Where Is the Livestock Future – Plate- or Land-Based? The Potential of Knowledge-Based, Holistic Grazing Concepts for Altering Grazing Livestock Systems

In those days, livestock production heavily depends on feed grown on arable land. Pork production needs most of arable land to gain one kilogram of human-edible protein, followed by chicken, beef production and the dairy sector. In many European countries there is a sharp decline in livestock grazing. Many dairy farms are under pressure to maximize the total annual milk output per cow resulting in increased herd sizes by occupying a minimum of land and feeding of conserved forage of silage and concentrates. Such practices reinforce the competition for arable land for animal feeding as well as grassland intensification by heavily fertilization and frequent cutting to feed the non-grazing cows. This intensification results in unfavourable changes in species composition, loss of biodiversity and important ecosystem services. Moreover, development and widespread adoption of precision farming technologies for grazing systems has been stagnated for many years. The shift towards well-balanced, sustainable grazing systems, that produces more and impacts less, is not easily feasible. Indeed, achieving such grazing systems implies several scientific, technical and socio-economic challenges. These challenges need to be solved in a holistic way in order to facilitate systems integration and transformation into practise. Moreover, the transition requires disruptive innovations for improved pasture utilization by precisely timed grazing pressure for optimizing plant recovery, reducing emissions and maintaining or even recreating structural, biological and functional richness.Thus, an integrated framework combing innovative technologies and concepts is required. The inter-disciplinary project GreenGrass focuses on the development of innovative grazing systems by using novel technologies such as virtual fences and remote sensing in order to bring cows back to pasture and to use the grasslands potential in an efficient and sustainable manner

Проект энергоблока АЭС с реактором типа ВВЭР-600

Объектом исследования является проект энергоблока с реактором ВВЭР-600. Цель работы – расчет реакторной установки, парогенератора, принципиальной схемы ПТУ методом энергетического баланса, конденсационной установки и регенеративного подогревателя низкого давления поверхностного типа. В процессе работы рассчитаны и спроектированы основные составляющие ядерной энергетической установки: реакторная установка, парогенератор, расчет на прочность парогенераторной установки.The object of research is the development of a power unit with VVER-600. The purpose of the work – calculation of reactor plant, steam generator schematic diagrams of the PTU method energy balance of the condensing unit and the regenerative heater low pressure surface type. In the process, designed the basic components of a nuclear power plant: reactor, steam generator, calculating the strength of steam plant. Final qualifying work is executed in a text editor Microsoft word 2010, graphs are constructed in a workbook in Microsoft Excel 2010, and the drawings made with the program Corel DRAWX5, equation editor Math CAD 15

Adequação da evidenciação social das empresas de capital aberto no relatório da administração e notas explicativas às recomendações da NBC T 15

A NBC T 15, aprovada pela Resolução do CFC nº. 1.003/04, normatiza os procedimentos para evidenciação de informações de natureza social e ambiental, que devem ser observados pelas empresas desde 1º de janeiro de 2006. Assim, o estudo objetiva averiguar se a evidenciação social no relatório da administração e nas notas explicativas das empresas de capital aberto está adequada às recomendações da NBC T 15, comparando o exercício social de 2005, ano anterior, e o exercício social de 2007, ano posterior à entrada em vigor da referida norma. Para tanto, realizou-se pesquisa descritiva, por meio de pesquisa documental, com abordagem quantitativa. Analisaram-se os relatórios da administração e notas explicativas do período de 2005 a 2007, das 23 empresas de capital aberto listadas na Revista Exame 150 Melhores Empresas para Você Trabalhar, edição especial 2007. Os resultados da pesquisa mostram que, quando analisada a categorização da evidenciação social das empresas, podendo ela ser de forma completa (IC), incompleta (II) ou ausente (IA), a última categoria predominou, usando como parâmetro o preconizado na NBC T 15. Comparando-se a pontuação da evidenciação social entre o ano de 2005 e 2007, constatou-se que dez empresas apresentaram acréscimo na sua pontuação final, enquanto sete apresentaram queda na sua pontuação final. Conclui-se, em relação ao nível de adequação da evidenciação social às recomendações da NBC T 15, com base na análise dos relatórios da administração e notas explicativas no período de 2005 a 2007 das 23 empresas de capital aberto do estudo, que há predomínio da classificação regular, pois quatro empresas obtiveram conceito insuficiente de evidenciação, doze conceito regular, seis conceito bom e uma empresa obteve conceito ótimo.The NBC T 15, approved by CFC Resolution from 1.003/04, standardizes the procedures for social and environmental information disclosure, to be followed by companies from January 1st., 2006 on. Therefore, the study aims to verify if the social disclosure on the administration report and on the explanatory notes of open capital companies is adequate to the NBC T 15 recommendations, comparing the social practice of 2005, the year before, and the social practice of 2007, the year after the implementation of such resolution. Thus, a descriptive research was carried out through documental research, with quantitative approach. There had been analyzed the administration reports and explanatory notes of the period from 2005 to 2007, of 23 open capital companies, listed on the magazine Exame 150 Melhores Empresas Para Você Trabalhar, 2007 special edition. The survey results show that, when examining the categorization of companies' social disclosure, which could be CI (complete information), II (incomplete information) or AI (absent information), the last category prevailed, using NBC T 15 as parameter. Comparing the social disclosure scores of the years 2005 and 2007, it was found that ten companies showed increase in their final score, while seven showed a decrease. Regarding to the social disclosure level of adequacy to the NBC T 15 recommendations, based on the analyses of the administration reports and explanatory notes in the period from 2005 to 2007 of the 23 open capital companies in this study, it is concluded that there is a predominance of regular classification, since four companies had insufficient disclosure qualification, twelve regular qualification, six good qualification and one company obtained great qualification

Efficiency of fungicide chemical group in the preventive and curative control of Puccinia sorghi in corn and Cercospora zeae-maydis sporulation in different culture media

The chemical control of diseases is one of the most used measures, especially for a rapid and precise control. The objectives of this work were to verify the behavior of three chemical groups of fungicides applied in a preventive and curative way aiming the control of common corn rust and the sporulation of Cercospora zeae-maydis in different culture media. Two experiments were installed, one for chemical control and the other for sporulation. For the chemical control experiment, propiconazole, azoxystrobin, ciproconazole + azoxystrobin and benzovindiflupir + azoxystrobin were the fungicides preventively and curatively applied for the control of common corn rust in a random block experimental design with three replicates. In relation to cercosporiosis sporulation experiment, five culture media were used: potato sucrose agar (PSA), V8 agar juice (V8), (LCHA), corn leaf extract (CL) and seasoned tomato extract (STE) were used. Discs with Mycelial of the fungus were placed on the media and submitted to the 12-hour light/12-hour dark continuous dark in a double factorial (culture media and light treatments) experimental design with four replicates. The fungicides azoxystrobin and ciproconazole + azoxystrobin were efficient for up to 21 days after inoculation of P. sorghi, the fungicide azoxystrobin was efficient for the curative control of P. sorghi. The greatest sporulation of the fungus was verified in the medium with seasoned tomato extract submitted to the photoperiod

CARACTERIZACIÓN MORFOLÓGICA Y AGRONÓMICA DE ACCESOS EN YUCA EN LA REGION NOROESTE DEL RIO GRANDE DO SUL, BRASIL

El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo el evaluar las características morfológicas de 47 variedades tradicionales de yuca (Manihot esculenta), colectadas en propiedades rurales en la región del Alto Jacuí-RS. Fueron usadas estacas con cuatro yemas como semilla, en una área preparada de manera convencional, con arado de discos y rastrillo, dejando un espacio de 1,00 x 1,00m entre surcos, siguiendo el línea experimental de bloques al azar, con tres repeticiones, constituidas estas por parcelas útiles de 5m² con 5 plantas cada una. Diez meses después de la siembra se evaluaron características morfológicas referentes a la parte aérea y radicular de la planta. La evaluación de los indicadores escogidos siguió la metodología de Fukuda & Guevara (1998). Las variedades típicas de yuca de la región del Alto Jacuí, Rio Grande do Sul, conservados en el Banco de Germoplasma, presentan una elevada durabilidad genética, permitiendo su uso en el mejoramiento genético de la especie. Las características morfológicas de su parte aérea son diferentes si comparados con la mayoría de los descriptores morfológicos, a excepción de la pubescencia de la hoja joven y en el florecimiento. También predomina el color marrón oscuro en la película que cubre la raíz, color de la corteza radicular es blanca o crema, color de la pulpa de la raíz crema y la presencia de pedúnculo sésil en la mayoría de las variedades evaluadas

Expanding the clinical spectrum associated with defects in CNTNAP2 and NRXN1

RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are.Abstract Background Heterozygous copy-number and missense variants in CNTNAP2 and NRXN1 have repeatedly been associated with a wide spectrum of neuropsychiatric disorders such as developmental language and autism spectrum disorders, epilepsy and schizophrenia. Recently, homozygous or compound heterozygous defects in either gene were reported as causative for severe intellectual disability. Methods 99 patients with severe intellectual disability and resemblance to Pitt-Hopkins syndrome and/or suspected recessive inheritance were screened for mutations in CNTNAP2 and NRXN1. Molecular karyotyping was performed in 45 patients. In 8 further patients with variable intellectual disability and heterozygous deletions in either CNTNAP2 or NRXN1, the remaining allele was sequenced. Results By molecular karyotyping and mutational screening of CNTNAP2 and NRXN1 in a group of severely intellectually disabled patients we identified a heterozygous deletion in NRXN1 in one patient and heterozygous splice-site, frameshift and stop mutations in CNTNAP2 in four patients, respectively. Neither in these patients nor in eight further patients with heterozygous deletions within NRXN1 or CNTNAP2 we could identify a defect on the second allele. One deletion in NRXN1 and one deletion in CNTNAP2 occurred de novo, in another family the deletion was also identified in the mother who had learning difficulties, and in all other tested families one parent was shown to be healthy carrier of the respective deletion or mutation. Conclusions We report on patients with heterozygous defects in CNTNAP2 or NRXN1 associated with severe intellectual disability, which has only been reported for recessive defects before. These results expand the spectrum of phenotypic severity in patients with heterozygous defects in either gene. The large variability between severely affected patients and mildly affected or asymptomatic carrier parents might suggest the presence of a second hit, not necessarily located in the same gene.Peer Reviewe

Targeting of a Chlamydial Protease Impedes Intracellular Bacterial Growth

Chlamydiae are obligate intracellular bacteria that propagate in a cytosolic vacuole. Recent work has shown that growth of Chlamydia induces the fragmentation of the Golgi apparatus (GA) into ministacks, which facilitates the acquisition of host lipids into the growing inclusion. GA fragmentation results from infection-associated cleavage of the integral GA protein, golgin-84. Golgin-84-cleavage, GA fragmentation and growth of Chlamydia trachomatis can be blocked by the peptide inhibitor WEHD-fmk. Here we identify the bacterial protease chlamydial protease-like activity factor (CPAF) as the factor mediating cleavage of golgin-84 and as the target of WEHD-fmk-inhibition. WEHD-fmk blocked cleavage of golgin-84 as well as cleavage of known CPAF targets during infection with C. trachomatis and C. pneumoniae. The same effect was seen when active CPAF was expressed in non-infected cells and in a cell-free system. Ectopic expression of active CPAF in non-infected cells was sufficient for GA fragmentation. GA fragmentation required the small GTPases Rab6 and Rab11 downstream of CPAF-activity. These results define CPAF as the first protein that is essential for replication of Chlamydia. We suggest that this role makes CPAF a potential anti-infective therapeutic target

A new face of Borjeson–Forssman–Lehmann syndrome? De novo mutations in PHF6 in seven females with a distinct phenotype

Background: Borjeson–Forssman–Lehmann syndrome (BFLS) is an X-linked recessive intellectual disability (ID) disorder caused by mutations in the PHF6 gene and characterised by variable cognitive impairment, a distinct facial gestalt, obesity, and hypogonadism. Female carriers are usually not affected or only mildly affected, and so far only two females with de novo mutations or deletions in PHF6 have been reported. Methods and results: We performed PHF6 mutational analysis and screening for intragenic deletions and duplications by quantitative real-time PCR and multiplex ligation dependent probe amplification (MLPA) in female patients with variable ID and a distinct appearance of sparse hair, remarkable facial features, hypoplastic nails, and teeth anomalies. We detected two truncating mutations and two duplications of exons 4 and 5. Furthermore, two female patients with PHF6 deletions and a similar phenotype were identified by routine molecular karyotyping. Recently, two patients with a clinical diagnosis of Coffin-Siris syndrome in early infancy had been found to harbour mutations in PHF6, and their phenotype in advanced ages is now described. Further studies revealed skewed X-inactivation in blood lymphocytes, while it was normal in fibroblasts, thus indicating functional mosaicism. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that de novo defects in PHF6 in females result in a recognisable phenotype which might have been under-recognised so far and which comprises variable ID, a characteristic facial gestalt, hypoplastic nails, brachydactyly, clinodactyly mainly of fingers IV and V, dental anomalies, and linear skin hyperpigmentation. It shows overlap with BFLS but also additional distinct features, thus adding a new facet to this disorder

Análise ambiental de um fragmento florestal urbano, no município de Alvorada, Rio Grande do Sul

This study was developed in a forest fragment named “Cinturão Verde”, in an urban area of Alvorada municipality, Rio Grande do Sul State. It is an area with irregular topography and illegal habitations, with consequent problems related to garbage deposition, sewerage and deforestation. The objective of this study was to characterize social and environmentally the local human population and to identify the influence of urbanization over this time. From the prodution of land use images, five sample stations were demarcated along Nunes creek. Water quality characterization of the creek, floristic and phytophysionomy composition and richness and abundance of birds and arthropods were sampled during October and November 2003, with a characterization of local human population concerning its sociocultural and environmental perception about the forest fragment. Regarding chemical and biological water analysis, results indicated high eutrophization degree due, probably, to lack of basic sanitation. Despite the impacts, the forest fragment still presents some biotical integrity, reflected by the representativity of the considered groups. It was verified, for example, that 14.8% of bird species contribute to seed dispersion of 67% of tree species. However, we evidenced loss of forested area due to urbanization. Trails and garbage deposition in the forest decrease undestory area, restricting its natural regeneration. Results obtained from the environmental perception analysis indicated lack of integration of the local human population with the forest fragment. The increase of local insecurity was the main negative aspect pointed, but inhabitants wished a suitable recreation area. The long term sustainability of this forest fragment will occur through a conection with other near forested areas. Also, it is important for conservation area to stimulate environment educational programs to sensitize the people about the value of the local environment.Este estudo foi desenvolvido em um fragmento florestal denominado “Cinturão Verde”, em uma área urbana no município de Alvorada, no Estado do Rio Grande do Sul. É uma área que apresenta topografia acidentada e ocupações irregulares, com conseqüentes problemas relacionados à deposição de lixo, esgoto e desmatamento. O objetivo do estudo foi caracterizar sócio-ambientalmente e identificar a influência da urbanização sobre este fragmento. A partir da produção de imagens de uso do solo, foram definidos cinco pontos ao longo do Arroio Nunes, nos quais amostrou-se, durante o período de outubro e novembro de 2003, a qualidade da água do arroio, as composições florística e fitofisionômica e a riqueza e abundância de artrópodos e aves. Além disso, buscou-se caracterizar a comunidade de moradores do entorno do fragmento acerca de suas condições sócio-culturais e de sua percepção em relação ao fragmento. Em relação às análises químicas e biológicas da água, os resultados obtidos indicaram alto grau de eutrofização devido, provavelmente, à falta de saneamento básico. Apesar do impacto antrópico, o fragmento apresenta ainda uma certa integridade biótica refletida pela representatividade dos grupos avaliados. Verificou-se, por exemplo, que 14,8% da avifauna contribui para a dispersão de cerca de 67% das espécies de árvores. No entanto, constatou-se perda de área florestada devido à urbanização. Trilhas e deposição de lixo no interior da floresta diminuem a área de sub-bosque, restringindo sua regeneração natural. Os resultados obtidos nas análises de percepção ambiental indicaram a falta de integração da população do entorno em relação ao fragmento. O aumento da insegurança local foi o principal aspecto negativo, porém os moradores do entorno mostraramse desejosos de poder contar com uma área adequada de lazer. Provavelmente, só será possível a sustentabilidade a longo prazo do fragmento florestal através da conexão com outras áreas florestadas próximas. Além disso, é importante para a conservação da área, incentivo à programas de educação ambiental que sensibilizem a comunidade em relação à valorização do meio ambiente local

Honey bee colony performance affected by crop diversity and farmland structure: a modeling framework

This is the final version. Available on open access from Wiley via the DOI in this recordForage availability has been suggested as one driver of the observed decline in honey bees. However, little is known about the effects of its spatiotemporal variation on colony success. We present a modeling framework for assessing honey bee colony viability in cropping systems. Based on two real farmland structures, we developed a landscape generator to design cropping systems varying in crop species identity, diversity, and relative abundance. The landscape scenarios generated were evaluated using the existing honey bee colony model BEEHAVE, which links foraging to in-hive dynamics. We thereby explored how different cropping systems determine spatiotemporal forage availability and, in turn, honey bee colony viability (e.g., time to extinction, TTE) and resilience (indicated by, e.g., brood mortality). To assess overall colony viability, we developed metrics, PH and PP, which quantified how much nectar and pollen provided by a cropping system per year was converted into a colony's adult worker population. Both crop species identity and diversity determined the temporal continuity in nectar and pollen supply and thus colony viability. Overall farmland structure and relative crop abundance were less important, but details mattered. For monocultures and for four-crop species systems composed of cereals, oilseed rape, maize, and sunflower, PH and PP were below the viability threshold. Such cropping systems showed frequent, badly timed, and prolonged forage gaps leading to detrimental cascading effects on life stages and in-hive work force, which critically reduced colony resilience. Four-crop systems composed of rye-grass–dandelion pasture, trefoil–grass pasture, sunflower, and phacelia ensured continuous nectar and pollen supply resulting in TTE > 5 yr, and PH (269.5 kg) and PP (108 kg) being above viability thresholds for 5 yr. Overall, trefoil–grass pasture, oilseed rape, buckwheat, and phacelia improved the temporal continuity in forage supply and colony's viability. Our results are hypothetical as they are obtained from simplified landscape settings, but they nevertheless match empirical observations, in particular the viability threshold. Our framework can be used to assess the effects of cropping systems on honey bee viability and to develop land-use strategies that help maintain pollination services by avoiding prolonged and badly timed forage gaps.German Academic Exchange ServiceHelmholtz Interdisciplinary GRADuate School for Environmental ResearchBiotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC