RESUMO Objetivou-se avaliar os efeitos de diferentes planos nutricionais sobre as características produtivas, fisiológicas e metabólicas de vacas F1 ½ Holandês x ½ Zebu. Foram utilizadas 60 vacas em lactação, seguindo-se o delineamento inteiramente ao acaso, em esquema fatorial 5 x 3, com cinco níveis de oferta de dieta e três períodos de lactação. À medida que se aumentou 1% na restrição da oferta da dieta, houve redução linear de 5,69kg no consumo de matéria seca pelos animais, 2,41kg na produção de leite, bem como de 10,36bat/min (manhã) e 10,25 bat/min (tarde) na frequência cardíaca dos animais. Não houve diferença para a concentração de glicose, proteínas totais, albumina, colesterol e NEFA com a restrição na oferta da dieta dos animais, sendo a média de 95,25, 7,98, 2,95, 121,68 e 0,45mg/dL, respectivamente. Recomenda-se a restrição de até 2,50% de peso corporal como estratégia de redução dos custos em todos os estágios em lactação, visando não alterar, economicamente, a produção de leite.

ABSTRACT This study aimed to evaluate the effects of different nutritional plans on the productive, physiological and metabolic parameters of F1 ½ Holstein x ½ Zebu cows in different stages of lactation. Sixty lactating cows were allotted to a completely randomized 5 x 3 factorial design with five feed allowances and three lactation periods. The dry matter intake, milk yield and heart rate were reduced by 5.69kg, 2.41kg and 10.36 beats/min (morning) and 10.25 beats/min (afternoon) for each 1% feed restriction, respectively. There was no difference in the concentration of glucose, total protein, albumin, cholesterol and non-esterified fatty acids for cows subjected to different feed allowances, with means of 95.25, 7.98, 2.95, 121.68 and 0.45mg/dL, respectively. Feed restriction of up to 2.50% BW is a cost reduction strategy that does not alter milk yield, regardless of the stage of lactation.

High peak demand is often a challenge to the grid and could result into measures such as procurement of additional plants to meet the peak demand, higher tariffs for consumers, undesirable load shedding or even black-outs. However, these issues can be mitigated by introducing Demand Side Management (DSM) techniques for effective energy management of consumers' peak demand. In this paper, an enhanced Device Operation Knowledge - Electricity Usage Plan (DOK-EUP) is proposed, which applies time independencies of selected smart home appliances for peak demand reduction based on their operation principles and for consumer's benefit. The proposed DOK-EUP technique was tested with the surveyed demand profile of a Time-of-Use (TOU) consumer and results showed lower morning and evening peak demands, lower peak-to-peak difference, shift in peak period to traditional off-peak periods, financial savings for the consumers and utility provider, and a cleaner environment.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the quality of pellets from the end of the pelletizer machine until the end of the line feed plate, using two methods of analysis: pellet durability index (PDI) and EMBRAPA pelletizing method (MEP). Furthermore, the effect of the discharging methods at the broiler farm on the physical quality of pellets using MEP as a method of analysis was evaluated. The first phase of the experiment was a randomized block with six treatments: A - pellets at the end of the pelletizer machine; B - pellets inside the truck; C - truck's discharging at the feed silo; D - place inside the warehouse after the feed silo; E - the middle of the feed plate line and F - the end of the feed plate line. The experiment was carried out in seven replicates (blocks). The second phase of the experiment was a randomized block with two treatments: A - smaller discharge opening (for pellets feed); B - bigger discharge opening (for mashed feed). The experiment was performed with twelve replicates (blocks). The discharge of the pellets feed at broilers farm is the point that worsens the pellets quality. The discharge of pellets feed by the truck should be done with the bigger discharge opening. Moreover, MEP showed to be a better method than PDI to evaluate the integrity of the pellets for broiler chickens.

A reciclagem do resíduo da serragem do granito como matéria-prima alternativa em formulações cerâmicas vem sendo muito estudada nos últimos anos. Por outro lado, o uso de ferramentas matemáticas para otimizar o comportamento mecânico de corpos cerâmicos contendo resíduos também vem sendo muito aplicado. Deste modo, o presente trabalho tem como objetivo utilizar técnicas estatísticas aliadas à metodologia de delineamento de mistura para analisar a resistência à flexão de corpos cerâmicos contendo resíduo de granito. Foram estabelecidas composições utilizando um planejamento em rede simplex e foram conformados corpos-de-prova por prensagem uniaxial a 25MPa. Em seguida os corpos de prova foram queimados a 1.000, 1.100 e 1.150 ºC. Foi determinado o módulo de ruptura à flexão dos corpos de prova em ensaio de três pontos. Com base nos resultados pode-se concluir que a metodologia de planejamento experimental associada à superfície de resposta é uma ferramenta que possibilita analisar o módulo de ruptura dos corpos cerâmicos frente a adição de resíduo de granito e por conseguinte desenvolver composições com elevados teores de resíduos sem perdas no seu módulo de ruptura.

Granite sawing waste recycling as alternative raw material for ceramic formulations has been very much studied in the last years, however it was not observed the use of mathematical tools to understand the mechanical behavior of the ceramic bodies containing waste. Thus, this work used statistical tools associated with the mixture design methodology to model the flexural strength of the ceramic bodies containing granite waste. Compositions were developed using a simplex-lattice design and test samples were obtained by uniaxial pressing. The test samples were fired at 1.000, 1.100 and 1.150ºC and their modulus of rupture was determined in a three point bend test. The results indicated that the statistical design of mixture experiments associated with the response surface is a tool that permits to model the modulus of rupture of the ceramic bodies in relation to the amount of incorporated waste and, consequently, to develop formulations containing high amounts of wastes without the decrease of the modulus of rupture.

Os depósitos de bentonita da Paraíba constituem um dos mais importantes do país. Essas argilas são empregadas, dentre outras aplicações, como viscosificante em fluidos de perfuração. Contudo, atualmente, alguns tipos de argila encontradas nesses depósitos não apresentam os parâmetros exigidos pela PETROBRAS e a aditivação polimérica surge como alternativa para adequar essas propriedades. Sendo assim, este trabalho objetiva o desenvolvimento de compostos bentonita/polímeros para uso em fluidos de perfuração à base de água. Para tanto, foram estudadas uma amostra de argila bentonítica sódica industrializada da Paraíba, Brasil, duas amostras de carboximetilcelulose (CMC) e uma amostra de poliacrilamida (PAM). O dimensionamento do composto polimérico (misturas de dois e três polímeros) foi elaborado por meio do planejamento experimental, sendo estudadas dez diferentes composições. Os compostos poliméricos, em três diferentes concentrações, foram misturados à argila seca. Em seguida, foram preparados os fluidos de perfuração e determinadas as viscosidades aparente e plástica, o limite de escoamento e o volume de filtrado de acordo com as normas da PETROBRAS. Os resultados das análises mostraram que a aditivação da bentonita com o composto polimérico permite obter uma mistura com melhores propriedades reológicas e de filtração. Finalmente, esse procedimento permite o uso de argilas bentoníticas de qualidade inferior em fluidos de perfuração de poços de petróleo.

The most important bentonite clays sources are placed at Paraíba state, Brazil. These clays are largely used as viscosity agent in drilling fluids. Unfortunately for some kinds of available clay their parameters are far from PETROBRAS standard. Treatments based on polymeric addition consist on method to improve such parameters. In order to improve these parameters, this work proposes a methodology to develop bentonite/polymers compound for use in water based drilling fluids. Besides the raw clay others samples have been evaluated: i) one sample of a commercial bentonite; ii) two samples of carboximethyl cellullose (CMC) and iii) one sample of partially-hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (PAM). Based on experimental planning, ten compositions of polymeric compound (mix of two and three polymers) have been evaluated. For each composition of polymeric compound three different concentrations was added to clay. All experimental fluids have been evaluated accordingly with PETROBRAS standard to determine apparent and plastic viscosity, yield stress, and water loss. The results of the analysis show that by polymeric treatment of bentonite clay with compound polymeric allow to obtain a mixture with improved rheologic properties. Finally, this procedure allows to use low quality bentonite clays for drilling fluids application.