Home range and habitat selection by the tropical screech-owl in a Brazilian savanna

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Non-destructive equations to estimate the leaf area of Styrax pohlii and Styrax ferrugineus

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Positioning and number of nutritional levels in dose-response trials to estimate the optimal-level and the adjustment of the models

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Random regression models to estimate genetic parameters for milk production of Guzerat cows using orthogonal Legendre polynomials

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Home ranges of Guiana dolphins (Sotalia guianensis) (Cetacea: Delphinidae) in the Cananeia estuary, Brazil

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Model to estimate lysine requirements of broilers

The purpose of this study is to describe the development of a model to predict the digestible lysine requirements of broilers using the factorial approach, and to evaluate the model using as reference the model presented in Brazilian Tables for Poultry and Swine. The model partitions the requirement for maintenance and growth for feather-free body protein and feather protein, in which the inputs are body and feather protein weight and the daily rates of protein deposition in the feather-free body and feathers. The parameters that express the lysine requirement for maintenance were obtained in metabolism trials with roosters, and those for the efficiency of lysine utilization in experiments with broilers from 1 to 42 d. Based on these results the model proposed was: Lys (mg/d) = [(151xBP(m)(-0.27)xBP(t)) + (0.01xP(t)x18)] + [(75xBPD/0.77) + (18xFPD/0.77)], where Lys = digestible lysine requirement (mg/d), BPm=body protein weight at maturity (kg), BPt=body protein weight at time t (kg), FPt=feather protein weight at time t (kg), BPD=body protein deposition (g/d), FPD = feather protein deposition (g/d). The model yields sensible predictions of the digestible lysine requirements of broilers of different strains and ages growing at their potential, and suggests a lower lysine requirement after 27 d than does the Brazilian model. The proposed model is the first step in the development of a simulation model that predicts the food intake of a broiler and hence the dietary amino acid content that would optimise performance.

Reading model to estimate optimum economic intakes of amino acids for poultry

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

An investigation into the effects of resonances on the time delay estimate for leak detection in buried plastic water distribution pipes

In water distribution systems, old metallic pipes have been replaced by plastic pipes due to their deterioration over time. Although acoustic methods are effective in finding leaks in metallic pipes, they have been found to be problematic when applied to plastic pipes due to the high damping within the pipe wall and the surrounding medium. This is responsible for the leak signal not traveling long distances. Moreover, the leak energy in plastic pipes is generally located at a narrow frequency range located at low frequencies. However, the presence of resonances can narrow even more this frequency range. In order to minimise the influence of background noise and resonances on the calculation of the time delay estimate, band-pass filters are often used to supress undesirable frequency components of the noise. The objective of this paper is to investigate the influence of resonances in the pipe system (pipe, valves, connections and hydrants), on the time delay estimate calculated using acoustic signals. Analytical models and actual leak data collected in a bespoke rig located in the United Kingdom are used to investigate this feature.

The cone loading test to estimate deformability moduli of a tropical soil

The Cone Loading Test (CLT) consists of the execution of a load test on the piezocone probe in conjunction with the CPT test. The CLT yields the modulus ECLT, a parameter that can be used in the estimative of foundation settlement. It is also presented here the interpretation and the process to determine ECLT values from the stress-displacement curves obtained from cone loading tests. Several CLT tests were conducted at the experimental research site of São Paulo State University, Bauru-SP-Brazil. The geotechnical profile at the studied site is a brown to bright red slightly clayey fine sand, a tropical soil common to this region which is lateritic, unsaturated and collapsible. The results of CLT tests satisfactorily represent the behavior of the investigated soil. The penetrometric modulus ECLT for each depth was calculated considering the elastic behavior in the initial linear segment of the soil stress-strain curve. The ECLT moduli obtained for the various tests were compared to moduli obtained from PMT and DMT test results performed at same studied site. The shear modulus degradation curves obtained from the CLT tests are also presented. The comparison to PMT and DMT results indicates the CLT test is a viable complementary test to the CPT in the quest for better understanding stress-strain behavior of soils. Further, the CLT test provides a graphic visualization of the degradation of the shear modulus with increasing levels of strain. As a hybrid geotechnical test, CPT+CLT can be valuable in the investigation of non-conventional collapsible soils, whose literature lack reference parameters for the prediction of settlement in the design of foundations.

Alternative distributions to estimate usual intake of nutrients for groups

When assessing food intake patterns in groups of individuals, a major problem is finding usual intake distribution. This study aimed at searching for a probability distribution to estimate the usual intake of nutrients using data from a cross-sectional investigation on nutrition students from a public university in São Paulo state, Brazil. Data on 119 women aged 19 to 30 years old were used. All women answered a questionnaire about their lifestyle, diet and demographics. Food intake was evaluated from a non-consecutive three-day 24-hour food record. Different probability distributions were tested for vitamins C and E, panthotenic acid, folate, zinc, copper and calcium where data normalization was not possible. Empirical comparisons were performed, and inadequacy prevalence was calculated by comparing with the NRC method. It was concluded that if a more realistic distribution for usual intake is found, results can be more accurate as compared to those achieved by other methods.