Selective IgA Deficiency and Aseptic Liver Abscess as Initial Indicators of Crohn's Disease in a Young Woman: A Case Study.

BACKGROUND Hepatic lesion in a young woman can lead to multiple diagnostic hypotheses, mainly infection and tumor. Crohn's disease (CD) is hardly evoked by clinicians but is reportedly associated with liver damage, especially diffuse granulomas and aseptic abscess. IgA deficiency has been associated with celiac disease or inflammatory bowel disease, including CD.

Farm-specific economic value of automatic lameness detection systems in dairy cattle: From concepts to operational simulations.

Although prototypes of automatic lameness detection systems for dairy cattle exist, information about their economic value is lacking. In this paper, a conceptual and operational framework for simulating the farm-specific economic value of automatic lameness detection systems was developed and tested on 4 system types: walkover pressure plates, walkover pressure mats, camera systems, and accelerometers. The conceptual framework maps essential factors that determine economic value (e.

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.

Development of a Stereovision-Based Technique to Measure the Spread Patterns of Granular Fertilizer Spreaders.

Centrifugal fertilizer spreaders are by far the most commonly used granular fertilizer spreader type in Europe. Their spread pattern however is error-prone, potentially leading to an undesired distribution of particles in the field and losses out of the field, which is often caused by poor calibration of the spreader for the specific fertilizer used. Due to the large environmental impact of fertilizer use, it is important to optimize the spreading process and minimize these errors.

Farmers' preferences for automatic lameness-detection systems in dairy cattle.

As lameness is a major health problem in dairy herds, a lot of attention goes to the development of automated lameness-detection systems. Few systems have made it to the market, as most are currently still in development. To get these systems ready for practice, developers need to define which system characteristics are important for the farmers as end users.