The use of behavioural biometrics to assess biological states in livestock

饲养场牛的疾病给牛肉产业带来了巨大的成本，也对动物福利和公共卫生产生了影响。早期发现患病个体对于及时治疗和控制病原体在人群中的传播至关重要。将坐立不安作为一种行为生物识别技术与红外热成像相结合，发现在临床症状出现前一周或更长时间检测呼吸道疾病的准确率提高了83.5%。我的研究项目既具有原创性又具有创新性，因为它专门研究了如何将行为生物识别技术用作牲畜自动化技术和检测系统的一部分，以改善牲畜的健康和福祉。我的研究已经建立了概念证明，坐立不安的行为与牛的疾病发作有关，我们能够使用红外热成像扫描站自动检测到这种现象。这项技术和软件最近获得了专利（Bench和Schaefer， 2013），并继续受到国际关注。在拟议的研究中，我们将继续调查牛的疾病行为生物计量学，以回答这个问题：坐立不安和其他微观行为是牲畜疾病的附带现象吗？如果是这样的话，潜在的生理机制是什么，这些微观行为是如何随着时间的推移而发展和改变的，这样它们就可以作为早期疾病的生物识别指标了？我的研究计划的具体短期目标是表征肉牛坐立不安的微观行为的个体发生，并利用运动学（生物力学）分析确定微观行为作为疾病生物计量学的生理机制。需要验证的一个主要假设是，病牛的坐立不安行为是由病毒细胞因子和炎症引起的痛觉过敏（对疼痛的敏感性增加）引起的，这可以通过小牛的头部、颈部和肩部区域进行动态映射。这项研究在进一步的技术创新和推进有关小牛疾病行为发展的基础科学问题方面具有很强的潜力。**我们目前的研究调查将进一步了解对许多生物体生存至关重要的基本疾病行为，从长远来看，将作为确定与疾病及其能量需求相关的行为生物统计学的遗传性的基础工作。在加拿大进行这项研究的主要好处是通过早期发现疾病来改善动物的健康、福利和食品安全，从而使动物能够及早得到治疗和康复。通过只针对需要治疗的动物，全面减少牲畜抗生素的使用也是有益的，从而导致抗生素耐药微生物的减少，并减少此类微生物向食品的转移。

Disease in feedlot cattle presents substantial costs to the beef industry, as well as implications for animal welfare and public health. The early detection of sick individuals is essential for prompt treatment and to control the transmission of pathogens through a population. The incorporation of fidgeting as a behavioural biometric in combination with infrared thermography has revealed an increase in the accuracy of detecting respiratory disease one week or more prior to the onset of clinical symptoms up to 83.5%. My research program is both original and innovative in that it specifically investigates how behavioural biometrics can be used as part of automated technology and detection systems in livestock to improve the health and well-being of livestock. My research has already established proof of concept that fidgeting behaviour correlates to the onset of illness in cattle and that we are able to automatically detect this phenomenon using an infrared thermography scanning station. This technology and software has recently been patented (Bench and Schaefer, 2013) and continues to receive international interest.**In the proposed research, we will continue to investigate disease behavioural biometrics in cattle in order to answer the question: Is fidgeting and other micro-behaviours an epiphenomenon for disease in livestock? And, if so, what is the underlying physiological mechanism and how do these micro-behaviours develop and change over time so they can be used as an early disease biometric? The specific short-term objectives of my research program are to characterize the ontogeny of fidgeting micro-behaviours in beef cattle and to ascertain the physiological mechanisms underlying micro-behaviours as a disease biometric using kinematic (biomechanical) analysis. One primary hypothesis to be tested is that fidgeting behaviour in sick cattle results from hyperalgesia (an increased sensitivity to pain) as a result of viral cytokines and inflammation, which can be kinetically mapped through the head, neck and shoulder regions of calves. This research has a strong potential for further technology innovation and to advance basic science questions about the development of sickness behaviour in calves.**Our current research investigations will further knowledge of fundamental disease behaviours that are crucial to the survival of many organisms and, in the long-term, will serve as the foundation work for determining the heritability of behaviour biometrics associated with disease and their energetic requirements of an animal. The primary benefit of this research in Canada will be improved animal health, welfare and food safety through the early identification of disease which will enable earlier treatment and recovery in animals. An overall reduction in livestock antibiotic use is also a benefit by targeting only animals in need of treatment, leading to a subsequent reduction in antibiotic-resistant microbes and decreased transfer of such microbes to food products.