Heinz Bernhardt

Impact of robot scrapers on clinical mastitis and somatic cell count in lactating cows

ABSTRACT The objective of the present study was to explore the impact of robotic walkway cleaning on clinical mastitis and the somatic cell count in lactating cows. Data collection was carried out on a large dairy farm for two six-month periods in 2012 and 2013. Walkway cleaning with five robot scrapers was performed only in 2013. The incidence of clinical mastitis was analysed using the chi-square test. A linear mixed-effects model was applied for the analysis of the somatic cell count. Results indicated that the proportion of incidences of clinical mastitis decreased between 2012 and 2013 by 2.42 percent points. On the other hand, the somatic cell count of the cows slightly rose between both investigation periods and thus increased the likelihood of intramammary infection. This contrary development between clinical mastitis and somatic cell count also occurred in previous studies in which it was attributed to a pathogen-specific effect owing to farm management. An investigation over a longer period can help to clarify the influence of robot scrapers on udder health in dairy cows.

Multiple hypothesis tests based On conditional differences in means

ABSTRACT Many hypothesis tests are univariate tests and cannot cope with multiple hypothesis without an auxiliary procedure as e. g. the Bonferroni-Holm-procedure. At the same time, there is an urgent need for testing multiple hypothesis due to the very simple existing methods as the Bonferroni-correction or the Bonferroni-Holm-procedure, which suffers from a very small local significance level to detect statistical inferences or the drawback that logical and statistical dependencies among the test statistics are not used, whereby its detection is NP-hard. In honour of this occasion, we present a multiple hypothesis test for i.i.d. random variables based on conditional differences in means, which is capable to cope with multiple hypothesis and does not suffer on such drawbacks as the Bonferroni-correction or the Bonferroni-Holm-procedure. Thereby, the computation time can be neglected.

A note on multivariate linear regression

ABSTRACT In this note, a hypothesis test based on relevant statistical differences is proposed for multivariate linear regression models whose design matrix rank does not equal the number of regression variables. A statistical example is also provided to illustrate the proposed hypothesis test.

A global convergent derivative-free method for solving a system of non-linear equations

Finding all zeros of a system of m∈ℕ

A novel approach to piecewise analytic agricultural machinery path reconstruction

m \in \mathbb {N}

Effects of a simulated power cut in milking robots on the lying behavior of dairy cows

real non-linear equations in n∈ℕ

Physiological and Behavioral Responses of Dairy Cattle to the Introduction of Robot Scrapers

n \in \mathbb {N}

Vergleich von simulierten und reellen Schleppkurven von Landmaschinen

variables often arises in engineering problems. Using Newtons’ iterative method is one way to solve the problem; however, the convergence order is at most two, it depends on the starting point, there must be as many equations as variables and the function F, which defines the system of nonlinear equations F(x)=0 must be at least continuously differentiable. In other words, finding all zeros under weaker conditions is in general an impossible task. In this paper, we present a global convergent derivative-free method that is capable to calculate all zeros using an appropriate Schauder base. The component functions of F are only assumed to be Lipschitz-continuous. Therefore, our method outperforms the classical counterparts.

Algorithmische Analyse von Transportsystemen für Biomasse

ABSTRACT Before analysing machinery operation in fields, it has to be coped with the problem that the GPS signals of GPS receivers located on the machines contain measurement noise, are time-discrete, and the underlying physical system describing the positions, axial and absolute velocities, angular rates and angular orientation of the operating machines during the whole working time are unknown. This research work presents a new three-dimensional mathematical approach using kinematic relations based on control variables as Euler angular velocities and angles and a discrete target control problem, such that the state control function is given by the sum of squared residuals involving the state and control variables to get such a physical system, which yields a noise-free and piecewise analytic representation of the positions, velocities, angular rates and angular orientation. It can be used for a further detailed study and analysis of the problem of why agricultural vehicles operate in practice as they do.

Frühkennung von Erkrankungen bei Kälbern unter Nutzung pedometergeschützter Messtechnik

Abstract. Scientific experiments within the design approach “Integrated Dairy Farming – Stable 4.0” demonstrate the cattle behavior in situations driven by a power load management. This study particularly investigates the manner in which energy failures, energy fluctuations, and postponements influence the daily routine of cattle, especially the animal activity and lying behavior. Based on the pedometer data, the results indicate whether the lying behavior of dairy cows alters under these circumstances. To simulate a power cut, 12 random cows out of 4 herds were not admitted to the automatic milking system for at least 2 h for 3 consecutive days. A discrete Poisson distribution was used as a mathematical basis to create a cow‘s movement pattern. However, curve fittings indicate that the distribution model in its current form (Poisson distribution) is unable to represent the movement behavior of cows. The next steps include an improvement in the still insufficient illustration of the movement behavior using a Mixed Poisson distribution. Furthermore, a trend is ascertained that older cows lie longer than younger ones (i.e., there is a dependence between the age of cow and the lying duration) and that all cows exhibit a reduced lying time on a side the day after a blackout. Hence, further research is necessary to explain the “after-blackout”-effect (e.g., hormones, and milk yield) and determine (if it exists) an appropriate distribution for describing the lying behavior of cows.