Effect of concentrate percentage on ruminal pH and time-budget in dairy goats

The aim of this study was to compare rumen pH and time-budget in eight mid-lactation goats receiving two diets in a cross-over design (low-concentrate diet (L): 30% and high-concentrate diet (H): 60% concentrate). Feeding H increased daily intake (4.3 ± 0.08% v. 4.7 ± 0.08% of body weight for L and H, respectively) and daily milk production (3.01 ± 0.130 v. 3.50 ± 0.130 kg/day of 3.5% fat-corrected milk for L and H, respectively). It decreased milk fat and inverted the fat-to-protein ratio (1.07 ± 0.054 v. 0.94 ± 0.054 for L and H, respectively). As suggested by the percentage of time spent with rumen pH below 6.0 (23.4 ± 6.60% v. 39.9 ± 5.88% for L and H, respectively), H was more acidogenic than L. When offered H instead of L, goats spent less time eating (298 ± 17.5 v. 265 ± 17.5 min for L and H, respectively) and ruminating (521 ± 21.0 v. 421 ± 21.0 min for L and H, respectively) but more time resting (352 ± 27.1 v. 459 ± 21.1 min for L and H, respectively) over a 24-h period. They also tended to spend more time drinking (20 ± 2.9 v. 25 ± 2.9 min for L and H, respectively; P = 0.08) when offered H rather than L. These differences in activities were mainly observed during the first hours following feeding. When offered H, goats adapted their feeding behaviour around the feedings, which allowed them to limit the physiological disturbances potentially inducible by H and to increase milk production, without experiencing too much acidosis.     

Screening for Tannin Degradation by Rumen and Faecal Samples of Wild and Domestic Animals in Ethiopia

Summary Tannins limit the use of fodder trees as feed for ruminants. Removal of the effects of tannins would thus improve the nutritional quality of these trees. This prompted the study to evaluate the effect of rumen or faecal mixed cultures from different animals on tannin degradation. Tannin extracts, tannic acid and gallic acid were used to enrich media to assess if rumen or faecal mixed cultures could degrade the phenolic compounds. Rumen fluid of Acacia-adapted sheep, sheep fed on wheat bran, bush duikers (Sylvicapra grimmia) and goats fed on Leucaena pallida and Sesbania goetzei were separately inoculated into Growth Study Medium (GSM) and incubated for 5-15 days. Faecal samples from dikdik (Madoqua guentheri), camel (Camelus dromedarius), zebra (Equus quagga), Grant’s gazelle (Gazella granti) and hartebeest (Alcelaphus buselaphus) were also separately inoculated into GSM media and incubated from 3-5 days. TLC results showed that mixed cultures from rumen fluids of Acacia-adapted sheep, sheep on wheat bran, goats on Leucaena pallida and Sesbania goetzei partially hydrolysed tannic acid to pyrogallol. Complete degradation of the heterocyclic ring in tannic acid and gallic acid was achieved by the mixed cultures from the faecal samples of dikdik and this was confirmed by HPLC. Mixed cultures from faecal samples of camel hydrolysed gallic acid to phloroglucinol. This study has demonstrated that faecal microorganisms of Ethiopian dikdik could completely degrade hydrolysable tannin.     

Regulation of carnitine status in ruminants and efficacy of carnitine supplementation on performance and health aspects of ruminant livestock: a review

Carnitine has long been known to play a critical role for energy metabolism. Due to this, a large number of studies have been carried out to investigate the potential of supplemental carnitine in improving performance of livestock animals including ruminants, with however largely inconsistent results. An important issue that has to be considered when using carnitine as a feed additive is that the efficacy of supplemental carnitine is probably dependent on the animal’s carnitine status, which is affected by endogenous carnitine synthesis, carnitine uptake from the gastrointestinal tract and carnitine excretion. The present review aims to summarise the current knowledge of the regulation of carnitine status and carnitine homeostasis in ruminants, and comprehensively evaluate the efficacy of carnitine supplementation on performance and/or health in ruminant livestock by comparing the outcomes of studies with carnitine supplementation in dairy cattle, growing and finishing cattle and sheep. While most of the studies show that supplemental carnitine, even in ruminally unprotected form, is bioavailable in ruminants, its effect on either milk or growth performance is largely disappointing. However, supplemental carnitine appears to be a useful strategy to offer protection against ammonia toxicity caused by consumption of high levels of non-protein N or forages with high levels of soluble N both, in cattle and sheep.     

Charge Generation and Recombination in an Organic Solar Cell with Low Energetic Offsets

Organic bulk heterojunction (BHJ) solar cells require energetic offsets between the donor and acceptor to obtain high short‐circuit currents (J_SC) and fill factors (FF). However, it is necessary to reduce the energetic offsets to achieve high open‐circuit voltages (V_OC). Recently, reports have highlighted BHJ blends that are pushing at the accepted limits of energetic offsets necessary for high efficiency. Unfortunately, most of these BHJs have modest FF values. How the energetic offset impacts the solar cell characteristics thus remains poorly understood. Here, a comprehensive characterization of the losses in a polymer:fullerene BHJ blend, PIPCP:phenyl‐C61‐butyric acid methyl ester (PC₆₁BM), that achieves a high V_OC (0.9 V) with very low energy losses (E_loss = 0.52 eV) from the energy of absorbed photons, a respectable J_SC (13 mA cm^?2), but a limited FF (54%) is reported. Despite the low energetic offset, the system does not suffer from field‐dependent generation and instead it is characterized by very fast nongeminate recombination and the presence of shallow traps. The charge‐carrier losses are attributed to suboptimal morphology due to high miscibility between PIPCP and PC₆₁BM. These results hold promise that given the appropriate morphology, the J_SC, V_OC, and FF can all be improved, even with very low energetic offsets.     

Innate immunity and metabolomic responses in dairy cows challenged intramammarily with lipopolysaccharide after subacute ruminal acidosis

Subacute ruminal acidosis (SARA) is a prevalent metabolic disorder in dairy cows known to elicit local and systemic immune responses. We recently showed that cows experiencing SARA and challenged intramammarily with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) experienced stronger metabolic disturbances compared with cows without SARA. Therefore, we hypothesized that cows experiencing SARA have a modulated innate immune response and impaired plasma metabolome compared with healthy cows when experiencing an acute mastitis challenge. A total of 18 Simmental cows were subjected either to a Control (CON, n=6) or SARA (n=12) feeding regimen, receiving either 40% or 60% concentrates for 30 days. Thereafter, six SARA (SARA-LPS) and the CON (CON-LPS) cows were intramammarily challenged with 50 µg LPS from Escherichia coli (O26 : B6), while the remaining six SARA cows (SARA-PLA) received a placebo. Blood and milk samples were analyzed for acute phase proteins and a targeted ESI-LC-MS/MS-based metabolomics approach was performed in blood samples 24 h after the LPS challenge. The LPS infusion caused a strong increase in immune response variables, with a higher concentration of milk amyloid A 48 h after the LPS challenge in SARA-LPS compared with CON-LPS cows. Cows receiving the LPS infusion had a lower plasma concentration of several amino acids and lysophosphatidylcholines but without differences in SARA cows and healthy cows. In conclusion, our results revealed that an intramammary LPS infusion increased acute phase proteins and modulated the blood metabolome. While no systemic differences between SARA and healthy cows were observed, cows experiencing SARA showed a higher concentration of an acute phase protein at the local level of the mammary gland. Further research is required to elucidate the underlying mechanisms and to evaluate its clinical significance for udder health.     

Biochanin A improves fibre fermentation by cellulolytic bacteria

Aims

The objective was to determine the effect of the isoflavone biochanin A (BCA) on rumen cellulolytic bacteria and consequent fermentative activity.

Methods and Results

When bovine microbial rumen cell suspensions (n = 3) were incubated (24 h, 39°C) with ground hay, cellulolytic bacteria proliferated, short‐chain fatty acids were produced and pH declined. BCA (30 μg ml^?1) had no effect on the number of cellulolytic bacteria or pH, but increased acetate, propionate and total SCFA production. Addition of BCA improved total digestibility when cell suspensions (n = 3) were incubated (48 h, 39°C) with ground hay, Avicel, or filter paper. Fibrobacter succinogenes S85, Ruminococcus flavefaciens 8 and Ruminococcus albus 8 were directly inhibited by BCA. Synergistic antimicrobial activity was observed with BCA and heat killed cultures of cellulolytic bacteria, but the effects were species dependent.

Conclusions

These results indicate that BCA improves fibre degradation by influencing cellulolytic bacteria competition and guild composition.

Significance and Impact of the Study

BCA could serve as a feed additive to improve cellulosis when cattle are consuming high‐fibre diets. Future research is needed to evaluate the effect of BCA on fibre degradation and utilization in vivo.     

Rumen Ciliate Fauna of Alaskan Moose (Alces americana), Musk-Ox (Ovibos moschatus) and Dall Mountain Sheep (Ovis dalli)*

Total numbers, generic distribution and percentage species distribution were determined for the ciliate protozoa in rumen contents obtained from Alaskan moose (Alces americana), musk-ox (Ovibos moschatus) and Dall mountain sheep (Ovis dalli). The musk-ox has a fauna somewhat similar to that previously observed in reindeer and caribou. In contrast, only protozoa in the genus Entodinium were observed in moose, while Dall mountain sheep have a fauna unique among Alaskan ruminants studied to date. Other than Entodinium exiguum which was common to all animals, only 2 additional species of Entodinium, observed in the moose and musk-ox, occurred in more than one animal species. Four new species of protozoa are described, Entodinium dalli sp.n., Entodinium constrictum sp.n. and Polyplastron alaskum sp.n. from the Dall mountain sheep and Entodinium alces sp.n. from moose.     

Effect of variety and harvest date on nutritive value and ruminal degradability of ensiled maize ears

The nutritive value of whole crop forage maize is influenced by the proportion of ears and stover in the whole crop and by the nutrient composition and digestibility characteristics of the plant parts. An experiment investigating the impact of variety, harvest date and year on the nutritive value of ensiled maize ears was carried out in three consecutive years (2007, 2008 and 2010). Nine different maize varieties were harvested at three different maturity stages (50, 55 and 60% dry matter (DM) content in the ears). After harvest, ears and stover were ensiled separately and afterwards nutrient composition and ruminal nutrient degradability (organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP) and non-fibre carbohydrates (NFC)) were analysed. Variety had a significant influence on content of CP and effective ruminal degradability (ED) of OM at low passage rates, whereas ED of CP and NFC was not affected by variety. In contrast, harvest date and year significantly influenced nutrient composition and ruminal degradability of ensiled maize ears. The content of NFC increased and the content of fibre components as well as ED of OM, CP and NFC declined with processing maturity of the maize plants. At a passage rate of 5% h^?1, ED of OM declined from 75.9% to 68.4%, ED of CP from 82.5% to 73.8% and ED of NFC from 88.0% to 82.3% between the early and late harvest date. The results of this study indicate that the nutrient composition and ruminal degradability of ensiled maize ears are affected mainly by maturity stage at harvest and by year, whereas variety has only little influence.     

Thiophene Rings Improve the Device Performance of Conjugated Polymers in Polymer Solar Cells with Thick Active Layers

Developing novel materials that tolerate thickness variations of the active layer is critical to further enhance the efficiency of polymer solar cells and enable large‐scale manufacturing. Presently, only a few polymers afford high efficiencies at active layer thickness exceeding 200 nm and molecular design guidelines for developing successful materials are lacking. It is thus highly desirable to identify structural factors that determine the performance of semiconducting conjugated polymers in thick‐film polymer solar cells. Here, it is demonstrated that thiophene rings, introduced in the backbone of alternating donor–acceptor type conjugated polymers, enhance the fill factor and overall efficiency for thick (>200 nm) solar cells. For a series of fluorinated semiconducting polymers derived from electron‐rich benzo[1,2‐b:4,5‐b′]dithiophene units and electron‐deficient 5,6‐difluorobenzo[2,1,3]thiazole units a steady increase of the fill factor and power conversion efficiency is found when introducing thiophene rings between the donor and acceptor units. The increased performance is a synergistic result of an enhanced hole mobility and a suppressed bimolecular charge recombination, which is attributed to more favorable polymer chain packing and finer phase separation.