Legume and Nitrogen Fertilization Affect Animal Performance and Enteric Methane Emission of Nellore Heifers

Methane emission from livestock operation is an important source of greenhouse gas and contributes to global warming. Forage legume secondary compounds may mitigate methane emissions by reducing methanogenic population in the rumen. This study evaluated animal performance and methane emission from beef cattle grazing either a mixed pasture [Brachiaria brizantha cv. Marandu (palisadegrass) and Arachis pintoi (forage peanut) cv. BRS Mandobi] or a palisadegrass monoculture with or without nitrogen (N) fertilisation. A 2.5-yr continuous stocking experiment was carried out in southeast Brazil, on a randomized complete block design with three treatments and four replicates. Two Nellore heifers were used as tester animals and additional put-and-takes were used to keep canopy height at 20-25 cm. The treatments comprised three pasture types: 1) palisadegrass-forage peanut mixed pasture (GRASS+LEGUME); 2) palisadegrass + 150 kg N/ha/year (GRASS+N); 3) palisadegrass without N fertilization (GRASS). Response variables included average daily gain (ADG), forage intake, and methane emission. Methane emission was estimated by the sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) tracer technique. There was no difference between grazing systems for the ADG (P = 0.439) and DMI (P = 0.394; averages of 0.433 kg/d and 2.10 %BW/d, respectively). In the GRASS+LEGUME, there was a decrease of 11.7% in methane emission per animal (148 vs. 170 and 165 g/day for GRASS+N and GRASS, respectively; P = 0.001). Grazing systems including legume reduced methane emission per unit of ADG (365 vs. 428 and 398 g/kg for GRASS and GRASS+N, respectively; P = 0.061) and per carcass gain (656 vs. 800 g of methane/kg carcass for GRASS; P = 0.022). Intake of condensed tannins was greater for GRASS+LEGUME (0.61 vs. 0.17 %BW/d, P \u3c 0.001). Forage peanut decreased enteric methane emission intensity, reducing carbon footprint of livestock systems in Southeast Brazil

How Does N Fertilization or Forage Legumes Affect Forage and Animal Production?

Livestock grazing in tropical climates is characterized by low productivity. Forage and animal production can be improved by applying nitrogen (N) fertiliser or using forage legumes. This 2.5-yr study assessed the canopy structure and productivity of beef cattle grazing either a mixed pasture of Brachiaria brizantha cv. Marandu (palisadegrass) and Arachis pintoi (forage peanut) cv. BRS Mandobi or a Marandu palisade grass monoculture with or without N fertilisation. The experiment was carried out in Southeast Brazil, where the canopy structure (herbage mass) and animal productivity (stocking rate and liveweight gain per ha) were compared for three types of pastures: 1) mixed pasture of Marandu palisade grass and forage peanut (GRASS+LEGUME); 2) a monoculture of Marandu palisadegrass fertilised with 150 kg N/ha/year (GRASS+N); and 3) monoculture of Marandu palisadegrass without N application (GRASS), under continuous stocking. A minimum of two Nellore heifers and additional put-and-takes were used to keep canopy height at 20-25 cm. A randomized complete block design was used with four replicates; seasons were considered repeated measurements over time. Herbage mass was greater in the GRASS+N pasture (P \u3c 0.001); however, in the last three seasons (Spring II, Summer III, and Fall III), there was no difference to GRASS+LEGUME pasture. In the GRASS+LEGUME pasture, there was an increase of legume mass (1.260 to 2.565 kg/ha) and botanical composition (23.6 to 39.1% of legume in forage mass) throughout the study. The stocking rate (P \u3c 0.001) and liveweight gain per ha (P \u3c 0.001) were greater in GRASS+N, without difference among GRASS+LEGUME and GRASS pastures in the first seven seasons. In the last three seasons, with an increase of legume proportion, stocking rate and liveweight were intermediate for GRASS+LEGUME pasture. Legume increased herbage mass and animal productivity in the long term. Immediate responses were achieved with N fertilization

Biometrically linking document leakage to the individuals responsible

Insider threats are a significant security issue. The last decade has witnessed countless instances of data loss and exposure in which data has become publicly available and easily accessible. Losing or disclosing sensitive data or confidential information may cause substantial financial and reputational damage to a company. Whilst more recent research has specifically focused on the insider misuse problem, it has tended to focus on the information itself – either through its protection or approaches to detect leakage. In contrast, this paper presents a proactive approach to the attribution of misuse via information leakage using biometrics and a locality-sensitive hashing scheme. The hash digest of the object (e.g. a document) is mapped with the given biometric information of the person who interacted with it and generates a digital imprint file that represents the correlation between the two parties. The proposed approach does not directly store or preserve any explicit biometric information nor document copy in a repository. It is only the established correlation (imprint) is kept for the purpose of reconstructing the mapped information once an incident occurred. Comprehensive experiments for the proposed approach have shown that it is highly possible to establish this correlation even when the original version has undergone significant file modification. In many scenarios, such as changing the file format r removing parts of the document, including words and sentences, it was possible to extract and reconstruct the correlated biometric information out of a modified document (e.g. 100 words were deleted) with an average success rate of 89.31%

Stoloniferous Forage Legumes for Sustainable Mixed Pastures in the Tropics

Brazil has over 80 million ha of tropical pastures formed with species of Brachiaria (syn. Urochloa), mostly grazed by beef cattle and with low fertilizer inputs, especially nitrogen. Recent investigations by our team show that stoloniferous legumes such as forage peanut (Arachis pintoi) and Desmodium ovalifolium are able to persist in mixed swards with Brachiaria brizantha (cv. Marandu) if grazing height is regulated (maximum 30 cm) so that radiation can reach the soil surface allowing stolons to take root. These legumes can persist in mixed pastures and produce milk or animal weight gains similar to the application of 120 to 150 kg N/ha/yr. In studies at the CEPLAC field station south Bahia State (16°39´S, 39°30´ W), N2O emissions from urine of dairy cattle were 0.47 and 0.76 kg N-N2O/ha/yr for a mixed forage peanut/Marandu pasture and Marandu monoculture + 120 kg N fertilizer ha/yr, respectively, equivalent to emission factors (EF) of 0.81 and 2.09%. N2O emissions from the N fertilizer were 2.70 and 0.24 kg N-N2O/ha (EFs of 4.10 and 0.40 %) for the two applications, respectively. N2O emissions from urine of beef cattle were 0.314 and 0.267 kg N-N2O/ha/yr for a mixed Desmodium ovalifolium/Marandu pasture and Marandu monoculture + 150 kg N fertilizer ha/yr, respectively, equivalent to EFs of 0.45 and 0.40 %. Annual N2O emissions from 3 x 50 kg N fertilizer were 0.30 kg/ha/yr. Preliminary results indicate that enteric methane emissions from cattle grazing a mixed forage peanut/Marandu pasture were 9 % lower per kg weight gain than those on an N-fertilized Marandu monoculture. Considering the total elimination of the fossil CO2 emissions associated with manufacture and application of N fertilizer, the substitution of 150 kg N by the mixed grass legume pastures represents a decrease in GHG emission intensity of over 20 %

Avaliação da produção de insumos oriundos do sorgo sacarino usados na geração de bioenergia.

Evento híbrido

Structure-Function Analysis of the HrpB2-HrcU Interaction in the Xanthomonas citri Type III Secretion System

Bacterial type III secretion systems deliver protein virulence factors to host cells. Here we characterize the interaction between HrpB2, a small protein secreted by the Xanthomonas citri subsp. citri type III secretion system, and the cytosolic domain of the inner membrane protein HrcU, a paralog of the flagellar protein FlhB. We show that a recombinant fragment corresponding to the C-terminal cytosolic domain of HrcU produced in E. coli suffers cleavage within a conserved Asn264-Pro265-Thr266-His267 (NPTH) sequence. A recombinant HrcU cytosolic domain with N264A, P265A, T266A mutations at the cleavage site (HrcUAAAH) was not cleaved and interacted with HrpB2. Furthermore, a polypeptide corresponding to the sequence following the NPTH cleavage site also interacted with HrpB2 indicating that the site for interaction is located after the NPTH site. Non-polar deletion mutants of the hrcU and hrpB2 genes resulted in a total loss of pathogenicity in susceptible citrus plants and disease symptoms could be recovered by expression of HrpB2 and HrcU from extrachromossomal plasmids. Complementation of the ΔhrcU mutant with HrcUAAAH produced canker lesions similar to those observed when complemented with wild-type HrcU. HrpB2 secretion however, was significantly reduced in the ΔhrcU mutant complemented with HrcUAAAH, suggesting that an intact and cleavable NPTH site in HrcU is necessary for total functionally of T3SS in X. citri subsp. citri. Complementation of the ΔhrpB2 X. citri subsp. citri strain with a series of hrpB2 gene mutants revealed that the highly conserved HrpB2 C-terminus is essential for T3SS-dependent development of citrus canker symptoms in planta

Pyruvate: immunonutritional effects on neutrophil intracellular amino or alpha-keto acid profiles and reactive oxygen species production

For the first time the immunonutritional role of pyruvate on neutrophils (PMN), free α-keto and amino acid profiles, important reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced [superoxide anion (O2−), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)] as well as released myeloperoxidase (MPO) acitivity has been investigated. Exogenous pyruvate significantly increased PMN pyruvate, α-ketoglutarate, asparagine, glutamine, aspartate, glutamate, arginine, citrulline, alanine, glycine and serine in a dose as well as duration of exposure dependent manner. Moreover, increases in O2− formation, H2O2-generation and MPO acitivity in parallel with intracellular pyruvate changes have also been detected. Regarding the interesting findings presented here we believe, that pyruvate fulfils considerably the criteria for a potent immunonutritional molecule in the regulation of the PMN dynamic α-keto and amino acid pools. Moreover it also plays an important role in parallel modulation of the granulocyte-dependent innate immune regulation. Although further research is necessary to clarify pyruvate’s sole therapeutical role in critically ill patients’ immunonutrition, the first scientific successes seem to be very promising

Why Are Outcomes Different for Registry Patients Enrolled Prospectively and Retrospectively? Insights from the Global Anticoagulant Registry in the FIELD-Atrial Fibrillation (GARFIELD-AF).

Background: Retrospective and prospective observational studies are designed to reflect real-world evidence on clinical practice, but can yield conflicting results. The GARFIELD-AF Registry includes both methods of enrolment and allows analysis of differences in patient characteristics and outcomes that may result. Methods and Results: Patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) and ≥1 risk factor for stroke at diagnosis of AF were recruited either retrospectively (n = 5069) or prospectively (n = 5501) from 19 countries and then followed prospectively. The retrospectively enrolled cohort comprised patients with established AF (for a least 6, and up to 24 months before enrolment), who were identified retrospectively (and baseline and partial follow-up data were collected from the emedical records) and then followed prospectively between 0-18 months (such that the total time of follow-up was 24 months; data collection Dec-2009 and Oct-2010). In the prospectively enrolled cohort, patients with newly diagnosed AF (≤6 weeks after diagnosis) were recruited between Mar-2010 and Oct-2011 and were followed for 24 months after enrolment. Differences between the cohorts were observed in clinical characteristics, including type of AF, stroke prevention strategies, and event rates. More patients in the retrospectively identified cohort received vitamin K antagonists (62.1% vs. 53.2%) and fewer received non-vitamin K oral anticoagulants (1.8% vs . 4.2%). All-cause mortality rates per 100 person-years during the prospective follow-up (starting the first study visit up to 1 year) were significantly lower in the retrospective than prospectively identified cohort (3.04 [95% CI 2.51 to 3.67] vs . 4.05 [95% CI 3.53 to 4.63]; p = 0.016). Conclusions: Interpretations of data from registries that aim to evaluate the characteristics and outcomes of patients with AF must take account of differences in registry design and the impact of recall bias and survivorship bias that is incurred with retrospective enrolment. Clinical Trial Registration: - URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov . Unique identifier for GARFIELD-AF (NCT01090362)

Improved risk stratification of patients with atrial fibrillation: an integrated GARFIELD-AF tool for the prediction of mortality, stroke and bleed in patients with and without anticoagulation.

OBJECTIVES: To provide an accurate, web-based tool for stratifying patients with atrial fibrillation to facilitate decisions on the potential benefits/risks of anticoagulation, based on mortality, stroke and bleeding risks. DESIGN: The new tool was developed, using stepwise regression, for all and then applied to lower risk patients. C-statistics were compared with CHA2DS2-VASc using 30-fold cross-validation to control for overfitting. External validation was undertaken in an independent dataset, Outcome Registry for Better Informed Treatment of Atrial Fibrillation (ORBIT-AF). PARTICIPANTS: Data from 39 898 patients enrolled in the prospective GARFIELD-AF registry provided the basis for deriving and validating an integrated risk tool to predict stroke risk, mortality and bleeding risk. RESULTS: The discriminatory value of the GARFIELD-AF risk model was superior to CHA2DS2-VASc for patients with or without anticoagulation. C-statistics (95% CI) for all-cause mortality, ischaemic stroke/systemic embolism and haemorrhagic stroke/major bleeding (treated patients) were: 0.77 (0.76 to 0.78), 0.69 (0.67 to 0.71) and 0.66 (0.62 to 0.69), respectively, for the GARFIELD-AF risk models, and 0.66 (0.64-0.67), 0.64 (0.61-0.66) and 0.64 (0.61-0.68), respectively, for CHA2DS2-VASc (or HAS-BLED for bleeding). In very low to low risk patients (CHA2DS2-VASc 0 or 1 (men) and 1 or 2 (women)), the CHA2DS2-VASc and HAS-BLED (for bleeding) scores offered weak discriminatory value for mortality, stroke/systemic embolism and major bleeding. C-statistics for the GARFIELD-AF risk tool were 0.69 (0.64 to 0.75), 0.65 (0.56 to 0.73) and 0.60 (0.47 to 0.73) for each end point, respectively, versus 0.50 (0.45 to 0.55), 0.59 (0.50 to 0.67) and 0.55 (0.53 to 0.56) for CHA2DS2-VASc (or HAS-BLED for bleeding). Upon validation in the ORBIT-AF population, C-statistics showed that the GARFIELD-AF risk tool was effective for predicting 1-year all-cause mortality using the full and simplified model for all-cause mortality: C-statistics 0.75 (0.73 to 0.77) and 0.75 (0.73 to 0.77), respectively, and for predicting for any stroke or systemic embolism over 1 year, C-statistics 0.68 (0.62 to 0.74). CONCLUSIONS: Performance of the GARFIELD-AF risk tool was superior to CHA2DS2-VASc in predicting stroke and mortality and superior to HAS-BLED for bleeding, overall and in lower risk patients. The GARFIELD-AF tool has the potential for incorporation in routine electronic systems, and for the first time, permits simultaneous evaluation of ischaemic stroke, mortality and bleeding risks. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier for GARFIELD-AF (NCT01090362) and for ORBIT-AF (NCT01165710)