Application of a thermolysis capacity test for dry and lactating cows

The heat stress has negative effects on animal comfort and productivity. Genetic progress in milk production is related closely to an increase in metabolic heat increment, which makes cows more affected by heat stress. Individual thermotolerance can be an important tool in genetic selection. The study aimed to validate a new proposal for assessing the ability of heat loss after sun exposure in cows and its application in dry and lactating cows kept or not on thermal comfort condition. The test consists in three days of sun exposure for one hour followed by one hour rest in the shade to determine the individual thermolysis capacity (TC) by the variables rectal temperature, body surface temperature, internal tail base temperature, respiratory rate, plasma cortisol and IGF-I. In the new proposal these physiological variables were measured before sun exposure, after 50 min in the sun and after one hour in the shade (T0, T1 and T2 consecutively). The test in which this new test was adapted lacked T1.The three day test was applied with similar meteorological variables as black globe temperature of 48.1°C (1.32), air temperature of 31.7°C (0.92) and relative humidity of 39.5% (3.38). The differences between dry and lactating cows were measured in 28 animals divided into two experimental groups housed in free-stall with and without evaporative cooling system (mist and fans). The animals remained at the facility for seven months (from spring to summer) then after they were subjected to heat stress and the TC (10-[(T1-T0)-(T2-T1)]) was determined. There was no difference between the TC of dry and lactating cows (P>0.05), but respiratory rate and IGF-I were greater and body surface was lower in dry cows during sun exposure (P0.05). The thermolysis capacity test was validated and can be used for either dry or lactating cows. Milk production did not influence the thermoregulatory responses of Holstein cows, but when lactating and kept in cooling system they showed better thermolysis capacity index

Transporte, fluxo de mercadoria e desenvolvimento econômico urbano na Amazônia: o caso de Belém e Manaus

This paper addresses the fraught relationships among commodity trade, urban economic development and the environment in the world’s largest rainforest reserve, in a historical narrative fashion. The conceptual framework in which we position this narrative is provided by Hesse (2010), in the “site” and “situation” dimensions of the interaction between places or locales on the one hand, and material flows or global value chains on the other. It is argued that the assemblage of both site and situation is what shapes the wealth of cities. The case study of Manaus and Belém shows how the rapid urbanization of the Amazon rainforest is accompanied by the growth of shipping as “new” commodities are being extracted from the jungle interior

Reactivity in ewes submitted to invasive and non-invasive techniques of samples collections

The first-time experience of a procedure or with a person should be as positive as possible. If a procedure is very aversive or painful at first contact, it can be difficult to persuade the animal to return to the local where this occurred. For this reason it is important to develop a strategy in experimental and routine activities, taking into account that sheep has often reactive temperament. This study aims to evaluate the possible decreased of the reactivity in sheep across the prior presentation of invasive and non-invasive techniques for collecting saliva and blood samples for cortisol analysis and transepidermal water loss through the use of Vapometer®. Saliva was collected using Sallivetes® and blood was taken from the jugular vein in heparinized tubes, placed on ice, and then centrifuged at 4 °C and 3,000 for 15 min. The tubes containing serum were stored at −20 °C until CORT and IGF-I determination using an enzyme immunoassay kit (Diagnostic Systems Laboratory, Webster, TX). The collection of transepidermal water loss (TEWL) was performed using a Vapometer ® (Dolphin, Finland) device. In the three techniques the ewes were always contained by the same person for the time necessary to collect the variable. To take saliva samples the animals were contained during 2 minutes, for blood samples during 1 minute and for TEWL during 30 seconds. The test consists of six data collections performed with increasing intervals between days, checking the possible adaptation of the animal management factors. The first interval was 2 days and after 3 days, then after 4 days, and the next was 7 days and again 7 days, totaling 24 days of experiment. Before sampling saliva, blood or TEWL the reactivity of the ewes was analyzed by a composite score scale when animals were inside the chute. The composite score (CS) is a combination of the scores of: entrance (1 to 4), respiratory rate (1 to 4), vocalization (0 or 1), movement (1 to 4) and flight speed (1 to 4). After the chute a score of containment (1 to 4) was attributed by the same person, which had contained the animal. The experimental unit was each animal and the average of the observations in each sheep was used for the statistical analysis. The observed data of transepidermal water loss, salivary cortisol and serum cortisol were subjected to analysis of variance, with the days and the groups as fixed effect. In case of significant results (P<0.05) it was adopted Tukey-Kramer Test as the procedure for multiple comparisons. Cortisol decreased for saliva and blood groups during the experiment days (P<0.05), showing habituation of the animals to the management. In the same way, TEWL had the highest mean value on day 1, and decreased afterwards (P<0.05). The score of containment was lower for the TEWL group compared to the other two groups (P<0.05), however the higher value was observed on day 5, seven days after a sampling (P<0.05). The score of containment of saliva and blood groups decrease in day 2, but return to increase in the next sampling day (P<0.05). The CS was higher for saliva group (P<0.05). On day 5 CS increased for blood group, but decreased for TEWL (P<0.05). The invasive techniques (saliva and blood) increased the reactivity of sheep before and after retention. Sheep are reactive animals therefore need a more gentle handling during the experiment with invasive samples

Asymptotics of 4d spin foam models

We study the asymptotic properties of four-simplex amplitudes for various four-dimensional spin foam models. We investigate the semi-classical limit of the Ooguri, Euclidean and Lorentzian EPRL models using coherent states for the boundary data. For some classes of geometrical boundary data, the asymptotic formulae are given, in all three cases, by simple functions of the Regge action for the four-simplex geometry.Comment: 10 pages, Proceedings for the 2nd Corfu summer school and workshop on quantum gravity and quantum geometry, talk given by Winston J. Fairbair

Visceral Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome Are Associated with Well-Differentiated Gastroenteropancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors

The determinants for gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NET) recent burden are matters of debate. Obesity and metabolic syndrome (MetS) are well established risks for several cancers even though no link with GEP-NETs was yet established. Our aim in this study was to investigate whether well-differentiated GEP-NETs were associated with obesity and MetS. Patients with well-differentiated GEP-NETs (n = 96) were cross-matched for age, gender, and district of residence with a control group (n = 96) derived from the general population in a case-control study. Patients presented gastro-intestinal (75.0%) or pancreatic (22.9%) tumors, grade G1 (66.7%) or G2 (27.1%) with localized disease (31.3%), regional metastasis (16.7%) or distant metastasis (43.8%) at diagnosis, and 45.8% had clinical hormonal syndromes. MetS was defined according to Joint Interim Statement (JIS) criteria. Well-differentiated GEP-NETs were associated with MetS criteria as well as the individual components' waist circumference, fasting triglycerides, and fasting plasma glucose (p = 0.003, p = 0.002, p = 0.011 and p < 0.001, respectively). The likelihood of the association was higher when the number of individual MetS components was greater than four. MetS and some individual MetS components including visceral obesity, dyslipidemia, and increased fasting glucose are associated with well-differentiated GEP-NET. This data provides a novel insight in unraveling the mechanisms leading to GEP-NET disease.This project was funded by a grant from Research Center of IPO-Porto (CI-IPOP 32-2015)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Walls talk: Microbial biogeography of homes spanning urbanization.

Westernization has propelled changes in urbanization and architecture, altering our exposure to the outdoor environment from that experienced during most of human evolution. These changes might affect the developmental exposure of infants to bacteria, immune development, and human microbiome diversity. Contemporary urban humans spend most of their time indoors, and little is known about the microbes associated with different designs of the built environment and their interaction with the human immune system. This study addresses the associations between architectural design and the microbial biogeography of households across a gradient of urbanization in South America. Urbanization was associated with households' increased isolation from outdoor environments, with additional indoor space isolation by walls. Microbes from house walls and floors segregate by location, and urban indoor walls contain human bacterial markers of space use. Urbanized spaces uniquely increase the content of human-associated microbes-which could increase transmission of potential pathogens-and decrease exposure to the environmental microbes with which humans have coevolved

A utilização de seminário na abordagem da radioatividade dentro das atividades do PIBID

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The dynamics of apparent horizons in Robinson-Trautman spacetimes

We present an alternative scheme of finding apparent horizons based on spectral methods applied to Robinson-Trautman spacetimes. We have considered distinct initial data such as representing the spheroids of matter and the head-on collision of two non-rotating black holes. The evolution of the apparent horizon is presented. We have obtained in some cases a mass gap between the final Bondi and apparent horizon masses, whose implications were briefly commented in the light of the thermodynamics of black holes.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figure