Ovine Body Composition as Influenced by Live Weight

Breeders are looking today for larger, growthier animals which will produce a fast gaining market lamb. The market animals must be able to reach a desirable weight with a correct amount of finish. The weight at which these lambs are marketed influences average daily gain and feed efficiency. This market weight often depends upon the availability and cost of feed. When market prices look favorable for the future, the producer tends to put additional weight on his lambs in order to obtain a greater total return. The producer is usually encouraged to market his products at weights which maximize feed efficiency and meat production. During the last five to ten years, trimness has become very important in all species of livestock. Size and scale of the market lamb has increased with a trimmer type of lamb produced. Growthy lambs tend to gain more rapidly and produce a leaner, trimmer carcass which may sell at a premium. The packer\u27s slaughtering and processing costs are prorated on a per head basis; therefore, it costs the packer the same amount to slaughter and process a 90 pound lamb as it does a larger one. With new techniques for processing such, as prepackaging, it may become desirable for the packer to purchase lambs which are heavier than current market weights. Lambs which are trim heavily muscled and have a high percentage of edible portion are being produced at these heavier weights. The production of more lambs of this type will assure a greater return on investment to both the packer and producer. This study was designed to evaluate the influence of live weight on carcass composition, particularly edible portion

The Influence of Feedlot Weight on Market Lamb Peformance and Body Composition

In the last five to ten years, trimness has become very important in all species of livestock. During this time the size and scale of the market lamb has increased with a trimmer market lamb being produced. Light weight lambs tend to gain more rapidly and produce a leaner, trimmer carcass which may sell at a premium. The packer\u27s slaughtering and processing costs are prorated on a per head basis, therefore, it costs the packer the same amount to slaughter and process a 90 pound lamb as it does a larger one. With new techniques for processing, such as prepackaging, it may become desirable for the packer to purchase lambs which are larger than current market weights. Lambs are now produced which at these heavier weights are trim, heavily muscled and have a high percentage of edible portion. The production of more lambs of this type will assure a greater return on investment to both the packer and producer

A genetically encoded reporter of synaptic activity in vivo

To image synaptic activity within neural circuits, we tethered the genetically encoded calcium indicator (GECI) GCaMP2 to synaptic vesicles by fusion to synaptophysin. The resulting reporter, SyGCaMP2, detected the electrical activity of neurons with two advantages over existing cytoplasmic GECIs: it identified the locations of synapses and had a linear response over a wider range of spike frequencies. Simulations and experimental measurements indicated that linearity arises because SyGCaMP2 samples the brief calcium transient passing through the presynaptic compartment close to voltage-sensitive calcium channels rather than changes in bulk calcium concentration. In vivo imaging in zebrafish demonstrated that SyGCaMP2 can assess electrical activity in conventional synapses of spiking neurons in the optic tectum and graded voltage signals transmitted by ribbon synapses of retinal bipolar cells. Localizing a GECI to synaptic terminals provides a strategy for monitoring activity across large groups of neurons at the level of individual synapses

Outside in-group and out-group identities? Constructing male solidarity and female exclusion in UK builders’ talk

This article examines the spoken interactions of a group of British construction workers to discover whether it is possible to identify a distinctive ‘builders’ discourse’. Given that builders work for a mostly all-male profession (Curjao, 2006), we ask whether the ways in which male builders converse with each other while ‘on the job’ can be held in any way responsible for the under-representation of women within this major occupational sector in the UK. This article reports on a case study of the conversations of three white, working-class, male builders, which took place while travelling in a truck between different building sites. This forms part of a larger ethnographic study of builders’ discourse in different work locations. The analysis shows that male builders are highly collaborative in constructing narratives of in-group and out-group identities (Duszak, 2002; Tajfel, 1978). Various other male groups are demonized in these conversations: Polish immigrant builders, rude clients and rival builders. However, there is almost no reference to women. The article concludes that women are viewed as so unthreatening to male ascendancy in the building industry that they do not even feature within the ‘out-group’

Expansion of Nature Conservation Areas: Problems with Natura 2000 Implementation in Poland?

In spite of widespread support from most member countries’ societies for European Union policy, including support for the sustainable development idea, in many EU countries the levels of acceptance of new environmental protection programmes have been and, in particular in new member states, still are considerably low. The experience of the countries which were the first to implement union directives show that they cannot be effectively applied without widespread public participation. The goal of this study was, using the example of Poland, to assess public acceptance of the expansion of nature conservation in the context of sustainable development principles and to discover whether existing nature governance should be modified when establishing new protected areas. The increase in protected areas in Poland has become a hotbed of numerous conflicts. In spite of the generally favourable attitudes to nature which Polish people generally have, Natura 2000 is perceived as an unnecessary additional conservation tool. Both local authorities and communities residing in the Natura areas think that the programme is a hindrance, rather than a help in the economic development of municipalities or regions, as was initially supposed. This lack of acceptance results from many factors, mainly social, historic and economic. The implications of these findings for current approach to the nature governance in Poland are discussed