Making Nutritional Blocks Based on Scirpus rigidus (Totorilla) Flour for the Feeding and Fattening of Guinea Pigs

The present study was carried out in the Guano Canton, San José de Chocón community. The objective was to evaluate the productive behavior of guinea pigs when totorilla flour (Scirpus rigidus) is used in their daily feeding. A randomized design was used in a two-factor combinatorial arrangement, for Factor A (flour levels) and Factor B (sex), with four treatments and four repetitions of each versus a control treatment. The treatments were: T0 (0%), T1 (5%), T2 (10%), T3 (15%), and T4 (20%). The evaluation period was 75 days, with an initial weight of 0.41 kg (21 days old). No significant difference was found (p < 0.05) for the final weights (PF), weight gain (GP), total food consumption (CTA), or feed conversion (CA). However, significant differences were found in the weight of the carcass (PC) (p ≤ 0.01); the highest weight was observed in T2 (10% of totorilla flour) with 0.80 kg ± 0.02, and in T0; T3 presented lower results. Significant differences were also found for performance of the carcass (RC) (p ≤ 0.01); the higher values were observed in the T4 and T1 treatments with 77.63% and 74.63%, respectively; a lower value was observed in T3 with 63.82%. In terms of the sex factor variable, male animals presented better results than female ones. 20% totorilla flour corresponded to USD 1.32 profitability. Based on the results, we can conclude that adding totorilla flour to guinea pig feed does not affect their productive behavior and increases the quality of the livestock. For cuyicultural production, the implementation of totorilla flour in guinea pig feed provides a new food alternative and lowers costs. Keywords: technology and agricultural sciences, animal science, totorilla, Scirpus rigidus, totorilla flour, feeding in guinea pigs, nutritional block. RESUMEN El presente estudio se realizó en la comunidad de San José de Chocón, cantón Guano. El objetivo fue evaluar el comportamiento productivo de los cuyes cuando en su alimentación diaria se utiliza harina de totorilla (Scirpus rigidus) en la elaboración de bloques nutricionales. Se utilizó un Diseño Completamente al Azar en arreglo combinatorio de dos factores, para el Factor A (niveles de harina), Factor B (sexo), con 4 tratamientos y 4 repeticiones cada uno frente un tratamiento control. Los tratamientos fueron T0 (0%), T1 (5%), T2 (10%), T3 (15%), T4 (20%), en un periodo de evaluación de 75 días, con un peso inicial de 0,41 kg (21 días de edad). Los resultados no mostraron diferencias significativas (p < 0,05) en las variables, en pesos finales (PF), ganancia de peso (GP), consumo total de alimento (CTA), conversión alimenticia (CA). Sin embargo, se encontró diferencias altamente significativas en peso a la canal (PC), (p ≤ 0,01), siendo el mayor peso para el T2 (10% de harina de totorilla) con 0,80 kg ± 0,02, y T0; T3 presentaron resultados más bajos. Rendimiento a la canal (RC) se reportan diferencias altamente significativas (p ≤ 0,01), obteniendo los valores más altos para los tratamientos T4; T1; con 77,63; 74,63 (%) y se observó un menor valor en el T3 con 63,82%. Para el factor sexo los animales machos presentan mejor resultado a diferencia de las hembras. Se consiguió con el empleo de 20% de harina de totorilla con 1,32 USD rentabilidad. Concluyendo que al adicionar harina de totorilla en la alimentación de cuyes no afecta el comportamiento productivo y aumenta la calidad del semoviente. Para la producción cuyícolas la implementación de harina de totorilla en la alimentación de cobayos permitirá tener nueva alternativa alimenticia y abaratar costos.  Palabras clave: tecnología y ciencias agropecuarias, zootecnia, Totorilla (Scirpus rigidus), harina de totorilla, alimentación en cuyes, bloque nutricional. &nbsp

Trophic ecology of hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) in golfo dulce, costa rica: Integrating esophageal lavage and stable isotope (δ13c, δ15n) analysis

Indexación: Scopus.Hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata), considered Critically Endangered, have several small populations in the Eastern Pacific (EP). Knowledge about their diet and habitat use can aid in developing conservation strategies and promoting population recovery in the region. Although considered a spongivore in the Caribbean, data from the EP region indicate that hawksbills consume a wide array of prey species, including angiosperms. We used two approaches to study the diet of hawksbills at Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica: oesophageal lavage and stable isotope (δ13C, δ15N) analysis of bulk skin tissue and blood plasma. Lavage samples collected from 41 turtles revealed macroalgae as the predominant diet item (Rw = 20.22), followed by sea snails and excavating worms. Stable isotope values for blood plasma from 44 turtles ranged from-23.0‰ to-15.7‰ for δ13C and 6.9‰ to 10.4‰ for δ15N, whereas values for skin tissue were-20.4‰ to-13.9‰ and 9.3‰ to 11.0‰ for δ13C and δ15N, respectively. We compared these isotope values with those of five potential prey groups (sponge, sea snail, excavating worm, mangrove, macroalgae) using a multisource stable isotope mixing model analysis in R (SIAR). Our results indicated that multiple prey resources are important for hawksbills in Golfo Dulce, where sea snails, sponges and excavating worms contributed up to 63% of the assimilated diet per individual, and mangrove and macroalgae up to 50%. These data show that hawksbills in Golfo Dulce, and perhaps the wider EP region, are omnivorous, underscoring the importance for considering alternative habitats, aside of coral reefs, for its management and restoration.http://lajar.ucv.cl/index.php/rlajar/article/view/vol48-issue1-fulltext-223

X-ray time variability across the atoll source states of 4U 1636--53

We have studied the rapid X-ray time variability in 149 pointed observations with the \textit{Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer} (RXTE)'s Proportional Counter Array of the atoll source 4U~1636--53 in the banana state and, for the first time with RXTE, in the island state. We compare the frequencies of the variability components of 4U~1636--53 with those in other atoll and Z-sources and find that 4U~1636--53 follows the universal scheme of correlations previously found for other atoll sources at (sometimes much) lower luminosities. Our results on the hectohertz QPO suggest that the mechanism that sets its frequency differs from that for the other components, while the amplitude setting mechanism is common. A previously proposed interpretation of the narrow low-frequency QPO frequencies in different sources in terms of harmonic mode switching is not supported by our data, nor by some previous data on other sources and the frequency range that this QPO covers is found not to be related to spin, angular momentum or luminosity.Comment: 16 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

Functional upgrading in China’s export processing sector

Functional upgrading occurs when a firm acquires more sophisticated functions within an existing value chain. In this paper, we analyze if there is evidence of this type of upgrading in China’s export processing regime by investigating dynamics in the relative prevalence of Import & Assembly (IA) versus Pure Assembly (PA) processing trade over the period 2000-2013. Firms in both regimes provide similar manufacturing services to foreign companies, but IA firms also conduct the sophisticated tasks of quality control, searching, financing and storing imported materials. Consistent with a trend of functional upgrading, we show that the share of IA trade in total processing trade has increased rapidly during the period 2000-2006, both overall and within product categories. Furthermore, we find that this trend has gone hand in hand with improvements in a sector’s labor productivity and unit values. Against expectations, we find that this process has slowed down notably during the period 2006-2013.status: publishe

Difficult tracheal intubation in neonates and infants. NEonate and Children audiT of Anaesthesia pRactice IN Europe (NECTARINE): a prospective European multicentre observational study

BACKGROUND: Neonates and infants are susceptible to hypoxaemia in the perioperative period. The aim of this study was to analyse interventions related to anaesthesia tracheal intubations in this European cohort and identify their clinical consequences. METHODS: We performed a secondary analysis of tracheal intubations of the European multicentre observational trial (NEonate and Children audiT of Anaesthesia pRactice IN Europe [NECTARINE]) in neonates and small infants with difficult tracheal intubation. The primary endpoint was the incidence of difficult intubation and the related complications. The secondary endpoints were the risk factors for severe hypoxaemia attributed to difficult airway management, and 30 and 90 day outcomes. RESULTS: Tracheal intubation was planned in 4683 procedures. Difficult tracheal intubation, defined as two failed attempts of direct laryngoscopy, occurred in 266 children (271 procedures) with an incidence (95% confidence interval [CI]) of 5.8% (95% CI, 5.1–6.5). Bradycardia occurred in 8% of the cases with difficult intubation, whereas a significant decrease in oxygen saturation (SpO2<90% for 60 s) was reported in 40%. No associated risk factors could be identified among co-morbidities, surgical, or anaesthesia management. Using propensity scoring to adjust for confounders, difficult anaesthesia tracheal intubation did not lead to an increase in 30 and 90 day morbidity or mortality. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the present study demonstrate a high incidence of difficult tracheal intubation in children less than 60 weeks post-conceptual age commonly resulting in severe hypoxaemia. Reassuringly, the morbidity and mortality at 30 and 90 days was not increased by the occurrence of a difficult intubation event

The last dinosaurs of Brazil: The Bauru Group and its implications for the end-Cretaceous mass extinction

ABSTRACT The non-avian dinosaurs died out at the end of the Cretaceous, ~66 million years ago, after an asteroid impact. The prevailing hypothesis is that the effects of the impact suddenly killed the dinosaurs, but the poor fossil record of latest Cretaceous (Campanian-Maastrichtian) dinosaurs from outside Laurasia (and even more particularly, North America) makes it difficult to test specific extinction scenarios. Over the past few decades, a wealth of new discoveries from the Bauru Group of Brazil has revealed a unique window into the evolution of terminal Cretaceous dinosaurs from the southern continents. We review this record and demonstrate that there was a diversity of dinosaurs, of varying body sizes, diets, and ecological roles, that survived to the very end of the Cretaceous (Maastrichtian: 72-66 million years ago) in Brazil, including a core fauna of titanosaurian sauropods and abelisaurid and carcharodontosaurid theropods, along with a variety of small-to-mid-sized theropods. We argue that this pattern best fits the hypothesis that southern dinosaurs, like their northern counterparts, were still diversifying and occupying prominent roles in their ecosystems before the asteroid suddenly caused their extinction. However, this hypothesis remains to be tested with more refined paleontological and geochronological data, and we give suggestions for future work