The evolutionary operation framework as a tool for herd-specific control of mastitis in dairy cows

Mastitis is the most prevalent and costly production disease in the dairy industry, but udder health advice that helps one herd might not be beneficial for another because of “local truths”. It is therefore important to identify what mastitis control options may work in a specific herd in the conditions specific to the herd. We evaluated whether the Evolutionary Operation (EVOP) methodology could be used as a management tool to identify mastitis control options to improve udder health in dairy herds. Within an EVOP framework we conducted sequences of experiments, on each of two dairy farms in Sweden. The experiments covered interventions within 1) hygiene in cubicles, 2) milking routines, and 3) dry-off procedures. Automatically recorded somatic cell counts (SCCs) in milk were used as the response variable. The impact of the interventions on SCC was evaluated with multivariate dynamic linear models. Farmer and staff satisfaction was assessed through interviews. The EVOP methodology was successfully applied, and the farmers appreciated it. We observed herd-specific variation in the effect of the interventions, indicating that EVOP would be a feasible approach to tailor mastitis control options to individual herds. Our results indicate that the EVOP methodology could be a tool to identify and evaluate health management strategies on dairy farms

Quantification of agricultural best management practices impacts on sediment and phosphorous export in a small catchment in southeastern Sweden

Agricultural activities contribute to water pollution through sediments and nutrient export, negatively affecting water quality and aquatic ecosystems. However, implementing best management practices (BMPs) could help control sediments and nutrient losses from agricultural catchments. This study used the Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model to assess the effectiveness of four BMPs in reducing sediment and phosphorus export in a small agricultural catchment (33 km2) in southeastern Sweden. The SWAT model was first evaluated for its ability to simulate streamflow, sediment load, and total phosphorous load from 2005 to 2020. Then, the calibrated parameters were used to simulate the agricultural BMP scenarios by modifying relevant parameters. The model performed satisfactorily during calibration and validation for streamflow (NSE = 0.80/0.84), sediment load (NSE = 0.67/0.69), and total phosphorous load (NSE = 0.61/0.62), indicating its suitability for this study. The results demonstrate varying effects of BMP implementation on sediment and phosphorus (soluble and total) export, with no significant change in streamflow. Filter strips were highly effective in reducing sediment (-32%), soluble phosphorus (-67%), and total phosphorous (-66%) exports, followed by sedimentation ponds with-35%,-36%, and-50% reductions, respectively. Grassed waterways and no-tillage were less impactful on pollutant reduction, with grassed waterways showing a slight increase (+4%) in soluble phosphorus and no -tillage having a minimal effect on sediment (-1.3%) and total phosphorus (-0.2%) export. These findings contribute to the ongoing efforts to mitigate sediment and nutrient pollution in Swedish agricultural areas, thereby supporting the conservation and restoration of aquatic ecosystems, and enhancing sustainable agricultural practices

Composite systems in magnetic field: from hadrons to hydrogen atom

We briefly review the recent studies of the behavior of composite systems in magnetic field. The hydrogen atom is chosen to demonstrate the new results which may be experimentally tested. Possible applications to physics of antihydrogen are mentioned.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, talk at the Pomeranchuk centennial seminar, misprints correcte

A Partitioning Algorithm for Detecting Eventuality Coincidence in Temporal Double recurrence

A logical theory of regular double or multiple recurrence of eventualities, which are regular patterns of occurrences that are repeated, in time, has been developed within the context of temporal reasoning that enabled reasoning about the problem of coincidence. i.e. if two complex eventualities, or eventuality sequences consisting respectively of component eventualities x0, x1,....,xr and y0, y1, ..,ys both recur over an interval k and all eventualities are of fixed durations, is there a subinterval of k over which the occurrence xp and yq for p between 1 and r and q between 1 and s coincide. We present the ideas behind a new algorithm for detecting the coincidence of eventualities xp and yq within a cycle of the double recurrence of x and y. The algorithm is based on the novel concept of gcd partitions that requires the partitioning of each of the incidences of both x and y into eventuality sequences each of which components have a duration that is equal to the greatest common divisor of the durations of x and y. The worst case running time of the partitioning algorithm is linear in the maximum of the duration of x and that of y, while the worst case running time of an algorithm exploring a complete cycle is quadratic in the durations of x and y. Hence the partitioning algorithm works faster than the cyclical exploration in the worst case