Non-invasive methods for the determination of body and carcass composition in livestock: dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging and ultrasound: invited review

The ability to accurately measure body or carcass composition is important for performance testing, grading and finally selection or payment of meat-producing animals. Advances especially in non-invasive techniques are mainly based on the development of electronic and computer-driven methods in order to provide objective phenotypic data. The preference for a specific technique depends on the target animal species or carcass, combined with technical and practical aspects such as accuracy, reliability, cost, portability, speed, ease of use, safety and for in vivo measurements the need for fixation or sedation. The techniques rely on specific device-driven signals, which interact with tissues in the body or carcass at the atomic or molecular level, resulting in secondary or attenuated signals detected by the instruments and analyzed quantitatively. The electromagnetic signal produced by the instrument may originate from mechanical energy such as sound waves (ultrasound – US), ‘photon’ radiation (X-ray-computed tomography – CT, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry – DXA) or radio frequency waves (magnetic resonance imaging – MRI). The signals detected by the corresponding instruments are processed to measure, for example, tissue depths, areas, volumes or distributions of fat, muscle (water, protein) and partly bone or bone mineral. Among the above techniques, CT is the most accurate one followed by MRI and DXA, whereas US can be used for all sizes of farm animal species even under field conditions. CT, MRI and US can provide volume data, whereas only DXA delivers immediate whole-body composition results without (2D) image manipulation. A combination of simple US and more expensive CT, MRI or DXA might be applied for farm animal selection programs in a stepwise approach

Recording behaviour of indoor-housed farm animals automatically using machine vision technology: a systematic review

Large-scale phenotyping of animal behaviour traits is time consuming and has led to increased demand for technologies that can automate these procedures. Automated tracking of animals has been successful in controlled laboratory settings, but recording from animals in large groups in highly variable farm settings presents challenges. The aim of this review is to provide a systematic overview of the advances that have occurred in automated, high throughput image detection of farm animal behavioural traits with welfare and production implications. Peer-reviewed publications written in English were reviewed systematically following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. After identification, screening, and assessment for eligibility, 108 publications met these specifications and were included for qualitative synthesis. Data collected from the papers included camera specifications, housing conditions, group size, algorithm details, procedures, and results. Most studies utilized standard digital colour video cameras for data collection, with increasing use of 3D cameras in papers published after 2013. Papers including pigs (across production stages) were the most common (n = 63). The most common behaviours recorded included activity level, area occupancy, aggression, gait scores, resource use, and posture. Our review revealed many overlaps in methods applied to analysing behaviour, and most studies started from scratch instead of building upon previous work. Training and validation sample sizes were generally small (mean±s.d. groups = 3.8±5.8) and in data collection and testing took place in relatively controlled environments. To advance our ability to automatically phenotype behaviour, future research should build upon existing knowledge and validate technology under commercial settings and publications should explicitly describe recording conditions in detail to allow studies to be reproduced

Characterization and finite element modelling of piezoelectric ceramic discs vibrating in air, for a frequency range including the first two radial modes.

The objectives of this work is to measure and characterize the electrical and acoustical behaviours of a piezoelectric ceramic disk of type Pz27, across a frequency spectrum covering the first two radial modes, and to compare these measurements to FEM simulations. The electrical parameters such as admittance, conductance and susceptance of a sample of elements are measured, in a frequency range from 1 kHz to 300 kHz, encompassing the two first radial modes of the elements. The acoustic chracteristics of one of these elements will also be studied and compared to simulations. Here, parameters such as the source sensitivity, directivity, on axis pressure, and sound pressure field will be measured using a microphone as a receiver. Finite element modelling (FEM) simulations of the piezoelectric ceramic discs radiating in air are preformed. This data is compared to the measurements of the element admittance, directivity beam pattern, transmitter sensitivity, on-axis pressure, and sound field. The FEM software used is FEMP 6.1. Methods of converting signal pulses to sound pressure values are examined in this work. This includes methods for finding peak to peak voltage of the received signals, as well as corrections for signal losses, either due to losses in air, or losses due to impedances in wires and instruments used. A method for calculating microphone receiver sensitivity is also examined, based on the use of a pistonphone calibration and correction data

Connection between chemical zonation and crystallographic preferred orientation as an indicator for the fabric development in eclogites. Example from the Saxothuringian eclogites, Bohemian massif, Czech Republic

The presence of eclogites is one of the strongest evidences for high pressure metamorphism, and for the presence of a paleo subduction zone. Deformation of eclogites can yield important information about the kinematics of subduction zones. The main mechanism for fabric development in eclogites is still a matter of debate among various research groups and has split the field in two. Most previous studies suggest that dislocation creep is the main deformation mechanism, but some studies suggest grain boundary diffusion as the main mechanism for the elongation of the high-pressure minerals and fabric evolution. Eclogites from the Saxothuringian domain in the Czech part of the Erzgebirge in the Bohemian Massif exhibit a strong lineation fabric. Omphacite, zoisite and elongated garnet contribute most to this fabric. SEM, BSE, EDS and EBSD analysis of the eclogites show an asymmetric, prograde zonation in omphacite and garnet, which is related to the elongation direction, parallel to lineation. Zoisite is expected to act as a rigid particle without any intracrystalline deformation, yet it occurs as elongated particles in the lineation direction. Quartz is located as elongated aggregates in pressure shadows of garnet parallel to lineation and does not show any signs of intra crystalline deformation. The asymmetric prograde chemical zonation of omphacite and garnet indicates growth and elongation of garnet and omphacite during prograde and peak metamorphic conditions. The correlation of the zonation patterns in omphacite and garnet, as well as weak CPO in garnet suggest that the elongated shape of the minerals and the fabric in the eclogites are a result of dissolution and grain growth by grain boundary diffusion. As well as rotation and oriented dependent growth of omphacite in the [001] direction causing a strong CPO and elongation in the lineation direction

Building an in vivo anatomical atlas to close the phenomic gap in animal breeding

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