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The transformation of oat brewery waste (OBW) into livestock feed could be a potential replacement for the expensive concentrate and one of the effective approaches for avoiding health hazards due to the accumulation of oat brewery waste in the environment. To explore the potential of OBW as a methane (CH4) mitigating agent, an in vitro study was undertaken to investigate the effect of graded replacement of concentrate with OBW on CH4 production, microbiota, feed fermentation, and CAZymes. A total of five treatments with variable proportions of OBW were formulated. The results indicated a linear decrease in the total gas production and a 38–52% decrease in CH4 production with a 60 and 100% replacement of concentrate with OBW. The inclusion of OBW also affected the abundance of microbes such as Firmicutes, Euryarchaeota, Methanobrevibacter, and protozoa numbers. This study demonstrated that OBW can partially replace the concentrate and effectively mitigate CH4 production; however, the concurrent decrease in fermentation cautioned for the partial replacement of concentrate with OBW at an appropriate level at which the fermentation remains unaffected while decreasing CH4 production. Therefore, waste from oat breweries can contribute to curtailing the accumulation of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context. Lameness in dairy cattle affects the health, welfare, performance, and profitability of dairy farms. Being multifactorial in nature, several animal and farm-level risk factors influence the severity and prevalence of lameness. Aims. The objective of the present meta-analysis study was to provide a pooled estimate of the prevalence and identification of the potential risk factors associated with lameness in dairy cattle across tropical Asian countries. Methods. A literature search reporting prevalence data for lameness in dairy cattle of tropical Asian countries including India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Malaysia, Nepal and Thailand for the past 21 years (2000--2021) was collected by using appropriate keywords from the electronic databases. After removing outlier studies, a meta- analysis of 38 studies published in English was performed under a random-effects model by using the meta package (metaprop function) in R software. Key results. The pooled estimate of the overall prevalence of lameness was 15.13% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 13.01, 17.53). High heterogeneity was found in the prevalence estimates among the published studies (P < 0.05). The pooled prevalence for lameness-related lesions was, for overgrown hooves 34.42% (95% CI = 23.41, 47.42), interdigital 28 hyperplasia 9.73% (95% CI = 5.84, 15.78), white line disease 6.91% (95% CI = 3.54, 13.05) and sole ulcer 6.84% (95% CI = 3.87, 11.83). The prevalence of lameness was higher in cows at parity three (23.03%) and at parity greater than or equal to 4 (31.68%) than at first and second parity. Breed of an animal, lower body condition score (BCS), housing and floor type, and season also had a significant effect on the pooled prevalence of lameness (P < 0.0001). Conclusions. The findings of the present study showed that lameness is prevalent across the tropical Asian countries and there was a significant association of risk factors such as housing, floor, hygiene, and animal nutrition with lameness in dairy herds. Implications. Meta-analysis study indicated that there is a need to adopt better management practices to minimise the incidence of lameness in dairy animals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to assess the effect of the insulin-like grow factor 1 (IGF-1) treatment during in vitro maturation on the gene expression and developmental ability of ovine oocytes. Ovine cumulus-oocyte complexes (COC) were matured in vitro without (control) or with the supplementation of IGF-1 (100 ng/ml) and then subjected to in vitro fertilization and culture. The rate of oocyte maturation and embryo development was recorded and expression of the selected genes (involved in the PI3K/Akt and apoptosis signaling) was assessed in the matured oocytes. The IGF-1 treatment significantly (p <.05) improved the oocyte maturation rate (%) as compared to the control (81.5 ± 2.40 vs. 73.6 ± 0.94). Similarly, as compared to the control, the IGF-1 treatment significantly (p <.05) improved the rate (%) of cleavage (54.7 ± 1.58 vs. 67.2 ± 3.65) and the formation of 4–8 cell embryos (30.7 ± 2.89 vs. 44.1 ± 4.01) and morula (20.7 ± 2.08 vs. 32.8 ± 2.78). The IGF-1 treatment significantly (p <.05) upregulated the expression of IGF1R, PI3KR1, AKT1 and BCL2 and downregulated the expression of GSK3β, FOXO3 and CASP9 in the matured oocytes. In conclusion, the IGF-1 treatment significantly improved the developmental competence of ovine oocytes through the regulation of the PI3K/Akt and apoptosis signaling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]