Tick Extracellular Vesicles Enable Arthropod Feeding and Promote Distinct Outcomes of Bacterial Infection

Extracellular vesicles are thought to facilitate pathogen transmission from arthropods to humans and other animals. Here, we reveal that pathogen spreading from arthropods to the mammalian host is multifaceted. Extracellular vesicles from Ixodes scapularis enable tick feeding and promote infection of the mildly virulent rickettsial agent Anaplasma phagocytophilum through the SNARE proteins Vamp33 and Synaptobrevin 2 and dendritic epidermal T cells. However, extracellular vesicles from the tick Dermacentor andersoni mitigate microbial spreading caused by the lethal pathogen Francisella tularensis. Collectively, we establish that tick extracellular vesicles foster distinct outcomes of bacterial infection and assist in vector feeding by acting on skin immunity. Thus, the biology of arthropods should be taken into consideration when developing strategies to control vector-borne diseases

Regulation of beef heifer productivity by dietary energy and prepubertal administration of bovine somatotropin

Weanling heifer calves (n = 452) grazed tall fescue pastures and were fed a high (H) or low (L) amount of corn supplement during a postweaning treatment period of 136 d. Postweaning gain of heifers receiving L and H was.43 and.62 kg/d, respectively. Heifers receiving H were heavier, and had more fat thickness at yearling. More H heifers were pubertal before the breeding season. Mean milk production was greater for H heifers and resulted in heavier calves.Angus $\times$ Hereford crossbred heifer calves (n = 90) received creep feed for 0, 28, 56, or 84 d before weaning while nursing dams grazing tall fescue pastures. Increasing the length of time receiving creep feed increased rate of gain. The percentage of heifers that were pubertal before the breeding season was linearly increased, and milk production at 52 d postpartum was linearly decreased as time receiving creep feed increased.Three trials using crossbred heifers (n = 156) were used to determine the effects of dietary energy and bovine somatotropin administration on heifer productivity. In Trial 1, calves were weaned from their dams (n = 28; 113 $\pm$ 13 d of age) and assigned to receive moderate (MDE) or high dietary energy (HDE), and injections of vehicle (VEH) or 250 mg of bovine somatotropin (bST) every 14 d. Heifer calves in Trial 2, (n = 28; 123 $\pm$ 20 d of age) and Trial 3, (n = 100; 134 $\pm$ 22 d of age) nursed their dams while grazing pasture and received no creep feed (MDE) or creep feed (HDE) and received VEH or bST. Treatments were administered for 112 d. There were no dietary x bST treatment interactions. Heifers receiving HDE in Trials 2 and 3 had greater weight and fat thickness by the end of the treatment period. Treatment with bST increased gain in Trials 1 and 2. In Trial 2, HDE decreased milk production, calf weaning weight, and mammary dry fat free tissue and DNA. Treatment with bST in Trial 3, tended to result in increased milk production and calf weaning weights.U of I OnlyETDs are only available to UIUC Users without author permissio

Obtaining Extension Stakeholder Input to Influence Extension Education Programming and Staff Needs

Cooperative extension has had to adapt communication and outreach efforts for the past several years because of changes in funding, technology, farmer demographics, and overall industry demands and needs. Given decreasing resources, effective program planning is necessary to optimize output and impact. The Michigan State University Extension Beef Team conducted a needs assessment using an online producer survey. As an interdisciplinary team, the Beef Team was able to address all facets of the Michigan beef industry. Specifically, agricultural economists contributed to the needs assessment with core economic concepts, as well as survey design and analysis. Upon data collection, producers identified marketing, profitability, and animal health as the biggest challenges facing their operations in the next 5 to 10 years. The Beef Team utilized these results for program planning and to make staffing recommendations to administration

The Intermetallic Reactivity Database: Compiling Chemical Pressure and Electronic Metrics toward Materials Design and Discovery

The advent of high-throughput density functional theory (DFT) calculations has supported the creation of large databases containing the quantitative output necessary for constructing theoretical phase diagrams and predicting physical properties. In this article, we present a complementary resource, the Intermetallic Reactivity Database (IRD), focused on the chemical bonding features of solid-state structures and indicators of potential structural transformations. Each IRD entry augments common features, such as band structures and density of states (DOS) distributions, with chemically motivated information including DFT-Chemical Pressure (CP) schemes and visualizable representations of the atomic charges. Together, these data types enable the rationalization and prediction of potential structural phenomena encountered in intermetallic chemistry, as we illustrate with four examples: the origins of the Y2Ni2Mg structure in terms of CP features of its parent structures, the anticipation of intergrowth phases from the net atomic CPs collected in Al-containing binary phases, the correlation between trends in the CP schemes of CaCu5-type phases and experimentally observed structural variations, and finally, the development of theoretical methodology with the testing of a streamlined method for generating DFT-CP schemes. Altogether, these examples highlight how the IRD supports the creation of models of structural chemistry that extend beyond the bounds of its entries

Impact of Gait and Diameter during Circular Exercise on Front Hoof Area, Vertical Force, and Pressure in Mature Horses

Circular exercise can be used at varying gaits and diameters to exercise horses, with repeated use anecdotally relating to increased lameness. This work sought to characterize mean area, mean vertical force, and mean pressure of the front hooves while exercising in a straight line at the walk and trot, and small (10-m diameter) and large circles (15-m diameter) at the walk, trot, and canter. Nine mature horses wore TekscanTM Hoof Sensors on their forelimbs adhered with a glue-on shoe. Statistical analysis was performed in SAS 9.4 with fixed effects of leg, gait, and exercise type (PROC GLIMMIX) and p < 0.05 as significant. For all exercise types, the walk had greater mean pressure than the trot (p < 0.01). At the walk, the straight line had greater mean area loaded than the large circle (p = 0.01), and both circle sizes had lower mean vertical force than the straight line (p = 0.003). During circular exercise at the canter, the outside front limb had greater mean area loaded than at the walk and trot (p = 0.001). This study found that gait is an important factor when evaluating circular exercise and should be considered when exercising horses to prevent injury