1,721,018 research outputs found
SELECTION METHODOLOGY FOR A DAIRY BREED IN A TROPICAL ENVIRONMENT
Full text linkABSTRACT
Aim of this thesis is to evaluate the genetic and racial structure of a dairy cattle breed reared in Tropics, joint to the investigation of the best selection methodology for productive traits adapted to low/medium input production system.
The genetic and racial structure of the Carora Breed, a Venezuelan dairy cattle population, was studied through the analysis of the whole pedigree. The database included 4324 living animals (including culled bulls used for AI), born from 1983 to 2010. The racial composition of Carora breed was studied clustering the current population into 5 racial groups, identified on the basis of the individual racial proportion, in order to detect the breed composition in this synthetic breed.
The Carora pedigree resulted quite complete, and the inbreeding level is below the level of 1%, even if the size of this breed is reduced. From this study an increase in the Brown Swiss genes proportion was detected, indicating the possibility of a reduction in adaptability linked to the features of this breed, typically suitable for temperate climates.
Genetic parameters of weight at 18 months (W18) and milk yield (MY) of 1781 Venezuelan cows were estimated with a Multiple Trait Animal Model, including the direct breed effects and the epistatic loss.
Results showed that direct breeds effects and epistatic loss affected milk trait, while they seemed not important for weight. An high percentage of European genes positively influenced milk production.
Four random regression models were used on 95606 test day records to obtain genetic parameters for test day yield and persistency. Akaike’s information criterion (AIC) and minus twice log likelihood (-2logL), were used to compare the models and to choose the best one fitting the data.
Estimated heritability for milk yield ranged from 0.21 to 0.30, while repeatability ranged from 0.50 to 0.56.
Five persistency measures were calculated taking in account different point of the lactation. In general, heritability values for the five measures of persistency ranged from low to moderate (from 0.18 to 0.26), indicating the possibility of new selection opportunities.
The use of persistency indexes accounting for milk yield, may allow the selection of individuals able to express their potential genetic values in tropical environment, without incurring in excessive heat stress losses
Precision livestock farming : an overview of image and sound labelling
Full text linkthe shift in livestock farming methods from extensive to intensive poses a number of significant challenges for animal welfare, environmental sustainability and food security. automatic animal monitoring may be one method of supporting farmers in
achieving farm sustainability. Precision Livestock Farming (PLF) can combine audio and video information into automated tools that serve as early warning systems for the
farmer if health or welfare problems are detected.
First, reliable sounds and images that indicate poor animal welfare must be identified by animal experts. then, through careful labelling of sounds or images, it is possible to create a complete database which is suitable for algorithm development.
Labelling is an activity which precisely defines and interprets detailed variations in measured field signals. This study will describe sound and image labelling with the aim
of developing an automated tool
Approach: abbattimento del particolato in porcilaia
No full textL’obiettivo del progetto è quello di creare un sistema in grado di garantire una gestione del microclima completamente automatizzata, garantendo l’abbattimento delle emissioni e il contenimento dei consumi energetici. I primi risultati dell’utilizzo in ambito suinicolo
An innovative approach to predict the growth in intensive poultry farming
Full text linkChicken weight provides information about growth and feed conversion of the flock in order to identify deviations from the expected homogeneous growth trend of the birds. This paper proposes a novel method to automatically measure the growth rate of broiler chickens by sound analysis.Through the application of process engineering, Precision Livestock Farming (PLF) can combine audio and video information into on-line automated tools that can be used to control, monitor and model the behaviour, health and production of animals and their biological response.The aim of this study was to record and analyse broiler vocalisations under normal farm conditions, to identify the relation between animal sounds and their weight. Recordings were made at regular intervals, during the entire life of birds, in order to evaluate the variation of frequency and bandwidth of the sounds emitted by the animals.Two experimental trials were carried out in an indoor reared broiler farm; the audio recording procedures lasted for 38. days. The recordings were made, in an automated, non-invasive and non-intrusive way and without disturbing the animals in to the broiler house. Once a week, 50 birds were selected at random and their weight recorded in order to follow the growth trend in the birds.Sound recordings were manually analysed and labelled using the Adobe® AuditionTM CS6 software.Analysing the sounds recorded, it was possible to find a significant correlation (. P<. 0.001) between the frequencies of the vocalisations recorded and the weight of the broilers.The results explained how the frequency of the sounds emitted by the animals was inversely proportional to the age and to the weight of the broilers; the more they grow, the lower the frequency of the sounds emitted by the animals.This preliminary study, conducted in an indoor reared broiler farm, shows how this method based on the identification of specific frequencies of the sounds, linked to the age and to the weight of the birds, might be used as an early warning method/system to evaluate the health and welfare status of the animals at farm level. This is the basis for a further development of an automated growth monitoring tool
Demographic and genetic parameters in Miniature Pinscher (Canis Familiaris) Italian population
No full text
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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