Ponderação econômica para suporte de sistema de melhoramento genético de bovinos de corte criados extensivamente na sub-região da Nhecolândia, Pantanal Sul-Mato-Grossense. Análise de custos e receitas.

Objetivou-se com este trabalho avaliar e definir a importância econômica de possíveis características produtivas e reprodutivas a serem utilizadas como suporte na seleção de bovinos de corte em função de seus valores econômicos. Com base em informações de desempenho de índices técnicos e econômicos foi desenvolvido um cenário produtivo de uma propriedade modal que realiza o sistema extensivo de produção de bovinos de corte (fase de cria) na sub - região da Nhecolândia, Pantanal Sul - Mato - Grossense. Foi desenvolvido um modelo determinístico por meio de planilhas eletrônicas para a realização dos cálculos de custos e de receitas. O lucro foi estimado pela diferença entre os custos e receitas do sistema de produção estudado. As características números de bezerros desmamados e número de vacas de descarte foram as que apresentaram maior remuneração para o sistema de produção avaliado

Social cues in the expression of sequential alternative reproductive tactics in young males of the peacock blenny, Solaria pavo

Phenotypic change in response to variation in environmental cues has been widely documented in fish. Transitions in social dominance, in particular, have been shown to induce a rapid switch in reproductive phenotypes in many species. However, this effect has been mainly studied in adults and focused on behavioural transitions. The way social cues constraint the phenotypic development of juveniles remains poorly studied in fish. We tested the importance of social dominance and density in the phenotypic development of juveniles of the peacock blenny Solaria pavo. This species shows sequential male alternative reproductive tactics. In the first breeding season males can reproduce as nest-holders or as parasitic males (female-mimicking), or postpone reproduction; from the following season afterwards all males reproduce as nest-holders. Parasitic males have relatively larger testes that lack a testicular gland, present in the testes of nest-holders. The testicular gland is the main source of androgens in the testes and accordingly nest-holders have higher circulating androgen levels. In addition, exogenous androgen administration to parasitic males promotes the development of secondary sexual characters (SSC) only present in nest-holders such as a head crest and an anal gland. We raised juveniles under a high or low-density treatment and monitored social interactions for 1 month. No significant effect of density on the development of juvenile males was detected. However, within each replicate, the relative body size of juvenile males at the beginning of the experiment determined their dominance status, with dominant males developing towards the nest-holder morphotype. Dominant males engaged in more nest defence behaviour, showed larger testicular glands, had higher levels of 11-ketotestosterone (11-KT) and testosterone (T) and developed more SSC, as compared to subordinate males. However, these effects of social dominance were moderated by body condition as only dominant males in good body condition developed SSC. The effect of social dominance and of the area of the testicular gland on the development of SSC was mediated by 11-KT and on the expression of nest defence behaviour by T. Interestingly, in spite of the higher androgen levels and more pronounced morphologic development of SSC in dominant individuals, gonadal development was independent of social dominance and most fish still had underdeveloped testis at the end of the experiment. In conclusion, social dominance promoted the development of the testicular gland, an increase in circulating androgen levels and the development of SSC, but did not promote testicular development. This suggests a dissociation of mechanisms underlying sexual maturation and the expression of male reproductive traits. This dissociation seems to be the key for the occurrence of female-mimicking males in this species, which are sexually mature despite lacking the SSC typical of nest-holdets. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.R&D Units Plurianual Program (R&D unit) from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) [331/2001]; FCT [SFRH/BD/6502/2001]; [POCTI/BSE/38395/2001]; [PTDC/MAR/71351/2006]info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Effects of Calcium Pyruvate Supplementation During Training On Body Composition, Exercise Capacity, and Metabolic Responses To Exercise

Objective: We evaluated the effects of calcium pyruvate supplementation during training on body composition and metabolic responses to exercise. Method: Twenty-three untrained females were matched and assigned to ingest in a double blind and randomized manner either 5 g of calcium pyruvate (PYR) or a placebo (PL) twice daily for 30 d while participating in a supervised exercise program. Prior to and following supplementation, subjects had body composition determined via hydrodensiometry; performed a maximal cardiopulmonary exercise test; and performed a 45-min walk test at 70% of pre-training VO2 max in which fasting pre- and post exercise blood samples determined. Results: No significant differences were observed between groups in energy intake or training volume. Univariate repeated measures ANOVA revealed that subjects in the PYR group gained less weight (PL 1.2 ± 0.3, PYR 0.3 ± 0.3 kg, P = 0.04), lost more fat (PL 1.1 ± 0.5; PYR −0.4 ± 0.5 kg, P = 0.03), and tended to lose a greater percentage of body fat (PL 1.0 ± 0.7; PYR −0.65 ± 0.6%, P = 0.07), with no differences observed in fat-free mass (PL 0.1 ± 0.5; PYR 0.7 ± 0.3 kg, P = 0.29). However, these changes were not significant when body composition data were analyzed by MANOVA (P = 0.16). There was some evidence that PYR may negate some of the beneficial effects of exercise on HDL values. No significant differences were observed between groups in maximal exercise responses or metabolic responses to submaximal walking. Conclusions: Results indicate that PYR supplementation during training does not significantly affect body composition or exercise performance and may negatively affect some blood lipid levels

Hiding from defenders: Localized chemical modification on the leaves of an Amazonian ant-plant induced by a gall-making insect (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae)

Defense against herbivores is considered the main factor influencing the evolution of specialized ant-plant associations. Early studies have demon strated that ants chemically recognize and recruit on host plant leaves due to herbivory simulation. Gall-forming insects are herbivores that are able to manipulate chemical plant properties and thus could change ant responses. The goal of this study was to evaluate recruitment responses of Allomerus octoarticulatus, an ant species associated with the myrmecophyte Hirtella myrmecophila, which is attacked by a gall-forming insect (Cecidomyiidae). We conducted two different experiments to assess whether, octoarticulatus is able to recognize chemical compounds from galled tissues and whether galled and ungalled healthy leaves represent different chemical stimuli to worker ants. We did not observe differences on recruitment between galled and ungalled leaves. However, gall tissue extracts did not induce ant recruitment on H. myrmecophila, while galled leaves extracts resulted in a stimulus to ant recruitment. These results indicate that insect gall tissues on this myrmecophyte probably do not possess compounds which can be detected by the ants. A local change seems to be very helpful to gall-forming insects because they are protected from, and by, ants which deter herbivores

Improving Convolutional Neural Network Design via Variable Neighborhood Search

An unsupervised method for convolutional neural network (CNN) architecture design is proposed. The method relies on a variable neighborhood search-based approach for finding CNN architectures and hyperparameter values that improve classification performance. For this purpose, t-Distributed Stochastic Neighbor Embedding (t-SNE) is applied to effectively represent the solution space in 2D. Then, k-Means clustering divides this representation space having in account the relative distance between neighbors. The algorithm is tested in the CIFAR-10 image dataset. The obtained solution improves the CNN validation loss by over 15% and the respective accuracy by 5%. Moreover, the network shows higher predictive power and robustness, validating our method for the optimization of CNN design. © Springer International Publishing AG 2017

Randomized controlled trial of probiotics for the prevention of spontaneous preterm delivery associated with intrauterine infection: study protocol

Background: Spontaneous preterm deliveries that occur before the 34th week of gestation, and particularly before the 32nd week of gestation, have been strongly associated to intrauterine infection, ascending from vagina, and represent the largest portion of neonatal deaths and neurological problems. Bacterial vaginosis, characterized by a diminished or absent flora of lactobacilli and increased colonization of several anaerobic or facultative microorganisms, increases two times the risk of preterm delivery before the 34th week. Trials of antibiotics failed to show efficacy and effectiveness against spontaneous preterm birth related to bacterial vaginosis. Some studies indicate benefit from selected probiotics to treat genitourinary infections, including bacterial vaginosis. Objective: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the early administration of selected probiotics to pregnant women with asymptomatic bacterial vaginosis/intermediate degree infection to reduce the occurrence of spontaneous preterm delivery and related neonatal mortality and morbidity. Methods/Design: Women attending public prenatal care services in Rio de Janeiro will be screened to select asymptomatic pregnant women, less than 20 weeks' gestation, with no indication of elective preterm delivery. Those with vaginal pH > = 4.5 and a Nugent score between 4 and 10 (intermediate degree infection or bacterial vaginosis) will be randomized to either the placebo or the intervention group, after written informed consent. Intervention consists in the use of probiotics, Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1 and Lactobacillus reuteri RC-14, 2 capsules a day, each capsule containing more than one million bacilli of each strain, for 6-12 weeks, up to the 24th-25th wk of gestation. Ancillary analyses include quantification of selected cervicovaginal cytokines and genotyping of selected polymorphisms. The randomization process is stratified for history of preterm delivery and blocked. Allocation concealment was designed as well as blinding of women, caregivers and outcome evaluators. The study will be supervised by an independent monitoring committee. Outcomes under study are preterm delivery (< 34- < 32 weeks of gestation) and associated neonatal complications: early neonatal sepsis, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, periventricular leukomalacia, necrotizing enterocolitis, and prematurity-related retinopathy; definitions were adapted from those recommended by the 2002 version of the Vermont-Oxford Network. Trial registration at NIH register: NCT00303082

A revision of the status of Lepadogaster lepadogaster (Teleostei : Gobiesocidae): sympatric subspecies or a long misunderstood blend of species?

Molecular (partial mitochondrial 12S ribosomal DNA sequences), morphological and meristic analysis of Lepadogaster lepadogaster lepadogaster, L. l. purpurea and L. zebrina were performed to investigate the relationships between these taxa. On the western shore of mainland Portugal, where the two subspecies of L. lepadogaster occur sympatrically, they differ in microhabitat preferences and their breeding seasons are largely out of phase. This information, combined with data on distribution patterns, led to the following conclusions: Lepadogaster l. purpurea is considered to be a valid species, L. purpurea (Bonnaterre, 1788), different from L. l. lepadogaster, now designated L. lepadogaster (Bonnaterre, 1788). L. zebrina was found to be a synonym of L. lepadogaster. The two newly defined species were found to be in sympatry at Madeira and the Canary islands, the Atlantic coast of the Iberian Peninsula, and the Mediterranean at least as far as Genoa (Italy). Diagnostic characters and a list of synonyms are provided. (C) 2002 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2002, 76, 327-338

Mixed integer programming in production planning with backlogging and setup carryover : modeling and algorithms

This paper proposes a mixed integer programming formulation for modeling the capacitated multi-level lot sizing problem with both backlogging and setup carryover. Based on the model formulation, a progressive time-oriented decomposition heuristic framework is then proposed, where improvement and construction heuristics are effectively combined, therefore efficiently avoiding the weaknesses associated with the one-time decisions made by other classical time-oriented decomposition algorithms. Computational results show that the proposed optimization framework provides competitive solutions within a reasonable time