290 research outputs found
Use of analysis and processing of digital images for evaluation and control of animal behavior in hot climates
The world production of meats is mainly concentrated in the countries with a hot climate. Among these countries,
Brazil, considered "world's breadbasket", is located in the intertropical zone, with hot climates and presents lower thermal
amplitude. Brazilian poultry is a leader in the production and export of broilers. Brazil has the second largest cattle herd in the
world, has the largest commercial herd besides being the largest exporter of beef. Brazilian swine breeding, among the most
advanced production chains in the world, occupy the position of fourth largest producer of pork in the world. Projections for
Brazil's meat production sector indicate strong growth in the coming years, with countries in hot climates that will continue to
sustain future growth in world meat production, ensuring food security in many countries. One of the factors responsible for the
success or failure of animal production is the environment, defined by the sum of all physical and biological factors that affect
animals. In these regions of hot climates, climatic factors are among the main limiting factors to the development of animal
production, which may compromise animal welfare and productivity indices. Behavioral information can aid in the analysis of
problems arising from environmental conditions unfavorable to animals, helping both decision making and the use of different
environmental conditioning systems. The introduction of technification in the animal behavior evaluation processes, through the
use of video cameras and image processing programs, allowed a better interpretation of the behavioral responses, quickly,
accurately and non-invasively, gradually being used with greater frequency in the animal production sectors. The study of animal
behavior assumes an important role in animal production, since, to rationalize the breeding methods, management, feeding and
facilities techniques have been developed that interfere with animal behavior. In this context, the use of digital image analysis
techniques, where the animals themselves are used as biosensors in response to environmental conditions, contributes to the
analysis of animal behavior, and consequently also to the assessment of the internal environment of the production in hot weather.
Keywords: animal production, animal welfare, information technolog
Potential for Ammonia Generation and Emission in Broiler Production Facilities in Brazil
Air quality is one of the main factors that must be guaranteed in animal production.
However, the measurement of pollutants is still a problem in several countries because the available methods are costly and do not always apply to the reality of the constructive typology adopted, as in ountries with a hot climate, which adopt predominantly open facilities. Thus, the objective of the present study was to develop predictive models for the potential generation and emission of ammonia in the production of broiler chickens with different types of litter, different reuse cycles and under different climatic conditions. Samples of poultry litter from thirty commercial aviaries submitted to different air temperatures were analyzed. The experiment was conducted and analyzed in a completely randomized design, following a factorial scheme. Models were developed to predict the potential for generation and emission of ammonia, which can be applied in facilities
with ambient conditions of air temperature between 25 and 40 °C and with wood shaving bed with up to four reuse cycles and coffee husks bed with up to six reuse cycles. The developed and validated models showed high accuracy indicating that they can be used to estimate the potential for ammonia generation and emission
Fatty acids prevent Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1α signalling in type 2 diabetes
SUMMARYHypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1ais essential following a myocardial infarction (MI), and diabetic patients havepoorer prognosis post-MI. Could HIF-1aactivation be abnormal in the diabetic heart, and could metabolism becausing this? Diabetic hearts had decreased HIF-1aprotein following ischemia, and insulin-resistant cardio-myocytes had decreased HIF-1a-mediated signaling and adaptation to hypoxia. This was due to elevated fattyacid (FA) metabolism preventing HIF-1aprotein stabilization. FAs exerted their effect by decreasing succinateconcentrations, a HIF-1aactivator that inhibits the regulatory HIF hydroxylase enzymes. In vivo and in vitropharmacological HIF hydroxylase inhibition restored HIF-1aaccumulation and improved post-ischemic func-tional recovery in diabetes
Model-based estimation of transmissibility and reinfection of SARS-CoV-2 P.1 variant
Acknowledgements We are grateful for the collaborative work of the reviewers and the entire group of the Observatório COVID-19 BR. In particular, we thank Verônica Coelho for critical inputs. We also thank the research funding agencies: the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—Brazil (Finance Code 001 to F.M.D.M., L.S.F. and T.P.P.), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico—Brazil (grant number: 315854/2020-0 to M.E.B., 141698/2018-7 to R.L.P.S., 313055/2020-3 to P.I.P., 312559/2020-8 to M.A.S.M.V., 311832/2017-2 to R.A.K., 305703/2019-6 to A.A.M.S.) and Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo—Brazil (grant number: 2019/26310-2 and 2017/26770-8 to C.F., 2018/26512-1 to O.C., 2018/24037-4 to S.P. and contract number: 2016/01343-7 to R.A.K.). The findings and conclusions in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention.Peer reviewe
A Biased Review of Sociophysics
Various aspects of recent sociophysics research are shortly reviewed:
Schelling model as an example for lack of interdisciplinary cooperation,
opinion dynamics, combat, and citation statistics as an example for strong
interdisciplinarity.Comment: 16 pages for J. Stat. Phys. including 2 figures and numerous
reference
Hantavirus Infection in Anajatuba, Maranhão, Brazil
In 2000, the first outbreak of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome was recognized in the Brazilian Amazon (Maranhão State). An epidemiologic study identified a 13.3% prevalence of hantavirus-specific immunoglobulin G. The analysis of risk factors suggests that persons are occupationally exposed to infected rodents in the crop fields
Warped AdS_3 Black Holes
Three dimensional topologically massive gravity (TMG) with a negative
cosmological constant -\ell^{-2} and positive Newton constant G admits an AdS_3
vacuum solution for any value of the graviton mass \mu. These are all known to
be perturbatively unstable except at the recently explored chiral point
\mu\ell=1. However we show herein that for every value of \mu\ell< 3 there are
two other (potentially stable) vacuum solutions given by SL(2,R)x
U(1)-invariant warped AdS_3 geometries, with a timelike or spacelike U(1)
isometry.
Critical behavior occurs at \mu\ell=3, where the warping transitions from a
stretching to a squashing, and there are a pair of warped solutions with a null
U(1) isometry. For \mu\ell>3, there are known warped black hole solutions which
are asymptotic to warped AdS_3. We show that these black holes are discrete
quotients of warped AdS_3 just as BTZ black holes are discrete quotients of
ordinary AdS_3. Moreover new solutions of this type, relevant to any theory
with warped AdS_3 solutions, are exhibited. Finally we note that the black hole
thermodynamics is consistent with the hypothesis that, for \mu\ell>3, the
warped AdS_3 ground state of TMG is holographically dual to a 2D boundary CFT
with central charges c_R={15(\mu\ell)^2+81\over G\mu((\mu\ell)^2+27)} and
c_L={12 \mu\ell^2\over G((\mu\ell)^2+27)}.Comment: 29 page
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