The crystal structure of urea oxalic acid (2:1)

The crystal structure of urea oxalic acid, 2[CO(NH2)2].(COOH)2 has been determined using three-dimensional X-ray data, collected on an automatic diffractometer. The space group is P21/c. The lattice constants are: a = 5.058 (3), b = 12.400 (3), c = 6.964 (2) A, fl= 98"13 (7) °. The number of molecules in the unit cell is two. The structure consists of layers of urea and oxalic acid molecules held together by hydrogen bonds. The positions of all hydrogen atoms have been found. The compound is not a uronium salt

Effect of a pre-milking teat foam and a liner disinfectant on the presence of mesophilic and (proteolytic) psychrotrophic bacteria prior to milking

Contamination of raw milk by psychrotrophs can lead to the production of heat-resistant proteases and subsequent spoilage of UHT milk. Therefore, this research communication evaluated the effect of a pre-milking teat disinfectant (active components: L-(+)-lactic acid and salicylic acid) and a liner disinfectant (active components: peracetic acid and hydrogen peroxide) on the number of mesophilic and (proteolytic) psychrotrophic bacteria prior to milking. The teat orifices of 10 cows were sampled using a swabbing procedure before and after treatment with a pre-milking teat disinfectant on six subsequent days. On the teat orifices, there was a small but statistically significant decrease in the psychrotrophic bacterial counts between pre and post dipping. No differences were observed for the mesophilic bacterial counts and proteolytic active counts. Liners were also sampled using swabs pre and post disinfection. No statistically significant decrease in the bacterial counts was observed post liner disinfection, although there was a numerical decrease. Sixty-two percent of the proteolytic psychrotrophs were pseudomonads: 16.5% of which were P. fragi, 14.3% P. lundensis, 10.0% P. fluorescens and 2.9% P. putida. Trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid (TNBS) analysis revealed a wide variety in proteolytic activity (from 0 to 55 mu mol glycine/ml milk) and the presence of high producers. It can be concluded that there was only a minor effect of teat and liner disinfection on the psychrotrophic bacterial counts indicating that the measures presented did not result in a reduction of the targeted bacteria on teat orifices and liners

Supporting the development and adoption of automatic lameness detection systems in dairy cattle : effect of system cost and performance on potential market shares

Most automatic lameness detection system prototypes have not yet been commercialized, and are hence not yet adopted in practice. Therefore, the objective of this study was to simulate the effect of detection performance (percentage missed lame cows and percentage false alarms) and system cost on the potential market share of three automatic lameness detection systems relative to visual detection: a system attached to the cow, a walkover system, and a camera system. Simulations were done using a utility model derived from survey responses obtained from dairy farmers in Flanders, Belgium. Overall, systems attached to the cow had the largest market potential, but were still not competitive with visual detection. Increasing the detection performance or lowering the system cost led to higher market shares for automatic systems at the expense of visual detection. The willingness to pay for extra performance was (sic)2.57 per % less missed lame cows, (sic)1.65 per % less false alerts, and (sic)12.7 for lame leg indication, respectively. The presented results could be exploited by system designers to determine the effect of adjustments to the technology on a system's potential adoption rate

A 10-day vacancy period after cleaning and disinfection has no effect on the bacterial load in pig nursery units

Background: Biosecurity measures such as cleaning, disinfection and a vacancy period between production cycles on pig farms are essential to prevent disease outbreaks. No studies have tested the effect of a longer vacancy period on bacterial load in nursery units. Methods: The present study evaluated the effect of a 10-day vacancy period in pig nursery units on total aerobic flora, Enterococcus spp., Escherichia coli, faecal coliforms and methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Three vacancy periods of 10 days were monitored, each time applied in 3 units. The microbiological load was measured before disinfection and at 1, 4, 7 and 10 days after disinfection. Results: No significant decrease or increase in E. coli, faecal coliforms, MRSA and Enterococcus spp. was noticed. Total aerobic flora counts were the lowest on day 4 after disinfection (i.e. 4.07 log CFU/625 cm(2)) (P < 0.05), but the difference with other sampling moments was limited (i.e. 0.6 log CFU/625 cm(2)) and therefore negligible. Furthermore, this observation on day 4 was not confirmed for the other microbiological parameters. After disinfection, drinking nipples were still mostly contaminated with total aerobic flora (i.e. 5.32 log CFU/625 cm(2)) and Enterococcus spp. (i.e. 95 % of the samples were positive) (P < 0.01); the feeding troughs were the cleanest location (total aerobic flora: 3.53 log CFU/625 cm(2) and Enterococcus spp.: 50 % positive samples) (P < 0.01). Conclusions: This study indicates that prolonging the vacancy period in nursery units to 10 days after disinfection with no extra biosecurity measures has no impact on the environmental load of total aerobic flora, E. coli, faecal coliforms, MRSA and Enterococcus spp.

Exposure of ciprofloxacin-resistant Escherichia coli broiler isolates to subinhibitory concentrations of a quaternary ammonium compound does not increase antibiotic resistance gene transfer

Resistance to antibiotics threatens to become a worldwide health problem. An important attributing phenomenon in this context is that pathogens can acquire antibiotic resistance genes through conjugative transfer of plasmids. To prevent bacterial infections in agricultural settings, the use of veterinary hygiene products, such as disinfectants, has gained popularity and questions have been raised about their contribution to such spreading of antibiotic resistance. Therefore, this study investigated the effect of subinhibitory concentrations of benzalkoniumchloride (BKC), a quaternary ammonium compound (QAC), on the conjugative transfer of antibiotic resistance genes. Five Escherichia coli field strains originating from broiler chickens and with known transferable plasmid-mediated ciprofloxacin resistance were exposed to subinhibitory BKC concentrations: 1/3, 1/10 and 1/30 of the minimum bactericidal concentration. Antibiotic resistance transfer was assessed by liquid mating for 4 h at 25 degrees C using E. coli K12 MG1655 as recipient strain. The transfer ratio was calculated as the number of transconjugants divided by the number of recipients. Without exposure to BKC, the strains showed a ciprofloxacin resistance transfer ratio ranging from 10(-4) to 10(-7). No significant effect of exposure to subinhibitory concentrations of BKC was observed on this transfer ratio

Measuring teat dimensions using image analysis

The interaction between teat and teatcup liner can strongly affect the milking characteristics and udder health. Therefore teat morphology is an important parameter in choosing the most appropriate liner. Nevertheless, teat morphology is rarely considered in choosing a teatcup liner. Gathering information on teat morphology on large scale with current techniques is time consuming, subjective and not always accurate. However, the ability to measure teat shape parameters in an easy way and on large scale has many applications. This study presents a new vision based measuring system that uses a camera to obtain a 2D image of the teat and image processing analyses to determine teat length and diameters. The technique is proven to be accurate (error less than 6%), repeatable and reproducible for both teat length and diameters

2D vision based measuring device for teat morphology in dairy cows

Teat morphology is an important parameter in choosing the most appropriate teatcup liner for a herd since the interaction between teat and liner can strongly affect the milking characteristics and udder health. Nevertheless, information on teat morphology is very scarce and rarely sufficient for liner selection. Gathering information on large scale with current techniques is time consuming, subjective and not always accurate. However, the ability to measure teat parameters in an easy way and on large scale has many applications. This study presents a new vision based measuring technique for teat shape parameters. A camera is used to obtain a 2D image of the teat and image processing analyses to determine teat length and diameters. In addition, shape parameters of teat and teat end can be defined. The resolution in length and diameters is better than 0.5 mm. The error on the length of the teats that make an angle in the longitudinal plane of maximum 25° towards the camera, is no more than 5 %. To validate the repeatability of the measuring method, the teats of one Holstein cow were measured 5 times by 8 different members of a test panel of which 5 people were experienced in working with cows. Reproducibility was tested by measuring the teats of 7 Holstein cows by the same test panel. The teats of each cow were measured once in a defined order. The sequence in which the members measured the teats was randomized. No significant differences were found between the 5 successive measurements of one person on 3 teats. Significant differences in left-front teat measurements (p=0.002) were due to the lack of cow experience (p=0.022). Teat length measurements did not significantly differ between members of the test panel as long as teats could be easily reached. However, no significant differences were found for all teats between operators familiar with cows. In conclusion, a new accurate, repeatable and reproducible method was developed to measure teat parameters in all kinds of milking parlours. To obtain repeatable and reproducible results, some training in working in close interaction with cows is advised