bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Antimicrobial stewardship: knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding antimicrobial use and resistance among non-healthcare students at the University of Zambia
Authors: Mudenda Steward , Chisha Patience , Chabalenge Billy , Daka Victor , Mfune Ruth Lindizyani , Kasanga Maisa , Kampamba Martin , Skosana Phumzile , Nsofu Eustus , Hangoma Jimmy , Siachalinga Linda , Hikaambo Christabel Nang’andu , Chimombe Tadious , Allabi Aurel Constant , Boya Bawa , Mufwambi Webrod , Saleem Zikria , Matafwali Scott Kaba 
Published: November 2023

Abstract

Background
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a significant threat to the world and could become humanity's next major challenge. This study assessed non-healthcare students’ knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) towards antimicrobial use (AMU) and AMR at the University of Zambia.

Methods
This cross-sectional study was conducted among 443 non-healthcare students from August to October 2022 using a structured questionnaire. Data analysis was done using IBM SPSS version 24.0.

Results
Of the 433 participants, 55.2%, 63.5% and 45% had moderate KAP scores regarding AMU and AMR. The prevalence of self-medication with antibiotics was 76.7%. Male participants were less likely to have good knowledge (OR = 0.524, 95% CI: 0.347–0.792) and positive attitudes (OR = 0.585, 95% CI: 0.364–0.940) towards AMU and AMR compared with females. Students who were studying Engineering and Mining were more likely to have good knowledge of AMR (OR = 1.891, 95% CI: 1.197–2.987) compared with those in Social Sciences. Those who were in their fourth and fifth years were more likely to have positive attitudes towards AMU and AMR (OR = 1.851, 95% CI: 1.147–2.986) compared with those who were in the first, second and third years. Finally, students who practised self-medication were less likely to have good self-reported practice towards AMR (OR = 0.442, 95% CI: 0.278–0.702) compared with those who did not.

Conclusions
This study demonstrated that non-healthcare students had moderate KAP regarding AMU and AMR. All university students should be provided with education about AMU and AMR through free short courses, seminars, workshops, and AMR and antimicrobial stewardship awareness campaigns.
Isolation, characterization of Enterococcus phages and their application in control of E. faecalis in milk
Authors: Wang Chen , Zhao Junxin , Lin Yunzhi , Yuan Lu , El-Telbany Mohamed , Maung Aye Thida , Abdelaziz Marwa Nabil Sayed , Masuda Yoshimitsu , Honjoh Ken-ichi , Miyamoto Takahisa 
Published: November 2023

Abstract

Aims
Isolation and characterization of Enterococcus phages and application of phage cocktail to control E. faecalis in milk.

Methods and Results
For phage isolations, double layer agar method was used. Host range of the phages were determined by the spot test. Twelve phages with varying host ranges were isolated. Phages PEF1, PEF7b, and PEF9 with different host ranges and lytic activities were selected for phage cocktails. Compared to two-phages cocktails tested, the cocktail containing all the three phages displayed stronger antibacterial and biofilm removal activities. The cocktail treatment reduced viable E. faecalis in biofilm by 6 log within 6 h at both 30°C and 4°C. In milk, the cocktail gradually reduced the viable count of E. faecalis and the count reached below the lower limit of detection at 48 h at 4°C.

Conclusion
The strong bactericidal and biofilm removal activities of the phage cocktail suggest the potential of this cocktail as a natural biocontrol agent for combating E. faecalis in milk.
45 Genome Editing of Livestock for Production Agriculture and Biomedical Applications
Authors: Long Charles R 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
Continued population growth and clear evidence of climate change are placing unprecedented strain on food production and health care systems worldwide. Agricultural production goals that highlight environmental sustainability are at the forefront of social dialog, with animal agriculture routinely targeted for inefficiencies, welfare concerns and impact on climate. Genomic selection has transformed animal production and the rate of genetic gain in each generation continues to increase. Nonetheless, it is apparent that the rate of production gains will fall short of the necessary goals of increased efficiency and adaptation to the changing environment. Genetic engineering may have an important role in enhancing livestock production as well as providing new models for research in human health. The CRISPR/Cas and related systems for targeted gene editing has revolutionized livestock genetic engineering by increasing the rate of targeted mutation, thus drastically reducing the cost of producing founder animals with the desired trait. Intentional insertion of well-known mutations into genes such as myostatin have been shown to impart the expected increase in meat production, but have also resulted in undesirable associated traits affecting fertility, marbling and the skeleton. Thus, the approach to increasing meat production may require nuances such as promotor targeting and multiple gene targeting to obtain the desired production characteristics. Efforts to increase disease resistance could have dramatic impacts on animal welfare and production rates, potentially saving millions of animals from morbidity and mortality. However, confronting a single disease with each genetic alteration will be costly and inefficient. Considerations on how broad scale disease resistance could be achieved through genetic engineering will be instrumental in developing livestock with advantages to avoid infection and/or transmission of multiple pathogens. Gene editing also allows correction of mutations that arise in livestock through natural mechanisms while under intense genomic selection for increased production. Removing disease causing mutations in otherwise high value livestock will allow continued production from these lines without concern for inheriting the causative mutation. The same process can be utilized to insert genetic mutations known to phenocopy human conditions providing valuable large animal models of human genetic disease. Increased milk, meat, or eggs per animal unit will sustainably improve high quality, nutrient dense food production while large animal models of human disease will provide a more translational biomedical model for accelerated development of drugs and treatments. These goals are achievable, but require continued investment in innovation, clear regulatory framework for commercialization, education, and public engagement to ensure success.
132 Genetics of Stress Hormone Concentrations in Hair of Healthy Nursery Pigs and Their Relationship with Back Test Responses
Authors: Kayondo Fazhir , Al-Shanoon Hayder , Seddon Yolande , Carette Dylan , Cole Carmen , Janz David , Fortin Frederic , Harding John , Dyck Michael , Plastow Graham , Dekkers Jack C M 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
Cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) are circulating adrenal hormones whose concentration in the blood varies in the face of infectious and non-infectious stressors. Their incorporation into hair makes their concentration in hair a robust retrospective assessment of HPA-axis activity as a measure of the stress response of an animal over the period of hair growth. Our objective was to estimate the genetic parameters of hormone concentrations in the hair of healthy pigs and their genetic correlation with responses to the standard back-test. Hair shaved from the rump area of 871 Large White X Landrace barrows (~40 d of age) from 6 breeding companies, maintained in a high-health nursery, was analyzed for cortisol and DHEA concentrations. Behavioral responses to a 60 s standard back-test were obtained at ~26 d of age, including the number of vocalizations (VN) and struggles (SN) and the intensity of the vocalizations (VI) and struggles (SI). All pigs were genotyped with a 50K SNP panel and imputed up to 650K. Estimates of heritability of log-transformed levels of cortisol and DHEA using univariate animal models were 0.26 ± 0.08 and 0.00, respectively, while litter effects explained 0.19 ± 0.05 and 0.09 ± 0.04 of the phenotypic variance, respectively. Back-test responses were more heritable, ranging from 0.34 ± 0.08 (VI) to 0.58 ± 0.08 (VN), with small litter effects (0.00 to 0.06). Estimates of genetic correlations using bivariate animal models were high among the back-test responses, ranging from 0.58 ± 0.16 for SN-VN to 0.96 ± 0.04 for VN-VI and 0.99 ± 0.10 for SN-SI. Estimates of genetic correlations of cortisol with back-test responses ranged from low (0.08 ± 0.23 with SI) to moderate (0.66 ± 0.27 with SN). We conclude that the concentration of cortisol in the hair of healthy nursery pigs is a heritable molecular phenotype and is genetically correlated with responses to the back-test. In subsequent research, their potential as indicator traits to select for disease resilience will be investigated. This study was funded by Genome Canada, PigGen Canada, and USDA-NIFA grant # 2021-67015-34562.
146 Effect of Sire on Methane Production
Authors: Kilian Levi R 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
The objective of this study was to determine if sires have a significant effect on methane (CH4) production in a feedlot setting. To reduce the emission of greenhouse gases from cattle, evaluating variables that are easy to manage and change becomes important for a solution. If sires influence methane production, selection can be used to reduce methane production in cattle as sire differences are indicative of a genetic influence. The data used in this study were obtained from Colorado State University (CSU), with animals from John E. Rouse Beef Improvement Center. Animals with methane data were included in this analysis if sire parentage was known. After filtering, there were 68 Angus cattle, with 56 sires and 12 heifers included in the study. A linear model fitting sire and pen to methane was used. RStudio was used for the general linear model, and significance values were generated. Individual CH4 emissions were collected using GreenFeed free-stall systems (C-Lock) in each of the four pens at the CSU Agricultural Research Development and Education Center facility in Fort Collins, CO. Methane emissions were measured over a 52-day period. The average animal age at the start of the period was 241± 15.76 days. After all collections were completed, the mean CH4 mass flow was 180.4 g/day with a median of 181.4 g/day. The minimum was 107.5 g/day with a maximum of 247.0 g/day. There were sex differences (P &lt; 0.05) for (CH4) emission rate. Primary to this study, sires had a significant effect on (CH4) emission rates (P &lt; 0.05). The range of sire means for methane production was considerable with the 1st and 3rd quartiles of 157.8 g/day and 209.6 g/day. In these data, sires significantly influenced the (CH4) emission rates of their progeny, and we believe selection could be used to reduce overall (CH4) emissions. With these results, however, additional analyses to fully understand if there truly is a genetic component to (CH4) production could be undertaken once additional data has been collected. These future studies need to consider the relationships between methane production and other traits such as average daily gain, dry matter intake, and weight as selection needs to occur while considering a system-wide perspective.
407 Awardee Talk: a Survey of Researchable Questions Posed in Collaborating with South Africans
Authors: MacNeil Michael 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
Research priorities in South Africa, indeed in many developing countries, are viewed from a tripartite perspective of economic growth, food security, and increased employment. While these priorities overlap with those of the developed world, they are not entirely consistent. Strikingly the current unemployment rate is approximately 30%; the poverty rate is approximately 55%; and about 25% of the populous experience an insecure food supply. Agriculture is one sector in which the government aims to increase participation of black people and to assist in revitalizing the rural economy and creating jobs. There are an estimated 7.9 million beef cattle in the commercial sector in South Africa and 5.7 million in the emerging and communal sectors. Furthermore, 52% of the cattle in the commercial sector are cows whereas only 35% are cows in the emerging and communal sectors. In traditional communities of the emerging and communal sectors, cattle are important not only economically but also for their cultural significance. Against this background the need for integrated research efforts is magnified. Some pertinent questions guiding research efforts include: Can breed types used by emerging and communal farmers be characterized? Is the characterization of breed resources sufficient to allow for use of breed complementarity and heterosis? Is enough known about the adaptive ability of breed resources to respond effectively to climate change? Can genetic improvement yield advances in production efficiency similar to those seen in developed countries? Are there unique phenotypes to be considered in South African production systems? Can genomic technologies lift productivity in the emerging and communal sectors where traditional performance recording is virtually non-existent? What can be learned by studying livestock that have survived with lower levels of inputs that are commonplace in the emerging and communal sectors?
153 Genomic Prediction and Genetic Parameters of Residual Feed Intake Computed Using Linear and Non-Linear Regression Methods in Broiler Chickens
Authors: Carvalho Alves Anderson A , Araujo Fernandes Arthur F , Breen Vivian , Hawken Rachel 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
Feed efficiency traits are important for reducing feeding costs while potentially decreasing the environmental impact of broiler production. This study aimed to compare the predictive ability of different genome-wide prediction models for residual feed intake (RFI) calculated with linear and non-linear regression techniques. We also evaluated the heritability of such RFI as well as their associations with body weight. Genotypes and phenotypes used in this study were recorded from 32,747 purebred broiler chickens of both sexes. The individual feed intake was monitored daily in floor-raised birds using a radio-frequency antenna system. RFI was computed as the residual term of total feed intake (FI) adjusted for the average metabolic weight (AMW), body weight gain (BWG), and sex. The following regression methods were used to compute RFI: multiple linear regression (MLR), generalized additive model using splines (GAM), support vector regression using a radial basis kernel (SVR), and two-hidden layer neural network (NN). The different RFI assessments were fitted jointly with body weight measured at the end of the feeding trial (FBW) using a two-trait mixed model. The effects of contemporary groups were fitted as fixed for both traits, whereas sex was also considered for FBW. RFI (computed with different regression techniques) was predicted using different genomic prediction models (BayesA, BayesB, BayesCπ, GBLUP, RKHS, and SVR). Genomic prediction accuracy (ACC) was assessed using a random forward validation scheme, in which data from previous generations were used for training the models while later generations were used to test predictions. The effect of the RFI computation method on ACC was tested using an unpaired Wilcoxon test. Sample variance observed for RFI ranged between 57,207.04 and 59,254.76, depending on the regression method used to compute it. Overall, the RFI sample variance was smaller for non-linear methods (NN, SVR, and GAM) compared with the linear model (MLR). The regression methods did not impact the genetic parameter estimates for RFI, which presented a heritability value around 0.32 ± 0.015 and genetic correlation with FBW ranging between 0.22 ± 0.04 and 0.25 ± 0.04. Prediction accuracy across genomic regression methods was slightly higher (P-value = 0.038) when RFI was computed with SVR (0.336 ± 0.023) compared with the MLR (0.329 ± 0.025), although this small difference would have little practical implications. No differences in terms of ACC were observed among the other regression methods used to compute RFI. Our preliminary results indicate that the regression technique used to compute RFI does not have major implications for this trait. Therefore, the MLR method is the preferred choice as it is simpler to implement, and it provides easy-to-interpret parameters.
52 The Power of Pangenome Assemblies in Ruminants
Authors: Murdoch Brenda M , Rosen Benjamin D , McKay Stephanie , Smith Timothy 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
High quality reference genomes are the bases of all genomic research and they have facilitated a wealth of discoveries and research tools for the improvement of livestock species. These works have enabled major advances in the fields of animal science and genetics and impacted livestock production and associated industries for the benefit of society. However, because a single reference genome fails to represent all of the genetic material present across populations, it inherently limits the ability to comprehensively evaluate all genomic variants within a species. A complete understanding of how small and large genomic variants, from single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) to larger structural variations (SV) including insertions/deletions (InDels) and copy number variation (CNVs), have been selected for over time for specific environments and phenotypes, remains elusive. To address this, it is necessary to generate a catalog of genomic variants in populations subjected to natural or artificial selection pressures and evaluate their relationship among phenotypic classes. The pangenome approach is a means to comprehensively identify and catalog genomic variation and representation that will make more suitable reference for mapping population sequence data for variant detection and frequency evaluation. The goal of the most pangenome projects is to provide genomic resources to represent the immense genetic diversity of this species more completely. This will increase our understanding of genetic variation and its role in dictating different phenomes, empowering scientists to predict the physiological outcomes more effectively from genomic variation towards the improvement of breeding strategies. These pangenomes can then be used to discover the underlying mechanism of biological traits and inform future breeding strategies and support sustainable production of this global source of food and fiber.
56 Biomarker-Based High Throughput Sperm Phenotyping: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Authors: Sutovsky Peter 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
Research in our laboratory addresses the unmet need for developing high throughput phenotyping for collecting comprehensive phenotypes of production, reproduction and fitness traits, a major emphasis area of the USDA Blueprint for Animal Genome Research 2022-2027. Our short- and long-term goal within this emphasis area is to identify specific genomic determinants of aberrant sperm quality and integrity that impart unique morphometric and optical properties on functionally defective spermatozoa that can be captured in next generation flow cytometry at a high speed/throughput, and without the need for costly, time-consuming sample processing. We identified a large set of deleterious gene variants associated with specific sperm defects in the genomes of 85 genetically valuable bulls with suboptimal artificial insemination (AI) fertility. Ongoing efforts focus on developing a second generation, label-free sperm phenotyping pipeline, eliminating variance and costs associated with the conventional, probe-based approaches, based on the specific genomic determinants of aberrant sperm quality resulting in unique morphometric and optical properties of spermatozoa, captured by the next-generation, brightfield image-based flow cytometry (IBFC) and translatable to high-precision phenotyping of heritable production traits. First step is to phenotype and validate rare deleterious polymorphisms associated with aberrant sperm head and tail morphologies in aforementioned cohort of 85 genome-sequenced bulls grouped based on prevailing sperm defect phenotype. Focus is on sperm defects predicted to be heritable and non-compensable by increasing sperm number per AI dose, such as knobbed acrosomes (sperm head caps), nuclear vacuoles and aplastic defects of sperm mitochondrial sheath (the major source of energy to fuel sperm movement). Other potentially heritable defects of interest may not be manifested by aberrant sperm morphologies, and only detectable at subcellular/molecular level by applying biomarkers validated by past and ongoing genome-to-phenotype studies. In the second phase, a label free sperm phenotyping pipeline for bull fertility testing will be developed, translatable to somatic cell phenotyping for other heritable traits by using the dedicated FeatureFinder IFBC software integrated with our machine learning pipeline, followed by validation assessing sperm structural integrity, “gentle” live cell sorting and metabolomics. This approach literary puts artificial intelligence in artificial insemination (AI in AI approach). Altogether, such genome-to-phenome efforts align the livestock genomic selection with state-of-the-art animal andrology, veterinary diagnostics and precision breeding, supporting the improvement of livestock industry efficiency through global approaches integrating production, reproduction, nutrition, health, and welfare.
58 Inclusive Strategies for Course Development: Moving Beyond Ada Compliance
Authors: Salas Aaron 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
This session will present how New Mexico State University, through the Disability Access Services Department, works with students who disclose a disability or impairment that creates barriers in their courses or other University sponsored activities. It will include a brief overview of post-secondary trends and the most commonly reported disabilities and requests for accommodations in university settings. Attendees will become familiar with the process to implement accommodations that can mitigate such barriers and what it means to be a qualified student with a disability who can receive accommodations. After covering how to meet the requirements of the American’s with Disabilities Act (ADA), the session will provide strategies for course development that can be inclusive of every student and even reduce the need for students with disabilities to request accommodations. We will discuss Universal Design concepts and provide examples of strategies that can be built into a course.