Jaqueline de Oliveira Castro

Prediction of free-stall occupancy rate in dairycattle barns through fuzzy sets

The goal of this study was to develop a fuzzy model to predict the occupancy rate of free-stalls facilities of dairy cattle, aiding to optimize the design of projects. The following input variables were defined for the development of the fuzzy system: dry bulb temperature (Tdb, °C), wet bulb temperature (Twb, °C) and black globe temperature (Tbg, °C). Based on the input variables, the fuzzy system predicts the occupancy rate (OR, %) of dairy cattle in free-stall barns. For the model validation, data collecting were conducted on the facilities of the Intensive System of Milk Production (SIPL), in the Dairy Cattle National Research Center (CNPGL) of Embrapa. The OR values, estimated by the fuzzy system, presented values of average standard deviation of 3.93%, indicating low rate of errors in the simulation. Simulated and measured results were statistically equal (P>0.05, t Test). After validating the proposed model, the average percentage of correct answers for the simulated data was 89.7%. Therefore, the fuzzy system developed for the occupancy rate prediction of free-stalls facilities for dairy cattle allowed a realistic prediction of stalls occupancy rate, allowing the planning and design of free-stall barns.

Uso de ardósia na construção de celas de maternidade para suínos: II - ambiente térmico e avaliação dos ruídos

Este trabalho teve o objetivo de avaliar o ambiente termico e o ruido em celas de maternidade para suinos com divisorias de alvenaria ou com rochas de ardosia. Para as medidas das variaveis de conforto termico e de ruidos, utilizaram-se de termometros e decibelimetro. No interior das celas e para a analise estatistica, foram usados doze matrizes e cento e trinta e nove leitoes, distribuidos em delineamento em blocos casualizados, em esquema de parcelas subdivididas. Os resultados mostraram que, no periodo da manha, em ambos os tratamentos, as condicoes de conforto termico foram mais adequadas para as matrizes, enquanto no periodo da tarde, mais adequadas para os leitoes; com relacao ao ruido, este foi menor nas celas de alvenaria. De forma geral, o ambiente no interior das celas construidas em ardosia apresentou umidade relativa mais baixa, e ITGU e temperatura mais elevada que as celas construidas em alvenaria. O nivel de ruidos permaneceu dentro dos limites considerados ideais para suinos em ambos os tratamentos.

Estimate of the weight of japanese quail eggs through fuzzy sets theory

A cotornicultura e uma alternativa na producao animal que, pelo baixo investimento, rapido retorno do capital investido, utilizacao de pequenas areas e a gerecao de novos empregos, tem despertado grande interesse no Brasil. Neste trabalho, objetivou-se desenvolver um modelo baseado na teoria dos conjuntos fuzzy para a predicao do peso de ovos de codornas japonesas. O modelo fuzzy proposto foi elaborado com base em dados experimentais oriundos de medicoes em campo, bem como da literatura, a respeito da influencia do ambiente sobre o peso de ovos de codornas japonesas de postura. Para o desenvolvimento do sistema fuzzy, foram definidas, como variaveis de entrada, a temperatura de bulo seco (tbs, °C) e a umidade relativa (UR, %) do ar, sendo utilizadas curvas de pertinencia trapezoidais e triangulares, respectivamente. O desvio absoluto entre os valores de peso dos ovos observados e os estimados pelo sistema fuzzy variou entre 0,01 g e 0,32 g, sendo o desvio medio de 0,14 g. O erro medio encontrado foi de 2,33 %, e o coeficiente de determinacao (R2) foi igual a 0,668. O sistema fuzzy desenvolvido para estimar o peso dos ovos de codornas japonesas, com base na T e UR, proporcionou baixos valores de desvio absoluto e erro percentual, possibilitando estimar de forma realistica o peso dos ovos em diferentes condicoes ambientais.

Predicting chick body mass by artificial intelligence‑based models

The objective of this work was to develop, validate, and compare 190 artificial intelligence-based models for predicting the body mass of chicks from 2 to 21 days of age subjected to different duration and intensities of thermal challenge. The experiment was conducted inside four climate-controlled wind tunnels using 210 chicks. A database containing 840 datasets (from 2 to 21-day-old chicks) - with the variables dry-bulb air temperature, duration of thermal stress (days), chick age (days), and the daily body mass of chicks - was used for network training, validation, and tests of models based on artificial neural networks (ANNs) and neuro-fuzzy networks (NFNs). The ANNs were most accurate in predicting the body mass of chicks from 2 to 21 days of age after they were subjected to the input variables, and they showed an R² of 0.9993 and a standard error of 4.62 g. The ANNs enable the simulation of different scenarios, which can assist in managerial decision-making, and they can be embedded in the heating control systems.

Semi-posed hens reared on different bed types

SUMMARY In the system of creation in floor the hens are created directly in contact with the floor that can be covered by different types of materials. The aim of this study was to evaluate the thermal environment, behavior, zootechnical indexes and quality of chicken eggs created in two types of flooring, wooden shavings and synthetic grass, were used 120 semi-heavy laying hens, Hysex Brown®, of these, half were created on wooden shaving and half on synthetic grass (Carpet Astro Turf®) distributed in a completely randomized in repeated measures in time in two treatments and two replications of 30 laying hens, during 56 days (two periods of 28 days). Were evaluated temperatures maximum and minimum, dry and wet bulb temperature, black globe temperature, relative humidity, temperature and humidity index and black globe temperature and humidity index; the frequency of natural behavior; the daily egg production per bird, per bird housed, and marketable, viability, feed consumption and feed conversion per dozen and per mass, average egg weight, specific weight and egg shell thickness. Data were analyzed using analysis of variance and means compared by F test at 0.05 probability, except the frequency of natural behavior that was analyzed using the chi square analysis test. The results show that the values of the zootechnical indexes of the layers are consistent with the guide strains recommendations, having no influence from the kind of floor used as bed. Only significant differences were observed in the feed intakeper mass of birds grown under synthetic grass. Thus, it seems that synthetic grass could be an excellent substrate for the bed of semi-heavy laying hens in the egg production phase.

Estimate of the Weight of Japanese Quail Eggs Through Fuzzy Sets Theory

Quail breeding is a viable alternative for animal production and due to its low investment, fast return of invested capital, use of small areas and creation of jobs has aroused much interest in Brazil. The aim of this study was to develop a model based on fuzzy set theory to predict the weight of eggs from Japanese quails. The proposed fuzzy model was based on data from field measurement experiments, as well as from literature referring to the influence of environment over the weight of eggs. To develop the fuzzy system, air dry-bulb temperature (tdb, ° C) and relative air humidity (RH, %) were defined as input variables and trapezoidal and triangular membership functions were used, respectively. The absolute deviation between the values for observed egg weight and egg weight estimated by the fuzzy system, varied between 0.01 g and 0.32 g, and the average deviation was 0.14 g. The average error found was 2.33%, and the determination coefficient (R2) was equal to 0.668. The fuzzy system developed to estimate the weight of Japanese quail eggs, based on the tdb and RH provided low values for absolute deviation and percentage error, allows a realistic estimate of the weight of eggs in different environmental conditions.