Long-Term Measurement of Piglet Activity Using Passive Infrared Detectors

Measuring animal activity is useful for monitoring animal welfare in real time. In this regard, passive infrared detectors have been used in recent years to quantify piglet activity because of their robustness and ease of use. This study was conducted on a commercial farm in Northwest Spain during six complete breeding cycles. The hourly average activity of weaned piglets with a body mass of 6–20 kg was recorded and further analyzed by using a multiplicative decomposition of the series followed by a wavelet analysis. Finally, the real series were compared to the theoretical models of activity. Results showed a high level of movement immediately after weaning and a sustained level of activity throughout the cycles. The daily behavior of the piglets followed a clear circadian pattern with several peaks of activity. No differences in behavior were observed between spring–summer cycles and autumn–winter cycles. Single-peak models achieved the best predictive results. In addition, the installed sensors were found to underestimate mild activityThis research was funded by Consellería de Educación, Universidade e Formación Profesional and Consellería de Economía, Emprego e Industria da Xunta de Galicia, grant number ED431B 2018/12-GPCS

New Fertilizer Strategies Combining Manure and Urea for Improved Rice Growth in Mozambique

The cost of chemical fertilizers is increasing and becoming unaffordable for smallholders in Africa. The present study aimed to assess the impact of combined fertilization strategies using urea and animal manure (beef cattle manure and poultry litter manure) on rice yield and nutrient uptake. For this, a field experiment was carried out on a loam sandy soil in the Chókwè Irrigation Scheme. We set seven treatments in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD), namely: T0: no fertilizer, T1: 100% urea, T2: 100% beef cattle manure, T3: 100% poultry litter, T4: 50% urea + 50% beef cattle manure, T5: 50% urea + 50% poultry litter and T6: 40% urea + 30% beef cattle manure + 30% poultry litter, replicated four times each. All treatments, except T0, received an amount of nitrogen (N) equivalent to 100 kgN ha1. Results revealed that the highest yield grain (425 g m2), plant height (115 cm), number of tillers (18) and thousand-grain weight (34g) were observed in treatments combining urea with manure (T4, T5 and T6) indicating that N supply in the mixture (urea + manure) is more efficient than in isolated applications of N (T1, T2 and T3). The data obtained in this study suggest that a combination of fertilizers (T6) lead to competitive yields and is thus recommended for best soil management practicesinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Evolution of NH3 Concentrations in Weaner Pig Buildings Based on Setpoint Temperature

Ammonia (NH3) concentration has seldom been used for environmental control of weaner buildings despite its impact on environment, animal welfare, and workers’ health. This paper aims to determine the effects of setpoint temperature (ST) on the daily evolution of NH3 concentration in the animal-occupied zone. An experimental test was conducted on a conventional farm, with ST between 23 °C and 26 °C. NH3 concentrations in the animal-occupied zone were dependent on ST insofar as ST controlled the operation of the ventilation system, which effectively removed NH3 from the building. The highest NH3 concentrations occurred at night and the lowest concentrations occurred during the daytime. Data were fitted to a sinusoidal model using the least squares setting (LSS) and fast Fourier transform (FFT), which provided R2 values between 0.71 and 0.93. FFT provided a better fit than LSS, with root mean square errors (RMSEs) between 0.09 ppm for an ST of 23 °C and 0.55 ppm for an ST of 25 °C. A decrease in ST caused a delay in the wave and a decrease in wave amplitude. The proposed equations can be used for modeling NH3 concentrations and implemented in conventional controllers for real-time environmental control of livestock buildings to improve animal welfare and productivityThis research was funded by Xunta de Galicia, grant number GPC-ED431B 2018/012S

Validation of an AutoRegressive Integrated Moving Average model for the prediction of animal zone temperature in a weaned piglet building

An AutoRegressive Integrated Moving Average model was validated for the prediction of temperatures in the animal zone of conventional weaned piglet barn. The validation period covered seven cycles and recorded values at 10-min intervals for 292 days. Average weight was 5.75 ± 0.86 kg at the beginning of the production cycle and 18.41 ± 2.12 kg at the end of the cycle. Mean outdoor air temperatures ranged 6.14 to 17.85 °C with deviations in the range 2.49 °C to 5.24 °C, which involved marked differences in the operation of the ventilation system. The Mean Average Percentage Error was below 4%, with a mean error of ≤1 °C. The Root Mean Square Error was in the range 0.77 °C to 1.19 °C, whereas the coefficient of determination ranged between 0.52 and 0.81. Despite the changes in environmental conditions and in animal weight and management, the accuracy of the model remained stable with low dispersion of values. The model showed good accuracy and reliability covering all the seasons under changing meteorological conditions because it considered the operation of the heating and ventilation systems and changes in animal weight. The residuals obtained from the validation of the seven production cycles were Gaussian distributed, which confirmed the validity of the model. The generated model can be used for more effective environmental control systems that are capable of anticipating events and show a better response, which helps improve energy savings and animal welfareThe authors are grateful to the regional government Xunta de Galicia for funding this research through the “Programme of consolidation and structuring of competitive research units” (GPC2014/072)S

Evolution and neural network prediction of CO2 emissions in weaned piglet farms

This paper aims to study the evolution of CO2 concentrations and emissions on a conventional farm with weaned piglets between 6.9 and 17.0 kg live weight based on setpoint temperature, outdoor temperature, and ventilation flow. The experimental trial was conducted during one transition cycle. Generally, the ventilation flow increased with the reduction in setpoint temperature throughout the cycle, which caused a reduction in CO2 concentration and an increase in emissions. The mean CO2 concentration was 3.12 g m–3. Emissions of CO2 had a mean value of 2.21 mg s−1 per animal, which is equivalent to 0.195 mg s−1 kg−1. A potential function was used to describe the interaction between 10 min values of ventilation flow and CO2 concentrations, whereas a linear function was used to describe the interaction between 10 min values of ventilation flow and CO2 emissions, with r values of 0.82 and 0.85, respectively. Using such equations allowed for simple and direct quantification of emissions. Furthermore, two prediction models for CO2 emissions were developed using two neural networks (for 10 min and 60 min predictions), which reached r values of 0.63 and 0.56. These results are limited mainly by the size of the training period, as well as by the differences between the behavior of the series in the training stage and the testing stageThis research was funded by Consellería de Educación, Universidade e Formación Profesional and Consellería de Economía, Emprego e Industria from the Galician Government (Xunta de Galicia). Granted with reference ED431B 2018/12-GPCS

Energy, Production and Environmental Characteristics of a Conventional Weaned Piglet Farm in North West Spain

Postweaning is one of the most sensitive and energy-demanding phases of swine production. The objective of this research was to assess the energy, production and environmental characteristics of a conventional farm with temperature-based environmental control. The selected energy, environmental and production variables were measured on farm, in a high livestock density area of NW Spain, for seven production cycles. The quantification of variables was aimed at obtaining the maximum performance with the lowest possible use of resources, focusing on animal welfare and production efficiency. The Brown–Forsythe, Welch and Games-Howell tests revealed significant differences in terms of temperature, relative humidity and CO2 concentrations among production cycles, and among the critical, postcritical and final periods. Improved humidity management resulted in a 17% reduction of climate control energy, which involved energy savings in the range of 33% to 47% per kg produced at the end of the postweaning cycle. Accordingly, adding humidity as a control variable could result in higher ventilation rates, thereby improving animal welfare, reducing heating energy use and increasing weight gain per unit climate control energy. In addition, the strong correlations found between heating energy and relative humidity (R2 = 0.73) and ventilation energy and CO2 (R2 = 0.99) suggest that these variables could be readily estimated without additional sensor costsThis research has received funding from European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) (2007–2013) under the project Control and automation strategies for energy and production efficiency in weaned farms, included in the research and innovation programme for Galicia, PEME I+D SumaS

Comportamiento de las alteraciones renales en pacientes pediátricos con drepanocitosis

Introduction: the drepanocytosis is a disease with multisystem impact. Renal disease begins in childhood and chronic consequences are glomerulopathy sickle glomerular with evolution to chronic renal failure. Objective: to know how renal disorders are expressed in pediatric patients with drepanocytosis. Method: a prospective descriptive study was realized in pediatric patients with drepanocytosis attended in the outpatient of Hematology at “José Luis Miranda” Hospital between August 2013 and December 2014. Sixteen asymptomatic patients were included in the last month without transfused in the previous three months. Clinical variables, hematological, biochemical and imaging were evaluated in order to describe the renal abnormalities. Results: three patients with positive microalbuminuria were diagnosed; the average age was 13 years, the hemoglobinopathy SS was the most frequent, significant differences were found in terms of fetal hemoglobin, which was higher in patients with negative microalbuminuria, with a 6,6 average. The urinary density showed an average of 1 014,6 for patients with negative microalbuminuria and 1 008,0 for those who had positive, significant differences were found. In patients with positive microalbuminuria the most frequent crisis was the acute chest syndrome (100%). Conclusions: the frequency of positive microalbuminuria behaved similar to some reviewed studies, an average age of 13 years was evident for these cases with count of higher reticulocytes, lower urinary density and higher frequency of abnormalities of the urinary sediment and acute chest syndrome of the rest of the group studied; most of them were undernourished.Introducción: la drepanocitosis es una enfermedad con repercusión multisistémica. La afectación renal comienza en la infancia y las consecuencias crónicas son las glomerulopatías falciformes con evolución a insuficiencia renal crónica. Objetivo: conocer cómo se expresan las alteraciones renales en pacientes pediátricos con drepanocitosis. Método: se realizó un estudio descriptivo prospectivo en pacientes pediátricos con drepanocitosis atendidos en la Consulta externa de Hematología del Hospital “José Luis Miranda” entre agosto de 2013 y diciembre de 2014. Se incluyeron 16 pacientes asintomáticos en el último mes y sin transfundirse en los tres meses previos. Se evaluaron variables clínicas, hematológicas, bioquímicas e imagenológicas con el objetivo de describir las alteraciones renales. Resultados: se diagnosticaron tres pacientes con microalbuminuria positiva, la edad promedio fue de 13 años, la hemoglobinopatía SS fue la más frecuente, se encontraron diferencias significativas en cuanto a la hemoglobina fetal, que fue más elevada en los pacientes con microalbuminuria negativa, con una media de 6,6. La densidad urinaria mostró una media de 1 014,6 para los pacientes con microalbuminuria negativa y de 1 008,0 para los que la tuvieron positiva, se encontraron diferencias significativas. En los pacientes con microalbuminuria positiva la crisis más frecuente fue el síndrome torácico agudo (100%). Conclusiones: la frecuencia de microalbuminuria positiva se comportó similar a algunos estudios revisados, se evidenció una edad promedio de 13 años para estos casos con conteo de reticulocitos más elevado, densidad urinaria más baja y mayor frecuencia de alteraciones del sedimento urinario y de síndrome torácico agudo que el resto del grupo estudiado; en su mayoría fueron desnutridos

Caracterización e interacción de variables ambientales en el interior de alojamientos porcinos de transición en el noroeste peninsular

El buen funcionamiento de los sistemas de climatización en explotaciones ganaderas deberá garantizar unas adecuadas condiciones ambientales, lo cual debería incluir, además de la temperatura, otras hasta ahora ignoradas, como las concentraciones de dióxido de carbono y amoniaco o la humedad. Su inclusión, especialmente del amoniaco, presenta dificultades por su coste y detección. Esta T.D. analiza el ambiente interior de las explotaciones porcinas, de las variables ambientales y la interacción entre las mismas, con especial atención a la estimación de la concentración de amoniaco a través de otras de más fácil medición mediante modelos de regresión lineal y el establecimiento de patrones de evolución diaria

Las Izquierdas Latinoamericanas

Este libro recoge lo más sobresaliente del Seminario Internacional Las izquierdas latinoamericanas: sus trayectorias nacionales y relaciones internacionales durante el siglo XX, actividad convocada por la Cátedra Antonio Gramsci del Instituto Cubano de Investigación Cultural Juan Marinello (La Habana, 14 al 16 de noviembre de 2016), concurriendo a la cita participantes del Instituto de Historia de Cuba, la Universidad de Santiago de Chile, la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, del Instituto de Ciencias Sociales de la Universidad Federal de Uberlandia (Brasil), y de la Red Iberoamericana de Historiadores del siglo XX. En las cuatro partes de esta entrega, se pasa revista a los elementos principales de la exposición y los debates acaecidos, reflejándose en todo momento la necesidad de replanteamientos y de nuevos desarrollos que, a la luz de su pasado reciente, desafían hoy a nuestras Izquierdas en toda la regiónA mi compañero Elías, Vencido por la muerte, en los mismos momentos en que mis colegas debatían sobre las izquierdas Por su ayuda y apoyo de siempre a todos mis proyectos Por su recuerdo en mi corazón y en el de nuestros hijos

El interés público en América Latina: Reflexiones desde la educación legal clínica y el trabajo ProBono

El derecho se entiende hoy como una herramienta idónea para producir cambios sociales y atender las necesidades y desafíos modernos, lo cual era casi impensable hace algunos años. Así, las universidades han empezado a actualizar sus currículos y las formas de enseñar el derecho, implementando nuevos modelos pedagógicos que brindan a los futuros profesionales elementos necesarios para responder a las necesidades de su contexto social y del mundo entero. En este libro, profesores de América Latina y España reflexionan alrededor del trabajo ProBono, la educación legal clínica y el litigio estratégico como herramientas para la defensa del interés público y la transformación social