Atypical bovine interstitial pneumonia in a semi-intensive beef cattle system

ABSTRACT: The aim of the present study was to describe an outbreak of atypical interstitial pneumonia affecting 15 Angus cattle aged 7-30 months in the south of Rio Grande do Sul. The clinical course of the disease was approximately 1-3 days. The cattle were kept in the native field and had received feed containing the remains of wafers from a food factory before the outbreak. Clinical signs included dyspnea and abdominal breathing, with a clinical evolution period of up to 3 days. Nine animals presented apathy and respiratory difficulty and died within 24h, while three animals exhibited a clinical evolution period of 36-48h. Three other animals died without any clinical signs. The main macroscopic lesions were observed in the lungs, which did not collapse at the opening of the thoracic cavity and showed a rubbery consistency. On the cut surface, the organs were firm and dark red, with marked distension of the interlobular septa due to edema. Histopathological analysis revealed thickening of the interlobular pulmonary septa; interstitial edema and emphysema; mild mononuclear cell, eosinophil, and neutrophil infiltration; areas of type II pneumocyte proliferation, and thickening of the alveolar walls. Fibrin was observed in the alveolar lumen with the formation of hyaline membranes. On the basis of macroscopic and histological examinations and epidemiological data, a final diagnosis of atypical interstitial pneumonia was made. Although, the cause of the disease has not been identified, it is believed that the bran wafer meal contained ingredients that were not suitable for animals, consequently triggering the disease.

Soil management and application of agricultural gypsum in a Planosol for soybean cultivation

ABSTRACT: This study investigated the effects of soil management systems, tillage, and application of gypsum agricultural to soil, on soybean development in lowland areas. The experiment was carried out on an Alfisol in a randomized complete block design in a factorial arrangement. The two soil tillage practices were without deep tillage and with deep tillage. Gypsum treatments were no gypsum application, 500kg of gypsum ha-1, 1000kg of gypsum ha-1, and 1500kg of gypsum ha-1. Deep tillage resulted in less soil resistance to root penetration during ryegrass cultivation during the soybean offseason, 11 months after applying the management treatments, resulting in higher dry mass of ryegrass in the offseason and higher soybean yield in the following year.

Consortium of eucalyptus with forage sorghum in semiarid of Minas Gerais State

ABSTRACT: The objective was to estimate the wood yield and essential oil content in three clones of eucalyptus that were planted in four contrasting arrangements and intercropped with sorghum. Eucalyptus clones MA2001 (Eucalyptus camaldulensis x E. tereticornis), A144 (Eucalyptus urophylla x E. grandis), and GG100 (Eucalyptus urophylla x E. grandis), were planted in single rows (10x2m), double rows (2x3+15m and 2x3+20m); and, triple rows (2x3x2+10m) in a randomized, complete block design experiment with four replicates. Our results demonstrated that planting spacing did not influence the essential oil yield or diameter at breast height in the clones. However, higher density plantings were shown to result in higher fresh weight of branches and leaves per plant. MA2001 grew taller, produced higher quantity of fresh biomass of branches and leaves per plant and volume of wood per hectare, and yielded more essential oil yield than the other clones. We concluded that MA2001 is the most suitable of the clones tested here for cultivation in water deficit conditions.

Anesthesia and sedation of map treefrog (Hypsiboas geographicus) tadpoles with essential oils

ABSTRACT: The goal of this study was to investigate the sedative and anesthetic properties of essential oils (EOs) in map treefrog tadpoles (Hypsiboas geographicus) and to determine the sedation and deep anesthesia induction times as well as the recovery time. The tadpoles were exposed to one of the EOs from three plant species: Aniba rosaeodora (EOAR - 25, 50, 100 or 200µL L-1), Lippia origanoides (EOLO - 13, 25, 50, 100 or 200µL L-1), and Lippia alba (either chemotype citral [EOL-C - 25, 50, 100 or 200µL L-1] or linalool [EOL-L - 50, 75, 100 or 200µL L-1]) (n = 8 per replicate). The tadpoles exposed to 25 and 50µL L-1 EOL-C and EOL-L, respectively, were not anesthetized within 30min (the maximum time of observation), and those exposed to 200µL L-1 EOLO did not recover within 30min. Sedation, deep anesthesia and recovery times showed a concentration-dependent relationship for all EOs tested, with the exception of the recovery with EOLO. The results allowed concluding that all investigated EOs can be used to anesthetize tadpoles of H. geographicus, but the use of EOLO must not exceed 100µL L-1.

Vegetative rescue and ex vitro system production of Tibouchina sellowiana clonal plants by cutting and mini-cutting

ABSTRACT: We aimed to evaluate the rooting potential of Tibouchina sellowiana through the experiments: I - Cuttings from current-year shoots and epicormic shoots were submitted to IBA concentrations: 0, 500, 1000, 1500 and 2000mg L-1, in a factorial arrangement 2 x 5 (two types of cuttings x five IBA concentrations), with four replicates and 20 cuttings each; II - mini-stumps of Tibouchina sellowiana were submitted to successive shoots collecting during the four seasons, in a split-plot design, with five replications of ten mini-stumps per experimental unit. From the shoots of mini-stumps, mini-cuttings were produced, which were initially kept in greenhouse and later transferred to full sun, in a 4 x 5 factorial arrangement (four seasons x five collections per season), with four replicates of 12 mini-cuttings. Superiority of epicormic shoots cuttings was reported when compared to the current-year shoots, which showed the highest rooting and leaves maintenance (42.50% and 55.00%, respectively), eliminating the use of IBA. High survival of mini-stumps (over 80%) and the mini-cuttings production (170mini-cuttings m-2 month-1) in clonal mini-garden and the mini-cuttings survival (above 80%) in the greenhouse demonstrated the technical feasibility, with summer as the most appropriate time to collect mini-cuttings.

Chemical attributes of a remineralized Oxisol

ABSTRACT: Remineralizers are comminuted rocks that are applied to soil, and their use as an agricultural amendment was regulated in Brazil in 2013. However, mechanisms of action of these materials must be better known to enable them to be best used in agricultural fields. Soil chemical attributes of an Oxisol were monitored after the application of a diabase remineralizer. The increase in exchangeable Na observed was associated with the dissolution of the border of the plagioclase crystals where this element is highly concentrated (albite). Therefore, it was inferred that the time since the application of the remineralizer (1 to 2 years depending on the treatment) was not sufficient to exhaust this crystal volume. Unfortunately, the presence of several sources of Ca-containing minerals in the remineralizer did not allow to infer if the calcic nuclei was dissolving. An increase in effective cation exchange capacity was observed without the concurrent increase in the pH of the soil. The two non-exclusive hypotheses proposed to explain this result were that an extra surface charge has originated on the surface of the newly precipitated oxidic phases and/or from the dissolution of the remineralizer grains. Rapid precipitation of amorphous solids (as measured by the increase in Alo and Feo) would also explain the lack of increase in exchangeable Fe and Al despite the large amount of Al2O3 (11.90%) and Fe2O3 (14.45%) in the remineralizer.

Economic profitability in conventional and irrigated coffee production systems in three municipalities in the Marilia region of São Paulo, Brazil

ABSTRACT: The objective of this study was to evaluate the economic benefit of coffee cultivation, with a focus on the distinction between conventional and irrigated coffee production systems. For the development of the study, the various productive systems were delineated from the data provided by a sample of producers to generate a matrix of average technical coefficients. The methodology used to estimate the operating cost of production is the one used by the Instituto de Economia Agrícola (IEA). Profitability indicators were also evaluated. Results indicated that the effective operational cost (EOC) incurred in the irrigated production system is higher than that in the conventional system. As regards the cost composition, in the conventional coffee production system, the largest cost incurred is on fertilizers among all inputs, whereas in the irrigated production system, the largest cost incurred is on machinery and equipment that are mainly used in harvesting, for the period 2013-2015. Profitability index of the conventional coffee production system in 2015 was 44.8%, and that of the drip irrigated production system was 49.7%. In 2014, profitability rates were negative for both the conventional (-13.9%) and irrigated coffee production systems (-8.6%). The most preferable choice was found to be the irrigated production system, as it allows reducing the risk of loss in production during prolonged periods of water shortage as well as greater yields due to a larger production of grains.

Alternatives to antibiotics in diets of weaned piglets

ABSTRACT: This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of growth promoter additives an alternative to antibiotics on performance, intestinal morphology and on microbiota of 21-to-35-day-old piglets. A total of 160 commercial crossbred piglets (males and females) with initial weight of 6.10±0.709kg were allotted in a completely randomized design with five treatments: Basal diet - Negative Control (NC); Basal diet + antibiotic (PC); Basal diet + mannanoligosaccharides (MOS); Basal diet + organic acids (OA), Basal diet + mannanoligosacharides + organic acids (MOS+OA), eight replicates and four piglets per experimental unit. The inclusion of additives in the diets had no effect (P>0.05) on the final average weight of piglets. Similarly, no effects (P<0.05) were observed on average daily feed intake and on average daily weight gain. The feed conversion improved (P<0.01) with the inclusion of additives in the diets compared to piglets fed with the NC. There was no effect (P>0.05) of the dietary additives on intestinal morphology and microbiota composition (enterobacteria and lactobacilli). Use of antibiotics, prebiotics, organic acids or prebiotics associated with organic acids in the diet improves feed conversion of piglets from 21 to 35 days of age. The additives have no major effects on piglets’ intestinal morphology and microbiota.

Morphological pattern of colonization by mycorrhizal fungi and the microbial activity observed in Barbados cherry crops

ABSTRACT: Our objective was to evaluate the morphological pattern of colonization by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) as well as to study the microbiological activity of the soil on family farms where Barbados cherry was cultivated. Soil and root samples were selected from four areas in the municipality of Maranguape-CE where Barbados cherry was grown, which were named according to the age of plants in the following manner: A1-3, A2-3, and A3-3 (3 years), and A4-2 (2 years). After sampling, the arbuscular mycorrhizal colonization, morphological colonization pattern, basal soil respiration (SBR), and density of mycorrhizal spores (DS) were analyzed. The Paris-type morphological pattern was predominant in the root system of Barbados cherry; the affinity of this pattern in the culture was clear. Time of installation and management of Barbados cherry orchards in family farming areas promoted reduction in SBR. P levels in the soil may have negatively influenced root colonization and density of mycorrhizal spores.