Exposing Sexual Harassment and Bullying in Secondary Schools: An Intersectional Feminist Analysis.

Incidents of sexual harassment and bullying in secondary school are extremely commonplace, yet student experiences are underreported to school officials. Moreover, there are competing definitions regarding what constitutes sexual harassment among administrators, staff, and students. How does social identity influence incidents of sexual harassment and bullying in secondary schools? What kinds of sexual harassment and bullying occur and what are their consequences? How do gender, race/ethnicity, and class affect who is disciplined for sexual harassment and bullying? What role do peers and friends play in the choice to report an incident of sexual harassment? Two distinct school districts are compared, and mixed methodologies are utilized to begin to answer these questions. Disciplinary records for a 9th grade student population (N=777) are analyzed to explore harassment offenses. Student behavior handbooks are examined to garner official positions on sexual harassment and bullying. Administrator, staff, and student focus groups and interviews are assessed to examine discourses on and experiences with sexual harassment and bullying in secondary school. Overall, sexual harassment is not treated seriously within secondary schools. There is a low rate of officially recording sexual harassment and bullying offenses. Male and females students harass and female students perpetuate the sexual harassment of their female peers. Education is imperative and needs to incorporate all forms of harassment

Evaluation of Vivalto\u3csup\u3e®\u3c/sup\u3e on Growth Performance and Carcass Characteristics in Growing and Finishing Beef Steers

A finishing trial conducted at the Pan-handle Research, Extension, and Education Center (PREEC) near Scottsbluff, NE evaluated the effect of Vivalto®, a B-vitamin complex, on the feeding performance and carcass characteristics of feedlot steers. The design of the study was completely randomized block design with three treatments, control without Vivalto®, 1g Vivalto®/steer/day, and 2g Vivalto®/steer/day. Cattle fed the diets that included Vivalto® feed had lower intakes during the first 56 days than cattle that received no Vivalto® in the diet. No significant differences were observed for ADG, intake, feed efficiency and carcass characteristics of the entire feeding period. No significant differences in prevalence of liver abscesses were found between treatments and prevalance of A+ abscesses was also insignificant

Effect of Biochar on Enteric Methane Production and Cattle Performance

Methane is a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Because ruminant animals, including cattle, emit methane, strategies are actively being sought to reduce these emissions. Pistachio shell-sourced biochar was included at 0.5% of a finishing cattle diet to determine effects on methane emissions and cattle performance. Eight pens of cattle were rotated through a 2-chambered emissions barn to analyze methane and carbon dioxide produced by the cattle. Biochar tended to increase methane emissions on a g/d basis with no effect on methane emissions as g/lb of feed intake and no differences in carbon dioxide emissions. There were no differences in cattle performance and most carcass characteristics (daily gain, feed intake, feed:gain, hot carcass weight, ribeye area, marbling) between treatments. The control group did have increased 12th rib fat and yield grade scores compared to the biochar group. Feeding biochar at 0.5% of the diet did not impact enteric methane or cattle performance

Comparison of Corn Silage and Earlage in Finishing Diets when fed as a Roughage on a Neutral Detergent Fiber Basis

The finishing trial was conducted to evaluate the ability of earlage to serve as a roughage source compared to corn silage when both sources were balanced on an NDF basis. Steers were fed in a randomized block design with a 2x2 treatment arrangement, with one factor being NDF source (corn silage or earlage) and the other factor being inclusion ( normal amount of roughage provided by corn silage or earlage as the only grain source and roughage source). No significant interactions were observed between roughage source and inclusion level on steer performance. Steers fed corn silage and grain had greater intakes and gains than steers fed earlage. Steers fed less NDF had more efficient feed conversion, and greater gain with heavier hot carcass weights

Effect of Ad Libitum vs. Limit Feeding Program at Receiving on Morbidity and Performance of Feedlot Calves

A two-phase study was conducted to determine the effects of two different feed delivery strategies during the receiving period of feedlot calves. Calves were fed either by limit-feeding at approximately 75% of ad libitum, or ad libitum feed offerings for the 30-d receiving period to determine effects on health and performance. During the receiving period, average daily gain and total weight gained was increased for the ad libitum treatment. No differences between ad libitum and limit-fed treatment groups were observed in either feed to gain or morbidity rates. During the second phase of the trial, a subset of calves was followed through finishing to observe the effect of the receiving strategies on the finishing period performance. At slaughter, no significant differences were observed between calves that were received on a limit fed diet or fed ad libitu

Effects of Individual Sweet Bran Components in Beef Finishing Diets on Nutrient Digestion

Sweet Bran is a branded wet corn gluten feed recognized for improving rumen health, energy intake, and gains in finishing cattle. Eight ruminally cannulated steers were utilized in a replicated 4 x 4 Latin Square design to evaluate the effect of individual Sweet Bran components on total tract digestibility and rumen fermentation parameters. Three Sweet Bran components (solvent extracted germ meal, corn bran, and mixed steep) were included at 40% of diet dry matter in their respective treatment, with a steam-flaked corn control diet. Total tract dry matter and organic matter digestibility were least for bran, intermediate for solvent extracted germ meanl, and greatest for steep and control diets. Neutral detergent fiber digestibility was least for control and intermediate for bran and steep with a tendency for solvent extracted germ meal to have the greatest fiber digestibility. Overall, steep and solvent extracted germ meal have similar energy densities as the steam-flaked corn control, and bran and solvent extracted germ meal are highly digestible fiber sources. The nutrient and physical characteristics of steep, solvent extracted germ meal, and bran are complementary and may contribute to the greater energy value of Sweet Bran compared to dry-rolled corn

Rapid and Highly Informative Diagnostic Assay for H5N1 Influenza Viruses

A highly discriminative and information-rich diagnostic assay for H5N1 avian influenza would meet immediate patient care needs and provide valuable information for public health interventions, e.g., tracking of new and more dangerous variants by geographic area as well as avian-to-human or human-to-human transmission. In the present study, we have designed a rapid assay based on multilocus nucleic acid sequencing that focuses on the biologically significant regions of the H5N1 hemagglutinin gene. This allows the prediction of viral strain, clade, receptor binding properties, low- or high-pathogenicity cleavage site and glycosylation status. H5 HA genes were selected from nine known high-pathogenicity avian influenza subtype H5N1 viruses, based on their diversity in biologically significant regions of hemagglutinin and/or their ability to cause infection in humans. We devised a consensus pre-programmed pyrosequencing strategy, which may be used as a faster, more accurate alternative to de novo sequencing. The available data suggest that the assay described here is a reliable, rapid, information-rich and cost-effective approach for definitive diagnosis of H5N1 avian influenza. Knowledge of the predicted functional sequences of the HA will enhance H5N1 avian influenza surveillance efforts

Impact of Varying Inclusion of Modified Distillers Grains Plus Solubles Compared to Constant Inclusion on Feedlot Cattle Performance and Carcass Characteristics

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of varying inclusion of modified distillers grains plus solubles on a weekly basis with two inclusions of grass hay on the performance of finishing steers. no interaction was observed between modified distillers grains plus solubles inclusion (0%, 25% constant, or 25% varying from 15-35%) and hay inclusion (6% or 12%). When evaluating the effect of hay inclusion on performance, cattle fed 6% grass hay had less dry matter intake than those fed 12% grass hay, and there was a tendency for gains to be greater for cattle fed 6% grass hay. Adding 25% modified distillers grains plus solubles to the diet improved gain and feed conversion. Interestingly, varying modified distillers grains plus solubles inclusion from 15 to 35% (averaged 25% over the whole feeding period) did not impact average daily gain or feed conversions if the variations were weekly and the average inclusions was 25% during the feeding period. As a result, adding extra roughage was unnecessary