A Modified Forage System for Stocker Production in the Southern Great Plains, USA

Putting low-cost gain on yearling cattle with forages is an important agricultural activity in the Southern Great Plains. The primary forage system within the area incorporates two forages: winter wheat (Triticum aestivum) for grazing in fall through spring, and warm- season grasses in the summer (Fig. 1). These systems have significant gaps in time when high-quality forage is not available. This study tested the function of introduced cool-season perennial grasses in filling the spring gap, and their capacity as large-scale replacements for winter wheat

Graze-Out Plus: Filling Forage Gaps in the Southern Great Plains, USA

Putting low-cost gain on yearling cattle with forages is a significant agricultural activity in the Southern Great Plains. The primary forage system within the area has two components: winter wheat (Triticum aesitivum) grazed from fall through spring (Redmon et al., 1995), and warm-season perennial grasses for summer grazing. This system has significant gaps (Fig. 1) when high-quality forage is not readily available (September-November and May-June). Introduced cool-season perennial grasses have longer growing seasons than wheat, and could help fill these gaps. This experiment tested the function of an introduced cool-season perennial grass, new to the southern Great Plains, in a stocker production system involving intensive grazing of paddocks

Conservation, Evaluation and Dissemination of Groundnut Germplasm and Foundation Seed Production and Distribution for the West African Region Proceedings of the final workshop 22-25 April 2002 Bamako, Mali

The Gr o u n d n u t Germplasm Project (GGP) was ini t iated in 1996 wi t h the pr incipal aim of restor ing the genetic diversi t y of groundnut in West Af r ica and supplying seed of improved varieties t o Nat ional Agr icul tural Research Systems (NARS) and other benef iciar ies. ICRISAT, as Project Execut ing Agency and, in col laborat ion wi t h its par tners ISRA and CIRAD, organized an end-of -project workshop f r o m 22 to 25 Ap r i l 2002 at Bamako, Ma l i . The object ive of thi s wor k shop was to present the remarkable achievements of the project to a wide range of stakeholders and ident i f y fol low-up act ion for a sustainable seed produc t ion and del iver y scheme in West Af r ica. Par t icipants at the workshop were f r o m various spheres, including research and development ( R & D ) , nongovernmental organizations (NGOs ) , the pr ivate sector, and groundnut producers. Project results were presented dur ing the di f ferent sessions, one of wh i c h focused on presentat ions by NARS about groundnut seed suppl y systems in selected count r ies. Parallel group discussions focused on conservat ion of genet ic resources and thei r opt imal ut i l izat ion, st rengthening of seed mul t ipl i cat ion and di s t r ibut ion, and the role of the publ i c and pr ivate sector in the groundnut sector. These produced impor tant conclusions that wi l l help guide the future development of sustainable seed systems in West Af r ica. The opinions in this publ icat ion are those of authors and not necessarily those of ICRISAT. The designations employed and the presentat ions of the mater ial in this publ icat ion do not imp l y the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the par t of ICRISAT concerning the legal status of any count ry, ter r i tory, city, or area, or of i ts author i t ies, or concerning the del imi tat ion of its f ront ier s or boundar ies. Wh e r e t rade names are used this does not const i tute endorsement of or discr iminat ion against any product by the Inst i tute

Strengthening conservation and utilization of ground-nut (Arachis hypogaea L.) genetic resources in West Africa

This paper describes the status of ground-nut (Arachis hypogaea L.) genetic resources conservation and utilization in West Africa. A proportion of ground-nut accessions conserved in the ICRISAT gene bank in Patancheru, India, were duplicated at ICRISAT, Niamey, Niger, to provide ready access to a greater range of diversity for crop improvement scientists. With support from the Common Fund for Commodities (CFC), 6000 accessions from 73 countries were assembled, representing the major botanic types and maturity groups. These accessions were characterized and evaluated for desirable traits at selected locations in West Africa, India and Malawi. The accessions were screened for their reaction to important diseases, including rust, early and late leaf spots, ground-nut rosette virus and aflatoxin contamination. In the collection, 166 accessions show resistance to rust, 80 to late leaf spot, 30 to early leaf spot, 150 to ground-nut rosette disease and 74 to Aspergillus flavus invasion and aflatoxin contamination. The germplasm has been documented in printed catalogues, digitally on CD-ROMs and posted on the Web. Procedures for the distribution and exchange of germplasm were developed and 6371 samples were distributed to users. With support from the World Bank, an additional room was constructed at the gene bank at Niamey to accommodate 13 deep freezers to conserve the entire global ground-nut germplasm and other species, especially pearl millet

The apolipoprotein ϵ4 allele in Parkinson\u27s disease with and without dementia

The ϵ4 isoform of apolipoprotein E (Apo-E) may confer genetic susceptibility for familial and sporadic Alzheimer\u27s disease (AD). Because dementia in AD and Parkinson\u27s disease (PD) share many biologic and clinical features, we determined the Apo-E genotypes for 79 patients with PD, 22 of whom were demented, and for 44 age-matched healthy elderly controls from the same community. We hypothesized that if the dementia was similar to AD, there would be a higher allele frequency of apolipoprotein ϵ4 (Apoϵ4) in demented PD patients compared with nondemented PD patients and controls. The ϵ4 allele frequency for PD without dementia was 0.132, for PD with dementia, 0.068, and for controls, 0.102. There was no association between Apoϵ4 and dementia in the PD patients. We conclude that the biologic basis for dementia in PD may differ from that of AD

Genome-wide association of familial late-onset alzheimer's disease replicates BIN1 and CLU and nominates CUGBP2 in interaction with APOE

Late-onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD) is the most common form of dementia in the elderly. The National Institute of Aging-Late Onset Alzheimer's Disease Family Study and the National Cell Repository for Alzheimer's Disease conducted a joint genome-wide association study (GWAS) of multiplex LOAD families (3,839 affected and unaffected individuals from 992 families plus additional unrelated neurologically evaluated normal subjects) using the 610 IlluminaQuad panel. This cohort represents the largest family-based GWAS of LOAD to date, with analyses limited here to the European-American subjects. SNPs near APOE gave highly significant results (e.g., rs2075650, p = 3.2×10-81), but no other genome-wide significant evidence for association was obtained in the full sample. Analyses that stratified on APOE genotypes identified SNPs on chromosome 10p14 in CUGBP2 with genome-wide significant evidence for association within APOE ε4 homozygotes (e.g., rs201119, p = 1.5×10-8). Association in this gene was replicated in an independent sample consisting of three cohorts. There was evidence of association for recently-reported LOAD risk loci, including BIN1 (rs7561528, p = 0.009 with, and p = 0.03 without, APOE adjustment) and CLU (rs11136000, p = 0.023 with, and p = 0.008 without, APOE adjustment), with weaker support for CR1. However, our results provide strong evidence that association with PICALM (rs3851179, p = 0.69 with, and p = 0.039 without, APOE adjustment) and EXOC3L2 is affected by correlation with APOE, and thus may represent spurious association. Our results indicate that genetic structure coupled with ascertainment bias resulting from the strong APOE association affect genome-wide results and interpretation of some recently reported associations. We show that a locus such as APOE, with large effects and strong association with disease, can lead to samples that require appropriate adjustment for this locus to avoid both false positive and false negative evidence of association. We suggest that similar adjustments may also be needed for many other large multi-site studies. © 2011 Wijsman et al

Evaluation of Beef Cattle Operations Utilizing Different Seasons of Calving, Weaning Strategies, Postweaning Management, and Retained Ownership

Data from a 3-yr study in Montana were utilized to evaluate impacts of season of calving, weaning strategy, and retained ownership of steer calves on enterprise profitability. Calving seasons were late winter (LW), early spring (ES), or late spring (LS). Each season had 2 weaning times: 190 (LW190, ES190) or 240 (LW240, ES240) d for LW and ES, and 140 (LS140) or 190 (LS190) d for LS. Backgrounding options included shipping steers to Oklahoma (OK1), or backgrounding in Montana to a constant age (MT2) or weight (MT3). Steers from OK1 and MT2 were finished in Oklahoma in confinement or via self-feeders on pasture and harvested in Texas. Steers in MT3 were finished in Montana in confinement and harvested in Colorado. Performance of each system was modeled based on actual animal performance, market prices, and variable input costs. When calves were sold at weaning, gross margins per cow were greatest for LS190 (P \u3c 0.05) and lowest for LW240. During backgrounding, costs of gain were similar among cow-calf systems, and gross margins per steer were greatest for LS140 (P \u3c 0.05), but not different among backgrounding systems. During finishing, costs of gain were greatest for steers from MT2 due to transportation costs to Oklahoma (P \u3c 0.05), and gross margin per steer favored MT3 (P \u3c 0.05). Gross margin for a ranch with a fixed land base did not differ among systems if calves were sold at weaning, but was greatest for LS systems after backgrounding or finishing (P \u3c 0.05)

1987: Abilene Christian College Bible Lectures - Full Text

THE MIND OF CHRIST Being the Abilene Christian University Annual Bible Lectures 1987 Published by A.C.U. Press 1634 Campus Court Abilene, Texas 7960

TP73 allelic expression in human brain and allele frequencies in Alzheimer's disease

BACKGROUND: The p73 protein, a paralogue of the p53 tumor suppressor, is essential for normal development and survival of neurons. TP73 is therefore of interest as a candidate gene for Alzheimer's disease (AD) susceptibility. TP73 mRNA is transcribed from three promoters, termed P1 – P3, and there is evidence for an additional complexity in its regulation, namely, a variable allelic expression bias in some human tissues. METHODS: We utilized RT-PCR/RFLP and direct cDNA sequencing to measure allele-specific expression of TP73 mRNA, SNP genotyping to assess genetic associations with AD, and promoter-reporter assays to assess allele-specific TP73 promoter activity. RESULTS: Using a coding-neutral BanI polymorphism in TP73 exon 5 as an allelic marker, we found a pronounced allelic expression bias in one adult brain hippocampus, while 3 other brains (two adult; one fetal) showed approximately equal expression from both alleles. In a tri-ethnic elderly population of African-Americans, Caribbean Hispanics and Caucasians, a G/A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) at -386 in the TP73 P3 promoter was weakly but significantly associated with AD (crude O.R. for AD given any -386G allele 1.7; C.I. 1.2–2.5; after adjusting for age and education O.R. 1.5; C.I. 1.1–2.3, N= 1191). The frequency of the -386G allele varied by ethnicity and was highest in African-Americans and lowest in Caucasians. No significant differences in basal P3 promoter activity were detected comparing -386G vs. -386A promoter-luciferase constructs in human SK-NSH-N neuroblastoma cells. CONCLUSIONS: There is a reproducible allelic expression bias in mRNA expression from the TP73 gene in some, though not all, adult human brains, and inter-individual variation in regulatory sequences of the TP73 locus may affect susceptibility to AD. However, additional studies will be necessary to exclude genetic admixture as an alternative explanation for the observed associations

Health and function of participants in the Long Life Family Study: A comparison with other cohorts

Individuals from families recruited for the Long Life Family Study (LLFS) (n= 4559) were examined and compared to individuals from other cohorts to determine whether the recruitment targeting longevity resulted in a cohort of individuals with better health and function. Other cohorts with similar data included the Cardiovascular Health Study, the Framingham Heart Study, and the New England Centenarian Study. Diabetes, chronic pulmonary disease and peripheral artery disease tended to be less common in LLFS probands and offspring compared to similar aged persons in the other cohorts. Pulse pressure and triglycerides were lower, high density lipids were higher, and a perceptual speed task and gait speed were better in LLFS. Age-specific comparisons showed differences that would be consistent with a higher peak, later onset of decline or slower rate of change across age in LLFS participants. These findings suggest several priority phenotypes for inclusion in future genetic analysis to identify loci contributing to exceptional survival