Changes of the daily and hourly behavioral time of respiratory disease calves in a group rearing system for 7 days prior to the date of clinical diagnosis.

Respiratory disease in calves is one of the most prominent diseases affecting their growth. The early and accurate detection of calf disease on the farm brings proper growth of calves. The objective of this study was to compare the daily and hourly behavioral time of diseased calves with the other calves in same pen (pen-mates) for 7 days prior to the diagnosis day. The calves (from 14 to 20 heads) were reared in a group. Day 0 was defined as the day of diagnosis. The number of diseased calves was 30 in the present experiment. The lying and eating behavior of calves were observed at 10-min intervals. The diseased calves have significantly (P < 0.01) shorter eating times than the pen-mates on the diagnosis day. The longest hourly time of the eating was in the period between 08:00 and 09:00, and shortest lying time was in the period between 09:00 and 10:00. Diseased calves had significantly (P < 0.05) longer daily lying time and shorter daily eating time than the pen-mates almost for the 7 days prior to the diagnosis day. Even though the daily behavioral time was different, the difference of behavioral time in successive hour periods was limited.

Early detection of disease onset through changes in appearance of pre-weaning calves.

The onset of diseases in pre-weaning calves can lead to changes in their appearance, which can aid early disease detection. This study measured the changes in appearance that led to disease onset in 66 pre-weaning Holstein calves. The appearance scores of the calves were recorded for 7 days before the onset of digestive or respiratory diseases. Appearance features (ear position, head position, topline curve, hair coat length, hair coat gloss, eye opening, and sunken eyes) were recorded using video camera images and scored from 0 (healthy) to 2 (poor). Among the calves with respiratory diseases, the proportion of calves with a score of 0 for ear position decreased linearly over time (p = 0.0437). Among the calves with digestive diseases, the proportion of calves with a score of 2 for hair coat length increased linearly over time (p = 0.0197). Among the calves with both respiratory and digestive diseases, the proportion of calves with scores of 1 for the topline curve and 2 for eye opening increased linearly over time (p = 0.0191). Therefore, early signs of disease manifest as different appearance features depending on the type of disease before its onset.

Effects of the presence of grazing-experienced heifers on the development of foraging behavior at the feeding station scale for first-grazing season calves.

In this study, effects of grazing-experienced heifer presence on foraging behavior development at the feeding station (FS) scale for first-grazing season calves were determined. A group of four calves grazing alone (C), and another comprising four calves (Wc) and three grazing-experienced heifers (Wh), were alternately stocked every day for 2 h on the same pasture for 26 days. The foraging time budget for Wc was significantly longer than that for C (P < 0.05) on day 7, and was similar to that for Wh on all days. Bite rate per FS was significantly higher for Wc (15.5 bite/min) than for C (13.2 bite/min) from day 1 to 14 (33.4 vs. 29.0 bite/min, respectively; P < 0.01) and significantly lower than that for Wh on all days. The number of steps taken between adjacent FSs by Wc (4.7) was significantly lower than that for C (7.2) on days 1 and 14 (2.1 vs. 2.9 steps, respectively; P < 0.01) and was similar to Wh on all days. This suggests that grazing-experienced heifers have positive effects on the foraging behavior development of new-season grazing calves through 14 days after the start of stocking.

An easy α-glycosylation methodology for the synthesis and stereochemistry of mycoplasma α-glycolipid antigens.

Mycoplasma fermentans possesses unique α-glycolipid antigens (GGPL-I and GGPL-III) at the cytoplasm membrane, which carry a phosphocholine group at the sugar primary (6-OH) position. This paper describes a practical synthetic pathway to a GGPL-I homologue (C(16:0)) and its diastereomer, in which our one-pot α-glycosylation method was effectively applied. The synthetic GGPL-I isomers were characterized with (1)H NMR spectroscopy to determine the equilibrium among the three conformers (gg, gt, tg) at the acyclic glycerol moiety. The natural GGPL-I isomer was found to prefer gt (54%) and gg (39%) conformers around the lipid tail, while adopting all of the three conformers with equal probability around the sugar position. This property was very close to what we have observed with respect to the conformation of phosphatidylcholine (DPPC), suggesting that the Mycoplasma glycolipids GGPLs may constitute the cytoplasm fluid membrane together with ubiquitous phospholipids, without inducing stereochemical stress.

Differences in grazing behavior of horses and cattle at the feeding station scale on woodland pasture.

In this study, grazing behavior of mares and cows was compared on woodland pastures, in the context of foraging hierarchy. A horse-group (12 native Hokkaido horses) and a cattle-group (5 Hereford cows) were grazed on the woodland pastures of 13.3 ha and 5.8 ha, respectively. They grazed mainly on Sasa nipponica. Grazing behavior at a feeding station (FS) scale was recorded for three focal animals in each group. Mares took one bite per FS at a high percentage of FSs (24.3%) and cows took one, two and three bites per FS at high percentage (20.3%, 19.2% and 15.4%, respectively). Although feeding patch (FP) scale for both animals could be defined as a group of FSs, the length of FP and grazing behavior at FP scale were similar for both animals. The number of steps taken between two adjacent FSs or FPs for mares was larger than that for cows. The results suggested that both horses and cattle had similar foraging hierarchy from bite to FP scale but grazing behavior of horses at the FS scale was different from that of cattle, suggesting that grazing behavior of large herbivores has greater similarity in larger foraging hierarchies.

Synthesis and absolute structures of Mycoplasma pneumoniae beta-glyceroglycolipid antigens.

Just recently, a pair of beta-glycolipids was isolated from the cell membrane of Mycoplasma pneumoniae as a mixture of the two compounds. They are the major immunodeterminants of this pathogenic Mycoplasma and indicate high medicinal potential. They have a beta-(1-->6)-linked disaccharide structure close to each other; one has beta-d-galactopyranoside (beta-Gal-type 1) at the non-reducing terminal, and another has beta-d-glucopyranoside (beta-Glc-type 2). In the present study, the first stereoselective synthesis was conducted for each of the two beta-glycolipids 1 and 2. (1)H NMR and TLC-immunostaining studies of the synthetic compounds enable us to establish the absolute structures having the beta-(1-->6)-linked disaccharides at the glycerol sn-3 position.

One-pot alpha-glycosylation pathway via the generation in situ of alpha-glycopyranosyl imidates in N,N-dimethylformamide.

Divergent pathways are disclosed in the activation of 2-O-benzyl-1-hydroxy sugars by a reagent combination of CBr4 and Ph3P, all of which afford one-pot alpha-glycosylation methods. When this reagent is used in CH2Cl2, the 1-hydroxy sugar is converted to the alpha-glycosyl bromide in a conventional way and leads to the one-pot alpha-glycosylation method based on a halide ion-catalytic mechanism. In either DMF or a mixture of DMF and CHCl3, however, alternative alpha-glycosyl species are generated. From the 1H and 13C NMR study of the products, as well as the reactions using Vilsmeier reagents [(CH3)2N+=CHX]X- (X=Br and Cl), these were identified as cationic alpha-glycopyranosyl imidates having either Br- or Cl- counter ion. The cationic alpha-glycosyl imidate (Br-), derived specifically in the presence of DMF, is more reactive than the alpha-glycosyl bromide and thus is responsible for the accelerated one-pot alpha-glycosylation. The one-pot alpha-glycosylation methodology performed in DMF was assessed also with different types of acceptor substrates including tertiary alcohols and an anomeric mixture of 1-OH sugars.

An easy access to halide ion-catalytic alpha-glycosylation using carbon tetrabromide and triphenylphosphine as multifunctional reagents.

The reaction of a 2-O-benzyl-1-hydroxy sugar with CBr4 and Ph3P generates a glycosyl bromide in situ, which is coupled with an acceptor alcohol in the presence of N,N-tetramethylurea to afford an alpha-glycosyl product virtually quantitatively. In a proposed pathway, the reagent combination plays multiple roles such as the generation of a glycosyl donor, the activation of glycosylation, and the dehydration of the reaction system. These roles allow a simple alpha-glycosylation to be performed without special attention to dehydration. Various alpha-glycosyl (D-gluco-, D-galacto- and L-fuco-) products including glycosyl glycerols and cholesterols have been prepared with this method.

One-pot alpha-glycosylation method using Appel agents in N,N-dimethylformamide.

[reaction: see text] A concept for the development of practical glycosylation is presented and demonstrated by one-pot alpha-glycosylation applying Appel agents for 2-O-benzyl-1-OH hexoses in DMF. The reaction, in situ giving the equilibrium of glycosyl bromides and more reactive O-glycoside intermediates, accomplishes a near-quantitative alpha-glycosylation removing the water molecules.