Comparison of fertility results after vaginal insemination using different thawing procedures and packages for frozen ram semen

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The effect of different thawing procedures for ram semen frozen in minitubes and mini straws on the fertility of sheep was tested in a field trial.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Altogether, 719 Norwegian Crossbred ewes, aged between six months and six-and-a-half years from 8 farms, were inseminated vaginally in natural oestrus with frozen-thawed semen. Minitubes were thawed at 70°C for 8 sec (T70) and mini straws either at 50°C for 9 sec (S50) or at 35°C for 12 sec (S35).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Vaginal insemination with 200 × 10⁶spermatozoa resulted in 25-days non-return rates of 63.2, 59.6, and 62.5% (overall 61.8%), respectively, and lambing rates of 56.8, 55.0, and 59.2% (overall 57.0%), respectively. No significant effect on fertility (as 25-days non-return- or lambing rate) was seen for straw type/thawing temperature (P = 0.5/0.5), but semen filled in mini straws and thawed at 35°C resulted numerically in the highest lambing rate (59.2%). A significant effect was, however, seen for farmer (P = >0.0001/>0.0001) and ram (P = 0.009/0.002). Moreover, age of the ewes had a significant effect on the NR rate (0.007), but not on lambing rate (P = 0.2).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>A vaginal deposition of frozen ram semen containing approximately 200 × 10⁶spermatozoa, filled in mini straws and thawed at 35°C is a simplified technique that under field conditions and used on a do-it-yourself regime gives acceptable lambing rates in Norway.</p

Evaluation of a Binary Classification Approach to Detect Herbage Scarcity Based on Behavioral Responses of Grazing Dairy Cows

In precision grazing, pasture allocation decisions are made continuously to ensure demand-based feed allowance and efficient grassland utilization. The aim of this study was to evaluate existing prediction models that determine feed scarcity based on changes in dairy cow behavior. During a practice-oriented experiment, two groups of 10 cows each grazed separate paddocks in half-days in six six-day grazing cycles. The allocated grazing areas provided 20% less feed than the total dry matter requirement of the animals for each entire grazing cycle. All cows were equipped with noseband sensors and pedometers to record their head, jaw, and leg activity. Eight behavioral variables were used to classify herbage sufficiency or scarcity using a generalized linear model and a random forest model. Both predictions were compared to two individual-animal and day-specific reference indicators for feed scarcity: reduced milk yields and rumen fill scores that undercut normal variation. The predictive performance of the models was low. The two behavioral variables “daily rumination chews” and “bite frequency” were confirmed as suitable predictors, the latter being particularly sensitive when new feed allocation is present in the grazing set-up within 24 h. Important aspects were identified to be considered if the modeling approach is to be followed up.Peer Reviewe

The Invention of “Shamanism” in 18th Century Mongolian Elite Discourse

The paper concentrates on the transformation of the religious field in 17th and 18th century Mongolia, focusing on the discourse formations which accompanied the missionary strategies the Tibetan Buddhist monks employed to win over the Mongols to Buddhism. By drawing on a variety of Mongolian sources, from biographies and chronicles up to legal documents and terminological dictionaries, the author argues that the encounter between shamanic and Buddhist religious specialists led to the creation of a religious “other” and the reification of a böge-ner-ün sasin, a “teaching of the shamans”, most likely influencing European Enlightenment and post-Enlightenment constructions of so called “shamanism”

Of Yellow Teaching and Black Faith: Entangled Knowledge Cultures and the Creation of Religious Traditions

The spread of Tibetan Buddhism to the Mongolian regions in the late sixteenth century did not onlyresult in often violent confrontations between Ti-betan Buddhist monks and Mongolian religious specialists, the male and female shamans,but alsoled to areification process of local religious practices and concepts resulting in the creation of asingle tradition on the discourse level. In my paper Iwill show how the ‘teaching of the shamans’ has come to be formedasboth aconcept and apractice in early-modern Inner Asia. By analyz-ing its discursive formation and entangled historical configurations, from late sixteenth century Mongolia to late nineteenth century Buryatia, the paper aims to shedlight on the question how religious traditions are discursively cre-ated and socially affirmed

Der mongolische Maskentanz (Tsam) in Vergangenheit und Gegenwart

Since the early 2000s the Mongolian Buddhist masked ritual dance, in the Khalkh-Mongolian language called Tsam, has been re-introduced to the Mongolian religious field. Nowadays a couple of Buddhist monasteries in Mongolia perform the Tsam once a year. This paper examines the Mongolian masked dance in its historical and contemporary aspects, with a special focus on the Khüree Tsam. It provides an overview of the Tibetan history of the masked ritual dance and its historical Mongolian developments, as well as an ethnographic study of the 2009 performance of the Khüree Tsam in Dashchoilin monastery of Ulaanbaatar. Whereas the historical part of this paper draws on Tibetan and Mongolian dance manuals and chronicles, the ethnographic part is methodologically based on participant observation, expert and semi-structured interviews. Finally, the paper discusses the changes and adaptations the Khüree Tsam underwent within and outside the monastic context in today's Mongolia