Estimating the energy expenditure of farm animals at pasture is important for efficient animal management. In recent years, an alternative technique for estimating energy expenditure by measuring body acceleration has been widely performed in wildlife and human studies, but the availability of the technique in farm animals has not yet been examined. In the present study, we tested the potential use of an acceleration index, overall dynamic body acceleration (ODBA), as a new proxy for estimating the energy expenditure of grazing farm animals (cattle, goats and sheep) at pasture with the simultaneous evaluation of a conventional proxy, heart rate. Body accelerations in three axes and heart rate for cows (n = 8, two breeds), goats (n = 6) and sheep (n = 5) were recorded, and the effect of ODBA calculated from the body accelerations on heart rate was analyzed. In addition, the effects of the two other activity indices, the number of steps and vectorial dynamic body acceleration (VeDBA), on heart rate were also investigated. The results of the comparison among three activity indices indicated that ODBA was the best predictor for heart rate. Although the relationship between ODBA and heart rate was different between the groups of species and breeds and between individuals (P<0.01), the difference could be explained by different body weights; a common equation could be established by correcting the body weights (M: kg): heart rate (beats/min) = 147.263∙M -0.141 + 889.640∙M -0.179∙ODBA (g). Combining this equation with the previously reported energy expenditure per heartbeat, we estimated the energy expenditure of the tested animals, and the results indicated that ODBA is a good proxy for estimating the energy expenditure of grazing farm animals across species and breeds. The utility and simplicity of the procedure with acceleration loggers could make the accelerometry technique a worthwhile option in field research and commercial farm use.

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Domestication of animals has resulted in phenotypic changes by means of natural and human-directed selection. Body composition is important for farm animals because it reflects the status of energy reserves. Thus, there is the possibility that farm animals as providers of food have been more affected by human-directed selection for body composition than laboratory animals. In this study, an analysis was conducted to determine what similarities and differences in body composition occur between farm and laboratory animals using literature data obtained from seven comparative slaughter studies ( n 5 136 observations). Farm animals from four species (cattle, goats, pigs and sheep) were all castrated males, whereas laboratory animals from three species (dogs, mice and rats) comprised males and/or females. All animals were fed ad libitum. The allometric equation, Y 5aX b , was used to determine the influence of species on the accretion rates of chemical components ( Y, kg) relative to the growth of the empty body, fat-free empty body or protein weights ( X, kg). There were differences between farm and laboratory animals in terms of the allometric growth coefficients for chemical components relative to the empty BW and fat-free empty BW ( P , 0.01); farm animals had more rapid accretion rates of fat ( P , 0.01) but laboratory animals had more rapid accretion rates of protein, water and ash ( P , 0.01). In contrast, there was no difference in terms of the allometric growth coefficients for protein and water within farm animals ( P . 0.2). The allometric growth coefficients for ash weight relative to protein weight for six species except sheep were not different from a value of 1 ( P . 0.1), whereas that of sheep was smaller than 1 ( P , 0.01). When compared at the same fat content of the empty body, the rate of change in water content (%) per unit change in fat content (%) was not different ( P . 0.05) across farm animal species and similar ash-to-protein ratios were obtained except for dogs. The fraction of empty body energy gain retained as fat increased in a curvilinear manner, and there was little variation among farm animals at the same fat content of the empty body. These findings may provide the opportunity to develop a general model to predict empty body composition across farm animal species. In contrast, there were considerable differences of chemical body composition between farm and laboratory animals.Keywords: allometric relationship, body composition, farm animals, interspecies comparison, laboratory animals ImplicationsIn this study, the chemical compositions of the empty body of different domestic species were compared, and the results indicated that there were common allometric relationships between two components (protein and water weights) and fat-free empty BW across farm animal species. This type of information could be useful for the development of a general model of reliably predicting chemical composition and energy content of gain in farm animal species. Furthermore, remarkable interspecies diff...

Five new diterpenoids belonging to labdane and isopimarane skeletons, mumic acids A–E (1–5), have been isolated from mumiyo. Their structures and absolute configurations were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic data and chemical derivatization.

High-temperature oxidation of Fe-2OCr-4A1 alloy purified by floating zone melting was studied for 18.Oks in oxygen at 1273, 1373, 1473, 1573 and 1673K. Mass changes of 0.99ppmS and 1.84ppmS alloys increased with increasing temperature of oxidation. On the other hand, mass change of 3.88ppmS alloy showed negative values after oxidation at 1473, 1573 and 1673K, because of spalling of oxide on the alloy.