Regulation of Periparturient Milk Composition in Jersey Cattle

The composition of milk from dairy cows varies more in the colostral period than in other periods of lactation. The objective of this study was to determine which factors influence milk composition of Jersey cows during the colostral period. Composite milk samples were collected from 21 lactating Jersey cows of the Iowa State University Teaching Herd between February and July at 0, 12, 24, 30, 38, 46, 54, 62, 80, and 88 hours postpartum. The milk samples were analyzed for total fat, lactose, and protein content by infrared spectroscopy, for total protein nitrogen, non-casein nitrogen, and non-protein nitrogen content by Kjeldahl analyses, and for αS1–casein, β-casein, κ-casein, αS2-casein, α-lactalbumin, and β–lactoglobulin concentrations by reversed-phase HPLC. Milk composition changed during the first 4 days after parturition and was influenced by calving season, length of gestation, and parity; and all had significant interactions with time postpartum (all P \u3c 0.01). Colostrum matured to normal milk in the first two days after parturition. The maturation of colostrum was associated with an increase in lactose content and a decrease in protein content, in particular of whey proteins other than α–lactalbumin. The colostrum of cows that calved between February and April had a lower lactose and a greater protein content, in particular of whey proteins other than α–lactalbumin and β–lactoglobulin, than did colostrum of cows that calved in May and June. The colostrum of multiparous cows was higher in protein content than was the colostrum of heifers because of higher concentrations of whey proteins. During the colostral period, milk of cows that calved before the predicted calving date had greater protein concentrations than did milk from cows that calved at or after the predicted calving date, which was the result of higher concentrations of whey proteins other than α–lactalbumin and β–lactoglobulin. We conclude that time postpartum, calving season, length of gestation, and parity affect the composition of milk in the early secretory period in lactating Jersey cows

Changes in Milk Protein and Amino Acid Composition of Dairy Cows in Response to Fatty Liver and Intravenous Glucagon

Intravenous glucagon cures fatty liver by improving glucose bioavailability in early lactation. Amino acids, which would be otherwise used for milk protein synthesis, are metabolized to glucose. The objective of this study was to examine whether intravenous glucagon and fatty liver change milk protein and amino acid composition in dairy cows. Multiparous Holstein cows (n=25) were designated as either normal or susceptible to fatty liver and ketosis as based on the ratio of liver triacylglycerol to glycogen being smaller or greater than 2.0 at d 6 postpartum. Cows susceptible to fatty liver were subjected for 3 weeks to a protocol consisting of feed restriction and dietary 1,3- butanediol beginning at d 14 postpartum, which induced fatty liver and ketosis. Normal cows and cows with fatty liver were infused with glucagon for 14 d at 0 or 10 mg/d beginning at d 21 postpartum. Composite milk samples were obtained at d 20, 22, 34, and 36 postpartum and analyzed for milk protein and amino acid composition. Fatty liver decreased milk yield but had little effect on milk protein and amino acid composition except for increasing the proportion of glycosylated κ-casein. Intravenous glucagon decreased total milk protein concentrations and the proportion of α–lactalbumin and increased the proportion of glycosylated κ-casein, total κ-casein, and αS2-casein. Intravenous glucagon had little effect on milk amino acid composition. Our results suggest that milk protein and amino acid composition are under tight concomitant hormonal control and are affected little by changes in amino acid availability and/or insulin to glucagon ratio

Milk Protein Genotypes Explain Variation of Milk Protein Composition

The data demonstrate that cows with the genotypes κ- casein BB and β-lactoglobulin BB produce milk with a protein composition that is favorable for increased cheese yield. For proportions of αS1-casein, κ-casein, and β-lactoglobulin in total milk protein, κ-casein and β-lactoglobulin genotypes explained more than 50 and 25% of the heritability and repeatability estimates, respectively, and more than 14% of the phenotypic variance. Diet had only a minimal effect on milk protein composition. In conclusion, increasing cheese yield through modification of milk protein composition can be achieved most rapidly by selection for cows with κ-casein BB and β-lactoglobulin BB genotypes

Texture of Butters Made from Milks Differing in Indices of Atherogenicity

The current study examined whether the phenotypic variation in milk fatty acid composition among cows fed the same diet was sufficient to produce butter with different textural properties. Butter samples from cows with a more unsaturated milk fatty acid composition had a lower index of atherogenicity and were more spreadable, softer, and less adhesive than were butter samples from cows with a more saturated milk fatty acid composition. Thus, selection of cows for milk fatty acid composition short-term by segregation and long-term by breeding programs can be used to produce butter that is more healthful and has a more favorable texture

Compressional and Shear Waves Tests Through Upper Sheet of Low Angle Thrust Fault

Compressional and shear wave tests were conducted on the upper thrust sheet of the low angle Little Salmon thrust fault. The study was conducted on the campus of the College of the Redwoods. The campus is located approximately 8 miles south of Eureka and 24 miles north-northeast of Cape Mendocino and the Mendocino Triple Junction (MTJ) in Northern California. The MTJ is the point of transition from strike-slip faulting of the San Andreas transform system to low-angle reverse (thrust) faulting and folding associated with the convergent margin of the Cascadia Subduction Zone. The campus is located on the southwest limb of the Humboldt Hill anticline, one of the folds in the fold and thrust belt. The Little Salmon fault zone is a low angle thrust fault that day lights on the south side of the campus and then projects underneath striking northwest and dipping northeast. A boring was drilled down to the fault plane located at a depth of 200 ft. in the upper thrust block to develop a mode1 of the stratification as well as the material properties. The boring also revealed the trunk of a redwood tree located at a depth of 180 feet. Results of compressional and shear wave velocities as a function of depth that were determined using an downhole geophysical technique. Results indicated two shear wave velocity units. Unit 1 was from 0 to 120 ft. with a shear wave velocity ranging from 950- 1400 fps. Unit 2 ranged from 120 to 190 ft. with a shear wave velocity ranging from 2300 to 2600 fps. Compression wave velocity measurements obtained from the same test boring also depict a change in velocity in the 100 to 120 foot range. A response spectra was generated based on this in-situ mode1 using SHARE91 and compared against one developed using the Boore, Joyner and Fumal empirical model

Use of Microzonation to Site Facility on Low Angle Thrust and Associated Fault Bend Folding

The campus of the College of the Redwoods is located completely within the Little Salmon Fault Zone, designated by the State of California as an active fault. The College has been extensively investigated for fault rupture and other seismic hazards in 1989, 1993, 1997, 1998, and 1999. The Little Salmon Fault Zone bounds the College and consists of two main northwest-striking, northeastdipping, low-angle thrusts. The west splay daylights along the southwest edge of the campus and projects beneath it. A recurrence interval of 268 years and slip rate of 5+/-3 mm/yr is estimated by CDMG. Individual dip-slip displacements along the west trace are reported to be 12 to 15 feet (3.6 to 4.5 m). Movement on the Little Salmon fault (LSF) is accompanied by growth of broad asymmetric folds in the upper thrust sheet resulting in surface rupture, localized uplift and discreet fault-bend fold axial surfaces. College of the Redwoods is located approximately 8 miles (13 km) south of Eureka and 25 miles (40 km) north-northeast of Cape Mendocino and the Mendocino Triple Junction (MTJ) in northern California. The \u27MTJ is the point of transition fi-om strike-slip faulting of the San Andreas transform system to low-angle thrust faulting and folding associated with the convergent margin of the Cascadia Subduction Zone. Campus infrastructure is located along the base of the Humboldt Hill Anticline (HHA), a major faultbend fold of the Cascadia fold and thrust belt. A new learning resource center (LRC) is proposed for a location 400 feet (120 m) northeast of where the west trace of the LSF daylights and 200 feet (60 m) above the low-angle fault plane. Building setback and design recommendations to mitigate for both fault rupture hazards and fault-generated folding hazards are presented

Letter Report: LAW Simulant Development for Cast Stone Screening Test

More than 56 million gallons of radioactive and hazardous waste are stored in 177 underground storage tanks at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Hanford Site in southeastern Washington State. The Hanford Tank Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) is being constructed to treat the wastes and immobilize them in a glass waste form. The WTP includes a pretreatment facility to separate the wastes into a small volume of high-level waste (HLW) containing most of the radioactivity and a larger volume of low-activity waste (LAW) containing most of the nonradioactive chemicals. The HLW will be converted to glass in the HLW vitrification facility for ultimate disposal at an offsite federal repository. At least a portion (~35%) of the LAW will be converted to glass in the LAW vitrification facility and will be disposed of onsite at the Integrated Disposal Facility (IDF). The pretreatment and HLW vitrification facilities will have the capacity to treat and immobilize the wastes destined for each facility. However, a second facility will be needed for the expected volume of additional LAW requiring immobilization. A cementitious waste form known as Cast Stone is being considered to provide the required additional LAW immobilization capacity. The Cast Stone waste form must be acceptable for disposal in the IDF. The Cast Stone waste form and immobilization process must be tested to demonstrate that the final Cast Stone waste form can comply with waste acceptance criteria for the IDF disposal facility and that the immobilization processes can be controlled to consistently provide an acceptable waste form product. Further, the waste form must be tested to provide the technical basis for understanding the long term performance of the waste form in the IDF disposal environment. These waste form performance data are needed to support risk assessment and performance assessment (PA) analyses of the long-term environmental impact of the waste disposal in the IDF. A testing program was developed in fiscal year (FY) 2012 describing in some detail the work needed to develop and qualify Cast Stone as a waste form for the solidification of Hanford LAW (Westsik et al. 2012). Included within Westsik et al. (2012) is a section on the near-term needs to address Tri-Party Agreement Milestone M-062-40ZZ. The objectives of the testing program to be conducted in FY 2013 and FY 2014 are to: • Determine an acceptable formulation for the LAW Cast Stone waste form. • Evaluate sources of dry materials for preparing the LAW Cast Stone. • Demonstrate the robustness of the Cast Stone waste form for a range of LAW compositions. • Demonstrate the robustness of the formulation for variability in the Cast Stone process. • Provide Cast Stone contaminant release data for PA and risk assessment evaluations. The first step in determining an acceptable formulation for the LAW Cast Stone waste form is to conduct screening tests to examine expected ranges in pretreated LAW composition, waste stream concentrations, dry-materials sources, and mix ratios of waste feed to dry blend. A statistically designed test matrix will be used to evaluate the effects of these key parameters on the properties of the Cast Stone as it is initially prepared and after curing. The second phase of testing will focus on selection of a baseline Cast Stone formulation for LAW and demonstrating that Cast Stone can meet expected waste form requirements for disposal in the IDF. It is expected that this testing will use the results of the screening tests to define a smaller suite of tests to refine the composition of the baseline Cast Stone formulation (e.g. waste concentration, water to dry mix ratio, waste loading)

Global analysis of estrogen receptor beta binding to breast cancer cell genome reveals an extensive interplay with estrogen receptor alpha for target gene regulation

Background: Estrogen receptors alpha (ERa) and beta (ERb) are transcription factors (TFs) that mediate estrogen signaling and define the hormone-responsive phenotype of breast cancer (BC). The two receptors can be found co-expressed and play specific, often opposite, roles, with ERb being able to modulate the effects of ERa on gene transcription and cell proliferation. ERb is frequently lost in BC, where its presence generally correlates with a better prognosis of the disease. The identification of the genomic targets of ERb in hormone-responsive BC cells is thus a critical step to elucidate the roles of this receptor in estrogen signaling and tumor cell biology. Results: Expression of full-length ERb in hormone-responsive, ERa-positive MCF-7 cells resulted in a marked reduction in cell proliferation in response to estrogen and marked effects on the cell transcriptome. By ChIP-Seq we identified 9702 ERb and 6024 ERa binding sites in estrogen-stimulated cells, comprising sites occupied by either ERb, ERa or both ER subtypes. A search for TF binding matrices revealed that the majority of the binding sites identified comprise one or more Estrogen Response Element and the remaining show binding matrixes for other TFs known to mediate ER interaction with chromatin by tethering, including AP2, E2F and SP1. Of 921 genes differentially regulated by estrogen in ERb+ vs ERb- cells, 424 showed one or more ERb site within 10 kb. These putative primary ERb target genes control cell proliferation, death, differentiation, motility and adhesion, signal transduction and transcription, key cellular processes that might explain the biological and clinical phenotype of tumors expressing this ER subtype. ERb binding in close proximity of several miRNA genes and in the mitochondrial genome, suggests the possible involvement of this receptor in small non-coding RNA biogenesis and mitochondrial genome functions. Conclusions: Results indicate that the vast majority of the genomic targets of ERb can bind also ERa, suggesting that the overall action of ERb on the genome of hormone-responsive BC cells depends mainly on the relative concentration of both ERs in the cell

Joint practice guidelines for radionuclide lymphoscintigraphy for sentinel node localization in oral/oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma

Involvement of the cervical lymph nodes is the most important prognostic factor for patients with oral/oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), and the decision whether to electively treat patients with clinically negative necks remains a controversial topic. Sentinel node biopsy (SNB) provides a minimally invasive method of determining the disease status of the cervical node basin, without the need for a formal neck dissection. This technique potentially improves the accuracy of histological nodal staging and avoids over-treating three-quarters of this patient population, minimizing associated morbidity. The technique has been validated for patients with OSCC, and larger-scale studies are in progress to determine its exact role in the management of this patient population. This article was designed to outline the current best practice guidelines for the provision of SNB in patients with early-stage OSCC, and to provide a framework for the currently evolving recommendations for its use. These guidelines were prepared by a multidisciplinary surgical/nuclear medicine/pathology expert panel under the joint auspices of the European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM) Oncology Committee and the Sentinel European Node Trial Committee