Effect of daily movement of dairy cattle to fresh grass in morning or afternoon on intake, grazing behaviour, rumen fermentation and milk production

Twenty Holstein cows were split into two equal groups to test the effect of daily move to a previously ungrazed strip after morning milking (MA) or afternoon milking (AA) on herbage intake, grazing behaviour, rumen characteristics and milk production using a randomized block design with three periods of 14 days each. Milking took place at 06.00 and 16.00 h. The chemical composition of grass was similar between treatments, but an interaction between treatment and time of sampling was found in all variables except acid detergent lignin (ADL). The most pronounced differences existed in sugar content. Grass sugar content was greatest following afternoon milking. However, the difference in sugar content in grass was much larger in MA (158 v 114 g/kg dry matter (DM) at 16.00 and 06.00 h, respectively) than in AA (147 v 129 g/kg DM at 16.00 and 06.00 h, respectively). Neutral detergent fibre (NDF) was significantly higher at 06.00 h than at 16.00 h (469 v 425 g/kg DM) in AA, but was equal between morning and afternoon in MA (453 g/kg DM). Herbage intake, determined using the n-alkane technique, did not differ between treatments. Grazing behaviour observed using IGER graze recorders were similar between treatments, except for ruminating time, bite rate and the number of ruminations and boli per period of the day. However, interactions between treatment and time in grazing behaviour variables were found. Grazing time was longer and number of bites was greater following allocation to a new plot (after milking in the morning in MA or milking in the afternoon in AA) when compared to allocation to the same plot after the subsequent milking per treatment (after milking in the afternoon or morning in MA and AA, respectively). In comparison to AA, grazing time in MA was more evenly distributed during the day but lower during the night. The combined effects of differences in grazing behaviour and chemical composition of the grass between treatments in different periods of the day probably caused higher intake of sugars in AA, resulting in a significantly higher non-glucogenic to glucogenic volatile fatty acid ratio (NGR) in the rumen in AA than MA. Milk fat content was lower in MA than AA, but milk production and milk protein and lactose content did not differ. In conclusion, time of allocation to a fresh plot altered the distribution of grazing behaviour variables over the day, and affected NGR and milk fat content, but herbage intake and milk production were not change

How does working memory enable number-induced spatial biases?

Number-space associations are a robust observation, but their underlying mechanisms remain debated. Two major accounts have been identified. First, spatial codes may constitute an intrinsic part of number representations stored in the brain – a perspective most commonly referred to as the Mental Number Line account. Second, spatial codes may be generated at the level of working memory when number (or other) representations are coordinated in function of a specific task. The aim of the current paper is twofold. First, whereas a pure Mental Number Line account cannot capture the complexity of observations reported in the literature, we here explore if and how a pure working memory account can suffice. Second, we make explicit (more than in our earlier work) the potential building blocks of such a working memory account, thereby providing clear and concrete foci for empirical efforts to test the feasibility of the account

Early and late indications of item-specific control in a Stroop mouse tracking study

Published: May 17, 2018Previous studies indicated that cognitive conflict continues to bias actions even after a movement has been initiated. The present paper examined whether cognitive control also biases actions after movement initiation. To this end, we had participants perform a Stroop task in which we manipulated the item-specific proportion of (in)congruent trials (80% congruent vs. 20% congruent). Importantly, participants responded via mouse movements, allowing us to evaluate various movement parameters: initiation times, movement times, and movement accuracy. Results showed that mouse movements were faster and more accurate during congruent trials compared to incongruent trials. Moreover, we observed that this congruency effect was larger for 80% congruent compared to 20% congruent items, which reflects itemspecific cognitive control. Notably, when responses were initiated very fast ± rendering virtually no time for stimulus processing before movement onset ± this item-specific control was observed only in movement times. However, for relatively slow initiated responses, item specific control was observed both in initiation and in movement times. These findings demonstrate that item-specific cognitive control biases actions before and after movement initiation.This work was supported by the Special Research Fund of Ghent University (BOF) (grant number: BOF13/24j/080). MFLR was supported in part by the Research Foundation ± Flanders (FWO) as a Pegasus Marie Curie Fellow (grant number: 1262214N) and by a BOF postdoctoral fellowship (grant number: BOF15/PDO/135). ELA was supported by the FWO (grant number: 12C4715N)

The use of laser irradiation to stimulate adipose derived stem cell proliferation and differentiation for use in autologous grafts

Stem cells are characterized by the qualities of self-renewal, long term viability, and the ability to differentiate into various cell types. Historically, stem cells have been isolated from the inner cell mass of biastocysts and harvesting these cells resulted in the death of the embryo leading to religious, political and ethical issues. The identification and subsequent isolation of adult stem cells from bone marrow stroma have been welcomed as an alternate source for stem cells. The clinical use of Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) presented problems such as limited cell number, pain and morbidity upon isolation. Adipose tissue is derived from the mesenchyme, is easily isolated, a reliable source of stem cells and able to differentiate into different cell types including smooth muscle. Over the past few years, the identification and characterization of stem cells has led the potential use of these cells as a promising alternative to cell replacement therapy. Smooth muscle is a major component of human tissues and is essential for the normal functioning of many different organs. Low intensity laser irradiation has been shown to increase viability, protein expression and migration of stem cells in Vitro, and to stimulate proliferation of various types of stem cells. In addition, the use of laser irradiation to stimulate differentiation in the absence of growth factors has also been demonstrated in normal human neural progenitor cells (NHNPCs) in vitro where NHNPCs are not only capable of being sustained by light in the absence of growth factors, but that they are also able to differentiate normally as assessed by neurite formation. Our work has focused on the ability of laser irradiation to proliferate adipose derived stem cells (ADSCs), maintain ADSC character and increase the rate and maintenance of differentiation of ADSCs into smooth muscle and skin fibroblast cells. Current studies are also investigating the effect of different irradiation wavelengths and fluences on ADSC viability and proliferation. This paper reviews the development of MSCs as potential therapeutic interventions such as autologous grafts as well as the contribution 0 f low intensity laser irradiation on the maintenance of these cells

Policy Analysis and an Overview of Technologies to Manage Agricultural Tile Runoff in Southern Ontario

Runoff from agricultural tiles contains phosphorus and nitrogen particulate, potentially contributing to the issue of algal blooms downstream. The nutrients from agricultural runoff can lead to downstream problems in the Great Lakes, such as harmful cyanobacterial blooms and hypoxia, a zone of oxygen-depleted water devoid of multicellular life. Other issues caused by excess nutrient loading are turbidity in the water which lowers the quality of drinking water, changes in the geomorphology of the stream, disruption of fish migration, and damage to fish gills and organs. Phosphorus and nitrogen pollution from agricultural runoff is a serious issue in lakes and streams; currently, concentrations in some parts of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario and their tributaries are higher than the acceptable levels. It is clear that by not protecting lakes and streams in Ontario from excessive inputs of sediments, fish habitat, and human and animal health can be affected. The relationship between agricultural tile drainage and the runoff containing nutrients, and whether best management practices (BMP) measures in Ontario can work efficiently to mitigate this issue are discussed in this paper. The methods used to determine the effectiveness of the existing policy are an extensive examination of Provincial and Federal legislation, and stakeholder interviews. Five people from four stakeholders were interviewed - municipalities, conservation authorities, farmers and First Nations. The results of this research show that there is a legislative gap where no policy or standards exist to clearly define who is responsible for the capital costs of BMP implementation or the ecological planning for new and existing farms to mitigate runoff

Turning the mind’s eye inward: the interplay between selective attention and working memory

Historically, cognitive sciences have considered selective attention and working memory as largely separated cognitive functions. That is, selective attention as a concept is typically reserved for the processes that allow for the prioritization of specific sensory input, while working memory entails more central structures for maintaining (and operating on) temporary mental representations. However, over the last decades various observations have been reported that question such sharp distinction. Most importantly, information stored in working memory has been shown to modulate selective attention processing – and vice versa. At the theoretical level, these observations are paralleled by an increasingly dominant focus on working memory as (involving) the attended part of long-term memory, with some positions considering that working memory is equivalent to selective attention turned to long-term memory representations – or internal selective attention. This questions the existence of working memory as a dedicated cognitive function and raises the need for integrative accounts of working memory and attention. The next step will be to explore the precise implications of attentional accounts of WM for the understanding of specific aspects and characteristics of WM, such as serial order processing, its modality-specificity, its capacity limitations, its relation with executive functions, as well as the nature of attentional mechanisms involved. This research topic in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience aims at bringing together the latest insights and findings about the interplay between working memory and selective attention