Genetic parameter estimation for pre- and post-weaning traits in Brahman cattle in Brazil

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Predicting breeding values for milk yield of Guzera (Bos indicus) cows using random regression models

Given the importance of Guzera breeding programs for milk production in the tropics, the objective of this study was to compare alternative random regression models for estimation of genetic parameters and prediction of breeding values. Test-day milk yields records (TDR) were collected monthly, in a maximum of 10 measurements. The database included 20,524 records of first lactation from 2816 Guzera cows. TDR data were analyzed by random regression models (RRM) considering additive genetic, permanent environmental and residual effects as random and the effects of contemporary group (CG), calving age as a covariate (linear and quadratic effects) and mean lactation curve as fixed. The genetic additive and permanent environmental effects were modeled by RRM using Wilmink, All and Schaeffer and cubic B-spline functions as well as Legendre polynomials. Residual variances were considered as heterogeneous classes, grouped differently according to the model used. Multi-trait analysis using finite-dimensional models (FDM) for testday milk records (TDR) and a single-trait model for 305-days milk yields (default) using the restricted maximum likelihood method were also carried out as further comparisons. Through the statistical criteria adopted, the best RRM was the one that used the cubic B-spline function with five random regression coefficients for the genetic additive and permanent environmental effects. However, the models using the Ali and Schaeffer function or Legendre polynomials with second and fifth order for, respectively, the additive genetic and permanent environmental effects can be adopted, as little variation was observed in the genetic parameter estimates compared to those estimated by models using the B-spline function. Therefore, due to the lower complexity in the (co)variance estimations, the model using Legendre polynomials represented the best option for the genetic evaluation of the Guzera lactation records. An increase of 3.6% in the accuracy of the estimated breeding values was verified when using RRM. The ranks of animals were very close whatever the RRM for the data set used to predict breeding values. Considering P305, results indicated only small to medium difference in the animals' ranking based on breeding values predicted by the conventional model or by RRM. Therefore, the sum of all the RRM-predicted breeding values along the lactation period (RRM305) can be used as a selection criterion for 305-day milk production. (c) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Finishing precocity visual score and genetic associations with growth traits in Angus beef cattle

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Auxílio do geoprocessamento para a geração do mapa de suscetibilidade à erosão: o caso do córrego Mandu, Rio Claro/SP

The mining of sand, currently, is essential for urban growth, by providing input for the building industry. The consequences of this mining activity to environmental triggers may be severe and irreversible. Among the major impacts caused by sand mining the riparian vegetation removal is detached. The riparian vegetation is essential for balance and maintaining the local ecosystem. For all that had been shown, is possible to verify the importance of environmental studies in areas wich there are mining. This study aimed specially to assess environmental impacts triggered by a mining, located near the headwaters of the stream Mandu, situated in Ajapi, District of Rio Claro-SP. For this purpose, we used remote sensing techniques and GIS to produce thematic maps of slope, pedology, geology, land use and occupation of the soil, and riparian vegetation, using the capabilities of GIS / ArcGIS. The slope map was based on data from the Cartographic IGC 1979, scale 1:10,000. For the production of pedological and geological maps were used Semi-Detailed soil survey of the state of São Paulo, 1981 (1:100,000) and the Geological Map of Zaine (1994), scale 1:50,000, respectively. Since the maps of Use and Land Occupation and Riparian Forest were obtained by visual interpretation of the image of CBERS 2010 following the merger between the HRC and CCD images. From these mappings, and through multi-criteria analysis, map of susceptibility to erosion was made, which supported the environmental assessment of the studied area, indicating susceptible and unsuitable areas for the deployment of economic activities and urban sprawl. This study serves as a model can be replicated in other watersheds, assisting in the proper use planning and land use, aiming at the rational use of natural resources

Estudo da interação genótipo ambiente em búfalos leiteiros do Brasil e da Colômbia

Pós-graduação em Zootecnia - FCAV

Validation of a measuring instrument for the perception of oral health in women

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Análise da suscetibilidade a corridas de massa aplicada a dutovias: estudo de caso na bacia do Ribeirão do Roque

This scientific research aimed at to analyse the susceptibility to debris flow of the watershed of Ribeirão do Roque (SP), focusing on the upstream areas of OSBRA pipeline. This is because, mass flow can cause damage to pipes, mainly due to conditioning hydro erosion of the land in the drainage crossings, including the undermining the banks of streams. Firstly, It was conducted a literature review, aiming to identify and understand the principal characteristics and conditions of debris flow. Secondly, the physical and anthropic factors and their respective weights of influence were selected and used to determine the mass flow susceptibility. It was selected the following physical factors: type and thickness of rocks, soil and unconsolidated materials; textural density; amplitude relief; relief slope; shaped valley; and shape of slopes. Such factors are present in the physiographic subdivision map of the study area. In addition, the anthropic attributes correspond to the classes contained in the land use map. Therefore, the physical and anthropic factors were integrated through the multi-criteria analysis in a GIS environment, generating a total susceptibility map of debris flow on the scale 1:50,000. The results showed that a significative part of the study area was classified as average susceptibility. However, it was identified areas with high susceptibility in the region in which the pipe cross the Ribeirão do Roque. Moreover, at which point the river presents a closed valley and a meander shape, without a fluvial plain that would be useful to attenuate the development of the process. Consequently, if a mass flow begins in any of these most susceptible regions located upstream of the pipe, the chances that the process develops by the river and causes the excavations of his bed are quite large. However, the pipelines cross these critical areas directly on the rock (diabase), which provides additional protection against possible ...

Estrutura populacional e parâmetros genéticos da característica classe de tempo em corridas de equinos da raça Quarto de Milha

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Análise multicriterial aplicado na definição de áreas prioritárias ao uso agrícola da terra da bacia do Rio Capivara, Botucatu, SP

The use of geographic information systems (GIS), combined with advanced analysis technique, enables the standardization and data integration, which are usually from different sources, allowing you to conduct a joint evaluation of the same, providing more efficiency and reliability in the decision-making process to promote the adequacy of land use. This study aimed to analyze the priority areas of the basin agricultural use of the Capivara River, Botucatu, SP, through multicriterial analysis, aiming at conservation of water resources. The results showed that the Geographic Information System Idrisi Selva combined with advanced analysis technique and the weighted linear combination method proved to be an effective tool in the combination of different criteria, allowing the determination of the adequacy of agricultural land use less subjective way. Environmental criteria were shown to be suitable for the combination and multi-criteria analysis, allowing the preparation of the statement of suitability classes for agricultural use and can be useful for regional planning and decision-making by public bodies and environmental agents because the method takes into account the rational use of land and allowing the conservation of hydrics resources.

Adequação territorial com abordagem multicriterial pela análise da combinação linear ponderada

From the characterization of biophysical attributes of the watershed (slope, soil types, capacity to land use and land cover), this article, used the multi-criteria analysis method – Weighted Linear Combination, defined priority areas for adaptation to the use of land as to its capacity of use. With this methodological approach, were created for the watershed under study, four classes, formed by different combinations of biophysical attributes (discrete data), representing levels of priorities for agricultural land use. The Multicriteria Evaluation in a GIS is suitable for the mapping of priority areas to the suitability of land use in watersheds. The geospatial information on the biophysical environment, generated from the methodological procedures described in this article, has a high positive potential to guide the rational planning of the use of natural resources and territorial occupation, besides serving as a powerful instrument to guide policies and collective processes of decision on the use and land cover.

Community structure and dynamics of Monogenea and Trematoda in three North American cyprinid species in the Salt Valley Watershed, Nebraska.

An investigation was made of the communities of gill monogene genus Dactylogyrus (Platyhelminthes, Monogenea) and the populations of blackspot parasite (Platyhelminthes, Trematoda) of Pimephales promelas, Notropis stramineus, and Semotilus atromaculatus in 3 distinct sites along the 3 converging tributaries in southeastern Nebraska from 2004 to 2006. This work constitutes the first multi-site, multi-year study of a complex community of Dactylogyrus spp. and their reproductive activities on native North American cyprinid species. The biological hypothesis that closely related species with direct lifecycles respond differently to shared environmental conditions was tested. It was revealed that in this system that, Cyprinid species do not share Dactylogyrus species, host size and sex are not predictive of infection, and Dactylogyrus community structure is stable, despite variation in seasonal occurrence and populations among sites. The biological hypothesis that closely related species have innate differences in reproductive activities that provide structure to their populations and influence their roles in the parasite community was tested. It was revealed that in this system, host size, sex, and collection site are not predictive of reproductive activities, that egg production is not always continuous and varies in duration among congeners, and that recruitment of larval Dactylogyrus is not continuous across parasites’ reproductive periods. Hatch timing and host availability, not reproductive timing, are the critical factors determining population dynamics of the gill monogenes in time and space. Lastly, the biological hypothesis that innate blackspot biology is responsible for parasite host-specificity, host recruitment strategies and parasite population structure was tested. Field collections revealed that for blackspot, host size, sex, and collection month and year are not predictive of infection, that parasite cysts survive winter, and that host movement is restricted among the 3 collection sites. Finally, experimental infections of hosts with cercaria isolated from 1st intermediate snail hosts reveal that cercarial biology, not environmental circumstances, are responsible for differences in infection among hosts.

Determination of trace elements in bovine semen samples by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and data mining techniques for identification of bovine class

The reproductive performance of cattle may be influenced by several factors, but mineral imbalances are crucial in terms of direct effects on reproduction. Several studies have shown that elements such as calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, selenium, and zinc are essential for reproduction and can prevent oxidative stress. However, toxic elements such as lead, nickel, and arsenic can have adverse effects on reproduction. In this paper, we applied a simple and fast method of multi-element analysis to bovine semen samples from Zebu and European classes used in reproduction programs and artificial insemination. Samples were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma spectrometry (ICP-MS) using aqueous medium calibration and the samples were diluted in a proportion of 1:50 in a solution containing 0.01% (vol/vol) Triton X-100 and 0.5% (vol/vol) nitric acid. Rhodium, iridium, and yttrium were used as the internal standards for ICP-MS analysis. To develop a reliable method of tracing the class of bovine semen, we used data mining techniques that make it possible to classify unknown samples after checking the differentiation of known-class samples. Based on the determination of 15 elements in 41 samples of bovine semen, 3 machine-learning tools for classification were applied to determine cattle class. Our results demonstrate the potential of support vector machine (SVM), multilayer perceptron (MLP), and random forest (RF) chemometric tools to identify cattle class. Moreover, the selection tools made it possible to reduce the number of chemical elements needed from 15 to just 8.

Paleolimnologically inferred eutrophication of a shallow, tropical, urban reservoir in southeast Brazil

We studied the eutrophication history of a tropical shallow reservoir in the So Paulo metropolitan region, southeast Brazil. We analyzed grain size, geochemistry, diatom assemblages, and land-use records in a sediment core from the reservoir to infer its trophic state history during the last similar to 110 years (1894-2005). Eighty diatom species were observed in the core and shifts in the relative abundances of planktonic and benthic taxa indicate major limnological changes associated with complex interactions between hydrologic factors and eutrophication. Discostella stelligera was associated with deforestation and water physical changes whereas Aulacoseira granulata, a species abundant throughout the core, was mostly associated with high flux conditions and erosion events, regardless of trophic state. Eutrophication was triggered by construction of the city zoo (1958) and installation of the So Paulo State Department of Agriculture (1975) within the Gar double dagger as watershed, and increasing loads of untreated sewage from these institutions. The data suggest that deterioration in water quality began after similar to 1975 and markedly accelerated after similar to 1990. The reservoir has been hypereutrophic since 1999. Steady increases in geochemical proxies for trophic state, along with a decrease in C/N ratios, indicated higher nutrient concentrations and the prevalence of autochthonous production towards the core top. Appearance of Achnanthidium catenatum similar to 1993 highlighted the onset of a marked eutrophication phase. The subsequent dominance of Planothidium rostratum and Cyclotella meneghiniana suggested a sharp shift to a hypereutrophic state since 1999. Land-use history proved valuable for validating the chronology and interpreting anthropogenic impacts. Multi-proxy analysis of the sediment record provided an effective tool for tracking ecological shifts in the reservoir ecosystem. This study provides the first reconstruction of lake eutrophication history in Brazil and highlights the importance of hydrological/physical changes as drivers of diatom assemblage shifts in reservoirs, which may confound trophic state inferences based on shifts in the planktonic/benthic diatom ratio.

Genotype by environment interaction for birth and weaning weights of composite beef cattle in different regions of Brazil

The objectives of the present study were to characterize and define homogenous production environments of composite beef cattle in Brazil in terms of climatic and geographic variables using multivariate exploratory techniques and to use them to assess the presence of G x E for birth weight (BW) and weaning weight (WW). Data from animals born between 1995 and 2008 on 36 farms located in 27 municipalities of the Brazilian states were used. Fifteen years of climate observations (mean minimum and maximum annual temperature and mean annual rainfall) and geographic (latitude, longitude and altitude) data were obtained for each municipality where the farms were located for characterization of the production environments. Hierarchical and nonhierarchical cluster analysis was used to group farms located in regions with similar environmental variables into clusters. Six clusters of farms were formed. The effect of sire-cluster interaction was tested by single-trait analysis using deviance information criterion (DIC). Genetic parameters were estimated by multi-trait analysis considering the same trait to be different in each cluster. According to the values of DIC, the inclusion of sire-cluster effect did not improve the fit of the genetic evaluation model for BW and WW. Estimates of genetic correlations among clusters ranged from -0.02 to 0.92. The low genetic correlation among the most studied regions permits us to suggest that a separate genetic evaluation for some regions should be undertaken. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A novel DAX1/NR0B1 mutation in a patient with adrenal hypoplasia congenita and hypogonadotropic hypogonadism

We report a case of adrenal hypoplasia congenita (AHC) and hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (HH) due to a novel DAX1 mutation. A 19-month-old boy with hyperpigmentation and failure to thrive came to our service for investigation. Three brothers of the patient had died due to adrenal failure, and a maternal cousin had adrenal insufficiency. Adrenoleukodystrophy was excluded. MRI showed normal pituitary and hypothalamus. Plasma hormone evaluation revealed high ACTH (up to 2,790 pg/mL), and low levels of androstenedione, DHEA-S, 11-deoxycortisol, and cortisol. At 14 years of age the patient was still prepubescent, his weight was 43.6 kg (SDS: -0.87) and his height was 161 cm (SDS: -0.36), with normal body proportions. In the GnRH test, basal and maximum values of LH and FSH were respectively 0.6/2.1 and < 1.0/< 1.0 U/L. Molecular investigation identified a novel mutation that consists of a deletion of codon 372 (AAC; asparagine) in exon 1 of DAX1. This mutation was not found in a study of 200 alleles from normal individuals. Prediction site analysis indicated that this alteration, located in the DAX1 ligand-binding domain, may damage DAX1 protein. We hypothesize that the novel (p.Asp372del) DAX1 mutation might be able to cause a disruption of DAX1 function, and is probably involved in the development of AHC and HH in this patient. Arq Bras Endocrinol Metab. 2012;56(8):496-500