Cleaning procedures and cleanliness assessments of bucket milkers and suckling buckets on Japanese dairy farms.

Cleanliness of milking equipment is known to be important for the safety of dairy products and to prevent the spread of diseases among cows. We investigated the cleaning procedures of milking equipment and suckling equipment on Japanese dairy farms, and the cleanliness of bucket milkers, suckling buckets, milk receivers, and bulk tanks, using adenosine triphosphate (ATP) bioluminescence test. Bulk tanks (except one bulk tank) and milk receivers were washed by automated cleaning, but all bucket milkers and suckling buckets were washed by manual cleaning.

Comparative evaluation of the cost and efficiency of four types of sexing methods for the production of dairy female calves.

This study was conducted to evaluate and compare the economic benefits of different embryo sexing methods, based on the cost per female dairy calf produced. Female calves were produced from four kinds of female embryos: (1) those collected from superstimulated donors at 7-8 days after artificial insemination (AI) with X-sorted semen; (2) those sex-determined by loop-mediated isothermal amplification assay of a biopsy sample of embryos collected from superstimulated donors after AI with conventional unsorted semen; (3) those obtained by invitro embryo production (IVEP), using X-sorted semen and in vitro-matured oocytes collected from donors by ovum pick-up (OPU); and (4) those obtained by IVEP, using X-sorted semen and oocytes collected by OPU after dominant follicle ablation and follicle growth stimulation of the donors. The respective productivities of female calves per technical service and the total production cost per female calf of each sexing method were compared.

Differences in rumen fermentation characteristics between low-yield and high-yield dairy cows in early lactation.

Relationship between rumen fermentation parameters, blood biochemical profiles and milk production traits in different yielding dairy cows during early lactation was investigated. Twelve dairy cows were divided into two groups based on their milk yield, that is low-yield (LY) and high-yield (HY) groups. Rumen fluid and blood were collected at 3 weeks prepartum and 4, 8 and 12 weeks postpartum.

Effects of supplementing an active dry yeast product on rumen microbial community composition and on subsequent rumen fermentation of lactating cows in the mid-to-late lactation period.

The effects of supplementing feed of cows in mid-to-late lactation with an active yeast product (Actisaf Sc 47) were evaluated using 15 Holstein cows in a replicated 3 × 3 Latin square design. The animals were fed a mixed ration with 33% neutral detergent fiber, consisting of timothy hay (29.8%), a commercial concentrate (70.

Dynamics of lingual antimicrobial peptide, lactoferrin concentrations and lactoperoxidase activity in the milk of cows treated for clinical mastitis.

The aim of the present study was to examine changes in innate immune factors in the milk of mastitic dairy cows treated with antibiotics. Cows in the antibiotics group (n = 13) were infused into the mammary gland with cefazolin on the sixth day after mastitis was diagnosed (the day of the mastitis diagnosis = day -6). The control group (n = 12) was not treated.

Improvement of preimplantation development of in vitro-fertilized bovine zygotes by glucose supplementation to a chemically defined medium.

The influences of glucose supplementation on early development of bovine embryos in BSA-free synthetic oviduct fluid were examined. Among the groups supplemented with 1.5, 2.

Relationship between stress levels of the antepartum cow and her newborn calf.

We investigated the relationship of the stress levels of the dam before and after delivery to that of her offspring soon after birth. Eight pregnant cows were penned 7 days before calving. Blood was taken from the jugular vein of cows at -7, 1, 2 and 3 days from calving.

Effects of growth and dietary crude protein level until first insemination on milk production during first lactation in Holstein heifers.

To decrease the age at first calving in Holsteins, the effects of average daily body weight gain (ADG) and crude protein (CP) level until first insemination on growth performance and milk production were examined. The MM group had a target ADG of 0.75 kg and received a diet with a CP level of 14%.

Normal calves produced after transfer of embryos cultured in a chemically defined medium supplemented with epidermal growth factor and insulin-like growth factor I following ovum pick up and in vitro fertilization in Japanese black cows.

The objective of this study was to examine whether high concentrations of epidermal growth factor (EGF) and/or insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) would have a beneficial effect on bovine embryo development in vitro and to obtain normal calves by using an ovum pick up method and embryo culture in a chemically defined medium. When compared with controls, EGF (100 or 200 ng/ml) or IGF-I (50 or 100 ng/ml) significantly increased the rate of embryos that developed into blastocysts during an 8-day culture after the in vitro fertilization of oocytes obtained from ovaries from a slaughterhouse. IGF-I induced a dose-dependent increase in cell number in both the inner cell mass and the trophectoderm, whereas EGF stimulated proliferation only in the inner cell mass.

Effect of cellooligosaccharide or synbiotic feeding on growth performance, fecal condition and hormone concentrations in Holstein calves.

We investigated the effect of cellooligosaccharide (CE) or a combination of dextran and Lactobacillus casei ssp. casei strain JCM1134(T) (synbiotic; SB) feeding on growth performance, fecal condition and hormone concentrations in Holstein calves. Fifty-two female Holstein calves were randomly assigned to three treatment groups: CE feeding group (n = 16), SB feeding group (n = 18), and control group (n = 18).

Calf production from vitrified bovine sexed embryos following in-straw dilution.

The objective of this study was to develop an in-straw dilution method suitable for direct transfer of vitrified bovine sexed embryos. Embryo sexing was performed by molecular diagnosis. Several sexed and vitrified-warmed embryos were transferred after evaluation of morphologically embryonic survival at warming and in-straw dilution (Evaluation group).

Viability of porcine embryos after vitrification using water-soluble pullulan films.

The efficiency of a porcine embryo vitrification method that uses water-soluble films of pullulan, a naturally-occurring polysaccharide polymer, was compared with two other types of vitrification methods using different devices and solutions for vitrification and warming. Blastocysts collected in vivo and vitrified by the conventional straw (ST), Cryotop((R)) (MVC) or pullulan film vitrification (PFV) methods were stored in liquid nitrogen for a certain period of time, after which the cryoprotective agents were removed by stepwise dilution. Fresh embryos were used as controls for the non-vitrification group.

Classification of morphological changes based on the number of cleavage divisions in bovine embryos.

Quantification based on cleavage division (CD) of bovine preimplantation embryos facilitates quantitative analyses of embryonic developmental processes because CD occurs roughly once each day for all blastomeres for up to at least 9 days after ovulation. Therefore, embryonic morphological changes during this period were classified according to CD number. In this study, embryos collected from superovulated donors 0-9 days after ovulation were first classified morphologically into 14 conventional developmental stages.

Transition of cell numbers in bovine preimplantation embryos: in vivo collected and in vitro produced embryos.

The total cell numbers (TCNs) of bovine embryos collected from superovulated donors (VIVO embryos) were counted 0-9 d after ovulation to quantify the developmental process. Using numerical analysis of embryo development, we also compared the developmental process of VIVO embryos, in vitro-fertilized (IVF) embryos and nuclear transfer (NT) embryos obtained from enucleated oocytes and blastomere nuclei. The TCNs of embryos were measured using the air-dry method.

Inhibition of tetrandrine on epidermal growth factor-induced cell transformation and its signal transduction.

Background: The mouse epidermal JB6 cell system is a model for studying tumor promotion. We used the JB6 Cl 41 cell line to examine the mechanism of the anti-tumor-promoting effect of tetrandrine, an alkaloid isolated from Stephania tetrandra S Moore.

Materials And Methods: The anti-tumor-promoting effect of tetrandrine was evaluated by assay of inhibition of epidermal growth factor (EGF)-induced transformation of JB6 Cl 41 cells in soft agar.

Antitumor effect of geranylamine derivatives on human hepatoma.

In this study, we examined the antitumor activities of isoprenoid derivatives conjugated with substrates of energy metabolism in human hepatoma-bearing athymic mice. Among these compounds, N-geranylpyruvic amide, N-geranyl-p-pyruvaminobenzoic amide, N,N'-digeranylmalic diamide and N,N'-digeranyl-O-acetylmalic diamide had strong antitumor effects. These geranylamine derivatives also inhibited in vitro cell growth.