The effect of road and sea transport on inflammatory, adrenocortical, metabolic and behavioural responses of weanling heifers

peer-reviewedThe objective was to investigate the effect of transport on inflammatory, adrenocortical, metabolic and behavioural responses of weanling heifers transported from Ireland to Spain. Background: At the end of the grazing season, 60 Charolais × beef heifers (mean live weight 245, s.e. 4.3 kg and mean weaning age 219, s.e. 4.9 days) were abruptly weaned from their dams on day 0. The animals were assigned by live weight to two treatments, transport (T) (n = 40) (mean 246, s.e. 5.4 kg) and control (C) (n = 20) (mean 247, s.e. 7.2 kg) on day 0. The T animals were transported from Ireland to France on a roll-on roll-off ferry at a stocking density of 0.93 m2/animal and then by road for 9 h to a French lairage while C animals remained in Ireland and were not transported. On arrival at the French lairage (d 2), 20 T animals were unloaded (ULT) and rested for 12 h in the French lairage and 20 animals rested (RT) on the transporter. All animals had access to hay and water. After the rest period, the ULT animals were re-loaded. The subsequent journey by road from France to Spain was 9 h travel, 7 h rest (on the transporter) and a further 7 h travel by road. All T animals were blood sampled prior to transport (day (d) 0; baseline), on arrival in the French lairage (d 2), after 12 h rest in the French lairage (d 2), on arrival at the feedlot in Spain (d 4) and on d 6, d 8, d 10 and d 34. Control animals were blood sampled at the same times as T animals. Results: ULT and RT animals had lower (P 0.05) in plasma protein concentration between RT and ULT animals from day 2 to d 34. Plasma concentrations of urea were higher (P < 0.05) in RT animals from d 2 to d 34 compared with C animals. RT and ULT animals had lower (P < 0.05) non-esterified fatty acid (NEFA) and βeta-hydroxy-butyrate (ßHB) concentrations on d 10 and d 34 compared with d 0. Conclusion: It is concluded that, within the conditions of the present study, the performance of the animals that remained on the transporter during the 12 h lairage period in France was not different post-transport from the transported animals that were unloaded and lairaged in France

Animal Transport: Developing optimum animal handling procedures and effective transport strategies in the food production chain to improve animal welfare and food quality

End of project reportA series of studies were performed to investigate the effect of transport on liveweight, physiological and haematological responses of cattle. The first study was carried out over a 6 week period in the Spring of 2004. Eighty-four continental x bulls (mean weight (s.d.) 367 (35) kg), naïve to transport, were randomly assigned to one of six journey (J) times of 0, 6, 9, 12, 18 and 24h transport at a stocking density of 1.02m2/bull. Blood samples were collected by jugular venipuncture before, immediately after and at 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 12 and 24h and bulls were weighed before, immediately after, and at 4, 12 and 24h. Bulls travelling for 6h (280 km), 9h (435 km), 12h (582 km), 18h (902 km) and 24h (1192 km) lost 4.7, 4.5, 5.7 (P=0.05), 6.6 (P=0.05) and 7.5 (P=0.05) percentage liveweight compared with baseline. During the 24h recovery period liveweight was regained to pre-transport levels. Lymphocyte percentages were lower (P=0.001) and neutrophil percentages were higher (P=0.05) in all animals. Blood protein and creatine kinase, glucose and NEFA concentrations were higher (P=0.05) in the bulls following transport and returned to baseline within 24h. In conclusion, liveweight and some physiological and haematological responses of bulls returned to pre-transport levels within 24h having had access to feed and water. Transport of bulls from 6 – 24hours did not impact negatively on animal welfare

Temperatures Decrease Mammalian Species Richness Nationwide

Climate change includes changes in temperature and precipitation; even the slightest deviations can throw off the equilibrium of an ecosystem. The purpose of this research was to investigate the trends between temperature, precipitation, and mammal communities. We used data from Snapshot USA, the first nationwide camera trap survey of the United States. Over 1,500 cameras were deployed over 52,000 trap nights from August – November, 2019. Cameras were placed throughout a variety of habitats, including desert, grassland, wetland, forest, and urban. We used Student’s t-tests and generalized linear models to analyze the data in Program R. Climates were moderate for that time of year, with an average temperature of 18°C and 0.19 cm precipitation. The average species richness was about 4 mammal species per camera trap location. We found that temperature had a significant negative relationship with mammal species richness, while precipitation was not an accurate predictor. The next step of our study is to assess these trends across an urbanization gradient, as cities tend to be warmer compared to adjacent rural areas. These findings are important as climate change is projected to increase temperatures nationwide in the upcoming decades, at the potential detriment to the mammal community

NGC 1058: Gas motions in an extended, quiescent spiral disk

Researchers investigate in detail the motion of gas in the galaxy NGC 1058 using the very large array (VLA) to map the emission in the 21-cm line. This galaxy is so nearly face-on that the contribution to the line width due to the variation of the rotational velocity across the D-array beam is small compared with the random z-motion of the gas. Researchers confirm results of earlier studies (Lewis 1987, A. and A. Suppl., 63, 515; van der Kruit and Shostak 1984, A. and A., 134, 258) of the galaxy's total neutral hydrogen (HI) and kinematics, including the fact that the rotation curve drops faster than Keplerian at the outer edge of the disk, which is interpreted as a fortuitous twist of the plane of rotation in the outer disk. However, their very high velocity resolution (2.58 km s(exp -1) after Hanning smoothing) coupled with good spatial resolution, allows researchers to measure more accurately the line width, and even to some extent its shape, throughout the disk. One of the most interesting results of this study is the remarkable constancy of the line width in the outer disk. From radius 90 to 210 seconds the Gaussian velocity dispersion (sigma sub nu) of the 21-cm line has a mean value of 5.7 km s(exp -1) (after correcting for the spectral resolution) with a dispersion of less than 0.9 km s(exp -1) (after correcting for the spectral resolution) with a dispersion of less than 0.9 km s(exp -1). Translating this directly into a kinetic temperature (Doppler temperature): T sub Dopp equals 121K (sigma sub mu exp 2/(km s(exp -1) (exp 2) gives 4000 K, with a dispersion of less than 1500 K over the outer disk. This constancy is observed even when comparing the spiral arms versus inter-arm regions, which in the radius range from 100 to 150 seconds the surface density modulates (defined as the ratio N sub peak -N sub trough/N sub peak + N sub trough) from 0.5 to 0.25 in the range 150 to 200 seconds

Rearing calves outdoors with and without calf jackets compared with indoor housing on calf health and live-weight performance

peer-reviewedThe objective of this study was to compare the effects of rearing calves outdoors, with and without all-weather calf jackets, with calves reared indoors on calf immunity and animal performance. In February 1999, male Holstein calves (mean (s.e.) weight 55 (1.90) kg) were randomly assigned to one of three treatments (n=30 per treatment): 1) outdoors with jacket, (J; mean age 19 (s.e. 2.0) days); 2) outdoors without jacket (NJ; mean age 19 (s.e. 1.8) days), and 3) indoors on straw (I; mean age 19 (s.e. 1.0) days). Calves received an individual allowance of 25 kg of milk replacer dry matter during the first 42 days with ad libitum access to a concentrate ration from day 0 to 63. The jackets were removed from the calves on day 42. Live-weight gain from day 0 to day 63 of the study was not significantly different between treatments (J, 0.79; NJ, 0.80; I, 0.80 kg). Sixty percent of the J calves and 53% of the NJ calves required four or more antibiotic treatments for respiratory disease while corresponding treatments were required for 97% of the I calves. The incidence of diarrhoea was significantly higher in both outdoor treatments compared to the I treatment. There was no significant difference in white blood cell counts or in serum immunoglobulin concentrations between treatments on days 0, 21, 42 and 63 or in in vitro interferon-γ production on day 63. It is concluded that using calf jackets on calves reared outdoors had no beneficial effect on calf performance or immune status. The incidence of respiratory disease was higher and diarrhoea incidence was lower in calves reared indoors compared with calves reared outdoors. There was no significant difference in incidences of diarrhoea and respiratory disease between the two outdoor treatments

Physiological and behavioural aspects of housing stress in cattle

End of project reportThe effect of various space allowances on pituitary, adrenal, immune responses and performance was investigated in 72 Holstein x Friesian bulls. Bulls (403 ± 3.5 kg) were blocked by weight and randomly assigned into two groups (familiar, F and unfamiliar, UF) x three (1.2, 2.7 and 4.2 m2 per bull; n = 24 bulls per space allowance) treatments and housed for 83 days in 18 pens (n = 4 per pen). Blood samples were collected on day –1, 0, 3, 14, 36 and 77 with respect to mixing and housing on day 0. The bulls were administered with adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) on day 3 and corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH) on days 14, 36 and 77. The basal cortisol concentrations were not affected (P>0.05) by mixing of familiar and unfamiliar bulls. On day 3, basal cortisol was greater (P0.05) of treatment and treatment x time on ACTH. On day 14, interferon-? production was lower (P0.05) different for those housed at 1.2 m2. Bulls housed at either space allowances had (P<0.05) neutrophilia, lymphopenia, eosinopenia and decreased haemoglobin on day 3 compared with day 0. The liveweight gain from days 0 to 83 was lower (P< 0.05) in bulls housed at 1.2 compared with those at 2.7 and 4.2 m2. Housing bulls at 1.2 m2 space allowance had a detrimental effect on their growth and was associated with an acute rise in plasma cortisol concentration (on day 3) compared with space allowances of 2.7 and 4.2 m2/bull.European Union Structural Funds (EAGGF

2020: Suki Kwon

During Women’s History Month, the University of Dayton Women’s Center coordinates, as an experiential learning opportunity for students, an annual exhibit highlighting the contributions women have made at the University of Dayton. Theme for 2020: Women of Courage.https://ecommons.udayton.edu/women_of_ud/1037/thumbnail.jp

Equitable Compensation: Quantifying the Salary Differences of Comparison Communities

Teacher salary scales from a target district are compared with those from six groups of comparable districts to provide a quantitative basis from which to assess self-serving bias in the selection of comparison districts. Comparison districts are used to gauge salary equity during contract negotiations. Salary data were extracted for three salary columns (bachelor’s, master’s, and master’s plus 30 credits) from the 2014–15 Massachusetts teacher contracts from forty-eight districts. Comparison district groups were formed using six methods: three single-criterion and three multiple-criteria. Implications for selecting methods are also discussed

Alien Registration- Gunn, Margaret (South Portland, Cumberland County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/20261/thumbnail.jp