Heat-tolerance studies of fat-tailed sheep in the subtropics

1956 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 280-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. S. E. Hafez ◽  
A. L. Badreldin ◽  
M. A. Sharafeldin

Forty adult (15 months old) fat-tailed Egyptian rams and ewes of the Rahmani and Ossimi breeds were available at the Animal Breeding Research Farm, Giza, Egypt (30° N.). Body temperature and respiration rates were measured twice weekly throughout the year 1953–4. On days of observations, four readings were taken at 10 a.m., 12 noon, 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Skin temperature was measured once weekly at noon for nine body regions, using a precision bridge thermometer. The effects of docking and pregnancy were also studied.1. There were seasonal variations in body temperature and respiration rate. The maximum values were during summer and the minimum during winter. The seasonal rate of change was greater in respiration rate than in body temperature.2. Body temperature was 39·1 and 39·0° C. for the Ossimi rams and ewes respectively, while it was 38·9° C. for both Rahmani sexes. Respiration rate per minute was 42·0, 39·3, for Ossimi rams and ewes and 38·2 and 35·9 for Rahmani rams and ewes respectively. Body temperature and respiration rate were higher in the Ossimi than in the Rahmani breed, and in the males than in the females. Breed differences may be related to anatomical differences such as body conformation, size of skull and tail, thickness of skin and subcutaneous fat and differences in coat characteristics. Sex differences may be associated with the live weight of the animals as well as differences in the hormonal system.3. Pregnancy had no effect on body temperature and respiration rate in either breed.4. Different experimental groups reacted similarly with respect to diurnal variations in body temperature and respiration rate; the lowest values being at 10 a.m. and the highest at 4 p.m. Maximum body temperature and respiration rate preceded maximum environmental temperature by 2–4 hr. The diurnal rate of change in respiration rate was higher than that in body temperature. The diurnal changes in body temperature and respiration rate of animals were mainly due to the changes in the environmental temperature throughout the day.5. (a) Skin temperature varied from 33·7 to 39·7° C., according to season and body region. Seasonal variations in skin temperature of different body regions showed the same trend.(b) Highest skin temperatures were recorded for middle and upper fat tail, back thoracic and middle scrotum regions, while the lowest were recorded in lower and upper scrotum, lower tail and neck ventral regions. The breast region had an intermediate skin temperature. The different skin temperatures were due to anatomical differences such as the thickness of subcutaneous fat, density of covering wool or to differences in the amount of blood supply.6. Docked rams had a lower skin temperature and respiration rate than controls, denoting better heat regulation. This may be due to metabolic differences or anatomical changes in the body such as the thickness of subcutaneous fat.

1991 ◽  
Vol 77 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-47
Author(s):  
A. J. Allsopp ◽  
Kerry A. Poole

AbstractThe effects of hand immersion on body temperature have been investigated in men wearing impermeable NBC clothing. Six men worked continuously at a rate of approximately 490 J.sec−1 in an environmental temperature of 30°C. Each subject was permitted to rest for a period of 20 minutes when their aural temperature reached 37.5°C, and again on reaching 38°C, and for a third time on reaching 38.5°C (three rest periods in total). Each subject completed three experimental conditions whereby, during the rest periods they either: a.Did not immerse their hands (control).b.Immersed both hands in a water bath set at 25°c.c.Immersed both hands in water at 10°C.Physiological measures of core temperature, skin temperature and heart rate were recorded at intervals throughout the experiment.Measures of mean aural temperature and mean skin temperature were significantly (P<0.05) reduced if hands were immersed during these rest periods, compared to non immersion. As a result, the total work time of subjects was extended when in the immersed conditions by some 10–20 minutes within the confines of the protocol.It is concluded that this technique of simple hand immersion may be effective in reducing heat stress where normal routes to heat loss are compromised.


1984 ◽  
Vol 57 (6) ◽  
pp. 1738-1741 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. G. Waldrop ◽  
D. E. Millhorn ◽  
F. L. Eldridge ◽  
L. E. Klingler

Respiratory responses to increased skin temperatures were recorded in anesthetized cerebrate and in unanesthetized decerebrate cats. All were vagotomized, glomectomized, and paralyzed. Core body temperature and end-tidal Pco2 were kept constant with servoncontrollers. Stimulation of cutaneous nociceptors by heating the skin to 46 degrees C caused respiration to increase in both cerebrate and decerebrate cats. An even larger facilitation of respiration occurred when the skin temperature was elevated to 51 degrees C. However, respiration did not increase in either group of cats when the skin was heated to 41 degrees C to activate cutaneous warm receptors. The phenomenon of sensitization of nociceptors was observed. Spinal transection prevented all the respiratory responses to cutaneous heating. We conclude that noxious, but not nonnoxious, increases in skin temperature cause increases in respiratory output.


1963 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 1234-1238 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. G. C. E. Pugh

Body temperature and respiratory experiments are reported on a Nepalese pilgrim who survived, uninjured, 4 days of exposure at 15,000–17,500 ft in midwinter, wearing only light clothing and no shoes or gloves. His resistance to cold depended on elevation of metabolism and, unlike tolerance of immersion in cold water, was not related to subcutaneous fat thickness. He slept soundly in spite of the cold and so did not become exhausted. In 3–4-hr experiments at o C (clothed), rectal temperature and skin temperature over the trunk showed only minor changes; hand and foot temperatures did not fall below 10–13 C. Maintenance of body temperature was accounted for by elevation of metabolism. survival in cold Submitted on February 19, 1963


1976 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Q. J. Pittman ◽  
W. L. Veale ◽  
K. E. Cooper

Prostaglandins appear to be mediators, within the hypothalamus, of heat production and conservation during fever. We have investigated a possible role of prostaglandins in the nonfebrile rabbit during thermoregulation in the cold. Shorn rabbits were placed in an environment of 20 °C, and rectal and ear skin temperatures, shivering and respiratory rates were measured. A continuous intravenous infusion of leucocyte pyrogen was given to establish a constant fever of approximately 1 °C, and after observation of a stable febrile temperature for 90 min, a single injection of 300 mg of sodium salicylate, followed by a 1.5 mg/min infusion was then given. After the salicylate infusion was begun, rectal temperature began to fall, and reached nonfebrile levels within 90 min. Shivering activity ceased, respiratory rates increased, and in two animals, ear skin temperature increased. When these same rabbits were placed in an environment of 10 °C, at a time they were not febrile, and an identical amount of salicylate was given, rectal and ear skin temperatures, shivering and respiratory rates did not change. These results indicate that prostaglandins do not appear to be involved in heat production and conservation in the nonfebrile rabbit.


1968 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 265-282 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Slee

1. Scottish Blackface and Tasmanian Merino one-year-old males were exposed to cold in climate chambers. The environmental temperature fell slowly from +10°C to −15°C in the first experiment when the sheep were in full fleece and from +30°C to −5°C in the second experiment when the same sheep were closely shorn. In the second experiment each sheep received two identical exposures separated by one day spent in a cool environment. Rectal temperatures and skin temperatures on the body and the extremities were recorded.2. In experiment 1 skin temperatures on the feet and ears generally fell sharply due to vasoconstriction, especially in the Blackface sheep. The Blackface sheep showed earlier and more intense vasoconstriction than the Merinos.3. In experiment 2 foot and ear skin temperatures fell smoothly with gradual vasoconstriction. In contrast to experiment 1, both breeds were similar in the time of onset of vasoconstriction. Foot temperatures, however, were significantly higher and vasoconstriction correspondingly later during the second exposure of experiment 2 than during the first exposure.4. The skin temperature at which vasoconstriction occurred remained similar irrespective of breed, shearing or exposure occasion. But the ambient temperature at vasoconstriction was significantly influenced by all these variables.5. Cold-induced vasodilatations were more frequent in experiment 1 than in experiment 2.6. Retarded vasoconstriction among the Merinos in experiment 1 could, except for two sheep, be accounted for by their superior fleece cover. In experiment 2, the delayed foot vasoconstriction on second exposure was attributed to increased blood flow resulting from acclimatization.


2005 ◽  
Vol 288 (6) ◽  
pp. R1589-R1597 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roy J. E. M. Raymann ◽  
Dick F. Swaab ◽  
Eus J. W. Van Someren

Sleep occurs in close relation to changes in body temperature. Both the monophasic sleep period in humans and the polyphasic sleep periods in rodents tend to be initiated when core body temperature is declining. This decline is mainly due to an increase in skin blood flow and consequently skin warming and heat loss. We have proposed that these intrinsically occurring changes in core and skin temperatures could modulate neuronal activity in sleep-regulating brain areas (Van Someren EJW, Chronobiol Int 17: 313–54, 2000). We here provide results compatible with this hypothesis. We obtained 144 sleep-onset latencies while directly manipulating core and skin temperatures within the comfortable range in eight healthy subjects under controlled conditions. The induction of a proximal skin temperature difference of only 0.78 ± 0.03°C (mean ± SE) around a mean of 35.13 ± 0.11°C changed sleep-onset latency by 26%, i.e., by 3.09 minutes [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.91 to 4.28] around a mean of 11.85 min (CI, 9.74 to 14.41), with faster sleep onsets when the proximal skin was warmed. The reduction in sleep-onset latency occurred despite a small but significant decrease in subjective comfort during proximal skin warming. The induction of changes in core temperature (δ = 0.20 ± 0.02°C) and distal skin temperature (δ = 0.74 ± 0.05°C) were ineffective. Previous studies have demonstrated correlations between skin temperature and sleep-onset latency. Also, sleep disruption by ambient temperatures that activate thermoregulatory defense mechanisms has been shown. The present study is the first to experimentally demonstrate a causal contribution to sleep-onset latency of skin temperature manipulations within the normal nocturnal fluctuation range. Circadian and sleep-appetitive behavior-induced variations in skin temperature might act as an input signal to sleep-regulating systems.


1955 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 353-364 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. R. Beakley ◽  
J. D. Findlay

1. The skin temperatures at each of eight positions on the trunks of three 4-month-old Ayrshire bull calves were measured at 5 min. intervals in individual 6 hr. daily exposures to dry-bulb temperatures of 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40° C. at 17 mg./l. absolute humidity, and 30, 35 and 40° C. at 7 mg./l. saturation deficit in a modified form of Latin square arrangement of environmental temperature. The schedule of experiments on each calf lasted 45 consecutive days and consisted of five replications of each of the nine environmental conditions.2. The skin temperatures of the calves all rose with increasing environmental temperature, humidity and time of exposure.


1979 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 306-311 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. P. Libert ◽  
V. Candas ◽  
J. J. Vogt

To evaluate the relative contributions of positive and negative variations of mean skin temperature (+/- dTsk/dt) on thermoregulatory responses, male resting nude subjects were exposed to rapid or slow alterations in air and wall temperatures (28--45 degrees C; Pa = 20.0 mbar). Rates of heating-cooling cycles were equal to dTa/dt = +/- 3.40, 1.13, 0.57, 0.38, or 0.19 degrees C/min. Continuous measurements were made of rectal, oral, ear, and mean skin temperatures and of arm sweating (dew-point hygrometer method). During all exposures the local skin temperature was kept constant (Tsl = 39 degrees C). The results showed that peripheral inputs are a major factor in thermoregulatory processes. Cutaneous receptors produce a positive and a negative rate component within the central thermal integrator. A higher rate threshold was observed for the positive rate component than for the negative one.


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