Sow rearing in north Italy: I. analysis of technical and productive characteristics of different herds

There is a lack of information about reference values for the main productive and reproductive indexes for the sow herds in North Italy. This investigation was aimed to collect data from different kind of sow herds placed in the Veneto Region, in order to achieve representative values, in terms of mean and variability, for the main indexes of productivity: herd composition, feed consumption and feed composition

The allometric partition of whole body protein in lean fraction of growing pigs using information from three different datasets

The hypothesis that a single allometric relationship relating carcass lean protein (CLP) to whole body protein (WBP) can allow accurate estimates of CLP on pigs of different populations, sex and nutritional history, was tested. Three datasets of different origins were used. Data were representative of 548 pigs, castrated males and females, of 8 pig populations, serially slaughtered over ample empty body weight (EBW) ranges (from 22 to 217 kg). WBP and CLP ranged, respectively, from 2 to 28 and from 1 to 16 kg. The pooled data were run and the following relationship was found: CLP=0.497*WBP1.021 (CV=0.062; rsd=0.501 kg). The residuals were subjected to ANOVA to test the effects due to dataset, pig population within dataset and sex; significant differences between datasets mean residuals (+0.095, SE=0.041; -0.258, SE=0.094; -0.116, SE=0.055 kg, P<0.001) were observed. No differences due to sex and pig populations were found. The average residuals were low and only in few cases they differed from zero. Conclusions: CLP can be accurately predicted from WBP; the coefficients of this function are mainly influenced by the procedures of slaughtering, dissection, sampling and analysis

Free electron lifetime achievements in Liquid Argon Imaging TPC

A key feature for the success of the liquid Argon imaging TPC (LAr-TPC) technology is the industrial purification against electro-negative impurities, especially Oxygen and Nitrogen remnants, which have to be continuously kept at an exceptionally low level by filtering and recirculating liquid Argon. Improved purification techniques have been applied to a 120 liters LAr-TPC test facility in the INFN-LNL laboratory. Through-going muon tracks have been used to determine the free electron lifetime in liquid Argon against electro-negative impurities. The short path length here observed (30 cm) is compensated by the high accuracy in the observation of the specific ionization of cosmic ray muons at sea level as a function of the drift distance. A free electron lifetime of (21.4+7.3-4.3) ms, namely > 15.8 ms at 90 % C.L. has been observed over several weeks under stable conditions, corresponding to a residual Oxygen equivalent of about 15 ppt (part per trillion). At 500 V/cm, the free electron speed is 1.5 m/ms. In a LAr-TPC a free electron lifetime in excess of 15 ms corresponds for instance to an attenuation of less than 15 % after a drift path of 5 m, opening the way to the operation of the LAr-TPC with exceptionally long drift distances.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures; Accepted for publication in JINS

Atributos anatômicos de lâminas foliares de Paspalum spp.

Gramíneas do gênero Paspalum spp. apresentam alto potencial para o melhoramento genético, devido à sua grande variabilidade genética. Este estudo, conduzido na Universidade Federal da Grande Dourados, teve como objetivo avaliar atributos anatômicos de lâminas foliares de Paspalum spp. (P. malacophyllum - P30, P. guenoarum - P65, P. glaucescens - P114, P. spp.- Pl16, P. spp. - P127, P. guenoarum - P148, P. regnellii - P191 e uma cultivar comercial- P. alralum cv. Pojuca). Utilizou-se o delineamento de blocos ao acaso, oito genótipos e quatro repetições. Os fragmentos das lâminas foram fixados em F AA e após efetuou-se o preparo histológico. Alta variabilidade entre os genótipos foi observada quanto à proporção e arranjo de tecidos, e presença de tanino condensado na epiderme. Dos caracteres avaliados a presença de estrutura girder, foi a que mais discriminou os genótipos quanto ao potencial qualitativo das lâminas. Estudos devem ser conduzidos para verificar o efeito do tanino condensado, presente na epiderme, no potencial qualitativo dos genótipos

Use of simple body measurements and allometry to predict the chemical growth and feed intake in pigs

Nel lavoro si propone una procedura per stimare le variazioni di composizione chimica corporea e dell'in gestione alimentare di suini, allevati in condizioni non limitanti, basata su rilievi di peso vivo (BW) e di spessore del grasso dorsale (P2) ripetuti a diverse età. Si è utilizzata una banca dati riguardante 920 suini ibridi maschi (Goland) alimentati ad libitum che ha fornito informazioni individuali di BW, misurato a 71 ± 4 (t1), 126 ± 5 (t2) and 184 ± 5 (t3) giorni di età, di P2, misurato alle età t2 e t3, e di ingestioni ali mentari (FI), registrate nell'intervallo di tempo tra t2 e t3 mediante stazioni di alimentazione automatiz zate (IVOG). La massa corporea di lipidi (kg) è stata stimata con l'equazione L= (9,17 + 0,70*P2)*BW/100 e gli altri costituenti corporei sono stati calcolati dal peso vivo netto meno la frazione lipidica, utilizzando funzioni di allometria. Dai cambiamenti stimati di composizione corporea tra le età t2 e t3 sono stati quindi valutati i fabbisogni di energia per il mantenimento e per la crescita ottenendo i cor rispondenti quantitativi di mangime previsti per il periodo di crescita in esame (PFI) per ciascun indivi duo. I valori misurati di consumo alimentare (FI) ottenuti dalle stazioni IVOG sono stati sottoposti ad ana lisi della varianza per gli effetti: mese, partita (entro mese), BWt2, P2t2, accrescimento medio giornaliero e variazioni di P2 nel periodo tra t2 e t3. I valori di FI sono stati anche analizzati sostituendo, come fonti di variazione, le misure corporee dirette con stime derivate di PFI. Risultati. L'approccio seguito ha con sentito di stimare i parametri delle curve di Gompertz che definiscono la crescita proteica potenziale di ciascun individuo, la massa proteica matura (Pm, kg), il coefficiente di accrescimento relativo (B, d-1) e il rapporto lipidi:proteine a maturità (Lm/Pm), risultati in media pari a 43,5 ± 5,8 kg, 0,0116 ± 0,0011 d-1 e 1,81 ± 0,30, rispettivamente. Nel periodo compreso tra t2 e t3 la massa proteica mediamente pre sente è risultata pari a 18,5 + 1,6 kg e le ritenzioni medie di proteine e lipidi sono state in media pari a 177 ± 21 e 239 ± 62 g/d, rispettivamente. I valori medi di FI e di PFI sono stati, rispettivamente, pari a 2,824 ± 0,448 and 2,814 ± 0,393 kg/d. Nel modello di analisi statistica la sostituzione delle misure cor poree dirette con i valori di PFI non ha modificato la proporzione di varianza spiegata (83%) né i valori di deviazione standard residua (0,199 g/d). I valori di "residual feed intake" risultanti dall'applicazione dei due modelli di analisi sono risultati altamente correlati (RSD= 0,043 kg/d; R2= 0.961). L'approccio impiegato ha quindi consentito di ottenere una buona interpretazione biologica della varianza dei valori di FI associata alle diverse misure corporee. La sostanziale coincidenza tra valori misurati e stimati di ingestione alimentare ha fornito una ragionevole garanzia sulla validità dei valori di composizione corpo rea stimati. Così, un protocollo di misure ripetute di peso vivo e di spessore del lardo dorsale nel corso della crescita, accoppiato ad elaborazioni di tipo allometrico, può essere proposto per stimare in vivo lo stato chimico corporeo di suini allevati in condizioni ritenute non limitanti. The paper provides a practical procedure to estimate the chemical composition of pigs, their compositional growth and the expected feed intake from measurements of body weight (BW) and backfat thickness (P2) serially performed in vivo. A farm data set provided information on 920 individuals including BW, measured at 71 ± 4 (t1), 126 ± 5 (t2) and 184 ± 5 (t3) days of age, of P2 at t2 and t3, and of voluntary daily feed intake (FI), recorded over the period from t2 to t3 by automated IVOG feeders. Body lipid mass was estimated as L= (9.17 + 0.70*P2) *BW/100 and the other chemical constituents were predicted from fat free empty body mass using Gompertz growth functions and allometry. Using individual changes of body composition from age t2 to t3, energy requirements for maintenance and growth and the corresponding predicted feed intakes (PFI) were estimated. Measured FI were analysed for the effects of month, batch (within month), BWt2, P2t2, average metabolic weight, average daily gain and variation of P2 from t2 to t3. The same model was run again replacing the direct simple body measurements (BW and P2) with the estimated values of PFI as source of variation. Results. The Gompertz estimates of mature protein mass (Pm), relative growth rate parameter (B) and lipid to protein ratio at maturity were 43.5 ± 5.8 kg, 0.0116 ± 0.0011 d-1 and 1.81 ± 0.30, respectively. The current protein mass averaged 18.5 + 1.6 kg and the daily retentions of protein and lipid were 177 ± 21 and 239 ± 62 g/d, respectively. FI and PFI averaged 2.824 ± 0.448 and 2.814 ± 0.393 kg/d, respectively. In the ANOVA of the FI data, the replacement of direct body measurements by PFI did not change the proportion of variance explained (83%) and the RSD (0.199 g/d). The two sets of residual feed intake values obtained from the two ANOVA were highly correlated (RSD = 0.043 kg/d; R2= 0.961). Agreement between predicted and determined feed intakes provided a reasonable guarantee to the estimated (based on BW and P2) changes of body composition. Thus, a scheduled protocol of measurement of BW and P2 over the course of growth, coupled with the use of allometry, can be proposed to estimate in vivo the change of the chemical status of pigs kept under non limiting conditions