• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.24 no.11
• /
• pp.1569-1576
• /
• 2011

Accurate assessment of the nutritional status of Nguni cattle is becoming increasingly important in determining their mechanism for adaptation to challenging environments. Changes in body weights and concentrations of total protein (TP), albumin, globulin, glucose, cholesterol, non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA), phosphorus (SIP), calcium and magnesium were determined in Nguni and crossbred calves raised on natural pasture from birth until weaning. At an early age, TP concentration in crossbreds was higher (p<0.05) than that of Nguni calves. However, TP levels increased with age in Nguni calves so that Nguni's had higher (p<0.05) TP levels than crossbreds at weaning. Nguni calves had higher (p<0.05) glucose concentrations than crossbreds in all the ages except in the third month. Serum NEFA levels in Nguni calves were higher (p<0.05) than in crossbreds at all ages except for the second month. Calcium levels decreased (p<0.05) with age in both genotypes. The blood TP concentrations tended to decrease (p<0.05) as body weight increased up to 80 kg, thereafter blood TP concentration increased (p<0.05) as body weight increased. Calcium concentrations in crossbred calves decreased (p<0.05) quadratically as the body weight increased. There was, however, a linear increase (p<0.05) in calcium concentrations in Nguni calves. The higher NEFA and TP concentrations at weaning and the TP increase in Nguni calves beyond 80 kg suggest that Nguni's utilise fibrous feeds better than crossbreds.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.50 no.5
• /
• pp.317-325
• /
• 2017

Background: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has become an important treatment modality in pediatric patients with cardiopulmonary failure, but few studies have been conducted in Korea. Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of pediatric patients younger than 18 years who were placed on ECMO between January 2004 and December 2014 at Samsung Medical Center. Results: We identified 116 children on ECMO support. The overall rate of successful weaning was 51.7%, and the survival to discharge rate was 37.1%. There were 39, 61, and 16 patients on ECMO for respiratory, cardiac, and extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation, respectively. The weaning rate in each group was 48.7%, 55.7%, and 43.8%, respectively. The survival rate was 43.6%, 36.1%, and 25.0%, respectively. Sixteen patients on ECMO had functional single ventricle physiology; in this group, the weaning rate was 43.8% and the survival rate was 31.3%. Ten patients were on ECMO as a bridge to transplantation (8 for heart and 2 for lung). In patients with heart transplantation, the rate of survival to transplantation was 50.0%, and the overall rate of survival to discharge was 37.5%. Conclusion: An increasing trend in pediatric ECMO utilization was observed. The outcomes were favorable considering the early experiences that were included in this study and the limited supply of specialized equipment for pediatric patients.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
• /
• v.59 no.12
• /
• pp.25.1-25.7
• /
• 2017

Background: Rabbit breeding with high performance imported ones would be of benefit for genetic diversity and improvement of performance in domestic rabbit breeds. The rearing of more productive rabbit breeds could be pathway to improve the productivity and reduce the production cost. Maternal nutritional status exert a great influence on reproductive functions of does, which may expand from conception, through gestation and parturition and development of kits to puberty. Methods: Four breeds of rabbit were evaluated for their parturition, weaning and pubertal differences among the rabbit population in Ibadan, Nigeria. The breed consist of Fauve De Bourgogne (FDB), Chinchilla (CHA), British Spot (BS) and New Zealand White (NZW) rabbits. A total of 60 bucks and 360 does consisting of 15 bucks and 90 does per breed were mated in 6 mating cycles, three each of natural mating and artificial insemination. All does were synchronized for estrus with 20 IU pregnant mare serum gonadotropin 48 h prior to mating. The does after parturition were assessed for milk yield (g) and kit survival rate (%) till weaning, weight changes of kits from birth to puberty. At puberty, the pubertal age (days) and weight (g) of the offspring were assessed. Result: Results obtained reveals that British Spot doe had highest milk yield among the breeds which significantly increased growth of kit and weight at weaning in British Spot rabbits. Survival rates of Chinchilla kits were significantly (p < 0.05) higher than Fauve de Bourgogne, British Spot and New Zealand White kits. Puberty attainment of the rabbits indicates that British spot does and Fauve de Bourgogne bucks are early maturing. Conclusion: Chinchilla shows high kit survivability and British spot has highest milk yield among the four breeds of rabbit.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.24 no.9
• /
• pp.1318-1328
• /
• 2011

The tropics is not an ideal location for calf rearing as the high temperatures and humidities introduce many potential disease problems to milk fed calves. In addition, the type of dairy farming (generally poorly resourced small holder farming) and the general lack of awareness of the long term implications of poorly reared stock do not encourage farmers to pay close attention to their calf and heifer rearing systems. Surveys of calf rearing systems in Asia, tropical Africa and South America highlight the high calf and heifer mortalities. A range of 15 to 25% pre-weaning calf mortality is typical on many tropical dairy farms. It is often as high as 50%, indicating very poor calf management. This contrasts with US findings of less than 8% mortality from birth to 6 months while surveys of Australian farmers report only 3% losses. Simple extension programs on farms in Sri Lanka and Kenya have drastically reduced calf mortalities and improved pre-weaning growth rates. Improved management strategies leading to lower calving intervals, higher calving rates, reduced still born and pre-weaned calf mortalities and fewer non pregnant heifers can supply many more dairy herd replacements than currently occurs. Such strategies can increase the number of replacement heifer calves in the herd from 15 to over 35%, thus allowing farmers to increase their herd sizes through natural increases. Simple management procedures such as ensuring adequate intake of good quality colostrum within the first 12 hours of life, housing and good hygiene to minimise disease transfer, providing clean drinking water, developing appropriate feeding protocols to encourage early rumen development and paying closer attention to climate control and animal health can all lead to improved calf vigour and performance. Good record keeping is also important so farmers can more easily identify susceptible calves and quickly treat potential problems.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.25 no.5
• /
• pp.674-681
• /
• 2012

Two experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of supplemental glutamine on growth performance, plasma parameters and LPS-induced immune response of weaned barrows after castration. In experiment 1, forty-eight weaned male piglets were used and fed maize and soybean meal diets supplemented with 0 (Control) or 2% L-Gln (Gln+) for 25 days. The results indicated that the Gln+ group tended to increase average daily gain compared to control in stages of days 7 to 14 and 0 to 25. The Gln+ had significantly better feed efficiency than the control group did during days 14 to 25 and 0 to 25. The plasma blood urea nitrogen and alkaline phosphatase contents of Gln+ group were higher than those of the control group on day 14 post-weaning. In experiment 2, sixteen weaned male piglets were injected with E. coli K88+ lipopolysaccharide (LPS) on day 14 post-weaning. The results showed that the Gln+ group had lower concentrations of plasma adrenocorticotrophic hormone and cortisol than the control group on day 14 pre-LPS challenge. In addition, Gln+ group had higher plasma IgG concentration than the control group for pre- or post-LPS challenged on day 14 post-weaning. In summary, dietary supplementation of Gln was able to alleviate the stressful condition and inflammation associated with castration in weaned barrows, and to improve their immunity and growth performance in the early starter stage.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.17 no.11
• /
• pp.1484-1490
• /
• 2004

Mitochondrial DNA haplotypes from the displacement-loop (D-loop) region (436 bp) were genotyped and sequenced in Japanese Black beef cattle raised in the same herd. Correlation coefficients between mitochondrial DNA haplotypes, maternal lineage, birth weight, preweaning average daily gain, weaning weight, post weaning average daily gain and yearling weight were computed. The objective was to study the relationship between maternal and postnatal growth traits and to investigate if postnatal growth of calves to yearling age could be accurately predicted from mitochondrial DNA haplotypes. Results of the phylogenetic analysis revealed 17 maternal lineages and four mitochondrial DNA haplotypes. There were strong, positive and highly significant (p<0.001) correlations among maternal traits ranging from 0.52 to 0.98. Similarly, among postnatal growth traits, most of the correlations were also strong, positive and highly significant (p<0.001); the highest correlation of 0.94 was between preweaning average daily gain and weaning weight. However, correlations between mitochondrial DNA haplotypes and postnatal growth traits were very low, mostly negative and non-significant (p>0.05) ranging from -0.05 to 0.1. Prediction of postnatal growth from mitochondrial DNA yielded very low $R^{2}$ values ranging from 0.002 to 0.019. It was concluded that mitochondrial DNA polymorphism has no significant association with postnatal growth from birth to yearling age, and by implication, nuclear rather than cytoplasmic DNA, accounts for most of the genetic variation observed in postnatal growth of Japanese Black cattle. Therefore, mitochondrial DNA genotyping at an early age has no bearing on the accurate prediction of the future growth performance of calves.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.13 no.9
• /
• pp.1239-1244
• /
• 2000

In order to investigate the effect of incorporation of thermally processed cereal (maize) grain and differently degradable protein sources in the calf starter, twenty four newly born crossbred $(Bos\;taurus{\times}Bos\;indicus)$ calves were assigned at random to six diets in a $3{\times}2$ factorial design involving three protein sources viz. groundnut meal (GN), cottonseed meal (CS) and meat and bone meal (MB), each along with two differently processed grain, namely ground raw (R) and pressure cooked (P) maize. The corresponding calf starters with green oats (Avena sativa) were given free-choice from 14 d onwards till the end of the 90 d experimental feeding. A restricted milk diet was fed till the age of weaning at 60 d. Total DM intake was not affected by cereal or protein sources. However, daily intake of DM (59.23 vs 66.45 g) and CP (12.38 vs 14.10 g) per kg $W^{0.75}$ was reduced (p<0.05) due to cereal processing. Better (p<0.05) feed and protein efficiencies after weaning and during entire period in calves fed processed maize resulted in a trend of higher $(p{\leq}092)$ growth rate especially when GN was the source of protein. In comparison among protein sources, calves fed MB diets tended to grow faster $(p{\leq}098)$ concurrent with a higher CP intake before weaning. It is thus evident that thermal processing of maize in the calf starter seems to improve calf performance. Moreover, results indicated that feeding of protein and starch sources of matching ruminal degradability may prove beneficial for early growth of crossbred calves.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
• /
• v.64 no.4
• /
• pp.707-716
• /
• 2022

The core intention to undertake this experiment for a period of 21 days is to evaluate the effect of salicylic acid (SA) supplemented diet on the performance and blood metabolites of sows and their litters. Sows weighing 208.5 ± 18.34kg and their neonates were used. From day 114 of gestation to 21st day of lactation(weaning), ten multiparous sows (n = 5/treatment) (Landrace × Yorkshire) were assigned randomly into one of two treatments: CON (basal diet) and TRT (CON + 0.05% SA). There was no significant difference in the body weight, backfat thickness, backfat loss, and body condition score in SA treated sows compared to sows fed the CON diet. However, the bodyweight of sow was dramatically reduced by an average of 16kg from farrowing to weaning time. The dietary inclusion of SA in the sow diet slightly improved the survival rate (p = 0.065) and showed a higher body weight (p = 0.009) in piglets. However, there was no significant difference in red blood cell, Fe, Hematocrit, and Hb concentrations between CON and TRT sows' groups, but the total iron-binding capacity (TIBC) was significantly reduced in sows from the TRT group compared with the CON group from the beginning to weaning. The outcome of this trial shows that dietary addition of SA on sows diet from early lactation could increase the birth weight and TIBC of neonates at the end of the trial.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
• /
• v.37 no.4
• /
• pp.755-763
• /
• 1997

Recently new technologies for the establishment of high health herds are becoming efficient tools in the control of PRRS virus and secondary infections. Medicated early weaning(MEW) and nursery depopulation(ND) have shown to be one of the most successful procedures in the eradication and control of pathogens. Indirect evidence of the role of PRRSV in precipitating secondary infection comes from successful improvement in growth and in decreasing mortality on farms that have eliminated PRRSV through ND. Hence the present experiments were conducted in an effort to compare ND with MEW procedures as a means of eliminating PRRSV controlling secondary pathogens and improving performance of pigs in endemically infected swine herds. Following MEW and ND procedures practiced in the farms, some benefits obtained were as follows: 1. A decrease in PRRSV circulation in the nursery, but no entire elimination. 2. Decrease in the frequency of secondary bacteria and in the use of antibiotics. 3. Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae infection was prevented during the nursery stage. 4. ND protocol had a lower cost and management changes than MEW techniques. 5. Nursery performance was improved after the depopulation, cleaning and disinfection procedures, even though PRRSV still being cycled in the old nursery rooms. These studies revealed that the MEW and ND protocols are not always successful for PRRS virus elimination but it's great effect on control of secondary pathogens and improvement of performance make MEW and ND an efficient tools for the establishment of healthier and more efficient herds.

• Molecules and Cells
• /
• v.42 no.4
• /
• pp.313-320
• /
• 2019

Intraepithelial lymphocytes (IELs) develop through the continuous interaction with intestinal antigens such as commensal microbiome and diet. However, their respective roles and mutual interactions in the development of IELs are largely unknown. Here, we showed that dietary antigens regulate the development of the majority of $CD8{\alpha}{\beta}$ IELs in the small intestine and the absence of commensal microbiota particularly during the weaning period, delay the development of IELs. When we tested specific dietary components, such as wheat or combined corn, soybean and yeast, they were dependent on commensal bacteria for the timely development of diet-induced $CD8{\alpha}{\beta}$ IELs. In addition, supplementation of intestinal antigens later in life was inefficient for the full induction of $CD8{\alpha}{\beta}$ IELs. Overall, our findings suggest that early exposure to commensal bacteria is important for the proper development of dietary antigen-dependent immune repertoire in the gut.