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Characterizing Thermal Hysteresis In Body Temperature For A Heat Stressed Steer, F. Yang, A. M. Parkhurst, D. A. Spiers, J. B. Gaughan, T. L. Mader, G. L. Hahn

Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture

Studies have shown that exposure of animals to a high ambient temperature environment poses serious threats to their health, performance and productivity. Above a certain threshold an animal's body temperature (Tb) appears to be driven by the hot ambient temperature (Ta). For steers challenged by heat stress, the Tb-Ta relationship shows a dramatic increase in Tb per unit change of Ta and the dynamics of the Tb-Ta relationship follow a pattern which depends on whether Ta is increasing or decreasing. A delay becomes noticeable in a steer’s thermo-regulatory response to Ta when Ta is controlled to be sinusoidal in the …