Search

Long-term selection on production results in increased environmental sensitivity. This often is expressed through decreased fertility and increased health problems. The phenomenon has been described in all common farm animal species. One theory is that potential resource intake is insufficient to express production potential. Additional resources are drawn away from fitness-related traits, such as fertility and health, to further increase observed production. In addition, resources for maintaining fitness depend on the demands by the environment. In a harsh environment, more resources are required for fitness-related traits than in an optimal environment. Literature results show that selection in an optimal environment will increase sensitivity to less optimal environments. The objectives of this paper were to increase understanding of the underlying mechanism behind the development of environmental sensitivity and to gain insight into correlated response(s) when selection is on observed production. A resource allocation model was defined where observed production depended on production potential, resource intake potential, and the allocation of resources to production or fitness, including maintenance, health, and reproduction. Penalties for reproductive performance and probability of survival were included when the proportion of resources assigned to fitness dropped below a certain, environment-related, threshold. Mass selection was practiced on observed production during 40 generations using stochastic simulation. Depending on the heritabilities of the underlying components and on the environment, selection on observed production resulted in a decrease in reproductive rate and in the development of environmental sensitivity when resource intake becomes limiting. Correlations of observed production with underlying components changed across generations, following a nonlinear pattern. The proposed model is simple, but increases the understanding of underlying mechanisms and consequences of selection for production when resources are limiting.

High yielding dairy cows experience a negative energy balance (NEB) shortly after parturition, which is accompanied by high concentrations of non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) in blood up to approximately 3 weeks post partum. We hypothesized that the elevated plasma NEFA concentration causes lower fertility by exerting negative effects on grarnulosa cells and oocytes in the ovary, leading to less viable embryos and insufficient corpora lutea. In two series of experiments, we studied the effects of a realistic NEFA (C18:1) concentration on both the proliferation and the progesterone production of follicular granulosa cells in vitro (part I) and on maturation, fertilization and developmental potential of oocytes (part II). For part I, granulosa cells were added to 4 groups of dishes with four different media and cultured for nine consecutive days. After a preculture period of 42 h, the presence of NEFA had a negative effect on the proliferation of granulosa cells. No effect of NEFA on the amount of progesterone production per cell was observed. For part II, a total of 1804 cumulus-oocyte-complexes were collected from slaughterhouse ovaries. Using a subgroup of 690 COC, maturation medium with NEFA caused a delay in maturation. Using another 1114 COC, fertilization, cleavage, and embryonic development after maturation in presence of NEFA were significantly reduced. We concluded that the presence of NEFA in follicular fluid and blood of postpartum cows may reduce fertility due to hampered embryonic development and subnormal CL function. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

International audience; The mean monthly shortwave (SW) radiation budget at the top of atmosphere (TOA) was computed on 2.5° longitude-latitude resolution for the 14-year period from 1984 to 1997, using a radiative transfer model with long-term climatological data from the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP-D2) supplemented by data from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction ? National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP-NCAR) Global Reanalysis project, and other global data bases such as TIROS Operational Vertical Sounder (TOVS) and Global Aerosol Data Set (GADS). The model radiative fluxes at TOA were validated against Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) S4 scanner satellite data (1985?1989). The model is able to predict the seasonal and geographical variation of SW TOA fluxes. On a mean annual and global basis, the model is in very good agreement with ERBE, overestimating the outgoing SW radiation at TOA (OSR) by 0.93 Wm-2 (or by 0.92%), within the ERBE uncertainties. At pixel level, the OSR differences between model and ERBE are mostly within ±10 Wm-2, with ±5 Wm-2 over extended regions, while there exist some geographic areas with differences of up to 40 Wm-2, associated with uncertainties in cloud properties and surface albedo. The 14-year average model results give a planetary albedo equal to 29.6% and a TOA OSR flux of 101.2 Wm-2. A significant linearly decreasing trend in OSR and planetary albedo was found, equal to 2.3 Wm-2 and 0.6% (in absolute values), respectively, over the 14-year period (from January 1984 to December 1997), indicating an increasing solar planetary warming. This planetary SW radiative heating occurs in the tropical and sub-tropical areas (20° S?20° N), with clouds being the most likely cause. The computed global mean OSR anomaly ranges within ±4 Wm-2, with signals from El Niño and La Niña events or Pinatubo eruption, whereas significant negative OSR anomalies, starting from year 1992, are also detected.

Obesity is frequently associated with leptin resistance. The present study investigated whether leptin resistance in rats is present before obesity develops, and thus could underlie obesity induced by 16 wk exposure to a liquid, palatable, high-energy diet (HED). Before HED exposure, male Wistar rats ( weighing between 330 and 360 g) received intravenous infusions of 20 mug leptin 2 h before dark (similar to57 mug/kg rat). Relative to saline infusion, this caused a highly variable effect on food intake ( ranging between -94 and + 129%), with food intake suppression that appeared negatively correlated with HED-induced increases in body weight gain, caloric intake, adiposity, and plasma leptin levels. In contrast, leptin's thermogenic response was positively correlated to body weight gain linked to weights of viscera, but not to adiposity. Before HED exposure, leptin unexpectedly increased food intake in some rats (fi +, n = 8), whereas others displayed the normal reduction in food intake ( fi +, n = 7). HED-exposed fi + rats had higher plasma leptin levels, retroperitoneal fat pad weight, HED intake, and body weight gain than fi - and chow-fed rats. These parameters were also higher in HED-exposed fi - rats relative to chow rats, except for plasma leptin concentrations. It is concluded that leptin's reduced efficacy to suppress food intake could predict obesity on an HED. An unexpected orexigenic effect of leptin might potentially contribute to this as well.

International audience; This review addresses the suggestion that the decline in dairy reproductive performance, as increasingly observed these days, may be due to a hampered process of metabolic adaptation in early lactating cows. In our opinion, adaptation to the negative energy balance is a gradual process. Because almost all cows do adapt in the long run, it is not possible to classify animals as adapted or non-adapted. The use of risk factors is more appropriate in this case and is discussed in this review. Among them are the body condition score and its derivatives, feed intake, the calculated negative energy balance, and metabolic parameters like the plasma concentration of insulin or the triacylglycerol content in the liver. Moreover, factors that play a role in the link between declined reproductive performance and the metabolic situation of the cow during the early lactating period are discussed. Among these are insulin, insulin-like growth factors, leptin, neuropeptide Y, non-esterified fatty acids, thyroïd hormones, urea, and ammonia.

International audience; Leptin is a hormone produced by adipocytes, and its expression is regulated by body fatness and energy balance. This study describes the association of four leptin gene polymorphisms in dairy cows (R4C, A59V, RFLP1, and BM1500) with circulating leptin concentrations during the periparturient period. A59V is located at a between-species conserved region of leptin, and R4C might have effect on the tertiary structure of the leptin protein because of the presence of an extra cystein. RFLP1 is an intronic SNP and BM1500 is a microsatellite located 3.6 kb downstream of the leptin locus. The four polymorphisms were genotyped in 323 HF heifers with known pedigree. Leptin concentrations were determined biweekly from 30 days before until 80 days after parturition. The effect of genotype on leptin concentrations was modeled by fitting a spline in ASREML describing leptin concentrations as a function of days relative to parturition for each genotype/allele. Surprisingly, associations were found during pregnancy, but not during lactation. This indicates that the polymorphism could be more effective during pregnancy. If further studies demonstrate that more leptin-binding protein (Ob-Re) is present in this stage, it is hypothesized that a structural difference in the leptin protein could cause a sub-optimal binding stringency to Ob-Re. Free leptin could be cleared faster than bound leptin, and this could result in lower leptin concentrations during pregnancy for the polymorphism. The effects found might be ascribed to R4C. However, more study on the Ob-Re receptor, like binding stringencies between R4C and wild-type leptin and glycosylation during pregnancy, would provide more insight in the results found.

The aim of this field study was to investigate whether the incidence of cystic ovarian disease (COD) in dairy cows was related to milk production parameters (milk yield, milk fat and protein) in early lactation with special emphasis on the negative energy balance (NEB). The diagnosis of COD was made by rectal palpation performed by veterinarians experienced in gynaecology. Data used for this field study were collected from November 1986 onwards. The dataset consisted of 6911 lactations (3891 cows) on 29 herds including 600 cases of COD (8.7%). Lactations in the COD group had higher average maximum productions of milk, energy corrected milk, milk fat and protein than lactations in the non-COD group. The average maximum milk fat:protein ratio did not significantly differ between the groups. Daily changes of the average maximum milk fat and protein percentage and of total milk fat and protein yield were calculated and divided into four groups depending on the day of first milk recording. No significant relations were found between changes in milk fat and protein percentage and total milk fat and protein yield, and the incidence of COD. It is concluded that elevated average peak milk yield, milk fat and protein yield in early lactation are risk factors for the incidence of COD, but the average milk fat:protein ratio is not. In this field study changes in milk fat percentage and milk fat yield, indicative for the presence of NEB, did not show a relation with the incidence of COD in early lactating cows. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Genetic (co)variances between body condition score (BCS), body weight (BW), milk yield, and fertility were estimated using a random regression animal model extended to multivariate analysis. The data analyzed included 81,313 BCS observations, 91,937 BW observations, and 100,458 milk test-day yields from 8725 multiparous Holstein-Friesian cows. A cubic random regression was sufficient to model the changing genetic variances for BCS, BW, and milk across different days in milk. The genetic correlations between BCS and fertility changed little over the lactation; genetic correlations between BCS and interval to first service and between BCS and pregnancy rate to first service varied from -0.47 to -0.31, and from 0.15 to 0.38, respectively. This suggests that maximum genetic gain in fertility from indirect selection on BCS should be based on measurements taken in midlactation when the genetic variance for BCS is largest. Selection for increased BW resulted in shorter intervals to first service, but more services and poorer pregnancy rates; genetic correlations between BW and pregnancy rate to first service varied from -0.52 to -0.45. Genetic selection for higher lactation milk yield alone through selection on increased milk yield in early lactation is likely to have a more deleterious effect on genetic merit for fertility than selection on higher milk yield in late lactation.

Shortening or omitting the dry period (DP) has been proposed as a management strategy to improve energy balance of dairy cows in early lactation. Both shortening and complete omission of the DP reduces milk production in the subsequent lactation compared with a conventional DP length of 60 d. Some cows have less milk production loss than other cows after applying no DP or a short DP. The aim of this study is to evaluate which cow characteristics are associated with the amount of milk production losses following no DP or a short DP (30 d). Daily production information from the lactation before and after the DP was available from 161 dairy cows (54 cows with a 0-d DP, 51 cows with a 30-d DP, and 56 cows with a 60-d DP) from a research herd. Daily production (milk, fat, and protein) until 305 d in milk was estimated for all cows. Subsequently, total fat- and protein-corrected milk yield from 60 d before the expected calving date until 305 d in the following lactation (FPCMtotal) was estimated. A statistical analysis was performed to evaluate which cow characteristics were associated with limited or no production losses following no DP or a short DP, compared with a conventional DP length of 60 d. Average FPCMtotal was 9,341, 10,499, and 10,795 kg for cows with no DP, a 30-d DP, and a 60-d DP, respectively. The cow characteristics parity, daily milk production at 12 wk before the expected calving date, and reduction in daily milk production between 16 and 12 wk before the expected calving date were associated with production loss due to a short (30 d) or no DP. Compared with 60 d DP, multiparous cows had less production loss (987 kg) following no DP than primiparous cows (2,132 kg). The difference in FPCMtotal between the 3 DP groups was largest for cows with a low milk production (e.g., 10 kg/d) at 12 wk before the expected calving date. The greater the reduction in milk production between 16 and 12 wk before the expected calving date, the larger the difference in FPCMtotal between the 3 DP groups. The difference in FPCMtotal between cows with no DP and 60 d DP at a reduction in milk production between 16 and 12 wk of 10% was 665 kg, whereas this difference was 1,138 kg at a reduction of 70%. The cow characteristics found can be used to select cows for specific DP lengths in a decision-support model to support the farmer on the economic optimal DP length for each individual cow. Output of such a decision-support model can be, for instance, to advise a 30-d DP for multiparous cows with high milk production (e.g., 25 kg/d) at 12 wk before the expected calving date.

The seasonal shortwave radiation budget at the surface of the Southern Hemisphere was estimated, for 10 degrees latitudinal zones, using a radiative transfer model with long-term mean monthly climatological data from the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP; 1983-90) supplemented by data from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction-National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP-NCAR). The computed radiation budget of the Southern Hemisphere is given at both top of the atmosphere (TOA) and at the surface and for each month. The model radiative fluxes at TOA were validated against Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) scanner S4 satellite data (1984-89). Initially, large deviations were found for TOA fluxes in the south polar regions, where ISCCP cloud cover data are less certain. The cloud cover was thus modified in the polar regions using ground-based observations and better agreement was obtained. The surface radiative fluxes have been intercompared with other model results and differences are found at high latitudes. The mean annual hemispherical values computed for the outgoing solar flux at TOA, the solar atmospheric absorption, the downwelling, and the net downwelling shortwave radiation at the surface are found to be 103, 81, 174, and 160 W m(-2), respectively. A mean annual hemispherical albedo of 0.296 is computed, which is close to the ERBE value of 0.29. This albedo is found to be similar to that for the Northern Hemisphere, as also suggested by ERBE and Nimbus-7 satellite data. Journal of Climate

The longwave radiation budget at the top of the atmosphere (TOA) and at the surface of the Southern Hemisphere was estimated for 10 degrees latitudinal zones, using a radiative transfer model and long-term mean monthly climatological data from the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) from 1983 to 1990. The model radiative fluxes at TOA were validated against Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) scanner S4 satellite data (1984-1989) while at the surface they have been compared with other model results and available surface measurements. Large discrepancies were found between model and ERBE TOA fluxes over Antarctica that were resolved by increasing the winter polar cloudiness significantly. Generally, our model TOA fluxes agree within the standard deviation of the ERBE data. Important differences from previous works are also found in the polar regions, in terms of magnitudes, and seasonal/latitudinal trends in surface fluxes. The mean annual and hemispherical outgoing longwave radiation at TOA, upward longwave radiation, downwelling, and net upward longwave radiation at the surface, are computed to be 236, 387, 341, and 46 W m(-2), respectively. Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres

The objective of this study was to examine the influence of negative energy balance in dairy cows post partum on the LH release after a single GnRH application. Also the development of body condition, body weight and milk concentration of betahydroxybutyrate, Acetoacetat and phosphoenol pyruvate was analyzed to evaluate a possible correlation with energy balance. For 30 Holstein-Friesian cows daily dry matter intake, milk yield and weekly body weight was monitored. Based on this data, the negative energy balance per day was calculated for each cow as the difference between energy needed for maintanence plus lactation and energy consumed. The cows were divided in four different groups. Group 1 (n = 7): Cows treated with 500 µg GnRH (Fertagyl®) intramuscularly when the most negative point of energy balance (nadir) was reached. Group 2 (n = 6): Cows treated with the same dose of GnRH when about 30 % of the individual value of nadir was already compensated. Group3 (n = 10): Cows treated with the same dose of GnRH when about 60 % of the individual value of nadir was compensated. Controls (n = 7): Cows received a placebo (0,9% NaCl solution) on different stages of negative energy balance. All cows were either in interestrus or in anestrus, as determined by plasma estradiol-17? levels at the time of treatment. All animals did not experience any postpartum disorders. Blood samples were collected every 20 minutes beginning one hour before and ending four hours after treatment. LH was determined using enzyme linked immuno sorbant assay (ELISA). Body condition and body weight was evaluated weekly. Ultrasonic measurements of the backfat thickness were made over the area between the hook- and the pin bone. Weekly milk samples were taken and analyzed for betahydroxybutyrate, Acetoacetate and phosphoenol pyruvate. The LH release of group 1 cows was significantly higher than in every other group. Group 2 and 3 cows were showing no difference. In group 4 no changes in LH concentration could be detected before and after placebo administration. None of the metabolic parameters tested was significantly correlated with energy balance. In this study no statement was made about the biological quality of the released LH. We conclude, that the sensitivity of the pituitary gland for GnRH is not directly affected by the level of energy balance post partum. It is possible, that the interval from calving to nadir (i.e. the slope of the negative energy balance curve) has a higher influence of the sensitivity of the pituitary gland than the absolute level of negative energy balance.

The capabilities of optical and microwave satellite remote sensing for snow cover monitoring and forecasting snowmelt run-off are critically evaluated in this paper in order to improve the utilization of water resources from high mountainous catchments in the Italian Alps. Integration of snow cover data derived from visible and infrared satellite sensors is made with ground meteorological and hydrological information for three elevation zones of the Cordevole river basin of Alpine arch in eastern part of Italy. Digital image processing of nine sets of Landsat Multi-spectral Scanner System and Thematic Mapper computer compatible tapes (CCTs) representing a hydrological year have been made. Digital elevation model, slope and hill shading maps were generated and used in the study. The snow cover estimated using supervised maximum likelihood classification algorithm was observed to fit well for the Cordevole river basin model study when compared to the parallelepiped and minimum distance methods of classification. The elevation zones were classified into snow, mixed snow and aper. Daily snow cover depletion has been obtained with an approximation of second order polynomial fit to the satellite derived snow cover data. A deterministic, semi-distributed, temperature index model has been used to simulate the daily streamflow hydrograph for the snowmelt season. The simulated run-off satisfactorily approximated the measured run-off both in terms of time distribution and volume. Model performance evaluation using correlation coefficient, Nash-Sutcliffe coefficient and percentage volume deviation has indicated good results when compared to the test basins of World Meteorological Organization.

Item does not contain fulltext This study assessed genetic variation, heritability estimates, and genetic correlations for concentrations of plasma beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHBA), milk BHBA, and milk acetone in early lactation to investigate differences between cows in susceptibility to hyperketonemia and possibilities to use test-day milk ketone bodies for genetic improvement. Blood and test-day milk samples were collected on randomly selected dairy farms in the Netherlands from cows of various parities between 5 and 60 d in milk. Plasma samples were analyzed for BHBA (reference test for hyperketonemia) and test-day milk samples were analyzed for BHBA and acetone using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. The final data set consisted of plasma BHBA concentrations of 1,615 cows from 122 herds. Milk BHBA and milk acetone concentrations were determined for 1,565 cows. Genetic variation, heritability, and proportion of phenotypic variation attributable to the herd were estimated using an animal model with fixed effects for parity and season, a covariate for days in milk, and random effects for herd, animal, and error. Genetic correlations for plasma BHBA, milk BHBA, and milk acetone were estimated using bivariate analyses. The heritability estimate for plasma BHBA concentrations in early lactation was 0.17, whereas heritability estimates for milk BHBA and milk acetone were 0.16 and 0.10, respectively. This indicates that selective breeding may contribute to a lower incidence of hyperketonemia in early lactation. For the 3 traits, the proportion of variance attributable to herd was larger than the additive genetic variance, underlining the importance of on-farm feeding and management in the etiology of hyperketonemia in fresh cows. Prevention strategies for hyperketonemia can, therefore, include both feeding and management strategies at dairy farms (short-term) and genetic improvement through breeding programs (long-term). Genetic correlations between concentrations of plasma BHBA and milk BHBA (0.52) or milk acetone (0.52) were moderate. As milk ketone bodies can be routinely analyzed at test days, this may provide a practical alternative for breeding programs aimed at reducing hyperketonemia in early lactation.

Understanding seasonal variations in the evaporation of inland waters (e.g., lakes and reservoirs) is important for water resource management as well as the prediction of the hydrological cycles in response to climate change. We analyzed eddy covariance-based evaporation measurements from the Ross Barnett Reservoir (32◦26N, 90◦02W; which is always ice-free) in central Mississippi during the cool months (i.e., September–March) of 2007 and 2008, and found that the variability in cold front activities (i.e., passages of cold fronts and cold/dry air masses behind cold fronts) played an important role in modulating the exchange of sensible (H) and latent (λE) heat fluxes. Our analysis showed that 2007’s warmer cool season had smaller mean H and λE than 2008’s cooler cool season. This implies that the warmer cool season did not accelerate evaporation and heat exchange between the water surface and the atmosphere. Instead, more frequent cold fronts and longer periods of cold/dry air masses behind the cold fronts in 2008 resulted in overall larger H and λE as compared with 2007, this primarily taking the form of sporadic short-term rapid ‘pulses’ of H and λE losses from the water’s surface. These results suggest that future climate-induced changes in frequency of cold fronts and the meteorological properties of the air masses behind cold fronts (e.g., wind speeds, temperature, and humidity), rather than other factors of climate change, would produce significant variations in the water surface’s energy fluxes and subsequent evaporation rates.

Three land-surface models with land-data assimilation scheme (DA) were evaluated for one growing season using in situ observations obtained across Europe. To avoid drifts in the land-surface state in the models, soil moisture corrections are derived from errors in screen-level atmospheric quantities. With the in situ data it is assessed whether these land-surface schemes produce adequate results regarding the annual range of the soil water content, the monthly mean soil moisture content in the root zone and evaporative fraction (the ratio of evapotranspiration to energy available at the surface). DA considerably reduced bias in net precipitation, while slightly reducing RMSE as well. Evaporative fraction was improved in dry conditions but was hardly affected in moist conditions. The amplitude of soil moisture variations tended to be underestimated. The impact of improved land-surface properties like Leaf Area Index, water holding capacity and rooting depth may be as large as corrections of the DA systems. Because soil moisture memorizes errors in the hydrological cycle of the models, DA will remain necessary in forecast mode. Model improvements should be balanced against improvements of DA per se. Model bias appearing from persistent analysis increments arising from DA systems should be addressed by model improvements

Depression and obesity are major public health concerns, and there is mounting evidence that they share etiopathophysiological mechanisms. The neurobiological pathways involved in both mood and energy balance regulation are complex, multifactorial and still incompletely understood. As a coactivator of the pleiotropic transcription factor cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB), CREB-regulated transcription coactivator 1 (CRTC1) has recently emerged as a novel regulator of neuronal plasticity and brain functions, while CRTC1 dysfunction has been associated with neurodegenerative and psychiatric diseases. This review focuses on recent evidence emphasizing the critical role of CRTC1 in the neurobiology of depression and comorbid obesity. We discuss the role of CRTC1 downregulation in mediating chronic stress-induced depressive-like behaviors, and antidepressant response in the light of the previously characterized Crtc1 knockout mouse model of depression. The putative role of CRTC1 in the alteration of brain energy homeostasis observed in depression is also discussed. Finally, we highlight rodent and human studies supporting the critical involvement of CRTC1 in depression-associated obesity.

Knowledge about changes in ground temperatures under a changing climate are important for many environmental, economic and infrastructure applications and can be estimated by transient numerical simulations. However, a full annual cycle of precipitation data is needed to achieve this, yet is often unavailable in high alpine regions where a lack of infrastructure precludes installation of heated instruments capable of measuring the solid precipitation component. This paper presents a method to reconstruct a full year precipitation dataset at high alpine weather stations, which is then used to model ground temperature and snow depth for 16 alpine sites in Switzerland for the past and three climate scenarios. Differences in the possible temperature trajectories are highlighted with a focus on elevation and regional climatic differences within Switzerland. Snow height and ground temperatures under a changing climate are modelled with the one- dimensional physical model SNOWPACK by applying a delta change signal to the meteorological data set obtained from the CH2011 climate scenarios of Switzerland. All sites showed a decrease of snow cover, a shortening of the snow season and an increase in ground temperature to the end of the century. Sites in the inner alpine regions of Grisons were found to be less sensitive to climate change than sites in the western Alps. The magnitude of reduction of mean snow height depends mainly on location, whereas for the contraction of the snow season elevation is the key factor. It could be shown that the temperature - precipitation combination as expressed in the snow dynamics explain changes in ground temperatures more than the individual changes in either parameter. Alpine meadow and thin snow cover appear to delay warming of the ground.

Body weight (BW) observations on dairy cattle taken on average 35 times between birth and 1,000 d of life were used to estimate daily heritabilities and predict daily breeding values for both pregnancy-adjusted BW (PABW) and growth rate. Daily heritabilities for PABW were moderate to high, ranging from 0.41 (+/- 0.027) to 0.82 (+/- 0.041). Daily heritabilities for growth rate were high (> 0.68 +/- 0.034). The genetic association between various health events, including mastitis and lameness, and weight and growth was investigated by regressing the incidence of health events on breeding values for weight at birth, weaning, calving, and growth rate at 56 d after calving, growth rate at 110 d after calving, and maximum growth rate. Growth at weaning was the only BW measure to significantly affect mastitis (r(g) = 0.24), indicating that cows growing faster at weaning are more prone to mastitis. Increased weight (r(g) = 0.65) and growth rate at weaning (r(g) = 0.38) and increased maximum growth rate (r(g) = 0.71) all contributed to increased feet disorders. The only significant negative genetic association was obtained between reproduction and weight at calving (r(g) = -0.61).

peer-reviewed Background Several studies in both humans and rodents have examined the use of lactoferrin as a dietary solution to weight gain and visceral fat accretion and have shown promising results in the short term (up to 7 weeks). This study examined the effects of giving lactoferrin over a longer period of time. Methods For 13 weeks, male C57/BL6J mice were given a diet containing 10 % kJ fat and 20 % kJ casein (LFD) or a diet with 45 % kJ fat and either 20 % kJ casein (HFD) or 20 % kJ lactoferrin (HFD + Lac). Physiological, metabolic, and biochemical parameters were investigated. Gene expression was investigated by Real-Time PCR and microarray. All data was assessed using t-test, ANOVA or ANCOVA. Gene Set Enrichment Analysis was used to interpret microarray data and assess the impact on gene sets with common biological roles. Results By the end of the trial, HFD + Lac fed mice did not alter energy balance, body composition, bodyweight, or weight gain when compared to the HFD group. Notably, there were no changes in subcutaneous or epididymal adipose leptin mRNA levels between high fat diet groups, however plasma leptin was significantly reduced in the HFD + Lac compared to HFD group (P

We describe and analyze the results of the third global energy and water cycle experiment atmospheric boundary layer Study intercomparison and evaluation study for single-column models. Each of the nineteen participating models was operated with its own physics package, including land-surface, radiation and turbulent mixing schemes, for a full diurnal cycle selected from the Cabauw observatory archive. By carefully prescribing the temporal evolution of the forcings on the vertical column, the models could be evaluated against observations. We focus on the gross features of the stable boundary layer (SBL), such as the onset of evening momentum decoupling, the 2-m minimum temperature, the evolution of the inertial oscillation and the morning transition. New process diagrams are introduced to interpret the variety of model results and the relative importance of processes in the SBL; the diagrams include the results of a number of sensitivity runs performed with one of the models. The models are characterized in terms of thermal coupling to the soil, longwave radiation and turbulent mixing. It is shown that differences in longwave radiation schemes among the models have only a small effect on the simulations; however, there are significant variations in downward radiation due to different boundary-layer profiles of temperature and humidity. The differences in modelled thermal coupling to the land surface are large and explain most of the variations in 2-m air temperature and longwave incoming radiation among models. Models with strong turbulent mixing overestimate the boundary-layer height, underestimate the wind speed at 200 m, and give a relatively large downward sensible heat flux. The result is that 2-m air temperature is relatively insensitive to turbulent mixing intensity. Evening transition times spread 1.5 h around the observed time of transition, with later transitions for models with coarse resolution. Time of onset in the morning transition spreads 2 h around the observed transition time. With this case, the morning transition appeared to be difficult to study, no relation could be found between the studied processes, and the variation in the time of the morning transition among the models.