Evaluation of a Dried Fermentation Product Administered Through Drinking Water on Nursery Pig Growth Performance, Fecal Consistency, and Antibiotic Injections

A total of 350 barrows (DNA 200 × 400; initially 13.5 ± 0.02 lb) were used in a 42-d study to evaluate the effects of a dried fermentation product administered through drinking water on nursery pig growth performance, antibiotic injection frequency, fecal consistency, and fecal Escherichia coli presence. Upon arrival to the nursery research facility, pigs were randomly assigned to pens (5 pigs per pen) and pens were allotted to 1 of 2 water treatments with 35 pens per treatment. Water treatments were provided with or without a fermentation product administered through the water lines at a 1:128 dilution rate from d 0 to 14 after weaning. From d 0 to 14, 14 to 42, and for the overall experiment, there was no evidence (P \u3e 0.10) for differences observed for any growth performance criteria. There was evidence (P \u3c 0.05) for day effect on diarrhea presence. Diarrhea presence increased on d 4 and 6, then decreased to low levels. There was no evidence for the fermentation product to influence diarrhea incidence. For antibiotic injections, there was no evidence (P \u3e 0.10) for differences observed between treatments. Mortalities were low, with no evidence (P \u3e 0.10) for differences observed between treatments for removals or mortalities. For fecal dry matter on d 7 and 14, there was no evidence (P \u3e 0.10) for differences observed between treatments. In summary, under these experimental conditions, administering a dried fermentation product for the first 14 d in the nursery through the drinking water did not improve growth performance, fecal dry matter, diarrhea presence, antibiotic injections, or removals and mortalities in nursery pigs. Further evaluation of the dried fermentation product in commercial facilities with greater diarrhea and mortality is needed

Evaluation of a Dried Fermentation Product Administered Through Drinking Water on Nursery Pig Growth Performance, Fecal Consistency, and Antibiotic Injections

A total of 350 barrows (DNA Line 200 × 400; initially 13.5 ± 0.02 lb) were used in a 42-d study to evaluate the effects of a dried fermentation product administered through drinking water on nursery pig growth performance, antibiotic injection frequency, fecal consistency, and fecal E. coli presence. Upon arrival to the nursery research facility, pigs were randomly assigned to pens (5 pigs per pen) and pens were allotted to 1 of 2 water treatments with 35 pens per treatment. Water treatments were provided with or without a fermentation product administered through the water lines at a 1:128 dilution rate from d 0 to 14 after weaning. From d 0 to 14, 14 to 42, and for the overall experiment, there was no evidence (P \u3e 0.10) for differences observed for any growth performance criteria. There was evidence (P \u3c 0.05) for day effect on diarrhea presence. Diarrhea presence increased on d 4 and 6, then decreased to low levels. There was no evidence for the fermentation product to influence diarrhea incidence. For antibiotic injections, there was no evidence (P \u3e 0.10) for differences observed between treatments. Mortalities were low, with no evidence (P \u3e 0.10) for differences observed between treatments for removals or mortalities. For fecal dry matter on d 7 and 14, there was no evidence (P \u3e 0.10) for differences observed between treatments. In summary, under these experimental conditions, administering a dried fermentation product for the first 14 d in the nursery through the drinking water did not improve growth performance, fecal dry matter, diarrhea presence, antibiotic injections, or removals and mortalities in nursery pigs. Further evaluation of the dried fermentation product in commercial facilities with greater diarrhea and mortality is needed

Responses to gestational weight management guidance: a thematic analysis of comments made by women in online parenting forums

Background: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) published guidance on weight management in pregnancy in July 2010[1], and this received considerable press coverage across a range of media. This offered an opportunity to examine how gestational weight management guidance was received by UK women. Methods: A thematic analysis was conducted of 400 posts made in UK-based parenting internet forums in the week following the publication of the NICE guidance. This allowed us to examine the naturally occurring comments from 202 women who posted about the guidance on public forums. Results: Three main themes were identified and explored: i) Perceived control/responsibility ii) Risk perception iii) Confused messages. Conclusions: Women differed in their perceptions of the level of control that they had over being overweight with some feeling responsible and motivated to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Others felt there were multiple factors influencing their weight issues beyond their control. There were reports of feeling guilty about the impact of weight on the growing baby and experiencing significant obesity stigma from the public and health professionals. Information about the risks of overweight and obesity in pregnancy were difficult messages for women to hear, and for health professionals to deliver. Women reported being confused by the messages that they received. Health messages need to be delivered sensitively to women, and health professionals need support and training to do this. Risk information should always be accompanied with clear advice and support to help women to manage their weight in pregnancy. Keywords: internet-mediated research, gestational weight gain, parenting forums, NICE, women, views, risk perception</p

Engineering strategy and vector library for the rapid generation of modular light-controlled protein–protein interactions

Optogenetics enables the spatio-temporally precise control of cell and animal behavior. Many optogenetic tools are driven by light-controlled protein–protein interactions (PPIs) that are repurposed from natural light-sensitive domains (LSDs). Applying light-controlled PPIs to new target proteins is challenging because it is difficult to predict which of the many available LSDs, if any, will yield robust light regulation. As a consequence, fusion protein libraries need to be prepared and tested, but methods and platforms to facilitate this process are currently not available. Here, we developed a genetic engineering strategy and vector library for the rapid generation of light-controlled PPIs. The strategy permits fusing a target protein to multiple LSDs efficiently and in two orientations. The public and expandable library contains 29 vectors with blue, green or red light-responsive LSDs, many of which have been previously applied ex vivo and in vivo. We demonstrate the versatility of the approach and the necessity for sampling LSDs by generating light-activated caspase-9 (casp9) enzymes. Collectively, this work provides a new resource for optical regulation of a broad range of target proteins in cell and developmental biology