Swine wastewater treatment in high rate algal ponds: Effects of Cu and Zn on nutrient removal, productivity and biomass composition.

This study aimed to evaluate the simultaneous interferences of Cu and Zn found in swine wastewater (SW) in the development of microalgae considering real conditions of cultivation in high rate algal ponds (HRAPs). Ten HRAPs on a pilot scale were fed with SW with different mixtures of Cu (0.5-3.0 mg/L) and Zn (5.0-25.0 mg/L). The interferences of these metals in removing nutrients (N-NH4+ and soluble phosphorus (Ps)) from the SW were determined. In addition, this study evaluated the effects on biomass growth and biochemical composition. Chlorella sp. was dominant in all HRAPs and the condition that potentiated its growth occurred in medium containing 1.8 mg Cu/L + 15.0 mg Zn/L, while higher concentrations conferred inhibition. Only Cu compromised the removal rates of N-NH4+ while the effects of Zn were not significant. Contrary, Zn interfered with Ps removal rates, but the impact of Cu was not significant. The greatest Cu applications increased the protein levels by biomass (50.5-55.2 %). Carbohydrate accumulation was favored by conditions that inhibited the development of microalgae due to either limitation or excess of metals. Copper and Zn compromised the levels of lipids, and the control treatment had the highest content (24.5 %). The presence of Cu and Zn changed the dynamics of HRAPs regarding nutrient removal, productivity, and biochemical composition of the biomass.

Microalgae biomass as a renewable biostimulant: meat processing industry effluent treatment, soil health improvement, and plant growth.

Microalgae biomass contributes to effluent bioremediation. It is a concentrated source of nutrients and organic carbon, making it a potential alternative as a soil biostimulant. In this context, this study aimed to evaluate the soil application of microalgae biomass produced from the meat processing industry effluent treatment. The biomass was applied dry and as a mixture to demonstrate its potential to increase plant production and soil metabolic functions, analyzed short-term. Doses of 0.25%, 0.5%, 1%, and 2% biomass were applied in soils from (i) Horizon A: taken at a depth between 0 and 10 cm and; (ii) Horizon B: taken at a depth between 20 and 40 cm. Corn growth (Zea Mays L.), basal soil respiration, microbial biomass carbon, total organic carbon, ß-glucosidase, acid phosphatase, arylsulfatase, and urease enzymatic activity were evaluated in each sample. It is concluded that applying 2% microalgae biomass led to higher basal soil respiration, microbial biomass carbon, and ß-glucosidase, acid phosphatase, arylsulfatase enzymatic activity in both soils. On the other hand, boron may have contributed to urease activity reduction in Soil A. Although 2% biomass led to higher soils characteristics, that dose did not promote higher plant growth. Hence, considering that plant growth must be in line with changes in soil characteristics, the result that provided the higher plant shoot dry matter mass was by applying 0.55% biomass in both soils. Therefore, the application of microalgae biomass produced from a meat processing industry effluent treatment promoted a biologically active soil and boosted plant growth.

Isolation of a new Papiliotrema laurentii strain that displays capacity to achieve high lipid content from xylose.

In this work, we isolated and selected oleaginous yeasts from rock field soils from two National Parks in Brazil (Caparaó and Serra dos Órgãos) with the potential to accumulate oil from xylose, the main pentose sugar found in lignocellulosic biomass. From the 126 isolates, two were selected based on their lipid contents. They were taxonomically identified as Papiliotrema laurentii (UFV-1 and UFV-2). Of the two, P. laurentii UFV-1 was selected as the best lipid producer. Under unoptimized conditions, lipid production by P. laurentii UFV-1 was higher in glucose than in xylose. To improve its lipid production from xylose, we applied response surface methodology (RSM) with a face-centered central composite design (CCF). We evaluated the effects of agitation rate, initial cell biomass (OD600), carbon/nitrogen ratio (C/N ratio) and pH on lipid production. P. laurentii UFV-1 recorded the highest lipid content, 63.5% (w/w) of the cell dry mass, under the following conditions: C/N ratio = 100:1, pH value = 7.0, initial OD600 = 0.8 and agitation = 300 rpm. Under these optimized conditions, biomass, lipid titer and volumetric lipid productivity were 9.31 g/L, 5.90 g/L and 0.082 g/L.h, respectively. Additionally, we determined the fatty acid composition of P. laurentii UFV-1 as follows: C14:0 (0.5%), C16:0 (28.4-29.4%), C16:1 (0.2%), C18:0 (9.5-11%), C18:1 (58.6-60.5%), and C20:0 (0.7-0.8%). Based on this composition, the predicted properties of biodiesel showed that P. laurentii UFV-1 oil is suitable for use as feedstock in biodiesel production.

Ambulatory esophageal pHmetry in healthy dogs with and without the influence of general anesthesia.

This research aimed to determine the value of esophageal pH in awake and anesthetized dogs, to evaluate the esophageal pH value in awake dogs, in different body positions, as well as to study the occurrence of gastroesophageal reflux episodes in these positions. Thus, 40 healthy male and female adult dogs with mean body weight of 15.5 ± 4.6 kg were used. Esophageal pHmetry was conducted by inserting a catheter through the oropharynx in 30 dogs (stage 1) anesthetized with acepromazine, propofol and isoflurane, submitted to elective ovariosalpingohysterectomy. In addition, 8-h esophageal pHmetry was carried out transnasally in 10 awake dogs (stage 2), allowed to move and change body positions (lateral and sternal decubitus, and standing position), which were recorded. The mean esophageal pH value was lower (p < 0.01) in the anesthetized dogs (7.3 ± 0.82) than in the awake dogs (8.2 ± 0.3). Only four anesthetized dogs (13.33%) suffered reflux episodes. Reflux was not observed in the awake dogs and no esophageal pH differences were found between the body positions studied. Compared to the alert state, general anesthesia in dogs submitted to the previously mentioned anesthesia protocol causes esophageal pH reduction and predisposes to the occurrence of gastroesophageal reflux episodes. Transnasal pHmetry of 8 h in healthy awake dogs reveals that the esophageal pH value is alkaline and does not vary according to body position. In these animals, decubitus position is not a determining factor for reflux episodes to occur.

Identificação e modelagem da autocorrelação residual no ajuste do modelo de Wood às curvas de lactação de cabras / Identification and modeling of residual autocorrelation in the adjustments of Wood’s model to lactation curves of goats

Objetivou-se com este trabalho apresentar uma metodologia de identificação e modelagem da autocorrelação residual considerando ajustes individuais do modelo de Wood às lactações de cabras leiteiras e também avaliar a influência de tal modelagem na qualidade do ajuste. O modelo de Wood foi ajustado individualmente às lactações, considerando três estruturas residuais. Na primeira, assumiu-se independência dos erros (EI) para todas as lactações, na segunda, assumiu-se a estrutura de erros autoregressivos de primeira ordem (AR1) para todas as lactações e, na terceira, nomeada por EI-AR1, foi utilizada a estrutura de erros AR1 somente para as lactações que apresentaram autocorrelação residual, segundo o teste de Durbin-Watson, e de EI para as demais. As três situações de ajuste foram comparadas pelos percentuais de convergência e pelas médias dos quadrados médios dos erros (QME) e dos coeficientes de determinação ajustados (R²aj). As médias dos QME e dos R²aj apresentaram valores semelhantes nas três situações de estrutura residual. No entanto, o modelo com estrutura EI-AR1 apresentou maior convergência, o que consiste em uma vantagem, já que permite que um maior número de animais seja avaliado quanto à sua curva de lactação. Portanto, em função da maior convergência obtida, o ajuste do modelo de Wood com a estrutura EI-AR1 consiste na opção mais indicada para grandes conjuntos de dados.

The objective of this research was to present a methodology for identification and modeling of residual autocorrelation considering individual adjustments of the Wood's model to lactation dairy goats and evaluate the influence of such modeling in the quality of adjustment. The Wood's model was adjusted individually for lactations in three different ways, the first have assumed independence of errors (IE) for all lactations, the second have assumed autoregressives first order errors (AR1) for all lactations and the third, named (IE-AR1), was used the AR1 errors structure only for lactations that showed residual autocorrelation according to Durbin-Watson test, and the IE errors structure for the other lactations. The three ways of adjustment were compared by the percentage of convergence and the average of the mean square errors (MSE) and coefficients of determination adjusted (R²adj). The average of MSE and R²aj were very similar in the three cases of residual structure. However, the model with IE-AR1 residual structure showed a higher rate of convergence, which is an advantage, as it allows a greater number of animals are evaluated for their lactation curve. Therefore, due to the increasing convergence obtained, the fit of the Wood's model with IE-AR1 residual structure is the option most suitable for large data sets.

Influência da monofenilbutazona associada ou não ao omeprazol sobre o sistema digestório e renal de pôneis hígidos / Influence of mofebutazone associated or not to omeprazole on the digestive and renal tracts of healthy ponies

Os objetivos deste trabalho foram averiguar se a monofenilbutazona causa efeitos colaterais no trato digestório e lesões renais em pôneis hígidos e verificar a capacidade do omeprazol em inibir a gênese de úlceras gástricas. O experimento foi executado em duas etapas. Na primeira foram utilizados seis pôneis, sendo três deles tratados diariamente por via intravenosa (IV) com as doses de 3, 4,5 ou 6mg kg-1 de monofenilbutazona durante 12 dias. Os demais, além de antiinflamatório, também receberam 3mg kg-1 de omeprazol. Já na segunda etapa foram incluídos quatro pôneis hígidos, sendo dois tratados com doses diárias de 4,5mg kg-1 de monofenilbutazona durante 12 dias e os demais com 5mL de NaCl a 0,9 por cento, por via IV. Todos os pôneis foram submetidos à gastroscopia antes e após cada etapa experimental. Adicionalmente, na primeira etapa, foram realizadas urinálise e determinação dos valores de variáveis hematológicas (hematócrito e proteína plasmática total) e bioquímicas (creatinina, albumina, Ca+2 e P+3). Na primeira etapa, apenas os dois pôneis tratados com 6mg kg-1 de monofenilbutazona apresentaram úlceras na região aglandular, ao longo da margo plicatus. Na segunda etapa, dois animais também apresentaram úlceras gástricas, sendo que um deles havia recebido apenas NaCl a 0,9 por cento. A ocorrência das úlceras não foi influenciada (P>0,05) pela administração e pela dose da monofenilbutazona, nem pela presença do omeprazol. O efeito da monofenilbutazona sobre as variáveis hematológicas e bioquímicas foi inexpressivo (P+3) ou ausente (hematócrito, proteína plasmática total, creatinina, albumina, Ca+2) (P>0,05). Os resultados obtidos permitem concluir que: a ocorrência de úlceras na região aglandular de pôneis hígidos não sofre a influência da aplicação e da dose de monofenilbutazona, quando administrada durante 12 dias; úlceras em grau 4 na região aglandular de pôneis não necessariamente estão acompanhadas de sintomatologia clínica...

This research aimed to investigate whether mofebutazone causes gastrointestinal and renal side effects in healthy ponies as well as to verify the capacity of omeprazole to inhibit the genesis of gastric ulcers. The experiment was carried out in two phases. In the first, six ponies were used, with three of them being treated daily with different doses (3, 4.5 and 6mg kg-1) of intravenous (IV) mofebutazone for 12 days. The other ponies were given 3mg kg-1 of omeprazole in addition to the anti-inflammatory drug. In the second phase, four ponies were included, with two of them being treated daily with 4.5mg kg-1 of mofebutazone for 12 days and the two remainders with 5mL of IV NaCl at 0.9 percent. All ponies underwent gastroscopy before and after each experimental phase. Additionally, in the first phase, urine, hematological (hematocrit, and total plasma protein) and biochemical (creatinine, albumin, Ca+2 and P+3) analysis were determined. In the first phase, only the two ponies treated with 6mg kg-1 of mofebutazone presented ulcers in the aglandular region along the margo plicatus. In the second phase, two animals also presented gastric ulcers, with one having received only NaCl at 0.9 percent solution. Ulcers occurrence was neither influenced (P>0.05) by the administration and dose of mofebutazone, nor by the presence of omeprazole. Mofebutazone effect on the hematological and biochemical variables was unremarkable (P+3) or absent (hematocrit, total plasma protein, creatinine, albumin, Ca+2) (P>0.05). Based on these results the following conclusions could be drawn: the occurrence of gastric ulcers in the aglandular region of healthy ponies was not influenced by application and dose of mofebutazone when administered for 12 days; grade four ulcers in the aglandular region of ponies may not be accompanied by clinical signs; healthy ponies tolerate application of up to 6mg kg-1 of IV mofebutazone for 12 days without the occurrence of renal...