Technical contribution: use of continuous recording video monitoring of maintenance and pain behaviors in piglets after surgical castration to validate six continuous time sampling periods for behavior scoring.

Castration is a painful procedure routinely performed on piglets. Specific periods relative to castration and time sampling rules are used widely to quantify deviations in piglet's behavior associated with castration rather than assessing behavior for the entire trial period. However, very limited work has evaluated time sampling recording rules to quantify behavioral changes to piglets undergoing castration.

Effect of glucose concentration and cryopreservation on mitochondrial functions of bull spermatozoa and relationship with sire conception rate.

Mitochondrial function is essential for sperm viability, not only from a sperm metabolism perspective, but also for improvement of sperm storage in liquid and frozen states. Bull sperm have notable metabolic variability with energy production for motility and subsequently for fertilizing capacity resulting from both glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation. The objective of this study was to determine mitochondrial function of sperm using high-throughput Seahorse Analyzer technology in fresh semen and subsequent to freezing-thawing when there was incubation in media commonly used for sperm storage (relatively large glucose concentration) and female tract (relatively small glucose concentration).

Developing a Simulated Online Model That Integrates GNSS, Accelerometer and Weather Data to Detect Parturition Events in Grazing Sheep: A Machine Learning Approach.

In the current study, a simulated online parturition detection model is developed and reported. Using a machine learning (ML)-based approach, the model incorporates data from Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) tracking collars, accelerometer ear tags and local weather data, with the aim of detecting parturition events in pasture-based sheep. The specific objectives were two-fold: (i) determine which sensor systems and features provide the most useful information for lambing detection; (ii) evaluate how these data might be integrated using ML classification to alert to a parturition event as it occurs.

Association between different types of within-farm worker movements and number of pigs weaned per sow in U.S. Swine farms.

The integration and intensification of modern swine production has amplified the importance of biosecurity, as diseases are more easily able to spread and persist in large swine farms, resulting in economic losses. Advancements in accessible technology and computational methods offer new applications for precision livestock farming, such as monitoring internal movements to better understand biosecurity compliance on farm. In this study, a beacon-sensor based internal movement system (PigChamp Pro Europa®) was utilized to investigate the association between weekly within-farm movements of workers and an important production parameter: average weekly number of pigs weaned per sow (PWS), on three US swine farms.

Multivariate modeling for retained protein and lipid.

Energy efficiencies and maintenance parameters have been traditionally estimated with a linear regression model that treated metabolizable energy intake as the dependent variable and protein and lipid depositions as the independent variables. Several studies have described the statistical issues associated with this approach, such as the reverse role of dependent and independent variables and a potential multicollinearity issue due to the high correlation between protein and lipid depositions. Biased regression techniques have been proposed to minimize the harmful effects of multicollinearity on the estimates of energy efficiencies.

Effects of Incremental Urea Supplementation on Rumen Fermentation, Nutrient Digestion, Plasma Metabolites, and Growth Performance in Fattening Lambs.

This study investigated the effects of partially substituting soybean meal (SBM) with incremental amount of urea on rumen fermentation, nutrient digestion, plasma metabolites, and growth performance in fattening lambs. Seventy fattening male lambs were sorted into two blocks according to body weight (BW) and assigned to one of five dietary treatments in a randomized block design: SBM at 170 g/kg dry matter (DM) or reduced SBM (40 g/kg DM) plus 0, 10, 20, or 30 g urea/kg DM. Compared with the lambs receiving the SBM diet, the lambs fed the reduced SBM diet plus urea had higher ( < 0.

Bayesian mechanistic modeling of thermodynamically controlled volatile fatty acid, hydrogen and methane production in the bovine rumen.

Dynamic modeling of mechanisms driving volatile fatty acid and hydrogen production in the rumen microbial ecosystem contributes to the heuristic prediction of CH emissions from dairy cattle into the environment. Existing mathematical rumen models, however, lack the representation of these mechanisms. A dynamic mechanistic model was developed that simulates the thermodynamic control of hydrogen partial pressure ( [Formula: see text] ) on volatile fatty acid (VFA) fermentation pathways via the NAD to NADH ratio in fermentative microbes, and methanogenesis in the bovine rumen.

Risk-modeling of dog osteosarcoma genome scans shows individuals with Mendelian-level polygenic risk are common.

Background: Despite the tremendous therapeutic advances that have stemmed from somatic oncogenetics, survival of some cancers has not improved in 50 years. Osteosarcoma still has a 5-year survival rate of 66%. We propose the natural canine osteosarcoma model can change that: it is extremely similar to the human condition, except for being highly heritable and having a dramatically higher incidence.

Effects of dietary protein sources and nisin on rumen fermentation, nutrient digestion, plasma metabolites, nitrogen utilization, and growth performance in growing lambs.

This study investigated the effects of dietary protein sources and nisin on rumen fermentation, nutrient digestion, plasma metabolites, N utilization, and growth performance in growing lambs. Thirty-two male Hu lambs (23 ± 2 kg initial BW) were assigned to four dietary treatments in a randomized block design with a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement. Two protein sources, soybean meal (SBM) and dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS), and two levels of nisin, 0 and 30.

The relationship between mitochondrial DNA copy number and stallion sperm function.

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) copy number has been utilized as a measure of sperm quality in several species including mice, dogs, and humans, and has been suggested as a potential biomarker of fertility in stallion sperm. The results of the present study extend this recent discovery using sperm samples from American Quarter Horse stallions of varying age. By determining copy number of three mitochondrial genes, cytochrome b (CYTB), NADH dehydrogenase 1 (ND1) and NADH dehydrogenase 4 (ND4), instead of a single gene, we demonstrate an improved understanding of mtDNA fate in stallion sperm mitochondria following spermatogenesis.

Resequencing and annotation of the Nostoc punctiforme ATTC 29133 genome: facilitating biofuel and high-value chemical production.

Cyanobacteria have the potential to produce bulk and fine chemicals and members belonging to Nostoc sp. have received particular attention due to their relatively fast growth rate and the relative ease with which they can be harvested. Nostoc punctiforme is an aerobic, motile, Gram-negative, filamentous cyanobacterium that has been studied intensively to enhance our understanding of microbial carbon and nitrogen fixation.

Hematologic and biochemical reference intervals for specific pathogen free 6-week-old Hampshire-Yorkshire crossbred pigs.

Background: Hematologic and biochemical reference intervals depend on many factors, including age. A review of the literature highlights the lack of reference intervals for 6-wk-old specific pathogen free (SPF) Hampshire-Yorkshire crossbred pigs. For translational research, 6-wk-old pigs represent an important animal model for both human juvenile colitis and diabetes mellitus type 2 given the similarities between the porcine and human gastrointestinal maturation process.

Prediction of enteric methane emissions from cattle.

Agriculture has a key role in food production worldwide and it is a major component of the gross domestic product of several countries. Livestock production is essential for the generation of high quality protein foods and the delivery of foods in regions where animal products are the main food source. Environmental impacts of livestock production have been examined for decades, but recently emission of methane from enteric fermentation has been targeted as a substantial greenhouse gas source.