Genetic evaluation of gestation length in Italian Holstein breed.

Gestation length (GL) can potentially affect health and performance of both the dam and the newborn calf, and it is controlled by two genetic components, direct and maternal. This means that both the calf (direct effect) and the cow (maternal effect) genotypes contribute to determine GL and its variability. The aims of the present study were to estimate direct and maternal variance components of GL, develop a routine genetic evaluation of GL in Italian Holstein and evaluate potential (un)favourable associations with traits for which selection is undertaken in this population.

Stayability in Simmental cattle as affected by muscularity and body condition score between calvings.

The present study aimed to investigate the association between stayability (STAY) traits, muscularity, and body condition score (BCS) in the Italian Simmental dual-purpose cows. Data were collected from 2,656 cows linearly scored in their first lactation from 2002 to 2020 and reared in 324 herds. The binary trait STAY, which is the ability of a cow to stay in the herd, was obtained for each cow-lactation available up to parity 5 (from STAY1-2 to STAY4-5).

Genetic characteristics of colostrum refractive index and its use as a proxy for the concentration of immunoglobulins in Holstein cattle.

Background: Colostral concentration of immunoglobulins (Ig) is crucial for the passive transfer of antibodies from the cow to the new-born calf. Direct determination of Ig by the gold standard radial immunodiffusion method is demanding in terms of time and costs. For this reason, a refractometer is commonly used at the farm level for an indirect estimation of colostrum quality, which is given as the Ig concentration.

Mortality during Transport of Pigs Subjected to Long Journeys: A Study in a Large European Abattoir.

To date, especially in Europe, few studies have analysed the implications of long journeys on pig welfare and economic losses, expressed in terms of transport mortality. This study retrospectively analysed data collected from slaughtering registers and travel journals in a large Italian abattoir. We focused on pig transports coming from abroad and arriving at the slaughter plant after long journeys (a total of 59,982 pigs over 370 journeys).

Breeding for improved protein fractions and free amino acids concentration in bovine milk.

Considerable resources are required to routinely measure detailed milk compositional traits. Hence, an insufficient volume of phenotypic data can hinder genetic progress in these traits within dairy cow breeding programmes. The objective of the present study was to quantify the opportunities for breeding for improved milk protein and free amino acid (FAA) composition by exploiting mid-infrared spectroscopy (MIRS) predictions routinely recorded from milk samples.

The concentrations of immunoglobulins in bovine colostrum determined by the gold standard method are genetically correlated with their near-infrared prediction.

Background: The quality of colostrum administered to calves is based on its concentration in immunoglobulins G (IgG, g/L). Immunoglobulins A (IgA) and M (IgM) are also present but at a lower level. The gold standard reference analysis for these traits, radial immunodiffusion, is time-consuming and expensive.

Dairy Cows' Health during Alpine Summer Grazing as Assessed by Milk Traits, Including Differential Somatic Cell Count: A Case Study from Italy.

Extensive summer grazing is a dairy herd management practice frequently adopted in mountainous areas. Nowadays, this activity is threatened by its high labour demand, but it is fundamental for environmental, touristic and economic implications, as well as for the preservation of social and cultural traditions. Scarce information on the effects of such low-input farming systems on cattle health is available.

Community Pharmacy Practice in Italy during the COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) Pandemic: Regulatory Changes and a Cross-Sectional Analysis of Seroprevalence.

Pharmacists in the community and the essential requirement to safeguard their own health have become fundamental since the spread of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The aims of this paper were (I) to analyze the directives provided to pharmacists in 2020 regarding preventative safety measures to be adopted; (II) to determine the number of pharmacists who came into contact with SARS-CoV-2 in North-West Italy and relate this to the adopted preventative measures. The first aim was pursued by conducting a bibliographic research, consulting the principal regulatory sources.

The Effect of Pre-milking Stimulation on Teat Morphological Parameters and Milk Traits in the Italian Water Buffalo.

Water buffaloes () are very sensitive to environmental stimulus before and during milking, and this explains why disrupted milk ejections due to blood oxytocin level instability are frequent in this species. According to the literature, the manual stimulation (MS) of teats before milking promotes oxytocin release and allows milk ejection to start within 2-3 min. However, the pre-milking stimulation of teats is not always part of the milking routine in Italian buffalo farms; moreover, buffaloes with unstable milk let-down are sometimes treated with exogenous oxytocin (OX).

Genetic and Non-Genetic Variation of Milk Total Antioxidant Activity Predicted from Mid-Infrared Spectra in Holstein Cows.

Food antioxidants enhance products shelf life and stability during technological treatments through the maintenance of their physical and chemical properties. Moreover, they are endowed with several positive effects on human health, including cell membranes preservation, enzyme functionality, and DNA integrity. Milk has been described in relation to a wide array of fat soluble and water-soluble antioxidant compounds, in particular vitamin A, C, and E, lactoferrin and peptides derived from casein and whey proteins.

Application of a Handheld Near-Infrared Spectrometer to Predict Gelatinized Starch, Fiber Fractions, and Mineral Content of Ground and Intact Extruded Dry Dog Food.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the ability of a handheld near-infrared spectrometer to predict total and gelatinized starch, insoluble fibrous fractions, and mineral content in extruded dry dog food. Intact and ground samples were compared to determine if the homogenization could improve the prediction performance of the instrument. Reference analyses were performed on 81 samples for starch and 99 for neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), acid detergent lignin (ADL), and minerals, and reflectance infrared spectra (740 to 1070 nm) were recorded with a SCiO™ near-infrared (NIR) spectrometer.

Genetic relationships of alternative somatic cell count traits with milk yield, composition and udder type traits in Italian Jersey cows.

The aim of this study was to estimate genetic associations between alternative somatic cell count (SCC) traits and milk yield, composition and udder type traits in Italian Jersey cows. Alternative SCC traits were test-day (TD) somatic cell score (SCS) averaged over early lactation (SCS_150), standard deviation of SCS of the entire lactation (SCS_SD), a binary trait indicating absence or presence of at least one TD SCC >400,000 cells/ml in the lactation (Infection) and the ratio of the number of TD SCC >400,000 cells/ml to total number of TD in the lactation (Severity). Heritabilities of SCC traits, including lactation-mean SCS (SCS_LM), ranged from 0.

Variation of Detailed Protein Composition of Cow Milk Predicted from a Large Database of Mid-Infrared Spectra.

This study aimed to investigate factors affecting protein fractions, namely α-casein (α-CN), β-casein (β-CN), κ-casein (κ-CN), β-lactoglobulin (β-LG) and α-lactalbumin (α-LA) predicted from milk infrared spectra in milk of dairy and dual-purpose cattle breeds. The dataset comprised 735,328 observations from 49,049 cows in 1782 herds. Results highlighted significant differences of protein fractions in milk of the studied breeds.

Mineral composition of cow milk from multibreed herds.

This study estimated the effect of Holstein-Friesian, Brown Swiss, Jersey, Simmental and Alpine Grey cattle breeds on milk mineral contents (Ca, Mg, P, K, and Na) in multibreed herds using data predicted with mid-infrared spectroscopy. The dataset included 139,821 observations from 16,566 cows and 977 herds. Fixed effects considered in the mixed model were breed, parity, stage of lactation and first-order interactions, and random effects were cow, herd-test-date, and the residual.