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Many species maintain territories, but the degree of overlap between territories and the level of aggression displayed in territorial conflicts can vary widely, even within species. Greater territorial overlap may occur when neighboring territory holders are close relatives. Animals may also differentiate neighbors from strangers, with more familiar neighbors eliciting less‐aggressive responses during territorial conflicts (the “dear enemy” effect). However, research is lacking in how both kinship and overlap affect territorial conflicts, especially in group‐living species. Here, we investigate kinship, territorial overlap, and territorial conflict in a habituated wild population of group‐living cooperatively breeding birds, the southern pied babbler Turdoides bicolor. We find that close kin neighbors are beneficial. Territories overlap more when neighboring groups are close kin, and these larger overlaps with kin confer larger territories (an effect not seen for overlaps with unrelated groups). Overall, territorial conflict is costly, causing significant decreases in body mass, but conflicts with kin are shorter than those conducted with nonkin. Conflicts with more familiar unrelated neighbors are also shorter, indicating these neighbors are “dear enemies.” However, kinship modulates the “dear enemy” effect; even when kin are encountered less frequently, kin elicit less‐aggressive responses, similar to the “dear enemy” effect. Kin selection appears to be a main influence on territorial behavior in this species. Groups derive kin‐selected benefits from decreased conflicts and maintain larger territories when overlapping with kin, though not when overlapping with nonkin. More generally, it is possible that kinship extends the “dear enemy” effect in animal societies. Fights between neighbors are common in many animal species, and often dictate territorial boundaries. We investigate how relatedness affects territorial overlap and size, and how relatedness and territorial overlap affect the intensity and length of territorial conflicts. We find that having kin as neighbors reduces the length of territorial conflicts and results in larger overlaps and larger territories. Overall, having kin as neighbors confers benefits in this cooperatively breeding bird species.

The accurate and timely assessment of pasture quantity and quality (i.e., nutritive characteristics) is vital for effective pasture management. Remotely sensed data can be used to predict pasture quantity and quality. This study investigated the ability of Sentinel-2 multispectral bands, convolved from proximal hyperspectral data, in predicting various pasture quality and quantity parameters. Field data (quantitative and spectral) were gathered for experimental plots representing four pasture types—perennial ryegrass monoculture and three mixtures of swards representing increasing species diversity. Spectral reflectance data at the canopy level were used to generate Sentinel-2 bands and calculate normalised difference indices with each possible band pair. The suitability of these indices for prediction of pasture parameters was assessed. Pasture quantity parameters (biomass and Leaf Area Index) had a stronger influence on overall reflectance than the quality parameters. Indices involving the 1610 nm band were optimal for acid detergent fibre, crude protein, organic matter and water-soluble carbohydrate concentration, while being less affected by biomass or LAI. The study emphasises the importance of accounting for the quantity parameters in the spectral data-based models for pasture quality predictions. These explorative findings inform the development of future pasture quantity and quality models, particularly focusing on diverse swards.

Background Dairy products are a major contributor to dietary SFA. Partial replacement of milk SFA with unsaturated fatty acids (FAs) is possible through oleic-acid rich supplementation of the dairy cow diet. To assess adherence to the intervention of SFA-reduced, MUFA-enriched dairy product consumption in the RESET ( RE placement of S aturat E d fat in dairy on T otal cholesterol) study using 4-d weighed dietary records, in addition to plasma phospholipid FA (PL-FA) status. Methods In a randomised, controlled, crossover design, free-living UK participants identified as moderate risk for CVD ( n  = 54) were required to replace habitually consumed dairy foods (milk, cheese and butter), with study products with a FA profile typical of retail products (control) or SFA-reduced, MUFA-enriched profile (modified), for two 12-week periods, separated by an 8-week washout period. A flexible food-exchange model was used to implement each isoenergetic high-fat, high-dairy diet (38% of total energy intake (%TE) total fat): control (dietary target: 19%TE SFA; 11%TE MUFA) and modified (16%TE SFA; 14%TE MUFA). Results Following the modified diet, there was a smaller increase in SFA (17.2%TE vs. 19.1%TE; p  < 0.001) and greater increase in MUFA intake (15.4%TE vs. 11.8%TE; p  < 0.0001) when compared with the control. PL-FA analysis revealed lower total SFAs ( p  = 0.006), higher total cis -MUFAs and trans -MUFAs (both p  < 0.0001) following the modified diet. Conclusion The food-exchange model was successfully used to achieve RESET dietary targets by partial replacement of SFAs with MUFAs in dairy products, a finding reflected in the PL-FA profile and indicative of objective dietary compliance. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02089035 , date 05-01-2014.

For territorial group-living species, opportunities to reproduce on the natal territory can be limited by a number of factors including the availability of resources within a territory, access to unrelated individuals, and monopolies on reproduction by dominant group members. Individuals looking to reproduce are therefore faced with the options of either waiting for a breeding opportunity to arise in the natal territory, or searching for reproductive opportunities in non-natal groups. In the cooperatively breeding Southern pied babbler, Turdoides bicolor, most individuals who achieve reproductive success do so through taking up dominant breeding positions within non-natal groups. For subordinate pied babblers therefore, searching for breeding opportunities in non-natal groups is of primary importance as this represents the major route to reproductive success. However, prospecting (where individuals leave the group to search for reproductive opportunities within other groups) is costly and individuals rapidly lose weight when not part of a group. Here we demonstrate that subordinate pied babblers adopt an alternative strategy for mate attraction by vocal advertisement from within their natal territories. We show that subordinates focus their calling efforts on the edges of their territory, and specifically near boundaries with neighbouring groups that have potential breeding partners (unrelated individuals of the opposite sex). In contrast to prospecting, calling individuals showed no body mass loss associated with this behaviour, suggesting that calling from within the group may provide a 'cheap' advertisement strategy. Additionally, we show that subordinates use information regarding the composition of neighbouring groups to target the greatest number of potential mating partners.

Thirty conventional and twenty-four organic dairy farms were divided into equal numbers within system groups: high-pasture, standard-pasture, and low-pasture groups. Milk samples were collected monthly for 12 consecutive months. Milk from high-pasture organic farms contained less fat and protein than standard- and low-pasture organic farms, but more lactose than low-pasture organic farms. Grazing, concentrate feed intake and the contribution of non-Holstein breeds were the key drivers for these changes. Milk Ca and P concentrations were lower in standard-pasture conventional farms than the other conventional groups. Milk from low-pasture organic farms contained less Ca than high- and standard-pasture organic farms, while high-pasture organic farms produced milk with the highest Sn concentration. Differences in mineral concentrations were driven by the contribution of non-Holstein breeds, feeding practices, and grazing activity; but due to their relatively low numerical differences between groups, the subsequent impact on consumers’ dietary mineral intakes would be minor.

Both inter- and intragroup interactions can be important influences on behaviour, yet to date most research focuses on intragroup interactions. Here, we describe a hitherto relatively unknown behaviour that results from intergroup interaction in the cooperative breeding pied babbler: kidnapping. Kidnapping can result in the permanent removal of young from their natal group. Since raising young requires energetic investment and abductees are usually unrelated to their kidnappers, there appears no apparent evolutionary advantage to kidnapping. However, kidnapping may be beneficial in species where group size is a critically limiting factor (e.g. for reproductive success or territory defence). We found kidnapping was a highly predictable event in pied babblers: primarily groups that fail to raise their own young kidnap the young of others, and we show this to be the theoretical expectation in a model that predicts kidnapping to be facultative, only occurring in those cases where an additional group member has sufficient positive impact on group survival to compensate for the increase in reproductive competition. In babblers, groups that failed to raise young were also more likely to accept extragroup adults (hereafter rovers). Groups that fail to breed may either (i) kidnap intergroup young or (ii) accept rovers as an alternative strategy to maintain or increase group size. This article is part of the theme issue 'Intergroup conflict across taxa'.

The digestive health of cows is one of the primary factors that determine their well-being and productivity. Under- and over-feeding are both commonplace in the beef and dairy industry; leading to welfare issues, negative environmental impacts, and economic losses. Unfortunately, digestive health is difficult for farmers to routinely monitor in large farms due to many factors including the need to transport faecal samples to a laboratory for compositional analysis. This paper describes a novel means for monitoring digestive health via a low-cost and easy to use imaging device based on computer vision. The method involves the rapid capture of multiple visible and near-infrared images of faecal samples. A novel three-dimensional analysis algorithm is then applied to objectively score the condition of the sample based on its geometrical features. While there is no universal ground truth for comparison of results, the order of scores matched a qualitative human prediction very closely. The algorithm is also able to detect the presence of undigested fibres and corn kernels using a deep learning approach. Detection rates for corn and fibre in image regions were of the order 90%. These results indicate the potential to develop this system for on-farm, real time monitoring of the digestive health of individual animals, allowing early intervention to effectively adjust feeding strategy.

Purpose Longer-term intake of fatty acid (FA)-modified dairy products (SFA-reduced, MUFA-enriched) was reported to attenuate postprandial endothelial function in humans, relative to conventional (control) dairy. Thus, we performed an in vitro study in human aortic endothelial cells (HAEC) to investigate mechanisms underlying the effects observed in vivo. Methods This sub-study was conducted within the framework of the RESET study, a 12-week randomised controlled crossover trial with FA-modified and control dairy diets. HAEC were incubated for 24 h with post-intervention plasma samples from eleven adults (age: 57.5 ± 6.0 years; BMI: 25.7 ± 2.7 kg/m 2 ) at moderate cardiovascular disease risk following representative sequential mixed meals. Markers of endothelial function and lipid regulation were assessed. Results Relative to control, HAEC incubation with plasma following the FA-modified treatment increased postprandial NOx production ( P -interaction = 0.019), yet up-regulated relative E-selectin mRNA gene expression ( P -interaction = 0.011). There was no impact on other genes measured. Conclusion Incubation of HAEC with human plasma collected after longer-term dairy fat manipulation had a beneficial impact on postprandial NOx production. Further ex vivo research is needed to understand the impact of partial replacement of SFA with unsaturated fatty acids in dairy foods on pathways involved in endothelial function.

Enteric methane (CH4) production is a side-effect of herbivore digestion, but it is unknown whether CH4 itself influences digestive physiology. We investigated the effect of adding CH4 to, or reducing it in, the reticulorumen (RR) in a 4×4 Latin square experiment with rumen-fistulated, non-lactating cows, with four treatments: (i) control, (ii) insufflation of CH4 (iCH4), (iii) N via rumen fistula, (iv) reduction of CH4 via administration of bromochloromethane (BCM). DM intake (DMI), apparent total tract digestibility, digesta mean retention times (MRT), rumen motility and chewing activity, spot breath CH4 emission (CH4exhal, litre/kg DMI) as well as CH4 dissolved in rumen fluid (CH4RRf, µg/ml) were measured. Data were analysed using mixed models, including treatment (or, alternatively, CH4exhal or CH4RRf) and DMI relative to body mass0·85 (rDMI) as covariates. rDMI was the lowest on the BCM treatment. CH4exhal was highest for iCH4 and lowest for BCM treatments, whereas only BCM affected (reduced) CH4RRf. After adjusting for rDMI, CH4RRf had a negative association with MRT in the gastrointestinal tract but not in the RR, and negative associations with fibre digestibility and measures of rumination activity. Adjusting for rDMI, CH4exhal had additionally a negative association with particle MRT in the RR and a positive association with rumen motility. Thus, higher rumen levels of CH4 (CH4exhal or CH4RRf) were associated with shorter MRT and increased motility. These findings are tentatively interpreted as a feedback mechanism in the ruminant digestive tract that aims at mitigating CH4 losses by shortening MRT at higher CH4.

Experimental in vitro models that capture pathophysiological characteristics of human tumours are essential for basic and translational cancer biology. Here, we describe a fully synthetic hydrogel extracellular matrix designed to elicit key phenotypic traits of the pancreatic environment in culture. To enable the growth of normal and cancerous pancreatic organoids from genetically engineered murine models and human patients, essential adhesive cues were empirically defined and replicated in the hydrogel scaffold, revealing a functional role of laminin–integrin α 3 /α 6 signalling in establishment and survival of pancreatic organoids. Altered tissue stiffness—a hallmark of pancreatic cancer—was recapitulated in culture by adjusting the hydrogel properties to engage mechano-sensing pathways and alter organoid growth. Pancreatic stromal cells were readily incorporated into the hydrogels and replicated phenotypic traits characteristic of the tumour environment in vivo. This model therefore recapitulates a pathologically remodelled tumour microenvironment for studies of normal and pancreatic cancer cells in vitro. A synthetic hydrogel has been developed to mimic the physicochemical properties of pancreatic tissue and is shown to support the culture of pancreatic cancer organoids, revealing the role of laminin–integrin interactions in their growth.