bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
278 Awardee Talk: A multi-perspective approach to understanding fundamental mechanisms that regulate growth and nutrient utilization in pigs
Authors: Ajuwon Kolapo M 
Published: September 2024

Abstract
Pigs raised in commercial production settings often do not grow and utilize nutrients to their genetic potential due to a myriad of factors that negatively affect their performance. Understanding the underpinnings of growth and nutrient use by pigs is fundamental to optimizing their growth. The overall objective of research in my laboratory is to investigate mechanisms that guide growth and nutrient use in pigs. We use approaches that involve whole-animal systems and cellular models that query physiological processes in pigs during normal and stressful conditions. To understand the effect of heat stress on adipose tissue development and function in pigs, multiple experiments were conducted using in vitro and in vivo methodologies. First, using in vitro adipocyte differentiation model to characterize cellular responses that occur during differentiation of pig adipocytes, HS was found to increase (P &lt; 0.05) adipogenesis in adipocytes, and this was accompanied by increased (P &lt; 0.05) expression of C/EBPα and HSP 70. Heat stress also increased (P &lt; 0.05) expression of genes involved in fatty acid uptake and TAG synthesis (FAS, aP2, CD36, FATP4, FATP6, LPL, GLUT4, PCK1, and GK). This is supported by increased (P &lt; 0.05) cellular triacylglycerol under HS. In pigs exposed to HS (35°C) vs. Control (20°C), HS resulted in increased (P &lt; 0.05) expression of PCK1, suggesting that increased glyceroneogenesis might be involved in the increased fat storage in pigs under HS. Additionally, experiments conducted to investigate effects of live yeast (LY), fiber and fiber-derived microbial products have shown that maternal fiber type consumed during gestation affects adiposity in the offspring. Experiments have also elucidated the mechanisms by which fiber-derived products such as butyrate affect intestinal epithelial cell function. This work has shown that butyrate increased (P &lt; 0.05) activation of the AKT signaling pathway in epithelial cells to promote tight junction integrity and mitigate effect of inflammation. Using metabolomics analysis, it was also shown that dietary fiber regulates 97 different metabolites in the fecal content of pigs. These metabolites include amino acids and known PPAR gamma ligands, demonstrating a potential role for microbial derived products to regulate intestinal cell metabolism through the PPAR signaling pathway. Feeding LY to sows during gestation and lactation was also accompanied by increased (P &lt; 0.05) growth and nutrient utilization in piglets after weaning, underlying a potential for postweaning growth modulation in piglets with maternal LY supplementation during gestation and lactation. Additional work using proteomics has revealed the potential importance of immune stimulating proteins in the milk of LY fed sows in the growth response of piglets. Knowledge gained from this research would be useful for developing new strategies for optimizing animal growth.
430 Spent hemp biomass increases bone mineral density in broilers
Authors: Pearce Carolyn , Bionaz Massimo 
Published: September 2024

Abstract
Spent hemp biomass (SHB) is a byproduct of CBD oil production, which has been used in multiple trials recently as an alternative feed for livestock, but it has not been approved as a feed ingredient by the FDA-CVM. This is due in part to the lack of information on the potential effects on animal health. Recent studies have shown possible effects of cannabinoids on bone healing, though the effects on bone growth and calcification are not well established. The objective of the study was to investigate the effects of varying levels of SHB on bone growth, calcification, and strength. A total of two hundred birds (5-d-old Cobb 500 Cornish Cross chicks) were randomly assigned to five different rooms with 4 pens per room and 10 animals/pen. Birds received isonitrogenous, isocaloric diets with either 0, 5, 10, or 20% SHB until euthanasia at 42 d. The tibiotarsus, femur, and humerus were collected from 2 males and 2 females per pen for 80 birds (20 per treatment group). The tibiotarsus bending strength was measured with an Instron 5969 using a three-point bending testing fixture set at 10 mm/min for 19 parameters of the bending and breaking properties. The humerus and femur were scanned with a Hologic Discovery A (S/N 84870) DEXA for mineral content (BMC) and density (BMD). Statistical significance was set at P ≤ 0.05 and analyzed using a generalized linear mixed model. BMD and BMC were not affected by treatments in the humerus, a pneumatic bone, but in the weight bearing femur bones, a significant effect on both BMD (P = 0.0078) and BMC (P = 0.0069) was observed. The change in BMC was quadratic, with a peak in animals receiving 10% SHB in the diet, but the BMD effect was linear with the increased dose of SHB in the diet. In the tibiotarsus three-point bending analysis, no significant changes were found in any of the strength and bending parameters measured, except a tendency (P = 0.07) for a greater work-to-fracture adjusted by bone diameter in 5% vs. 0% SHB group. These data indicate some interaction of SHB on the mineralization of bone; however, the level causes less than significant changes to the overall strength of the bone.
431 Evaluating a foundation model for animal body segmentation based on few-shot learning against a domain-specific deep neural network
Authors: Casella Enrico , Dórea Joao R R 
Published: September 2024

Abstract
Computer vision (CV) has been proposed as a powerful technology to collect individual measurements of livestock animals, such as body weight or body condition score, to name a few. In all these tasks, the first step of image processing is semantic segmentation (SS), which represents the use of deep neural networks to locate pixels that belong to the animal body, while removing the background which may add noise and other information that are not needed to compute body biometrics. Despite the generalization abilities of CV, oftentimes SS models need to be re-trained on the specific dataset at hand in order to maximize performance, and thus require labor-intensive annotations. With the rise of foundation models like GPT-4, LLaMA, DALL-E, among others, we aim to explore whether a foundation model for SS called SegGPT performs well in a highly specific agricultural scenario, in comparison with a model trained using domain-specific data, i.e., a U-net model trained on our datasets. Our evaluation is carried out over 9 different datasets of top-down depth images over bodies of calves and cows. The combined datasets amount to a total of 4,328 images (average count = 541) from 485 animals (average count = 54) from 2 wk to 7 yr of age, and it was collected with a mix of RealSense D435 and Kinect V2 sensors at several farm settings (entering/exiting the milking parlor, in a chute, or during weighing on a scale or weighing cart). We investigated the performance of these two models under several scenarios: training on a single dataset and validating within the same dataset (Same Dataset Internal Validation; SDIV), training on a single dataset and validating on an external dataset (Same Dataset External Validation; SDEV), and training on multiple datasets and validating on an external dataset (Multiple Datasets External Validation; MDEV). For the U-net trained in the SDIV approach, we used a 70/30 train/test split over 100 epochs. SegGPT and U-net presented intersection over union of 0.84 and 0.95, 0.73 and 0.59, 0.84 and 0.91, for SDIV, SDEV, and MDEV, respectively. U-net was not able to segment the animal body with performance similar to SegGPT in a new dataset when trained with a single dataset, but it outperformed SegGPT when trained with multiple datasets. Although U-net performed slightly better on these scenarios, it’s important to highlight that SegGPT only received one prompt (one depth image with its annotation) per dataset and performed reasonably well on unseen (validation) datasets. In conclusion, foundation models for image processing tasks can be an alternative for training domain-specific deep neural networks, which demands labor, annotation, and large datasets to present satisfactory results. However, high performance still requires domain-specific models in similar agricultural scenarios.
55 Establishing grain-based modified protocols for re-feeding malnourished horses
Authors: Bardassi Ariane Tabari , Boyd Jamie A , Santos Hugo , Dodson Zach A , Rosa Laura Patterson 
Published: September 2024

Abstract
Increased feed costs, forage availability, and the increasing number of malnourished horses present major challenges to the equine industry. The goal of this project was to test an adapted refeeding protocol using Bermuda hay and two commercial grain products in severely malnourished horses. So, an 8-wk study from January to March 2023 was conducted to evaluate the effects of Total Equine in the refeeding of 10 emaciated horses. Horses were previously destined for slaughter and purchased from an auction with an average body condition score (BCS) of 2.01 (S.D. ± 0.69), then quarantined for 30 d before starting the study following recommended biosecurity protocols. During quarantine, horses were evaluated by a veterinarian and received treatment as needed, vaccinations, deworming, and mares were pregnancy checked. All horses were provided with ad libitum Bermuda hay and water. Upon completion of the quarantine period, horses were blocked into two groups based on age, BCS, pregnancy status, and gender and randomly assigned to a diet. The Control (Ctrl) diet consisted of a commercial grain diet recommended and used by five local West Texas horse rescue groups and the Treatment (Trt) diet consisted of Total Equine. Both diets included ad libitum access to water and Bermuda hay (TDN 56.5) offered twice daily in port-a-grazer tubs to control waste and the amount was adjusted daily to maintain a 3% refusal rate. Grain was offered at a rate of 0.005% BW + 227 kg per the manufacturer’s suggestion, divided into 2 equal feedings with amounts adjusted weekly. Individual horses were weighed weekly using an electronic scale and BCS was evaluated at wk 0, 4, and 8. All horses were allowed a 1-h turnout in a dry-pen per day for 6 d each week. Blood samples were collected at wk 0, 4, and 8 for analysis. Health parameters were measured weekly throughout the study. Samples (grain, hay, hay orts) were collected twice weekly for DM, NDF, ADF, EE, CP, and Ash analysis. Data was analyzed using Proc Mixed in SAS. Overall, there was no significant difference between DMI by diet (Ctrl 8.74 kg/d and Trt 9.44 kg/d). However, a tendency for increased ADG (P = 0.06) for the Trt diet (Ctrl 0.20 kg/d & Trt 1.34 kg/d) was noted. Efficiency calculated as (ADG/DMI) was significantly improved (P = 0.04) indicating an improvement in the efficiency of BW gain for the Trt diet compared with the Ctrl. Improved BW gain and efficiency of gain are of interest when rehabilitating malnourished horses. The establishment of accessible modified feeding protocols may improve efficiency and reduce the cost involved in the rehabilitation of malnourished horses and would be a step forward for the equine industry.
82 Impact of visual dark-cutting severity and wet aging on the bloom and retail color stability of beef longissimus lumborum steaks
Authors: Harr Keayla M , Scott Madelyn , More Sunil , Mafi Gretchen G , Pfeiffer Morgan , Ramanathan Ranjith 
Published: September 2024

Abstract
A dark red to coffee bean color present within the ribeye between the 12th and 13th rib of a beef carcass at the time of grading is the hallmarking characteristic of dark-cutting (DC) beef. However, the degree of darkness within the ribeye can vary. Limited studies have evaluated DC beef of varying visual severity throughout aging and retail display. Therefore, the objective was to evaluate the impact of varying degrees of dark-cutting severity on the bloom and retail color of beef longissimus lumborum subjected to 0, 21, or 39 d of aging. Beef strip loins (IMPS #180; n = 8/treatment) were collected from commercial beef processors based on the visual degree of SC at the time of grading. Strip loins represented one-half dark, two-thirds dark, full dark, and a normal, cherry-red colored control. At 48 to 60 h postmortem, loins were fabricated by slicing two 2.54 cm steaks from the anterior end of each loin for retail display (unaged) or biochemical analysis. The remaining portion of the strip loin was segmented into two sections and assigned to 21 or 39 d of wet aging. Following aging, one 2.54 cm steak from the anterior end of each loin was cut for retail display. All steaks designated for retail display were placed into Styrofoam trays and overwrapped with polyvinyl chloride film and placed into retail display following aging. Bloom, metmyoglobin reducing activity, and pH were evaluated for biochemical analysis. Color measurements were taken each day of display using a HunterLab MiniScan EZ spectrophotometer. The data were analyzed using the Glimmix procedure of SAS. One-half and normal steaks had a lower (P &lt; 0.05) initial pH than two-thirds and full steaks. Unaged full steaks had greater (P &lt; 0.05) metmyoglobin reducing activity than unaged normal and half steaks. Steaks aged for 21 and 39 d were more (P &lt; 0.05) red initially following bloom than unaged steaks. Full and two-thirds steaks aged for 0 d had a decreased (P &lt; 0.05) a* value on d 0 of display than normal and half steaks aged for 0 d. Similarly, following 21 and 39 d of aging full and two-thirds dark steaks had a lower (P &lt; 0.05) a* value and were less red in color than normal and half steaks on the initial day of retail display. By d 4 of display, normal and one-half steaks aged for 21 d had a greater (P &lt; 0.05) a* value than two-thirds steaks aged for 21 d. When aged for 39 d, all treatments were similar (P &lt; 0.05) in redness by the end of display. Results from this study indicate that the visual severity of dark-cutting can impact color throughout aging and retail display.
239 Growth performance and gut health indicators of Escherichia coli-challenged weaned pigs fed diets supplemented with Bacillus subtilis or Enterococcus faecium
Authors: Woyengo Tofuko A , Canibe Nuria , Jayaraman Balachandar , Htoo John K 
Published: September 2024

Abstract
A study evaluated the effects of adding B. subtilis or E. faecium based probiotics in diets for weaned pigs challenged with E. coli on growth performance and indicators of gut health. Pigs [n = 64; initial body weight (BW) = 6.95 kg] weaned at 22 d of age were obtained in 2 batches of 32 pigs each. The pigs were from sows that were homozygous susceptible to infection by F4 strain of E. coli. Pigs in each batch were housed in 16 pens in 2 rooms: first room with 4 pens and second room with 12 pens. Pigs were fed 3 diets for 14 d. The diets were control or control plus B. subtilis (1×10E6 CFU/kg) or E. faecium (1×10E6 CFU/kg). On d 7 and 8 of the experiment, all pigs in the second room were orally challenged with F4 strain of E. coli (5 mL with ~109 CFUּ mL-1ּ d-1) to create the following 4 treatments with 4 pensּ traetment-1ּ batch-1) (8 pens/treatment for the study): unchallenged pigs fed control diet, challenged pigs fed control diet, challenged pigs fed control diet plus E. faecium, and challenged pigs fed control diet plus B. subtilis. Challenging pigs with E. coli F4 reduced (P &lt; 0.05) average daily gain (ADG) for d 7 to 11 and d 11 to 14 of the study from 81 to -67 g and 460 to 259 g, respectively; increased (P &lt; 0.05) plasma haptoglobin concentration (PHC) on d 9 from 1.10 to 1.69 mg/mL and fecal E. coli F4 content (FEC) on d 11 from 4.92 to 7.86 log copies/g; and decreased (P &lt; 0.05) volatile fatty acids (VFA) concentration in the cecum and colon on d 14 from 89.5 to 52.3 mmol/kg and 88.1 to 63.9 mmol/kg, respectively. The E. faecium supplementation did not affect ADG for d 0 to 7 of the study but increased (P &lt; 0.05) ADG for d 7 to 11 by 161%. The E. faecium supplementation did not affect FEC, PHC, and VFA concentration in the cecum and colon. The B. subtilis supplementation did not affect ADG and ADFI, FEC, PHC, but tended to increase (P &lt; 0.10) VFA concentration in the cecum and colon by 32 and 20%, respectively. In conclusion, challenging weaned pigs with the E. coli F4 reduced growth performance and microbial fermentation in the hindgut and increased fecal E. coli shedding. Supplemental E. faecium probiotic improved ADG of weaned pigs after their challenge with E. coli, implying that it can be included in diets for weaned pigs raised under commercial conditions to improve their performance. The B. subtilis probiotic can be included in diets for weaned pigs to counteract the reducing impact of E. coli infection on microbial fermentation in the hindgut.
378 Growth responses and antioxidant status of finishing pigs fed low-energy, low-phosphorus, low-calcium and low-trace mineral diets added with exogenous enzymes
Authors: Gomez-Rosales Sergio , de Angeles Maria Lourdes , Perez-Alvarado Alejandra , Lopez-Hernandez Luis Humberto 
Published: September 2024

Abstract
The objective of the study was to evaluate the productivity parameters and the antioxidant responses in the meat in finishing pigs fed diets reduced in metabolizable energy (ME), Ca, P and trace minerals added with the exogenous enzymes phytase, xylanase and pectinase. Pigs (n = 48) were randomly distributed into 4 treatments: 1) A Sorghum/soybean meal diet formulated to meet all the nutrient requirements, with a mineral premix based on sulfates (Control); 2) Same as 1) but reduced in ME, Ca and P, added with phytase, xylanase and pectinase, the same mineral premix; 3) Same as 2) but with reduction of 33.3 % of the mineral premix; or 4) Same as 2) but reduction of 66.6% of the mineral premix. Pigs were housed in an open building, with natural ventilation in individual pens with solid concrete floor. The feeding program consisted of 2 phases, the first for 28 d and the second for 25 d. All diets were offered in meal form. Pigs were weighed individually at the beginning and end of the experiment, to estimate daily body weight gain. The daily feed consumption was registered. Feed efficiency was estimated as body weight gain based on feed consumption. At the end of the study, the depth of fat and loin muscle were measured at the 10th and the last rib. Pigs were transported to a slaughter facility. Samples of the loin and psoas major muscle were taken to determine the antioxidant status. Data were analyzed for a completely randomized design using the GLM, MEANS, MIXED, and UNIVARIATE procedures of SAS. No statistical differences were found on the productive responses, the depth of fat and loin muscle, fat-free lean tissue and carcass yield. The luminosity in the loin muscle increased (58.89 vs 59.85; P &lt; 0.042), the antioxidant power of ferric radicals tended to be less (3.25 vs 2.90 mg Eq. Trolox/g; P &lt; 0.052) and the thiobarbituric acid reactive substances tended to be greater (0.15 vs 0.21 mg MDA/kg; P &lt; 0.063) in the loin muscle of pigs fed diet 4) reduced by 66.6% in mineral premix compared with that of pigs fed the control diet (1). The thiobarbituric acid reactive substances were greater (0.18 vs 0.25 mg MDA/kg; P &lt; 0.023) and the drip loss tended to be greater (1.1 vs 1.4%; P &lt; 0.056) in the psoas major muscle of pigs fed diet 4) reduced by 66.6% in mineral premix compared with that of pigs fed the control diet 1). Finishing pigs fed diets reduced in ME, Ca, P and trace minerals by 66.6% and added with exogenous enzymes did not show detrimental effects on productivity, but it reduced the antioxidant capacity of the loin and psoas major muscles.
444 The effects of increasing standardized ileal digestible lysine-to-net energy ratio during at 24-day lactation period on primiparous sow nitrogen utilization and lactation performance
Authors: Gregory Nicole , Huber Lee-Anne 
Published: September 2024

Abstract
Primiparous sows (n = 50) were used to evaluate the impacts of increasing standardized ileal digestible (SID) Lys-to-net energy (NE) ratios on sow performance and nitrogen utilization during a 24-d lactation period. Sows were assigned to one of five diets with equally spaced and increasing SID Lys-to-NE ratios between 2.85 and 5.51 g SID Lys/Mcal NE. Desired ratios were achieved by blending the two extreme diets in varying proportions using a feeding system with feed blending capabilities and were provided to sows immediately after farrowing until weaning (d 24 ± 0.3). Litters were standardized to 13 ± 1 piglets within 24 h after birth and were not provided creep feed. Nitrogen balances were conducted between d 4 and 7 (NB1), 12 and 15 (NB2), and 20 and 23 (NB3) of lactation, with total urine collection and fecal grab sampling. Contrast statements were used to assess linear and quadratic effects of increasing the SID Lys-to-NE ratio. Linear (LBL) and quadratic broken-line and polynomial quadratic models were used to determine the optimum dietary Lys-to-NE ratios for maternal nitrogen retention. The Bayesian information criterion was used to assess best fit. Sow body weight (BW) and backfat depth losses over lactation decreased with increasing dietary SID Lys-to-NE ratio (linear; -19.0 to -5.9 ± 3.7 kg, P = 0.001 and -3.9 to -2.0 ± 0.7 mm, P = 0.003, respectively). No differences were observed for milk nitrogen output (69.3 ± 4.5, 74.2 ± 6.6, 85.6 ± 6.8 g/day for NB1, NB2, and NB3, respectively), overall piglet average daily gain (219 ± 10 g), and piglet BW at weaning (6.33 ± 0.24 kg). Sow average daily feed intake was not influenced by SID Lys-to-NE ratio (5.3 ± 0.2 kg/day) but sow nitrogen intake (linear; P &lt; 0.001) and total nitrogen excretion (urine + feces; linear; P &lt; 0.001) increased with dietary SID Lys-to-NE ratio in all NB periods. Nitrogen retention (linear; P &lt; 0.001) and maternal nitrogen retention (nitrogen intake – nitrogen excretion – milk nitrogen output; P &lt; 0.05) increased with dietary SID Lys-to-NE ratio in all NB periods (-22.8 to -2.7 ± 6.7, 3.6 to 36.3 ± 8.4, and 9.0 to 34.8 ± 6.8 g/d for maternal nitrogen retention in NB1, NB2, and NB3, respectively). The LBL model showed that maternal nitrogen retention was optimized beyond the SID Lys-to-NE ratio limits in NB1 but breakpoints were observed for maternal nitrogen retention at 4.74 and 4.85 g SID Lys/Mcal NE in NB2 and NB3, respectively. Therefore, optimizing the SID Lys-to-NE ratio during specific weeks of lactation could minimize maternal nitrogen losses of primiparous sows.