GRASS UTILIZATION IN GROWING FINISHING BÍSARO PIGS (85-107 KG). PERFORMANCE AND CARCASS COMPOSITION

The use of different quantities of vegetables, forages or fresh grass as fodder for growing-finishing pigs is an important factor of the northern Portugal traditional system. The increasing development of swine production in outdoor systems, extensive and organic production, turns to upcoming natural diets, in which grass performs a significant part. With regard to this, some investigation has been made concerning the use of fibre-rich feed ingredients in pig nutrition. Metabolic effects of its ingestion are analysed concerning different sights (economical, social, environmental and physiological ones). The aim of this work was to study the effects of grass utilization in the diets on performances of finishing Bísaro pigs. A total of 22 pigs (16 castrated males and 6 females) was housed outdoor and fed ad libitum (37 – 85 kg live weight) with a growing diet and then transferred to an indoor system (with free access to an outdoor area) for 49 days, according to 3 different treatments: 100% concentrate (C), 75% concentrate + ad libitum grass (CE75), 50% concentrate + ad libitum grass (CE50). The grass was supplied and its intake registered on a daily basis. Every 14 days, the pigs were weighted and their back fat (P2 in vivo) measured. After slaughter (average weight of 107 kg LW), yield and ½ left carcass characteristics were controlled. During the outdoor growing phase, the ADG was 513 g/day. During the indoor finishing phase, the increase grass intake was proportional to the reduction of concentrate in the diet. The ADG (g) and the fat deposition (P2 cm) were significantly different (P<0,05) in the 3 treatments (ADG: C=641, CE75=467, CE50=356 and: C=11,4, CE75=+9,5, CE50=+6,2). The empty body weight (kg) was also proportional to the intake of concentrate (C=116,2; CE75=107,7; CE50=102,2). Comparatively to the weight of the body parts, pigs that had higher intake of grass and lower of concentrate showed a higher % of shoulder (P<0,05; C=20,4, CE75=21,7, CE50=22,2) and the pH45min of CE carcasses was significantly higher (P<0,05). As a conclusion, concentrate substitution for grass showed a slower growing rate, thinner carcasses and a high technological quality. Neverthelles variability (CV %) of the productive parameters at the end of this study were higher in the treatments that included grass: live weight (C= 10,5%; C75=10,7%; C50=14,3%), finishing ADG (C=24%; C75=37%, C50=42%), and final fat (C=37%; C75=32%, C50=52%). These values suggest that the utilization of fibrous feeds in growing-finishing swine may be one of the possible explanations of the more heterogeneous products and carcasses found in the traditional or extensive systems, common users of fibrous feeds in the carcass finishing phase

Electromagnetic Structure of the Pion

In this work, we analyze the electromagnetic structure of the pion. We calculate its electromagnetic radius and electromagnetic form factor in low and intermediate momentum range. Such observables are determined by means of a theoretical model that takes into account the constituent quark and antiquark of the pion within the formalism of light-front field theory. In particular, we consider a nonsymmetrical vertex in this model, with which we calculate the electromagnetic form factor of the pion in an optimized way, so that we obtain a value closer to the experimental charge radius of the pion. The theoretical calculations are also compared with the most recent experimental data involving the pion electromagnetic form factor and the results show very good agreement.Comment: Paper with 4 pages, 1 figure, presented in XII HADRON PHYSICS Conference - to appear in AIP Conference Proceeding

Shape-controlled monolayer MoSe2 flakes by chemical vapor deposition towards tuning the photoluminescence emission

In this study, we report on the controllable chemical vapor deposition (CVD) synthesis of monolayer MoSe2 flakes with different shapes such as hexagons, triangles, sawtooth hexagons, dendrites and fractals deposited on SiO2/Si substrates. This broad range of morphologies is due to the change in the vapor composition resulting from the confinement of the MoO3 and Se vapor and to the variation in the growth rate of the variable shaped MoSe2 crystals. It is also revealed that the photoluminescence (PL) response of the MoSe2 flakes is strongly affected by their shape and size. Our findings will open new avenues towards achieving morphology-controlled monolayer MoSe2 flakes for optoelectronic and energy harvesting systems.This work was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) in the framework of the Strategic Funding Contracts UIDB/04540/2020, UIDB/00100/2020 and UIDB/04650/2020. The author C. G. acknowledges a scholarship funded by the UIDB/04540/2020 contract. The author K. G. would like to thank the statutory grant (No. 8211104160) of Department of Quantum Technologies of Wroclaw University of Science and Technology

Multifunctional chitosan/gold nanoparticles coatings for biomedical textiles

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), chemically synthesized by citrate reduction, were for the first time immobilized onto chitosan‐treated soybean knitted fabric via exhaustion method. AuNPs were successfully produced in the form of highly spherical, moderated polydisperse, stable structures. Their average size was estimated at ≈35 nm. Successful immobilization of chitosan and AuNPs were confirmed by alterations in the fabric’s spectrophotometric reflectance spectrum and by detection of nitrogen and gold, non‐conjugated C=O stretching vibrations of carbonyl functional groups and residual N‐acetyl groups characteristic bands by X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier‐Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis. XPS analysis confirms the strong binding of AuNPs on the chitosan matrix. The fabrics’ thermal stability increased with the introduction of both chitosan and AuNPs. Coated fabrics revealed an ultraviolet protection factor (UPF) of +50, which established their effectiveness in ultraviolet (UV) radiation shielding. They were also found to resist up to 5 washing cycles with low loss of immobilized AuNPs. Compared with AuNPs or chitosan alone, the combined functionalized coating on soy fabrics demonstrated an improved antimicrobial effect by reducing Staphylococcus aureus adhesion (99.94%) and Escherichia coli (96.26%). Overall, the engineered fabrics were confirmed as multifunctional, displaying attractive optical properties, UV‐light protection and important antimicrobial features, that increase their interest for potential biomedical applications.: This research was funded by FEDER funds through the Operational Competitiveness Program – COMPETE and by National Funds through Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) under the project POCI‐ 01‐0145‐FEDER‐007136 and UID/CTM/00264/2019. A. Zille also acknowledges financial support of the FCT through an Investigator FCT Research contract (IF/00071/2015) and the project PTDC/CTM‐TEX/28295/2017 financed by FCT, FEDER and POCI. This work was funded by FEDER funds through the Operational Competitiveness Program – COMPETE and by National Funds through Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT)—under the project POCI‐01‐0145‐FEDER‐007136 and UID/CTM/00264/2019. A. Zille also acknowledges financial support of the FCT through an Investigator FCT Research contract (IF/00071/2015) and the project PTDC/CTM‐ TEX/28295/2017 financed by FCT, FEDER and POCI

Development of porous alumina membranes for treatment of textile effluent

Published online: 27 Feb 2015Ceramic porous membranes sintered at two different temperature using polyvinyl alcohol and ethylene glycol as binders, and composed of two types of α-alumina with different particle sizes were investigated for the microfiltration of a textile effluent containing indigo dye, auxiliaries, heavy metals, oils, and solids. The physicochemical properties of the membranes and effluent were evaluated. X-ray diffraction, energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and thermogravimetric analysis confirm that the thin membrane is composed of high crystalline and pure α-alumina. Scanning electron microscopy observation indicates that the membranes have smooth porous surface making it suitable for microfiltration applications. The membrane sintered at 1,450˚C exhibited higher water absorption (WA) and apparent porosity than that sintered at 1,475˚C. The apparent specific gravity and flexural strength are in inverse correlation with the WA due to the enhanced densification of the membranes. The filtered effluent was evaluated using a membrane with an average pore size of 0.4 μm and a total porosity of 29.6%. The average values of rejection were 90% for color, 93% for suspended solids, 95% for turbidity, 60% for metals, and 73% for chemical oxygen demand. These results demonstrate that low-cost ceramic alumina membranes are a very promising advanced treatment for textile industrial effluents.Andrea Zille (C2011- UMINHO-2C2T-01) acknowledges funding from Programa Compromisso para a Ciencia 2008, Portugal

Tinctorial behavior of curaua and banana fibers and dyeing wastewater treatment by porous alumina membranes

Physicochemical and dyeing properties using reactive dyes of curaua and banana fibers were studied by means of color strength (K/S), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy analyses. SEM analysis of alkali-treated fibers showed an increase in roughness due to surface lignin and hemicellulose defibrillation. DSC analysis showed for all the samples an endothermic and an exothermic peak at 70–80 and 340–360 ̊C due to the loss of adsorbed/ absorbed water and to decomposition of α-cellulose, respectively. Alkali-treated fibers dis- played a second peak around 290 ̊C attributed to the degradation of hemicellulose. FTIR spectra of the studied fibers show similar bands with different intensities attributed to the main components of cellulose-based materials. Alkali-pretreated fibers demonstrated excel- lent dyeing ability for all the tested dyes. Dye absorption depends on the chemical fiber, dye structure, and concentration. The results of washing fastness are very good for all the tested fibers. The dyeing effluent treated with an advanced microfiltration method using an improved alumina ceramic membrane shows an average efficiency of 98% in turbidity and color reduction. Low-cost ceramic alumina microfiltration membranes are a very promising advanced treatment for textile industrial effluents allowing water reuse.C2011-UMINHO-2C2T-01 acknowledges the funding from Programa Compromisso para a Ciência 2008, Portugal

Study of tinctorial behaviour of curaua and banana fibres

The ecological benefits of renewable raw materials are clear: they save valuable resources, are environmentally sound and do not cause health problems. Natural fibres have already established a track record in several different areas such as, civil, automobiles, architecture, medicine among others. Numerous investigations are carried out in order to create added value to natural fibre materials such as the stem of the banana tree that are usually discarded in the environment. Curaua, another important natural substrate, is an Amazon-forest plant (Ananas erectifolius) that resembles a pineapple plant. Curaua leaf fibres display a low-production cost and offer a relatively high tensile strength level. Despite these naturals fibres are well established as reinforce in composite materials, the dyeing properties of curaua and banana fibres are not well studied yet.This work is supported by Portuguese National Funding, through FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, on the framework of project UID/CTM/00264/2013

Chlorophyll fluorescence as a tool to select salinity-tolerant cowpea genotypes

The use of saline water reduces the growth and productivity of crops, so the need for techniques that make possible the use of this resource such as the use of salinity tolerant genotypes and efficient selection methods are of great importance. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the tolerance of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp.) genotypes to salt stress, through the chlorophyll fluorescence analysis. The experiment was conducted in a protected environment at the Federal University of Campina Grande, Paraíba, Brazil, using a completely randomized design in a 2 x 10 factorial arrangement, with three replications, consisting of two levels of irrigation water salinity (0.6 and 5.1 dS m-1) and ten cowpea genotypes: (G1: MNCO1-649F-2-1, G2: MNCO3-736F-2, G3: PINGO DE OURO-1-2, G4: BRS GURGUÉIA, G5: BRS MARATAOÃ, G6: MNCO2-676F-3, G7: MNCO2-683F-1, G8: MNCO3-737F-5-4, G9: MNCO3-737F-5-9, and G10: BRS TUMUCUMAQUE). The stem length, stem diameter, SPAD index, and chlorophyll fluorescence transients were evaluated. The G2 and G4 genotypes had the lowest reductions in the growth, stem diameter, initial fluorescence, and primary and maximum photochemical efficiency of PSII, proving to be tolerant to salinity. Chlorophyll fluorescence is a tool that can be used in the selection of salinity-tolerant cowpea genotypes

Comparison of force variables and dynamic strength index between age groups in elite young Brazilian football goalkeepers

Introduction: The application of muscle force is a determinant of football success as it is inherent to the motor control and sport. The aims of this study are: (1) to describe force variables Isometric Maximal Force (IMF), Concentric Peak Force (CPPF), and Dynamic Strength Index (DSI) in football goalkeepers from different age groups; (2) to compare these variables’ behavior between those groups. Methods: The sample was formed by 19 youth players (15.97 ± 1.55 years old) from a first-division Brazilian football team. The CPPF and IMF variables were obtained through the Countermovement jump and isometric squat tests, respectively. For data collection, a force plate (Cefise, Brazil) was used with an acquisition frequency of 600 Hz and mono-axial. The DSI was calculated using the ratio between CPPF and IMF. For data analysis, the sample was separated into clusters by age. After the grouping, a descriptive analysis of the data and a comparison between the groups with p < 0.05. Results: The sample was grouped into three groups (GA, GB, and GC) and one of the individuals did not enter the group, totaling 18 individuals in the analyzed sample. The comparison between the ages of the groups showed a significant difference and small and moderate effect size (ES), validating the cluster strategy. The CPPF and IMF variables showed increased values according to chronological age. CPPF showed a significant difference between GA-GB, (ES = very large) GA-GC (ES = very large), and GB-GC (ES = moderate). The IMF variable had significant differences between GA-GB (ES = moderate) and GA-GC (ES = very large). However, DSI showed significant differences only between GA GB (ES = small) and GB-GC (ES = very large). Conclusions: The CPPF and IMF variables had constant increases and distinct values with an increase according to age, and this did not occur for DSI. The difference between CPPF and IMF compared to DSI bring to light the variability in dynamics and proportionality between muscular force in the concentric phase and maximal force in the isometric regime during the developmental process over chronological age in soccer goalkeepers.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio