Performance and egg quality of laying hens fed diets containing aflatoxin, fumonisin and adsorbent

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Performance and egg quality of Japanese quails submitted to cyclic heat stress

Aiming at evaluating the influence of cyclic temperatures on the performance and egg quality of Japanese quails an experiment was carried out with 480 birds after egg production peak. Birds were housed in a bioclimatic chamber with automatic temperature control that contained two rooms, one maintained at thermoneutral temperature (21 ºC) and the other adjusted for the tested cyclic temperatures (24, 27, 30, 33 and 36 ºC at a time). Each room had a battery of five floors and ten cages, with a capacity of 24 birds per cage, totaling 240 birds per battery. Birds were fed iso-nutritious and iso-caloric diets. Data obtained under the tested cyclic temperatures were compared with those obtained under thermoneutral temperature. At the end of each experimental period (14 days) performance and egg quality parameters were evaluated. A completely randomized experimental design with two treatments (thermoneutral temperature and tested temperature) and ten replicates of 24 birds each. Cyclic increases of 27 ºC and higher in environmental temperature negatively affected bird performance, with reduced feed intake and consequent reductions in egg weight and mass. A cyclic increase of the environmental temperature to 36 ºC reduced the percentage of saleable eggs and egg production.

Tributyltin in Crustacean Tissues: Analytical Performance and Validation of Method

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

Effect of organic selenium and zinc on the performance and egg quality of Japanese quails

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

Calcium in pre-laying and laying rations on the performance and quality of laying hens' eggshell

O ensaio experimental objetivou avaliação do efeito de diferentes níveis de cálcio (Ca) nas rações de pré-postura e postura sobre o desempenho e qualidade dos ovos de poedeiras comerciais. Foram alojadas 256 frangas da linhagem Hisex Brown com 16 semanas de idade em galpão convencional de postura. O delineamento experimental foi inteiramente casualizado em arranjo fatorial 4 x 2 (4 níveis de cálcio - 0,8; 1,3; 1,8 e 2,3% na pré-postura e 2 níveis de cálcio - 2,5 e 3,5% na postura), totalizando oito tratamentos com quatro repetições de oito aves por unidade experimental. Iniciou-se com a ração de pré-postura às 16 semanas de idade das aves, sendo que a mesma foi fornecida até as aves atingiram 18 semanas de idade, quando então, iniciou-se com a ração de postura. Foram avaliadas durante quatro ciclos de 28 dias as seguintes variáveis: produção e peso dos ovos, consumo de ração, conversão alimentar, massa de ovos e qualidade da casca dos ovos. Através dos resultados obtidos pode-se concluir que um bom desempenho foi obtido com 0,8% de cálcio na fase de pré-postura. Na fase de postura o nível de 3,5% de cálcio promoveu maior peso de ovo e melhor qualidade de casca.

Yield performance and leaf nutrient levels of coffee cultivars under different plant densities

Cultivares de cafeeiro (Coffea Arabica L.) adaptadas às regiões de cultivo, com população de plantas otimizada e adequado estado nutricional são premissas para a obtenção de produções elevadas de café. Estudou-se a produção trienal de café e o teor foliar de macronutrientes de cultivares de cafeeiro em função das densidades de plantio. Foram utilizados os cultivares Catuaí Amarelo (IAC 47), Obatã (IAC 1669-20), Acaiá (IAC 474-19) e Icatu Amarelo (IAC 2944) nas populações de 2.500 plantas ha-1 com duas plantas por cova; e, 5.000, 7.519 e 10.000 plantas ha-1 com uma planta por cova. As plantas foram adubadas de modo homogêneo, porém, sem calagem. À medida que a população de cafeeiros aumentou, a produtividade trienal de café aumentou, a produção de frutos por planta diminuiu e os teores foliares de fósforo (P), potássio (K) e enxofre (S) aumentaram. Nos cafeeiros sob adensamento encontrou-se igual ou maior teor de macronutrientes do que naqueles sob espaçamento convencional, sendo que os maiores teores foram observados nas cultivares de porte alto, e os menores, na cultivar Obatã, de porte baixo. Nos cafeeiros das covas com uma planta observou-se maior produção de café e menores concentrações de P, Ca e S do que naqueles das covas com duas plantas. No geral, os cultivares e as populações de cafeeiros estavam com teores de N e S acima dos limites de referência citados na literatura, mas com teores dos demais macronutrientes dentro da faixa adequada.

Representation and analysis of soccer players' actions using principal components

This paper proposes the use of the Principal Components Analysis (PCA) method to represent and to analyse soccer players' actions distribution in the pitch. The seven games of the Brazilian National Team during the 2002 World Cup were analysed. The player's position actions were measured from videotapes in a computer interface. The results were: a) the graphical representation, given by two orthogonal segments in the two directions of maximal variability and centred at the mean of each player's actions position; b) the eccentricity measurement, given by the variability ratio and c) the actions zone area, given by variability product. The results showed that the individual characteristics of acting were well represented by the PCA, allowing comparisons among games and providing insights related to the tactical organisation of the team.

Fabrication and analysis of self-assembled photonic crystals structures

This paper presents the fabrication and analysis of a three-dimensional FCC photonic crystal (PhC) based on a self-assembly synthesis of monodispersive latex spheres. Experimental optical characterization, achieved by measurements of the specular reflectance under variable angles, indicated the clear presence of a Bragg diffraction pattern. Results are further explored by theoretical calculations based on the Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) method to determine the full PhC band structure.

A REACHABILITY TREE FOR STATECHARTS AND ANALYSIS OF SOME PROPERTIES

Statecharts are an extension to finite state machines with capability for expressing hierarchical decomposition and parallelism. They also have a mechanism called history, to remember the last visit to a superstate. An algorithm to create a reachability tree for statecharts is presented. Also shown is how to use this tree to analyse dynamic properties of statecharts; reachability from any state configuration, usage of transitions, reinitiability, deadlocks, and valid sequence of events. Owing to its powerful notation, building a reachability tree for statecharts presents some difficulties, and we show how these problems were solved in the tree we propose.

Identification and analysis of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in citrus

Most of the cultivated species of citrus have narrow genetic basis. Relationships among species and cultivars are obscured by sexual compatibility, polyembryony, apomixis and a high incidence of somatic mutations. DNA analysis is crucial in genetic studies not only for citrus breeding programs but also for characterization of hybrids and species. In this paper, single nucleotide polymorphisms ( SNPs) were investigated in 58 accessions of Citrus, hybrids and related genera. Genomic sequences of 'Pera IAC' sweet orange ( Citrus sinensis L. Osbeck) were used for primer design and selection of sequence tagged sites (STSs) for identification of SNPs. Analysis of 36 STSs showed identical sequences among 40 of the 41 sweet orange accessions studied. However, these accessions were heterozygous for many SNPs. Ten selected STSs were analyzed in 17 additional accessions from 13 species and hybrids. Comparing to the 'Pera IAC' sweet orange accession, a total of 150 polymorphic nucleotides were identified and most of the alterations were transitions ( 52.7%). The greatest number of SNPs was observed in Poncirus trifoliata ( L.) Raf. and the smallest in 'Ponkan' mandarin ( Citrus reticulata Blanco). At the intra-specific level, 'Bafa Gigante' ( Citrus sinensis L. Osbeck) was the only sweet orange accession with a divergent SNPs genotype, which corroborates the hypothesis of a hybrid origin for this accession. Although the STSs analyzed represent randomly sampled genomic sequences, they provided consistent information about the level of polymorphism and showed the potential of SNPs markers for characterization and phylogenetic studies.

Mapping QTLs on chicken chromosome 1 for performance and carcass traits in a broiler x layer cross

With the objective of mapping quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for performance and carcass traits, an F-2 chicken population was developed by crossing broiler and layer lines. A total of 2063 F-2 chicks in 21 full-sib families were reared as broilers and slaughtered at 42 days of age. Seventeen performance and carcass traits were measured. Parental (F-0) and F-1 individuals were genotyped with 80 microsatellites from chicken chromosome 1 to select informative markers. Thirty-three informative markers were used for selective genotyping of F-2 individuals with extreme phenotypes for body weight at 42 days of age (BW42). Based on the regions identified by selective genotyping, seven full-sib families (649 F-2 chicks) were genotyped with 26 markers. Quantitative trait loci affecting body weight, feed intake, carcass weight, drums and thighs weight and abdominal fat weight were mapped to regions already identified in other populations. Quantitative trait loci for weights of gizzard, liver, lungs, heart and feet, as well as length of intestine, not previously described in the literature were mapped on chromosome 1. This F-2 population can be used to identify novel QTLs and constitutes a new resource for studies of genes related to growth and carcass traits in poultry.