Effects of carcass characteristics of swines on the residual effect of micronized soybean meal

The process of micronizing soybean meal can reduce eating disorders in piglets in the nursery phase. The treatment reduces the soybean meal into smaller particles and eliminates the non-nutritional factors, which can help animal performance. The focus of this experiment was to evaluate the residual effect of the inclusion of micronized soybean meal in the diet of piglets in the nursery phase on the carcass characteristics of these animals after slaughter. Seventy piglets were used with the 21 days of age. In this phase, the animals were submitted to treatments with five levels of substitution of regular soybean meal with micronized soybean meal (SM) (T1- 0% SM, T2- 25% SM, T3- 50% SM, T4- 75% SM, T5- 100% SM). After the first phase, the pigs were taken to growth and termination facilities, where they were kept in individual stalls, distributed in a completely randomized design, with 5 residual treatments and 14 repetitions. In this period, the animals received feed based on corn and soybean meal, formulated to respect each physiological phase. At the end of the second phase of the experiment (growth/termination), the animals were slaughtered at a commercial slaughterhouse. The carcass characteristics observed were: backfat thickness of first, second and third ribs (BT 1, BT 2, BT 3), lumbar depth, loin length, carcass length, carcass yield and hot and cold carcass weight. The data were analyzed by the SAS PROC GLM software. Regression analyses were applied to the treatment data to evaluate the linear and quadratic effects. The animals fed with micronized soybean meal showed lower results for the parameters cold carcass weight, hot carcass weight and carcass length, while backfat thickness (BT1, BT2 and BT3), loin depth, and loin length (used for carcass classification) were not influenced by the addition of micronized soybean meal (p>0.05). Moreover, the carcass yield and loin eye area, used to predict the amount of meat in the carcass, were also not different between the treatments when analyzing the diet factor (p>0.05). Females presented higher carcass yield, with mean of 80.7 % linear regression p = 0.2275 and quadratic regression p = 0,285, and loin length, with mean 10.45 mm, linear regression p = 0.8096 and quadratic regression p = 0.4087. Males showed greater backfat thickness (BT1), with mean of 34.18mm, linear regression p = 0.0525 and quadratic regression p = 0.756, and loin depth, with mean 10.45mm, linear regression p = 0.7516 and quadratic regression p = 0.5028. The inclusion of micronized soybean meal in the diet of piglets in the nursery phase negatively affected the carcass characteristics of these animals at the time of slaughter, resulting in lower weight and carcass length

Pregnancy diagnosis, fetal quantification and gender estimation by ultra-sonography in ewes Diagnóstico de gestação, quantificação e sexagem fetal por ultra-sonografia em ovelhas

The objective of this experiment was to evaluate the accuracy of gestation, fetal sexing and quantification diagnoses in ewes. Pregnancy and fetal quantification were diagnosed in 105 ewes at 35 days of pregnancy. For the fetal gender diagnosis sexing diagnose 55 ewes between 49 and 59 days of pregnancy were used. All exams were recorded on DVD for posterior analysis. After birth, lamb sex was recorded to determine fetal sexing precision. Data were analyzed by chisquare (&#967;2) or Fisher's test, with a significance of 0.05. One hundred percent of pregnancy ultrasound diagnoses were correct. As for the fetal quantification diagnoses, there was an error of 12%. It was possible to diagnose the fetal sex in 87% of the 69 examined fetuses, and 90% of these were estimated correctly. The real-time ultrasound diagnoses were not different from the recorded DVD image diagnoses. Therefore, pregnancy diagnosis accuracy may reach 100%, differing from fetal gender estimation and quantification, which are dependent upon other variables such as fetal gender and examiner experience.<br>O objetivo deste experimento foi avaliar a acurácia do diagnóstico de gestação, quantificação e sexagem fetal em ovelhas. Foram realizados o diagnóstico de gestação e a quantificação fetal em 105 ovelhas aos 35 dias de gestação. Para o diagnóstico da sexagem fetal foram utilizadas 55 ovelhas com período de gestação entre 49 e 59 dias. As imagens de todos os exames foram gravadas em DVD para permitir posterior análise. Após o nascimento dos cordeiros, os respectivos sexos foram observados para determinar a precisão do exame de sexagem fetal. Os dados foram analisados pelo teste Qui-quadrado (&#967;2) ou Teste de Fisher, com nível de significância de 5%. Observou-se 100% de acerto no diagnóstico de gestação pela ultra-sonografia. Quanto ao diagnóstico de quantificação fetal, houve 12% de erro. Foi possível diagnosticar o sexo fetal em 87% dos fetos e destes, 90% estavam corretos. Os diagnósticos em tempo real não foram significativamente diferentes dos diagnósticos feitos após a observação de imagens gravadas em DVD. Portanto, a acurácia do diagnóstico de gestação pode alcançar 100%, diferente da quantificação e sexagem fetal, que dependem de outras variáveis como tipo de gestação e experiência do operador

Gordura corporal e eficiência reprodutiva em éguas doadoras de embrião Mangalarga Marchador Body fat and reproductive efficiency of Mangalarga Marchador embryo donor mares

Foi comparado o julgamento do escore de condição corporal (ECC) com a espessura de gordura subcutânea (EGS) e sua relação com a eficiência reprodutiva de éguas Mangalarga Marchador doadoras de embrião. O experimento foi conduzido com 56 éguas doadoras entre os meses de agosto/08 e abril/09. O ECC foi maior em éguas mais velhas e aumentou com os dias de permanência no experimento. Houve correlação positiva entre peso e tempo de experimento. O peso não foi associado à idade, porém aumentou ao longo do experimento. A EGS na região da cauda e entre a 12ª e 13ª costelas aumentou com a idade e diminuiu com os dias de permanência no experimento. Houve correlação positiva entre EGS e ECC para a cauda e costela. O diâmetro do folículo dominante aumentou ao longo do ciclo estral, e foi menor em éguas com ECC abaixo de 6,5. O diâmetro folicular não foi influenciado pela idade. O diâmetro médio do folículo ovulatório foi 38,43 ± 3,09 mm. A recuperação embrionária não foi afetada pela idade ou ECC, mas foi menor (41%) eméguas que ovularam folículos menores que 40 mm quando comparados às que ovularam folículos maiores que 40 mm (59%). A idade da doadora não foi associada à taxa de gestação dos embriões nas receptoras. A gordura corporal afetou a eficiência reprodutiva das éguas, além disso, a ultrassonografia parece ser essencial para a avaliação precisa e correta do escore de condição corporal.<br>Body condition scoring (BCS) was compared to an ultrasound subcutaneous fat thickness (SFT) determination in relation to the reproductive efficiency of Mangalarga Marchador embryo donor mares. Fifty six barren mares were studied throughout the 2008/2009 breeding season (August through April) and the experiment was designed in a completely randomized scheme. BCS was higher in older mares and increased with time in the experiment, and there was a positive interaction between weight and time. Weight was not associated with age, but increased throughout the experiment. Tail and rib BCS increased with age, and decreased with time. There was a positive correlation between BCS and tail and rib SFT. The diameter of the dominant follicle increased during the estrous cycle and was smaller for mares with BCS below 6.5. Age did not influence the dominant follicle diameter. The mean ovulatory follicle diameter was 38.43 ± 3.09. Embryo recovery was not affected by age or BCS but was lower (41%, P=0.003) in mares that ovulated follicles smaller than 40mm compared to mares ovulating follicles greater than 40mm (59%). Donor age was not associated with recipient pregnancy rates. Body fat affected the reproductive efficiency in mares, and seems that ultra-sonography may be essential for correct and reliable body condition scoring

Health-status outcomes with invasive or conservative care in coronary disease

BACKGROUND In the ISCHEMIA trial, an invasive strategy with angiographic assessment and revascularization did not reduce clinical events among patients with stable ischemic heart disease and moderate or severe ischemia. A secondary objective of the trial was to assess angina-related health status among these patients. METHODS We assessed angina-related symptoms, function, and quality of life with the Seattle Angina Questionnaire (SAQ) at randomization, at months 1.5, 3, and 6, and every 6 months thereafter in participants who had been randomly assigned to an invasive treatment strategy (2295 participants) or a conservative strategy (2322). Mixed-effects cumulative probability models within a Bayesian framework were used to estimate differences between the treatment groups. The primary outcome of this health-status analysis was the SAQ summary score (scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating better health status). All analyses were performed in the overall population and according to baseline angina frequency. RESULTS At baseline, 35% of patients reported having no angina in the previous month. SAQ summary scores increased in both treatment groups, with increases at 3, 12, and 36 months that were 4.1 points (95% credible interval, 3.2 to 5.0), 4.2 points (95% credible interval, 3.3 to 5.1), and 2.9 points (95% credible interval, 2.2 to 3.7) higher with the invasive strategy than with the conservative strategy. Differences were larger among participants who had more frequent angina at baseline (8.5 vs. 0.1 points at 3 months and 5.3 vs. 1.2 points at 36 months among participants with daily or weekly angina as compared with no angina). CONCLUSIONS In the overall trial population with moderate or severe ischemia, which included 35% of participants without angina at baseline, patients randomly assigned to the invasive strategy had greater improvement in angina-related health status than those assigned to the conservative strategy. The modest mean differences favoring the invasive strategy in the overall group reflected minimal differences among asymptomatic patients and larger differences among patients who had had angina at baseline

Initial invasive or conservative strategy for stable coronary disease

BACKGROUND Among patients with stable coronary disease and moderate or severe ischemia, whether clinical outcomes are better in those who receive an invasive intervention plus medical therapy than in those who receive medical therapy alone is uncertain. METHODS We randomly assigned 5179 patients with moderate or severe ischemia to an initial invasive strategy (angiography and revascularization when feasible) and medical therapy or to an initial conservative strategy of medical therapy alone and angiography if medical therapy failed. The primary outcome was a composite of death from cardiovascular causes, myocardial infarction, or hospitalization for unstable angina, heart failure, or resuscitated cardiac arrest. A key secondary outcome was death from cardiovascular causes or myocardial infarction. RESULTS Over a median of 3.2 years, 318 primary outcome events occurred in the invasive-strategy group and 352 occurred in the conservative-strategy group. At 6 months, the cumulative event rate was 5.3% in the invasive-strategy group and 3.4% in the conservative-strategy group (difference, 1.9 percentage points; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.8 to 3.0); at 5 years, the cumulative event rate was 16.4% and 18.2%, respectively (difference, 121.8 percentage points; 95% CI, 124.7 to 1.0). Results were similar with respect to the key secondary outcome. The incidence of the primary outcome was sensitive to the definition of myocardial infarction; a secondary analysis yielded more procedural myocardial infarctions of uncertain clinical importance. There were 145 deaths in the invasive-strategy group and 144 deaths in the conservative-strategy group (hazard ratio, 1.05; 95% CI, 0.83 to 1.32). CONCLUSIONS Among patients with stable coronary disease and moderate or severe ischemia, we did not find evidence that an initial invasive strategy, as compared with an initial conservative strategy, reduced the risk of ischemic cardiovascular events or death from any cause over a median of 3.2 years. The trial findings were sensitive to the definition of myocardial infarction that was used