Implementation of Straw Racks in Commercial Pig Housing—Impact on Straw Availability and Pig Behaviour

This study investigated if straw racks, which enable larger straw rations, induced a more straw-directed behaviour in pigs, as a mean to facilitate the provision of manipulable material and natural behaviour. It was conducted on a commercial farm (459 pigs, 42 pens, 30–120 kg) where half of the pens received 25 L of straw on the floor (CONTROL) and the other half of the pens received straw in a rack holding 44 L of straw (RACK). The pig behaviour in five randomly assigned pens per treatment were recorded for 24 h, during three periods of production. Pig activity levels, exploratory behaviour, pen utilization and available clean straw were scan sampled. During period 1, no pigs were observed interacting with the straw racks. During this period, CONTROL pigs conducted more straw-directed behaviour and less pen-directed behaviour compared to pigs in the pens with a rack during period 1. The lack of rack interactions may imply an underdeveloped spatial cognition in the pigs. Apart from period 1, there were no significant difference in behaviour between RACK and CONTROL pigs. The racks did not disturb the use of the pen. The absent treatment effect in periods 2 and 3 may reflect that there was a too small difference in straw ration between the treatments. In order to design and implement straw racks that promote straw interaction, future studies should focus on understanding pigs’ spatial cognition.

Crossing Over: Majority Party Control Affects Legislator Behavior and the Agenda

Does majority party control cause changes in legislative policy making? We argue that majority party floor control affects legislator behavior and agenda control. Leveraging a natural experiment where nearly one tenth of a legislature’s members died within the same legislative session, we are able to identify the effect of majority party floor control on the legislative agenda and on legislator choices. Previous correlational work has found mixed evidence of party effects, especially in the mid-twentieth century. In contrast, we find that majority party control leads to (1) changes in the agenda and (2) changes in legislators’ revealed preferences. These effects are driven by changes in numerical party majorities on the legislative floor. The effects are strongest with Republican and nonsouthern Democratic legislators. The effects are also more pronounced on the first (economic) than the second (racial) dimension. Additional correlational evidence across 74 years adds external validity to our exogenous evidence.

Modern methods used in production-operations management

Climate change, resource depletion, technical progress, growing consumer awareness and changing requirements causes companies to look for new production methods. They may concern various areas of the company’s activity, starting from product design, procurement organization, optimization of production processes, control of manufactured products and services, through improvement of work organization and reduction of production costs, and ending with the implementation of modern solutions based on digital technologies. The purpose of implementing new production methods is to improve labour mobility, optimization of the use of raw materials and resources, costs reduction, increase efficiency, productivity, etc. In the literature, there are many different types of methods that can be used by modern enterprises. It is practically impossible to present all methods in this study. The authors focused on the presentation of selected methods, which are characterized on the one hand by innovation and, on the other hand, by the possibility of implementation. Particular attention should be paid to methods focused on environmental aspects. This group presents basic information on environment-conscious manufacturing (ECM), life-cycle assessment (LCA) and waste management and recycling. These methods allow to implement the concept of sustainable development and are directly related to the 17 goals set out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and adopted by UN member states. In the group of methods related to next generation production management, the focus was on Matrix shop floor control and cooperative manufacturing. Of particular importance is cooperative management, because cooperation in practice is considered as a specific resource and one of the most important factors of a competitive position. The next group of methods concerned production planning and control. Drum Buffer Rope (DBR) and theory of constraints (TOC) were discussed as part of it. From the company’s point of view, methods related to manufacturing processes are very important, including group technology (GT) and cellular manufacturing (CM). Another group focused on commercial aspects, including demand chain management (DCM) and competitive intelligence (CI). The chapter also presents methods related to auxiliary software support, advanced organizational manufacturing and focused on product design. In the first case, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) was discussed, in the second, virtual enterprises (VE) and World Class Manufacturing (WCM) were presented, and in the third, the assumptions concerning the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) and House of Quality (HOQ) method were shown. Additionally, Statistical Process Control (SPC) and Computer-Aided Process Planning (CAPP) are discussed within the framework of methods focused on cost and quality manufacturing.

Medical Imaging Enfranchising the Patient for Better Feedback and Life-Long Wellness: From Female Pelvic Floor Control to Orgasm

Image design for healthcare instruction must be attuned to the way we learn and the formulation of our abstract knowledge. Images for a manual on how to use a medical device will differ significantly in presentation from images that are intended as guidance on how to improve corporal performance. Images for the former will rely on intentional recollection of life experiences, learned concepts and facts as tools. While not mutually exclusive, images for the latter should be designed to consciously work with procedural memory to improve bodily performance. The images in this article demonstrate this by imaging the relationship between the pelvic floor muscles, clitoris and demarking “Spots” indicated for sexual arousal. Qualitative data suggests that many individuals know little about the interactive relationship between the clitoris, pelvic floor muscles and the female orgasm. Social and educational venues are inadequate, and in some cases misleading. The use of appropriate images conveys meaning very effectively. So whether imaging for a medical condition, procedure (e.g., surgery) or device to enfranchise the patient in their wellness the individual’s experience and proclivity for learning must be considered. If the images are effectively planned and executed, images can play an important role in involving the patients in their wellness. Enfranchising the patient into the process can improve patient feedback therein contributing to advancements in medical procedure and device usage. The sequence of images is guidance based upon a woman’s innate understanding of her body, so that she may move to a higher state of knowledge where her body performs better. Further, if her mind is inspired by the success, then her body could proceed beyond the achieved state repeatedly. The data confirms this performance structure. Women who score high for pelvic floor strength and coordination report high sexual functioning and genital perception.