Effects of Pre-Slaughter Stress on Meat Characteristics and Consumer Experience

The current concern regarding how animals are raised, which kind of feedstuffs were fed, and the management activities employed in the livestock segment system is increasing, primarily due to the public and/or customer opinion. Therefore, a positive pressure is being placed in the industry/production to be more effective in communicating these processes and to explain what indeed occurs during the animal’s productive life, from birth to slaughter. Hence, it is imperative to explain what type of situations animals face during their productive lives and how these might impact productive, health, and the quality of the final product sold at the supermarket. Additionally, it is important to understand that technologies have been developed that could mitigate some of these stress-related losses (health and productive), as well as to improve meat quality traits and overall customer eating experience

Conformal prediction for frequency-severity modeling

We present a nonparametric model-agnostic framework for building prediction intervals of insurance claims, with finite sample statistical guarantees, extending the technique of split conformal prediction to the domain of two-stage frequency-severity modeling. The effectiveness of the framework is showcased with simulated and real datasets. When the underlying severity model is a random forest, we extend the two-stage split conformal prediction procedure, showing how the out-of-bag mechanism can be leveraged to eliminate the need for a calibration set and to enable the production of prediction intervals with adaptive width

An SOS-regulated operon involved in damage-inducible mutagenesis in Caulobacter crescentus

DNA polymerases of the Y-family, such as Escherichia coli UmuC and DinB, are specialized enzymes induced by the SOS response, which bypass lesions allowing the continuation of DNA replication. umuDC orthologs are absent in Caulobacter crescentus and other bacteria, raising the question about the existence of SOS mutagenesis in these organisms. Here, we report that the C.crescentus dinB ortholog is not involved in damage-induced mutagenesis. However, an operon composed of two hypothetical genes and dnaE2, encoding a second copy of the catalytic subunit of Pol III, is damage inducible in a recA-dependent manner, and is responsible for most ultraviolet (UV) and mitomycin C-induced mutations in C.crescentus. The results demonstrate that the three genes are required for the error-prone processing of DNA lesions. The two hypothetical genes were named imuA and imuB, after inducible mutagenesis. ImuB is similar to proteins of the Y-family of polymerases, and possibly cooperates with DnaE2 in lesion bypass. The mutations arising as a consequence of the activity of the imuAB dnaE2 operon are rather unusual for UV irradiation, including G:C to C:G transversions

A rare case of heteropaternal twin calves after natural mating in Brazil

Twin birth is a complex condition observed in most livestock animals, when the female gives birth to two or more offspring, generally out of the same mating. In cattle, it is a rare condition (3 to 5%) and depends on the genetic background and environmental factors. Twin birth is a result of multiple ovulations, being more common in dairy rather than in beef cattle. Calves could be monozygous or dizygous, with the same or of different sexes. When twins are born with different sexes, a sexual condition called Freemartinism occurs in between 90 to 97% of pregnancies, causing infertility in the female calf. Knowing that the twin rate is rare in commercial beef cattle, here we present an even rarer case of twin birth from two different sires after natural mating, also called heteropaternal superfecundation

An experimental model of episodic gas release through fracture of fluid confined within a pressurized elastic reservoir

We present new experiments that identify a mechanism for episodic release of gas from a pressurized, deformable reservoir confined by a clay seal, as a result of the transition from bulk deformation to channel growth through the clay. Air is injected into the center of a thin cylindrical cell initially filled with a mixture of bentonite clay and water. For sufficiently dry mixtures, the pressure initially increases with little volume change. On reaching the yield stress of the clay‐water mixture, the lid of the cell then deforms elastically and an air‐filled void forms in the center of the cell as the clay is driven radially outward. With continued supply of air, the pressure continues to increase until reaching the fracture strength of the clay. A fracture‐like channel then forms and migrates to the outer edge of the cell, enabling the air to escape. The pressure then falls, and the clay flows back toward the center of the cell and seals the channel so the cycle can repeat. The phenomena may be relevant at mud volcanoes

Tropical Urban heat Island Simulation Using the Topographic Vorticity Mesoscale (tvm) Model

In this work, a numerical simulation of the Urban Heat Island(UHI) of Rio de Janeiro City is set up using the Topographic VorticityMesoscale (TVM) model. At noon, the resulting surface potentialtemperature presents a strong UHI core across the Fluminense Lowlands(Baixada Fluminense), whereas the specific humidity reaches its lowestvalues.Neste trabalho, uma simulação numérica da Ilha de Calor Urbana(ICU) da cidade de Rio de Janeiro é feita usando o modeloTopographic Vorticity Mesoscale (TVM). A temperatura potencial resultantemostra ao meio dia uma forte ICU na região da Baixada Fluminensee um mínimo de umidade específica

PROSPECÇÃO TECNOLÓGICA SOBRE RECUPERAÇÃO AVANÇADA DE PETRÓLEO (EOR) COM ASSOCIAÇÕES DE FLUÍDOS DE NATUREZAS QUÍMICAS DIFERENTES

A contínua produção de petróleo leva a que campos se tornem maduros, ou seja, estejam em estágio avançado de recuperação, tornando-se necessário métodos para retirada do óleo residual através da recuperação avançada (EOR). Uma das soluções é associar fluidos de naturezas químicas diferentes como polímeros para regular a viscosidade do fluido de injeção, surfactantes para promover uma melhor interação entre o fluido injetado e o petróleo. Este trabalho foca EOR com polímeros associados a surfactantes, destacando o poli etileno glicol com surfactantes diversos. Visa o mapeamento patentários sobre desenvolvimento tecnológico. depósito de patentes, tecnologias, métodos e as dificuldades