Genetic and phenotypic correlations among feed efficiency, production and selected conformation traits in dairy cows.

The difficulties and costs of measuring individual feed intake in dairy cattle are the primary factors limiting the genetic study of feed intake and utilisation, and hence the potential of their subsequent industry-wide applications. However, indirect selection based on heritable, easily measurable, and genetically correlated traits, such as conformation traits, may be an alternative approach to improve feed efficiency. The aim of this study was to estimate genetic and phenotypic correlations among feed intake, production, and feed efficiency traits (particularly residual feed intake; RFI) with routinely recorded conformation traits.

Heat-treated colostrum feeding promotes beneficial bacteria colonization in the small intestine of neonatal calves.

The present study investigated the effect of heat-treated colostrum feeding on the bacterial colonization in calf small intestine of neonatal calves within the first 12h of life. Newborn Holstein bull calves (n=32) were assigned to 3 treatment groups and fed with either fresh colostrum (FC, n=12) or heat-treated (60°C, 60 min) colostrum (HC, n=12) soon after birth, whereas the control (NC, n=8) group did not receive colostrum or water. Small intestinal tissues and contents were collected from proximal jejunum, distal jejunum, and ileum at 6 and 12h after birth, following euthanasia.

If we offer it, will children buy it? Sales of healthy foods mirrored their availability in a community sport, commercial setting in Alberta, Canada.

Background: Community sports settings are often sources of unhealthy foods for children. Many managers in these settings are reluctant to increase availability of healthy food options because they perceive that healthy foods are not profitable. This study assessed the independent contribution of increased availability of healthy foods to their sales in a community sport, commercial context.

Choosing healthier foods in recreational sports settings: a mixed methods investigation of the impact of nudging and an economic incentive.

Background: Nudging is an approach to environmental change that alters social and physical environments to shift behaviors in positive, self-interested directions. Evidence indicates that eating is largely an automatic behavior governed by environmental cues, suggesting that it might be possible to nudge healthier dietary behaviors. This study assessed the comparative and additive efficacy of two nudges and an economic incentive in supporting healthy food purchases by patrons at a recreational swimming pool.

Prediction of residual feed intake for first-lactation dairy cows using orthogonal polynomial random regression.

Residual Feed Intake (RFI) is a measure of energy efficiency. Developing an appropriate model to predict expected energy intake while accounting for multifunctional energy requirements of metabolic body weight (MBW), empty body weight (EBW), milk production energy requirements (MPER), and their nonlinear lactation profiles, is the key to successful prediction of RFI in dairy cattle. Individual daily actual energy intake and monthly body weight of 281 first-lactation dairy cows from 1 to 305 d in milk were recorded at the Dairy Research and Technology Centre of the University of Alberta (Edmonton, AB, Canada); individual monthly milk yield and compositions were obtained from the Dairy Herd Improvement Program.

Pretreatment with an intravenous lipid emulsion increases plasma eicosapentanoic acid and downregulates leukotriene b4, procalcitonin, and lymphocyte concentrations after open heart surgery in infants.

Background: The effect of providing a lipid emulsion containing medium-chain triglyceride (MCT), soybean oil, and fish oil in critically ill infants is not widely studied. This study investigated lipid emulsion effects on plasma phospholipids and immune biomarkers.

Materials And Methods: Thirty-two infants undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) and dependent on parenteral nutrition (PN) were randomized to receive either soybean oil (control, n = 16) or a 50:40:10 mixture of MCT, soybean oil, and fish oil (treatment, n = 16).

Influence of sire breed on the interplay among rumen microbial populations inhabiting the rumen liquid of the progeny in beef cattle.

This study aimed to evaluate whether the host genetic background impact the ruminal microbial communities of the progeny of sires from three different breeds under different diets. Eighty five bacterial and twenty eight methanogen phylotypes from 49 individuals of diverging sire breed (Angus, ANG; Charolais, CHA; and Hybrid, HYB), fed high energy density (HE) and low energy density (LE) diets were determined and correlated with breed, rumen fermentation and phenotypic variables, using multivariate statistical approaches. When bacterial phylotypes were compared between diets, ANG offspring showed the lowest number of diet-associated phylotypes, whereas CHA and HYB progenies had seventeen and twenty-three diet-associated phylotypes, respectively.

Effect of calf starter feeding on gut microbial diversity and expression of genes involved in host immune responses and tight junctions in dairy calves during weaning transition.

Calf starters are usually offered to dairy calves to facilitate the weaning process, however, the effect of solid feed consumption on gut health has not been well studied. This study aimed to investigate the effect of calf starter feeding on the gut bacterial community and mucosal immune functions in dairy calves during weaning transition. Mucosal tissue and digesta samples were collected from rumen, jejunum, ileum, cecum, and colon upon slaughtering of calves (n=8) after feeding the experimental diets [milk replacer (MR) or milk replacer + calf starter (MR+S)] for 6 wk.

Low energy intakes are associated with adverse outcomes in infants after open heart surgery.

Background: Infants with congenital heart lesions who undergo open heart surgery may experience physiologic and metabolic stress in the postoperative period, leading to altered metabolism and hypercatabolism. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between energy intake and hospital outcomes during the first 10 days following neonatal open heart surgery.

Materials And Methods: A post hoc analysis of all patients in a prospective randomized controlled trial was performed.

The Alberta Pregnancy Outcomes and Nutrition (APrON) cohort study: rationale and methods.

The Alberta Pregnancy Outcomes and Nutrition (APrON) study is an ongoing prospective cohort study that recruits pregnant women early in pregnancy and, as of 2012, is following up their infants to 3 years of age. It has currently enrolled approximately 5000 Canadians (2000 pregnant women, their offspring and many of their partners). The primary aims of the APrON study were to determine the relationships between maternal nutrient intake and status, before, during and after gestation, and (1) maternal mood; (2) birth and obstetric outcomes; and (3) infant neurodevelopment.

Impact of selection for residual feed intake on breeding soundness and reproductive performance of bulls on pasture-based multisire mating.

There is concern in the beef industry that selecting bulls for feed efficiency based on residual feed intake (RFI) may have a negative impact on bull reproductive performance and fertility. Here we investigated the impact of selection of bulls for low RFI on breeding soundness evaluation (BSE), reproductive performance, and fertility of bulls under natural service in multisire mating groups on pasture. Of the 412 RFI-tested bulls available, 98 (23.

Impact of feed efficiency and diet on adaptive variations in the bacterial community in the rumen fluid of cattle.

Limited knowledge of the structure and activities of the ruminal bacterial community prevents the understanding of the effect of population dynamics on functional bacterial groups and on host productivity. This study aimed to identify particular bacteria associated with host feed efficiency in steers with differing diets and residual feed intake (RFI) using culture-independent methods: PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and quantitative real-time PCR analysis. PCR-DGGE profiles were generated from the ruminal fluid of 55 steers fed a low-energy-density diet and then switched to a high-energy-density diet.

Pre-treatment with an intravenous lipid emulsion containing fish oil (eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acid) decreases inflammatory markers after open-heart surgery in infants: a randomized, controlled trial.

Background & Aims: This study assessed the effects of administering a lipid emulsion containing eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acid before and after open-heart surgery on cytokine production and length of hospital stay in infants.

Methods: Thirty-two infants (40 ± 2.3 weeks gestational age; 10.

Evaluation of value-added components of dried distiller's grain with solubles from triticale and wheat.

This study focused on the detection of value-added co-products in dried distiller's grain plus soluble (DDGS), a possibility that could open new avenues for further processing and marketing of DDGS and improving economic sustainability of ethanol industry. Varieties of triticale, wheat and two benchmarks, CPS wheat and Pioneer Hi-Bred corn, were fermented using two very high gravity (VHG) fermentation approaches: jet-cooking and raw starch processing (STARGEN fermentation). DDGS from STARGEN fermentation could be promising sources of value-added co-products.

Processing conditions affect nutrient digestibility of cold-pressed canola cake for grower pigs.

Cold-pressed canola cake is a coproduct of biodiesel production that contains more residual oil than expeller-pressed and solvent-extracted canola meal. Cold-pressed canola cake might be an attractive feedstuff for swine due to local availability from small plants. However, the nutritional quality and content of anti-nutritional factors of cold-pressed canola cake are poorly defined and vary with processing conditions.

Feed efficiency differences and reranking in beef steers fed grower and finisher diets.

This 3-yr study used 490 steers to determine whether feedlot steers changed their feed efficiency (FE) ranking when fed a grower diet, then a finisher diet. The steers were crossbreds and were between 5 to 7 mo of age. There were 2 feeding periods each year.

Correlation of particular bacterial PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis patterns with bovine ruminal fermentation parameters and feed efficiency traits.

The influence of rumen microbial structure and functions on host physiology remains poorly understood. This study aimed to investigate the interaction between the ruminal microflora and the host by correlating bacterial diversity with fermentation measurements and feed efficiency traits, including dry matter intake, feed conversion ratio, average daily gain, and residual feed intake, using culture-independent methods. Universal bacterial partial 16S rRNA gene products were amplified from ruminal fluid collected from 58 steers raised under a low-energy diet and were subjected to PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) analysis.

Medical students' perceptions of nutrition education in Canadian universities.

Patients routinely seek physicians' guidance about diet and the relation between nutrition and the prevention and treatment of disease. However, the adequacy of nutrition instruction in undergraduate medical education is questionable. The purpose of this study was to investigate Canadian medical students' perceptions of and satisfaction with their education in nutrition.

Protein and starch concentrates of air-classified field pea and zero-tannin faba bean for weaned pigs.

Air-classified pulse (non-oilseed legume) protein and starch may replace specialty protein and starch feedstuffs in diets for weaned pigs. In Exp. 1, three specialty protein sources (5% soy protein concentrate, 5% corn gluten meal, and 5% menhaden meal in the control diet) were replaced with 16% zero-tannin hulled or dehulled faba bean, or 17.

The nutritional value of expeller-pressed canola meal for grower-finisher pigs.

Expeller-pressed (EP) canola meal contains more residual oil than solvent-extracted canola meal and might be an attractive feedstuff for swine, but it has been poorly characterized. In Exp. 1, six ileal-cannulated barrows (36 kg of BW) were fed at 3x maintenance either a 44% EP canola meal diet or a N-free diet in a crossover design to measure energy and AA digestibility and calculate standardized ileal digestible (SID) AA and NE content, with 6 observations per diet.

Modification and validation of a Macronutrient Preference Checklist for use in North America.

A Macronutrient Preference Checklist (MPC) is a simple tool that assesses momentary macronutrient and taste preferences. The purpose of this study was to modify and validate an existing European 32-item MPC and adapt it for use in North America. A total of 160 subjects completed questionnaires (demographic survey, appetite assessment, MPC, and MPC items rated on a 9-pt hedonic scale) on two occasions (Part 1).

Fermentation of barley by using Saccharomyces cerevisiae: examination of barley as a feedstock for bioethanol production and value-added products.

The objective of this study was to examine the ethanol yield potential of three barley varieties (Xena, Bold, and Fibar) in comparison to two benchmarks, corn and wheat. Very high gravity (VHG; 30% solids) fermentations using both conventional and Stargen 001 enzymes for starch hydrolysis were carried out as simultaneous saccharification and fermentation. The grains and their corresponding dried distiller's grain with solubles (DDGS) were also analyzed for nutritional and value-added characteristics.

Physical and sensory characterization and consumer preference of corn and barley-fed beef.

Steaks from corn-fed and barley-fed beef were characterized by a trained panel, which rated corn-fed beef higher (p<0.05) for tenderness attributes and overall flavor intensity. Canadian consumers preferred (p<0.

Evaluation of early conception factor lateral flow test to determine nonpregnancy in dairy cattle.

The early conception factor (ECF) lateral flow test was evaluated for its ability to accurately determine nonpregnant status in dairy cattle. Results of 2 field trials involving 191 cows and 832 tests indicated the probability that a cow can be correctly diagnosed as nonpregnant by using the ECF test is only about 50%. Agreement of test results between milk and serum obtained from the same cow was 57.

Evaluating the conjugated linoleic acid and trans 18:1 isomers in milk fat of dairy cows fed increasing amounts of sunflower oil and a constant level of fish oil.

The objective was to evaluate different levels of sun-flower oil (SFO) in dairy rations to increase vaccenic (trans-11-18:1) and rumenic acids (cis-9,trans-11-18:2) in milk fat, and assess the content and composition of other trans-octadecenoic (trans-18:1) and conjugated linoleic acids (CLA) isomers. Eighty lactating Holstein cows were fed control diets for 4 wk and then placed on 4 diets for 38 d; milk fat was analyzed after 10 and 38 d. The treatments were: control, 1.