Near infrared calibration transfer for undried whole maize plant between laboratory and on-site spectrometers

The analysis of the maize plant immediately after harvest is essential in order to check the composition and maturity of the plant to optimise the quality of silage. NIRS calibrations were carried out on chopped maize using three spectrophotometers: a laboratory instrument (FOSS NIRSystems 5000 scanning monochromator, FOSS, Silver Spring, MD) and two versions of newgeneration portable instruments (poliSPECNIR, PL1 and PL2). The aim was to verify the quality of the transfer of the calibration curves between FOSS, PL1 and PL2 and between PL1 and PL2, obtained by three methods of spectra processing: pre-processing, piecewise direct standardisation (PDS) and direct standardisation (DS). Seventy-six samples of chopped whole maize plant were scanned with the three instruments and were analysed by wet chemistry for dry matter (DM), ash, crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fibre (NDF), acid detergent fibre (ADF), starch and total sugars, to develop calibration equations. Two more datasets of 15 samples each were used for the standardisation of equations and validation. The calibration transfer obtained, according to the values of R2, standard error of prediction and bias, can be considered satisfactory (0.72>R2<0.97) for DM, ash and NDF for both poliSPECNIR, while CP and ADF have shown a good accuracy of prediction (0.78>R2<0.82) with PL2. Using FOSS as a master instrument, the choice of method of standardisation varies depending on the slave instrument even though the best results are obtained using PDS with PL2. The most accurate predictions are reached using PDS even when PL1 is the master

use of rumination and activity data as health status and performance indicators in beef cattle during the early fattening period

Abstract The aim of this study was to measure the level of activity and rumination in young bulls and to assess whether these data can be used as indicators of health status and average daily weight gain (ADG). Two groups of animals (period 1: n = 108 animals; period 2: n = 106 animals) were fitted with sensors to measure daily activity and rumination, were weighed on arrival and at the end of the trial (70 days) and were checked twice daily to verify their health condition. Any clinical signs and therapies were recorded. The dishomogeneity index of rumination (DR), and the daily dishomogeneity indices of activity (DDA) and rumination (DDR), were calculated. Bulls had an ADG of 1.42 ± 0.38 kg/day and showed an average duration of daily rumination of 404 ± 63 min and an average activity of 474 ± 46 bits, respectively. Animals characterised by low ADG had lower values of minimum daily rumination ( P = 0.01) and DDA ( P 0.001), and a greater rumination range ( P = 0.007) and DR ( P = 0.003). Bovine respiratory disease and lameness were detected 31 and five times, respectively; among affected animals, the average daily activity, rumination and DDA were lower ( P 0.05) at 3–6 days before the onset of visible clinical signs, whereas DDR increased compared to the values when individuals were apparently healthy. The use of individual sensors appears promising for the early diagnosis of disease in beef cattle and for improving herd management

Proposal and validation of new indexes to evaluate maize silage fermentative quality in lab-scale ensiling conditions through the use of a receiver operating characteristic analysis

In the context of dairy cow feeding, it is increasingly important to know the quality of the maize silage used in the ration and therefore, it appears to be crucial optimizing the techniques necessary to assess it. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether some reference indexes, like the Flieg-Zimmer's (FZS), the German agricultural society's (DLG) and Vanbelle's scores, could properly estimate the quality of fermentations of maize silage made in a lab-scale ensiling system, and to calculate and validate new quality indexes suitable for lab-scale fermentations. The experimental dataset was obtained by analysing through near-infrared spectroscopy 522 samples of whole maize crop ensiled immediately after the harvest, using the vacuum-packing technique. The six (I1 \u2013 I6) new indexes were calculated on the basis of chemical and physical parameters as: pH, organic acids, ethanol, etc. All the indexes were tested for normality with the Shapiro\u2013Wilk test. In order to define the accuracy with which the new indexes ranked the maize silage on the basis of its fermentation quality, a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed, using the FZS as gold standard test and dichotomizing the FZS in two levels according to a cut-off (FZS 360 g/kg) dry matter (DM). In the lab-scale silages the new indexes were normally distributed, whereas the reference indexes were not. The new indexes showed values of AUC ranging between 0.76 and 0.89, with the I5 index showing the best combination of sensitivity (0.87) and specificity (0.77) in discriminating between good and poor quality silage. The cut-off of the new indexes ranged between 45.0 and 57.4 points. The lab-scale silages were all excellent, no matter the category of DM. However, while FZS and DLG did not differ among the 3 categories, I1 \u2013 I6 were significantly higher in silages with low DM (P < 0.001). Silages with low DM had the highest concentrations of lactic acid (56.4 g/kg DM, P < 0.001), ammonia (61.4 g/kg DM, P < 0.001) and butyric acid (0.62 g/kg DM, P < 0.001) as well. Data confirmed that the new proposed indexes are promising in describing the fermentation quality of maize silage in lab-scale conditions

A 3D numerical FEM model for the simulation of induction welding of tubes

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to present two simulation strategies for tube induction welding process. Coupled electromagnetic and thermal problem is solved by applying 3D FEM models. The resulting power density and temperature distribution are compared. Design/methodology/approach - FE analysis has been used in order to compute the magnetic and thermal field in a suitable 3D model. Findings - Two strategies for coupled magnetic and thermal simulation with movement are proposed. Practical implications - Reported strategies can be used to design tube induction welding devices and to verify the influence of the main parameters of the process, i.e. welding velocity, frequency, specific and total power. Originality/value - The paper summarizes two different simulation strategies taking into account the movement of the tube through the inductor. In the first strategy, the tube heating is simulated by providing the mean power absorbed by a tube section crossing the inductor. In the second strategy, a spatial translation of the material properties is implemented

Rumination and activity data during beef cattle conditioning period

Precision farming requires the collection of detailed data on feed, environmental conditions, physiological parameters, activity and performance of the animals throughout the production cycle. For some years there have been some devices which make possible some measurements on single animals, such as activity level and rumination time. While these tools are widespread in dairy farms, their application in the beef sector is still limited. The aim of this study was to measure the level of activity (from 0 to 253 every 2 h) and daily rumination during the conditioning period of young bulls and to check whether these data can be used as indicators in predicting weight gain and in early detection of diseases. The study was conducted on 108 young bulls coming from France, with an average age of 390\ub149 days and an average weight of 453\ub121 kg. Upon arrival in the farm the animals were weighed and fitted with SCR collars (HRLDn Tag; SCR Engineers Ltd., Netanya, Israel). Animals were checked daily to verify their health condition and the right position of the collar. Any symptoms and therapies have been regularly recorded. The animals were raised in 11 pens for 70 days in loose housing on deep litter and were weighted at the end of the conditioning period. Data on rumination and activity were recorded by collars every 2 hours and then summarized as values of total daily rumination and activity. As regard to activity and rumination data, statistical descriptors and some indices of disomogeneity were also calculated. After checking for normality, Perason\u2019s correlation coefficients were assessed between average daily gain (ADG) and activity and rumination variables. Data were submitted to one-way ANOVA according to the fixed effect of ADG (3 levels: low, LWG, medium, MWG, and high, HWG). Animals on the whole were healthy, in fact only two had fever, 16 suffered of sporadic cough and 14 showed nasal discharge. The animals had an average daily gain of 1.56\ub10.33 kg/day (0.68 - 2.33). The animals showed an average level of daily rumination and activity equal to 366\ub178 minutes and 481\ub188, respectively. Daily rumination and activity increased gradually up to three weeks after the arrival (from 336 to 413 minutes and from 427 to 493, respectively) and then decreased gradually over time, probably because of the reduction of fiber in the ration. Significant correlations with ADG were found for some variables. Among them there were minimum daily rumination and the rumination disomogeneity index, but r values were very low: 0.25 (P=0.009) and -0.25 (P=0.008), respectively. However some parameters were found to be significantly different among ADG categories. Among them the minimum value of daily rumination (DMR) and the rumination range (RR), for LDG, MDG and HDG categories were 142, 170, 197minutes (P=0.0184) and (366, 336, 315 minutes (P=0.045), respectively. Although there is a great individual and daily variation in activity and rumination, such parameters promise to be useful in daily growth forecasting and in recognition of alterations of the health status

Nonlinear Spectroscopy and Multiphoton Processes in Molecules and Nanostructures

We provide a brief, introductory overview of current efforts to develop efficient multiphoton absorption materials. The central role of organic and metal-organic dyes characterized by excited states with intramolecular charge transfer character is emphasized and the basic features of essential state models frequently employed to rationalize one-photon and two-photon absorption (TPA) properties are outlined and critically discussed. The use of different strategies for enhancing the TPA cross section is exemplified by resorting to some recent results of collaborative research work carried out in our laboratory

Soft-Lithographed Up-Converted Distributed Feedback Visible Lasers Based on CdSe\u2013CdZnS\u2013ZnS Quantum Dots

The development of a solution-deposited up-converted distributed feedback laser prototype is presented. It employs a sol\u2013gel silica/germania soft-lithographed microcavity and CdSe\u2013CdZnS\u2013ZnS quantum dot/sol\u2013gel zirconia composites as optical gain material. Characterization of the linear and nonlinear optical properties of quantum dots establishes their high absorption cross-sections in the one- and two- photon absorption regimes to be 1 7 10 12 14 cm 2 and 5 7 10 4 GM, respectively. In addition, ultrafast transient absorption dynamics measurements of the graded seal quantum dots reveal that the Auger recombination lifetime is 220 ps, a value two times higher than that of the corresponding CdSe core. These factors enable the use of such quantum dots as optically pumped gain media, operating in the one- and two-photon absorption regime. The incorporation of CdSe\u2013CdZnS\u2013ZnS quantum dots within a zirconia host matrix affords a quantum-dot ink that can be directly deposited on our soft-lithographed distributed feedback grating to form an all-solution-processed microcavity laser