Effect of moisture content and method of baling of alfalfa-orchardgrass hay on chemical composition and digestibility

A total-collection digestion trial with 15 mature wether sheep was conducted using a completely randomized design to determine the digestibility of alfalfa orchardgrass hay comparing conventional bales ys_. large round bales at 24 and 17 percent moisture content at baling. In addition, data were collected to determine the effect of heating as a result of high moisture content on digestibility of the inside core and the outside shell of large round bales. Third cutting alfalfa-orchardgrass hay at the 1/10 bloom stage of maturity was used. Thermocouples were placed inside bales to determine temperature. Hay treatments consisted of inside core and outside shell from large round bales, and conventional bales at 24 and 17 percent moisture content. Crude protein was found to be similar at high or low moisture content. Acid detergent fiber was 47.93, 41.16, 37.41; and 38.89, 37.98 and 37.10, respectively. Acid insoluble lignin was 20.01, 10.34, 6.90; 7.54, 7.31 and 6.79. Acid detergent fiber-nitrogen was 45.86, 24.03, 27.32; 13.60, 13.17 and 9.66. Dry matter intakes were similar at both moisture levels for inside core, outside shell and conventional. Nutrient digestibility coefficients were: dry matter 48.12, 56.78, 63.78; 60.64, 62.36 and 64.08; Protein 33.23, 55.30, 71.00; 65.96, 72.52 and 74.78; Acid insoluble lignin 19.56, 18.67, 9.09; 14.00, 10.49 and 4.47; Acid detergent fiber 39.29, 51.64, 54.70; 55.39, 54.69 and 55.19; Acid detergent fiber-nitrogen 18.89, 41.07, 69.48; 48.82, 45.50 and 32.98 for the hay treatments, respectively. iiiIV Temperature inside bales reached the highest of approximately 90°C at 24 percent moisture and remained high for a period of 30 days. The low moisture level only reached a high of approximately 53°C and decreased rapidly. The nitrogen intake and fecal nitrogen were higher in round bales than in conventional bales. Urinary nitrogen and nitrogen retention were lowest in inside core at high moisture level and increased as dry matter increased. Metabolic fecal nitrogen and endogenous urinary nitrogen were found similar among treatments. True nitrogen digestibility was 47.60, 69.53, 87.53; 82.86, 87.88 and 89.58 for inside core, outside shell and conventional at 75.9 and 84.2 percent DM, respectively. Absorbed nitrogen retained was 83.42, 81.54, 77.77; 78.91, 81.39 and 78.32. Intake nitrogen retained was 27.72, 45.11, 55.22; 52.07, 59.03, and 58.58; Net protein utilization was 48.80, 66.47, 80.41; 77.94, 80.69 and 81.74; and Net protein value was 9.24, 17.70, 13.21; 12.54, 14.28 and 15.01 for hay treatments

Digestibilidad in vivo y consumo voluntario de Digitaria eriantha Steudel subsp. eriantha diferido en carneros

En la Región Pampeana Semiárida se halla muy difundido el pasto llorón (Eragrostis curvula) cuyo forraje diferido y utilizado con bovinos de cría les ocasiona pérdidas importantes de peso vivo. Por esta razón se están realizando numerosos ensayos con gramíneas de crecimiento estival para encontrar aquellas que presentan mejor calidad como diferido. En el presente estudio se evalu6 Digitaria eriantha Steudel subsp. eriantha, difiriendo el forraje producido durante todo su periodo de crecimiento (primavera, verano y otoño) hacia el invierno. Se utilizaron 20 carneros Pampinta, divididos al azar en cuatro grupos de cinco carneros cada uno, a los que se asignaron los siguientes tratamientos: 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 y 2.0 del nivel de mantenimiento. Se midió consumo voluntario y digestibilidad de la materia seca, consumo de materia seca digestible y consumo de lámina. Se utilizó el método de colección total de heces. El forraje se suministró 2 veces por día durante 15 días, el periodo de medición abarco los últimos 8 días. Los resultados obtenidos indican que esta especie utilizada como diferido presenta una buena calidad. Los animales mostraron una fuerte preferencia por la fracción lamina, la digestibilidad del forraje está claramente asociada a la relación entre las fracciones lamina: tallo, por lo tanto, a mayor oferta forrajera, mejor performance animal

A prediction model based on data mining to forecast the expectations of passing from a college student

The present work has as objective to apply data mining techniques to develop a predictive model to forecast the chance of passing that will have a college student at the time of enrolling in a particular subject. Given that the academic record of the student can be known, and based on that information, we propose an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) that allows, using various configurations, to predict and assess our goal. The model has been applied to a compulsory subject of higher education of a University and given the results obtained. This model can be applied to any other subject analogous with satisfactory results

A study of fuzzy data bases: an application to a Peruvian case

This paper aims to show the various types of data that contain in an intrinsically way fuzzy or imperfect data that are presented in the real world. A form of implementation is described that allows extending the capabilities of a database by using layers levels, emphasizing in the concept of inheritance. What is described is illustrated by an example applied to the Peruvian reality, which is shown with a certain level of detail

Parallelizing irregular C codes assisted by interprocedural shape analysis

In the new multicore architecture arena, the problem of improving the performance of a code is more in the soft-ware side than in the hardware one. However, optimizing irregular dynamic data structure based codes for such ar-chitectures is not easy, either by hand or compiler assisted. Regarding this last approach, shape analysis is a static tech-nique that achieves abstraction of dynamic memory and can help to disambiguate, quite accurately, memory references in programs that create and traverse recursive data struc-tures. This kind of analysis has promising applicability for accurate data dependence tests in loops or recursive func-tions that traverse dynamic data structures. However, sup-port for interprocedural programs in shape analysis is still a challenge, especially in the presence of recursive func-tions. In this work we present a novel fully context-sensitive interprocedural shape analysis algorithm that supports re-cursion and can be used to uncover parallelism. Our ap-proach is based on three key ideas: i) intraprocedural sup-port based on “Coexistent Links Sets ” to precisely describe the memory configurations during the abstract interpreta-tion of the C code; ii) interprocedural support based on “Recursive Flow Links ” to trace the state of pointers in previous calls; and iii) annotations of the read/written heap locations during the program analysis. We present prelim-inary experiments that reveal that our technique compares favorably with related work, and obtains precise memory abstractions in a variety of recursive programs that create and manipulate dynamic data structures. We have also im-plemented a data dependence test over our interprocedural shape analysis. With this test we have obtained promis-ing results, automatically detecting parallelism in three C codes, which have been successfully parallelized

Awareness, behavior and attitudes concerning sun exposure among beachgoers in the northern coast of Peru

Background Skin cancer incidence has increased over the last years, becoming a major public health problem. Objective To describe the awareness, behavior and attitudes concerning sun exposure among beachgoers in the northern coast of Peru. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study in the Pimentel beach, Peru. The “Beach Questionnaire” was used and we surveyed all the beachgoers from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and from March 5 to March 19. For the statistical analysis, sun exposure habits, sunburns history, knowledge, attitudes and practices were crossed with sex using the chi2 test. Results We surveyed 410 beachgoers, the most frequent phototype was type III (40.5%). Only the 13.66% of the respondents correctly answered the seven knowledge questions related to sun exposure and skin cancer. Men more frequently agreed that “when they are tanned their clothes looks nicer” (p = 0.048). Likewise, regarding the questions “Sunbathing is relaxing” and “Sunbathing improves my mood”, men agreed or totally agreed with more frequency than women (63.64% vs. 46.15%, p < 0.001; and 61.36% vs 49.15%, p = 0.014, respectively). Regarding sun protection practices, women more frequently used sunshade (p = 0.001) and sunscreen (SPF ≥ 15) (p < 0.001) when compared to the male group. Conclusion Sun exposure is a potentially preventable risk factor for skin cancer. Thus, awareness of the risks of UVR overexposure and adequate sun-protective behaviors and attitudes are essential. Our results, however, are not as favorable as expected. Public health efforts should encourage sun-safety precautions and intervention campaigns should be carried out in recreational settings, such as the beaches

Arsenic in Peruvian rice cultivated in the major rice growing region of Tumbes river basin

Arsenic (As) exposure from surface and groundwater in Peru is being recognised as a 16 potential threat but there are limited studies on As in the food-chain and none on As in 17 Peruvian rice. In this study, we have determined the As content in rice cultivated in the 18 Tumbes river basin located in the northern province of Peru, an area known for extensive rice 19 cultivation. We collected rice and soil samples from agricultural fields, soil was collected 20 using grid sampling technique while rice was collected from the heaps of harvested crop 21 placed across the fields. The average total As concentration in rice was 167.94 ± 71 μg kg-1 22 (n=29; range 68.39-345.31 μg kg-1). While the rice As levels were not highly elevated, the As 23 content of few samples (n=7) greater than 200 μg kg-1 could contribute negatively to human health upon chronic exposure. Average concentration of As in soil was 8.63 ± 7.8 mg kg-1 25 (n=30) and soil to grain transfer factor was 0.025 ± 0.018 for 12 matched samples. Compared 26 to our previous pilot study in 2006 (samples collected from the same agricultural fields but 27 not from exact locations) there was a 41% decrease in As soil concentration in this study. 28 Rice samples collected in 2006 (n=5) had a mean concentration of 420 ± 109 μg kg-1. Our 29 data provides a baseline of rice grain As concentrations in Peruvian province of Tumbes and 30 warrants further studies on factors affecting uptake of As by the rice varieties cultivated in 31 Peru and any potential human health risks

Racial differences in systemic sclerosis disease presentation: a European Scleroderma Trials and Research group study

Objectives. Racial factors play a significant role in SSc. We evaluated differences in SSc presentations between white patients (WP), Asian patients (AP) and black patients (BP) and analysed the effects of geographical locations.Methods. SSc characteristics of patients from the EUSTAR cohort were cross-sectionally compared across racial groups using survival and multiple logistic regression analyses.Results. The study included 9162 WP, 341 AP and 181 BP. AP developed the first non-RP feature faster than WP but slower than BP. AP were less frequently anti-centromere (ACA; odds ratio (OR) = 0.4, P &lt; 0.001) and more frequently anti-topoisomerase-I autoantibodies (ATA) positive (OR = 1.2, P = 0.068), while BP were less likely to be ACA and ATA positive than were WP [OR(ACA) = 0.3, P &lt; 0.001; OR(ATA) = 0.5, P = 0.020]. AP had less often (OR = 0.7, P = 0.06) and BP more often (OR = 2.7, P &lt; 0.001) diffuse skin involvement than had WP.AP and BP were more likely to have pulmonary hypertension [OR(AP) = 2.6, P &lt; 0.001; OR(BP) = 2.7, P = 0.03 vs WP] and a reduced forced vital capacity [OR(AP) = 2.5, P &lt; 0.001; OR(BP) = 2.4, P &lt; 0.004] than were WP. AP more often had an impaired diffusing capacity of the lung than had BP and WP [OR(AP vs BP) = 1.9, P = 0.038; OR(AP vs WP) = 2.4, P &lt; 0.001]. After RP onset, AP and BP had a higher hazard to die than had WP [hazard ratio (HR) (AP) = 1.6, P = 0.011; HR(BP) = 2.1, P &lt; 0.001].Conclusion. Compared with WP, and mostly independent of geographical location, AP have a faster and earlier disease onset with high prevalences of ATA, pulmonary hypertension and forced vital capacity impairment and higher mortality. BP had the fastest disease onset, a high prevalence of diffuse skin involvement and nominally the highest mortality