scholarly journals Welfare Assessment: Correspondence Analysis of Welfare Score and Hematological and Biochemical Profiles of Dairy Cows in Sardinia, Italy

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 854
Author(s):  
Federica Loi ◽  
Giovannantonio Pilo ◽  
Giulia Franzoni ◽  
Rossana Re ◽  
Francesca Fusi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dairy Cattle ◽  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Health Planning ◽  
Clinical Signs ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
P Value ◽  
Holstein Breed ◽  
Welfare Evaluation ◽  
Total Variability ◽  
Future Evaluation

The need for animal welfare definition and assessment is increasing worldwide, and several studies have been conducted to help fill the knowledge gaps regarding the welfare of cattle. However, further studies are needed to provide valid synthetized measures for welfare evaluation. The aim of this study was to assess the welfare status of 16 Sardinian dairy cattle farms, based on the developed Animal Welfare and Biosecurity Evaluation checklist (AWB-EF) and the corresponding hematological, biochemical, and electrophoretic profiles of these animals. Considering the AWB-EF as gold standard, blood samples were collected from 230 Holstein breed dairy cattle, aged between 3 and 8 years, out of the periparturient period, and with no clinical signs of specific pathologies. Principal Component (PC) and correlation analyses were performed to simplify phenomena interpretation and assess positive/negative associations. Four PCs were able to explain 76% of the total variability, and six laboratory parameters were strongly associated with the AWB-EF score (Spearman’s correlation coefficient ≥0.40, p-Value < 0.05), reflecting the real health status of the animals. Given the complexity of animal welfare as a multidimensional concept and the need to include both animal-based and non-based measures in welfare evaluation, the present work represents a sound basis for future evaluation and veterinary health planning.

scholarly journals Longevity of Nelore Cows of the Bolivian Tropics. Is It Possible to Explain It Through Productive Variables?

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 28
Author(s):  
Atsuko Ikeda ◽  
Ivana Barbona ◽  
Yoichiro Hayashi ◽  
Juan A. Pereira ◽  
Pablo R. Marini
Keyword(s):  
Live Weight ◽  
Multiple Linear Regression Model ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Productive Efficiency ◽  
P Value ◽  
San Juan ◽  
Total Variability ◽  
Grazing Systems ◽  
Breeding Efficiency ◽  
Main Components

The objective of this work was to evaluate the longevity and its relationship with productive variables of Nelore cows in grazing systems of the Bolivian tropics. Retrospective data were used corresponding to 259 Nelore breed cows, primiparous and multiparous discarded with a total of 800 births, in the period between 2005 and 2019, belonging to the Cooperativa Agropecuaria Integral San Juan de Yapacan&iacute; (CAISY) located in the San Juan Japanese Communities, Santa Cruz, Bolivia. The variables analyzed were: Live weight of cow (WC) in kg, Weight of the calf at birth (WCB) in kg, Weight of calf at weaning (WCW) in kg, Total weight of weaned calf (WWC) in kg, Age at first calving (AFC) in months, Number of calvings (NC), Longevity (L) in days, Calf Index (CI) in kg, Accumulated Productivity (PAC) in kg, Total calf production (CP) in kg, Efficiency of Stock (ES) in kg. In order to respond to the main objective of this work, the relationship between the life longevity of the cow and the other productive variables was studied. For this, first principal component analysis (PCA) was carried out, by means of which the space dimension of the productive variables was reduced creating new linearly independent variables and in this way avoid problems of multicollinearity in the model, because the productive variables in some cases turned out to be correlated. Then, the first three main components that explain 77% of the total variability of the data were retained and interpreted as follows: The PC1 was high and directly correlated with the variables NC, Kg produced total, % of stock efficiency, PAC and Kg produced meat / day, therefore can be thought of as an indicator of &quot;productive efficiency&quot;. PC2 was an indicator of &quot;efficiency in rebreeding&quot; since it presented altar and direct correlations with WC and AFC. PC3 was high and directly correlated with birth weight and weaning weight, which is interpreted as an indicator of &quot;breeding efficiency&quot;. Finally, a multiple linear regression model was adjusted considering Longevity as a function of productive efficiency, breeding efficiency and rebreeding efficiency (p-value &lt;0.0001 in the three cases). 87% of the total variability of L (days) is explained by the model. It is concluded that Longevity is related to productive indicators for this group of Nelore cows in grazing systems of the Bolivian tropics.

scholarly journals Design of Free Stalls for Dairy Herds: A Review

Ruminants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Frank van Eerdenburg ◽  
Lars Ruud
Keyword(s):  
Optimal Design ◽  
Dairy Cattle ◽  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Milk Yield ◽  
High Impact ◽  
The Body ◽  
Dairy Herds ◽  
Productive Life ◽  
To Come ◽  
Available Information

Lying is an important behavior of dairy cattle. Cows should spend more than 50% of a day lying as it has a high impact on their milk yield and animal welfare. The design, size, and flooring properties of the free stalls influence the time cows spend lying, the way they lie down, and their rising movements. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of the currently available information with the aim to assist farmers and advisors to come to an optimal design of the free stalls. The design of the free stalls should enable the cows to move and lie in positions as natural as possible. Cows should rest, with all parts of the body, on a clean, dry and soft bed, be able to stretch their front legs forward, lie on their sides with unobstructed space for their neck and head, and rest with their heads against their flanks without hindrance from a partition. When they stand, they should not be hindered by neck rails, partitions, or supports. A comfortable place for cows to lie down helps cows to stay healthy, improve welfare, and increase milk yield. Hence, the probability of a longer productive life for the cows increases and the number of replacements per year decreases.

scholarly journals The Perceived Impact of The First UK Covid-19 Lockdown on Companion Animal Welfare and Behaviour: A Mixed-Method Study of Associations with Owner Mental Health

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (11) ◽  
pp. 6171
Author(s):  
Emily Shoesmith ◽  
Luciana Santos de Assis ◽  
Lion Shahab ◽  
Elena Ratschen ◽  
Paul Toner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Companion Animals ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Companion Animal ◽  
Free Text ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Human Animal

Background: Companion animals may be a positive presence for their owners during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the welfare of a companion animal is strongly influenced by the behaviour of their owners, as well as their physical and social environment. We aimed to investigate the reported changes in companion animal welfare and behaviour and to examine the association between these changes and companion animal owners’ mental health. Methods: A cross-sectional online survey of UK residents over 18 years of age was conducted between April and June 2020 (n = 5926). The questionnaire included validated, bespoke items measuring outcomes related to mental health, human-animal bonds and reported changes in animal welfare and behaviour. The final item of the survey invited open-ended free-text responses, allowing participants to describe experiences associated with human-animal relationships during the first UK lockdown phase. Results: Animal owners made up 89.8% of the sample (n = 5323), of whom 67.3% reported changes in their animal’s welfare and behaviour during the first lockdown phase (n = 3583). These reported changes were reduced to a positive (0–7) and negative (0–5) welfare scale, following principal component analysis (PCA) of 17 items. Participants reported more positive changes for cats, whereas more negative changes were reported for dogs. Thematic analysis identified three main themes relating to the positive and negative impact on companion animals of the Covid-19 pandemic. Generalised linear models indicated that companion animal owners with poorer mental health scores pre-lockdown reported fewer negative changes in animal welfare and behaviour. However, companion animal owners with poorer mental health scores since lockdown reported more changes, both positive and negative, in animal welfare and behaviour. Conclusion: Our findings extend previous insights into perceived welfare and behaviour changes on a very limited range of species to a wider a range of companion animals. Owner mental health status has a clear, albeit small, effect on companion animal welfare and behaviour.

scholarly journals Person - job fi t and the work commitment of IT Personnel

2016 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Therasa C. ◽  
C. Vijayabanu
Keyword(s):  
Regression Analysis ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Attrition Rate ◽  
P Value ◽  
Work Commitment ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
Coeffi Cients ◽  
Work Autonomy ◽  
Major Factors ◽  
The Impact

Introduction: There have been given a much higher importance to employee commitment and retention since India is experiencing the highest attrition rate globally Economic Times, 2015. Hence, considering the factors of Person-job fi t to interpret the impact towards work commitment is very well essential, especially in the current scenario. Work Commitment is a vital element in any organization which has outstanding impact on productivity and functioning and hence it is very much vital to have a committed workforce which is necessary in this competitive environment and tight labour market. In the same way, there is considerable amount of evidence that if P-J fi t is high then it will have a direct impact on organization commitment also. Person-job fi t is the compatibility between person’s competency and abilities and the requirements of the job Zheng et al.2. If there exists a mismatch between person-job fi t then the consequences might result in poor work commitment, low job satisfaction and extremely lower involvement in the job. Objective: This study analyzed the key factors that contribute to Person- job compatibility among IT workers and also analyzed the relationship and impact of Person- job compatibility towards work commitment. Methods: Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was used to fi lter the key factors initially, followed by a linear regression technique to determine the impact of Person- job compatibility factors in work commitment on a sample of 300 employees. EFA used Principal Component analysis for extraction and Promax for rotation. Finally regression analysis was carried out to predict the work commitment through statistically significant person-job compatibility variables. Results: The impact of person-job compatibility on work commitment was studied through regression analysis and it imply that for every unit increase in HR Policy, a 0.52 (unstandardised coeffi cients) increase in work commitment is predicted and it has been turned out as a most impacting variable to predict work commitment. The coeffi cients for Relationship (B =.330, sig =.000), HR Policies (B =.519, sig =.000), Pay and Benefi ts (B =.386, sig =.000) and Employee Growth (B =.290, sig =.001) were statistically significant, since its p-value is .000 which is smaller than .05. The coeffi cients for Work Autonomy (B =.154, sig = .081) was not statistically signifi cant, since its p-value is 0.081 which is greater than.05. Conclusion: The major factors responsible for creating work commitment among IT employees are Relationship, HR Policies and strategies, Pay and benefi ts, Work autonomy and Employee growth. The most contributing regressors which accounts for creating work commitment are HR policies, Pay and benefi ts, Employee growth and work autonomy.

scholarly journals Comparison of two ophthalmic solutions of olopatadine hydrochloride (0.1%) and epinastine hydrochloride (0.05%) on clinical signs of vernal keratoconjunctivitis and side effects of the two drugs

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 3565
Author(s):  
Tahir Husain Ansari ◽  
Yusuf Rizvi
Keyword(s):  
Side Effects ◽  
Clinical Signs ◽  
Treated Group ◽  
Vernal Keratoconjunctivitis ◽  
P Value ◽  
Medical College ◽  
Ocular Itching ◽  
Dry Climates ◽  
Ophthalmic Solutions ◽  
Olopatadine Hydrochloride

Background: Vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC) is a recurrent, bilateral, external, ocular inflammation primarily affecting young adults living in warm dry climates. The objectives of the research was to compare the two ophthalmic solutions of olopatadine hydrochloride (0.1%) and epinastine hydrochloride (0.05%) on clinical signs of vernal keratoconjuntivitis and to determine side effects of both the drugs.Methods: The study was carried out in 40 patients who attended the out-patient department (OPD) Ophthalmology, Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital, Laheriasarai from July 2007 to December 2008.  Forty patients with symptoms of VKC (ocular itching, ropy discharge, papillary hypertrophy, gelatinous thickening and horner-trantas spots were selected and included in our study.Results: Mean score of palpebral hyperemia at 0, 14, 28 and 42 days in olopatadine treated eye were 2.1, 1.4, 0.8 and 0.4 respectively having p value <0.01, and <0.01 and <0.05 respectively, while mean score at same stages in placebo eye were 2.1, 2, 1.9, and 1.5 having value >0.05. Epinastine treated group mean score of palpebral hyperemia were <0.01 and <0.01 respectively in epinastine treated eye whereas in placebo treated eye, mean score were 2.1, 2.0, 1.8 and 1.6 respectively having p value >0.05 in all stages. Statistically insignificant reduction at day 14 while very significant reduction at day 28 and 42 was observed in epinastine treated eye as compared to placebo.Conclusions: The present study had shown that both olopatadine and epinastine were effective in treating clinical signs of VKC as compared to placebo.

scholarly journals Feed efficiency of lactating Holstein cows is less reproducible when changing dietary starch and fibre concentrations than within diet over subsequent lactation stages

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amélie Fischer ◽  
Philippe Gasnier ◽  
Philippe Faverdin
Keyword(s):  
Principal Components ◽  
Feed Efficiency ◽  
Nir Spectroscopy ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Holstein Cows ◽  
Diet Change ◽  
Total Variability ◽  
The One ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Starch Diet

ABSTRACTBackgroundImproving feed efficiency has become a common target for dairy farmers to meet the requirement of producing more milk with fewer resources. To improve feed efficiency, a prerequisite is to ensure that the cows identified as most or least efficient will remain as such, independently of diet composition. Therefore, the current research analysed the ability of lactating dairy cows to maintain their feed efficiency while changing the energy density of the diet by changing its concentration in starch and fibre. A total of 60 lactating Holstein cows, including 33 primiparous cows, were first fed a high starch diet (diet E+P+), then switched over to a low starch diet (diet E−P−). Near infra-red (NIR) spectroscopy was performed on each individual feed ingredient, diet and individual refusals to check for sorting behaviour. A principal component analysis (PCA) was performed to analyse if the variability in NIR spectra of the refusals was explained by the differences in feed efficiency.ResultsThe error of reproducibility of feed efficiency across diets was 2.95 MJ/d. This error was significantly larger than the errors of repeatability estimated within diet over two subsequent lactation stages, which were 2.01 MJ/d within diet E−P− and 2.40 MJ/d within diet E+P+. The coefficient of correlation of concordance (CCC) was 0.64 between feed efficiency estimated within diet E+P+ and feed efficiency estimated within diet E−P−. This CCC was smaller than the one observed for feed efficiency estimated within diet between two subsequent lactation stages (CCC = 0.72 within diet E+P+ and 0.85 within diet E−P−). The first two principal components of the PCA explained 90% of the total variability of the NIR spectra of the individual refusals. Feed efficiency was poorly correlated to those principal components, which suggests that feed sorting behaviour did not explain differences in feed efficiency.ConclusionsFeed efficiency was significantly less reproducible across diets than repeatable within the same diet over subsequent lactation stages, but cow’s ranking for feed efficiency was not significantly affected by diet change. The differences in sorting behaviour between cows were not associated to feed efficiency differences in this trial neither with the E+P+ diet nor with the E−P− diet. Those results have to be confirmed with cows fed with more extreme diets (for example roughage only) to ensure that the least and most efficient cows will not change.

scholarly journals Pediatric triage variations among nurses, pediatric and emergency residents using the Canadian triage and acuity scale

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Saleh Alshaibi ◽  
Tala AlBassri ◽  
Suliman AlQeuflie ◽  
Winnie Philip ◽  
Nesrin Alharthy
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Signs ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Weighted Kappa ◽  
P Value ◽  
Kappa Statistics ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Pediatric Residents ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
The Right ◽  
Triage Level

Abstract Background Emergency care continues to be a challenge, since patients’ arrival is unscheduled and could occur at the same time which may fill the Emergency Department with non-urgent patients. Triaging is an integral part of every busy ED. The Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale (CTAS) is considered an accurate tool to be used outside Canada. This study aims to identify the chosen triage level and compare the variation between registered nurses, pediatric and adult emergency residents by using CTAS cases. Method This study was conducted at King Abdulaziz Medical City,Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional self-administered questionnaire was used, and which contains 15 case scenarios with different triage levels. All cases were adopted from a Canadian triage course after receiving permission. Each case provides the patient’s symptoms, clinical signs and mode of arrival to the ED. The participants were instructed to assign a triage level using the following scale. A non-random sampling technique was used for this study. The rates of agreement between residents were calculated using kappa statistics (weighted-kappa) (95%CI). Result A total of 151 participants completed the study questionnaire which include 15 case scenarios. 73 were nurses and 78 were residents. The results showed 51.3, 56.6, and 59.9% mis-triaged the cases among the nurses, emergency residents, and pediatric residents respectively. Triage scores were compared using the Kruskal Wallis test and were statistically significant with a p value of 0.006. The mean ranks for nurses, emergency residents and pediatric residents were 86.41, 73.6 and 59.96, respectively. The Kruskal Wallis Post-Hoc test was performed to see which groups were statistically significant, and it was found that there was a significant difference between nurses and pediatrics residents (P value = 0.005). Moreover, there were no significant differences found between nurses and ER residents (P value> 0.05). Conclusion The triaging system was found to be a very important tool to prioritize patients based on their complaints. The results showed that nurses had the greatest experience in implementing patients on the right triage level. On the other hand, ER and pediatric residents need to develop more knowledge about CTAS and become exposed more to the triaging system during their training.

scholarly journals Surface Electromyography Based Core Muscle Fatigue Analysis During Repetitive Plank Using Multivariate Dimensionality Reduction Methods in Boys Aged 12-14

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 253-263
Author(s):  
Abir Samanta ◽  
Sabyasachi Mukherjee
Keyword(s):  
Discriminant Analysis ◽  
Muscle Fatigue ◽  
Muscle Activity ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Erector Spinae ◽  
P Value ◽  
Recruitment Strategies ◽  
Structure Matrix ◽  
Spine Stability ◽  
Wilks Lambda

The aims of the study were: 1. To analyse the discriminative power of neuromuscular components for classifying the pre and post muscle fatigued states. 2. To examine whether the modification of neural recruitment strategies become more/less heterogeneous due to fatigue. 3. To research the effect of Erector Spinae (ES) muscle activity collectively with Rectus Abdominis (RA) and External Oblique (EO) muscle activity to identify the reduced spine stability during fatiguing Plank.  Material and methods. Twelve boys (age – 12-14 years, height 148.75 ± 10 cm, body mass 38.9 ± 7.9 kg) participated in the study. Multivariate Discriminant Analysis (DA) and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) were applied to identify the changes in the pattern of the electromyographic signals during muscle fatigue. In DA the Wilks’ lambda, p-value, canonical correlation, classification percentage and structure matrix were used. To evaluate the component validity the standard limit for Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) was set at ≥0.529 and the p-value of Bartlett’s test was ≤0.001. The eigenvalues ≥1 were used to determine the number of Principal Components (PCs). The satisfactory percentage of non-redundant residuals were set at ≤50% with standard value >0.05. The absolute value of average communality (x̄ h2) and component loadings were set at ≥0.6, ≥0.4 respectively.  Results. Standardized canonical discriminant analysis showed that pre and post fatigued conditions were significantly different (p = 0.000, Wilks’ lambda = 0.297, χ2 = 24.914, df=3). The structure matrix showed that the parameter that correlated highly with the discriminant function was ES ARV (0.514). The results showed that the classification accuracy was 95.8% between fatigued conditions. In PCA the KMO values were reduced [0.547Pre fatigue vs. 0.264Post fatigue]; the value of Bartlett’s sphericity test was in pre χ2 = 90.72 (p = 0.000) and post fatigue χ2 = 85.32 (p = 0.000); The Promax criterion with Kaiser Normalization was applied because the component rotation was non-orthogonal [Component Correlation Matrix (rCCM) = 0.520 Pre fatigue >0.3Absolute<0.357Post fatigue]. In pre fatigue two PCs (cumulative s2 – 80.159%) and post fatigue three PCs (cumulative s2 – 83.845%) had eigenvalues ≥1. The x̄ h2 increased [0.802 Pre fatigue vs. 0.838 Post fatigue] and the percentage of nonredundant residuals reduced [50% Pre fatigue vs. 44% Post fatigue] from pre to post fatigue.  Conclusions. The variability and heterogeneity increase in the myoelectric signals due to fatigue. The co-activity of antagonist ES muscle is significantly sensitive to identify the deteriorating spine stability during the fatiguing Plank. Highly correlated motor unit recruitment strategies between ES and RA, providing supportive evidence to the concept of shared agonist-antagonist motoneuron pool or “Common Drive” phenomenon during fatigue.

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