The major objective of this study was to contrast the ability of 4 commonly utilized bedding materials to promote growth of environmental bacteria under controlled conditions. A second objective was to describe the relationship between bacterial growth and specific biochemical or nutritional properties of these bedding materials. Unused samples of clean sand (CS; n = 20), recycled sand (RS; n =...

OBJECTIVE The objectives of the study were to assess the effect of cacao bean husk as bedding material in free-stall barn on the behavior, productivity, and udder health of dairy cattle, and on the ammonia concentrations in the barn. METHODS Four different stall surfaces (no bedding, cacao bean husk, sawdust, and chopped wheat straw) were each continuously tested for a period of 1 week to det...

BACKGROUND Different types of mattresses affect sleep quality and waking muscle power. Whether manual muscle testing (MMT) predicts the cardiovascular effects of the bedding system was explored using ten healthy young men. METHODS For each participant, two bedding systems, one inducing the strongest limb muscle force (strong bedding system) and the other inducing the weakest limb force (weak ...

Dairy cattle barns are a major source of NH3 emissions to the atmosphere. Previous studies have shown that the bedding material used in the barn can influence the magnitude of NH3 emissions, but little is known about which bedding characteristics are important in this respect. The aims of this study were to assess, at a laboratory scale, the relative importance of the chemical [pH, cation excha...

The objective was to determine the effect of sawdust bedding dry matter on the lying behavior of Holstein cows. Dry matter (DM) was varied systematically over 5 treatment levels to test how cows respond to damp bedding. This experiment was repeated during summer and winter to test if the effects of damp bedding varied with season. The 5 bedding treatments averaged (+/-SD) 89.8+/-3.7, 74.2+/-6.4...

Introduction: The aim of this study was to get to a neurological evaluation of one of the Persian music scales, Homayoun, on brain activation of non-musician subjects. We selected this scale because Homayoun is one of the main scales in Persian classical music which is similar to minor mode in western scales. Methods: This study was performed on 19 right handed subjects, Aging 22-31. Here some ...

PURPOSE Endocrine-disrupting chemicals interfere with the endocrine system and therefore affect growth and pubertal progression. The study aim was to compare the growth and pubertal progression in wild-type female rats with different bedding types. METHODS Twenty 5-week-old female wild-type Sprague Dawley rats were randomly assigned to two groups with different bedding types: one group receiv...

As I write these words, thick snow blankets my lawn and my Potentilla is badly frosted, but you know, we gardeners are never gloomy for long. We know, as we toast our muffins and stir our cocoa, that now is the time to plan next Summer's garden. Of course, with so many gardening programmes on the television nowadays, its quite easy to produce a colourful display. Almost too easy, for the boring...

A variety of environmental factors can affect the outcomes of studies using laboratory rodents. One such factor is bedding. Several new bedding materials and processing methods have been introduced to the market in recent years, but there are few reports of their performance. In the studies reported here, we have assessed the cage micro-environment (in-cage ammonia levels, temperature, and humi...