Avaliou-se o efeito das condições ambientais da espera pré-abate na mortalidade de frangos de corte, mantidos em galpão climatizado em um abatedouro comercial. Foram avaliados 215 caminhões de transporte de um abatedouro comercial quanto ao número de aves mortas durante as operações pré-abate e à temperatura retal dos animais em condição de espera no abatedouro. Os dados foram obtidos no galpão de espera climatizado por meio de ventiladores e nebulizadores, em diferentes períodos: manhã, tarde e noite. As variáveis térmicas, distância, tempo de espera e densidade de aves por caixa foram consideradas na análise. Destacaram-se os efeitos da temperatura, da umidade relativa e do tempo de espera na variação tanto do número de aves mortas por caminhão quanto da temperatura retal dos animais. Com relação à interação entre temperatura e umidade relativa interna do galpão de espera, houve eficiência do ambiente climatizado no abatedouro quanto à diminuição do número de aves mortas. A climatização foi mais expressiva na redução do número de aves mortas e da temperatura retal quando a temperatura do galpão de espera estava entre 21 e 24°C, principalmente em condições de umidade relativa interna em torno de 70%. Nessas condições climatizadas, o tempo de espera acima de duas horas proporcionou maior conforto às aves.

The effect of environment conditions of preslaughter lairage on broiler mortality was assessed in the present study. Daily preslaughter data from 215 broiler flocks were recorded regarding the number of dead chickens during preslaughter operations and rectal temperature of broilers submitted to a lairage environment prior to slaughtering. A holding area at a slaughterhouse with environmental control was assessed. The thermal variables, distance between farms and slaughterhouse, lairage time and density of birds per cage was considered in this analysis. The effect of dry-bulb temperature, relative humidity and lairage time on death before arrival and rectal temperature was highlighted in this assessment. Regarding the interaction between temperature and inside relative humidity, a decrease in preslaughter mortality was observed due to exposure to a controlled environment. The environment control promoted an expressive reduction in dead birds and rectal temperature when the temperature inside the holding area was between 21 and 24 °C, mainly with inside relative humidity around 70%. In these environment control conditions lairage above 2 hours was necessary to reduce the thermal stress of birds.

The poultry industry at Brazil is one of the most important sectors of agribusiness, which expansion and maintenance of the international markets are directly linked with the final product quality. One of the major problems on the poultry production system is related with distribution logistics and consequently with the types of livestock transport. In this research, the objective was to determine the classification of productive losses levels on the poultry transport, using as decision tool the fuzzy logic. After the assessment of input information on fuzzy system, it was verified that the developed model is important due two reasons: firstly, to the clear and direct classification of transport conditions, and secondly to the perspective of the stability or not of the assorted condition, showing this potential for change, which may be used with the aim to pay attention during the choose of transport strategies.

A produção de carne de frango no Brasil é um dos setores mais importantes do agronegócio, sendo que a expansão e manutenção dos mercados externos estão diretamente relacionadas com a qualidade do produto final. Um dos grandes problemas no sistema de produção de frangos, esta relacionado com a logística de distribuição e conseqüentemente as formas de transporte de cargas vivas. Nesta pesquisa objetivou-se determinar a classificação do nível de perdas produtivas na carga viva de frangos de corte, utilizando como ferramenta de decisão a lógica fuzzy. Após a avaliação das informações de entrada no sistema fuzzy verificou-se que o modelo obtido é importante por dois fatores: o primeiro pela classificação clara e direta das condições de transporte e segundo pela perspectiva de estabilidade ou não das condições classificadas, mostrando o potencial de mudança das mesmas, o que poderá ser utilizada como objeto de atenção para a escolha de estratégias de transporte.

Although Helicobacter heilmannii infection is less common than H. pylori infection in humans, it is considered to be of medical importance because of its association with gastritis, gastric ulcer, carcinoma, and mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma of the stomach. However, there have been no studies evaluating the role of the Th cell response in H. heilmannii gastric infection. We evaluated the participation of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines, IFN-gamma and IL-4, in H. heilmannii gastric infection in genetically IFN-gamma- or IL-4-deficient mice. The serum IFN-gamma and IL-4 concentrations were determined by ELISA. The gastric polymorphonuclear infiltrate was higher (P = 0.007) in H. heilmannii-positive than in H. heilmannii-negative wild-type (WT) C57BL/6 mice, whereas no significant inflammation was demonstrable in the stomach of H. heilmannii-positive IFN-gamma-/- C57BL/6 mice. The degree of gastric inflammatory cells, especially in oxyntic mucosa, was also higher (P = 0.007) in infected IL-4-/- than in WT BALB/c mice. Serum IFN-gamma levels were significantly higher in IL-4-/- than in WT BALB/c mice, independently of H. heilmannii-positive or -negative status. Although no difference in serum IFN-gamma levels was seen between H. heilmannii-positive (11.3 ± 3.07 pg/mL, mean ± SD) and -negative (11.07 ± 3.5 pg/mL) WT BALB/c mice, in the group of IL-4-/- animals, the serum concentration of IFN-g was significantly higher in the infected ones (38.16 ± 10.5 pg/mL, P = 0.04). In contrast, serum IL-4 levels were significantly decreased in H. heilmannii-positive (N = 10) WT BALB/c animals compared to the negative (N = 10) animals. In conclusion, H. heilmannii infection induces a predominantly Th1 immune response, with IFN-gamma playing a central role in gastric inflammation.