Evaluation of the heating of broilers in shed by means of gas hoods and underfloor heating

This study was conducted to evaluate and compare the behavior of the heating inside poultry shed through gas hood and underfloor heating. The experiment was conducted in poultry shed belonging to the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Triângulo Mineiro Region, Uberlândia city – state of Minas Gerais (MG), Brazil. The dimensions of the shed are 24 meters long and 9.6 meters wide and with a ceiling height of 3.2 meters. The temperature was measured with an optical thermometer of Minipa brand, MT 350 model. It was used, to the analysis of temperature behavior, the public domain software FEMM 4.2, which uses finite elements techniques, with data collected from two lots. Underfloor heating is made using hot water flowing through a serpentine type system, which is installed below the bed; this hot water is from solar heaters. An energetic and economic assessment of the warming shed for raising chickens was realized. From the results obtained with the simulations, it may observe that the heating through the floor provides a more homogeneous distribution of temperature when compared with the hood heating. The flow of heat is upwards supplying, thus, the greatest need of heating of the bird, which is the pectoral part.

Feasibility study of the immunogenicity and safety of a novel DTPw/Hib (PRP-T) Brazilian combination compared to a licensed vaccine in healthy children at 2, 4, and 6 months of age

Vaccination of infants with conjugated Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) vaccines has been proven to reduce Hib meningitis by 95% and pneumoniae by 20%. The routine use of Hib vaccine is facilitated by the introduction of combination vaccines into the EPI (Expanded Plan of Immunization). The objective of this study was to compare the immunogenicity and reactogenicity of an extemporaneously mixed DTPw/Hib (diphtheria-tetanus-whole cell pertussis) combination, using the technology of two Brazilian manufacturers, against a licensed DTPw/Hib European combination in 108 infants vaccinated at 2, 4 and 6 months according to the local national schedule. The Brazilian combination was highly immunogenic with Hib seroprotection rates (anti-PRP > 0.15 mg /ml of 98% after 2 doses and 100% after 3). Also for tetanus and pertussis the new Brazilian combination was as immunogenic as the European counterpart, except the diphtheria seroprotection rates and titers were lower. There was also no clinically relevant difference in reactogenicity. If these feasibility results are confirmed, the Brazilian DTPw/Hib combination should help to boost the uptake of Hib vaccination in Brazil.

Effects of tillage systems on physical properties of a cohesive yellow argisol in the northern state of Espírito Santo, Brazil

Tillage systems are a key element of the technology of crop production, both with a view to crop yield and from the perspective of soil conservation and sustainability of the production system. The aim of this paper was to evaluate the effects of five tillage systems on the physical properties of a cohesive Yellow Argisol. The experiment was installed in the field on January 21, 2011 and lasted 260 days, in an area previously used as pasture with Brachiaria grass without liming or fertilization, but irrigated by a low pressure spray system. The treatments, in five replications and in a randomized block design, consisted of: 1) disk plow (twice) + disk harrow + ridge-furrow tillage (raising a ridge along the planting row), 135 days after transplanting (DP + RID); 2) disk plow (twice) + disk harrow (DP no RID); 3) subsoiler (SB); 4) disk plow (twice) + disk harrow + scarification with three shanks along the plant row (DP + SPR); and 5) disk plow (twice) + disk harrow + scarification with three shanks in the total area (DP + STA). In all tillage systems, furrows were mechanically opened for the papaya plants. After the treatments, the mechanical resistance to penetration was determined, followed by soil moisture, mean weight diameter (MWD), geometric mean diameter (GMD), bulk density (BD), macroporosity (Ma), microporosity (Mi), and number of fruits per plant. There were differences in penetration resistance (PR) between treatments. The subsoiler was more effective to decrease RP to a distance of 0.35 m from the plants, perpendicular to the plant row. The scarifier resulted in a lower PR than DP or SB, even at the depth of 0.40 m, and it was more effective at greater distances perpendicular to the plant. All tillage systems induced a PR between 2.0 and 3.0 MPa at the depth with the highest concentration of papaya tree roots (0-0.25 m), improving the physical conditions to this depth. There was no statistical difference among the treatments for BD, Ma, Mi, MWD, and GMD at a depth of 0.20 m. The disk plow changed the physical properties of the soil most intensely to a depth of 0.20 m. The use of scarification, reduced tillage with a forest subsoiler, or ridge-furrow tillage did not improve the physical properties in the rhizosphere. Reduced tillage with a forest subsoiler resulted in a lower number of fruits per plant than all other treatments, which did not differ from each other.

Technical and economic analysis of replacing artificial lighting system to induction of photoperiod effect in begonia's seedlings in greenhouse

The type of artificial light used for inducing photoperiod effect in begonia's seedlings at greenhouse has fundamental importance in the growth and development of these plants and directly reflects in the electrical energy consumption used in this production process. The objective of this research was to analyze the technical and economic feasibility of replacing the current technology of artificial lighting used by the producers (incandescent lamps), by the technology of discharge lamps with the purpose of inducing photoperiod in a greenhouse. The analysis results indicate that the discharge lamp of 32 W Tubular Fluorescent discharge lamp was the one that presented the lower peak demand and lower average energy consumption of 85.01% compared to incandescent filament lamp of 100 W that is the technology of bigger consumption and currently used by the producer.

Jejunum and ileum blunt trauma: what has changed with the implementation of multislice computed tomography?

OBJECTIVE: to evaluate the impact of the new technology of multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) in improving the accuracy and early diagnosis of BSBI.METHODS: patients with blunt small bowel injuries (BSBI) grade> I were identified retrospectively and their CT scans reviewed by an experienced radiologist. Clinical and tomographic findings were analyzed and patients grouped as "pre-MDCT" and "post-MDCT", according to the time of implementation of a 64-slice MDCT.RESULTS: of the 26 patients with BSBI 16 had CT scans. Motor vehicle collision (62.5%) was the most frequent mechanism of injury. In the pre-MDCT period, five of the 13 patients (38.5%) had abdominal CT, and in the post-MDCT, 11 of 13 patients (84.6%) had the exam. During pre-MDCT, all CT scans were abnormal with findings of pneumoperitoneum (60%), free fluid (40%) and bowel wall enhancement (20%). In the post-MDCT group, all exams but one were abnormal and the most frequent findings were free fluid (90.9%), bowel wall enhancement (72.7%), and pneumoperitoneum (54.5%). However, the rate of delayed laparotomy did not change. The mortality rate in both groups were similar, with 20% during pre-MDCT and 18.2% during post-MDCT.CONCLUSION: the use of MDCT in abdominal trauma in our service has increased the sensibility of the diagnosis, but has had no impact on outcome so far.

Technological development of 40mg furosemide tablets: equivalence and bioavaibility study in dogs

Furosemide (40mg) was administered to 20 street dogs, 10 males and 10 females, in two different pharmaceutical forms: (1) compressed furosemide 40mg formulated at the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE-tablet), and (2) a commercial formulation with equal bioequivalence produced by the Laboratory for Pharmaceutical Technology of Pernambuco State (LAFEPE), the LAFEPE-furosemide. The study aimed to evaluate the kinetics of dissolution of the UFPE-tablet in order to analyze the behavior of bioavailability of the best formulation for veterinary use. The plasmatic concentrations of furosemide for the determination of parameters of pharmacological kinetics were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatographic method (HPLC). The in vitro study accomplished through physiochemical analyses demonstrated that the formulas of the furosemide tablets attained the pharmaceutical requirements in agreement with USP 23 and the Brazilian Pharmacopoeia. The evaluation accomplished in dogs with UFPE-tablets given in only dose demonstrated uniformity in blood levels indicating stability in maintenance of the pharmaceutical formulation and efficiency in absorption of the active compound. These values are not significantly different in relation to the 5% confidence limit. Regarding maximum concentration (Tmax) time and global bioavaibility assessed by AUC means, there were no considerable differences as well. UFPE-furosemide displayed 743.492µg/mL.h as AUC average value whereas LAFEPE-furosemide had an average of 537.284µg/mL.h.

Analysis of open CNC architecture for machine tools

The evolution of digital circuit technology, leadind to higher speeds and more reliability allowed the development of machine controllers adapted to new production systems (e.g., Flexible Manufacturing Systems - FMS). Most of the controllers are developed in agreement with the CNC technology of the correspondent machine tool manufacturer. Any alterations or adaptation of their components are not easy to be implemented. The machine designers face up hardware and software restrictions such as lack of interaction among system's elements and impossibility of adding new function. This is due to hardware incompatibility and to software not allowing alterations in the source program. The introduction of open architecture philosophy propitiated the evolution of a new generation of numeric controllers. This brought the conventional CNC technology to the standard IBM - PC microcomputer. As a consequence, the characteristics of the CNC (positioning) and the microcomputer (easy of programming, system configuration, network communication etc) are combined. Some researchers have addressed a flexible structure of software and hardware allowing changes in the hardware basic configuration and all control software levels. In this work, the development of open architecture controllers in the OSACA, OMAC, HOAM-CNC and OSEC architectures is described.

Radioautographology: the proposal of a new concept

A new concept termed "radioautographology" is advocated. This term was synthesized from "radioautography" and "ology", expressing a new science derived from radioautography. The concept of radioautographology (RAGology) is that of a science whose objective is to localize radioactive substances in the biological structure of objects and to analyze and study the significance of these substances in the biological structure. On the other hand, the old term radioautography (RAG) is the technique used to demonstrate the pattern of localization of various radiolabeled compounds in specimens. The specimens used in biology and medicine are cells and tissues. They are fixed, sectioned and placed in contact with the radioautographic emulsions, which are exposed and developed to produce metallic silver grains. Such specimens are designated as radioautographs and the patterns of pictures made of silver grains are named radioautograms. The technicians who produce radioautographs are named radioautographers, while those who study RAGology are scientists and should be called radioautographologists. The science of RAGology can be divided into two parts, general RAGology and special RAGology, as most natural sciences usually can. General RAGology is the technology of RAG which consists of three fields of science, i.e., physics concerning radioactivity, histochemistry for the treatment of cells and tissues, and photochemistry dealing with the photographic emulsions. Special RAGology, on the other hand, consists of applications of general RAGology. The applications can be classified into several scientific fields, i.e., cellular and molecular biology, anatomy, histology, embryology, pathology and pharmacology. Studies carried out in our laboratory are summarized and reviewed. All the results obtained from such applications should be systematized as a new field of science in the future.

Tissue expression and subcellular localization of Mipu1, a novel myocardial ischemia-related gene

Myocardial ischemic preconditioning up-regulated protein 1 (Mipu1), a novel zinc finger protein, was originally cloned using bioinformatic analysis and 5' RACE technology of rat heart after a transient myocardial ischemia/reperfusion procedure in our laboratory. In order to investigate the functions of Mipu1, the recombinant prokaryotic expression vector pQE31-Mipu1 was constructed and transformed into Escherichia coli M15(pREP4), and Mipu1-6His fusion protein was expressed and purified. The identity of the purified protein was confirmed by mass spectrometry. The molecular mass of the Mipu1 protein was 70.03779 kDa. The fusion protein was intracutaneously injected to immunize New Zealand rabbits to produce a polyclonal antibody. The antibody titer was approximately 1:16,000. The antibody was tested by Western blotting for specificity and sensitivity. Using the antibody, it was found that Mipu1 was highly expressed in the heart and brain of rats and was localized in the nucleus of H9c2 myogenic cells. The present study lays the foundation for further study of the biological functions of Mipu1.