uma técnica
com baixo peso nos custos de produção, aproximadamente 8%, é frequente existirem excessos para atingir produções mais elevadas. A fertilização reflete-se na disponibilidade de nutrientes e no estado de nutrição dos pomares que, com a rega, é determinante para o equilíbrio das plantas, para o seu vigor e produção e para a resistência a pragas ou doenças. A monitorização, desde a instalação, de 28 pomares localizados na região da Beira Interior, permitiu avaliar o estado de nutrição ao 3º ciclo vegetativo. Os resultados indicam que apesar do solo apresentar maioritariamente níveis altos de P e K, 45% dos pomares apresentaram teores foliares de K inferiores ao intervalo de referência. Também o teor de Zn se encontra em níveis inferiores a esse intervalo em 50% dos pomares.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Nutritional and mineral composition of Opuntia stricta Haw: Balance of macrominerals, renal function and blood metabolites in sheep
ABSTRACT This study aimed to evaluate the effect of the inclusion of spineless cactus (Opuntia stricta Haw) in the diet of sheep on the balance of macrominerals, renal function, and blood metabolites. Five sheep cannulated in the rumen (61.5±9.5kg body weight) were used in a 5 × 5 Latin square composed of five diets and five experimental periods. The experimental period lasted 105 days, with five periods of 21 days each. Four diets containing levels of spineless cactus (121, 245, 371, and 500g/kg of dry matter (DM)), and a control diet were evaluated. Samples of the ingredients, orts, feces, urine, and blood were collected. Spineless cactus inclusion in sheep diets increased the DM intake, ash, oxalate, and all macrominerals intake (P 0.05). It is possible to verify that the inclusion of spineless cactus, up to the level of 500g/kg of DM in the sheep diets, does not appear to cause damage to the animal’s health. Its inclusion does not compromise kidney function or blood metabolites evaluated herein
Spin chains with dynamical lattice supersymmetry
Spin chains with exact supersymmetry on finite one-dimensional lattices are
considered. The supercharges are nilpotent operators on the lattice of
dynamical nature: they change the number of sites. A local criterion for the
nilpotency on periodic lattices is formulated. Any of its solutions leads to a
supersymmetric spin chain. It is shown that a class of special solutions at
arbitrary spin gives the lattice equivalents of the N=(2,2) superconformal
minimal models. The case of spin one is investigated in detail: in particular,
it is shown that the Fateev-Zamolodchikov chain and its off-critical extension
admits a lattice supersymmetry for all its coupling constants. Its
supersymmetry singlets are thoroughly analysed, and a relation between their
components and the weighted enumeration of alternating sign matrices is
conjectured.Comment: Revised version, 52 pages, 2 figure
Grain Surface Models and Data for Astrochemistry
AbstractThe cross-disciplinary field of astrochemistry exists to understand the formation, destruction, and survival of molecules in astrophysical environments. Molecules in space are synthesized via a large variety of gas-phase reactions, and reactions on dust-grain surfaces, where the surface acts as a catalyst. A broad consensus has been reached in the astrochemistry community on how to suitably treat gas-phase processes in models, and also on how to present the necessary reaction data in databases; however, no such consensus has yet been reached for grain-surface processes. A team of ∼25 experts covering observational, laboratory and theoretical (astro)chemistry met in summer of 2014 at the Lorentz Center in Leiden with the aim to provide solutions for this problem and to review the current state-of-the-art of grain surface models, both in terms of technical implementation into models as well as the most up-to-date information available from experiments and chemical computations. This review builds on the results of this workshop and gives an outlook for future directions
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