The aim of this study was to estimate the suckling milk yield (SMY) of the Sicilo-Sarde ewes during different length of suckling periods and to evaluate its impact on the lambs’ growth. The SMY was estimated by the method of weighing lambs before and after suckling. Eight controls were carried out on a sample of ten ewes aged 3.90 ± 0.50 years, suckling single male lambs. The measurement of SMY was conducted weekly until weaning. The daily and total SMY were 1.33 ± 0.21 kg/d and 79.62 ± 12.58 kg, respectively for 60 days suckling period. The SMY was estimated at 39.30 ± 7.20 kg and 61.31 ± 10.67 kg for 30 and 45 days of suckling, respectively. Lamb weights were 11.31, 14.73 and 18.24 kg respectively at 30, 45 and 60 days of age. The average daily gain (ADG) calculated between the ages of 10 and 30 days (ADG10-30), and 30 and 60 days (ADG30-60) were 222 ± 46 and 231 ± 45 g/d, respectively. Lambs weight at 30 days and ADG10-30 were the most correlated indicators with all SMY (0.71 ≤ r ≤ 0.80; P < 0.05). The SMY levels of ewes and the lambs’ growth obtained are satisfactory and indicate an interesting dairy potential of this breed. Weaning lambs at 45 days increases the marketed milk, without negatively affecting the lambs’ growth.
Seventy-two early-lactation Sicilo-Sarde ewes were used to evaluate the effect of weaning system (WS) on milk yield (milked and residual), milk composition, and mammary morphology. Lambs were weaned at 30–35, 45–50, and 60–70 days for early (EW), semi-early (SEW), and late weaning (LW), respectively. Ewes (4.28 ± 0.77 years old) were divided into three groups based on the WS. Four milk recordings were performed during the first 45 days of milking (at days 7, 15, 30, and 45). The residual milk (RM) fraction was collected following an oxytocin injection. Additionally, external mammary morphology was assessed using six linear measurements and three udder and teat scores.WS significantly affected (p < 0.05) milked yield (MM) and total milk yield (MY); however, RM was not affected (p > 0.05). SEW and LW ewes produced more MM and MY than EW ewes. Furthermore, MM, RM, and MY traits were influenced by the ewes’ overall milk production level. Milk composition for both MM and RM did not vary with WS (p > 0.05), except for the lactose percentage, which was higher (p < 0.05) in the RM of the SEW and LW groups. Regarding morphology, WS only influenced udder height, cistern height, and teat diameter at the base (p < 0.05). Sicilo-Sarde ewes generally exhibited deep udders and short, horizontally inclined teats. Udder traits and teat diameter showed significant moderate correlations with all milk traits (p < 0.05; r = 0.27–0.39). In conclusion, SEW increased milk production compared to EW and followed the same trend as LW during the study period, without compromising milk quality. These results suggest that SEW could help farmers increase the volume of marketable milk.
Forest loss is commonly quantified using annual forest-loss maps or predicted through statistical and machine-learning models, yet these outputs often remain limited to locations, probabilities or aggregated trends. They rarely explain the recurrent geospatial configurations through which degradation becomes structured or reorganized over time. This study develops an interpretable spatiotemporal pattern-mining framework that shifts forest-degradation analysis from pixel-level detection toward configuration-level interpretation. The framework was applied to 6,250 validated forest-loss events in the Kroumiria region of northwestern Tunisia from 2001 to 2022. Events were enriched with topographic, accessibility, climatic, forest-composition and regional descriptors and analysed through support-calibrated pattern mining, temporal assessment, robustness analysis and geovisual projection. The year 2011 was used as a historically grounded temporal reference associated with the Tunisian Revolution, without implying direct causality. At a minimum support of 0.10, 389 frequent patterns were extracted, from which six stable representative patterns were selected for detailed geovisual profiling. The results identify four dominant post-2011 degradation configurations: accessibility-driven expansion, event-level intensification, regressive contraction and mixed recurrence–intensity shift. These configurations show that forest degradation in Kroumiria did not evolve as a uniform trend, but as a differentiated reorganization of recurrence, degraded area and area per event across environmental, topographic, accessibility and regional contexts. The proposed framework establishes a reproducible analytical basis for geovisual explanation, spatially targeted forest monitoring and interpretable environmental decision-making. Operationally, the four configurations support differentiated priorities: access-sensitive surveillance, monitoring of patch enlargement, verification of declining configurations, and joint tracking of recurrence and event intensity.
Soil moisture has many important applications in subsurface water movement. Methods for measuring soil moisture are either destructive or require prior calibration. The aim of this study was to provide a framework for estimating soil water content with limited data (rainfall and evaporation). The hydraulic properties of four layers of soil from Tunisia were measured to a depth of 80 cm. These values were used as inputs to the Hydrus 1D model to generate soil water content profiles over a 27-year period. 109 profiles were calculated using machine learning algorithms (regression trees; random forest; support vector machine) to predict soil moisture content from daily values of rainfall and evaporation. The statistical performance indices of prediction, root mean square error and correlation coefficient indicate the superiority of regression trees over other methods for all soil layers and during both calibration and validation processes and reproducing the seasonal variation of soil moisture.
This research aims to study some of the teat characteristics involved in milkability of dairy camels, including the relationship between teat anatomy and the vacuum needed to open the teat sphincter (VLOTS). It also investigates short-term machine milking-induced changes in teat tissue thickness and teat anatomical characteristics, as well as their implications for udder health in dairy camels. To study VLOTS, 10 dairy camels in mid-lactation (weight: 516.6 ± 19 kg; age: 13.4 ± 3.8 years; parity: 5 ± 1.8; average milk yield: 7.3 ± 0.8 L/day) were used in Experiment 1. VLOTS was measured 4 h after morning milking for all four teats using an apparatus called a vacuumeter, without a liner or pulsation. Measurements were repeated three times at 2-day intervals and considered as repetition. Teat canal length (TCL), teat wall thickness (TWT), teat cistern separation wall thickness (TSWT), teat cistern diameter (TCD), and teat length were measured using ultrasound. Experiment 2 was performed on six dairy camels in late lactation (weight: 460 ± 55.15 kg; age: 10.2 ± 2.4 years; parity: 3.5 ± 1.0; average milk yield: 3.6 ± 0.7 L/day). External teat measurements (length, barrel, and apex diameters) were recorded with a caliper. Pre-and post-milking teat-end thickness (TET) were evaluated with a cutimeter at 2 cm from the teat end. Ultrasound imaging was performed pre-and post-milking to determine TCL, TWT, TCD, and teat apex diameter (TAD). Milk ejection time and total milking duration were recorded. Residual milk volume was estimated after an injection of 10 IU oxytocin. Milk samples were taken for somatic cell count (SCC). The results showed that only 50 teats out of 120 observations exhibited milk flow at a vacuum up to 70 kPa. Teats were divided into three groups: Group 1 included easy-opening teats that opened at a vacuum level of less than 30 kPa; group 2 included teats that were hard to open, requiring a higher vacuum (31 up to 69 kPa); and group 3 included teats that did not show milk flow at a vacuum higher than 70 kPa. The mean VLOTS for groups 1 and 2 were 19.39 ± 0.66 kPa and 47.13 ± 2.14 kPa, respectively. VLOTS was positively and highly correlated with TCL, TWT, and TSWT (r = 0.71, r = 0.62, and r = 0.51, respectively, p < 0.001) and negatively correlated with teat length and diameter (r = −0.50 and r = −0.30, respectively, p < 0.01). Observation of teats immediately after cluster removal revealed a 15.4% decrease in TET. TCL and TWT increased by 20.3 and 40.5%, respectively, while TCD and TAD decreased by 40.3 and 19.9%, respectively, after milking. This suggests the stretching of the teat extremity and congestion of the teat barrel wall. The mean SCC recorded in this study was 149.6 103 cells/mL, varying from 37.5 103 cells/mL to 287.5 103 cells/mL. This study confirms the need for a high vacuum level to overcome the sphincter barrier in dromedary camels. However, it suggests the deleterious effect of large camel teats in a cow’s liner.
