Suitability of cross-bred cows for organic farms based on cross-breeding effects on production and functional traits

Data from 113 Dutch organic farms were analysed to determine the effect of cross-breeding on production and functional traits. In total, data on 33 788 lactations between January 2003 and February 2009 from 15 015 cows were available. Holstein–Friesian pure-bred cows produced most kg of milk in 305 days, but with the lowest percentages of fat and protein of all pure-bred cows in the data set. Cross-breeding Holstein dairy cows with other breeds (Brown Swiss, Dutch Friesian, Groningen White Headed, Jersey, Meuse Rhine Yssel, Montbéliarde or Fleckvieh) decreased milk production, but improved fertility and udder health in most cross-bred animals. In most breeds, heterosis had a significant effect (P < 0.05) on milk (kg in 305 days), fat and protein-corrected milk production (kg in 305 days) and calving interval (CI) in the favourable direction (i.e. more milk, shorter CI), but unfavourably for somatic cell count (higher cell count). Recombination was unfavourable for the milk production traits, but favourable for the functional traits (fertility and udder health). Farm characteristics, like soil type or housing system, affected the regression coefficients on breed components significantly. The effect of the Holstein breed on milk yield was twice as large in cubicle housing as in other housing systems. Jerseys had a negative effect on fertility only on farms on sandy soils. Hence, breed effects differ across farming systems in the organic farming and farmers can use such information to dovetail their farming system with the type of cow they use.     

Application of Artificial Bee Colony Algorithm to Maximum Likelihood DOA Estimation

Maximum Likelihood (ML) method has an excellent performance for Direction-Of-Arrival (DOA) estimation, but a multidimensional nonlinear solution search is required which complicates the computation and prevents the method from practical use. To reduce the high computational burden of ML method and make it more suitable to engineering applications, we apply the Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) algorithm to maximize the likelihood function for DOA estimation. As a recently proposed bio-inspired computing algorithm, ABC algorithm is originally used to optimize multivariable functions by imitating the behavior of bee colony finding excellent nectar sources in the nature environment. It offers an excellent alternative to the conventional methods in ML-DOA estimation. The performance of ABC-based ML and other popular meta-heuristic-based ML methods for DOA estimation are compared for various scenarios of convergence, Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR), and number of iterations. The computation loads of ABC-based ML and the conventional ML methods for DOA estimation are also investigated. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed ABC based method is more efficient in computation and statistical performance than other ML-based DOA estimation methods.     

Impacts of cage culture on physico-chemical and bacteriological water quality in Lake Volta,Ghana

The effects of cage fish farming on physico-chemical and bacteriological water quality in Lake Volta, Ghana, were investigated in 2013–2014. Farmed and unfarmed (control) areas of the lake were selected for monitoring. Nutrients, temperature, dissolved oxygen, conductivity, turbidity, pH, total coliforms, Pseudomonas and Vibrio spp. in the water were monitored monthly. Analyses of the water samples were carried out according to standard procedures. Physico-chemical quality of the water in both farm and control sites were within ranges typical of minimally impacted water and did not vary significantly between the two contrasting sites. The bacteriological analysis, however, revealed contamination of the lake water by fish farming. The bacterial counts at the farmed sites were significantly higher (p < 0.05) than those of the control sites, with figures at the farmed sites ranging from 132 to 1 708 cfu 100 ml?1 for total coliforms, 514 to 5 170 cfu 100 ml?1 Pseudomonas spp. and 14 to 516 cfu 100 ml?1 for Vibrio spp. The results suggested that cage fish farming has increased bacterial loads in the lake water, but has had minimal impact on its physico-chemical quality.     

Review: Milking robot utilization,a successful precision livestock farming evolution

Automatic milking systems (AMS), one of the earliest precision livestock farming developments, have revolutionized dairy farming around the world. While robots control the milking process, there have also been numerous changes to how the whole farm system is managed. Milking is no longer performed in defined sessions; rather, the cow can now choose when to be milked in AMS, allowing milking to be distributed throughout a 24 h period. Despite this ability, there has been little attention given to milking robot utilization across 24 h. In order to formulate relevant research questions and improve farm AMS management there is a need to determine the current knowledge gaps regarding the distribution of robot utilization. Feed, animal and management factors and their interplay on levels of milking robot utilization across 24 h for both indoor and pasture-based systems are here reviewed. The impact of the timing, type and quantity of feed offered and their interaction with the distance of feed from the parlour; herd social dynamics, climate and various other management factors on robot utilization through 24 h are provided. This novel review draws together both the opportunities and challenges that exist for farm management to use these factors to improved system efficiency and those that exist for further research.     

Lipid droplets formation in human endothelial cells in response to polyunsaturated fatty acids and 1‐methyl‐nicotinamide (MNA); confocal Raman imaging and fluorescence microscopy studies

In this work the formation of lipid droplets (LDs) in human endothelial cells culture in response to the uptake of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) was studied. Additionally, an effect of 1‐methylnicotinamide (MNA) on the process of LDs formation was investigated. LDs have been previously described structurally and to some degree biochemically, however neither the precise function of LDs nor the factors responsible for LD induction have been clarified. Lipid droplets, sometimes referred in the literature as lipid bodies are organelles known to regulate neutrophil, eosinophil, or tumor cell functions but their presence and function in the endothelium is largely unexplored. 3D linear Raman spectroscopy was used to study LDs formation in vitro in a single endothelial cell. The method provides information about distribution and size of LDs as well as their composition. The incubation of endothelial cells with various PUFAs resulted in formation of LDs. As a complementary method for LDs identification a fluorescence microscopy was applied. Fluorescence measurements confirmed the Raman results suggesting endothelial cells uptake of PUFAs and subsequent LDs formation in the cytoplasm of the endothelium. Furthermore, MNA seem to potentiate intracellular uptake of PUFAs to the endothelium that may bear physiological and pharmacological significance.

Confocal Raman imaging of HAoEC cell with LDs.     

Grazing effects on plant diversity in the endemic Erica mackayana heathland community of north-west Spain

Background: Large areas of heathland landscapes in Galicia, north-west Spain, have traditionally been extensively grazed by free-ranging cattle and wild ponies. Recently, a large reduction in the number of these larger herbivores has been observed, with unknown consequences for the habitat.

Aims: To evaluate the effects of grazing and herbivore density on plant diversity, community composition and vegetation structure of the endemic wet heathlands dominated by Erica mackayana in Galicia.

Methods: Field sampling of vascular plants, generalised linear models (GLMs), non-metric multidimensional distance scaling (NMDS).

Results: Grazed sites had significantly higher total and rare species richness and diversity than ungrazed sites. Higher densities of cattle resulted in lower numbers of rare species, while wild pony density had no effect on rare species richness. In grazed sites, vegetation was lower with greater variation in height, resulting in greater heterogeneity of the habitat. Precipitation and summer temperatures were related to plant diversity, mainly beta diversity. Soil organic matter negatively correlated with rare species.

Discussion: Grazing, mostly by wild ponies, was demonstrated to be positively related to plant diversity and vegetation structure. Lack of grazing or high cattle densities resulted in a negative effect on total and rare species richness and diversity. Future climate change may negatively affect heathland plant diversity. Galician wild ponies represent a unique case of sustainable management of a wild species and an invaluable cultural heritage. Moreover, they have a significant role in maintaining the endemic E. mackayana heathlands, what would justify specific conservation actions for these large herbivores.     

Polyclonal antibodies for specific detection of tobacco host cell proteins can be efficiently generated following RuBisCO depletion and the removal of endotoxins

The production of biopharmaceutical proteins in plants requires efficient downstream processing steps that remove impurities such as host cell proteins (HCPs) and adventitious endotoxins produced by bacteria during transient expression. We therefore strived to develop effective routines for endotoxin removal from plant extracts and the subsequent use of the extracts to generate antibodies detecting a broad set of HCPs. At first, we depleted the superabundant protein ribulose‐1,5‐bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RuBisCO) for which PEG precipitation achieved the best results, preventing a dominant immune reaction against this protein. We found that a mixture of sera from rabbits immunized with pre‐depleted or post‐depleted extracts detected more HCPs than the individual sera used alone. We also developed a powerful endotoxin removal procedure using Polymyxin B for extracts from wild type plants or a combination of fiber‐flow filtration and EndoTrap Blue for tobacco plants infiltrated with Agrobacterium tumefaciens. The antibodies we generated will be useful for quality and performance assessment in future process development and the methods we present can easily be transferred to other expression systems rendering them useful in the field of plant molecular farming.     

Into the deep: the functionality of mesopelagic excursions by an oceanic apex predator

Comprehension of ecological processes in marine animals requires information regarding dynamic vertical habitat use. While many pelagic predators primarily associate with epipelagic waters, some species routinely dive beyond the deep scattering layer. Actuation for exploiting these aphotic habitats remains largely unknown. Recent telemetry data from oceanic whitetip sharks (Carcharhinus longimanus) in the Atlantic show a strong association with warm waters (>20°C) less than 200 m. Yet, individuals regularly exhibit excursions into the meso‐ and bathypelagic zone. In order to examine deep‐diving behavior in oceanic whitetip sharks, we physically recovered 16 pop‐up satellite archival tags and analyzed the high‐resolution depth and temperature data. Diving behavior was evaluated in the context of plausible functional behavior hypotheses including interactive behaviors, energy conservation, thermoregulation, navigation, and foraging. Mesopelagic excursions (n = 610) occurred throughout the entire migratory circuit in all individuals, with no indication of site specificity. Six depth‐versus‐time descent and ascent profiles were identified. Descent profile shapes showed little association with examined environmental variables. Contrastingly, ascent profile shapes were related to environmental factors and appear to represent unique behavioral responses to abiotic conditions present at the dive apex. However, environmental conditions may not be the sole factors influencing ascents, as ascent mode may be linked to intentional behaviors. While dive functionality remains unconfirmed, our study suggests that mesopelagic excursions relate to active foraging behavior or navigation. Dive timing, prey constituents, and dive shape support foraging as the most viable hypothesis for mesopelagic excursions, indicating that the oceanic whitetip shark may regularly survey extreme environments (deep depths, low temperatures) as a foraging strategy. At the apex of these deep‐water excursions, sharks exhibit a variable behavioral response, perhaps, indicating the presence or absence of prey.     

Genetic evidence for prevalence of alloparental care in a socially monogamous biparental cichlid fish,Perissodus microlepis,from Lake Tanganyika supports the “selfish shepherd effect” hypothesis

Alloparental care – care for unrelated young – is rare in animals, and its ecological or evolutionary advantages or, alternative maladaptive nature, remain unclear. We investigate alloparental care in the socially monogamous cichlid fish Perissodus microlepis from Lake Tanganyika that exhibits bi‐parental care. In a genetic parentage analysis, we discovered a surprisingly high percentage of alloparental care represented by brood mixing, extra‐pair paternity and extra‐pair maternity in all broods that we investigated. The percentage of nondescendant juveniles of other parents, i.e., brood mixing, ranged from 5% to 57% (mean = 28%). The distribution of genetic parentage also suggests that this socially monogamous species has, in fact, polygamous mating system. The prevalence of genetically mixed broods can be best explained by two, not mutually exclusive hypotheses on farming‐out and fostering behaviors. In the majority of broods, the sizes of the parents’ own (descendant) offspring were significantly larger than those of the adopted (nondescendant) juveniles, supporting the ‘selfish shepherd effect’ hypothesis, i.e., that foster parents preferentially accept unrelated “smaller or not larger” young since this would tend to lower the predation risks for their own larger offspring. There was also a tendency for larger parents particularly mothers, more so than smaller parents, to care predominantly for their own offspring. Larger parents might be better at defending against cuckoldry and having foreign young dumped into their broods through farming‐out behavior. This result might argue for maladaptive effects of allopatric care for the foster parents that only larger and possibly more experienced pairs can guard against. It needs to be determined why, apparently, the ability to recognize one's own young has not evolved in this species.