An Improved Approach to Automated Measurement of Body Condition Score in Dairy Cows Using a Three-Dimensional Camera System

Body condition scoring is a valuable tool used to assess the changes in subcutaneous tissue reserves of dairy cows throughout the lactation resulting from changes to management or nutritional interventions. A subjective visual method is typically used to assign a body condition score (BCS) to a cow following a standardized scale, but this method is subject to operator bias and is labor intensive, limiting the number of animals that can be scored and frequency of measurement. An automated three-dimensional body condition scoring camera system is commercially available (DeLaval Body Condition Scoring, BCS DeLaval International AB, Tumba, Sweden), but the reliability of the BCS data for research applications is still unknown, as the system’s sensitivity to change in BCS over time within cows has yet to be investigated. The objective of this study was to evaluate the suitability of an automated body condition scoring system for dairy cows for research applications as an alternative to visual body condition scoring. Thirty-two multiparous Holstein-Friesian cows (9 ± 6.8 days in milk) were body condition scored visually by three trained staff weekly and automatically twice each day by the camera for at least 7 consecutive weeks. Measurements were performed in early lactation, when the greatest differences in BCS of a cow over the lactation are normally present, and changes in BCS occur rapidly compared with later stages, allowing for detectable changes in a short timeframe by each method. Two data sets were obtained from the automatic body condition scoring camera: (1) raw daily BCS camera values and (2) a refined data set obtained from the raw daily BCS camera data by fitting a robust smooth loess function to identify and remove outliers. Agreement, precision, and sensitivity properties of the three data sets (visual, raw, and refined camera BCS) were compared in terms of the weekly average for each cow. Sensitivity was estimated as the ratio of response to precision, providing an objective performance criterion for independent comparison of methods. The camera body condition scoring method, using raw or refined camera data, performed better on this criterion compared with the visual method. Sensitivities of the raw BCS camera method, the refined BCS camera method, and the visual BCS method for changes in weekly mean score were 3.6, 6.2, and 1.7, respectively. To detect a change in BCS of an animal, assuming a decline of about 0.2 BCS (1–8 scale) per month, as was observed on average in this experiment, it would take around 44 days with the visual method, 21 days with the raw camera method, or 12 days with the refined camera method. This represents an increased capacity of both camera methods to detect changes in BCS over time compared with the visual method, which improved further when raw camera data were refined as per our proposed method. We recommend the use of the proposed refinement of the camera’s daily BCS data for research applications.

Pembuatan Video Edukasi Vaksinasi Covid-19 Pada Civitas Akademika Universitas Muhammadiyah Mataram

Vaccine is a biological product that used to stimulate the production of antibodies and provide immunity against infectious disease. In he beginning of 2021, Indonesia has started vaccination program for COVID-19. The main purpose of the program is to prevent the massive spread of corona virus, which has caused pandemic since December2019. There are some steps of vaccination program based on the community target. Muhammadiyah University of Mataram as a formal educational institution that gives public service to society is included in the second step of vaccination. However, the variety of field at the institution causes the knowledge differences about vaccine. Therefore, education to help civitas academics to understand more about vaccine was needed. Education was done by audio visual method or video. The videos were made with two language, Indonesian and English. Some contents that included in the video were vaccine definition, type of vaccine, vaccine’s mechanism of action, vaccine’s benefit, COVID-19 vaccine, the possible effects after getting COVID-19 vaccine and how to overcome them. The videos was uploaded in the internet and distributed online to che civitas academics. Through this video, it is hoped that the civitas academics can understand the importance of their participation in COVID-19 vaccine.

Tinjauan Penerapan Open Space Di Kantor Pelayanan Pajak Pratama Tangerang Timur

Abstrak Tata ruang kantor terbuka atau open space merupakan salah satu aspek penting untuk menunjang kenyamanan pegawai dalam melaksanakan pekerjaan sehingga dapat menghasilkan kinerja yang lebih optimal. Namun, penelitian terdahulu menunjukkan bahwa belum semua unit kerja di DJP siap untuk menerapkan kebijakan open space. Hal ini disebabkan oleh pegawai yang masih kesulitan dalam mengorganisasikan berkas-berkas fisik, infrastruktur yang belum mendukung, serta jenis pekerjaan dan proses bisnis yang berbeda. Dengan demikian, penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui penerapan, dampak, tantangan, dan solusi dilaksanakannya open space di KPP Pratama Tangerang Timur. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode kualitatif yaitu wawancara dan visual method dengan pemilihan sampel partisipan berdasar pada metode purposive sampling. Jenis wawancara yang digunakan adalah semi-strucured interview yaitu pewawancara menyiapkan pertanyaan kunci sebagai panduan sebelum dilaksanakannya wawancara. Sementara itu, visual method digunakan sebagai metode pengumpulan data berupa foto dan gambar untuk data pendukung. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa meskipun penerapan open space direspons positif oleh pegawai di KPP Pratama Tangerang Timur, tetapi penerapan ini juga tidak terlepas dari dampak positif dan negatif yang ditimbulkannya. Selain itu, terdapat tantangan dalam penerapan open space di KPP Pratama Tangerang Timur serta solusi yang bisa memecahkannya sehingga penerapan open space dapat lebih optimal. Kata Kunci : open space, penelitian kualitatif, visual method, purposive sampling, semi-strucured interview

Efficiency of Visual and Machine Strength Grading of Sawn Timber with Respect to Log Type

A batch of pine timber sawn from butt, middle and top logs was strength graded with the visual method (classification into grading classes KW—best quality, KS—medium quality, KG—inferior quality and Reject) and with the machine strength grading method—performed with the use of a mobile timber grader (classification into C strength classes). We compared the efficiency of grading classes and strength classes, depending on the type of log from which the material was obtained (butt, middle, top). Next, a strength grading machine was used to measure the modulus of elasticity in bending (MOE) and static bending strength (MOR). The ANOVA confirmed the influence of both the log type (butt, middle, top), the C strength class, and the visual strength grading class on the values of density (DEN) and MOR. Timber density and MOR decreased from the butt log section to the top log section. The ANOVA confirmed the influence of log type on MOE values, but only to a limited extent.

CGI technologies and methods for 3D scanning – new horizons

The enduring presence of photometric technology and in particular Lidar 3D scanning systems in CGI's technological tools testify to the potential and development opportunities they possess. But here we will focus on another quality of technology. The opportunities they provide for achieving new visual forms by interpreting nature on the basis of basic features. for direct work and manipulation of raw point clouds massif. The reason - a non-standard visual method for interpreting reality offering an extremely wide range of transformations even in the direction of algorithmic structural modeling. In this article, we will analyze both the tools and the technological practices known to us as "technological hybrids".

Directional Camera Control on High Altitude Balloons

The research reported in this paper examined the design and control of a gimbal for solar eclipse tracking and video recording. The gimbal design required 3 axes of rotation to allow for a full range of motion. Utilizing individual brushless motors for each of the axes ensures minimum rotational requirements on each axes. In controlling the gimbal, both a mathematical and visual method was utilized. The mathematical method is a modeled version of what is currently used for solar array pointing. The visual method looks at where the position of the sun is within the image and determines what angle changes are required. Utilizing a combination of these methods helps to eliminate error that accumulates within the onboard gyros due to the erratic behavior of balloon motion during flight. Elimination of this error ensures accurate video recording of the solar eclipse.