Inhibiting Dhurrin Biosynthesis Effects on Stocker Cattle Daily Gains

Climate change has made resilient crops more valuable in many agricultural production systems. Sorghum is an important resilient grain and forage crop due to its high drought tolerance and ability to thrive in low-N environments. All current commercial sorghum varieties produce the cyanogenic glucoside dhurrin. Cell maceration causes the conversion of dhurrin to hydrogen cyanide (HCN), which is toxic to animals. Toxicity symptoms range from labored breathing and convulsions to death within minutes. The dhurrin biosynthesis pathway was altered to inhibit dhurrin production by a mutation that inactivated CYP79A1, the first enzyme in the pathway. The dhurrin-free phenotype eliminates the risk of hydrogen cyanide (HCN) poisoning in animals; however, agronomic performance and livestock responses when the dhurrin-free is grazed has not been studied. This study focused on the impacts of the cyp79a1 mutation on sorghum forage production and utilization. Over two months, weight gains were compared for stocker calves grazing either a dhurrin-free hybrid and a conventional hybrid (S&W SP4105). Presence or absence of HCN, nutritional quality, and yields were also determined before and throughout the grazing trial. The dhurrin-free hybrid and SP4105 had equivalent biomass yields (kg ha-1) throughout the trial. The dhurrin-free hybrid’s neutral detergent fiber and acid detergent fiber were 35 and 20 mg g-1 lower, respectively, when compared to SP4105 on the first sampling date (P-value \u3c 0.1). Rumen degradable protein and total digestible nutrients were higher as well for the dhurrin-free, but the two hybrids were similar by the second sampling date for nutritional quality. Average daily gain was similar between the dhurrin-free hybrid and the conventional sorghum hybrid. Taken together, dhurrin-free sorghum has many beneficial aspects as a forage; no fear of HCN toxicity and competitive weight gains of stocker calves, with excellent biomass yields and forage quality

Screening and assessment tools for gaming disorder: A comprehensive systematic review

The inclusion of gaming disorder (GD) as an official diagnosis in the ICD-11 was a significant milestone for the field. However, the optimal measurement approaches for GD are currently unclear. This comprehensive systematic review aimed to identify and evaluate all available English-language GD tools and their corresponding evidence. A search of PsychINFO, PsychArticles, ScienceDirect, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar identified 32 tools employed in 320 studies (N = 462,249 participants). The evaluation framework examined tools in relation to: (1) conceptual and practical considerations; (2) alignment with DSM-5 and ICD-11 criteria; (3) type and quantity of studies and samples; and (4) psychometric properties. The evaluation showed that GD instrumentation has proliferated, with 2.5 tools, on average, published annually since 2013. Coverage of DSM-5 and ICD-11 criteria was inconsistent, especially for the criterion of continued use despite harm. Tools converge on the importance of screening for impaired control over gaming and functional impairment. Overall, no single tool was found to be clearly superior, but the AICA-Sgaming, GAS-7, IGDT-10, IGDS9-SF, and Lemmens IGD-9 scales had greater evidential support for their psychometric properties. The GD field would benefit from a standard international tool to identify gaming-related harms across the spectrum of maladaptive gaming behaviors.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Electromagnetic Scanning of Beef Quarters to Predict Carcass and Primal Lean Content

To study the use of electromagnetic scanning in prediction of lean content in beef carcasses and cuts, 100 beef cattle (60 steers and 40 heifers), representing a broad range in external fat thickness (. 1 to 2.9 cm) and live weight (414 to 742 kg), were selected. Chilled right sides were divided into streamlined (foreshank, brisket, and ventral plate removed) forequarters (FQ) and full hindquarters (HQ) and scanned. Primal rounds, loins, ribs, and chucks were fabricated from the right side, scanned, and physically separated into lean, fat, and bone. Prediction equations for dissected lean content and percentage of lean included the peak of the electromagnetic scan response curve (obtained from scanning the HQ or FQ), length, temperature and weight of the scanned cut, and fat thickness at the 12th rib. Using the coefficient of determination, root mean square error, and Mallows\u27 Cp statistic, the best model for each dependent variable (weight and percentage of lean) that included up to five independent variables was selected. Prediction equations for the HQ or FQ of steers accounted for 84 to 93% of the variation in lean weight of beef sides and quarters and 71 to 93% of primals. Sixty-one to 75% of the variation in percentage of lean in sides and quarters and 48 to 65% of primals was also explained. Similar results were obtained for heifer carcasses. Predicting percentage of lean in any scanned cut, rather than weight of lean, accounted for less of the variation. Weight and fat thickness contributed significantly when predicting percentage of lean. These data indicate that electromagnetic scanning is capable of objectively measuring lean content in beef quarters and primals

Efficacy of tannin in fixing boron in wood: Fungal and termite resistance

The easy leaching of boron from wood preservation formulations has limited the use of this highly active fungicide. The recently discovered adduct with flavonoids allows boron to be retained for longer periods of time within wood and consequently to extend its life. Two different leaching treatments were compared, and the fungal and termite decay were examined. The biological tests showed extremely high resistance of the leached samples against both fungus (Coriolus Versicolor and Coniophora Puteana) and termites (Reticulitermes Santonensis). The retention of 2.5 kg/m 3 was determined as the threshold of efficacy of boron in flavonoid-based wood preservative. Furthermore, solid state 13C-NMR analysis of the tannin resin indicated that boron can be covalently fixed to the tannin-hexamine network

Sensitivity equations for hyperbolic conservation law-based flow models

The present paper focuses on the governing equations for the sensitivity of the variables to the parameters in flow models that can be described by one-dimensional scalar, hyperbolic conservation laws. The sensitivity is shown to obey a hyperbolic, scalar conservation law. The sensitivity is a conserved scalar except in the case of discontinuous flow solutions, where an extra, point source term must be added to the equations in order to enforce conservation. The propagation speed of the sensitivity waves being identical to that of the conserved variable in the original conservation law, the system of conservation laws formed by the original hyperbolic equation and the equation satisfied by the sensitivity is linearly degenerate. A consequence on the solution of the Riemann problem is that rarefaction waves for the variable of the original equation result in vacuum regions for the sensitivity. The numerical solution of the hyperbolic conservation law for the sensitivity by finite volume methods requires the implementation of a specific shock detection procedure. A set of necessary conditions is defined for the discretisation of the source term in the sensitivity equation. An application to the one-dimensional kinematic wave equation shows that the proposed numerical technique allows analytical solutions to be reproduced correctly. The computational examples show that first-order numerical schemes do not yield satisfactory numerical solutions in the neighbourhood of moving shocks and that higher-order schemes, such as the MUSCL scheme, should be used for sharp transients

Colloidal quantum light sources based on asymmetric semiconductor nanocrystals

We report on the development of efficient and low cost single photon sources for quantum communications. The work discusses the suitability of colloidal nanocrystals as sources of quantum light as well as it draws out possible solutions to overtake the drawbacks of these emitters, such as blinking and polarization

Neurochemical Correlates of Cue Reactivity in Individuals with Excessive Smartphone Use

Background: Excessive smartphone use (ESU), that is, a pattern of smartphone use that shows specific features of addictive behavior, has increasingly attracted societal and scientific interest in the past years. On the neurobiological level, ESU has recently been related to structural and functional variation in reward and salience processing networks, as shown by, for example, aberrant patterns of neural activity elicited by specific smartphone cues. Objectives: Expanding on these findings, using cross-modal correlations of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based measures with nuclear imaging-derived estimates, we aimed at identifying neurochemical pathways that are related to ESU. Methods: Cross-modal correlations between functional MRI data derived from a cue-reactivity task administered in persons with and without ESU and specific PET/SPECT receptor probability maps. Results: The endogenous mu-opioid receptor (MOR) system was found to be significantly (FDR-corrected) correlated with fMRI data, and z-transformed correlation coefficients showed an association (albeit nonsignificant after FDR-correction) between MOR and the Smartphone Addiction Inventory "withdrawal"dimension. Conclusions: We could identify the MOR system as a neurochemical pathway associated with ESU. The MOR system is closely linked to the reward system, which has been recognized as a key player in addictive disorders. Together with its potential link to withdrawal, the MOR system hints toward a biologically highly relevant marker, which should be taken into consideration in the ongoing scientific discussion on technology-related addictive behaviors