Relative development of tissues, commercial meat cuts and live weight components in Saanen goats

Objetivando avaliar o desenvolvimento relativo dos componentes do peso vivo (PV), dos cortes comerciais e dos tecidos da carcaça, utilizaram-se 40 cabritos Saanen. Os animais foram abatidos ao atingir 5,0; 12,5; 20,0; 27,5 e 35,0 kg de PV e a carcaça foi seccionada em paleta, pescoço, 1ª a 5ª costelas, 6ª a 13ª costelas, peito/fralda, lombo e perna. A perna foi dissecada em ossos, músculos e gordura. Utilizou-se a equação alométrica Y=aXb para estimar o desenvolvimento relativo. O crescimento do tecido ósseo foi precoce, o do tecido muscular intermediário e o da gordura crescimento tardio, uma vez que a gordura subcutânea é depositada mais tardiamente. Os cortes comerciais apresentaram coeficiente de alometria isogônico, com exceção do corte da 6ª a 13ª costelas e do peito/fralda. O desenvolvimento da carcaça e dos não-componentes da carcaça acompanhou o peso de corpo vazio. Cabritos com 35 kg de PV possuem proporção de músculos e relação músculo:osso adequadas, mas apresentam proporção de gordura maior que a observada nos animais abatidos com 20 kg de PV.

Yield, chemical composition and chlorophyll relative content of Tanzania and Mombaça grasses irrigated and fertilized with nitrogen after corn intercropping

Avaliou-se o efeito da ausência e da aplicação de três doses de nitrogênio (50, 100 e 200 kg ha-1 de N) e quatro épocas de corte no inverno/primavera (julho a outubro) sobre a produtividade de massa seca (PMS), os teores relativos de clorofila (ICF _ índice de clorofila foliar) e os teores de nutrientes digestíveis totais (NDT), proteína bruta (PB), fibra em detergente neutro (FDN), fibra em detergente ácido (FDA) e lignina, bem como suas respectivas correlações nos capins tanzânia e mombaça após o consórcio com milho em um Latossolo Vermelho distroférrico. O delineamento experimental utilizado foi o de blocos casualizados, em parcelas subdivididas, com quatro repetições. As maiores PMS ocorreram com o aumento do fotoperíodo (a partir de agosto), no entanto, as respostas à adubação nitrogenada ao longo dos cortes diferiram entre e dentre os capins. em sistema de integração lavoura-pecuária irrigado sob condições de cerrado, é tecnicamente viável o estabelecimento dos capins tanzânia e mombaça em consórcio com o milho no momento da semeadura ou por ocasião da adubação nitrogenada de cobertura, visto que, mesmo na ausência de adubação nitrogenada, foi produzida quantidade satisfatória de forragem, com PMS média de 2.000 kg ha-1 por corte na época de maior escassez de volumoso para os animais (inverno/primavera). A adubação nitrogenada após a colheita do milho eleva a PMS e melhora a composição bromatológica dos capins, com aumento dos teores relativos de clorofila e PB no inverno/primavera, além de aumento dos teores de NDT e redução dos teores de FDN e FDA até o mês de setembro. O índice de clorofila foliar pode ser utilizado para estimar a PMS e o teor de PB, bem como indicar a necessidade de adubação nitrogenada dos capins tanzânia e mombaça submetidos a corte.

Sorghum grain yield, forage biomass production and revenue as affected by intercropping time

Sorghum is an excellent alternative to other grains in poor soil where corn does not develop very well, as well as in regions with warm and dry winters. Intercropping sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] with forage crops, such as palisade grass [Brachiaria brizantha (Hochst. ex A. Rich) Stapf] or guinea grass (Panicum maximum Jacq.), provides large amounts of biomass for use as straw in no-tillage systems or as pasture. However, it is important to determine the appropriate time at which these forage crops have to be sown into sorghum systems to avoid reductions in both sorghum and forage production and to maximize the revenue of the cropping system. This study, conducted for three growing seasons at Botucatu in the State of São Paulo in Brazil, evaluated how nutrient concentration, yield components, sorghum grain yield, revenue, and forage crop dry matter production were affected by the timing of forage intercropping. The experimental design was a randomized complete block design. Intercropping systems were not found to cause reductions in the nutrient concentration in sorghum plants. The number of panicles per unit area of sorghum alone (133,600), intercropped sorghum and palisade grass (133,300) and intercropped sorghum and guinea grass (134,300) corresponded to sorghum grain yields of 5439, 5436 and 5566kgha-1, respectively. However, the number of panicles per unit area of intercropped sorghum and palisade grass (144,700) and intercropped sorghum and guinea grass (145,000) with topdressing of fertilizers for the sorghum resulted in the highest sorghum grain yields (6238 and 6127kgha-1 for intercropping with palisade grass and guinea grass, respectively). Forage production (8112, 10,972 and 13,193Mg ha-1 for the first, second and third cuts, respectively) was highest when sorghum and guinea grass were intercropped. The timing of intercropping is an important factor in sorghum grain yield and forage production. Palisade grass or guinea grass must be intercropped with sorghum with topdressing fertilization to achieve the highest sorghum grain yield, but this significantly reduces the forage production. Intercropping sorghum with guinea grass sown simultaneously yielded the highest revenue per ha (€ 1074.4), which was 2.4 times greater than the revenue achieved by sowing sorghum only. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.

Características de produção e qualidade nutricional de genótipos de capim- colonião colhidos em três estádios de maturidade

Objetivou- se verificar a existência de variação genética entre cultivares de capim- colonião quanto ao efeito da maturidade sobre a composição química e a digestibilidade, e classificar os genótipos de acordo com características produtivas e de qualidade nutricional. Utilizou- se o delineamento de blocos ao acaso, com parcelas subdivididas e três repetições, considerando parcelas as datas de corte e subparcelas, os genótipos. A produção de MS diferiu entre os genótipos somente aos 90 dias de crescimento, mas a porcentagem de folhas, colmos e material morto variou tanto aos 60 como aos 90 dias de crescimento. Ao contrário do observado para as folhas, a composição química e a digestibilidade do colmo apresentou grande variabilidade entre os genótipos. O colmo apresentou concentrações mais elevadas de FDN, FDA e lignina e menores valores de PB em comparação às folhas. Apresentou ainda maior digestibilidade da MS aos 60 dias de crescimento e maior digestibilidade da FDN aos 30 e 60 dias de crescimento. No agrupamento dos cultivares, os genótipos PM39 e PM47 foram apontados como os mais promissores no programa de melhoramento, por apresentarem alta produtividade e alta qualidade nutricional. A maturidade pouco afeta a digestibilidade de folhas em comparação ao colmo. Quando a participação de colmo no total de massa seca aumenta, esse componente passa a ser o limitador da qualidade de plantas forrageiras. Portanto, programas de melhoramento devem considerar, além da relação folha:colmo, também a digestibilidade in vitro da FDN do colmo na seleção de genótipos.

Níveis de lisina digestível para frangos de corte machos no período de 37 a 49 dias de idade

Foram utilizados 1.015 frangos de corte machos, linhagem Ross, dos 37 aos 49 dias de idade, para avaliar os efeitos de diferentes níveis de lisina digestível nas dietas experimentais. O delineamento experimental foi inteiramente casualizado, com 5 níveis de lisina digestível (0,90; 0,95; 1,00; 1,05; 1,10%), cada um com 7 repetições e 29 aves por unidade experimental. Utilizaram-se dietas isoenergéticas com 3.250 de kcal de EM/kg e isoprotéicas, com 18% de PB, à base de milho e farelo de soja. Foram avaliados o ganho de peso, o consumo de ração, a conversão alimentar, as características de carcaça, o rendimento de cortes, a composição e a deposição de nutrientes corporais. Os níveis de lisina digestível influenciaram, entre as características de desempenho, apenas a conversão alimentar, que melhorou de forma linear de acordo com níveis de lisina da ração. Das características de carcaça e rendimento de cortes, apenas gordura abdominal aumentou de forma quadrática conforme os níveis de lisina. Os níveis de lisina digestível tiveram efeito quadrático no teor da matéria mineral da carcaça, mas não influenciaram a composição química das vísceras e do sangue. Observou-se, contudo, tendência a aumento linear na deposição de proteína da carcaça e do corpo vazio com o aumento no nível de lisina digestível. Os resultados de desempenho indicam que o nível de lisina digestível da ração de frangos de corte machos no período de 37 a 49 dias de idade deve ser igual ou superior a 1,10%.

INFLUENCE OF ALTITUDE, AGE AND DIAMETER ON YIELD AND ALPHA-BISABOLOL CONTENT OF CANDEIA TREES (Eremanthus erythropappus)

The heartwood of candeia tree is a source of essential oil rich in alpha-bisabolol, a substance widely used in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industry. Bearing in mind the economic importance of alpha-bisabolol, this work aimed to evaluate the influence of tree age on the yield and content of alpha-bisabolol present in essential oil from candeia, considering two distinct reliefs and three diameter classes, in Aiuruoca region, south Minas Gerais state. The two distinct reliefs correspond respectively to one section of the stand growing at 1,000m of altitude (Area 1) and another section growing at 1,100m of altitude (Area 2). In each section, 15 trees were felled from among 3 different diameter classes. Discs were removed from the base of each tree to estimate their age by doing growth ring count. Soil samples were taken and Subjected to physical and chemical analysis. The logs were reduced into chips and random samples were taken for distillation to extract essential oil. The method used was steam distillation at a pressure of 2 kgf/cm(2)/2.5 h. The chemical analysis was performed in a gas chromatograph (GC) based on the alpha-bisabolol standard reference. The yield of essential oil from trees in Area I was higher than that from trees in Area 2, with the same pattern of influence for older trees. In Area 2, the alpha-bisabolol content was higher in younger trees. No differences were found between the relevant parameters in relation to diameter classes.

QTL mapping for yield components in a tropical maize population using microsatellite markers

QTL mapping provides usefull information for breeding programs since it allows the estimation of genomic locations and genetic effects of chromossomal regions related to the expression of quantitative traits. The objective of this study was to map QTL related to several agronomic important traits associated with grain yield: ear weight (EW), prolificacy (PROL), ear number (NE), ear length (EL) and diameter (ED), number of rows on the ear (NRE) and number of kernels per row on the ear (NKPR). Four hundred F-2:3 tropical maize progenies were evaluated in five environments in Piracicaba, Sao Paulo, Brazil. The genetic map was previously estimated and had 117 microssatelite loci with average distance of 14 cM. Data was analysed using Composite Interval Mapping for each trait. Thirty six QTL were mapped and related to the expression of EW (2), PROL (3), NE (2), EL (5), ED (5), NRE (10), NKPR (5). Few QTL were mapped since there was high GxE interaction. Traits EW, PROL and EN showed high genetic correlation with grain yield and several QTL mapped to similar genomic regions, which could cause the observed correlation. However, further analysis using apropriate statistical models are required to separate linked versus pleiotropic QTL. Five QTL (named Ew1, Ne1, Ed3, Nre3 and Nre10) had high genetic effects, explaining from 10.8% (Nre3) to 16.9% (Nre10) of the phenotypic variance, and could be considered in further studies.

Transition in Yield and Azimuthal Shape Modification in Dihadron Correlations in Relativistic Heavy Ion Collisions

Hard-scattered parton probes produced in collisions of large nuclei indicate large partonic energy loss, possibly with collective produced-medium response to the lost energy. We present measurements of pi(0) trigger particles at transverse momenta p(T)(t) = 4-12 GeV/c and associated charged hadrons (p(T)(a) = 0.5-7 GeV/c) vs relative azimuthal angle Delta phi in Au + Au and p + p collisions at root s(NN) = 200 GeV. The Au + Au distribution at low p(T)(a), whose shape has been interpreted as a medium effect, is modified for p(T)(t) < 7 GeV/c. At higher p(T)(t), the data are consistent with unmodified or very weakly modified shapes, even for the lowest measured p(T)(a), which quantitatively challenges some medium response models. The associated yield of hadrons opposing the trigger particle in Au + Au relative to p + p (I(AA)) is suppressed at high p(T) (I(AA) approximate to 0.35-0.5), but less than for inclusive suppression (R(AA) approximate to 0.2).

Quantum yield excitation spectrum (UV-visible) of CdSe/ZnS core-shell quantum dots by thermal lens spectrometry

A recently developed thermal lens spectrometry configuration has been used to study CdSe/ZnS core-shell quantum dots (QDs) suspended in toluene and tetrahydrofuran (THF) solvents. The special features of this configuration make it very attractive to measure fluorescence quantum yield (eta) excitation spectrum since it simplifies the measurement procedure and consequently improve the accuracy. Furthermore, the precision reached is much higher than in conventional photoluminescence (PL) technique. Two methods, called reference sample and multiwavelength have been applied to determine eta, varying excitation wavelength in the UV-visible region (between 335-543 nm). The eta and PL spectra are practically independent of the excitation wavelength. For CdSe/ZnS QDs suspended in toluene we have obtained eta=76 +/- 2%. In addition, the aging effect on eta and PL has been studied over a 200 h period for QDs suspended in THF. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3343517]

High-yield kraft pulping of Eucalyptus grandis Hill ex Maiden biotreated by Ceriporiopsis subvermispora under two different culture conditions

In the present study, it was evaluated how two different culture conditions for the biotreatment of Eucalyptus grandis by Ceriporiopsis subvermispora affect a subsequent high-yield kraft pulping process. Under the varied culture conditions investigated, different extracellular enzyme activities were observed. Manganese-peroxidase (MnP) secretion was 3.7 times higher in cultures supplemented with glucose plus corn-steep liquor (glucose/CSL) as compared to non-supplemented (NS) cultures. The biotreated samples underwent diverse levels of wood component degradation as losses of weight and lignin were increased in glucose/CSL cultures. Mass balances for lignin removal during kraft pulping showed that delignification was facilitated when both biotreated wood samples were cooked. Delignification efficiency did not correlate positively with MnP levels in the cultures. On the other hand, biopulps from NS and glucose/CSL cultures saved 27% and 38% beating time to achieve 288 Schopper-Riegler freeness during refining, respectively. Biopulps disposed of decreased tensile and tear resistances, thus easier refining of the biokraft pulps seems to be a consequence of less resistant fiber walls. Improved beatability of biopulps was tentatively related to short fibers and fines formation during refining. We suggest that to some extent polysaccharide depolymerization occurred during the biotreatment, which also resulted in diminished pulp yields in the case of glucose/CSL cultures.

Penetration of hydrolysed soy protein-added brine and its effect on yield and pH of beef steaks from the biceps femoris muscle

This study was aimed to evaluate the penetration behaviour of different brines with tumbled beef steaks from the biceps femoris muscle, specifically their interactions with pH and effects on yield. Six muscles from different animals, divided into origin (OP) and insertion (IP) portions, were cut into 60 steaks of 2.5 cm thickness and tumbled for 30 or 60 min. The steaks were tumbled with two brines, with (WTB/HSP) or without (WTB) hydrolysed soy protein (HSP), and steaks that were not tumbled with brine or water were used as controls. Brine penetration was verified by measuring the amount of dye-containing brine (absorbance at 627 nm) recovered from homogenates of four thin (2 mm) slices from the surface of the beef steaks after tumbling. The WTB/HSP steaks exhibited greater (P < 0.05) brine penetration when tumbled for 60 min than for 30 min. The OP steaks showed greater yield and lower pH (P < 0.05) than IP steaks. HSP-added brine increased the water absorption and retention in the first slices of the steaks, and its efficiency was increased with a longer tumbling time. The portion of the biceps femoris muscle used influenced brine absorption and retention, impacting meat yield. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The impact of El Nino Southern Oscillation phases on off-season maize yield for a subtropical region of Brazil

In recent years, maize has become one of the main alternative crops for the autumn winter growing season in the central-western and southeastern regions of Brazil. However, water deficits, sub-optimal temperatures and low solar radiation levels are common problems that are experienced during this growing season by local farmers. One methodology to assess the impact of variable weather conditions on crop production is the use of crop simulation models. The goal of this study was to evaluate the effect of climate variability on maize yield for a subtropical region of Brazil. Specific objectives for this study were (1) to analyse the effect of El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on precipitation and air temperature for four locations in the state of Sao Paulo and (2) to analyse the impact of ENSO on maize grown off-season for the same four locations using a crop simulation model. For each site, historical weather data were categorised as belonging to one of three phases of ENSO: El Nino (warm sea surface temperature anomalies in the Pacific), La Nina (cool sea surface temperature anomalies) or neutral, based on an index derived from observed sea surface temperature anomalies. During El Nino, there is a tendency for an increase in the rainfall amount during May for the four selected locations, and also during April, mainly in three of the locations, resulting in an increase in simulated maize yield planted between February 15 and March 15. In general, there was a decrease in the simulated yield for maize grown off-season during neutral years. This study showed how a crop model can be used to assess the impact of climate variability on the yield of maize grown off-season in a subtropical region of Brazil. The outcomes of this study can be very useful for both policy makers and local farmers for agricultural planning and decision making. Copyright (C) 2009 Royal Meteorological Society

Spatio-temporal modeling of agricultural yield data with an application to pricing crop insurance contracts

This article presents a statistical model of agricultural yield data based on a set of hierarchical Bayesian models that allows joint modeling of temporal and spatial autocorrelation. This method captures a comprehensive range of the various uncertainties involved in predicting crop insurance premium rates as opposed to the more traditional ad hoc, two-stage methods that are typically based on independent estimation and prediction. A panel data set of county-average yield data was analyzed for 290 counties in the State of Parana (Brazil) for the period of 1990 through 2002. Posterior predictive criteria are used to evaluate different model specifications. This article provides substantial improvements in the statistical and actuarial methods often applied to the calculation of insurance premium rates. These improvements are especially relevant to situations where data are limited.

Parametric and nonparametric statistical modelling of crop yield: implications for pricing crop insurance contracts

This article considers alternative methods to calculate the fair premium rate of crop insurance contracts based on county yields. The premium rate was calculated using parametric and nonparametric approaches to estimate the conditional agricultural yield density. These methods were applied to a data set of county yield provided by the Statistical and Geography Brazilian Institute (IBGE), for the period of 1990 through 2002, for soybean, corn and wheat, in the State of Paran. In this article, we propose methodological alternatives to pricing crop insurance contracts resulting in more accurate premium rates in a situation of limited data.

Yield loss caused by huanglongbing in different sweet orange cultivars in So Paulo, Brazil

Citrus huanglongbing (HLB) reduces an affected orchard`s economic life. This work aimed to characterize yield loss due to HLB for different sweet orange cultivars and determine the relationship between disease severity and yield. Disease severity and yield were assessed on 949 individual trees distributed in 11 different blocks from sweet orange cultivars Hamlin, Westin, Pera and Valencia. In each block, plants showing a range of HLB severity levels and asymptomatic plants were selected. Total yield (weight of harvested fruit), mean weight of asymptomatic and symptomatic fruit, relative yield (symptomatic tree yield/mean yield of asymptomatic trees from the same block) and relative number of fruits (fruit number from symptomatic tree/mean number of fruits from asymptomatic trees from the same block) were determined. The weight of symptomatic fruit was lower than the weight of asymptomatic fruit, but the weights of asymptomatic and symptomatic fruit were not correlated with disease severity, indicating that the effects of HLB were restricted to symptomatic branches. The relationship of the relative yield with HLB severity can be satisfactorily described by a negative exponential model. The rates of yield decrease as a function of disease severity were similar for all assessed cultivars. A relative yield (up to 19%) was observed even for trees where disease severity was 100%. The strong linear relationship between relative number of fruits per tree and the relative yield per tree suggested that the yield reduction was due primarily to early fruit drop or lack of fruit set on affected branches.