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Food security, sustainability of food production, and greenhouse gas (GHG) production of ruminant livestock are topics that generate scrutiny and debates worldwide. In a scenario of increasing human population and concerns with climate change, it is necessary to increase animal-derived food in sustainable operations. Grazing systems are crucial for ruminant production worldwide, and in the tropics, well-managed grasslands can provide sustainable intensification of this activity. In these regions, production often relies on grass monoculture managed extensively, a practice that commonly has led to the occurrence of degraded soils, limited animal productivity, and increased intensity of GHG emissions. Silvopastoralism is a practice that promotes several ecosystem services, showing potential to maintain soil quality while reducing the environmental impacts of ruminant production. These systems also have the potential to improve animal productive performance and reduce GHG emissions. The review was guided by a search in the Web of Science database using population terms and refined by document type (Article) and language (English OR Portuguese) following PRISMA protocol. Infographics were created using the Bibliometrix package in R software (version 4.3.2), and a specific topic on Tithonia diversifolia (Hemsl.) A. Gray was explored to demonstrate the importance of this forage resource for tropical silvopastoral systems and its potential contribution to food security. The T. diversifolia shrub is widely distributed in Latin America and tropical regions and presents several characteristics that make it a good option for silvopastoral systems. Focusing on the tropics, our objectives were to present one literature review addressing the role of grazing ruminant production towards the current climate change and food security challenges. Additionally, we aimed to explore the state of knowledge on silvopastoral systems and the use of T. diversifolia, presenting their potential to cope with this scenario of increased concerns with the sustainability of human activities.

O uso do machine learning foi impulsionado pela pandemia de COVID-19 para enfrentar desafios na saúde pública, auxiliando na detecção de casos, grupos de risco e desenvolvimento de modelos preditivos, fornecendo informações valiosas para controlar e prevenir a propagação da doença. O objetivo desse estudo é avaliar a capacidade preditiva de um modelo randomForest acerca do óbito em pacientes com diagnóstico confirmado para Covid-19. Este é um estudo transversal que utilizou dados de casos notificados no E-SUS VS do Espírito Santo de janeiro de 2020 a outubro de 2022. Foi criado um modelo Random Forest usando 70% dos dados para treinamento, com downsampling da classe majoritária. As previsões foram feitas no conjunto de teste e avaliadas usando tabela 2 × 2. O estudo fornece informações sobre as características associadas ao óbito e a capacidade do modelo de prever corretamente esses casos. No estudo, 111.024 pacientes foram randomizados para o grupo teste e 259.053 para o grupo treino, sendo reduzido para 7.766 após downsampling. As previsões do modelo resultaram em 90.644 verdadeiros negativos e 1.389 verdadeiros positivos, com 294 falsos positivos e 18.690 falsos negativos. A sensibilidade do modelo foi de 82,5%, indicando sua capacidade de identificar corretamente os casos de óbito. A especificidade foi de 82,9%, evidenciando a habilidade de classificar corretamente os casos de não óbito. A acurácia geral do modelo foi de 83,9%. O valor preditivo positivo foi de 6,9%, o que significa que das previsões de óbito, apenas 6,9% eram corretas. Por outro lado, o valor preditivo negativo foi de 99,7%, indicando a alta precisão das previsões de não óbito. Esses resultados demonstram um desempenho satisfatório do modelo na identificação precisa dos casos de óbito, com alta especificidade e acurácia geral. O modelo identificou corretamente dos casos de óbito, com sensibilidade de 82,5% e especificidade de 82,9%. A acurácia geral do modelo foi de 83,9%, indicando um desempenho consistente na classificação geral dos pacientes. No entanto, o valor preditivo positivo foi baixo, indicando que uma proporção relativamente pequena das previsões de óbito foi realmente correta, principalmente devido à baixa proporção de óbitos na amostra. O valor preditivo negativo foi alto, o que demonstra a confiabilidade das previsões de não óbito. Embora o modelo seja importante na identificação de casos de óbito, é necessário melhorar sua precisão na previsão dos casos positivos.

A pandemia de COVID-19 foi responsável por mais de 600 mil óbitos no Brasil e evidenciou dificuldades públicas e privadas no enfrentamento de emergências de saúde pública. A situação não foi agravada apenas por problemas diretamente relacionados ao trabalho de combate à doença, mas por questões persistentes, como comorbidades de saúde, envelhecimento populacional, desigualdades socioeconômicas, demográficas e de acesso à saúde. Este estudo teve como objetivo analisar fatores sociais, demográficos e clínicos relacionados ao óbito por COVID-19 em pacientes notificados no sistema de vigilância em saúde do estado do Espírito Santo, Brasil, de janeiro de 2020 a novembro de 2022. Realizou-se um estudo transversal, com base em dados secundários, em acordo com o checklist RECORD. Foram incluídos casos confirmados por exame laboratorial com desfecho conhecido de cura ou óbito por COVID-19, excluídos todos os demais pacientes. Variáveis sociais, demográficas e de saúde foram estudadas. Na análise estatística, utilizou-se odds ratio ajustado por regressão logística binária, com R statistical program. A amostra consistiu em 370.077 pacientes. Após o ajuste pelas variáveis de saúde, os seguintes fatores apresentaram associação com maior chance de óbito por COVID-19: sexo masculino em relação ao feminino (OR: 1,94, IC99%: 1,80-2,09); níveis educacionais inferiores, como ensino médio completo (OR: 1,26, IC99%: 1,09-1,47), ensino fundamental completo (OR: 2,43, IC99%: 2,09-2,83), ensino fundamental incompleto (OR: 3,32, IC99%: 2,90-3,82) e analfabetismo (OR: 7,02, IC99%: 5,58-8,40), em comparação aos pacientes com ensino superior completo; tabagismo (OR: 2,16, IC99%: 1,81-2,55); presença de diabetes (OR: 2,92, IC99%: 2,66-3,20); obesidade (OR: 3,56, IC99%: 3,17-3,98); comorbidades cardíacas crônicas (OR: 4,24, IC99%: 3,90-4,61); doenças renais crônicas em estágio avançado de graus 3, 4 ou 5 (OR: 5,65, IC99%: 4,61-6,90); e doenças pulmonares crônicas descompensadas (OR: 2,70, IC99%: 2,34-3,11). Com a ressalva de que este é um estudo transversal e observacional, este estudo demonstra a importância das variáveis sociais e demográficas na pandemia de Covid-19, demonstrando a necessidade de ações para correção desses problemas. Além disso, este é o primeiro estudo que analisa este cenário no contexto da população do estado do Espírito Santo, Brasil, trazendo resultados locais que podem orientar políticas públicas e privadas.

Chloroleucon acacioides (Ducke) Barneby & J.W. Grimes is a nitrogen-fixing legume common in several Brazilian states that produces fruit during the dry season when tropical forages tend to have low biomass production and nutritional value. The objective of this work was to evaluate the chemical and morphological characteristics of the C. acacioides tree for its use in silvopastoral systems and the benefits of including its fruits in ruminant diets composed mainly of tropical grasses. Thirty C. acacioides trees were randomly selected, and their dendrometric parameters and fruit production were collected. From the fruits, the contents of dry matter, crude protein, ether extract, neutral detergent fiber, acid detergent fiber, lignin, non-structural carbohydrates, and tannins, were analyzed. The in vitro gas production technique was used to evaluate three treatments: CTL: 100% Tifton hay; 20CAC: 20% C. acacioides + 80% Tifton hay; and 100CAC: 100% C. acacioides. The C. acacioides trees had an average height of 6.6 m, a canopy area of 111.8 m2, and an average fruit production of 29.6 kg. The fruits had a high protein and non-structural carbohydrates content. The total tannins content was less than 25 g kg−1 of DM. A greater amount of short-chain fatty acids and microbial biomass was observed for the 20CAC and 100CAC treatments compared to the CTL treatments (P

Among the alternatives identified as capable of making livestock farming a more efficient activity and reducing its environmental impact, the use of feeds with high digestibility and the use of non-conventional fodder species can be highlighted. Tithonia diversifolia (Hemsl.) A. Gray (TD) has already gained attention as a feed for ruminants. Nonetheless, there has been little discussion about the impacts of this plant on the rumen dynamics that lead to better animal performance. The aim of this study was to assess how increasing levels of TD could affect ruminal microbial biomass synthesis, degradability, and in vitro gas production (IVGP) of diets. Four diets were evaluated: a control diet (TD0: 400 g kg−1 soybean meal and maize grain, and 600 g kg−1 Tifton 85 hay (Cynodon spp.)) and three increasing levels of TD (TD9: 90, TD27: 270, and TD45: 450 g kg−1–dry matter basis) as a replacement for dietary roughage. A 96 h IVGP assay was carried out and five incubation times (2, 4, 10, 24, and 96 h) were used for degradability determination. Gas produced, methane (CH4), degradability of organic matter (IVDOM), short-chained fatty acid (SCFA) production, partitioning factor (PF), and microbial biomass (MB) were evaluated among treatments. There was no significant effect (p > 0.05) between TD inclusion and IVGP at most incubation times; only at 6 h of incubation did gas production increase linearly with TD inclusion (R2 = 0.19; p < 0.05). TD inclusion had no effects on CH4. IVDOM increased linearly with TD inclusion at 6 and 10 h, with TD45 being more degradable than the control diet at 6 h only. There was a positive linear relationship (R2 = 0.20; p < 0.05) between TD inclusion and PF. TD45 had significantly higher PF values than the control. MB also increased linearly (R2 = 0.30; p < 0.05) with TD inclusion, and all diets with TD had significantly more MB than the control diet. The inclusion of TD at the levels used in this work was revealed to have a positive impact on microbial protein synthesis, which could be related to the higher microbial efficiency of increased substrate quality.

The feasibility of unconventional feed for ruminants must be analyzed for appropriate use as sources of energy or protein that contribute to a sustainable production system addressing concerns about climate change, greenhouse gas emissions, and food security. The objective of this study was to evaluate the nutritive value of by-products including bean residue (BR), bean straw (BS), cassava bagasse (CB), corn straw (CS), orange bagasse (OB), peanut shell (PS), sugarcane bagasse (SB), soybean hull (SH), and sugarcane straw (SS). Chemical composition, in vitro degradability, and fermentative parameters were analyzed and subjected to multivariate and principal component analyses. Crude protein content was highly variable among by-products with BR and SH presenting the highest values (p < 0.001). These values did not differ between BR and SH, while the lowest values were observed in OB, PS, SB, SS, CS, and CB. Neutral detergent fiber content was higher in SB, PS, CS, and SS (p < 0.001), while greater in vitro degradability was found for CB, BR, OB, BS, and SH (p < 0.001). However, the in vitro gas production (p < 0.001) and total short-chain fatty acid concentration (p < 0.001) were higher in CB, BR, BS, and OB. Multivariate cluster analysis showed three distinct groups with the most degradable in group 1 followed by group 2. These results demonstrate that the by-products used in this study did not impair in vitro fermentation, and thus have the potential to be used in the diets of ruminants and to improve the sustainability of the livestock production sector.

Food security, sustainability of food production, and greenhouse gas (GHG) production of ruminant livestock are topics that generate scrutiny and debates worldwide. In a scenario of increasing human population and concerns with climate change, it is necessary to increase animal-derived food in sustainable operations. Grazing systems are crucial for ruminant production worldwide, and in the tropics, well-managed grasslands can provide sustainable intensification of this activity. In these regions, production often relies on grass monoculture managed extensively, a practice that commonly has led to the occurrence of degraded soils, limited animal productivity, and increased intensity of GHG emissions. Silvopastoralism is a practice that promotes several ecosystem services, showing potential to maintain soil quality while reducing the environmental impacts of ruminant production. These systems also have the potential to improve animal productive performance and reduce GHG emissions. The review was guided by a search in the Web of Science database using population terms and refined by document type (Article) and language (English OR Portuguese) following PRISMA protocol. Infographics were created using the Bibliometrix package in R software (version 4.3.2), and a specific topic on Tithonia diversifolia (Hemsl.) A. Gray was explored to demonstrate the importance of this forage resource for tropical silvopastoral systems and its potential contribution to food security. The T. diversifolia shrub is widely distributed in Latin America and tropical regions and presents several characteristics that make it a good option for silvopastoral systems. Focusing on the tropics, our objectives were to present one literature review addressing the role of grazing ruminant production towards the current climate change and food security challenges. Additionally, we aimed to explore the state of knowledge on silvopastoral systems and the use of T. diversifolia, presenting their potential to cope with this scenario of increased concerns with the sustainability of human activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of beef production for economy of Brazil and the growing demand for animal protein across the globe warrant an improvement in the beef production system. Although most attention has been on modulation of the rumen microbiome to improve ruminant production, the role of the lower gut microbiome in host health and nutrition remains relatively unexplored. This work aimed to investigate the taxonomy and functional variations in the fecal microbiome of Brazilian beef cattle reared in two different production systems using a metagenomic approach. Sixty male beef cattle from six farms representing semi-intensive (I, n = 2) and traditional (T, n = 4) Brazilian beef production systems were enrolled in the study. Shotgun sequencing was used to characterize taxonomic and functional composition and diversity of the microbiome in fecal samples collected from each animal. Fecal samples were analyzed for copper (Cu), lead (Pb), nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P), selenium (Se), and zinc (Zn) and stable isotopes of carbon (13C) and nitrogen (15N). The fecal microbiome was influenced by the beef production systems with greater functional and lower taxonomic diversity in beef cattle feces from I systems compared with that from T systems. The concentration of N, P, and Zn was higher in beef cattle feces from I systems compared with that from T systems and was associated with taxonomic and functional profile of fecal microbiome in I system, suggesting the role of fecal nutrients in shaping system-specific microbiome. Semi-intensive management practices led to a more complex but less connected fecal microbiome in beef cattle. The microbial community in beef cattle feces from I systems was characterized by greater abundance of beneficial bacteria (phylum Firmicutes and butyrate-producing bacteria family Lachnospiraceae and genera Anaerostipes, Blautia, Butyrivibrio, Eubacterium, Roseburia, and Ruminococcus). In addition, the fecal abundance of microbial genes related to immune system, nutrient metabolism, and energy production was greater in beef cattle raised under I systems compared with that under T systems. Findings of the current study suggest that semi-intensive management practices could facilitate the development of a healthier and more efficient fecal microbiome in beef cattle by driving an increase in the abundance of beneficial bacteria and functional genes.