Effect of hair shearing on live performance and carcass traits of growing rabbits under hot ambient temperature

The aim of the study was to examine the effect of hair shearing in growing rabbits reared at high ambient temperature. The live performance and carcass traits of growing rabbits reared at 20°C (not sheared, C, n=50) or at 28°C (not sheared, H, n=50, or sheared at 5, 7 and 9 wk, HS, n=50) were compared. The ambient temperature and relative humidity were 20.5±1.1°C and 54±11% in the 20°C room and 28.8±0.2°C and 35±8% in 28°C room, respectively. Feed intake of H and HS groups decreased by 29.0 and 20.4%, respectively, compared to C rabbits (P<0.001). The same data for weight gain were 24.6 and 16.9% (P<0.001), and for body weight at 12 wk were 16.8 and 11.5% (P<0.001). At the same time, the feed conversion ratio improved (C: 3.53, HS: 3.34, H: 3.31; P<0.001). Nevertheless, the mortality rate of rabbits was not affected by the studied treatment and was overall low (0-4%). No differences were observed in dressing out percentages either (ratio of chilled carcass (CC) to the slaughter weight: 61.6-61.9%). The ratio of liver to CC differed among the experimental groups, with the highest value recorded in C group and the lowest in H group; HS rabbits showed intermediate results (C: 4.86%, HS: 4.27%, H: 3.91%; P<0.001). Lower ratios of fat deposits to reference carcass were also observed in rabbits kept at high ambient temperature (perirenal fat: C: 2.59%, HS: 1.82%, H: 1.60%; P<0.001; scapular fat: C: 0.89%, HS: 0.66%, H: 0.51%; P<0.001). It can be concluded that the negative effect of higher ambient temperature (28 vs. 20°C) on production in growing rabbits can be reduced significantly by hair shearing

Milk production of pseudopregnant multiparous does

The aim of the experiment was to evaluate the milk production of pseudopregnant does. In this experiment, data of multiparous, inseminated, pregnant (IP, n=15) does and two groups of presumably pseudopregnant multiparous does: inseminated, non-pregnant (INP, n=17) and induced to ovulation by GnRH (1.5 microgram per animal) at the day of insemination (11 d after parturition) (non-inseminated, ovulating: NIO, n=15) were analysed. The progesterone level was measured at the 12th d after treatment to determine if females were pseudopregnant. All IP and NIO does were pregnant and pseudopregnant, respectively. Within the INP group, 10 and 7 does were diagnosed as positive (INPO) or negative (INPNO) for pseudopregnancy. Two of the INPNO does perished during lactation. The average milk production of groups IP, INP and NIO was 212, 92 and 72 g/d, respectively (P160 g in the various groups were: IP=0, 0, 0, 0 and 100%, NIO=20, 13, 27, 40 and 0%, INP=15, 15, 15, 55 and 0%, respectively. The daily milk yield of the 5 INPNO does was 2, 6, 27, 84 and 139 g, respectively. These results demonstrated that multiparous empty does, pseudopregnant or non-pseudopregnant, can produce milk, but in lower quantities than multiparous does after kindling.Szendrö, Z.; Matics, Z.; Brecchia, G.; Theau-Clément, M.; Nagy, Z.; Princz, Z.; Biró-Németh, E.... (2010). Milk production of pseudopregnant multiparous does. World Rabbit Science. 18(2). doi:10.4995/WRS.2010.18.1018

Surface Modification of Titanium Dental Implants by Excimer Laser

The perfect osseointegration process of the dental implants depends among other factors on the surfact characteristics of the titanium. In this study enlarged mechanical roughness was produced by a laser-based technique, in order to decrease the healing period of the implant. There are different ways of forming laser induced surface structures. In the case of mask projection techniques the surface can be modified in larger areas and surface patterns. An ArF nanosecond excimer laser was used in the experiments because of the advantageous properties of the excimer beams. Effective polishing by homogeneous laser illumination in the 3-5 J/cm2 fluence range was performed as confirmed by SEM and AFM studies. Holes of about 20 mm diameter and 10 mm in depth, with high aspect ratio and protrusions around the edges were ablated into the titanium surface with subsequent pulses of ns ArF excimer laser. To avoid easily breakable protrusions we applied excimer pulse durations of 0.5 picoseconds. In this case we obtained melting- and ridge-free ablation of titanium. The laser treatment influenced the chemical composition of the surface in two respects. On the one hand it removed carbonaceous contamination as indicated by XPS and XRD measurements, demonstrating that cleaning of the surface does not alter the original crystalline structure. On the other hand, XPS measurements proved that pulsed laser oxidation in air increased the thickness of the surface oxide layer, promoting better osseointegration

Effect of group size and stocking density on productive, carcass, meat quality and aggression traits of growing rabbits

[EN] The aim of the experiment was to examine the effect of group size and stocking density on productive, carcass and meat quality traits. The trial was conducted using 230 Pannon white rabbits weaned at 5 weeks and reared until the age of 11 weeks. Seven groups were formed with different cage/pen sizes (group size) and stocking densities: SC16=small cage (0.12 m2), 16 rabbits/m2 (2 rabbits/cage); LC16=large cage (0.50 m2), 16 rabbits/m2 (8 rabbits/cage); LC12=large cage, 12 rabbits/m2 (6 rabbits/cage); SP16=small pen (0.86 m2), 16 rabbits/m2 (13 rabbits/cage); SP12=small pen, 12 rabbits/m2 (10 rabbits/cage); LP16=large pen (1.72 m2), 16 rabbits/m2 (26 rabbits/cage); LP12=large pen, 12 rabbits/m2 (20 rabbits/cage). Stocking density did not affect production significantly, as stocking densities lower than 16 rabbits/m2 had no effect on the growing rabbits¿ performance. Group size (size of the cage or pen) had an effect on certain growth, carcass and meat quality traits. Increasing group size resulted in lower values for weight gain (SC: 39.2>LC: 39.0> SP: 38.7> LP: 37.8 g/d; P=0.22) and body weight (SC: 2506>LC: 2498> SP: 2487> LP: 2446 g; P=0.35), similarly to other results in the literature, but the differences were not significant. Aggressive behaviour was observed to be more frequent in the larger group sizes. At the age of 11 weeks the proportion of rabbits with ear lesions in the SC, LC, SP and LP groups were 0.0, 7.1, 8.7, and 17.4%, respectively, demonstrating that larger group size increases the risk of ear lesions. The effect of group size on the ratio of the fore part to the reference carcass (SC: 28.5, LC: 28.2, LP: 29.0%; P=0.02) and on the amount of perirenal fat (SC: 21.3, LC: 18.0, LP: 13.7 g; P<0.001) was significant. Meat quality traits (dry matter, protein, fat and ash content, drip loss, pH, L*, a*, b* values) were not affected by group size (cage vs. pen), but successful discriminations were performed using the NIRS method.The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial assistance received from the GAK OMFB-01335/ALAP1- 00121 project.Szendrö, Z.; Princz, Z.; Romvári, R.; Locsmándi, L.; Szabó, A.; Bázár, G.; Radnai, I.... (2009). Effect of group size and stocking density on productive, carcass, meat quality and aggression traits of growing rabbits. World Rabbit Science. 17(3):153-162. https://doi.org/10.4995/wrs.2009.65515316217

Abstracts of the “26th Hungarian Conference on Rabbit Production”

About 100 participants attended the 26th Hungarian Conference on Rabbit Production at Kaposvár, organised by Kaposvár University, the Hungarian Branch of the WRSA and the Rabbit Production Board. This is the largest and most popular event for rabbit breeders in Hungary. Twenty papers were presented by senior and young scientists. Topics of the papers covered all fields of rabbit production (production, housing and welfare, reproduction, genetics, nutrition, meat quality). Full papers are available from the organiser ([email protected]) on request.World Rabbit Science (2015). Abstracts of the “26th Hungarian Conference on Rabbit Production”. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.4995/wrs.2015.3455.SWORD475423

Diffusion quantum Monte Carlo study of three-dimensional Wigner crystals

We report diffusion quantum Monte Carlo calculations of three-dimensional Wigner crystals in the density range r_s=100-150. We have tested different types of orbital for use in the approximate wave functions but none improve upon the simple Gaussian form. The Gaussian exponents are optimized by directly minimizing the diffusion quantum Monte Carlo energy. We have carefully investigated and sought to minimize the potential biases in our Monte Carlo results. We conclude that the uniform electron gas undergoes a transition from a ferromagnetic fluid to a body-centered-cubic Wigner crystal at r_s=106+/-1. The diffusion quantum Monte Carlo results are compared with those from Hartree-Fock and Hartree theory in order to understand the role played by exchange and correlation in Wigner crystals. We also study "floating" Wigner crystals and give results for their pair-correlation functions

Measuring and managing liquidity risk in the Hungarian practice

The crisis that unfolded in 2007/2008 turned the attention of the financial world toward liquidity, the lack of which caused substantial losses. As a result, the need arose for the traditional financial models to be extended with liquidity. Our goal is to discover how Hungarian market players relate to liquidity. Our results are obtained through a series of semistructured interviews, and are hoped to be a starting point for extending the existing models in an appropriate way. Our main results show that different investor groups can be identified along their approaches to liquidity, and they rarely use sophisticated models to measure and manage liquidity. We conclude that although market players would have access to complex liquidity measurement and management tools, there is a limited need for these, because the currently available models are unable to use complex liquidity information effectively