Report on a Process Analysis and Design Method

ion Data gathering can easily fall into one of two traps - either too much raw data being collected, taking an excessive amount of time, and being very difficult to process, or being very rushed and incomplete. What we have observed in practice has been modellers building up a model of the process in their heads, then trying to get it down on paper in the diagrams. All the raw written data from the interviews was used only in helping to build up these mental models, and to help other modellers who hadn't been present at the interviews to build up their models. there was no real attempt to work on, or develop this data in any formal way. The sheer bulk of the data worked against this. It was however present as a check and a fall-back. The method which we present below for the capture of the baseline process attempts to provide a more structured approach. We suggest a cycling through a series of frameworks, using the Process Charts, Dependency Diagrams, and Activity Diagrams. The early ..

Evaluation of the endocrine response of cattle during the relocation process

To evaluate the endocrine responses associated with the relocation process, 22 Holstein heifers (326.4 ± 46.8 kg BW) were randomly assigned to control (CON) or relocation (RELOC) treatment groups. On d 0, heifers were weighed and fitted within dwelling rectal temperature (RT) monitoring devices and jugular catheters. On d 1, baseline blood samples were collected from all heifers for 2 h prior to the transportation event, then weighed. Controls were returned to tie stalls and RELOC were loaded into a modified stock trailer (12 individual stanchions) for a 4 h transportation event. Simultaneous blood samples were obtained at 30-min intervals from both groups throughout the 4 h transport event (TE-I). After transport, RELOC were unloaded at an unfamiliar location, weighed, and placed in tie stalls for a 2 h post-transportation period. All heifers were then placed into two separate holding paddocks with access to water and hay for 4 h. After 4 h, hay and water was withdrawn for 20 h. On d 2 RELOC heifers were exposed to a second transport event (TE-II); the timeline and procedures of TE-II were identical to those of TE-I (except for the starting point for RELOC heifers). All serum samples were analyzed for concentrations of cortisol, growth hormone (GH), and insulin-like growth factor-I(IGF-I). A 6% reduction in BW for the RELOC as compared to 2.5% reduction in BW for CON (PPPPP\u3e0.05) in area under the curve (AUC) for cortisol were observed during TE-I. However, AUC for total cortisol during TE-II was greater (PPP\u3e0.05) in IGF-I concentrations or in AUC between the treatment groups during TE-I and-II or from d 1 to d 2. Results provide evidence that the actual processes surrounding the transportation of cattle, can elicit a stress response, as defined by increased concentrations of cortisol, RT, and BW losses