Moderate lameness leads to marked behavioral changes in dairy cows

Lameness is one of the most prevalent diseases affecting the welfare of cows in modern dairy production. Lameness leads to behavioral changes in severely lame cows, which have been investigated in much detail. For early detection of lameness, knowledge of the effects of moderate lameness on cow behavior is crucial. Therefore, the behavior of nonlame and moderately lame cows was compared on 17 Swiss dairy farms. On each farm, 5 to 11 nonlame (locomotion score 1 of 5) and 2 to 7 moderately lame (locomotion score 3 of 5) cows were selected for data collection in two 48-h periods (A, B) separated by an interval of 6 to 10 wk. Based on visual locomotion scoring, 142 nonlame and 66 moderately lame cows were examined in period A and 128 nonlame and 53 moderately lame cows in period B. Between these 2 periods, the cows underwent corrective hoof trimming. Lying behavior, locomotor activity, and neck activity were recorded by accelerometers (MSR145 data logger, MSR Electronics GmbH, Seuzach, Switzerland), and feeding and rumination behaviors by noseband sensors (RumiWatch halter, ITIN + HOCH GmbH, Liestal, Switzerland). Furthermore, visits to the brush and the concentrate feeder, and the milking order position were recorded. In comparison with nonlame cows, moderately lame cows had a longer lying duration, a longer average lying bout duration, and a greater lateral asymmetry in lying duration. Average locomotor activity, locomotor activity during 1 h after feed delivery or push-ups, and average neck activity were lower in moderately lame cows. Eating time and the number of eating chews (jaw movements) were reduced in moderately lame compared with nonlame cows, whereas no effect of moderate lameness was evident for ruminating time, number of ruminating chews and boluses, and average number of ruminating chews per bolus. Moderately lame cows visited the concentrate feeder and the brush less frequently, and they were further back in the milking order compared with nonlame cows. In conclusion, nonlame and moderately lame cows differed in a biologically relevant way in many of the behavioral variables investigated in this study. Therefore, the use of these behavioral changes seems to be promising to develop a tool for early lameness detection.     

Effect of temperature and retention period on biogas production from lignocellulosic material

The extensive utilization of biogas for energy needs of rural dwellers would reduce their dependence on fossil fuels and fuelwoods and henoe camplement Government afforestation programes. In this investigation, effect of temperature and retention period on biogas production from lignooellulosic material, hereafter referred to as cow dung were studied. Maximum gas production was dotained at thermophilic temperature. The results of the effect of retention period shows that gas production was qotimum at 4th and 7th weeks of production.     

Biaxiale Ermüdung reibrührgeschweißter Strukturelemente

Biaxial fatigue of friction stir welded stiffened panels Within the framework of the European WelAir project, cruciform specimens made from stiffening FSW overlap joints were fatigued in the DLR biaxial test rig. To resemble the loading situation of pressurized fuselage structures, proportional loading without any phase shift, but with different load ratios λ between the loading components in both directions was applied.Natural crack initiation and subsequent crack growth were governed by the stiffness gradient caused by introducing the stringer. Cracks initiated and propagated at run‐in and run‐out locations in a direction perpendicular to the weld seam. The shortest fatigue life was observed for uniaxial loading in welding direction (λ = 0). An additional stress component perpendicular to the joint line (λ > 0) resulted in a higher number of cycles to failure. Similar to single stringer panels, increasing the load ratio also increased the number of cycles to failure for FSW clip‐stringer structural members, but additionally gives a different location of the fatal crack.     

Ermüdungsverhalten und Dauerfestigkeit von Graphit und Aluminium – infiltriertem Graphit

Fatigue behaviour and endurance limit of graphite and of aluminium‐infiltrated graphite Fatigue properties of polycrystalline, isotropic graphite FU2590 and of FU2590 infiltrated with AlSi7Mg (FU2590/AlSi7Mg) were investigated in reversed bending tests at 25 Hz at numbers of cycles below 10⁷ and in tension‐compression tests at 20 kHz below 10⁹ cycles. The open porosity of Graphite (10‐11 Vol.‐%) was infiltrated with the aluminium alloy using the squeeze casting infiltration method, which led to an increase of the bending strength by 50 %, increase of tensile strength by 30 % and increase of stiffness by 15 %. Fully reversed tension‐compression loading of FU2590 delivers a mean endurance limit at 10⁹ cycles at the normalized maximum stresses (i.e. maximum tension stress of a cycle divided by the static strength) of 0,65±0,03. Mean numbers of cycles to failure of 10⁴ were found in fully reversed bending tests at the normalized maximum stress of 0,78. The infiltrated material shows approximately 30 % higher cyclic strength in reversed bending tests, and the mean endurance limit under tension compression loading increases by 15 %. The increased endurance limit of the infiltrated material is caused by the increased stiffness. The increased toughness of graphite due to the infiltration with aluminium is of additional beneficial influence at the higher cyclic stresses investigated in reversed bending tests and in static tests.     

我国奶牛场收入政策及发展

叙述了我国目前乳业概况，就经济体制转变以来，我国的奶生产情况，牧场收入，政府所起的作用及乳业今后面临的挑战等问题进行了分析和论述。     

Exosomal Cargo May Hold the Key to Improving Reproductive Outcomes in Dairy Cows

The reproductive status of dairy cows remains a challenge for dairy farmers worldwide, with impaired fertility linked to a significant reduction in herd profitability, due in part to impaired immunity, increased metabolic pressure, and longer postpartum anestrous interval (PPAI). Exosomes are nanovesicles released from a variety of cell types and end up in circulation, and carry proteins, bioactive peptides, lipids, and nucleic acids specific to the place of origin. As such, their role in health and disease has been investigated in humans and animals. This review discusses research into exosomes in the context of reproduction in dairy herds and introduces recent advances in mass-spectrometry (MS) based proteomics that have a potential to advance quantitative profiling of exosomal protein cargo in a search for early biomarkers of cattle fertility.     

β-乳球蛋白IgG抗原决定簇的识别

以β-乳球蛋白氨基酸序列为模板,错位合成β-乳球蛋白多肽,以收集到的牛乳过敏患者血清为抗体,鉴定β-乳球蛋白IgG抗原决定簇,探讨牛乳过敏机理．结果表明,β-乳球蛋白IgG抗原决定簇有2条,它们在β-乳球蛋白中的氨基酸序列定位分别为aa22—36和aa127—141．结果表明通过特异性水解抗原决定簇实现牛奶脱敏的方法是可行的．     

共轭亚油酸强化型乳制品的稳定性研究

通过牛乳液中添加共轭亚油酸（CLA）,分析杀菌温度、均质压力、乳化剂类型、CLA添加量对牛乳稳定性的影响.实验结果表明：脱脂乳中添加0.17%的CLA稳定性较好,口感纯正;当灭菌温度超过100℃时,CLA含量明显降低;以单苷酯、三聚苷酯和蔗糖酯的混合乳化剂,按1∶1∶2混合的乳液稳定性好;35MPa以上的均质压力下,乳液中的脂肪球细小,分布均匀,口感细腻。     

Dynamic fatigue behaviour of a steatite ceramic

Dynamic fatigue of a low dielectric loss steatite was investigated. To this end, the values of n and B, the so‐called subcritical crack growth (SCG) parameters were experimentally determined. The steatite exhibited the expected dynamic fatigue behaviour, so that the stress corrosion susceptibility parameter, n, of 24 was obtained. In addition, the material/environment parameter B, which is a constant for a given test environment, was also attained. These parameters are instrumental in predicting the lifetime of components under stress. When the applied load is such that the resulting strength equals half of the inert strength (σ_i), defined as the strength of a sample tested in an inert environment or at a fast stress rate, i.e. where no subcritical crack growth occurs, the time to failure (t_f) of the material was found to be ～140 h. Measurement of the fracture toughness of steatite is also of upmost importance and so it was determined using three test methods. A value of K_Ic = 1.91 ± 0.29 MPa m^1/2 was attained by the indentation fracture method through measurement of the cracks emanating from the Vickers indentation. This value is in good agreement with those determined using the K_Isc (surface crack in flexure) test method (2.21 ± 0.07 MPa m^1/2) and fractography analysis test method (2.00 ± 0.44 MPa m^1/2). Differences in test procedure and analysis causing the values from each test method to be different are discussed.     

Enhanced assessment of ageing phenomena in steel structures based on materials data and non‐destructive testing

The increasing amount of ageing civil steel infrastructure requests an enhanced assessment of this infrastructure in terms of determining its residual fatigue life in a more realistic way than this has been done in the past. Often the relevant materials data for cyclic loading of such an ageing infrastructure is not available and its retrieval turns out to be relatively cumbersome bearing the urgency in data availability and continuous cost pressure in mind. This article addresses different approaches and techniques on how materials data for cyclic loading can be obtained at a fraction of the effort compared to state‐of‐the‐art techniques, considering load increase tests, non‐destructive testing techniques and finally even a stepped bar specimen allowing a complete set of materials data (stress‐strain behaviour and stress‐ and strain‐life curve) to be obtained with a single specimen in the end only. Options for ’digitizing’ materials data evaluation are discussed and some prospect on application of those novel approaches and techniques in damage accumulation assessments on real steel infrastructure is provided.