Technical note: a mathematical function to predict daily milk yield of dairy cows in relation to the interval between milkings

The milk production of a dairy cow is characterized by lactation production, which is calculated from daily milk yields (DMY) during lactation. The DMY is calculated from one or more milkings a day collected at the farm. Various milking systems are in use today, resulting in one or many recorded milk yields a day, from which different calculations are used to determine DMY. The primary objective of this study was to develop a mathematical function that described milk production of a dairy cow in relation to the interval between 2 milkings. The function was partly based on the biology of the milk production process. This function, called the 3K-function, was able to predict milk production over an interval of 12 h, so DMY was twice this estimate. No external information is needed to incorporate this function in methods to predict DMY. Application of the function on data from different milking systems showed a good fit. This function could be a universal tool to predict DMY for a variety of milking systems, and it seems especially useful for data from robotic milking systems. Further study is needed to evaluate the function under a wide range of circumstances, and to see how it can be incorporated in existing milk recording systems. A secondary objective of using the 3K-function was to compare how much DMY based on different milking systems differed from that based on a twice-a-day milking. Differences were consistent with findings in the literature

Overview and assessment of support measures for endangered livestock breeds : Subsibreed : Final project report

Livestock production has contributed to food security and economic development for thousands of years. Adaptation to wide range of environmental conditions and artificial selection has led to the development of numerous indigenous breeds that are part of the wealth of diversity in agriculture. They are producing a wide range of products for local and domestic consumption as well as for international trade. Livestock are for many local communities, invaluable sources of food and other products and essential sources of income. Maintaining the diversity of breeds in various species of domestic animals enables farmers and breeders to respond to ever changing consumer demands as well as changing production conditions, especially in light of climate change. No one can predict future demands and production conditions, and thus, maintaining the greatest diversity of animal genetic resources provides an insurance policy to enable necessary adaptation. Lack of appreciation for the need to maintain genetic diversity or inadequate farmer and breeder support programmes has resulted in the rapid global erosion of local breeds. Greater effort is required to stem this erosion

Veel plannen bij Oost-Europese melkveehouders

De meeste melkveehouders willen het liefst veel melken als strategie naar de toekomst. De Oost-Europese melkveehouders zien daarbij de toekomstige EU-landbouwpolitiek en de markt als een grotere bedreiging dan onze veehouders, terwijl Nederlandse veehouders afschaffing van de quotering zelfs als een uitdaging zien. Onze veehouders lijken echter meer afwachtend met strategievorming

SPARC, FOXP3, CD8 and CD45 Correlation with Disease Recurrence and Long-Term Disease-Free Survival in Colorectal Cancer

BACKGROUND: SPARC is a matricellular protein involved in tissue remodelling, cell migration and angiogenesis, while forkhead box P3 (FOXP3) protein functions as a transcription factor involved in immune cell regulation. Both SPARC and FOXP3 can play an anti-tumorigenic role in cancer progression. The aim was to determine if SPARC, FOXP3, CD8 and CD45RO expression levels are associated with colorectal cancer (CRC) stage, disease outcome and long-term cancer-specific survival (CSS) in stage II and III CRC. METHODS AND FINDINGS: SPARC expression was initially assessed in 120 paired normal and stage I-IV CRCs. Subsequently, approximately 1000 paired patient samples of stage II or III CRCs in tissue microarrays were stained for SPARC, FOXP3, CD8 or CD45RO. Proportional hazards modelling assessed correlations between these markers and clinicopathological data, including disease outcome and cancer specific survival (CSS). Both SPARC and FOXP3 expression were significantly greater in CRC than normal colon (p<0.0001). High SPARC expression correlated with good disease outcome (≥60 mths without disease recurrence, p = 0.0039) and better long-term CSS in stage II CRC (<0.0001). In stage III CRC, high SPARC expression correlated with better long-term CSS (p<0.0001) and less adjuvant chemotherapy use (p = 0.01). High FOXP3 correlated with a good disease outcome, better long-term CSS and less adjuvant chemotherapy use in stage II (p<0.0037, <0.0001 and p = 0.04 respectively), but not in stage III CRC. High CD8 and CD45RO expression correlated with better disease outcome in stage II CRC, and better CSS, but the differences were not as marked as for SPARC and FOXP3. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that high SPARC and FOXP3 are associated with better disease outcome in stage II CRC and may be prognostic indicators of CSS. Further assessment of whether these markers predict patients at high risk of recurrence with stage II CRC and functional studies of these effects are underway

Entrepreneurial proclivity and farm performance. The cases of Dutch and Slovenian farmers

Farmers are advised to be entrepreneurial, but there is scant research showing that an entrepreneurial proclivity (EP) in farmers results in better performance. This study tests empirically whether an EP contributes to the performance of farms. A model with hypotheses about the relationship between EP and performance is provided and tested for a sample of Dutch and Slovenian farmers. EP has a universal positive influence on the performance and performance expectations of farmers in The Netherlands and in Slovenia. Proactiveness is the most influential element of EP for the performance of farms. Risk taking and innovativeness, the two other elements of EP, are important because they help farmers to be proactiv