Validation of 1–0 and instantaneous sampling for quantifying oral behaviors in milk-fed dairy calves

Oral behaviors, including feeding, drinking, grooming, and non-nutritive behaviors, are used as indicators of health and welfare in dairy calves, but continuous measurement of these behaviors can be labor intensive. Instantaneous sampling is often used to save labor but has only been validated for feeding behavior in calves. One-zero sampling may be an appropriate strategy well suited to capturing the rapid performance of non-nutritive behaviors. Our objective was to validate 1–0 and instantaneous sampling for measurement of oral behaviors around the time of bottle delivery against true values. Eleven Holstein heifer calves were housed individually, provided water, and fed a diet of starter grain and milk replacer (4.8–5.6 L/d step-up) via a bottle. When calves were 23 ± 7 d old, they were video recorded for 30 min before and after the morning 2.5 ± 0.2 L milk meal, from approximately 0900 to 1000 h. We measured ruminating, eating, drinking water, sucking milk, grooming, non-nutritive oral manipulation, and tongue flicks continuously and with instantaneous and 1–0 sampling at 5-, 10-, 30-, and 60-s intervals. We also examined the effect of instantaneous timing within these intervals. Estimates obtained through subsampling were compared with true values via regression analysis. The subsampling interval was determined to represent true values if the coefficient of determination ≥0.9, slope = 1, intercept = 0, and relative error <10%. Ruminating, drinking water, and eating were not performed by all 11 calves and were not included in the analysis. The proportions of time performing non-nutritive oral manipulation, grooming, and tongue flicks generated by continuous and 1–0 sampling were highly correlated but were consistently overestimated by 1–0 sampling, especially as calves spent more time engaged in these behaviors. Sucking milk was accurately represented at intervals of less than 30 s, likely due to most sucking bouts continuing for at least 150 s at a time and low between-calf variability compared with the other behaviors. Different start times within a given instantaneous interval resulted in wide variance in discrepancies between subsampling and continuous recording for all behaviors. We conclude that around milk feeding, 1–0 sampling is an appropriate choice to represent stimulus-elicited behavior, such as sucking milk in a milk-restricted system. However, time engaged in short, highly variable, or intermittent behaviors is not reliably captured via instantaneous or 1–0 sampling in the hour around bottle delivery.     

An instructive example of homomorphic signal processing

In this paper, a specific application of cepstral processing is considered to illustrate homomorphic signal processing. In particular, an analytic expression is derived for the frequency domain representation of a signal that has been recovered from a multi-path signal with cepstral processing. The multi-path signal is composed of time-delayed, scaled versions of the transmitted signal, and the transmitted signal is to be recovered. The recovered signal is expressed analytically in the frequency domain. By truncating an infinite series, the recovered signal can be expressed in the time domain. The analytic expressions can be used to predict the distortion that will result in the recovered signal when the cepstral processing is implemented with discrete Fourier transforms (DFTs). The analytic expression of a recovered signal is compared with the signal recovered with DFTs. The signal recovery from a multi-path signal that is composed of the transmitted signal and an amplified version of the transmitted signal is discussed and considered in two examples. The examples also demonstrate the scaling of nonminimum phase signals to minimum phase signals     

Micro-PIXE investigation of bean seeds to assist micronutrient biofortification

This study compares the distribution and concentrations of micro- and macronutrients in different bean cultivars with the aim of optimizing the biofortification, a sustainable approach towards improving dietary quality. Micro-PIXE was used to reveal the distribution of Fe, Zn, Mn, Ca, P, S in seeds of common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) and runner beans (Phaseolus coccineus). Average concentrations of elements in different tissues were obtained using ICP-AES. The highest concentrations of Zn in the studied beans were found in the embryonic axis, but an increased concentration of this element was also detected in the provascular bundles of the cotyledons. The first layer of cells surrounding provascular bundles accumulated high concentrations of Fe, while the next cell layer had an increased concentration of Mn. The analysis showed that the provascular bundles and the first cell layers surrounding them could have a significant role in the storage of important seed micronutrients - Zn, Fe, and Mn. This information has important implications for molecular biology studies aimed at seed biofortification.     

Skill execution and sleep deprivation: effects of acute caffeine or creatine supplementation - a randomized placebo-controlled trial

Background  

We investigated the effects of sleep deprivation with or without acute supplementation of caffeine or creatine on the execution of a repeated rugby passing skill.     

Aluminium magnesium boride: synthesis,sintering and microstructure

AlMgB₁₄ ceramics were reported as high-hardness materials over a decade ago. While different synthesis routes for processing of AlMgB₁₄ ceramics were reported in the past, however the synthesis routes are still not optimised and present a significant challenge to the manufacturers. In this work six different synthesis routes were explored for the synthesis of AlMgB₁₄ powder. The synthesised compositions were characterised by XRD, where weight fractions of each phase were calculated by Rietveld refinement. The bulk ceramics were sintered using powder with the highest yield (93.2%) of AlMgB₁₄ phase by spark plasma sintering at 1315°C and 50?MPa. Both phase composition and microstructure of the sintered AlMgB₁₄ were characterised by XRD and SEM/EDS, which revealed the existence of AlMgB₁₄, MgAl₂O₄ and a small amount of unreacted Al. Hardness and indentation fracture resistance of AlMgB₁₄ ceramics were measured to be 26.7?±?2.2?GPa and 5.59?±?0.42?MPa?m^1/2, respectively by Vickers indentation technique.