Abstract. This article presents an economic evaluation of Uruguay?s beef industry competitiveness to quantify the effects of public policies (taxes, subsidies, social charges) on the various links constituting the beef export chain and estimate the impact of transfers of resources between the beef industry and other sectors of the economy. The Policy Analysis Matrix (PAM) techniques were employed to quantify the effects of public policies on the competitiveness of Uruguay?s beef industry.

Abstracts: In the semiarid region of northeastern Brazil, Tephrosia cinerea causes periacinar hepatic fibrosis in sheep with severe ascites and, occasionally, nervous signs. Sixteen sheep from six outbreaks of T. cinerea poisoning were studied. All sheep had histologic lesion of periacinar fibrosis and six showed, in the brain, vacuolization (spongy degeneration) of the white matter and junction between grey and white matter and presence of Alzheimer type II astrocytes in the grey matter.

Este estudo avaliou a incidência de infecções naturais pelos agentes da tristeza parasitária bovina (TPB), Anaplasma marginale, Babesia bovis e Babesia bigemina, em bezerros nascidos em cinco fazendas do semiárido paraibano. Em cada fazenda, foram coletadas amostras de sangue de 6 a 14 bezerros a cada 14 dias durante os primeiros 12 meses de vida de cada animal. As amostras de sangue foram processadas por microhematócrito e testadas por PCR para detecção de DNA de A. marginale, B. bovis e B. bigemina.

RESUMEN. Los modelos dinámicos a nivel de rodal son ampliamente usados en el ámbito forestal. Para su ajuste se emplean datos empíricos que se integran en un conjunto de ecuaciones que describen las relaciones entre diferentes variables. Las metodologías clásicas para desarrollar ecuaciones de transición invariantes con respecto al intervalo de simulación (path invariance) e invariantes respecto a la edad de referencia empleadas son algebraic difference approach (ADA) y generalized algebraic difference approach (GADA).

Resumen: El intervalo hídrico óptimo (IHO) fue propuesto como un indicador de calidad física de suelo que integra en un único parámetro los efectos de la aireación, la resistencia a la penetración y el contenido de agua del suelo sobre el crecimiento vegetal. El objetivo del presente estudio fue evaluar el IHO, conjuntamente con otras propiedades físicas del suelo, bajo diferentes sistemas de rotación y fertilización.

ABSTRACT: White muscle disease (WMD), nutritional myodegeneration or enzootic muscular dystrophy, is a nutritional condition associated with selenium and/or vitamin E deficiency in ruminants. These elements are constituents of the major body antioxidant systems. Depletion of selenium results in oxidative damage to cardiac and skeletal muscle cells, resulting in myodegeneration and myonecrosis, typical lesions of WMD. Selenium deficiency is common in South America, but WMD is underreported.

ABSRACT: Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) is an important remote measurement in agriculture because it has a high correlation with crop growth and yield result. In this paper, we present a methodology to predict the NDVI by training a crop growth model with historical data. Although we use a very simple soybean growth model, the methodology could be extended to other crops and more complex models. The training process is an optimization problem, that is solved using the spectral projected gradient method.

Abstract:Brachiaria spp. is the most used forage in extensive cattle production in the Central-Western region of Brazil. However, livestock fed with these grasses can develop hepatogenous intoxication due to the presence of steroidal saponins that promote photosensitivity, inefficiency of production in the herds and death. Grass toxicity depends on factors related to animal susceptibility or resistance and intrinsic plant factors, providing significant differences in the clinical manifestation and mortality of livestock.

Dehorning is a common practice in cattle farming. Researchers suggest that pain during dehorning can be mitigated, although there is no conclusive evidence about the best technique and the best manner of pain relief. A systematic review-meta-analysis was performed to clarify the effect of dehorning on welfare indicators (cortisol concentration or average daily gain [ADG] or vocalisation) in beef cattle up to 12 months of age. Five electronic databases were systematically searched, as well as conference proceedings and experts were contacted electronically.

Dehorning is a common practice in cattle farming. Researchers suggest that pain during dehorning can be mitigated, although there is no conclusive evidence about the best technique and the best manner of pain relief. A systematic review-meta-analysis was performed to clarify the effect of dehorning on welfare indicators (cortisol concentration or average daily gain [ADG] or vocalisation) in beef cattle up to 12 months of age. Five electronic databases were systematically searched, as well as conference proceedings and experts were contacted electronically.