A proposal for the evaluation of the bioeconomic efficiency of beef cattle production systems

The objective of this study was to identify types of production system and their main indicators on bioeconomic efficiency, using qualitative and quantitative methods to evaluate beef cattle farms in the western region of the state of Rio Grande do Sul. A survey was carried out with 43 farmers operating in the western region of that state. All farms operated with complete cycle production systems in areas larger or equal to 900 ha. A qualitative questionnaire with binary answers and a quantitative questionnaire with numerical answers were applied. Technology and Management drivers were used for the calculation of the efficiency index of farmers obtained by both questionnaires. Farmers were divided into three clusters: low-efficiency level (LEL), intermediate-efficiency level (IEM), or high-efficiency level (HEL), as a result of the comparison of the scores obtained for the analyzed parameters. Subfactors resulting from each comparison (LEL × IEL; LEL × HEL, and IEL × HEL) were different as a function of the comparison and of the methods applied. Low-efficiency level farmers need to improve essential production processes, such as technology and management, as well as health management practices together with the financial management of the production system. Intermediate-efficiency level farmers need to improve their routine animal management, pasture management, and calculation of financial indicators to become highly efficient. The quantitative method allowed to identify underestimation (39.3%) or overestimation (24.2%) when farmers were are classified in clusters. Different methods may be used, but those based on quantitative information have stronger discrimination power to identify different types of farmers

O STF e as medidas para prevenção e tratamento da covid-19

Resumo O presente artigo analisa a jurisprudência do Supremo Tribunal Federal (STF) sobre políticas para prevenção e tratamento da covid-19. Com o auxílio da ciência de dados e da inteligência artificial, foi realizada a coleta sistemática e exaustiva da jurisprudência da Corte sobre esse assunto. As decisões coletadas foram organizadas e classificadas nos seguintes temas: distanciamento social; medidas diversas de combate à pandemia; uso de máscara; requisição administrativa; leitos de Unidade de Terapia Intensiva (UTI); vacinação; e acesso a dados. As decisões dentro de cada um desses temas foram analisadas para entender quais questões foram decididas pelo STF e como foram julgadas. A organização e a análise de 253 decisões nos permitem chegar, com nuances e detalhes, a algumas conclusões gerais sobre o papel da Corte em matéria de medidas para prevenção e tratamento da covid-19: parte significativa das decisões foi monocrática e em sede de liminar, o STF buscou proteger a capacidade de entes estaduais responderem à covid-19, foram manifestadas opiniões críticas à atuação do governo federal, em diversos casos houve explícita sobreposição entre questões formais de competência federativa e avaliações substantivas sobre a melhor política, e houve hesitação do STF em determinar a realização de medidas muito complexas para o combate à pandemia de covid-19

Efeito de Wordlikeness no Processamento de Não-palavras por Falantes do Português Brasileiro

O presente estudo aborda a questão da emergência de uma competência fonológica abstraída das formas das palavras representadas no léxico, conforme estabelecido nos Modelos baseados no Uso, considerando resultados de um teste de aceitabilidade de não-palavras. Efeito de wordlikeness, o grau de semelhança entre uma não-palavra e uma palavra real, tem sido observado em diversos estudos. Não-palavras formadas por sílabas de alta e baixa probabilidade e de diferentes tamanhos foram especialmente elaboradas para testar o efeito de seu grau de semelhança com as palavras reais no julgamento do falante. A frequência das sílabas foi obtida de uma amostra online de textos do português brasileiro. Os estímulos foram julgados por 22 adultos universitários. Os resultados mostraram que os julgamentos se basearam nas propriedades probabilísticas dos estímulos. Os resultados constituem evidência adicional da relação entre conhecimento fonológico e inferência estatística no léxico. The present study addresses the issue of the emergent phonological competence abstracted from the wordforms represented in the lexicon, as stated in the Usage-based Models, considering the results of an acceptability test of nonwords. Effect of wordlikeness, the degree of similarity between a nonword and a real word, has been observed in several studies. Nonwords formed by syllables of high and low probability and of different length were especially elaborated in order to check the effect of their wordlikeness in the speaker judgment. The frequency of the syllables were obtained from an online database of texts of Brazilian Portuguese. The stimuli were judged by 22 university speakers. The results showed that judgments were based on the probabilistic properties of the stimuli. The results constitute further evidence for the relationship between phonological knowledge and statistical inference in the lexicon

Umversorgung von einem perkutanen auf ein transkutanes BAHA-System bei Gehörgangsatresie - zwei Fallberichte

This in vitro study aimed to investigate the potential of CO2 lasers associated with different fluoride agents in inhibiting enamel erosion. Human enamel samples were randomly divided into 9 groups (n = 12): G1-eroded enamel; G2-APF gel; G3-AmF/NaF gel; G4-AmF/SnF2 solution; G5-CO2 laser (λ = 10.6 µm)+APF gel; G6-CO2 laser+AmF/NaF gel; G7-CO2laser+AmF/SnF2solution; G8-CO2 laser; and G9-sound enamel. The CO2 laser parameters were: 0.45 J/cm2; 6 μs; and 128 Hz. After surface treatment, the samples (except from G9) were immersed in 1% citric acid (pH 4.0, 3 min). Surface microhardness was measured at baseline and after surface softening. The data were statistically analyzed by one-way ANOVA and Tukey’s tests (p < 0.05). G2 (407.6 ± 37.3) presented the highest mean SMH after softening, followed by G3 (407.5 ± 29.8) and G5 (399.7 ± 32.9). Within the fluoride-treated groups, G4 (309.0 ± 24.4) had a significantly lower mean SMH than G3 and G2, which were statistically similar to each other. AmF/NaF and APF application showed potential to protect and control erosion progression in dental enamel, and CO2 laser irradiation at 0.45J/cm2 did not influence its efficacy. CO2 laser irradiation alone under the same conditions could also significantly decrease enamel erosive mineral loss, although at lower levels

Predicting the metabolizable energy of first and second corn harvests for piglets

ABSTRACT Corn is one of the primary ingredients in swine diets, but there is a variation in its chemical composition and metabolizable energy (ME) content. Therefore, faster methods are required that can determine more accurate ME values to improve piglet diets. This study determined and predicted the ME of corn from first and second harvests for piglets. Two experiments were conducted to determine the ME values for 18 corn batches, evaluating corn from first and second harvests. The corn batches were analysed to determine the concentration of dry matter (DM), starch (ST), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), crude protein (CP), ether extract (EE), ash, calcium (Ca), phosphorus (P) and gross energy (GE). To determine the ME values, 40 piglets were used in each experiment, grouped into a randomized block design with four replicates. The ME of the corn from the first and second crops ranged from 3281 to 3509 and from 3143 to 3652 kcal/kg on an as-fed basis, respectively, and the fitted equations to predict the ME presented a low R2. The best fit equation for predicting the ME of corn for piglets was determined to be ME= - 6306.15 + 400.652ADF + 117.286ST + 24924.7Ca + 2489.66P - 148.41CP (R2=0.44) for the first harvest; ME= -7560.08 + 2.66895GE - 120.69ADF (R2=0.48) for the second harvest; and ME= 2848.95 + 68.5714NDF + 161.938EE - 5563.5Ca - 1454.2P (R2=0.41) for the joint harvest

A proposal for the evaluation of the bioeconomic efficiency of beef cattle production systems

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to identify types of production system and their main indicators on bioeconomic efficiency, using qualitative and quantitative methods to evaluate beef cattle farms in the western region of the state of Rio Grande do Sul. A survey was carried out with 43 farmers operating in the western region of that state. All farms operated with complete cycle production systems in areas larger or equal to 900 ha. A qualitative questionnaire with binary answers and a quantitative questionnaire with numerical answers were applied. Technology and Management drivers were used for the calculation of the efficiency index of farmers obtained by both questionnaires. Farmers were divided into three clusters: low-efficiency level (LEL), intermediate-efficiency level (IEM), or high-efficiency level (HEL), as a result of the comparison of the scores obtained for the analyzed parameters. Subfactors resulting from each comparison (LEL × IEL; LEL × HEL, and IEL × HEL) were different as a function of the comparison and of the methods applied. Low-efficiency level farmers need to improve essential production processes, such as technology and management, as well as health management practices together with the financial management of the production system. Intermediate-efficiency level farmers need to improve their routine animal management, pasture management, and calculation of financial indicators to become highly efficient. The quantitative method allowed to identify underestimation (39.3%) or overestimation (24.2%) when farmers were are classified in clusters. Different methods may be used, but those based on quantitative information have stronger discrimination power to identify different types of farmers