High protein sorghum grain with no added protein in all concentrate cattle finishing rations; Urea and soybean oil meal in all concentrate rations

Trials at several research centers as well as in Kansas (Bulletin 483, page 32) have shown roughage may be satisfactorily omitted from finishing rations for cattle and doing so, often reduces feed required per pound of gain. That has made it feasible to try to finish cattle on all grain diet5, when the grain has sufficient protein, and to omit other protein sources as well as roughage. Other research on this subject is reported in Kansas Bulletins 493 and 507 and on page in this bulletin

A mathematical framework for critical transitions: normal forms, variance and applications

Critical transitions occur in a wide variety of applications including mathematical biology, climate change, human physiology and economics. Therefore it is highly desirable to find early-warning signs. We show that it is possible to classify critical transitions by using bifurcation theory and normal forms in the singular limit. Based on this elementary classification, we analyze stochastic fluctuations and calculate scaling laws of the variance of stochastic sample paths near critical transitions for fast subsystem bifurcations up to codimension two. The theory is applied to several models: the Stommel-Cessi box model for the thermohaline circulation from geoscience, an epidemic-spreading model on an adaptive network, an activator-inhibitor switch from systems biology, a predator-prey system from ecology and to the Euler buckling problem from classical mechanics. For the Stommel-Cessi model we compare different detrending techniques to calculate early-warning signs. In the epidemics model we show that link densities could be better variables for prediction than population densities. The activator-inhibitor switch demonstrates effects in three time-scale systems and points out that excitable cells and molecular units have information for subthreshold prediction. In the predator-prey model explosive population growth near a codimension two bifurcation is investigated and we show that early-warnings from normal forms can be misleading in this context. In the biomechanical model we demonstrate that early-warning signs for buckling depend crucially on the control strategy near the instability which illustrates the effect of multiplicative noise.Comment: minor corrections to previous versio

Detection of Broad H alpha Emission Lines in the Late-Time Spectra of a Hydrogen-Poor Superluminous Supernova

iPTF13ehe is a hydrogen-poor superluminous supernova (SLSN) at z = 0.3434, with a slow-evolving light curve and spectral features similar to SN2007bi. It rises in 83–148 days to reach a peak bolometric luminosity of ~1.3 × 1044 erg s−1, then decays slowly at 0.015 mag day−1. The measured ejecta velocity is ~ 13,000 km s−1. The inferred explosion characteristics, such as the ejecta mass (70–220 M⊙), and the total radiative and kinetic energy (Erad ~ 1051 erg, Ekin ~ 2 × 1053 erg), are typical of slow-evolving H-poor SLSN events. However, the late-time spectrum taken at +251 days (rest, post-peak) reveals a Balmer Hα emission feature with broad and narrow components, which has never been detected before among other H-poor SLSNe. The broad component has a velocity width of ~4500 km s−1 and a ~300 km s−1 blueward shift relative to the narrow component. We interpret this broad Hα emission with a luminosity of ~2 × 1041 erg s−1 as resulting from the interaction between the supernova ejecta and a discrete H-rich shell, located at a distance of ~4 × 1016 cm from the explosion site. This interaction causes the rest-frame r-band LC to brighten at late times. The fact that the late-time spectra are not completely absorbed by the shock-ionized H-shell implies that its Thomson scattering optical depth is likely ≤1, thus setting upper limits on the shell mass ≤30 M⊙. Of the existing models, a Pulsational Pair Instability supernova model can naturally explain the observed 30 M⊙ H-shell, ejected from a progenitor star with an initial mass of (95–150) M⊙ about 40 years ago. We estimate that at least ~15% of all SLSNe-I may have late-time Balmer emission lines

Global, regional, and national age-sex-specific mortality and life expectancy, 1950–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

BACKGROUND: Assessments of age-specific mortality and life expectancy have been done by the UN Population Division, Department of Economics and Social Affairs (UNPOP), the United States Census Bureau, WHO, and as part of previous iterations of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD). Previous iterations of the GBD used population estimates from UNPOP, which were not derived in a way that was internally consistent with the estimates of the numbers of deaths in the GBD. The present iteration of the GBD, GBD 2017, improves on previous assessments and provides timely estimates of the mortality experience of populations globally. METHODS: The GBD uses all available data to produce estimates of mortality rates between 1950 and 2017 for 23 age groups, both sexes, and 918 locations, including 195 countries and territories and subnational locations for 16 countries. Data used include vital registration systems, sample registration systems, household surveys (complete birth histories, summary birth histories, sibling histories), censuses (summary birth histories, household deaths), and Demographic Surveillance Sites. In total, this analysis used 8259 data sources. Estimates of the probability of death between birth and the age of 5 years and between ages 15 and 60 years are generated and then input into a model life table system to produce complete life tables for all locations and years. Fatal discontinuities and mortality due to HIV/AIDS are analysed separately and then incorporated into the estimation. We analyse the relationship between age-specific mortality and development status using the Socio-demographic Index, a composite measure based on fertility under the age of 25 years, education, and income. There are four main methodological improvements in GBD 2017 compared with GBD 2016: 622 additional data sources have been incorporated; new estimates of population, generated by the GBD study, are used; statistical methods used in different components of the analysis have been further standardised and improved; and the analysis has been extended backwards in time by two decades to start in 1950. FINDINGS: Globally, 18·7% (95% uncertainty interval 18·4–19·0) of deaths were registered in 1950 and that proportion has been steadily increasing since, with 58·8% (58·2–59·3) of all deaths being registered in 2015. At the global level, between 1950 and 2017, life expectancy increased from 48·1 years (46·5–49·6) to 70·5 years (70·1–70·8) for men and from 52·9 years (51·7–54·0) to 75·6 years (75·3–75·9) for women. Despite this overall progress, there remains substantial variation in life expectancy at birth in 2017, which ranges from 49·1 years (46·5–51·7) for men in the Central African Republic to 87·6 years (86·9–88·1) among women in Singapore. The greatest progress across age groups was for children younger than 5 years; under-5 mortality dropped from 216·0 deaths (196·3–238·1) per 1000 livebirths in 1950 to 38·9 deaths (35·6–42·83) per 1000 livebirths in 2017, with huge reductions across countries. Nevertheless, there were still 5·4 million (5·2–5·6) deaths among children younger than 5 years in the world in 2017. Progress has been less pronounced and more variable for adults, especially for adult males, who had stagnant or increasing mortality rates in several countries. The gap between male and female life expectancy between 1950 and 2017, while relatively stable at the global level, shows distinctive patterns across super-regions and has consistently been the largest in central Europe, eastern Europe, and central Asia, and smallest in south Asia. Performance was also variable across countries and time in observed mortality rates compared with those expected on the basis of development. INTERPRETATION: This analysis of age-sex-specific mortality shows that there are remarkably complex patterns in population mortality across countries. The findings of this study highlight global successes, such as the large decline in under-5 mortality, which reflects significant local, national, and global commitment and investment over several decades. However, they also bring attention to mortality patterns that are a cause for concern, particularly among adult men and, to a lesser extent, women, whose mortality rates have stagnated in many countries over the time period of this study, and in some cases are increasing

The value of Chlortetracycline (Aureomycin) and Sulfamethazine fed independently and in combination to weanling beef calves following shipment

Two hundred weaning calves were received in two shipments and placed on experiment. The calves were weighed, ear tagged and tattooed as rapidly as possible after being received, and were treated as follows: Treatment A - No oral medication (Control) Treatment B - Fed 350 mg. sulfamethazinel per head daily Treatment C - Fed 350 mg. chlortetracycline per head daily Treatment D - Fed 350 mg. sulfamethazine and 350 mg. chlortetracycline per head daily The cattle were fed sorghum silage to consumption and 3 lbs. sorghum grain (containing the medication) per head daily. They were injected with 10cc Combiotic (penicillin and streptomycin) when fever or respiratory difficulty occurred. Two replications of 100 calves each were used for this trial

The value of dehydrated alfalfa and delayed grain fed to young cows on winter bluestem

This test was to compared the following three winter treatments for young cows on bluestem pasture. Treatment 1 -- One pound of soybean oil meal and 2 pounds of ground sorghum grain per head daily during the entire winter feeding period. Treatment 2 -- One and a half pounds of soybean meal fed per heifer daily until 50 days before the feeding season ended, then ground sorghum grain was fed. The same total amount of sorghum grain as fed under treatment 1 throughout the winter was concentrated during the last 50 days with the soybean oil meal discontinued when grain feeding reached the quantity to supply the same amount of protein as those on treatment 1 received. Treatment 3-- Dehydrated alfalfa fed at 3.3 pounds and ground sorghum grain at 1 pound per heifer daily during the entire winter feeding period

The effects of feeding a high concentrate ration containing 25% ground beef manure to fattening heifers in concrete and soil-surfaced lots

This is a cooperative project with the Department of Agricultural Engineering to study surface runoff, in addition to animal performance. Twenty Hereford heifers were randomly allotted to four equal sized lots: 2 surfaced with concrete and 2 with soil. Self-feeders in soil-surfaced lots have concrete aprons

The effect of added calcium and phosphorus with and without added protein in the ration of steers on bluestem pasture

This experiment was designed to evaluate the desirability of supplementing bluestem pasture as indicated in the title. Forty Hereford steer calves were divided into four lots of 10 each and fed the following rations per head daily: Lot 1. Two pounds of dehydrated molasses (a molasses product dried on soybean hulls). Lot 2. Two pounds of dehydrated molasses and 39.1 grams of dicalcium phosphate. Lot 3. One pound of dehydrated molasses and 1 pound of 41% corn gluten meal. Lot 4. One pound of dehydrated molasses and 1 pound of 41% corn gluten meal plus 29.6 grams of dicalcium phosphate

Poloxalene as a bloat preventative for beef steers grazing immature alfalfa

Poloxalene has proved to be an effective agent to prevent legume bloat in cattle, however, intake of the compound at regular intervals during the day is important. Intake twice daily at approximately 12-hour intervals has been shown to control bloat. This presents a management problem with beef cattle under most grazing conditions. This trial tested the effectiveness of poloxalene administered to beef cattle grazing immature alfalfa in a molasses-salt block and as “Bloat Guard” mixed with rolled sorghum grain fed free choice in a self feeder