Recognition and management of pain in cattle

Attitudes towards pain and its control in farm animals have lagged behind those in companion animal species. However, a considerable amount of work over the past 15 years has focused on the perception of pain in cattle based on objective and subjective assessment by clinicians working with this species. A recent large-scale survey of cattle practitioners revealed that over half of the respondents felt their knowledge of pain and analgesia in cattle was inadequate or could be improved, and the majority of these identified a lack of readily available information on the subject as being a contributory factor. This article reviews current knowledge on pain assessment in cattle in a clinical setting, and discusses some protocols for pain management in specific conditions

The regulation of neuronal cell fate by the interaction of the Brn-3a transcription factors and the p73 family of proteins.

The Brn-3a and Brn-3b POU transcription factors are expressed in the developing nervous system where Brn-3a is associated with sensory neuronal differentiation and survival. It has been shown that Brn-3a directly interacts with the p53 protein and this interaction resulted in differential regulation of gene targets which affect cell fate i.e. death or differentiation. The p53 related protein, p73, is involved in neuronal development and is expressed as multiple alternatively spliced C-terminal isoforms (TAp73a-£), and N-terminally deleted, dominant negative proteins (ANp73a-P) that show reciprocal function to the TA forms and p53. In this study we show that the Brn-3a/Brn-3b proteins also physically interacted with the p73 isoforms via the POU domain of Brn-3 and the region containing the OD domain of p73 and this interaction is modulated by the different C-terminals of the p73 isoforms. The effect of the Brn-3a/p73 interaction was tested on p53 target genes where co-expression of Brn-3a was shown to potentiate the transcriptional effect of TAp73 on the p2icn>1/Wafl promoter whilst antagonizing TAp73/p53 mediated activation of the pro-apoptotic genes box and noxa. Additionally Brn-3a uses a variety of different mechanisms to modulate the expression of different p53 target genes as well as playing a role in determining the selectivity of individual TAp73 members in controlling the expression of the bax promoter. In agreement with a functional effect, co-expression of Brn-3a and TAp73 increased cell cycle arrest and survival in the ND7 neuronal cell line, whereas co-expression of Brn-3a and ANp73 had no effect on cell cycle arrest but increased cell survival. Similar to p53, p73 (TA and AN) co-localised to a subset of Brn-3a positive neural crest cells (NCC) fated for a sensory lineage. Some of these Brn-3a/p73 co-expressing cells suggested a differentiated cell type and co-localization of TAp73 but not ANp73 with the differentiation marker NF-160, suggested that TAp73, like p53 is associated with differentiation of Brn-3a positive NCC effects of Brn-3a-p73/p53 co-expression was analysed in NCC cultured from Brn-3a-/- embryos showed significantly increased apoptosis upon induction of p53/p73 compared with WT cultures, suggesting that Brn-3a is necessary to overcome the p73/p53 apoptotic pathway. Thus, interaction with Brn-3a in sensory neurones may be critical for modulating p73/p53 mediated gene expression and hence cell fate

Prediction of intramammary infection status across the dry period from lifetime cow records

The dry period is very important for mammary gland health, with the aim not only to cure existing intramammary infections (IMI) but also to prevent new IMI. Although it is known that the dry period is an important time for optimizing udder health, the probability that individual cows will succumb to a new IMI or, if infected, will fail to cure an IMI is not well established. The aim of this study was to investigate whether lifetime cow data, available through routine on-farm milk recording, could be used to predict changes in IMI status across the dry period for individual cows that were (1) deemed high somatic cell count (SCC; >199,000 cells/mL) or (2) low SCC (<200,000 cells/mL) at the last test day before drying off. Milk recording data collected between September 1994 and July 2014 from 114 herds in the United Kingdom were used. Two 2-level random effects models were built and both cure and new IMI were used as outcome variables in separate models. Cows with a smaller proportion of test days with a high SCC in the lactation before drying off, a smaller proportion of test days recording a high SCC in the lactation before the current lactation, of lower parity, producing less milk before drying off, of lower days in milk at drying off, and of lower SCC just before drying off were more likely to cure across the dry period. Dry period length had no effect on the likelihood of cure. Individual cows with a smaller proportion of test days recording a high SCC in the lactation before the current, of lower parity, of lower milk production at drying off, and fewer days in milk at drying off were less likely to develop a new IMI. Dry period length was found to have no effect on the probability of new IMI. Model predictions showed that a high level of discrimination was possible between cows with a high and low risk of both cures and new infections across the dry period

A fresh look at inter-service intervals in UK dairy herds

Good heat detection is essential for good reproductive performance in the modern dairy herd using artificial insemination. Veterinary surgeons and farmers use a variety of tools to monitor heat detection including the analysis of inter-service intervals (ISIs). The aim of this study was to explore the distribution of inter-service intervals in a large sample of UK dairy herds and establish targets for use by practitioners when interpreting ISIs. In this study service records from 167 dairy herds from across the UK were used to generate ISI profiles for each calendar year of each herd. Intervals between serves were categorised as short irregular (2-17 days), short regular (18-24 days), long irregular (25-35 days), long regular (36-48 days) or extended (>48 days). Herd years were ranked by oestrus detection efficiency, the mean of the top quartile of herd-years had 6%, 40%, 16%, 19% and 19% of intervals in each interval category respectively. There was no correlation between the percentage of serves falling in the short regular and short irregular category for a given herd-year (Spearman rho magnitude <0.01, p=0.84), suggesting little direct correlation between the sensitivity and specificity of a herd’s heat detection. The results show a substantial difference to accepted targets and will be of use when interpreting herd data and target setting for UK dairy herds

A fresh look at inter-service intervals in UK dairy herds

Good heat detection is essential for good reproductive performance in the modern dairy herd using artificial insemination. Veterinary surgeons and farmers use a variety of tools to monitor heat detection including the analysis of inter-service intervals (ISIs). The aim of this study was to explore the distribution of inter-service intervals in a large sample of UK dairy herds and establish targets for use by practitioners when interpreting ISIs. In this study service records from 167 dairy herds from across the UK were used to generate ISI profiles for each calendar year of each herd. Intervals between serves were categorised as short irregular (2-17 days), short regular (18-24 days), long irregular (25-35 days), long regular (36-48 days) or extended (>48 days). Herd years were ranked by oestrus detection efficiency, the mean of the top quartile of herd-years had 6%, 40%, 16%, 19% and 19% of intervals in each interval category respectively. There was no correlation between the percentage of serves falling in the short regular and short irregular category for a given herd-year (Spearman rho magnitude <0.01, p=0.84), suggesting little direct correlation between the sensitivity and specificity of a herd’s heat detection. The results show a substantial difference to accepted targets and will be of use when interpreting herd data and target setting for UK dairy herds

Principles of resilient coding for plant ecophysiologists

Plant ecophysiology is founded on a rich body of physical and chemical theory, but it is challenging to connect theory with data in unambiguous, analytically rigorous and reproducible ways. Custom scripts written in computer programming languages (coding) enable plant ecophysiologists to model plant processes and fit models to data reproducibly using advanced statistical techniques. Since many ecophysiologists lack formal programming education, we have yet to adopt a unified set of coding principles and standards that could make coding easier to learn, use and modify. We identify eight principles to help in plant ecophysiologists without much programming experience to write resilient code: (i) standardized nomenclature, (ii) consistency in style, (iii) increased modularity/extensibility for easier editing and understanding, (iv) code scalability for application to large data sets, (v) documented contingencies for code maintenance, (vi) documentation to facilitate user understanding; (vii) extensive tutorials and (viii) unit testing and benchmarking. We illustrate these principles using a new R package, {photosynthesis}, which provides a set of analytical and simulation tools for plant ecophysiology. Our goal with these principles is to advance scientific discovery in plant ecophysiology by making it easier to use code for simulation and data analysis, reproduce results and rapidly incorporate new biological understanding and analytical tools

Quantifying fenbendazole and its metabolites in self-medicating wild red grouse Lagopus lagopus scoticus using an HPLC–MS–MS approach

On red grouse estates in the UK the nematode parasite Trichostrongylus tenuis is often controlled by application of grit medicated with the anthelmintic fenbendazole (FBZ). To date, assessment of the efficacy has been inhibited by the inability to quantify uptake of FBZ by the birds. We have developed a simple and sensitive HPLC–MS–MS method for detecting and quantifying FBZ and its metabolites from a 300 mg sample of red grouse liver. This method could be used to improve the efficacy of medicated grit treatment by allowing the identification of conditions and application methods that optimize the uptake of FBZ. With the necessary modifications, our method will also be applicable to other wildlife species where self-medication is used for parasite control

Associations between dairy cow inter-service interval and probability of conception

Recent research has indicated that the interval between inseminations in modern dairy cattle is often longer than the commonly accepted cycle length of 18–24 days. This study analysed 257,396 inseminations in 75,745 cows from 312 herds in England and Wales. The interval between subsequent inseminations in the same cow in the same lactation (inter-service interval, ISI) were calculated and inseminations categorised as successful or unsuccessful depending on whether there was a corresponding calving event. Conception risk was calculated for each individual ISI between 16 and 28 days. A random effects logistic regression model was fitted to the data with pregnancy as the outcome variable and ISI (in days) included in the model as a categorical variable. The modal ISI was 22 days and the peak conception risk was 44% for ISIs of 21 days rising from 27% at 16 days. The logistic regression model revealed significant associations of conception risk with ISI as well as 305 day milk yield, insemination number, parity and days in milk. Predicted conception risk was lower for ISIs of 16, 17 and 18 days and higher for ISIs of 20, 21 and 22 days compared to 25 day ISIs. A mixture model was specified to identify clusters in insemination frequency and conception risk for ISIs between 3 and 50 days. A “high conception risk, high insemination frequency” cluster was identified between 19 and 26 days which indicated that this time period was the true latent distribution for ISI with optimal reproductive outcome. These findings suggest that the period of increased numbers of inseminations around 22 days identified in existing work coincides with the period of increased probability of conception and therefore likely represents true return estrus events

Variation in the inter-service intervals of UK dairy cows

An understanding of the normal estrous cycle length of the cow is important when managing and monitoring dairy herd fertility. Whilst the normal inter-ovulatory interval is widely considered to be 21 days, some studies have found alternative intervals to be more prevalent; previously most of the variation in interval length was expected to be between cows. The aim of this study was to assess the time between inseminations (inter-service interval, ISI), in a large number of dairy cows and to explore possible associations between cow factors and estrous cycle length. The study used ISI data from 42,252 cows in 159 herds across England and Wales. Univariate analysis of the subset of 114,572 intervals between 15 and 30 days (a range covering the increased frequency of ISIs occurring at the expected time of the first return to estrus) following an insemination revealed a modal ISI of 22 days. Primiparous heifers had a modal ISI of 21 days. There were significant differences between the distribution of ISIs for different yield groups, parity numbers and the number of inseminations. Multilevel regression modelling was used to evaluate the associations between cow factors and ISI, whilst accounting for clustering at the herd and cow level. This revealed significant associations between predicted ISI and insemination number, days in milk, lactation 305 day milk yield, and month and year of insemination. Variance partition coefficients indicated that only 1% of variation in ISIs was at the herd level, 12% at the animal level and 87% at the insemination level, indicating that cycle length varies substantially more between cycles within a cow than between cows or herds. These findings suggest the “normal” range of ISI for modern UK dairy cows is longer than expected and that there is a large amount of unexplained variation in cycle length within individual animals over time

The association between age at first calving and survival of first lactation heifers within dairy herds

The objective of this research was to evaluate the survival rate of primiparous heifers within a large sample of herds across the UK and specifically to assess the association between age at first calving (AFC) on their survival. Data from 437 herds was re-structured for analysis. Descriptive statistics were calculated, and a multilevel logistic regression model used to explore factors associated with the risk of first lactation culling. Potential explanatory variables included AFC, herd size, culling rate within the whole herd, calving season, herd mean 305d yield and herd mean calving interval. The mean within-herd culling rate for the primiparous heifers was 15.9%. The mean within-herd AFC was 29.6 months, with 35.9% of heifers having an AFC greater than 30 months of age. Multivariable analysis revealed a negative association between survival rate of primiparous heifers and increasing AFC, and also associations with herd culling rate in older cows and calving season. This study highlights the importance of AFC for survival of primiparous heifers, as well the need to address heifer wastage in herds with high culling rates