This study compared size-selective workplace protection factors (WPFs) of an N95 elastomeric respirator (ER) and an N95 filtering facepiece respirator (FFR) in agricultural environments. Twenty-five healthy farm workers ranging in age from 20 to 30 years voluntarily participated in this study. Altogether, eight farms were included representing three different types: two horse farms, three pig barns, and three grain handling sites. Subjects wore the ER and FFR while performing their daily activities, such as spreading hay, feeding livestock, and shoveling. Aerosol concentrations in an optical particle size range of 0.7-10 μm were determined simultaneously inside and outside the respirator during the first and last 15 min of a 60-min experiment. For every subject, size-selective WPFs were calculated in 1-min intervals and averaged over 30 min. For the ER, geometric mean WPFs were 172, 321, 1013, 2097, and 2784 for particle diameters of 0.7-1.0, 1.0-2.0, 2.0-3.0, 3.0-5.0, and 5.0-10.0 μm, respectively. Corresponding values for the FFR were 67, 124, 312, 909, and 2089. The 5th percentiles for the ER and FFR were higher than the assigned protection factor of 10 and varied from 28 to 250 and from 16 to 223, respectively. Results show that the N95 ER and FFR tested in the study provided an expected level of protection for workers on agricultural farms against particles ranging from 0.7 to 10 μm. WPFs for the ER were higher than the FFR for all particle size ranges. WPFs for both respirator types increased with increasing particle size.

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The objective of this study was to estimate observer accuracy and repeatability of body condition scoring sows when scorers have different levels of prior experience. Three groups of participants (n = 10) for this study were identified as having no (NE, n = 3), some (SE, n = 4), and extensive (EE, n = 3) prior experience evaluating conformation or body condition in livestock species. Two persons having extensive prior experience with body condition scoring served as instructors (TR) during the training sessions. Twenty-five of a total 150 sows were utilized in the participant training session, and the remaining sows (n = 125) were utilized during the independent scoring process. Sows utilized in the scoring process were objectively categorized into a 5and 9-point body condition score (BCS5 and BCS9, respectively) using last rib backfat estimates. Participants were in poor agreement with BCSbackfat as overall Kappa values were 0.23 on the BCS5 and 0.13 on the BCS9 scales. While the trainers consistently averaged the largest measures of intra-and interobserver agreement with BCSbackfat, other participants primarily in the EE and SE groups achieved similar levels of agreement. Participant BCS5 and BCS9 deviation evaluations from BCSbackfat, revealed a tendency for participants to overestimate BCS in some sows and underestimate BCS in others. While the trainers consistently averaged the largest measures of intra-and interobserver agreement with BCSbackfat, other participants primarily in the EE and SE groups achieved similar levels of agreement.Keywords body condition score, interobserver agreement, intraobserver agreement, sows Disciplines Agriculture | Animal Sciences | Statistical Methodology | Veterinary Medicine CommentsThis is a manuscript of an article published as

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The objectives of this study were to determine the effects of artificial insemination (AI) catheter type on litter size and farrowing rate. No performance difference was found between sows artificially inseminated using intrauterine or intracervical methods. Since intrauterine catheters typically are more expensive, there is an economic advantage for the more commonly used intracervical method of artificial insemination in the present study.