ANSC USDA International Experience

1
ANSC - USDA International Experience Danish
Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Foulum,
Denmark Kristy Heppner Junior Animal Science
Introduction This program involved four students
being sent abroad. Two were sent to Denmark and
two to Holland. The trip that I was sent on that
is discussed in the poster was to Tjele Denmark
at the Research Center Foulum. The major purpose
of this program was that the students would bring
back there experiences abroad to help
internationalize the Animal Science Department at
the University of Illinois. To help students
accomplish this, they were required to take ANSC
199 in the fall semester upon their return, which
was instructed by Dr. Walter Hurley..
Laboratory Work Vitamin A and E extraction using
Fetal Homogenate Approximately 1.7g of each
homogenate sample was measured. 2ml of ethanol,
.5ml of methanol, 1ml of ascorbic acid and 0.3 ml
of KOH was added to the sample. The samples were
placed in a hot water bath (80?C) for 20 minutes.
The samples were transferred to a cool water
bath for 10 minutes without exposure to light.
The addition of 5 ml of heptane was performed and
the samples were placed into a centrifuge for 10
minutes. The top layer containing the vitamin A
and E was extracted and placed into a separate
tube. 5 ml of heptane was added to the bottom
layer once again and the samples were centrifuged
for 10 minutes. The top layer was separated.
The extracted layer was transferred to an HPLC
vial to undergo analysis by the HPLC (High
Performance Liquid Chromatography) machine. The
HPLC is a type of column chromatography which
separates the analyte, in this case vitamin A and
E, from the other components of the mixture based
on chemical interactions of the analyte and the
chromatography column. The presence and quantity
of the vitamins can be observed when the machine
records them as specific peaks. Vitamin A and E
extraction using sow blood plasma The blood
plasma of the gilt was collected on day 28 of
gestation. The same procedure that was used for
extracting vitamin A and E from the foetus
homogenate was used for the blood plasma. The
only noted difference was that 500 µl of the
plasma sample was used and the addition of 1.2 ml
of water was performed before the samples were
placed in the hot water bath.
Tour of Foulum We were taken on a tour of Foulum
to see what was going on at the rest of the
facility. We saw the crop fields and our tour
guide explained a few experiments that were going
on with those. We were also shown the mink farm
and received a brief explanation of the mink
industry and how the mink were being farmed at
Foulum. We were shown the KFC, which is their
dairy cattle research center. They house about
150 dairy cows. They have 3 different breeds
that include Holsteins, Danish Red, and Jersey
cows. The facility is a free stall environment
that has 3 robotic milkers. These robots reduce
the amount of manual labor that is required for
milking at the facility. The robots clean and
strip the teat before the milker is attached.
Lasers are used to locate each teat. The machine
records such things as the cows ID number, the
cows weight, the milk composition and quantity
during each milking. We were also shown a
facility at Foulum which housed fistulated cows
for nutritional research. The last thing were
shown was the surgery room.
The Abroad Experience Nørresø Kollegiet In
Denmark I stayed at a student hostel, the Norreso
Kollegium in a town called Viborg. Other
students that resided there were mostly graduate
students from all over Europe including France,
Italy, Holland, and Spain. Many of these
students also were studying at the Research
Center Foulum.
Internationalizing the Animal Science
Department When I returned to campus for the
fall semester I enrolled in ANSC 199, which was
instructed by Dr. Hurley. During class we
discussed our individual experiences that we had.
These discussions allowed us to find out what
aspects of our abroad experiences would be most
important to use to internationalize the
Department of Animal Science. After each week we
did an online reflection that enabled us to give
more thought into what we had discussed in class
that week. Dr. Hurley then gave a lecture about
different learning styles. This made me realize
that not all students learn in the same way. Dr.
Hurley then went on to explain different teaching
styles that are used to accommodate the various
learning styles of students. This discussion was
very useful when I was creating my learning
module.
The Trip to Foulum The most inexpensive way to
get to Foulum was by bicycle. I borrowed a bike
from Martin Sorrensen. It was about a 6 mile
bike ride along the Danish countryside.
Research Abroad My main project while I was
abroad involved studying the transfer of vitamins
from sow to fetus. My research advisor was
Charlotte Lauridson. She was working on a
project on vitamin D and allowed me to use some
of her samples for my project on vitamin A and
E. Materials and Methods Fetus and blood
samples were collected from gilts of experiment
1187 on day 28 of gestation. The sows were fed
different levels of vitamin D in their diets for
a total of 8 treatments. Once the first day of
estrus was detected the sows were started on one
of the assigned diets. The next estrus was
determined approximately three weeks later and
the pigs were mated at this time. The sows
continued to be fed their assigned diet until the
time that they were slaughtered. The level of
vitamin E that is in the feed is consistent in
the form of all-rac-?-tocopheryl acetate. The
premix that was used contained 32 mg vitamin E
per kg sow feed. The amount of vitamin A that
was used was 8800 IE per kg sow feed. Three sows
from each experimental feeding group were chosen
randomly to eliminate the effect of different
vitamin D treatment groups. The sows in this
experiment were slaughtered using a CO2 gas
chamber 28 days after insemination. The sow
reproductive tract was removed and the bladder
was checked for any urine. The proximal and
distal fetuses to the cervix were removed first.
These fetuses were weighed separately. A tissue
sample was taken from the sow at the sight of
implantation of the fetus. A sample of uterine
fluid was collected as well. The rest of the
fetuses were removed from the tract. A total
count of the number of fetuses was taken as well
as a total weight.
The Learning Module Our final project was to
create a learning module based on our
international experience. The presentation will
potentially be used in one of the current animal
science classes at the university. My learning
module was on the Robotic Milking Industry. I
created my module with another student in my
class Stacey Sutter. She also encountered a
robotic milking system while she was abroad in
Holland. Our module gave a brief history of the
robotic milking industry and how a typical
machine works. Stacey and I then both took turns
explaining our individual experiences with the
robotic milkers. We then explained the
advantages and disadvantages of this type of
system.
Data Analysis A positive correlation between the
concentration of maternal vitamin E and fetal
vitamin E is observed in Figure 1. The results
were not as significant as expected. There are
many reasons for these results. It is possible
that the vitamins take more time to transfer from
the mother to the fetus. A higher concentration
of vitamins might have been observed after a
longer period of gestation than after day 28.
Another contributing factor is that there are 6
layers of placental tissue, three fetal and three
maternal. The fat-soluble vitamins that were
observed in this study are not easily transferred
across these layers. Also, the plasma
concentration of the sow shows the vitamin E
status of the sow at that time. Muscle and
adipose tissue may show a longer-term status. It
is possible that the fetal homogenate that was
analyzed corresponds to the longer-term status
rather than the current presence of vitamin E
that is displayed by the sow plasma.

Conclusion The ANSC-USDA program that I took part
in was an amazing experience. It enabled me to
get a feel for various types of research present
in the world. I found out that Denmark has
different issues and areas of research compared
to the US. This can be seen from the both the
mink industry and the robotic milk industry.
Both of these industries are not a big concern
for the University of Illionois. The ANSC-USDA
program was beneficial for me educationally and
personally. This program has opened up my mind
and has motivated me to want to travel more and
see what other types of job opportunities are
available. The program also benefited the Animal
Science Department by allowing the participants
to share their experience with faculty and
students.