Invited review: The welfare of young calves transported by road

The transport of young calves is a welfare concern. Young calves aged ≤3 mo are particularly vulnerable to compromised welfare, and are at a relatively high risk of morbidity and mortality compared with adult cattle. Calves face several potential challenges to welfare during and after transport, including food and water deprivation, disease, injury, and stress from handling, social mixing, and new environments. The key risk factors identified for poor calf welfare associated with transport include long transport and fasting durations, young age at transport, poor colostral immunity, timing within the calving season, lack of bedding in trucks, and high stocking density. Maximizing calf welfare thus requires a multifaceted approach, such as minimizing transport and fasting durations, transporting at an appropriate stocking density with comfortable bedding, only transporting calves that are healthy and fit, and optimizing pre-transport calf management. More research is needed to understand the effect of transport on the mental or affective state of calves.     

Storage and Demand Side Management as power generator’s strategic instruments to influence demand and prices

Classic storage utilisation is mainly based on charging/discharging strategies enabling a power generation company to generate revenues by buying electricity in low-price periods and selling it at higher prices. Within this paper another feasible way to gain arbitrage in storage utilisation is considered: Strategically increasing demand disregarding existing market prices. This means, charging electricity for storage is not only bought in low price periods, but in all periods where storage charging could influence demand so that market prices increase. This idea is expanded by focussing on another frequently discussed topic which could serve utilities for the same purpose: Automated Demand Side Management (DSM). By using data from Ontario’s electricity market and applying a particular storage and DSM strategy it is analysed to which extent a non-regulated dominant power generation company could influence hourly demand and corresponding prices. It turns out that both strategies analysed derive additional revenues for the dominant power generation company compared to a Business-as-Usual (BAU) case. The results provide an indicator of potential threats for misuse from particular storage or DSM utilisation. Therefore, especially in countries where DSM and/or storage applications are still in its fledgling stages, appropriate market surveillance has to be guaranteed.     

Synthesis of gadolinium nanoscale metal-organic framework with hydrotropes: manipulation of particle size and magnetic resonance imaging capability

Gadolinium metal-organic framework (Gd MOF) nanoparticles are an interesting and novel class of nanomaterials that are being studied as a potential replacement for small molecule positive contrast agents in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Despite the tremendous interest in these nanoscale imaging constructs, there are limitations, particularly with respect to controlling the particle size, which need to be overcome before these nanoparticles can be integrated into in vivo applications. In an effort to control the size, shape, and size distribution of Gd MOF nanoparticles, hydrotropes were incorporated into the reverse microemulsion synthesis used to produce these nanoparticles. A study of how hydrotropes influenced the mechanism of formation of reverse micelles offered a great deal of information with respect to the physical properties of the Gd MOF nanoparticles formed. Specifically, this study incorporated the hydrotropes, sodium salicylate (NaSal), 5-methyl salicylic acid, and salicylic acid into the reverse microemulsion. Results demonstrated that addition of each of the hydrotropes into the synthesis of Gd MOFs provided a simple route to control the nanoparticle size as a function of hydrotrope concentration. Specifically, Gd MOF nanoparticles synthesized with NaSal showed the best reduction in size distributions in both length and width with percent relative standard deviations being nearly 50% less than nanoparticles produced via the standard route from the literature. Finally, the effect of the size of the Gd MOF nanoparticles with respect to their MRI relaxation properties was evaluated. Initial results indicated a positive correlation between the surface areas of the Gd MOF nanoparticles with the longitudinal relaxivity in MRI. In particular, Gd MOF nanoparticles with an average size of 82 nm with the addition of NaSal, yielded a longitudinal relaxivity value of 83.9 mM?1 [Gd3?] sec?1, one of the highest reported values compared to other Gd-based nanoparticles in the literature to date.