A welfare indicator protocol integrating a total of 38 measures from 4 information sources: housing system, management, animal behaviour and clinical health has been developed for decision support in Automatic Milking System (AMS) herds. Two expert opinion studies focusing on the relevance of the welfare indicator protocol as basis for on-farm welfare assessment have been carried out; one study focused on the opinion of 21 AMS researchers; the other on that of 14 AMS production advisors and 15 veterinary practitioners. The researchers were asked to score the individual welfare relevance of the 38 measures. Furthermore, both the panels were asked to prioritise the 10 most important measures. The 21 researchers generally appreciated the listed protocol measures as highly relevant. The researcher and advisor panels agreed on prioritised measures from all 4 information sources among the 10 most important welfare indicators. In summary, researchers as well as production advisors and veterinarians supported the suggested measures for inclusion in a welfare assessment system. This has demonstrated that integration of different information is considered decisive for operational welfare assessment at herd level.

This paper presents a novel solution for precision draping of prepreg composite fabrics onto double curved molds. Our contributions relate to system design, including hardware and software components, and to system integration. On the hardware side, design and implementation of a drape tool with up to 120 suction cups positioned individually by linear actuators are described. On the software side, design and implementation of the software architecture are presented, along with necessary algorithms within sensor technologies and mathematical modeling. The essential system’s components were verified individually, and the entire integrated system was successfully validated in the Proof-of-Concept experiments, performed on an experimental physical model of the system.

The structure of an illite-smectite (I-S) sample (HSI) from the Tertiary–Cretaceous boundary layer at Stevns, Denmark, i.e. the so-called Fish Clay, is investigated in order to discuss the origin of this clay and its similarity to clays from Maastrichtian-Danian chalk of Denmark and the North Sea. The phase compositions and layer sequences have been determined by X-ray diffraction. The structural formulae are determined from chemical analysis and solid-state 27Al magic-angle spinning (MAS) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The octahedral vacancy pattern has been determined by thermal analysis and the particle shape by atomic force microscopy. The HSI sample I-S consists of two phases, a high-smectitic (HS) phase (70%) having 95% smectite and 5% illite (leucophyllite) layers, and a low-smectitic (LS) phase (30%) having 50% smectite and 50% illite (leucophyllite) layers. Both phases have trans-vacant dioctahedral sheets and contain only traces of IVAl, the charge of the illite (leucophyllite) layers being provided predominantly by octahedral Mg for Al substitution. The structure of the tetrahedral and octahedral sheets for the HSI are compared to the structure of an I-S sample (GRI) from the Maastrichtian chalk at Stevns below the Tertiary-Cretaceous boundary and to the standard smectite SAz-1 from Arizona. For all three samples the 27Al MAS NMR spectra show the presence of two resolved IVAl resonances, which indicate the presence of two different IVAl sites. The NMR, infrared spectroscopy and chemical data show that both HSI and GRI have highly ordered Mg for Al substitution in the octahedral sheet, each Al having one Mg and two Al neighbours, whereas substitution of Mg for Al in SAz-1 is random. For the HSI sample, both the HS and LS phases are probably formed from volcanic ash. The structural similarity of the phases in HSI and GRI shows that GRI formed from a material similar to HSI by illitization of the HS phase and chloritization of the LS phase.

Illite-smectite (I-S) mixed-layer minerals from North Sea oil fields and a Danish outcrop were investigated to determine the detailed structure and the diagenetic clay transformation. Clay layers in the chalk and residues obtained by dissolution of the chalk matrix at pH 5 were investigated. The phase compositions and layer sequences were determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD) including simulation with a multicomponent program. The structural formulae were determined from chemical analysis, infrared (IR) and 27Al NMR spectroscopies and XRD, and the particle shape by atomic force microscopy (AFM). A high-smectitic (HS) I-S phase and a lowsmectitic (LS) illite-smectite-chlorite (I-S-Ch) phase, both dioctahedral, together constitute 80 – 90% of each sample. However, two samples contain significant amounts of tosudite and of Ch-Serpentine (Sr), respectively. Most of the clay layers have probably formed by dissolution of the chalk, but one Campanian and one Santonian clay layer in well Baron 2 may have a sedimentary origin. The HS and LS minerals are probably of detrital origin. Early diagenesis has taken place through a fixation of Mg in brucite interlayers in the LS phase, this solid-state process forming di-trioctahedral chlorite layers. During later diagenesis involving dissolution of the HS phase, neoformation of a tosudite or of a random mixed-layer trioctahedral chlorite-berthierine took place. In the tosudite, brucite-like sheets are regularly interstratified with smectite interlayers between dioctahedral 2:1 layers, resulting in ditrioctahedral chlorite layers.

In organic pig production one of the major challenges is to be able to fulfil amino acid requirements based on organic and locally grown protein feed crops. The pig is an opportunistic omnivore with a unique capacity for foraging above and below the soil surface. It is hypothesized that direct foraging in the range area can pose an important contribution in terms of fulfilling nutrient requirements of growing pigs. Foraging activity, lucerne nutrient intake and pig performance were investigated in 36 growing pigs, foraging on lucerne or grass and fed either a standard organic pelleted feed mixture (HP: high protein) or a grain mixture containing 48% less CP (LP: low protein) compared with the high protein feed mixture, from an average live weight of 58 kg to 90 kg in a complete block design in three replicates. The pigs were fed 80% of energy recommendations and had access to 4 m2 of pasture/pig per day during the 40 days experimental period from September to October 2013. Behavioural observations were carried out 12 times over the entire experimental period. For both crops, LP pigs rooted significantly more compared with HP pigs but the effect of CP level was more pronounced in grass (44% v. 19% of all observations) compared with lucerne (28% v. 16% of all observations). Feed protein level turned out not to have any significant effect on grazing behaviour but pigs foraging on lucerne grazed significantly more than pigs foraging on grass (10% v. 4% of all observations). Daily weight gain and feed conversion ratio were significantly affected by feed protein and forage crop interactions. Compared to HP pigs, LP treated pigs had 33% lower daily weight gain (589 v. 878 g) and 31% poorer feed conversion ratio (3.75 v. 2.59 kg feed/kg weight gain) in grass paddocks, whereas in lucerne paddocks LP pigs only had 18% lower daily weight gain (741 v. 900 g) and a 14% poorer feed conversion ratio (2.95 v. 2.54 kg feed/kg weight gain) compared with HP pigs. LP pigs foraging on lucerne used 169 g less concentrate CP/kg weight gain, compared with HP pigs, indicating the nitrogen efficiency of the system. The results indicate that direct foraging of lucerne may be a valuable strategy in terms of accommodating CP and lysine requirements of organic growing pigs.

The intake of the mainly plant-derived n-3 PUFA α-linolenic acid (ALA) has been reported to be associated with a lower risk of CHD. However, the results have been inconsistent. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to examine the association between the intake of ALA and the risk of CHD. Potential effect modification by the intake of long-chain n-3 PUFA (n-3 LCPUFA) was also investigated. Data from eight American and European prospective cohort studies including 148 675 women and 80 368 men were used. The outcome measure was incident CHD (CHD event and death). During 4–10 years of follow-up, 4493 CHD events and 1751 CHD deaths occurred. Among men, an inverse association (not significant) between the intake of ALA and the risk of CHD events and deaths was observed. For each additional gram of ALA consumed, a 15 % lower risk of CHD events (hazard ratios (HR) 0·85, 95 % CI 0·72, 1·01) and a 23 % lower risk of CHD deaths (HR 0·77, 95 % CI 0·58, 1·01) were observed. No consistent association was observed among women. No effect modification by the intake of n-3 LCPUFA was observed.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of including milk yield data in the international genetic evaluation of female fertility traits to reduce or eliminate a possible bias because of across-country selection for milk yield. Data included two female fertility traits from Great Britain, Italy and the Netherlands, together with milk yield data from the same countries and from the United States, because the genetic trends in other countries may be influenced by selection decisions on bulls in the United States. Potentially, female fertility data had been corrected nationally for within-country selection and management biases for milk yield. Using a multiple-trait multiple across-country evaluation (MT-MACE) for the analysis of female fertility traits with milk yield, across-country selection patterns both for female fertility and milk yield can be considered simultaneously. Four analyses were performed; one single-trait multiple across-country evaluation analysis including only milk yield data, one MT-MACE analysis including only female fertility traits, and one MT-MACE analysis including both female fertility and milk yield traits. An additional MT-MACE analysis was performed including both female fertility and milk yield traits, but excluding the United States. By including milk yield traits to the analysis, female fertility reliabilities increased, but not for all bulls in all the countries by trait combinations. The presence of milk yield traits in the analysis did not considerably change the genetic correlations, genetic trends or bull rankings of female fertility traits. Even though the predicted genetic merits of female fertility traits hardly changed by including milk yield traits to the analysis, the change was not equally distributed to the whole data. The number of bulls in common between the two sets of Top 100 bulls for each trait in the two analyses of female fertility traits, with and without the four milk yield traits and their rank correlations were low, not necessarily because of the absence of the US milk yield data. The joint international genetic evaluation of female fertility traits with milk yield is recommended to make use of information on several female fertility traits from different countries simultaneously, to consider selection decisions for milk yield in the genetic evaluation of female fertility traits for obtaining more accurate estimating breeding values (EBV) and to acquire female fertility EBV for bulls evaluated for milk yield, but not for female fertility.

Fish consumption is the major dietary source of EPA and DHA, which according to rodent experiments may reduce body fat mass and prevent obesity. Only a few human studies have investigated the association between fish consumption and body-weight gain. We investigated the association between fish consumption and subsequent change in body weight. Women and men (n 344 757) participating in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition were followed for a median of 5·0 years. Linear and logistic regression were used to investigate the associations between fish consumption and subsequent change in body weight. Among women, the annual weight change was 5·70 (95 % CI 4·35, 7·06), 2·23 (95 % CI 0·16, 4·31) and 11·12 (95 % CI 8·17, 14·08) g/10 g higher total, lean and fatty fish consumption per d, respectively. The OR of becoming overweight in 5 years among women who were normal weight at enrolment was 1·02 (95 % CI 1·01, 1·02), 1·01 (95 % CI 1·00, 1·02) and 1·02 (95 % CI 1·01, 1·04) g/10 g higher total, lean and fatty consumption per d, respectively. Among men, fish consumption was not statistically significantly associated with weight change. Adjustment for potential over- or underestimation of fish consumption did not systematically change the observed associations, but the 95 % CI became wider. The results in subgroups from analyses stratified by age or BMI at enrolment were not systematically different. In conclusion, the present study suggests that fish consumption has no appreciable association with body-weight gain.

Fish consumption is the major dietary source of EPA and DHA, which according to rodent experiments may reduce body fat mass and prevent obesity. However, human studies have suggested that fish consumption has no appreciable association with body-weight gain. We investigated the associations between fish consumption and subsequent change in waist circumference. Sex, age and waist circumference at enrolment were considered as potential effect modifiers. Women and men (n 89 432) participating in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) were followed for a median of 5·5 years. Mixed-effect linear regression was used to investigate the associations between fish consumption and subsequent change in waist circumference. Among all participants, the average annual change in waist circumference was − 0·01 cm/10 g higher total fish consumption per d (95 % CI − 0·01, 0·00) and − 0·01 cm/10 g higher fatty fish consumption per d (95 % CI − 0·02, − 0·01), after adjustment for potential confounders. Lean fish consumption was not associated with change in waist circumference. Adjustment for potential over- or underestimation of fish consumption measurements did not systematically change the observed associations, but the 95 % CI became slightly wider. The results in subgroups from analyses stratified by sex, age or waist circumference at enrolment were not systematically different. In conclusion, the present study suggests that fish consumption does not prevent increase in waist circumference.

Intake of trans-fatty acids (TFA), especially industrially produced TFA (I-TFA), has been associated with the risk of CHD through influence on serum lipid levels. Other causal pathways remain less investigated. In the present cross-sectional study of middle-aged men representing a broad range of BMI, the association between intake of TFA, I-TFA and ruminant TFA (R-TFA) and obesity-associated risk markers of CHD was assessed. The study comprised 393 Danish men (median age 49 years) with a median BMI of 28·4 kg/m2. Intake of TFA was estimated based on 7 d dietary records, whereas outcomes of interest (waist circumference, sagittal abdominal diameter, percentage of truncal fat, C-reactive protein, IL-6, blood lipids, blood pressure, HbA1c and insulin sensitivity index) were obtained through clinical examination. The associations were assessed by linear regression analysis. The median intake of total TFA among the 393 men was 1·3 g/d, covering a daily I-TFA intake of 0·4 g (10–90th percentile 0·0–1·0) and R-TFA intake of 0·9 g (10–90th percentile 0·4–1·8). Intake of these amounts of TFA showed no significant associations with abdominal fatness, inflammatory markers, blood lipids, blood pressure and insulin homeostasis. Among middle-aged men with a generally low intake of TFA, neither I-TFA nor R-TFA was significantly related to obesity-associated risk markers of CHD. The decreased average intake of I-TFA in Denmark since 1995 is suggested to effectively prevent occurrence of the adverse metabolic changes and health consequences, which have formerly been observed in relation to, especially, I-TFA intake.

A trial of protective efficacy which compared medium–titre Edmonston-Zagreb (EZ) measles vaccine (104.6 p.f.u.) from the age of 4 months with the standard Schwarz (SW) measles vaccine given from the age of 9 months was started in an urban community in Guinea-Bissau in 1985. Because trials of high–titre measles vaccine have found increased mortality among female recipients, we examined whether EZ medium–titre vaccine was associated with any long-term impact on mortality, suppression of T–cells, or growth. The mortality rate ratio over 5 years of follow–up was 1.12 for EZ children compared with children in the standard group (P = 0.63). Seventy–five percent of the children still residing in the area at 5 years of age took part in an immunological and anthropometric examination. There was no difference in T–cell subsets between the two groups. There was no difference in mid–upper–arm circumference, but EZ children were significantly shorter than the children in the standard group. In conclusion, medium–titre EZ was not associated with reduced survival or persistent immunosuppression.

Recent cross-sectional data suggest that better vitamin K status in young girls (aged 3–16 years) is associated with decreased bone turnover, even though it is not associated with bone mineral content (BMC). The objective of the present study was to investigate the relationship between serum percentage of undercarboxylated osteocalcin (%ucOC), as an index of vitamin K status, and BMC and biochemical indices of bone turnover in peri-pubertal Danish girls. This peri-pubertal stage is a dynamic period of bone development, and as such, may represent an important window of opportunity for vitamin K status to modulate childhood bone health. Serum %ucOC and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25 (OH) D) were measured at baseline in a study of 223 healthy girls aged 11–12 years. Urinary pyridinium crosslinks of collagen and serum total osteocalcin as markers of bone resorption and formation, respectively, as well as BMC (total body and lumbar spine) were also measured. Serum %ucOC (median 21·9 %) was not associated with markers of bone resorption or with total osteocalcin. Serum %ucOC was inversely correlated with serum 25 (OH) D (r − 0·143; P < 0·05). Serum %ucOC was negatively associated with BMC of the total body (β − 0·045; P < 0·001) and lumbar spine (β − 0·055; P < 0·05), after adjustment for potential confounders including vitamin D status. Better vitamin K status was associated with increased BMC, but not bone turnover, in healthy peri-pubertal Danish girls. There is a need for well-designed, randomized phylloquinone supplementation trials in children and adolescents to confirm epidemiological findings of an association between vitamin K status and bone health.