Furnished cages for laying hens: study of the effects of group size and litter provision on laying location, zootechnical performance and egg quality

The furnished cage is a new housing system for layers. A current trend in furnished cage design is to increase group size and replace the litter box with a mat provided with litter. An experiment was set up to determine the effects of group size and litter provision on laying performance and egg quality of beak-trimmed ISA Brown hens housed in large furnished cages with more than 12 hens. Six treatments, each of 18 furnished cages (768 cm(2)/hen including nest and litter area) were compared in a 3 × 2 experimental trial: three group sizes (S20 (20 hens per cage), S40 (40) and S60 (60)), with or without feed as litter distributed on the mat of the litter area. The provision of facilities per hen was equal in all treatments. Mortality, laying rate, mean egg weight, feed intake and feed conversion ratio were unaffected by group size over the 53-week laying period, and performance exceeded the ISA production standards. The overall percentage of eggs laid in the nest exceeded 95% except that it was slightly lower in group S20 (92.0% ± 6.4% v. S40: 96.0% ± 3.3% and S60: 96.2% ± 2.7%) leading to a higher proportion of dirty eggs (S20: 1.6% ± 2.2%, S40: 1.4% ± 1.5%, S60: 1.0% ± 1.0%). At 66 to 70 weeks, eggs laid outside the nest had a slightly higher count of mesophilic bacteria on the eggshell (5.0 log CFU/egg ± 0.4) than those laid in the nest (4.8 log CFU/egg ± 0.5) but no difference in contamination was observed between group sizes. Litter provision had no effect on mortality, egg weight or egg quality traits except for a higher proportion of broken eggs in cages with litter (5.3% ± 6.2% v. 4.6% ± 5.7%). Providing hens with feed for litter was associated with a higher laying rate (97.3% ± 3.2% v. 94.8% ± 4.4% at 23 weeks) and an apparent improvement in feed efficiency at the beginning of the laying period (feed conversion ratio based on feed consumption at the trough: 2.18 ± 0.06 with litter v. 2.28 ± 0.09 without litter at 25 weeks). The results of this study showed that a high level of productivity and good egg quality could be obtained in large furnished cages. Further research is needed to assess the impact on hens' welfare and performance of using more economically competitive substrates than feed for litter.     

Effects of time-based feed restriction on morbidity,mortality, performance and meat quality of growing rabbits housed in collective systems

In rabbit farms, quantitative feed restriction in the post-weaning period is widely used with the aim of reducing the impact of digestive diseases, whereas less information is available about feed restriction strategies based on the reduction of access time to feeders in different housing systems. This study compared morbidity, mortality, growth performance, carcass characteristics and meat quality of 368 crossbred rabbits fed ad libitum (L) or subjected to a time-based feed restriction programme (R) and housed from 31 to 73 days of age in cages or pens with different dimensions and group sizes, that is, eight conventional cages (0.33 m², six rabbits/cage), eight small open-top pens (0.50 m², eight rabbits/pen), eight medium open-top pens (1.00 m², 16 rabbits/pen) and four large open-top pens (2.00 m², 32 rabbits/pen). Feed restriction was attained by progressively reducing the access time to feeders in the 1st week from 14 to 8 h/day, maintaining 8 h in the 2nd week and then by increasing access time by 1 h/day during the 3rd and 4th week up to 24 h/day. In the first 2 weeks, R rabbits showed a lower (P ≤ 0.001) daily weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion as compared with L rabbits. During the 3rd and 4th weeks, R rabbits exhibited a greater daily weight gain and better feed conversion (P ≤ 0.001). In the last 2 weeks of trial, daily weight gain tended (P = 0.06) to be greater in the R than L rabbits. In the whole trial, R rabbits manifested a lower daily weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion, as well as lower final live weight and the carcass dressing percentage at slaughter (0.05 ≤ P ≤ 0.01). During feed restriction, R rabbits did not show digestive problems, which, however, appeared in the following 2 weeks of refeeding. Thus, R rabbits had a higher health risk index in the whole trial as compared with L rabbits (P ≤ 0.05). The housing system did not affect growth performance, characteristics at slaughter, and carcass and meat quality. Mortality tended to increase with group size (P = 0.06). In conclusion, the time-based feed restriction significantly improved feed efficiency of growing rabbits housed collectively but had somewhat negative effects on characteristics at slaughter and on morbidity and mortality rate.     

Effects of context novelty vs. familiarity on latent inhibition with a conditioned taste aversion procedure

The latent inhibition phenomenon is observed when a conditioned stimulus is preexposed without any consequence before conditioning. The result of this manipulation is a reduction in conditioned response intensity to such a stimulus. In this study, we analyse the role of context novelty/familiarity on LI modulation by changing the context using a three-stage conditioned taste aversion procedure. Experiment 1 revealed that, similar to other learning procedures, a context change between preexposure and conditioning/testing (but not between preexposure/conditioning and testing) resulted in LI attenuation when the experimental contexts were novel. Experiment 2, using animals’ home cages as one of the contexts, revealed a different pattern of results, with an unexpected increase in LI magnitude when the context change was introduced between conditioning and test stages. The Schmajuk et al. (1996) computational model explains these results in terms of the increased novelty of the conditioned stimulus during preexposure, conditioning, and testing.     

Rational disruption of the oligomerization of the mini-ferritin E. coli DPS through protein-protein interface mutation

DNA-binding protein from starved cells (DPS), a mini-ferritin capable of self-assembling into a 12-meric nano-cage, was chosen as the basis for an alanine-shaving mutagenesis study to investigate the importance of key amino acid residues, located at symmetry-related protein-protein interfaces, in controlling protein stability and self-assembly. Nine mutants were designed through simple inspection, synthesized, and subjected to transmission electron microscopy, circular dichroism, size exclusion chromatography, and "virtual alanine scanning" computational analysis. The data indicate that many of these residues may be hot spot residues. Most remarkably, two residues, R83 and R133, were observed to shift the oligomerization state to ~50% dimer. Based on the hypothesis that these two residues constitute a "hot strip," located at the ferritin-like threefold axis, the double mutant was generated which completely shuts down detectable formation of 12-mer in solution, favoring a cooperatively folded dimer. The fact that this effect logically builds upon the single mutants emphasizes that complex self-assembly has the potential to be manipulated rationally. This study should have an impact on the fundamental understanding of the assembly of DPS protein cages specifically and protein quaternary structure in general. In addition, as there is much interest in applying these and similar systems to the templation of nano-materials and drug delivery, the ability to control this ferritin's oligomerization state and stability could prove especially valuable.     

Urinary and fecal immunoglobulin A, cortisol and 11-17 dioxoandrostanes, and serum cortisol in metabolic cage housed female cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis)

BACKGROUND AND METHODS: Quantitative enzyme-immunoassays of urinary and fecal immunoglobulin A (IgA), cortisol and 11-17-dioxoandrostanes (11,17-DOA), and serum cortisol in eight metabolic-cage-housed female cynomolgus monkeys were performed. The monkeys were divided into two groups, B and NB. Group B animals were blood sampled every 6 hours, whereas Group NB animals were not handled/blood sampled. RESULTS: No differences were recorded between the amounts of feces and urine excreted by the two groups. Group B animals excreted more urinary cortisol than did Group NB animals indicating that restraint-blood sampling resulted in a stress response. Excreted amounts of IgA and 11,17-DOA (urine and feces) did not differ between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: Urinary cortisol was a reliable marker of the stress associated with repeated blood sampling. Declining amounts of excreted urinary cortisol indicated that cynomolgus monkeys acclimated quickly to repeated blood sampling in metabolism cages. Within and between animal variation in amounts of feces voided demonstrated the importance of expressing fecal markers as 'amounts excreted per time unit per kg body weight' rather than just measuring the concentrations in fecal samples.     

多排螺旋CT对隐匿性肋骨骨折的诊断价值及最佳复查时间研究

目的:探讨多排螺旋CT对隐匿性肋骨骨折的诊断价值及最佳复查时间。方法:选取2017年7月到2018年7月期间在我院接受治疗的胸部外伤患者95例,在首次检查时均接受了X线平片和多排螺旋CT检查,比较首次检查时X线平片和多排螺旋CT的检出率,比较首次检查时X线平片和多排螺旋CT对不同类型骨折的诊断情况,比较各个时间段复查病例的肋骨骨折数与首次检查时的差异。结果:95例患者中最终86例确诊存在肋骨骨折,首次检查时多排螺旋CT的检出率为95.35%(82/86),高于X线平片的82.56%(71/86)(P0.05)。86例患者最终确定共存在骨折289处,首次检查时X线平片共检出246处,多排螺旋CT共检出274处,多排螺旋CT对线性骨折、凹陷性骨折的检出率高于X线平片(P0.05)。伤后11-20d、伤后41-50d、伤后51-60d的复查肋骨骨折数与首次检查肋骨骨折数比较无统计学差异(P0.05),伤后21-30d、伤后31-40d的复查肋骨骨折数高于首次检查肋骨骨折数(P0.05)。结论:多排螺旋CT对隐匿性肋骨骨折有较高的诊断价值,首次诊断时的检出率明显高于X线平片,伤后21-40d这个时间段是进行复查的较佳时间段,可获得较好效果。     

Attraction of the West Indian fruit fly to mango fruit volatiles

In this study, we investigated the attraction of West Indian fruit fly, Anastrepha obliqua (Macquart) (Diptera: Tephritidae), to volatiles of three mango [Mangifera indica L. (Anacardiaceae)] cultivars in field cage tests. The number of flies captured with Multilure traps baited with Amate mature green mangoes was significantly higher than that captured in traps baited with Coche and Ataulfo fruits. There was no significant difference between the number of flies captured in traps baited with Coche or Ataulfo mangoes. Gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry analysis of mango fruit volatiles identified 24, 22, and 19 compounds for Amate, Ataulfo, and Coche mango cultivars, respectively. A principal component analysis of the volatiles revealed that the Amate mango was more distant from the Ataulfo mango, and the latter cultivar was closer to the Coche mango. The compounds myrcene, α‐pinene, β‐selinene, and trans‐β‐ocimene were the most abundant in Amate mangoes, whereas 3‐carene, β‐selinene, terpinolene, and α‐pinene were the predominant compounds of Ataulfo cultivars. In the Coche mango, the predominant compounds were 3‐carene, β‐selinene, terpinolene, and limonene. Traps baited with a blend of myrcene, α‐pinene, and trans‐β‐ocimene captured more A. obliqua females and males than control traps. Flies were more attracted to the Super Q volatile extracts of Amate mango than to the three‐component blend formulated in a ratio of 1:1:1. However, there was no significant difference between the number of flies caught by traps baited with Amate mango extracts and that caught by traps baited with the three‐blend component when this was formulated according to the relative proportions in the mango extracts. Traps baited with myrcene, the major component, caught fewer flies than traps baited with Amate mango extracts.     

A comparative analysis of kinetic models of erythrocyte glycolysis

Since the 1970s, with Heinrich as a pioneer in the field, numerous kinetic models of erythrocyte glycolysis have been constructed. A functional comparison of eight of these models indicates that the production of ATP and GSH in the red blood cell is largely controlled by the demand reactions. The rate characteristics for the supply and demand blocks indicate a good homeostatic control of ATP and GSH concentrations at different work loads for the pathway, while the production rates of ATP and GSH can be adjusted as needed by the demand reactions.     

Quantification of age-related shape change of the human rib cage through geometric morphometrics

The aim of this study is to quantify patterns of age-related shape change in the human thorax using Procrustes superimposition. Landmarks (n=106) selected from anonymized computed tomography (CT) scans of 63 adult males free of skeletal pathology were used to describe the form of the rib cage. Multivariate linear regression was used to determine a relationship between landmark location and age. Linear and quadratic models were also investigated. A permutation test employing 1×10⁵ random trials was used to assess the model significance for both model formulations. Linear relationships between the centroid size (CS) of a landmark set and the corresponding individual's height, weight, and BMI were conducted to enable scaling of the dimensionless results from the Procrustes analysis. A significance level of =0.05 was used for all tests. The average age of the study subjects was 57.0±17.3 years. Complete landmark sets were obtained from most of the scans (44 of 63). The quadratic relationship between the age and landmark location was found to be significant (p=0.037), thereby establishing a relationship between the age and thoracic shape change. The linear relationship was mildly significant as well (p=0.073). Significant relationships between the centroid size of the dataset and subject weight, height and BMI were determined, with the best-correlated value being weight (p=0.002, R²=0.22). Landmark datasets calculated using the quadratic model exhibited shape change consistent with the clinical observations (increasing kyphosis and rounding of the thoracic cage). Procrustes superimposition represents a potential improvement in the approach used to generate computational models for injury biomechanics studies. The coefficients from the quadratic model are provided and can be used to generate the complete set of model landmark data points at a given age.     

Morphological study of the anthropoid thoracic cage: scaling of thoracic width and an analysis of rib curvature

While a relatively broad thorax and strongly curved ribs are widely regarded as common features of living hominoids, few studies have quantitatively examined these traits by methods other than calculating the chest index. The present study aims to quantify variations in thoracic cage morphology for living anthropoids. The odd-numbered ribs (first to eleventh) were articulated with the corresponding vertebrae and the cranial and lateral views subsequently photographed. Rib profiles were digitized in both views and line-fitted by a Bézier curve to create a three-dimensional morphological data set. When thoracic cage width was scaled against body mass, Hylobates (and possibly Pongo) plotted above non-hominoid anthropoids at almost all rib levels, while Pan did not differ from non-hominoid anthropoids. The overall pattern of the normalized thoracic width differed between Hylobates and other hominoids. In Hylobates, an upward convex curve was seen between the first and seventh ribs while a more linear pattern was observed in Pan and Pongo. This result quantitatively confirmed that the barrel-shaped thoracic cage in Hylobates can be distinguished from the funnel-shaped form in other hominoids. Conversely, all hominoids shared two distinct features in the upper half-thorax: (1) a pronounced dorsal protrusion of the proximal part of the rib in accordance with ventral displacement of the thoracic spine and (2) a relatively medially projecting sternal end. Although these features are likely to provide some mechanical advantage in orthograde and/or suspensory positional behaviors, they were barely present in the suspensory Ateles. An erratum to this article can be found at