Assessment of the drinker type on water intake and toy type on behaviour of nursery piglets

This study was conducted to assess the effect of two types of drinkers on water intake (WI) and two types of toys on behavioural observations of piglets in the nursery phase. A total of 72 crossbred entire male piglets (Landrace × Large White, Agroceres♂ and DanBred♀), weaned at 21 days of age, with an average initial body weight (AIBW) of 6.75 ± 0.19 kg were used. Two statistical models were fitted for WI. In model I, animals were distributed in a completely randomized design (CRD) with a split-plot in time, composed of six treatments (2 types of drinkers × 3 experimental phases), eight replications (days of sampling), and 36 animals/experimental unit (EU), without using AIBW as a covariate. In model II, animals were distributed in a CRD with two treatments (fixed or pendular nipple drinkers), eight replications (days of sampling) and 36 animals/EU, with use of AIBW as a covariate. For assessment of behavioural observations, the model was adjusted in a randomized block design, consisting of four treatments [two types of toys (metal chain and plastic bottle) × two daytime periods (morning and afternoon)], nine replications and three blocks constituted in time (days), totalling four pigs/EU. The results indicated an effect on animal daily WI in the starter phase in model I (p < 0.000) and II (p = 0.006). There was an effect (p ≤ 0.05) of toy type for behavioural observations, in which pigs showed a greater proportion of fighting and belly nosing when they had the bottle toy. However, animals spent more time (p ≤ 0.05) eating, drinking water, overlapping, and playing with the toy when they had access to the chain toy. There was an increase (p ≤ 0.05) in sleeping behaviour in the morning period, as well as greater (p ≤ 0.05) behavioural activity in the afternoon period. In conclusion, WI of nursery piglets was positively influenced by growth phase, and the fixed drinker stimulated greater WI in piglets in the starter phase. In addition, the metal chain, as an environmental enrichment, promoted improvements in feeding behaviour and WI, reducing fighting events, and the afternoon period had increased behavioural observations overall.

Multiple foreign bodies in the gastrointestinal tract of a 13-year-old child

Introduction. Foreign bodies in the gastrointestinal tract are various objects of organic and inorganic origin, which are swallowed - not as food - either accidentally or intentionally. The article describes a clinical case of a 13-year-old child with multiple foreign bodies in his gastrointestinal tract which could cause serious complications, such as: perforation of hollow organs, peritonitis, intestinal obstruction, internal bleeding. By statistics, every fourth patient of the conscious age with foreign bodies in the gastrointestinal tract can potentially have problems in the neuropsychic sphere.Material and methods. A 13-year-old boy was admitted to the Clinical and Research Institute of Emergency Pediatric Surgery and Trauma (CRIEPST) with nausea, repeated vomiting after each meal and water drinking. The careful anamnesis revealed that before the boy’s state deteriorated, he had swallowed a large number of magnets and metal objects within a short period of time. X-rays examination found multiple foreign bodies in his gastrointestinal tract. They were removed during esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGDS) and surgical intervention.Results. The plain-film X-ray examination of the abdomen in the projection of the stomach revealed a radiopaque group of foreign bodies of a rounded shape as a conglomerate. At FEGDS, 54 objects were removed: 4 metal balls up to 0.5 cm in diameter, 47 round magnets up to 1.5 cm in diameter, a metal chain and two screws. During laparotomy and gastrotomy 99 foreign bodies were removed: 82 magnet balls 0.5 cm in size, 16 metal balls 1.5 cm in size, 1 bolt. The postoperative period was uneventful. The child was discharged on the 12 th day after surgery in the satisfactory state.Conclusion. Due to timely diagnostics and proper curative tactics, multiple foreign bodies were revealed and removed from the child’s stomach endoscopically and surgically within a short period of time. A correctly chosen curative tactics resulted in a complete recovery of the patient without complications on the 12th hospitalization day.

Compressed Brown Algae as a Potential Environmental Enrichment Material in Growing Pigs

In barren housing conditions, enrichment materials are given to pigs to improve their welfare. Here, we assessed the suitability of an algae-based cylinder as an enrichment material on the behavioral, physiological, health and productivity welfare indicators of pigs. Algae was compared with metal chains and wood logs. The study involved 444 pigs from two successive batches on one single farm. During the suckling period, half of the pigs received algae and the control pigs received no material. After weaning and until the end of fattening, algae, wood or chains were equally distributed among the pigs. Consumption of algae cylinders was different between pens and between batches. After weaning and during the fattening period, although the results differed between batches, no significant difference was observed in the object manipulations. Salivary cortisol, used as biomarker to measure the stress levels after pig transfers, were similar between the treatments. Enrichment material made from algae had no negative effect on pig health and no effect on performance and body condition. Regarding their characteristics and according to Commission Recommendation (EU) 2016/336 classification, algae cylinders can be categorized as suboptimal enrichment materials, although the present results suggest that it does not significantly improve pig welfare compared to a metal chain, which is categorized as a material of marginal interest.

Chains of Metallic Clusters With Ligands

This chapter geometrically investigated the structure of clusters, the core of which represent the metal chains (linear or curved) of both identical and different elements. It was shown that the dimension of the structures of these clusters is more than three. To create a model of these chains in a higher dimension space, a new geometric approach has been developed that allows us to construct convex, closed polytopes of these chains. It consists of removing part of the octahedron edges necessary for constructing the octahedron and adding the same number of new edges necessary to build a closed polytope chain while maintaining the number of metal atoms and ligands and their valence bonds. As a result, it was found that metal chain polytopes consist of polytopes of higher dimension, adjacent to each other along flat sections.

One-dimensional electronic systems: metal-chain complexes and organic conductors

This feature article highlights and compares the structural and physical properties of typical examples of one-dimensional metal-chain complexes and organic conductors.