Reliability Of The Styku 3d Whole Body Scanner For The Assessment Of Body Size In College Athletes

3-dimensional (3D) anthropometrics, such as volumes and surface area, have been shown to be important in predicting sport performance, and assessing health status, but most commercially available whole-body scanners are cost prohibitive. The main purpose of this study was to determine the test-retest reliability of a commercially available single camera 3D body scanning system to assess whole body and segmental circumferences, surface areas, and volumes of healthy collegiate athletes and students. Forty-nine male and female student-athletes active in various sports from a division I institute were scanned and measurements were analyzed. The single camera system demonstrated good within- and between-session reliability. Reliability was quantified as the systematic error, random error, and test-retest correlation. The Styku 3D whole body scanner demonstrated nearly perfect reliability. Systematic errors were negligible (mean standardized bias [95%CI]: within-session, 0.04 [0.02, 0.06]; between-session, 0.02 [0.01, 0.03]), random errors were negligible (mean standardized typical error [95%CI]); within-session, 0.14 [0.11, 0.17]; between-session, 0.09 [0.07, 0.13]), and test-retest correlations were nearly perfect (mean ICC [95%CI]: within-session, 0.98 [0.97, 0.99]; between-session, 0.99 [0.99, 1.00]). 3-D body scanning using a single camera system may be a good fit for professionals looking for a low-cost system for the evaluation of body shape and size

The effects of medium-oil dried distillers grains with solubles on growth performance and carcass traits in finishing pigs

An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of increasing medium-oil dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS; 7.4% fat, 28.1% CP, 10.8% ADF, and 25.6% NDF) on growth performance and carcass traits in finishing pigs. A total of 288 pigs (PIC 327 × 1050; initially 151.8 lb) were allotted to 1 of 4 dietary treatments. Treatments consisted of a corn-soybean meal control diet or the control diet with 15, 30, or 45% medium-oil DDGS, with 8 pigs per pen and 8 replications per treatment. Increasing medium-oil DDGS decreased (linear, P < 0.01) ADG and worsened (linear, P < 0.02) F/G. In addition, final BW, HCW, carcass yield, and loin-eye depth decreased (linear, P < 0.03), and jowl iodine value (IV) increased (linear, P < 0.001) with increasing medium-oil DDGS. When pigs are fed traditional DDGS containing >10.5% fat, each 10% DDGS added to the diet increases jowl IV approximately 2 mg/g; however, feeding increasing medium-oil DDGS increased jowl IV only about 1.4 units per each 10% DDGS. In conclusion, swine producers must be aware of the negative ramifications on growth performance of using medium-oil DDGS in swine diets

Effects of added Zn in diets with Ractopamine HCl on growth performance and carcass quality of finishing pigs in a commercial environment

The experiment was conducted in a commercial facility to determine the effects of added Zn on the performance of finishing pigs fed Ractopamine HCl (RAC; Paylean®; Elanco Animal Health, Greenfield, IN). Pigs were randomly assigned to pens based on gender (14 barrow pens, 11 gilt pens, and 23 mixed-gender pens), with 25 to 28 pigs per pen. Previously, pens of pigs were assigned to treatments containing 0, 7.5, or 15% bakery by-product in a completely randomized design while balancing for initial BW and gender. On d 75, treatments were implemented to determine the effects of adding 50 ppm Zn from ZnO on finishing pig performance. A total of 1,234 pigs (PIC 337 × 1050; average BW 224.6 lb) were used in a 28-d study. Pens of pigs were randomly assigned to diets with and without 50 ppm added Zn from zinc oxide (ZnO) and balanced by BW, bakery by-product, and gender. All diets contained 5 ppm RAC and 83 ppm Zn from ZnO provided by the trace mineral premix. There were 24 pens per treatment. Overall (d 75 to 102), no differences (P > 0.22) in growth performance or carcass characteristics were observed when pigs were fed diets with 50 ppm added Zn compared with the RAC control. For pigs subsampled on d 84, pigs fed diets with 50 ppm added Zn had decreased (P < 0.05) edge belly thickness compared with pigs fed the control. For pigs subsampled on d 102, pigs fed diets with 50 ppm added Zn had decreased (P < 0.02) backfat thickness, belly weight, and edge belly thickness; a tendency for decreased (P < 0.07) middle belly thickness; and increased (P < 0.01) percentage lean compared with pigs fed the RAC control. In contrast with our previous research, these data indicate that adding 50 ppm Zn from ZnO to finishing pig diets containing RAC did not improve overall performance. Consistent with the earlier research, income over feed cost (IOFC) was numerically increased with the addition of Zn

The interactive effects of high-fiber diets and Ractopamine HCl on finishing pig growth performance, carcass characteristics, carcass fat quality, and intestinal weights

In previous research, feeding pigs high amounts of dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) and wheat middlings (midds) has been shown to reduce carcass yield and negatively affect iodine value (IV). The influence of Ractopamine HCl (RAC; Paylean, Elanco Animal Health, Greenfield, IN) on this response is not known; therefore, a total of 575 finishing pigs (PIC 327 × 1050, initially 123 lb) were used in two consecutive 73-d trials to determine the effects of DDGS and midds (high fiber) withdrawal 24 d before harvest in diets with or without RAC on finishing pig growth performance, carcass characteristics, and fat quality. From d 0 to 49, pigs were allotted to 1 of 2 dietary treatments in a completely randomized design based on initial pen weight. The dietary treatments included a corn-soybean meal–based control diet or diets with 30% DDGS and 19% wheat midds. Twelve pens of pigs were fed the corn-soybean meal control diet, and 24 pens were fed the high-fiber diet. During this 49 d period, pigs fed the corn-soybean meal diets had improved (P < 0.0001) ADG and F/G compared with those fed the high-fiber diets. On d 49, pens of pigs were re-allotted to 1 of 6 dietary treatments; pigs remained on the corn-soybean meal diets, switched from the high-fiber diet to corn-soybean meal (withdrawal diet), or were maintained on the high-fiber diet. These 3 regimens were fed with or without 9 g/ton RAC

Cull Sow Feeding Management

The decision to cull a sow from the breeding herd typically occurs after weaning due to poor lactation performance, lameness or if she fails to breed or conceive. Once the decision to cull a sow from the breeding herd has been made, a producer must decide to either immediately market the sow or to increase marketable body weight by feeding her for a period of time. The decision to feed cull sows to add additional body weight is not a simple decision. Many factors such as current cull sow market prices, available housing space, feed cost, and health of the animal contribute to this decision [1]. Revenue from marketing cull sows contributes to the profitability of pork operations, therefore much care should be placed on deciding when to market cull sows

Variation in the digestiility of amino acids in soybean meal from a single processing plant

Digestibilities of amino acids among samples of soybean meal (SBM) collected during a fall harvest season (4 collections made 15 d apart) were similar, except that true digestibility from tryptophan was lower for a sample collected on d 30 of the experiment vs SMB samples collected on the other dates. Our data suggest that proximate components and amino acid digestibilities of the SBM were very consistent and uniform during the 45 d of sample collection in one processing plant

Foreword and Supplemental Information, Swine Day

It is with great pleasure that we present the 2016 Swine Industry Day Report of Progress. This report contains updates and summaries of applied and basic research conducted at Kansas State University during the past year. We hope that the information will be of benefit as we attempt to meet the needs of the Kansas swine industry

Effect of Soy Protein Sources on Nursery Pig Performance

A total of 480 nursery pigs (PIC C-29 × 359, initially 12.9 lb) were used in a 38-d growth trial to determine the effects of soy protein sources on pig performance. There were 10 pigs per pen and 8 replications per treatment. The 6 dietary treatments were a negative control, corn-soybean meal-based diet (30.1% soybean meal), and diets containing five different specialty protein sources including: Nutrivance, HP 300, soy protein concentrate (SPC), or NF8 or fish meal replacing 10% of the soybean meal in the negative control diet. Experimental diets were fed in two phases (5 lb per pig on d 0 to approximately d 14 and d 14 to 24) with a common diet fed from d 24 to 38. Diets contained 25 and 10% dried whey in phases 1 and 2, respectively. From d 0 to 14, pigs fed diets containing Nutrivance or NF8 had greater (P \u3c 0.05) ADG than pigs fed the negative control, high SBM diet. Also, pigs fed the NF8 diet had greater (P \u3c 0.05) ADG than pigs fed diets containing SPC or fish meal. The growth response was a result of greater (P \u3c 0.05) ADFI for pigs fed the Nutrivance diet and improved (P \u3c 0.05) feed efficiency for the NF8 diet. From d 14 to 24, pigs fed the diets containing fish meal or HP 300 had greater (P \u3c 0.05) ADG than pigs fed NF8, with pigs fed NF8 having poorer (P \u3c 0.05) F/G compared with pigs fed all other treatments. From d 0 to 24, pigs fed the diet containing HP 300 had greater (P \u3c 0.05) ADG than pigs fed the negative control, high SBM diet, with other treatments being intermediate. Pigs fed the diet containing HP 300 had improved (P \u3c 0.05) F/G compared with pigs fed all other protein sources except fish meal. Pigs fed the fish meal diet also had improved (P \u3c 0.05) F/G compared with pigs fed the diet containing NF8. The improvement in performance from d 0 to 14 for pigs fed the diet containing Nutrivance resulted in a 0.5 lb heavier (P \u3c 0.05) pig on d 14 as compared to the negative control diet. The 0.5 lb advantage in BW over the negative control was maintained to the end of the trial (d 38) and was similar to the final BW of pigs fed the HP 300 diet; however, the weight advantage was no longer statistically significant

Swine Day 2015 Supplements

It is with great pleasure that we present the 2015 Swine Industry Day Report of Progress. This report contains updates and summaries of applied and basic research conducted at Kansas State University during the past year. We hope that the information will be of benefit as we attempt to meet the needs of the Kansas swine industry

Feed Additives for Swine – Enzymes and Phytase

Even though pig feed is ground, it must still be broken down into even smaller molecules in order to be absorbed from the digestive tract. For example, proteins must be broken down into amino acids and starch must be broken down into glucose. The digestion of feed in the pig is achieved through the use of enzymes that the pig naturally secretes from its stomach, pancreas and small intestine. However, the pig\u27s array of enzymes is not capable of breaking down all components of its diet. Since the pig is unable to fully utilize all components of its diet, specific enzymes can be added to the feed to help break down complex carbohydrates, protein and phytate. These enzymes are called carbohydrases, proteases, and phytases, respectively. They are derived from bacteria and yeasts. At the time of writing, almost 200 different enzymes and enzyme products were available worldwide to the pork industry