MOBILE AND STATIONARY SYSTEMS FOR ORGANIC PIGS – ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR IN OUTDOOR PENS

The production of organic pork in Sweden has increased. For several years, however, demand has been greater than production. An important factor contributing to the limited production is a lack of knowledge and experience of outdoor pig systems, since they are uncommon in Sweden. This study compared the behaviour of fattening pigs in two different organic produc¬tion systems, with the main focus on excretory behaviour. In both the mobile and the stationary system there was an uneven distribution of manure and urine in the pens. In the mobile system, the hotspots were in the hut area and in part of the drinking area, while in the stationary system, the concrete pad as well as the wallowing area and the first section of the transporta¬tion area seemed to be the hotspots. Furthermore, the pigs avoided defecating around the feeding troughs and lying area in the mobile system. A more uniform distri¬bution of nutrients can possibly be obtained by manipulating the excretory behaviour of the pigs, e.g. by regularly shifting the positions of the feeders and huts

Social Support in a Novel Situation Aimed for Stunning and Euthanasia of Pigs May Be Increased by Familiar Pigs-A Behavioural Study with Weaners

Simple Summary None of the approved methods for stunning pigs prior to slaughter is ideal from an animal welfare viewpoint. A method involving use of high-expansion foam to encapsulate nitrogen gas has recently been proposed as an alternative humane stunning method. The method is effective, but the foam itself induces some distress to individually exposed pigs. This study evaluated the effects of companionship from a familiar or unfamiliar conspecific during air-filled foam exposure on pigs' behavioural response. Companionship was found to be related to lower activity levels and fewer escape attempts. When comparing companionship with familiar and unfamiliar conspecifics, it was found that pig pairs with familiar individuals spent more time in physical contact during foam exposure, possibly seeking social support. The results highlight the importance of contact with conspecifics when studying animal welfare and demonstrates the potential benefits of maintaining stable familiar pig groups up to the point of stunning at slaughter. The common method of stunning pigs using high concentration carbon dioxide prior to slaughter poses an animal welfare issue, as the gas is aversive. Proof of concept for using nitrogen gas encapsulated in high-expansion foam as an alternative non-aversive method for stunning pigs has recently been presented. However, the individually tested pigs showed distress-related responses to foam exposure, regardless of whether it was nitrogen- or air-filled. This study examined the effect of companionship from a familiar or unfamiliar pig on behaviours in 72 nine-weeks old pigs during exposure to air-filled foam. Escape attempts were observed by 75% of solitary pigs, 42% of pigs with unfamiliar conspecifics, and 33% of pigs with familiar conspecifics. Familiar pig pairs clearly preferred social contact during foam exposure, whereas this was not as clear in unfamiliar pig pairs, and their motivation for social contact could have multiple explanations. The results from this study highlight the importance of contact with conspecifics when studying animal welfare and suggest that familiarity between pigs is important for social support, thus emphasizing the importance of maintaining social groups to reduce distress in pigs at slaughter

Serotonin-evoked cytosolic Ca2+ release and opioid receptor expression are upregulated in articular cartilage chondrocytes from osteoarthritic joints in horses

Osteoarthritis is a pain-associated progressive disease and pain mediators, such as opioid receptors, expressed in articular cartilage could represent novel therapeutic targets. Acute and chronic stages of OA indicate different metabolic abilities of the chondrocytes depending on inflammatory state.This study aimed to investigate the response of healthy and osteoarthritic chondrocytes and their expression and release of pain mediators in response to acute inflammation.Interleukin-1 beta (IL-beta) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) were used to induce an acute inflammatory response in cultured equine chondrocytes harvested from healthy joints (HC) and osteoarthritic joints (OAC), the latter representing acute exacerbation of a chronic inflammatory state. Intracellular Ca2+ release was determined after exposure to serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), glutamate or ATP. Protein expression levels of F- and G-actin, representing actin rearrangement, and opioid receptors were investigated. Glutamate concentrations in culture media were measured. Cartilage was immunohistochemically stained for mu (MOR), kappa (KOR), and delta (DOR) opioid receptors.Upon exposure to acute inflammatory stimuli, OAC showed increased intracellular Ca2+ release after 5-HT stimulation and increased expression of MOR and KOR. When cells were stimulated by inflammatory mediators, glutamate release was increased in both HC and OAC. Immunostaining for MOR was strong in OA cartilage, whereas KOR was less strongly expressed. DOR was not expressed by cultured HC and OAC and immunostaining of OA cartilage equivocal.We show that chondrocytes in different inflammatory stages react differently to the neurotransmitter 5-HT with respect to intracellular Ca2+ release and expression of peripheral pain mediators.Our findings suggest that opioids and neurotransmitters are important in the progression of equine OA. The inflammatory stage of OA (acute versus chronic) should be taken into consideration when therapeutic strategies are being developed

FRAMTIDSSPANING: Hur vill morgondagens seniorer bo?

Framtidens seniorer kommer att leva p\ue5 ett helt annat s\ue4tt \ue4n dagens. Medellivssl\ue4ngden f\uf6rv\ue4ntas \uf6ka och vi kommer ha andra behov och krav f\uf6r att kunna leva ett gott liv.Den 24 april 2018 h\uf6lls en konferens p\ue5 temat Hur vill morgondagens seniorer bo

Human-animal interactions and safety during dairy cattle handling - comparing moving cows to milking and hoof trimming

Cattle handling is a dangerous activity on dairy farms, and cows are a major cause of injuries to livestock handlers. Even if dairy cows are generally tranquil and docile, when situations occur that they perceive or remember as aversive, they may become agitated and hazardous to handle. This study aimed to compare human-animal interactions, cow behavior, and handler safety when moving cows to daily milking and moving cows to more rarely occurring and possibly aversive hoof trimming. These processes were observed on 12 Swedish commercial dairy farms. The study included behavioral observations of handler and cows and cow heart rate recordings, as well as recording frequencies of situations and incidents related to an increased injury risk to the handler. At milking, cows were quite easily moved using few interactions. As expected, the cows showed no behavioral signs of stress, fear, or resistance and their heart rate only rose slightly from the baseline (i.e., the average heart rate during an undisturbed period before handling). Moving cows to hoof trimming involved more forceful and gentle interactions compared with moving cows to milking. Furthermore, the cows showed much higher frequencies of behaviors indicative of aversion and fear (e.g., freezing, balking, and resistance), as well as a higher increase in heart rate. The risk of injury to which handlers were exposed also increased when moving cows to hoof trimming rather than to routine milking. Some interactions (such as forceful tactile interactions with an object and pulling a neck strap or halter) appeared to be related to potentially dangerous incidents where the handler was being kicked, head-butted, or run over by a cow. In conclusion, moving cows to hoof trimming resulted in higher frequencies of behaviors indicating fear, more forceful interactions, and increased injury risks to the handler than moving cows to milking. Improving potentially stressful handling procedures (e.g., by better animal handling practices and preparation of cows to cope with such procedures) can increase handler safety, animal welfare, ease of handling, and efficiency

Inälvsparasiter i betesmark och hos grisar i ekologiska besättningar

Utevistelse på åkermark ger grisar goda möjligheter till sysselsättning och rörelse. Bökandet i jorden och intag av växtdelar och kryp är ett djupt rotat beteende. För att kunna ge grisarna denna möjlighet och samtidigt hålla deras inälvsparasiter under kontroll behövs mer kunskap. Danska studier tyder på att om smågrisar får en mycket tidig infektion ger detta upphov till en hög och varaktig spolmask-börda, som även kan ge betydande ekonomiska konsekvenser. Dessutom tycks vissa parasiter kunna ackumuleras i jorden ju längre besättningen har haft utegrisar. Syftet med detta projekt var att kartlägga smittrycket från inälvsparasiter i mark som användes till grisarna på ekologiska gårdar, och att ställa smittrycket i relation till förekomsten av parasiter i träckprover från grisarna. Det långsiktiga målet var att öka kunskapen om vilka åtgärder som minskar smittrycket i marken och därmed förbättrar djurhälsa och djurvälfärd. Mängden ägg från inälvsparasiter i jordprover från grishagar och i träckprover från grisarna undersöktes på elva gårdar med ekologisk smågrisuppfödning. Dessutom kartlades de utvalda gårdarnas rutiner för inhysning och skötsel av grisarna liksom markanvändning, växtföljder, jordart och rotationen av grishagarna. Endast besättningar som var fullt omställda till ekologisk produktion enligt KRAVs regler, och hade minst 15 suggor, ingick i studien. Under april och maj 2008 samlades från varje gård jordprover från hagar som skulle användas till suggor med smågrisar respektive sinsuggor följande sommar. Dessutom togs prover från ytor som bedömdes ha varit mest använda till grisar, såsom permanenta rasthagar eller transportytor. Grisarnas parasitstatus undersöktes inom ramen för ett EU-nätverksprojekt (COREPIG). Träckprover samlades från 12-veckor gamla små-grisar, suggor och i förekommande fall även från slaktsvin under våren (mars-april) och hösten (augusti-september) 2008. De studerade gårdarna hade i genomsnitt haft ekologisk produktion i 8,6 år. På de flesta gårdarna var smittrycket lågt i mark som skulle användas till digivande suggor med smågrisar. Däremot fanns det mer parasitägg i jordprover från mark som skulle användas till sinsuggor och det var vanligt med transportytor, eller ibland hela hagar, som användes flera somrar i rad till sinsuggor. Sambandet mellan antalet parasitägg i jord där grisarna skulle släppas och i träckprov från grisar som sedan gått på marken var osäkert, speciellt då det gällde suggor. På marker med lågt smittryck hade ofta endast spridits stallgödsel från gris, men grisar hade inte vistats på marken. Det fanns dock även marker som tidigare använts till grisar, som kunde hålla en låg smittnivå. I dessa fall var det främst mark som använts enbart sommartid eller för många år sedan. Marker med högt smittryck var sådana som användes varje år, såsom hagar till sinsuggor, transportytor eller hagar i anslutning till stallar. De flesta användes till sinsuggor, men det förekom också att smågrisar gick i hagar eller på transportytor som användes varje år. På cirka hälften av gårdarna fanns det någon mark med högt smittryck där man inte planerat någon förändrad användning. Beträffande sådana marker rekommenderas att lantbrukarna förändrar sin markanvändning, för att undvika uppförökning av parasitsmitta

The late-time light curve of the Type Ia supernova 2000cx

We have conducted a systematic and comprehensive monitoring programme of the Type Ia supernova 2000cx at late phases using the VLT and HST. The VLT observations cover phases 360 to 480 days past maximum brightness and include photometry in the BVRIJH bands, together with a single epoch in each of U and Ks. While the optical bands decay by about 1.4 mag per 100 days, we find that the near-IR magnitudes stay virtually constant during the observed period. This means that the importance of the near-IR to the bolometric light curve increases with time. The finding is also in agreement with our detailed modeling of a Type Ia supernova in the nebular phase. In these models, the increased importance of the near-IR is a temperature effect. We note that this complicates late-time studies where often only the V band is well monitored. In particular, it is not correct to assume that any optical band follows the bolometric light curve at these phases, and any conclusions based on such assumptions, e.g., regarding positron-escape, must be regarded as premature. A very simple model where all positrons are trapped can reasonably well account for the observations. The nickel mass deduced from the positron tail of this light curve is lower than found from the peak brightness, providing an estimate of the fraction of late-time emission that is outside of the observed wavelength range. Our detailed models show the signature of an infrared catastrophe at these epochs, which is not supported by the observations.Comment: Accepted by A&A, bitmapped figure

Discovery of microvascular miRNAs using public gene expression data: miR-145 is expressed in pericytes and is a regulator of Fli1

International audienceBACKGROUND: A function for the microRNA (miRNA) pathway in vascular development and angiogenesis has been firmly established. miRNAs with selective expression in the vasculature are attractive as possible targets in miRNA-based therapies. However, little is known about the expression of miRNAs in microvessels in vivo. Here, we identified candidate microvascular-selective miRNAs by screening public miRNA expression datasets. METHODS: Bioinformatics predictions of microvascular-selective expression were validated with real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR on purified microvascular fragments from mouse. Pericyte expression was shown with in situ hybridization on tissue sections. Target sites were identified with 3' UTR luciferase assays, and migration was tested in a microfluid chemotaxis chamber. RESULTS: miR-145, miR-126, miR-24, and miR-23a were selectively expressed in microvascular fragments isolated from a range of tissues. In situ hybridization and analysis of Pdgfb retention motif mutant mice demonstrated predominant expression of miR-145 in pericytes. We identified the Ets transcription factor Friend leukemia virus integration 1 (Fli1) as a miR-145 target, and showed that elevated levels of miR-145 reduced migration of microvascular cells in response to growth factor gradients in vitro. CONCLUSIONS: miR-126, miR-24 and miR-23a are selectively expressed in microvascular endothelial cells in vivo, whereas miR-145 is expressed in pericytes. miR-145 targets the hematopoietic transcription factor Fli1 and blocks migration in response to growth factor gradients. Our findings have implications for vascular disease and provide necessary information for future drug design against miRNAs with selective expression in the microvasculature