| Records |
| Author |
Vitali, A.; Lana, E.; Amadori, M.; Bernabucci, U.; Nardone, A.; Lacetera, N. |
| Title |
Analysis of factors associated with mortality of heavy slaughter pigs during transport and lairage |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2014 |
Publication |
Journal of Animal Science |
Abbreviated Journal |
J. Anim. Sci. |
| Volume |
92 |
Issue |
11 |
Pages |
5134-5141 |
| Keywords |
Abattoirs/*statistics & numerical data; Animals; *Data Interpretation, Statistical; Humidity/adverse effects; Light/adverse effects; *Mortality; Retrospective Studies; Seasons; Swine/*physiology; Temperature; Time Factors; Transportation/*statistics & numerical data; lairage; mortality; pigs; temperature-humidity index; transport |
| Abstract |
The study was based on data collected during 5 yr (2003-2007) and was aimed at assessing the effects of the month, slaughter house of destination (differing for stocking density, openings, brightness, and cooling device types), length of the journey, and temperature-humidity index (THI) on mortality of heavy slaughter pigs (approximately 160 kg live weight) during transport and lairage. Data were obtained from 24,098 journeys and 3,676,153 pigs transported from 1,618 farms to 3 slaughter houses. Individual shipments were the unit of observation. The terms dead on arrival (DOA) and dead in pen (DIP) refer to pigs that died during transport and in lairage at the abattoir before slaughtering, respectively. These 2 variables were assessed as the dependent counts in separate univariate Poisson regressions. The independent variables assessed univariately in each set of regressions were month of shipment, slaughter house of destination, time traveled, and each combination of the month with the time traveled. Two separate piecewise regressions were done. One used DOA counts within THI levels over pigs transported as a dependent ratio and the second used DIP counts within THI levels over pigs from a transport kept in lairage as a dependent ratio. The THI was the sole independent variable in each case. The month with the greatest frequency of deaths was July with a risk ratio of 1.22 (confidence interval: 1.06-1.36; P < 0.05) and 1.27 (confidence interval: 1.06-1.51; P < 0.05) for DOA and DIP, respectively. The lower mortality risk ratios for DOA and DIP were recorded for January and March (P < 0.05). The aggregated data of the summer (June, July, and August) versus non-summer (January, March, September, and November) months showed a greater risk of pigs dying during the hot season when considering both transport and lairage (P < 0.05). The mortality risk ratio of DIP was lower at the slaughter house with the lowest stocking density (0.64 m(2)/100 kg live weight), large open windows on the roof and sidewalls, low brightness (40 lx) lights, and high-pressure sprinklers as cooling devices. The mortality risk ratio of DOA increased significantly for journeys longer than 2 h, whereas no relationship was found between length of transport and DIP. The piecewise analysis pointed out that 78.5 and 73.6 THI were the thresholds above which the mortality rate increased significantly for DOA and DIP, respectively. These results may help the pig industry to improve the welfare of heavy slaughter pigs during transport and lairage. |
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1525-3163 (Electronic) 0021-8812 (Linking) |
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LiveM, ft_macsur |
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MA @ admin @ |
Serial |
4641 |
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| Author |
Patil, R.H.; Laegdsmand, M.; Olesen, J.E.; Porter, J.R. |
| Title |
Soil temperature manipulation to study global warming effects in arable land: performance of buried heating-cable method |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2014 |
Publication |
Environment and Ecology Research |
Abbreviated Journal |
Environment and Ecology Research |
| Volume |
1 |
Issue |
4 |
Pages |
196-204 |
| Keywords |
Climate Change; Climate Manipulation; Soil Warming; Heating Cables; Soil Temperature; Agro-Ecosystems |
| Abstract |
Buried heating-cable method for manipulating soil temperature was designed and tested its performance in large concrete lysimeters grown with the wheat crop in Denmark. Soil temperature in heated plots was elevated by 5℃ compared with that in control by burying heating-cable at 0.1 m depth in a plough layer. Temperature sensors were placed at 0.05, 0.1 and 0.25 m depths in soil, and 0.1 m above the soil surface in all plots, which were connected to an automated data logger. Soil-warming setup was able to maintain a mean seasonal temperature difference of 5.0 ± 0.005℃ between heated and control plots at 0.1 m depth while the mean seasonal rise in soil temperature in the top 0.25 m depth (plough layer) was 3℃. Soil temperature in control plots froze (≤ 0℃) for 15 and 13 days respectively at 0.05 and 0.1 m depths while it did not in heated plots during the coldest period (Nov-Apr). This study clearly showed the efficacy of buried heating-cable technique in simulating soil temperature, and thus offers a simple, effective and alternative technique to study soil biogeochemical processes under warmer climates. This technique, however, decouples below-ground soil responses from that of above-ground vegetation response as this method heats only the soil. Therefore, using infrared heaters seems to represent natural climate warming (both air and soil) much more closely and may be used for future climate manipulation field studies. |
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CropM, ftnotmacsur |
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no |
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MA @ admin @ |
Serial |
4632 |
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García-López, J.; Lorite, I.J.; García-Ruiz, R.; Domínguez, J. |
| Title |
Evaluation of three simulation approaches for assessing yield of rainfed sunflower in a Mediterranean environment for climate change impact modelling |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2014 |
Publication |
Climatic Change |
Abbreviated Journal |
Clim. Change |
| Volume |
124 |
Issue |
1-2 |
Pages |
147-162 |
| Keywords |
winter-wheat; water-stress; irrigation management; high-temperature; oil quality; oilcrop-sun; crop model; responses; variability; growth |
| Abstract |
The determination of the impact of climate change on crop yield at a regional scale requires the development of new modelling methodologies able to generate accurate yield estimates with reduced available data. In this study, different simulation approaches for assessing yield have been evaluated. In addition to two well-known models (AquaCrop and Stewart function), a methodological proposal considering a simplified approach using an empirical model (SOM) has been included in the analysis. This empirical model was calibrated using rainfed sunflower experimental field data from three sites located in Andalusia, southern Spain, and validated using two additional locations, providing very satisfactory results compared with the other models with higher data requirements. Thus, only requiring weather data (accumulated rainfall from the beginning of the season fixed on September 1st, and maximum temperature during flowering) the approach accurately described the temporal and spatial yield variability observed (RMSE = 391 kg ha(-1)). The satisfactory results for assessing yield of sunflower under semi-arid conditions obtained in this study demonstrate the utility of empirical approaches with few data requirements, providing an excellent decision tool for climate change impact analyses at a regional scale, where available data is very limited. |
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0165-0009 1573-1480 |
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CropM |
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no |
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MA @ admin @ |
Serial |
4622 |
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Bertocchi, L.; Vitali, A.; Lacetera, N.; Nardone, A.; Varisco, G.; Bernabucci, U. |
| Title |
Seasonal variations in the composition of Holstein cow’s milk and temperature-humidity index relationship |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2014 |
Publication |
Animal |
Abbreviated Journal |
Animal |
| Volume |
8 |
Issue |
4 |
Pages |
667-674 |
| Keywords |
Animal Husbandry/*methods; Animals; Cattle/*physiology; Cell Count/veterinary; Dairying; Female; Hot Temperature; Humidity; Italy; Lactation/*physiology; Milk/cytology/*physiology; Retrospective Studies; Seasons |
| Abstract |
A retrospective study on seasonal variations in the characteristics of cow’s milk and temperature-humidity index (THI) relationship was conducted on bulk milk data collected from 2003 to 2009. The THI relationship study was carried out on 508 613 bulk milk data items recorded in 3328 dairy farms form the Lombardy region, Italy. Temperature and relative humidity data from 40 weather stations were used to calculate THI. Milk characteristics data referred to somatic cell count (SCC), total bacterial count (TBC), fat percentage (FA%) and protein percentage (PR%). Annual, seasonal and monthly variations in milk composition were evaluated on 656 064 data items recorded in 3727 dairy farms. The model highlighted a significant association between the year, season and month, and the parameters analysed (SCC, TBC, FA%, PR%). The summer season emerged as the most critical season. Of the summer months, July presented the most critical conditions for TBC, FA% and PR%, (52 054 ± 183 655, 3.73% ± 0.35% and 3.30% ± 0.15%, respectively), and August presented higher values of SCC (369 503 ± 228 377). Each milk record was linked to THI data calculated at the nearest weather station. The analysis demonstrated a positive correlation between THI and SCC and TBC, and indicated a significant change in the slope at 57.3 and 72.8 maximum THI, respectively. The model demonstrated a negative correlation between THI and FA% and PR% and provided breakpoints in the pattern at 50.2 and 65.2 maximum THI, respectively. The results of this study indicate the presence of critical climatic thresholds for bulk tank milk composition in dairy cows. Such indications could facilitate the adoption of heat management strategies, which may ensure the health and production of dairy cows and limit related economic losses. |
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1751-7311 |
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LiveM, ft_macsur |
Approved |
no |
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MA @ admin @ |
Serial |
4618 |
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Bernabucci, U.; Biffani, S.; Buggiotti, L.; Vitali, A.; Lacetera, N.; Nardone, A. |
| Title |
The effects of heat stress in Italian Holstein dairy cattle |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2014 |
Publication |
Journal of Dairy Science |
Abbreviated Journal |
J. Dairy Sci. |
| Volume |
97 |
Issue |
1 |
Pages |
471-486 |
| Keywords |
Animals; Breeding; Cattle; Dietary Fats/analysis; Dietary Proteins/analysis; Female; Genetic Variation; Heat Stress Disorders/*veterinary; *Hot Temperature; Humans; Humidity; *Lactation; Linear Models; Milk/chemistry; Parity; Phenotype; Weather; dairy cow; heritability; production trait; temperature-humidity index breaking point |
| Abstract |
The data set for this study comprised 1,488,474 test-day records for milk, fat, and protein yields and fat and protein percentages from 191,012 first-, second-, and third-parity Holstein cows from 484 farms. Data were collected from 2001 through 2007 and merged with meteorological data from 35 weather stations. A linear model (M1) was used to estimate the effects of the temperature-humidity index (THI) on production traits. Least squares means from M1 were used to detect the THI thresholds for milk production in all parities by using a 2-phase linear regression procedure (M2). A multiple-trait repeatability test-model (M3) was used to estimate variance components for all traits and a dummy regression variable (t) was defined to estimate the production decline caused by heat stress. Additionally, the estimated variance components and M3 were used to estimate traditional and heat-tolerance breeding values (estimated breeding values, EBV) for milk yield and protein percentages at parity 1. An analysis of data (M2) indicated that the daily THI at which milk production started to decline for the 3 parities and traits ranged from 65 to 76. These THI values can be achieved with different temperature/humidity combinations with a range of temperatures from 21 to 36°C and relative humidity values from 5 to 95%. The highest negative effect of THI was observed 4 d before test day over the 3 parities for all traits. The negative effect of THI on production traits indicates that first-parity cows are less sensitive to heat stress than multiparous cows. Over the parities, the general additive genetic variance decreased for protein content and increased for milk yield and fat and protein yield. Additive genetic variance for heat tolerance showed an increase from the first to third parity for milk, protein, and fat yield, and for protein percentage. Genetic correlations between general and heat stress effects were all unfavorable (from -0.24 to -0.56). Three EBV per trait were calculated for each cow and bull (traditional EBV, traditional EBV estimated with the inclusion of THI covariate effect, and heat tolerance EBV) and the rankings of EBV for 283 bulls born after 1985 with at least 50 daughters were compared. When THI was included in the model, the ranking for 17 and 32 bulls changed for milk yield and protein percentage, respectively. The heat tolerance genetic component is not negligible, suggesting that heat tolerance selection should be included in the selection objectives. |
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English |
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1525-3198 (Electronic) 0022-0302 (Linking) |
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LiveM, ft_macsur |
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no |
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MA @ admin @ |
Serial |
4617 |
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