In young plants of Coffea canephora, fine particle film based on calcined kaolin (KF) causes a decrease in leaf temperature (Tleaf), minimizing the damages to the photochemical apparatus, especially in summer season, but no report about the ecophysiological responses to KF over phenology is available on this species. We hypothesized that greater ecophysiological effects of KF would occur during the summer phenophase of leaf area and berry expansion (BE) compared with autumn berry maturation phase (BR), and that those benefits will have impact on bean productivity and physical quality. In this sense, the present study aimed to analyze the effects of KF on some ecophysiological parameters in the last phenophases of C. canephora biennial cycle, bean productivity, and bean size classification. During the complete phenological cycle, eight applications of KF were performed, totaling 80 kg of KF ha−1 in two years. KF applications and ecophysiological measurements occurred during the BE and BR phenophases. Firstly, we documented temporal dynamics in responses of field-grown C. canephora adult plants to KF application. KF reduced Tleaf and crop water stress index and increased the thermal index of relative stomatal conductance and relative chlorophyll content (SPAD index) observed in the autumn BR (opposite to young plants). The positive impact of KF on chlorophyll a fluorescence was proportionally similar among the observed phenophases. Secondly, KF increased bean size 16 by 50% and increased total productivity. The plants treated with KF increased productivity by 1.7 t ha− commercially useful bean mass compared to the control. The kaolin dose of 40 kg ha−1 distributed four times per year was highly effective as a protection strategy against high-light and elevated Tair.

This article presents results of a multi-sensor drone survey at an ancestral Wichita archaeological site in southeastern Kansas, originally recorded in the 1930s and believed by some scholars to be the location of historical “Etzanoa,” a major settlement reportedly encountered by Spanish conquistador Juan de Oñate in 1601. We used high-resolution, drone-acquired thermal and multispectral (color and near-infrared) imagery, alongside publicly available lidar data and satellite imagery, to prospect for archaeological features across a relatively undisturbed 18 ha area of the site. Results reveal a feature that is best interpreted as the remains of a large, circular earthwork, similar to so-called council circles documented at five other contemporary sites of the Great Bend aspect cultural assemblage. We also located several features that may be remains of house basins, the size and configuration of which conform with historical evidence. These findings point to major investment in the construction of large-scale ritual, elite, or defensive structures, lending support to the interpretation of the cluster of Great Bend aspect sites in the lower Walnut River as a single, sprawling population center, as well as demonstrating the potential for thermal and multispectral surveys to reveal archaeological landscape features in the Great Plains and beyond.

An automated method of estimating the spatial distribution of piglets within a pen was used to assess huddling behaviour under normal conditions and during a febrile response to vaccination. The automated method was compared with a manual assessment of clustering activity. Huddling behaviour was partly related to environmental conditions and clock time such that more huddling occurred during the night and at lower ambient air temperatures. There were no positive relationships between maximum pig temperatures and environmental conditions, suggesting that the narrow range of air temperatures in this study was not a significant factor for pig temperature. Spatial distribution affected radiated pig temperature measurements by IR thermography. Higher temperatures were recorded in groups of animals displaying huddling behaviour. Huddling behaviour was affected by febrile responses to vaccination with increased huddling occurring 3 to 8 h post-vaccination. The automated method of assessing spatial distribution from an IR image successfully identified periods of huddling associated with a febrile response, and to changing environmental temperatures. Infrared imaging could be used to quantify temperature and behaviour from the same images.

Using lock-in infrared microscopy as a tool for current detection on the micrometer scale in AC-driven specimens in combination with iterative grinding procedure allows preparation of current dominating microstructure regions on well-polished surfaces. This technique is applied successfully on varistor components based on specially doped ZnO-based varistor ceramics. This peculiar electroceramic material exhibits exceptional high nonlinear current–voltage (I-V) characteristics, described by a power law according I~Vα, caused by double Schottky barriers at the grain boundaries. As a novelty the thermographic response is used to evaluate local electrical properties, namely the nonlinearity coefficient α, on basis of higher order harmonics with respect to the basic electrical driving AC-frequency.

To correlate the observed electrical properties to the microstructure, the polar crystal orientation of the relevant ZnO grains is determined by combining electron backscatter diffraction and orientation-dependent patterns as a result of a chemical etching procedure. These findings support a modified new model for describing the grain boundary controlled current flow in a varistor microstructure including orientation-dependent barrier properties. Hence, the experimentally observed current direction-dependent behavior can be described consistently.

Given that surgical castration is a painful practice performed on millions of pigs every year, a need to identify novel reliable pain assessment tools exists in order to test anaesthetic and analgesic protocols that may reduce related pain. Two treatments were considered: handling (H) and surgical castration (C). Physiological (cortisol, lactate, glycaemia, rectal and eye temperature) and behavioural variables (latency to move after treatment and alterations in posture and walking) were analysed. Cortisol showed the greatest level in C piglets within 20 min after the surgical procedure and a positive correlation with glucose concentration. Eye temperature was higher in C piglets, and the same difference was detected for rectal temperature 3 h after castration. Behavioural parameters revealed that C piglets had longer latency to move and a higher percentage of them showed alterations in posture and walking. Results of this study showed that, in castrated piglets behavioural and physiological alterations occur mainly in the first 3 h from treatment. Latency to move, alterations in posture and walking, and eye temperature appear to give additional and useful information in piglet pain assessment. However, differently from the behavioural parameters considered, eye temperature involves several manipulations of the animals and a long process to acquire the data.

Hypothermia is a major cause of mortality in neonatal pigs. Infrared (IR) thermography is a promising non-invasive method to assess thermal status, but has not been evaluated for use on neonatal pigs from birth. The aim of this study was to evaluate the application of IR thermography as a non-invasive tool to estimate body temperature and assess the thermal status in newborn pigs by (1) estimating the relationship between surface temperature and rectal temperature (RT) in neonatal pigs; and (2) estimating the influence of air temperature (AT), birth weight and the time from birth on the relationship between surface temperature and RT. The method was evaluated on the basis of 1695 thermograms and 915 RTs on 91 neonatal pigs born in loose farrowing pens with floor heating at 34°C, and three different ATs (15°C, 20°C and 25°C). Full-body thermograms of the back and the side of the pigs and RT were acquired at 11 sampling times between birth and 48 h after birth. The maximum (IRmax), minimum, average of the full body and ear minimum IR surface temperatures were derived from the thermograms. IRmax had the highest correlation with RT (0.82) and was therefore used in the statistical analysis. The relation of RT by IRmax depended on time at: 0 h (slope: 0.20°C, P<0.001), 0.25 h (slope: 0.42°C, P<0.01), and 0.5 and 1 h after birth (slope: 0.68°C, P<0.001). After the 1st hour (1.5 to 48 h) the relation of RT by IRmax was no longer affected by time (slope: 0.63°C, P<0.001). The agreement between RT and IRmax was improved (P<0.001) after the 1st hour (RT−IRmax 0 to 1 h: 2.02 (1.44)°C; 1.5 to 48 h: 0.95 (0.85)°C). IRmax below 30°C was indicative of piglets having RT<32°C (91.3%). The location of IRmax was identified predominantly at the base of the ears (27/50), other sites in the region of the head (12/50) and the axilla area (8/50). There was a small but significant effect of the angle as IRmax_side–IRmax_back: mean 0.20°C (P<0.001). On the basis of the low difference between IRmax from back and side view thermograms, and the location of IRmax, the angle seems less important and thus the method has the potential to be used without the need for manual restraint of the pigs. On the basis of the results of this study, we propose that IRmax temperature from full-body thermograms has implication as a valid tool to assess the thermal status in neonatal piglets but not as an identical substitute for RT.