Little is known about the implications of accessing an outdoor range for broiler chicken welfare, particularly in relation to the distance ranged from the shed. Therefore, we monitored individual ranging behaviour of commercial free-range broiler chickens and identified relationships with welfare indicators. The individual ranging behaviour of 305 mixed-sex Ross 308 broiler chickens was tracked on a commercial farm from the second day of range access to slaughter age (from 16 to 42 days of age) by radio frequency identification (RFID) technology. The radio frequency identification antennas were placed at pop-holes and on the range at 2.7 and 11.2 m from the home shed to determine the total number of range visits and the distance ranged from the shed. Chickens were categorised into close-ranging (CR) or distant-ranging (DR) categories based on the frequency of visits less than or greater than 2.7 m from the home shed, respectively. Half of the tracked chickens (n=153) were weighed at 7 days of age, and from 14 days of age their body weight, foot pad dermatitis (FPD), hock burn (HB) and gait scores were assessed weekly. The remaining tracked chickens (n=152) were assessed for fear and stress responses before (12 days of age) and after range access was provided (45 days of age) by quantifying their plasma corticosterone response to capture and 12 min confinement in a transport crate followed by behavioural fear responses to a tonic immobility (TI) test. Distant-ranging chickens could be predicted based on lighter BW at 7 and 14 days of age (P=0.05), that is before range access was first provided. After range access was provided, DR chickens weighed less every week (P=0.001), had better gait scores (P=0.01) and reduced corticosterone response to handling and confinement (P<0.05) compared to CR chickens. Longer and more frequent range visits were correlated with the number of visits further from the shed (P<0.01); hence distant ranging was correlated with the amount of range access, and consequently the relationships between ranging frequency, duration and distance were strong. These relationships indicate that longer, more frequent and greater ranging from the home shed was associated with improved welfare. Further research is required to identify whether these relationships between ranging behaviour and welfare are causal.

From ~35 days of age fast growing meat chickens spend extended periods sitting or lying and less time standing. In a fast-feathering parent line lower early incubation temperatures which delayed chick hatch time, improved bone ash and extended their standing time. This incubation study assessed the consequences of incubation temperatures, hatch time and chick management at hatch/take off on femoral bone ash (BA) in Cobb 500 meat chickens. Embryos were incubated under either Control (between 37.8°C and 38.2°C egg shell temperature (EST)) or a Slow start (from 37.2°C at sett (the start of incubation), reaching 37.8°C EST at day 13 incubation), temperatures. Hatched chicks were identified at 492 h (20.5 days of incubation – classified as early (E)) or, between >492 and ⩽516 h (>20.5 and ⩽21.5 days of incubation – classified as late (L)), from setting. The E hatch chicks were allocated across three post-hatch treatments; treatment 1: E hatch chicks that were sampled E at 492 h from setting; treatment 2: E hatch chicks that were fed for a further 24 h in a floorpen before being sampled L at 516 h from setting; treatment 3: E hatch chicks that spent a further 24 h in the incubator before being sampled L at 516 h from setting. All L hatch chicks formed one treatment group which was sampled L at 516 h (i.e. L hatch chicks sampled L). It is not possible to sample L hatching chicks E hence this treatment is absent from the experimental design. Slow start incubation resulted in a higher total hatch percentage with a greater proportion of chicks hatching L, compared with the Control incubation. The L hatching chicks had significantly higher BA than the E hatching chicks. Of the E hatching chicks, those sampled both E and L had significantly lower BA than E hatching chicks fed for 24 h before L sampling. The E hatch, fed and sampled L chicks had the numerically highest BA, which was not significantly different from the BA of the L hatching chicks sampled L These results demonstrate that BA at hatch can be improved, either by extending the incubation period through a Slow start incubation profile, inducing L hatch, or alternatively, via the prompt provision of feed to E hatching chicks.

Fertile eggs from Cobb 500 broiler breeder hens were incubated to provide low starting egg shell temperatures (EST; 36.9°C to 37.3°C) which were gradually increased to 37.8°C during the first 7 to 15 days of incubation compared with eggs incubated with a constant EST of 37.8°C (standard conditions) over the first 18 days of incubation. Time of individual chick hatching (measured at 6 h intervals from 468 h of incubation), chick weight, chick length and yolk weight were measured at take-off and BW was measured at 7, 14, 28, 34 and 42 days of age. Male birds at 34 and 42 days of age were assessed for their ability to remain standing in a latency-to-lie test. At 34 and 42 days, male birds were examined for leg symmetry, foot pad dermatitis, hock bruising and scored (scale 0 to 4, where 0=no lesion and 4=lesions extending completely across the tibial growth plate) for tibial dyschondroplasia (TD) lesions. The lower EST profiles caused chicks to hatch later than those incubated under the standard EST profile. Chicks which hatched at ⩽498 h incubation grew faster over the first 7 days than those that hatched later. There were significantly more birds (only males were studied) that hatched from the lower EST profiles with TD scores of 0 and 1 and fewer with score 4 at 34 days than those hatched under the standard profile. Male birds at 34 days with TD lesions ⩾3 stood for significantly shorter times than males with TD scores ⩽2. Moreover, male birds at 34 and 42 days with TD lesion scores of ⩾3 hatched significantly earlier and grew significantly faster over the first 2 weeks of age than did male birds with TD scores ⩽2. It appears possible to decrease the severity and prevalence of TD in the Cobb 500 broiler by ensuring that the birds do not hatch before 498 h of incubation.

Fusulinacean foraminifera have been described from several localities and horizons within the Upper Pennsylvanian and Lower Permian of the North American midcontinent (Beede, 1916; Dunbar and Condra, 1927; Skinner, 1931; Newell, 1934; Newell and Keroher, 1937; Merchant and Keroher, 1939; Dunbar and Henbest, 1942; Burma, 1942; Thompson, 1954, 1957; Thompson et al., 1956; Douglass, 1962; King, 1988; Sanderson and Verville, 1988), but surprisingly, a comprehensive account of fusulinacean biostratigraphy of the stratotype of the Upper Pennsylvanian Virgilian Stage has never been published. This report summarizes fusulinacean biostratigraphic data from the Virgilian section in the stratotype region of southeastern Kansas. The publication of this dataset is particularly important because of the current efforts to standardize global Pennsylvanian chronostratigraphy (Metcalfe, 1997), and related efforts and debates concerning the definition and correlation of stages in the Upper Pennsylvanian and Lower Permian succession of North America.

The faecal-pat prevalence (as estimated by culture) of Campylobacter fetus from cattle and sheep on 19 farms in rural Lancashire was investigated using standard Campylobacter culture techniques and PCR during a 2-year longitudinal study. C. fetus was isolated from 9·48% [95% confidence interval (CI) 8·48–10·48] of cattle faecal pats and 7·29% (95% CI 6·21–9·62) of sheep faecal pats. There was evidence of significant differences in shedding prevalence between geographical regions; cows in geographical zone 3 had an increased risk of shedding C. fetus compared to cows in geographical zones 1 and 2 (OR 6·64, 95% CI 1·67–26·5, P = 0·007), as did cows at pasture (OR 1·66, 95% CI 1·01–2·73, P = 0·046) compared to when housed. Multiple logistic regression modelling demonstrated underlying seasonal periodicity in both species.

In a 2-year longitudinal study of adult animals on 15 dairy farms and four sheep farms in Lancashire, UK, Arcobacter spp. were isolated from all farms although not at every sampling occasion. Faecal samples were collected and cultured using standard techniques for isolation of campylobacters. Assignment to species was via PCR assays. Apparent prevalence of Arcobacter spp. was higher in dairy cattle compared to sheep (40·1% vs. 8%, P < 0·001) and in housed cattle compared to cattle at pasture (50·1% vs. 20·9%, P < 0·001). This was reflected in the higher prevalence observed in herds that were housed (n = 4) all year compared to herds that grazed cattle on pasture in the summer and housed cattle in the winter (n = 11) (55·5% vs. 36%, P < 0·001). In the case of sheep, peak prevalence was observed in autumn with increased prevalence also being associated with improving pasture quality. There was an apparent inverse association between the faecal pat prevalence of Arcobacter spp. and Campylobacter jejuni although this may in part be an artefact of laboratory test method sensitivity, whereby a relative increase in the frequency of one bacterial species would reduce the sensitivity of detecting the other.

A scientific literature review and consensus of expert opinion used the welfare definitions provided by the Farm Animal Welfare Council (FAWC) Five Freedoms as the framework for selecting a set of animal-based indicators that were sensitive to the current on-farm welfare issues of young lambs (aged ⩽6 weeks). Ten animal-based indicators assessed by observation – demeanour, response to stimulation, shivering, standing ability, posture, abdominal fill, body condition, lameness, eye condition and salivation were tested as part of the objective of developing valid, reliable and feasible animal-based measures of lamb welfare The indicators were independently tested on 966 young lambs from 17 sheep flocks across Northwest England and Wales during December 2008 to April 2009 by four trained observers. Inter-observer reliability was assessed using Fleiss's kappa (κ), and the pair-wise agreement with an experienced, observer designated as the ‘test standard observer’ (TSO) was examined using Cohen's κ. Latent class analysis (LCA) estimated the sensitivity (Se) and specificity (Sp) of each observer without assuming a gold standard and predicted the Se and Sp of randomly selected observers who may apply the indicators in the future. Overall, good levels of inter-observer reliability, and high levels of Sp were identified for demeanour (κ = 0.54, Se ⩾ 0.70, Sp ⩾ 0.98), stimulation (κ = 0.57, Se = 0.30 to 0.77, Sp ⩾ 0.98), shivering (κ = 0.55, Se = 0.37 to 0.85, Sp ⩾ 0.99), standing ability (0.54, Se ⩾ 0.80, Sp ⩾ 0.99), posture (κ = 0.45, Se ⩾ 0.56, Sp = 0.99), abdominal fill (κ = 0.44, Se = 0.39 to 0.98, Sp = 0.99), body condition (κ = 0.72, Se ⩾ 0.38 to 0.90, Sp = 0.99), lameness (κ = 0.68, Se > 0.73, Sp = 1.00), and eye condition (κ = 0.72, Se ⩾ 0.86, Sp = 0.99). LCA predicted that randomly selected observers had Se > 0.77 (acceptable), and Sp ⩾ 0.98 (high) for assessments of demeanour, lameness, abdominal fill posture, body condition and eye condition. The diagnostic performance of some indicators was influenced by the composition of the study population, and it would be useful to test the indicators on lambs with a greater level of outcomes associated with poor welfare. The findings presented in this paper could be applied in the selection of valid, reliable and feasible indicators used for the purposes of on-farm assessments of lamb welfare.

A consensus of expert opinion was used to provide both face and consensual validity to a list of potential indicators of sheep welfare. This approach was used as a first step in the identification of valid welfare indicators for sheep. The consensus methodology of the National Institute of Health, using pre-meeting consultation and focus group discussions, was used to ascertain the consensus opinion of a panel of sheep welfare experts. The Farm Animal Welfare Council's five freedoms were used as a framework to organise a list of current on-farm welfare issues for sheep. The five freedoms were also the welfare criterion used to identify potential on-farm welfare indicators for sheep. As a result, experts identified 193 welfare issues for sheep and lambs managed on farms across England and Wales. Subsequently, a combination of animal- (n = 26), resource- (n = 13) and management- (n = 22) based indicators was suggested for (i) adult rams, (ii) adult ewes (male and female sheep, over 1 year old), (iii) growing lambs (male and female sheep, over 6 weeks to 1 year old) and (iv) young lambs (male and female lambs, 6 weeks old and under). The results from this study could therefore be used to inform the further development of valid methods of assessing the on-farm welfare of sheep.

Multi-locus sequence typing was performed on 1003 Campylobacter jejuni isolates collected in a 2-year longitudinal study of 15 dairy farms and four sheep farms in Lancashire, UK. There was considerable farm-level variation in occurrence and prevalence of clonal complexes (CC). Clonal complexes ST61, ST21, ST403 and ST45 were most prevalent in cattle while in sheep CC ST42, ST21, ST48 and ST52 were most prevalent. CC ST45, a complex previously shown to be more common in summer months in human cases, was more prevalent in summer in our ruminant samples. Gene flow analysis demonstrated a high level of genetic heterogeneity at the within-farm level. Sequence-type diversity was greater in cattle compared to sheep, in cattle at pasture vs. housed, and in isolates from farms on the Pennines compared to the Southern Fylde. Sequence-type diversity was greatest in isolates belonging to CC ST21, ST45 and ST206.

In a 2-year longitudinal study of adult animals on 15 dairy farms and four sheep farms in Lancashire, UK. C. jejuni was isolated from all farms, although not on every occasion. Faecal samples were collected and cultured using standard techniques for isolation of Campylobacter. Assignment to species was via PCR assays. Peak prevalence of C. jejuni in both cattle and sheep was observed during the summer and in cattle this apparent seasonality was associated with grazing pasture [odds ratio (OR) 2·14], while in sheep it was independent of grazing. Increased prevalence was associated with increased milk yield (OR 1·05) and herd size (OR 1·01) in dairy cattle, and with increased stocking density (OR 1·29) and pasture quality (OR 2·16) in sheep. There was considerable variation in prevalence between farms but no evidence of large-scale spatial variation. The association between C. jejuni prevalence and diet in dairy cattle deserves further investigation.

A single LaMnO3 buffer layer was developed for the growth of superconducting thick YBa2Cu3O7−δ (YBCO) films on polycrystalline Ni-alloy substrates where a biaxially textured MgO layer, produced by ion-beam assisted deposition (IBAD), was used as a template. Using pulsed laser deposition, a 1.65-μm-thick YBCO film with a critical current density of 1.4 × 106 A/cm2 in self field at 75 K was achieved on sputtered LaMnO3-buffered IBAD MgO substrates. This corresponds to a critical current (Ic) of 231 A/cm-width. This result demonstrates the possibility of using both LaMnO3 buffer and IBAD MgO template for producing high current density YBCO-coated conductors.

A theoretical analysis of the effects of dual frequency ionosphere propagation correction on GNSS code tracking noise is presented. The effect on tracking noise of using different combinations of the proposed Galileo signals for ionosphere propagation correction is investigated. It is concluded that, for the open or commercial service user, the Galileo signals E2-L1-E1 near to and around GPS L1 should be used to apply ionosphere propagation corrections to the E5 signals. This produces a tracking noise standard deviation about three times larger than that on an E5 signal alone. An ionosphere correction-smoothing algorithm is presented that reduces the tracking noise on the corrected pseudo-range measurements.