Working conditions perceived by commercial store vendors: an occupational health perspective

The commerce sector represents one of the spaces of the economy that houses a large part of the working class, in which the figure of sellers undoubtedly marks an iconic role. In the performance of these activities, the seller is exposed to a large number of working conditions (CdT). General intention: Understand the experiences around the CoT of the salespeople who work in commercial stores in the central part of the city of Puerto Cabello. Materials and Methods: Within a socio-critical approach, with a hermeneutic phenomenological method. The study subjects were 10 salespeople from commercial stores who experienced the pre-named CoT and, for triangulation purposes, 2 owners and 2 customers of the commercial premises. Emerging structuring of the phenomenon: A structure emerges made up of 10 universal categories among which stand out: Positive appreciation of CdT, Aspects considered fair in the CdT, Elements absent in the CdT, Negative appreciation of CdT, Unfavorable ergonomic positions in the CdT, Affects in health reported as a product of the CdT, Absence of the occupational health and safety service. Understanding of the phenomenon:The working conditions perceived by commercial store salespeople are both positive and negative. On the positive side, they rate them as good, satisfactory and with a fair salary. On the negative side, they perceive them as difficult, uncomfortable and with the absence of employment and dining contracts. They report disergonomic conditions, and the work context is related to the current social situation in the country

Test d'un cCapteur de mesure du temps de pâturage et de rumination sur des vaches laitières au pâturage

peer reviewedUse of automated tools on farms is increasing worldwide and there are diverse applications available including optimization of grazing through monitoring rumination and ingestion times. The objective of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of the sensor developed by Medria to estimate grazing (G) and rumination (Ru) on pasture. This sensor includes a tri-axial accelerometer and provides data every 5 minutes. The trial lasted 12 days on 12 grazing cows in the CTA (Belgium), representing 380 h of observations. The data registered by the Medria device (M) were compared with visual observation (VO). The datasets were compared using Fleiss-κ estimating the concordance of 5-min observations and linear regression analysis was used to estimate the Pearson correlation coefficients (rp) and relative prediction error (RPE). Moderate for G (κ=0.502) and poor agreement for Ru (κ=0.175) were observed. Linear relationship between VO and M was highlighted with rp: 0.793; P<0.001 for G and rp=0.32; P<0.05 for Ru. The relative error prediction was 0.16 and 0.44 for G and Ru respectively. With regards to these results, reliable data about grazing are provided on a daily basis. The reliability of rumination data was poor

Improving pulse crops as a source of protein, starch and micronutrients

Pulse crops have been known for a long time to have beneficial nutritional profiles for human diets but have been neglected in terms of cultivation, consumption and scientific research in many parts of the world. Broad dietary shifts will be required if anthropogenic climate change is to be mitigated in the future, and pulse crops should be an important component of this change by providing an environmentally sustainable source of protein, resistant starch and micronutrients. Further enhancement of the nutritional composition of pulse crops could benefit human health, helping to alleviate micronutrient deficiencies and reduce risk of chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes. This paper reviews current knowledge regarding the nutritional content of pea (Pisum sativum L.) and faba bean (Vicia faba L.), two major UK pulse crops, and discusses the potential for their genetic improvement

Effet de la permission de traite sur la circulation et la production laitère de vaches traites par un robot de traite au pâturage

peer reviewedIn dairy farms automatic milking systems and grazing, traffic to the robot is the cornerstone of profitability as higher milking frequency enhances milk yield. In this study, we investigated whether shortening the minimum milking interval (MMI), i.e., the required time between two milkings for an animal to get access to the milking unit, coupled with high concentrate allocation, could increase the daily milking frequency (MF, milking/cow/day) and consequently the milk yield of grazing cows. Two groups of cows (n = 19 and n = 20) belonging to the same herd were discriminated based on concentrate supply (high vs. low: 4 vs. 2 kg/cow/day) and then further divided on the basis of MMI (4 h vs. 6 h) so that four groups were formed (HC4 h–HC6 h–LC4 h and finally LC6 h). Higher concentrate allocation induced a rise in milk yield (MY, kg/cow/day) and allowed to stabilize it in periods of grass shortage but did not influence milking frequency, while shorter MMI (4 h) was correlated with higher MF without effect on MY. A combination of both strategies (4 h and high concentrate) improved the traffic globally to the robot. This result was linked to a reduction of refused milking and, therefore, the decrease in returns to the robot. This strategy could be advised to maximize the system’s efficiency during periods of high milk sales. When the economic conditions do not favour the increase in concentrate supply, short MMI could facilitate the traffic and increase the efficiency of returns.Autograssmilk - Innovative and sustainable systems combining automatic milking and precision grazin

Evaluation de 3 équations pour estimer la biomasse d'herbe sur base de la hauteur d'herbe mesurée

peer reviewedDespite its benefits, grazing is decreasing , in southern Belgium because of difficult management. In fact, farmers lack confidence in the amount of fodder available on the grasslands. The herbage mass (HM - kg DM/ha) is an essential data to estimate grass stocks. To obtain it, the reference method is to clip grass from delimited quadrats in the paddocks. The weight of the sample (kg DM/quadrat) allows an estimate of the stocks (kg DM/ha) on the paddock. However, this method needs labour to get a valuable overview of the grassland stocks. Another method is based on measuring the sward height (H-cm) using rising plate meters (RPM) and then to convert it into HM. Using the RPM is easy but needs a calibration equation to convert the compressed height (CSH, cm) to HM. Yet, the rising plate meters available on the market are calibrated by manufacturers under conditions somewhat different from those where they will be used. This study aims thus to evaluate the accuracy of different calibration equations from commercial RPM. Measurements of CSH and HM were carried out in 5 Walloon farms on permanent grasslands from 2013 to 2015. In total, 299 data were collected. We compared three calibration equations. Equation 1 developed in New-Zealand is proposed at use of Jenquip EC20®. Equation 2 developed in Ireland is proposed at use of GrassHopper® and the Equation 3 is developed in France. Calculated HM was faced to the collected field data. The coefficient of determination (R²), the mean square error (MSE) and the relative prediction error (RPE) were determined. The HM and CSH of field data were 1599 ± 674 kg DM/ha and 9.73 ± 2.86 cm (mean ±SD). The values of HM obtained from Equ.1 to 3 were: 1862 ± 400 kg DM/ha (Equ. 1), 1489 ± 339 kg DM/ha (Equ. 2) and 2315 ± 680 kg DM/ha (Equ. 3). The R² values ranged from 0.41 (Equ.2) to 0.42 for Equ.1-3. The Equ.1 and 3 led to a recurrent over-evaluation of stocks (74% in Equ.1 and 90% in Equ. 3). This over-estimation reached 503 kg DM/ha. Conversely, the RPE of Equ. 2 was the lowest (33.6%) and the errors were more equally balanced (55% under vs 45% over-estimation). It seems thus that the Irish equation could be fairly used.12. Responsible consumption and productio