Changes in Blood and Semen Quality of Bulls after Artificial Infection with Mycoplasma wenyonii

[目的]验证温氏枝原体对种公牛血液和精液品质的影响。[方法]将10头健康的鲁西黄牛的种公牛随机分成2组,试验组分别于试验当天和第28天静脉注射温氏枝原体,从临床症状、血液涂片镜检、血液生理生化、精液品质和阴囊变化等方面,综合评价温氏枝原体对种公牛的影响。[结果]除个别指标外,试验组临床检查基本正常,未出现明显的血液和精液品质异常。[结论]该研究表明人工感染温氏枝原体对种公牛毒力较低,致病性不强,对血液和精液品质无明显异常。     

Temporal response of circulating metabolites and hormones during somatotropin treatment of growing pigs.

Temporal responses in the circulating concentrations of a number of intermediary metabolites and metabolic hormones were studied in chronically catheterized barrows (n = 4 per treatment) after either daily i.m. injection of porcine somatotropin (pST, 120 micrograms/kg of BW) or excipient. Blood sampling (every 1 or 2 h) began 24 h before the first injection (d 0) and continued until the end of d 2. Sampling was repeated on d 7 of treatment. Feed intake declined by d 3 in the pST-treated pigs and was 31% lower by d 7 of treatment (P less than .05). Blood glucose and plasma insulin concentrations began to increase about 3 h after the first pST injection, almost returning to preinjection levels before the next injection. By the end of d 2, circulating levels of glucose and insulin were higher in pST-treated pigs than in the controls. A temporal pattern of hyperglycemia and hyperinsulinemia was observed postinjection on each day of treatment. Although pST treatment did not chronically increase basal plasma concentrations of nonesterified fatty acids and glycerol, both metabolites exhibited transient postinjection elevations, the magnitudes of which were augmented by duration of treatment. Plasma urea nitrogen concentrations began to decrease within a few hours after the first pST injection and by d 7 were 70% (P less than .01) lower in the pST-treated pigs. A model is presented implicating pST-induced decreases in peripheral tissue insulin sensitivity and(or) responsiveness in the observed temporal responses in lipid and carbohydrate metabolism.     

The Effect of Bovine Growth Hormone on Growth,Carcass Composition and Meat Quality of Dairy Heifers

Abstract

Our objective was to examine the effects of bovine growth hormone (bGH) on growth, carcass composition and meat quality of dairy heifers. Nine monozygotic twin pairs of Friesian or Red Danish cattle were used, and pair-fed à diet consisting of grass silage, barley and soybean meal. Within each pair, one animal was given daily subcutaneous injections of 20 IU of pituitary-derived bGH (15–20 mg), while the other animal was injected with saline (excipient). Treatments started at 179±2 kg body weight and lasted for 15.6 weeks. At slaughter, carcass composition and meat quality were analyzed. bGH treatment increased gain by 8% (948 vs. 877 g/d; P <0.03). The amount of saleable meat in carcass and lean content of four main carcass cuts were on average increased by 2% (P <0.05). Concomitantly, carcass fat trim was reduced by 12% (P <0.001), fat trim of individual cuts by 4–21% (P <0.05), and kidney fat by 13% (P <0.01). Except for a 20% reduction of intramuscular fat content (P <0.001), meat quality assessed by objective as well as subjective methods was unaffected by bGH treatment. In summary, bGH treatment of dairy heifers around puberty stimulated growth and reduced carcass fattening including intramuscular fat, while eating quality of the meat was unaffected.     

北京地区旱稻作物需水与降水的耦合分析

基于4a的田间试验资料,采用农田水分平衡法确定了旱稻出苗后各生育阶段的需水量;利用1971年-2000年北京地区逐日降水资料,计算了旱稻各生育阶段在不同降水保证率下的降水量,并选取25％、50％、75％和95％保证率作为典型的湿润年、平水年、干旱年和极枯水年,进行旱稻各生育阶段降水与作物需水的耦合度分析和补灌量估算。结果表明：旱稻出苗后总需水量平均为596.1 mm,需水强度平均为4.3 mm/d,需水强度峰值出现在孕穗-抽穗阶段。4种降水年型下旱稻出苗后降水和旱稻需水的耦合度分别为0.82、0.71、0.50和0.39,所需的补灌量分别为106.6、171.1、296.0和363.9 mm。     

Effect of bovine somatotropin and food deprivation on β-adrenergic and A1 adenosine receptor binding in adipose tissue of lactating cows

Lactating Holstein cows were used to assess the effect of bovine somatotropin (bST; n = 8) and fasting (FAST; n = 4) on ligand binding to β-adrenergic (BAR) and TYP e-1 adenosine (A₁R) receptors in adipose tissue. Cows received exogenous bST (sometribove; 40 mg/d) or no hormone (control) for 4 d in a single-reversal design with a 7-d interval between treatment periods. Subcutaneous adipose tissue biopsies were taken on day 4 of each treatment. Eight d after the bST regimen, 4 cows were fasted for 3 d and adipose biopsies were taken. Ligand binding was quantified with a postnuclear, total adipose tissue membrane preparation (100,000 × g pellet). Binding to BAR and A₁R was assessed with the antagonists [¹²⁵I]iodocyanopindolol (ICP) and [³H]8-cyclopentyl-1,3-dipropylxanthine (DCPCX), respectively. The binding affinity (K_d) of BAR for ICP was not affected by bST but was enhanced by FAST; maximal binding (B_max) was increased with bST treatment (P < 0.06) and reduced by FAST (61%, P < 0.01). K_d values for DCPCX binding to A₁R were not changed by bST or FAST. bST did not affect B_max for A₁R; however, FAST reduced the B_max by 38%. Data highlight the differential regulation of BAR and A₁R by bST and FAST.     

Sickness, mortality and the buller steer syndrome in a western Canadian feedlot

Objective To determine if an association existed between sickness, mortality and bullers in a western Canadian feedlot.
Design A retrospective epidemiological study.
Animals 78,445 male cattle that entered a 24,000-head feedlot in western Canada from 1991 to 1993.
Procedure Animal health records for bullers were collected and analysed to see if they were at greater risk of sickness and mortality than other steers, and to see if pens with a high prevalence of bullers also had a high prevalence of sickness and mortality.
Results The prevalence of bullers increased with increasing age of cattle on arrival at the feedlot (R = 0.36; P < 0.001). Sickness and mortality decreased with increasing age of cattle on arrival. However, sickness and mortality in bullers relative to other steers actually increased with increasing age on arrival suggesting an interaction existed between sickness and bullers. Bullers were significantly (P < 0.05) more likely to get sick and to die than other steers. In all cases, there was a strong temporal association between sickness and bullers, with sickness and bullers mostly occurring within the first 30 days of the feeding period. On average, pens of cattle with a high prevalence of bullers did not have a correspondingly high prevalence of sickness or mortality.
Conclusion This study suggests that sickness is an effect modifier of dominance behaviour and therefore bullers in feedlot steers. Bullers should always be checked for signs of sickness and treated accordingly. Further research is needed to investigate the effects of sickness on dominance behaviour in pens of feedlot cattle.     

Evaluation of interference by insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) binding proteins in a radioimmunoassay for IGF-I in serum from dairy cows.

Insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) circulates in serum bound to a number of different binding proteins (BPs). With antibodies currently available, BPs must be dissociated and inactivated or removed from serum prior to measurement of IGF-I by radioimmunoassay (RIA). Serum samples which spanned a 13-fold range in IGF-I concentration were obtained from lactating dairy cows and used to develop conditions for assay of IGF-I with minimal interference from BPs. Removal of BPs from serum by acid-ethanol extraction resulted in interference in the RIA. Therefore, serum was incubated with 0.1 M glycyl-glycine HCl to inactivate BPs as suggested by Underwood et al. Time, temperature and pH were optimum when serum was incubated for 48 hr at 37 C, pH 3.7. Binding protein inactivation was evaluated by ability of glycyl-glycine incubated serum to reassociate with 125I-IGF-I. In addition, BPs isolated by gel filtration of glycyl-glycine incubated serum were tested for interference in the RIA. The concentration of IGF-I in serum where inactivated BPs were removed by acid gel filtration was compared to corresponding glycyl-glycine incubated serum. There was a 1:1 relationship which intersected at zero indicating that total IGF-I could be measured. Therefore, incubation of serum with glycyl-glycine is a reliable method for measuring total IGF-I in serum from dairy cows.