Milk yield of cows in some European countries and the implementation of automatic milking systems

Received: February 14th, 2023 ; Accepted: April 17th, 2023 ; Published: April 22nd, 2023 ; Correspondence: [email protected] research study addresses the problem of implementing progress in agricultural production. This problem was developed on the basis of equipping farms with automatic milking systems (AMS). Different forms of progress can be identified on a dairy farm, including technical progress represented by AMS and biological progress expressed by milk yield of cows. The purpose of this research study was to compare whether the milk yield of cows in certain European countries meets the requirements for utilizing the milking potential of automatic milking systems. The study used information on the suggested amount of milk that an one-stall milking robot should milk per year. The second group of data was the annual milk yield of cows in the European Union countries and Great Britain. In eight countries, the annual milk yield of cows was in the range of 8,601–10,600 kg. It was found that in 2020, in these eight countries of the European Union, the milk yield of cows was at a level that meets the performance requirements of one-stall milking robot

Understanding animal welfare by students and graduates of different studies

Animal welfare is one of the key elements of contemporary approach to animal production. Social consciousness of animal welfare concerns first of all persons responsible for practical implementation of individual solutions for animal welfare improvement. But what about other group of peoples and their relation to animal welfare? The aim of the paper was to analyze some aspects of animal welfare assessment including opinions given by young Polish citizens. The idea of the paper was to investigate, how kind of higher education represented by citizens show effect on understanding of animal welfare problems. The scope of the paper included survey, where 165 graduates of different studies (humanities, polytechnic, medical, economic, art and life sciences studies) had the possibility to present and assess their knowledge on animal welfare. In one of the questions, interpreting an ideal farm with animal production, most respondents, regardless of the field of study, pointed to the key role of maintaining the highest standards determining the welfare and comfort of livestock

Association between body condition and production parameters of dairy cows in the experiment with use of BCS camera

Dairy production effectiveness in the farm depends on many technical, technological and biological factors. State of the dairy cow condition constitutes one of the most important element in the assessment of dairy herd and production indices. Including access to modern technical solution to assess body condition of dairy cows, i.e. BCS camera, some results of observation in the herd with 362 cows were collected to find any relationship between BCS index and milk yield per cow including 5 lactation groups and cows differed in age as well as four seasons. Basing on data collected in the period of 11 months it was found that cows with the BCS index lower than 2.9 showed the highest daily milk production. Increase in BCS index was associated with decrease in amount of produced milk per day. The statistical analysis showed significant effect of lactation period, age of animals and season on BCS results in the considered dairy cow production cycle

Systematic review of the epidemiological evidence comparing lung cancer risk in smokers of mentholated and unmentholated cigarettes

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>US mentholated cigarette sales have increased considerably over 50 years. Preference for mentholated cigarettes is markedly higher in Black people. While menthol itself is not genotoxic or carcinogenic, its acute respiratory effects might affect inhalation of cigarette smoke. This possibility seems consistent with the higher lung cancer risk in Black men, despite Black people smoking less and starting smoking later than White people. Despite experimental data suggesting similar carcinogenicity of mentholated and non-mentholated cigarettes, the lack of convincing evidence that mentholation increases puffing, inhalation or smoke uptake, and the similarity of lung cancer rates in Black and White females, a review of cigarette mentholation and lung cancer is timely given current regulatory interest in the topic.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Epidemiological studies comparing lung cancer risk in mentholated and non-mentholated cigarette smokers were identified from MedLine and other sources. Study details were extracted and strengths and weaknesses assessed. Relative risk estimates were extracted, or derived, for ever mentholated use and for long-term use, overall and by gender, race, and current/ever smoking, and meta-analyses conducted.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Eight generally good quality studies were identified, with valid cases and controls, and appropriate adjustment for age, gender, race and smoking. The studies afforded good power to detect possible effects. However, only one study presented results by histological type, none adjusted for occupation or diet, and some provided no results by length of mentholated cigarette use.</p> <p>The data do not suggest any effect of mentholation on lung cancer risk. Adjusted relative risk estimates for ever use vary from 0.81 to 1.12, giving a combined estimate of 0.93 (95% confidence interval 0.84-1.02, n = 8), with no increase in males (1.01, 0.84-1.22, n = 5), females (0.80, 0.67-0.95, n = 5), White people (0.87, 0.75-1.03, n = 4) or Black people (0.90, 0.73-1.10, n = 4). Estimates for current and ever smokers are similar. The combined estimate for long-term use (0.95, 0.80-1.13, n = 4) again suggests no effect of mentholation.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Higher lung cancer rates in Black males cannot be due to their greater preference for mentholated cigarettes. While some study weaknesses exist, the epidemiological evidence is consistent with mentholation having no effect on the lung carcinogenicity of cigarettes.</p

The Toxic Effects of Cigarette Additives. Philip Morris' Project Mix Reconsidered: An Analysis of Documents Released through Litigation

Stanton Glantz and colleagues analyzed previously secret tobacco industry documents and peer-reviewed published results of Philip Morris' Project MIX about research on cigarette additives, and show that this research on the use of cigarette additives cannot be taken at face value

Scientific assessment of the use of sugars as cigarette tobacco ingredients: A review of published and other publicly available studies

Sugars, such as sucrose or invert sugar, have been used as tobacco ingredients in American-blend cigarettes to replenish the sugars lost during curing of the Burley component of the blended tobacco in order to maintain a balanced flavor. Chemical-analytical studies of the mainstream smoke of research cigarettes with various sugar application levels revealed that most of the smoke constituents determined did not show any sugar-related changes in yields (per mg nicotine), while ten constituents were found to either increase (formaldehyde, acrolein, 2-butanone, isoprene, benzene, toluene, benzo[k]fluoranthene) or decrease (4-aminobiphenyl, N-nitrosodimethylamine, N-nitrosonornicotine) in a statistically significant manner with increasing sugar application levels. Such constituent yields were modeled into constituent uptake distributions using simulations of nicotine uptake distributions generated on the basis of published nicotine biomonitoring data, which were multiplied by the constituent/nicotine ratios determined in the current analysis. These simulations revealed extensive overlaps for the constituent uptake distributions with and without sugar application. Moreover, the differences in smoke composition did not lead to relevant changes in the activity in in vitro or in vivo assays. The potential impact of using sugars as tobacco ingredients was further assessed in an indirect manner by comparing published data from markets with predominantly American-blend or Virginia-type (no added sugars) cigarettes. No relevant difference was found between these markets for smoking prevalence, intensity, some markers of dependence, nicotine uptake, or mortality from smoking-related lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. In conclusion, thorough examination of the data available suggests that the use of sugars as ingredients in cigarette tobacco does not increase the inherent risk and harm of cigarette smoking

Problems of automatic milking systems improvement

Przedstawiono współczesne problemy rozwoju automatyzacji doju krów. Wskazano na rosnące znaczenie wiedzy i umiejętności dotyczących obsługi złożonych systemów udojowych. Podkreślono potrzebę podejmowania wyzwań związanych z użytkowaniem robotów udojowych i wykorzystaniem ich technicznego potencjału stanowiącego o postępie w procesie pozyskiwania mleka w gospodarstwach.The current problems concerning automatic milking system development were presented. The increased significance of knowledge and skills to manage complex milking systems were considered. It was emphasized to undertake some challenges covering use of milking robots as well as use of their technical potential to implement progress in the farm dairy production

Analysis of lying area in the barn with the use of video recording technology

Celem pracy były badania wpływu okresu przebywania krów w strefie legowiskowej z piaskiem na czas leżenia i inne formy zachowań zwierząt w sytuacji, gdy materiał podłoża nie był w boksach legowiskowych uzupełniany w okresie badań. Rejestrację zachowania krów w badanej strefie prowadzono w sposób ciągły w okresie 10 dni z wykorzystaniem techniki filmowej. Zakresem badań objęto dwie grupy technologiczne krów mlecznych w oborze z wolnostanowiskowym systemem utrzymania. Wskazano na tendencję zmniejszania czasu leżenia krów w badanym okresie. Zaproponowano metodę podejścia do analizy wyników badań, uwzględniającą wyodrębnienie zblokowanych dób badań. Zblokowanie dób w pomiarze ciągłym czasu leżenia krów przełożyło się na możliwość opisania zmiennej zależnej (czasu leżenia krów w rozpatrywanym okresie) modelem liniowym wyróżniającym się znacznie wyższą wartością współczynnika determinacji w porównaniu z opcją uwzględniającą pojedyncze doby.The paper aimed to show effect of period, when cows were kept in pens with a free-stall system, on lying time and other form of behaviour, including one circumstance: bedding material (sand) was not delivered during the investigation period. Two technological groups of dairy cows kept in the barn with a free-stall system were investigated. Each group of cows showed decreased lying time in the analysed period. The paper proposed a method of approach to analyse the research data. The results of analysis indicate that relationship between combined periods (doubled days) and lying time can be presented with a linear function with higher value of determination coefficient in comparison with single days. Doubling days in the constant measurement of lying time of cows translated into the possibility of describing a dependent variable (lying time of cows in the considered period) with a linear model which differs a considerably high value of the coefficient of determination in comparison to the option, which includes single days

Analysis improving the free-stall housing system of dairy cows based on the criterion of lying place

Celem pracy była analiza zachowania krów mlecznych w pomieszczeniach obory z wolnostanowiskowym systemem utrzymania. Na podstawie materiału filmowego, ilustrującego różne formy aktywności krów określono czas spędzony przez zwierzęta na stanowiskach boksowych. Wyodrębniono grupy stanowisk o najkrótszym i najdłuższym czasie ich zajmowania przez krowy w ciągu doby. Wskazano na zróżnicowanie preferencji w wykorzystaniu boksów legowiskowych przez zwierzęta w zależności od położenia w obrębie grupy boksów i wynikające stąd konsekwencje, m.in. potrzebę dostosowania zakresu obsługi boksów do ich wykorzystania przez krowy.Study analysed the behaviour of dairy cows in a cowshed of free-stall housing system. On the basis of film material illustrating different forms of animals' activity, the time spent by cows within lying boxes was recorded. Lying stands were divided into groups longest and shortest occupied by the animals within 24 hrs. Differentiated preferences in using of particular lying stands by the animals, as affected by stand localization in a row of boxes were pointed out as well as some resulting consequences, e. g. the need of adjusting box services to their real use by the cows