Relative Losses of Pioneiro Grass (\u3cem\u3ePennisetum purpureum\u3c/em\u3e Schumach) Silage with Addition of Whole Plant Maize or Maize Grain during Fermentation

Among the forages with potential to be ensiled, tropical forages stand out because of their high yield capacity, being able to produce three times more dry matter than for maize under tropical conditions. Although tropical forages are an interesting alternative for ensilage, their high moisture content may impair the fermentation process, reducing the silage quality. The addition of whole plant maize and maize grain to other grass silages can be an efficient way to reduce the losses involved during the process, specially due to the improvement of the fermentative profile of the silages (Stefanie et al. 2000; Anaya-Ortega et al. 2009). This study aimed to analyze the relative losses from the fermentation of Pioneiro grass silages added or not with whole plant maize and grain maize besides the whole plant maize silage

Changes to the Fermentative Profiles of Pioneiro Grass (\u3cem\u3ePennisetum purpureum\u3c/em\u3e Schumach) and Maize Silages in Different Mixtures after Aerobic Stability

Silages arte widely used in animal production systems to overcome the seasonality of forage production around the world. The preservation of nutritional value of silages depends on the maintenance of an anaerobic environment during the fermentation and storage phases, as well from aerobic stability during the feed out stage (Nussio, 2005). Aerobic exposure usually promotes intense activity of fungi, yeast and aerobic bacteria. If the time of aerobic exposure is long enough, huge changes can happen in the chemical composition of the silages affecting negatively their nutritional value. These changes can be followed by decreasing lactic acid concentration and increasing pH, temperature and ammonia nitrogen (Addah et al. 2011). The present work was carried out to evaluate the levels of ammonia nitrogen, pH, buffer capacity and electric conductivity in silages of Pioneiro grass and maize in different mixtures at silo opening and during the first 7 and 14 days of aerobic exposure

Produção de milho em um sistema agropastoril, na região semi-árido do Nordeste do Brasil.

0 estudo foi conduzido em um sistema agropastoril na Embrapa Caprinos em Sobral, CE, Brasil, no periodo de 1998 a 2002. Objetivou-se, no presente trabalho, avaliar a sustentabilidade da produçao de milho, atraves da incorporaçao da folhagem da leucena, na forma de adubaçao verde. Foram avaliados tres sistemas de produçao, 0 agropastoril, 0 tradicional e 0 sistema pilato. 0 delineamento experimental utilizado foi 0 inteiramente casualizado, com tres tratamentos e cinco repetiçoes. Houve efeito (P0,05) dos sistemas agropastoril e tradicional nas produçoes de milho, mas estes diferiram (P<0,05) do sistema pilato. As produçoes medias de milho foram de 1.299, 1.360 e 542 kg/ha/ano para os sistemas agropastoril, tradicional e pilato, respectivamente. Em termos de produçao agricola, a eficiencia do sistema agropastoril, avaliado como produçao de grao de milho por area plantada, e 140% superior ao sistema pilato e 570% ao sistema tradicional. No sistema agropastoril, a ciclagem de carbono e nutrientes representa, juntamente com a adubaçao verde, as principais contribuiçoes para o uso eficiente dos nutrientes e para a sustentabilidade da produçao de milho

Fast relational learning using bottom clause propositionalization with artificial neural networks

Relational learning can be described as the task of learning first-order logic rules from examples. It has enabled a number of new machine learning applications, e.g. graph mining and link analysis. Inductive Logic Programming (ILP) performs relational learning either directly by manipulating first-order rules or through propositionalization, which translates the relational task into an attribute-value learning task by representing subsets of relations as features. In this paper, we introduce a fast method and system for relational learning based on a novel propositionalization called Bottom Clause Propositionalization (BCP). Bottom clauses are boundaries in the hypothesis search space used by ILP systems Progol and Aleph. Bottom clauses carry semantic meaning and can be mapped directly onto numerical vectors, simplifying the feature extraction process. We have integrated BCP with a well-known neural-symbolic system, C-IL2P, to perform learning from numerical vectors. C-IL2P uses background knowledge in the form of propositional logic programs to build a neural network. The integrated system, which we call CILP++, handles first-order logic knowledge and is available for download from Sourceforge. We have evaluated CILP++ on seven ILP datasets, comparing results with Aleph and a well-known propositionalization method, RSD. The results show that CILP++ can achieve accuracy comparable to Aleph, while being generally faster, BCP achieved statistically significant improvement in accuracy in comparison with RSD when running with a neural network, but BCP and RSD perform similarly when running with C4.5. We have also extended CILP++ to include a statistical feature selection method, mRMR, with preliminary results indicating that a reduction of more than 90 % of features can be achieved with a small loss of accuracy

Prenylated flavonoids as evolutionary indicators in the genus Dahlstedtia.

Abstract: Three chalcones, two beta-hydroxychalcones, four flavanones, six flavones, four flavonols, one rotenoid and one pterocarpan were isolated from the roots of Dahlstedtia pinnata and D. pentaphylla. With the exception of the pterocarpan, all the compounds exhibit prenylation in the A ring, a characteristic of flavonoids produced by species of the Tephrosieae. Of the 21 flavonoids identified, five (2 flavanones and 3 flavones) are new as naturally occurring compounds. A neat distinction in the biosynthetic capability of the two species, leading to the production of flavanones and flavonols in D. pentaphylla, but not in D. pinnata, is observed. In this latter species, biosynthesis is totally oriented toward dehydrogenation, producing flavones. By both criteria-higher oxidation state and suppression of enzyme systems-D. pinnata is the more advanced species

Composição químico-bromatológica da silagem de Tanzânia com niveis de farelo de trigo.

O experimento foi conduzido com o objetivo de avaliar o melhor nível de inclusão do farelo de trigo na silagem de capim tanzânia com base nos parâmetros químico- bromatológicos. O experimento foi realizado na Fazenda Experimental da Escola de Medicina Veterinária da UFBA. Os tratamentos foram compostos por capim tanzânia (CT) cortado aos 46 dias, picado e acrescido de 8%; 16%; 24%; e 34% de farelo de trigo (FT), além do tratamento sem farelo adicional. Após a mistura, o material foi compactado em silos experimentais, que foram abertos após 60 dias. O delineamento experimental utilizado foi o inteiramente casualizado, com cinco tratamentos e quatro repetições. Os dados foram analisados por meio de análise de regressão. A adição de farelo de trigo melhorou os parâmetros químicos bromatológicos da silagem, elevando os teores de matéria seca e carboidratos não fibrosos, e reduzindo os níveis da porção fibrosa

Características da carcaça de cordeiros submetidos a dietas com níveis de torta de dendê (Palmiste).

O objetivo com esse experimento foi avaliar o melhor nível de torta de dendê na dieta por intermédio das características de carcaça de ovinos confinados. Trinta e dois cordeiros inteiros, Santa Inês, com em media 6 meses, e 22 kg PV foram utilizados. Os níveis de torta de dendê (0; 7; 14 e 21 % da matéria seca) foram adicionadas ao concentrado. Após 70 dias de confinamento os animais foram abatidos e as características de carcaças foram mensuradas. O peso vivo ao abate e peso do corpo vazio não foram influenciados pelos níveis de torta de dendê; o peso da carcaça quente

Performance and grazing behavior of growing goats supplemented with palm tree fruit.

Abstract: This study aimed to evaluate the performance and ingestive behavior of growing goats grazing on Tanzania guinea grass and fed diets containing 40% carnauba or tucum fruits. Twenty-one male castrated goats were distributed into three groups, one exclusively on pasture and the other two on pasture and fed diet supplemented at the level of 1.5% body weight (BW) in a completely randomized design. The intake of the supplements was obtained by difference between the amount supplied and the leftovers, with weighing performed every seven days, while pasture intake was determined using titanium dioxide (TiO2) as external indicator. Ingestive behavior was evaluated for three days. The supplement containing carnauba fruit resulted in a greater intake of neutral detergent fiber (0.137 kg NDF/day), with a reduction of 8.61% in the pasture dry matter (DM) intake of goats. Associated with the intake of pasture nutrients, the tucum fruit diet met the protein (0.103 kg CP/day) and energetic (0.547 kg TDN/day) requirements of goats with intake set at 0.124 kg CP/day and 0.572 kg TDN/day, with higher weight gain (0.111 kg/day) and larger loin eye area (12.76 cm2). The supplementation with fruits influenced the grazing behavior of goats, increasing the idle time by 1 h in relation to animals not supplemented. The supplementation of growing goats grazing on Tanzania guinea grass pasture with a diet containing 40% tucum fruit, in the proportion of 1.5% BW, did not meet the nutritional requirements for gain of 150 g/day; however, it met requirements for maintenance and average gain of 111 g/day. Energy supplementation reduces the grazing time of goats; thus, it is necessary to consider the level and formulation of supplements, with the possibility of increasing the stocking rate and productivity per unit area

Degradabilidade ruminal e valor nutritivo da maniçoba ensilada com níveis do resíduo vitivinícola.

Foi avaliado o melhor nível de inclusão do resíduo vitivinícola (0, 8, 16 e 24%) como aditivo na silagem de maniçoba, através da degradabilidade in situ, estimativa das frações energéticas (NDT, ED, EM, ELg e ELm) e índice de valor forrageiro (IVF). O experimento foi conduzido na Embrapa Semi-árido, em Petrolina, Estado de Pernambuco. Para a degradabilidade in situ utilizou-se quatro ovinos com fístulas ruminais, com tempo de incubação de 0, 3, 6, 24, 48 e 72 horas. Utilizou-se o delineamento experimental quadrado latino com quatro animais, quatro tratamentos e quatro períodos de coleta. As estimativas energéticas foram determinadas por meio de equações de predição com base na composição química. O IVF foi determinado com base nas estimativas do consumo e digestibilidade que tem como fatores os teores de fibra em detergente neutro e fibra em detergente ácido do alimento. A fração prontamente solúvel (a) reduziu linearmente com adição do resíduo vitivinícola enquanto que, os parâmetros b e c não foram influenciados. A degradabilidade potencial e efetiva com taxas de passagem de 2, 5 e 8%/h, assim como os valores energéticos e o IVF foram influenciados negativamente com a inclusão dos diferentes níveis de resíduos na silagem, indicando que o seu emprego como aditivo no processo de confecção de silagem de maniçoba não é viável