The objective of this study was to determine the association between subclinical acidosis (SARA) and subclinical ketosis (SCK) with biomarkers from an automatic milking system (AMS) measuring in relation to rumination time (RT), milk yield (MY), bodyweight (BW), milk temperature, the milk fat-to-protein ratio, and the electrical conductivity of milk at the udder quarters-level which can be read in fresh dairy cows. During the course of the study, all of the fresh dairy cows (n=711) were examined according to a general clinical investigation plan. The cows were selected for 1-30 days of milk (DIM) and were milked using Lely Astronaut® A3 milking robots with free traffic. Rumination time shows a statistically significant positive correlation with milk yield (milk temperature) and is negatively correlated with the fat and protein ratio. Healthy cows demonstrated the highest level of rumination time and the lowest milk temperature. The average BW for these cows was 1.64% lower than for the SARA group and the BW kg was 2.10% higher than SCK cows. MY was 14.01% lower in comparison with SARA and 6.42% higher in comparison with SCK. According to these results, some biomarkers from the AMS have an association with SARA and SCK. However, further research with a higher number of cows is needed to confirm this conclusion.
The aim of this study was to determine if reticulorumen ph, temperature and cow activity registered before calving can serve as indicators of diseases after calving.
The cows were selected according to those fitting the profile of having had two or more lactations (on average 2.9±0.13 lactations), from 60 to 0 days before and the first 30 days after calving, and being clinically healthy. The clinical examination (identification of diseases after calving) was performed from 60 days before calving to 60 days after calving. Diseases after calving were diagnosed based on clinical symptoms specific to these diseases. The pH and temperature of the contents of the cow reticulorumens and cow activity were measured using specific smaX-tec boluses manufactured for animal care.
We found that the highest pH and temperature before calving can serve as biomarkers of healthy cows after calving. The lowest reticulum temperature before calving can serve as an indicator of MF after calving. A positive correlation of reticulum pH and temperature before calving can serve as biomarkers of PR. Decreasing cow activity before calving can serve as an indicator of diseases after calving. For calving prognosis, temperature of the reticulorumen can be used; it decreased 6–7 days before calving.
The purpose of this study is to describe the current state of tidewater glaciers in Svalbard as an extension of the inventory of Hagen et al. (1993). The ice masses of Svalbard cover an area of ca 36 600 km2 and more than 60% of the glaciated areas are glaciers which terminate in the sea at calving ice-cliffs. Recent data on the geometry of glacier tongues, their flow velocities and front position changes have been extracted from ASTER images acquired from 2000-2006 using automated methods of satellite image analysis. Analyses have shown that 163 Svalbard glaciers are of tidewater type (having contact with the ocean) and the total length of their calving ice-cliffs is 860 km . When compared with the previous inventory, 14 glaciers retreated from the ocean to the land over a 30-40 year period. Eleven formerly land-based glaciers now terminate in the sea. A new method of assessing the dynamic state of glaciers, based on patterns of frontal crevassing, has been developed. Tidewater glacier termini are divided into four groups on the basis of differences in crevasse patterns and flow velocity: (1) very slow or stagnant glaciers, (2) slow-flowing glaciers, (3) fast-flowing glaciers, (4) surging glaciers (in the active phase) and fast ice streams. This classification has enabled us to estimate total calving flux from Svalbard glaciers with an accuracy appreciably higher than that of previous attempts. Mass loss due to calving from the whole archipelago (excluding Kvitřya) is estimated to be 5.0-8.4 km3 yr-1 (water equivalent - w.e.), with a mean value 6.75 ± 1.7 km3 yr-1 (w.e.). Thus, ablation due to calving contributes as much as 17-25% (with a mean value 21%) to the overall mass loss from Svalbard glaciers. By implication, the contribution of Svalbard iceberg flux to sea-level rise amounts to ca 0.02 mm yr-1. Also calving flux in the Arctic has been considered and the highest annual specific mass balance attributable to iceberg calving has been found for Svalbard.
Injection of lymphokine activated killer (LAK) cells is known as useful for activation of cellular immune system. Although the effect of LAK cells has been clarified in human or mice, this effect on function of immune cells has not been examined in calves. Healthy ten Holstein calves were injected with the LAK cells 2 days after birth (LAK Group), and another eight calves were observed as controls (Control Group). All calves received the colostrum formulation on the day of birth, and then, were inoculated with a live attenuated vaccine of bovine herpesvirus (BHV)-1 at 2 (the first vaccination) and 6 (the second vaccination) weeks after birth. Peripheral blood of their dam obtained 3 weeks before calving was used for preparation of LAK cells. Blood samples were taken prior to vaccine inoculation and 3 days after the first inoculation, as well as 3 and 6 days after the second vaccination from all calves. Numbers of CD8+ and CD21+ cells increased significantly after the second vaccination in the LAK Group compared with Control Group. The present study suggested the improved effect of injecting LAK cells originated from dams on immune cells function of young calves after BHV-1 live vaccine.