bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Development of a polyclonal antibody Edwardsiella ictaluri serum for diagnosis of Enteric Septicemia of Catfish (ESC) in Patin Catfish (Pangasianodon hypopthalmus)
Authors: Kholidin Edy Barkat , Day Dafzel , Taukhid  , Sutisna Ena , Lusiastuti Angela Mariana
Published: November 2023

Enteric Septicemia of Catfish (ESC), caused by Edwarsiella ictaluri, has been considered a major bacterial disease in catfish, including Patin (Pangasionodon hypophthalmus), causing economic losses. Monitoring activities and identification of bacterial disease are performed using a series of biochemical tests, including Gram stain, Ryu, motility, and glucose; the test is at a certain temperature, requires specific conditions and facilities, and takes a long time. We developed a method based on antigen-antibody reactions to diagnose the disease, which provides more specific/accurate results in a shorter time to be used as a more flexible and rapid "diagnosis tool" as an anticipatory step in disease control. The development of antibody-serum is based on the specific character (specificity) of bacteria for antigen and performed according to standard methods using rabbits as test animals. The process starts with a mass culture of E. ictaluri, antigen in-activation, priming and booster injection, bleeding, and deriving polyclonal antibody serum. This diagnostic tool is expected to identify the target bacteria within 24 h, indicated by agglutination in the antigen-antibody reaction called the serum antibodies method. In this research, we produced serum, and ready to use, a 0.05-0.1 mL of serum-containing antibody is reacted with the bacterial isolate suspension.
Application of fermented bran and probiotics to enhance mass-scale production of Phronima sp. in the pond
Authors: Ruliaty Lisa , Amalia Indrian Rizka , Aulia Rahma , Nur Abidin , Apriliyani Siska , Kaemudin
Published: November 2023

This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of utilizing probiotics and organic matter as nutrients for Phronima sp. mass cultures in ponds. Culture media, which had water depths of 40 cm was added to the pond plots (35×30×0.4 m), then sterilized and neutralized. Organic fertilizer (70 kg/1000 m2) was spread, and after 3 days the inorganic fertilizer was spread in the form of ZA (20 ppm), TSP (5 ppm), and NPK (5 ppm). Rice bran, a by-product of rice production, was fermented with molasses for a week, with a dosage of 1:0.25. Fermented bran mixed with probiotics (ratio of 1:1) was used as daily feed. Phronima sp. was spread with a density of 137 individuals/m2. The population density was monitored weekly. The test results showed that the growth pattern of Phronima sp. formed a sigmoid curve consisting of the lag phase, specific growth rate, population peak, and death phase. There was a significant population increase from the fourth to the seventh week, with a peak population density in the seventh week, reaching a density of 87,300 ± 6,526 individuals/m2. In the eighth week, the population density drastically decreased to only 10% of the peak.
Polyculture of sea cucumber (Holothuria scabra) and milkfish (Chanos chanos) in controlled tanks
Authors: Setiawati Ni Ketut Maha , Sembiring Sari Budi Moria , Sudewi Sudewi , Giri I.N.A.
Published: November 2023

Milkfish (Chanos chanos) and sea cucumbers (Holothuria scabra) are fishery commodities that can grow well in ponds. The commodities have different feeding habits. Polyculture trials in controlled tanks are possible. This study aimed to determine the growth and survival of sea cucumbers reared in polyculture in tanks and to know whether sea cucumbers can use milkfish feces as feed. This study used 12 PE tanks of 500 L to ascertain that no other food sources were available in the tanks. The initial size of sea cucumber seeds was 3.4 – 5.4 cm and milkfish 19.0 – 22.5 cm. The treatments designed were (A) monoculture of sea cucumber (28.6 g/m2), (B) polyculture of sea cucumbers (28.6 g/m2) and milkfish (0.28 g/L), (C) polyculture of sea cucumbers (28.6 g/m2) and milkfish (0.56 g/L), and (D) monoculture of milkfish (0.56 g/L). Results showed that both monoculture and polyculture of sea cucumbers and milkfish resulted in high survival rates (100%). Although the polyculture of sea cucumbers showed no significant difference in growth, polyculture with milkfish (C) tended to have a higher final weight of sea cucumbers than the other treatments. Sea cucumbers could utilize milkfish feces and increase the growth of sea cucumbers.
A Review of borneo buah engkabang (Shorea macrophylla) as potential omega-6 lipid source for fish feed
Authors: Rao Satya Narayana , Redhwan Aidil Ikhwan , Ha Hou Chew , Nguang Siew Ing , Kari Asmad , Yong Wei Sheng , Yong Fook Heng , Komilus Connie Fay
Published: November 2023

Lipid is an essential source in fish feed production. Vegetable or fruit oil is becoming preferred by many fish feed manufacturers to replace fish oil, which is expensive and scarce. Buah Engkabang (Shorea macrophylla) is well known as the largest genera of the Dipterocarpaceae family and is a popular local fruit collected in tropical forests or nearby rivers in West Kalimantan (Indonesia) and Sarawak (Malaysia). Buah engkabang is seasonal fruit during the dry season, known among the Sarawak locals as a climatic species that ripens between January and March in a favorable environment. This review emphasizes morphology characteristics and phytochemical properties, including fatty acid components. In addition, this review also reviewed the application of engkabang oil in feed production, cooking oil, and other edible products. The high content of saturated fatty acids like palmitic acid, stearic acid, and oleic acids in engkabang product could be essential as the potential omega-six lipid source suitable for freshwater fish like empurau, kelah, and other local fish species found in riverine of Borneo. This eview will provide information on the potential use of buah engkabang as a future lipid source in fish feed production.
New emerging viral disease on Giant Gourami (Osphronemus goramy Lac.) in Java, Indonesia
Authors: Taukhid Taukhid , Novita Hessy , Sumiati Tuti , Caruso Domenico , Kholidin Edy Barkat
Published: November 2023

This study investigates the role of pathogens in the disease outbreaks and mass mortality affecting giant gourami (Osphronemus goramy) populations from 2018 to 2020, leading to significant economic losses. Presumptive diagnoses, based on clinical symptoms and references, implicated two viruses: Tilapia Lake Virus (TiLV) and Infectious Spleen and Kidney Necrosis Virus (ISKNV). Samples from four Indonesian provinces (West Java, Central Java, East Java and Yogyakarta) were tested molecularly for these viruses. The results revealed widespread viral pathogen involvement, with ISKNV prevalence ranging from 20% to 100% and TiLV prevalence consistently at 100%. These findings strongly suggest that the outbreaks were primarily caused by TiLV and ISKNV infections, potentially with other co-infecting pathogens. Bacterial pathogens, notably Aeromonas spp., Mycobacterium spp., and Pseudomonas spp., may have exacerbated the disease. This research highlights the emergence of viral diseases as a significant threat to giant gourami populations in Java, Indonesia.
Evaluation of humpback grouper, Cromileptes altivelis reproduction because of mating between males from the wild and females from cultivation
Authors: Tridjoko  , Muzaki Ahmad , Rivai Ahmad
Published: November 2023

There has been a tendency to decrease the genetic quality of aquaculture commodities, which is a significant problem to be addressed immediately. The study aimed to evaluate the reproduction of humpback grouper broodstock resulting from crossbreeding male broodstock from the wild with female broodstock from captivity. This research used 2 (two) concrete tanks 75 m3 in volume. Each tank was filled with 25 females comprising 15 cultured and 10 broodstock from the wild and conducted from March to November. The broodstock feed consists of fresh fish and squid. The treatment given is the difference in vitamins given. The Tank A was fed an additional vitamin mix, while in Tank B was fed extra vitamins C and E. Recorded parameters such as egg production, egg hatching rate, egg size, spawning frequency, and oil droplet size. The results of humpback grouper reproduction showed that providing fresh trash fish, squid, vitamin C, and vitamin E in the feed yields better results. The spawning frequency was higher in tank B, with 22 times occurrences, compared to tank A, with 17. The highest number of eggs was observed in October, with up to 1,395,000 eggs in Tank B and 1,150,000 in Tank A.
Estimating relative abundance of kawakawa (Euthynnus affinis Cantor, 1849) landed in eastern indian ocean using catch and effort data
Authors: Sulistyaningsih Ririk Kartika , Setyadji Bram , Tampubolon Prawira Atmaja
Published: November 2023

Kawakawa (Euthynnus affinis) is a neritic tuna commodity with high economic value, especially for coastal states such as Indonesia. However, there is a lack of information about kawakawa abundance in the Eastern Indian Ocean. This research aims to estimate the relative abundance of kawakawa using catch and effort data, which is often used as a method in fisheries stock assessments. The size distribution of kawakawa was also analyzed in this study. The data was collected through daily monitoring from 16 landing sites along the Fisheries Management Area (FMA) 572 to 573 from 2015 to 2021. The data recorded included catch, day of fishing, fishing gear, and biological data (length and weight). The annual catch per unit of effort (CPUE) analysis of kawakawa reached its maximum in 2018, while the minimum value occurred in 2015. Furthermore, the monthly CPUE demonstrated that the highest catch occurred during the observation years in February and March. The highest catch proportion of kawakawa reached 87.21% in 2017. Finally, the gross tonnage (GT) of the gear showed the most significant factor in the catch.
Preface
Authors: Astanakulov Komil , Vitliemov Pavel , Akhanov Serik , Karshiev Fakhriddin , Borotov Atkham , Berdimuratov Parakhat , Ulashev Jonibek , Abdurakhmanov Azamat
Published: November 2023

The Overview is devoted to the main directions and results of the II International Conference “ETESD - 2023” held in Tashkent on 13-15 September 2023. It describes the main directions and gives the details about the participants and the proceedings.
Determining the economic efficiency of the intelligent system in an irrigation network
Authors: Djalilov Anvar , Sobirov Erkin , Tasheva Umida , Allenova Irina , Abdunabiyev Jasur
Published: November 2023

It is necessary to provide a technical and economic justification for the work carried out in the conditions of the market economy, such as construction, renovation and automation of production processes. It is the economic justification of cost and efficiency that means the feasibility of one or another investment in production. When calculating the economic efficiency, all costs of production of a unit product are taken into account. The article presents the calculation of technical and economic efficiency indicators for the application of the proposed intelligent sensor for measuring water flow and the horizontally opening and closing hydrotechnical valve to the facility. The use of improved technology in the measurement of water flow in open channels based on the calculation of technical and economic indicators made it possible to reduce the costs per hectare and get the expected economic effect in the amount of 6224070.72 soums.
Influence of cultivation technology on the yield of winter wheat
Authors: Syromyatnikov Yuri , Semenenko Ivan , Orekhovskaya Alexandra , Troyanovskaya Irina , Bedenko Iraida , Sakhapov Rustem
Published: November 2023

A comprehensive study has been carried out on the influence of technological methods of growing winter wheat on the process of formation of the above-ground mass of plants in the conditions of the forest-steppe of Ukraine. Crop rotation was carried out with two predecessors: black fallow and spring barley at a seeding rate of 3 and 5 million viable seeds/hectare. Evaluation of the intensity of plant development in the initial period of vegetation (measurement of absolutely dry weight of 100 plants 15 and 30 days after the emergence of full seedlings) was recorded in winter wheat plants in black fallow crops. The largest above-ground mass of the plant was formed 30 days after the emergence of full seedlings. A direct correlation was established between the amount of productive moisture in the soil layer of 0-25 cm and the period of emergence of winter wheat seedlings. The highest level of winter wheat yield was obtained for black fallow 3.46 t/ hectare when sown in the second decade of October.
Preparation and characterization of chitosan/Aloe Vera gel film for fresh fruit preservation
Authors: Y Doan Trang Tran , Thi Dzung Ha , Thi Huong Ta , Quang Dien Le , Thi Hanh Do , Thi Nha Phuong Ha
Published: November 2023

Biofilm preservation has become a topic of interest among many scientists. A recent study involved the production of chitosan-based biofilms containing varying amounts of aloe vera gel (5%, 10% and 15% w/w). Evaluation of film formation, water absorption, swelling ratio, solubility, antibacterial ability, colouration, and biodegradability indicated that chitosan film added with 10% aloe vera (CS-10%AV) had the best properties. The study also found that using CS-A10 film to preserve tomatoes helped maintain the fruit’s colour and shape for longer while retaining vitamin C and acids for an extended period.
Experimental study of the process of drying melon slices in a chamber-convection dryer
Authors: Rakhmatov O. , Rakhmatov F.
Published: November 2023

This article discusses the design features of a chamber-convective drying installation, the principle of its operation and the results of experimental studies of drying ring-shaped melon slices. Based on the analysis of the results obtained, recommendations are given for the use of a drying plant in farms and dehkan farms specializing in the cultivation and processing of melons.
Efficiency analysis of roller squeezing of leather
Authors: Sulaymanova Dildora , Abduganieva Yulduzoy , Miratoev Zokhidjon
Published: November 2023

The study is devoted to the theoretical modeling of the residual moisture in leather, taking into account the phenomenon of its contact interaction with working rolls. Analytical formulas were derived that describe the patterns of changes in moisture content during the process of roller squeezing of leather. A theoretical model of residual moisture in leather during roller squeezing was developed. It was determined that with increasing roll radius and initial thickness of leather, the residual moisture content increases. It was revealed that with an increase in the initial moisture content of leather, its residual moisture content increases and asymptotically approaches a certain value.
Monte Carlo solution of heat conductivity problems with quadratic nonlinearity on the boundary of domain
Authors: Rasulov Abdujabar , Raimova Gulnora , Hasanova Dilfusa
Published: November 2023

In this work, we study the approach connected with branching Markov processes. Branching Markov random processes are created to solve boundary-value problems (BVR) with polynomial nonlinearities. The realization of these processes creates so called “trees”. Unbiased estimators of the solution of the nonlinear problem are constructed on these random trees. We also calculated in parallel way the variance (statistical error) of the constructed unbiased estimators. We offer computational algorithms for solving some nonlinear diffusion problems which frequently appears in engineering problems, particularly in heat conductivity. The case of a quadratic nonlinearity for the boundary BVP is considered in detail. Algorithms, for diffusion BVPs with nonlinear boundary conditions, differ from proposed for linear diffusion BVPs algorithms early and we compare their efficiencies. The described algorithms applied to the computational problem of thermal engineering in the presence of a nonlinear boundary condition. Also, this problem is solved as a boundary value problem of conductive heat transfer.
Algorithm for assessing the promptness of Earth space sensing information delivery
Authors: Mavrin Sergey , Golikov Sergei
Published: November 2023

Remote sensing of the Earth is mainly carried out in the visible region of the spectrum, which corresponds to the current level of development of high-precision onboard instruments for Earth remote sensing. At the same time, methods and equipment for sensing in the radio- and infrared ranges of the electromagnetic spectrum are widely used and developed at a faster pace. The frequency of data acquisition ranges from once per month to once per minute, the spatial resolution ranges from kilometer to centimeter scales, and the electromagnetic spectrum covers wavebands ranging from visible light to microwave wavelengths. The efficiency of Earth remote sensing information delivery to consumers is considered under different variants of satellite-repeater network construction, taking into account the characteristics of existing and prospective high-speed radio lines of spacecrafts.
Notre ADN est partout !
Authors: Jordan Bertrand
Published: November 2023

Advanced analysis of environmental DNA for diversity monitoring using deep sequencing reveals the presence of human DNA in many samples connected to human activity.Moreover, this DNA is in relatively good condition and can be used for genetic survey of populations and even individuals. This opens many interesting scientific opportunities but also raises serious privacy issues.
VolREthics
Authors: Karkar Meriem , Lemaitre Christine , Bompart François , Eisinger François , Lombrail Pierre , Mathieu Flavie , Remy-Jouet Isabelle , Sébastiani Corinne , Lennad Lou , Hirsch François
Published: November 2023

Les volontaires sains qui participent aux recherches biomédicales sont très rarement identifiés comme un groupe spécifique. Pourtant, de par leur vulnérabilité et les risques potentiels auxquels ils sont exposés, ils ne bénéficient que d’un niveau de protection qui reste variable selon les régions du monde. Il en résulte différents risques, non seulement pour le respect de leurs droits, de leur santé, mais également pour la validité scientifique des recherches. L’initiative internationale VolREthics (pour volontaires sains en recherche et éthique, ou Volunteers in Research and Ethics), lancée par le comité d’éthique de l’Inserm, a mis en évidence les questions éthiques soulevées par la participation des volontaires sains dans la recherche biomédicale. Elle insiste également sur la nécessité d’améliorer la protection de ces volontaires lors des recherches menées à travers le monde.
Épigénétique et vieillissement
Authors: Henry Jean-Pierre
Published: November 2023

L’épigénétique étudie les modifications chimiques qui régulent l’expression des gènes sans changement de séquence de l’ADN. L’existence d’un lien entre méthylation des paires CpG de l’ADN, une caractéristique de l’épigénome, et vieillissement a été montrée : un nombre limité de ces paires voit en effet sa méthylation augmenter ou diminuer, avec l’âge. La variation de méthylation sur l’ensemble de l’ADN permet ainsi de définir un « âge épigénétique », qui est corrélé avec l’âge chronologique. Chez des individus jeunes, la courbe moyenne de méthylation selon l’âge permet de repérer la qualité de leur vieillissement. Ces résultats sont surprenants car ils sont obtenus sur des tissus dont la durée de vie est pourtant variable. Certaines paires CpG sont organisées en réseaux dans lesquels on observe des co-méthylations, réseaux qui impliquent des gènes participant à la régulation de la morphogenèse ou de la différenciation cellulaire. Ces réseaux seraient les effecteurs de cette horloge épigénétique.
Les stress pendant les 1 000 premiers jours de la vie quand tout commence
Authors: Verney Catherine , Vitalis Tania
Published: November 2023

Les stress présents pendant les 1 000 premiers jours de vie, période de grande vulnérabilité, peuvent avoir un impact sur la biologie de l’enfant et son psychisme. Qu’ils soient bénéfique, adaptable ou toxique, ces stress modulent des régulations génétiques et épigénétiques ainsi que l’installation du connectome du bébé dans la période de grande plasticité et d’adaptation de ces âges précoces. Les régulations des systèmes polyvagaux forment le socle du ressenti de bien-être du bébé, de sa sécurisation dans des synchronies mère, parents, soignants et nouveau-né. Ces régulations positives, en miroir, mènent à l’attachement et aux liens sociaux, aux apprentissages implicites et aux développements émotif, cognitif et comportemental harmonieux.
Biases and teleconnections in the Met Office Global Coupled Model version 5.0 (GC5) – insights for seasonal prediction and Australia
Authors: Li Chen , Hudson Debra , Zhou Xiaobing , Zhu Hongyan , Wheeler Matthew C. , Young Griffith , Marzin Charline , Roberts Luke
Published: November 2023

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology (The Bureau) has been involved in the package testing and assessment process of the UK Met Office Global Coupled Model Version 5.0 (GC5) configuration. GC5 will underpin the Met Office’s next seasonal prediction system, global coupled numerical weather prediction (NWP) system and Earth System Model. It will also likely be the next version of The Bureau’s seasonal prediction system, and the version to replace the global atmosphere-only NWP system to be the first global coupled NWP system at The Bureau. The GC5 configuration includes a new sea-ice model and substantial updates to almost all areas of model physics. We have evaluated the present-day climate simulation, and compared it to observations and with previous versions GC4 and GC2. Our assessment focuses on the climate mean state and variabilities relevant to Australian seasonal prediction, including the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), the Southern Annular Mode and the Madden–Julian Oscillation. Notably, in comparison to its predecessor (GC4), GC5 shows significant improvements in the eastern Pacific mean state but a slight degradation in the Indian Ocean in terms of the mean state and variability. These and other results provide us with early insights of the potential performance of the next sub-seasonal or seasonal forecast system. Longstanding issues in the seasonal prediction system associated with the equatorial eastern Indian Ocean biases and an overactive ENSO and IOD will likely remain; however, improvements over the eastern equatorial Pacific in GC5 hold promise of improved prediction skill of ENSO and its teleconnections.
40 years of research into children’s irony
comprehension
Authors: Fuchs Julia
Published: November 2023

Children’s ability to understand irony is believed to be
acquired late compared to other pragmatic skills. To explore this assertion,
this article presents a review of four decades of research, to determine the age
at which children actually do become capable of understanding ironic utterances,
and what the crucial influencing factors are. As this systematic examination of
the state of research shows, children do indeed seem to gain an understanding of
irony later than other forms of non-literal language. In seeking an explanation
for this finding, this article discusses the methodological orientation of
previous research. It might be that the predominant use of offline methods,
especially metalinguistic judgment tasks, paints a somewhat distorted picture of
children’s irony comprehension. The article therefore argues for the use of
eye-tracking, and a re-examination of the thesis of late acquisition of irony
comprehension in children in the near future.
Monolingual and bilingual children’s performance learning words from ostensive teaching
Authors: Lorge Isabelle , Katsos Napoleon
Published: November 2023

Children who grow up exposed to more than one language face a range of challenges and developmental environments which differ from those of monolinguals. Recently, studies have suggested that this may lead to differences in the development of pragmatic skills and sensitivity to socio-pragmatic cues. We investigate whether bilingually exposed children are able to make further use of these cues in an ostensive teaching setting for word learning in a sample of 110 children aged 4 to 6 years old and find evidence that bilingual children do perform significantly better in ostensive teaching settings when asked to use pragmatic cues to derive the meaning of a novel word. We discuss implications for theories of pragmatics and bilingual development.
Zero-sum or Win-win Game?
Authors: Cai Dongman
Published: November 2023

Metaphors can express ideological and evaluative positions. However, comparative studies on the framing implications of sports/game metaphors in Western and Chinese contexts remain underexplored. This study examines how journalists in China, the UK, and the US use sports/game metaphors to frame trade disputes in comparable English-language economic news based on a context-sensitive and hierarchical analytical framework. Results reveal the prevalence of sports/game metaphors in both Chinese and Western texts. Additionally, the results demonstrate that the UK and US texts exhibit socio-cultural preferences for associating specific
sports/game
scenarios that are salient in Western cultures, e.g., rugby, with trade disputes, and favor a competition narrative. However, the Chinese texts favor a coopetition narrative, suggesting both competition and win-win cooperation. This study adds new insights into cultural variations in the use and framing implications of sports/game metaphors in Western and Chinese economic discourse to express ideological standpoints towards similar economic issues.
The Chinese Oliver Twist
Authors: Liang Lisi
Published: November 2023

This article sheds light upon subtitling as the audiovisual translation (AVT) mode applied to three subtitled
versions of Oliver Twist. The comparison takes place within the subtitling context of two officially sanctioned
versions (i.e., the musical and the film) and the non-professional and transcreated versions released on social media platforms.
Research has been carried out within audiovisual translation studies with the scope of verifying issues relating to the
translation of characters’ names (appellation), religious terminology, and songs, which are subject to changes and innovative
transformations when transcreated. There is an increasingly high demand for viewer-generated participation in the translation of
audiovisual productions as opposed to traditional passive viewing experiences (Di Giovanni and
Gambier 2018, vii–viii). The significant rise of user-oriented modes of translation released on popular video-sharing
platforms has not been systematically researched. Attention is primarily paid to the Chinese subtitles produced for Oliver
Twist’s most recent film adaption directed by Polanski (2005). These
subtitles reinterpret and redirect the product’s cultural and temporal specificities and complexities to reinforce Chinese
cultural heritage (Liang 2020, 26). A particular role is played by transcreation in
subtitling as a translation method that is able to embrace the richness of Oliver Twist in its various adapted
forms: theatre, cinema, and social media platforms. Drawing upon the concept of abusive subtitling coined by Abé Mark Nornes (1999), the paper investigates the definition of transcreation within subtitling
procedures and scrutinises technological advances and multimodal creativity within the context of Oliver Twist.
In this sense, transcreation as a fan-driven practice in subtitling has the scope of giving visibility to artistic works in a more
creative way, as well as of presenting them tinted with individualised characteristics which cater to the various demands for a
variety of audiences.
Authorial (audio) description
Authors: Rizzo Alessandra , Spinzi Cinzia Giacinta
Published: November 2023

The unprecedented growth of audiovisual translation practices in the creative industries has boosted the role of
creativity which has taken centre stage and become the emblem of global cultural policies. The study addresses the role of
creativity in the digital space of Netflix as a means of cross-cultural mediation and communication, and as a multidimensional
tool in audio description (AD), in order to provide the end-users (the blind and visually impaired audiences) of digital audiovisual
products with participatory and engaging forms of access to the audiovisual ‘planet’. The aim is to investigate whether and how
creativity is used to transmit culture-specific references (CSRs) from a translation perspective within a highly discussed TV
series streamed on Netflix. To do so, the rendering of the most significant CSRs in the Korean Netflix series Squid
Game (SG) as transferred into the English and Italian ADs will be examined.
111 A Suspended Molasses Block Improves Post-Mixing Welfare of Gestating Sows
Authors: Marchant Jeremy N , Rikard-Bell Charles , Jongman Ellen
Published: November 2023

Most swine production systems in the US do not include access to environmental enrichment: an improvement in the biological functioning of captive animals resulting from modifications to their environment. Optimal enrichments such as straw, hay and silage are not acceptable due to manure system and biosecurity concerns. There remains a need to develop enrichment for pigs that is biologically relevant, safe for existing systems, biosecure, sustainable and cost effective. The aim of this study was to compare the behavior and welfare of sows over 2 weeks post-mixing when given access to a suspended molasses block (B - Barastoc Swine Block) or a metal chain (C). Three replicates of 36 LW × Yorkshire sows, balanced by parity, were mixed at d 42 post service in groups of 4, 6 or 8, with one of each group size per treatment. Groups were formed with equal numbers of sows from 2 large group pens, i.e., a group of 4 was formed using 2 sows from one pen, mixed with 2 sows from a second pen, and so on. Sow behavior and animal-based welfare measures were recorded 3 days before mixing, and d 1, 6 and 13 post-mixing. Welfare measures included tear stains, lesion scores, bursitis, shoulder sores, respiratory and cleanliness scores. Behavior included passive and active human-approach tests, where the human stood for 3 min against one wall of the pen to allow sows to approach, noting number to approach and touch the human and the latency to touch. Then at the end of the test, the human actively approached each sow in turn and touched the head of the sow, noting the response of the sow on a numerical scale. Data were analyzed using 2-way ANOVA with treatment and group size as factors. There were no treatment differences in bursitis, shoulder sores and respiratory scores, and no differences in time to approach and touch the human. However, B sows had smaller tear stains (d 6 and d 13, P < 0.001), decreased body lesion scores (d 1 and d 6, P < 0.05), and better body cleanliness scores (d 1, P < 0.05). Human approach test measures showed habituation over time, but B sows responded less to a human approaching and touching their head than C sows (d 6, P < 0.05). Groups of 6 had lowest tear stain scores (d 1, d 6 and d 13, P < 0.05) and were cleanest (d 13, P < 0.05). There was also a Group size*treatment interaction with groups of 6 having the lowest lesion scores in the C treatment, but the highest in the B treatment (d 1, d 6, and d 13, P < 0.05). The skin lesions scores indicate that aggression was lower in the pens with the blocks. Overall, the blocks improved sow welfare over the immediate 2-week post-mixing period, though group size may impact this.
114 Effect of Timing of Dam Gestational Stress on Immune and Stress Responsiveness of the Progeny
Authors: Reddout Cassidy C , Salak-Johnson Janeen L , Hernandez Lily P , Main Alexis R
Published: November 2023

Gestational stress may alter both the intrauterine environment and factors of passive immunity, which may affect the development of the immune system and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis of the progeny. Therefore, the objective was to determine if gestational stress and the stage of gestation at which stress occurred (mid vs. late) differentially affected the immune and stress variables of the offspring. First, parity gilts received either hydrocortisone acetate (HCA) or a placebo for 21 days at mid (d 51 to 72) or late (d 81 to 102) gestation to create a chronic psychological stress model. After farrowing, four piglets were tagged from each mid (M-HCA; n = 12), late (L-HCA; n = 12), and control (CON; n = 12) dam and followed through a 21-day lactation and 28-day nursery phase. Samples were obtained at birth, 7-, 14- and 21-days post birth (PB), and 24 hours, 7-, 14-, 21- and 28-days post-weaning (PW). A subset of piglets, balanced for dam treatment, body weight, and sex, were subjected to an ACTH challenge on day 21 PW consisting of an injection of ACTH (n = 12) or saline (n = 12). Data were analyzed utilizing the MIXED procedure of SAS with repeated measures. A treatment*day effect occurred for neutrophil (P < 0.0001) and lymphocyte (P < 0.0001) percentages and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (N:L; P < 0.0001). At birth, M-HCA piglets exhibited significantly less neutrophil and greater lymphocyte percentages than L-HCA or CON piglets. By day 14 PB, L-HCA piglets exhibited decreased neutrophil percentages. They tended to have greater lymphocyte percentages than M-HCA or CON piglets. On day 14PB, L-HCA piglets had the greatest N:L. Other immune measures like IgG and IgA plasma concentrations were also affected (P < 0.0001 for both; treatment*day); M-HCA piglets had less IgG on 7 PB than their counterparts and tended to have decreased IgA concentrations at birth and 21 PB in than CON piglets. Stress responsiveness of the progeny may have been affected by dam stress during gestation. For example, when challenged with ACTH, a significant treatment*injection*time effect was found (P = 0.0004). The ACTH-injected M-HCA piglets exhibited significantly greater plasma cortisol 1-h post-injection than ACTH-injected L-HCA or CON piglets and saline-injected M-HCA piglets. Notably, L-HCA was the only group not found to have a significant difference between ACTH and saline cortisol at 1 h. At 4-h post-injection, ACTH M-HCA piglets exhibited significantly less cortisol concentrations than their saline counterparts, while ACTH L-HCA piglets were still significantly greater at 24-h post-injection than their saline counterparts. Overall, these data suggest that stress during mid-gestation may have more of an effect on immune measures. In contrast, stress during late gestation may cause a diminished or delayed stress response in the progeny. Research is ongoing to characterize these immune and stress phenotypes further.
123 Benchmarking of Artificial Neural Network Models for Genomic Prediction of Quantitative Traits in Pigs
Authors: Wang Junjian , Maltecca Christian , Tiezzi Francesco , Huang Yijian , Jiang Jicai
Published: November 2023

Artificial neural networks (ANN) are a type of machine learning model that has been applied to various genomic problems, with the ability to learn non-linear relationships and model high-dimensional data. ANNs also have the potential in genomic prediction by capturing the intricate relationship between genetic variants and phenotypes. However, there is currently a limited effort to investigate the performance and feasibility of ANNs for pig genomic predictions. In this study, we evaluated the predictive performance of TensorFlow’s ANN models with one-layer, two-layer, and three-layer structures (with zero, one, and two hidden layers, respectively), in comparison with five linear methods, including GBLUP, LDAK, BayesR, SLEMM and scikit-learn’s ridge regression using data of six quantitative traits including off-test body weight (WT), off-test back fat thickness (BF), off-test loin muscle depth (MS), number of piglets born alive (NBA), number of piglets born dead (NBD), and number of piglets weaned (NW). Furthermore, we assessed the computational efficiency of ANNs on both CPU and GPU. The benchmarking was based on cross-validations of 26,190 genotyped pigs. We employed hyperband tuning to optimize the hyper-parameters and select the best model among one-layer, two-layer, and three-layer structures. Results showed that the one-layer structure, which is equivalent to ridge regression, yielded the best performance comparable to that of GBLUP. Using the optimal hyper-parameters for two-layer and three-layer structures, ANNs underperformed GBLUP in terms of accuracy. Of the five linear methods, BayesR and SLEMM performed similarly and the best, followed by LDAK, scikit-learn’s ridge regression, and GBLUP. Moreover, SLEMM was the fastest, which completed training with 21k individuals and 30k SNPs in 2.6 minutes. Compared with CPUs, GPUs exhibited a comparable computational speed for one-layer ANN but offered significant gains in computational efficiency for multi-layer ANNs. Based on our analysis of optimal hyper-parameters for two-layer ANN with BF, we found that using a GPU can lead to a five-fold increase in processing speed compared with using a conventional CPU, but it is still slower than GBLUP. In addition, hyper-parameter tuning (particularly for L2 regularization and the number of dense units in hidden layers) is critical for improving the genomic prediction accuracy in pigs. In conclusion, we found ANN with up to three layers could not improve genomic predictions compared with routine linear methods for pig quantitative traits.
130 Genetic Analysis of Count-Based Horn Fly Abundance Phenotypes in Beef Cattle
Authors: Warner Amanda M , Hinkle Nancy , Heins Bradley , Pringle Dean , Aggrey Samuel E , Rekaya Romdhane
Published: November 2023

Horn flies are a major irritant to livestock. In cattle, horn flies can cause increased heart and respiratory rates, decreased feed efficiency, decreased weaning weights, and reduced milk production, resulting in substantial economic losses. In the United States, horn flies are estimated to cause more than $1 billion in economic losses on pastured cattle, annually. Reliance on management and insecticides has proven inadequate. Additionally, intensive use of insecticides has led to increased resistance in horn fly populations. Thus, there is an increasing need for a long-term solution to the horn fly problem in cattle. Assessing horn fly abundance related phenotypes under commercial conditions is costly and logistically complex. Consequently, the genetic basis of these traits remains largely unknown due to the lack of sufficient phenotypic data. Although several studies reported clear differences in fly abundance within and across breeds, only a few heritability estimates are available based on small-scale studies. This study was conducted during the summers of 2019 and 2022 (two data collections per year) on two University of Georgia associated farms, Northwest Georgia Research and Education center and Eatonton Beef Research Unit. A total of 1,047 cows and heifers were assessed by trained evaluators and several digital images were taken for each animal. Each animal was scored at least twice with some cows scored both years for a total of 4 times during the study period. During each scoring period, the best image for each animal was used to assess fly abundance using direct and sampling-based counting approaches. After edits, the data consisted of 2,197 records collected on 936 cows and heifers. The pedigree consisted of 1,226 animals. A mixed linear model that included year, farm-pen, month, and age (in years) as fixed effects and the random additive and permanent effects was used to jointly analyze three fly abundance related phenotypes. Estimates of heritability of horn fly abundance was between 0.15 and 0.21 for subjective and image-based phenotypes. Genetic correlation was high (0.83) between the image-based phenotypes and moderate between the image-based phenotypes and the subjective assessment (0.61 to 0.65). Repeatability ranged between 0.28 and 0.35 across the three traits. The lower heritability for the subjective assessment points towards added variability due to variation between evaluators. Although the results of this study support the potential to improve horn fly resistance using genetic tools, alternative phenotypes to assess fly abundance are needed. Non-count-based phenotypes could provide an attractive alternative for selecting against horn fly abundance.
131 How Horn Flies Could Be Affecting Your Beef herd's Reproductive Success
Authors: Warner Amanda M , Hinkle Nancy , Heins Bradley , Pringle Dean , Aggrey Samuel E , Rekaya Romdhane
Published: November 2023

Horn flies (HF) are one of the most prevalent external parasites on pastured cattle in North America, although they can be found worldwide. HF cause animals severe stress leading to increased cardiac and respiratory rates, and decreased feed efficiency, average daily gain, and milk production. All these detrimental effects caused by HF contribute to over $1 dollars in economic loss in the United States, annually. Current methods of reducing fly numbers, including manure management, feed additives, and insecticides, are being utilized with varying degrees of success. However, these methods require extensive management, are temporary, and are costly to producers. While several studies have investigated the effects of horn flies on growth and milk production traits, there have been very few studies on their potential impacts on reproduction in beef cattle. Insemination and calving data collected on cows and yearling heifers at Northwest Georgia Research and Education Center between 2015 to 2022 was used to determine the effect of HF abundance on fertility. Each animal was exposed to two insemination events. Artificial Insemination (AI) was used except for cows that did not get pregnant from the first AI which were placed on pasture with a proven bull for natural service. The outcomes (success/failure) of each insemination event and calving were recorded. Still births where the dam carried the calf to term, but the calf passed during parturition were recorded as successes. As part of a research project, no fly control methods were carried out on the farms during 2019 and 2022. During these years, images of each animal were taken twice between May and August. The best image of each animal was used to estimate HF count. Animals were placed in three abundance classes (Low: 0-150, Med: 151-400, High: 401+) to analyze the effects of fly abundance on reproduction. For the remaining years (2015-2018, 2020-2021) animals received fly control and were not assessed for fly abundance. As shown Table 1, conception rates of each breeding attempt and calving rates were lower in both years where no horn fly control was used (2019 and 2022) compared with the remaining years where fly control was utilized. The decrease in conception rates when no fly control was used suggests a detrimental effect of HF on reproductive success. Additionally, for the animals measured in 2022, the average fly count for the dams who did not calf successfully was 357 which is significantly higher than the average count for the dams who did successfully calf (290). This suggests that animals with greater fly loads are less likely to carry to term. These adverse effects on reproductive health could be mitigated by genetically selecting for animals that can tolerate a greater fly load.
127 Genetic Correlations Between Systolic and Diastolic Pulmonary Arterial Pressure in Beef Cattle
Authors: Baty Sydney K , Mark Enns R , Holt Timothy N , Speidel Scott E
Published: November 2023

Pulmonary hypertension is a historical issue in high elevation beef production and is increasingly occurring in moderate elevation beef finishing systems (i.e., feedlots). Pulmonary arterial pressure (PAP) is the mean pressure (mmHg) measure in the pulmonary artery and is an indicator of pulmonary hypertension. To measure PAP, a certified veterinarian threads a catheter through the jugular vein to the heart and into the pulmonary artery. A total of 3 measures are recorded, including mean pulmonary arterial pressure (mPAP), systolic pulmonary arterial pressure (sPAP), and diastolic pulmonary arterial pressure. Systolic pressure is the pressure in the pulmonary artery during the contraction of the heart, whereas diastolic pressure is the pressure in the pulmonary artery during relaxation of the heart. For cattle living in high elevations, the Beef Improvement Federation Guidelines outline the risk of an individual by accounting for the elevation of the test and range of elevations at which that animal is expected to survive based on mPAP. The objective of this study was to estimate the genetic correlations between systolic and diastolic PAP. The data consisted of 1,352 animals with a mPAP, sPAP, and dPAP measured from 2011 to 2015. The systolic pulmonary arterial pressure has a mean of 65.4 ± 15.95 mmHg. The diastolic pulmonary arterial pressure has a mean of 18.2 ± 11.22 mmHg. Data were analyzed using a multiple trait, mixed effect animal model using the statistical software package ASReml 3.0. Fixed effects in the model included sex, birth year, wean date, and yearling date. Individual animal was included as the random effect. The respective heritabilities from the model were mPAP at 0.13 ± 0.05, sPAP at 0.9 ± 0.05 and dPAP at 0.09 ± 0.05. The phenotypic correlation between systolic and diastolic PAP was 0.18 ± 0.03, and the genetic correlation was 0.46 ± 0.32. The phenotypic correlation between sPAP and mPAP was 0.49 ± 0.02, and the genetic correlation was 0.69 ± 0.21. The phenotypic correlation between dPAP and mPAP was 0.83 ± 0.01, and the genetic correlation was 0.93 ± 0.07. Previous research with sPAP and dPAP has been conducted in humans, investigating methods to predict the likelihood of a person of developing pulmonary hypertension. These results provide a foundation to focus on how sPAP and dPAP impact the mPAP and current selection tools for a PAP measure and if the additional information could be useful for selection.