The perfecting in the last years of augmentation lenses and that of the microscopes, as well as the development of samples preparation techniques, provided excellent tools in the several science areas. The evaluations at the microscope, electron or optical, of edible products utilized for ruminants, has helped in the cause/effect relationship understanding in animal performance. Of paramount importance are the advances obtained in the action mode of rumen microorganisms in the substrates knowledge, mainly of the particle-associated bacteria. Advances were […]

The last twenty years have been characterized by some remarkable technological advances in the field of genomics which were essential to unveil the genome of varies species. Furthermore, these genomic advances contributed to pinpoint particularities in genome sequences which might be associated with phenotypic variations, therefore, it became possible to study functions associated with specific sequences in a more holistic context within biological systems. More importantly, the blossoming in genomics contributed to a better understanding on the mechanisms that control […]

In certain areas of animal research, such as nutrition, quantitative summarizations of literature data are periodically needed. In such instances, statistical methods dealing with the analysis of summary data (generally from the literature) must be used. These methods are known as meta-analyses. The implementation of a meta-analysis is done in several phases. The first phase defines the study objectives and identifies the criteria for selecting prior publications to be used in the construction of the database. Publications must be scrupulously […]

Carbohydrates can provide up to 80% of the dry matter in animal diets, yet their specific evaluation for research and diet formulation is only now becoming a focus in the animal sciences. Partitioning of dietary carbohydrates for nutritional purposes should reflect differences in digestion and fermentation characteristics and effects on animal performance. Key challenges to designating nutritionally important carbohydrate fractions include classifying the carbohydrates in terms of nutritional characteristics, and selecting analytical methods that describe the desired fraction. The relative […]