scholarly journals Pig behaviour in relation to weather conditions – a review

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 601-610 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Olczak ◽  
Jacek Nowicki ◽  
Czesław Klocek

Abstract Weather conditions (temperature, humidity, solar radiation, air pressure, wind strength, wind direction and precipitation) have a significant impact on the behaviour of farm animals. Pigs have developed a wide range of thermoregulatory behaviours that are particular for this species. With increases in temperature the most characteristic behaviour for pigs is decreased activity and increased wallowing in wet surfaces. In addition to this, rooting and wallowing are highly influenced by temperature and humidity. The lack of possibility to express these behaviours leads to development of stereotypies. Interestingly, low temperatures do not increase the use of shelter if not in combination with wind or precipitation. Furthermore, wild pigs build stronger nests in severe conditions. Also, resting behaviour and reproduction may be disturbed by high temperatures. There is a negative impact of foehn wind on boars’ libido and semen parameters.

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 238-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. N. Pavlyuchik ◽  
A. D. Kapsamun, ◽  
N. N. Ivanova ◽  
V. A. Tyulin ◽  
O. S. Silina

Currently, the most urgent task in improving the industry of feed production is the creation of green and raw materials conveyors, which will allow an uninterrupted supply of vegetable raw materials from early spring to late autumn for feeding farm animals and preparing high-quality feed. The research has shown that the most optimal time for mowing alfalfaclover-cereals mixtures with high fodder values is the budding phase - the start of flowering of legume grasses in the conveyor system with 10.6-15.2% of raw protein content in the crop. It was noted that the cultivation of meadow clover varieties of various ripening time mixed with a wide range of alfalfa and cereal grasses lead to the decrease in the effect of unfavorable weather conditions and to 15-20% increase in grass mixtures productivity. The article presents recommendations for the extension of the productive longevity of grass stands up to five years using mixtures with different ripening varieties of meadow clover and alfalfa with grass components of a new generation with productivity up to 32.8 t / ha of green mass.  According to the field test of 2013-2017, the article provides data on the green mass productivity of alfalfa-clover-cereals grass stands with the addition of early ripening varieties of grasses, which for two mowings averaged 29.4 t / ha in 2013-2014 and 30.1 t / ha in 2015-2017.  The methods of creating and using grass mixtures have been indicated, the best time for mowing has been defined by conveyor use of them in the Upper Volga region. The scheme of the green and raw materials conveyor with the use of differently ripening grass mixtures, consisting of new species and varieties of forage grasses of different periods of ripening, is given. It has been established that the use of legume-grass mixtures allows to obtain high-quality raw material for the production of bulk feed within 110-120 days, which acts as the way to increase the efficiency of fodder production. An expanded range of fodder grasses creates the conditions for improving the sustainability of fodder production in less dependence on extreme weather conditions. 


2020 ◽  
pp. 3-4
Author(s):  
Oleg Yu. Chernykh ◽  
◽  
Vadim A. Bobrov ◽  
Sergey N. Zabashta ◽  
Roman A. Krivonos ◽  
...  

Rabies remains a constant threat to humanity in many parts of the world. At the same time, scientifically grounded antiepizootic measures should be based on the peculiarities of the regional epizootology of this zooanthroponosis. The authors studied the epizootological and statistical reporting data of the Kropotkin Regional Veterinary Laboratory, presented an analysis of the registration of rabies in animals in Krasnodar region. From the obtained data, it should be noted that despite the wide range of animals involved in the epizootic process of rabies infection in Krasnodar region, dogs, cats and foxes play a major role in the reservation and spread of infection, which account for 78.6. Of the total number of registered cases, 15.5% falls on foxes, that indicates the natural focus of the disease, along with the manifestation of the disease in an urban form. At the same time, stray and neglected dogs and cats, which occupy a significant place among the total number of sick animals, are also sources and spread of the infection. Thus farm animals (8.3% of the total number of infected animals) are a biological dead end for the infection. Isolated cases of the disease were noted in muskrat, donkey, raccoon, raccoon dog, marten, ferret and jackal. The authors also established the specific morbidity of various animal species with rabies infection, that is an important aspect in the development and implementation of antiepizootic measures complex


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 348-352
Author(s):  
S. Malchev ◽  
S. Savchovska

Abstract. The periods with continuous freezing air temperatures reported during the spring of 2020 (13 incidents) affected a wide range of local and introduced sweet cherry cultivars in the region of Plovdiv. They vary from -0.6°C on March 02 to -4.9°C on March 16-17. The duration of influence of the lowest temperatures is 6 and 12 hours between March 16 and 17. The inspection of fruit buds and flowers was conducted twice (on March 26 and April 08) at different phenological stages after continuous waves of cold weather conditions alternated with high temperatures. During the phenological phase ‘bud burst’ (tight cluster or BBCH 55) some of the flowers in the buds did not develop further making the damage hardly detectable. The most damaged are hybrid El.28-21 (95.00%), ‘Van’ (91.89%) and ‘Bing’ (89.41%) and from the next group ‘Lapins’ (85.98%) and ‘Rosita’ (83.33%). A larger intermediate group form ‘Kossara’ (81.67%), ‘Rozalina’ (76.00%), ‘Sunburst’ (75.00%), ‘Bigarreau Burlat’ (69.11%) and ‘Kuklenska belitza’ (66.67%). Candidate-cultivar El.17-90 ‘Asparuh’ has the lowest frost damage values of 55.00% and El.17-37 ‘Tzvetina’ with damage of 50.60%.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Verónica Gamón ◽  
Isabel Hurtado ◽  
José Salazar-Fraile ◽  
Gabriel Sanfélix-Gimeno

AbstractSchizophrenia is a chronic mental condition presenting a wide range of symptoms. Although it has a low prevalence compared to other mental conditions, it has a negative impact on social and occupational functions. This study aimed to assess the appropriateness of antipsychotic medications administered to schizophrenic patients and describe current treatment patterns for schizophrenia. A retrospective cohort study was conducted in all patients over the age of 15 with an active diagnosis of schizophrenia and treated with antipsychotics between 2008 and 2013 in the Valencia region. A total of 19,718 patients were eligible for inclusion. The main outcome assessed was inappropriateness of the pharmacotherapeutic management, including polypharmacy use. Altogether, 30.4% of patients received antipsychotic polypharmacy, and 6.8% were prescribed three or more antipsychotics. Overdosage affected 318 individuals (1.6%), and 21.5% used concomitant psychotropics without an associated psychiatric diagnosis. Women and people with a comorbid condition like anxiety or depression were less likely to receive antipsychotic polypharmacy. In contrast, increased polypharmacy was associated with concomitant treatment with other psychoactive drugs, and only in user on maintenance therapy, with more visits to the mental health hospital. Overall, we observed a high level of inappropriateness in antipsychotic prescriptions. Greater adherence to guidelines could maximize the benefits of antipsychotic medications while minimizing risk of adverse effects.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (14) ◽  
pp. 6445
Author(s):  
David Ibarra ◽  
Raquel Martín-Sampedro ◽  
Bernd Wicklein ◽  
Úrsula Fillat ◽  
María E. Eugenio

Motivated by the negative impact of fossil fuel consumption on the environment, the need arises to produce materials and energy from renewable sources. Cellulose, the main biopolymer on Earth, plays a key role in this context, serving as a platform for the development of biofuels, chemicals and novel materials. Among the latter, micro- and nanocellulose have been receiving increasing attention in the last few years. Their many attractive properties, i.e., thermal stability, high mechanical resistance, barrier properties, lightweight, optical transparency and ease of chemical modification, allow their use in a wide range of applications, such as paper or polymer reinforcement, packaging, construction, membranes, bioplastics, bioengineering, optics and electronics. In view of the increasing demand for traditional wood pulp (e.g., obtained from eucalypt, birch, pine, spruce) for micro/nanocellulose production, dedicated crops and agricultural residues can be interesting as raw materials for this purpose. This work aims at achieving microfibrillated cellulose production from fast-growing poplar and olive tree pruning using physical pretreatment (PFI refining) before the microfibrillation stage. Both raw materials yielded microfibrillated cellulose with similar properties to that obtained from a commercial industrial eucalypt pulp, producing films with high mechanical properties and low wettability. According to these properties, different applications for cellulose microfibers suspensions and films are discussed.


Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 518
Author(s):  
Bronwyn Egan ◽  
Zwannda Nethavhani ◽  
Barbara van Asch

Macrotermes termites play important ecological roles and are consumed by many communities as a delicacy and dietary complement throughout Africa. However, lack of reliable morphological characters has hampered studies of Macrotermes diversity in a wide range of scientific fields including ecology, phylogenetics and food science. In order to place our preliminary assessment of the diversity of Macrotermes in South Africa in context, we analysed a comprehensive dataset of COI sequences for African species including new and publicly available data. Phylogenetic reconstruction and estimates of genetic divergence showed a high level of incongruity between species names and genetic groups, as well as several instances of cryptic diversity. We identified three main clades and 17 genetic groups in the dataset. We propose that this structure be used as a background for future surveys of Macrotermes diversity in Africa, thus mitigating the negative impact of the present taxonomic uncertainties in the genus. The new specimens collected in Limpopo fell into four distinct genetic groups, suggesting that the region harbours remarkable Macrotermes diversity relative to other African regions surveyed in previous studies. This work shows that African Macrotermes have been understudied across the continent, and that the genus contains cryptic diversity undetectable by classic taxonomy. Furthermore, these results may inform future taxonomic revisions in Macrotermes, thus contributing to advances in termitology.


Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1818
Author(s):  
Jennifer Routh ◽  
Sharmini Julita Paramasivam ◽  
Peter Cockcroft ◽  
Vishna Devi Nadarajah ◽  
Kamalan Jeevaratnam

The public health implications of the Covid-19 pandemic have caused unprecedented and unexpected challenges for veterinary schools worldwide. They are grappling with a wide range of issues to ensure that students can be trained and assessed appropriately, despite the international, national, and local restrictions placed on them. Moving the delivery of knowledge content largely online will have had a positive and/or negative impact on veterinary student learning gain which is yet to be clarified. Workplace learning is particularly problematic in the current climate, which is concerning for graduates who need to develop, and then demonstrate, practical core competences. Means to optimise the learning outcomes in a hybrid model of curriculum delivery are suggested. Specific approaches could include the use of video, group discussion, simulation and role play, peer to peer and interprofessional education.


Author(s):  
Małgorzata Pawlak ◽  
Michał Kuźniar ◽  
Andrzej R. Majka

The present-day world is characterized by the intense development of air transport. However, along with it, significant problems appear. Among these problems, the most important are those relating to safety and negative impact of air transport on the environment. Air transport efficiency and profitability issues, although not critical, must also be taken into account because they decide about the intensity of development of this branch of transport. There are currently two large programs in Europe oriented at improving safety, environmental, and efficiency indicators. These are SESAR 2020 and Clean Sky 2, being a continuation of previous ones. One of the ways to reduce negative impact of air transport on the environment and improve its efficiency is to reduce fuel consumption and pollutants emissions resulting from fuel combustion. To find solutions with the abovementioned features, it is necessary to have sufficiently accurate models to estimate the amount of fuel consumed and the amount of pollutants emitted. Developing a sufficiently accurate model to determine fuel consumption and pollutants emission was performed. Due to the specificity of the missions carried out by passenger aircraft, the focus was on the cruise stage when aircraft flies at a constant altitude with a constant air speed. The result of the analysis was the development of methodology for fuel consumption and emission of main pollutants in cruise conditions. Specific fuel consumption is calculated for the thrust required for horizontal flight at cruising altitude. Emission indexes for CO, NOx, HC, and CO2 for the cruise have been determined based on known indexes for the landing and take-off cycle phase, after applying appropriate corrections. An illustration of the application of the developed methodology was the optimization of a medium-sized transport aircraft trajectory on a selected connection to determine a trajectory characterized by a minimum emission value taking into account weather conditions.


2011 ◽  
Vol 1350 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. A. Konopko ◽  
T. E. Huber ◽  
A. A. Nikolaeva

ABSTRACTIn this work, we report the results of studies of the transverse magnetoresistance (MR) of single-crystal Bi nanowires with diameter d<80 nm. The single-crystal nanowire samples were prepared by the Taylor-Ulitovsky technique. Due to the semimetal-to-semiconductor transformation and high density of surface states with strong spin-orbit interactions, the charge carriers are confined to the conducting tube made of surface states. The non monotonic changes of transverse MR that are equidistant in a direct magnetic field were observed at low temperatures in a wide range of magnetic fields up to 14 T. The period of oscillations depends on the wire diameter d as for the case of longitudinal MR. An interpretation of transverse MR oscillations is presented.


Plant Disease ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 96 (7) ◽  
pp. 935-942 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toky Rakotonindraina ◽  
Jean-Éric Chauvin ◽  
Roland Pellé ◽  
Robert Faivre ◽  
Catherine Chatot ◽  
...  

The Shtienberg model for predicting yield loss caused by Phytophthora infestans in potato was developed and parameterized in the 1990s in North America. The predictive quality of this model was evaluated in France for a wide range of epidemics under different soil and weather conditions and on cultivars different than those used to estimate its parameters. A field experiment was carried out in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009 in Brittany, western France to assess late blight severity and yield losses. The dynamics of late blight were monitored on eight cultivars with varying types and levels of resistance. The model correctly predicted relative yield losses (efficiency = 0.80, root mean square error of prediction = 13.25%, and bias = –0.36%) as a function of weather and the observed disease dynamics for a wide range of late blight epidemics. In addition to the evaluation of the predictive quality of the model, this article provides a dataset that describes the development of various late blight epidemics on potato as a function of weather conditions, fungicide regimes, and cultivar susceptibility. Following this evaluation, the Shtienberg model can be used with confidence in research and development programs to better manage potato late blight in France.


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