The main idea of this thesis is studying the importance of the carry-over effects and interaction effects in statistical models. To investigate it, a hand-milking experiment in Burkina Faso was studied. In many no electricity access countries, such as Burkina Faso, the amount of milk and milk compositions are still highly  relying on hand-milking techniques and milkers. Moreover, the time effects also plays a important role in stockbreeding system. Therefore, falling all effects, carry-over effects and interaction effects into a linear mixed effects model, it is concluded that the carry-over effects of milker and hand-milking techniques cannot be neglected, and the interaction effects among hand-milking techniques, different milkers, days and periods can be substantial.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Uppsala : Sveriges lantbruksuniv., 2003. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Os objetivos deste trabalho foram relacionar o atendimento das necessidades humanas dos funcionários com os indicadores de qualidade do leite, avaliar o conhecimento técnico tanto dos ordenhadores quanto dos proprietários e gerentes, observar as práticas realizadas na ordenha, relacionando-as com os indicadores de qualidade do leite e verificar a adoção de ferramentas da gestão administrativa de explorações leiteiras, segundo o sistema MDA, da Clínica do Leite - ESALQ/USP. Para atingir estes objetivos, 74 propriedades leiteiras localizadas nos Estados de São Paulo, Minas Gerais e Rio de Janeiro participaram deste projeto. Estas propriedades foram divididas em dois grupos, a partir da média de contagem bacteriana total (CBT) apresentada, sendo o grupo com alta CBT com média superior a 200.000 ufc/ml e o grupo com baixa CBT, com média inferior a 50.000 ufc/ml. Foram realizadas visitas a estas propriedades, com duração de meio dia, sendo que estas constituíram no acompanhamento da rotina de ordenha, aplicação de questionários com os ordenhadores sobre questões relacionadas ao atendimento das necessidades humanas, segundo Maslow e conhecimentos técnicos e aplicação de questionários com os proprietários ou gerentes sobre aspectos relacionados ao gerenciamento das propriedades, segundo o sistema MDA. Os dados foram analisados por estatística descritiva e também pela metodologia de árvores de regressão, relacionando as questões com a CBT e contagem de células somáticas (CCS). A média de CBT das propriedades com alta CBT foi de 330.113 ufc/ml (± 143.865 ufc/ml) e das com baixa CBT foi 49.126 ufc/ml (± 36.704 ufc/ml). Já para CCS, as médias foram: 908.473 céls/ml (± 463.992 céls/ml) para propriedades com alta CBT e 605.728 céls/ml (± 282.885 céls/ml) para propriedades com baixa CBT. Tanto os funcionários quanto proprietários ou gerentes de ambos os grupos apresentaram conhecimento satisfatório sobre a rotina de ordenha, mas uma pequena porcentagem dos grupos conhecia os conceitos relacionados à qualidade do leite. No entanto, os conhecimentos sobre mastite foram maiores para os funcionários e proprietários ou gerentes das propriedades com baixa CBT. Com relação ao atendimento das necessidades humanas, todas as necessidades tenderam a ser mais bem atendidas para os funcionários das propriedades com baixa CBT, com exceção das necessidades fisiológicas. O mesmo perfil pode ser observado para o gerenciamento administrativo das propriedades com baixa CBT, sendo que a adoção das ferramentas de gestão, como política básica, gestão da rotina, procedimentos operacionais e recursos humanos, tendeu a ser maior nestas propriedades. Além disso, os procedimentos recomendados da rotina de ordenha foram mais e melhor conduzidos pelas propriedades com baixa CBT, assim como a limpeza dos equipamentos. Desta forma, pode-se observar que os aspectos relacionados ao conhecimento técnico, comprometimento dos funcionários, conseguido através do atendimento das necessidades humanas, adoção de ferramentas de gestão administrativa e a ordenha estão interferindo na qualidade do leite produzido. Apesar das propriedades com baixa CBT terem apresentado resultados melhores nestas áreas, há a possibilidade de melhorar ainda mais a qualidade do produto, através do investimento em todas as áreas relacionadas neste projeto. / The purposes of this work were to relate satisfaction of employees\' human needs with milk quality indicators, to evaluate technical knowledge of milkers and producers or managers, to observe milking practices conducted, relating them to milk quality indicators and to verify adoption of dairy farms management tools, according to MDA system, of Clínica do Leite - ESALQ/USP. In order to achieving these goals, 74 dairy farms located in states of São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro participated of this work. These dairy farms were divided in two groups, from total bacterial count (TBC) average, being the group with high TBC with average greater than 200,000 cfu/ml and the group with low TBC with average minor than 50,000 cfu/ml. Visits to these farms were accomplished during half day, being these constituted of milking routine observation, application of questionnaires to milkers about satisfaction of human needs, according to Maslow and technical knowledge and application of questionnaire to producers or managers about aspects related to farms management, according to MDA system. Statistical analyses were performed by descriptive statistics and also by regression trees methodology, relating questions with TBC and somatic cell count (SCC). The TBC average of dairy farms with high TBC was 330,113 cfu/ml (± 143,865 cfu/ml), and of those with low TBC was 49,126 cfu/ml (± 36,704 cfu/ml). The averages of SCC were: 908,473 cells/ml (± 463,992 cells/ml) to dairy farms with high TBC and 605,728 cells/ml (± 282,885 cells/ml) to dairy farms with low TBC. Both groups of milkers and producers or managers showed a satisfactory knowledge about milking routine, but a little percentage of both groups knew the concepts related to milk quality. Nevertheless, knowledge about mastitis was greater to milkers and producers or managers of dairy farms with low TBC. Regarding human needs satisfaction, all needs tended to be more satisfied to milkers of dairy farms with low TBC, except for physiological needs. The same scenario was observed to administrative management of dairy farms with low TBC, being the adoption of management tools, like basic policy, routine management, operational protocols and human resource, tended to be greater at these farms. Besides, milking routine recommended practices were more and better conducted by dairy farms with low TBC, just like equipment cleaning. In this way, it can be observed that aspects related to technical knowledge, employees commitment, achieved through satisfaction of human needs, adoption of administrative management tools and milking were interfering at milk quality. Despite dairy farms with low TBC showed better results at these areas, there is a possibility to improve the product quality, through investment in all related areas of these work.

La thèse avait pour objectif de caractériser l’adaptabilité de la glande mammaire, organe support de la fonction de lactation, afin de contribuer à l’étude de la robustesse des vaches laitières et à l’identification de vaches adaptables. L’approche utilisée pour caractériser l’adaptabilité de la glande mammaire consistait à décrire les réponses inter-individuelles de production laitière lors d’une perturbation, puis à identifier des critères phénotypiques et/ou génétiques modulant les caractéristiques adaptatives. Deux modalités d’allongement de l’intervalle entre traites ont été choisies pour perturber le fonctionnement de la glande mammaire : un intervalle de traite unique de 24h (24h-MI) et 3 semaines de monotraite (ODM). Les 2 composantes de l’adaptabilité, à savoir la résistance et la résilience, ont été respectivement estimées par les pertes de lait lors de l’allongement de l’intervalle entre traites et par le taux de récupération au retour à 2 traites par jour,Quatre profils de réponse, définis par leur association des modalités de résistance et de résilience, ont été mis en évidence, dont 3 étaient communs aux 2 perturbations (24h-MI et ODM). Ces profils étaient caractérisés par la compliance de la glande mammaire (c’est-à-dire son aptitude à se distendre) et par son état inflammatoire. Les réponses de production laitière seraient des caractères héritables (h2= 0.32 pour les pertes de lait en kg/j et 0.63 pour la récupération de lait (kg/d), respectivement) ouvrant des perspectives de sélection des vaches sur ces caractères adaptatifs. Les zones du génome influant / This study aimed to enhance knowledge on dairy cows robustness and to enable the identification of adaptable cows through the characterization of the adaptability of the mammary gland, the organ responsible for lactation. The methodology used to characterize the adaptability of the mammary gland consisted in describing inter individual variability in milk yield responses profiles to a perturbation and then identifying phenotypes and/or genotypes that modulated the adaptive characteristics. The mammary gland functioning was challenged by using two different lengthening of milking interval as a perturbation on dairy cows usually milked twice-daily (TDM): a single extended milking interval of 24h (24h-MI) and a 3-wk once-daily milking (ODM). For each of them, the two components of adaptability, resistance and resilience, were estimated by milk yield loss in % when switching cows to 24h-MI or ODM and milk recovery:loss ratio when switching cows back to TDM.Four individual responses profiles, defined by the association of specific resistance and resilience modalities, were found with 3 being common between 24h-MI and ODM. These profiles were characterized by udder compliance (= ability to distend) and mammary inflammation. Milk yield responses were also found to be heritable (h2= 0.32 for milk yield losses and 0.63 for milk yield recovery (kg/d), respectively), so that it could be possible to select animals on these adaptability traits. The genomic regions related to these responses were partly different from regions controlling milk production traits during TDM, so that adapt

Time of flight is an imaging technique with uses depth information to capture 3D information in a scene. Recent developments in the technology have made ToF cameras more widely available and practical to work with. The cameras now enable real time 3D imaging and positioning in a compact unit, making the technology suitable for variety of object recognition tasks An object recognition system for locating teats is at the center of the DeLaval VMS, which is a fully automated system for milking cows. By implementing ToF technology as part of the visual detection procedure, it would be possible to locate and track all four teat’s positions in real time and potentially provide an improvement compared with the current system. The developed algorithm for teat detection is able to locate teat shaped objects in scenes and extract information of their position, width and orientation. These parameters are determined with an accuracy of millimeters. The algorithm also shows promising results when tested on real cows. Although detecting many false positives the algorithm was able to correctly detected 171 out of 232 visible teats in a test set of real cow images. This result is a satisfying proof of concept and shows the potential of ToF technology in the field of automated milking.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-05-02T13:54:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 AlanAndradeMesquita-dissertacao.pdf: 164106 bytes, checksum: 3b73915b95c788017b359efc06ba110b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-06-20 / The objective of this study was to evaluate whether oxytocin, before and after milking, influences the efficiency of milk ejection, and consequently increased production and changes in milk composition. The experiment was conducted at the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology in Southern Minas Gerais - Machado Campus in the cattle industry, using 39 animals, divided into 13 blocks, each with three animals listed from "1" to "13". The division of animals was based on the sequence of individual production, so that block "1" was composed by the three most productive animals and block "13" by three animals of lower production. For each block, the animals were randomly assigned to treatments 1, 2 and 3. One (T1) animal did not receive oxytocin, representing the control treatment. It received only normal saline 0.5 ml, in the entire teat during the 60 days of the experiment. In two treatment (T2), all the animals received milking oxytocin at a concentration of 10 IU, total 0.5 ml, before the start of milking, during the 60 days period. In treatment three (T3), the animals received oxytocin at the end of milking at a concentration of 10 IU, total of 0.5ml, and were milked again. Such activities were performed during the 60 days of the experiment. To measure the production of cow s milk meters were used and sampling was performed every 15 days, totaling four weighing and sampling procedures. After measured the production of all animals were, measured samples were collected and sent for analysis. The variables analyzed were the acidity of the milk and quantified of the composition of fat, lactose and protein. The results were submitted to ANOVA and subsequently the comparison of means test, which was statistically significant at 5%. According to the results oxytocin did not influence milk production, the average percentage of fat, lactose and milk protein, but enabled moderation of declining production in the lactation curve and may decrease the effect of the fall in the percentage of protein in milk. / O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar se a ocitocina, antes e após a ordenha, influencia a eficiência da ejeção do leite e consequentemente o aumento da produção e mudanças na composição do leite. O experimento foi realizado no Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Sul de Minas Gerais - Câmpus Machado, no setor de bovinocultura, utilizando 39 animais, divididos em 13 blocos, cada um com três animais enumerados de 1 a 13 , e foi utilizado na divisão dos animais, uma sequência de produção individual. Assim, o bloco 1 foi composto pelos três animais mais produtivos, e o bloco 13 , pelos três animais de menor produção. Em cada bloco os animais foram sorteados para os tratamentos 1, 2 e 3, sendo que no tratamento um (T1) os animais não receberam ocitocina, representando o tratamento controle, apenas recebendo 0,5ml de soro fisiológico, em todas as ordenhas, durante os 60 dias do experimento. No tratamento dois (T2) os animais receberam ocitocina em todas as ordenhas, na concentração de 10 UI, no total de 0,5 ml, antes do início da ordenha, durante os 60 dias do experimento. No tratamento três (T3) os animais, receberam ocitocina no final de ordenha, na concentração de 10 UI, no total de 0,5 ml e foram reordenhados, atividades essas realizadas durante os 60 dias do experimento. Para aferir a produção das vacas, foram usados medidores de leite, e as colheitas de amostras foram realizadas a cada 15 dias, totalizando quatro procedimentos de pesar e amostrar. Após aferido a produção de todos os animais, as amostras foram coletadas e encaminhadas para as análises. As variáveis analisadas foram a acidez do leite, e após a determinação da acidez, quantificou-se a composição de gordura, lactose e proteína. Os resultados foram submetidos à análise de variância e posteriormente, ao teste de comparação de médias, com diferença estatística significativa de 5%. De acordo com os resultados, a ocitocina não influência a produção leiteira, nas médias de porcentagem de gordura, lactose e proteína do leite, mas possibilita a moderação da queda de produção na curva de lactação e pode diminuir o efeito da queda da porcentagem de proteína na lactação.

O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar o processo de aquisição de anticorpos em cordeiros recém-nascidos aleitados com colostro bovino e ovino, bem como a taxa de proliferação celular no epitélio intestinal. Este estudo contribui com informações sobre a aquisição de imunidade passiva nesta espécie, com o conhecimento do desenvolvimento e maturação do trato gastrintestinal no período neonatal, e para a avaliação de uma alternativa de manejo de colostro para estes pequenos ruminantes. Foram utilizados 30 cordeiros recém-nascidos. Às 0 e 6 horas de vida, 12 animais receberam 250 mL de colostro bovino (grupo CB) e outros 12 animais receberam 250 mL de colostro ovino (grupo CO). Amostras de sangue foram coletadas às 0, 6, 24, e 72 horas de vida para quantificação de imunoglobulina G (IgG) e proteína total sérica (PT). Seis animais foram sacrificados aleatoriamente, logo após o nascimento, sem ingestão de colostro, constituindo o grupo controle. Os demais grupos foram abatido às 24 e 72 horas. Amostras do intestino delgado foram coletadas para a quantificação da taxa de divisão celular nas criptas intestinais. O delineamento experimental adotado foi inteiramente casualizado, sendo as variáveis séricas analisadas como medidas repetidas no tempo. Para a variável histológica foi considerado um arranjo fatorial 2 X 2 + 1, tendo como efeitos principais o colostro fornecido, as idades de abate e o grupo controle. As concentrações de IgG sérica às 6, 24 e 72 horas foram significativamente superiores para o grupo CB (16,58±6,19; 34,12±5,67 e 28,77±5,45 mg mL-1) comparado com CO (10,76±6,08, 20,77±6,53 e 20,25±7,3 mg mL-1). A eficiência aparente de absorção (EAA) da IgG mostrou-se inferior no grupo CB (15,06±4,97%) em relação aos animais do grupo CO (25,70±13,08%). O grupo CB apresentou às 24 e 72 horas maiores (P<0,05) valores de PT (7,29±0,87 e 6,89±0,30 g 100mL-1) em relação ao grupo CO (5,73±1,35 e 5,69±0,57 g 100mL-1). Ao nascimento, os animais apresentaram 32,52%, 45,47% e 30,60% de células em divisão para as regiões do duodeno, jejuno médio e íleo, respectivamente. Às 24 horas, os animais do grupo CO apresentaram menor (P<0,0001) porcentagem de células em mitose no duodeno (42,12%) e no íleo (35,66%) em relação aos animais CB, 46,44% e 39,74%, respectivamente. Às 72 horas, foi observada uma porcentagem menor (P<0,0001) de células em divisão nas criptas do duodeno dos animais CO (36,28%), comparados com o grupo CB (43,18%). Não foi observada diferença significativa entre os tratamentos na porcentagem de células mitóticas nas criptas do jejuno às 24 e 72 horas, bem como nas criptas do íleo às 72 horas (P>0,05). Independente do tratamento, o jejuno foi o segmento com maior (P<0,0001) porcentagem de células mitóticas em todos os períodos. Os valores superiores na taxa de divisão celular no grupo CB indicam que o colostro bovino, provavelmente pela elevada concentração de fatores bioativos e de anticorpos, influencia positivamente o processo de renovação epitelial e que o mesmo pode ser utilizado como fonte alternativa de IgG para cordeiros recém-nascidos. / The objective of this study was to evaluate the antibody acquisition mechanism in newborn lambs fed bovine or ovine colostrum as well as the cell proliferation rate in the intestine epithelium. This study contributes with information about passive immunity acquisition in this specie, with knowledge about development and maturation of the small ruminant intestine tract, and for the evaluations of colostrums management alternative to these small ruminant. Thirty newborn lambs were used. At 0 and 6 hours of life, 12 animals received 250 mL of bovine colostrum (BC group) and another 12 animals received 250 mL of ovine colostrum (OC group). Blood samples were collected at 0, 6, 24, e 72 hours of life for immunoglobulin G (IgG) and total serum protein (TP) quantification. Six animals were randomly slaughtered just after birth, without colostrum intake, constituting the control group. The other groups were randomly slaughtered at 24 and 72 hours. Samples of the small intestine were collected for quantification of cellular division rate in intestinal crypts. A completely randomized desining was used, with the serum variables analyzed as repeated measures on time. For the histological variable it was considered a 2 X 2 + 1 factorial arrangement, having as the main factors colostrum supply, slaughter date and the control group. The IgG serum concentration at 6, 24 and 72 hours were significantly higher for the BC group (16,58±6,19; 34,12±5,67 and 28,77±5,45 mg mL-1) compared with the OC group (10,76±6,08, 20,77±6,53 and 20,25±7,3 mg mL-1). The apparent efficiency of IgG absorption (AEA) were lower for the BC group (15,06±4,97%) in relation to the animals from the OC group (25,70±13,08%). The BC group showed at 24 and 72 hours higher (P<0,05) TP values (7,29±0,87 and 6,89±0,30 g 100mL-1) in relation to the OC group (5,73±1,35 and 5,69±0,57 g 100mL-1). At birth, the animals showed 32,52%, 45,47% and 30,60% cells in division for duodenum, jejunum and ileum, respectively. At 24 hours, the animals from the OC group showed lower (P<0,0001) percentage of cells in mitosis in the duodenum (42,12%) and ileum (35,66%) in relation to the BC animals, 46,44% and 39,74%, respectively. At 72 hours, it was observed lower percentage (P<0,0001) of cells in division in the duodenum crypts of the OC animals (36,28%) compared with the BC group (43,18%). It was not observed significantly difference between treatment in mitotic cell percentage of jejunum crypts at 24 and 72 hours as well as in ileum crypts at 72 hours. Independent of the treatment the jejunum was the segment with higher mitotic cells percentage in all periods. The highest values in cellular division rate in the BC group, probably due to high concentrations of bioactive factors and antibodies, indicates that bovine colostrum influences positively the epithelium renovation process and that it can be used as an alternative source of IgG for newborn lambs.

Thesis (M.Sc. (Animal Production)) -- University of Limpopo, 2021 / Initial analysis was conducted to test significance of dam parity, litter size, birth season, birth year, kidding season and kidding age on lactation milking performance of various milk production traits and components, as well as to calculate phenotypic correlation between dam kidding age and these traits. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was carried out using 16 407 non-pedigreed lactation records to test for non-genetic significant effects, while Pearson’s correlation coefficients were calculated using Minitab software. The second analysis included 2 960 fully pedigreed lactation records that were analysed to estimate (co) variance components and direct heritability values for milk production and component traits applying uni-variate linear analysis, as well as genetic and phenotypic correlations between them using bi-variate linear analysis. Both analyses used secondary data of all grade and registered Saanen goats participating in the official Milk Recording and Performance Testing Scheme of the Animal Improvement Institute of the Agricultural Research Council of South Africa. From ANOVA, dam parity and year of birth significantly influenced (p < 0.05) all traits investigated, with better lactation milking performances estimated in 3rd parity groups and animals born during recent years respectively. Birth season only affected (p < 0.05) MY, urea and NR with animals born during spring season yielding a better lactation milking performance. Kidding season influenced (p < 0.05) all traits except PY and urea, with highest lactation milking performance estimated in animals kidding during spring season. All traits except FY and PY were significantly influenced (p < 0.05) by litter size, with multiple litter kidding groups yielding highest, while kidding age effects were not significant (p > 0.05) on NR, SCCI and urea. Pearson’s correlation estimations showed negative associations between kidding age (rp = -0.30, -0.004, - 0.057, -0.051, -0.015, -0.265 and -0.271 for urea, MY, FY, PY, LY, NR and P respectively) except for SCCI (rp= 0.189). From uni-variate and bi-variate linear analyses, direct heritability estimates ranged from moderate to high (h2 = 0.42 ± 0.03, 0.38 ± 0.03, 0.39 ± 0.03, 0.22 ± 0.03, 0.40 ± 0.03, 0.38 ± 0.03, 0.28 ± 0.05 and 0.20 ± 0.03 for MY, FY, PY, LY, Urea, NR, P and SCCI respectively), with MY having highest value. Genetic correlation estimates between MY and traits such as FY, PY, urea, NR and P were all high and positive indicating favorable correlated responses (rg =0.97, 0.94, 0.95, 0.99 and 0.74 respectively). Furthermore, phenotypic correlation estimates between MY and these traits except P (rp = 0.33) were close to their respective genetic xv correlation values (rp=0.95, 0.91, 0.92 and 0.92 for FY, PY, urea and NR respectively). Genetic correlation between MY and LY, and between MY and SCCI were not significant (p > 0.05), while phenotypic correlations between MY and these traits were significant (p <0.05), positive and low (rp=0.03 and 0.02 for LY and SCCI respectively). It was concluded that non-genetic factors determine to what extent the genetic potential of an animal is expressed thus, their inclusion in genetic evaluation models is crucial. Selecting for increased MY would increase herd lactation NR and improve lactation milking performance of other traits such as FY, PY and P. Selection against SCCI needs to be applied more in the population to avoid losses attributed to intra mammary infections / National Research Foundation (NRF)

Dairy farming as one part of agriculture has thousands of year’s history. The increasingdemands of dairy products and the rapid development of technology bring dairyfarming tremendous changes. Started by first hand milking, dairy farming goes throughvacuum bucket milking, pipeline milking, and now parlors milking. The automatic andtechnical milking system provided farmer with high-efficiency milking, effective herdmanagement and above all booming income.DeLaval Automatic Milking Rotary (AMRTM) is the world’s leading automatic milkingrotary system. It presents an ultimate combination of technology and machinerywhich brings dairy farming with significant benefits. AMRTM technical milking capacityis 90 cows per hour. However, constrained by farm management, cow’s condition andsystem configuration, the actual capacity is lower than technical value. In this thesis, anoptimization system is designed to analyze and improve AMRTM performance. The researchis focusing on cow behavior and AMRTM robot timeout. Through applying knowledgediscover from database (KDD), building machine learning cow behavior predictionsystem and developing modeling methods for system simulation, the optimizing solutionsare proposed and validated. / Mjölkproduktion är en del av vårt jordbruks tusenåriga historia. Med ökande krav påmejeriprodukter tillsammans med den snabba utvecklingen utav tekniken för det enormaförändringar i mjölkproduktionen. Mjölkproduktion började inledningsvis med handmjölkningsedan har mjölkproduktionsmetoder utvecklats genom olika tekniker och gettoss t.ex. vakuum mjölkning, rörledning mjölkning, fram till dagens mjölkningskarusell.Nu har det automatiska och tekniska mjölkningssystem försedd bönder med högeffektivmjölkning, effektiv djurhållningen och framför allt blomstrande inkomster.DeLaval Automatic Milking Rotary (AMRTM) är världens ledande automatiska roterandemjölkningssystemet. Den presenterar en ultimat kombination av teknik och maskinersom ger mjölkproduktionen betydande fördelar. DeLaval Automatic Milking Rotarytekniska mjölknings kapacitet är 90 kor per timme. Den begränsas utav jordbruksdrift,tillståndet hos kor och hantering av systemet. Det gör att den faktiska kapaciteten blirlägre än den tekniska. I denna avhandling undersöks hur ett optimeringssystem kan analyseraoch förbättra DeLaval Automatic Milking Rotary prestanda genom fokusering påkors beteenden och robot timeout. Genom att tillämpa kunskap från databas (KDD), skapamaskininlärande system som förutsäger kors beteenden samt utveckla modelleringsmetoderför systemsimulering, ges lösningsförslag av optimering samt validering.

A methodology for ageing foetal and neonatal cattle is developed, involving radiographic examination of infant mandibles for early developmental stages in molariform teeth; tooth-wear methodologies are imprecise at this stage before wear commences. Known-age modern bovine foetal and neonate material are collected as a control assemblage for method development (n=73); six Neolithic to Norse era assemblages from Orkney are examined using the modified technique together with standard tooth-wear analysis and other methodologies. Foetal and died-at-birth material is diagnosed at most sites using the new technique, together with a range of other peri-natal age-groups. Ageing at this early stage is highly relevant in the diagnosis of milking as a palaeoeconomy: the accepted view is that unwanted (male) calves were slaughtered to maximise milk for human consumption, hence a surfeit of neonate calf remains, as at the study sites. The diagnosis of foetal and died-at-birth material challenges this view, suggesting that attritional causes may have contributed to deaths at this stage. Although milking was probably carried out at most of the study sites, this may have been combined with slaughter of cattle for meat in a pragmatic exploitation strategy. Literary research shows possible attritional causes of abortion and early death in calves, in particular dietary insufficiency in pregnant cows, microbial infections, and also inadequate colostrum uptake. Additionally, research is used to consider the challenges to health that early milking might have posed, to the calf as mentioned, but also to the cow, where three main health issues are highlighted: infertility, mastitis and lameness.