Loser cows in Danish dairy herds: definition, prevalence and consequences

During the last few years, many Danish dairy farmers have expressed increasing concerns regarding a group of cows, which we have chosen to term ‘loser cows’. Until now, a loser cow has not been described scientifically. We defined a loser cow on the basis of a clinical examination of the cow. A total of 15,151 clinical examinations were made on 6,451 individual cows from 39 randomly selected, large Danish dairy herds with loose-housing systems using a clinical protocol. Scores for the clinical signs lameness, body condition, hock lesions, other cutaneous lesions, vaginal discharge, condition of hair coat and general condition were converted into a loser cow score. Cows with a loser cow score of 8 or more were classified as loser cows. The overall prevalence of loser cows was 2.15%, 4.50% and 2.98% during the first, second and third round of herd visits, respectively.

The associations between the loser cow state and milk production, mortality, morbidity, culling and workload for the farmer were evaluated using data from herd visits and from the Danish Cattle Database and a number of different statistical techniques. It was concluded that the loser cow state has significant negative consequences for both the farmer and the cow. On average, loser cows yielded 0.61 to 2.24 kg energy corrected milk less per day than non-loser cows depending on parity. Hazard ratio for death or euthanasia was 5.69 for loser cows compared to non-loser cows. Incidence rate ratio for disease treatments was 0.69 for non-loser cows compared to loser cows. Loser cows were often culled in an ‘unfavourable’ way and generally caused extra workload for the farmer.

A simplified version of the loser cow score was evaluated and is recommended for future research and use in practice.     

Quinone Binding Sites of Membrane Proteins as Targets for Inhibitors

Quinones are a central component of most photosynthetic and respiratory electron transfer chains. The proteins that reduce and oxidise these quinones have quinone binding sites—Q sites—that are good targets for pesticides. This paper reviews the diversity of these sites, their possible structure, and the types of compounds that act upon them.     

Artificial Diet Influences Population Growth of the Root Maggot Bradysia impatiens (Diptera: Sciaridae)

In order to investigate the effects of artificial diets on the population growth of root maggot Bradysia impatiens, its population growth parameters were assayed on eight artificial diets (Diet 1, D2, D3, D4, D5, D6, D7, and D8). Results showed that developmental duration from egg to pupa was successfully completed on all eight artificial diets. However, the egg to pupal duration was shortest, while the survival rate of four insect stages was lowest when B. impatiens was reared on D1. When B. impatiens was reared on D7 and D8, the survival rate, female longevity, and female oviposition were higher than those reared on other diets. When B. impatiens was reared on D7, the intrinsic rate of increase (r_m = 0.19/d), net reproductive rate (R₀ = 39.88 offspring per individual), and finite rate of increase (λ = 1.21/d) were higher for its population growth with shorter generation time (T = 19.49 d) and doubling time (Dt = 3.67 d). The findings indicate that the D7 artificial diet is more appropriate for the biological parameters of B. impatiens and can be used an indoor breeding food for population expansion as well as further research. We propose that vitamin C supplement added to the D7 is critical for the improvement of the B. impatiens growth.     

Breaching the black box: The role of ramps in Thai sustainable palm oil certification

Certification of sustainable palm oil as organised through the Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil is based on a simplified understanding of the global palm oil value chain – according to which instructions about production practices can be directly translated from the palm oil mill to the primary producer. The reality of palm oil provision is much more complex than this as is shown in the case of Thailand. On the basis of qualitative field study in Southern Thailand this paper clarifies that intermediary stages, such as the collection of oil palm fruit bunches at the ramp, play a key role in the organisation of the chain. The fluidity and complexity of the palm oil flow at the local level complicates the promotion of sustainability through certification. Global and national stakeholders, such as processing and trading firms, non‐governmental organisations and national governments, should therefore open this black box of local dynamics to more effectively contribute to sustainability in palm oil supply.     

Improved detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and M. bovis in African wildlife samples using cationic peptide decontamination and mycobacterial culture supplementation

In South Africa, mycobacterial culture is regarded as the gold standard for the detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) infection in wildlife even though it is regarded as “imperfect.” We compared a novel decontamination and mycobacterial culture technique (TiKa) to the conventional mycobacterium growth indicator tube (MGIT) system using known amounts of bacilli and clinical samples from MTBC-infected African buffaloes (Syncerus caffer), white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum), and African elephants (Loxodonta africana). Use of the TiKa-KiC decontamination agent on samples spiked with 10,000 to 10 colony forming units (cfu) of M. bovis (SB0121) and M. tuberculosis (H37Rv) had no effect on isolate recovery in culture. In contrast, decontamination with MGIT MycoPrep resulted in no growth of M. bovis samples at concentrations < 1,000 cfu and M. tuberculosis samples < 100 cfu. Subsequently, we used the TiKa system with stored clinical samples (various lymphatic tissues) collected from wildlife and paucibacillary bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, trunk washes, and endotracheal tube washes from 3 species with known MTBC infections. Overall, MTBC recovery by culture was improved significantly (p < 0.01) by using TiKa compared to conventional MGIT, with 54 of 57 positive specimens versus 25 of 57 positive specimens, respectively. The TiKa mycobacterial growth system appears to significantly enhance the recovery of MTBC members from tissue and paucibacillary respiratory samples collected from African buffaloes, African elephants, and white rhinoceros. Moreover, the TiKa system may improve success of MTBC culture from various sample types previously deemed unculturable from other species.     

Characterization of an Insoluble and Soluble Form of Melanin Produced by Streptomyces cavourensis SV 21, a Sea Cucumber Associated Bacterium

Melanin is a widely distributed and striking dark-colored pigment produced by countless living organisms. Although a wide range of bioactivities have been recognized, there are still major constraints in using melanin for biotechnological applications such as its fragmentary known chemical structure and its insolubility in inorganic and organic solvents. In this study, a bacterial culture of Streptomyces cavourensis SV 21 produced two distinct forms of melanin: (1) a particulate, insoluble form as well as (2) a rarely observed water-soluble form. The here presented novel, acid-free purification protocol of purified particulate melanin (PPM) and purified dissolved melanin (PDM) represents the basis for an in-depth comparison of their physicochemical and biological properties, which were compared to the traditional acid-based precipitation of melanin (AM) and to a synthetic melanin standard (SM). Our data show that the differences in solubility between PDM and PPM in aqueous solutions may be a result of different adjoining cation species, since the soluble PDM polymer is largely composed of Mg²⁺ ions and the insoluble PPM is dominated by Ca²⁺ ions. Furthermore, AM shared most properties with SM, which is likely attributed to a similar, acid-based production protocol. The here presented gentler approach of purifying melanin facilitates a new perspective of an intact form of soluble and insoluble melanin that is less chemical altered and thus closer to its original biological form.