Optimization of the process of compound feed pelleting for fur animals

Currently, fur farming products are becoming more and more in demand. With the increase in the number of fur-bearing animals, it is necessary to produce compound feeds that provide high quality furs with minimal feed costs. Compound feed recipes with a fat content of 20% and higher were developed for fur animals. Feeding fodder in the form of granules produced by the technology, one of the stages of which is the process of granulating compound fodders with a high fat content with reasonable operating parameters of the granulator press, is expedient. Process studies using the method of statistical planning of a multivariate experiment were carried out to determine the optimal granulation parameters. The following factors influencing the process under consideration were chosen: the amount of added fat, the steam consumption, the gap between the roll and the press die. Specific energy consumption and crumbling served as criteria for assessing the influence of the selected parameters, which make it possible to assess adequately the efficiency of the process. The data obtained showed that the process of pelleting compound feed at optimal parameters makes it possible to obtain pellets, the quality of which meets the requirements of the standard. All the data obtained were within the calculated confidence intervals of the optimization parameters. The change in the quality indicators of the obtained granulated compound feed during storage was also investigated in the work. Changes in the quality of granulated compound feed during storage testified that the values of total acidity and acid number of fat increased significantly after two months of storage due to hydrolysis of fat in conditions of free oxygen access. The value of the peroxide number of fat, which reflects the depth of oxidative changes in the compound feed, increased sharply after two months of storage. The content of vitamins A and E during the storage of compound feed for 45 days in summer was 12.3% and 10.5% of the initial values, respectively. The recommended shelf life of granulated feed with a high fat content in winter-spring period is 60 days, in summer - 45 days.

UNIFORM ASYMPTOTICS AND CONFIDENCE REGIONS BASED ON THE ADAPTIVE LASSO WITH PARTIALLY CONSISTENT TUNING

We consider the adaptive Lasso estimator with componentwise tuning in the framework of a low-dimensional linear regression model. In our setting, at least one of the components is penalized at the rate of consistent model selection and certain components may not be penalized at all. We perform a detailed study of the consistency properties and the asymptotic distribution which includes the effects of componentwise tuning within a so-called moving-parameter framework. These results enable us to explicitly provide a set $\mathcal {M}$ such that every open superset acts as a confidence set with uniform asymptotic coverage equal to 1, whereas removing an arbitrarily small open set along the boundary yields a confidence set with uniform asymptotic coverage equal to 0. The shape of the set $\mathcal {M}$ depends on the regressor matrix as well as the deviations within the componentwise tuning parameters. Our findings can be viewed as a broad generalization of Pötscher and Schneider (2009, Journal of Statistical Planning and Inference 139, 2775–2790; 2010, Electronic Journal of Statistics 4, 334–360), who considered distributional properties and confidence intervals based on components of the adaptive Lasso estimator for the case of orthogonal regressors.

Important Issues in : Statistical Considerations of Quantitative Proteomic Data

Mass spectrometry is frequently used in quantitative proteomics to detect differentially regulated proteins. A very important but unfortunately oftentimes neglected part in detecting differential proteins is the statistical analysis. Data from proteomics experiments are usually high-dimensional and hence require profound statistical methods. It is especially important to already correctly design a proteomic experiment before it is conducted in the laboratory. Only this can ensure that the statistical analysis is capable of detecting truly differential proteins afterward. This chapter thus covers aspects of both statistical planning as well as the actual analysis of quantitative proteomic experiments.

A protocol for a systematic review investigating the factors influencing the statistical planning, design, conduct, analysis and reporting of trials

Trials can be defined as prospective human research studies to test the effectiveness and safety of interventions, such as medications, surgeries, medical devices and other interventions for the management of patient care. Statistics is an important and powerful tool in trials. Inappropriately designed trials and/or inappropriate statistical analysis produce unreliable results, with limited clinical use. The aim of this systematic literature review is to identify, describe and synthesise factors contributing to or influencing the statistical planning, design, conduct, analysis and reporting of trials. This protocol will describe the methodological approach taken for the following: conducting a systematic and comprehensive search for relevant articles, applying eligibility criteria for the inclusion of such articles, extracting data and information, appraising the quality of the articles, and thematically synthesizing the data to illuminate the key factors influencing statistical aspects of trials.

Dengue Incidence and Climatic Factors

Introduction: This study was carried out to analyze the temporal evolution of the incidence of dengue in Araraquara-SP, Brazil, from 2012 to 2016, correlating the incidence with temperature and pluviometry. Methods: It was a cross-sectional design. The monthly number of cases from 2012 to 2016 was collected in the datafile of the Special Health Service of Araraquara-SESA of USP. Climatic variables related to temperature and rainfall were obtained from the websites of Agritempo and Department of Water and Electric Power, respectively. Statistical planning included incidence rates, and the tendency from 2012 to 2016, and it was studied the correlation between the number of dengue cases and each one of the climatic variables, considering the time-lag concept. Results: The incidence rates were 52.68, 376.52, 737.39, 3,660 and 809.48 per 100,000 inhabitants. Significant correlations were observed between the number of dengue cases and climatic variables after 2-4 months for high temperature and after 1-4 months for rainfall. Conclusions: The city faced an epidemic of dengue in 2015. It was identified the time lag in which hot weather and rain favored the occurrence of new cases: 2 to 4 months later for high temperature, and 1 to 4 months later for rainfall.

A protocol for a systematic review investigating the factors influencing the statistical planning, design, conduct, analysis and reporting of clinical trials

Clinical trials can be defined as prospective human research studies to test the effectiveness and safety of interventions, such as medications, surgeries, medical devices and other interventions for the management of patient care. Statistics is an important and powerful tool in clinical trials. Inappropriately designed trials and/or inappropriate statistical analysis produce unreliable results, with limited clinical use. The aim of this systematic literature review is to identify, describe and synthesise factors contributing to or influencing the statistical planning, design, conduct, analysis and reporting of clinical trials. This protocol will describe the methodological approach taken for the following: conducting a systematic and comprehensive search for relevant articles, applying eligibility criteria for the inclusion of such articles, extracting data and information, appraising the quality of the articles, and thematically synthesizing the data to illuminate the key factors influencing statistical aspects of clinical trials.

Basic Treatment in Natural Clinoptilolite for Improvement of Physicochemical Properties

Natural zeolites are low in cost and exhibit interesting properties for applications in adsorption and catalysis. However, the fact that they are natural materials, not obtained in pure form, and can incorporate various compensating ions can compromise their properties and restrict their use. As their textural and chemical properties are of great relevance for adsorption and catalysis applications, this work aims to study the modification of the natural zeolite clinoptilolite to obtain materials with better physicochemical properties. Clinoptilolite was treated with NaOH under various conditions. The treated material was characterized by X-ray diffraction, X-ray fluorescence, N2 adsorption and desorption at 77 K, CO2 adsorption at 273 K, and pyridine adsorption. The treatment allowed the removal of silicon from the material, improving the textural properties and preserving the structural Al. With the removal of Si, the Si/Al ratio decreased, and consequently, the number of acid and adsorptive sites increased. In addition, statistical planning revealed that the concentration of NaOH is the parameter that most influences the improvement of the textural properties.