The association of hoof lesions at claw trimming with test-day milk yield in Danish Holsteins

In a cross-sectional study, performed between October 2002 and April 2003 on 55 Danish dairy herds with 6161 predominantly Holstein Friesian cows the prevalence of 9 hoof lesions was determined.

All test-day yields (TDY) of kg energy corrected milk (ECM) in the lactation of diagnosis were recorded. For the purpose of including hoof lesions in a decision support model an attempt was made to aggregate the lesions into digital dermatitis (DD), other interdigital diseases (OID, infectious diseases other than DD) and hoof horn diseases (HHD, related to metabolic disorders and trauma). A division was made based on the stage of lactation in which the lesions were diagnosed; during the first 100 days in milk, between days 101 and 200 and between days 201 and 305. Associations between the presence of hoof lesions at trimming and milk production were analyzed by linear mixed modeling at the cow level, clustered within herd. The data of primiparous cows was analyzed separately from the multiparous cows.

Based on the associations between TDY and the individual lesions aggregated into HHD, this aggregation as initially planned could not be justified and was therefore not maintained. For OID the value of early diagnosis was apparent; an early diagnosis and early treatment (<101 DIM) was associated with either a positive value or a value less negative compared to a diagnosis and treatment in late lactation (201–305 DIM). This pattern was not as clearly present for the other lesions.     

The quality of service provided by the irrigation department to the users associations, Tunuyan System, Mendoza, Argentina

The quality of service provided by the provincial Irrigation Department (DGI) to the Water Users Associations (UA), and subsequently by the UA's to the related water users, is based on the provincial water law. The intended volume of water being delivered per considered period further depends on the water availability and on the (crop irrigation) water requirements. The Service Level (SL) compares the intended water supply with the water supply that would be required to supply the entire irrigable area with sufficient water. As soon as the intended water delivery pattern is set, the measured actual delivery can be assessed against the intention. Several performance indicators are used in this context. Based on the assessment of the Water Delivery Performance Ratio and the Overall Consumed Ratio recommendations are made on changes which can be made to improve water use and reduce problems of waterlogging.     

Pasture research in Natal

Uittreksel

Die benutting van gespaarde suurveld skep praktiese probleme. As gevolg van die ontwikkeling van hoë proteien‐ en stikstoflekke is dit nou moontlik om gespaarde veld af te wei. Verslag word gedoen van proewe oor drie winters vvaar gespaarde suurveld, òf deur skape, òf deur beeste afgewei is. Hergroei op hierdie veld die daaropvolgende somer is vergelyk met die hergroei van veld wat in die winter lig bewei of gladnie bewei is nie en dan in die lente skoongebrand of skoongesny is. Waar bevveiding nie te straf was nie, is daar geen aanduiding dat skoonwei nadeliger was as enige behandeling wat lentebrand ingesluit het. Temperatuurlesings is geneem en grondvogbebepalings is gedoen op beweide en onbeweide veld. Dit is opgemerk dat veld wat vroeg in die winter afgewei is, vroeg die daaropvolgende lente bot.     

日本森林组合的作用及其基本属性分析

本回顾了日本森林组合制度的形成和发展过程，系统地阐述了森林组合的组织体系、运营机制、财务制度、业务范围等，在此基础上，对森林组合在民有林发展中的作用、森林组合的基本属性等进行了深入的分析和探讨。     

Defoliation by the Needle-shortening Pine Gall Midge,Thecodiplosis brachyntera,on Pines in Central Sweden

An outbreak of the needle-shortening pine gall midge, Thecodiplosis brachyntera , occurred on Scots pine, Pinus sylvestris (L.) and lodgepole pine, P. contorta (Dougl.) in central Sweden during 1995-1998. The larval feeding of T. brachyntera kills current-year needles and heavy infestation causes severe defoliation. A pattern of fluctuating defoliation among years and sites was found on both pine species. Defoliation was evenly distributed in the crown of P. sylvestris during years of high as well as low infestation; apical whorls had as much defoliation as basal whorls. In P. contorta , however, there was a tendency for defoliation to be concentrated on branches in the most apical whorls. Growth ring increments on P. sylvestris with high levels of defoliation (71%) did not differ from trees with moderate levels (26%) of defoliation. Shoot lengths were significantly shorter, however, on heavily infested trees the year after defoliation.     

Management evaluation of Water Users Associations using benchmarking techniques

The development of different tools to evaluate the performance of Water Users Associations (WUAs) is an important practice for improving water and energy management, together with other production costs. One of these tools is the Benchmarking technique, which is based on the comparison between different WUAs to determine the best practices in each of them.In this paper, a Benchmarking process is applied to seven WUAs located in Castilla-La Mancha (Spain) during three irrigation seasons (2006-2008). The performance indicators developed by the International Programme for Technology and Research in Irrigation and Drainage (IPTRID) are used, while new indicators dealing with production and energy are proposed. The goals of this paper are to group WUAs with the same characteristics, using performance and energy indicators, and to reduce the set of indicators using statistical methods. The most important indicators, easy to obtain and yielding result in maximum information are retained for further use.Three proposals reducing the initial number of indicators were proposed, with an aim of being useful for future applications based on characterizing WUAs. Indicators results highlighted that irrigable areas can be grouped based on the application of drip irrigation systems and those with sprinkler irrigation systems. When using groundwater resources, no significant differences were observed for energy consumption between these irrigation systems. This can be explained by the indicator energy load index (ICE, m), which had similar values in all WUAs analyzed. According to annual irrigation water supply per unit irrigated area (V_TSr, m³ ha⁻¹), the highest values (between 5200 m³ ha⁻¹ and 6800 m³ ha⁻¹) were obtained in WUAs with sprinkler irrigation systems, which contained crops characterized by high water requirements, compared to the V_TSr (less than 1800 m³ ha⁻¹) of WUAs with drip irrigation systems, with crops that required less volume of irrigation water. Regarding production efficiency indicators, in drip irrigation systems the high presence of vineyards, almond and olive trees, crops with low water requirements, explained high values of gross margin per unit irrigation delivery (MBVs, € m⁻³)(close to 0.82 € m⁻³) in comparison with sprinkler irrigation systems (close to 0.36 € m⁻³).     

大学生自组织:制度特征与引导路径

当前自组织在青年大学生中影响力迅速扩大,很多网络自组织开始建构组织章程,为组织活动可持续开展提供制度保障,并注重培育组织文化,实体化趋势日趋明显,从而对传统的高校学生教育、管理和服务方式提出了挑战。因此,根据大学生自组织运行特点,考察了青年自组织形成的内在逻辑,分析了影响当前自组织运行的制度特征。以此为基础,提出结合大学生的有效需求,嵌入思政育人工作,加强对自组织的引导与培育,从而在高校思想政治教育工作的目标下促进大学生青年自组织的良性发展。     

加拿大的林业职业协会及其对我国的启示

从20世纪40年代开始, 加拿大陆续建立了林业职业协会, 包括8个省级林业职业协会、加拿大林业职业协会联盟以及加拿大林业资格鉴定委员会。实践证明, 这些协会在保护公众利益和促进森林资源的可持续经营方面发挥了积极的作用。文中介绍了加拿大林业职业协会的管理, 并针对我国实际提出了建议。     

Associations between management, climate, and Escherichia coli O157 in the faeces of feedlot cattle in the Midwestern USA

Our objective was to generate hypotheses for potential on-farm control strategies for Escherichia coli O157 by identifying associations between management practices and climate, and the presence of E. coli O157 in feedlot cattle. Faeces were obtained from 10,622 cattle in 711 pens on 73 feedlots between May and August 2001. Management and climate information was obtained by questionnaire and observation at the time of sampling. The prevalence of E. coli O157 was 10.2% at the sample level, 52.0% at the pen-level, and 95.9% at the feedlot-level. The factors associated with the presence of E. coli O157 in cattle faeces were the frequency of observing cats in the pens or alleys (most common when observed daily), the presence of E. coli O157 in the water tanks (positive association), the historical use of injectable mass medication (positive association), the use of antibiotics in the ration or water (negative association), the wetness of the pen, number of cattle in the pen (negative association), wind velocity (positive association), and height of the feed bunk (positive association).     

Evaluation of a survey approach to estimating the prevalence of cattle carrying antimicrobial-resistant Escherichia coli

A random survey of farms in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland provides estimated of the prevalence of calves, finishers and cows carrying ampicillin, apramycin and/or nalidixic acid resistant Escherichia coli. While the survey provides information on the geographical variation in risk, the results are of limited value for interpreting causality.