bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
285 Duration of Ergovaline Exposure Influences Serotonin-Mediated Vasoconstriction and Vasorelaxation of Bovine Vasculature
Authors: Trotta Ronald J , Harmon David L , Klotz James L 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
Ergovaline (ERV), produced in toxic endophyte-infected tall fescue, causes potent vasoconstriction of bovine peripheral and visceral vasculature. Ergovaline acts as both an agonist and an antagonist in bovine gut blood vessels through serotonin (5-HT) receptors and it appears that the type of action could be influenced by the extent of ERV exposure. Because it was unclear how the duration of ERV exposure influences 5-HT-mediated vasoactivity, experiments were designed to evaluate how simultaneous or prior ERV exposure influenced 5-HT-mediated vasoactivity of mesenteric artery (MA) and vein (MV) segments from Holstein steers (n = 10). Isolated vessel segments were incubated in Krebs-Henseleit buffer containing 0, 0.01, or 0.1 mM ERV for 24-h befoe the 5-HT dose-response or exposed to fixed concentrations of 0, 0.01, or 0.1 mM ERV simultaneously during the 5-HT dose-response. Vessels were suspended in chambers of a multi-myograph containing 5 mL of continuously oxygenated Krebs-Henseleit buffer and equilibrated to 1 g tension for 90 min. Vessels were exposed to increasing concentrations of 5-HT (5 × 10-8 M to 1 × 10-4 M) every 15 min and contractile responses were normalized as a percentage of the maximum contractile response induced by 120 mM KCl reference addition. Two-way analysis of variance was used to separately analyze data for each vessel type and duration of exposure using the MIXED procedure of SAS for the main effects of 5-HT and ERV concentration and the 5-HT × ERV concentration interaction. When 5-HT concentration increased from 5 ′ 10-8 M to 1 ′ 10-6 M, simultaneous addition of 0.1 mM ERV increased (P &lt; 0.01) the contractile response of MV compared with additions of 0 mM ERV and 0.01 mM ERV. At 1 ′ 10-4 M 5-HT, the simultaneous presence of 0.01 mM ERV and 0.1 mM ERV decreased (P &lt; 0.01) the contractile response of both MA and MV compared with 0 mM ERV addition. As 5-HT concentrations increased, the contractile response increased (P &lt; 0.01) in both MA and MV with no previous ERV exposure, but decreased in MA and MV with 24-h prior exposure to 0.01 mM ERV and 0.1 mM ERV. These data demonstrate that the duration of ERV exposure influences 5-HT-mediated vasoconstriction and likely vasorelaxation in bovine mesenteric vasculature. If ERV and 5-HT exposure occur simultaneously, ERV can act as a partial agonist of 5-HT-mediated vasoconstriction. If 5-HT exposure occurs after blood vessels have had prior ERV exposure, it appears that 5-HT may induce vasorelaxation of blood vessels. More research is needed to identify receptors and mechanisms involved with 5-HT-mediated vasoconstriction and vasorelaxation before and after exposure to ERV. This will aid in the development of strategies for alleviating symptoms of sustained vasoconstriction that occur during fescue toxicosis in ruminants.
284 Supranutritional Mineral Supplementation During Pregnancy Alters Placental Blood Flow and Calf Mineral Concentrations
Authors: Ogg Makayla A , Marques Rodrigo S , Stratton Sidney , Dafoe Julia , Boss Darrin L , Sanford Carla , McCoski Sarah 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
Fetal development is dependent on maternal nutrient status, and the maternal-fetal connection is mediated by the placenta. There are well-established nutrient requirements for gestating cattle aimed at promoting the health of dam and fetus; however, there is limited information on the impact of supranutritional nutrient availability on placental function and calf development. This study evaluated the effect of supranutritional mineral administration during gestation on uterine artery blood flow and calf mineral status. Angus and SimAngus cows (n = 52) were bred via artificial insemination. At d 60 of gestation, cows were assigned to treatment groups; an injectable group (INJ, n = 26) receiving a single subcutaneous mineral injection and access to free-choice trace minerals and a control group (CON; n = 26) having access to free-choice trace minerals. Liver mineral content was analyzed in a subset of cows (CON n = 10; INJ n = 6) at d 60 and 209 ± 1 of gestation. At d 139.5 ± 0.5 and 209 ±1 of gestation, uterine artery measurements were collected using Color Doppler ultrasonography. Placental cotyledons, liver tissue, and blood samples were collected from a subset of animals at calving (n = 11; CON, n = 5; INJ, n = 6). Analysis revealed a TRT*day interaction at d 139.5 ± 0.5 for circulating Co concentrations which were greater (P = 0.05) and Se tended to be greater in INJ cows (P = 0.09) compared with CON cows. Circulating Zn concentrations tended to be decreased at d 209 ± 1 (P = 0.06) in INJ cows compared with the CON cows. Circulating Cu tended to be increased (P = 0.09) and Mn was decreased (P = 0.04) in INJ cows throughout the study. Hepatic Fe concentrations were decreased in INJ cows (P = 0.01) at d 209 ± 1. At d 139.5 ± 0.5, non-gravid uterine artery area, diameter, and circumference were increased in the INJ cows (P &lt; 0.006 ). Additionally, pulsatility index of the gravid uterine artery tended to be increased (P = 0.09) in the INJ cows. Blood and liver samples were collected from calves (CON n = 24; INJ n = 26) at 4 to 8 d post-calving to assess mineral concentrations. INJ calves had greater liver Se (P = 0.001), decreased Fe (P = 0.04), and tended to have increased Zn (P = 0.09) and Mn (P = 0.08) concentrations compared with CON calves. Finally, INJ calves tended to have greater serum Se concentrations (P = 0.09) compared with CON calves. Trace minerals have roles in immune function and impact overall calf health. These results indicate that supranutritional trace mineral administration during early gestation alters placental blood flow and improves calf mineral availability. This supplementation protocol may provide the opportunity to improve the health of future calf crops.
297 Evaluation of Semen Characteristics During Pubescent Maturation After Prenatally Induced Stress of Brahman Bulls
Authors: Willis Caleta , Ketchum Jaclyn N , Epperson Kaitlin M , Quail Lacey K , Guy Chloey P , Love Charles , Kerns Karl , Long Charles R , Randel Ronald D , Welsh Thomas H , Perry George A 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
The objective of this study was to determine if prenatal stress impacted semen characteristics during pubescent maturation of Brahman bulls (n = 23). Prenatal stress was achieved by transporting Brahman dams for 2 h on d 60, 80, 100, 120, and 140 (± 5 d) of gestation. Semen from sexually maturing males born to transported (PNS; n = 11) or non-transported (CON; n = 12) dams was classified based on motility and concentration as prepubertal (&lt; 10% and &lt; 50 million), peripubertal (≥ 10% or ≥ 50 million), pubertal (≥ 10% and ≥ 50 million), or sexually mature (≥ 30% or ≥ 500 million). Sperm characteristics were determined by staining sperm with specific dyes [viability - Propidium Iodide and SYBR-14; Mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) – JC-1; DNA damage – Aracidine orange; ROS –conversion of H2DCFDA to DCF and conversion of hydroethidine to ethidium] and analysis on an Amnis FlowSight flow cytometer. Treatment differences were tested by SAS procedures. Analysis of repeated measures (PROC MIXED) and chi-square (PROC FREQ) compared semen characteristics and percent pubertal versus mature, respectively. There was a weak tendency (P = 0.14) for more control bulls to reach puberty (100%) compared with PNS bulls (82%), but no difference (P = 1.0) in percentage reaching sexual maturity by 22 months of age (82% and 82%). Scrotal circumference (P &lt; 0.01) and motility [at collection (P &lt; 0.01) and post-thaw (P = 0.05)] increased as bulls matured but was not impacted by treatment (P &gt; 0.86) or treatment by time (P &gt; 0.60). Sperm viability (at collection, post-thawing, and post-stress test) was not impacted by treatment (P &gt; 0.20), time (P &gt; 0.53), or treatment by time (P &gt; 0.50). Proportion of viable sperm with high MMP was not impacted by treatment (P = 0.70) or treatment by time (P = 0.49), but was increased (P = 0.03) in early peripubertal collections compared with pubertal or mature collections. Proportion of sperm with damaged DNA was decreased in PNS (1.6 ± 0.3%; P = 0.04) versus CON (2.4 ± 0.2%) but not impacted by time (P = 0.47) or treatment by time (P = 0.41). Percentage of sperm with elevated ROS (H2O2 and •O2) was not impacted by treatment (P &gt; 0.33), time (P &gt; 0.17), or treatment by time (P &gt; 0.41). Prenatal stress tended to impact the proportion of bulls that reached puberty but had no impact on the percentage that reached sexual maturity by 22 months of age. Prenatal stress also impacted the proportion of sperm with DNA damage, but did not impact scrotal circumference, motility, MMP, or ROS. Stage of sexual maturity impacted scrotal circumference, motility, and MMP, but did not impact ROS. In summary, PNS may impact the ability to reach puberty, but did not impact sperm characteristics from prepuberty to sexual maturity.
294 KISS1 Knockout Boars Have Decreased Concentrations of Gonadotropins Leading to Smaller Testes and Reduced Skatole in Backfat
Authors: Ahern Daniel F , Florez Julio M , Martins Kyra , Huisman Abe , Sonstegard Tad S , White Brett R , Lents Clay A 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
In swine production, boars are castrated to prevent boar taint from testicular androgens and skatole accumulation in fat. Kisspeptin (KISS1) regulates secretion of gonadotropins and gonadal steroids. We used boars from our line of KISS1-/-pigs (10.3389/fgene.2022.1078991) to understand how loss of KISS1 function affects compounds causing boar taint. Boars were fed ad libitum during development. Body weights and testicular volume (TV) were collected at weaning, 40, 70, 100, 130, 160, and 190 d of age using TV = 4/3*π *a*b2*2 and subtracting scrotal skin thickness measured by a Harpenden skinfold caliper. Average daily gain (ADG) was calculated by subtracting the beginning from ending body weight at each age range and dividing by the number of days. At each age, a blood serum sample was collected by jugular venipuncture to quantify changes in hormones during development. Serum concentrations of luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and testosterone were quantified with radioimmunoassay and analyzed as repeated measures with genotype (KISS1+/+; KISS1+/-; KISS1-/-; n = 8 – 20 animals per genotype) and age as the fixed effects. Concentrations of androstenone and skatole in backfat (quantified using ELISA and HPLC, respectively) were log transformed and analyzed with ANOVA. Body weight did not differ among KISS1 genotypes but increased normally with age (P &lt; 0.0001). During development, KISS1+/+ and KISS1+/- boars grew at similar rates. Although the ADG of KISS1-/-boars was similar to other genotypes up to 160 d of age, ADG was reduced at 190 d of age (age x genotype; P &lt; 0.05). Mean concentrations of LH and FSH in KISS1+/+ and KISS1+/- boars were similar throughout development (LH, 1.16 ±0.11 and 1.34 ± 0.17 ng/mL; FSH, 0.88 ± 0.06 and 0.89 ± 0.05 ng/mL, respectively), and were greater than KISS1-/- boars (LH, 0.38 ± 0.23 ng/mL; FSH, 0.56 ± 0.07 ng/mL; P &lt; 0.05). TV of KISS1+/+ and KISS1+/- boars did not differ during development and was greater than KISS1-/- boars (P &lt; 0.05), for which testes could not be palpated after 100 d of age. Testosterone concentrations in KISS1+/+ and KISS1+/- increased 40-fold during development but were below detectable limits in KISS1-/- boars (age x genotype; P = 0.06). Androstenone and skatole in KISS1-/- boars (0.30 ± 1.24 µg/g and 12.6 ± 1.6 ng/g, respectively) at 190 d of age was less (P &lt; 0.0001) than in KISS1+/+ and KISS1+/- boars (androstenone, 4.33 ± 1.16 µg/g; skatole, 69.2 ± 1.2 ng/g), which did not differ from one another. Thus, a single functional allele of KISS1 is sufficient to confer normal secretion of reproductive hormones, testicular growth, and skatole in boars. Moreover, knocking out the KISS1 gene will prevent boar taint, but might slightly reduce growth in later stages of development.
29 The Role of Leptin and Its Regulation in the Hypothalamus of Neonatal Calves
Authors: Long Nathan , McCarty Keelee J 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
The constant occurrence of increased feed intake in offspring exposed to intrauterine growth restriction has been noted across multiple species including ruminants. In ruminants, reduced circulating leptin concentrations from birth through the first week or two of life may influence the development of the appetite center of the hypothalamus. It should able be noted that increased circulating cortisol at birth has been associated with this decreased circulating leptin in the perinatal ruminants, yet information is limited as to any cause and effect relationship between the two hormones. The objectives of these studies were to test directly the effects of exogenous cortisol on leptin concentrations relative to development of the hypothalamus in perinatal calves and voluntary feed intake as yearling. In two experiments, Holstein bulls (n = 27) and calves (n = 32 males; n = 30 females) from commercial Angus cows were assigned to treatments at parturition (day 0). Calves were intravenously infused with either a low cortisol [LC; n = 9, 3.5 ug/kg of body weight (BW)], high cortisol (HC; n = 9, 7.0 ug/kg BW), or a control (CON; n = 9, saline). Calves were administered a half dose of their respective treatment 24h postpartum. Jugular vein blood samples were collected before infusion and daily until d 17 or necropsy. At 5 days of age Holstein bull calves were euthanized where cerebral-spinal fluid (CSF) and hypothalamic tissue were collected. Serum and CSF leptin concentrations were analyzed via RIA. Neuronal growth factors were analyzed in hypothalamus samples via qRT-PCR. In experiment 2, yearling calves entered a GROWSAFE System and daily feed intake (FI) measured. Animals were allowed a two-week adjustment period to a growing ration for heifers and a finishing ration for steers. Heifer body condition scores (BCS) were collected at the beginning and end of the trial. Heifers underwent the feeding trial for 70 days and steers until they obtained a back fat (BF) thickness of 1.15 cm. Blood samples were analyzed similar to experiment 1. All data were analyzed via repeated measures using appropriate models of SAS (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC). Perinatal dairy bull calves had decreased (P &lt; 0.013) serum and CSF leptin concentrations of HC and LC calves compared with CON. Hypothalamic expression of BDNF, FGF1 and FGF2 were decreased (P &lt; 0.006) in HC and LC compared with CON. During the feeding trial: BW gain, BCS change, and number of feed events were increased (P = 0.001) in LC compared with HC and CON heifers. However, LC observed greater daily FI (P = 0.047) and tended to have greater final BW (P = 0.080) compared with HC and CON steers. In summary, these data support that exogenous cortisol administered to perinatal calves affects leptin production and the appetite center of the hypothalamus when administered during the neonatal period.
310 Investigating the Relationship Between Wildfire Smoke and Performance Metrics on Beef Cattle Through Bayesian Additive Regression Trees
Authors: Franco Arturo Macias , Silva Aghata , Brody Tio , Fonseca Mozart A 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
Identifying causal relationships on a large-scale system is highly complicated, and when not careful, statistical theories may be violated, and biological spurious claims generated. The causality between livestock health/performance and wildfire smoke has not been investigated. To critically evaluate the effects of wildfire, air quality data was obtained and validated with sensors (1.6 km from feedlot) before analyses. Herein, we examine the influence of environmental quality parameters effects on dry matter intake (DMI), body weight (BW), water intake (WI), and average daily gain (ADG) over a period of three years in Reno, Nevada. The datasets comprised represented controlled no-smoke exposure instances and days with air quality indexes (AQI) as high as 453 (hazardous). The dataset consisted of over 10,000 observations with daily mapping of WI, DMI, ADG, and BW. To evaluate the potential relationship between air quality and animal performance, variable tree length Bayesian additive regression trees (BART) were utilized to investigate the relationships between AQI, particulate matter (PM) 2.5 um and 10 um, NO2, SO2, ozone, and CO levels in the air were utilized as covariates for BART. All statistical analyses were performed on R Statistical Software (R Core Team 2022), with use of the bartMachine package. The correlation values (), 95 % confidence intervals (CI), root mean squared error (RMSE), and coefficient of determination (r2) are reported. A significant correlation was detected between the environmental parameters and BW, (= 0.863, CI = [0.849, 0.877], P &gt; 0.001, r2 = 0.75, RMSE = 51.27) with PM2.5 and PM10 being the most included parameters in the regression trees. For WI, correlation was also significant ( = 0.447, CI = [0.402, 0.490], P &lt; 0.001, r2 = 0.20, RMSE = 14.57), the most included variables on the regression trees were the 10-um particulate matter followed by the CO. For DMI (= 0.727, CI = [0.700, 0.752], r2 = 0.53, RMSE = 2.58) PM10 and AQI were the most important inclusion proportion parameters. Similarly, for ADG (= 0.354, CI = [0.305, 0.401], r2 = 13, RMSE = 1.60) with ozone and PM10 being the most included parameters. In conclusion, our results more carefully examine relationships between smoke parameters and livestock performance. Uncertainty of relationship estimates, and variable importance highlights how performance parameters are differently affected by different environmental parameters highlighting the need for experiments with controlled exposure through time.
309 Dairy Cow Response to Heat Stress Modeled with a System Dynamics Approach
Authors: Cresci Roberta , Balkan Busra Atamer , Tedeschi Luis O , Cannas Antonello , Atzori Alberto S 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
Modeling the individual animal response to heat stress (HS) conditions is challenging because of the complex interactions that characterize the system behavior. In explaining the resulting animal behavior, the dynamicity, nonlinearity, and delays in the HS response are often unaccounted for or misinterpreted. The system dynamics (SD) methodology, a mathematical modeling approach based on feedback loop structures, allows for modeling and understanding the behavior of complex systems over time. By applying SD methodology, this study developed a preliminary conceptual model to capture the cow response and observed milk yield (MY) under HS. The data on the temperature-humidity index (THI) and MY used for model development were collected from a dairy cattle farm in August 2021. The parameters related to the HS response of 20 selected cows were used for calibration and parameterization of the model. To minimize the effect of the lactation stage on milk production and model results, 20 cows were selected for days in milk (DIM) to be between 70 and 220 d. After the parameter calibration using MY data, it was found that the historical data pattern of 13 out of 20 cows followed the expected behavioral pattern generated by the model. In contrast, the behavior of the remaining seven cows did not align with that generated by the model. Therefore, based on their patterns, the cows were identified as fitting or non-fitting the model’s structure. The structure of the model captured the effect of HS on fitting cows with high accuracy (mean absolute percentage error, MAPE &lt; 5%; R2 &gt; 0.6; concordance correlation coefficient, CCC &gt; 0.6). At the same time, the behavior of the non-fitting cows could not be explained by the defined parameter space. We believe they either had heat-resistant behavior or experienced different biological delays than average. Based on the obtained results, the evaluation of parameter values should be done only for the fitting cows, as the work aimed to develop a model to understand the HS response. The behaviors generated by the model can help farmers and decision-makers distinguish heat-sensitive from heat-tolerant cows and quantify the animal response in terms of MY so that mitigation strategies can be implemented.
306 Shinyanimalcv: Interactive Web Application for Object Detection and Three-Dimensional Visualization of Animals Using Computer Vision
Authors: Wang Jin , Xiang Lirong , Morota Gota , Wickens Carissa , Cushon Emily , Brooks Samantha , Yu Haipeng 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
Precision livestock farming applies integrated sensors and information technology to provide individualized animal care in a timely manner. A computer vision system, a non-intrusive and cost-efficient sensor technology, may be useful for monitoring animals to support farm management decisions. While the advancement in camera sensors provides a great opportunity for producers to improve animal health and welfare sustainably, the limited availability of user-friendly image data processing software tools substantially hinders the implementation of computer vision in livestock production systems. The objective of this study was to develop ShinyAnimalCV, which is a Shiny-based interactive animal computer vision web application. This software tool offers a user-friendly graphical user interface for object detection and three-dimensional visualization. The object detection module employs the Mask-RCNN to precisely segment the masks (regions) of the focal animals from two-dimensional images. A Python-based computer vision library OpenCV was used to draw minimum bounding boxes covering the segmented masks for object detection. The three-dimensional visualization module takes the depth map file captured from a top-view three-dimensional camera as an input, which contains the numerical distances between the camera and the objects (animals and background). The depth map file was first converted to a heatmap image, followed by identifying and segmenting the animal from the background using the Mask-RCNN model. The object detection module returns detection results, including the detected animal’s location, class/type, and morphological traits (e.g., body length and width). The visualization module generates a segmented mask to extract the height of the animal from the depth map file, which can be used to interactively visualize the three-dimensional surface of the animal and estimate its morphological traits, including length, width, height, and volume. By integrating these two modules into R Shiny, we deployed ShinyAnimalCV on a cloud server with pre-trained Mask-RCNN models using pig and cattle data to allow users to upload custom data and perform object detection and three-dimensional surface visualization. The features extracted by ShinyAnimalCV are expected to be useful for performing animal identification, feed intake monitoring, body weight predictions, and body condition score estimations. We conclude that the newly developed ShinyAnimalCV could facilitate the application of computer vision in the animal science community.