Conformation Score Research Articles

False Discovery Rate Control For Structured Multiple Testing: Asymmetric Rules And Conformal Q-values

The effective utilization of structural information in data while ensuring statistical validity poses a significant challenge in false discovery rate (FDR) analyses. Conformal inference provides rigorous theory for grounding complex machine learning methods without relying on strong assumptions or highly idealized models. However, existing conformal methods have limitations in handling structured multiple testing, as their validity often requires the deployment of symmetric decision rules, which assume the exchangeability of data points and permutation-invariance of fitting algorithms. To overcome these limitations, we introduce the pseudo local index of significance (PLIS) procedure, which is capable of accommodating asymmetric rules and requires only pairwise exchangeability between the null conformity scores. We demonstrate that PLIS offers finite-sample guarantees in FDR control and the ability to assign higher weights to relevant data points. Numerical results confirm the effectiveness and robustness of PLIS and demonstrate improvements in power compared to existing model-free methods in various scenarios. Supplementary materials for this article are available online, including a standardized description of the materials available for reproducing the work.

Slaughter and meat qualities of purebred and crossbred bulls of the Ukrainian Black-and-White Dairy breed

Predicting the composition of cattle carcasses is crucial for both producers and processors. The commercial value of carcasses is related to the composition of their tissues (the ratio of muscle, fat and bone). Ukraine, with a signifcant portion of beef from dairy breeds, must align national carcass evaluation standards with international norms due to its accession to the European Community. The article presents the results of studies of the qualitative characteristics of carcasses of 21-month-old bulls of the Ukrainian Black-and-White dairy breed and its crossbreds with Holstein. The animals were slaughtered in a slaughterhouse in the village of Kalynivka, Brovary district, Kyiv region. The diference between the groups of bulls by age was up to 5 %. After slaughtering the animals, the conformation of the carcasses was determined in accordance with the EUROP (2008) methodology. According to the JMGA classifcation (2000), the colour of muscle and adipose tissue was assessed using a colour scale from 1 to 7, and the marbling of the m. longissimus dorsi between the 12th and 13th rib was assessed on a scale from 1 to 12. Purebred bulls of the Ukrainian Black-and-White Dairy breed tended to be superior to crossbreds in terms of live and slaughter weight. According to the morphological composition of carcasses, purebred animals also tended to be superior to their mixed peers in terms of muscle tissue content, including the highest and frst grades. Evaluation of the quality of carcasses of experimental animals according to world standards showed that 21-month-old bulls of the Ukrainian Black-and-White dairy breed received a slightly higher score (by 6.7 %) for carcass conformation (meatiness) and marbling (by 12.9 %). However, they tended to have a smaller (by 14.2 %) thickness of fat on the carcass and a lower (by 12.0 %) development of fat. The practical signifcance of the data is to obtain knowledge about the signs of slaughter, morphological composition and quality characteristics of carcasses of dairy animals of Ukraine, which are fed by farms for slaughter, which are used in world practices to determine the value of carcasses. Key words: conformation, marbling, technological properties of beef, meat productivity.

Exploring rearing factors to predict potential sensory quality of heifer meat throughout the farm-to-fork continuum

Sensory beef qualities could be impacted throughout the farm-to-fork continuum. The aim of this work was to predict the sensory quality classes of Longissimus muscle established from three sensory descriptors: tenderness, juiciness and flavour intensity. The extreme classes of meat quality were: Q + class including the highest scores for tenderness and juiciness, and an intermediate score for flavour intensity and Q − class including low scores for tenderness, juiciness and flavour intensity. To predict the extreme quality classes, seven decision trees were performed using the individual data related to rearing factors (p = 50), carcase traits (p = 13) and/or aged meat traits (p = 9) of 100 Charolais heifers. The decision trees established from rearing factors and carcass trait data (RF-CARCA-Tree) allowed the highest accuracy of prediction (79.7%) with 90.7% and 66.7% of correctly classified individuals, respectively. Our results showed that different combinations of factors could produce Q + class. Three rearing factors (i.e. the calculated average of concentrates’ net energy content in the diet during the pasture period of pre-weaning period (PWP); the number of days concentrates were offered in calf diet during PWP; and the calculated average of concentrates’ crude protein content in the fattening diet) and the conformation score could be considered as action levers to improve meat quality. These three rearing factors were related to the pre-weaning and fattening periods of the heifer, slowing a possible management of the potential beef quality from rearing factors throughout the life of the heifer. Highlights Beef quality can be improved throughout the heifer’s life by rearing factors related to concentrate in the diet. Sensory beef quality classes could be managed from rearing factors and carcass traits. Raw aged meat data did not allow to improve the prediction of sensory beef quality classes.

Relationship Between Clinical Course of Treatment for Burning Mouth Syndrome in Early Period and Aggression Using Rosenzweig Picture Frustration Study: A Retrospective Observational Study.

Burning mouth syndrome (BMS) is characterized by a chronic, ongoing sensation of intraoral burning or discomfort without causative lesions. This study sought to examine the relationship between personality traits in patients with BMS using the Rosenzweig Picture Frustration (PF) study, a projective psychological test, and their progress in treatment. Data were collected from outpatients diagnosed with BMS at our clinic between April 2017 and March 2021. The data were analyzed for 28 patients with BMS, of which nine showed improvement earlier than three months (early responders; ER), and the others did not (non-early responders; NER). The mean visual analog scale (VAS scores for BMS pain at the first visit were 52.8 in the ER and 59.6 in NER (n.s.). No significant differences were detected in the type and direction of aggression between ER and NER in the PF study. In contrast, the group conformity score of the ER (63.7%) was significantly higher than that of the NER (51.4%). Personal traits reflected in the PF study may have affected the course of improvement in the BMS. To understand the characteristics of patients with BMS and achieve more favorable treatment outcomes, further study on their personality organization is necessary.

Carcass characteristics and meat quality of goat kids according to the Colomer – Rocher carcass fatness and conformation classes

Classifying kid carcasses according to their fatness and conformation scores guides producers toward higher quality and income-generating production methods and determines the ideal slaughter time. This study aimed to determine the effects of Colomer–Rocher fatness and conformation classes on carcass and meat quality characteristics in goat kids. A total of 102 male kid carcasses were used in the study. Carcasses were divided into fatness (1-, 1, 1+, 2-) and conformation (P-, P, P+; O-) classes according to the Colomer–Rocher classification, and these groups were accepted as the experimental group. Hierarchical clustering analysis divided the kid carcasses into 5 clusters using certain carcass characteristics. Differences between clusters in most of the carcass characteristics were significant. The difference between the cluster groups in terms of meat colour and sensory characteristics was also significant. Fatness and conformation classes significantly affected most characteristics except kidney knob and channel fat (KKCF) percentages and carcass joints percentages. The Colomer-Rocher conformation classification was found to be more discriminatory in terms of meat quality than the fatness classification.

The halalan thayyiban supply chain in handling blood products of slaughtering cattle, chicken, and pig for feeding and handling al-jallalah 1 (cattle, chicken, and catfish)

Blood from the slaughter of cattle and chicken, is an economically valuable waste that can not be disposed into the environment. Its application in animal feed requires careful consideration of the composition and potential impact. The Indonesian Ulema Council issued a Fatwa regarding the Law on Livestock Animals Fed with Unclean Items. From a Sharia perspective, the feed composition is crucial, since it needs to be free from unclean ingredients to prevent animals from becoming classified as Al-Jallalah (Livestock Animals Fed with Unclean Items). To ensure compliance with the religious guidelines, it is necessary to implement a quarantine (Al-Istibra) or purification period (Istihalah). Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the halalan thayyiban supply chain in the management of blood from slaughtering ruminants (cattle), poultry (chicken), and pig for feed. Implementation of good practices in managing blood from slaughterhouses was assessed. The suitability of feed labels, including the presence of prohibited ingredients, adherence to good practices, and the application of Al-Istibra or Istihalah in cattle and chicken farms, as well as catfish farming units, was evaluated through questionnaire interviews and conformity scores. The results showed that 2 out of 7 (seven) objects received lower scores due to the limited effectiveness of the Waste Water Treatment Plants (WWTPs) and unclear regulations regarding the use of blood. Based on the suitability value of the feed label, 1 (one) out of 8 (eight) objects received a lower score for failing to meet technical requirements. The feed was contaminated, and there were no operational procedures for implementing Al-Istibra or Istihalah.

Beef-on-dairy: Meat quality of veal and prediction of intramuscular fat using the Q-FOM™ Beef camera at the 5th–6th thoracic vertebra

This study aims to describe the meat quality of young Holstein (HOL) beef-on-dairy heifers and bulls sired by Angus (ANG, n = 109), Charolais (CHA, n = 101) and Danish Blue (DBL, n = 127), and to investigate the performance of the handheld vision-based Q-FOM™ Beef camera in predicting the intramuscular fat concentration (IMF%) in M. longissimus thoracis from carcasses quartered at the 5th–6th thoracic vertebra. The results showed significant differences between crossbreeds and sexes on carcass characteristics and meat quality. DBL × HOL had the highest EUROP conformation scores, whereas ANG × HOL had darker meat with higher IMF% (3.52%) compared to CHA × HOL (2.99%) and DBL × HOL (2.51%). Bulls had higher EUROP conformation scores than heifers, and heifers had higher IMF% (3.70%) than bulls (2.31%). These findings indicate the potential for producing high-quality meat from beef-on-dairy heifers and ANG bulls. The IMF% prediction model for Q-FOM performed well with R2 = 0.91 and root mean squared error of cross validation, RMSECV = 1.33%. The performance of the prediction model on the beef-on-dairy veal subsample ranging from 0.9 to 7.4% IMF had lower accuracy (R2 = 0.48) and the prediction error (RMSEveal) was 1.00%. When grouping beef-on-dairy veal carcasses into three IMF% classes (2.5% IMF bins), 62.6% of the carcasses were accurately predicted. Furthermore, Q-FOM IMF% predictions and chemically determined IMF% were similar for each combination of sex and crossbreed, revealing a potential of Q-FOM IMF% predictions to be used in breeding, when aiming for higher meat quality.

Qualité rédactionnelle des thèses d’exercice en Médecine et en Pharmacie à l’Université de Bamako (Mali).

To describe the scientific editorial quality of practice theses defended at the Faculties of Medicine and Pharmacy of Bamako (Mali), during the period 2016-2018. This was a cross-sectional study conducted on practice theses in health science, defended between 2016 and 2018, and the electronic version of which was available at the libraries of the Faculties of Medicine and Pharmacy in Bamako. An adjusted STROBE grid was used to measure a scientific editorial conformity score for 18 iso-weighted items of the IMRaD structure (i.e. a total of 18 points). In this way, the scientific editorial quality of practice theses in health sciences was judged to be highly conform (14-18 points), fairly conform (9-13 points), poorly conform (5-8 points), or not conform (<5 points). An ordinal logistic regression model was used to identify determining factors independently associated with the scientific editorial quality of the health sciences practice thesis, with a significance level of 5%. A total of 534 practice theses in health sciences were included in this study, whose scientific editorial quality was judged to be highly or fairly conform (12.2%), poorly conform (43.1%) or not conform (44.8%). These standards scientific editorial conformity, which was higher in a "Medicine" thesis than in a "Pharmacy" thesis (ORa=2.45; IC95% [1.62-3.27], p<=0.05), was attributed to the supervisor's membership of a research structure (ORa=2.88; IC95% [1.6-3.2]; p<0.05). The research methodology profile of the practice health sciences thesis supervisor and the thesis section are associated with scientific editorial standard with the IMRaD.

Beef production systems with dairy × beef heifers based on forage and semi-natural grassland

ABSTRACT Beef production on semi-natural grassland provides meat and nature conservation of biodiverse habitats. In this study, heifers born to a dairy cow and an Angus (ANG) or Charolais (CHA) sire were allocated to a HIGH or LOW production system, varying in indoor feed intensity, number of summers on grass and slaughter age. CHA crosses had higher liveweight gain, conformation score, and proportion of high-value retail cuts than ANG crosses, which had higher scores for fatness and marbling. The LOW system gave lower liveweight gain and carcasses with lower fatness scores than the HIGH system. CHA-LOW had leaner carcasses than the other groups. Per kilogram salable meat produced, ANG-HIGH, CHA-HIGH, ANG-LOW, and CHA-LOW resulted in 18, 15, 58, and 46 m2 grazed semi-natural grassland. These results indicate that dairy × beef heifers can be used for nature conservation grazing of semi-natural grassland while still achieving acceptable performance and market-oriented carcass characteristics.

Adherence to American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) language of respect (LoR) guidelines in ASCO Annual Meeting prostate cancer (PCa) abstracts.

94 Background: The ASCO LoR guidelines were adopted by ASCO in advance of the 2020 Annual Meeting to promote use of patient-respectful language in Annual Meeting presentations. The guidelines call on the oncology community to avoid language that dehumanizes people living with cancer or casts blame. We sought to evaluate adherence to these guidelines in PCa abstracts accepted to the 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting. Methods: Six reviewers screened all PCa abstracts presented at the 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting and tabulated all statements that referred to patients related to diagnosis, treatment, or clinical outcome. Sentences were classified according to their compliance with the 3 principal LoR directives: (1) “Do not blame patients,” (2) “Respect the role of the patient,” and (3) “Do not dehumanize patients.” All abstracts were evaluated by two independent reviewers. Each abstract was given a conformity score based on the extent to which the overall abstract adhered to the LoR guidelines. Descriptive statistics were used to characterize compliance across abstracts. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to identify factors associated with non-compliance with guidelines. Results: We reviewed 195 PCa abstracts. Most abstracts were accepted as poster presentation (52%) followed by publication only (45%) and oral abstract (3%). The majority were clinical (81%) or translational (17%) research. 85% of the abstracts had a first author affiliated with a native-English speaking institution. Most abstracts came from multi-institutional collaborations (84%), and from a single country (67%). In total, 119 (61%) of abstracts contained at least one non-compliant statement. Among the directives not followed, “Do not dehumanize patients” had the lowest compliance score in 49% of statements, followed by “Do not blame the patient” in 17%, and “Respect the role of the patient” in 1%. We explored potential associations between primary author’s institution, country and number of collaborating institutions. Univariate analysis demonstrated greater odds of non-adherence to LoR guidelines in abstracts whose first author was affiliated with an institution in a non-English speaking country (OR 2.80 [95% CI 1.08-7.23, p=.034]. Multivariate analysis was not significant. Conclusions: Despite formal guidelines having been adopted by ASCO in 2020, the majority of PCa abstracts selected for the 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting contained at least one statement that did not adhere to the LoR guidelines. The only factor that identified an increased OR of non-adherent language was submissions from a non-English speaking institution. Translation of the LoR Guidelines into other languages, international educational outreach, and increased attention to language in the abstract review process are recommended.

Genetic study of scores for limb conformation, breed traits, sexual traits, eye pigmentation, and navel size in Hereford and Braford cattle

Genetic study of scores for limb conformation, breed traits, sexual traits, eye pigmentation, and navel size in Hereford and Braford cattle

Development of an Evaluation Index for Forest Therapy Environments.

Most research on forest therapy has examined the therapeutic effects of forest activity development. There has been insufficient research identifying and evaluating the forest therapy environment. This study aimed to derive a representative forest therapy environment from each of the four evaluation sites, comprising national luxury forests; Scopus, PubMed, Medline, Web of Science, RISS, and DBpia were searched, and 13 studies evaluating forest therapy environments were analyzed and synthesized. After conducting a Conformity Evaluation, one layer of items, comprising anions with low conformity scores, was excluded, and six field measurements, phytoncide, oxygen, illuminance, UV-rays, sound, and anion, were added to increase objectivity. Finally, five forest therapy environment categories and 25 detailed items were derived. Analytic Hierarchy Process-based importance was evaluated to calculate the weight between the final evaluation items. According to the site evaluations, the categories of landscape, forest air, sunlight, sound, and anions appeared, in that order. This study is significant as it developed evaluation items and rating criteria for forest therapy environments, applied these in the field, and derived representative forest therapy environments for each location. This study developed indicators, provided basic data for establishing a therapy environment management plan, and there recommendations were made for an environment suitable for visitors and customizing forest welfare and therapy services.

Implementation of Tourism Development Strategy After the Covid-19 Pandemic in Sibolga City

This study aims to examine the results of implementing strategies in developing tourism after the Covid-19 pandemic in Sibolga City. In previous studies, a model of tourism development strategy after the Covid-19 pandemic in the Lake Toba Region has been examined using the theory of the basic components of tourism consisting of tourist objects and attractions, accommodation, transportation / tourist transportation, tourist facilities and facilities, and tourism infrastructure (promotion, marketing and policy). Lake Toba and Sibolga are marine tourism destinations. This research applies the tourism development strategy found in previous research to Sibolga City. After the implementation, an evaluation was carried out through the Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) questionnaire method, the Importance Performance Analysis (IPA) method and also interviews with tourists and tourism stakeholders involved in Sibolga City tourism. The results obtained from the calculation of the CSI value are 68.57%, in the range of 0.66% – 0.80%. The meaning of this value is that tourists are satisfied with the attributes measured by their satisfaction level. The average conformity score is 83.46%, meaning that the performance achieved and the importance of attributes according to travellers have shown excellent results. Through the FGD, it can be seen that the implementation of tourism development strategies from previous research in the Lake Toba Area is also appropriate

Desempenho de vários algoritmos de aprendizado de máquina e regressão logística para prever Fasciola hepatica em bovinos

Abstract The objective of this work was to compare the performances of logistic regression and machine learning algorithms to predict infection caused by Fasciola hepatica in cattle. A dataset on 30,151 bovines from Uruguay was used. Logistic regression (LR) and the algorithms k-nearest neighbor (KNN), classification and regression trees (CART), and random forest (RF) were compared. The interquartile range (IQR) and z-score were used to improve the classification and compared to each another. Sex, age, carcass conformation score, fat score, productive purpose, and carcass weight were used as independent variables for all algorithms. Infection by F. hepática was used as a binary dependent variable. The accuracies of LR, KNN, CART, and RF were 0.61, 0.57, 0.57, and 0.58, respectively. The variable importance of LR showed that adult cattle tended to be infected by F. hepatica. All models showed low accuracy, but LR successfully distinguished variables related to F. hepatica. Both the IQR and z-score show similar results in improving the classification metrics for the used dataset. In the dataset, data related to climate or factors such as body weight can improve the reliability of the model in future studies.

Grass-based finishing of early- and late-maturing breed bulls within suckler beef systems: Performance, profitability, greenhouse gas emissions and feed-food competition

Demand for beef is increasing but concerns about the environmental impact of ruminant-protein production and food security are also increasing. Animal performance, profitability, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and feed-food competition within spring-calving suckler grass-based systems in which the males, progeny of either early- (EM) or late-maturing (LM) breed sires, were finished from pasture-alone or pasture-plus-concentrate supplementation, at 19.5 months-of-age, were evaluated. Sixty yearling bulls, previously offered grass silage ad libitum and supplementary concentrates during a first winter ‘store’ period, were assigned within breed type (EM or LM) to a pasture-finishing strategy of grass only (G-G) or grass + 3.2 kg dry matter of a barley-based concentrate daily (G-GC). Bulls rotationally grazed Lolium perenne-based swards over a 192 day grazing season. Concentrates were offered to G-GC treatments for the final 95 days following which all animals were slaughtered. The experimental data produced were used to populate a whole-farm systems economic and environmental model to determine beef output, profit, GHG emissions and feed-food competition of spring-calving suckler calf-to-beef systems. There were no finishing strategy × breed type interactions. Supplementation increased slaughter weight (+37 kg), carcass weight (+27 kg), carcass fat score (+1.1 units, 15-point scale), and resulted in more yellow subcutaneous fat. The LM bulls were heavier at slaughter (+65 kg), had a heavier carcass (+45 kg), greater kill-out proportion (+14 g/kg), a greater lean meat proportion in the carcass (+35 g/kg), superior carcass conformation score (+1.4 units, 15-point scale), lower carcass fat score (-1.2 units), and more yellow subcutaneous fat than EM bulls. Compared to G-GC suckler calf-to-beef systems, G-G systems had lower beef output, were less profitable, had higher GHG emission intensities (kg CO2 eq) per kg live- (10.2 v. 10.1), carcass- (18.6 v. 18.1) and meat- weight (26.1 v. 25.5), but superior human-edible protein (HEP) and energy efficiencies. The LM-sired systems were more profitable, had lower GHG emission intensities, and superior HEP and energy efficiency than EM systems. The HEP efficiency ratios exceeded 1.0 (i.e. were net producers of protein) for the G-G treatments and ranged from 0.9 to 1.0 for the G-GC treatments, when offered the ‘control’ barley-soyabean meal based concentrate: alternatively, using by-product concentrate feedstuffs increased the HEP ratios to 3.9 or greater. In conclusion, the existence of synergies and trade-offs between sustainability metrics makes the selection of a beef production system that optimises all performance metrics difficult.

Differences in the choice of beef artificial insemination sires used by dairy producers versus beef producers

The growing demand among dairy producers for suitable beef sires to mate to their females creates the possibility of separate breeding programs to generate beef sires for the dairy sector versus those for the beef sector. Informing such a decision is the extent of the genetic differences among beef sires used by dairy producers relative to those used by beef producers. The objective therefore of the present study was to use a large national database of artificial insemination (AI) records in dairy and beef cow herds to establish the difference in mean genetic merit of beef AI sires used by dairy producers versus those used by cow-calf beef producers. The traits explored were gestation length, calving difficulty, and perinatal mortality as well as the 3 carcass traits of carcass weight, conformation, and fat score. Carcass conformation and fat score are mechanically assessed on a scale of 1 (poor conformation and low fat cover) to 15 (excellent conformation and high fat cover). Sire genetic merit differences for feed intake and docility were also examined. Estimates of genetic merit for all 8 traits on individual AI sires available at the time of service were used. A total of 1,230,622 AI records comprised 909,719 services from dairy herds and 320,903 services from beef herds were used. Of the 1,802 beef AI sires represented in the entire dataset, over half were used by both dairy and beef herds representing ≥98% of the services in each production system. However, the usage rate of individual AI sires differed between dairy and beef herds with the Spearman rank correlation between the quantity of inseminations per sire in dairy and beef herds being just 0.38. This correlation means that beef AI sires used heavily in the beef herd were not always those heavily used in dairy herds. A clear difference in the mean genetic merit of beef AI sires selected by dairy producers relative to those selected by beef cow-calf producers was obvious with the extent of the difference being a function of whether the female served was a nulliparous heifer or a cow. Much of the differences in genetic merit of chosen beef AI sires between dairy and beef producers was actually attributable to differences in breed choice, albeit some within-breed selection was also evident. Irrespective, dairy producers, on average, chose shorter gestation length sires whose progeny were genetically less predisposed to require intervention during the birthing process; these sires had genetic merit estimates expected to result in lighter and less conformed progeny carcasses relative to the beef AI sires used by beef producers. Results point to large differences in genetic merit of the beef AI sires chosen by dairy versus beef producers, much of which actually reflected differences in breed choice among dairy and beef producers.

99 Heritability and Repeatability of Structural Foot and Leg Traits in Sheep

Abstract Similar to other livestock species, sheep are subject to a range of structural faults that contribute to lameness and involuntary culling. Record-keeping in the sheep industry is generally sparse, particularly for structural traits; thus, the extent of the problem is ill-defined. Furthermore, the few studies centered on foot and leg structure have typically involved small numbers of animals measured only once. Consequently, estimates of heritability for pasterns, and for claw and hoof conformation scores in sheep are sparse in the literature, with little consideration of potential score changes across an animal’s lifetime. Using a large dataset of repeatedly-measured scores, our objective was to reliably estimate the heritability and repeatability of several foot and leg traits indicative of structural soundness. Pedigree and performance data on 28,300 commercial crossbreed ewes were supplied by Focus Genetics, Ltd., New Zealand. The subjective foot and leg scores were recorded multiple times from first lambing to culling, with as many as 5 sets of records collected on individual ewes. The conformation traits evaluated were overall foot and leg conformation, rear pastern angles, front pastern angles, rear claw and hoof shapes, and front claw and hoof shapes. We fitted a repeatability model with fixed effects of recording age, age of dam, birth rank, rearing rank, heterosis (as a covariate), and contemporary group defined as the combination of birth year, birth flock, and recording mob. Random effects were direct additive, permanent environment, and residual. Heritability estimates ranged between 0.05 ± 0.01 for front claw and hoof shape score to 0.18 ± 0.01 for front pastern angle score. The corresponding repeatability estimates ranged from 0.13 ± 0.01 to 0.30 ± 0.01. The heritabilities estimated in our study were very similar to those obtained by Sheep Improvement Ltd., New Zealand; their estimates varied from 0.06 to 0.20 for the same traits. Based on the low heritability and moderate repeatability for these traits, culling animals based on their first recorded structural foot and leg scores may be risky. However, through their incorporation into a designed breeding program, genetic selection offers a viable approach to improve structural soundness in sheep.

Carcass Characteristics and Meat Quality of Karacabey Merino lambs Reared under Triticale and Oat Pastures Compared with Stall-Fed Lambs.

Fifty-eight Karacabey Merino lambs were used to study the effects of feeding system (triticale pasture, oat pasture, or stall-fed), birth type (single or multiple), gender (male or female), and birth year (2016 or 2017) on various carcass and meat quality characteristics. Stall lambs had higher conformation (CS) and fatness (FS) scores, and higher meat L* and h* values than the two pasture groups, possibly due to higher fat content, while oat pasture lambs had the most tender meat. Single-born lambs had higher CS, FS, and Longissimus thoracis muscle section area, while females had higher subcutaneous and non-carcass fat deposits than their counterparts. Both single-born lambs and 2016-born lambs had higher meat a* and C* values than their counterparts. In conclusion, a pasture-based feeding system is more suitable for Karacabey Merino lambs than a stall feeding system, if lean meat and/or meat products are preferred. However, it should not be ignored that stall-fed lambs showed a better fattening performance in terms of conformation and fatness, during the same period.

Effects of Silage Type and Feeding Intensity on Carcass Traits and Meat Quality of Finishing Holstein-Friesian Bulls.

The study aimed at evaluating the influence of silage type (grass silage-GS, and maize silage-MS) and energy level in the feed portion on animals' performance, carcass value and the quality of Holstein-Friesian bull meat. The animals were reared using intensive (I) feeding, 1.02 feed units for meat production (UFV)/kg dry matter (DM), and semi-intensive (SI) feeding, 0.94 UFV/kg DM. Thirty-two HF bulls with an average live weight of 530 kg were assigned to four feeding groups. The proportions (g/kg DM) of feed in the diets were as follows: group GS-I, GS 500, concentrate 500; group GS-SI, GS 700, concentrate 300; group MS-I, MS 500, concentrate 500; and group MS-SI, MS 700, concentrate 300. After 4 months of the finishing phase, bulls were slaughtered and samples of the longissimus lumborum muscle were collected. The silage type did not affect performance, carcass value or meat quality. However, in the intensive feeding, a 33% increase (p < 0.01) in daily weight gain and a reduction in the feed conversion ratio compared to semi-intensive feeding were noted. The carcasses of bulls fed intensively received higher scores for conformation and fatness than the carcasses of bulls fed semi-intensively. The meat of I group bulls had a higher intramuscular fat content and received higher juiciness, tenderness, taste and overall acceptability scores.

Characteristics of meat production traits in the Hungarian Simmental herd selected for the simultaneous improvement of milk and meat production.

Phenotypic and genetic trends, population genetic parameters, and the heritability and breeding values of the fattening and slaughter traits - namely muscularity score (MUS), final fattening weight (FFW), weight gain per day of life (WGD), slaughter weight (SLW), carcass weight (CAR), dressing percentage (DRP), bone-meat production per day of life (BMP), SEUROP conformation and fat coverage score (EUR, FAT), and meat percentage (MEP) - of 1162 Hungarian Simmental bulls were evaluated with the progeny test database of the Association of Hungarian Simmental Breeders. Trends were calculated by weighted linear regression analysis, while the population genetic parameters and breeding values used the BLUP (best linear unbiased prediction) animal model and general linear model (GLM). According to the results, the lowest heritability value () was found in FAT. In the case of MUS, EUR and MEP, the values were moderate (, 0.26 and 0.32), and in the case of the other traits, high heritability values ( 0.42-0.52) were estimated. The phenotypic trends of the fattening and slaughter traits of bull progeny born between 2001 and 2019 showed a stagnant direction. Between the sires, the differences in the breeding values for some traits (WDG, CAR and BMP) were large, and with other traits (DRP, EUR and FAT), small differences were found. According to the data of the genetic-trend calculation, the steepness values of the evaluated traits were positive, and the genetic trends showed a slightly improving direction in the estimated period.