The effects of periparturient events, mastitis, lameness and ketosis on reproductive performance of Holstein cows in a hot environment

The aim of this study was to determine the association among periparturient events such as mastitis, lameness (infectious and non-infectious) and ketosis and the reproductive performance of high producing Holstein cows in a hot environment. The health status and reproductive data variables were recorded from 6,566 completed lactations in a large dairy operation. A logistic regression model with the stepwise procedure was used, considering the occurrence of the health problems during the pre-breeding period as fixed effect risk factors and reproductive variables as dependent variables. Pregnancy rate of cows contracting clinical mastitis (CM) around the period of first inseminations was five percentage points lower than cows without this disease. Cows with CM shortly before or after the first service had twice the risk of requiring more than three services per pregnancy than cows with healthy udders. Cows experiencing abortion, laminitis or metritis were two times more likely to require >3 services per pregnancy than cows not experiencing these reproductive disorders. Cows experiencing lameness, mastitis and metritis presented a significantly longer interval between calving and pregnancy compared to healthy cows. Ketosis and lameness increased the odds of a cow of being inseminated for the first time after 70 days in milk. In conclusion, these results suggest that abortion, ketosis, CM, retained placenta (RP), metritis, and lameness are associated with decreased reproductive performance in high producing Holstein cows subjected to thermal stress

Effect of Social Rank upon Estrus Induction and Some Reproductive Outcomes in Anestrus Goats Treated With Progesterone + eCG

We evaluated the possible role of the social rank [R] (i.e., low—LSR, middle—MSR, or high—HSR) in anestrus goats exposed to a P4 + eCG [D] (i.e., 100 or 350 IU) estrus induction protocol (EIP). Adult, multiparous (two to three lactations), multiracial, dairy-type goats (Alpine–Saanen–Nubian x Criollo goats (n = 70; 25°51′ North) managed under stall-fed conditions were all ultrasound evaluated to confirm anestrus status while the R was determined 30 d prior to the EIP. The variables of estrus induction (EI, %), estrus latency (LAT, h), estrus duration (DUR, h), ovulation (OVU, %), ovulation rate (OR, n), corpus luteum size (CLS, cm), pregnancy (PREG, %), kidding (KIDD, %), and litter size (LS, n) as affected by R, D, and the R × D interaction, were evaluated. While OVU and CLS favored (p 0.05; 38.5%) KIDD. However, EI, LAT, DUR, OR, and PREG were affected by the R × D interaction. The HSR group had the largest (p < 0.05) EI % and DUR h, irrespective of D. The shortest (p < 0.05) LAT occurred in D350, irrespective of R. While the largest (p < 0.05) OR occurred in HSR and MSR within D350, the HSR + D350 group had the largest PREG (p < 0.05). These research outcomes are central to defining out-of-season reproductive strategies designed to attenuate seasonal reproduction in goats

Precision Betacarotene Supplementation Enhanced Ovarian Function and the LH Release Pattern in Yearling Crossbred Anestrous Goats

The possible out-of-season effect of beta-carotene supplementation on ovulation rate (OR), antral follicles (AFN), and total ovarian activity (TOA = OR + AFN) as related to the LH release pattern in yearling anestrous goats was evaluated. In late April, Alpine-Saanen-Nubian x Criollo goats (n = 22, 26 N) were randomly allotted to: (1) Beta-carotene (BETA; n = 10, orally supplemented with 50 mg/goat/d; 36.4 ± 1.07 kg live weight (LW), 3.5 ± 0.20 units, body condition score (BCS) or (2) Non-supplemented (CONT; n = 12, 35.2 ± 1.07 kg LW, 3.4 ± 0.2 units BCS). Upon estrus synchronization, an intensive blood sampling (6 h × 15 min) was accomplished in May for LH quantifications; response variables included (pulsatility-PULSE, time to first pulse-TTFP, amplitude-AMPL, nadir-NAD and area under the curve-AUC). Thereafter, an ultrasonography scanning was completed to assess OR and AFN. The Munro algorithm was used to quantify LH pulsatility; if significant effects of time, treatment or interaction were identified, data were compared across time. Neither LW nor BCS (p > 0.05) or even the LH (p > 0.05); PULSE (4.1 ± 0.9 pulses/6 h), NAD (0.47 ± 0.13 ng) and AUC (51.7 ± 18.6 units) differed between treatments. Nonetheless, OR (1.57 vs. 0.87 ± 0.18 units) and TOA (3.44 vs. 1.87 ± 0.45 units) escorted by a reduced TTFP (33 vs. 126 ± 31.9 min) and an increased AMPL (0.55 vs. 0.24 ± 0.9 ng), favored to the BETA supplemented group (p < 0.05), possibly through a GnRH-LH enhanced pathway and(or) a direct effect at ovarian level. Results are relevant to speed-up the out-of-season reproductive outcomes in goats while may embrace translational applications

Rhizobacteria inoculation and its effect on the productive parameters of sorghum

Objective: To evaluate the effect of the Bacillus megaterium and Pseudomonas japonica rhizobacteria on the productive parameters of sorghum. Design/Methodology/Approach: The experiment was carried out in Padilla, Tamaulipas, where the effect of inoculating a sorghum crop with the Bacillus megaterium KN13 and Pseudomonas japonica KC14 strains on its productive parameters was evaluated. Both strains were used in two concentrations (106 and 107 CFU). A randomized block design was applied, consisting of five treatments (two strains × two concentrations, plus a control), with six and nine replications. Results: The B. megaterium and P. japonica strains can fix nitrogen and produce siderophores. Inoculating these strains into the sorghum crop increases grain yield, plant height, panicle length, plant stem diameter, and aerial dry weight. Better results are recorded when the strains have a 107 CFU concentration. Study Limitations/Implications: Each type of soil and crop has various microbiomes. Findings/Conclusions: The use of an adequate concentration of rhizobacteria improves sorghum production; therefore, it is a sustainable alternative, both for the nutrition of the crop and the reduction of the use of synthetic fertilizers

Goats as Valuable Animal Model to Test the Targeted Glutamate Supplementation upon Antral Follicle Number, Ovulation Rate, and LH-Pulsatility

The potential effect of intravenous administration of glutamate on the ovarian activity and the LH secretion pattern, considering the anestrous yearling goat as an animal model, were assessed. In late April, yearling goats (n = 20) were randomly assigned to either (1) Glutamate supplemented (GLUT; n = 10, Live Weight (LW) = 29.6 ± 1.02 kg, Body Condition (BCS) = 3.4 ± 0.2 units; i.v. supplemented with 7 mg GLUT kg−1 LW) or (2) Non-supplemented (CONT; n = 10; LW = 29.2 ± 1.07 kg, BCS = 3.5 ± 0.2 units; i.v. saline). The oats were estrus-synchronized; blood sampling (6 h × 15 min) was carried out for LH quantification. Response variables included pulsatility (PULSE), time to first pulse (TTFP), amplitude (AMPL), nadir (NAD), and area under the curve (AUC) of LH. Ovaries were ultra-sonographically scanned to assess ovulation rate (OR), number of antral follicles (AF), and total ovarian activity (TOA = OR + AF). LH-PULSE was quantified with the Munro algorithm; significant treatment x time interactions were evaluated across time. The variables LW and BCS did not differ (p > 0.05) between the experimental groups. Nevertheless, OR (1.77 vs. 0.87 ± 0.20 units), TOA (4.11 vs. 1.87 ± 0.47 units) and LH-PULSE (5.0 vs. 2.2 pulses 6 h-1) favored (p < 0.05) to the GLUT group. Our results reveal that targeted glutamate supplementation, the main central nervous system neurotransmitter, arose as an interesting strategy to enhance the hypothalamic–hypophyseal–ovarian response considering the anestrous-yearling goat as an animal model, with thought-provoking while promising translational applications

Does Size Matters? Relationships among Social Dominance and Some Morphometric Traits upon Out-of-Season Reproductive Outcomes in Anestrus Dairy Goats Treated with P4 + eCG

The possible role of the social rank (R) (i.e., low-LSR, middle-MSR, or high-HSR) in anestrus goats exposed to a P4 + eCG (D) (i.e., 100 or 350 IU) estrus induction protocol (EIP) was evaluated. Goats (Alpine-Saanen-Nubian × Criollo; n = 70; 25° North) managed under stall-fed conditions were all ultrasound evaluated to confirm anestrous status, while the social rank was determined 30 d prior to the EIP. The response variables included estrus induction (EI, %), duration of estrus (DUR, h), ovulation rate (OR, n), live weight (LW, kg), thoracic perimeter (TP, cm), thoracic diameter (TD, cm), body length (BL, cm), height at withers (HW, cm), beard length (BEA, cm), compactness index (COM, cm), and anamorphosis index (ANA, cm), as affected by R, D, and the R × D interaction were evaluated, while the correlation coefficients among reproductive and morphometric variables were quantified. An R × D interaction (p 0.05) with any response variable, either reproductive or morphometric. As expected, LW had high correlation coefficients (p < 0.01) with TP (0.86), TD (0.88), BL (0.82), HW (0.75), BEA (0.51), COM (0.97), and ANA (0.75). In general, the morphometric variables as a whole demonstrated important correlation coefficients among them (p < 0.01), ranging from 0.38 up to 0.84. To estimate the importance of the morphometric differences between social rank upon estrus induction, a principal component (PC) analysis was performed based on the correlation matrix derived from the corporal measurements. The PC1 and PC2 explained 70.3% and 17.6% of the morphometric variation, respectively. The PC1 was a measure of the goat size (i.e., small, medium, large) and its association with estrus occurrence was evaluated using a logistic regression model; the bigger the goat, the increased probability of being in estrus, by up to five times compared to small goats. Our results confirm that the higher social ranked, larger goats amalgamated some fundamental factors to be successful: aggressiveness, primacy to food access, augmented live weight, and corporal size; all of these were able to modulate out-of-season reproductive success in crossbred dairy goats subjected to an estrus induction protocol and managed under stall-fed conditions in Northern Mexico

The Effect of P4 + eCG Estrus Induction Protocol during the Deep and the Transition Anestrous Period on the Reproductive Performance of Crossbred Dairy Goats

Seasonal reproduction restricts the offering of goat commodities across the year. Therefore, it is crucial to improve diverse strategies to induce the reproductive response in goats during the anestrus stage. The effectiveness of a short P4 + eCG-based estrus induction protocol during both the deep anestrous (March) or the reproductive transition period (June) upon the reproductive performance of crossbred dairy goats was assessed. Adult, anestrous, 24&ndash;30-month- old dairy crossbred (Saanen&ndash;Alpine&ndash;Nubian &times; Criollo) goats (n = 123) from two commercial herds and 10 sexually active goat bucks were used. Before the trials, the anestrous status of goats was confirmed. Then, goats were randomly allocated into two different experiments. In Exp. 1, we tested the effect of different doses (D) of intramuscular progesterone (P4; 10 or 20 mg + eCG (100 UI)) and type of breeding (TB), natural mating (NM), or artificial insemination (AI), on two commercial goat herds (H1 &amp; H2), in March (deep anestrous). In Exp. 2, we evaluated the effect of D (P4; 10 or 20 mg + 100 UI eCG) in goats subjected to NM, and either during deep anestrous (March; M) or transitional anestrous (June; J), in two commercial herds. After breeding, conception and pregnancy were diagnosed with ultrasound scanning. The response variables were estrus induction (EI; %), estrus latency (EL; h), ovulation (OVP; %), ovulation rate (OR; units), fertility (FERT; %), and pregnancy (PREG; %). No differences (p &gt; 0.05) in live weight (LW) and body condition score (BCS) occurred between herds in both trials. In Exp. 1, EI, EL, OVP, OR, FERT, and PREG were affected (p &lt; 0.05) by the H&ndash;TB&ndash;D interaction, whereas in H1 + P4&ndash;20 combination had the highest (p &lt; 0.05) EI, EL, and OVP values. Irrespective of TB, H1 had the largest (p &lt; 0.05) OR, independently of TB or D. Also, the lowest (p &lt; 0.05) OVP occurred in the AI + P4&ndash;10 group, while the AI had the lowest (p &lt; 0.05) FERT, irrespective of D. FERT and PREG were two-fold higher (p &lt; 0.05) in NM compared with AI. In Exp. 2, EI, EL, OVP, OR, FERT, and PREG were affected (p &lt; 0.05) by the H&ndash;M&ndash;D interaction. In general, H2 + P4&ndash;10 had the lowest (p &lt; 0.05) reproductive outcomes in March, whereas H1 had the largest (p &lt; 0.05) values in either month. No differences (p &gt; 0.05) between P4 doses occurred for EI, OVP, OR, FERT, and PREG. Yet, the largest (p &lt; 0.05) EL occurred with P4&ndash;20 in June. No correlations (p &gt; 0.05) occurred between LW and all the reproductive variables. BCS was positively correlated (p &lt; 0.05) with EI (0.34), OVP (0.44), OR (0.58), and PREG (0.20). Also, positive correlations (p &lt; 0.05) occurred between EI with EL (0.83), OVP (0.80), OR (0.64), and PREG (0.56); EL with OVP (0.58), OR (0.44), and PREG (0.42); OVP with OR (0.79) and PREG (0.70), as well as OR and PREG (0.63). Results of these studies confirm a multidimensional response regarding the effectiveness of P4 + eCG for estrus induction in goats mainly modulated by a specific time within the anestrous season, or even by specific management or a particular environment at the herd level (H1), although quite remarkably independent of the animal&rsquo;s LW or BCS at herd level. Moreover, the best reproductive outcomes occurred with NM in June. The most reproductive variables were similar using either 10 or 20 mg P4 + 100 IU eCG, giving the possibility to lessen the scale in the use of exogenous hormones while obtaining acceptable out of season reproductive response

Vegetative development and bean yield in magnetized nutrient solution in combination with variable pH

Objective: Due to the importance of beans in human consumption, the vegetative development and seed yield of Black Veracruz beans were evaluated using a nutrient solution with different magnetization times in combination with different pH. Design/methodology/approach: The experimental design used was completely randomized with a 4 x 6 factorial arrangement with three replications. 24 treatments of the combination of four magnetization times and six degrees of acidity of the nutrient solution were evaluated. The variables evaluated were vegetative development and yield components. The results were subjected to an analysis of variance and media separations were performed using Tukey's test (α £ 0.05). Results: The magnetization and the degree of acidity of the nutrient solution significantly influenced the variables. The most outstanding treatments were 2 and 24 hours of magnetization in combination with pH values ​​of 4 and 5, for most of the variables of vegetative development and evaluated yield components. The 2 magnetization treatments together with pH values ​​of 4 and 5 increased height, biomass hours, days to flowering, number of pods, harvest index and seed yield. Study Limitations/Implications: Care should be taken that magnetic field exposure at high intensities may produce adverse effects on growth and development. Findings/conclusions: It is concluded that an appropriate combination of magnetization time and degree of acidity of the nutrient solution improves vegetative development and yield

Effect of Dorper Rams’ Social-Sexual Hierarchy on Their Sexual Behavior and Capacity to Induce Estrus in Ewes

This study aimed to assess the influence of the social rank of rams and quality of stimuli to ewes between dominant and subordinate Dorper rams joined to anestrus ewes. Social rank was evaluated for two days (ESR; n = 36); rams were exposed to estrogenized ewes in a competitive test. According to the reproductive response, anovulatory ewes (n = 76) were divided into two groups: LHRe (n = 38; ewes exposed to four low hierarchy rams (LHR)) and HHRe (n = 38; ewes exposed to four high hierarchy rams (HHR)). Regarding aggressive behaviors, HHR showed a higher (p (p (p p > 0.05). The estrus response (>80%; p > 0.05) and ovarian response (70%, p > 0.05) were similar for both groups of ewes. It was concluded that LHR are equally effective as HHR in inducing sexual activity in ewes showing postpartum anestrus

Chemical pregerminative promoters in Zea mays L. seed

Objective: Plant life begins at germination. Stimulating germination with chemical methods can be advantageous. The pregerminative treatment of four promoters was determined in two maize genotypes (G1, G2). Design/methodology/approach: Sixty seeds per Petri dish were used as experimental unit with three repetitions, organized in a completely randomized 2×4 factorial design. Two factors were taken into consideration: A) Genotypes (G1, G2); and B) four pregerminative promoters. The genotypes were Antelope G1 and yellow Antelope G2. Meanwhile, the pregerminative promoters were salicylic acid (‎C7H6O3) (SA), citrulline (C6H13N3O3) (CI), humic substances derived from leonardite (HS), and tap water (TW), in 1000-ppm concentrations. The following variables were evaluated: germination percentage (GP)/days-1, radicle diameter (RD), radicle length (RL), and number of lateral seminal roots (NSR). An analysis of variance and Tukey tests (α £ 0.05) were performed. Results: The germination promoters were highly significant in both genotypes, as well as during the promoter-genotype interaction. G1 and G2 means showed a higher growth and development for humic substances (HS) during germination in the NSR. Study Limitations/Implications: Germination can be inhibited, if the promoters are overweighted. Findings/Conclusions: The best genotype and germination promoter (G2) had a 94% effectiveness and HS at 1000 ppm. CI and SA registered the lowest GP