@article{RailaKawashimaSauerweinetal.2017,
  author    = {Raila, Jens and Kawashima, Chiho and Sauerwein, Helga and H{\"u}lsmann, Nadine and Knorr, Christoph and Myamoto, Akio and Schweigert, Florian J.},
  title     = {Validation of blood vitamin A concentrations in cattle: comparison of a new cow-side test (iCheck™ FLUORO) with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)},
  series = {BMC veterinary research},
  volume    = {13},
  journal   = {BMC veterinary research},
  publisher = {BioMed Central},
  address   = {London},
  doi       = {10.1186/s12917-017-1042-3},
  year      = {2017},
  abstract  = {Background: Plasma concentration of retinol is an accepted indicator to assess the vitamin A (retinol) status in cattle. However, the determination of vitamin A requires a time consuming multi-step procedure, which needs specific equipment to perform extraction, centrifugation or saponification prior to high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Methods: The concentrations of retinol in whole blood (n = 10), plasma (n = 132) and serum (n = 61) were measured by a new rapid cow-side test (iCheck™ FLUORO) and compared with those by HPLC in two independent laboratories in Germany (DE) and Japan (JP). Results: Retinol concentrations in plasma ranged from 0.033 to 0.532 mg/L, and in serum from 0.043 to 0.360 mg/L (HPLC method). No significant differences in retinol levels were observed between the new rapid cow-side test and HPLC performed in different laboratories (HPLC vs. iCheck™ FLUORO: 0.320 ± 0.047 mg/L vs. 0.333 ± 0.044 mg/L, and 0.240 ± 0.096 mg/L vs. 0.241 ± 0.069 mg/L, lab DE and lab JP, respectively). A similar comparability was observed when whole blood was used (HPLC vs. iCheck™ FLUORO: 0.353 ± 0.084 mg/L vs. 0.341 ± 0.064 mg/L). Results showed a good agreement between both methods based on correlation coefficients of r2 = 0.87 (P < 0.001) and Bland-Altman blots revealed no significant bias for all comparison. Conclusions: With the new rapid cow-side test (iCheck™ FLUORO) retinol concentrations in cattle can be reliably assessed within a few minutes and directly in the barn using even whole blood without the necessity of prior centrifugation. The ease of the application of the new rapid cow-side test and its portability can improve the diagnostic of vitamin A status and will help to control vitamin A supplementation in specific vitamin A feeding regimes such as used to optimize health status in calves or meat marbling in Japanese Black cattle.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{MarquartEldridgeTraversetal.2019,
  author    = {Marquart, Arnim and Eldridge, David J. and Travers, Samantha K. and Val, James and Blaum, Niels},
  title     = {Large shrubs partly compensate negative effects of grazing on hydrological function in a semi-arid savanna},
  series = {Basic and applied ecology : Journal of the Gesellschaft f{\"u}r {\"O}kologie},
  volume    = {38},
  journal   = {Basic and applied ecology : Journal of the Gesellschaft f{\"u}r {\"O}kologie},
  publisher = {Elsevier GMBH},
  address   = {M{\"u}nchen},
  issn      = {1439-1791},
  doi       = {10.1016/j.baae.2019.06.003},
  pages     = {58 -- 68},
  year      = {2019},
  abstract  = {Semiarid woodlands and savannas are globally important biomes that provide ecosystem goods and services such as habitat for biota and sinks for carbon, support millions of people that rely primarily on pastoralism, and supply livelihoods for about a third of the global human population. Savannas, however, are prone to degradation by overgrazing, and encroachment by woody plants, reducing their capacity to produce forage that pastoral enterprises depend on. We examined the impacts of livestock grazing and woody encroachment on soil hydrological processes, hypothesizing that heavy grazing by livestock would reduce hydrological function, whereas woody plants would increase hydrological function, therefore, partially offsetting any negative effects of overgrazing by livestock. Understanding the major drivers of soil hydrology in savanna ecosystems is important because water is a critical, yet limited resource in savannas. We found that livestock grazing reduced the early (sorptivity) and late (steady-state infiltration) stages of infiltration under both ponding and tension, and attributed this to a reduction in porosity caused by livestock trampling. Steady-state infiltration and sorptivity under ponding were greater under the canopies of woody shrubs than in open areas, partly compensating for any negative effect of grazing. Structural equation modeling revealed a direct positive effect of shrub height on hydrological functions, and an indirect effect via increases in litter cover. Our results suggest that woody plants can play important roles in driving hydrological function in savannas, counteracting the suppressive effect of livestock overgrazing on infiltration processes. Management strategies in semiarid savannas should aim to reduce trampling by livestock and retain large woody plants in order to maintain hydrological function. (C) 2019 Gesellschaft fur Okologie. Published by Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{GurkeVidalGorosquietaPajimansetal.2021,
  author    = {Gurke, Marie and Vidal-Gorosquieta, Amalia and Pajimans, Johanna L. A. and Wȩcek, Karolina and Barlow, Axel and Gonz{\´a}lez-Fortes, Gloria M. and Hartmann, Stefanie and Grandal-d'Anglade, Aurora and Hofreiter, Michael},
  title     = {Insight into the introduction of domestic cattle and the process of Neolithization to the Spanish region Galicia by genetic evidence},
  series = {PLoS ONE},
  volume    = {16},
  journal   = {PLoS ONE},
  number    = {4},
  publisher = {Public Library of Science},
  address   = {San Francisco},
  issn      = {1932-6203},
  doi       = {10.1371/journal.pone.0249537},
  pages     = {15},
  year      = {2021},
  abstract  = {Domestic cattle were brought to Spain by early settlers and agricultural societies. Due to missing Neolithic sites in the Spanish region of Galicia, very little is known about this process in this region. We sampled 18 cattle subfossils from different ages and different mountain caves in Galicia, of which 11 were subject to sequencing of the mitochondrial genome and phylogenetic analysis, to provide insight into the introduction of cattle to this region. We detected high similarity between samples from different time periods and were able to compare the time frame of the first domesticated cattle in Galicia to data from the connecting region of Cantabria to show a plausible connection between the Neolithization of these two regions. Our data shows a close relationship of the early domesticated cattle of Galicia and modern cow breeds and gives a general insight into cattle phylogeny. We conclude that settlers migrated to this region of Spain from Europe and introduced common European breeds to Galicia.},
  language  = {en}
}