As university students face many stressful situations, especially during the examination period, this study focused on the use of animal-assisted activities (AAAs) with a dog as a means of relieving students’ stress before a final exam. The aim was to determine whether a 10-min interaction with a dog affected subjectively evaluated stress and mood, objective blood pressure, and heart rate. Ninety-three female students (mean age = 22.5 years; standard deviation = 3.8 years) were divided into three groups according to their preference. The first group underwent AAAs (n = 26), the second group chose a relaxation technique (n = 28), and the last one was a control group (n = 39). Physiological values were measured using a pressure gauge and the subjective feelings of stress and mood were evaluated by the Likert scale 1–5. The AAA group showed significant improvement after 10 min of interaction in both mood and stress, with no change in heart rate and blood pressure. The remaining groups showed a significant decrease in blood pressure, but not in heart rate, with different evaluations of mood and stress. AAAs with a dog appear to be effective in improving students’ mood and stress without affecting their physiological parameters.

Although animal-assisted interventions (AAIs) are increasingly part of comprehensive rehabilitation and many of its effects are already well described, the methodology for performing AAI depends on the specific patient, animal, and treatment objective. Acceptability of AAI from all involved members is a little explored area. Thus, 214 respondents (32 AAI clients, 146 family members, and 36 healthcare and social care workers; 98 males, 116 females; mean age 46.3 years (±16.5 SD)) completed a list of statements focused on AAI with a dog. This list was distributed directly in nursing homes, retirement homes, and in households with home hospice care. All statements were rated on a Likert scale of 0–3. The results show that AAI is generally very well received, with over 90% of respondents considering AAI to be beneficial. The perception of AAI and trusting the handler with their dog was evaluated very positively, as well as possible concerns about hygiene. The results were in many cases affected by demographic factors of the respondents (age, gender, role in AAI, education, and size of settlement). It seems appropriate in future studies to focus on the attitude of individual groups, and thus advance the methodology of implementing AAI.

This study used next-generation sequencing to assess the impact of combined capric acid (C10) and lauric acid (C12) on the ruminal bacterial composition. Eight Holstein cows were randomly assigned to two groups using a cross-over design. The cows were fed two silage-based diets with the addition of either 100 g of stearic acid per cow per day (control), or 50 g of capric acid and 50 g of lauric acid per cow per day (C10 + C12). On day 18, 250 mL of rumen fluid was collected from each cow, and DNA was isolated, amplified, and sequenced. Treatment did not alter bacterial diversity indices, the relative abundance of archaea, nor the fiber-degrading microorganisms, except for a decrease in Fibrobacter (from 2.9% to 0.7%; p = 0.04). The relative abundance of Prevotellaceae decreased (from 39.9% to 29.6%; p = 0.009), which is notable because some members help to efficiently utilize ammonia by releasing it slowly into the rumen. Furthermore, the relative abundance of Clostridia increased (from 28.4% to 41.5%; p = 0.008), which may have aided the increased ammonia–nitrogen levels in the rumen, as this class contains hyperammonia-producing members. Our study reveals alterations in bacterial abundances with implications for rumen ammonia levels, offering insights into potential strategies for modulating rumen fermentation processes and methane production in ruminant livestock.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of high-oil oats and cold-pressed rapeseed cake (RSC) as dietary ingredients, along with supplementation of 3-nitrooxypropanol (3-NOP), on apparent total-tract digestibility, milk production, and enteric CH₄ emissions in dairy cows fed a grass silage-based diet. Twenty-four lactating Nordic Red cows were grouped into 3 blocks. The experiment was conducted as a cyclic change-over where each treatment had 3 observations per period. The experiment consisted of 4 periods of 28 d each, including 18 d of diet adaptation and 10 d of data and sample collection. The 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design included 2 energy sources (barley or high-oil oats), 2 protein supplements (rapeseed meal [RSM] or RSC), and 3-NOP supplementation at 2 levels (0 or 68 mg/kg of DM), resulting in 8 dietary treatments. The basal diet consisted of 60% grass silage (on a DM basis). Inclusion rates of the experimental concentrates were 27% to 29% and 29% to 31% for barley and high-oil oats, respectively, and 8% to 10% and 10% to 12% for RSM and RSC, respectively. Diets were offered ad libitum as a TMR. Daily DMI, milk yield, BW, and gas emissions were recorded throughout the experiment. Gas emissions were measured using the GreenFeed system. Ether extract (EE) content across experimental diets ranged from 2.9% to 6.1% of DM. Total DMI tended to increase with high-oil oats compared with barley and decrease with RSC compared with RSM. Digestibility of DM, OM, NDF, and EE decreased with high-oil oats versus barley, and EE digestibility increased with RSC versus RSM. Despite lower nutrient digestibility, milk and ECM yield increased by 2.4 kg/d with high-oil oats compared with barley. Milk yield decreased by 1.1 kg/d and ECM yield tended to decrease by 1.0 kg/d with 3-NOP supplementation. Milk protein concentration decreased with high-oil oats versus barley and with RSC versus RSM. Feed efficiency increased with high-oil oats compared with barley. Daily CH₄ emissions (g/d), CH₄ yield (g/kg of DMI), and CH₄ intensity (g/kg of ECM) decreased by 11.2%, 14.2%, and 15.3%, respectively, when barley was replaced with high-oil oats in combination with RSM but were not affected in combination with RSC. Daily CH₄ emissions, CH₄ yield, and CH₄ intensity decreased by 12.5%, 10.6%, and 12.7%, respectively, when RSM was replaced with RSC in combination with barley but not in combination with high-oil oats. Daily CH₄ emissions, CH₄ yield, and CH₄ intensity decreased by 33.5%, 30.9%, and 31.2%, respectively, with 3-NOP supplementation, with slightly greater efficacy on CH₄ intensity when barley was used as the energy source. Urinary urea concentration was greater with high-oil oats than with barley, and lower with RSC than with RSM, but only in combination with high-oil oats. In conclusion, both high-oil oats and RSC are practical dietary ingredients for reducing enteric CH₄ emissions and CH₄ intensity. High-oil oats may additionally improve feed efficiency and production performance in dairy cows. Supplementation with 3-NOP reduced enteric CH₄ emissions by more than 30% with additive effects when combined with RSC, but negatively affected production performance.