Milking frequency, estradiol cypionate, and bST alters milk yield and reproductive outcomes in dairy cows

The objective of this study was to determine how milking frequency, estradiol cypionate (ECP) postpartum therapy given at 1 week after calving, and biweekly bovine somatotropin (bST) administration alter lactational and reproductive outcomes in dairy cattle. Holstein cows (n=144) were randomly assigned to eight treatments (18 cows per treatment): 1) twice daily milking frequency (2x), 10-mg injection of ECP at 1 week after calving (ECP), and bST (given biweekly according to label beginning in the ninth week of lactation); 2) 2x milked, oil (cottonseed oil vehicle for ECP), bST; 3) 2x milked, ECP, and no bST; 4) 2x milked, oil, and no bST; 5) four-times daily milking frequency (4x; first 30 days in milk then 2x thereafter), ECP, and bST; 6) 4x milked, oil, and bST; 7) 4x milked, ECP, and no bST; and 8) 4x milked, oil, and no bST. Milk yields were recorded at each milking during the first 90 days of lactation. Milk samples were collected weekly at each milking and composited to determine milk components (percentages of fat, protein, lactose, solids-not-fat [SNF], milk urea nitrogen [MUN], and somatic cell count [SCC]). Energy-corrected milk yields were calculated for the first 90 days and for whole lactation yields (305-2x- ME standardized lactation records). Ovulation before first AI was synchronized beginning between 59 and 72 DIM using 100 :g of GnRH given 7 days before 25 mg of PGF2 , followed in 24 hr by 1 mg of ECP. Cows were inseminated after detected estrus or at 48 hr after ECP. Pregnancy rates were assessed by transrectal ultrasonography 28-30 days after AI. Postpartum ECP therapy increased milk production for first-lactation 2x cows, but decreased milk yields of the multiparous 4x cows until bST restored those yields. Pregnancy rates were greater for the 4x cows given the postpartum ECP therapy injection, despite fewer cows cycling before AI. In conclusion, postpartum ECP therapy increased pregnancy rates in 4x cows, but had a detrimental effect on milk yields of 4x milked cows unless bST was administered.; Dairy Day, 2002, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, 2002

Milking frequency, estradiol cypionate, and bST alters milk yield and reproductive outcomes in dairy cows

The objective of this study was to determine how milking frequency, estradiol cypionate (ECP) postpartum therapy given at 1 week after calving, and biweekly bovine somatotropin (bST) administration alter lactational and reproductive outcomes in dairy cattle. Holstein cows (n=144) were randomly assigned to eight treatments (18 cows per treatment): 1) twice daily milking frequency (2x), 10-mg injection of ECP at 1 week after calving (ECP), and bST (given biweekly according to label beginning in the ninth week of lactation); 2) 2x milked, oil (cottonseed oil vehicle for ECP), bST; 3) 2x milked, ECP, and no bST; 4) 2x milked, oil, and no bST; 5) four-times daily milking frequency (4x; first 30 days in milk then 2x thereafter), ECP, and bST; 6) 4x milked, oil, and bST; 7) 4x milked, ECP, and no bST; and 8) 4x milked, oil, and no bST. Milk yields were recorded at each milking during the first 90 days of lactation. Milk samples were collected weekly at each milking and composited to determine milk components (percentages of fat, protein, lactose, solids-not-fat [SNF], milk urea nitrogen [MUN], and somatic cell count [SCC]). Energy-corrected milk yields were calculated for the first 90 days and for whole lactation yields (305-2x- ME standardized lactation records). Ovulation before first AI was synchronized beginning between 59 and 72 DIM using 100 :g of GnRH given 7 days before 25 mg of PGF2", followed in 24 hr by 1 mg of ECP. Cows were inseminated after detected estrus or at 48 hr after ECP. Pregnancy rates were assessed by transrectal ultrasonography 28-30 days after AI. Postpartum ECP therapy increased milk production for first-lactation 2x cows, but decreased milk yields of the multiparous 4x cows until bST restored those yields. Pregnancy rates were greater for the 4x cows given the postpartum ECP therapy injection, despite fewer cows cycling before AI. In conclusion, postpartum ECP therapy increased pregnancy rates in 4x cows, but had a detrimental effect on milk yields of 4x milked cows unless bST was administered

Milking frequency, estradiol cypionate, and bST alters milk yield and reproductive outcomes in dairy cows

The objective of this study was to determine how milking frequency, estradiol cypionate (ECP) postpartum therapy given at 1 week after calving, and biweekly bovine somatotropin (bST) administration alter lactational and reproductive outcomes in dairy cattle. Holstein cows (n=144) were randomly assigned to eight treatments (18 cows per treatment): 1) twice daily milking frequency (2x), 10-mg injection of ECP at 1 week after calving (ECP), and bST (given biweekly according to label beginning in the ninth week of lactation); 2) 2x milked, oil (cottonseed oil vehicle for ECP), bST; 3) 2x milked, ECP, and no bST; 4) 2x milked, oil, and no bST; 5) four-times daily milking frequency (4x; first 30 days in milk then 2x thereafter), ECP, and bST; 6) 4x milked, oil, and bST; 7) 4x milked, ECP, and no bST; and 8) 4x milked, oil, and no bST. Milk yields were recorded at each milking during the first 90 days of lactation. Milk samples were collected weekly at each milking and composited to determine milk components (percentages of fat, protein, lactose, solids-not-fat [SNF], milk urea nitrogen [MUN], and somatic cell count [SCC]). Energy-corrected milk yields were calculated for the first 90 days and for whole lactation yields (305-2x- ME standardized lactation records). Ovulation before first AI was synchronized beginning between 59 and 72 DIM using 100 :g of GnRH given 7 days before 25 mg of PGF2 , followed in 24 hr by 1 mg of ECP. Cows were inseminated after detected estrus or at 48 hr after ECP. Pregnancy rates were assessed by transrectal ultrasonography 28-30 days after AI. Postpartum ECP therapy increased milk production for first-lactation 2x cows, but decreased milk yields of the multiparous 4x cows until bST restored those yields. Pregnancy rates were greater for the 4x cows given the postpartum ECP therapy injection, despite fewer cows cycling before AI. In conclusion, postpartum ECP therapy increased pregnancy rates in 4x cows, but had a detrimental effect on milk yields of 4x milked cows unless bST was administered.; Dairy Day, 2002, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, 2002

Geometry optimization of uncoated silicon microcantilever-based gas density sensors

International audienceIn the absence of coating, the only way to improve the sensitivity of silicon microcantilever-based density sensors is to optimize the device geometry. Based on this idea, several microcantilevers with different shapes (rectangular-, U-and T-shaped microstructures) and dimensions have been fabricated and tested in the presence of hydrogen/ nitrogen mixtures (H 2 /N 2) of various concentrations ranging from 0.2% to 2%. In fact, it is demonstrated that wide and short rectangular cantilevers are more sensitive to gas density changes than U-and T-shaped devices of the same overall dimensions, and that the thickness doesn't affect the sensitivity despite the fact that it affects the resonant frequency. Moreover, because of the phase linearization method used for the natural frequency estimation, detection of a gas mass density change of 2 mg/l has been achieved with all three microstructures. In addition, noise measurements have been used to estimate a limit of detection of 0.11 mg/l for the gas mass density variation (corresponding to a concentration of 100 ppm of H 2 in N 2), which is much smaller than the current state of the art for uncoated mechanical resonators

Public participation and agency discretion in rulemaking at the Federal Communications Commission

In recent years, many practitioners, policymakers, and scholars have embraced participatory politics in communications policymaking at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) with the expectation that mass involvement by the public will—and should—influence regulatory outcomes. However, calls for participation may not be sufficient; a commitment to public-spirited decision making among agency officials is also needed alongside procedural safeguards for participation. The following analysis uses a Habermasian framework to move beyond participatory politics and advocates for a deliberative understanding of the role of the public and policymakers in producing legitimate outcomes. Looking at legal and legislative history of the Commission and of administrative procedure more generally, the article reconsiders the value of agency discretion and turns attention to the importance of public participation in debates about communications regulation outside the rulemaking system. If members of the public generate, circulate, and make audible their opinions in a public sphere and agency officials are open to and active listeners of a public sphere, agency discretion can guide officials towards public-spirited rather than narrowly interested decisions. Overall, Habermas's model suggests that policymakers and public coproduce legitimacy in a process that is doubly challenging but arguably more profound