Spatial distribution of thermal variables, acoustics and lighting in compost dairy barn with climate control system

ArticleThe main objective of this research was to evaluate the spatial distribution of the thermal variables, acoustics and lighting in climate controlled compost dairy barn. The experiment was conducted in October 2017, in a farm located in the west of Minas Gerais state, Brazil. For the study, the interior of the animal facility was divided into 120 meshes equidistant points, in which air temperature (tdb), relative humidity (RH), noise, illuminance, and air speed (Vair) were manually collected. The technique of geostatistics was used to evaluate the distribution and spatial dependence of variables. Spatial distribution maps showed the occurrence of high variability of attributes and content within the animal facility. Thermal environment variables showed alert situations throughout practically the entire facility. The noise and luminance levels were within the recommended values

Pasture digital image analysis as a support tool for grazing management in montados: a preliminary approach

The knowledge of vegetation land cover over time is essential for an appropriate grazing management in any free range animal production system. Ground vegetation has traditionally been monitored using visual methods that produce estimates of percentage covered/bared soil, green/senescent vegetation and also grasses/forbs occurrences. Visual methods are extremely time consuming and prone to observer bias. The use of digital image to evaluate and monitor ground vegetation has increased in recent years. These techniques allow a more cost effective data collection over larger areas, avoiding the need of judgement-based choices of representative areas. The aim of this work is to test the applicability and robustness of simple image processing techniques to monitor ground vegetation in Montado. The set of images were collected using a GoPro HD HERO2 digital camera, facing down, mounted on a stand at constant distance above ground.An application of threshold segmentation techniques to a set of digital images is presented. A procedure to calibrate the threshold value is proposed. Some results are presented and analyzed for different lighting conditions, type of vegetation, as well as percentage of Montado vegetation cover. Montados are characterized by a pronounced patchiness of vegetation communities and should benefit from such an approach

The effect of polyethyllene gyicol (Peg) on protein output of free range Alentejano pigs

The effect of PEG treated or untreated acorns fed to Alentejano pigs, on the protein output of the animals were studied. The animals had access to two sown pasture fields based on Trifolium incarnatum and Lolium westerwoldicum. Four dietary treatments were tested with 5 pigs per treatment in a two by two factorial experimental design (factor 1: sown species; factor 2: acorn with or without PEG). Intake of acorns and protein faecal concentration were measured individually. Faecal output was estimated using an external faecal marker (dotriacontane, C32). Crude protein faecal concentration of animals fed acorns treated with PEG was significantly lower (P<0,05) then those fed untreated acorns, suggesting that the PEG may have increased the availability of dietary protein to the animals. However, the estimation of protein faecal output using the n-alkane C32 was not significantly affected by the PEG treatment, even though, for the animals in the Lolium westerwoldicum pasture, there was a decrease (P=0,063) in the total excretion of CP when acorns were treated with PEG

Retrato de la innovación en el Sítio de Monfurado (Portugal): retos para el futuro

Isabel Ferraz de Oliveira, de la Universidad de Évora, nos presenta el área de aprendizaje del Sitio de Monfurado, un área de montado o dehesa situada en el Alentejo central. Se trata de una zona Natura 2000 especialmente bien conservada, y que cuenta con gran diversidad de hábitats y de especies. La principal actividad económica es la producción de corcho y la ganadería extensiva, con el ganado vacuno en aumento y el ovino en descenso. También cuenta con cierta relevancia el porcino, que viene a la montanera entre los meses de noviembre y febrero. Como complemento, la zona recibe algo de turismo por su proximidad con la ciudad de Lisboa. La situación actual del montado es de decadencia como sistema agrosilvopastoral, y se está produciendo un proceso de fragmentación del paisaje, en el que cada vez hay más praderas. Los retos para la sustentabilidad de la zona tienen que ver con la baja fertilidad del suelo y la carencia de renovación arbórea. Esto último tiene su causa, en buena medida, en el aumento del ganado vacuno. Este cambio de tendencia en la cabaña ganadera, está generado por la presión de la PAC, que define un sector de alta productividad, de productos indiferenciados, y muy refractario a la multifuncionalidad

Geostatistics applied to evaluation of thermal conditions and noise in compost dairy barns with different ventilation systems

ArticleThe objective of this work was to evaluate the spatial distribution of thermal conditions and bed variables in compost dairy barns with different ventilation systems, through the technique of geostatistics. The experiment was conducted in April 2017, in farms located in Madre de Deus, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Three facilities were evaluated with different ventilation systems: natural (NV); mechanical of low volume and high speed (LVHS); and mechanical of high volume and low speed (HVLS). The interior of the premises was divided into 40 meshes equidistant points, in which air temperature, relative humidity and air speed were manually collected. Geostatistics technique was used to assess the spatial dependence of the variables. The results showed the occurrence of dependence and spatial variability of the variables evaluated. Based on thermal comfort indexes, it was concluded that dairy cows were under stress conditions during the hottest hours of the day in the three animal facilities evaluated. The results obtained allow us to understand that the thermal environment is more influenced by the ventilation system adopted

NIRS potential use for the determination of natural resources quality from dehesa (acorn and grass) in Montanera system for Iberian pigs.

NIRS technology has been used as an alternative to conventional methods to determinate the content of nutrients of acorns and grass from dehesa ecosystem. Dry matter (DM), crude fat (CF), crude protein (CP), starch, total phenolic compounds (TP), α-tocopherol, γ-tocopherol, fatty acids, neutral detergent fiber (NDF), total antioxidant activity (TAA) and total energy (TE) were determined by conventional methods for later development of NIRS predictive equations. The NIR spectrum of each sample was collected and for all studied parameters, a predictive model was obtained and external validated. Good prediction equations were obtained for moisture, crude fat, crude protein, total energy and γ-tocopherol in acorns samples, with high coefficients of correlation (1-VR) and low standard error of prediction (SEP) (1-VR=0.81, SEP=2.62; 1-VR=0.92, SEP=0.54; 1-VR=0.86, SEP=0.47; 1-VR=0.84, SEP=0.2; 1-VR=0.88, SEP=5.4, respectively) and crude protein, NDF, α-tocopherol and linolenic acid content in grass samples (1-VR=0.9, SEP=1.99; 1-VR=0.87, SEP=4.13; 1-VR=0.76, SEP=10.9; 1-VR=0.82, SEP=0.6, respectively). Therefore, these prediction models could be used to determinate the nutritional composition of Montanera natural resources

Azadirachta indica A. Juss. In Vivo Toxicity—An Updated Review

The Neem tree, Azadirachta indica A. Juss., is known for its large spectrum of compounds with biological and pharmacological interest. These include, among others, activities that are anticancer, antibacterial, antiviral, and anti-inflammatory. Some neem compounds are also used as insecticides, herbicides, and/or antifeedants. The safety of these compounds is not always taken into consideration and few in vivo toxicity studies have been performed. The current study is a literature review of the latest in vivo toxicity of A. indica. It is divided in two major sections—aquatic animals toxicity and mammalian toxicity—each related to neem’s application as a pesticide or a potential new therapeutic drug, respectively.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Acute toxicity of plant extracts towards Daphnia magna

The demand for natural based products for the cosmetics industry is increasing sharply and therefore the search for new alternatives to the traditionally used plants is growing. These alternative plants can be an important source of bioactive compounds under a circular economy approach. Within the framework of Inovep project, several plant species, some of which autochthonous from Portugal, were identified as potential sources of bioactive compounds, namely: gum rockrose (Cistus ladanifer), curry plant (Helichrysum italicum), hop (Humulus lupulus), Mediterranean thyme (Thymbra capitata) and basil (Ocimum basilicum). Considering the potential future use of these plant extracts by the industry, it is necessary to assess the risk associated with their introduction into the ecosystem. This work aims to evaluate the toxic effects of different extracts of these five species. Acute toxicity tests using the model organism Daphnia magna were performed and the immobilization after 24 and 48 hours of exposure was evaluated. The EC50 (the concentration estimated to immobilize 50 per cent of the Daphnia) varied from 201.8±3.28 x10-5 mg.L-1 at 24 hours and 199.5±5.9410x10-5 mg.L-1 at 48 hours for Cistus ladanifer extract and 11.2±0.2403 mg.L- 1 at 24 hours and 11.2±0.4095 mg.L-1 at 48 hours for Thymbra capitata essential oil. For Humulus lupulus, Helichrysum italicum, Thymbra capitata in the form of hidrolate, and Ocimum basilicum no immobilization was observed until the highest concentrations tested for various types of extracts, suggesting these extracts present low to no risk towards D. magna

Repetibilidade dos pesos e ganho de peso do nascimento a desmama de bezerros da raça Nelore.

Repetibilidade do ganho de peso ao nascimento e a desmama