Frontiers in Veterinary Science最新文献

{"title":"Socio-economic analysis of the EU citizens' attitudes toward farmed animal welfare from the 2023 Eurobarometer polling survey.","authors":"Giorgia Riuzzi, Barbara Contiero, Flaviana Gottardo, Giulio Cozzi, Arzu Peker, Severino Segato","doi":"10.3389/fvets.2025.1505668","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fvets.2025.1505668","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background and methods: </strong>Europeans' expectations and opinions regarding the conditions and welfare of farmed animals have evolved continuously. Since 2005, the Eurobarometer (Eb) polling instrument has been used to monitor EU citizens' attitudes towards farmed animal welfare (FAW). Using the last Eb survey (2023), this study categorized respondents into clusters according to their answers to 12 selected questions on FAW. The ultimate goal was to highlight trends useful to stakeholders and policymakers within the animal food supply chain to design and implement activity planning, progress, and information campaigns.</p><p><strong>Results and discussion: </strong>As the Eb data came from a stratified multi-stage, random (probability) sample design, the seven clusters sorted through our statistical approach reflected the opinions of the EU population in 2023. These clusters could be further merged into three macro-clusters with two main opposite levels of concern (>80% positive answers) about FAW: concerned about at least 10 questions (74% of the sample); concerned about no more than three questions (6% of the sample); and a third macro-cluster in between concerned about five to seven questions, especially on specific farming practices (20% of the sample). An analysis of the socioeconomic characteristics of the respondents within clusters (gender, age, education, occupation scale, geographical origin, and regular contact with animals) showed that the main discriminating features were gender, level of education, and regular contact with animals; women and well-educated people in regular contact with companion animals were more concerned about FAW overall. The analysis also highlighted divergent responses regarding shopping habits and information searches among the clusters.</p>","PeriodicalId":12772,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Veterinary Science","volume":"12 ","pages":"1505668"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11951868/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143752354","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Prevalence of ear disease in cats undergoing cone beam computed tomography for dental procedures.","authors":"Hannah F Boothe, Mary Krakowski Volker, Jennifer Tjepkema, Adrien-Maxence Hespel","doi":"10.3389/fvets.2025.1553585","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fvets.2025.1553585","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>In this prospective, cross-sectional study, 303 feline patients were evaluated via cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) for evidence of incidental ear disease during a dental procedure.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>All feline patients over one year of age presenting to a private practice veterinary dentistry and oral surgery specialty clinic underwent CBCT imaging which included the oral cavity and ear canals. The following were recorded if present: periodontal disease, tooth resorption and/or ear disease.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Ear disease was diagnosed as an incidental finding in 41.4% of cats that were imaged; this is higher than previously reported prevalence studies of the general feline population ranging from 2-19%. Periodontal disease and tooth resorption were not significantly associated with ear disease. However, cats less than or equal to 10 pounds were found to be at higher risk of ear disease.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>This study highlights the importance of advanced imaging in the diagnosis of not only dental disease but also ear disease in cats.</p>","PeriodicalId":12772,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Veterinary Science","volume":"12 ","pages":"1553585"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11970034/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143795273","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Computer-assisted sperm analysis of the epididymal spermatozoa in dromedary camels suffering from penile and preputial pathological problems.","authors":"Montaser Elsayed Ali, Min Gao, Walaa M Essawi, Ahmed Yassen M Osman, Mohamed K Hussein, Mohamed Abdelrahman, Fatimah A Al-Saeed, Hassan A Hussein, Yong-Bin Liu, Ragab Hassan Mohamed","doi":"10.3389/fvets.2025.1537708","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fvets.2025.1537708","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Dromedary camels are the most vulnerable animals to penile and preputial pathology due to the aggressive nature of mating and injuries during transit, which could impair the semen quality. Hence, this study was performed to monitor the penile and preputial pathological conditions in male dromedary camels, as well as their impact on epididymal spermatozoa, by utilizing computer-assisted sperm analysis (CASA) and correlation analysis with testosterone concentrations. A total of 60 male dromedary camels were examined for penile and preputial pathological problems. The camels were grouped based on the absence or presence of the pathology conditions: (i) camels with normal penis and prepuce, (ii) camels with balanoposthitis, (iii) camels with penile trauma, (iv) camels with prolapsed prepuce, (v) camels with phimosis, and (vi) camels with penile tumors. The results revealed that there were significant increases in sperm concentration (Conc., M/ml), curvilinear velocity (VCL, <i>μ</i>m/s), eat-cross frequency (BCF, Hz), and straightness (STR, VSL/VAP) of the epididymal tail semen in camels with prolapsed prepuce. There were increases in progressive motility (PR), VCL, straight line velocity (VSL, μm/s), average path velocity (VAP, μm/s), BCF, and STR in the sperms of the group with phimosis, but the differences were non-statistically significant. Furthermore, the CASA parameters of the epididymal tail semen in the group with penile tumor showed an increase in PR (%), VCL, VSL, VAP, BCF, and STR (%) compared to those in the group with normal penis and prepuce. However, the CASA parameters of the epididymal body in the group with penile tumor showed a significant increase in vitality, total motility (TM), non-progressive motility (NP), mean angular degree (MAD), linearity (LIN, VSL/VCL), VSL, amplitude of lateral head displacement (ALH, μm), VAP, BCF, and STR compared to those in the group with normal penis and prepuce. There were no discernible differences in testosterone concentrations among the groups. There was a negative correlation (<i>p</i> < 0.05, <i>r</i> = 0.411-0.459) between testosterone concentration and CASA parameters of the epididymal tail semen in camels with penile and preputial pathological conditions. In comparison, there were no discernible differences in correlation (<i>p</i> > 0.5, <i>r</i> = 0.074-0.360) between testosterone concentration and CASA parameters of the epididymal body and head semen in camels with penile and preputial pathology. In conclusion, the semen quality of male dromedary camels could be affected by the penile and preputial pathological problems, while the testosterone concentration was not affected.</p>","PeriodicalId":12772,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Veterinary Science","volume":"12 ","pages":"1537708"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11951939/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143752266","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Arginine vasopressin and copeptin: comparative review and perspective in veterinary medicine.","authors":"Mathieu Victor Paulin, Thomas Schermerhorn, Suraj Unniappan, Elisabeth C R Snead","doi":"10.3389/fvets.2025.1528008","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fvets.2025.1528008","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Although arginine vasopressin (AVP) deficiency, AVP resistance, and primary polydipsia are important causes of polyuria and polydipsia (PUPD), measurement of AVP has never been implemented as a routine diagnostic test for patient care in either human or veterinary medicine, due to significant challenges with the methodologic reliability of laboratory assays for measuring AVP. Responses to a modified water deprivation test and/or a desmopressin acetate trial have been used as indirect markers of AVP deficiency or resistance. However, interpretations of these tests can be especially challenging in cases of partial AVP deficiency or resistance. Over the past decade, plasma copeptin (CoP), a glycopeptide comprising the C-terminal part of the AVP preprohormone, has mostly replaced AVP measurement in humans. When combined with CoP-based stimulation tests, such as hypertonic saline and arginine stimulation tests, plasma CoP measurement offers excellent diagnostic accuracy for the diagnosis and differentiation of cases of central diabetes insipidus (DI), nephrogenic DI, and primary polydipsia in humans. In dogs, CoP has recently been measured in saliva and serum using canine or human enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. This review will provide an update on the physiologic regulation of AVP production and secretion, the limitations of its measurement in human and veterinary medicine, as well as a summary of the indications and performance of CoP measurement in human and veterinary medicine to date. This is with a purpose to encourage validation and implementation of CoP measurement in veterinary medicine.</p>","PeriodicalId":12772,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Veterinary Science","volume":"12 ","pages":"1528008"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11951870/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143752324","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Mite Infestation on <i>Rattus tanezum</i> rats in southwest China concerning risk models.","authors":"Ru-Jin Liu, Xian-Guo Guo, Pei-Ying Peng, Yan Lv, Peng-Wu Yin, Wen-Yu Song, Rong Xiang, Yan-Ling Chen, Bei Li, Dao-Chao Jin","doi":"10.3389/fvets.2025.1519188","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fvets.2025.1519188","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Objective: &lt;/strong&gt;The Asian house rat (&lt;i&gt;Rattus tanezumi&lt;/i&gt;) is an important infectious source and reservoir host for many zoonotic diseases, and its associated mites (chigger mites and gamasid mites) can act as vectors for these diseases. The present study aimed to elucidate the infestation patterns and related ecology of the mites on the body surface of &lt;i&gt;R. tanezumi&lt;/i&gt; in southwest China and explore relevant risk models.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Methods: &lt;/strong&gt;Field surveys and taxonomic identification of the mites were conducted across five provincial regions in southwest China between 2001 and 2022. The constituent ratio (&lt;i&gt;C&lt;sub&gt;r&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/i&gt; ), prevalence (&lt;i&gt;P&lt;sub&gt;m&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/i&gt; ), mean abundance (&lt;i&gt;MA&lt;/i&gt;), and mean intensity (&lt;i&gt;MI&lt;/i&gt;) were calculated to reflect the mite infestation status. The species richness index (&lt;i&gt;M&lt;sub&gt;f&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/i&gt; ), Shannon-Wiener diversity index (&lt;i&gt;H´&lt;/i&gt;), Pielou's evenness (&lt;i&gt;E&lt;/i&gt;), and Simpson's dominance index (&lt;i&gt;D&lt;/i&gt;) were used to analyze the mite communities. A multiple logistic regression model was employed to identify potential risk factors associated with the mite infestation. The \"corrplot\" R software (version 4.3.1) package was used to analyze interspecific relationships among some mite species.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Results: &lt;/strong&gt;A total of 75,023 mites were collected from 3,114 &lt;i&gt;R. tanezumi&lt;/i&gt; rats, representing 12 families, 46 genera, and 252 species. Among these, 173 were the chigger mite species and 79 were the gamasid mite species. The species richness and community diversity of the chigger mites were higher than those of the gamasid mites, but the infestation indexes of the gamasid mites on the rats were higher than those of the chigger mites. Several vector mite species co-existed on &lt;i&gt;R. tanezumi&lt;/i&gt;, with &lt;i&gt;Laelaps nuttalli&lt;/i&gt;, &lt;i&gt;L. echidninus,&lt;/i&gt; and &lt;i&gt;Leptotrombidium deliense&lt;/i&gt; identified as the three dominant mite species, exhibiting high infestation indexes. The multiple logistic regression analysis showed that the mite infestation was influenced by a series of environmental factors and host-related factors (potential risk factors), with temperature and relative humidity identified as the most important risk factors. The impact of these potential risk factors on the infestation of a single mite group (chigger mites or gamasid mites) was different from the impact on the co-infestation of both mite groups together. Based on the logistic regression analysis, three predictive models were developed to predict the risk probability of each &lt;i&gt;R. tanezumi&lt;/i&gt; rat being infested with chigger mites alone, gamasid mites alone, and both mite groups together. A positive correlation existed between any two of the following species: &lt;i&gt;L. deliense&lt;/i&gt;, &lt;i&gt;L. rubellum,&lt;/i&gt; and &lt;i&gt;L. imphalum&lt;/i&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conclusion: &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;i&gt;Rattus tanezumi&lt;/i&gt; rats are highly susceptible to mite infestation, hosting a variety of mite species and multiple vector mite species. The presence o","PeriodicalId":12772,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Veterinary Science","volume":"12 ","pages":"1519188"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11951666/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143752350","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Force-activated separation devices: a preventive strategy for intravenous line disconnection in canine patients.","authors":"Min-Jung Ko, Mu-Young Kim","doi":"10.3389/fvets.2025.1547277","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fvets.2025.1547277","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Intravenous catheters are essential for administering medications and fluid therapy; however, complications such as line disconnection can occur, potentially leading to the discontinuation or delay of treatments. A force-activated separation device (FASD) can be installed between line components to help prevent these complications. Since the FASD has rarely been explored in veterinary settings, a survey of clinicians and clinical applications was conducted to evaluate the necessity, effectiveness, and considerations of this device. The survey revealed that approximately half of the respondents reported line disconnections as occurring \"sometimes,\" with patient-related causes being significantly more frequent than those caused by medical staff. Respondents noted that replacing a disconnected catheter typically required considerable time and at least two staff members. Despite this, over half of the respondents indicated that no preventive measures were in place. In clinical applications using the FASD, the overall disconnection rate across all patients was 44.3%, with the rate increasing with the patient's body weight. Large dogs exhibited a disconnection rate of 80% (8 of 10), followed by medium dogs at 55.6% (10 of 18), and small dogs at 31% (13 of 42). Similar to the survey findings, patient-related causes were the most common for line disconnection. Improper separations occurred at a rate of 39.7%, most frequently between the device and the extension set. Line disconnection causes complications, requires manpower and time, and incurs costs. Therefore, preventive strategies are crucial from the perspectives of patients, owners, and clinicians. The FASD can be one of the strategies, particularly in large-breed dogs.</p>","PeriodicalId":12772,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Veterinary Science","volume":"12 ","pages":"1547277"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11951938/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143752340","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effect of chitosan on buck semen quality and semen plasma metabolites during low-temperature storage.","authors":"Meijun Song, Bingke Jia, Dinghui Dai, Xiaoli Xu, Jiaxue Cao, Jiazhong Guo, Linjie Wang, Tao Zhong, Siyuan Zhan, Li Li, Hongping Zhang","doi":"10.3389/fvets.2025.1544234","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fvets.2025.1544234","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Optimizing buck semen preservation techniques can significantly advance the goat industry. This study aimed to investigate the effects of chitosan on sperm quality and seminal plasma metabolite profiles in bucks during low-temperature storage at 4°C.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The results showed that when 0.2 mg/mL chitosan was added to semen dilution, sperm viability and antioxidant capacity were highest and significantly higher than the control group (<i>p</i> < 0.05). Sperm viability decreased progressively with increasing storage time at 4°C. However, on day 5, sperm viability was significantly higher in all groups where chitosan was added to the semen dilutions than in the control group (<i>p</i> < 0.05). A total of 23 classes of metabolites were detected in the non-targeted metabolism group of seminal plasma. The metabolite caused by chitosan mainly included fatty acyls, phospholipids, amino acids and organic acids. Most differential metabolites in fatty acyls and glycerophospholipids in chitosan-treated semen were decreased and enriched in the anabolic pathway of unsaturated fatty acids. Additionally, several oligopeptides showed correlations with sperm quality.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>These results suggest that adding 0.2 mg/mL chitosan to semen diluent successfully prolongs the low-temperature preservation of semen mainly by altering the anabolism of lipids and amino acids. This provides theoretical support and practical reference for the applying chitosan in the low-temperature preservation of buck semen.</p>","PeriodicalId":12772,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Veterinary Science","volume":"12 ","pages":"1544234"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11949143/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143729735","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Extended release huperzine for the treatment of idiopathic epilepsy in dogs - a Case Report.","authors":"Kylie L Grant, Sam N Long","doi":"10.3389/fvets.2025.1518379","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fvets.2025.1518379","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Huperzine is a naturally occurring alkaloid derived from the Chinese clubmoss <i>Huperzia serrata</i>. It is a potent acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, among other properties, and has demonstrated protection against induced seizures in a mouse model of Dravet's syndrome as well as nerve-agent induced seizures and is being explored as a novel anticonvulsant in a human clinical trial for focal impaired awareness seizures. It is also being explored as a treatment for Alzheimer's, via neuroprotective effects and an ability to ameliorate neuroinflammation. Here we present a case series of 6 dogs with idiopathic epilepsy treated with huperzine to investigate this potential novel anticonvulsant. Despite a 50% drop out rate over the course of the study due to various causes including unexplained death, humane euthanasia and systemic disease, huperzine was generally well tolerated and showed some positive effects on demeanor. This study highlights the need for more research to investigate its efficacy as a novel antiepileptic medication in dogs.</p>","PeriodicalId":12772,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Veterinary Science","volume":"12 ","pages":"1518379"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11948622/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143729747","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effects of beak-treatment styles on beak morphology and production performance of layer chicks aged 0-8 weeks.","authors":"Lin Duan, Xiao-Yu Zhao, Er-Ying Hao, Chuan-Wen Wang, De-He Wang, Hui Chen, Zhong-Qiang Wang, Li-Jun Xu, Ke-Qian Di","doi":"10.3389/fvets.2025.1546993","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fvets.2025.1546993","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Double-infrared (IR-D) and laser energy sources (LAS) are two types of newly beak treatment equipment. Although the IR-D and LAS techniques have been developed by changing the number and type of energy sources, their effects on layer chicks are yet to be systematically studied.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>In this study, we placed 4,416 layer chicks into groups subjected to single-infrared energy sources (IR-S), IR-D, and LAS beak treatment on hatching day and a sham untreated control (CON) group; the beak sloughing, growth and histomorphology, body weight (BW), feed intake (FI), and other performance indicators were measured.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Results showed that the beak length at 4 to 8wk in LAS group was significantly higher than that in IR-S and IR-D groups (<i>p</i> < 0.05), and showed a better symmetry. The beak bone mineral density (BMD) and the beak bone mineral content (BMC) at 3-4 weeks was the lowest in the CON group. The BW at 1-4 weeks and the FI at 1 and 3 weeks in the CON group were significantly higher than those in the IR-S and IR-D groups (<i>p</i> < 0.05), whereas there was no significant difference between the BW and FI of the CON and LAS groups from 1 to 8 weeks. The liver weight percentage from 1 to 2 weeks and the bursa Fabricius weight percentage at week 8 in the CON group were significantly higher than those in the experimental groups (<i>p</i> < 0.05).</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>This study concluded that the LAS group had certain advantages in beak length, symmetry, BW, and FI and provided a reference for evaluating the effects of beak treatment methods on layer chicks.</p>","PeriodicalId":12772,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Veterinary Science","volume":"12 ","pages":"1546993"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11947686/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143729736","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Research on herd sheep facial recognition based on multi-dimensional feature information fusion technology in complex environment.","authors":"Fu Zhang, Xiaopeng Zhao, Shunqing Wang, Yubo Qiu, Sanling Fu, Yakun Zhang","doi":"10.3389/fvets.2025.1404564","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fvets.2025.1404564","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Intelligent management of large-scale farms necessitates efficient monitoring of individual livestock. To address this need, a three-phase intelligent monitoring system based on deep learning was designed, integrating a multi-part detection network for flock inventory counting, a facial classification model for facial identity recognition, and a facial expression analysis network for health assessment. For multi-part detection network, The YOLOv5s path aggregation network was modified by incorporating a multi-link convolution fusion block (MCFB) to enhance fine-grained feature extraction across objects of different sizes. To improve the detection of dense small targets, a Re-Parameterizable Convolution (RepConv) structure was introduced into the YOLOv5s head. For facial identity recognition, the sixth-stage structure in GhostNet was replaced with a four-layer spatially separable self-attention mechanism (SSSA) to strengthen key feature extraction. Additionally, model compression techniques were applied to optimize the facial expression analysis network for improved efficiency. A transfer learning strategy was employed for weight pre-training, and performance was evaluated using FPS, model weight, mean average precision (mAP), and test set accuracy. Experimental results demonstrated that the enhanced multi-part identification network effectively extracted features from different regions of the sheep flock, achieving an average detection accuracy of 95.84%, with a 2.55% improvement in mAP compared to YOLOv5s. The improved facial classification network achieved a test set accuracy of 98.9%, surpassing GhostNet by 3.1%. Additionally, the facial expression analysis network attained a test set accuracy of 99.2%, representing a 3.6% increase compared to EfficientNet. The proposed system significantly enhances the accuracy and efficiency of sheep flock monitoring by integrating advanced feature extraction and model optimization techniques. The improvements in facial classification and expression analysis further enable real-time health monitoring, contributing to intelligent livestock management.</p>","PeriodicalId":12772,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Veterinary Science","volume":"12 ","pages":"1404564"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11948620/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143729753","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}