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The estimation of acute phase proteins (APP), which are recognized as inflammation markers is a good method for animal health monitoring. Several factors such as obesity, age and sex are also known to modulate APP status. We evaluated the influence of pregnancy and lactation in 65 clinically healthy dairy Holstein-Friesian dairy cows, 2nd÷4th lactation, chosen from 3 different dairy farms located in South West part of Poland. Bovine C-reactive protein (CRP), haptoglobin and fibrinogen were assayed using commercial ELISA kits. The highest values of CRP and haptoglobin were observed in cows during the first month after calving. The highest concentrations of fibrinogen was found in a group of cows prior to expected date of parturition and the level of this protein in blood plasma was decreasing during lactation. The significant differences of analyzed APPs among cows before delivery, during first month after calving and in lactation (1-3 months after delivery) suggested that factors like pregnancy and stage of lactation would have an influence on their concentration.

Bovine mastitis caused by Streptococcus canis is relatively rare. Consequently, many epidemiologic aspects of the infection, including factors that mediate crossing of host species barriers by the pathogen, infectiousness of the microorganism to the mammary gland, and the course of the disease within a herd, are still not elucidated. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to describe results of a 15-mo observation of subclinical Strep. canis mastitis on a dairy farm housing 76 lactating Holstein-Friesian cows. Upon 3 visits to the farm during a period between April 2013 and June 2014, Strep. canis was cultured from milk samples of 17 (22.4% of the herd), 7 (9.6%), and 8 (11.3%) cows, respectively. The isolates obtained were characterized phenotypically by means of the API Strep identification kit (bioMérieux, Marcy l'Etoile, France), as well as genetically by using random amplified polymorphic DNA and macrorestriction analysis of the chromosomal DNA by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. All strains displayed the same biochemical features, and the molecular methods revealed that the isolates belonged to a single clone or were very closely related. Results of the study indicate that Strep. canis is capable of causing intramammary infections of long duration, behaving in a contagious manner. Because a persistently infected cow may serve as the source of Strep. canis infection for other animals, effective control of this type of udder infection within a herd may require similar measures to those adopted in Streptococcus agalactiae eradication programs.

Abstract. The deliberations presented in this study refer to the method for assessing software reliability of the document management system, using the RFID technology. A method for determining the reliability structure of the discussed software, understood as the index vector for assessing reliability of its components, was proposed. The model of the analyzed software is the control transfer graph, in which the probability of activating individual components during the system's operation results from the so-called operational profile, which characterizes the actual working environment. The reliability structure is established as a result of the solution of a specific mathematical software task. The knowledge of the reliability structure of the software makes it possible to properly plan the time and financial expenses necessary to build the software, which would meet the reliability requirements. The application of the presented method is illustrated by the number example, corresponding to the software reality of the RFID document management system.

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