Mastites caprinas: Utilização do Teste Californiano de Mastites.

A mastite é uma das patologias mais desafiantes no setor de lacticínios, esta patologia está diretamente relacionada com perdas de produção, decréscimo da qualidade e higiene do leite, elevados custos na terapêutica e com problemas para a saúde pública. Para o diagnóstico de MSC, como não há alterações visíveis nem no úbere nem no leite, faz-se uma análise ao leite. O método de diagnóstico mais utilizado é o Teste Californiano de Mastites (TCM). Este teste faz uma estimativa da contagem de células somáticas (CCS) presente no leite. No caso do leite de cabra, existe controvérsia devido ao facto de a secreção do leite ser apócrina, em que é eliminado o produto de secreção e parte do citoplasma da célula. Foi realizado um estudo em 308 metades mamárias, respeitantes a 158 cabras para avaliar a utilização do TCM como indicador de infeção intramamária.FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia no âmbito do Projecto UID/AGR/00115/2013

Search for novel proteolytic enzymes aimed at textile and agro-industrial applications: an overview of current and novel approaches

The types and sources of proteolytic enzymes, enzyme assays, strategies for fermentation yield improvement, and novel proteases and their applications in industrial sectors are widely covered in this review. We give a special focus on alkaline proteases for the textile and detergent industries, as well as for the degradation of keratin-rich wastes.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Novel microbial-mediated modifications of woo

A total of 158 microbial strains, previously isolated from raw wool samples of Portuguese Merino breed of sheep, were screened for extracellular protease activity. The 12 isolates with the highest overall activity were further tested via incubation in nutrient broth, and assaying of cell-free supernatants using casein as substrate protein. The cell-free supernatants of the three isolates exhibiting the best performance were finally tested on knitted wool using bursting strength and area shrinkage as quantitative parameters, and microstructure using scanning electron microscopy as qualitative parameter, to conclude on their putative role upon the fiber features. The aforementioned three isolates produced lower weight loss and area shrinkage than those brought about by a commercial reference enzyme under similar operating conditions, without significantly loosing bursting strength

Continuous Wave High Level Laser Therapy promotes deep wound healing in dogs and cats

Photobiomodulation is a type of therapy that is known to stimulate healing of tissues through signaling of cell chromophores. Thus, it can decrease inflammation, promote angiogenesis and neovascularization, induce fibroblast proliferation, collagen synthesis, and stimulate granulation. Most of studies developed in this field used pulsed wave Low Level Laser Therapy (LLLT-PW) as phototherapy over damaged skin, particularly superficial wounds, with or without photosensitizers use. This means that low light energy reaches the tissues making its effect over deeper wounds uncertain. Instead, High Level Laser Therapy (HLLT) is known to reach higher amounts of energy in a shorter period. In addition to saving time, more powerful beams of light reach deeper cells, as the depth of penetration increases with increased power; however, the thermal effect produced by their light beams suggests that it can be deleterious to live tissues. The aim of this study was to report HLLT effectiveness over a group of animals with traumatic, infected deep skin wounds associated with standard medical wound management, through debridement, irrigation, and dressing. A specific HLLT continuous wave (HLLT-CW) protocol was applied before covering the wound, daily over the first five days, and then every-other-day until epithelization phase was established. Wound healing was assessed using an adapted Bates- Jensen Wound Assessment Tool (BWAT). BWAT scores significantly decreased over time, meaning that wounds drastically improved, particularly during the first days of treatment. Our results highly suggest that HLLT-CW was effective stimulating wound healing on these patients, promoting granulation tissue formation and deep wound filling at an early stage, with no reported adverse effects. These findings agree with the studies denoting that laser light alters cellular DNA and RNA synthesis, modulates the inflammatory response, promotes extracellular matrix production, and modulates prostaglandin production, leading to improvements on would microcirculation, nutrition, and cellular metabolism. According to our results, HLLT is a safe, effective tool that stimulates the repair process, making it especially attractive for this type of wounds and patients

Morphometric variation in two intertidal littorinid gastropods

Here we investigate spatial variation in shell shape of Littorina saxatilis, an ovoviviparous species, and Melarhaphe neritoides, a species with planktonic eggs and larvae. Populations of both species were sampled in 6 sites located along the west coast of the Iberian Peninsula. Shell shape was studied using landmarkbased morphometric methods. Landmark data was used to estimate individual size and to describe shell shape. Prior to statistical analysis specimens were aligned using Generalised Procrustes Analysis (GPA). Ordinations based on GPA of landmark data and using Principal Components Analysis (PCA), revealed a clear spatial segregation of sites for both species, although this was more evident for L. saxatilis than M. neritoides. Statistical analysis revealed significant multivariate variation in shape among sites and a significant effect of allometry on shape for both species. In contrast to this last result, there was no significant linear relationship between any of the first three PC axes and size in L. saxatilis but highly significant associations between the first and third PC axes and size for M. neritoides. Spatial variation in the shape of both species was primarily related to variation in the height of the apical whorls and in the width of the aperture for L. saxatilis. Further variation in shape was related to the shape of the last whorl in L. saxatilis and shell elongation and a change in aperture shape in M. neritoides.publishe

Qualidade de sementes de gergelim de diferentes posições na planta em comparação a colheita convencional.

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A DIESEL ENGINE CONVERTED INTO OTTO CYCLE ENGINE: THE INFLUENCE OF THE SPARK ADVANCE ON ITS PERFORMANCE AND ON NOx EMISSIONS

This paper analyzes the performance of a diesel engine converted into an Otto cycle engine and its Nitrogen dioxide emissions in terms of the spark advance variation. The tests were conducted on a Perkins diesel engine 1104C - 44TAG turbocharged, whose compression ratio was reduced to 9.33:1. After conversion the engine started operating with liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and running just with stoichiometric mixtures. The tests have been limited to 10 to 40 kW, always at 1800 rpm. During the experiments the ignition advance angle ranged from 5º up to 27º (BTDC), using the increment of 5°, whenever possible. Particularly at 40 kW, the range of the ignition advance was 15º to 20º. The results showed a significant influence of the spark advance angle on the fuel consumption, on the temperature and on the NOx emissions, as well as on the magnitude of the generated power

ELECTRICITY GENERATION FROM BIOMASS GASIFICATION

Brazil is among the ten largest consumers of electricity in the world, and in the last decades its demand for electricity has been continuously increasing. As a consequence it has not been capable to ensure enough expansion of its electric power network, mostly affecting isolated communities. The present study discusses the use of a system formed by an Indian residue biomass gasifier and a 36 kVA engine-generator, which should generate 20 kWe, using gas-alone mode engine. The engine was, originally, a MWM D229-4 diesel engine, which was converted into an Otto cycle to run only with producer gas. The system performance was evaluated for different engine’s advance ignition angles, and two types of biomass. As the Indian gasifier was designed to operate just with dual-fuel mode to feed a gas-alone engine, some changes in the gasifier's water cleaning system were required. The modifications enabled the system to improve the power generation which overcame the 20 kWe reaching 26 kWe. Technical and economic considerations showed that the bioelectricity based on bio-residual gasifier may be a viable and ecological option for regions having enough biomass residue and not served by the system network