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，以及对动物福利和公共卫生的影响。及早发现病人对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特征与红外热成像相结合，发现在临床症状发作前一周或更长时间检测呼吸系统疾病的准确性提高了83.5%。我的研究计划是原创和创新的，因为它专门研究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，即坐立不安的行为与牛的发病相关，并且我们能够使用红外热成像扫描站自动检测这种现象。这项技术和软件最近已获得专利（Bench和Schaefer，2013），并继续受到国际关注。在拟议的研究中，我们将继续研究牛的疾病行为生物特征，以回答这个问题：坐立不安和其他微行为是牲畜疾病的附带现象吗？如果是这样，那么潜在的生理机制是什么，这些微行为如何随着时间的推移而发展和变化，以便它们可以用作早期疾病的生物特征？我的研究计划的具体短期目标是描述肉牛坐立不安的微行为的个体发育，并确定微行为作为疾病生物特征的生理机制，使用运动学（生物力学）分析。待检验的一个主要假设是，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力学映射。这项研究具有进一步技术创新的强大潜力，并推动有关小牛疾病行为发展的基础科学问题。我们目前的研究调查将进一步了解对许多生物体的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动物能量需求相关的行为生物测定学遗传性的基础工作。在加拿大进行这项研究的主要好处是，通过早期发现疾病，改善动物健康、福利和食品安全，从而使动物能够早日得到治疗和康复。牲畜抗生素使用的总体减少也是一个好处，因为只针对需要治疗的动物，导致随后耐药性微生物的减少和这些微生物向食品的转移减少。

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.