Climate change perceptions and adaptation by Sebei pastoralists in Mount Elgon, Uganda: a qualitative survey.

Background: Pastoralists' sedentarisation and agriculturalisation might increase their vulnerability to climate change impacts, but few studies have investigated if this is the case in mountain areas. In Uganda, little is known about how Sebei pastoralists have perceived and adapted to such changes. This study sought to establish perspectives of Sebei pastoralists on climate change in terms of its occurrence and impacts as well as access to livelihood assets and or opportunities to withstand such challenges.

Changes in rectal temperature as a means of assessing heat tolerance and sensitivity in chickens.

High ambient temperature and relative humidity significantly affect growth and production performance in poultry. Ability of poultry to regulate their core body temperature relative to the ambient temperature depends on the relative nutrient/energy expenditure in maintenance and performance requirements. We hypothesized that changes in rectal temperature corrected for surface area can be used as a measure of heat tolerance/sensitivity.

Household satisfaction with health services and response strategies to malaria in mountain communities of Uganda.

Background: Measuring satisfaction with health service delivery in fragile communities provides an opportunity to improve the resilience of health systems to threats including climate change. Additionally, understanding factors associated with the choice of response strategies to certain public health threats provides an opportunity to design context-specific interventions.

Methods: We used polytomous latent class analyses to group participants' responses and an additive Bayesian modelling network to explore satisfaction with health service delivery as well as factors associated with response strategies of households to malaria.

Socioeconomic benefits associated with bats.

Background: While bats are tremendously important to global ecosystems, they have been and continue to be threatened by loss of habitat, food, or roosts, pollution, bat diseases, hunting and killing. Some bat species have also been implicated in the transmission of infectious disease agents to humans. While One Health efforts have been ramped up recently to educate and protect human and bat health, such initiatives have been limited by lack of adequate data on the pathways to ensure their support.

A comparative study of population structure and genetic diversity of commercial and indigenous chickens from different agro-ecological zones in Ghana using SilicoDArT and SNP markers.

Chicken production, both in the local and commercial sectors, contributes significantly to human livelihood and food security. Precise use of diverse genetic resources is primary in breeding programs. The study analyzed the genetic diversity and population structure of commercial chickens and indigenous chicken ecotypes from three different agro-ecological zones (Semi-Deciduous Rainforest Zone, Guinea Savannah, and Coastal Savannah) using SilicoDArT and SNP markers, utilizing whole-genome sequencing and phenotypic data.

Phenotypic characterization and analysis of genetic diversity between commercial crossbred and indigenous chickens from three different agro-ecological zones using DArT-Seq technology.

Indigenous and were used to study genetic diversity and population structure analyses. Polymorphism information content (PIC) values ranged from 0.0 to 0.

Multitissue transcriptomics demonstrates the systemic physiology of methionine deficiency in broiler chickens.

Methionine (Met) supplementation is common practice in broilers to support nutrition, yet there are gaps in the understanding of its role in systemic physiology. Furthermore, several different Met sources are available that may have different physiological effects. This study evaluated the mode of action of Met deficiency (no Met-supplementation) and supplementation (0.

Host transcriptome response to heat stress and Eimeria maxima infection in meat-type chickens.

Eimeria (E.) maxima parasite infects chickens' midgut disrupting the jejunal and ileal mucosa causing high morbidity and mortality. Heat stress (HS) is a seasonal stressor that impacts biological functions leading to poor performance.

Methionine sources at different dietary levels alters the growth and expression of genes related to homocysteine remethylation in the jejunum of broilers.

Sulfur amino acids are essential for the proper development of broilers and are required throughout the bird's life to perform important physiological functions. Studies that seek to understand the actions of sulfur amino acids in the body of birds are essential. The present study evaluated the influence of sulfur amino acid supplementation using DL-Methionine (DL-Met) and DL-Methionine hydroxy analogue (DL-HMTBA), on the performance and expression of genes related to methionine metabolism, in the jejunum of broilers.

Effect of Glucose Supplementation on Apoptosis in the of Chickens Raised under Thermoneutral or Heat Stress Environment.

Reduced feed intake during heat stress (HS) disrupts glucose homeostasis, thereby resulting in endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and triggering apoptosis in chickens. We hypothesize that glucose supplementation could reduce apoptosis in chickens raised under HS. This study comprised 456 28-day-old broiler chickens randomly assigned to four treatment combinations under glucose supplementation and HS.

Glucose Supplementation Improves Performance and Alters Glucose Transporters' Expression in of Heat-Stressed Chickens.

Glucose level in birds' tissue decreases due to heat stress (HS)-induced reduction in feed intake (FI); impairing metabolism and growth. The effect of glucose supplementation on the performance of broiler chickens was evaluated under thermoneutral (TN) and HS conditions. Glucose was supplemented at 0 and 6% under TN-(25 °C) and HS-(25 °C-35 °C-25 °C) conditions.

Quantitative and molecular aspects of water intake in meat-type chickens.

Even though water is the most essential nutrient for poultry production, adequate data on individual water intake in broiler chickens and its relationship with other traits of economic importance is scant. Water is provided to chickens in an unrestricted manner in spite of being a finite resource. Climate change continues to affect water sources and efficient bird use of water is long overdue.

Research Note: Analysis of body weight and walking ability in turkeys and the prediction of categorical responses across systematic effect classes using a linear threshold model.

Heavy selection for growth in turkeys has led to a decay in leg soundness and walking ability. In this study, different models and traits were used to investigate the genetic relationships between body weight (BW) and walking ability (WA) in a turkey population. The data consisted of BW and WA traits collected on 276,059 male birds.

Water scarcity can be a critical limitation for the poultry industry.

Water is essential for various physiological functions and the productive performance of animals. However, with climatic uncertainties exacerbated by climatic changes, water could become a scarce nutrient shortly. This is already the case in one-third of the world's countries, which are under medium to high levels of water stress.

Uptake of community antiretroviral group delivery models for persons living with HIV in Arua district, Uganda: A parallel convergent mixed methods study.

Community antiretroviral groups (CAGs) is one of the innovative and efficient differentiated service delivery models (DSDM) for reaching persons needing human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) treatment in the community. Since DSDM adoption in Uganda, evidence suggests better care outcomes for patients in DSDM compared to counterparts in routine health facility care. However, uptake of CAG models for eligible community groups of persons living with HIV (PLHIV) has been slow in Arua district, Uganda and stakeholders' perceptions regarding its implementation unexplored.

Temporal dynamics of the cecal and litter microbiome of chickens raised in two separate broiler houses.

In this study, we investigated the dynamics of the ceca and litter microbiome of chickens from post-hatch through pre-harvest. To achieve this, six hundred one-day old Cobb 500 broiler chicks were raised on floor pens for 49 days in two separate houses. We performed short-read and full-length sequencing of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene present in the meconium and in cecal and litter samples collected over the duration of the study.

Monitoring Behaviors of Broiler Chickens at Different Ages with Deep Learning.

Animal behavior monitoring allows the gathering of animal health information and living habits and is an important technical means in precision animal farming. To quickly and accurately identify the behavior of broilers at different days, we adopted different deep learning behavior recognition models. Firstly, the top-view images of broilers at 2, 9, 16 and 23 days were obtained.

Fuzzy Logic as a Strategy for Combining Marker Statistics to Optimize Preselection of High-Density and Sequence Genotype Data.

The high dimensionality of genotype data available for genomic evaluations has presented a motivation for developing strategies to identify subsets of markers capable of increasing the accuracy of predictions compared to the current commercial single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) chips. In this simulation study, an algorithm for combining statistics used in the preselection and prioritization of SNP markers from a high-density panel (1.3 million SNPs) into a composite "fuzzy" ranking score based on a Sugeno-type fuzzy inference system (FIS) was developed and evaluated for performance in preselection for genomic predictions.

Thrombin as a Potential Proxy to Select for Horn Fly Abundance in Beef Cattle.

Horn flies are a major nuisance to cattle and induce significant economic losses. Fly abundance varies within and across breeds and genetic analyses have shown sufficient genetic variation to permit selection. A major bottleneck for selecting against horn fly abundance is the complexity of measuring fly attraction phenotypes.

Cecal Microbial Hydrogen Cycling Potential Is Linked to Feed Efficiency Phenotypes in Chickens.

In chickens, early life exposure to environmental microbes has long-lasting impacts on gastrointestinal (GI) microbiome development and host health and growth, via mechanisms that remain uncharacterized. In this study, we demonstrated that administrating a fecal microbiome transplant (FMT) from adults to day-of-hatch chicks results in significantly higher body mass of birds and decreased residual feed intake (RFI), implying enhanced feed efficiency, at 6 weeks of age. To assess the potential mechanisms through which FMT affects adult bird phenotype, we combined 16 S rRNA gene amplification, metagenomic, and comparative genomic approaches to survey the composition and predicted activities of the resident microbiome of various GI tract segments.

Heat Stress Alters the Effect of Infection on Ileal Amino Acids Digestibility and Transporters Expression in Meat-Type Chickens.

invades the midgut of chickens and destroys the intestinal mucosa, impacting nutrient digestibility and absorption. Heat stress (HS) commonly affects the broiler chicken and contributes to inflammation and oxidative stress. We examined the independent and combined effects of HS and infection on apparent amino acid ileal digestibility (AID) and mRNA expression of amino acid transporters in broiler chickens (Ross 708).

Heat stress modulates the disruptive effects of Eimeria maxima infection on the ileum nutrient digestibility, molecular transporters, and tissue morphology in meat-type chickens.

Eimeria (E.) maxima is one of the most pathogenic Eimeria spp persistently invading the middle jejunum and ileum, damaging the intestinal mucosa of chickens. Heat stress (HS) is a common stressor and equally contributes to inflammation and oxidative stress.