Scanner image methodology (SIM) to measure dimensions of leaves for agronomical applications

A scanner image methodology was used to determine plant dimensions, such as leaf area, length and width. The values obtained using SIM were compared with those recorded by the LI-COR leaf area meter. Bias, linearity, reproducibility and repeatability (R&R) were evaluated for SIM. Different groups of leaves were scanned and measured. R&R studies showed that, the lowest SIM’s resolution was nineteen categories. SIM’s R&R ANOVA showed the method’s measurement error was not significant. In the image processing method, the color image was converted to gray scale over the green band and it was segmented using Otsu methodology. The noise produced was cleaned with a median filter. The leaf image was rotated to align the longest parallel line to y-axis or x-axis using central moments. From the centroid using directional erosions the leaf width and length were obtained and recorded.Key words: Leaf area, width, length, digital image analysis, segmentation

Relationship between pig carcass tail lesions and lung lesions

Tail biting is common on farms that are more prone to disease. Tail lesions can be associated with poor health either directly by providing a route of entry for pathogens or indirectly as conditions which trigger tail biting may also affect pig health. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between carcass tail lesion and lung lesion severity scores in Irish slaughter pigs. Factory visits occurred over 5 days (Jan – March 2015) and tail lesion score (0 – 4) according to severity, sex, and kill number was recorded for every pig after scalding and dehairing. The lungs from each carcass were scored for lesions using an adapted version of the BPEX pig health scheme. Presence of pleuropneumonia (APP), abscesses and pyaemia was recorded. The severity of enzootic pneumonia (EP-like lesions) was recorded on a scale of 0 – 50 and grouped into none/ mild (score 0 – 10), moderate (score 11 – 20) and severe (score 21 – 50). Severity of pleurisy was scored on a 0 – 2 scale with a separate variable for lungs that were attached to the chest wall (score 2). These lungs could not be assessed for other lung lesions and therefore a separate database was created for assessing the pleurisy lesions (n = 5,628) while the final database contained animals (n = 4,491) with records for tail lesions, EP-like lesion scores and pleurisy (level 0 + 1). Associations between tail lesions and sex and the different lung lesion outcomes were analysed using generalized linear mixed models (PROC GLIMMIX) with random effect for batch. EP-like lesions and pleurisy were the most common lesions, though large variation existed between batches. Pigs with severe tail lesions tended to have more severe pleurisy where the lungs remained attached to the chest wall than pigs with moderate tail lesions. No other associations between tail lesion scores and lung lesions were found. Although tail lesions on the carcass may not be an accurate predictor of lung health, tail lesions are important welfare indicators and respiratory disease is among the most significant infectious conditions affecting pigs. Thus, recording of tail and lung lesions at meat inspection provides valuable information regarding the on-farm health welfare of pigs

El tipo de grasa y su estado oxidativo provocan cambios en la resistencia de la membrana de los eritrocitos en pollos broiler

El objetivo de estetrabajo escomprobarsieldiferentegradodeinsaturacióndelagrasay la presencia de antioxidantes o alteración oxidativa dietética, afectan al estado de oxidación in vivo. Para ello se utilizaron dos métodos de estimaciónde laestabilidadde la membrana de eritrocitos: la resistencia a la hemolisis y la susceptibilidad a la peroxidación lipídica (TBARs). Se realizaron dos experimentos con pollosde carne en fase de crecimiento (4 a 18 días, Exp. 1 y 21 a 42 días, Exp. 2), utilizando grasas con distinta estabilidad oxidativa. En el experimento 1, tres raciones experimentales que contenían grasa añadida al 6 %: aceite de girasol (G), aceite de girasol oxidado (O) y aceite de girasol + 200 ppm. de acetato de alfatocoferol(V).Enelexperimento2,los3 tratamientos dietéticos incluían 6 % de linaza (L). 6 % de sebo y un pienso sin grasa añadida (C). Con relación a la tasa de hemolisis, en el primer experimento, la suplementación con acetato de alfa tocoferol dio lugar a valores inferiores al resto de tratamientos, que fueronestadísticamente significativosfrentealtratamiento(G)eldía11 de vida (P = 0.008). Una evolución similar se observa para los niveles de oxidación (TBARs) siendo lostratamientosG yO losquepresentanunamayorsusceptibilidadala oxidación (P <0.05) el día 11 (G y O vs. V) y el día 18 (O vs. V). Enelexperimento2, los animales alimentados con la grasa más insaturada (linaza), presentaron una mayor sensibilidad a la hemolisis (P = 0.032) respecto a aquellos alimentados sin grasa o con grasa saturada (sebo). De forma similar, se observa un mayor niveldeoxidaciónenla sangre de los animales alimentados con aceite rico en AGPI n-3 (P <0.001). Podemos concluir, que la presenciade productosdeoxidaciónyaltosnivelesdeinsaturaciónenla dieta, produce una mayor sensibilidad de loseritrocitosa larotura. Laincorporaciónde acetato de alfa-tocoferol permite mejorar la estabilidad de los lípidos de la membrana. Existe un paralelismo entre losresultadosde latasadehemolisisylasusceptibilidadala oxidación de los eritrocitos. Ambos métodos de determinación son capaces de discriminar estados de oxidación in vivo.This study is performed to study the effect of unsaturated fat, oxidized fat and antioxidants included in the diet, on the in vivo oxidative status. We usedtwo different methods to determine the lipid oxidation: the haemolysis level andtheTBARstest. We carried out two trials using broiler chickens ofdifferent ages and using fatsdifferingon the oxidative stability. In experiment 1, animals were fedthree dietscontaining 6%of: sunflower oil (G), oxidized sunflower oil (O) or sunflower oil + 200 ppm ofalfatocopherol acetate (V). Inexperiment2,dietsincluded6%of,linseedoil(L),tallow(S) or no added fat (C). In experiment 1, alfa-tocopherol inclusion promoted the lower haemolysis values, whichbecame significantlydifferentto(G)for 11 daysoldchickens (P = 0.008). Oxidation level (TBARs) showed a pattern similar to that shown for haemolysis. Irt particular, Gand O treatmentsshowedthehighestoxidationeffects(p<0.05) on 11 (G and O vs. V) and 18 days old chickens (O vs. V). In experiment 2, linseed oil increased haemolysis (P = 0.032) compared totreatments S andC.Treatment L, the treatment presenting higher PÜFA n-3 level, also increased (P = 0.001) the oxidation level (TBARS). From the here presented results we conclude that oxidized and high PUFA fats, included in the diet, increase haemolysis level. Moreover, inclusion of alfa-tocopherol acetate in the diet improves membrane lipid stability. Finally, results for haemolysis and oxidation present similarpattern; bothmethods are able to show in vivo oxidation status

High levels of standardized ileal digestible amino acids improve feed efficiency in slow-growing pigs at late grower-finisher stage

Slow-growing pigs negatively affect production efficiency in conventional pig farms by increasing the occupation time of the facilities and being a limiting factor for the All-In/All-Out swine production systems. This subset of pigs is usually managed with the rest of the pigs, and their nutrient requirements may not be fulfilled. The purpose of the present study was to compare the productive performance of slow- and fast-growing pigs to different standardized ileal digestible (SID) amino acids (AA) dietary levels at late grower-finisher stage. A total of 84 pigs were weighed, tagged, and classified as slow-growing (SG; n = 48; 24.1 ± 1.38 kg) or fast-growing pigs (FG; n = 36; 42.7 ± 1.63 kg) at 11 weeks of age. Pigs were housed in mixed sex pens (n = 8 SG+6 FG/pen) equipped with feeding stations to record daily feed intake per individual pig. Pigs were assigned to three dietary treatments resulting in a 2 × 3 factorial arrangement at 15 weeks of age. Isoenergetic diets were formulated by increasing the ideal protein profile based on the following SID lysine (Lys) levels: 0.92%, 1.18% and 1.45%. Pigs were weighed bi-weekly until 21 weeks of age. Fast-growing pigs were 33.7 kg heavier, gained 255 g/day and consumed 625.5 g/day more than SG pigs (p 0.05). However, feed conversion ratio was 0.3 lower for SG pigs fed 1.45% SID Lys/AA compared to SG pigs fed 0.92% SID Lys/AA (p = 0.002). Feed conversion ratio was not different within the FG pigs' dietary treatments (p > 0.05). The efficiency of SG pigs may be improved when dietary SID AA levels are increased from 0.92 up to 1.45% SID Lys/AA. Thus, nutrient requirements may vary depending on growth rate at the same age, and SG pigs may require higher dietary SID AA levels than FG pigs to achieve similar productive performance

Characterization of Color Production in Xalla´s Palace Complex, Teotihuacan

A multi-analytical approach was used to characterize color remains from Xalla, a Teotihuacan palace complex (project Teotihuacan, Elite and Government. Excavations in Xalla led by Linda R. Manzanilla). Color samples were obtained from polished lithic instruments and pigment ores. Those samples were analyzed combining microscopic and spectroscopic techniques. Our results coincide with previous studies in Teotihuacan, with the chromatic palette displaying a predominance of iron oxides such as hematite, yellow ochre and natural earths, as well as malachite, celadonite and glauconite. We have enlarged the corpus of raw materials with the characterization of jarosite and bone white and mica as aggregate. The identification of raw materials crossed with functional analysis of polished lithic artefacts suggests a production and application process for the pigmenting materials that were divided in four phases, from the crushing of the raw material to the application and finishing of the painted surfaces

Management factors affecting mortality, feed intake, and feed conversion ratio of grow-finishing pigs

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of animal management and farm facilities on total feed intake (TFI), feed conversion ratio (FCR) and mortality rate (MORT) of grower-finishing pigs. In total, 310 batches from 244 grower-finishing farms, consisting of 454 855 Pietrain sired pigs in six Spanish pig companies were used. Data collection consisted of a survey on management practices (season of placement, split-sex by pens, number of pig origins, water source in the farm, initial or final BW) and facilities (floor, feeder, ventilation or number of animals placed) during 2008 and 2009. Results indicated that batches of pigs placed between January and March had higher TFI (P=0.006), FCR (P=0.005) and MORT (P=0.03) than those placed between July and September. Moreover, batches of pigs placed between April and June had lower MORT (P=0.003) than those placed between January and March. Batches which had split-sex pens had lower TFI (P=0.001) and better FCR (P<0.001) than those with mixed-sex in pens; pigs fed with a single-space feeder with incorporated drinker also had the lowest TFI (P<0.001) and best FCR (P<0.001) in comparison to single and multi-space feeders without a drinker. Pigs placed in pens with <50% slatted floors presented an improvement in FCR (P<0.05) than pens with 50% or more slatted floors. Batches filled with pigs from multiple origins had higher MORT (P<0.001) than those from a single origin. Pigs housed in barns that performed manual ventilation control presented higher MORT (P<0.001) in comparison to automatic ventilation. The regression analysis also indicated that pigs which entered to grower-finisher facilities with higher initial BW had lower MORT (P<0.05) and finally pigs which were sent to slaughterhouse with a higher final BW presented higher TFI (P<0.001). The variables selected for each dependent variable explained 61.9%, 24.8% and 20.4% of the total variability for TFI, FCR and MORT, respectively. This study indicates that farms can increase growth performance and reduce mortality by improving farm facilities and/or modifying management practices

Descriptive study of production factors affecting performance traits in growing-finishing pgis in Spain.

The objective of this study was to build up a data set including productive performance and production factors data of growing-finishing (GF) pigs in Spain in order to perform a representative and reliable description of the traits of Spanish growing-finishing pig industry. Data from 764 batches from 452 farms belonging to nine companies (1,157,212 pigs) were collected between 2008 and 2010 through a survey including five parts: general, facilities, feeding, health status and performance. Most studied farms had only GF pigs on their facilities (94.7%), produced ‘industrial’ pigs (86.7%), had entire male and female (59.5%) and Pietrain-sired pigs (70.0%), housed between 13-20 pigs per pen (87.2%), had 50% of slatted floor (70%), single-space dry feeder (54.0%), nipple drinker (88.7%) and automatic ventilation systems (71.2%). A 75.0% of the farms used three feeding phases using mainly pelleted diets (91.0%), 61.3% performed three or more antibiotic treatments and 36.5% obtained water from the public supply. Continuous variables studied had the following average values: number of pigs placed per batch, 1,515 pigs; initial and final body weight, 19.0 and 108 kg; length of GF period, 136 days; culling rate, 1.4%; barn occupation, 99.7%; feed intake per pig and fattening cycle, 244 kg; daily gain, 0.657 kg; feed conversion ratio, 2.77 kg kg-1 and mortality rate, 4.3%. Data reflecting the practical situation of the Spanish growing and finishing pig production and it may contribute to develop new strategies in order to improve the productive and economic efficiency of GF pig units

A cross-sectional survey on respiratory disease in a cohort of Irish pig farms

Altres ajuts: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine PathSurvPig 14/S/832Respiratory disease is one of the most important factors impacting pig production worldwide. There is no available information on the prevalence of key pathogens implicated in Irish pig production. The objective of this study was to describe the prevalence of pleurisy, pneumonia, lung abscesses, pericarditis and liver milk spots in finisher pigs of a cohort of Irish pig farms, and to describe the seroprevalence of: influenza A virus (IAV), porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSv), Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae (Mhyo) and Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae (APP). In brief, 56 farrow-to-finish farms (29% of the Irish breeding herd) were enrolled in the study in 2017. Data on lungs, heart, and liver lesions were assessed for each farm at slaughter. An average of 417 (range 129-1154) plucks per farm were assessed for pleurisy, pneumonia, lung abscesses, pericarditis, and liver milk spots. Blood samples from 32 finisher pigs were collected at slaughter for each farm. The observed prevalence of pleurisy and pneumonia was one of the lowest reported in similar studies in Europe (13 and 11% estimated average within farm, respectively). Pleurisy lesions were mostly moderate and severe. Pneumonia lesions affected a low level of lung surface (5.8%). Prevalence of pericarditis was mid-high (8%) and the prevalence of liver milk spots was high, with an average of 29% of the livers affected. For serology, 78.6% of the farms were positive for IAV, 50% were positive for PRRSv, 71.4% were positive for Mhyo, and 98.2% were positive for APP. Influenza virus was the main pathogen associated with pleurisy (P < 0.001) and Mhyo was the main pathogen associated with pneumonia (P < 0.001) and pericarditis (P = 0.024). Farms affected with pleurisy had moderate to severe lesions. Farms affected with pneumonia had mild lesions, which could be the effect of the generalised use of Mhyo vaccination in piglets. The seroprevalence of IAV, PRRSv, Mhyo and APP in the present study sample is similar to or lower than in other European countries. Further research on the PRRSv and APP strains circulating in Ireland is necessary to support the design of national or regional control plans

Surveillance Data Highlights Feed Form, Biosecurity, and Disease Control as Significant Factors Associated with Salmonella Infection on Farrow-to-Finish Pig Farms

Copyright © 2018 Argüello, Manzanilla, Lynch, Walia, Leonard, Egan, Duffy, Gardiner and Lawlor. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.[EN] Among the zoonotic pathogens affecting pigs, Salmonella stands out due to the high number of human cases linked to pork consumption. In the last two decades many countries have put considerable effort into the control of the infection by surveillance and control strategies on farm. Despite this effort, many herds still have a high Salmonella prevalence and they require guidance to address this problem. The present study, using the serological surveillance data of finishing pigs from the Irish National pig Salmonella Control Programme, aimed to highlight factors associated with increased risk or that might mitigate Salmonella occurrence on farm. A questionnaire with 33 questions regarding herd characteristics, management, feeding, biosecurity, and health was completed for 61 individual herds. After the multivariate analysis by linear regression, nine variables were retained in the final model and linked to herd seroprevalence. Home produced-feed linked to the use of meal showed an eight points reduction in Salmonella prevalence compared to purchased feed (p = 0.042). Different biosecurity measures were associated to lower seroprevalence. Changing of footwear from outside to inside the farm decreased seroprevalence nearly 20 units (p = 0.014) and policies not permitting access to the farmyard to feed trucks (p = 0.048) or avoiding the presence of cats on the farm (p = 0.05) were estimated in 10 units less of seroprevalence. In contrast, the lack of perimeter fence increased the chance to have higher seroprevalence in five units (p = 0.05). Finally, intestinal diseases such as swine dysentery (p = 0.044) and E. coli diarrhea (p = 0.1) were estimated to increase Salmonella prevalence in ~20 and 10 units, respectively, demonstrating the importance of controlling other enteric pathogens in an on-farm Salmonella control programme. These results show the usefulness of surveillance data to improve on-farm control and confirm that Salmonella infection in pigs is multi-factorial and the approach to its control should be multifaceted.SIThis study was funded by the Food Institutional Research Measure (FIRM) administered by the Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine (DAFM) (FIRM/RSF/CoFoRD 2011 Project 11/SF/329).The authors gratefully acknowledge the staff at Longtown Research Farm and the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory (CVRL) Backweston for their expert help in the serological analyses of the study

Effect of Raw and Extruded Propionic Acid-Treated Field Beans on Energy and Crude Protein Digestibility (In-Vitro and In-Vivo), Growth and Carcass Quality in Grow-Finisher Pigs

The in-vitro ileal digestibility of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), and crude protein (CP) of field beans treated with propionic acid (trFB) and extruded trFB (exFB) was determined in experiment 1. The DE and dCP values of trFB and exFB were determined using the difference method in experiment 2. The effect of replacing SBM with trFB and exFB in grow-finisher diets on growth, carcass quality, apparent ileal digestibility (AiD), and total tract digestibility (ATTD) of DM, OM, gross energy (GE), and CP were investigated in experiment 3. In exp. 1, in-vitro digestibility of exFB compared to trFB was unchanged for DM (p = 0.12), increased for OM (p 0.05).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio