Effect of dietary forage:grain ratio on blood constituents in dairy cows

Forty-nine primiparous and 44 multiparous lactating Holstein cows were used to study the effect of five dietary forage: grain ratios on blood constituents. Blood samples were collected in wk 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12, and 16 of lactation and were analyzed for glucose, urea, beta-hydroxybutyrate, and FFA. Increasing the percentage of forage in the diet decreased blood glucose concentration. Glucose levels were low at the beginning of lactation and increased as DMI increased. Increasing percentage of forage in the diet did not affect blood urea concentration. Increasing forage in the diet from 38.2 to 98.2% increased beta-hydroxybutyrate concentrations threefold during the first 4 wk of lactation in both primiparous and multiparous cows. The concentration of plasma FFA was higher in all the treatments at the beginning of lactation and decreased as lactation advanced. Dietary forage:grain ratio did not affect plasma FFA.     

Recombinant bovine somatotropin with lactating cows fed diets differing in energy density

Sixty-four Holstein cows (32 primiparous) were assigned randomly at parturition to one of two diets differing in forage:grain ratio and were further assigned to either control or treatment with recombinant bST. A full lactation study was conducted. Total mixed rations consisted of alfalfa silage, high moisture ear corn, soybean meal, and vitamin and mineral supplements. Percentages of forage in the diet (dry basis) for the high and medium energy diets were wk 1 to 12, 38.2 and 58.2; wk 13 to 26, 48.2 and 68.2; and wk 27 to 44, 68.2 and 88.2. Injection of a saline placebo or 20.6 mg/d per cow of bST started at wk 13 and stopped at wk 43 of lactation. Administration of bST increased 305-d milk yield by 19.9 and 18.3% for multiparous cows fed high and medium grain diets and by 13.0 and 5.9% for primiparous cows fed the same diets. Body weight gain during lactation tended to be lower for cows treated with bST, and body condition scores were significantly lower for those treated with bST and fed the medium energy diets. Daily injection of bST did not change concentrations of glucose or urea in blood or beta-hydroxybutyrate in plasma. Multiparous cows had a transitory increase in plasma FFA concentration immediately after bST treatment started. Milk composition, health, and reproductive parameters observed were not adversely affected by bST administration. Cows fed low energy diets during bST administration in the first lactation did not produce as much milk as controls when compared during the first 10 wk of their second lactation.     

Milk production response to dietary forage:grain ratio

Forty-four multiparous and 49 primiparous Holstein cows were assigned randomly at parturition to one of five diets differing in forage:grain ratio and studied for the entire lactation for effects of diet on milk production and milk composition, body condition, BW gain, health, and reproductive performance. Total mixed rations fed once daily consisted of alfalfa silage, high moisture ear corn, soybean meal, vitamins, and minerals. Percentages of forage in the diet (dry basis) for treatments 1 to 5 were postpartum wk 1 to 12 (38.2, 48.2, 58.2, 68.2, and 98.2); wk 13 to 26 (48.2, 58.2, 68.2, 88.2, and 98.2); and wk 27 to 44 (68.2, 78.2, 88.2, 98.2, and 98.2). Milk production (3.5% FCM in 305 d) was 8295, 8659, 7563, 6849, and 6000 kg for multiparous cows in treatments 1 to 5, respectively, and 7334, 7177, 6976, 6014, and 4750 kg for primiparous cows. Primiparous cows had decreased milk protein, BW gain, DMI and gross feed efficiency as forage increased in the diet. Multiparous cows in treatment 1 had depressed milk fat and lower DMI and gross feed efficiency compared with other treatments. Body condition scores tended to be lower as forage increased in the diet with both age groups. Increased forage in the diet did not cause any adverse effects on health and reproductive performance in either age group.     

A flip-chip packaged coplanar 94 GHz amplifier module with efficient suppression of parasitic substrate effects

A flip-chip mounted W-band amplifier module with more than 15 dB gain between 82 and 105 GHz has been developed, based on a 0.15 /spl mu/m GaAs PHEMT technology. To predict the influence of the flip-chip transition, an equivalent circuit model of the flip-chip interconnects was developed. Lossy silicon (n-Si) flip-chip carriers were used to successfully minimize parasitic substrate modes and feed back effects. The flip-chip assembled coplanar 94 GHz amplifier MMIC was packaged in a WR-10 waveguide mount, using CPW-to-waveguide transitions realized on quartz substrates.     

220-GHz metamorphic HEMT amplifier MMICs for high-resolution imaging applications

In this paper, the development of 220-GHz low-noise amplifier (LNA) MMICs for use in high-resolution active and passive millimeter-wave imaging systems is presented. The amplifier circuits have been realized using a well-proven 0.1-/spl mu/m gate length and an advanced 0.05-/spl mu/m gate length InAlAs/InGaAs based depletion-type metamorphic high electron mobility transistor technology. Furthermore, coplanar circuit topology in combination with cascode transistors was applied, leading to a compact chip size and an excellent gain performance at high millimeter-wave frequencies. A realized single-stage 0.05-/spl mu/m cascode LNA exhibited a small-signal gain of 10 dB at 222 GHz, while a 0.1-/spl mu/m four-stage amplifier circuit achieved a linear gain of 20 dB at the frequency of operation and more than 10 dB over the bandwidth from 180 to 225 GHz.     

Digestion and energy balance in lactating dairy cows fed varying ratios of alfalfa silage and grain

Forty-four multiparous and 43 primiparous Holstein cows were used to study the effect of dietary alfalfa silage: grain ratio on digestion, passage of digesta, and energy balance in a complete lactation experiment. Cows were placed on one of five treatments with forage contents from 38.2 to 98.2% (DM basis) during the first 12 wk of lactation. Forage content was increased during wk 13 to 26 of lactation to give diets containing 48.2 to 98.2% forage and again during wk 27 to 44 to give diets containing 68.2 to 98.2% forage. Both DMI and DM digestibilities decreased as proportion of dietary forage increased. The DM digestibilities for multiparous and primiparous cows ranged between 69.3 and 57.3% during early lactation and 64.9 and 55.5% during late lactation. Increased percentage of forage in the diet decreased and then increased (quadratic relationship) the ruminal retention time of La, a marker applied to the alfalfa silage in early and late lactation. Time cows spent eating and ruminating per kilogram of DMI increased as proportion of forage in the diet increased. Cows fed diets with a high proportion of alfalfa silage remained in negative energy balance longer than cows fed high grain diets. Intake of NEL (calculated by either of two methods) minus NEL output (milk, maintenance, and BW change) resulted in net balances of NEL after 36 wk of lactation within 5% of NEL intake and indicated that estimates of the NEL value of feedstuffs used in this experiment were reasonably accurate.     

Studies on the diaplacental transmission of Masugi-nephritis in the rabbit

A diaplacentar transmission of the Masugi nephritis or the evocation of a clinical picture similar to the congenital glomerulonephritis could not be achieved in rabbits. Also, the juxtaglomerular index-values of the experimental group did not show a significant difference referred to the control group.     

Eine modulare gesundheitsakte als antwort auf kommunikationsprobleme im gesundheitswesen

Since 2000 the University of Muenster has developed an electronic health record (EHR) called ?akteonline.de“. Several clinics and departments use the EHR in routine. ?akteonline.de“ in its current structure supports patients as well as health care professionals and aims at providing a collaborative health information system which perfectly supports the clinical workflow even across institutional boundaries. In order to fulfill high data security and data protection requirements strictly, complex encryption, authorization and access control components have been developed. The IT-structure of the German health care system is very heterogeneous and peripheral. The thereby generated additional costs in the economic and social area are comprehensible and the patient is unable to claim the central position intended by politics and society. The development effort of ?akteonline.de“ currently focuses on the introduction of an electronic foundation for an ?integrated care“. For that communication possibilities for different clinical systems, like systems for physician or clinical information systems as well as communication possibilities between different departments in a hospital or networking between Institutions and the patient himself, have to be provided. The various needs of the institutions and people involved, have to be considered individually within one concept. Based on gathered experiences and with regard to increasing requirements in the areas of interoperability, integration and international cooperation the system architecture and the basic data model underwent several evolutionary enhancements. The focus of this paper lies on describing the use of new technologies and open standards in order to create and enhance a loosely coupled, modular and flexible EHR, that represents a common information and communication tool for patients and health care professionals.     

Metamorphic HEMT MMICs and Modules for Use in a High-Bandwidth 210 GHz Radar

In this paper, we present the development of advanced W-band and G-band millimeter-wave monolithic integrated circuits (MMICs) and modules for use in a high-resolution radar system operating at 210 GHz. A W-band frequency multiplier by six as well as a subharmonically pumped 210 GHz dual-gate field-effect transistor (FET) mixer and a 105 GHz power amplifier circuit have been successfully realized using our 0.1 mum InAlAs/InGaAs based depletion-type metamorphic high electron mobility transistor (mHEMT) technology in combination with grounded coplanar circuit topology (GCPW). Additionally, a 210 GHz low-noise amplifier MMIC was fabricated using our advanced 0.05 mum mHEMT technology. To package the circuits, a set of waveguide-to-microstrip transitions has been realized on 50 mum thick quartz substrates, covering the frequency range between 75 and 220 GHz. The presented millimeter-wave components were developed for use in a novel 210 GHz radar demonstrator COBRA-210, which delivers an instantaneous bandwidth of 8 GHz and an outstanding spatial resolution of 1.8 cm.