CHANGE OF DAIRY PRODUCTIVITY IN COWS WHEN REPLACING SOY GRAINS IN DIETS WITH EXTRUDED LUPINE

The positive effect of extruded lupine grain in the composition of compound feed on the increase in milk productivity of cows was established, which made it possible to receive an additional 112 kg of milk and profit from the sale of milk — 1635 rubles on average per 1 head for the entire study period (75 days). An improvement in the qualitative composition of milk was revealed: the mass fraction of fat in cows in the experimental group was increased to 4.13%, compared to 3.87% in the control group; the mass fraction of protein in cows in the experimental group was 3.38%, while in cows in the control it was 3.27%.

INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP INDICES OF VELVET ANTLER PRODUCTION OF MARALS FOR THE PERIOD OF THEIR ECONOMIC USE

Maral breeding is a promising direction of animal hus-bandry in the Altai Region and the Republic of Altai. Breed-ing of highly productive maral stags is based on the proper organization of breeding work which is not possible without an accurate evaluation of individual and group indices of velvet antler weight. In this regard, the research goal is to study individual and group indices of velvet antler produc-tion of marals for the period of their economic use depend-ing on the age. It was found that the velvet antler weight increased by 6.3 kg over the entire study period, and there was a decreasing tendency of the productive index in thir-teen-year-old marals by 800 g. It was found that in the maral stag herd in 2021, the maral stag born in 2008 with velvet antler weight of 18.8 kg became the record holder. The main criteria for culling were decreased velvet antler production and fatness; the age of those animals was from eleven to fourteen years. In this regard, it was found that individual highly productive thirteen-year-old maral stags could consistently produce high-weight velvet antlers dur-ing the period of their economic use. To improve the quali-tative composition of marals, at breeding time, it is neces-sary to evaluate and select high-productive stags from six to twelve years old individually in dynamics and cull low-productive ones regardless of age.

Research On the Multiscale Characteristics of the Early Spring Temperature and Response To Climate Indices Over the Past 179 Years in the Qinling Mountains

Examination of the periodic differences in temperature in the Qinling Mountains at different time scales is highly important in research on the long-term evolution of the regional climate system and ecological environment. Based on February-April temperature data from 1835 to 2013 obtained at 27 weather stations in the Qinling Mountains reconstructed through tree rings, the multiscale characteristics of the early spring temperature time series on the southern and northern slopes of the Qinling Mountains and the response to climate signals were analyzed. The results indicate that the early spring temperature in the Qinling Mountains exhibits significant periodic characteristics on multiple time scales. Reconstruction at the different time scales reveals that the interannual scale change in the temperature variation on the northern slope of the Qinling Mountains plays a decisive role. The temperature on the northern slope exhibits a higher amplitude at the interannual and interdecadal scales than does that on the southern slope, and temporal differences occur at the quasi-century scale. The temperature achieves the strongest correlation with the original Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) sequence during the entire study period. In addition, the different time scales reveal that there exists a significant response relationship between the temperature at the interannual scale and the May sea temperature in the NINO3.4 area, which lags by one year. At the different time scales and various time ranges, the Qinling early spring temperature responds differently to the climate signals, which is an important factor leading to a lower correlation during the entire study period.

An Assessment of the Efficiency of Canadian Power Generation Companies with Bootstrap DEA

Power generation companies play an important role in the Canadian economy, as most of the economic activities in the manufacturing and service sectors are powered by electricity. The significance of the Canadian power generation industry shows that efficiency analysis is essential for efficiently managing power generation and distribution in Canada. However, there have been few attempts to study the relative efficiencies of the Canadian power generation companies. This study fills in this gap by assessing the overall technical, managerial, and scale efficiencies of a sample of Canadian power generation companies via the non-parametric bootstrap DEA methodology, with firm-level annual inputs and outputs data over an 18-year horizon. The results of our investigation indicate low levels of overall technical and managerial efficiencies but relatively high levels of scale efficiencies of the Canadian power generation companies over the entire study period. We also found that the 2007–2009 financial crisis impacted the relative performance of the Canadian power generation companies. Our results also allowed us to identify the benchmark power generation companies for each type of efficiency that the inefficient companies should target toward improving their efficiency.

Growth and Instability of Exports of Vegetable Products from India

The study examined the growth and instability of vegetable products exports from India during 1996-97 to 2019-20. The results indicated positive and significant growth rates of Indian export for all the vegetable products under study for both the periods and also for the overall period. During overall period, onion fresh and cucumber registered positive and significant growth rates both in terms of export quantity and export value. However, export price of all the products declined significantly during the period of study. In terms of export quantity and value of vegetable products, none of the product showed low instability during the entire study period. In case of export price, low to medium instability was observed in majority of the vegetable products. By analyzing the growth and instability parameters during overall period none of the countries reported to have desirable situation of high growth with low instability in case of export quantity, value and price of vegetable products. The trade liberalization after the entry of WTO led to increase in competition between the countries which resulted into higher instability in the export of products.

Update on shedding and transmission routes of porcine haemotrophic mycoplasmas in naturally and experimentally infected pigs

Horizontal transmission of Mycoplasma suis via parenteral exposure during standard practices or through bites during fightings have been identified as key epidemiological routes. However, as knowledge gaps on other potential shedding and transmission routes exist, the present study combines both laboratory experiments and field surveys to gain new insights into the epidemiology of porcine haemotrophic mycoplasmas. Splenectomised pigs were orally inoculated with a M. suis field strain and investigated for clinical signs related to infectious anaemia of pigs (IAP) and the presence of M. suis in blood, urine and saliva samples by qPCR. All blood samples were negative for M. suis and animals did not show obvious clinical signs of IAP throughout the entire study period. Additionally, urine, nasal and saliva samples from sows of conventional piglet producing farms and semen samples from a boar stud revealed no detection of M. suis and ‘Candidatus Mycoplasma haemosuis’ by qPCR. Thus, the results indicate that blood-independent transmission routes might be of minor relevance under field conditions.

Abundance of early life stages of the surf silverside Notocheirus hubbsi (Teleostei, Atheriniformes) in the coastal nearshore of central Chile

The abundance of early stages of the surf silverside Notocheirus hubbsi in nearshore waters of central Chile, collected in samplings set up to assess the lunar cycle during austral spring and summer is reported. A total of 19 specimens were collected with light traps, 16 larvae (7.89-16.20 mm SL) in austral spring and 3 juveniles (30.70-34.60 mm SL) in summer. Capture per unit effort (CPUE) varied from 0.33 to 2.00 ind. light trap-1 night-1 during the entire study period (September 2015-February 2016, and September 2016-February 2017). N. hubbsi catches recorded maximum abundance during the new moon and no catches during full moon.

Ukraine's metallurgical industry: output dynamics through the prism of external factors

Domestic metallurgical industry is an integral part of the world industry, and its development takes place in the context of global trends, such as constant growth of metallurgical production with simultaneous excess of smelting, increasing concentration of production, and increasing consumption and export of metal products in TOP-15 leading smelting countries. The main consequence of such trends is a significant intensification of competition on the global steel market. Despite the fact, that Ukraine's metallurgical industry is an important participant in the global market of ferrous metals and raw materials for their production and has certain advantages in their production and export, like the whole Ukraine's economy, is open and small in macroeconomic terms. This gives grounds to refer Ukraine's metallurgical industry of to the category of "small open industry", which is characterized by export orientation, a small share of output in global output, exports, imports, and domestic consumption and, most importantly – by the lack of decisive influence on world prices. Since Ukraine's metallurgical industry is small and open, and the vast majority of its products are shipped to world markets, it was suggested that the dynamics of metallurgical output is directly influenced by external factors such as world steel prices, the hryvnia exchange rate and the price for natural gas. The obtained results confirmed the hypothesis that Ukraine's metallurgical industry throughout the entire study period was completely dependent on the action of external factors. In particular, the favorable price situation on the global market of metal products ensured a high dynamics of metallurgical output. At the same time, devaluation of Ukrainian national currency in different periods had different effects. The price for natural gas restrained the metallurgical output throughout the entire study period.

Evaluation of nutrient retention and sediment deposition in two urban stormwater retention ponds

Stormwater ponds have been implemented in many municipalities to control urban runoff and retain pollutants, such as nutrients and suspended solids. Two stormwater ponds in Toronto, Ontario were evaluated for their ability to retain nutrients and suspended solids and were also used to investigate mechanisms by which stormwater ponds remove nutrient pollutants, including the importance of deposition and internal loading. Over the entire study period, Hydro Pond East (HEP) retained 1415 mg of total suspended solids (TSS) and MAT retained 1127 mg of TSS. Both Hydro East Pond (HEP) and Mattamy Rouge (MAT) were net exporters of phosphorus (P) over the entire season, with 6.35 mol or 0.20 kg and 53.9 mol or 1.67 kg exported, respectively. HEP had net retention of 2672 mol or 37.4 kg of nitrogen (N) but MAT exported 264 mol or 3.7 kg of nitrogen over the entire study. This study has demonstrated that stormwater ponds have the ability to provide retention of nutrients and TSS, but their function may be enhanced as they may become exporters. However, the amount of nutrients exported was extremely low and may have been driven by the anomalously dry 2016 year in Toronto. Further research should be done on these same ponds to observe how they may perform under an anomalously wet year (e.g. 2017). There is a need for a future model to synthesize the data from literature on stormwater ponds to better understand their function to better help local water managers determine if these ponds are needed and how they may need to enhance their function.

Evaluation of nutrient retention and sediment deposition in two urban stormwater retention ponds

Stormwater ponds have been implemented in many municipalities to control urban runoff and retain pollutants, such as nutrients and suspended solids. Two stormwater ponds in Toronto, Ontario were evaluated for their ability to retain nutrients and suspended solids and were also used to investigate mechanisms by which stormwater ponds remove nutrient pollutants, including the importance of deposition and internal loading. Over the entire study period, Hydro Pond East (HEP) retained 1415 mg of total suspended solids (TSS) and MAT retained 1127 mg of TSS. Both Hydro East Pond (HEP) and Mattamy Rouge (MAT) were net exporters of phosphorus (P) over the entire season, with 6.35 mol or 0.20 kg and 53.9 mol or 1.67 kg exported, respectively. HEP had net retention of 2672 mol or 37.4 kg of nitrogen (N) but MAT exported 264 mol or 3.7 kg of nitrogen over the entire study. This study has demonstrated that stormwater ponds have the ability to provide retention of nutrients and TSS, but their function may be enhanced as they may become exporters. However, the amount of nutrients exported was extremely low and may have been driven by the anomalously dry 2016 year in Toronto. Further research should be done on these same ponds to observe how they may perform under an anomalously wet year (e.g. 2017). There is a need for a future model to synthesize the data from literature on stormwater ponds to better understand their function to better help local water managers determine if these ponds are needed and how they may need to enhance their function.