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Although cross-sectoral cooperation is important at all levels, in practice it often remains at a declarative level. Different sectoral policies and the resulting measures to promote HEPA are usually disconnected, uncoordinated and without the necessary synergies. This pertains especially to local environments with less financial and expert support, such as small rural communities, where people have few HEPA options that are suitable and attractive for vulnerable groups: children and adolescents, elderly and people with disabilities. “Development of indicators for the assessment of the provision of settlements with green spaces for outdoor physical activity” is a research project co-funded by the Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Spatial Planning and implemented at the Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia. The aim of the project is to define indicator(s) for the provision of green spaces for PA and active lifestyles in settlements, which could be used at local level to assess, improve, and monitor the situation. We took a medium-sized city and a small rural community as pilot projects, the latter often being a disadvantaged environment in terms of HEPA in spatial planning compared to larger cities. On the pilots, our objectives have been to establish cooperation at the local level between at least three different sectors and to test methodology and indicators developed in the project to assess the provision of green spaces to promote PA in selected environments, thus enabling more equitable and inclusive spatial conditions for HEPA at the local level. The presentation will present the approach, results and overall experiences with the work implemented in the pilot project of a rural community. It will highlight the benefits of cross-sectoral cooperation for more effective local level HEPA policies to ensure the inclusive and equitable access to green spaces in settlements.

Abstract The prominent incidence of overweight and obese pet animals not only results in higher morbidity and mortality, but also poses a threat for the quality of life, longevity, and well-being of dogs and cats. To date, strategies to prevent BW gain or to induce weight loss have had modest success in the pet population. In part, due to the complexity and the multifactorial nature of this disease, which involves pet–human interaction, environmental and dietary factors, and an intertwined metabolic process that still is not fully understood. As such, research methods to investigate the role of physiological hormones and dietary management on mechanisms related to the control of feelings of satiety and hunger in pet animals is warranted. Increasing interest exists in exploring gut chemosensing mechanisms, the crosstalk between metabolic-active tissues, and the interface between the gut microbiota and the nervous system (gut–brain axis). The noninvasive nature of research conducted in companion animals focuses on systemic approaches to develop environmental, nutritional, or therapeutic interventions that can be translated from research settings to pet-owned households. Because the majority of the pet population is spayed or neutered, it is important to determine the effect that sex hormones might have on appetite regulation and fasting metabolic rate of these animals. In general, studies have revealed that gonadectomy may establish a new “set point” characterized by increased food intake and BW, accompanied by physiological and behavioral changes. Some studies have also shown associations between gonadectomy and alterations in appetite-related hormones (e.g., ghrelin, leptin, adiponectin, glucagon-like peptide-1). Manipulation of macronutrients in diets of dogs and cats have also been investigated as a mean to improve satiety. Most of the research in this area has focused on high-protein diets, predominantly, for cats, and the use of dietary fiber sources of contrasting fermentability and viscosity profiles. Dietary fibers may affect the production of fermentative end products and gut microbiome, digestive and absorptive processes, appetite-related hormones, and promote “gut fill” and satiety. More recent studies have reported profound effects of dietary manipulation on the phylogeny and functional capacity of gut microbial communities of dogs and cats.

Abstract The selection of the best dairy heifers is mainly driven by the genetic value of their parents. The phenotype analysis of cows and of the daughters of bulls has been used to identify the best genetic value for decades before being replaced by genomic selection of individuals that are not yet parents. Because it is possible to predict the future value of an individual by its genetic makeup, it becomes feasible to do it as early as the blastocyst stage and to decide which should be transferred or not. Because we know the genotype of an animal at birth, or even before, it is becoming desirable to reproduce this animal as soon as possible to reduce generation interval and improve selection speed. Nature provides constraints that can be overcome: a single oocyte per cycle and age at puberty. Indeed, it is now possible to super-stimulate the ovary at any age and to start collecting oocytes at 6 mo by trans-vaginal ultrasonography. The challenge becomes the production of good eggs and embryos capable of implanting and developing into healthy calves. Our understanding of ovarian follicular physiology has been instrumental in designing stimulation protocols that may be adjusted to any physiological context including age, and even the individual animal, to obtain a good response. Therefore, the combination of procedures developed in cows to optimize oocyte quality, for example, FSH coasting, in association with in vitro fertilization and optimal culture conditions can now result in the production of several female embryos twice a month from animals 6 to12 mo of age. The transcriptomic and epigenetic analyses of embryos produced from the same females at different ages were compared and few differences were noted in particular in relation to embryo metabolism. These embryos are as good as the ones obtained from adult animals and can be produced with sexed sperm of bulls 12 mo of age. This combination of these technical optimizations with blastocyst genotyping allows the selection of a second generation within a year.

Abstract Rams are selected for genetic traits a producer desires to propagate in his flock. Even though practically all sheep are naturally bred, rams are rarely evaluated for expression of sexual interest or behavior. Research at the U.S. Sheep Experiment Station reported that the proportion of rams with limited interest in ewes was nearly 30% of the total number of breeding rams. Breeding soundness tested rams with low sexual interest sire less than 16% of the lamb crop. Although producers recognize the problem, their usual solution is to increase the number of rams in breeding flocks decreasing the risk of open ewes. Increased costs and a lack of genetic progress are clearly important considerations, but the biological question as to what controls sexual interest remains intriguing. Circulating concentrations of testosterone do not differ by sexual interest among rams. However, following exposure to estrous ewes, sexually active, but not inactive, rams exhibit an increase in LH pulsatile activity, a biological response to sexual stimuli. This begs the question as to whether sexually inactive rams recognize sexual cues. Using c fos activity as an indicator of neural activity, differences in the olfactory pathway were compared among sexually active and inactive rams. Differences in fos activity were not detected in the olfactory bulb or medial amygdala. However, sexually inactive rams had lower fos activity in the central amygdala, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, and medial preoptic area of the hypothalamus following exposure to sexual evocative olfactory stimuli. This suggests sexually inactive rams detect olfactory cues but have decreased vigilance to sensory stimuli and a muted response to sexual signals in areas of the brain required for the execution of sexual performance. With the amygdala receiving and integrating sensory signals from many areas of the brain, sexually inactive rams may lack normal reward mechanisms contributing to their lack of sexual interest. Rams with limited sexual interest have decreased dopamine synthesis and a lower expression of dopamine D2 receptors following exposure to sexual stimuli. Thus, a tempered reward pathway in combination with decreased vigilance and sensory processing in the amygdala may reduce stimulation and/or responsiveness in areas of the brain required for expression of sexual behavior.

Abstract The same model structure used to describe energy metabolism in the growing animal is often used to model energy metabolism in the cow. Energy requirements of the cow are modeled as the summation of energy required for maintenance and recovered energy, where recovered energy is the summation of energy for the conceptus, milk, and tissue energy. Energetic requirements of the cow fluctuate throughout the production cycle depending on whether they are pregnant, lactating, or both. The current model requires energy cost to be associated with either net energy of maintenance or the partial efficiencies of conceptus growth, milk production, and tissue energy change. Mathematically, they are not independent. Incorrectly estimating one will result in an erroneous estimate in the other. Most of the current models in production agriculture allocate energy use into maintenance, and synthesis of tissues making it difficult to assign energy utilization by tissues that provide support functions to pregnancy, lactation, and weight fluctuation. The consequence is the assignment of partial efficiencies that reflect whole animal efficiencies rather than tissue efficiencies. Historically, these models have been predictive of energy metabolism, but caution should be used when inferring the energetic efficiency at the tissue level. Alternative modeling approaches more thoroughly describe tissue energy metabolism and have been used to estimate whole animal metabolism. These models resolve the problems associated with developing coefficients that lack biological meaning but are more complex. There is a critical need for independent data sets to test new components of the model for cows.

Abstract Energy efficiencies and maintenance parameters have been traditionally estimated with a linear regression model that treated metabolizable energy intake as the dependent variable and protein and lipid depositions as the independent variables. Several studies have described the statistical issues associated with this approach, such as the reverse role of dependent and independent variables and a potential multicollinearity issue due to the high correlation between protein and lipid depositions. Biased regression techniques have been proposed to minimize the harmful effects of multicollinearity on the estimates of energy efficiencies. These approaches, however, only partially addressed the issues described for the linear regression approach. A first multivariate approach was developed by L. J. Koong in the 1970s, who estimated the energy parameters using a set of simultaneous equations. This multivariate approach has been considerably extended in the past two decades with the complete characterization of model’s biological interpretation under different feeding conditions, the simultaneous estimation of maintenance requirements, the extension of the model to a mixed-effects framework, and the implementation of a Bayesian framework for model fitting. The multivariate approach has been successfully applied to model energy deposition and partitioning by mice, pigs, salmon, and rainbow trout. However, multivariate models are, in general, harder to fit than linear regression models due to 1) larger number of parameters, 2) issues with parameter identifiability, and 3) overall lack of algorithm convergence. Therefore, with the recent availability of easy to use and efficient computer packages for model fitting, the use of a Bayesian framework seems to be an attractive approach for fitting multivariate models describing protein and lipid deposition.

Abstract The California Net Energy System (CNES) can reliably project performance of feedlot cattle based on three factors: expected dry matter intake (DMI), some index of degree of maturity of cattle linked to body composition (fat and protein content), and an estimate of the net energy (NE) content of the diet. The CNES allowed feedlot managers to monitor growth and efficiency of individual pens of cattle. Through assigning distinct values for net energy for maintenance (NEm) vs. net energy for gain (NEg) of the metabolizable energy (ME) present in feeds, the CNES enables valid economic comparisons among feedstuffs, an appraisal not feasible based on total digestible nutrients or digestible energy (DE) values. Because NEm and NEg are linked mathematically to ME, the CNES also allows performance-adjusted ME (paME) value of diets to be calculated from observed DMI and growth or carcass measurements. Compared with other productivity measures (e.g., average daily gain and gain-to-feed ratio) that are confounded with and affected by DMI, the CNES logically separates production responses by cattle into two factors—DMI and ME of the diet. This enables research scientists or cattle producers to appraise responses within these two factors independently. In feeding studies, means of paME values were related closely to ME values of diets calculated from the ME of diet ingredients. But unlike ME values projected from diet analyses, paME estimates are affected by environmental conditions (e.g., season, weather, animal interactions, stress, nutritional history and deficiencies, associative effects of feeds, imprecise feed management, and animal healthfulness and disorders). These factors typically overestimate ME intake or increase energy requirements, both of which decrease energetic efficiency. By comparing paME with ME values calculated from diet composition, logical reasons behind performance responses to and quantitative benefits from feed additives, grain processing, hormone implants, and animal management can be appraised. Considering the evolution in cattle types, management and marketing conditions, and changes in diet ingredients and processing that have occurred during the past 50 yr, updating by a skilled committee to correct certain anomalies within the CNES as currently being applied seems appropriate. Developing simplified spreadsheets could help users evaluate their own dietary and management conditions and assure that the CNES continues to be widely applied by the feedlot industry within the United States and worldwide.

Abstract Twenty-nine presentations by 28 speakers at the California Net Energy System (CNES) 50th Anniversary Symposium provided an informative overview of the past, present, and future of the CNES. The Symposium was divided into eight sessions, with each one or two sessions followed by a lively discussion period. This article provides a summary of key points made by the speakers in each session as provided at the conclusion of the Symposium. Additional thoughts about future directions for research related to the CNES are offered.

Abstract The aim of this review is to describe the main findings of studies carried out during the last decades applying the California net energy system (CNES) in goats. This review also highlights the strengths and pitfalls while using CNES in studies with goats, as well as provides future perspectives on energy requirements of goats. The nonlinear relationship between heat production and metabolizable energy intake was used to estimate net energy requirements for maintenance (NEm). Our studies showed that NEm of intact and castrated male Saanen goats were approximately 15% greater than female Saanen goats. Similarly, NEm of meat goats (i.e., >50% Boer) was 8.5% greater than NEm of dairy and indigenous goats. The first partial derivative of allometric equations using empty body weight (EBW) as independent variable and body energy as dependent variable was used to estimate net energy requirements for gain (NEg). In this matter, female Saanen goats had greater NEg than males; also, castrated males had greater NEg than intact males. This means that females have more body fat than males when evaluated at a given EBW or that degree of maturity affects NEg. Our preliminary results showed that indigenous goats had NEg 14% and 27.5% greater than meat and dairy goats, respectively. Sex and genotype also affect the efficiency of energy use for growth. The present study suggests that losses in urine and methane in goats are lower than previously reported for bovine and sheep, resulting in greater metabolizable energy:digestible energy ratio (i.e., 0.87 to 0.90). It was demonstrated that the CNES successfully works for goats and that the use of comparative slaughter technique enhances the understanding of energy partition in this species, allowing the development of models applied specifically to goat. However, these models require their evaluation in real-world conditions, permitting continuous adjustments.