A Longitudinal Study with a Laser Methane Detector (LMD) Highlighting Lactation Cycle-Related Differences in Methane Emissions from Dairy Cows.

Reversing climate change requires broad, cohesive, and strategic plans for the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions from animal farming. The implementation and evaluation of such plans demand accurate and accessible methods for monitoring on-field CH4 concentration in eructating breath. Therefore, this paper describes a longitudinal study over six months, aiming to test a protocol using a laser methane detector (LMD) to monitor CH4 emissions in semi-extensive dairy farm systems. Over 10 time points, CH4 measurements were performed in dry (late gestation) and lactating cows at an Azorean dairy farm. Methane traits including CH4 concentration related to eructation (E_CH4) and respiration (R_CH4), and eructation events, were automatically computed from CH4 measured values using algorithms created for peak detection and analysis. Daily CH4 emission was estimated from each profile's mean CH4 concentration (MEAN_CH4). Data were analyzed using a linear mixed model, including breed, lactation stage, and parity as fixed effects, and cow (subject) and time point as random effects. The results showed that Holsteins had higher E_CH4 than Jersey cows (p < 0.001). Although a breed-related trend was found in daily CH4 emission (p = 0.060), it was not significant when normalized to daily milk yield (p > 0.05). Methane emissions were lower in dry than in lactation cows (p < 0.05) and increased with the advancement of the lactation, even when normalizing it to daily milk yield (p < 0.05). Primiparous cows had lower daily CH4 emissions related to R_ CH4 compared to multiparous (p < 0.001). This allowed the identification of periods of higher CH4 emissions within the milk production cycle of dairy cows, and thus, the opportunity to tailor mitigation strategies accordingly.

Influence of the Season on the Nutritive Value and Gas Production of Opuntia ficus-indica and Agave americana L. in Ruminant Feed.

Using invasive plants in animal production can provide an economical and eco-sustainable competitive advantage in a globalized market. The Opuntia ficus-indica and the Agave americana L. are invasive plants historically used by Azorean farmers as an alternative ruminant water source in the summer. This study aims to better understand their properties and how they vary throughout the year, so their use to complement animal diets can be optimised. Six samples of each species were collected on the Terceira Island during 2 growth seasons: winter (January 2021) and summer (September 2021), and their chemical composition, in vitro digestibility, and gas production, were determined. Significant (p < 0.05) differences were found in all parameters between the summer and the winter, with larger variations in both fibre (NDF and ADF) and digestibility parameters found between the Opuntia and the Agave. Gas production was greater in the summer for Opuntia and in the winter for Agave. Even though the digestibility was lower in the summer, we found that both plants offer a viable ruminant feed complement in both seasons, providing a cheap and eco-sustainable alternative water source, that can be associated to dry forage and compound feeding stuff with a high crude protein content when designing ruminant diets.

Biological activities of organic extracts and specialized metabolites from different parts of Cryptomeria japonica (Cupressaceae) - A critical review.

Forest operations and wood industry generate large amounts of residues that are discarded in the field and cause environmental pollution. However, these biomass residues are still raw materials to obtain value-added products, such as essential oils, organic/aqueous extracts and resins that are among the great natural sources of bioactive metabolites. Thus, in recent years, the scientific community is giving special attention to their valorization. To date, different uses of biomass residues have been proposed, such as a source of renewable energy, fertilizers, animal feed and bioactive molecules. In this context, Cryptomeria japonica biomass residues (e.g., bark and its exudate, heartwood, sapwood, leaves, cones and roots) represent a source of diverse specialized metabolites (e.g., sesqui-, di-, tri- and sesquarterpenes, flavonoids, lignans and norlignans) with potential application in different fields, particularly in the agrochemical, food, cosmeceutical, pharmaceutical, phytomedicine and esthetic, due to their valuable multi-bioactivities determined over the last decades. Thus, this review provides an overview of the reported biological activities of organic extracts/fractions and their specialized metabolites obtained from different parts of C. japonica, in order to encourage the alternative uses of C. japonica wastes/byproducts, and implement a sustainable and circular bioeconomy.

Tentativa de avaliaçäo do programa especial de controle da esquistossomose (PECE) no Estado da Paraíba, Brasil / Tentive of evaluation of the Programa Especial de Controle de Esquistossomose (PECE) in the State of Paraiba, Brazil

Foi feita uma tentativa de avaliaçäo do Programa Especial de Controle da Esquistossomose (PECE) do Ministério da Saúde do Brasil, desenvolvido pela SUCAM no Estado da Paraíba, a partir de 1976. Foram tomadas como base as 5 primeiras avaliaçöes do Programa de 1978 a 1983 e posteriormente em 1984/85 realizados exames quantitativos de fezes em uma amostra de 9.155 indivíduos e exame clínico em 1.036 positivos, em 3 municípios selecionados nas principais regiöes hidrográficos, onde o programa vem sendo realizado. As 5 primeiras avaliaçöes realizadas pela SUCAM de 1978 a 1983 nos 47 municípios trabalhados, 23 na regiäo do Mamanguape, 18 na regiäo do Paraíba, 5 na regiäo Litorial Sul e um na regiäo do Curimataú, demonstraram uma queda da prevalência média inicial da esquistossomose de 28% para 4,9% na regiäo do Mamanguape, de 20,9% para 5,9% na regiäo do Paraíba, de 40,2% para 18,9% na regiäo Litoral Sul e de 4,9 para 1,4% na regiäo do Curimataú. Em nível de localidade, entretanto, permaneciam com prevalência igual ou superior a 20%, 36(10,9%) das 329 avaliadas na regiäo do Mamanguape, 40(13,6%) das 293 na regiäo do Paraíba e 43 (47,2%) das 91 da regiäo Litorial Sul. Nos municípios tomados como amostra para exame clínico e quantitativo defezes no ano de 1985 verificou-se que em Cuitegi, na regiäo do Mamanguape, dos 3.494 examinados 154 (4,4%) eliminavam em média 123 ovos de S. mansoni por grama de fezes, nenhum tinha a forma hepatoesplênica e 20(12,9%) tinha fígado palpável. Em Mari, na regiäo do Paraíba, dos 3.735 examinados 410(10,9%) estavam positivos eliminando em média 165,9 ovos de S.mansoni por grama de fezes; apenas um (0,24%) tinha a forma hepatoesplênica e 48(11,7%) tinha figado palpável. Em Alhandra, na regiäo Litoral Sul, dos 1.926 examinados 472 (24,5%) eliminavam em média 115,4 ovos de S.mansoni por grama de fezes, 3,6% eram hepatoesplênicos e 81(17,1%) tinha fígado palpável...