Search

The aim of the current study is to evaluate Virginia fanpetals silage based on an apparent digestibility and palatability test performed on six adult rams. Alfalfa silage was used as standard forage for comparison. Virginia fanpetals samples were harvested in the bud-formation stage and alfalfa samples were harvested in the late bud stage. Virginia fanpetals silage had a crude protein (CP) content of 176 g kg−1 dry matter (DM), a neutral detergent fiber (NDF) content of 378 g kg−1 DM, and a lignin content of 42.8 g kg−1 DM. Virginia fanpetals silage had higher acidity (pH of 4.30) and was characterized by intense lactic acid fermentation compared with alfalfa silage (80 % vs. 51 % of the total acids). The digestibility coefficient of Virginia fanpetals silage was as follows: for DM it was 0.707, for organic matter (OM) it was 0.724, for CP it was 0.861, and for NDF it was 0.609. In comparison with alfalfa silage, Virginia fanpetals silage was characterized by higher apparent digestibility of nutrients, but a significant difference was noted only for CP. The voluntary intake of Virginia fanpetals silage was significantly higher than that of alfalfa silage (1427.4 vs. 954 g DM). The greatest differences in voluntary intake were observed 0–2 and 8–12 h after feeding. Virginia fanpetals silage had a chemical composition similar to that of alfalfa, but it was characterized by a more desirable fermentation pattern and higher digestibility, and it was more willingly consumed by rams. The present findings indicate that Virginia fanpetals silage can be fed to sheep.

The weaknesses of the road systems were analyzed, including dangerous events generated by vehicle getting out of the road and consequent secondary dangerous events such as: driving over a barrier or other dangerous object located next to road or roofing of the vehicle. Particularly, the security, availability of technological solutions for protection barriers, columns and road signs on roads and bridges were considered. The preventive and protective functions of road equipment and engineering objects are given, which are adequate to the specific risk. Failures of safety barriers and road protection barriers and the consequences of their failures for people, properties and the environment were analyzed. Solutions for the construction of road barriers were analyzed in terms of: availability, the degree of reliability of their components and the possibility of maintaining risk within acceptable limits. The scope of fulfillment of required functional features, design methods, modern technological solutions, test methods and certification procedures were analyzed. Functional features of protective barriers regarding: the protection level, displacements and the level of impact intensity were taken into account. Literature point of view on aided design of protective barriers has been included which covers finite element method (method of sum of displacements) with appropriate analysis of forces, torques and displacements with CAD systems including use of LS-DYNA system for events and damage parameters. A large part of the publication deals with modern technological solutions and analyzes including design of protective barriers, modeling of their elements as well as modeling collisions with vehicles, taking into account the impact of the ground. KEYWORDS: PROTECTION BARRIERS, FAILURES OF PROTECTION BARRIERS, DESIGN METHODS, SECURITY OF PROTECTION BARRIERS

The chemical composition, metallographic structure, graphite form and hardness of cast iron cylinders in 1.6D Turbo Diesel engine block powering a Polonez FSO car, after a very small run of 5762 km were shown. The accuracy of dimension and shape as well as the topography of the surface of its cylinders are also provided. A different value of abrasive wear of cylinders 1, 2, 3 was found in comparison with cylinder 4. The lower tribological wear of cylinder 4 resulted from its higher hardness caused by pearlite dispersion and more favorable shape of gray iron graphite particles, as compared to cylinders 1, 2 and 3 shown. This occurred for a similar geometric structure of the surface of the coated cylinders at a slightly higher height surface roughness of the fourth cylinder.

In Poland beef cattle are usually fed high-wilted grass silage offered ad libitum and supplemented with concentrate, whereas ’Limousin’, ’Charolais’ and ’Hereford’ bulls are the most frequently crossed with dairy cows to produce beef hybrids. The aim of this study was to determine the fattening performance of hybrids produced by crossing ’Polish Holstein-Friesian’ (PHF) cows with ’Hereford’ (HH), ’Limousin’ (LM) and ’Charolais’ (CH) bulls, fed silage made from high-wilted grass and supplemented with a small amount of concentrate, depending on sire breed and category. The experimental materials comprised 24 bulls and 24 steers, including 8 PHF x HH, 8 PHF x LM and 8 PHF x CH crosses with initial body weight of approximately 300 kg in each group. The animals were fed grass silage with a DM content of 417 g kg-1, supplemented with concentrate at 35 g DM kg-1 W0.75, for 250 d. Steers were characterized by higher total DM intake per unit of metabolic body weight (P < 0.05): 92.8 vs. 87.0 g; 94.1 vs. 84.6 g; 88.6 vs. 87.0 g (PHF x HH; PHF x LM; PHF x CH, respectively) and bulls - by higher average carcass weight gains (P < 0.01): 700 vs. 631 g; 654 vs. 579 g; 633 vs. 574 g and carcass dressing percentage (P < 0.01): 60.0 vs. 56.4%; 60.2 vs. 58.9%; 60.2 vs. 56.6% (PHF x HH; PHF x LM; PHF x CH, respectively) and better (P < 0.01) silage DM, total DM, crude protein, and net energy utilization. Sire breed had no significant effect on the analyzed parameters of fattening performance but numerically PHF x HH crosses had the highest productivity parameters.