Biology subjects

Hintze, S.

Publications and source records attributed to Hintze, S..

5 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Ruffled minds? First insights into restlessness as a potential novel indicator of impaired welfare in bulls fattened for meat production

Restlessness is a symptom of chronic boredom in humans and a behavioural phenomenon anecdotally described as a concern in bulls raised for fattening purposes, but it has so far not been addressed in research. The two studies presented in this paper aimed to gain first insights into restlessness in bulls. We operationally defined restlessness by the number of transitions between behaviours in a given time period, and quantified restlessness in bulls of different weight classes (300, 400, 500 kg) on farms keeping bulls on fully-slatted floors (n=8, Study 1) as well as across three different husbandry systems (fully-slatted floor (FS, n=4), straw-based (SB, n=4) and organic pasture (OP, n=3), Study 2). All farms were visited twice, and the behaviour of different individuals was continuously recorded for 15 minutes each between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. (Study 1) and for 8 minutes each between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. (Study 2). The effects of weight class and husbandry system were analysed using generalised linear mixed-effects models, and we ran a sequence analysis to cluster observations by the sequence, frequency, and duration of bulls behaviours in Study 1. Bulls kept in fully-slatted floor systems in Study 1 changed their behaviour on average 48.3 times per 10 minutes, with high variability both within and across farms. Weight class did not have a statistically supported effect on the number of transitions, and the sequence analysis revealed four clusters that differed in sequence and in the number of transitions. In Study 2, OP bulls showed fewer transitions than SB and FS bulls (X2 = 23.6, p < 0.001), while SB and FS bulls did not differ. While SB pens were more structured and offered more space per animal, both SB and FS systems can be characterised by monotony, which may explain the similar level of restlessness in both systems. Alternatively, or in addition, the high feeding intensity in SB and FS systems may have led to more transitions than in the OP system, potentially due to subacute ruminal acidosis and/or laminitis and the resulting pain. However, given the studys descriptive nature, these explanations are speculative and require systematic disentanglement in future studies. Providing initial insights into restlessness in bulls, this study lays the groundwork for future research to address the causes underlying restlessness and investigate its association with bull welfare. HighlightsO_LIOperationally defining restlessness: number of behaviour transitions per time unit C_LIO_LIWe quantified restlessness in fattening bulls across different husbandry systems C_LIO_LILess restlessness observed in bulls kept on pasture than in indoor systems C_LIO_LINo difference in restlessness in fully-slatted floor and straw-based systems C_LIO_LIRestlessness may result from chronic boredom, intense diet or their combination C_LI

animal behavior and cognition↗

bioRxiv2022

Metabolic, Fibrotic, and Splicing Pathways Are All Altered in Emery-Dreifuss Muscular Dystrophy Spectrum Patients to Differing Degrees

Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy (EDMD) is a genetically and clinically variable disorder. Previous attempts to use gene expression changes find its pathomechanism were unavailing, so we here engaged a functional pathway analysis. RNA-Seq was performed on cells from 10 patients diagnosed with an EDMD spectrum disease with different mutations in 7 genes. Upon comparing to controls, the pathway analysis revealed that multiple genes involved in fibrosis, metabolism, myogenic signaling, and splicing were affected in all patients. Splice variant analysis revealed alterations of muscle-specific variants for several important muscle genes. Deeper analysis of metabolic pathways revealed a reduction in glycolytic and oxidative metabolism and reduced numbers of mitochondria across a larger set of 14 EDMD patients and 7 controls. Intriguingly, the gene expression signatures segregated the patients into three subgroups whose distinctions could potentially relate to differences in clinical presentation. Finally, differential expression analysis of miRNAs changing in the patients similarly highlighted fibrosis, metabolism, and myogenic signaling pathways. This pathway approach revealed a clear EDMD signature that can both be used as the basis for establishing a biomarker panel specific to EDMD and direct further investigation into its pathomechanism. Furthermore, the segregation of specific gene changes into three distinct categories that appear to correlate with clinical presentation may be developed into prognostic biomarkers, though this will first require their testing in a wider set of patients with more clinical information.

genetics↗

bioRxiv2019

Doing nothing and what it looks like... Inactivity in fattening cattle

Animals kept in barren environments often show increased levels of inactivity and first studies indicate that inactive behaviour may reflect boredom or depression-like states. However, inactivity does not necessarily reflect negative welfare and can even be a sign of positive welfare, for example in terms of relaxation. To date, knowledge of how to reliably differentiate between positive and negative states associated with inactivity is scarce and methods to identify different forms of inactivity are thus warranted. To this end, we developed an Inactivity Ethogram including detailed information on the postures of different body parts (Standing/Lying, Head, Ears, Eyes, Tail) for fattening cattle, a farm animal category often kept in barren environments. The Inactivity Ethogram was applied to Austrian Fleckvieh heifers from intensive, semi-intensive and pasture-based husbandry systems. Three farms per husbandry system were visited twice; once in the morning and once in the afternoon to cover most of the daylight hours with our observations. During each visit, 16 focal animals were continuously observed for 15 minutes each (96 heifers per husbandry system, 288 in total). Moreover, the focal animals groups were video recorded to later determine the inactivity level on the group level. Group level and focal animal data were analysed with (generalised) linear mixed-effect models with husbandry system as fixed effect and (group nested in) farm visit nested in farm as random effects. Husbandry system did not affect group level inactivity or the time the different postures were adopted (with the exception of asymmetrical ears, which were more prevalent in intensive than in semi-intensive than in pasture systems). In addition to the analysis of the time the single postures were observed for, simultaneous occurrences of postures of different body parts (Standing/Lying, Head, Ears and Eyes) were analysed using the machine learning algorithm cspade to provide insight into co-occurring postures of inactivity. Frequently co-occurring postures were generally similar between husbandry systems, but with subtle differences. The most frequently observed combination in intensive and semi-intensive systems was Lying with Head up, Ears backwards and Eyes open whereas in pasture systems it was Lying with Head up, ears low and eyes closed. To conclude, both the Inactivity Ethogram (including the description of detailed postures) and the machine learning algorithm cspade (for identifying frequently co-occurring posture combinations) are promising tools to understand how combinations of postures may be used to distinguish between different affective states associated with inactivity.

animal behavior and cognition↗

bioRxiv2019

Pair housing makes calves more optimistic

Individual housing of dairy calves is common farm practice, but has negative effects on calf welfare. A compromise between practice and welfare may be housing calves in pairs. We compared learning performances and affective states as assessed in a judgement bias task of individually housed and pair-housed calves. Twenty-two calves from each housing treatment were trained on a spatial Go/No-go task with active trial initiation to discriminate between the location of a teat-bucket signalling either reward (positive location) or non-reward (negative location). We compared the number of trials to learn the operant task (OT) for the trial initiation and to finish the subsequent discrimination task (DT). Ten pair-housed and ten individually housed calves were then tested for their responses to ambiguous stimuli positioned in-between the positive and negative locations. Housing did not affect learning speed (OT: F1,34 = 0.42, P = 0.52; DT: F1,34 = 0.25, P = 0.62), but pair-housed calves responded more positively to ambiguous cues than individually housed calves ({chi}21 = 6.76, P = 0.009), indicating more positive affective states. This is the first study to demonstrate that pair housing improves the affective aspect of calf welfare when compared to individual housing.

animal behavior and cognition↗

bioRxiv2019

Sex and age don’t matter but breed type does - Factors influencing eye wrinkle expression in horses

Identifying valid indicators to assess animals emotional states is a critical objective of animal welfare science. In horses, eye wrinkles caused by the contraction of the inner eyebrow raiser have been shown to be affected by pain and other emotional states. Whether individual characteristics of a horse systematically affect eye wrinkle expression has not yet been studied. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess how age, sex, breed type, body condition and coat colour affect the expression and/or the assessment of eye wrinkles in horses. To this end, we adapted the eye wrinkle assessment scale from Hintze et al. (2016) and assessed eye wrinkle expression on pictures taken from the left and the right eye of 181 horses in a presumably neutral situation, using five outcome measures: a qualitative first impression reflecting how worried the horse looks, the extent to which the eyebrow is raised, the number of wrinkles, their markedness and the angle between a line through the eyeball and the topmost wrinkle. All measures could be assessed highly reliable with respect to intra- and inter-observer agreement. Breed type affected the width of the angle (F2, 114 = 8.20, p < 0.001), with thoroughbreds having the narrowest angle (M = 23.80, SD = 1.60), followed by warmbloods (M = 28.00, SD = 0.60), and coldbloods (M = 31.00, SD = 0.90). None of the other factors affected any of the outcome measures, and eye wrinkle expression did not differ between the left and the right eye area (all p-values > 0.05). Consequently, horses characteristics age, sex and coat colour did not systematically affect eye wrinkle expression, whereas breed type explained some variation in angle; how much eye wrinkle expression is affected by emotion or perhaps mood needs further investigation and validation.

animal behavior and cognition↗