Overfeeding Extends the Period of Annual Cyclicity but Increases the Risk of Early Embryonic Death in Shetland Pony Mares

Obesity has been associated with altered reproductive activity in mares, and may negatively affect fertility. To examine the influence of long-term high-energy (HE) feeding on fertility, Shetland pony mares were fed a diet containing 200% of net energy (NE) requirements during a three-year study. The incidence of hemorrhagic anovulatory follicles (HAF) and annual duration of cyclicity were compared to those in control mares receiving a maintenance diet. Day-7 embryos were flushed and transferred between donor and recipient mares from both groups; the resulting conceptuses were collected 21 days after transfer to assess conceptus development. HE mares became obese, and embryos recovered from HE mares were more likely to succumb to early embryonic death. The period of annual cyclicity was extended in HE compared to control mares in all years. The incidence of HAFs did not consistently differ between HE and control mares. No differences in embryo morphometric parameters were apparent. In conclusion, consuming a HE diet extended the duration of cyclicity, and appeared to increase the likelihood of embryos undergoing early embryonic death following embryo transfer.

SAIFI AND SAIDI INDICATIVE RELIABILITY FIGURES OF RURAL ELECTRIC NETWORKS WITH SMART ISLAND RECLOSERS

The paper describes principles of improving the reliability of rural distribution networks of 6–35 kV based on smart switching devices, reclosers with specialized integrated controllers. The typical places to install reclosers for the radial and ring feeders are shown. They are mounted when a new consumer is connected and balance membership is delimited. It is also done to identify a responsible consumer with an indicated connection diagrams. The choice of the optimal number of reclosers for the radial and ring feeders according to indicative figures RNRE and ARAE, characterizing the relative efficiency of network reconstruction by reducing the number of consumer outages per year, and the average investment efficiency in network reconstruction when installing reclosers, is justified. There is presented a method to find SAIFI and SAIDI indicative reliability figures that characterize the average annual number of customer disconnections and the average annual duration of one disconnection in the electrical network.

INFLUÊNCIA DO USO E OCUPAÇÃO DO SOLO NA DISPONIBILIDADE HÍDRICA DA BACIA HIDROGRÁFICA DO RIO URUÇUÍ-PRETO, PIAUÍ

Objetivou-se verificar a influência das mudanças no uso e ocupação do solo na disponibilidade hídrica da bacia hidrográfica do rio Uruçuí-Preto, Piauí, no período de 1984 a 2007. Para a avaliação do uso do solo foram utilizadas imagens do Satélite Landsat 5, sensor TM (Thematic Mapper) e realizou-se a classificação automática supervisionada auxiliada pelo algoritmo de Máxima Verossimilhança. Para a análise do comportamento hidrológico foram utilizados dados da vazão média, máxima e mínima anual; vazão mínima com sete dias de duração anual (Q7); e as vazões associadas às permanências de 90% (Q90) e 95% (Q95). Para a associação entre as vazões e o uso do solo, fez-se a correlação simples entre as variáveis, testando seu nível de significância a 5% (p < 0,05) de probabilidade. Os resultados demonstraram que ao comparar os anos de 1984 e 2007, as classes Cerrado e Mata Ciliar reduziram 20,9% e 2,4% respectivamente, a classe Solo Exposto/Talhão Agrícola aumentou 13,48% e a classe Queimada aumentou 9,83%. Não ocorreram correlações significativas entre as variáveis classes de mudanças no uso e ocupação do solo e as vazões, devido a extensa área da bacia que amenizou consequentemente os efeitos hidrológicos.Palavras-chave: desmatamento; sensoriamento remoto; vazões. INFLUENCE OF THE LAND USE AND OCCUPATION IN HIDROLOGIC AVAILABILITY OF RIVER BASIN URUÇUÍ-PRETO, PIAUÍ ABSTRACT: The aim’s was to verify the influence of changes in land use and occupation in water availability in the river basin Uruçuí-Preto, Brazil, in the period 1984 to 2007. For the assessment of land use were used images from satellite Landsat 5 TM sensor (Thematic Mapper) and the classification of imagens was made by automatic supervised classification with the maximum likelihood algorithm. For the analysis of the hydrological behavior were used average flow data, maximum and minimum annual, minimum flow with seven days of annual duration (Q7) and flow rates associated with stays of 90% (Q90) and 95% (Q95) of the year. For the association between flow and land use was made the simple correlation between the variables, testing its 5% significance (p < 0.05). The results showed that when comparing the years 1984 and 2007, the Cerrado and Mata Riparian classes decreased 20.9% and 2.4% respectively, Solo Exposed / Crop Field class increased 13.48% and Burned Areas class increased by 9.83%. There were no significant correlations between changes of class variables in the use and occupation of land and the flows, due to the large area of the basin that has consequently reduced the hydrological effects.Keywords: deforestation; remote sensing; flow.

Contrato administrativo de prestação de serviço executado de forma contínua: prorrogação de prazo efetuada após seu termo final

<p>Administrative contract for the provision of service performed continuously: deadline extension made after its final term</p><p> </p><p>O presente artigo, de natureza dogmática, elaborado segundo o método hipotético-dedutivo, analisa a prorrogação do contrato administrativo de prestação de serviços executados de forma contínua. A hipótese tomada para análise é a de que é possível essa prorrogação, ainda que o contrato esteja vencido. Para tanto, analisa o que justificaria a prorrogação desses contratos de modo geral, os problemas envolvidos com os contratos de prazo mais longo, o que caracterizaria os serviços executados de forma contínua, além da possibilidade de contratos com esse tipo de objeto terem vigência superior a 12 meses. Efetua ainda uma distinção entre contratos com prazo determinado e contratos por escopo. Finalmente, após verificar que a preocupação da lei em tratar as prorrogações como exceções decorre da vigência anual do orçamento e que o próprio sistema jurídico reconheceria a existência de despesas que ultrapassariam o exercício, conclui que não há vedação à prorrogação do contrato após seu termo final, desde que atendidas certas condições.</p><p> </p><p>This paper, of dogmatic nature and using the hypothetical-deductive reasoning, explores the term extension of administrative contracts made after its expiration. The focus is on contracts of services that are performed continuously. The main hypothesis is that the term extension is possible. To treat this issue, it studies what justifies the extension of such contracts in general, the problems involved with longer-term contracts, the distinguish element of services that are performed continuously, besides the possibility of contracts with this type of object having duration exceeding 12 months. It makes a distinction between fixed term contracts and contracts for scope. Finally, after checking that the concern of the law in dealing with extensions as exceptions are due to the annual duration of the budget and that the legal system recognizes the existence of expenses that exceed this duration, it points out that there is no prohibition to the contract’s deadline extension made after its expiration, provided that certain conditions are fulfilled.</p>

Unified Tanker Survey and Inspection Regime in Terms of Reducing Psychophysical Strain of the Crew

The paper focuses on analysis of the effect of various surveys and inspections on the psychophysical behaviour of the crew. After analysing the scope and the extent of each regime, the authors identified more than 60% of surveys overlapping each other. Furthermore, the results of the survey conducted among seafarers indicate that the present method of carrying out ship surveys and inspections have a negative effect on the psychophysical condition of the crew. Therefore, a new method of tanker inspections has been proposed in order to reduce the psychophysical strain of the crew. The proposed method would minimise the annual duration of the inspections up to 30% and improve inspection time coordination without compromising quality and safety of the ships.

Snow cover sensitivity to black carbon deposition in the Himalaya: from atmospheric and ice core measurements to regional climate simulations

We applied a climate-chemistry model to evaluate the impact of black carbon (BC) deposition on the Himalayan snow cover from 1998 to 2008. Using a stretched grid with a resolution of 50 km over this complex topography, the model reproduces reasonably well the observations of both the snow cover duration and the seasonal cycle of the atmospheric BC concentration including a maximum in atmospheric BC during the pre-monsoon period. Comparing the simulated BC concentrations in the snow with observations is challenging because of the high spatial variability and the complex vertical distribution of BC in the snow. We estimate that both wet and dry BC depositions affect the Himalayan snow cover reducing its annual duration by one to eight days. The resulting increase of the net shortwave radiation at the surface reaches an annual mean of 1 to 3 W m−2, leading to a localised warming of 0.05 to 0.3 °C.