The Impact of Rubber Mats on the Health, Behavior and Welfareof Group-Housed Sows at Breeding

Lameness and leg injuries are common in the swine industry and are a serious welfare concern. The impact of rubber mats on measures of sow health, behavior and welfare were evaluated during 10 days at breeding. Sows preferred to rest in stalls with mats, showed a reduction in lesions and an increase in postural changes. The provision of rubber mats should be considered to improve sow welfare

The Value of Environmental Enrichments to Gestating Sows

Housing swine in unstimulating environments can lead to increases in abnormal and harmful social behavior, stress and impaired immune function. Environmental enrichments can alleviate the negative impacts of unstimulating housing and can improve sow welfare. In a series of studies, we asked sows which enrichments they found most valuable. Behavior and motivation measures revealed that sows valued access to an enriched group pen, though sow social status impacted enrichment use. Rubber mats were preferred and shared in a group pen, though were not as highly valued by individual sows. Stall-housed sows valued compost in a trough and straw in a rack, though showed little interest in a hanging cotton rope. The addition of enrichments, which sows find valuable, to unstimulating environments should be considered as a method to improve sow welfare

Growth and Reproductive Development of Male Piglets Are More Vulnerable to Midgestation Maternal Stress Than That of Female Piglets

In many mammalian species, prenatal stress masculinizes female and feminizes male offspring impairing their reproductive capacity. Regrouping gestating sows is a common, stressful production practice, but its impact on the developing pigs of the sow is not fully known. This study examined the effects of regrouping gestating sows and the administration of exogenous glucocorticoids on the growth and external reproductive morphology of pigs. At 37.2 ± 0.26 d of gestation, 6 cohorts of 18 sows (N = 108) were placed in 1 of 3 treatments: socially stable (Stable), hydrocortisone acetate (HCA), or mixed (Mixed). The HCA sows were administered 70 mg HCA, a synthetic glucocorticoid, twice daily during the 21 d experimental period. Each Mixed sow was penned with 2 companion sows (Companion) and regrouped on d 7 and 14 with 2 different Companion sows in a new pen. Stable and HCA sows were penned in treatment groups of 3 sows. Sow social rank was assessed weekly during feeding. After the 21 d experimental period, all sows were housed in gestation stalls for the duration of pregnancy. During the 21 d, Companion sows gained more weight than HCA and Mixed sows (P \u3c 0.05) with Stable sows intermediate. High ranked sows gained more weight than middle and low ranked sows (P \u3c 0.05). Mixed sows had greater head lesion scores than Stable and HCA sows (P \u3c 0.05) with Companion sows intermediate. Head lesions increased with lower social rank (P \u3c 0.001). Sow treatment did not affect farrowing rate, litter size, or sex ratio (P \u3e 0.10). Social rank also had no effect on farrowing rate (P \u3e 0.10), but affected total litter size (P = 0.03). High ranked sows bore and weaned more live females than low ranked sows (P \u3c 0.05), in part due to differential preweaning mortality among female pigs (P = 0.01). Only male pigs were affected by sow treatment. Preweaning mortality was higher among male pigs from HCA than from Mixed sows (P = 0.04) with other treatments intermediate. Despite no weight differences in the preweaning period, at 160 d of age males from HCA sows weighed more than males from Stable sows (P = 0.01) with other treatments intermediate. Males born to Companion sows had longer relative anogenital distances, a marker of fetal testosterone exposure, than males from Mixed sows (P = 0.03) with other treatments intermediate. The prenatal environment affected the pigs in a sex-specific manner altering the growth and reproductive morphology of the males more than that of the females

Prevalence and lameness-associated risk factors in Alberta feedlot cattle

Lameness in cattle is a health and welfare concern; however, limited information is available on risk factors and the relationship between lameness and common diseases like bovine respiratory disease (BRD). Therefore, the objectives of this study were to: 1) identify prevalence of lameness in feedlot cattle and related risk factors of cattle diagnosed as lame; and 2) determine associations between BRD occurrence and lameness. Feedlot cattle health records were available from 28 feedlots for 10 yr. The data set consisted of 663,838 cattle records, with 13.9% (92,156) diagnosed with a disease, including 32.3%, 46.0%, and 22.0% with lameness, BRD, and other diagnoses, respectively. Lameness was classified into four categories: foot rot (FR), joint infections (JI), lame with no visible swelling (LNVS), and injuries (INJ), with a prevalence of 74.5%, 16.1%, 6.1%, and 3.1%, respectively. Lameness was compared across cattle types (arrival date and weight) as well as age classification (calf vs. yearling), gender (steer vs. heifer), and season of placement in the feedlot (spring, summer, fall, and winter). Within the disease-diagnosed population, lameness represented 28.5% of treated fall-placed calves, 38.5% of winter-placed calves, and 40.8% of treated yearlings. Foot rot was the most common diagnosis with 74.5% of all lameness diagnoses, with winter- and fall-placed calves more likely to be diagnosed with FR compared to yearlings (OR: 1.19, 95% CI: 1.10–1.30 and OR: 1.46, 95% CI: 1.38–1.55, respectively). Joint infections were the second most common diagnosis (16.1%). Compared to yearlings, fall-placed calves had a higher odds (OR: 3.64, 95% CI: 3.12–4.24) for JI. Injuries and LNVS were the least common but again fall-placed calves had higher odds of this diagnosis compared to yearlings (OR: 2.26, 95% CI: 1.70–2.99 and OR: 9.10, 95% CI: 6.26–13.2, respectively). Gender was significantly different for JI as steers were less likely affected compared to heifers (OR: 0.687, 95% CI: 0.545–0.867), and more likely affected by LNVS (OR: 2.46, 95% CI: 1.57–3.84). Of all lameness-associated deaths, JI accounted for almost 50%. Finally, cattle diagnosed with BRD were subsequently more likely to be diagnosed with INJ, JI, or LNVS (P < 0.001 for all comparisons). In conclusion, animal type and gender were associated with type of lameness diagnoses, allowing feedlots to allocate resources to groups at highest risk and focus on early intervention strategies.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Discrimination Task Reveals Differences in Neural Bases of Tinnitus and Hearing Impairment

We investigated auditory perception and cognitive processing in individuals with chronic tinnitus or hearing loss using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Our participants belonged to one of three groups: bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus (TIN), bilateral hearing loss without tinnitus (HL), and normal hearing without tinnitus (NH). We employed pure tones and frequency-modulated sweeps as stimuli in two tasks: passive listening and active discrimination. All subjects had normal hearing through 2 kHz and all stimuli were low-pass filtered at 2 kHz so that all participants could hear them equally well. Performance was similar among all three groups for the discrimination task. In all participants, a distributed set of brain regions including the primary and non-primary auditory cortices showed greater response for both tasks compared to rest. Comparing the groups directly, we found decreased activation in the parietal and frontal lobes in the participants with tinnitus compared to the HL group and decreased response in the frontal lobes relative to the NH group. Additionally, the HL subjects exhibited increased response in the anterior cingulate relative to the NH group. Our results suggest that a differential engagement of a putative auditory attention and short-term memory network, comprising regions in the frontal, parietal and temporal cortices and the anterior cingulate, may represent a key difference in the neural bases of chronic tinnitus accompanied by hearing loss relative to hearing loss alone

Effect of subcutaneous meloxicam on indicators of acute pain and distress after castration and branding in 2-mo-old beef calves

The aim of this study was to assess knife castration and knife castration + branding in 2-mo-old calves, and the effect of a single dose of s.c. meloxicam at mitigating pain indicators. Seventy-one Angus crossbred bull calves (128 ± 18.5 kg of BW) were used in a 3 × 2 factorial design where main factors included procedure: sham (control calves, CT; n = 23), knife (KN; n = 24) or knife + branding (BK; n = 24), and medication: single s.c. administration of lactated ringer solution (NM; n = 35) or a single dose of 0.5 mg/kg of s.c. meloxicam (M; n = 36). Physiological samples were collected at T0, 60, 90, 120, and 180 min and on days 1, 2, 3, and 7 after procedure, whereas behavioral observations were evaluated at 2 to 4 h and 1, 2, 3, and 7 days after procedure. A procedure × time effect (P 0.10) were observed for salivary cortisol, substance P, and scrotal temperature minutes after the procedure or for cortisol, substance P, serum amyloid-A, stride length, or behavioral observations days after the procedure. Overall, BK calves presented greater physiological and behavioral indicators of acute pain than KN calves, suggesting that the combination of knife castration + branding was more painful. Meloxicam administered s.c. was effective at reducing physiological and behavioral indicators of acute pain associated with knife castration and knife castration + branding.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Investigation of Low Resistance Contacts to Pb-Sb-Ag-Te (LAST) Materials for Module Fabrication

ABSTRACT Low electrical contact resistance is essential for the fabrication of high efficiency thermoelectric generators. These contacts must be stable to high temperatures and through thermal cycling. Here we present the fabrication procedure and characterization of several contacts to Pb-Sb-Ag-Te (LAST) compounds. Contact materials investigated include tungsten, antimony, tin, nickel, and a bismuth antimony based solder. The contacts were typically deposited by an electron beam evaporation method after careful preparation of the sample surface. The resistances were measured by using the transmission line model (TLM), and ohmic behavior was verified through current vs. voltage measurements. The best contact resistivities of less than 20 µΩ·cm 2 have been measured for annealed antimony to n-type LAST samples. We present these procedures for fabricating low resistance contacts and the use of these contact materials toward the fabrication of high efficiency thermoelectric generator modules

The Impact of Rubber Mats on the Health, Behavior and Welfareof Group-Housed Sows at Breeding

Lameness and leg injuries are common in the swine industry and are a serious welfare concern. The impact of rubber mats on measures of sow health, behavior and welfare were evaluated during 10 days at breeding. Sows preferred to rest in stalls with mats, showed a reduction in lesions and an increase in postural changes. The provision of rubber mats should be considered to improve sow welfare.</p

The Value of Environmental Enrichments to Gestating Sows

Housing swine in unstimulating environments can lead to increases in abnormal and harmful social behavior, stress and impaired immune function. Environmental enrichments can alleviate the negative impacts of unstimulating housing and can improve sow welfare. In a series of studies, we asked sows which enrichments they found most valuable. Behavior and motivation measures revealed that sows valued access to an enriched group pen, though sow social status impacted enrichment use. Rubber mats were preferred and shared in a group pen, though were not as highly valued by individual sows. Stall-housed sows valued compost in a trough and straw in a rack, though showed little interest in a hanging cotton rope. The addition of enrichments, which sows find valuable, to unstimulating environments should be considered as a method to improve sow welfare.</p

Group Space Allowance Has Little Effect on Sow Health, Productivity, or Welfare in a Free-Access Stall System

Free-access stalls allow sows to choose the protection of a stall or use of a shared group space. This study investigated the effect of group space width, 0.91 (SS), 2.13 (IS), and 3.05 (LS) m, on the health, production, behavior, and welfare of gestating sows. Nine replications of 21 (N = 189) gestating sows were used. At gestational d 35.4 ± 2.3, the pregnant sows were distributed into 3 pens of 7 sows, where they remained until 104.6 ± 3.5 d. Each treatment pen had 7 free-access stalls and a group space that together provided 1.93 (SS), 2.68 (IS), or 3.24 (LS) m2/sow. Baseline measurements were obtained before mixing. Back fat depth, BW, BCS, and lameness were measured monthly, and skin lesions were scored weekly. Blood was collected monthly for hematological, immunological, and cortisol analyses. Sow behavior was video recorded continuously during the initial 4 d of treatment and 24 h every other week thereafter. Behavior was analyzed for location, posture, pen investigation, social contact, and aggression. Skin response to the mitogen concanavalin A (Con A) was tested at mean gestational d 106. Litter characteristics including size and weight were collected at birth and weaning. The data were analyzed using a mixed model. Multiple comparisons were adjusted with the Tukey-Kramer and Bejamini-Hochberg methods. Group space allowance had no effect on any measure of sow health, physiology, or production (P ≥ 0.10). Sows in the SS, IS, and LS pens spent 77.88% ± 3.88%, 66.02% ± 3.87%, and 63.64% ± 3.91%, respectively, of their time in the free-access stalls (P = 0.12). However, SS sows used the group space less than IS and LS sows (P = 0.01). Overall, pen investigatory behavior was not affected by group space allowance (P = 0.91). Sows in the LS pens spent more time in a social group than SS sows (P = 0.02), whereas sows in IS pens were intermediate to, but not different from, the other treatments (P ≥ 0.10). The size of the social groups was also affected by the group space allowance (P = 0.03), with SS sows forming smaller groups than LS sows; again, IS sows were intermediate to, but not different from, the other treatments. Although the group space allowance had no measurable impact on the health, physiology, or productivity of the sows, the lower group space use and social contact of the SS sows reduced the behavioral diversity benefits of group housing and may indicate an avoidance of social stressors or a lack of physical comfort in the smallest pens.This article is from Journal of Animal Science 92 (2014): 2554, doi:10.2527/jas.2013-7352.</p