A meta-analytical approach for evaluating the effect of arginine supplementation on the productive performance of sows during gestation

Arginine (Arg) supplementation for gestating and lactating sows seems to play a primary role in litter development by promoting placental vascularization and improving colostrum and milk quality. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of the supplementation of dietary standardized ileal digestible Arg (SID Arg) on the productive performance of gestating sows using a meta-analytical approach. A total of 19 studies conducted between 2007 and 2020 which tested the effect of additional SID Arg supplementation in diets for sows were chosen using a systematic literature search. Data regarding backfat thickness, number of piglets born and live born, litter birthweight and weaning weight were extrapolated from each experimental group and expressed as a percentage of the value of the control group within the studies. The SID Arg supplementation was expressed as the percentage of SID Arg in the treated group compared to the control group (Additional SID Arg). Linear and quadratic models were built using a mixed procedure utilizing Minitab® software including Additional SID Arg, parity and feed intake classes and the period of SID Arg supplementation as fixed factors, and the study as the random factor. The SID Arg in control groups was higher than the doses suggested by the National Research Council (NRC; 2012) (4.20–8.90 g/kg of feed vs 3.2–7.9 g/kg, respectively). A quadratic response of Additional SID Arg was observed for placental efficiency (PE; P = 0.003; a=0.0019), the number of total piglets born (P = 0.027; a=−0.0003), the number of live born piglets (P = 0.005; a=−0.0006) and backfat thickness loss (P = 0.057; a=0.0029). A linear increase in the plasma concentration of Pro (P = 0.004; b=0.120), Orn (P = 0.002; b=0.284) and Arg (P = 0.001; b=0.425), and a decrease in the concentration of urea (P = 0.037; b=−0.063) was observed with an increasing level of SID Arg. There was no effect on placenta weight, live litter birthweight, individual piglet weight at birth and weaning, litter size and weight at weaning, and average daily gain during lactation. The estimated requirements of SID Arg for improving PE, reducing backfat thickness loss, increasing the number of piglets born and live born were 11.17 g/kg, 13.03 g/kg, 14.83 g/kg and 15.71 g/kg of feed, respectively. This meta-analysis highlighted the importance of redefining the Arg requirements of gestating sows and suggested a dosage ranging from 11.17 to 15.71 g/kg of feed to improve reproductive performance

On the Hysteretic Behaviour of Wells Turbines

The Wells turbine is a self-rectifying axial flow turbine employed in Oscillating Water Column systems to convert low-pressure airflow into mechanical energy. A number of studies highlighted a variation in turbine performance between acceleration and deceleration phases, generally ascribed to the interaction between blade trailing edge vortices and blade boundary layer. This explaination is in opposition with the large existing literature on rapidly pitching airfoils and wings, where it is generally accepted that a hysteretic behavior can be appreciated only at non-dimensional frequencies significantly larger than the ones typically found in Wells turbine. This work presents a critical re-examination of the phenomenon and a new analysis of some of the test cases originally used to explain its origin. The results demonstrate how the behavior of a Wells turbine is not dissimilar to that of an airfoil pitching at very low reduced frequencies and that the causes of the alleged hysteresis are in a different phenomenon

Bacillus spp. Probiotic Strains as a Potential Tool for Limiting the Use of Antibiotics, and Improving the Growth and Health of Pigs and Chickens

The pressure to increasingly optimize the breeding of livestock monogastric animals resulted in antimicrobials often being misused in an attempt to improve growth performance and counteract diseases in these animals, leading to an increase in the problem of antibiotic resistance. To tackle this problem, the use of probiotics, also known as direct in-feed microbials (DFM), seems to be one of the most promising strategies. Among probiotics, the interest in Bacillus strains has been intensively increased in recent decades in pigs and poultry. The aim of the present review was to evaluate the effectiveness of Bacillus strains as probiotics and as a potential strategy for reducing the misuse of antibiotics in monogastric animals. Thus, the potential modes of action, and the effects on the performance and health of pigs (weaning pigs, lactation and gestation sows) and broilers are discussed. These searches yielded 131 articles (published before January 2021). The present review showed that Bacillus strains could favor growth in terms of the average daily gain (ADG) of post-weaning piglets and broilers, and reduce the incidence of post-weaning diarrhea in pigs by 30% and mortality in broilers by 6–8%. The benefits of Bacillus strains on these parameters showed results comparable to the benefit obtained by the use of antibiotics. Furthermore, the use of Bacillus strains gives promising results in enhancing the local adaptative immune response and in reducing the oxidative stress of broilers. Fewer data were available regarding the effect on sows. Discordant effects have been reported regarding the effect on body weight (BW) and feed intake while a number of studies have supported the hypothesis that feeding probiotics to sows could benefit their reproductive performance, namely the BW and ADG of the litters. Taken all the above-mentioned facts together, this review confirmed the effectiveness of Bacillus strains as probiotics in young pigs and broilers, favoring their health and contributing to a reduction in the misuse of direct in-feed antibiotics. The continuous development and research regarding probiotics will support a decrease in the misuse of antibiotics in livestock production in order to endorse a more sustainable rearing system in the near future

6-axis inertial sensor using cold-atom interferometry

We have developed an atom interferometer providing a full inertial base. This device uses two counter-propagating cold-atom clouds that are launched in strongly curved parabolic trajectories. Three single Raman beam pairs, pulsed in time, are successively applied in three orthogonal directions leading to the measurement of the three axis of rotation and acceleration. In this purpose, we introduce a new atom gyroscope using a butterfly geometry. We discuss the present sensitivity and the possible improvements.Comment: submitted to PR

Evaluation of carcass quality, body and pulmonary lesions detected at the abattoir in heavy pigs subjected or not to tail docking

BackgroundNowadays, body and tail lesions and respiratory disease are some of the greatest problems affecting the health and welfare of pigs. The aim of the study was to measure the prevalence of pleurisy, bronchopneumonia (enzootic pneumonia like lesions) and lesions on tail and body of heavy pigs subjected or not to tail docking through the inspection in Italian abattoirs. Additionally, the effect of tail docking and season was investigated on carcass quality (weight, % of lean meat, and Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) classification). For this purpose, a total 17.256 carcasses belonging to 171 batches from 103 farms were inspected in an Italian abattoir between 2019 and 2022. Enzootic pneumonia (EP) like lesions were scored according to the Madec and Derrien method, while pleurisy was scored using the Italian Slaughterhouse pleuritic evaluation system (SPES). For the tail and body, the lesions were scored according to Welfare Quality. The lesion score index (LSI) was calculated for each area. Data were analysed using a general linear model (GLM) including tail caudectomy, season and distance of the farm from the abattoir.ResultsThe warm season increased the percentage of lesions in carcasses in all parts of the body observed (P < 0.0001). The presence of undocked tail increased the LSI of the tail (P < 0.0001). The percentage of limbs lesions with score 2 and limbs LSI increase with increasing duration of transport (coef. = 0.003, P < 0.001; coef. = 0.008, P < 0.001; respectively). The hot carcass weight and the percentage of carcasses included in the PDO were higher in batches with docked tails (P = 0.027; P < 0.001, respectively), while the percentage of lean meat was higher in batches with undocked tails (P < 0.001). There was a negative correlation between the percentage of carcasses included in PDO and the LSI of tail (r = - 0.422; P < 0.001).ConclusionsIn conclusion, the presence of the undocked tail and the warm season can be considered risk factors for the prevalence of tail lesions, while long transport can increase limb lesions. Furthermore, the carcass weight and meat quality were negatively influenced by tail lesions

Effect of an Escherichia coli F4/F18 bivalent oral live vaccine on gut health and performance of healthy weaned pigs

Oral live vaccines stimulate host immunity, but they could also affect intestinal mucosa development and gut microbiota of piglets during the postweaning. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of an oral vaccine against Escherichia coli F4 and F18 (Coliprotec F4/F18®), on gut functionality and integrity, growth performance and health status of postweaning piglets. A total of 96 weaned piglets (23.30 ± 1.85 days of age; 7334 ± 1039 g BW) were divided into two groups (16 replicates/group; three piglets/replicate) as follows: (1) Control (CO), fed a standard diet (prestarter up to 14 days, then starter feed); (2) Treated (TRT): as CO but vaccinated with Coliprotec F4/F18® at weaning (day 0). Piglets were weighed at day 0 and weekly until day 35. Individual faecal score was recorded daily. Piglets were sacrificed at days 10 (1/3 of total) and 35 (2/3). Samples of jejunum mucosa and of cecum content were collected for morphometric, immunohistochemistry analysis and for microbiota profile analysis, respectively. Data were fitted using a linear model including treatment, class of starting BW as fixed factors and litter as random factor. From days 0 to 7, piglets from the TRT group tended to have a higher average daily gain (+22.6%, P = 0.08) and average daily feed intake compared to the CO group (+13.2%, P = 0.022). Gain to feed ratio was lower in the TRT group from days 14 to 35 (-6.6%, P = 0.011). From days 7 to 14, the TRT group had a higher diarrhoea index (-199%, P < 0.001). Crypt depth was higher in the CO group (+10.9%, P = 0.04) at day 10, but not at day 35. Jejunal expression of Claudin-4 (probability of having a score = 3) was higher in the TRT group at day 10 (CO = 1.50% vs TRT = 2.69%, P < 0.0001) and day 35 (CO = 1.29% vs TRT = 1.92%, P = 0.012). Oral vaccine affected beta diversity at day 10 (P = 0.040; R2 = 0.05) and increased the abundance of specific taxa and genera in the cecum at day 10, including Prevotella (lg2FC = 23.2, FDR < 0.001). The results showed how an Escherichia coli-based vaccine supplied to weaned pigs can promote gut health by controlling symptoms of the postweaning perturbation in the first 2 weeks postweaning. In addition, the vaccine strains showed a probiotic-like effect by modulating gut microbiota favouring the establishment of beneficial bacteria, and by promoting gut barrier integrity

A Flexible and Reconfigurable 5G Networking Architecture Based on Context and Content Information

The need for massive content delivery is a consolidated trend in mobile communications, and will even increase for next years. Moreover, while 4G maturity and evolution is driven by video contents, next generation (5G) networks will be dominated by heterogeneous data and additional massive diffusion of Internet of Things (IoT). The current network architecture is not sufficient to cope with such traffic, which is heterogeneous in terms of latency and QoS requirements, and variable in space and time. This paper proposes architectural advances to endow the network with the necessary flexibility helping to adapt to these varying traffic needs by providing content and communication services where and when actually needed. Our functional hardware/software (HW/SW) architecture aims at influencing future system standardization and leverage the benefits of some key 5G networking enablers described in the paper. Preliminary results demonstrate the potential of these key technologies to support the evolution toward content-centric and context-aware 5G systems

Current and future effects of global change on a hotspot's freshwater diversity

Deforestation, climate change and invasive species constitute three global threats to biodiversity that act synergistically. However, drivers and rates of loss of freshwater biodiversity now and in the future are poorly understood. Here we focus on the potential impacts of global change on freshwater mussels (Order Unionida) in Sundaland (SE Asia), a vulnerable group facing global declines and recognized indicators of overall freshwater biodiversity. We used an ensemble of distribution models to identify habitats potentially suitable for freshwater mussels and their change under a range of climate, deforestation and invasion scenarios. Our data and models revealed that, at present, Sundaland features 47 and 32 Mha of habitat that can be considered environmentally suitable for native and invasive freshwater mussels, respectively. We anticipate that by 2050, the area suitable for palm oil cultivation may expand between 8 and 44 Mha, representing an annual increase of 2–11%. This is expected to result in a 20% decrease in suitable habitat for native mussels, a drop that reaches 30% by 2050 when considering concomitant climate change. In contrast, the habitat potentially suitable for invasive mussels may increase by 44–56% under 2050 future scenarios. Consequently, native mussels may compete for habitat, food resources and fish hosts with invasive mussels across approximately 60% of their suitable range. Our projections can be used to guide future expeditions to monitor the conservation status of freshwater biodiversity, and potentially reveal populations of endemic species on the brink of extinction. Future conservation measures—most importantly the designation of nature reserves—should take into account trends in freshwater biodiversity generally, and particularly species such as freshwater mussels, vital to safeguard fundamental ecosystem services.This study is funded by the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education (Project FRGS/1/2015/WAB13/UNIM//1). BG was supported by a research fellowship funded by the Spanish Program of R + D + I (JCI2012-11908)