Carcass and meat quality traits in Nellore and F1 Nellore-Araguaia crosses.

We evaluated and compared carcass traits and meat quality in Nellore cattle and F1 crosses between Nellore and Araguaia, where 17 individuals were from the Nellore group and 19 were ½ Nellore and ½ Araguaia crosses. All animals belonged to the same birth season and were raised in pasture systems under the same nutritional, environmental, and management conditions. When the animals reached slaughter weight, they were taken to an industrial slaughterhouse where food was not provided for 24 h (free access to water); they were then stunned, bled, the leather was removed, and they were eviscerated. The carcasses were weighed (hot weight), kept in chilled storage for approximately 24 h at 4°C, and weighed again to obtain the chilled carcass weight. Carcass yield, carcass length, carcass width, leg length, thigh perimeter, loin eye area (LEA), retail cuts, cooling loss, pH, fat depth, marbling rate, intramuscular fat, color, and shear force were analyzed and sensory analysis of the meat was conducted. Significant differences (P < 0.05) were observed for the following variables: slaughter weight, hot and chilled carcass weights, carcass and leg lengths, thigh perimeter, LEA, retail cuts, and lightness (L*), where the ½ Nellore ½ Araguaia individuals showed higher means for all of these traits, except leg length and L*. Therefore, crossbreeding between Nellore and Araguaia did not affect the meat's sensory characteristics, but contributed to an improvement in carcass traits, providing an alternative for farmers that aim for good meat quality, with a higher meat percentage.

Effect of the halothane genotype on intramuscular fat deposition in swine.

Intramuscular fat (IMF) content has been identified as an important factor in determining the quality of pork. Previous studies have suggested that IMF deposition may be associated with the presence of the halothane (HAL) gene. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of the HAL gene on IMF deposition in crossbred pigs of commercial lines, which were killed at a slaughterhouse under official inspection. The genotype of the HAL gene was determined by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. IMF was analyzed from longissimus dorsi samples. Among all animals analyzed, 42.36% were of the HalNN genotype and 57.64% were of the HalNn genotype. The average IMF content of all samples was 2.14%. Variation in IMF between genotypes was evaluated by analysis of variance. No significant difference in IMF deposition, which could be based on the presence of the halothane allele, was observed, at least in heterozygotes.

Portal Vein Embolization with PVA and Coils before Major Hepatectomy: Single-Center Retrospective Analysis in Sixty-Four Patients.

OBJECTIVES: Portal vein embolization (PVE) stimulates hypertrophy of the future liver remnant (FLR) and improves the safety of extended hepatectomy. This study evaluated the efficacy of PVE, performed with PVA and coils, in relation to its effect on FLR volume and ratio. Secondary endpoints were the assessment of PVE complications, accomplishment of liver surgery, and patient outcome after hepatectomy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All patients who underwent PVE before planned major hepatectomy between 2013 and 2017 were retrospectively analyzed, comprising a total of 64 patients. Baseline patient clinical characteristics, imaging records, liver volumetric changes, complications, and outcomes were analyzed. RESULTS: There were 45 men and 19 women with a mean age of 64 years. Colorectal liver metastasis was the most frequent liver tumor. The majority of patients (n = 53) had a right PVE. FLR increased from a mean value of 484 ml ± 242 to 654 ml ± 287 (p < 0.001) after PVE. Two major complications were experienced after PVE: 1 case of left hepatic artery branch laceration and 1 case of hemoperitoneum and hemothorax. A total of 44 (69%) patients underwent liver surgery. Twenty-one patients were not taken to surgery due to disease progression (n = 18), liver insufficiency (n = 1), and insufficient FLR volume (n = 1), and one patient declined surgery (n = 1). CONCLUSIONS: PVE with PVA and coils was accomplished safely and promoted a high FLR hypertrophy yield, enabling most of our patients to be submitted to the potentially curative treatment of liver tumor resection.

Criticality of a contact process with coupled diffusive and non-diffusive fields.

We investigate the critical behavior of a model with two coupled critical densities, one of which is diffusive. The model simulates the propagation of an epidemic process in a population, which uses the underlying lattice to leave a track of the recent disease history. We determine the critical density of the population above which the system reaches an active stationary state with a finite density of active particles. We also perform a scaling analysis to determine the order parameter, the correlation length, and critical relaxation exponents. We show that the model does not belong to the usual directed percolation universality class and is compatible with the class of directed percolation with diffusive and conserved fields.

Efeito de diferentes herbicidas, doses e volume de calda na dessecação de milheto [Pennisetum Glaucum (L. Leek)] / Effect of different herbicides, doses and spray volume in the chemical management of pearl millet [Pennisetum Glaucum (L. Leek)]

Objetivou-se nesse trabalho avaliar a eficácia de diferentes herbicidas aplicados em pósemergência na de secação do milheto com diferentes doses e volumes de calda de aplicação. Para a dessecação do milheto foram utilizadas doses de 0, 25, 50 e 100% dos herbicidas glyphosate (1.440 g ha-1), em três formulações comerciais (Round up Original, Round up Transorb e Round up WG), paraquat + diuron (500 + 250 g ha-1) e amônio-glufosinato (800 g ha-1). Em todos os tratamentos foram utilizados dois volumes de aplicação (200 e 400 L ha-1). Manteve-se uma testemunha sem aplicação de herbicidas. Os efeitos dos tratamentos foram avaliados visualmente aos 3, 7, 14, 21 e 28 dias após aplicação. Ao final das avaliações foi determinada a massa seca das plantas. O estudo de campo foi instalado no delineamento em blocos casualizados. No final do estudo, aos 28 DAA, todos os tratamentos apresentaram controle total das plantas de milheto, independente da dose e do volume de aplicação, exceto para os tratamentos com paraquat + diuron e amônio-glufosinate na menor dose (25% da dose), nos dois volumes de aplicação, que apresentaram ainda controles considerados bons a muito bom, sendo que para esses dois herbicidas houve efeito do volume de calda, na qual o controle foi superior com o uso de volume menor.

The objective of this work was to evaluate the efficacy of different herbicides applied in post-emergence in the desiccation of pearl millet with different doses and spray volumes. For the desiccation, doses at 0, 25, 50 and 100% of the herbicide glyphosate (1,440 g ha-1) were used in 3 formulations (Original Round up, Round up Transorb and Round up WG), paraquat + diuron (500 + 250 g ha-1) and glufosinateammonium (800 g ha-1). In all treatments, 2 spray volumes (200 and 400 l ha-1) were used, and there was 1 treatment (control) without the application of herbicides. The treatment effects were evaluated visually at 3, 7, 14, 21 and 28 days after application (DAA). At the end of the evaluations, the dry mass of the plants was determined. The field trial was carried out in randomized block design. At the end of the study, at 28 DAA, all treatments presented total control of plant pearl millet, regardless of the dose and spray volume, except the treatments with paraquat + diuron and glufosinate-ammonium at the lower dose (25%), in 2 spray volumes, which nevertheless showed good and very good control, these two herbicides presenting an effect of volume, in which the control was higher with the use of smaller volume.