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Due to the great worldwide increase in pineapple production, countries like Brazil and India have problems regarding the correct disposal of residues from the production of this fruit. One of the possibilities is the reuse of these residues in the form of fibers in cementitious materials, as is the case with mortars. As a result, the objective of this work is to evaluate the application of pineapple fibers in mortars in the proportion of 1: 4 (cement: sand) with addition of fiber treated in NaOH in the proportion of 3 and 6%. The properties of mechanical resistance, water absorption, mass density and adhesion were evaluated, aiming to apply the mortar in coatings of rural environments. The results indicate that the fibers reduced the mortar density and increased the mechanical strength. However, there was a reduction in adherence, especially with the use of 6% fiber, in addition to an increase in water absorption. Based on the results, it is concluded that it is feasible to use 3% of pineapple fiber for the production of coating mortars in rural environments because the results obtained in the investigation are compatible with this application and with the established normative limits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The publication of Decree n° 9,013, of March 29, 2017 represented a regulatory framework in the legislation related to the industrial and sanitary inspection of products of animal origin in Brazil, because the last publication occurred 65 years ago. In this sense, this work aims to elucidate the main changes imposed on the new RIISPOA through the publication of Decree n° 10,468, of August 18, 2020. These new legal premises were mainly supported in order to reduce the bureaucracy of the inspection service based on risk analysis, the efficiency of public administration, the law of economic freedom, the definition of responsibilities to the official service and establishments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The housing system based on compost-bedded pack for dairy cows is spreading rapidly in Brazil. Completely open buildings without curtains and simple roofs are usually provided. However, in the last years some new completely closed barns have been realized. This study aims to analyse one of these closed barns, located in the State of Minas Gerais. The two main sides of the facility are provided with polyethylene curtains of blue colour and five deflectors. The barn is equipped with an evaporative adiabatic cooling system, associated with the tunnel-style ventilation, realized with exhaust fans, continuously operating 24 hours a day. 85 lactating Holstein cows were housed in the barn during the trials carried out in the winter season 2019. Microclimatic data were collected continuously. Air speed, illuminance and bedding temperature were measured during the farm visits. Pack moisture was calculated. The results state the importance of bedding management and climatic conditions inside the barn. It emerges that the cows housed in this kind of closed barn, with forced ventilation, are in good thermal conditions, which are fairly constant. The average illumination of the barn can be considered acceptable (55.06 lx), even if some areas of the barn present values below the minimum ones reported in literature. The bedding temperature varies between a maximum of 36.33 °C and a minimum of 25.44 °C with an average of 31.26 °C. The values of bedding moisture are between a maximum of 64.36% and a minimum of 60.81% with an average of 62.48%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The giant cicada Quesada gigas (Olivier, 1790) (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) is a major pest of coffee plants in Brazil. To ensure the rational management and ecological equilibrium, information about the behavior, dispersion, and reproduction of giant cicada is fundamental. The present work was conducted in an area of 97 ha planted with Coffea arabica L. to investigate adult dispersion as well as mating and oviposition behaviors of Q. gigas. A sound trap was placed at a 'release point' used for the attraction, marking, and release of adults in the area. The recapture of insects was performed with the same sound trap positioned at 20 points distributed at 100, 250, 400, and 1,000 m from the release point. The highest recapture rates of Q. gigas were observed at 100 m from the release point, and the lowest recapture rates were observed at 1,000 m. The presence of Eucalyptus plants in the area apparently influenced dispersion, as high recapture rates were observed at the sites close to Eucalyptus plants. One copulation of Q. gigas lasted 41.6 ± 0.43 min, and the period of a single oviposition bout was 30.0 ± 0.20 min. Quesada gigas adult longevity in the field was estimated to be 49 d. Both males and females were observed performing multiple matings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The housing system, called compost barn, is attracting the interest of several farmers. It allows dairy cows to remain in free movement inside a shed without any containment partitions like those used in freestall barns. In Brazil the compost barns with open sides are very common, but recently some closed barns with climatic control systems have been implemented. The objective of this work was to evaluate and compare lighting and noise levels in an open compost barn with natural ventilation and in a closed compost barn with a climate control system. The latter one is based on tunnel ventilation: inlet of air trough evaporative cellulose panels and exit through fans placed on the opposite wall. Through analysis of the collected data it was observed that the sound pressure recorded inside both analysed buildings did not exceed the ranges of noise discomfort recommended for the rearing of animals. However, the sound pressure amplitude inside the barn with climate control system was greater than in the open barn. The light intensity was significantly lower in the closed barn when compared to the open barn (84.96 and 1,413.58 lx, respectively). The artificial lighting system distributed throughout the closed barn was not sufficient to maintain brightness within the recommended range for lactating cows. In addition, it was found that in the closed building with forced ventilation, the highest brightness values are located near the exhaust fans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Doing high-precision astrometry on Uranus' moons is currently quite challenging. No probes will orbit the system before 2040. New high-precision mutual phenomena measurements will only occur in 2050. Besides, Uranus is slowly passing through a sky region without many stars, which makes it difficult to map field of view (FOV) distortions below 50 mas. In this context, the new astrometric technique of mutual approximations comes in handy. It measures central instants at the closest approach between two moving satellites in the sky plane. Measurements are made on small portions of the FOV, benefiting from the so-called precision premium. Approximations and mutual phenomena share geometric principles and parameters, with similar precision in the central instant as indicated by first applications to the Jovian moons. However, mutual phenomena can only be observed at the planet's equinoxes, while approximations always occur. Central instants do not depend on reference stars and are useful in orbit and ephemeris fittings. Here, we present results for 23 mutual approximations between the five main Uranus satellites observed in Brazil during 2015–2018 with a 1.6 m aperture telescope. Digital coronagraphy mitigated Uranus' scattered light, improving measurements for Miranda, Ariel and Umbriel. We measured the impact parameter and relative velocity in milliarcseconds for the first time by using a variant of the method. Relative position errors, including Miranda, were 45 mas per coordinate, twice as good as in classical CCD astrometry for this satellite, and comparable to mutual phenomena. This shows the potential of mutual approximations for improving the current orbits and ephemerides of Uranus' moons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In developing countries such as Brazil, research on low-cost remote sensing and computational techniques become essential for the development of precision agriculture (PA), and improving the quality of the agricultural products. Faced with the scenario of increasing production of emerald grass (Zoysia Japônica) in Brazil, and the value added the quality of this agricultural product. The objective of this work was to evaluate the performance of RGB (IV) vegetation indices in the identification of exposed soil and vegetation. The study was developed in an irrigated area of 58 ha cultivated with emerald grass at Bom Sucesso, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The images were obtained by a RGB digital camera coupled to an remotely piloted aircraft. The flight plan was setup to take overlapping images of 70% and the aircraft speed was 10 m s-1. Six RGB Vegetation index (MGVRI, GLI, RGBVI, MPRI, VEG, ExG) were evaluated in a mosaic resulting from the images of the study area. All of the VIs evaluated were affected by the variability of lighting conditions in the area but MPRI and MGVRI were the ones that presented the best results in a qualitative evaluation regarding the discrimination of vegetation and soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beef production is of great importance worldwide and, in Brazil, it plays a fundamental role in the country's economy, making it one of the largest producers, consumers and exporters. Meat quality is influenced by several factors, and among these, the occurrence of bruises on carcasses is highlighted and, consequently, losses due to commercial restrictions stands out. Thus, this research aimed to establish the occurrence of bruises in bovine carcasses diverted to the Department of Final Inspection (DIF), with the total condemnation of the carcass, from January 4 to September 15, 2022, in an abattoir under Federal Inspection Service (SIF), located in the State of Espírito Santo, Brazil. A set of 20,864 males and 1,927 females were slaughtered and inspected, totaling 22,791 bovines, of which 172 carcasses were diverted to the DIF, 7 of which were completely condemned (0.031% of the total), resulting in R$ 37,490.10 of economic loss. To avoid the total condemnation of carcasses, effective animal welfare strategies must be implemented, making the Brazilian cattle industry continue to develop and reduce its losses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cattle farming has a fundamental role in the economy of Brazil, which is currently one of the largest producers, consumers, and exporters of beef, and consequently it is necessary to inspect meat from cattle slaughtered in the country. The current legislation establishes that when carcasses have signs of diseases, such as bovine tuberculosis, should be condemned or conditionally used. Bovine tuberculosis is a chronic zoonosis caused by Mycobacterium bovis that requires epidemiological studies to establish its frequency in abattoirs and the economic losses due condemnation of viscera and carcasses for beef farmers. Thus, this study aimed to analyze the frequency of condemnation of bovine carcasses slaughtered in the state of Espírito Santo, in an abattoir that condemned all cases of tuberculosis, during the years 2019 to 2021, and to estimate the economic losses to farmers. Among the 156,800 animals slaughtered, 120 (0.076%) had lesions suggestive of tuberculosis, which caused an economic loss of U$ 85,338.40 (R$ 461,160.00). Bovine tuberculosis is endemic and responsible for important economic losses to the meat production chain in this state. Additionally, the importance of inspecting beef in abattoirs to reduce the risks for public health was highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brazil has one of the largest herds in the world and is highlighted in global dairy production. To reach the final consumer, milk and dairy products undergoes several stages from milking on farms up to distribution in supermarkets. All these dairy products must be inspected by one of the sanitary authorities at the federal, state or municipal levels, which will supervise the hygiene and sanitation practices used throughout the production chain. However, it is known that nowadays there is sale and consumption of milk and dairy products that were not inspected, putting the population into risks. This study aimed to assess consumers' knowledge about foodborne diseases and the informal consumption of dairy products and posteriorly educating them about the risks of consuming milk and illegal dairy products. We conducted 120 interviews with questions structured in a semi-open questionnaire, verifying the interviewees' knowledge about the consumption of milk and dairy products inspected or not and the diseases transmitted by dairy products. It was observed that 97% (117/120) of people consumed milk and dairy products, 21% (25/120) people preferred to consume informal products directly from the producer and 8% (9/120) stated that they have this preference because consider them as healthier products. Only 9% (11/120) of persons knew the meaning of official inspection seals from federal, state and municipal inspection services (SIF, SIE, SIM), with only 7% (9/120) persons looking for the seal when buying a product. After applying the questionnaire, with the intention of promote health education, a folder was delivered to respondents, containing information on milk contamination, on foodborne diseases and on the importance of inspection of animal origin products. These results demonstrated that improving or adopting educational actions are urgently required on this population, reducing or eliminating the trade and consumption of informal products which can cause risks to public health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bovine cysticercosis is a parasitic zoonosis distributed globally and considered as an important reason for economic losses to the beef production chain in Brazil. Also, the consumption of beef containing viable cysticerci vehicles taeniosis to human beings, bringing impacts to public health. Thus, this study aimed to determine the occurrence of cysticercosis in a slaughterhouse located in the municipality of Promissão, State of São Paulo, through a three years period and to estimate the economic losses for cattle farmers resulting from the detection of infected carcasses and viscera. For this, data from 668,601 animals slaughtered and inspected by the Federal Inspection Service (SIF) were used, with 6,587 (0.98%) being considered positive. The main destination of the infected carcasses was the freezing treatment (69.56%) followed by liberation to human consumption, rendering, heat treatment and salting, respectively. We calculated losses to farmers on around US$ 901,172.33. The adoption of sanitary practices should be reinforced at the cattle-producing farms, in addition to improving public policies such as access to basic sanitation and health education for the population, in order to control this zoonosis that persists with a great deal in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The lack of empathy is associated with several psychological and behavioral disorders, and it is important to assess this construct broadly, through multi-methods., Objective: To conduct a psychometric analysis of the Brazilian version of the Multifaceted Empathy Test (MET), a computerized task that assesses emotional and cognitive empathy., Methods: The samples were recruited from the community using the snowball method (phase 1: face-to-face; N = 142) and through social media (phase 2: online; N = 519). The participants completed the MET and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) to assess the convergent validity between the instruments. To assess validity with correlated constructs (resilient coping and stress), the Brief Resilient Coping Scale and Perceived Stress Scale were used. A task was also implemented in the face-to-face application to assess facial emotions. The retest was applied 25 days later to a portion of the sample (face-to-face: N = 31; online: N = 102)., Results: It was observed adequate test-retest reliability for most items (ICC = 0.49-0.98), satisfactory infit and outfit indexes, discriminatory ability between sexes, weak convergent validity with empathy measures (r = 0.17-0.36), and correlate constructs (r = 0.12-0.46). MET presented good psychometric indicators, confirming its use in face-to-face/computer-based and online formats in clinical and research contexts. However, weaknesses were found regarding the cognitive subscale, demanding future studies to address larger samples to enable more robust conclusions concerning its adequacy. Further research on the instrument's internal structure can also contribute to its improvement., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright: © 2023 Fernandes Vieira de Lima et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the spatial distribution of the prevalence of T. gondii in cows using the indirect immunofluorescence assay and determine associated risk factors. Serum samples were collected from 2970 cows on 263 rural farms in 223 municipalities. A questionnaire was administered to herd owners to collect data for the evaluation of risk factors associated with this disease. Mean seroprevalence of T. gondii in cows was 8.48% (95% CI: 7.48 to 9.49). The microregions with the greatest likelihood (p ≤ 0.05) of having infected animals were Anápolis, Ceres, São Miguel do Araguaia, the Federal District, Anicuns, and Vão do Paraná. The purchase of females or males for reproductive/breeding purposes was significantly associated (p ≤ 0.05) with the prevalence of T. gondii in these regions. A positive correlation (0.7618; p = 0.047) was found between the prevalence of T. gondii and total area in hectares of forests in these regions, suggesting that wild cats may be disseminating T. gondii at these sites. The present results highlight the importance of considering the meat from these animals to be an important infection route for humans who eat raw or undercooked food.

Toxoplasmosis and neosporosis have been recognized as economically important diseases with considerable impact on the livestock industry. Considering the scarce information on the occurrence of Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora caninum infections in sheep from Uberlândia, Minas Gerais State, Brazil, this study aimed to investigate the frequency of antibodies against these parasites in sheep sera from this region by using different serological methods. A total of 155 sheep serum samples were analyzed by the indirect fluorescence antibody test (IFAT) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the detection of IgG against T. gondii and N. caninum. Seroreactivity by IFAT showed 80% of samples with titers between 512 and 2048 for T. gondii (cutoff ≥ 64) and 78% presenting titers between 50 and 200 for N. caninum (cutoff ≥ 50). Seroreactivity by ELISA showed 75% of samples with ELISA index (EI) between 2.0 and 3.0 for T. gondii (cutoff ≥ 1.3) and 54% presenting EI between 1.3 and 2.0 for N. caninum (cut off ≥ 1.3). Discordant results by both tests were analyzed by immunoblot, resulting in a total seropositivity of 61% for T. gondii and 23% for N. caninum, with 41% to T. gondii only, 3% to N. caninum only, and 20% to both parasites. There was a significant positive association between seropositivity to T. gondii and age over one year (P<0.001), but such association was not found for N. caninum infection. In conclusion, as T. gondii and N. caninum infections are simultaneously present in sheep flocks of this region, it should be emphasized the importance to carry out a regular monitoring of Toxoplasma infection due to its high prevalence, its zoonotic potential and induction of reproductive disorders leading to economic losses. For neosporosis, sheep farmers should be instructed about the presence of the parasite in the flock, its risk factors and potential abortifacient role in sheep. Differential flock management could be valuable tool to establish the association of serological positivity and reproductive disease induced by N. caninum in sheep., (Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Decreased pulse pressure (PP) is associated with low cardiac output and increased mortality in heart failure (HF) inpatients. QRS width is a well-known prognostic factor in HF. The study purpose was to explore the mortality effect of combining PP and QRS width in HF outpatients. Initial sphygmomanometrically determined PP and QRS width on the first electrocardiograph in 327 consecutive patients at an HF clinic were recorded. According to PP > or = or <40 mm Hg and QRS width > or = or <120 ms, patients were classified into 4 groups. Study groups were analyzed for their effect on mortality using Cox proportional hazards regression analysis. Patients with PP <40 mm Hg had higher mortality (59% vs 45%; P=.015). QRS width > or =120 ms indicated a trend toward higher mortality (57% vs 48%; P=.067). Actuarial survival curves showed that group 4 (QRS width > or =120 ms and PP <40 mm Hg) had significant increased mortality risk in 3.5 years' mean follow-up. Group 4 had a mean survival time of 1124 days (SD=124) vs 2233 days (SD=285) in group 1 (QRS width <120 ms and PP > or =40 mm Hg) (P=.022). There was a linear association between left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and study groups. PP and QRS width are readily available, inexpensive, and relevant clinical measures to help identify HF outpatients with significantly worse prognosis and decreased LVEF., (2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Background: Diagnosis of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) is currently based on ascitic cell counting, but there is a need for a more simple and rapid diagnostic tool. The objectives of this study are to evaluate the accuracy of reagent strips in diagnosing SBP and compare their costs with total and differential cell counts., Patients and Methods: 71 cirrhotic in- and outpatients were consecutively included (159 samples). Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis was defined as neutrophil cells >or= 250/microL. The cutoff values for each reagent strip were defined by a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Sensitivity (S), Specificity (Sp), Positive and Negative Predictive Values (PPV and NPV), Accuracy (Ac) and cost-effectiveness (US$) in comparison to cell count exam were calculated., Results: Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis was diagnosed in 17 patients (23.9%), 11 of them with positive culture (64.7%). The best cutoff points found in ROC curves were 1+ for Multistix 10 SG and ca. 75 for Choiceline 10 (Multistix 10 SG S = 80%, Sp = 98.5%, PPV = 90.9%, NPV = 96.2%, Ac = 95%; Choiceline 10 S = 76.9%, Sp = 97.7%, PPV = 87%, NPV = 95.6%, Ac = 94%). In terms of cost-effectiveness by cost/accuracy, cell count was 41.5, Multistix 10 SG 0.57, and Choiceline 10, 0.19 (P < 0.001)., Conclusion: Reagent strips are a useful tool for diagnosing SBP in cirrhotic patients, but they have some limitations. Strips are especially indicated when total and differential cell counts are not quickly available or sometimes unavailable. They are also indicated as screening test in emergency rooms to anticipate the diagnosis of SBP and allow its early treatment. It's an interesting option in developing countries.