A survey of northern Victorian dairy farmers to investigate dairy calf management: colostrum feeding and management

Objectives

To describe colostrum management practices carried out in northern Victorian dairy herds and to identify weaknesses in these areas that may affect calf health and welfare by comparing the results with the current industry recommendations

Methods

A questionnaire to obtain information about colostrum management and calf‐rearing practices was sent to commercial dairy farming clients of Rochester Veterinary Practice between June and September 2013. The questionnaire consisted of a general herd overview and colostrum harvesting practices.

Results

The response rate was 39% (58/150). Many dairy producers were not meeting the current industry recommendations in the following areas: (1) time of removal calf from the dam, (2) relying on calf suckling colostrum from the dam to achieve adequate passive transfer, (3) failing to supplement calves with colostrum, (4) feeding inadequate volumes of colostrum, (5) delayed colostrum harvesting, (6) pooling of colostrum, (7) failing to objectively assess colostrum quality or relying on visual assessment and (8) storing colostrum for a prolonged periods of time at ambient temperatures.

Conclusion

The results from this survey highlight the need for greater awareness of industry standards for colostrum management and feeding hygiene.

     

Equine pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction: current understanding and recommendations from the Australian and New Zealand Equine Endocrine Group

The purpose of this article is to provide a review of the current knowledge and opinions about the epidemiology, clinical findings (including sequelae), diagnosis, treatment and monitoring of equine pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction, particularly in the Australian context. This information and the recommendations provided will assist practitioners in making informed decisions regarding the diagnosis and management of this disorder.     

我国北方地区节水农业技术水平及评价

在系统分析我国节水农业技术水平现状的基础上 ,对各类节水技术的差距和存在问题进行了探讨 ,提出了各类技术亟待研究解决的若干重点问题。并指出建立以渠道防渗技术、管道输水技术及地面灌水技术为核心 ,符合国情的节水农业技术体系已迫在眉睫。     

杨凌区降雨对作物生长适应性的模糊分析

依据模糊数学理论 ,采用模糊综合评判方法 ,从降雨“适量”、“适时”和“有效程度”3个指标出发 ,就杨凌区降水资源对农作物生长发育适应性做了评价分析 ,并提出降雨对作物生长的适宜度模型。通过实地调查与计算分析 ,该模型较好地反映了杨凌区主要作物对该区降雨特征的适宜能力 ,同时也较好地反映了本区降雨资源的地域特征 ,为该地区农作物合理布局决策提供了科学依据     

How to assess the temporal dynamics of landscape connectivity in ever-changing landscapes: a literature review

Landscape Ecology - Landscape connectivity plays a key role in determining the persistence of species inhabiting fragmented habitat patches. In dynamic landscapes, most studies measure connectivity...     

Correction to: Coupling landscape graph modeling and biological data: a review

Landscape Ecology - In the original publication of the article, the sixth author name has been misspelt. The correct name is given in this Correction. The original article has been corrected.     

水体光照强度的变化对浮游甲壳动物群落结构的影响

近年来,我国淡水湖泊富营养化现象日益严重,藻类大量生长导致水体光照强度减弱,水生植物严重衰退。为了解水体光照强度减弱对生活在沿岸带草丛中的浮游甲壳动物分布情况的影响,本研究于2015年5月至2015年11月在水族箱中通过移植苦草并覆盖不同层黑色遮阳布来建立4个光照梯度（L1- L4）,其透光率分别是40.5%、17.1%、7.1%和2.8%,来模拟自然条件下沿岸带浮游甲壳动物群落对低光压力的响应,分析了水体理化指标、苦草和浮游甲壳动物群落结构变化。结果表明：（1）从不同的光照处理来看,浮游甲壳动物生物量随光照强度减弱而减少,其平均值分别是1.27 mg/L、0.99 mg/L、0.95 mg/L和0.45 mg/L,丰度和多样性也随光照强度减弱逐渐降低;（2）与其他3个处理组相比,L4组中除了锯缘真剑水蚤相对生物量百分比从5%升高到25%,其他种类都有所下降,其中晶莹仙达溞从50%降至9%;（3）浮游甲壳动物的平均生物量在秋季（1.28 mg/L）大于夏季（0.54 mg/L）,而夏季（83.79 ind./L）平均丰度大于秋季（53.59 ind./L）。统计分析表明浮游甲壳动物群落结构变化与光照强度和苦草生长引起的水体理化的变化显著正相关,主要是溶解氧和pH值。     

Implementation of two high through-put techniques in a novel application: detecting point mutations in large EMS mutated plant populations

Background  

The establishment of mutant populations together with the strategies for targeted mutation detection has been applied successfully to a large number of organisms including many species in the plant kingdom. Considerable efforts have been invested into research on tomato as a model for berry-fruit plants. With the progress of the tomato sequencing project, reverse genetics becomes an obvious and achievable goal.