Energetic analysis in compost dairy barn: a case study in southeastern Brazil

Received: February 2nd, 2023 ; Accepted: March 25th, 2023 ; Published: August 16th, 2023 ; Correspondence: [email protected], [email protected] efficiency aims to optimize the energy consumption of the processes, activities, and machinery of the farm, ensuring the comfort, handling, and safety of the animals. The purpose of the study was to identify the energy consumption demanded by the activities performed at the Compost Dairy Barn facility, located in Itaguara, Minas Gerais, Brazil and to propose energysaving alternatives, applying the Energy Audit Methodology described by the Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving (IDAE in Spanish) from Spain. The energy assessment at the facility allowed us to recognize unnecessary energy expenses in machinery uses, variations in milk production in relation to environmental conditions, waste disposal, and to propose improvement alternatives to reduce energy consumption expenses. Waste production data of 1577.7 kg per year was obtained, which corresponds to the bedding and feeding areas, and 175 kg of waste for the feeding area. Data on the temperature and humidity of the bedding area were collected to determine which of the five months of research is the most demanding in terms of energy. To maintain the animal’s welfare, tracing the times of substantial use of machinery (e.g., fans, tractors) at the facility and calculating Equivalent Temperature Index (ETI) was necessary. The highest percentage consumption of energy was represented by tractors in bedding maintenance and supply, by around 95.03%. The energy analysis of the farm showed a reduction in energy consumption of 45.03%, compared to the initial consumption percentages of the overall livestock activity

Calibration of the oxygen and clumped isotope thermometers for (proto-)dolomite based on synthetic and natural carbonates

Dolomite is a very common carbonate mineral in ancient sediments, but is rarely found in modern environments. Because of the difficulties in precipitating dolomite in the laboratory at low temperatures, the controls on its formation are still debated after more than two centuries of research. Two important parameters to constrain the environment of dolomitization are the temperature of formation and the oxygen isotope composition of the fluid from which it precipitated. Carbonate clumped isotopes (expressed with the parameter Δ47) are increasingly becoming the method of choice to obtain this information. However, whereas many clumped isotope studies treated dolomites the same way as calcite, some recent studies observed a different phosphoric acid fractionation for Δ47 during acid digestion of dolomite compared to calcite. This causes additional uncertainties in the Δ47 temperature estimates for dolomites analyzed in different laboratories using different acid digestion temperatures. To tackle this problem we present here a (proto-)dolomite-specific Δ47-temperature calibration from 25 to 1100 °C for an acid reaction temperature of 70 °C and anchored to widely available calcite standards. For the temperature range 25 to 220 °C we obtain a linear Δ47-T relationship based on 289 individual measurements with R2 of 0.864: [Formula presented] Tin Kelvin When including two isotopically scrambled dolomites at 1100 °C, the best fit is obtained with a third order polynomial temperature relationship (R2 = 0.924): [Formula presented]. Applying a calcite Δ47-T relationship produced under identical laboratory conditions results in 3 to 16 °C colder calculated formation temperatures for dolomites (with formation temperature from 0 to 100 °C) than using the (proto-)dolomite specific calibration presented here. For the synthetic samples formed between 70 and 220 °C we also determined the temperature dependence of the oxygen isotope fractionation relative to the water. Based on the similarity between our results and two other recent studies (Vasconcelos et al., 2005 and Horita, 2014) we propose that a combination of the three datasets represents the most robust calibration for (proto-)dolomite formed in a wide temperature range from 25 to 350 °C. 103αCaMg−carbonates−Water=2.9923±0.0557×[Formula presented]−2.3592±0.4116 Because of the uncertainties in the phosphoric acid oxygen and clumped isotope fractionation for (proto-)dolomite, we promote the use of three samples that are available in large amounts as possible inter-laboratory reference material for oxygen and clumped isotope measurements. A sample of the middle Triassic San Salvatore dolomite from southern Switzerland, the NIST SRM 88b dolomite standard already reported in other Δ47 studies and a lacustrine Pliocene dolomite from La Roda (Spain). This study demonstrates the necessity to apply (proto-)dolomite specific Δ47-T relationships for accurate temperature estimates of dolomite formation, ideally done at identical acid digestion temperatures to avoid additional uncertainties introduced by acid digestion temperature corrections. In addition, the simultaneous analyses of dolomite reference material will enable a much better comparison of published dolomite clumped and oxygen isotope data amongst different laboratories

Evaluation of ground maize grain silage rehydrated with water or whey: A sustainable storage option

The aim of this study was to assess the quality of ground maize grain silage rehydrated with varying proportions of whey, in comparison with silage rehydrated with water, to determine the potential of using whey during silage production as a strategy to enhance process sustainability. The treatments included four different rehydration methods for the ground maize, with the control treatment adding 30% water to the maize grain, and whey being used to rehydrate the maize at three different rehydration levels (20%, 30%, and 40% whey). The highest effluent losses were observed in the treatment with 40% whey rehydration (7.86 kg/t fresh matter), and the pH was highest in the control treatment (5.51). The silage rehydrated with water contained the fewest lactic acid bacteria (0.90 log colony-forming units/g) and the lowest lactic acid concentration (2.71 g/kg dry matter). Stability loss occurred fastest in the silage rehydrated with water (41.6 hours), followed by the silage rehydrated with 40% whey (46.4 hours). Rehydration with whey enhanced the quality of the ground maize silage, promoting greater sustainability in both the processing and production of grain silage. (Submitted 20 February 2025; Accepted 5 August 2025; Published 27 August 2025

Anemia prevalence in women of reproductive age in low- and middle-income countries between 2000 and 2018

Anemia is a globally widespread condition in women and is associated with reduced economic productivity and increased mortality worldwide. Here we map annual 2000–2018 geospatial estimates of anemia prevalence in women of reproductive age (15–49 years) across 82 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), stratify anemia by severity and aggregate results to policy-relevant administrative and national levels. Additionally, we provide subnational disparity analyses to provide a comprehensive overview of anemia prevalence inequalities within these countries and predict progress toward the World Health Organization’s Global Nutrition Target (WHO GNT) to reduce anemia by half by 2030. Our results demonstrate widespread moderate improvements in overall anemia prevalence but identify only three LMICs with a high probability of achieving the WHO GNT by 2030 at a national scale, and no LMIC is expected to achieve the target in all their subnational administrative units. Our maps show where large within-country disparities occur, as well as areas likely to fall short of the WHO GNT, offering precision public health tools so that adequate resource allocation and subsequent interventions can be targeted to the most vulnerable populations.Peer reviewe