Predicting Feedlot Growth Performance over the Feeding Period Utilizing Steer Age and Body Weight

A pooled- analysis of UNL feedlot pens examined the effects of steer age and body weight on feedlot growth performance. For data analysis, pens were divided into 3 subclasses based on steer age (calf- fed, short yearling, or long yearling) and, grouped based upon initial body weight (500 to 1200 lb, in 100 lb increments) within each age class. As initial body weight increased, DMI (lb/d) for the whole feeding period increased quadratically in calf-fed steers and increased linearly in short and long yearlings. A quadratic increase in ADG was observed in calf- feds as initial body weight increased. No differences in ADG were observed for short and long yearlings due to initial body weight. As heavier cattle were placed within age group, feed conversion increased linearly. Predicting DMI is more consistent when expressed as % of body weight. Predicting intake and growth performance over the entire feeding period, in order to facilitate management decisions, is dependent upon steer age and initial weight when starting the finishing diet

Co-detección de Patógenos Periodontales en Pacientes Chilenos con Periodontitis Crónica

Indexación: ScieloLas enfermedades periodontales asociadas a la placa dental son un importante problema de salud pública. La etiología de estas patologías es de origen multifactorial e involucra factores del hospedero, medio ambiente y de carácter infeccioso asociados a bacterias embebidas en la placa dental. Las principales bacterias asociadas a la periodontitis crónica son Porphyromonas gingivalis, Treponema denticola y Tannerella forsythia, mientras que Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans se ha asociado principalmente a la periodontitis agresiva. Otro microorganismo clave en el desarrollo de la enfermedad es Fusobacterium nucleatum, el cual tiene la capacidad de co-agregarse con los patógenos periodontales y así facilitar su colonización. Para demostrar la prevalencia de estas bacterias, la co-detección y la asociación entre pacientes chilenos fumadores y no fumadores, se analizaron 67 muestras mediante PCR convencional. Los resultados mostraron que un 90% de las muestras fueron positivas para F. nucleatum, siendo la bacteria más detectada. Al analizar la co-detección entre las distintas bacterias se observa que F nucleatum está presente en más de un 80% de los casos cuando se detecta cualquiera de las cuatro bacterias restantes, mientas que A. actinomycetemcomitans se detecta en no más de un 20% al amplificar cualquiera de las bacterias restantes. Por otra parte, los resultados por género indican que existen diferencias significativas en la detección de T. forsythia, F. nucleatum y A. actinomycetemcomitans. Al considerar el factor de tabaquismo se observó que ninguna de las muestras de pacientes fumadores resultó ser positiva para A. actinomycetemcomitans.Periodontal disease associated with dental plaque is a major public health problem. The etiology of these disorders is multifactorial involved seeing host factors, environmental factors and infectious nature associated with the presence of bacteria belonging to the plaque. The main bacteria associated with chronic periodontitis are Porphyromonas gingivalis, Treponema denticola and Tannerella forsythia, while Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans is mainly associated with aggressive periodontitis. Another key organism in the development of the disease is Fusobacterium nucleatum, which has the ability to co-aggregate with other periodontal pathogen. To demonstrate the prevalence of these bacteria and the association between Chilean smokers and nonsmokers patients, 67 samples were analyzed by conventional PCR. The results showed that 90% of the samples were positive for F nucleatum being the most commonly detected bacteria. By analyzing the co-detection between different bacteria shows that F nucleatum is present in more than 80% of cases when it detects any of the four remaining bacteria, which lie A. actinomycetemcomitans was detected in no more than 20% by amplifying any remaining bacteria. Moreover the results by gender indicate that significant differences exist in the detection of T forsythia, F. nucleatum and A. actinomycetemcomitans. In considering the factor of smoking was observed that none of the samples from smokers was found to be positive for A. actinomycetemcomitans.http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0719-01072010000300003&nrm=is

Monte Carlo Methods for Rough Free Energy Landscapes: Population Annealing and Parallel Tempering

Parallel tempering and population annealing are both effective methods for simulating equilibrium systems with rough free energy landscapes. Parallel tempering, also known as replica exchange Monte Carlo, is a Markov chain Monte Carlo method while population annealing is a sequential Monte Carlo method. Both methods overcome the exponential slowing associated with high free energy barriers. The convergence properties and efficiency of the two methods are compared. For large systems, population annealing initially converges to equilibrium more rapidly than parallel tempering for the same amount of computational work. However, parallel tempering converges exponentially and population annealing inversely in the computational work so that ultimately parallel tempering approaches equilibrium more rapidly than population annealing.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure

Evaluation of Distillers Grains Components Singly or in Combination in a Calf Fed Feedlot Study

A finishing study was conducted to determine the value of the fiber, protein, fat, and solubles components from wet distillers grains plus solubles (WDGS) alone or in combination for feedlot cattle in comparison to WDGS diets. The fiber portion alone did not improve F:G. When protein was included in the composite with fiber, F:G improved. With fat and solubles both added separately, F:G continued to improve. None of the components alone could make up the feeding value of WDGS, however the composite diet of fiber, protein, fat, and solubles combined matched the performance observed when WDGS is fed

Impact of Corn Oil Removal from Modified Distillers Grains Plus Solubles and Supplemental Corn Oil on Finishing Cattle Performance

A finishing study was conducted to evaluate removal of corn oil from modified distillers grains plus solubles (MDGS) and replacement of supplemental corn oil on finishing cattle performance. Four treatments were evaluated: a corn control diet, 40% de-oiled MDGS, 38% de-oiled MDGS plus 2% corn oil to equal the fat content of full fat MDGS, or 40% full fat MDGS. There was a significant improvement in ADG and F:G for cattle fed de-oiled MDGS plus oil compared to other treatments. Cattle fed full fat MDGS had numerically lower ADG and numerically poorer F:G (3.7%) compared with cattle fed MDGS plus oil. Cattle fed de-oiled MDGS had greater intake and numerically higher ADG than full fat MDGS, however F:G was similar (1.2%). Even with the improvement in feed conversion, the benefit is too small to make adding corn oil to the diet economical at current prices

Impact of Syngenta Enogen Feed Corn on Finishing Cattle Performance and Carcass Characteristics

Two finishing experiments were conducted to evaluate Syngenta Enogen Feed Corn containing an alpha amylase enzyme trait compared to the near negative isoline control corn at two locations on cattle performance and carcass characteristics. No statistical differences were observed for final BW, DMI, ADG, or F:G for steers fed Syngenta Enogen Feed Corn versus the near negative isoline control corn. Fat depth and calculated yield grade were greater for steers fed Syngenta Enogen Feed Corn; however, HCW and marbling scores were not different. Previous research has observed a 2.6% to 16.4% decrease in F:G when Syngenta Enogen Feed Corn was fed; however, under this study a 1.6% reduction in F:G was observed

Cost-effectiveness of alternative methods of surgical repair of inguinal hernia

Objectives: To assess the relative cost-effectiveness of laparoscopic methods of inguinal hernia repair compared with open flat mesh and open non-mesh repair. Methods: Data on the effectiveness of these alternatives came from three systematic reviews comparing: (i) laparoscopic methods with open flat mesh or non-mesh methods; (ii) open flat mesh with open non-mesh repair; and (iii) methods that used synthetic mesh to repair the hernia defect with those that did not. Data on costs were obtained from the authors of economic evaluations previously conducted alongside trials included in the reviews. A Markov model was used to model cost-effectiveness for a five-year period after the initial operation. The outcomes of the model were presented using a balance sheet approach and as cost per hernia recurrence avoided and cost per extra day at usual activities. Results: Open flat mesh was the most cost-effective method of preventing recurrences. Laparoscopic repair provided a shorter period of convalescence and less long-term pain compared with open flat mesh but was more costly. The mean incremental cost per additional day back at usual activities compared with open flat mesh was €38 and €80 for totally extraperitoneal and transabdominal preperitoneal repair, respectively. Conclusions: Laparoscopic repair is not cost-effective compared with open flat mesh repair in terms of cost per recurrence avoided. Decisions about the use of laparoscopic repair depend on whether the benefits (reduced pain and earlier return to usual activities) outweigh the extra costs and intraoperative risks. On the evidence presented here, these extra costs are unlikely to be offset by the short-term benefits of laparoscopic repair.Luke Vale, Adrian Grant, Kirsty McCormack, Neil W. Scott and the EU Hernia Trialists Collaboratio

Concerning the quark condensate

A continuum expression for the trace of the massive dressed-quark propagator is used to explicate a connection between the infrared limit of the QCD Dirac operator's spectrum and the quark condensate appearing in the operator product expansion, and the connection is verified via comparison with a lattice-QCD simulation. The pseudoscalar vacuum polarisation provides a good approximation to the condensate over a larger range of current-quark masses.Comment: 7 pages, LaTeX2e, revtex

Electroless synthesis of 3nm wide alloy nanowires inside Tobacco mosaic virus

We show that 3nm wide cobaltiron alloy nanowires can be synthesized by simple wet chemical electroless deposition inside tubular Tobacco mosaic virus particles. The method is based on adsorption of Pd(II) ions, formation of a Pd catalyst, and autocatalytic deposition of the alloy from dissolved metal salts, reduced by a borane compound. Extensive energy-filtering TEM investigations at the nanoscale revealed that the synthesized wires are alloys of Co, Fe, and Ni. We confirmed by high-resolution TEM that our alloy nanowires are at least partially crystalline, which is compatible with typical Co-rich alloys. Ni traces bestow higher stability, presumably against corrosion, as also known from bulk CoFe. Alloy nanowires, as small as the ones presented here, might be used for a variety of applications including high density data storage, imaging, sensing, and even drug delivery. © 2012 IOP Publishing Ltd