Animal Sciences Commons^™

Health Assessment Of Two Reintroduced Populations Of American Martens (Martes Americana) In Michigan, Maria Catherine Spriggs

Doctoral Dissertations

The American marten (Martes americana) was extirpated from Michigan during the early-20th century due to loss of vast areas of mature conifer forest and unregulated trapping. The species was reintroduced into the Upper Peninsula (UP) and Northern Lower Peninsula (NLP) during the mid-20th century. While the American marten population in the UP has grown and is doing well, the population in the NLP has been less successful. The reasons for the limited success of the NLP population are unknown, but may include lack of suitable habitat, limited reproductive success, poor genetic diversity, disease, or negative environmental impacts. American …

Impact Of Milk Production Level On Beef Cow-Calf Productivity In Tennessee, Sarah Rebecca Edwards

Masters Theses

The beef cattle industry tends to focus on selecting production traits with the purpose of maximizing cow-calf performance. One such trait is milking ability, which is considered the primary influence on weaning weight of the calf. But, it can also have a negative effect on cow reproductive efficiency and cost of production. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the effect of actual milk yield on reproductive performance, circulating blood metabolites, and calf performance in beef cows in Tennessee. Data were collected from 239, 3- to 9-yr-old Angus sired beef cows from 3 research centers across Tennessee. On …

Rare Occurrences Of Free-Living Bacteria Belonging To Sedimenticola From Subtidal Seagrass Beds Associated With The Lucinid Clam, Stewartia Floridana, Aaron M. Goemann

Masters Theses

Lucinid clams and their sulfur-oxidizing endosymbionts comprise two compartments of a three-stage, biogeochemical relationship among the clams, seagrasses, and microbial communities in marine sediments. A population of the lucinid clam, Stewartia floridana, was sampled from a subtidal seagrass bed at Bokeelia Island Seaport in Florida to test the hypotheses: (1) S. floridana, like other lucinids, are more abundant in seagrass beds than bare sediments; (2) S. floridana gill microbiomes are dominated by one bacterial operational taxonomic unit (OTU) at a sequence similarity threshold level of 97% (a common cutoff for species level taxonomy) from 16S rRNA genes; …

Effects Of Low-Dose Naltrexone On Feed Intake, Growth, Endocrine And Immune Parameters In The Recently-Weaned Pig, Ashley Christine Carter

Masters Theses

Weaning is a stressful event for pigs and causes decreased feed intake, poor growth, and increased susceptibility to disease. Previous studies have shown that syndyphalin-33, a synthetic opioid, was effective in increasing feed intake, abrogating the changes in appetite regulating genes during weaning, and abrogating the effects of a salmonella challenge on immune cells in newly-weaned pigs. However, there are several concerns associated with the administration of an opioid in commercial swine operations. Low-dose naltrexone (an opioid antagonist) has been used to alleviate symptoms from fibromyalgia and Crohn’s disease in humans. As inflammation is a common factor in both auto-immune …

Determination Of Dispersal Patterns And Characterization Of Important Habitats For Lake Sturgeon Restoration In The Upper Tennessee River System, Christina Grace Saidak

Masters Theses

Lake Sturgeon, Acipenser fulvescens, are one of the slowest to reach sexual maturity and longest-lived freshwater fish species in North America. These fish are a species of special concern by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, a vulnerable species by the American Fisheries Society (Jelks et al. 2008), and a threatened species in Tennessee (Chiasson et al. 1997; Williams et al. 1989). They have been reintroduced into the Upper Tennessee River system since 2000.

Since December 2013, 49 Lake Sturgeon have been implanted with ultrasonic acoustic transmitters, and 26 fixed-station receivers installed throughout the Upper Tennessee River System to …

Efficacy Of Extending The Voluntary Waiting Period In Lactating Dairy Cows To Improve Fertility Of Sex-Sorted Semen, Sarah E. Orr

Masters Theses

The objective of this study was to compare fertility of sex-sorted semen in lactating cows using a voluntary waiting period (VWP) of approximately 55 days (VWP55) or 85 days (VWP85). At 21 days in milk (DIM), cows were randomly assigned to begin estrus synchronization at 55 or 85 DIM. Only cows confirmed cyclic by 55 DIM were synchronized. At 55 or 85 DIM, cows [VWP55 (n=44); VWP85 (n=45)] having a corpus luteum (CL) were administered PGF_2α [two alpha]. Estrus was monitored continuously by the HeatWatch® [registered sign] system ( …

Effects Of Bedding With Recycled Sand On Lying Behaviors, Udder Hygiene, And Preferences Of Lactating Holstein Dairy Cows, Heather Deanna Ingle

Masters Theses

Effects of bedding with recycled sand and season on lying behaviors, stress, hygiene, and preferences of late-lactation Holstein cows were studied. Cows (n=64) were divided into 4 groups (n=8 per group) per season. In summer (Aug-Sept), cows were balanced by days in milk (268.1±11.9 d) and parity (2.0±0.2). In winter (Jan-Feb), mean DIM was 265.5±34.1 d. Cows were assigned to one of two treatments (trt) using a crossover design with each trt lasting 7-d (no-choice phase): bedding with recycled sand (RS; n=32) or control (CO; clean sand; n=32). Stocking density was maintained at 100%. Choice phase allowed a cow to …

Evaluation Of Reproductive Efficiency In Lactating Dairy Cows Through Physiologic Evaluation And Synchronization Modification, Charles Dexter Young

Doctoral Dissertations

Reproductive performance of lactating dairy cows has decreased as milk production has increased as a result of genetic selection. Milk production alone is not the reason for decreased reproductive performance, as fertility issues are multifactorial and collaborative. Research chapters contained within have taken an applied approach focusing in two different areas of fertility. One approach was development of an evaluation system to identify lactating cows with decreased fertility prior to breeding; while another approach was to modify an ovulation synchronization protocol during periods of heat stress in order to improve fertility. The first focus was development and evaluation of a …

Protective Effect Of Anti-Suam Antibodies On Streptococcus Uberis Mastitis, Raúl A. Almeida, Oudessa Kerro Dego, María E. Prado, Susan I. Headrick, Mark J. Lewis, Lydia J. Siebert, Gina M. Pighetti, Stephen P. Oliver

Animal Science Publications and Other Works

In the present study, the effect of anti-recombinant Streptococcus uberis adhesion molecule (SUAM) antibodies against S. uberis intramammary infections (IMI) was evaluated using a passive protection model. Mammary quarters of healthy cows were infused with S. uberis UT888 opsonized with affinity purified anti-rSUAM antibodies or hyperimmune sera. Non-opsonized S. uberis UT888 were used as a control. Mammary quarters infused with opsonized S. uberis showed mild-to undetectable clinical symptoms of mastitis, lower milk bacterial counts, and less infected mammary quarters as compared to mammary quarters infused with non-opsonized S. uberis. These findings suggest that anti-rSUAM antibodies interfered with infection of …

Dietary Supplementation Of Choline And Betaine In Heat-Stressed Broilers, Kouassi Remi Kpodo

Masters Theses

A study was conducted to determine the effects of supplemental choline (CHO) and betaine (BET) on broiler performance, carcass characteristics, corticosterone levels, immune organ weights, intestinal morphology and choline metabolites under thermoneutral (TN: 23.9^oC) and heat stress (HS: 28-36^oC) conditions. Eight hundred day-old chicks (400 per temperature treatment) were assigned in groups of 10 to each of five dietary treatments: 1 (CON) the basal diet; 2 (CHO500), basal diet plus 500 ppm methyl equivalents added CHO; 3 (CHO1000), basal diet plus 1000 ppm methyl equivalents added CHO; 4 (BET500), basal diet plus 500 ppm methyl equivalents …

Development And Evaluation Of Novel Vaccination Strategies For Campylobacter Control In Poultry, Xiang Liu

Masters Theses

Chicken is the primary natural host of Campylobacter, the leading bacterial cause of human enteritis in the US and other developed countries. Thus, mitigation of Campylobacter in chicken using innovative approaches, such as vaccination, will have a significant impact on food safety and public health. Our previous studies have demonstrated that the two outer membrane proteins, CmeC (the essential component of the CmeABC multi-drug efflux pump) and CfrA (a ferric enterobactin receptor), are feasible candidates for immune intervention against Campylobacter. DNA vaccine has appeared to offer various advantages for poultry, particularly when combined with in ovo vaccination. Chitosan-encapsulated …

Manipulating Adipose Tissue Fatty Acid Oxidation To Reduce Fatness In Broiler Chickens, Tania Emmanuelle Torchon

Masters Theses

Compared to rodents, broiler chickens, those reared for meat, are an attractive model for studies of adipose biology, and obesity development in children. The broiler chicken lacks the gene for uncoupling protein 1, the hallmark for brown adipose tissue making them a useful model to study lipid metabolism in white adipocytes. Two studies were performed to investigate if white adipose tissue had the metabolic ability for fatty acid oxidation (FAO), and to investigate the effects of dietary fatty acids on abdominal fat development of young broiler chickens as a model for childhood obesity. In study one, chickens were fasted for …

Thermal Inactivation Of Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia Coli In Foods, Malcond David Valladares

Doctoral Dissertations

Emerging non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) were recently added to the zero tolerance policy by the USDA-FSIS. Therefore, the precise characterization of their thermal inactivation kinetics in different foods and the effect of stress on thermal inactivation are needed. This research aimed at determining the heat inactivation kinetics of non-O157 and O157 STECs in buffer and model food matrices and the effects of DnaK levels on thermal resistance after acid and heat-shock. Thermal inactivation was carried out in either in 2-ml glass vials or nylon vacuum-sealed bags for buffer and food (spinach, ground-beef, turkey deli-meat, pasta) samples, respectively. Vials …