Strategies for keeping dairy cows and calves together - a cross-sectional survey study

Although it is still most common to rear dairy calves separately from adult cattle, the interest in pro-longed contact between dairy calves and lactating cows during early life is increasing. Previous research has documented positive effects of cow-calf contact (CCC) on for example early calf growth and udder health of suckled cows, but also negative effects such as increased separation distress and reduced weight gains after weaning. The aim of this study was to use information from European farms with prolonged cow-calf contact to identify innovative solutions to common challenges for CCC farms. Commercial dairy farms that kept calves with adult lactating cows for seven days or more after birth were invited to participate, and interviews were performed with 104 farmers from six countries. During interviews, information about farm management, calf rearing, farmers' perception of animal health on their farm, and farmers' drivers and barriers for implementing CCC were collected. We found that CCC was practised in a large variety of housing and management systems, and that calves could be reared together with their dam, with foster cows, or using a combination of the two. The contact period varied considerably (7-305 days) between farms and about 25% of the farms manually milk fed the calves during parts of the milk feeding period. Daily contact time varied between farms, from 30 minutes per day to permanent contact except at milking. Behaviours indicative of separation distress, most commonly vocalisation in cows and calves, were reported by 87% of the farmers. Strategies to alleviate separation distress, for example simultaneous gradual weaning and separation, were used on some farms. Building constraints were most often mentioned as a barrier for implementing CCC. Our findings suggest that CCC is practised in a variety of commonly used husbandry systems. Reported challenges were primarily related to weaning and separation, and to building constraints; these aspects should be areas of future research.@2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of The Animal Consortium. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Microstructure evolution of hydrated cement pastes

International audienceWe propose an original method based on both proton nuclear magnetic relaxation dispersion and high-resolution NMR spectra to investigate the microstructure of synthesized Ca3SiO5-hydrated cement paste. This method allows a clear assessment of the local proton chemical sites as well as the determination of dynamical information of moving proton species in pores. We show also how the microstructure evolves during and after completion of hydration in a range of length scales between 2 and 500 nm. In particular, we show how the pore size distribution of the cement paste reaches progressively a power-law characteristic of a surface-fractal distribution with a dimension Df = 2.6, which takes into account the hierarchical order in the material. Last, we study how this pore size distribution is modified during setting by varying either the water-to-cement ratio or addition of ultrafine particles. This shows that our method could be relevant to relate the mechanical properties to the microstructure of the material. This proposed NMR method is general enough for the characterization of microstructure of any porous media with reactive surface involving water confinement

Формирование предмета доказывания по делам о защите чести, достоинства и деловой репутации

Rearing dairy calves with their mothers could teach them how to graze, optimizing grass use, and improving their welfare and performance. We tested the short-term effects of dam-calf contact experience on grazing and social behavior of weaned calves, monitored over seven days for their first post-weaning grazing experience. \u201cDam\u201d (D) calves were reared and grazed with their mothers until weaning. \u201cMixed\u201d calves (M) were separated from their mothers after 4 \ub1 0.5 weeks, they experienced dam-calf contact, but not grazing. \u201cStandard\u201d (S) calves had never experienced either dam-calf contact (separated at birth) or grazing. Each group grazed an equivalent pasture plot offering heterogeneous herbage. Scan sampling of calves' activities was performed every 5 min, 6 h per day, on Days 0, 1, 2, 3, and 7. Daily, the time when calves started grazing after introduction to pasture, and the number and duration of their grazing cycles were measured. Daily activities were differentiated into ingestion, rumination, and idling. The proportion of time that calves spent grouped with other individuals or isolated, and standing or lying were recorded. When grazing, their bites were characterized by botanical family group, height of the selected bite and vegetation status. Individual average daily gains from the 2-week periods before and after grazing were calculated, and were equivalent between groups (313 \ub1 71 g/d). On Day 0, D-calves started grazing immediately (1 \ub1 4.1 min), unlike M- and S-calves (39 \ub1 4.1 and 23 \ub1 4.1 min), and D-calves grazed patches of dry grass 21.7 times less than M-calves and 16.9 times less than S-calves. Dry herbage patch preference and grazing start time differences disappeared on Day 1. Calves spent the same time ingesting and idling, but M-calves spent on average 1.6 times less ruminating than D- or S-calves. The D-calves showed grazing behavior similar to that of adult cows, selecting grasses throughout pasture utilization, although legumes and forbs were present in the grazed layer. On the contrary, M- and S-calves did not express any specific preference. The S-calves spent more time isolated but had more positive reciprocal interactions than the calves in the other groups

Modélisation du devenir des micropolluants dans les stations d’épuration : état de l’art et évolutions futures

National audienceLa réglementation française induite par la directive cadre européenne sur l’eau (DCE) impose actuellement un suivi des émissions d’une centaine de micropolluants pour les stations d’épuration (STEP) de plus de 10 000 équivalents habitants. Bien que non conçues pour cet objectif de traitement, les STEP éliminent une quantité non négligeable de micropolluants, notamment par sorption sur les matrices solides organiques (i.e. boues primaires ou secondaires), associée pour certains à une biotransformation. Si la réduction à la source limite les apports de substances chimiques dans les réseaux d’assainissement (p. ex. application de la directive REACH), cette seule action ne pourra apporter de solutions au cas des micropolluants issus du lessivage des sols (ex. HAP, pesticides) ou de substances à large consommation humaine (ex. détergents, produits pharmaceutiques et cosmétiques, plastifiants). L’optimisation des procédés de traitement existants et/ou la mise en place de traitements dédiés sont des solutions technologiques actuellement très étudiées pour limiter les concentrations en micropolluants dans les rejets de STEP. Pourtant, il est difficile de proposer des solutions économiquement pertinentes dans le domaine des STEP domestiques vis-à-vis des enjeux que soulève la DCE, considérant de surcroît les enjeux liés à la maîtrise des consommations énergétiques. Dans ce contexte, la modélisation dynamique apporte une aide précieuse, en s’appuyant sur une représentation numérique des différents processus [changement de phase liquide/solide (biosorption), liquide/gaz (volatilisation), réaction (oxydation, biotransformation)] et des phénomènes limitants associés. Très utilisée par les chercheurs et les ingénieurs dans le monde entier pour le traitement des paramètres classiques, la modélisation dynamique est un outil permettant d’explorer différentes stratégies de gestion des STEP (scénarii) et ainsi optimiser leur fonctionnement vis-à-vis des micropolluants. Les modèles de prédiction du devenir des micropolluants en STEP (ex. Simpletreat, Toxchem, Epiwin, …) utilisent les caractéristiques physico-chimiques des micropolluants pour prévoir la volatilisation, la sorption et la dégradation pour prédire, en régime stationnaire, la répartition de micropolluants entre les différents compartiments eau/air/boue. Mais ces outils n’ont pas atteint la maturité des modèles concernant l’azote par exemple, ce qui limite leur utilisation à des fins opérationnelles. Ainsi, plusieurs équipes de recherche françaises et internationales travaillent sur de nouveaux modèles, et leur intégration aux plateformes de simulations existantes. Les travaux portent sur une meilleure connaissance des comportements des micropolluants en STEP, et pour lesquels les capacités physicochimiques sont très variées (ex. biodégradabilité, solubilité, adsorption, …). Le groupe ASTEE modélisation a ainsi organisé début juillet une journée d’échanges pour recenser et discuter les différents concepts décrivant les processus d’élimination des micropolluants (schémas réactionnels) et les variables associées, et les moyens pour les décrire (p. ex. méthodologies d’échantillonnage, fréquence et durée de suivi, association à des mesures complémentaires en batch). La nécessité de faire appel à de nouveaux concepts (ex. cométabolisme pour établir le lien avec le traitement des polluants majeurs), et/ou la nécessité d’intégrer de nouvelles fractions décrivant le milieu réactionnel (ex. compartimentation, de la matière organique des boues, exopolymères) ont été discutées. La présentation orale de la conférence ASTEE, et l’article technique associé, sont réalisés par des experts du domaine de la modélisation, d’origines techniques et scientifiques variées (laboratoires de recherche, praticiens). Ils consistent en une synthèse des principaux acquis et des connaissances récentes concernant la modélisation du comportement des micropolluants en STEP. Les développements de modèle liés aux nouveaux concepts, et leur intégration dans la filière de traitement des eaux usées et des boues, sont illustrés avec quelques exemples choisis parmi plusieurs familles de micropolluants (métaux, hydrocarbures aromatiques, alkylphénols, pesticides, pharmaceutiques). La description temporelle de la composition des eaux usées, et la confrontation des résultats de simulation à des données de terrain, font également l’objet de discussions permettant de faire évoluer les modèles et la qualité des simulations. Les principales retombées pratiques de ce travail concernent l’optimisation (dimensionnement, exploitation) des traitements existants (filière eaux et boues) et l’aide au développement de traitements nouveaux (type tertiaire) en vue de disposer à terme d’un outil d’aide à la décision. La réflexion identifie plusieurs points de perspectives, en particulier l’impact de la qualité des données sur les résultats de simulation, la prise en compte des micropolluants en mélange, et la réflexion à l’échelle réseau d’assainissement - station d’épuration de manière à mettre en balance les solutions de traitement et de contrôle à la source

Analyse multiéchelle de la diversité génétique des sorghos : compréhension des processus évolutifs pour la conservation in situ = Multi-scale analysis of sorghum genetic diversity : understanding the evolutionary processes for in situ conservation

Using microsatellite genetic markers, we analyzed 1,518 sorghum samples collected at different spatial scales in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, and in the village of Wante, from the landrace to the country scale. Genetic diversity and differentiation parameters were estimated to assess the effects of the main evolutionary processes on sorghum genetic diversity. The genetic variability found within a variety is mainly the result of the sorghum reproduction biology and the genetic drift process caused by the limited number of reproductive individuals at the time of variety introduction into a household or each year when farmers select their seeds. At the village scale, a low correlation is observed between the diversity of vernacular names and the genetic diversity assessed by microsatellites. No spatial genetic structuration is observed among villages more than 30 kilometers apart. This point highlightss that traditional seed systems operate at a very local scale. in Mali, a similar proportion of allelic richness is observed along a longitudinal transect and a latitudinal gradient that crosses a larger range of agroclimatic conditions. At the country scale, sorghum exhibits more genetic diversity in Niger than in Mali despite a lower agroclimatic range in Niger. These results demonstrate that the diversity of human groups acts together with the agro-ecological factors to shape the structure of sorghum genetic diversity. An important proportion of the overall genetic diversity present in the Cirad (Centre de cooperation internationale en recherche agronomique pour le developpement) "core collection" is found in Mali and Niger. The tremendous diversity cultivated by farmers in traditional agroecosystems of Western Africa supports the relevance of in situ approaches for sorghum conservation programs in this region. Both conservation and crop improvement requirements can be achieved through a better use of local germplasm in decentralized breeding programs