The impact of botfly parasitism on the health of the gracile mouse opossum (Gracilinanus agilis)

AbstractFragmented habitats generally harbour small populations that are potentially more prone to local extinctions caused by biotic factors such as parasites. We evaluated the effects of botflies (Cuterebra apicalis) on naturally fragmented populations of the gracile mouse opossum (Gracilinanus agilis). We examined how sex, food supplementation experiment, season and daily climatic variables affected body condition and haemoglobin concentration in animals that were parasitized or not by botflies. Although parasitism did not affect body condition, haemoglobin concentrations were lower in parasitized animals. Among the non-parasitized individuals, haemoglobin concentration increased with the increase of maximum temperature and the decrease of relative humidity, a climatic pattern found at the peak of the dry season. However, among parasitized animals, the opposite relationship between haemoglobin concentration and relative humidity occurred, as a consequence of parasite-induced anaemia interacting with dehydration as an additional stressor. We conclude that it is critical to assess how climate affects animal health (through blood parameters) to understand the population consequences of parasitism on the survival of individuals and hence of small population viability.

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Effect of microclimatological changes on dairy cattle productionunder the coastal climate of Goa

Indian Journal of Animal Research ◽

10.18805/ijar.11163 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

S. K. Das ◽

N. P. Singh

Keyword(s):

Relative Humidity ◽

Milk Yield ◽

Management Practices ◽

Maximum Temperature ◽

Economic Losses ◽

Unit Increase ◽

Sahiwal Cows ◽

Daily Milk Yield ◽

The Impact ◽

Daily Milk

It was observed that in Deoni and Cross bred cow daily change of relative humidity, maximum temperature and minimum temperatures had significant (P < 0.01) effect on daily milk yield of cow. It was inferred that the effect was more pronounced on cross bred cows than that of Deoni and Sahiwal cows. Between the two indigenous cows effect of micro climatological changes was more pronounced on Deoni breed than Sahiwal breed of cow. It was also observed that overall daily milk yield was reduced by 1 g (P > 0.05), 6 g (P > 0.05), 22 g (P > 0.05) and 78 g (P < 0.01) per unit increase of air temperature, relative humidity, temperature humidity index and maximum temperature respectively while data were analyzed as a whole considering all the cows of all the breeds together. Economic losses resulting from temperature-induced reductions in production may justify mitigation of these temperature increases through changes in management practices such as installation of sprinklers in sheds, evaporative cooling of barns, feeding and nutritional strategies, and/or selection of more heat-tolerant animals. So, risk management, by considering perceived thermal challenges, then assessing the potential consequences and acting accordingly, will reduce the impact of such challenges.

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Investigation of Low-Cost and Optical Particulate Matter Sensors for Ambient Monitoring

Atmosphere ◽

10.3390/atmos11101040 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (10) ◽

pp. 1040

Author(s):

Mariusz Rogulski ◽

Artur Badyda

Keyword(s):

Particulate Matter ◽

Relative Humidity ◽

Low Cost ◽

Reference Station ◽

Correction Function ◽

Maximum Temperature ◽

Large Set ◽

Campaign Evaluation ◽

The Impact

This article presents a long-term evaluation of low-cost particulate matter (PM) sensors in a field measurements campaign. Evaluation was performed in two phases. During the first five months of the campaign, two PM sensors were simultaneously compared with the results from the reference air quality monitoring station in various atmospheric conditions—from the days with freezing cold (minimum temperature below −10 °C) and high relative humidity (up to 95%) to the days with the maximum temperature above 30 °C and low relative humidity (at the level of 25%). Based on the PM10 measurements, the correlation coefficients for both devices in relation to the reference station were determined (r = 0.91 and r = 0.94, respectively), as well as the impact of temperature and relative humidity on measurements from the low-cost sensors in relation to the reference values. The correction function was formulated based on this large set of low-cost PM10 measurements and referential values. The effectiveness of the corrective function was verified during the second measurement campaign carried out in the city of Nowy Sącz (located in southern Poland) for the same five months in the following year. The absolute values of the long-term percentage errors obtained after adjustment were reduced to a maximum of about 20%, and the average percentage errors were usually around 10%.

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Impact of Genetic Improvements of Rice on Its Water Use and Effects of Climate Variability in Egypt

Agriculture ◽

10.3390/agriculture11090865 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (9) ◽

pp. 865

Author(s):

Mohamed Mehana ◽

Mohamed Abdelrahman ◽

Yasmin Emadeldin ◽

Jai S. Rohila ◽

Raghupathy Karthikeyan

Keyword(s):

Relative Humidity ◽

Climate Variability ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Rice Production ◽

Maximum Temperature ◽

Rice Cultivars ◽

Rice Productivity ◽

Unit Productivity ◽

The Impact

Developing and disseminating resilient rice cultivars with increased productivity is a key solution to the problem of limited natural resources such as land and water. We investigated trends in rice cultivation areas and the overall production in Egypt between 2000 and 2018. This study identified rice cultivars that showed potential for high productivity when cultivated under limited irrigation. The results indicated that there were significant annual reductions in both the rice-cultivated area (−1.7% per year) and the production (−1.9% per year) during the study period. Among the commonly cultivated varieties, Sakha101 showed the highest land unit productivity, while Sakha102 showed the highest water unit productivity. The impact of deploying new cultivars was analyzed by substitution scenarios. The results showed that substituting cultivars Giza179 and Sakha107 has the potential to increase land productivity by 15.8% and 22.6%, respectively. This could result in 0.8 million m3 in water savings compared to 2018 water consumption. Long-term impacts of climate variability on the minimum and maximum temperature, relative humidity, and average precipitation during on- and off-season for rice productivity were also analyzed using an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model. The results indicated that climate variability has an overall negative impact on rice productivity. Specifically, minimum temperature and on- and off-season precipitation had major long-term impacts, while higher relative humidity had a pronounced short-term impact on rice yields. The study revealed that short-duration cultivars with higher yields provided greater net savings in irrigation resources. These analyses are critical to guide the development of strategic management plans to mitigate short- and long-term climate effects on overall rice production and for developing and deploying improved rice varieties for sustainable rice production.

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Modelling Trends of Climatic Variability and Malaria in Ghana Using Vector Autoregression

Malaria Research and Treatment ◽

10.1155/2018/6124321 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 2018 ◽

pp. 1-11 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Sylvia Ankamah ◽

Kaku S. Nokoe ◽

Wahab A. Iddrisu

Keyword(s):

Relative Humidity ◽

Vector Autoregression ◽

Climatic Variability ◽

Age Groups ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Climatic Variables ◽

Health Concern ◽

Maximum Temperature ◽

Climatic Data ◽

The Impact

Malaria is considered endemic in over hundred countries across the globe. Many cases of malaria and deaths due to malaria occur in Sub-Saharan Africa. The disease is of great public health concern since it affects people of all age groups more especially pregnant women and children because of their vulnerability. This study sought to use vector autoregression (VAR) models to model the impact of climatic variability on malaria. Monthly climatic data (rainfall, maximum temperature, and relative humidity) from 2010 to 2015 were obtained from the Ghana Meteorological Agency while data on malaria for the same period were obtained from the Ghana Health Service. Results of the Granger and instantaneous causality tests led to a conclusion that malaria is influenced by all three climatic variables. The impulse response analyses indicated that the highest positive effect of maximum temperature, relative humidity, and rainfall on malaria is observed in the months of September, March, and October, respectively. The decomposition of forecast variance indicates varying degree of malaria dependence on the climatic variables, with as high as 12.65% of the variability in the trend of malaria which has been explained by past innovations in maximum temperature alone. This is quite significant and therefore, policy-makers should not ignore temperature when formulating policies to address malaria.

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Feedlot conditions and their influence on blood parameter values in Merino lambs in Extremadura, Spain over a specific time-period

Journal of the Hellenic Veterinary Medical Society ◽

10.12681/jhvms.16063 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 68 (4) ◽

pp. 621 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

S. FERNÁNDEZ ◽

J. GALAPERO ◽

J. REY ◽

C. J. PÉREZ ◽

A. RAMOS ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Acute Stress ◽

Animal Health ◽

Haemoglobin Concentration ◽

Blood Parameters ◽

Blood Parameter ◽

Mean Values ◽

Cortisol Levels ◽

Stress States ◽

Parameter Ranges ◽

Parameter Values

It has been suggested that the evaluation of specific blood parameters can be used as indicators of animal health and welfare. The aim of this study was to determine possible differences in these parameters at the beginning and at the end of the feedlot period and to analyse the influence of feedlot conditions on these animals. Blood parameter ranges can vary widely depending on factors such as transport, handling and feedlot. Four hundred and ten fattening lambs were studied to establish average values of different blood parameters. For data analysis, descriptive statistics and paired t-tests were used. The results of the current study indicate that mean values of Haematocrit, Cellular Haemoglobin Concentration and Cortisol levels were outside of the normal range, both at the beginning of the feedlot period and at upon leaving the feedlot. Higher mean values of MCHC, Urea, Total Proteins and Cortisol levels were observed at the end compared to the beginning of the feedlot period. On the other hand, Haematocrit, Mean Corpuscular Volume (MCV), Eosinophils and Creatine phosphokinase (CPK) were at higher mean values at the beginning of the feedlot period. Elevations in some blood parameters that are associated with acute stress states were raised in slaughter lambs during the feedlot period, transport and handling.

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Study of the Dependence of Effective Reproduction Number of COVID-19 on the Temperature and Humidity: A Case Study with the Indian States

10.1101/2020.07.05.20146324 ◽

2020 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Manoj Mandal ◽

Subhradeep Patra ◽

Sabyasachi Pal ◽

Suman Acharya ◽

Mangal Hazra

Keyword(s):

Relative Humidity ◽

Reproduction Number ◽

World Health ◽

Mitigation Measures ◽

Negative Slope ◽

Maximum Temperature ◽

Linear Regression Method ◽

Indian States ◽

Temperature And Humidity ◽

The Impact

Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) started in Wuhan province of China in November 2019 and within a short time, it was declared as a worldwide pandemic by World Health Organisation due to very fast worldwide spread of the virus. In the absence of any vaccine, various mitigation measures were used. In the past, the effect of temperature and humidity on the spread of the virus was studied for a very early phase of the data with mixed results. We are studying the impact of COVID-19 on the maximum temperature and relative humidity of a place using Indian states as test cases for SIR, SIRD, and SEIR models. We used a linear regression method to look for any dependency between effective reproduction number with maximum temperature and relative humidity. Most of the states show a correlation with the negative slope between the effective reproduction number with the maximum temperature and the relative humidity. It indicates that the effective reproduction number goes down as maximum temperature or relative humidity rise. But, the regression coefficient R2 is low for these correlations which means that the correlation is not strong.

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The impact of climatic factors on animal health (Missan province as a model)

Journal of King Abdulaziz University-Arts and Humanities ◽

10.4197/art.28-15.8 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 28 (15) ◽

pp. 173-189

Author(s):

أ.د. كاظم عبادي حمادي الجاسم أ.د. كاظم عبادي حمادي الجاسم

Keyword(s):

Thermal Stress ◽

Relative Humidity ◽

Climatic Factors ◽

Animal Health ◽

Animal Husbandry ◽

Reproductive Capacity ◽

Large Numbers ◽

The Impact ◽

Climatic Elements

Combined climatic elements influence directly and indirectly the animal's health by influencing the provision of green (artificial pasture) and artificial feed sources (feed and concentrated feed). The rise in temperature above the natural limit leads to the destruction of large numbers of animal wealth and the lack of their production due to the thermal stress that sometimes leads to the destruction of livestock and the death of poultry, as it affects the reproductive capacity of many animals due to the lack of sexual desire and the sperm sperm for males, which caused a decrease in reproduction and is reflected This is due to the quantities of production due to their low numbers and Missan province. The temperatures are suitable for animal husbandry and have little effect on their health. Relative humidity reduces the quantities of animal production by creating an environmental atmosphere to embrace some animals, pathogens, insects, and parasites that infect livestock with many diseases leading to their destruction. Wind affects the process of harboring animals and the quality of building barns that protect them from the heat of the midday sun in the first place. Missan province is the studied model, as it was affected by the set of factors referred to, which led to a variation in the geographical distribution in most parts of the province.

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Impact of winter fodder beet or kale allocation on body condition score gain and early lactation performance of dairy cows

Journal of New Zealand Grasslands ◽

10.33584/jnzg.2020.82.452 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 82 ◽

pp. 73-81

Author(s):

Dawn E. Dalley ◽

J. Paul Edwards ◽

Roshean R. Woods

Keyword(s):

Body Condition ◽

Body Condition Score ◽

Animal Health ◽

Early Lactation ◽

Lactation Performance ◽

Forage Crops ◽

Fodder Beet ◽

Condition Score ◽

Cow Performance ◽

The Impact

Forage crops such as fodder beet (FB) and kale are an important feature of dairy farming in Southland and Otago where winter pasture growth is negligible. However, farmers are concerned about poor performance of cows following winter FB feeding. In winter 2017, cows were offered FB or kale both with pasture baleage at two allocation rates: target (crop allocated to achieve a winter body condition score (BCS) gain of 0.7) or high (ad libitum crop). Diets with FB were lower in fibre, phosphorus, sulphur and calcium, but had a higher metabolizable energy, compared with kale diets. Body condition change and early lactation performance were monitored to compare effects of winter FB and kale diets. Average daily BCS gain before calving was similar for FB and kale cows. Crop type had a greater impact on cow performance than allocation rate. Cows wintered on FB had better reproductive performance (3-week pregnancy rate), and greater average milk solids, fat and protein yield (kg/d) than cows wintered on kale. Therefore, winter FB did not reduce cow performance compared with kale. However, the cumulative effects of a FB diet long term are yet to be determined and future research should monitor the impact on animal health.

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Оrganic Meat Production of Broiler Chickens Hubbard Redbro Cross

International Journal of Veterinary Science ◽

10.37422/ijvs/20.072 ◽

2020 ◽

Keyword(s):

Broiler Chickens ◽

Raw Materials ◽

Animal Health ◽

Meat Products ◽

Poultry Meat ◽

Meat Production ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Environmentally Safe ◽

The Impact

This article presents the results of studying the impact of housing and feeding conditions on broiler chickens of Hubbard RedBro cross, as well as the quality of products obtained when using floor and cage content, in a farm. It established that when receiving a mixed feed of own production using feed raw materials grown on a farm without the use of pesticides, a statistically significant decrease in potentially dangerous substances for animal health is recorded. Compared with factory feed, it has reduced the content of pesticides by 14 times, and mercury and arsenic by 24 times, cadmium by five times, and lead by ten times. The results of the study of economic indicators of growing Hubbard RedBro cross broiler chickens, as well as the chemical composition and quality of carcasses, indicated that there was no significant difference between the floor and cell conditions of keeping. Still, the use of a diet based on eco-feeds contributed to a statistically significant decrease in the concentration of toxic metals in the muscles of the poultry of the experimental groups. As a result, it found that the use of the studied compound feed in the diets of broiler chickens increased the indicators of Biosafety and ensured the production of environmentally safe ("organic") poultry meat products.

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BOARD INVITED REVIEW: The pig microbiota and the potential for harnessing the power of the microbiome to improve growth and health1

Journal of Animal Science ◽

10.1093/jas/skz208 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 97 (9) ◽

pp. 3741-3757 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Nirosh D Aluthge ◽

Dana M Van Sambeek ◽

Erin E Carney-Hinkle ◽

Yanshuo S Li ◽

Samodha C Fernando ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gastrointestinal Tract ◽

Gut Microbiota ◽

Therapeutic Potential ◽

Animal Health ◽

Microbial Colonization ◽

Critical Importance ◽

Specific Host ◽

Microbiome Research ◽

Health And Disease ◽

The Impact

Abstract A variety of microorganisms inhabit the gastrointestinal tract of animals including bacteria, archaea, fungi, protozoa, and viruses. Pioneers in gut microbiology have stressed the critical importance of diet:microbe interactions and how these interactions may contribute to health status. As scientists have overcome the limitations of culture-based microbiology, the importance of these interactions has become more clear even to the extent that the gut microbiota has emerged as an important immunologic and metabolic organ. Recent advances in metagenomics and metabolomics have helped scientists to demonstrate that interactions among the diet, the gut microbiota, and the host to have profound effects on animal health and disease. However, although scientists have now accumulated a great deal of data with respect to what organisms comprise the gastrointestinal landscape, there is a need to look more closely at causative effects of the microbiome. The objective of this review is intended to provide: 1) a review of what is currently known with respect to the dynamics of microbial colonization of the porcine gastrointestinal tract; 2) a review of the impact of nutrient:microbe effects on growth and health; 3) examples of the therapeutic potential of prebiotics, probiotics, and synbiotics; and 4) a discussion about what the future holds with respect to microbiome research opportunities and challenges. Taken together, by considering what is currently known in the four aforementioned areas, our overarching goal is to set the stage for narrowing the path towards discovering how the porcine gut microbiota (individually and collectively) may affect specific host phenotypes.

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