Effect of variety, growing region and growing season on digestible energy content of wheats grown in Western Australia for weaner pigs

An experiment was conducted to examine the digestible energy (DE) content for weanling pigs in a cohort of wheats grown in Western Australia, and to establish relationships between DE content and their chemical composition. The 3 5 3 5 2 factorial experiment examined the wheat variety (Arrino, Stiletto and Westonia), growing location (high, medium and low rainfall zone) and harvest year (1999 and 2000). Pigs (no. = 5 per diet) aged about 28 days were given a diet at a level of 0.05 5 live weight containing 900 g/kg of the wheat and an acid-insoluble ash marker for 10 days, with samples of faeces collected from each pig for the final 5 days. The average live weight of pigs was 6.6 (s.d. 0.77) kg. The DE content of wheats harvested in 1999 varied by up to 1.3 MJ/kg, while wheats harvested in 2000 varied by up to 1.8 MJ/kg. When the 2 years' data were combined, the DE content ranged from 12.5 to 14.4 MJ/kg. Both the variety and growing region significantly influenced (P 0.05) with the wheats harvested in 2000. In addition, the precipitation level (mm) during the growing season of wheats was strongly correlated (r = -0.821, P < 0.01) to the DE content of wheat in year 1999, but was not correlated in 2000. The results indicate that the genetic and environmental conditions during the growth of wheat have a significant impact on the utilization of plant energy in weaner pigs, and that greater attention needs to be paid to these influences in the assignment of energy values for wheats given to weaner pigs

Effect of variety, endosperm hardness, the 1B/1R translocation and enzyme addition on the nutritive value of wheat for growing pigs

It has been widely recognised that wheat chemical composition and nutritive value can vary as a result of genotypic differences, but there is a lack of information on wheat grown in Northern Ireland. Furthermore, there have been conflicting reports regarding the effect of endosperm hardness, the 1B/1R translocation and enzyme addition on the nutritive value of wheat for growing pigs. The effects of wheat variety, endosperm hardness, the presence of the 1B/1R translocation and enzyme addition were examined in four experiments involving a total of 326 Large White Landrace pigs. Performance traits of individually housed pigs were measured in Experiments 1, 3 and 4 and apparent in vivo digestibility coefficients were determined at the total tract and ileal level from post-valve-T-caecum cannulated pigs in Experiment 2. The results obtained for the analysis of the chemical composition of the eight varieties were mainly within reported limits. However, there was a wide range of crude protein concentrations (97.8 to 138.7g/kg dry matter) suggesting varietal differences. There was no effect of endosperm hardness or the 1B/1R translocation on chemical composition. In contrast to other research reports, there were no significant differences in pig performance as a result of either variety, endosperm hardness or the presence of the 1B/1R translocation. However, there were significant variety effects on apparent total-tract digestibility coefficients. Enzyme supplementation had no significant effect on pig performance, despite the fact that the basal diet did not have a high nutrient specification.The authors acknowledge the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development for Northern Ireland (DARD) and Danisco Animal Nutrition for the financial support which enabled this research to be undertaken. Appreciation is expressed to the staff from the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute who assisted with this work

THE EFFECT OF DIETARY BIOTIN LEVEL ON THE PRODUCTIVITY OF THE FEMALE PIG

Five experiments were conducted with female pigs to investigate the effects of dietary biotin level on: reproductive performance and hoof integrity over four parities (experiment 1); ovulation rate of the gilt (experiment 2); durability of hoof horn and the phospholipid and neutral lipid profile of perinephric and hoof horn fat (experiments 3 and 4) and milk fat (experiment 5). Experiment 1 showed that changes in reproductive performance and hoof integrity in adult sows occurred when pigs were fed levels of dietary biotin previously considered to have been sufficient to meet the sow's requirements (diet calculated to provide 32µg available biotin/kg). Notably, sows receiving 350µg supplementary biotin/kg returned to oestrus 2.9 ± 1.7 and conceived 6.1 ± 1.4 days sooner than controls (p < 0.05). -The number of lesions/sow increased greatly between 170 days of age and first weaning, at which time the control sows had significantly more lesions/sow (13.45 v 9.79; p < 0.001), but appeared to stabilise in the oldest sows. The production of unsaturated fatty acids in the neutral lipid fraction of the milk increased between early and late lactation in the supplemented but not control sows (p < 0.05) in a sample of sows from control and supplemented treatments respectively (experiment 5). The effects on reproductive performance and the biochemical and physical effects observed in the growing pig indicated that biotin deficiency may produce commercially significant effects prior to the development of symptoms of clinical deficiency. No treatment effects were observed for weight of ovary or number of corpora lutea produced by gilts (experiment 2). Hoof horn durability, measured using a Durometer, was greatest in gilts fed high levels of dietary biotin (experiment 4). The fractionated analyses of the perinephric fat indicated that the relative percentage of C16:0 and C18:0 compared to C16:.1 and C18: 1 increased with greater dietary biotin intake and analyses of hoof horn fat indicated similar trends (experiments 3 and 4)

PC as physics computer for LHC?

In the last five years, we have seen RISC workstations take over the computing scene that was once controlled by mainframes and supercomputers. In this paper we will argue that the same phenomenon might happen again. A project, active since March this year in the Physics Data Processing group of CERN's CN division is described where ordinary desktop PCs running Windows (NT and 3.11) have been used for creating an environment for running large LHC batch jobs (initially the DICE simulation job of Atlas). The problems encountered in porting both the CERN library and the specific Atlas codes are described together with some encouraging benchmark results when comparing to existing RISC workstations in use by the Atlas collaboration. The issues of establishing the batch environment (Batch monitor, staging software, etc.) are also covered. Finally a quick extrapolation of commodity computing power available in the future is touched upon to indicate what kind of cost envelope could be sufficient for the simulation farms required by the LHC experiments

Relationship between the quantity and quality of carbohydrates and the digestible energy content of wheats for weaner pigs

The aim of this study was to establish correlations between the quantity and quality of carbohydrates and the digestible energy (DE) content of wheats fed to weaner pigs

Provision of straw as a foraging substrate reduces the development of excessive chain and bar manipulation in food restricted sows.

Pregnant sows fed at commercial levels remain highly food motivated for most of the day. The inability to express this behaviour appropriately may, under certain conditions, result in the development of abnormal oral activities such as stereotypic chain and bar manipulation. Ninety-six gilts, all between 1 and 3 weeks post service, were entered into a 2X2 factorial design comparing food level (low, 1.8 kg/23 MJ day(-1) (L); high, 3.2 kg/40 MJ day(-1) (H)) and the provision of a foraging substrate (S, straw; N, no straw). The gilts were loose housed in groups of six with individual stalls. A 70 cm chain loop was attached to the front of each stair. The sows were fed at 09:00 h, during which time S sows received straw (approximately 1.5 kg per sow). Behaviour was recorded over the first two parities, by time sampling for the 2 and 6 h after the start of feeding and over 24 h using video recordings. Activity levels were highest just after feeding, with L sows being more active than H sows (L vs. H, 79% vs. 49% for the second hour after the start of feeding, F-1,F-12 = 41.5, P <0.001). Most of the postprandial activity consisted of manipulating substrates. In LN sows, particularly in Parity 2, this behaviour was mainly directed towards chains and bars, resulting in levels three to four times higher than in other groups (26%, 7%, 4% and 4% for the second hour after feeding for LN, LS, HN and HS respectively; Tukey's HSD, P <0.05). LS sows directed their foraging behaviour mainly towards the straw. It is concluded that in food-restricted pregnant sows, abnormally high levels of chain and bar manipulation can be prevented by providing straw which apparently acts as a foraging substrate

Prevalence of lameness and claw lesions during different stages in the reproductive cycle of sows and the impact on reproduction results

Lameness in sows is an emerging disease condition with major effects on animal welfare and economics. Yet the direct impact on reproduction results remains unclear. The present field study investigated the impact of lameness and claw lesions throughout the reproductive cycle on (re)production results of sows. In five farms, a total of 491 group-housed sows were followed up for a period of one reproductive cycle. Sows were assessed for lameness every time they were moved to another area in the farm. Claw lesions were scored at the beginning and at the end of the cycle. Reproduction results included the number of live-born piglets, stillborn piglets, mummified fetuses and crushed piglets, weaning-to-oestrus interval and the presence of sows not showing oestrus post weaning, returning to service and aborting. Sows that left the group were recorded and the reason was noted. A mean prevalence of lameness of 5.9% was found, although it depended on the time in the productive cycle. The highest percentage of lame sows (8.1%) was found when sows were moved from the post-weaning to the gestation stable. No significant associations were found between lameness and reproduction parameters with the exception of the effect on mummified foetuses. Wall cracks, white line lesions, heel lesions and skin lesions did have an effect on farrowing performance. Of all sows, 22% left the group throughout the study, and almost half of these sows were removed from the farm. Lameness was the second most important reason for culling. Sows culled because of lameness were significantly younger compared with sows culled for other reasons (parity: 2.6 +/- 1.3 v. 4.0 +/- 1.8). In conclusion, the present results indicate that lameness mainly affects farm productivity indirectly through its effect on sow longevity whereas claw lesions directly affect some reproductive parameters. The high percentage of lame sows in the insemination stable indicate that risk factor studies should not only focus on the gestation stable, but also on housing conditions in the insemination stable

Poly(methyl methacrylate) - Palladium clusters nanocomposite formation by supersonic cluster beam deposition: a method for microstructured metallization of polymer surfaces

Nanocomposite films were fabricated by supersonic cluster beam deposition (SCBD) of palladium clusters on Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) surfaces. The evolution of the electrical conductance with cluster coverage and microscopy analysis show that Pd cluster are implanted in the polymer and form a continuous layer extending for several tens of nanometers beneath the polymer surface. This allows the deposition, using stencil masks, of cluster-assembled Pd microstructures on PMMA showing a remarkably high adhesion compared to metallic films obtained by thermal evaporation. These results suggest that SCBD is a promising tool for the fabrication of metallic microstructures on flexible polymeric substrates.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figure

Locomotion disorders and skin and claw lesions in gestating sows housed in dynamic versus static groups

Lameness and lesions to the skin and claws of sows in group housing are commonly occurring indicators of reduced welfare. Typically, these problems are more common in group housing than in individual housing systems. Group management type (dynamic versus static) and stage of gestation influence the behavior of the animals, which in turn influences the occurrence of these problems. The present study compared prevalence, incidence and mean scores of lameness and skin and claw lesions in static versus dynamic group housed sows at different stages of gestation during three consecutive reproductive cycles. A total of 10 Belgian sow herds were monitored; 5 in which dynamic groups and 5 in which static groups were utilized. All sows were visually assessed for lameness and skin lesions three times per cycle and the claws of the hind limbs were assessed once per cycle. Lameness and claw lesions were assessed using visual analogue scales. Static groups, in comparison with dynamic groups, demonstrated lower lameness scores (P<0.05) and decreased skin lesion prevalence (24.9 vs. 47.3%, P<0.05) at the end of gestation. There was no difference between treatment group regarding claw lesion prevalence with 75.5% of sows demonstrating claw lesions regardless of group management. Prevalences of lameness (22.4 vs. 8.9%, P<0.05) and skin lesions (46.6 vs. 4.4%, P<0.05) were highest during the group-housed phase compared to the individually housed phases. Although the prevalence of lameness and skin lesions did not differ three days after grouping versus at the end of the group-housing phase, their incidence peaked during the first three days after moving from the insemination stalls to the group. In conclusion, the first three days after grouping was the most risky period for lameness incidence, but there was no significant difference between static or dynamic group management