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Simple Summary: Infrared thermography is a rapid, contactless technology that can provide real-time temperature measurements, with various applications in livestock science within the framework of precision livestock farming. The aim of the current review paper is to present the updated state of knowledge regarding the detection of mastitis in dairy ruminants using infrared thermography. Therefore, it summarizes the technological advancements, the diagnostic capacity, and the operational and analytical challenges of the method when applied under real-world conditions as a diagnostic tool for mastitis, while factors associated with the performance of the method are critically described and discussed to justify recognized strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and challenges of the method. Among the health issues of major concern in dairy ruminants, mastitis stands out as being associated with considerable losses in productivity and compromised animal health and welfare. Currently, the available methods for the early detection of mastitis are either inaccurate, requiring further validation, or expensive and labor intensive. Moreover, most of them cannot be applied at the point of care. Infrared thermography (IRT) is a rapid, non-invasive technology that can be used in situ to measure udder temperature and identify variations and inconsistencies thereof, serving as a benchmarking tool for the assessment of udders' physiological and/or health status. Despite the numerous applications in livestock farming, IRT is still underexploited due to the lack of standardized operation procedures and significant gaps regarding the optimum settings of the thermal cameras, which are currently exploited on a case-specific basis. Therefore, the objective of this review paper was twofold: first, to provide the state of knowledge on the applications of IRT for the assessment of udder health status in dairy ruminants, and second, to summarize and discuss the major strengths and weaknesses of IRT application at the point of care, as well as future challenges and opportunities of its extensive adoption for the diagnosis of udder health status and control of mastitis at the animal and herd levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) infection in sows results in reduced animal welfare, poor breeding herd performance, and economic loss to farmers. The best way to reduce the effects of PRRSV is to prevent its entry into swine breeding herds through improvements in farm biosecurity. To accomplish this goal, the concept of Next Generation Biosecurity (NGB) was developed. A recent publication demonstrated that the practice of a comprehensive, science-based program of biosecurity (NGB COMPLETE) which incorporated science-based biosecurity protocols targeting direct and indirect routes of PRRSV transmission, significantly reduced PRRSV incidence risk in breeding herds compared to a partial program (NGB INCOMPLETE). This new communication follows up on this earlier paper and brings new information by reporting significant differences in key performance indicators between NGB COMPLETE breeding herds versus NGB INCOMPLETE herds over that original 2-year period across the same swine production system. It also supplements the earlier paper with data from a third consecutive year of reduced PRRSV incidence risk, resulting in a PRRSV incidence risk of 8.0% across all breeding herds for the entire three years. In closing, this is further evidence demonstrating that NGB, while not perfect, brings value to farmers through sustainable prevention of PRRS and improved productivity. Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is a globally significant pathogen of pigs. Preventing the entry of PRRSV into swine breeding herds enhances animal health and welfare. A recently published retrospective cohort study reported significant differences in PRRSV incidence risk between breeding herds that practiced Next Generation Biosecurity (NGB) COMPLETE, versus herds that practiced a partial approach (NGB INCOMPLETE) over a 2-year period. This follow-up communication builds on this previous publication and brings new information regarding statistical differences in key performance indicators (KPIs) from 43 NGB COMPLETE herds and 19 NGB INCOMPLETE herds during disease years 1 and 2. Statistically significant differences included higher total born/farrow and pigs weaned/female along with a reduced pre-weaning mortality and wean to 1st service interval, as well as a 0.91 increase in the number of pigs weaned/mated female/year. In addition, this communication reports that PRRSV incidence risk throughout disease years 1–3 was 8.0%, and that the association of NGB status (COMPLETE vs. INCOMPLETE) and disease burden for the cumulative 3-year period was statistically significant (p < 0.0001). These findings support previously published data that NGB, while not perfect, provides sustainable prevention of PRRSV, and may help improve herd productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Historically, one of the strategies the Myanmar Government employed to resolve human–elephant conflict was the capture of whole herds of elephants using the Kheddah system. This involved trapping the herd in a stockade, immediately followed by on-site post-capture taming. After taming, the captured elephants were trained to be utilized as logging elephants. The capture of wild elephants was formally banned in Myanmar in 1985, but occasional, small-scale, captures by the Kheddah system were allowed until 2013. These captures were under the strict control of the Myanmar Government and focused primarily on elephants involved in human–elephant conflict, rather than capturing to supplement the working elephant population. The method itself has largely fallen out of use because capturing an ecologically important, iconic animal is unacceptable and against current welfare requirements. This paper attempts to record the Kheddah system of elephant capture that was employed when the individually selected capture method was impractical for the emergency removal of a herd of marauding elephants. The author presents a description and assessment of the Kheddah method not to endorse it, but to document and discuss a method that was part of Myanmar's elephant-keeping history before it is forgotten. When standard methods of human–elephant conflict mitigation are not successful, free-ranging wild elephants may continue to come into close contact with people. This results in more frequent and severe conflict, with consequences ranging from crop raiding to loss of human and elephant lives. Understandably, in such situations, local communities may want to be rid of entire herds of elephants. Historically, one of the strategies the Myanmar Government practiced to resolve human–elephant conflict was the capture of whole herds using the Kheddah system. This involved trapping the herd in a stockade, immediately followed by on-site post-capture taming. After taming, the captured elephants were utilized as logging elephants. Elephants worked in timber extraction, retired at age 55 years and were then cared for by the Government until they died. The capture of wild elephants by the Kheddah system was formally banned in Myanmar in 1985 but occasional, small-scale, captures were allowed until 2013 under the strict control of the Myanmar Government. These operations were aimed primarily at capturing elephants involved in human–elephant conflict, rather than to supplement the working elephant population. One of the last Kheddah operations, organized and managed by the author, was conducted in 1996 at the Taikkyi township of the Yangon Region, as a last resort to end human–elephant conflict in an emergency. While chemical immobilization was being used at this time, it was not logistically possible with the high numbers of elephants engaged in the conflict. This review aims to record the history of an activity that was an important element of Myanmar's timber industry more than three decades ago. In this paper, the author presents a description of Kheddah not to endorse it, but to document (1) the Myanmar elephant population management strategy in the past, before it is forgotten, and (2) the practicality of the Kheddha operation when the singly selected commonly- used immobilization or noosing method of elephant capture is unfeasible. The author attempts to shed light on the modern veterinary procedures that may significantly reduce the notorious historical outcome of Kheddha, especially the resulting mortality of captured elephants, should the Kheddha system of capture ever be used as an emergency solution for ongoing problems of human–elephant conflict in the range states of Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent times, video inpainting techniques have intended to fill the missing areas or gaps in a video by utilizing known pixels. The variety in brightness or difference of the patches causes the state-of-the-art video inpainting techniques to exhibit high computation complexity and create seams in the target areas. To resolve these issues, this paper introduces a novel video inpainting technique that employs the Morphological Haar Wavelet Transform combined with the Krill Herd based Criminisi algorithm (MHWT-KHCA) to address the challenges of high computational demand and visible seam artifacts in current inpainting practices. The proposed MHWT-KHCA algorithm strategically reduces computation times and enhances the seamlessness of the inpainting process in videos. Through a series of experiments, the technique is validated against standard metrics such as peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) and structural similarity index (SSIM), where it demonstrates superior performance compared to existing methods. Additionally, the paper outlines potential real-world applications ranging from video restoration to real-time surveillance enhancement, highlighting the technique's versatility and effectiveness. Future research directions include optimizing the algorithm for diverse video formats and integrating machine learning models to advance its capabilities further. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Maintaining a sustainable supply of animal protein is the mission of the global swine production industry. The entry of infectious pathogens to swine populations can cause significant animal welfare issues, increase the use of antibiotics, challenge environmental stability, and interrupt/reduce the supply of pork; therefore, preventing pathogen entry is critical to achieve its mission using science-based biosecurity programs. Biosecurity is the application of science-based protocols to minimize the risk of pathogen entry. The objective of this review is to summarize basic biosecurity terms and concepts, review the transmission of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) and the biosecurity protocols designed to mitigate these risk factors, and discuss how the swine industry is applying Next Generation Biosecurity to prevent PRRSV infection of the breeding herd. The prevention of disease introduction into swine herds requires the practice of science-based protocols of biosecurity that have been validated to reduce the risk of the entry of targeted pathogens. The fundamental pillars of biosecurity include bio-exclusion, biocontainment, and bio-management. Biosecurity protocols must be science-based, a way of life, continuously validated, cost-effective, and benchmarked over time. This paper will review these concepts, the direct and indirect routes of transmission of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV), and the interventions that have been designed and validated to prevent infection of the breeding herd. It will close with a review of Next Generation Biosecurity, describing how a science-based approach is being used to prevent PRRSV infection in breeding herds from a large commercial pork production system in the US. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of fire simulation and emergency evacuation in cruise ships is a challenging aspect of cruise safety research. Investigating the impact of fire byproducts on passenger evacuation is a critical issue that urgently needs to be addressed. This paper utilizes PyroSim 2022 software to establish five fire cases, analysing the fire products concentration under each case. The influence of fire products on passenger evacuation was analysed using PathFinder. The results showed that when the fire source is in the stage area, the impact of fire byproducts on passenger evacuation is relatively minor. However, when the fire source is near the exit, especially in cases 1 and 2, fire byproducts tend to accumulate in the right area of the second floor, significantly affecting passenger evacuation. Moreover, during the evacuation process, a large number of passengers exhibit herd behaviour, leading to some passengers being unable to evacuate safely. To address the congestion issue, an optimized evacuation guidance plan is proposed, that can effectively improve evacuation efficiency and reduce the average congestion time per person. This has a positive role in enhancing the safety level of cruise ship fires. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lumpy skin disease (LSD) is a critical problem for cattle populations, affecting both individual cows and the entire herd. Given cattle's critical role in meeting human needs, effective management of this disease is essential to prevent significant losses. The study proposes a deep learning approach using the MobileNetV2 model and the RMSprop optimizer to address this challenge. Tests on a dataset of healthy and lumpy cattle images show an impressive accuracy of 95%, outperforming existing benchmarks by 4–10%. These results underline the potential of the proposed methodology to revolutionize the diagnosis and management of skin diseases in cattle farming. Researchers and graduate students are the audience for our paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the uptake of education and training by Irish dairy farmers and how they perceive their training needs to be evolving as their farm business grows and they become employers. Design/methodology/approach: A quantitative survey was conducted with 315 dairy farmers, who were randomly selected based on herd size and location to be representative of dairy farmers in Ireland. Findings: The results demonstrate the number of people working on the farm influence farmers' educational and training requirements. The results of this study show the need for specific human resource management advice and training for dairy farm employers. Practical implications: This study provides an understanding about the type of education or advice farmers need when transitioning into larger-scale businesses, which require more hired labour. Theoretical implications: This paper demonstrates that dairy farmers' experiences of education and training is dependent on where individuals are within their transitional experience, highlighting the importance of change management research in terms of life-long learning. Originality/value: Uniquely this study provides an understanding of how dairy farmers' education and training needs are evolving as their businesses develop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present research captured a series of aspects related to the global pork market, focusing, above all, on the 2015-2021 interval. The main indicators that had to be analysed are: worldwide pig herds, worldwide pork production, global pork consumption, worldwide imports and exports of pork. Regarding pork, it was found that it is part of the food consumption model for part of the world's population, because it presents several characteristics agreed by consumers. The statistical data that were presented and analyzed in the study were provided by the FAOSTAT website. In order to better capture the evolution of the worldwide pork market, numerous specialized materials were consulted. In 2021, Asia achieved 52.4% of the production share of pig meat with the bone, fresh or chilled obtained worldwide. The top three pork consuming countries in 2021 were: Korea (31.6 kg/inhabitant); Vietnam (25.9 kg/inhabitant) and Chile (25.0 kg/inhabitant). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: In this paper, you will find recommendations on how to prevent post-weaning diarrhea in pigs kept in indoor pig herds. The recommendations are based on the scientific knowledge that is currently available. The authors first validated that Danish veterinarians working with pigs demanded such recommendations. Then, we collected papers written by other researchers who had summarized the scientific knowledge on different topics related to post-weaning diarrhea. From the papers, we extracted and synthesized 79 specific recommendations that may help veterinarians and pig producers make good decisions for their pig herd. The paper exemplifies a novel approach to summarizing and transferring science into practice that may be of interest to people that are not involved with pigs and post-weaning diarrhea. Aided by their advising veterinarians, pig producers need to make difficult decisions regarding herd health management strategies. For instance, the preventive use of antimicrobials and medicinal zinc oxide must be substituted with more sustainable preventive approaches to porcine post-weaning diarrhea. Veterinarians and pig producers may find assistance in knowledge based on evidence in this regard; however, the overwhelming scientific literature is not always readily available. The overall aim of this paper is to suggest herd health management decision-support tools that can aid veterinary-assisted decision making in the control of porcine post-weaning diarrhea at a tactical level. The first objective was to validate the need for a herd health management concept, including two decision-support tools. The second objective was to develop evidence-based recommendations that can aid veterinary-assisted decision-making for the herd health management of post-weaning diarrhea. The first objective was investigated by a questionnaire-based study among veterinary pig practitioners in Denmark. For the second objective, we conducted a scientific summary based on scientific review papers identified through a systematic search in three databases. From the papers, we synthesized and extracted 79 specific recommendations. In this paper, we report comprehensive evidence-based recommendations for the herd health management of post-weaning diarrhea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: In recent years, the interest in virtual fencing systems for flexible animal enclosure management has increased. However, implementing such systems requires significant investment due to the need for individual collars, hindering large-scale adoption. This study examines the spatial distribution of a cow herd using GPS locations from the Nofence© system, aiming to minimize the number of collars required by identifying patterns in positions and ranks to derive a hierarchy. Contrary to expectations, no distinct pattern emerged, suggesting future studies should focus on individual interactions rather than viewing the herd as a single unit. Interest in virtual fencing has increased due to its flexibility for agriculture and rewilding. However, systems like Nofence© require large financial investments, and the need for individual collars complicates large-scale use. If cattle herds maintain cohesive groups around leading individuals, fewer collars could be used, thereby enhancing cost efficiency. This study investigates the pattern in spatial distribution in a herd of 17 Angus cows on Fanø in Denmark with GPS locations, using a Nofence© system. The aim of this paper is to determine how individuals position themselves in a herd, spatially, and identify a pattern in ranks. The method used in this study examines the distances between an individual to the rest of the herdmates using nearest neighbour and descriptive statistics. Contrary to expectations, this study did not reveal a distinct pattern in herd distribution. While some tendencies in spatial distribution patterns were observed, only a low concordance could be found ( W = 0.15 , p < 0.001 ), indicating great variability in the cattle's ranks. A cumulative curve of the ranks estimated over the entire periods, however, allowed a rough estimation of the hierarchy and allowed identification of the highest-ranked cows, making the use of a cumulative curve a possible solution to finding the high-ranked cows. This research underscores the complexity of cattle social structures and highlights the need for extended observation periods and alternative methodologies to enhance the cost-effectiveness and scalability of virtual fencing in agricultural and rewilding contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, focusing on individualistic generalist predators and prey living in herds which coexist in a common area, we propose a generalization of a previous model, namely, a two-population system that accounts for the prey response to predator attacks. In particular, we suggest a new prey-predator interaction term with a denominator of the Beddington-DeAngelis form and a function in the numerator that behaves as N for small values of N, and as N α for large values of N, where N denotes the number of prey. We can take the savanna biome as a reference example, concentrating on large herbivores inhabiting it and some predators that feed on them. Only two conditionally stable equilibrium points have emerged from the model analysis: the predator-only equilibrium and the coexistence one. Transcritical bifurcations from the former to the latter type of equilibrium, as well as saddle-node bifurcations of the coexistence equilibrium have been identified numerically by using MATLAB. In addition, the model was found to exhibit bistability. Bistability is studied by using the MATLAB toolbox bSTAB, paying particular attention to the basin stability values. Comparison of coexistence equilibria with other prey-predator models in the literature essentially shows that, in this case, prey thrive in greater numbers and predators in smaller numbers. The population changes due to parameter variations were found to be significantly less pronounced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, an intelligent stochastic model is recommended for the optimization of a hybrid system that encompasses wind energy sources, battery storage, combined heat and power generation, and thermal energy storage (Wind/Battery/CHP/TES), with the inclusion of electric and thermal storages through the cloud theory model. The framework aims to minimize the costs of planning, such as construction, maintenance, operation, and environmental pollution costs, to determine the best configuration of the resources and storage units to ensure efficient electricity and heat supply simultaneously. A novel meta-heuristic optimization algorithm named improved horse herd optimizer (IHHO) is applied to find the decision variables. Rosenbrock's direct rotational technique is applied to the conventional horse herd optimizer (HHO) to improve the algorithm's performance against premature convergence in the optimization due to the complexity of the problem, and its capability is evaluated with particle swarm optimization (PSO) and manta ray foraging optimization (MRFO) methods. Also, the cloud theory-based stochastic model is recommended for solving problems with uncertainties of system generation and demand. The obtained results are evaluated in three simulation scenarios including (1) Wind/Battery, (2) Wind/Battery/CHP, and (3) Wind/Battery/CHP/TES systems to implement the proposed methodology and evaluate its effectiveness. The results show that scenario 3 is the best configuration to meet electrical and thermal loads, with the lowest planning cost (12.98% less than scenario 1). Also, the superiority of the IHHO is proven with more accurate answers and higher convergence rates in contrast to the conventional HHO, PSO, and MRFO. Moreover, the results show that when considering the cloud theory-based stochastic model, the costs of annual planning are increased for scenarios 1 to 3 by 4.00%, 4.20%, and 3.96%, respectively, compared to the deterministic model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The most common life-threatening disease, acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), can be lethal within a few weeks if untreated. The early detection and analysis of leukemia is a key dilemma in the field of disease diagnosis, and the methods available for the classification process are time-consuming. To overcome the issues, this paper develops a robust classification technique named Horse Herd Whale Optimization-enabled Deep Neuro-Fuzzy Network (HHWO-enabled DNFN method) for ALL classification and severity analysis using the MapReduce framework. The input image is first preprocessed and segmented, and the useful features necessary for improving the classification performance are extracted during the mapper phase, known as HHWO, which incorporates Horse Herd Optimization Algorithm (HOA) and Whale Optimization Algorithm (WOA). Finally, severity analysis of ALL is done to classify the levels of leukemia to offer optimal treatment. As a result, the developed method performed better than other existing methods, achieving superior performance with a greater testing accuracy of 0.959, sensitivity of 0.965, and specificity of 0.966, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because dairies across the United States have rapidly adopted breeding to beef breed sires, the use of beef semen has increased dramatically in recent years. The objective of this survey was to gather information about the use of beef semen by dairy producers in the Northeast United States to generate beef × dairy cattle for beef markets. The survey was conducted using the services of the Center for Survey Research at the Pennsylvania State University—Harrisburg campus. Respondents had two options for returning their responses: 1) mail the paper survey to CSR in the postage-paid business-reply envelope included in the mailing, or 2) complete the survey online via an open-access web survey link. A total of 669 surveys were received and a final number of 617 surveys were included in the responses based on completeness and validity of the responses. Because of the broad electronic distribution, a true response rate cannot be calculated. Of these, 463 (75.0%) were completed via returned paper survey, and 154 (25.0%) were completed via web, between November 9, 2021 and February 16, 2022. Of the 617 respondents, 539 were from Pennsylvania. Due to the large variations in returned survey copies by state, results are reported without state separation. Across all respondents, 69.7% reported milking 100 or fewer cows and over 90% of collected responses reported Holsteins as the predominant dairy breed in the Northeast. Only 18.8% of the respondents did not currently, nor plan to, breed with beef semen. Deciding which beef bulls to use on Northeast dairy farms was primarily based on the recommendation of the semen sales representative (54.5%) and the price of the semen purchased (42.3%). In addition, 89.7% of respondents cited using Angus genetics in their beef bull selections. However, there was no difference in reported profitability of crossbreeding between respondents who indicated using other beef breeds vs. those who indicated just using Angus (P ≥ 0.19). In conclusion, using beef sires on dairy females, regardless of the breed of beef sire, adds value to the resulting progeny from dairy farms in the Northeast. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rice–crayfish coculture systems (RCSs) have been widely promoted in China as an efficient circular agriculture model that can simultaneously improve rice quality, raise the efficiency of utilization of resources, and increase farmers' incomes. However, the herd behavior of farmers in the adoption of the rice–crayfish coculture system warrants more attention, as the rational adoption of this system by farmers is a prerequisite for achieving the above objectives. This paper analyses the formation mechanism of farmers' herd behavior based on information cascade theory. Using micro-survey data from 603 farmers in China and a bivariate probit model, we examine the existence of herding effects in the adoption of RCSs by farmers and the inhibitory effect of information acquisition capability on herd behavior. To address possible endogeneity issues, we also conducted a robustness test using the IV-probit model. Furthermore, we tested for between-group differences in agricultural income between farmers with herding adoption and non-herding adoption. The study reveals that the larger the number of prior adopters, the higher the probability of blind adoption behavior by farmers, indicating the existence of a herd effect. Information acquisition ability could significantly inhibit the herd behavior of farmers in the adoption of RCSs. We also found that farmers' herd behavior in the adoption of these systems was not economically rational. Based on the research findings, we proposed several constructive suggestions for policy perfection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Financial analysts may have strategic incentives to herd or to anti-herd when issuing forecasts of firms' earnings. This paper develops and implements a new test to examine whether such incentives exist and to identify the form of strategic behaviour. We use the equilibrium property of the finite-player forecasting game of Kim and Shim [2019. "Forecast Dispersion in Finite-Player Forecasting Games." The B.E. Journal of Theoretical Economics 19 (1).] that forecast dispersion decreases (resp. increases) as the number of forecasters increases if and only if there is strategic complementarity (resp. substitutability) in their forecasts. Using the I/B/E/S database, we find strong evidence that supports strategic herding incentive of financial analysts through a plausible natural experiment setting of brokerage house mergers. We show further that this finding is robust to different forecast horizons and is more pronounced for firms with low initial coverage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the paper was to study the lifespan dependence of Ukrainian Red-and-White dairy (URWD) and Ukrainian Black-and-White dairy (UBWD) breeds on the level of linear traits evaluation that characterize the udder morphological qualities in the overall system of linear classification of the conformation type. The experiments were conducted in the herds of Cherkasy and Sumy regions for breeding URWD (n = 465) and UBWD (n = 598) breeds. By the trait fore udder parts attachment, reliable difference between cows, estimated at 1 and 9 scores, was 636 (URWD; P <0.001) and 721 (UBWD; P <0.001) days. The difference between the lowest and highest scores of the height of attachment of the udder rear parts in cows of experimental breeds was 663 (URWD; P <0.001) and 715 (UBWD; P <0.001) days. Animals with an assessment of the development of central udder ligament above 5-8 scores lived longer, according to assessed breeds, from 2,402 to 2,723 (URWD) and from 2,572 to 2,869 (UBWD) days. Cows of the UBWD breed estimated at 5-9 scores lived on 141-170 (P <0.01) days longer compared to the URWD cows. Relative variability between the udder depth and lifespan was curvilinear, as higher lifespan observed in cows with 6-7 scores. Cows of both breeds with an average grade of 7 for the fore teats position were used the longest in the herd. Evaluation of the relative variability of the fore teats length and cow's lifespan of controlled breeds showed that cows had a longer functional life with an average score of 5 and 6. The relative variability established between the evaluation of linear traits that characterize the udder morphological structure and the lifespan of cows testified about the effectiveness of animal selection by type in the direction of longevity. Linear traits that positively correlate with the lifespan of cows can be used in the future as indirect predictors of longevity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Spontaneous humeral fractures in first- and second-lactation dairy cows are recognized as a serious welfare problem in New Zealand. However, the condition is sporadic, which means that simple epidemiological descriptions and estimates of the extent of the problem are lacking. By combining the data from four independent studies using a multi-method approach, we found that their occurrence is more common than previously thought, with potentially up to 12% of farms and 4,620 dairy cattle affected in the 2013/2014 lactation season. Furthermore, the condition exclusively affects first- and second-lactation spring calving dairy cows, up to 4 months post-partum, and may affect multiple animals on the same farm, in the same season, and over multiple seasons, which are not always consecutive. We suggest that the evidence presented in this paper places an urgent requirement on the New Zealand dairy industry to undertake prompt action to understand the determinants of this epidemic. A multi-method approach integrating data from four independent sources was used to describe some key features of the epidemiology and estimate the herd and within-herd incidence of fractured humeri in New Zealand dairy cattle for the period 2007–2015. The first dataset was from a national case series where cases of humeral fractures in dairy cattle were identified by veterinarians across New Zealand between the 2007/2008 and 2011/2012 lactation seasons. The second dataset was from a pet food company based in the Waikato region, which collated the number of casualty first- and second-lactation cows found to have a fractured humerus post-slaughter in the 2014/2015 lactation season, and the third dataset was a case series conducted by veterinarians employed in a Waikato veterinary business, also from the 2014/2015 lactation season. For the final dataset, 505 randomly selected New Zealand dairy farmers completed a phone survey on the incidence of non-responsive, non-weight-bearing forelimb lameness in first- and second-lactation cows in the 2014/2015 lactation season. Using the telephone survey results, the within-herd and herd-level incidence of cases for first- and second-lactation dairy animals was calculated. The national case series reported 149 cases of humeral fractures in 22 dairy herds; the pet food case series identified 61 cases from 41 farms; and the practice-based case series found 14 cases from 10 farms. Humeral fractures exclusively affected first- and second-lactation dairy cows and had a peak incidence between calving and early mating. The national telephone survey found that non-weight-bearing forelimb lameness requiring euthanasia of first- or second-lactation cows occurred in 11.7% of herds, with a mean within-herd incidence of 2.6% for first lactation cows and 2.8% for second-lactation cows for affected herds. These combined datasets demonstrate that humeral fractures in young, lactating dairy cattle are more common than previously suspected and that they occur nationally and over multiple years on some farms. Further work on this condition is urgently required in New Zealand to establish cost-effective management practices that will reduce unnecessary animal suffering and waste. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Dairy cow behavior detection is of great significance for cattle health management. Through the detection of the four behaviors of dairy cows—standing, lying, eating, and drinking—we can gain valuable insights into the well-being of cows. For example, hoof disease can increase the amount of time a cow lies down, and digestive system issues can cause a decrease in food intake. Visual inspection of cow behavior can keep track of changes in cow behavior, and non-invasive detection can reduce cow discomfort and improve animal welfare. In this study, we employed computer vision-based deep learning techniques for the detection of cow behavior, and experimental results demonstrated its promising application in real farm settings. Dairy cow behavior carries important health information. Timely and accurate detection of behaviors such as drinking, feeding, lying, and standing is meaningful for monitoring individual cows and herd management. In this study, a model called Res-DenseYOLO is proposed for accurately detecting the individual behavior of dairy cows living in cowsheds. Specifically, a dense module was integrated into the backbone network of YOLOv5 to strengthen feature extraction for actual cowshed environments. A CoordAtt attention mechanism and SioU loss function were added to enhance feature learning and training convergence. Multi-scale detection heads were designed to improve small target detection. The model was trained and tested on 5516 images collected from monitoring videos of a dairy cowshed. The experimental results showed that the performance of Res-DenseYOLO proposed in this paper is better than that of Fast-RCNN, SSD, YOLOv4, YOLOv7, and other detection models in terms of precision, recall, and mAP metrics. Specifically, Res-DenseYOLO achieved 94.7% precision, 91.2% recall, and 96.3% mAP, outperforming the baseline YOLOv5 model by 0.7%, 4.2%, and 3.7%, respectively. This research developed a useful solution for real-time and accurate detection of dairy cow behaviors with video monitoring only, providing valuable behavioral data for animal welfare and production management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces an approach to the automated measurement and analysis of dairy cows using 3D point cloud technology. The integration of advanced sensing techniques enables the collection of non-intrusive, precise data, facilitating comprehensive monitoring of key parameters related to the health, well-being, and productivity of dairy cows. The proposed system employs 3D imaging sensors to capture detailed information about various parts of dairy cows, generating accurate, high-resolution point clouds. A robust automated algorithm has been developed to process these point clouds and extract relevant metrics such as dairy cow stature height, rump width, rump angle, and front teat length. Based on the measured data combined with expert assessments of dairy cows, the quality indices of dairy cows are automatically evaluated and extracted. By leveraging this technology, dairy farmers can gain real-time insights into the health status of individual cows and the overall herd. Additionally, the automated analysis facilitates efficient management practices and optimizes feeding strategies and resource allocation. The results of field trials and validation studies demonstrate the effectiveness and reliability of the automated 3D point cloud approach in dairy farm environments. The errors between manually measured values of dairy cow height, rump angle, and front teat length, and those calculated by the auto-measurement algorithm were within 0.7 cm, with no observed exceedance of errors in comparison to manual measurements. This research contributes to the burgeoning field of precision livestock farming, offering a technological solution that not only enhances productivity but also aligns with contemporary standards for sustainable and ethical animal husbandry practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photovoltaic cell or PV cell effectively acts as a current source, primarily dependent on the incident solar irradiation. Due to the non-linear current-voltage (I-V) & power-voltage (P-V) characteristics of PV cells, power will be transferred depending upon the load voltage. So, the operating point or the load voltage should be monitored continuously and placed in such a manner so that maximum power can be extracted from the PV system. Perturb & Observe (P&O) method is one of the popular and commonly used methods used to track the maximum Power Point or MPP under uniform insolation. During partial shading conditions, it is observed that multiple peaks exist in the case of a large PV system, one of which is only a global peak (GP) and the rest are local peaks (LP). This paper investigates the failure of the P&O method and proposes a new optimization technique namely Horse Herd (HH) optimization to find the global peak during partial shading. This paper also compares the result with other optimization techniques in terms of efficacy. A simulation model of PV array is developed in MATLAB software, and I-V and P-V characteristics are studied during partial shading conditions. Further studies were conducted to overcome the problem and track the global peak successfully during various shading patterns using Horse Herd optimization technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Farmer-herder conflicts are widespread in many parts of Africa. Scholars disagree on their causes. One strand associates conflict with absolute scarcities caused by for example population growth and climate change. Other scholars emphasize politically established scarcities: scarcities caused by policies, legislation, and development programs. This paper examines the causes of farmer-herder conflict in the case of Asante Akim North Municipality of Ghana; an area that has suffered from severe conflicts for the past two decades. The study relies on documentary materials and interviews with 53 respondents representing all main agents with a stake in the conflict. The paper argues that absolute scarcity (population growth and climate change) may play a role in conflict, but the key driver of conflict is political. The paper shows how the traditional authorities have allocated land to outside cattle owners without effective institutions to guide cattle herding. This has created conflicts between traditional farming and new herding interests. The paper contributes to the literature on farmer-herder conflict and political scarcity by presenting a case where scarcity is not produced by state-led policies and interventions at large-scale but by local-level traditional authorities and small-scale enclosures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the existence of herd behaviour in fifteen (15) global stock markets, which consist of Developed Markets (Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and the United Kingdom), Advanced Emerging Markets (Brazil, Malaysia, Mexico, Poland and South Africa) and Secondary Emerging Markets (Chile, China, Indonesia, the Philippines and Russia) by using Cross Sectional Absolute Deviation (CSAD) method of Chiang and Zheng (2010). It also seeks to explore the impact of social factors such as prosperity, education, ageing society, industry orientation and gender on the existence of market-wide herding. The findings of this paper indicate that herd behaviour exists in Singapore (Developed Market), Mexico, Poland and South Africa (Advanced Emerging Markets) and China and the Philippines (Secondary Emerging Markets). No evidence of herding is observed for Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, United Kingdom, Brazil, Malaysia, Chile, Indonesia and Russia. Ageing society is also found to have significant impact on the existence of herd behaviour. Nonetheless, prosperity, education, industry orientation and gender are found to be insignificant to herding. This study sheds some light on whether social factors determine herding behaviour in the 15 selected stock markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista de Economia e Sociologia Rural is the property of Sociedade Brasileira de Economia e Sociologia Rural and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Simple Summary: The authors' aim was to summarise the general concept and approach of the Hungarian National PRRS Eradication Program. However, limits on the length of the paper meant that many important points of the process could not be described in full detail. In some cases, previous publications were cited to guide the readers to a more detailed description of particular eradication parts. Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is a widespread infectious disease that is currently a major cause of economic losses in pig production. In Hungary, a National PRRS Eradication Program has been introduced to attain a more efficient, economic, and competitive international market position. The program has been also approved by the EU, but the resulting legal obligations have imposed a burden on Hungarian producers to comply with EU competition rules. The implementation of the program has been carried out by the veterinary authorities with the consent of, continuous support from and monitoring conducted by organisations within the pig sector as well as a scientific committee. The PRRS eradication program in Hungary was based on a regional territorial principle and was compulsory for all pig holdings within the regions. In Hungary, large fattening farms operate as all-in/all-out or continuous flow systems. Large-scale breeding herds are predominantly farrow-to-finish types. Although its significance has decreased in recent decades, 20% of the Hungarian pig population is still kept on small (backyard) farms (<100 animals). All PRRSV-infected large-scale farms had to develop a unit-adapted eradication plan, including external and internal biosecurity measures, vaccinations, etc. It was crucial to render each fattening unit free of the disease, as fattening units play a significant role in spreading the virus within the country. The eradication efforts mainly implemented were depopulation–repopulation methods, but on some farms a testing and removal method has been used. As the eradication progressed over the years, the introduction of infected fattening pigs was restricted. Thanks to these measures, Hungarian large-scale fattening farms became PRRSV-free by the end of 2018. The PRRSV-free status of small-scale herds was achieved by the end of 2015 and was maintained between 2016 and 2021. By 31 December 2021, all breeding pigs in large-scale farms in Hungary were free of wild-type PRRS virus. By 31 March 2022, the total pig population of the country, including all backyard farms and fattening units, achieved PRRSV-free status. The future goal is to ensure and maintain the PRRSV-free status of Hungary via strict import regulations of live animals combined with the continuous and thorough screening of incoming and resident herds for the presence of the virus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is concerned with a prey–predator system involving herd behaviour and strong Allee effect. First, the local stability analysis of all the possible equilibrium points are investigated. Second, the existence of Hopf bifurcation around the unique positive equilibrium are carried out. Finally, this paper is ended with a numerical simulation to understand the dynamics of the system. As it turns out that the 'Allee effect constant' plays a very important role in biological invasion mechanism, such as controlling and preventing biological invasion or invading successfully. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a brucellosis disease model with reaction–diffusion and time delay. The model takes into account both the direct and indirect transmission of infected animals and pathogens in the environment. By analyzing the associated characteristic equation, the local stability of the unique positive equilibrium point is established. The existence of Hopf bifurcations at the positive equilibrium point is also examined by considering the discrete time delay as a bifurcation parameter. Additionally, an optimal control analysis is conducted to minimize disease outbreaks and control costs. This includes reducing the exposure of susceptible animals to infected animals, removing infected animals from herds, and reducing emissions of brucella into the environment. By constructing Hamiltonian function and applying Pontryagin’s maximum principle, the necessary conditions for the existence of optimal control are given. Finally, the existence of bifurcation periodic solutions and the effectiveness of control strategies are illustrated through numerical simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Meat is an important element in human nutrition, and its consumption is expected to increase in the coming years in parallel with population growth. However, the livestock sector faces problems related to climate change, animal protection and welfare, and various epizootics, which have decimated livestock. In this context, the article analyses pig, cattle and sheep herds, as well as the production of pig, beef and sheep meat resulting from slaughterhouses in the EU, focusing on the main animal breeders and meat producers, for the period 2018-2022. The results of the study show that the number of pigs, cattle and sheep in the EU decreased during the period under review, as well as the total production of slaughtered meat. The most important pig breeders were Spain, Germany and France, for cattle - France, Germany and Ireland, and for sheep - Spain, Romania and Greece. Among the meat-producing countries stood out: for pork - Spain, Germany and France; for beef - France, Germany and Italy and for sheep meat - Spain, France and Ireland. At the same time, the article presents the perspectives of meat consumption, in the context of the pressures to which the livestock sector is subject and the changes that are manifested in the food preferences of European consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the peak of the Statesman's myth of the reversed cosmos, the Eleatic Stranger asks after the conditions for human happiness. This paper suggests that philosophy and therewith human happiness is possible only in the age of Zeus, the age characterized by both the withdrawal of the gods and human neediness. The myth clarifies the inadequacy of the dialogue's previous conception of the human being as a herd animal by illuminating what is missing from it: the erotic dimension of the human soul. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of La Granja, de Ciencias de la Vida is the property of Universidad Politecnica Salesiana and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) enable communication among sensor nodes and require efficient energy management for optimal operation under various conditions. Key challenges include maximizing network lifetime, coverage area, and effective data aggregation and planning. A longer network lifetime contributes to improved data transfer durability, sensor conservation, and scalability. In this paper, an enhanced dual-selection krill herd (KH) optimization clustering scheme for resource-efficient WSNs with minimal overhead is introduced. The proposed approach increases overall energy utilization and reduces inter-node communication, addressing energy conservation challenges in node deployment and clustering for WSNs as optimization problems. A dynamic layering mechanism is employed to prevent repetitive selection of the same cluster head nodes, ensuring effective dual selection. Our algorithm is designed to identify the optimal solution through enhanced exploitation and exploration processes, leveraging a modified krill-based clustering method. Comparative analysis with benchmark approaches demonstrates that the proposed model enhances network lifetime by 23.21%, increases stable energy by 19.84%, and reduces network latency by 22.88%, offering a more efficient and reliable solution for WSN energy management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider predators hunting on prey gathered in groups and in such way exhibiting the possibility of reducing the predators pressure. To model this feature, however, we depart from the Holling type II (HTII) response function, in that we assume that a sufficiently large set of prey could respond to individualistic attacks and therefore induce the predator to renounce. The basic idea is described at first in a simple two‐populations predator‐prey system. It is then expanded considering the generalist predators to deal with two prey. In the first case, both are gathered in herds, and in the second one, one of the two instead behaves individualistically. The net outcome is an enhanced survival for the prey with respect to both the herding cases without and with predators feeding satiation (i.e., using the HTII response). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims to present the situation of animal husbandry activity in the counties with mountain area in Romania, in 2019, in relation to the activity of milk collection and processing in the 27 counties with mountain area. This paper is based on statistical data provided by the National Sanitary-Veterinary and Food Safety Authority, the National Institute of Statistics and the National Agency for Mountain Area (ANZM). These data were statistically processed within the National Agency for Mountain Area in the following indicators: number of counties with mountain area, number of administrative-territorial units in the mountain area, total area of the mountain area (km²), number of animals in the mountain area (cattle, sheep, goats) in 2019, the total area of permanent meadows in the mountain area (ha), number of milk collection centers in the counties with mountain area, number of milk processing units in the counties with mountain area. The statistically processed data show that in counties with large herds of animals there are milk processing centers and units compared to counties with small herds of animals that do not have centers and units of milk processing or are few. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the situation of some native game species in Giurgiu County, based on official assessments, using data from the Ministry of Environment. The analysis of the official data from the evaluations of sedentary game will give the possibility to assess if the data presented at the evaluations are correct and if the hunters' fears are justified. The analyses also took into account the creditworthiness keys of the hunting areas in order to perform a comparative analysis between the real and the optimal number. Following the analyses performed, and the resulting conclusions, some recommendations were formulated, among which we mention: the active involvement of the administrator of the national hunting fund by participating and supervising the evaluation actions of the sedentary game herds, or the obligation of the managers of the hunting areas to maintain an ascending trend until the optimum number is reached. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beef is known to be an important ingredient in the cuisine of European countries, and globally it ranks third in consumer preferences. In this context, the paper describes aspects related to cattle herds as well as slaughtered cattle and beef production in the European Union and in the main countries where the breeding of these animals is a tradition. Thus, France, Germany and Ireland were in the first positions. At the same time, EU beef imports and exports are presented, in terms of value for the categories: live animals, fresh and chilled beef and frozen beef. Against the background of the current geopolitical instability, it is worth noting that Romania does not occupy an important position on the beef market, especially since the number of animals and slaughtered meat production decreased during the analyzed period, 2015-2021. Instead, for our country we can see an increase in imports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research has witnessed a major shift in financial studies--from traditional finance to behavioral finance. The rejection of Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH), several times, has led to a new era of financial studies. Herd behavior is one of the major areas of behavioral finance. Herding, basically, implies trading by a large group of investors in the same direction over a period of time. The present paper attempts to explore the existence of herd behavior in the Indian and the US stock markets. Daily prices of Nifty, its 50 constituent stocks, Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) and its 30 constituent stocks are collected for five financial years from 2013-14 to 2017-18. Using Cross-Sectional Absolute Deviation (CSAD), as proposed by Chiang and Zheng (2010), the paper attempts to explore the existence of herd behavior in the Indian and the US stock markets and the impact of US markets on the herd behavior of the Indian stock markets. The results reveal that investors did not exhibit herd behavior both in the Indian and US stock markets during the study period. Even after accounting for asymmetric returns, herding is indicated by both the markets. Further, inclusion of CSAD of DJIA as an explanatory variable shows that Indian investors do not herd with US stock markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The observed size of an animal population, as opposed to the genetic size, is given by the number of individuals in all categories as well as by the total number of males and females participating in the production of the descendant generation. The integration of Romania into the European Union requires special attention to the hunting populations. The purpose of the present paper was to study the evolution of the observed sizes of the hunting population for 13 species of animals in the period 2015-2019, on 17 hunting areas Nades, from Timis County with a total area of 9.325 ha. The present study highlighted that on this hunting area, Cervidae family -- which includes ruminants with deciduous horns, is represented by 3 species, namely Red Deer (Cervus elaphus L), Fallow Deer (Dama dama L), and Roe Deer (Capreolus capreolus L). Also, it is concluded that it is permanently effective of European swan (Lepus europaeus P.), it is more important to choose the significant growth on this hunting area with 100% a Jackal (Canis aureus L.), at the beginning of 2018, compared to the year 2017. For the other identified species, the population of evolutionary numbers showed that there is a good correlation between the number of individuals and their biogenic capacity. The present study recommends the revival of the existing population on this hunting ground, through "blood refreshing" actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a novel bearing intelligent fault diagnosis method based on a novel krill herd algorithm (NKH) and kernel extreme learning machine (KELM) is proposed. Firstly, multiscale dispersion entropy (MDE) is used to extract fault features of bearings to obtain a set of fault feature vectors composed of dispersion entropy. Then, it is imported into the kernel extreme learning machine for fault diagnosis. But considering the kernel function parameters σ and the error penalty factor C will affect the classification accuracy of the kernel extreme learning machine, this paper uses the novel krill herd algorithm (NKH) for their optimization. The opposite populations are added to the NKH in the initialization of population to improve its speed and prevent local optimum, and during the period of looking for the optimal solution, the impulse operator is introduced to ensure it has enough impulse to rush out of the local optimal once into the local optimum. Finally, in order to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method, it was applied to the bearing fault experiment of Case Western Reserve University and XJTU-SY bearing data set. The results show that the proposed method not only has good fault diagnosis performance and generalization but also has fast convergence speed and does not easily fall into the local optimum. Therefore, this paper provides a method for fault diagnosis under different loads. Meanwhile, the new method (NKH-KELM) is compared and analyzed with other mainstream intelligent bearing fault diagnosis methods to verify the effectiveness and accuracy of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integrating pig production stability and pollution control is a matter of social livelihood and green development. This paper estimates the policy effectiveness of environmental regulation based on the big data of Chinese government websites and combines the pig production data of various provinces in China from 2008 to 2018 to construct a mediating effect model, empirically analyzing the relationship between environmental regulations, herd structure, and pig production. Research shows: (1) Improving environmental regulations in the short term will increase the slaughter of pigs, but in the long run it will decrease first and then increase; (2) At this stage, environmental regulations can increase the slaughter of pigs by changing the herd structure; (3) Reasonable adjustment of the herd structure can effectively increase the slaughter of pigs; (4) The herd structure can be used as a supplementary monitoring indicator to stabilize the supply of pigs. Combine it with the change rate of sow stock to provide early warning of fluctuations in pig production, and the early warning herd structure values are 0.0980 and 0.1135. There are two key initiatives to achieve supply and price stability in the pig industry that taking into account environmental protection: first, an industrial regulation instrument based on the herd structure needs to be established; second, an early warning system for pig production fluctuations should be established with reference to the early warning system for pork price fluctuations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Academic Journal of Philosophy / Felsefi Düşün is the property of Pinhan Yayincilik and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In today's online data-driven world, people constantly shed data and deposit digital footprints. When individuals access health services, governments and health providers collect and store large volumes of health information about people that can later be retrieved, linked and analysed for research purposes. This can lead to new discoveries in medicine and healthcare. In addition, when securely stored and de-identified, the privacy risks are minimal and manageable. In many jurisdictions, ethics committees routinely waive the requirement for researchers to obtain consent from data subjects before using and linking these datasets in an effort to balance respect for individuals with research efficiency. In this paper, I explore the ethical justification for using routinely collected health data for research without consent. I conclude that, not only is this morally justified but also that data subjects have a moral obligation to contribute their data to such research, which would obviate the need for ethics committees to consider consent waivers. In justifying this argument, I look to the duty of easy rescue, distributive justice and draw analogies with vaccination ethics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates whether Japanese banks followed herd behavior in loan markets during 1980–2000. Using data categorized by bank type and geographical area, we examine leader–follower relationships between the behavior of different bank types. We find evidence of their herding that is not explained by macroeconomic conditions. In particular, regional types of banks always followed banks that had large loan shares in individual areas. Such herding was observed more frequently in regional areas. Unusual herding by major banks was observed from immediately before the Japanese asset‐price bubble in the late 1980s to its bursting in the early 1990s. During the bubble period, the estimated amount of loans raised by major banks' herding in urban areas was greater than 2% of the average annual nominal GDP in the period, overwhelming that of herding by other types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study assesses the practices and views of Scottish dairy farmers relating to pasture-based and indoor systems. There are the debates about the environmental, economic and animal welfare implications of these systems. Indoor dairy farming is a contentious practice among the public. While this controversy is sometimes represented as a lack of public understanding, there is a need for more research on farmers' views to facilitate discussion in the industry. A survey was posted to 909 dairy farmers in Scotland with questions about their grazing practices and attitudes to grazing and indoor systems. 254 surveys were completed, online and in paper form. There was a 26% response rate to the paper version of the survey. The results showed that 19% of respondents housed some or all the cows all year-round. 68% agreed or strongly agreed that cows should graze for part of the year and 51% agreed or strongly agreed that welfare was better if cows grazed for part of the year. These views coexisted with the view that management was more important than the type of system for determining profitability or welfare outcomes (83% and 82% strongly agree or agree respectively). Respondents whose system involved grazing and respondents who had spent longer in farming were moderately more likely to agree that cows should have access to pasture, and slightly less likely to agree that management was more important than system for determining welfare outcomes. The results indicate that the picture is more complicated than the public rejecting indoor dairy farming and those in the industry accepting it. The results showed that a majority preference for cows to graze co-existed with the view that management was more important than system. In terms of industry and policy recommendations, the research suggests that measures should be taken to safeguard farmers' ability to graze through for instance research and advisory support on grazing; ensuring different systems are not penalised in the development of dairy sector environmental measures and recommendations; and potentially supply chains that financially rewards farmers for grazing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractIn this paper, consideration is given to contemporary culture’s impact on language and its communicative potential. Drawing on psychoanalytic understanding of the human herd instinct, particularly in time of strife, this essay outlines what the “talking cure” has to offer as counterpoint to group think and as a means to enter into all that is idiosyncratic and individual in the use of language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores how beneficiaries of South Africa's land reform programme attempt to navigate the contradictory dynamics of production and social reproduction in collectively owned agricultural enterprises. The Mphuzanyoni Communal Property Association in KwaZulu‐Natal province farms with commercial beef herds and the Mayime Cooperative in the Eastern Cape province is engaged in a joint venture dairy farming scheme in partnership with an agribusiness firm. Severe tensions are evident between the social reproduction of households and the requirements of simple or expanded reproduction of agricultural enterprises. Bernstein's concept of competing 'funds' is used to examine struggles over production and reproduction on the farms, in which members of socially differentiated households contest divergent visions for the collective enterprises. Conflicts centre on how labour and capital should be mobilised, how income and other benefits in kind should be distributed to households and whether or not income should be invested for purposes of simple or expanded reproduction of the enterprise. Challenges of governance are rooted in these conflicts rather than in group ownership as a form of property right. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the realm of blockchain technology, the quest for scalable and high-quality-of-service (QoS) systems remains a formidable challenge. Existing blockchain models often grapple with trade-offs between efficiency, speed, and security, particularly in the face of growing demands for energy-efficient and swift data processing. This paper introduces an innovative approach to address these limitations, leveraging Q Learning for context-based shard management, coupled with Elephant Herd Fish Swarm Optimization (EHFSO) process. This novel combination is specifically engineered to dynamically select hashing and encryption techniques tailored to each context-based shard, thereby enhancing the overall performance of blockchain systems. The proposed model marks a significant departure from traditional blockchain architectures. By integrating Q Learning, the system intelligently adapts to varying data contexts, ensuring optimal shard management operations. The EHFSO algorithm, drawing inspiration from natural swarm behavior, further refines the selection process for hashing and encryption techniques. This dual approach not only fortifies security but also augments efficiency levels. The practical efficacy of this model is underscored by its performance on multiple medical datasets & its samples. The results are compelling: an 8.5% improvement in mining energy efficiency, a 4.9% increase in mining speed, 5.9% higher throughput, 4.5% more consistent mining, and a noteworthy 5.9% reduction in storage costs compared to existing methods. Primarily, the work paves the way for more sustainable and efficient blockchain operations, particularly crucial in energy-sensitive sectors. Additionally, the enhanced throughput and mining consistency significantly improve the blockchain's applicability in real-world scenarios, where speed and reliability are paramount in real-time use cases. This research not only addresses the current limitations of blockchain technology but also sets a new benchmark for future developments in this field for different scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Managing people outside the farm family unit is a new issue for many Irish dairy farmers. In the context of rapid growth, the demand for employees has increased, creating the need for Irish dairy farmers to have human resource management (HRM) skills. Aims: This paper explores the extent and type of HRM practices adopted by Irish dairy farmers and the factors that influence their adoption. Methods: A questionnaire was developed, piloted, and issued to farmers on the basis of herd size and location. Data from 203 dairy farmers who employ people were analysed to examine the adoption of different HRM practices and the influence of farm characteristics, farmer demographics and farmer attitudes on their adoption. HRM practices included compliance with employment legislation, health and safety, different approaches to recruitment, workforce management and retention. The questionnaire included one or more variables for each of these HRM practices. Where more than one variable was included, an aggregate variable was developed for that practice. Key results: Whereas, overall, there was a low level of adoption of best HRM practices, farm characteristics such as herd size and number of employees had a significant influence on farmers' adoption of compliance with employment legislation, health and safety, recruitment, workforce management and retention practices. Demographic factors such as age, level of education, and average hours worked influenced farmers compliance with employment law legislation, workforce management practices and retention practices. Conclusions: The study highlighted an overall low compliance with employment legislation and low adoption of best practices in managing staff among dairy farmers in Ireland. Implications: This study highlighted that improvement is needed in all areas of HRM on Irish dairy farms. The findings of this study would be useful to farm advisors who support dairy farmers in improving their management of their businesses. Overall, this study has contributed to a greater understanding of the challenges in managing people in agriculture and how certain factors influences the adoption of HRM practices on dairy farms. The dairy industry's recent growth in Ireland has resulted in a high demand for additional workers, increasing the requirement for farmers to be skilled in Human Resource Management (HRM). This study identified that the adoption of HRM practices is influenced by farm characteristics, in particular herd size, the number of employees on the farm. This study has contributed insights into the prevalence of specific HRM practices on Irish dairy farms, and indicated that there is a significant scope for improvement. A novel aspect of this study was the focus on the potential factors that influence the adoption of HRM practices on Irish dairy farms. The findings of this study could be used by agricultural advisors and those working in HRM to provide tailored advice to support dairy farmers and other small business owners in managing their employees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decision support systems (DSSs) enable dairy farmers to make informed and timely decisions on herd health management. However, the lack of a disease scoring system by category and severity limits the application of this approach. In this study, we developed an innovative approach to dairy herd health management by establishing a novel scoring system for dairy herd health management aimed at providing a more nuanced understanding of disease impact. For this purpose, we retrieved 5-year data from 2 558 disease diary records of 798 primiparous and multiparous cows housed on a Czech farm and classified 125 production diseases into six categories, namely lameness, mastitis, postpartum diseases, digestive system, reproductive diseases and other diseases. Based on this metric, we developed a data-driven DSS for farm management. Using this DSS, we identified markers of disease categories for efficient veterinary monitoring on dairy farms. This DSS highlighted a decreasing trend of average monthly disease scores, yet the prevalence of postpartum and other diseases increased during the same period, due to changes in reproduction management within the herd. These findings underscore the need for data-driven targeted interventions for promoting the herd health. Therefore, our scoring model not only provides a comprehensive framework for dairy herd health monitoring and improvement but also advances dairy farming by providing a decision support system easily applicable to dairy farms based on available data recorded in disease diaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: African swine fever, as an acute, contact-transmitted infection, has a very high mortality and infectivity, and there are no effective drugs that can treat the disease. Therefore, it is necessary to take biosecurity measures in time at the beginning of the disease outbreak. In this article, media coverage is introduced into the African swine fever model, and the results indicate that real-time media coverage of the African swine fever epidemic is beneficial for breeders to scientifically prevent the spread of the epidemic in a timely manner. Through the evaluation of specific prevention and control measures, we suggest that timely disinfection and sterilization measures taken by breeding personnel after receiving relevant reports of the swine fever epidemic can effectively control the spread of the disease. African swine fever is a highly contagious virus that causes pig disease. Its onset process is short, but the mortality rate is as high as 100%. There are still no effective drugs that have been developed to treat African swine fever, and prevention and control measures are currently the best means to avoid infection in pig herds. In this paper, two fractional order mathematical models with media coverage are constructed to describe the transmission of African swine fever. The first model is a basic model with media coverage, and no control measures are considered. For this model, the reproduction number is obtained by using the next generation matrix method. Then, the sufficient conditions for the existence and stability of two equilibriums are obtained. Based on the first model, the second model is established incorporating two control measures. By using Pontryagin's maximal principle, the optimal control solution is derived. After that, some numerical simulations are performed for the two models to verify the theoretical results. Both the qualitative analysis and numerical results indicate that timely media coverage combined with disinfection control measures is crucial to preventing the spread of disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]