930 research outputs found
Productive aspects of pigs fed forage cactus silage associated with feed restriction
This study aimed to evaluate the use of silage of forage cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica Mill) in diets for finishing pigs. Two experiments were conducted: the first for digestibility and the second for performance. In the performance trial, the quantitative levels of feed restriction (0%, 10%, 20%, and 30%) were evaluated, which were associated with the supply of forage cactus silage. Forage cactus silage presented 2463.59 and 2456 kcal/kg of digestible and metabolizable energy, respectively. The feed restriction levels associated with the supply of forage cactus silage influenced feed intake, weight gain and final weight negatively, but did not affect feed conversion. Carcass absolute weight was influenced negatively. However, the yield of carcass and cuts and the amount of meat in the carcass were not influenced. With the increase in feed restriction, there was a decrease in duodenal mucosa thickness, intestinal glands, liver glycogen storage and the occurrence of inflammation in the submucosa and intestinal mucosa. Forage cactus silage is not accepted well by animals. The restriction up to 30% of balanced feed did not affect feed conversion, yield of carcass and cuts and economic viability. However, levels over 10% affected intestinal health.Keywords: Alternative feed, feed preservation, intestinal health, Opuntia ficus-indica Mill, pig nutritio
Charmonium - Pion Cross Section from QCD Sum Rules
The , and cross sections as a function of are evaluated in a QCD sum rule
calculation. We study the Borel sum rule for the four point function involving
pseudoscalar and vector meson currents, up to dimension four in the operator
product expansion. We find that our results are smaller than the cross sections obtained with models based on meson exchange,
but are close to those obtained with quark exchange models.Comment: revised version accepted for publication in Phys. Lett.
Prevalência da infecção pelo vírus da hepatite C em comunidades remanescentes de quilombos no Brasil Central
In order to determine the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in quilombo remnant communities in Central Brazil, 1,007 subjects were interviewed in all 12 communities existing in Mato Grosso do Sul State, Central Brazil. Blood samples were collected and sera were tested for anti-HCV by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Positive samples were retested for confirmation using a line immunoassay and were also subjected to HCV RNA detection. The prevalence of HCV infection was 0.2%. This finding shows a low prevalence of HCV infection in quilombo remnant communities in Central Brazil.Com objetivo de estimar a prevalência da infecção pelo vírus da hepatite C (HCV) em comunidades remanescentes de quilombos no Brasil Central, 1.007 indivíduos foram entrevistados nas 12 comunidades quilombolas existentes no Estado de Mato Grosso do Sul, Brasil Central. Amostras sanguíneas foram coletadas e os soros testados para anti-HCV pelo ensaio imunoenzimático. As amostras positivas foram testadas pelo ensaio confirmatório "line immunoassay" e também submetidas à detecção do RNA-HCV. A prevalência da infecção pelo HCV foi de 0,2%. Este achado mostra uma baixa prevalência da infecção pelo HCV em comunidades remanescentes de quilombos no Brasil Central
Computational fluids dynamics (CFD) in the spatial distribution of air velocity in prototype designed for animal experimentation in controlled environments
ArticleMaintaining a comfortable and productive thermal environment is one of the major
challenges of poultry farming in tropical and hot climates. The thermal environment encompasses
a number of factors that interact with each other and reflect the actual thermal sensation of the
animals. These factors characterize the microclimate inside the facilities and influence the
behaviour, performance and well-being of the birds. Thus, the objective of this study is to propose
and validate a computational model of fluid dynamics to evaluate the spatial distribution of air
velocity and the performance of a system designed to control air velocity variation for use in
experiments with birds in controlled environment. The performance of the experimental
ventilation prototype was evaluated based on air velocity distribution profiles in cages. Each
prototype consisted of two fans coupled to a PVC pipe 25 cm in diameter, one at each end of the
pipe, with airflow directed along the entire feeder installed in front of the cages. The contour
conditions considered for the simulation of airflow inside the cage were air temperature of 35 °C
at the entrance and exit of the cage; air velocity equal to 2.3 m s
-1
at the entrance of the cage;
pressure of 0 Pa. The model proposed in this study was representative when compared to the
experimental measurements, and it can be used in the study of air flow behaviour and distribution
for the improvement of the prototype design for later studies
Structural and Energetic Mechanisms of Cooperative Autoinhibition and Activation of Vav1
SummaryVav proteins are guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs) for Rho family GTPases. They control processes including T cell activation, phagocytosis, and migration of normal and transformed cells. We report the structure and biophysical and cellular analyses of the five-domain autoinhibitory element of Vav1. The catalytic Dbl homology (DH) domain of Vav1 is controlled by two energetically coupled processes. The DH active site is directly, but weakly, inhibited by a helix from the adjacent Acidic domain. This core interaction is strengthened 10-fold by contacts of the calponin homology (CH) domain with the Acidic, pleckstrin homology, and DH domains. This construction enables efficient, stepwise relief of autoinhibition: initial phosphorylation events disrupt the modulatory CH contacts, facilitating phosphorylation of the inhibitory helix and consequent GEF activation. Our findings illustrate how the opposing requirements of strong suppression of activity and rapid kinetics of activation can be achieved in multidomain systems
Primeiro registro de Amblyomma geayi (Acari: ixodidae) em preguiça (Bradypus variegatus) no estado do Acre, Amazônia Ocidental: relato de caso
Fitting the integrated Spectral Energy Distributions of Galaxies
Fitting the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of galaxies is an almost
universally used technique that has matured significantly in the last decade.
Model predictions and fitting procedures have improved significantly over this
time, attempting to keep up with the vastly increased volume and quality of
available data. We review here the field of SED fitting, describing the
modelling of ultraviolet to infrared galaxy SEDs, the creation of
multiwavelength data sets, and the methods used to fit model SEDs to observed
galaxy data sets. We touch upon the achievements and challenges in the major
ingredients of SED fitting, with a special emphasis on describing the interplay
between the quality of the available data, the quality of the available models,
and the best fitting technique to use in order to obtain a realistic
measurement as well as realistic uncertainties. We conclude that SED fitting
can be used effectively to derive a range of physical properties of galaxies,
such as redshift, stellar masses, star formation rates, dust masses, and
metallicities, with care taken not to over-interpret the available data. Yet
there still exist many issues such as estimating the age of the oldest stars in
a galaxy, finer details ofdust properties and dust-star geometry, and the
influences of poorly understood, luminous stellar types and phases. The
challenge for the coming years will be to improve both the models and the
observational data sets to resolve these uncertainties. The present review will
be made available on an interactive, moderated web page (sedfitting.org), where
the community can access and change the text. The intention is to expand the
text and keep it up to date over the coming years.Comment: 54 pages, 26 figures, Accepted for publication in Astrophysics &
Space Scienc
Star Formation and Dynamics in the Galactic Centre
The centre of our Galaxy is one of the most studied and yet enigmatic places
in the Universe. At a distance of about 8 kpc from our Sun, the Galactic centre
(GC) is the ideal environment to study the extreme processes that take place in
the vicinity of a supermassive black hole (SMBH). Despite the hostile
environment, several tens of early-type stars populate the central parsec of
our Galaxy. A fraction of them lie in a thin ring with mild eccentricity and
inner radius ~0.04 pc, while the S-stars, i.e. the ~30 stars closest to the
SMBH (<0.04 pc), have randomly oriented and highly eccentric orbits. The
formation of such early-type stars has been a puzzle for a long time: molecular
clouds should be tidally disrupted by the SMBH before they can fragment into
stars. We review the main scenarios proposed to explain the formation and the
dynamical evolution of the early-type stars in the GC. In particular, we
discuss the most popular in situ scenarios (accretion disc fragmentation and
molecular cloud disruption) and migration scenarios (star cluster inspiral and
Hills mechanism). We focus on the most pressing challenges that must be faced
to shed light on the process of star formation in the vicinity of a SMBH.Comment: 68 pages, 35 figures; invited review chapter, to be published in
expanded form in Haardt, F., Gorini, V., Moschella, U. and Treves, A.,
'Astrophysical Black Holes'. Lecture Notes in Physics. Springer 201
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