Loser cows in Danish dairy herds: definition, prevalence and consequences

During the last few years, many Danish dairy farmers have expressed increasing concerns regarding a group of cows, which we have chosen to term ‘loser cows’. Until now, a loser cow has not been described scientifically. We defined a loser cow on the basis of a clinical examination of the cow. A total of 15,151 clinical examinations were made on 6,451 individual cows from 39 randomly selected, large Danish dairy herds with loose-housing systems using a clinical protocol. Scores for the clinical signs lameness, body condition, hock lesions, other cutaneous lesions, vaginal discharge, condition of hair coat and general condition were converted into a loser cow score. Cows with a loser cow score of 8 or more were classified as loser cows. The overall prevalence of loser cows was 2.15%, 4.50% and 2.98% during the first, second and third round of herd visits, respectively.

The associations between the loser cow state and milk production, mortality, morbidity, culling and workload for the farmer were evaluated using data from herd visits and from the Danish Cattle Database and a number of different statistical techniques. It was concluded that the loser cow state has significant negative consequences for both the farmer and the cow. On average, loser cows yielded 0.61 to 2.24 kg energy corrected milk less per day than non-loser cows depending on parity. Hazard ratio for death or euthanasia was 5.69 for loser cows compared to non-loser cows. Incidence rate ratio for disease treatments was 0.69 for non-loser cows compared to loser cows. Loser cows were often culled in an ‘unfavourable’ way and generally caused extra workload for the farmer.

A simplified version of the loser cow score was evaluated and is recommended for future research and use in practice.     

氮肥配施生物炭和脲酶抑制剂对夏玉米-冬小麦产量及氮素利用的影响

于2019—2021年采用再裂区设计,设置氮肥、生物炭和脲酶抑制剂3个因素,主处理设5个氮水平：0、75、150、225 kg·hm^-2和300 kg·hm^-2,副处理设2个生物炭水平：0 t·hm^-2和7.5 t·hm^-2,副副处理设2个脲酶抑制剂水平：0%和2%,共20个处理,研究氮肥配施生物炭和脲酶抑制剂对夏玉米-冬小麦轮作体系作物产量和氮肥吸收利用的影响。结果表明,施用生物炭显著提高夏玉米和冬小麦产量、植株氮素吸收量、氮肥表观利用率、氮素收获指数以及夏玉米地上部生物量,较不施生物炭处理分别增加4.4%和2.9%、2.3%和3.0%、25.8%和13.5%、4.9%和6.1%、4.5%;氮肥单独配施生物炭可显著提高夏玉米和冬小麦产量、植株氮素吸收量和氮肥表观利用率,且氮肥和生物炭具有显著的交互效应。施用脲酶抑制剂显著增加夏玉米植株氮素吸收量和氮肥表观利用率,较不施脲酶抑制剂处理分别提高1.5%和3.0%;氮肥单独配施脲酶抑制剂可提高夏玉米植株氮素吸收量和氮肥表观利用率,但氮肥与脲酶抑制剂无显著...     

Effects of Bacillus amylolyticus on Rumen Dry Matter Digestibility,Fermentation Parameters and Metabolites of Dairy Cows北大核心CSCD

This experiment was conducted to study the effects of Bacillus amylolyticus on rumen dry matter digestibility, fermentation parameters and metabolites of dairy cows. Experiment 1: six dairy cows with permanent fistula and had the similar parity (2 to 3 fetuses), body weight [(662 ±57) kg], lactation days [(160 ± 22) d] and milk yield [(36.1 ±3.8) kg / d], were randomly divided into 3 groups with 2 cows per group. Using 3 ×3 Latin square design, each group was extra fed 0 (control group), 5 ×109 and 5 ×1010 CFU / d Bacillus amylolyticus, the trial period was 3 periods, 13 days for each period, including 10 days for the pre-trial period and 3 days for the trial period. At the beginning of the trial period, the rumen dry matter digestibility of cows was measured by nylon bag method. Experiment 2: thirty dairy cows with similar parity [(2.5 ±0.3) fetuses], initial body weight [(559.2 ± 7. 4) kg], milk yield [(35. 2 ± 1. 5) kg / d] and lactation days [(99 ± 22) d] were randomly divided into three groups with 10 cows in each group. Cows in the 3 groups were extra fed with 0 (control group), 5 ×109 and 5 ×1010 CFU / d Bacillus amylolyticus, respectively. The pre-trial period was 10 days and the trial period was 42 days. The rumen fluid was collected on the last day of the trial period, and the rumen fermentation parameters and metabolites were determined. The results showed as follows: compared with the control group, 1) supplementary feeding of 5 × 1010 CFU / d Bacillus amylolyticus could significantly improve the rumen dry matter digestibility of dairy cows at 12, 24, 36, 48 and 72 h (P <0.05), supplementary feeding of 5 ×109 CFU / d Bacillus amylolyticus could significantly improve the rumen dry matter digestibility of dairy cows at 36 and 48 h (P <0.05); 2) supplementary feeding of 5 ×109 CFU / d Bacillus amylolyticus could significantly increase the contents of isobutyric acid, butyric acid, isovaleric acid, valeric acid, total volatile fatty acid and microbial protein in the rumen of dairy cows (P < 0. 05), supplementary feeding of 5 × 1010 CFU / d Bacillus amylolyticus could significantly increase the contents of isobutyric acid and isovaleric acid in the rumen of dairy cows and significantly reduce the rumen acetic acid / propionic acid (P < 0. 05), supplementary feeding of 5 ×109 and 5 ×1010 Bacillus amylolyticus had no effects on rumen pH and ammonia nitrogen content (P >0.05); 3) eleven metabolic pathways related to differential metabolites were detected, and ascorbic acid and alginate metabolism were significantly enriched (P < 0. 05) . In conclusion, Bacillus amylolyticus can increase the rumen dry matter digestibility, and improve the rumen fermentation function of dairy cows by affecting the content of rumen metabolites. By comprehensive analysis, supplementary feeding of 5 × 109 CFU / d Bacillus amylolyticus can achieve better effect. © 2023 Authors. All rights reserved.     

小型乳制品加工厂的研究与设计

牛奶是人类生长发育全过程中最适宜的食品。牛奶中含有大量的优质蛋白质、氨基酸、脂肪、乳糖、多种维生素、多种免疫活性因子及人体必需的矿物质微量元素，是营养最全面、营养价值最高、最容易消化吸收的食品。为此，从牛奶在人们饮食中所处的地位出发，介绍了乳制品加工厂研究的意义，阐述了小型乳制品加工的生产工艺、厂房分布图和主要设备。     

奶牛养殖场粪污处理沼气工程技术与模式

本文综述了国内外奶牛养殖场沼气工程技术应用现状,分析了奶牛粪沼气发酵潜力和三种主要沼气发酵工艺的技术特点.     

基于超参数优化算法下的随机森林模型预测奶牛呼吸频率

奶牛呼吸频率是评估环境造成的奶牛热应激程度的重要指标之一。该研究基于随机森林（random forest,RF）算法提出了适用于生产条件下的奶牛个体呼吸频率准确预测模型,为了平衡模型精度与计算效率问题,利用遗传算法（genetic algorithm,GA）、差分进化（differential evolution,DE）算法、粒子群优化（particle swarm optimization,PSO）算法、贝叶斯优化（Bayesian optimization,BO）算法对模型超参数进行优化,并与网格搜索（grid search,GS）下的人工神经网络（artificial neural network,ANN）和极限梯度提升机（extreme gradient boosting,XGBoost）模型进行了对比分析。研究结果表明,使用融合环境参数的修正温湿指数（adjusted temperature-humidity index,ATHI）、时间区域、奶牛产奶量、泌乳天数、身体姿势以及胎次作为输入特征时,基准RF模型的预测性能最佳。在此基础上,4种智能优化算法下的RF模型性能优于GS-ANN和GS-XGBoost,其中BO-RF的综合性能最优,其决定系数、平均绝对误差、平均绝对百分比误差以及均方根误差分别为0.614、7.723、14.4%、9.737,超参数优化耗时约为DE-RF的1/220。特征重要性分析表明,输入因子对奶牛呼吸频率的影响程度不同,ATHI是影响力最高的因子,相对重要性（relative importance,RI）为0.71,其次是时间区域（RI=0.09）和奶牛产奶量（RI=0.07）。研究为奶牛生产、健康评价及牛舍环境精准调控提供了有效方法和基础。     

大型海藻基生物炭中多环芳烃分布特征及毒性评价

研究大型海藻基生物炭中多环芳烃(Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons,PAHs)分布特征及毒性可为其资源化利用提供重要的依据。该研究利用索氏提取结合气相色谱质谱法分析了不同热解温度(200、300、400、500和600℃)的大型海藻(瓦氏马尾藻(Sagassum vachellianum)、羊栖菜(Sargassum fusiforme)、鼠尾藻(Sargassum thunbergii)、带形蜈蚣藻(Grateloupiaturuturu)、粗枝软骨藻(Chondriacrassicaulis)及孔石莼(Ulvapertusa))基生物炭中16种PAHs含量并对其毒性进行评价。结果表明,大型海藻基生物炭中均能检出PAHs(总量浓度为78.2～2 244.2μg/kg),且其生成量整体随热解温度升高先增加后降低。大型海藻基生物炭中PAHs含量均低于欧洲生物炭标准(EuropeanBiochar Certificate,EBC,10.1版)规定的EBC-AgroOrganic等级限量值(4±2)mg/kg。大型海藻基生物炭中PAHs以2环和3环为主,4环PA...     

生物炭添加对矿区压实土壤水力特性的影响

中国黄土高原大型露天煤矿开采导致土壤质量下降,生物炭作为环境友好型土壤改良剂,在改善农田土壤质量中应用广泛,但在有关矿区压实土壤改良的研究中不够深入。为此,该研究通过室内试验分析不同粒径的生物炭在不同添加量下对矿区排土场压实土壤水力特性的影响。试验采用4种粒径（>1～2、>0.25～1、0.10～0.25、<0.10 mm）与4种添加量（0、4、8、16 g/kg）的生物炭,设计5种压实条件（容重分别为1.3、1.4、1.5、1.6、1.7 g/cm3）,并利用van Genuchten模型（VG模型）拟合土壤水分特征曲线。结果表明,添加生物炭后土壤水分特征曲线的相关系数均在0.960以上,标准差均小于0.015,说明VG模型适用于拟合添加生物炭后的土壤水分特征曲线。随着生物炭添加量的增加,土壤孔隙分布明显改变,形成了大量大孔隙和中孔隙,土壤的持水能力提高。在低容重（1.3、1.4 g/cm3）条件下,生物炭粒径越大（0.25～2 mm）添加量越高（8、16 g/kg）,土壤持水、保水效果越明显;在高容重（1.5、1.6、1.7 g/cm3）条件下,小粒径（<0.25 mm）和较低的生物炭添加量（4、8 g/kg）则表现出较好的持水能力。对于不同压实条件的排土场土壤,有针对性地施用生物炭,将有效提高土壤持水保水能力,提高土壤中植物的有效利用水分。     

玉米秸秆牺牲剂对TiO2/Pt/生物炭光催化水制氢性能的影响

采用光沉积法、水热合成法制备出TiO2/Pt/生物炭复合光催化剂,以玉米秸秆悬浮液作为牺牲剂,考察了不同质量分数玉米秸秆对光催化分解水制氢性能的影响。通过X射线衍射（X-ray Diffraction,XRD）、扫描电子显微镜（Scanning Electron Microscopy,SEM）、透射电子显微镜（Transmission Electron Microscopy,TEM）、X射线光电子能谱（X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy,XPS）和紫外可见漫反射光谱（UV-Visible diffuse reflectance spectra,UV-Vis DRS）等表征手段进一步论证了复合催化剂结构特征。结果表明,随着玉米秸秆质量分数的增大,光催化体系的制氢量展现出先增大后降低的变化趋势。当玉米秸秆质量分数为30%时,TiO2/Pt/生物炭复合材料制氢性能最佳,制氢速率达到225 μmol/(g·h),是单纯TiO2/Pt的11.2倍。其原因在于玉米秸秆分子组成中含有大量的醛基自由基,在光催化过程中被激发,与空穴发生氧化反应,提高了光催化制氢效率。此外,TiO2/Pt/生物炭光催化制经过5次重复利用后,制氢量仍为900 μmol/g,具有较高的光稳定性。