Fermented liquid feed for pigs: an ancient technique for the future

Fermented liquid feed is feed that has been mixed with water at a ratio ranging from 1:1.5 to 1:4. By mixing with water, lactic acid bacteria and yeasts naturally occurring in the feed proliferate and produce lactic acid, acetic acid and ethanol which reduces the pH of the mixture. This reduction in pH inhibits pathogenic organisms from developing in the feed. In addition, when this low pH mixture is fed, it reduces the pH in the stomach of pigs and prevents the proliferation of pathogens such as coliforms and Salmonella in the gastrointestinal tract. For piglets, the use of fermented liquid feed offers the possibility of simultaneously providing feed and water, which may facilitate an easier transition from sow’s milk to solid feed. Secondly, offering properly produced fermented liquid feed may strengthen the role of the stomach as the first line of defense against possible pathogenic infections by lowering the pH in the gastrointestinal tract thereby helping to exclude enteropathogens. Finally, feeding fermented liquid feed to pigs has been shown to improve the performance of suckling pigs, weaner pigs and growing-finishing pigs. In this review, current knowledge about the use of fermented liquid feed in pig diets will be discussed. This will include a discussion of the desirable properties of fermented liquid feed and factors affecting fermentation. In addition, advantages and disadvantages of fermented liquid feed will be discussed including its effects on gastrointestinal health, intestinal pH and the types of bacteria found in the gastrointestinal tract as well as the effects of fermented liquid feeds on pig performance.     

Local Control of Microdomain Orientation in Diblock Copolymer Thin Films with Electric Fields

Local control of the domain orientation in diblock copolymer thin films can be obtained by the application of electric fields on micrometer-length scales. Thin films of an asymmetric polystyrene-polymethylmethacrylate diblock copolymer, with cylindrical polymethylmethacrylate microdomains, were spin-coated onto substrates previously patterned with planar electrodes. The substrates, 100-nanometer-thick silicon nitride membranes, allow direct observation of the electrodes and the copolymer domain structure by transmission electron microscopy. The cylinders aligned parallel to the electric field lines for fields exceeding 30 kilovolts per centimeter, after annealing at 250°C in an inert atmosphere for 24 hours. This technique could find application in nanostructure fabrication.     

Effects of Growth Hormone on In Situ Culture of Bovine Preantral Follicles are Dose Dependent

The objective of this study was to evaluate different concentrations of growth hormone (GH) on the development of bovine preantral follicles cultured included in the ovarian tissue (in situ) on the rates of morphologically normal, viable, primordial and developing follicles, as well as the oocyte and follicle diameter and ultrastructural analysis. Ovarian fragments collected from cows with no cross‐breeds defined were cultured in situ for 1 and 7 days in minimal essential medium (α‐MEM+) supplemented with different concentrations of recombinant human GH (0, 10, 25, 50 ng/ml). The ovarian fragments non‐cultured (control) and cultured were processed for classic histology, mechanical isolation and electron transmission microscopy (MET). The parameters underwent anova (Tukey′s and Dunnett′s tests) and chi‐square test (χ²). After 7 days of culture, the treatment with 50 ng/ml GH showed no differences with fresh control (p > 0.05) and had greater effectiveness than in the 0, 10 and 25 ng/ml GH concentrations of the morphologically normal follicles. Regarding the primordial follicles, a reduction was observed in the 50 ng/ml GH concentration concomitant with the significant increase in developing follicles, differing from both the fresh control and the other GH concentrations tested. In addition, 50 ng/ml GH showed a larger follicle and oocyte diameter when compared to the other treatments cultured. Similar structures were ultrastructurally observed in the control group, 50 ng/ml GH. Follicles cultured in 10 ng/ml GH showed nuclear invagination, vacuoles and lesioned basal membrane. Hence, it is concluded that 50 ng/ml GH is the most effective concentration for the development of preantral follicles cultured in situ.     

Integrating practical, regulatory and ethical strategies for enhancing farm animal welfare

OBJECTIVE: To provide an integrated view of relationships between assessment of animal welfare. societal expectations regarding animal welfare standards, the need for regulation, and two ethical strategies for promoting animal welfare, emphasising farm animals. APPROACH: Ideas in relevant papers and key insights were outlined and illustrated, where appropriate, by New Zealand experience with different facets of the welfare management of farm animals. CONCLUSIONS: An animal's welfare is good when its nutritional, environmental, health, behavioural and mental needs are met. Compromise may occur in one or more of these areas and is assessed by scientifically-informed best judgement using parameters validated by directed research and objective analysis in clinical and practical settings. There is a wide range of perceptions of what constitutes good and bad welfare in society, so that animal welfare standards cannot be left to individual preferences to determine. Rather, the promotion of animal welfare is seen as requiring central regulation, but managed in a way that allows for adjustments based on new scientific knowledge of animals' needs and changing societal perceptions of what is acceptable and unacceptable treatment of animals. Concepts of 'minimal welfare', representing the threshold of cruelty, and 'acceptable welfare', representing higher, more acceptable standards than those that merely avoid cruelty, are outlined. They are relevant to economic analyses, which deal with determinants of animal welfare standards based on financial costs and the desire of the public to feel broadly comfortable about the treatment of the animals that are used to serve their needs. Ethical strategies for promoting animal welfare can be divided broadly into the 'gold standard' approach and the 'incremental improvement' approach. The first defines the ideal that is to be required in a particular situation and will accept nothing less than that ideal, whereas the second aims to improve welfare in a step-wise fashion by setting a series of achievable goals, seeing each small advance as worthwhile progress towards the same ideal. 'Incremental improvement' is preferred. This also has application in veterinary practice where the professional commitment to maintain good welfare standards may at times conflict with financial constraints experienced by clients.     

Can the Genetic Origin Affect Rabbit Seminal Plasma Protein Profile along the Year?

The study was designed to evaluate the influence of genetic origin on rabbit seminal plasma protein profile variation along the year. Seminal plasma of rabbits from line A (maternal line) and R (paternal line) collected during a natural year was subjected to polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS‐PAGE). The electrophoretic profile of rabbit seminal plasma resulted in multiple protein bands of different intensity ranging from 9 to 240 kDa. Results showed that seven protein bands were significantly different between genetic lines, and among these, three protein bands were significantly different between seasons. The differentially expressed proteins were identified by MALDI‐TOF/TOF or LC‐MS/MS analysis and were the following ones: FAM115E‐like (220, 113 and 59 kDa), ectonucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolase 3 isoform X2 (72 kDa), annexin A5 (32 kDa), lipocalin allergen Ory c 4 precursor (19 kDa), and haemoglobin subunit zetalike (13 kDa) between genetic lines and FAM115E‐like (113 kDa), haemoglobin subunit zetalike (13 kDa) and β‐nerve growth factor (12 kDa) between seasons. These results indicate that proteins from rabbit seminal plasma are under both seasonal control and genetic control. Furthermore, the differential presence of these proteins could be one of the causes explaining the differences observed in fertility and seminal parameters between these two lines in earlier studies.     

蘑菇废弃菌棒及其与猪粪混合发酵对沼气产量及质量的影响

为了研究厌氧消化过程中日产气量、累计产气量和甲烷含量随厌氧消化时间的变化规律,在中温35℃±1℃条件下,采用批式单相厌氧消化工艺,分别用香菇、杏鲍菇和平菇废弃菌棒与猪粪混合发酵。结果表明,蘑菇菌棒具有很好的产气潜力,其中香菇菌棒TS产气量最高,为142.9mL.g-1,平均产气量664.1mL.d-1,杏鲍菇菌棒所产气体甲烷含量最高,平均63.8%;添加猪粪调节蘑菇菌棒C/N至25/1,对香菇菌棒前期严重酸化现象起到了很好的缓冲作用,使香菇菌棒、杏鲍菇菌棒和平菇菌棒累计产气量较单一物料分别提高了131.5%、97.9%和79.9%。研究结论为:香菇、杏鲍菇和平菇废弃菌棒均具有良好的产气潜力;添加猪粪能显著提高蘑菇菌棒累计产气量,同时提高香菇菌棒甲烷含量,降低杏鲍菇菌棒甲烷含量,对平菇菌棒甲烷含量影响不大。     

Activated coagulation times in normal cats and dogs using MAX-ACTTM tubes

Objective  To establish reference values for activated coagulation time (ACT) in normal cats and dogs, by visual assessment of clot formation using the MAX-ACT^TM tube.
Subjects  We recruited 43 cats and 50 dogs for the study; 11 cats and 4 dogs were excluded from the statistical analysis because of abnormalities on clinical examination or laboratory testing including anaemia, prolonged prothrombin time (PT) or activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), or insufficient plasma volume for comprehensive laboratory coagulation testing.
Procedure  Blood samples were collected via direct venipuncture for MAX-ACT, packed cell volume/total solids, manual platelet estimation and PT/APTT measurement. Blood (0.5 mL) was mixed gently in the MAX-ACT tube at 37°C for 30 s, then assessed for clot formation every 5 to 10 s by tipping the tube gently on its side and monitoring for magnet movement. The endpoint was defined as the magnet lodging in the clot. The technique was tested with 10 dogs by collecting two blood samples from the same needle insertion and running a MAX-ACT on each simultaneously.
Results  In normal cats the mean MAX-ACT was 66 s (range 55–85 s). In normal dogs the mean was 71 s (range 55–80 s). There was no statistical difference between the first and second samples collected from the same needle insertion.
Conclusions and Clinical Relevance  In both cats and dogs, a MAX-ACT result >85 s should be considered abnormal and further coagulation testing should be performed. Additionally, failure to discard the first few drops of the sample does not appear to significantly affect results.