1,721,088 research outputs found
Defining the total cost of ownership for the transition to open source systems
No full textThis paper provides a framework to evaluate the transition to a OSS software solution in terms of returns and losses in the context of Public Administrations. The ultimate goal of the framework is to identify costs that are not easy to trace or that are not usually collected like user acceptance.
The framework has been conducted using a Total Cost of Ownership approach, which is the most frequently used model to conduct cost comparisons between two or more IT systems.
The study further implements the Goal Question Metric paradigm to identify the cost metrics. The framework relies various methods to collect the data, including questionnaires with end-users, qualitative interviews with IT-managers and company balance sheets. An example of framework's use is provided
Nutritional strategies in ruminant feeding
No full textThe main mechanisms involved in N excretion and CH4 emission by ruminants are briefly summarized. While the contribution of ruminants to the global warming effect through CH4 emission seems to be exaggerated, this is not the case for N pollution: there is an urgent need for a reduction of N excretion into the environment and animal nutritionists and farmers must be aware of this. Diets fed to dairy cows or beef cattle should contain the minimum N content, but all the fermentable energy needed to maximize rumen microbial protein synthesis. Additional single rumen-protected amino acids can be satisfactorily included in low protein diets to meet metabolic amino acid requirements. Forages (preferably of medium N and high energy content) and other home-grown feedstuffs are increasingly used on cattle farms. In Italy, diets for dairy and beef cattle in the most intensive areas are mainly based on maize silage as the principal forage component and maize grain (dry or wet) as the energy concentrate supplement. The quantitative and qualitative differences between maize silage as the first, and only crop in the year and maize silage as a second crop after Italian ryegrass or a winter cereal, are discussed. The results of some studies on dietary N reduction in lactating cows and some typical diets fed in Northern Italy are also reported and commented upon
Curves of growth in heifers and farm effects
Full text linkLa misurazione dell’altezza al garrese e della circonferenza toracica, effettuata in 60 aziende della provincia di Brescia su 2862 manze tra i 5 e i 31 mesi di vita, ha permesso di calcolare una regressione lineare tra il peso corporeo (derivato dalla circonferenza toracica) e l’età delle manze secondo l’equazione: peso (kg) = 70,71 + 20,16 età (mesi) (n=2862; r2=0,83; DSR=49,9). L’incremento ponderale giornaliero è risultato mediamente di 0,67 kg/d. L’altezza al garrese è risultata più elevata nelle manze nate in estate/autunno rispetto a quelle nate in inverno/primavera. Sono state evidenziate relazioni tra il peso corporeo delle manze, la razione somministrata e le condizioni igieniche
- …
