Effect of postpartum drenching on plasma parameters of cows at a large-scale dairy farm

The aim of the present study was to explore the influence of postpartum drenching with a feed additive on the plasma concentration of biochemical parameters while factoring in prepartum rumination times (RT). One hundred and sixty-one cows were fitted with a Ruminact© HR-Tag approximately 5 days before calving. Drenching and control groups were established based on calving dates. Animals in the drenched group were treated three times (Day 1/day of calving/, Day 2, and Day 3 postpartum) using a feed additive containing calcium propionate, magnesium sulphate, yeast, potassium chloride and sodium chloride mixed in approximately 25 L of lukewarm tap water. Blood samples were collected on Days 1, 2, 3, 7 and 12. Cows with below the average RT were categorised as "low rumination" and those above it as "high rumination" animals. Drenching decreased the plasma concentrations of total protein, urea and creatinine and increased the levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) and chloride. Low rumination time prepartum resulted in higher concentrations of beta-hydroxybutyrate, total protein and activities of alkaline phosphatase and GGT, while it decreased the activity of ALT and the concentrations of calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium. The day of lactation had an effect on all parameters except for potassium.

Effect of postpartum drenching on rumination time and reticuloruminal pH at a Hungarian dairy farm

The aim of this research was to investigate the effect of drenching with a feed additive on rumination time (RT) and reticuloruminal pH post-partum at a Hungarian large-scale dairy farm. One hundred and sixty-one cows were fitted with a Ruminact© HR-Tag and from these 20 also received SmaXtec© ruminal boli approximately 5 days before calving. Drenching and control groups were established based on calving dates. Animals in the drenching group were dosed three times (Day 0/day of calving/, Day 1, and Day 2 after calving) using a feed additive containing calcium propionate, magnesium sulphate, yeast, potassium chloride and sodium chloride mixed in approximately 25 L of lukewarm water. RT before calving and sensitivity to subacute ruminal acidosis (SARA) were considered in the final analysis. There was a significant decrease in RT in the drenched groups compared to the controls after drenching. Reticuloruminal pH was significantly higher and time below reticuloruminal pH 5.8 remained significantly lower in SARA-tolerant drenched animals on the days of the first and the second drenchings. Drenching temporarily decreased RT in both drenched groups compared to controls. The feed additive had a positive effect on reticuloruminal pH and time below reticuloruminal pH 5.8 in tolerant drenched animals.

Robust facility location in reverse logistics

As environmental awareness is becoming increasingly important, alternatives are needed for the traditional forward product flows of supply chains. The field of reverse logistics covers activities that aim to recover resources from their final destination, and acts as the foundation of the efficient backward flow of these materials. Designing the appropriate reverse logistics network for a given field is a crucial problem, as this provides the basis for all operations connected to the resource flow. This paper focuses on design questions in the supply network of waste wood, dealing with its collection and transportation to designated processing facilities. The facility location problem is studied for this use-case, and mathematical models are developed that consider economies of scale and the robustness of the problem. A novel approach based on bilevel optimization is used for computing the exact solutions of the robust problem on smaller instances. A local search and a tabu search method is also introduced for solving problems of realistic sizes. The developed models and methods are tested both on real-life and artificial instance sets in order to assess their performance.

Prediction of general mental ability based on neural oscillation measures of sleep

The usual assessment of general mental ability (or intelligence) is based on performance attained in reasoning and problem-solving tasks. Differences in general mental ability have been associated with event-related neural activity patterns of the wakeful working brain or physical, chemical and electrical brain features measured during wakeful resting conditions. Recent evidences suggest that specific sleep electroencephalogram oscillations are related to wakeful cognitive performances. Our aim is to reveal the relationship between non-rapid eye movement sleep-specific oscillations (the slow oscillation, delta activity, slow and fast sleep spindle density, the grouping of slow and fast sleep spindles) and general mental ability assessed by the Raven Progressive Matrices Test (RPMT). The grouping of fast sleep spindles by the cortical slow oscillation in the left frontopolar derivation (Fp1) as well as the density of fast sleep spindles over the right frontal area (Fp2, F4), correlated positively with general mental ability. Data from those selected electrodes that showed the high correlations with general mental ability explained almost 70% of interindividual variance in RPMT scores. Results suggest that individual differences in general mental ability are reflected in fast sleep spindle-related oscillatory activity measured over the frontal cortex.