Wheat silage for dairy cattle

Wheat silage as a feed for dairy cows has become popular recently in Missouri, even though little information about nutrient content and optimum cutting stage is available. Some recent research at the University of Missouri-Columbia provides new information about wheat silage for dairy cows. This new information includes the changes in energy, protein, and minerals with stage of maturity at harvest and recommendations for cutting and storage. In general, most of this information probably applies to other small grain silages, such as oats and barley, for which similar information is scarce.R. L. Belyea, R. E. Ricketts , F. A. Martz, R.R. Ruehlow, and R. C. Bennett (Department of Dairy Husbandry, College of Agriculture)New 11/78/8

Psychology and aggression

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68264/2/10.1177_002200275900300301.pd

Cross-ancestry genome-wide association analysis of corneal thickness strengthens link between complex and Mendelian eye diseases

Central corneal thickness (CCT) is a highly heritable trait associated with complex eye diseases such as keratoconus and glaucoma. We perform a genome-wide association meta-analysis of CCT and identify 19 novel regions. In addition to adding support for known connective tissue-related pathways, pathway analyses uncover previously unreported gene sets. Remarkably, >20% of the CCT-loci are near or within Mendelian disorder genes. These included FBN1, ADAMTS2 and TGFB2 which associate with connective tissue disorders (Marfan, Ehlers-Danlos and Loeys-Dietz syndromes), and the LUM-DCN-KERA gene complex involved in myopia, corneal dystrophies and cornea plana. Using index CCT-increasing variants, we find a significant inverse correlation in effect sizes between CCT and keratoconus (r =-0.62, P = 5.30 × 10-5) but not between CCT and primary open-angle glaucoma (r =-0.17, P = 0.2). Our findings provide evidence for shared genetic influences between CCT and keratoconus, and implicate candidate genes acting in collagen and extracellular matrix regulation