scholarly journals Welfare Aspects of Raising Entire Male Pigs and Immunocastrates

Animals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 2140
Author(s):  
Eberhard Borell ◽  
Michel Bonneau ◽  
Mirjam Holinger ◽  
Armelle Prunier ◽  
Volker Stefanski ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Enrichment ◽  
Scientific Literature ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Climate Control ◽  
Housing Systems ◽  
Group Stability ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Entire Male

For a long time, scientists assumed that newborns have a severely limited sense of pain (if any). However, this assumption is wrong and led to a “start of the exit” from piglet surgical castration. Some of the currently discussed or already implemented alternatives such as general or local anaesthesia during surgical castration raise additional welfare concerns as well as legal problems and/or are hardly applicable. The favoured long-term, welfare-friendly “gold standard” is to raise entire male pigs (EM). However, this may also impose certain welfare problems under the current conventional housing and management conditions. The specific types of behaviour displayed by EM such as mounting and aggressive behaviours but also increased exploration, which are partially linked to sexual maturation, increase the risk for injuries. The current status of knowledge (scientific literature and farmer experiences) on housing of EM suggests that environmental enrichment, space, group-stability, social constellation, feeding (diet and feeder space), health and climate control are critical factors to be considered for future housing systems. From an animal welfare point of view, an intermediate variant to be favoured to reduce problematic behaviour could be to slaughter EM before reaching puberty or to immunize boars early on to suppress testicular function. Immunization against endogenous GnRH can reduce EM-specific problems after the 2nd vaccination.

The role of enrichment in optimizing pig behaviour and welfare

2021 ◽  
pp. 401-428
Author(s):  
Sandra Düpjan ◽  
◽  
Liza R. Moscovice ◽  
Birger Puppe ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Point Source ◽  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Comparative Evaluation ◽  
Environmental Enrichment ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Cognitive Enrichment ◽  
Species Specific ◽  
Behavioural Repertoire

Modern pig housing environments provide animals with essential resources, but from an animal’s point of view, they are quite barren and deprive them of the opportunity to make full use of their natural behavioural repertoire and actively work for these resources. The lack of stimulation resulting from such environments compromises animal welfare. This issue can be addressed by providing environmental enrichment, which comprises all aspects of an animal’s environment that facilitate engagement in species-specific behaviours. In this chapter, we provide an overview of different types of enrichment, ranging from artificial point-source objects to social and cognitive enrichment. We discuss the existing body of evidence for welfare-enhancing effects of different enrichment, focussing on whether potential enrichment promotes natural behaviours, reduces abnormal behaviours, and whether effects are sustainable over the long-term. We conclude with a comparative evaluation of enrichment from an animal welfare perspective, highlighting the potential of social and cognitive enrichment.

scholarly journals Release of 14C and 3H from Irradiated Graphite of the Thermal Column of VVR-S Reactor to Solution Phase

Radiocarbon ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 60 (6) ◽  
pp. 1831-1837 ◽  
Author(s):  
Viorel Fugaru ◽  
Cristian Postolache ◽  
George Bubueanu ◽  
Catalin Tuta
Keyword(s):  
Reactor Core ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Solution Phase ◽  
Fuel Cladding ◽  
Time Prediction ◽  
Irradiated Graphite ◽  
Thermal Column ◽  
Activation Products ◽  
Long Time

ABSTRACTGenerally, 14C is produced in all types of reactors, mainly through neutron-induced reactions with isotopes of carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen. These isotopes are present in the fuel, fuel cladding, coolant, moderator, and structural materials of the reactor. Irradiated graphite contains a range of activation products but, from the point of view of geological disposal, another radionuclide which has to be taken into account is tritium (3H or T), produced through the neutron induced reaction Li(n,α)T. In this study we have investigated the release of 14C and 3H into the solution phase from two intact samples of irradiated graphite which have been cut from the thermal column disc located near the VVR-S reactor core. To evaluate 14C and 3H long-term release in solution the graphite samples were submerged in a solution of 0.1 M of sodium hydroxide. The experimental results regarding the release of 14C and 3H from VVR-S irradiated graphite to liquid phase show that a major fraction of the total release occurs in the first months and a slower release on a long time scale. However, these results should be applied cautiously for long time prediction.

scholarly journals Differenziali geografici di sviluppo

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Dini
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
Formation Process ◽  
Political Economics ◽  
The State ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Human Behaviour ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Geographical Point

Geographical differentials of development derive from regional specializations. As classical political economics advised, they are what actively or passively create, and each one with more or less intensity, inter-regional commerce and the nations' different capacities to produce wealth. It is not only through categories of the economy that this capacity can be interpreted: equally as salient factors are the eco-system conditions, cultures and the state formation process. But it is true that the market for a long time has been the form of organization of human behaviour aimed at creating surplus within which this capacity is expressed, distinctly takes shape and gradually builds different pictures from that, since the second half of the twentieth century, usually defined as «economic development». The different capacity of places to produce wealth, in the same way as regional specializations, is indeed subject to endless evolution; the process is long term, very long term, and is characterized by clear but changing geographical regularities, within which moments of accelerated change can yet also be seen. By observing it from a geographical point of view, this work tries to fit the pieces back together, starting from the advent of so-called «capitalism» and going onto look at the logic and rules of the current configurations.

scholarly journals Mass Transfer Behavior and Microstructure Evolution of Li4TiO4-Li2TiO3 Core-shell Breeding Ceramic Under Harsh Operating Conditions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruichong Chen ◽  
Kazunari Katayama ◽  
Jianqi Qi ◽  
Akito Ipponsugi ◽  
Ran Oyama ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Transfer ◽  
Mass Loss ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Heating Process ◽  
Core Shell ◽  
Tritium Breeding ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Transfer Behavior

Abstract The development of novel tritium breeding materials was urgently needed in order to continuously optimize the tritium breeding ratio (TBR) of thermonuclear fusion reactors. From this point of view, Li4TiO4-Li2TiO3 core-shell breeding materials with more reasonable structure and theoretical Li density of 0.464 g/cm3 were prepared in this work. Notably, the mass transfer experiment at 900 °C in 1% H2/Ar shows that the theoretical Li density of this core-shell material after heating for 30 days was significantly higher than that of other breeding materials, indicating that it can provide more stable and efficient TBR. Specifically, the Li mass loss of the sample after 30 days heating was 3.4%, resulting in a decrease of Li density to 0.415 g/cm3. The mechanism of Li mass loss in Li4TiO4-Li2TiO3 core-shell breeding materials was investigated in detail. Moreover, the samples did not crack or collapse during the long-term heating process, and always maintained a satisfactory crushing load, revealing that this core-shell breeding ceramic can be used for a long time under severe operating conditions.

scholarly journals Aspects Regarding the Energy Security in the Middle East

2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 85-93
Author(s):  
Ionuţ Alin Cîrdei
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Energy Security ◽  
Transport Process ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Oil Price ◽  
Energy Resources ◽  
Middle East Countries ◽  
Long Time

Abstract Ensuring energy security is a concern for all the world’s countries. For a long time, the issue of energy security has been looked at from the point of view of ensuring the energy resources necessary for the functioning of the economy and society and, implicitly, from the perspective of reducing dependence on imported energy resources. In reality, however, energy security must also be addressed from the perspective of states with energy resources, as their security can be jeopardized by disturbances that may occur during the operation or transport process or due to lower prices. Middle East countries, rich in energy resources, are currently vulnerable due to global oil price declines and instability and conflict in the region. This vulnerability may affect the supply of energyconsuming states and their energy security in the medium and long term, and not only.

The effects of different rack systems on the breeding performance of DBA/2 mice

2003 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
P.-P. Tsai ◽  
D. Oppermann ◽  
H. D. Stelzer ◽  
M. Mähler ◽  
H. Hackbarth
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Enrichment ◽  
Laboratory Animals ◽  
Breeding Period ◽  
Breeding Performance ◽  
Housing Systems ◽  
Coefficients Of Variation ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Forced Air ◽  
The Impact

Housing systems for laboratory animals have been developed over a long time. Micro-environmental systems such as positive, individually ventilated caging systems and forced-air-ventilated systems are increasingly used by many researchers to reduce cross contamination between cages. There have been many investigations of the impact of these systems on the health of animals, the light intensity, the relative humidity and temperature of cages, the concentration of ammonia and CO2, and other factors in the cages. The aim of the present study was to compare the effects of different rack systems and to understand the influence of environmental enrichment on the breeding performance of mice. Sixty DBA/2 breeding pairs were used for this experiment. Animals were kept in three rack systems: a ventilated cabinet, a normal open rack and an individually ventilated cage rack (IVC rack) with enriched or non-enriched type II elongated Makrolon cages. Reproduction performance was recorded from 10 to 40 weeks of age. In all three rack systems there was a similar breeding index (pups/dam/week) in non-enriched groups during the long-term breeding period, but the coefficients of variation in the IVC rack were higher for most parameters. This type of enrichment seems to lead to a decrease in the number of pups born, especially in the IVC group. However, there was no significant difference in breeding index (young weaned/female/week).

Enhancing the power generation of Rhodopseudomonas palustris-based MFC

2020 ◽  
Vol 64 (1-4) ◽  
pp. 1261-1268
Author(s):  
Shu Otani ◽  
Dang-Trang Nguyen ◽  
Kozo Taguchi
Keyword(s):  
Activated Carbon ◽  
Rhodopseudomonas Palustris ◽  
Ozone Treatment ◽  
Maximum Power Density ◽  
On Demand ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Dry Conditions ◽  
Carbon Sheet ◽  
Uv Ozone

In this study, a portable and disposable paper-based microbial fuel cell (MFC) was fabricated. The MFC was powered by Rhodopseudomonas palustris bacteria (R. palustris). An activated carbon sheet-based anode pre-loaded organic matter (starch) and R. palustris was used. By using starch in the anode, R. palustris-loaded on the anode could be preserved for a long time in dry conditions. The MFC could generate electricity on-demand activated by adding water to the anode. The activated carbon sheet anode was treated by UV-ozone treatment to remove impurities and to improve its hydrophilicity before being loaded with R. palustris. The developed MFC could generate the maximum power density of 0.9 μW/cm2 and could be preserved for long-term usage with little performance degradation (10% after four weeks).

Selective statistical estimates of multi-year monthly concentrations of biogenous pollution of small rivers of the Northwest zone of the Russian Federation

2020 ◽  
pp. 9-13
Author(s):  
Sergey Kovalenko
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Processing ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Small Rivers ◽  
Statistical Parameters ◽  
Monthly Data ◽  
Statistical Estimates ◽  
Scientific Task ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
Agricultural Areas

The management of surface watercourses is an urgent scientific task. The article presents the results of statistical processing of long-term monthly data of field observations of hydrological and hydrochemical parameters along the Upper Yerga small river in the Vologda region. Sampling estimates of statistical parameters are obtained, autocorrelation and correlation analyzes are performed. The limiting periods from the point of view of pollution for water receivers receiving wastewater from drained agricultural areas are identified.

Masonry: the brittle or plastic material?

2019 ◽  
pp. 22-28
Keyword(s):  
Plastic Material ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Plastic Properties ◽  
Plastic Deformations ◽  
Base Materials ◽  
Stress States ◽  
Creep Deformations ◽  
Structural Point

The results of experimental studies of masonry on the action of dynamic and static (short-term and long-term) loads are presented. The possibility of plastic deformations in the masonry is analyzed for different types of force effects. The falsity of the proposed approach to the estimation of the coefficient of plasticity of masonry, taking into account the ratio of elastic and total deformations of the masonry is noted. The study of the works of Soviet scientists revealed that the masonry under the action of seismic loads refers to brittle materials in the complete absence of plastic properties in it in the process of instantaneous application of forces. For the cases of uniaxial and plane stress states of the masonry, data on the coefficient of plasticity obtained from the experiment are presented. On the basis of experimental studies the influence of the strength of the so-called base materials (brick, mortar) on the bearing capacity of the masonry, regardless of the nature of the application of forces and the type of its stress state, is noted. The analysis of works of prof. S. V. Polyakov makes it possible to draw a conclusion that at the long application of the load, characteristic for the masonry are not plastic deformations, but creep deformations. It is shown that the proposals of some authors on the need to reduce the level of adhesion of the mortar to the brick for the masonry erected in earthquake-prone regions in order to improve its plastic properties are erroneous both from the structural point of view and from the point of view of ensuring the seismic resistance of structures. It is noted that the proposal to assess the plasticity of the masonry of ceramic brick walls and large-format ceramic stone with a voidness of more than 20% is incorrect, and does not meet the work of the masonry of hollow material. On the basis of the analysis of a large number of research works it is concluded about the fragile work of masonry.

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