The antibody loci of the domestic goat (Capra hircus)

The domestic goat (Capra hircus) is an important ruminant species both as a source of antibody-based reagents for research and biomedical applications and as an economically important animal for agriculture, particularly for developing nations that maintain most of the global goat population. Characterization of the loci encoding the goat immune repertoire would be highly beneficial for both vaccine and immune reagent development. However, in goat and other species whose reference genomes were generated using short-read sequencing technologies, the immune loci are poorly assembled as a result of their repetitive nature. Our recent construction of a long-read goat genome assembly (ARS1) has facilitated characterization of all three antibody loci with high confidence and comparative analysis to cattle. We observed broad similarity of goat and cattle antibody-encoding loci but with notable differences that likely influence formation of the functional antibody repertoire. The goat heavy-chain locus is restricted to only four functional and nearly identical IGHV genes, in contrast to the ten observed in cattle. Repertoire analysis indicates that light-chain usage is more balanced in goats, with greater representation of kappa light chains (~ 20-30%) compared to that in cattle (~ 5%). The present study represents the first characterization of the goat antibody loci and will help inform future investigations of their antibody responses to disease and vaccination

Soybean and alfalfa hays for wintering pregnant ewes

Since the soybean acreage has increased in Iowa and the Corn Belt, the determination of the economic feeding value of this plant deserves attention. Alfalfa and clover have long been considered good legume hays for sheep. Because of the increase in soybean production, which involves a greater volume of soybean hay, the question naturally arises as to how this legume hay compares in feeding value with clover and alfalfa. With this question in mind four lots of pregnant ewes were experimentally fed on soybean and alfalfa hays and certain combinations of these two hays. The results secured are reported herein

The evolution of the natural killer complex; a comparison between mammals using new high-quality genome assemblies and targeted annotation.

Natural killer (NK) cells are a diverse population of lymphocytes with a range of biological roles including essential immune functions. NK cell diversity is in part created by the differential expression of cell surface receptors which modulate activation and function, including multiple subfamilies of C-type lectin receptors encoded within the NK complex (NKC). Little is known about the gene content of the NKC beyond rodent and primate lineages, other than it appears to be extremely variable between mammalian groups. We compared the NKC structure between mammalian species using new high-quality draft genome assemblies for cattle and goat; re-annotated sheep, pig, and horse genome assemblies; and the published human, rat, and mouse lemur NKC. The major NKC genes are largely in the equivalent positions in all eight species, with significant independent expansions and deletions between species, allowing us to propose a model for NKC evolution during mammalian radiation. The ruminant species, cattle and goats, have independently evolved a second KLRC locus flanked by KLRA and KLRJ, and a novel KLRH-like gene has acquired an activating tail. This novel gene has duplicated several times within cattle, while other activating receptor genes have been selectively disrupted. Targeted genome enrichment in cattle identified varying levels of allelic polymorphism between the NKC genes concentrated in the predicted extracellular ligand-binding domains. This novel recombination and allelic polymorphism is consistent with NKC evolution under balancing selection, suggesting that this diversity influences individual immune responses and may impact on differential outcomes of pathogen infection and vaccination

Market Orientation Within University Schools Of Business: Can A Dynamical Systems Viewpoint Applied To A Non-Temporal Data Set Yield Valuable Insights For University Managers?

This study investigates the use of using complexity theory – the study of nonlinear dynamical systems of which chaos and catastrophe theory are subsets – in the analysis of a non temporal data set to derive valuable insights into the functioning of university schools of business. The approach is unusual in that studies of nonlinearity in complex dynamical systems typically involve longitudinal data.  Challenges associated with such studies usually involve establishing nonlinearity, obtaining a data set with a sufficient number of entries, and robust mathematical and computational requirements for effective analysis.  The format of the paper is as follows: 1) a general description of complex systems is presented which identifies a number of generally accepted characteristics of complex systems, 2) a description of the data set and the research technique utilized, 3) a presentation of the data set as an “attractor” landscape as typically defined in complex systems analysis, 4) potential insights that may be derived from the analysis; and 5) conclusions and recommendations for further study.  The value of the study is to demonstrate that within the framework of complexity theory, non longitudinal data may be used to derive valuable managerial insights into the functioning of organizations such as university schools of business

The salt consumption of sheep: Fattening lambs

1. Common salt (sodium chloride) is one of the essential nutrients in the rations of sheep and lambs, and the proper provision of it makes for a more profitable and satisfactory sheep husbandry. 2. Free-choice salt feeding with our present knowledge appears to be the most satisfactory method of allowance under Corn-belt conditions to secure near-optimum nutritional results. 3. When salt is arbitrarily allowed, mixed with the feeds, experimental results indicate that with our present understanding of the factors controlling salt needs, it is very difficult to approximate the correct quantitative allowance. 4. Researches with wintering ewes indicate that salting the feed may be easily overdone, or underdone. An absence of salt from the feeds allowed ewes resulted in lesser gains, less efficient use of feeds, an impaired lamb crop and a decreased wool yield. The ewes not fed salt developed a marked craving for it. 5. The records kept on 1,306 winter-fed lambs show an average daily salt consumption of 0.011 pound per lamb, the range by lots being from 0.001 to 0.019 pound. It is estimated that lambs fed at Ames secure about one-half of their total sodium (pure common salt contains 39.34 percent of the mineral sodium) and three-fourths of their chlorine (salt contains 60.66 percent of chlorine) from the salt box (salt self-fed). Ames campus water supplies but very little of the total salt constituents, but the feed provides practically all the sodium and chlorine not supplied in the salt box. 6. The character and composition of the rations fed affect in large measure the salt consumption and r equirements of fattening lambs. Feeding beet molasses markedly decreased salt consumption, whereas alfalfa hay had the opposite effect. 7. Fattening lambs consume much more salt per unit weight than steers fed under similar conditions, and whereas the daily salt consumption of lambs increases during the feeding period, that of the steers decreases. Lambs in the finishing lots consume more roughage in proportion to concentrates than do steers; this ratio of roughage to concentrates is the more marked as the period of feeding progresses. The greater the proportion of roughage, the larger apparently is the salt consumption. 8. The salt required for a hundred pounds gain on 1,306 fattening lambs averaged 3.78 pounds, the range being from 0.21 to 11.18 pounds. A typical representative of an average lamb, gaining 30 pounds in our experiments, would therefore require a little over one and a tenth pounds of salt during the winter feeding period. 9. The observations and data as available and interpreted indicate that the free-choice feeding of salt of high grade, block or flake, is good practice in the fattening of lambs

Dipolar Bose-Einstein condensates with dipole-dependent scattering length

We consider a Bose-Einstein condensate of polar molecules in a harmonic trap, where the effective dipole may be tuned by an external field. We demonstrate that taking into account the dependence of the scattering length on the dipole moment is essential to reproducing the correct energies and for predicting the stability of the condensate. We do this by comparing Gross-Pitaevskii calculations with diffusion Monte Carlo calculations. We find very good agreement between the results obtained by these two approaches once the dipole dependence of the scattering length is taken into account. We also examine the behavior of the condensate in non-isotropic traps

Roughages for fattening two-year-old steers

The relative values of different roughages in the winter fattening of two-year-old steers when shelled corn, full-fed, cottonseed meal and salt are allowed, as well as the advisability of limiting the grain fed in a corn silage-alfalfa hay-salt ration are the themes of the experiment covered in this bulletin. How does corn fodder compare in feeding value with corn silage? What are the comparative feeding values of red clover and alfalfa hays? Will timothy and oat straw supply the steers\u27 needs economically when this roughage is balanced with a liberal allowance of cottonseed meal fed with the corn grain and salt? How does mixed timothy-clover hay rank alongside the pure red clover? Can one finish two-year-old. cattle with profit by using corn silage, alfalfa hay and salt without extra grain? These are some of the questions this research throws light upon

Soybean hay for fattening lambs

The use of soybeans in the Corn Belt has increased considerably in recent years. The ground seed and oilmeal prepared from it, have been quite extensively used for supplemental feeding. Soybeans have likewise been successfully planted along with corn, either for sheeping-down, hogging-down, or silage production purposes. The field of usefulness for soybeans is enlarging to the economic advantage of Iowa farming enterprises. The practical possibilities of growing soybeans for hay are worthy of attention; it was with the idea of determining the relative value of soybean hay, either whole or ground, as compared to clover hay in the ration of fattening lambs, that the experiment reported herein was planned and conducted

Cerebellar Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation: The Role of Coil Type from Distinct Manufacturers

Background Stimulating the cerebellum with transcranial magnetic stimulation is often perceived as uncomfortable. No study has systematically tested which coil design can effectively trigger a cerebellar response with the least discomfort. Objective To determine the relationship between perceived discomfort and effectiveness of cerebellar stimulation using different coils: MagStim (70 mm, 110 mm-coated, 110-uncoated), MagVenture and Deymed. Methods Using the cerebellar-brain inhibition (CBI) protocol, we conducted a CBI recruitment curve with respect to each participant’s maximum tolerated-stimulus intensity (MTI) to assess how effective each coil was at activating the cerebellum. Results Only the Deymed double-cone coil elicited CBI at low intensities (−20% MTI). At the MTI, the MagStim (110 mm coated/uncoated) and Deymed coils produced reliable CBI, whereas no CBI was found with the MagVenture coil. Conclusions: The Deymed double-cone coil was most effective at cerebellar stimulation at tolerable intensities. These results can guide coil selection and stimulation parameters when designing cerebellar TMS studies