Technical note: Evaluation of odor from vaginal discharge of cows in the first 10 days after calving by olfactory cognition and an electronic device

The objective of this study was to determine test characteristics (i.e., intra- and interobserver variability, intraassay variability, sensitivity, and specificity) of an evaluation of odor from vaginal discharge (VD) of cows in the first 10 d postpartum conducted by olfactory cognition and an electronic device, respectively. In experiment 1, 16 investigators (9 veterinary students and 7 licensed veterinarians) evaluated 5 VD samples each on 10 different days. The kappa test revealed an agreement between investigators (interobserver) of κ = 0.43 with a Fleiss adjusted standard error of 0.0061. The overall agreement was the same for students (κ = 0.28) and veterinarians (κ = 0.28). Mean agreement within observers (intraobserver) was κ = 0.52 for all observers, and 0.49 and 0.62 for students and veterinarians, respectively. In experiment 2, the repeatability of an electronic device (DiagNose; C-it, Zutphen, the Netherlands) was tested. Therefore, 5 samples of VD from 5 cows were evaluated 10 times each. The repeatability was 0.97, determined by Cronbach’s α. In experiment 3, 20 samples collected from healthy cows and 20 of cows with acute puerperal metritis were evaluated by the 16 investigators and the DiagNose using a dichotomous scale (1 = cow with acute puerperal metritis; 0 = healthy cow). Sensitivity and specificity of olfactory evaluation was 75.0 and 60.1% compared with 92.0 and 100%, respectively, for the electronic nose device. The study revealed a considerable subjectivity of the human nose concerning the classification into healthy and sick animals based on the assessment of vaginal discharge. The repeatability of the electronic nose was higher. In conclusion, the DiagNose system, although imperfect, is a reasonable tool to improve odor assessment of VD. The current system, however, is not suitable as a screening tool in the field. Further research is warranted to adapt such electronic devices to practical on-farm screening tools.     

Factors associated with body temperature of healthy Holstein dairy cows during the first 10 days in milk

In this prospective observational study rectal and vaginal temperature of 82 (26 primiparous, 56 multiparous) early post-partum healthy dairy cows that calved without intervention within 3 months and did not show clinical signs of infectious and metabolic diseases were continuously measured and evaluated for associations with plausible factors during the first 10 days in milk (DIM). During May, June and July mean (±SD) temperature humidity index (THI) was 60·1±5; 66·8±5·6 and 74·2±4·3, respectively. Environmental conditions had a negligible effect on body temperature (BT) during May (P<0·05). During June and July, however, the ambient temperature and THI influenced BT (P<0·05). Furthermore, plausible factors like parity, DIM, months and time of day had an effect on BT (P<0·05). Overall, primiparous cows demonstrated 0·2°C greater BT during the first 10 DIM than multiparous cows. The effect of parity, however, on BT varied between DIM according to month (P<0·001). During this 3-month study period all cows demonstrated BT rhythms; however, the amplitude of BT increased from May to July (0·3 to 0·7°C). A greater proportion of the vaginal temperature measurements exceeded a threshold tested (≥39·5°C) during July (46·8%) than in June (33·9%) and May (19·3%). Overall the percentage of BT values above a threshold of ≥39·5°C was lower during the period 6.00-10.00 compared with the remaining 20 h (P<0·05). Therefore this study concluded that the BT of healthy post-partum dairy cows during the period 1-10 DIM post partum is greater compared with the reference range of 38·6 to 39·5°C reported by others and is influenced by parity, DIM, time of day and THI. When the association between BT and THI increased the reliability of threshold levels of BT (≥39·5°C) decreased.     

Vermistabilization of municipal sewage sludge amended with sugarcane trash using epigeic Eisenia fetida (Oligochaeta)

Efforts have been made in this study to stabilize the sewage sludge mixed with sugarcane trash in four different proportions: 20% (T(1)); 40% (T(2)); 60% (T(3)) and 80% (T(4)), under laboratory conditions using epigeic earthworm (Oligochaeta) Eisenia fetida. The composting potential of worm was also evaluated in 100% sewage sludge treatment (T(5)). The changes in chemical properties of substrate was measured at the end. The vermicomposted material showed decrease in organic C (4.8-12.7%) and exchangeable K (3.2-15.3%) content, whereas increase in total N (5.9-25.1%) and available P (1.2-10.9%), exchangeable Ca (2.3-10.9%) and exchangeable Mg (4.5-14.0%) contents. Vermicomposting process caused considerable reduction in concentration of diethylene-triaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA) extractable metals: Cu (4.98-30.5%), Fe (5.08-12.64%), Mn (3.31-18.0%), Zn (2.52-15.90%) and Pb (2.38-20.0%). E. fetida showed the better growth performances in first three treatments (T(1)-T(3)) possibly due to higher content of organic matter (supplied by bulking agent, i.e. sugarcane trash). The earthworm mortality was higher in vermibeds those contained more sludge proportions. Study revealed that vermicomposting might be an efficient technology to convert negligible municipal sewage sludge into value-added products. The feasibility of earthworms to mitigate the metal toxicity and to enhance the nutrient profile might be useful to convert noxious sludge into useful products, at low-input basis.     

Effects of air pollution for estimating global solar radiation in India

Solar energy is the primary resource for all biological, chemical and physical processes. The amount of global solar radiation is an important parameter for solar energy applications. It is common to estimate a monthly average of daily global solar radiation using different regression models. These models in turn exploit the correlation between solar radiation and various atmospheric factors. These factors are commonly derived from meteorological, geographical and climatological data that are readily available for majority of weather stations across the world. In this paper, a novel regression model that can predict location-independent daily global solar radiation is presented. The proposed exponential quadratic model captures the correlation between measured global solar radiation values, sunshine hour and Air Pollution Index for Indian cities. In addition to this, an extended study of several other regression models (e.g. linear, quadratic, exp.-linear and exp.-quadratic) is also presented. This analysis with real data from Indian cities suggests that air pollution is a more significant factor than location when predicting solar radiation. Finally, the model parameters (regression coefficients) for each model are listed out. Additionally, the generalised model equation for the best performing model is also presented.     

Processing issues,machining, and applications of aluminum metal matrix composites

Aluminum metal matrix composites (AMMCs) used in different industries from automotive to aerospace for specific purposes. Many problems hinder the full-scale industrialization of AMMCs but the main problems include wettability, particle distribution, porosity, and chemical reaction. These problems have explicit effects on mechanical, wear, and corrosion resistance properties of the composite materials. Therefore, it is essential to cope up with these problems for better quality of AMMCs. This paper focuses on issues related to AMMCs fabrication, corrosion resistance, wear resistance, machining parameter optimization, and chip analysis of AMMCs. Literature provides a guideline to researchers about present scenario of AMMC fabrication using stir casting process. Moreover, paper presents properties and applications of AMMCs.     

Interpenetrating polymer networks from castor oil-based polyurethanes and polystyrene,XXV

Interpenetrating polymer networks (IPNs) of castor oil-based polyurethanes and polystyrene were prepared by simultaneous polymerization. The liquid prepolyurethanes were formed by reacting the hydroxyl functionality of castor oil with isophorone diisocyanate using different stoichiometric NCO/OH ratios. These prepolyurethanes were mixed with styrene monomer and subsequently polymerized by free radical polymerization initiated by benzoyl peroxide in the presence of the crosslinker 1,4-divinyl benzene. The interpenetrating polymer networks. PU/PS IPNs, were obtained as tough and transparent films by the transfer moulding technique. These IPNs were characterized by the static mechanical properties (tensile strength, Young's modulus and % elongation), thermal properties and morphology. The dielectric relaxation properties (σ, E′, E″ and tanδ) of the IPNs at different temperatures were studied.     

Electrical conductivity of polySchiff bases: A theoretical study

The electrical conductivity of poly Schiff bases obtained from benzidine-3,3'-dicarboxylic acid (BDC) with diacetyl diphenyl ether (DDE) and Glyoxal (GLY) is explained with the help of Pariser-Parr-Pople calculation. The effect of functional groups on the conduction has also been elucidated.     

New organic polymers,I. Synthesis and characterization of poly Schiff bases from benzidine-3,3′-dicarboxylic acid

Thermally stable and semiconducting polymers are synthesized by condensing benzidine-3,3′-dicarboxylic acid (BDC), with dicarbonyl compounds like glyoxal, cyclohexane-1,4-dione, 4,4′-diacetyl diphenyl ether and benzil under different experimental conditions. These poly Schiff bases are insoluble in common organic solvents. They are characterized by IR- and viscosity studies, thermal analysis, and the study of electrical properties at various temperatures. Variation of the electrical conductivity, σ, with temperature was found to confirm with the empirical relation:      

Absolute vicarious calibration of OCM2 and AWiFS sensors using a reflectance-based method over land sites in the Rann of Kutch,Gujarat

A study was carried out to estimate vicarious calibration coefficients for the OCM2 (Ocean Color Monitor) sensor onboard Oceansat-2 and also the AWiFS (Advanced Wide Field Sensor) sensor onboard Resourcesat-1 using reflectance measurements over three land sites – Dhrangadhra, Desalpar, and Bhachau – in the Rann of Kutch, Gujarat, India, on four dates (17 October 2010, 25 and 29 April 2011, and 1 May 2011). Hyperspectral field reflectance measurements of the study sites (of extent ?2 km?×?2 km) in the wavelength range 325–2500 nm, along with measurements of atmospheric parameters (aerosol optical depth (AOD), water vapour, ozone) and sensor spectral response functions, were input to the 6S atmosphere correction code to compute top-of-atmosphere (TOA) at-satellite radiance in the eight visible and near infrared (NIR) bands of OCM2 and the four visible, NIR, and shortwave infrared (SWIR) bands of the AWiFS sensor. The uncertainty in vicarious calibration coefficients due to measured spatial variability of field reflectance, aerosol optical thickness (AOT), water vapour, and ozone, was also computed for the OCM2 sensor for three dates (25 and 29 April 2011, 1 May 2011). The effect of surface anisotropy on TOA radiance was studied using a 15 day Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF) product covering the study sites.

The results show that there is an indication of change in calibration coefficients in OCM2, for band 2 (25 April Desalpar data), bands 2 and 5 (29 April Desalpar data), and bands 2–5 and 7 in Bhachau (1 May data), all at the 1σ level. For these bands, in the inverse mode, the 6S corrected surface reflectance was closer to field surface reflectance when estimated at-sensor radiances were used as input to the code. For AWiFS, there was no evidence of change in calibration coefficients of all four bands at the 1σ level. It was found that site spatial variability was a critical factor in estimating change in sensor calibration coefficients and influencing uncertainty in TOA radiance for all three sites.     

Interpenetrating polymer networks from castor oil based polyurethanes,XI

Under different experimental conditions, various liquid polyurethanes (PU) were synthesized from castor oil and isophorone diisocyanate varying NCO/OH ratio. These polyurethanes were then subsequently interpenetrated with n-butyl acrylate (nBA) monomer and ethylene glycol di-methacrylate as crosslinker by radical polymerization using benzoyl peroxide as an initiator. This leads to the formation of novel PU/PnBA interpenetrating polymer networks (IPNs) by transfer molding. These IPNs were characterized by their resistance to chemical reagents, thermal behavior (TGA), mechanical properties, namely; tensile strength, Young's modulus, elongation at break (%) and hardness (Shore A). The morphology of the IPNs was studied by Scanning Electron Microscopy. The dielectric behavior was computed in terms of electrical conductivities, dielectric constant (ε′), loss tangent (tan δ) and dielectric loss (ε″).