Abstract Developing a less invasive, practical and cost-effective operative technique for obesity treatment represents a pressing need for our society. In this way, intragastric single port sleeve by endoplication was tested in six pigs during 18 weeks. Celiotomy was performed with animal placed in dorsal decubitus position. Single port gastrostomy was performed and double tobacco pouch sutures were made in fundic region, making a gastric sleeve. At the end, stomach layers and skin were closed in a conventional manner. Means and the standard deviations of surgical time were calculated. The procedure was simple and all animals survived; there were no significant blood loss and no intra and postoperative complications. The procedure was fast (67.4 minutes). The technique has the advantage of not requiring the use of mechanical sutures, making it less costly. The innovation of this procedure was the use of a single port gastrostomy device to perform an intraluminal sleeve. What made this technique less invasive were the use of a single port, nonmanipulation of the stomach intra-abdominally, ease of execution and no need of pneumoperitoneum. The new technique is acceptable and has reproducible viability, had a short procedure time without intra and postoperative complications.

Inúmeros problemas relativos à mecanização dizem respeito aos esforços demandados pelas máquinas e implementos agrícolas. A medição dos esforços em implementos de hastes é geralmente feita por instrumentos complexos e de difícil construção, como os anéis octogonais. Sendo assim, o objetivo deste artigo é apresentar o desenvolvimento de um dispositivo de medição de esforços horizontais e verticais em hastes sulcadoras de semeadoras-adubadoras de plantio direto, utilizando transdutores de força extensiométricos do tipo viga em balanço, comercialmente disponíveis. Para tanto, projetou-se um dispositivo tipo pórtico, composto de dois transdutores para medição de esforços horizontais e um transdutor para medição do esforço vertical. Os três transdutores foram montados de modo a restringir qualquer movimento da haste durante a interação com o solo. O protótipo construído foi submetido a ensaios estáticos em bancada de laboratório. Em um dos ensaios, aplicou-se carga horizontal na haste; no outro, aplicou-se carga vertical e no terceiro, a carga foi aplicada com inclinação de 15º em relação à horizontal, para simular as condições de operação da haste no campo. O dispositivo mostrou-se robusto e, durante os testes de bancada, foi capaz de medir esforços horizontais de até 5.300 N, e esforços verticais de até 2.000 N, de forma linear e com grande coeficiente de correlação com as cargas aplicadas.

Many problems related to the mechanization involve the draft demanded by machinery and agricultural implements. The measurement of forces in shank implements is generally made by complex and difficult building instruments, as the octagonal ring. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to present the development of a device for measuring the horizontal and vertical forces in shanks of no-till planters by employing off the shelf shear beam force transducers. For this purpose a square shaped frame was designed with two transducers for measuring horizontal forces and another transducer to measure the vertical force. They were mounted with links that restrict the movement of the shank in any direction during its interaction with the soil. A prototype was built and submitted to static laboratory bench testings. One test was made with the application of horizontal load over the shank, another with the application of vertical load and the last one with the application of load with an inclination of 15º to the horizontal to simulate the operating conditions of the shank on the field. The device proved to be robust and it was capable of measuring horizontal forces up to 5,300 N and vertical forces up to 2,000 N, in a linear fashion and with a great correlation coefficient with the applied loads.

A correta avaliação e previsão do tempo de vida útil dos mecanismos que atuam no rompimento do solo, são importantes na análise de equipamentos. O desgaste deste tipo de ferramenta (ponteiras sulcadoras de semeadoras, de escarificadores e de subsoladores) depende de vários fatores, entre eles as condições do solo e características geométricas e construtivas das ferramentas. A taxa de desgaste das ferramentas de mobilização do solo, normalmente é determinada através da sua perda de massa. O objetivo do trabalho foi desenvolver uma metodologia diferenciada, ágil e de fácil execução, para avaliação do desgaste de ferramentas simétricas que promovem a mobilização do solo. A análise da variação da configuração geométrica da ferramenta foi obtida por fotografia digital utilizando-se, posteriormente, um programa computacional para o seu desenho. Utilizaram-se ponteiras sulcadoras de adubo de semeadora de plantio direto como ferramenta de mobilização de solo. Os resultados possibilitaram verificar que o desgaste é melhor determinado pelo método da fotografia digital que pelo método tradicional (perda de massa). A vantagem do método proposto reside basicamente em sua agilidade e precisão.

The correct evaluation and prediction of the durability of soil-engaging mechanisms are important factors in the analysis of the agricultural equipments. The wear of these tools (planters furrow openers, chisel and subsoiler rippers) is dependent on various factors, among them the soil conditions and the geometric and constructive characteristics of the tool. The wear rate of the soil-engaging tools is usually determined through loss of mass. The analysis of the variation of the geometric configuration of the tool was assessed through digital photography, afterwards a software was used to design them. The objective of the study was to use a differentiated, agile methodology of easy execution, for evaluation of the wear of soil-engaging tools. In this study furrow openers of a direct drill planter was employed as the soil-engaging tool. The results show that the wear is best determined by the digital photography than the traditional method (loss of mass). The advantage of the proposed method consists basically in its agility and precision.