Empirical analysis of pig welfare levels and their impact on pig breeding efficiency-Based on 773 pig farmers' survey data.

Few studies of the pig production efficiency are from the perspective of animal welfare. Therefore, this study conducted a comprehensive evaluation of pig welfare levels based on survey data from 773 pig farmers from 23 counties in the Chinese provinces of Hunan, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Guizhou, and Shanxi. This study used the Delphi method, Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA)-Tobit regression model to analyze farmers' pig production efficiency and its influencing factors. This paper found that most farmers' pig production efficiency is low, and the DEA is invalid. Only 2.9% of pig farmers' who breed pigs are at the optimal level in terms of welfare, and their production efficiency is relatively high. In contrast, 49.34% of the farmers are at the medium welfare level, and compared with the farmers at the optimal welfare level, these farmers' pig production efficiency is low. Additionally, the farmers' age, gender, and number of years of experience with pig breeding have a significant effect. Furthermore, the scale of pig breeding and feeding type, the agriculture facilities for the central treatment of waste in local areas, and the availability of local agricultural science and technology personnel have a considerable influence on pig production efficiency.

Global deletion of Ankrd1 results in a wound-healing phenotype associated with dermal fibroblast dysfunction.

The expression of ankyrin repeat domain protein 1 (Ankrd1), a transcriptional cofactor and sarcomeric component, is strongly elevated by wounding and tissue injury. We developed a conditional Ankrd1(fl/fl) mouse, performed global deletion with Sox2-cre, and assessed the role of this protein in cutaneous wound healing. Although global deletion of Ankrd1 did not affect mouse viability or development, Ankrd1(-/-) mice had at least two significant wound-healing phenotypes: extensive necrosis of ischemic skin flaps, which was reversed by adenoviral expression of ANKRD1, and delayed excisional wound closure, which was characterized by decreased contraction and reduced granulation tissue thickness. Skin fibroblasts isolated from Ankrd1(-/-) mice did not spread or migrate on collagen- or fibronectin-coated surfaces as efficiently as fibroblasts isolated from Ankrd1(fl/fl) mice. More important, Ankrd1(-/-) fibroblasts failed to contract three-dimensional floating collagen gels. Reconstitution of ANKRD1 by adenoviral infection stimulated both collagen gel contraction and actin fiber organization. These in vitro data were consistent with in vivo wound closure studies, and suggest that ANKRD1 is important for the proper interaction of fibroblasts with a compliant collagenous matrix both in vitro and in vivo.

Migration inhibitory factor-related protein (MRP)8 and MRP14 are differentially expressed in free-electron laser and scalpel incisions.

Incisions made in mouse skin by scalpel or the free-electron laser heal at different rates. To identify genes that are differentially expressed in free-electron laser or scalpel wounds, we isolated total RNA from free-electron laser- or scalpel-produced incisions and normal skin at day 7 postwounding. cDNA microarray analysis identified 89 of 15,000 genes in a mouse microarray as having significantly different expression levels. Migration inhibitory factor-related protein (MRP) 14 was almost 30 times more highly expressed in scalpel wounds than in free-electron laser wounds. This result was confirmed by Northern blot analysis, which also showed that scalpel wounds expressed higher levels of MRP8, a related S100 protein that can heterodimerize with MRP14, at days 2, 7, and 14 postwounding. Free-electron laser wounds also showed elevated expression of MRP8 and MRP14 relative to normal skin. In situ hybridization showed that the patterns of MRP14 and MRP8 expression in free-electron laser and scalpel wound tissues were similar. MRP14 and MRP8 were expressed in the dermal wound margin, while a very low level of MRP14 and MRP8 expression was seen in the migrating epidermis. Dual immunofluorescence staining for MRP14 or MRP8 and macrophage (F4/80) showed that most of the wound macrophages simultaneously expressed MRP14 and MRP8. Some expression was also found in neutrophils, while neither antigen accumulated to a significant degree in the epidermis. Relatively lower MRP8 and 14 expression in free-electron laser wounds was correlated with a higher level of matrix metalloproteinase-13 expression and a reduced rate of wound healing. While the regulation of MRP8 expression in mouse may be different from human skin, we suggest that elevated expression of MRP8 and MRP14 may have a relevant therapeutic effect against inflammation in wound healing.

Comparison of mouse matrix metalloproteinase 13 expression in free-electron laser and scalpel incisions during wound healing.

Collagenase-3 (matrix metalloproteinase 13, MMP-13) was employed as a surrogate marker to compare the characteristics of incisional wound repair after surgery with the free-electron laser at 6.1 microm and the scalpel. Using a transgenic mouse strain with the MMP-13 or the COL1A2 promoter driving luciferase expression, we observed MMP-13 and COL1A2 expression, tensile strength, macrophage infiltration, and wound histology for up to 62 d. The scalpel incisions showed higher tensile strength than free-electron laser wounds from days 10 to 22 postwounding, despite minimal collateral thermal damage. After 45 d healing was similar. Trichrome staining confirmed that the scalpel incisions had more dense collagen deposition than free-electron laser incisions up to 36 d postinjury, but at day 45 they became similar. MMP-13 expression was biphasic, with peak activities at days 15 and 37 after injury, whereas free-electron laser wounds showed greater luciferase activity than scalpel wounds. Peak COL1A2 activity preceded the MMP-13 maximum. MMP-13 expression localized predominantly to dermal fibroblasts near the epidermis at day 15, and in the region of the deep dermis, muscle, and fascia at day 37 postwounding. Migrating muscle cells, but not all skeletal muscle cells, also expressed MMP-13. Free-electron laser incisions contained more macrophages than scalpel wounds at days 2 and 7 postinjury, suggesting that free-electron laser irradiation exacerbated the inflammatory response and thereby stimulated MMP-13 expression. These results revealed that MMP-13 was involved in a series of coordinated events during wound healing, not only the long-term remodeling of wound connective tissue, but also skeletal muscle repair. MMP-13 activity in vivo may correlate with the extent of tissue damage.

Real-time visualization of MMP-13 promoter activity in transgenic mice.

Cutaneous wound repair involves extracellular matrix degradation, cell migration, matrix resynthesis and tissue remodeling. In the rodent, transcriptional regulation of collagenase-3 (MMP-13) most likely plays a role in these processes. Therefore, we isolated and characterized a 1.76-kb 5'-flanking region of the mouse MMP-13 gene. Assay of promoter activity by transient transfection of HT1080 cells and primary mouse skin fibroblasts allowed identification of several functional regions of the 5'-flanking DNA. Expression of luciferase reporter constructs in these cells was induced by phorbol myristate acetate (PMA), but not by transforming growth factor-beta(2) (TGF-beta(2)). To study the regulation of MMP-13 in cutaneous wound healing, we generated transgenic mouse lines harboring the firefly luciferase reporter gene under control of a 660-bp mouse MMP-13 promoter which showed maximal response. MMP-13 mRNA levels in transgenic lung fibroblasts increased 1.5-2.6-fold after PMA challenge. MMP-13 promoter activity in wounds was visualized and quantified in vivo as luciferase bioluminescence. MMP-13 expression was present at day 1 and maximal at day 18 post-wounding. Luciferase activity progressed from the wound margin towards the center of the wound. In situ hybridization showed the same spatial and temporal patterns for the luciferase and endogenous MMP-13 mRNA. Both signals localized predominantly to dermal fibroblasts at the wound periphery but not to granulation tissue or to keratinocytes. These results suggested that MMP-13 participated in the wound healing of acute wounds, and it was a significant factor in long-term remodeling of wound connective tissue in rodent skin.