A cohort study of the associations between udder conformation, milk somatic cell count, and lamb weight in suckler ewes

A cohort study of 67 suckler ewes from 1 farm was carried out from January to May 2010 to investigate associations between udder conformation, udder half milk somatic cell count (SCC), and lamb weight. Ewes and lambs were observed at lambing. Ewe health and teat condition and lamb health and weight were recorded on 4 to 5 further occasions at 14-d intervals. At each observation, a milk sample was collected from each udder half for somatic cell counting. Two weeks after lambing, ewe udder conformation and teat placement were scored. Low lamb weight was associated with ewe SCC >400,000 cells/mL (−0.73kg), a new teat lesion 14 d previously (−0.91kg), suboptimal teat position (−1.38kg), rearing in a multiple litter (−1.45kg), presence of diarrhea at the examination (−1.19kg), and rearing by a 9-yr-old ewe compared with a 6-yr-old ewe (−2.36kg). High lamb weight was associated with increasing lamb age (0.21kg/d), increasing birth weight (1.65kg/kg at birth), and increasing number of days the ewe was given supplementary feed before lambing (0.06kg/d). High udder half SCC was associated with pendulous udders (9.6% increase in SCC/cm of drop) and greater total cross-sectional area of the teats (7.2% increase of SCC/cm2). Low SCC were associated with a heavier mean litter weight (6.7% decrease in SCC/kg). Linear, quadratic, and cubic terms for days in lactation were also significant. We conclude that poor udder and teat conformation are associated with high levels of intramammary infection, as indicated by increased SCC and that both physical attributes of the udder and SCC are linked to lamb growth, suggesting that selection of suckler ewes with better udder and teat conformation would reduce intramammary infection and increase lamb growth rate

Attachment, attraction and communication in real and virtual worlds: a study of massively multiplayer online gamers

Potential differences between relationships formed in online versus offline venues were explored using an online survey of massively multiplayer online gamers. Participants (N=1654) provided information about two or more relationships (kin, friends, and romantic relationships), indicating whether these had originated in online or offline venues. Attachment, attraction and communication were assessed for each relationship. Relationship security was predicted by attraction, but the effects of venue were limited to avoidance towards online romantic relationships. Personality, gaming motivation, age and sex all made negligible contributions to relationship security. Limitations, including the correlational nature of the data and the high proportion of male participants, as well as suggestions for how relationship research might proceed in an increasingly online world, are discussed

How Well Can We Predict Wildlife Corridors? Tests of Alternative Modeling Approaches in Migratory Elk and Dispersing Wolverines

Landscape connectivity has become a key focus of conservation biology as natural habitat is increasingly fragmented by human land use. Several landscape modeling approaches are now relied upon to identify likely dispersal and migration corridors and guide conservation planning. However, the predictive accuracy of these methods has seen limited testing against empirical movement data, which limits confidence in their utility and confuses selection of appropriate methods for a given application. To address these issues, we used GPS collar data from migrating elk and dispersing wolverines to evaluate the ability of common modeling approaches (cost-distance/least-cost path models and circuit theory models) to predict observed movement routes. While both methods made generally similar predictions, cost-distance models consistently outperformed circuit theory models, and predictive success was much higher for elk than for wolverine movements. Furthermore, the form and complexity of underlying landscape resistance maps influenced model performance and revealed unforeseen differences between models. These findings illustrate that corridor model performance depends greatly on focal species and landscape characteristics as well as selection of appropriate methods for the application at hand

Acoustic characterization of crack damage evolution in sandstone deformed under conventional and true triaxial loading

We thank the Associate Editor, Michelle Cooke, and the reviewers, Ze'ev Reches and Yves Guéguen, for useful comments which helped to improve the manuscript. We thank J.G. Van Munster for providing access to the true triaxial apparatus at KSEPL and for technical support during the experimental program. We thank R. Pricci for assistance with technical drawings of the apparatus. This work was partly funded by NERC award NE/N002938/1 and by a NERC Doctoral Studentship, which we gratefully acknowledge. Supporting data are included in a supporting information file; any additional data may be obtained from J.B. (e-mail: [email protected]).Peer reviewedPublisher PD