Fernando Colen

Viabilidade técnica e econômica da substituição de fontes convencionais de energia por biogás em assentamento rural do Estado de São Paulo

The aim of this work was to evaluate the economic feasibility of two biodigestion systems using animal excrements in a rural settlement, in Itabera - SP, Brazil, in the year of 2005. One of them was constructed to supply biogas for five residences. The other one was constructed to supply biogas for production activities. The generated benefits related to the supply of electric and thermal energy were evaluated, using biogas for five residences and for production activities, in comparison to the annual costs of the biodigestion system construction and operation. The results showed economic feasibility of the biogas production in both cases. It was generated economic benefits of US

Modified toxin-binding inhibition (ToBI) test for epsilon antitoxin determination in serum of immunized rabbits

1,766.84 and US

ELISA and modified toxin-binding inhibition test for quality control of the clostridial vaccine processes

4,338.54 per year for the residential biodigestion system and production activities biodigestion system, respectively, as well as US

Características morfológicas do pelame de vacas holandesas puras por cruza na região semiárida de Minas Gerais

706.20 per year for biofertilizer production. The costs were estimated in US

The Effect of Solar Radiation in the Treatment of Swine Biofertilizer from Anaerobic Reactor

582.18 per year in each biodigestion system. The pay-back was evaluated in 2.5 years for the residential case and 11 months for the production case, respectively. These results can be used to formulate public policies directed to biomass exploitation to produce low cost energy focused on familiar agriculture.

MODIFIED TOXIN-BINDING INHIBITION (TOBI) TEST FOR QUANTIFICATION OF EPSILON ANTITOXIN IN SERUM FROM IMMUNIZED SHEEP

The aim of the present study was to evaluate and standardize the ToBI test in vitro as a substitute for the serum neutralization test in mice for quality control of clostridial vaccines. The ToBI test in vitro was used to evaluate 40 serum samples of known antibody content, obtained from rabbits immunized against clostridiosis with experimental vaccine. The correlation between epsilon antitoxin titers in rabbit sera, determined by the ToBI test and serum neutralization in mice, ranged from 0.222% to 0.452% in polyvalent vaccines and from 0.154% to 0.387% in monovalent vaccines. Interplate coefficients of variation were not significant, reaching 0.350% in polyvalent vaccines and 0.400% in monovalent vaccines, indicating high homogeneity. In conclusion, the ToBI test in vitro is suitable for assessing the potency of clostridial vaccines and may be used as an alternative method able to replace current in vivo tests.

EVALUATION OF THE FLOCCULATION LIMIT TECNHNIQUE FOR QUALITY CONTROL OF CLOSTRIDIAL VACCINES

This study aimed to assess and standardize the ELISA and modified ToBI test in vitro methods in order to verify the potency of epsilon toxicoid in comparison with the in vivo TCP method. The following epsilon toxoids were used: NIBSC standard from batches 375/07, 532/08, 551/08, 373/07 and 378/07. These were evaluated using a TCP test, ELISA and ToBI tests. The results indicate that the correlation ratio between the dilutions of standard NIBSC toxicoid and absorbance values of 89.44% obtained with the ELISA method support the use of the curve to evaluate epsilon toxoids. However, it was observed that the absorbance values were similar for all toxoids, thus presenting no significant difference between higher and lower concentration toxoids. For the ToBI test, the correlation ratio of 96.76, obtained in the curve pattern, demonstrates the effectiveness of the curve to be used in the epsilon toxoid evaluation. The correlation ratio between the titration degrees of toxoids obtained through TCP and ToBI tests was higher than 90%. It is concluded that the type of ELISA test used does present discriminative power for toxoids with different concentrations, which does not support the use of this technique for such a purpose. The ToBI test can be used as a screening method for it is sensitive and effective to detect epsilon toxicoid produced by C. perfringens type D.

Energetic analysis of landrace varieties and hybrids of corn produced in different technological levels of management

The aim of this work was to evaluate the morphological characteristics such as number density, coat thickness and length of predominantly black lactating graded Holstein cows, in the region of Montes Claros in the north of Minas Gerais. The study was conducted in two phases, A: July/August and B: October/November 2010, using 12 lactating female Holstein crossbred dairy cows with predominant black coat. We measured the characteristics of numerical density (number of hair/cm²), thickness (mm) length (mm) and coat surface temperature (CST). Three samples of hair of each animal were taken at each stage through adjusted pliers. The results showed that the coat was less dense, with shorter hair in phase B, and the thickness did not change in the two phases. In the period when the coat was denser, that is, phase A, there was lower CTS. The observed coat characteristics of graded Holstein cows indicate good adaptation to environmental conditions in the region.

Efeito do Biofertilizante no Enraizamento de Estacas de Erva Baleeira

The intensive process of creating confined pigs generates large amounts of waste, character‐ ized as polluters of great impact to the environment. According to the Brazilian environ‐ mental legislation, Law No. 9.605/98, the amount of effluent produced by swine requires appropriate destination, and the producer may be held criminally responsible for damage caused to the environment, human health and animals.