bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
37 Genetic parameter estimates for days on feed, age at slaughter, and carcass traits in a multi-breed beef cattle population
Authors: Upperman Lindsay R , Kuehn Larry A , Spangler Matthew L 
Published: November 2020

Abstract
The objective of this study was to estimate genetic parameters for days on feed (DOF), age at slaughter (AAS), and their relationships with carcass traits, including: marbling score (MARB), adjusted fat thickness (AFT), hot carcass weight (HCW), ribeye area (REA), and final live weight (FW). Data were from steers and heifers (n = 7,747) from the Germplasm Evaluation Program at the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center. All traits were analyzed with univariate and bivariate animal models using ASReml. Fixed effects fitted for all models included contemporary group (concatenation of birth year and season, sex, and experimental treatment group), breed fractions, and direct heterosis. Different endpoints were also investigated by fitting fixed linear covariates of AFT, HCW, REA, MARB, FW, and age (except AAS and DOF). For a given bivariate analyses, both traits were adjusted to the same endpoint. Univariate heritability estimates for AFT, AAS, DOF, FW, HCW, MARB, and REA ranged from 0.45–0.52, 0.52–0.59, 0.33–0.39, 0.34–0.55, 0.34–0.55, 0.54–0.55, and 0.50–0.56, respectively. Covariates of MARB and AFT led to the highest and lowest, respectively, heritability estimates for AAS and DOF. Depending on the endpoint, genetic correlations between AAS and AFT, FW, HCW, MARB, and REA ranged from 0.16 to 0.32, -0.08 to 0.33, 0.19 to 0.36, 0.14 to 0.20, and -0.06 to 0.13 (Table 1). Genetic correlations between DOF and AFT, MARB, and REA were negligible. Genetic correlations between DOF, FW, and HCW ranged from -0.10 to 0.29 and -0.37 to -0.17. Standard errors were less than 0.07 for all estimates. Phenotypic variability in DOF was low, and increased variability in AAS was due to differences in date of birth and thus weaning age. Results indicate DOF and AAS are moderately to highly heritable and generally lowly correlated with routine carcass traits. The USDA is an equal opportunity employer.
35 Vaginal pH changes due to the use of a controlled internal drug release (CIDR) and its effects on fertility of beef cows
Authors: Dias Nicholas W , Timlin Claire L , Pancini Stefania , Dias Nicholas W , Seekford Zackary , Gómez Juan , Mercadante Vitor R G 
Published: November 2020

Abstract
The objective of this study was to evaluate changes in vaginal pH of beef cows enrolled in a 7-d CO-Synch+controlled internal drug release (CIDR) protocol and its effects on pregnancy. A total of 46 multiparous beef cows with no signs of vaginitis were enrolled. Individual vaginal flushes were collected from cows on D0, D7 and D10. Individual flushes were immediately analyzed for pH with a portable pH meter. As evidence of vaginitis, a CIDR score was determined at CIDR removal (D7), following a 1 to 4 scoring system: 1 = clean, no secretion; 2 = clean, clear secretion; 3 = purulent secretion; 4 = purulent secretion and blood. Pregnancy status was determined by rectal ultrasonography approximately 40 days after TAI. No cows had CIDR scores of 1 or 4, 19.6% of cows had a score of 2 and 80.4% a score of 3. Vaginal pH increased from D0 (6.88±0.007) to D7 (7.32±0.047), regardless of CIDR score (P &lt; 0.001). Cows with a CIDR score 2 had greater pH on D7 (7.35±0.084) than on D0 (6.90± 0.14; P = 0.001), and pH on D10 was intermediate (7.14±0.14; P = 0.14). Cows with CIDR score 3 had reduced pH on D10 (7.09±0.07) when compared to D7 (7.29±0.04; P = 0.003), but greater pH on D10 than on D0 (6.87±0.07; P = 0.007). There was a pregnancy by day interaction for pH values (P = 0.046). Pregnant cows had greater vaginal pH in comparison with non-pregnant cows on D0 (6.99±0.081 and 6.68±0.09, respectively; P = 0.01) and D10 (7.26±0.08 and 6.89±0.09, respectively; P = 0.006), but not on D7 (7.34±0.05 and 7.27±0.06, respectively; P = 0.38). Non-pregnant cows had reduced vaginal pH on D10 in comparison to D7 (6.89±0.09 and 7.27±0.06, respectively; P &lt; 0.001), whereas pregnant cows had similar vaginal pH on D10 and D7 (7.26±0.08 and 7.34±0.05, respectively; P = 0.35). We conclude that CIDR increases vaginal pH overtime and greater pH at TAI is beneficial to fertility.
51 A novel approach for development, standardization, and safety testing of enriched alum-precipitated vaccine against hemorrhagic septicemia in different breeds of cattle
Authors: Farooq Muhammad Zahid 
Published: November 2020

Abstract
Hemorrhagic septicemia is a fatal disease of cattle and buffalo all over the world, including Pakistan, and it causes heavy economic losses every year. The poor farmers cannot bear this loss in the form of less milk production and heavy expenditures on the animal treatment. An enriched alum-precipitated vaccine with reduced dose was prepared and standardized, and safety testing of the enriched vaccine was performed in Swiss albino mice as well as in natural hosts. In this experiment, a total of 36 cattle both male and female, of different age groups ranging from 4 months to 4 years, were used. All these animals belonged to all major cattle breeds of Pakistan, including Sahiwal, Red Sindhi (crossbred and purebred), Dhani (crossbred and purebred), Lohani (crossbred and purebred), and Cholistani, and exotic breeds, including Holstein, Friesian and Jersey. These animals were examined for current immune titer prior to vaccination. Animals were vaccinated subcutaneously with 2 mL and 4 mL dose of the new vaccine and were observed for any untoward reaction for 48 h. All the animals were kept under close observation for the next 30 days, and all were found safe. The experiment was designed to reduce the dose of the vaccine to 2 mL by using BHI as a growth medium, as well as to increase the number of doses prepared in the same infrastructure, hence reducing the cost of vaccine production. The study proved that a vaccine with increased biomass in reduced dose is safe in local as well as in exotic breeds of cattle.
57 President Oral Presentation Pick: The exploration of blood microRNA profiling in feedlot cattle with different lameness phenotypes
Authors: Li Wentao , O’Hara Eóin , Sun Huizeng , Schwartzkopf-Genswein Karen S , Guan Leluo L 
Published: November 2020

Abstract
Lameness is a significant economic and welfare issue in feedlot production. Effective treatment depends on diagnosing the cause of lameness accurately. There is increasing evidence that circulating microRNAs may serve as useful biomarkers for diagnosing disease. However, their association with lameness in feedlot cattle is currently unknown. The objective of this study was to investigate whether blood miRNA profiles can be associated with a specific lameness phenotype. Blood samples were collected via venepuncture (into Tempus™ Blood RNA Tubes) from 39 feedlot cattle diagnosed with digital dermatitis (DD; n = 2), toe tip necrosis syndrome (TTNS; n = 5), footrot (FR; n = 26) and healthy controls (HC; n = 6) for miRNA profiling using RNA sequencing. Samples were obtained at the time each animal was pulled from their pens for medical treatment. Total RNA was extracted from blood samples and subjected to small RNA libraries construction and RNA-sequencing. The sequence data analysis was performed using a web-based tool, sRNAtoolbox. A total of 596 miRNAs were identified across 39 blood samples with the expression of 444, 437, 465 and 575 miRNAs detected in the HC, DD, TTNS and FR groups, respectively. In addition, group-specific miRNAs were identified with 9 in the DD group, 45 in the TTN group, 28 in the FR group and 2 in the HC group. Moreover, 41, 8 and 36 differential expressed miRNAs (DE miRNAs) were detected in DD, TTNS and FR groups, respectively, when compared to the HC group using DeSeq2. These data suggest that miRNA profiles may differ according to lameness diagnosis in beef cattle. However, further investigation incorporating functional analyses of miRNA, increased sample size and the physiological profile of the animals are required to better understand the relationship between blood miRNA profiles and lameness in feedlot cattle.
75 Effects of endophyte-infected tall fescue on performance of genotyped pregnant beef cows and heifers supplemented with rumen-protected niacin
Authors: Alfaro Gastón F , Muntifering Russell , Rodning Soren P , Schnuelle Julie Gard , Cole Robert , Taylor Simon , Blythe Eugene , Pacheco Wilmer , Moisá Sonia J 
Published: November 2020

Abstract
Fescue toxicity is the result of cattle consuming fungal (Ergot spp.) endophyte tall fescue, a perennial forage widely used in the United States. Ergot alkaloids produce vasoconstriction; however, rumen-protected Niacin (RPN), known by its vasodilation ability, may act as an alleviator for fescue toxicity. Our objective was to assess the effects of a genetic test for fescue toxicity susceptibility, and RPN supplementation on animal performance, hepatic gene expression, and uterine arteries blood flow of Angus × Simmental pregnant animals consuming endophyte-infected tall fescue seeds. Ninety days prior to calving, genotyped pregnant cows (n = 11) and heifers (n = 17) were stratified by body weight (BW; 540 ± 207 kg) and genetic resistance to fescue toxicity (susceptible or tolerant); and randomly assigned to dietary treatments: 1) Susceptible Control (SC); 2) Susceptible Niacin (SN); 3) Tolerant Control (TC); and 4) Tolerant Niacin (TN). Animals’ BW and liver samples were obtained on days 0 and 29. Uterine arteries blood flow was measured using Doppler ultrasonography on treatment days 3, 10, 17, and 23. Messenger RNA was extracted from liver samples for RT-qPCR. Gene expression and BW data were analyzed using the PROC MIXED procedure of SAS, and uterine arteries blood flow was analyzed with the GLIMMIX procedure of SAS. Between day 0 and 29, SOD1 and CYP2E1 were upregulated (P &lt; 0.05) in TC and SC, respectively. Furthermore, SOD2 expression in SC was significantly lower (P &lt; 0.05) on day 29. Genetic test and RPN did not affect uterine arteries’ blood flow. TN animals had a greater decrease in BW compared with other treatments (P &lt; 0.01). In conclusion, Doppler ultrasonography did not detect any changes in uterine arteries blood flow and, supplementation with RPN may influence the oxidative status of cows’ liver consuming endophyte-infected fescue seeds.
317 Cattle and carbon on pastures – hearsay or evidence?
Authors: Franzluebbers Alan J 
Published: November 2020

Abstract
Does soil organic carbon accumulate in high density stocking of pastures? Should the detail of grazing management matter in answering this question? Would wishing that soil carbon increase with a particular type of management mean that it would actually increase? Does a practice that stores soil carbon in one region mean that it will store soil carbon in another region? How would we know the answer to any of these questions if we didn’t collect some relevant information? Soil carbon accumulation might be viewed as limited in potential in the southeastern US with the combination of highly weathered soils and favorable weather conditions for decomposition of organic matter inputs. However, these same environmental conditions could also be viewed as ideal for promoting soil carbon accumulation from a highly degraded state. In fact, there are plenty of soils in the region that have undergone severe degradation from decades of historical degradation. This presentation will explore some approaches taken to answer the question of whether soil carbon can be sequestered in managed pastures of the southeastern US. It will also probe into the question of type of management and its role in potential soil organic carbon sequestration. A combination of published and ongoing research will form the basis of this presentation.
332 What’s causing obesity in pets and what can we do about it?
Authors: Pretlow Robert 
Published: November 2020

Abstract
The majority of dogs (56%) and cats (60%) are now overweight or obese. A novel theory posits that obesity in pets is due to “treats” and excessive meal amounts given by the “pet-parent” to obtain affection from the pet, which enables “‘eating addiction” in the pet and results in pet-parent “co-dependence.” The pet-parent may even become hostage to the treats/food to avoid the ire of the pet. Eating addiction in the pet appears related to stress/conflict, involving the displacement mechanism, which is a bio-behavioral mechanism in the brains of all animals, even fruit flies. It allows the animal to deal with situations that cannot readily be faced or avoided or are thwarting, such as social isolation. Displacement behavior is out-of-context, irrepressible behavior, e.g. an animal in the wild who sleeps or feeds when threatened by a predator. It is thought due to re-channeling of overflow brain energy to another drive (e.g. feeding drive) when two drives, e.g. fight or flight, equally oppose each other. Moving the opposing drives out of equilibrium, by resolving the animal’s stressful life situations, theoretically halts the displacement mechanism and addictive behavior, e.g. overeating/obesity. Similarly, dealing with the pet-parent’s stressful life situations curtails displacement regarding overfeeding the pet. Treatment for each contribution to companion animal obesity will be presented: Pet-parent seeking affection from the pet by giving food treats, which induces and subsequently triggers displacement overeating in the pet -- &gt; Treatment is pet-parent withdrawal/abstinence from treat-giving. Displacement of pet-parent’s stressful life situations by feeding the pet. The received affection induces and subsequently triggers further treat-giving by the pet-parent. -- &gt; Treatment is developing an action plan for each of the pet-parent’s stressful life situations. Begging, annoyance, aggression, and hostage state of the pet. -- &gt; Treatment is “tough love” by the pet-parent.
94 President Oral Presentation Pick: Grazing diverse combinations of tanniferous and non-tanniferous legumes: Implications for beef cattle performance and environmental impact
Authors: Lagrange Sebastian , Beauchemin Karen , MacAdam Jennifer , Villalba Juan J 
Published: November 2020

Abstract
We tested the effect of increasingly diverse combinations of tanniferous legumes (birdsfoot trefoil-BFT, sainfoin-SF) and alfalfa (ALF) on cattle performance, methane (CH4) emissions and nitrogen (N) balance. Pairs of heifers (401 ± 49.6 kg) grazed three spatial replications of 7 treatments (n = 3/treatment): monocultures (BFT, SF, ALF) and all possible 2- and 3-way choices among strips of these legumes in a completely randomized block design of two 15-d periods during 2 consecutive years. Average daily gains (ADG) of heifers grazing the tanniferous legumes (1.05 kg/d) were 40% greater (P &lt; 0.10) than of heifers grazing ALF (0.74 kg/d) during the first year. Heifers grazing the 3-way choice had greater intakes (10.4 vs 7.8 kg/d; P = 0.064) and ADG (1.21 vs. 0.95 kg/d, P = 0.054) than those grazing monocultures, suggesting a nutritional synergism among legumes. The average CH4 emissions for legume monocultures vs. 2- and 3-way choices was 222 vs. 202 and 162 g/kg BW gain (P &gt; 0.10), respectively. For heifers grazing SF and BFT compared with ALF, blood urea N was less (14.3 and 16.8 vs 20.8 mg/dL; P &lt; 0.05) as were urinary N concentrations (3.7 and 3.5 vs 6.0 g/L; P &lt; 0.05), but fecal N concentrations were greater (34.5 and 35.5 vs 30.5 g/kg, respectively; P &lt; 0.05). Combining both tanniferous legumes (SF-BFT) led to the greatest declines in urinary N (2.24 g/L) and urea-N (1.71 g/L) concentration, suggesting that different types of tannins in different legume species result in associative effects that enhance N economy. In addition, heifers grazing 3-way choices partitioned less N into urine (40.7 vs 50.6%; P = 0.037) and retained more N (36.1 vs 25.2%, P = 0.046) than heifers grazing monocultures. In summary, combinations of tanniferous legumes with alfalfa improved animal performance and reduced environmental impacts relative to monocultures, resulting in a more sustainable approach to beef production in pasture-based finishing systems.
346 Sensor-Determined Behaviors and Pasture Intake Estimation in Extensive Grazing Systems
Authors: Bishop-Hurley Gregory J , Alvarenga Flavio A , Valencia Philip , Little Bryce , Dobos Robin C , Ingham Aaron B , Greenwood Paul L 
Published: November 2020

Abstract
Wearable sensor devices to monitor livestock behavior and location in extensive grazing systems can overcome limitations to collection and use of behavior data. These data enable generation of new phenotypes for genetic parameter estimation and decision support tools. Technical challenges, including device hardware and location on-animal, sensor types and modalities, data and power management, and sensor networks to enable measurement of livestock phenotypes in extensive environments, are being addressed. Wearable sensors currently used for behavior classifications include accelerometers, magnetometers and/or gyroscope within inertial measurement units, and pressure and acoustic sensors. We primarily use tri-axial accelerometers because of their reliability and richness of data for feature extraction to classify behaviors. Behavior data combined with GPS also allows location, activity and behavior mapping. Development of livestock behavior classifiers using sensors requires annotation of time-synchronized behavior recordings using video and/or a behavior recording app (e.g. CSIRO AnnoLog). Various analytical methods are used to classify behaviors from sensor data, including supervised machine-learning applied to accelerometer data. Our devices generate data for concurrent classification of behaviors including grazing, ruminating, walking, resting and drinking with reliabilities ≥ 90%. Estimates of pasture intake using behavior data across a range of environments also require validation. We have a facility to concurrently generate benchmark estimates of pasture intake using chemical markers and/or biomass disappearance while recording behaviors using sensors. To date, our R&D using pastures ranging from nutritionally optimal to severely drought affected suggest time spent grazing accounts for up to 60% of variation in pasture intake by individual beef cattle. We are assessing other sources of variation including pasture removal events (bites, tears), classes of cattle, and pasture characteristics to determine if more variation in pasture intake can be explained within extensive grazing systems to enhance development of new traits and applications for precision management.
353 ASAS-EAAP Talk: Low-coverage whole-genome sequencing in local livestock breeds
Authors: Casellas Joaquim , de Hijas-Villalba Melani Martín , Vázquez-Gómez Marta , Lahoucine Samir Id 
Published: November 2020

Abstract
Current European regulations for autochthonous livestock breeds put a special emphasis on pedigree completeness, which requires laboratory paternity testing by genetic markers in most cases. This entails significant economic expenditure for breed societies and precludes other investments in breeding programs, such as genomic evaluation. Within this context, we developed paternity testing through low-coverage whole-genome data in order to reuse these data for genomic evaluation at no cost. Simulations relied on diploid genomes composed by 30 chromosomes (100 cM each) with 3,000,000 SNP per chromosome. Each population evolved during 1,000 non-overlapping generations with effective size 100, mutation rate 10–4, and recombination by Kosambi’s function. Only those populations with 1,000,000 ± 10% polymorphic SNP per chromosome in generation 1,000 were retained for further analyses, and expanded to the required number of parents and offspring. Individuals were sequenced at 0.01, 0.05, 0.1, 0.5 and 1X depth, with 100, 500, 1,000 or 10,000 base-pair reads and by assuming a random sequencing error rate per SNP between 10–2 and 10–5. Assuming known allele frequencies in the population and sequencing error rate, 0.05X depth sufficed to corroborate the true father (85,0%) and to discard other candidates (96,3%). Those percentages increased up to 99,6% and 99,9% with 0,1X depth, respectively (read length = 10,000 bp; smaller read lengths slightly improved the results because they increase the number of sequenced SNP). Results were highly sensitive to biases in allele frequencies and robust to inaccuracies regarding sequencing error rate. Low-coverage whole-genome sequencing data could be subsequently integrated into genomic BLUP equations by appropriately constructing the genomic relationship matrix. This approach increased the correlation between simulated and predicted breeding values by 1.21% (h2 = 0.25; 100 parents and 900 offspring; 0.1X depth by 10,000 bp reads). Although small, this increase opens the door to genomic evaluation in local livestock breeds.
108 President Oral Presentation Pick: Select skeletal muscle mitochondrial measures in Thoroughbred weanlings are related to race earnings and sire
Authors: Guy Chloey P , Latham Christine M , Owen Randi N , Fowler Ashley L , White-Springer Sarah H 
Published: November 2020

Abstract
Quantifiable, cellular differences of individuals are not widely used in breeding and training decisions in the equine industry. Our objective was to determine if mitochondrial parameters in weanling Thoroughbreds were related to sire or lifetime race earnings. We hypothesized that weanling skeletal muscle mitochondrial capacity would be positively correlated with race earnings. Gluteus medius muscle samples were collected from racing-bred Thoroughbred weanlings (n = 139; mean ± SD; 6.0 ± 0.4 mo) from 40 different sires over 3 years at 5 different farms and evaluated for mitochondrial volume density (citrate synthase activity; CS) and function (cytochrome c oxidase activity) by colorimetry, and oxidative (P) and electron transport system (E) capacities by high resolution respirometry; two- and three-year-old race earnings were available for a subset of 13 horses. Data were analyzed using mixed linear models with sire, sex, year of collection, and farm as fixed effects. Correlations between lifetime race earnings and mitochondrial measures were determined using Pearson Correlation Statistics. A main effect of sire was observed for weanling intrinsic (relative to CS activity) P with complex I substrates (P = 0.04) and the contribution of mitochondrial leak to O2 consumption (FCRL; P = 0.04). A trend was observed for the effect of sire on intrinsic mitochondrial leak (P = 0.09). Race earnings were positively correlated with integrated (relative to mg protein) leak (r = 0.7684, P = 0.009) and FCRL (r = 0.7035; P = 0.02). A trend for a negative correlation between E with complex II substrates and race earnings was also observed (r = -0.4775, P = 0.09), No other measures were influenced by sire, nor were correlated with race earnings. Our previous work has indicated a preferential use of complex I in breeds bred for short-duration racing (Thoroughbreds) compared to distance racing breeds (Standardbreds) that relied more heavily on complex II. Mitochondrial measures in weanlings may be utilized to inform future breeding and training decisions in horses.