Effect of Overstocking at the Feed Bunk on Indicators of Cow Temperament

Our objective was to investigate the effect of overstocking the feed bunk on dairy cow behavioral responses to human approach and reactivity to blood sampling. One hundred and twenty dry Holstein cows were allocated to 1 of 2 treatment groups with different stocking densities at the feedbunk (Overstocked (OS): 0.88 headlocks/cow; Understocked (US): 1.17 headlocks/cow). Over 2 testing periods (7 d apart), flight response was assessed using a human-approach test, with a 5-point ordinal scale defining the distance at which the cow stepped away from the approaching experimenter (0 = not approachable from 3 m to 4 = cow moves away when experimenter is 0 m from the cow). A qualitative assessment was also made of the cow’s response to the experimenter using a visual analogue scale (VAS) that included the terms: relaxed, nervous, alert, shy, aggressive, social, and curious. Reactivity to blood sampling via the coccygeal vein was assessed in the pen using a 4-point scale (0 = least reactive to 3 = most reactive). Data were analyzed through a mixed model analysis, using treatment, time, and their interaction. The relationship between qualitative measures was assessed using a Pearson correlation. There was a treatment by time interaction whereby flight response scores decreased with time in OS cows and increased with time in US cows (OS: 1.65 to 1.47, US: 1.33 to 1.68; P = 0.02). Reactivity to blood sampling did not differ by treatment (OS: 1.11, US: 0.98; P = 0.47), and there was also no treatment by time interaction (OS: 1.17 to 1.11, US: 1.01 to 0.98; P = 0.88). The overall correlation between qualitative terms was low. However, the terms ‘relaxed’ and ‘nervous’ had a significant negative correlation (OS: r = -0.71; P < 0.0001; US: r = -0.61; P < 0.0001). In conclusion, overstocking the feed bunk affected the animal’s response to an approaching human. Cows in the OS treatment became less approachable over time, which may indicate fear, stress, or an increase in arousal. Future research should investigate the effect that overstocking may have on cow temperament for a longer duration, as this may further decrease approachability.SEEDS: The OARDC Research Enhancement Competitive Grants ProgramNo embargoAcademic Major: Animal Science

Digital Colonialism: The 21st Century Scramble for Africa through the Extraction and Control of User Data and the Limitations of Data Protection Laws

As Western technology companies increasingly rely on user data globally, extensive data protection laws and regulations emerged to ensure ethical use of that data. These same protections, however, do not exist uniformly in the resource-rich, infrastructure-poor African countries, where Western tech seeks to establish its presence. These conditions provide an ideal landscape for digital colonialism. Digital colonialism refers to a modern-day “Scramble for Africa” where largescale tech companies extract, analyze, and own user data for profit and market influence with nominal benefit to the data source. Under the guise of altruism, large scale tech companies can use their power and resources to access untapped data on the continent. Scant data protection laws and infrastructure ownership by western tech companies open the door for exploitation of data as a resource for-profit and a myriad of uses including predictive analytics. One may believe that strengthening data protection laws will be a barrier to digital colonialism. However, regardless of their relative strength or weakness, data protection laws have limits. An analysis of Kenya\u27s 2018 data protection bill, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and documented actions of largescale tech companies exemplifies how those limits create several loopholes for continued digital colonialism including, historical violations of data privacy laws; limitations of sanctions; unchecked mass concentration of data, lack of competition enforcement, uninformed consent, and limits to defined nation-state privacy laws

Inhibition of Melanoma Angiogenesis by Telomere Homolog Oligonucleotides

Telomere homolog oligonucleotides (T-oligos) activate an innate telomere-based program that leads to multiple anticancer effects. T-oligos act at telomeres to initiate signaling through the Werner protein and ATM kinase. We wanted to determine if T-oligos have antiangiogenic effects. We found that T-oligo-treated human melanoma (MM-AN) cells had decreased expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), VEGF receptor 2, angiopoeitin-1 and -2 and decreased VEGF secretion. T-oligos activated the transcription factor E2F1 and inhibited the activity of the angiogenic transcription factor, HIF-1α. T-oligos inhibited EC tubulogenesis and total tumor microvascular density matrix invasion by MM-AN cells and ECs in vitro. In melanoma SCID xenografts, two systemic T-oligo injections decreased by 60% (P<.004) total tumor microvascular density and the functional vessels density by 80% (P <.002). These findings suggest that restriction of tumor angiogenesis is among the host's innate telomere-based anticancer responses and provide further evidence that T-oligos may offer a powerful new approach for melanoma treatment.National Institutes of Health (CA10515); American Skin Associatio

The Volkswagen Scandal

Volkswagen is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world. For years the company has focused on producing attractive and environmentally friendly automobiles, and recent initiatives have included a project to reduce CO2 production, along with advertisements claiming lower emission of greenhouse gases. The world was shocked to hear that Volkswagen had been producing diesel engines for its cars that were able to trick emissions testing equipment. The engines were producing many times the EPA standards for emissions, yet they passed emission tests. This case provides detailed information about the scandal as well as information about the history, operations, and stated values of Volkswagen, as well as some of the early actions of the company to deal with the scandal

Converging evidence for the processing costs associated with ambiguous quantifier comprehension.

Traditional neuroanatomic models of language comprehension have emphasized a core language network situated in peri-Sylvian cortex. More recent evidence appears to extend the neuroanatomic network beyond peri-Sylvian cortex to encompass other aspects of sentence processing. In this study, we evaluate the neuroanatomic basis for processing the ambiguity in doubly-quantified sentences. For example, a sentence like All the dogs jumped in a lake can be interpreted with a collective interpretation (e.g., several dogs jumping into a single lake) or a distributive interpretation (e.g., several dogs each jumping into a different lake). In Experiment 1, we used BOLD fMRI to investigate neuroanatomic recruitment by young adults during the interpretation of ambiguous doubly-quantified sentences in a sentence-picture verification task. We observed that young adults exhibited a processing cost associated with interpreting ambiguous sentences and this was related to frontal and parietal cortex recruitment. In Experiment 2, we investigate ambiguous sentence processing with the identical materials in non-aphasic patients with behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) who have frontal cortex disease and executive and decision-making limitations. bvFTD patients are insensitive to ambiguity associated with doubly-quantified sentences, and this is related to the magnitude of their frontal cortex disease. These studies provide converging evidence that cortical regions that extend beyond peri-Sylvian cortex help support the processing costs associated with the interpretation of ambiguous doubly-quantified sentences

Prepartum fatty acid supplementation in sheep : III. Effect of eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid during finishing on performance, hypothalamus gene expression, and muscle fatty acids composition in lambs

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the effect of feeding an enriched diet with eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) to finishing lambs born from ewes supplemented either with or without EPA and DHA during late gestation on productive performance, muscle fatty acid (FA), and hypothalamus mRNA concentration of metabolic genes and hormone receptors. Lambs born from dams fed during the last 50 d of gestation either with a control diet containing 0.39% Ca salts of palmitic fatty acid distillate (C) or Ca salts enriched with EPA and DHA (PFA) were used. After weaning lambs (n = 70) were blocked by weight (BW) and used in a 2 × 2 factorial into 2 finishing diets containing 1.5% of C or PFA. The 2 factors were the ewe diet and the finishing diet. Lambs (37.9 ± 0.4 kg) were weighed and blood sampled for glucose and NEFA measurements at days 1, 14, 28, and 42. Dry matter intake (DMI) was measured daily. At day 43, 14 females and 14 males were slaughtered, and hot carcass weight, body wall thickness, rib eye area, and FA composition of Longissumus thoracis muscle were evaluated. Female hypothalamuses were obtained and mRNA concentration of hormone receptors, neuropeptides, and their receptors was measured. Lambs born from PFA dams were heavier (P 0.1). Lambs born from PFA dams had a greater concentration of C22:0 (P < 0.03). Lambs fed C had higher concentrations of C18:1c15 (P < 0.01), C17:0 (P < 0.09), C18:0 (P < 0.09), and n6/n3 (P < 0.01). Lambs fed PFA had greater concentration (P < 0.05) of C16:1, C22:1, C20:5, C22:5, C22:6, total n3 FA, and total EPA and DHA. There was a significant dam × finishing diet interaction (P ≤ 0.08) on mRNA concentration for MCR3, CCK-R, Cort-R, and CART. Lambs, which had the same treatment as their dams, showed lower overall mRNA concentration than those with different treatments between them and their dams. Lambs born from PFA ewes had lower concentration of MCR4 mRNA (P = 0.09) than C. Agouti-related peptides mRNA concentration was lower in lambs fed PFA (P = 0.06) than C. In conclusion, changes on lamb performance, muscle fatty acid composition, and metabolic neuropeptides depend not only on the lamb diet, but also on the dam diet during late gestation.Instituto de Genética Veterinari

Prepartum fatty acid supplementation in sheep : III. Effect of eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid during finishing on performance, hypothalamus gene expression, and muscle fatty acids composition in lambs

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the effect of feeding an enriched diet with eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) to finishing lambs born from ewes supplemented either with or without EPA and DHA during late gestation on productive performance, muscle fatty acid (FA), and hypothalamus mRNA concentration of metabolic genes and hormone receptors. Lambs born from dams fed during the last 50 d of gestation either with a control diet containing 0.39% Ca salts of palmitic fatty acid distillate (C) or Ca salts enriched with EPA and DHA (PFA) were used. After weaning lambs (n = 70) were blocked by weight (BW) and used in a 2 × 2 factorial into 2 finishing diets containing 1.5% of C or PFA. The 2 factors were the ewe diet and the finishing diet. Lambs (37.9 ± 0.4 kg) were weighed and blood sampled for glucose and NEFA measurements at days 1, 14, 28, and 42. Dry matter intake (DMI) was measured daily. At day 43, 14 females and 14 males were slaughtered, and hot carcass weight, body wall thickness, rib eye area, and FA composition of Longissumus thoracis muscle were evaluated. Female hypothalamuses were obtained and mRNA concentration of hormone receptors, neuropeptides, and their receptors was measured. Lambs born from PFA dams were heavier (P 0.1). Lambs born from PFA dams had a greater concentration of C22:0 (P < 0.03). Lambs fed C had higher concentrations of C18:1c15 (P < 0.01), C17:0 (P < 0.09), C18:0 (P < 0.09), and n6/n3 (P < 0.01). Lambs fed PFA had greater concentration (P < 0.05) of C16:1, C22:1, C20:5, C22:5, C22:6, total n3 FA, and total EPA and DHA. There was a significant dam × finishing diet interaction (P ≤ 0.08) on mRNA concentration for MCR3, CCK-R, Cort-R, and CART. Lambs, which had the same treatment as their dams, showed lower overall mRNA concentration than those with different treatments between them and their dams. Lambs born from PFA ewes had lower concentration of MCR4 mRNA (P = 0.09) than C. Agouti-related peptides mRNA concentration was lower in lambs fed PFA (P = 0.06) than C. In conclusion, changes on lamb performance, muscle fatty acid composition, and metabolic neuropeptides depend not only on the lamb diet, but also on the dam diet during late gestation.Instituto de Genética Veterinari

Prepartum fatty acid supplementation in sheep. III. Effect of eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid during finishing on performance, hypothalamus gene expression, and muscle fatty acids composition in lambs

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the effect of feeding an enriched diet with eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) to finishing lambs born from ewes supplemented either with or without EPA and DHA during late gestation on productive performance, muscle fatty acid (FA), and hypothalamus mRNA concentration of metabolic genes and hormone receptors. Lambs born from dams fed during the last 50 d of gestation either with a control diet containing 0.39% Ca salts of palmitic fatty acid distillate (C) or Ca salts enriched with EPA and DHA (PFA) were used. After weaning lambs (n = 70) were blocked by weight (BW) and used in a 2 × 2 factorial into 2 finishing diets containing 1.5% of C or PFA. The 2 factors were the ewe diet and the finishing diet. Lambs (37.9 ± 0.4 kg) were weighed and blood sampled for glucose and NEFA measurements at days 1, 14, 28, and 42. Dry matter intake (DMI) was measured daily. At day 43, 14 females and 14 males were slaughtered, and hot carcass weight, body wall thickness, rib eye area, and FA composition of Longissumus thoracis muscle were evaluated. Female hypothalamuses were obtained and mRNA concentration of hormone receptors, neuropeptides, and their receptors was measured. Lambs born from PFA dams were heavier (P 0.1). Lambs born from PFA dams had a greater concentration of C22:0 (P < 0.03). Lambs fed C had higher concentrations of C18:1c15 (P < 0.01), C17:0 (P < 0.09), C18:0 (P < 0.09), and n6/n3 (P < 0.01). Lambs fed PFA had greater concentration (P < 0.05) of C16:1, C22:1, C20:5, C22:5, C22:6, total n3 FA, and total EPA and DHA. There was a significant dam × finishing diet interaction (P ≤ 0.08) on mRNA concentration for MCR3, CCK-R, Cort-R, and CART. Lambs, which had the same treatment as their dams, showed lower overall mRNA concentration than those with different treatments between them and their dams. Lambs born from PFA ewes had lower concentration of MCR4 mRNA (P = 0.09) than C. Agouti-related peptides mRNA concentration was lower in lambs fed PFA (P = 0.06) than C. In conclusion, changes on lamb performance, muscle fatty acid composition, and metabolic neuropeptides depend not only on the lamb diet, but also on the dam diet during late gestation.Fil: Carranza Martin, Ana Cristina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico CONICET- La Plata. Instituto de Genética Veterinaria "Ing. Fernando Noel Dulout". Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Instituto de Genética Veterinaria; ArgentinaFil: Coleman, Danielle Nicole. Ohio State University; Estados UnidosFil: Garcia, Lyda Guadalupe. Ohio State University; Estados UnidosFil: Furnus, Cecilia Cristina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico CONICET- La Plata. Instituto de Genética Veterinaria "Ing. Fernando Noel Dulout". Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Instituto de Genética Veterinaria; ArgentinaFil: Relling, Alejandro Enrique. Ohio State University; Estados Unido