Redesigning Pork by Type and Amount of Dietary Fat for Bet- ter Human Nutrition

An experiment to modify pork by supplementa- tion of dietary lipids yielded the following conclusions: 1) Supplementation of pig diets with high levels of lipids did improve feed conversion without affecting other growth performance characteristics. 2) Feeding of choice white grease increased the content of monounsaturated fatty acids in skeletal muscle and adipose tissues of pigs. 3) Feeding soybean oil, increased the content of polyunsatu- rated fatty acids in skeletal muscle and adipose tissues of pigs

Progress Report on Iowa State University Burroughs Endowment Activities

Faculty in the Department of Animal Science initiated soliciting of funds in 1987 to establish a permanent endowment to recognize the distinguished career and major contributions of Dr. Wise Burroughs, a distinguished professor in animal science at Iowa State University. The endowment was established in the Iowa State University Foundation in 1991. The purpose of the fund is to support research and graduate education in the areas of fundamental factors regulating growth in food-producing animals, with emphasis on ruminants; to enhance growth of animals with the goal of improving the competitive position of ruminants as food-producing animals; and to develop innovative approaches to ruminant nutrition and/or growth enhancement as a means to improve desirability of meat produced by food animals. Dr. Burroughs’ research resulted in important and significant developments in technology for modern production systems for beef cattle. He was widely known for his ability to communicate complex ideas and research results for use by those involved in the animal industry. The current Burroughs Team has established three research projects: 1) Ghrelin--How does ghrelin affect blood and body composition in rats?; 2) Use of 25- hydroxyvitamin D3 to improve tenderness of beef; 3) Redesigning beef cattle to have a more healthful fatty acid composition

Effects of Feeding Calcium Salts of Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) to Finishing Steers

Thirty crossbred steers were randomly assigned to three treatment groups and fed corn-based finishing diets (88% concentrate) containing 0, 1.0 or 2.5% conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) for an average of 130 days. Steers fed 2.5% CLA consumed less feed and had lower daily gains than control steers. Carcass weights tended to be reduced, and marbling scores were decreased by feeding 2.5% CLA. There were no significant effects of feeding CLA on dressing percentages, yield grades and backfat measurements. The rounds from each animal were physically separated into tissue components. Rounds from steers fed CLA contained a higher percentage of lean tissue and a lower percentage of fat. Feeding CLA increased concentrations of CLA in lipids from fat and lean in rib steaks and rounds. Increasing CLA in beef had no effects on shelf life, tenderness, juiciness, flavor or flavor intensity of rib steaks. Although results indicated that feeding calcium salts of CLA to beef steers decreased performance, concentrations of CLA in tissues could be increased offering the availability of a leaner, more healthful meat product

Regulation of Immune Responses to Mycobacteria bovis by a Paracrine Mechanism of Vitamin D Signaling in Cattle

We provide evidence that T-cell responses to Mycobacteria bovis are suppressed by the production of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 in monocytes and B-cells from cattle. Current vitamin D requirements for cattle are solely based on the classical endocrine mechanism of vitamin D signaling that regulates calcium homeostasis and should be re-evaluated to account for vitamin D signaling mechanisms in the immune system

Improvement of Lipid Absorption in Young Pigs as a Model for Preterm Infants

Preterm infants and neonatal suckling piglets have a limited bile acid pool that may hinder absorption of dietary lipids such as fatty acids, triacylglycerols (TAGs), and other lipid-soluble nutrients. Because dietary lipids are a valuable source of energy for growth, it is important that they are efficiently absorbed. The hypothesis of this study is that oral administration of 0.2 g/kg body weight daily of cholylsarcosine, an artificial bile acid, would decrease fecal excretion of dietary fatty acids and TAGs in suckling piglets. Twelve 7-d-old piglets were housed individually and fed a commercial milk replacer with or without oral cholylsarcosine until 21 d of age. Cholylsarcosine treatment decreased fecal excretion of stearic acid (18:0) and palmitic acid (16:0) (P ≤ 0.02). Cholylsarcosine supplementation had no effect on absorption of unsaturated fatty acids of 16 or 18 carbons (P \u3e 0.05). Cholylsarcosine increased fecal excretion of deoxycholic acid (P = 0.03). Apparent absorption of dietary TAGs was increased from 77% in piglets not fed cholylsarcosine to 83% in the piglets that received oral cholylsarcosine. These results support the hypothesis that cholylsarcosine increases absorption of dietary TAGs

In defence of global egalitarianism

This essay argues that David Miller's criticisms of global egalitarianism do not undermine the view where it is stated in one of its stronger, luck egalitarian forms. The claim that global egalitarianism cannot specify a metric of justice which is broad enough to exclude spurious claims for redistribution, but precise enough to appropriately value different kinds of advantage, implicitly assumes that cultural understandings are the only legitimate way of identifying what counts as advantage. But that is an assumption always or almost always rejected by global egalitarianism. The claim that global egalitarianism demands either too little redistribution, leaving the unborn and dissenters burdened with their societies' imprudent choices, or too much redistribution, creating perverse incentives by punishing prudent decisions, only presents a problem for global luck egalitarianism on the assumption that nations can legitimately inherit assets from earlier generations – again, an assumption very much at odds with global egalitarian assumptions

Direct-Fed Microbials Decreases Dry Matter Intake and Increases Feed Efficiency When Fed to Lactating Holstein Dairy Cows

Dry matter intake, milk production, and milk production efficiency were evaluated in 84 Holstein dairy cows fed either a control diet or a control diet plus the direct-fed microbial Bovamine. Neither milk nor ECM production were affected by feeding Bovamine. Feeding Bovamine, however, decreased DMI by 3.59%, resulting in an improvement in milk production efficiency and ECM production efficiency of 6.1% and 5.3%, respectively. Inclusion of Bovamine in dairy cattle diets should be considered to increase milk production efficiency

An archaeology of borders: qualitative political theory as a tool in addressing moral distance

Interviews, field observations and other qualitative methods increasingly are being used to inform the construction of arguments in normative political theory. This article works to demonstrate the strong salience of some kinds of qualitative material for cosmopolitan arguments to extend distributive boundaries. The incorporation of interviews and related qualitative material can make the moral claims of excluded others more vivid and possibly more difficult to dismiss by advocates of strong priority to compatriots in distributions. Further, it may help to promote the kind of perspective taking that has been associated with actually motivating a willingness to aid by individuals. Illustrative findings are presented from field work conducted for a normative project on global citizenship, including interviews with unauthorized immigrants and the analysis of artifacts left behind on heavily used migrant trails

Genome-wide association study of concentrations of iron and other minerals in longissimus muscle of Angus cattle1

The objective of this study was to characterize variation and identify SNP and chromosomal regions associated with mineral concentrations in LM of Angus beef cattle. Samples of LM from 2,285 Angus cattle were obtained and concentrations of seven minerals including iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, and zinc were quantified. Genomic DNA extracted from the ground beef sample used for mineral composition was genotyped with the Bovine SNP50 Infinium II BeadChip and effects of SNP on each trait were estimated using the Bayes-Cπ module of GenSel software. Pedigree-based estimates of heritabilities and corresponding genetic variances indicate iron was the only mineral concentration, which could be considered a good candidate for manipulation by genomic selection. The amount of variation that could be accounted for by SNP genotypes was concordant with pedigree-based heritabilities and varied from very low for potassium and sodium (< 0.09) to medium-high (0.37) for iron. Though significant chromosomal regions were identified for all minerals analyzed in this study, further study focused on iron. Seven regions on six chromosomes (1, 2, 7, 10, 15 and 28) were identified to have major effect on iron content of LM in Angus cattle. The accuracy of direct genomic values (DGV) for iron concentration was estimated using a five-fold cross-validation strategy. The accuracy of DGV estimated as the genetic correlation between DGV and the phenotype (iron concentration) adjusted for contemporary groups was 0.59. A bivariate animal model was used to estimate genetic correlations between iron concentrations and a reduced set of economically important carcass traits: HCW, ribeye area, calculated USDA yield grade, percent KPH, and marbling score. The genetic correlations between iron concentration and HCW, percentage KPH, marbling score and ribeye area were small (-0.19 - 0.15) and non-significant. Although still weak (0.22), a positive significant genetic correlation was identified between iron content and USDA calculated yield grade. Beef is a major contributor of iron and zinc in the human diet, and this study found that iron content might be effectively manipulated through marker-assisted selection programs, without compromising other carcass and palatability traits

Collisions of small ice particles under microgravity conditions - II. Does the chemical composition of the ice change the collisional properties?

Context. Understanding the collisional properties of ice is important for understanding both the early stages of planet formation and the evolution of planetary ring systems. Simple chemicals such as methanol and formic acid are known to be present in cold protostellar regions alongside the dominant water ice; they are also likely to be incorporated into planets which form in protoplanetary disks, and planetary ring systems. However, the effect of the chemical composition of the ice on its collisional properties has not yet been studied.Aims. Collisions of 1.5 cm ice spheres composed of pure crystalline water ice, water with 5% methanol, and water with 5% formic acid were investigated to determine the effect of the ice composition on the collisional outcomes.Methods. The collisions were conducted in a dedicated experimental instrument, operated under microgravity conditions, at relative particle impact velocities between 0.01 and 0.19 ms-1, temperatures between 131 and 160 K and a pressure of around 10-5Results. A range of coefficients of restitution were found, with no correlation between this and the chemical composition, relative impact velocity, or temperature.Conclusions. We conclude that the chemical composition of the ice (at the level of 95% water ice and 5% methanol or formic acid) does not affect the collisional properties at these temperatures and pressures due to the inability of surface wetting to take place. At a level of 5% methanol or formic acid, the structure is likely to be dominated by crystalline water ice, leading to no change in collisional properties. The surface roughness of the particles is the dominant factor in explaining the range of coefficients of restitution