Production Performance Measures Research Articles

The Canadian Cow-Calf Surveillance Network - productivity and health summary 2018 to 2022.

Cow-calf surveillance data provide critical information about changing herd demographics, productivity, health, and management as well as the opportunity to investigate the impact of differing management practices. A national cow-calf network was established to collect baseline information on herd health, production performance measures, and management. Questionnaires were used to collect information on herd attributes as well as data for the calving season, breeding, pregnancy testing, and weaning for herds from across Canada. From 2018 to 2022, a total of 565 calving record questionnaires, representing 110,658 calving female records from 171 herds were returned, along with 543 herd breeding to weaning questionnaires. Suggested benchmark values based on the 25th percentiles from Western and Eastern Canada were determined to be <5% for non-pregnancy, <2% for calf death from birth to 24 h, and < 2% for calf death from 24 h to weaning. Herds from Eastern Canada were more likely to report any assistance at calving (p < 0.001) than herds from Western Canada. Participating herds from the east had longer breeding (p < 0.001) and calving (p < 0.001) seasons than those from the west and were also more likely to use artificial insemination or embryo transfer (p < 0.001). Timing of calving season and use of large pastures for calving were not associated with mortality at birth. Herds that started calving before April were more likely to have calves die before 30 d than those that started calving later; however, this difference was not observed between 30 d and weaning. Herds that started to calve earlier were also more likely to report treating more calves for bovine respiratory disease, diarrhea, and navel or joint infections as well as to calf deaths from respiratory disease. Calves from herds in the east were more likely to be treated or die from diarrhea than from the west. Females from herds that started calving later were less likely to be pregnant. The unique longitudinal productivity and health data resulting from this network established a national baseline to address region-specific needs for knowledge translation and solutions to enhance productivity and support sustainability.

Tree Improvement in Canada – past, present and future, 2023 and beyond

This paper consolidates the most current information available on tree improvement in Canada and provides a summary of key historical events leading to its development and expansion across the country. The most recent publication on the topic was by Fowler and Morgenstern (1990) compiled over 30 years ago. Since that time, many things have changed and new technologies, such as the increasing use and adoption of genomics, have become part of the tool-box of tree breeders in forestry and natural resource management. This paper provides information on the status of tree improvement programs including their history, objectives, seed production, future outlook and other performance measures by province across Canada.

Using inventory related performance measures in the analysis of a production/inventory flexible manufacturing system

To survive in the ever-increasing competition in the market, manufacturing firms must adopt the latest technologies available. Flexible manufacturing systems (FMS) provide an effective solution to the problem, but its performance should be continually enhanced to remain competitive in the market. The aim of this work was to identify the effect of routing flexibility and system load conditions on the performance of FMS using both production and inventory related performance measures. ARENA simulation software was used to model and study the system. (R, r) inventory control policy was applied to the production/inventory system. Routing flexibility was found to have a significant effect on all the performance parameters, with maximum improvement of performance observed at increase of level from 0 to 1. It was further observed that the system load condition does not have a significant effect on any of the performance measure. The FMS showed slightly improved performance when the system was fully balanced. It can be concluded that the inventory related performance measures give comparable results to that of production related performance measures.

Antimicrobial peptides act on the rumen microbiome and metabolome affecting the performance of castrated bulls

BackgroundMany countries have already banned the use of antibiotics in animal husbandry, making it extremely difficult to maintain animal health in livestock breeding. In the livestock industry, there is an urgent need to develop alternatives to antibiotics which will not lead to drug resistance on prolonged use. In this study, eighteen castrated bulls were randomly divided into two groups. The control group (CK) was fed the basal diet, while the antimicrobial peptide group (AP) was fed the basal diet supplemented with 8 g of antimicrobial peptides in the basal diet for the experimental period of 270 d. They were then slaughtered to measure production performance, and the ruminal contents were isolated for metagenomic and metabolome sequencing analysis.ResultThe results showed that antimicrobial peptides could improve the daily weight, carcass weight, and net meat weight of the experimental animals. Additionally, the rumen papillae diameter and the micropapillary density in the AP were significantly greater than those in the CK. Furthermore, the determination of digestive enzymes and fermentation parameters showed that the contents of protease, xylanase, and β-glucoside in the AP were greater than those in the CK. However, lipase content in the CK was greater than that in the AP. Moreover, the content of acetate, propionate, butyrate, and valerate was found to be greater in AP than those in CK. The metagenomic analysis annotated 1993 differential microorganisms at the species level. The KEGG enrichment of these microorganisms revealed that the enrichment of drug resistance-related pathways was dramatically decreased in the AP, whereas the enrichment of immune-related pathways was significantly increased. There was also a significant reduction in the types of viruses in the AP. 187 probiotics with significant differences were found, 135 of which were higher in AP than in CK. It was also found that the antimicrobial mechanism of the antimicrobial peptides was quite specific. Seven low-abundance microorganisms (Acinetobacter_sp._Ac_1271, Aequorivita soesokkakensis, Bacillus lacisalsi, Haloferax larsenii, Lysinibacillus_sp._3DF0063, Parabacteroides_sp._2_1_7, Streptomyces_sp._So13.3) were found to regulate growth performance of the bull negatively. Metabolome analysis identified 45 differentially differential metabolites that significantly different between the CK and the AP groups. Seven upregulated metabolites (4-pyridoxic acid, Ala-Phe, 3-ureidopropionate, hippuric acid, terephthalic acid, L-alanine, uridine 5-monophosphate) improve the growth performance of the experimental animals. To detect the interactions between the rumen microbiome and metabolism, we associated the rumen microbiome with the metabolome and found that negative regulation between the above 7 microorganisms and 7 metabolites.ConclusionsThis study shows that antimicrobial peptides can improve the growth performance of animals while resisting viruses and harmful bacteria and are expected to become healthy alternatives to antibiotics. We demonstrated a new antimicrobial peptides pharmacological model. We demonstrated low-abundance microorganisms may play a role by regulating the content of metabolites.

Approaches to measuring production performance enterprises in the oil and gas sector of the Russian Federation based on statistical reporting

The article highlights approaches to calculating indicators characterising the production activities of oil and gas enterprises in the Russian Federation on the basis of the Federal State Statistics Service’s reports. The production activities structure’s heterogeneity has been noted. The issues of reassessing the importance of core and ancillary economic activities in the oil and gas sector are raised. The importance of assessing the intersectoral redistribution of value added is pointed out. Prospects for the performance assessment development of output, intermediate consumption and value added are highlighted an outlook by enterprise group analysis. The principles and criteria for assigning enterprises to the group are indicated. The output indicators of the largest companies in the oil and gas sector of the Russian Federation are considered. A methodology for step-by-step calculating the output, intermediate consumption and value added indicators for large enterprises is provided. The authors concluded that calculating the indicators of output, intermediate consumption and value added for the factor models construction is expediency.

Extraction of key regions of beef cattle based on bidirectional tomographic slice features from point cloud data

As the world population grows and the increase in food consumption creates unprecedented pressure on beef producers, innovative technologies for sustainable and efficient beef production is quintessential. Therefore, a significant effort is ongoing on developing digital precision technologies for continuous beef cattle monitoring and accurate cattle growth estimation. One such technology relies on 3D visual sensor technologies. 3D point cloud data acquired with 3D cameras can be processed to evaluate the livestock’s growth condition with minimal human intervention. Essentially, the automatic measurement of animal body dimensions highly depends on the location accuracy of the key points or regions in point clouds. However, the location of specific points and regions requires extra assistance and usually leads to semi-automatic and low-accuracy solutions at best. To address these issues, we demonstrated a novel strategy for partial segmentation of beef cattle point clouds, based on the Bidirectional Tomographic Slice Segmentation (BTSS) algorithm. The cattle point clouds can be successfully segmented into the head and neck, front trunk, middle trunk, back trunk, lower leg, and hip and tail regions with high accuracies of 89%, 91%, 94%, 95%, 92%, and 95%, respectively. Consequently, the segmentation completion rate is 96%, and the average segmentation accuracy reaches 92.8%. When compared to traditional approaches, our method efficiently extracted abundant body characteristics from the beef cattle point cloud. Moreover, the proposed algorithm exhibited generalization capabilities to segment the point clouds of other cloven-hoofed livestock species. The accurate localization of key regions enabled body dimensions measurements and non-contact weighing, which can provide a solid support for breeding needs such as health evaluation, production performance measurement, and genetic breeding evaluation.

The Effect of Rearing Conditions on Carcass Traits, Meat Quality and the Compositions of Fatty Acid and Amino Acid of LTL in Heigai Pigs.

Simple SummaryPeople’s demand for meat consumption has transformed from quantity to quality. The rearing condition is one of the factors affecting meat quality. However, the effects of different rearing conditions on the production of Chinese indigenous pig breeds are still barely understood. In this study, Heigai pigs (a Chinese indigenous pig breed) were raised in the indoor feeding farm and the grazing farm to investigate the effects of different rearing conditions on carcass traits, meat quality and the compositions of fatty acid and amino acid. Grazing farm pigs tended to increase shear force, while significantly increasing the saturated fatty acid ratio and decreasing the unsaturated fatty acid ratio to alter the composition of fatty acids of longissimus thoracis et lumborum. The present study provides an experimental reference for regulating the production of superior meat quality pork of Chinese local breed pigs.The present study evaluates the influence of captivity and grazing rearing conditions on the carcass traits, meat quality and fatty acid profiles of Heigai pigs. Ten Heigai pigs with market weight were randomly selected from both the indoor feeding farm and outdoor grazing farm groups (FF and GF; five pigs per group) for measuring production performance. The results showed that the shear force of longissimus thoracis et lumborum (LTL) in the GF group tended to increase (p = 0.06), and triglyceride and cholesterol contents in LTL and psoas major muscle (PMM) of the GF group significantly increased and decreased, respectively (p < 0.05). The proportion of saturated fatty acids (SFA) was significantly increased (p < 0.05) in the GF group. Meanwhile, the ratios of unsaturated fatty acid (UFA), polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA), monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) and the content of flavor amino acid of the LTL in the GF group were significantly decreased (p < 0.05). The GF upregulated the expression of MyHC-IIb and lipogenic genes, such as GLUT4 and LPL (p < 0.05), in LTL and PMM, but downregulated the expression of MyHC-I, MyHC-IIa, PPARγ and leptin (p < 0.05). In conclusion, these results suggested that the different rearing conditions can alter the meat qualities by mediating the muscle fiber type and lipid metabolism of Heigai pigs.

“Beyond liking” measures in food-related consumer research supplement hedonic responses and improve ability to predict consumption

Sensory and consumer science is concerned with measuring perceptual and affective responses to consumer products. Historically, hedonic responses (degree of liking or preference for a set of test products) have been the primary measure of product performance in food-related consumer research, but recent years have seen an increase in the uptake of perceptual measures that go “beyond liking”, with interest primarily focusing on product-elicited emotions, conceptualisations and situational appropriateness. Although the ultimate purpose of collecting such responses is that they are predictive of what consumers will like, choose and consume in their everyday life, such data are very rarely validated against actual consumer behaviour.Against this backdrop, the present research aimed to evaluate the ability of emotional, conceptual, and situational appropriateness responses to predict a behaviourally relevant measure of product performance – frequency of past consumption. Two (online) consumer studies were conducted with US adults, using salads (Study 1, n = 606) and non-alcoholic beverages (Study 2, n = 603) as product categories. In each study, the predictive ability of each set of measures was benchmarked against that of expected liking to identify the optimal (most predictive of consumption) combination of product-related measures.Both studies provided evidence that all included measures (liking, emotional, conceptual, and situational responses) were significantly correlated with frequency of past consumption, and importantly, that inclusion of “beyond liking” measures improved behavioural prediction over and above models based on hedonic responses only. These findings confirmed that liking in and of itself is insufficient as a predictor of consumption and supported calls for the purposeful combination of different response types using “global” or multi-response approaches. Differences between the two studies pertaining to the relative importance of liking and the best combination of predictors were uncovered, suggesting that the optimal combination of “beyond liking” measures in practical applications is likely to be study-specific.

Sensory drivers of perceived situational appropriateness in unbranded foods and beverages: Towards a deeper understanding

Measures of product performance that effectively predict food and beverage choices are highly sought after. A simple method to add value to hedonic data is that of item-by-use (IBU) appropriateness, where consumers are presented with a list of possible consumption situations and asked to indicate how well a product fits them. A persistent misconception surrounding this approach is that it is relevant for discriminating between different products, but not between variants within the same product category, which is often the focus of sensory and consumer studies. To provide a deeper understanding of the sensory underpinnings of appropriateness, the present work presents experimental evidence from six consumer studies (116–210 consumers per study) employing unbranded product variants from the same category. Products were successfully discriminated based on IBU appropriateness in all studies, even when sensory variation was unidimensional and controlled (such as a basic lemonade recipe varying in sugar content). While product differentiation based on the sensory profiles was greater than differentiation based on appropriateness, the results clearly show that sensory variation, in and of itself, is sufficient to elicit differences in perceived appropriateness. As expected, the degree of inter-product differences in appropriateness was approximately linearly related to the degree of differences in sensory profiles. Finally, while some sensory properties independently affected perceived appropriateness, the magnitude (and in some cases the direction) of the effects often depended on the level of product liking.

Evaluating the effects of nano-fluids based MQL milling of IN718 associated to sustainable productions

The aeronautical industry is constantly striving for goals related to lesser production/maintenance time and cost. In this regard, aero-engines made up of Nickel-based alloy are preferred for high performance to improve the burning efficiency. However, the processing of the Nickel-based alloys remain challenging in manufacturing industry with the aim of sustainable production. This research investigated the manufacturing progress of face milling of Inconel 718 by using two different lubrication conditions; minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) and nanofluids based minimum quantity lubrication (NF-MQL). A high degree of sustainability was achieved through increasing productivity (material removal rate) and quality (surface roughness) enhancement while minimizing the power and temperature. The impacts of four most influencing parameters including feed rate, speed, flow rate and depth of cut were investigated on sustainable production performance measures. Empirical models of surface roughness, temperature, material removal rate and power were developed using response surface methodology. Analysis of the developed empirical models and validation were executed through analysis of variance and confirmatory experiments results. Finally, a multi objective optimization was implemented to attain maximum sustainability effect by generating a compromise between lowest surface roughness and cost, and highest material removal rate. The results revealed that the depth of cut is the most significant process parameter for both lubrication environments. The results show the NF-MQL as the better alternative which resulted in 20.1%, 14.7% and 13.3% percentage reduction for surface roughness, temperature and power, respectively. Furthermore, the results revealed that NF-MQL resulted in better desirability achievement (71.3%) as compared to MQL (70.1%).

Using chrono-physiological management in form of shifting the feeding time has no advantage in goat kids exposed to experimentally induced heat stress.

Despite the proven outcomes of implementing chrono-physiological management (CPM) in several animals to promote their production performance, studies on its usefulness in goats are lacking. Twelve healthy Aardi male goat kids (22.60±1.10kg body weight; 6 months of age) were randomly allocated into two groups (morning-fed at 09:00 h and evening-fed at 21:00 h). The physiological and productive advantage of CPM (in form of shifting feeding time) was investigated in both groups while exposed to experimentally induced heat stress for 42 days (daily ambient temperature was cycling from 25 to 45°C). Thermophysiological (rectal, skin, and coat temperatures as well as respiratory rate), blood biochemical (plasma level of albumin, glucose, triacylglycerol, and urea), and production performance (daily feed intake, average daily gain, and feed conversion ratio) measurements were all obtained throughout this period. Current findings collectively revealed that shifting feeding time from 09:00 to 21:00 h had no (P > 0.05) impact on the thermophysiological status and blood metabolites of heat stressed kids. Above all, evidences have indicated that shifting feeding time had failed (P > 0.05) to demonstrate any consequence on promoting growth in these kids, thereby suggesting that shifting feeding time under hot climatic conditions has no advantage in goats. In fact, implementation of such an approach might not to be encouraged for heat-adapted animals. Experiments using other CPM methods (such as simultaneous shift of both feeding time and lighting program) can be however of further interest.

The Fuzzy Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) Method to Improve Roofing Product’s Quality (case study : XYZ Company)

Evaluation and improvement of production performance are things that must be considered in an effort to maintain and improve the quality of production results. One level in measuring production performance is smooth production. Good risk management can support and maintain the smooth production process in the company. This research was conducted at PT XYZ with the aim to reduce the risk of failure of zinc products and propose improvements to the risk of product failure to improve the quality of zinc products. The method used in this case is Fuzzy FMEA (Failure Mode and Effect Analysis). Fuzzy logic approach is preferred to eliminate this shortcoming in setting risk priorities number. The use of the Fuzzy FMEA method can generate priority figures for failure modes so that problems can be solved efficiently in an effort to improve production performance. The results of this study are failure modes. One of the rollers got the highest FRPN value of 880,289 so that failure due to incorrect grinding machine settings and the lack of operator accuracy in positioning zinc was recommended as a major improvement to minimize milling error failures in the production process.

Food production performance measurement system using halal supply chain operation reference (SCOR) model and analytical hierarchy process (AHP)

Food and beverage companies should be able to maintain and measure their performances to survive while the business competition condition is very dynamic. This study was conducted to design a performance measurement system for food production that combines the halal factors in its business process. Halal means authorized, legal, permitted, and allowed to any object or activity that is used or implemented in Islam. Therefore, designing and measure the performance in this study will use the Supply Chain Operation Reference (SCOR) model and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). By using the SCOR model, we will get performance metrics that serve as indicators to observe and maintain the company’s performance. Meanwhile, by using AHP, we will get the importance weight of each metric toward the company’s performance score. The results of this study obtained 15 metrics with 3 halal metrics. The 15 metrics are divided into three performance attributes, which are 5 metrics in the reliability attribute, 9 metrics in the responsiveness attribute, and 1 metric in the cost attribute. The results of the overall performance score is 72.73. Those metrics are useful to maintain and improve the company’s performance.

Is motor learning of stroke patients in non-immersive virtual environment influenced by laterality of injury? A preliminary study

BackgroundStroke is the leading cause of long-term disability in adults, causing residual sensorimotor deficits in many survivors. Patients may have different impairments according to laterality of injury, as well as different responses to some therapies. ObjectiveThis preliminary study sought to investigate motor learning in rehabilitation of stroke patients with non-immersive virtual environment by process (electroencephalography) and product (performance) measures in stroke patients with left and right cerebral hemispheres damage. MethodsThe study included 10 chronic stroke patients; 5 with left brain injury (LI), mean age 48.8 years (±4.76), and 5 with right brain injury (RI), mean age 52 years (±10.93). Patients were evaluated for electroencephalographic activity (alpha and beta frequencies) and performance (absolute error) in a darts game on XBOX Kinect (Microsoft®). Then they underwent a virtual darts game training task, 12 sessions for 4 weeks (acquisition stage). After training, they were revaluated (long-term retention). ResultsRI group increased alpha power and decreased beta in ipsilesional areas, increased activation on left hemisphere and decreased the absolute error of performance; LI group increased right hemisphere activation and did not decrease the absolute error. ConclusionsPatients with right brain injury reduce neural effort and errors after virtual darts training, which did not happen to patients with left brain injury. Therefore, the laterality of lesion should be considered in studies that use virtual reality for stroke rehabilitation.

Measuring the production performance indicators for food processing industry

Production performance measurement is the most important activity to achieve the higher productivity in food industries. The Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) is a standard for measuring production productivity. However, the uncertainty of OEE components could mask the true production performance estimation in food processing lines. In this study, the production speed and stoppage duration measurements as major uncertainties to estimate the OEE and its components were investigated. In order to handle the uncertainties, two methods based on fuzzy arithmetic and interval arithmetic were conducted to supplement the classical-OEE. To survey the classical-OEE, the operational data field of edible oil purification process over a period of two years were examined. The comparison results of filed data revealed that the new OEE index has been increased around 4% by maintenance improvements. In such index, the total availability, performance efficiency and quality rate were improved by 3%, 2% and 5%, respectively. The research results showed that the spread values of Fuzzy-OEE are more explicit to show the worst and best values, while the interval arithmetic of OEE reflects the results by tighter limits. The proposed methods are more convenient to quantify uncertainty with limits to understand the OEE variations helping to make better decisions on uncertainties in food production lines.

Associating mobility scores with production and reproductive performance in pasture-based dairy cows

Lameness in dairy cows can have significant effects on cow welfare, farm profitability, and the environment. To determine the economic and environmental consequences of lameness, we first need to quantify its effect on performance. The objective of this study, therefore, was to determine the associations of various production and reproductive performance measurements (including milk, fat, and protein yield, somatic cell count, calving interval, cow death, or cow slaughter), and mobility scores in spring-calving, pasture-based dairy cows. We collected mobility scores (0 = good, 1 = imperfect, 2 = impaired, and 3 = severely impaired mobility), body condition scores, and production data for 11,116 cows from 68 pasture-based dairy herds. Linear mixed modeling was used to determine the associations between specific mobility scores and milk, fat and protein yield, and somatic cell count and calving interval. Binomial logistic regression was used to determine the association between mobility score and cow death, or slaughter. Significant yield losses of up to 1.4% of the average yield were associated with mobility score 2 and yield losses of up to 4.7% were associated with mobility score 3 during the early scoring period. Elevated somatic cell count was associated with all levels of suboptimal mobility during the late scoring period. Cows with a mobility score of 2 during the early scoring period were associated with longer calving interval length, whereas only cows with a mobility score of 3 during the late scoring period were associated with longer calving interval length. Cows with a mobility score ≥1 were more likely to be culled during both scoring periods. Our study, therefore, shows an association between specific mobility scores and production and reproductive performance in spring-calving, pasture-based dairy cows scored during the summer grazing period.

Deregulation, technical efficiency and production risk in rice farming: evidence from Zhejiang Province, China

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to evaluate the technical efficiency and production risk in China's rice production and examine the effect of factor market reform on these two agricultural performance metrics.Design/methodology/approachUsing an unbalanced farm-level panel data with 2,193 observations on 329 rice farms from 2004 to 2016, the authors estimate a translog stochastic production frontier model that accounts for both technical inefficiency and production risk. A one-step procedure through the maximum likelihood method that combines the stochastic production frontier, technical inefficiency and production risk functions is used to circumvent the bias problem often found in the conventional two-step model.FindingsEstimation results show that both land and labor market reforms significantly improved the level of technical efficiency over the years, although the effect of land market deregulation is of a much higher magnitude compared to the latter. The land market reform, however, has also increased the risk of production. The authors further find that a higher proportion of hired labor in total labor cost helps lower production risk, while also acting to decrease technical efficiency. Additionally, agricultural subsidies not only increased the output variability but also lowered technical efficiencyOriginality/valueFirst, the authors evaluate the effect of market deregulation on technical efficiency and production risk under a stochastic frontier framework that simultaneously accounts for both production performance metrics, which is important from a statistical point of view. Further, the authors exploit both cross-sectional and time-series variations in a panel setting to more accurately estimate the technical inefficiency scores and production risk for individual farmers, and investigate how the exogenous land and labor market reforms influence these two production performance measures in China's rice farming. This is the first study in the literature to analyze these questions under a panel framework.

An Integrated Key Performance Measurement for Manufacturing Operations Management

This paper proposes a comprehensive production performance measurement framework and illustrates the method to evaluate the performance and guide practitioners to make further improvement. The development comprises four steps. (1) Performance indicators derived from business excellence models are enumerated to provide the performance model: 74 indicators, which can be classified in terms of their characteristics, are identified in six criteria. (2) A multiple criteria decision-making approach based on the analytic hierarchical and network processes, which determine the weights of the criteria and indicators, is applied. In addition, this study introduced additional formulas to derive the final performance values. (3) A performance measurement framework that integrates the measurement and result analysis processes is implemented. (4) The proposed framework is verified through a case study. The results of the case study show that the proposed framework identifies the gaps and discrepancies among the management levels, enabling the determination of means for continuous improvement.

Comparative Transcriptome Analysis Identifying the Different Molecular Genetic Markers Related to Production Performance and Meat Quality in Longissimus Dorsi Tissues of MG × STH and STH Sheep.

Crossbred sheep have many prominent traits, such as excellent production performance and high-quality meat, when compared to local sheep breeds. However, the genetic molecular markers related to these characteristics remain unclear. The crossbred MG × STH (small-tailed Han sheep (STH) × Mongolian sheep (MG)) breed and the STH breed were selected to measure production performance and meat quality. We used 14 indexes of production performance and meat quality, which in the MG × STH population showed significant differences compared to the STH breed. Subsequently, the longissimus dorsi from the two sheep were subjected to comparative transcriptomic analyses to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) related to production performance and meat quality. A total of 874 DEGs were identified between the two sheep groups. A total of 110 unique DEGs related to sheep production performance and meat quality were selected as the candidate DEGs. We found 6 production-performance-related and 30 meat-quality-related DEGs through a correlation analysis, including SPARC, ACVRL1, FNDC5, and FREM1. The expression levels of 11 DEGs were validated by real-time PCR, and the results were in accordance with the results of the comparative transcriptomic and correlation analyses. These results will assist in understanding sheep heterosis and molecular marker-assisted selection.

Eggshell and Bone Quality in Two Different Genetic Groups of Aged Layer Breeders

ABSTRACT The present study was conducted on pair aged commercial laying breeder strains (Hy-Line Brown and Hy-Line W-36) to evaluate genetic differences of eggshell and bone quality. In addition, egg production performance, mortality rate, internal organs and reproductive measurements were determined. Correlation coefficients among some eggshell and bone traits were calculated. White layer breeder hens had significantly higher percentages of hen-day and hen-housed egg production compared to the brown one. Brown Hy-Line layer breeder strain had better eggshell quality compared to W-36 Hy-Line layer breeder strain. The white layer breeder strain had a significantly higher relative oviduct weight compared to the brown one. Brown layer breeder strain recorded the higher humerus width in comparison with the white one. Tibia bone weight of brown layer breeder strain was significantly heavier by 22.87% as compared to the white strain. Moreover, the brown breeder strain recorded the higher figure of tibia width, thickness, and strength. In conclusion, at the end of the laying cycle, brown Hy-Line layer breeder strain exhibited better eggshell quality, body weight and tibia bone quality than those of W-36 breeder strain. Positive correlation coefficients were detected between humerus bone strength and both eggshell thickness and strength in brown and white strains.