Effect of Different Growth Patterns on Feedlot Performance and Carcass Traits of Moderately Large Framed Feeder Calves

Dry matter intake of Charolais and Limousin sired crossbred steers was restricted to allow three distinctly different postweaning growth patterns. Growth patterns represented were LL--allow 2.8 lb ADG throughout the feeding period; LH -- same as LL until 80% of slaughter weight, then allow ad Libitum DMI; or HH--ad Libitum feed intake throughout. Ad Libitum fed steers consumed 23% more dry matter (P\u3c.001) had higher ADG (3.81 vs 3.09 Lb/head/day; P\u3c.01) than steers on restricted feed intake up t o 80% of slaughter weight. Feed efficiency was similar regardless of feeding rate in the early growth curve. Steers switched from restricted to ad Libitum feed intake exhibited compensatory gains (P\u3c.01), while DM1 did not differ from steers previously fed ad Libitum. While feeding program affected cumulative feedlot ADG and DMI (P\u3c.05) and days on feed, feed efficiency and total dry matter consumed were not affected. LL feeding resulted in lower marbling scores and a lower percentage choice grade in carcasses of similar weights. Growth pattern had no effect on carcass composition estimated from 9-10-11 rib section when adjusted to a common carcass weight

Effect of Early Weaning on Feedlot Performance and Carcass Characteristics of High Growth Potential Feeder Calves

Steer and heifer calves produced at Ft. Meade were used to evaluate early weaning and accelerated feeding as a management tool when retaining ownership of calves. Calves were weaned at 5 1/2 (EM) or 7 mo (NW) of age and started immediately on a 60% grain feeding program. Slaughter dates represented mean calf ages of 385 or 425 days and days on feed ranged from 179 to 257 days. Range conditions were good and early weaning had little effect on calf weight at any point in the feeding period. Feeding high grain diets to EW calves did not have any detrimental effects on feedlot performance when compared to NW. Early weaned calves produced carcasses that were 5 lb. heavier (P\u3c.05) than carcasses from NW cattle but had no other effects on carcass traits. Days on feed affected marbling scores independently of calf age or weaning group. EW appears to be a useful tool for reducing marketing interval for retained ownership cattle and for improving marbling scores of cattle at young ages

Effects of Estradiol-Trenbalone Acetate Implant Combinations on Feedlot Performance and Carcass Traits of Two Steer Types

Hereford x Angus (HA) and predominantly Gelbvieh cross (Gx) steer calves either received no implant (control) or were implanted initially and again at 77 days on feed with a combination of estradiol and trenbalone acetate based implants. Calves were started on feed in December weighing 677 Ib and fed for 146 to 167 days. Fed for a common period of time, implanting steers increased (Pc.05) ADG, dry matter intake, final weight, carcass weight, rib fat thickness and yield grade. Implanting reduced (Pc.01) marbling scores. Gx steers were heavier and grew more rapidly than HA steers. There were no interactions between breed type and implant treatments for any variables measured. The action of implants to depress marbling scores is not overcome by increasing steer weight and condition to levels similar to nonimplanted controls

Genome-wide association study of peripheral neuropathy with D-drug-containing regimens in AIDS Clinical Trials Group protocol 384.

Stavudine (d4T) was, until recently, one of the most widely prescribed antiretroviral drugs worldwide. While there has been a major shift away from d4T use in resource-limited countries, a large number of patients have previously received (or continue to receive) d4T, and many have developed peripheral neuropathy. The identification of genetic predictors of increased risk might suggest novel therapeutic targets for such patients. In AIDS Clinical Trials Group protocol 384, antiretroviral-naïve patients were randomized to d4T/didanosine (ddI)- or zidovudine/lamivudine-containing regimens. Data from d4T/ddI recipients were analyzed for genome-wide associations (approximately 1 million genetic loci) with new onset distal sensory peripheral neuropathy. Analyses involved 254 patients (49 % White, 34 % Black, 17 % Hispanic), comprising 90 peripheral neuropathy cases (32 grade 1, 35 grade 2, 23 grade 3) and 164 controls. After correcting for multiple comparisons, no polymorphism was consistently associated with neuropathy among all patients, among White, Black, and Hispanic patients analyzed separately, both in genome-wide analyses (threshold, P < 5.0 × 10(-8)) and focused on 46 neuropathy-associated genes (threshold, P < 3.5 × 10(-5)). In the latter analyses, the lowest P values were in KIF1A among Whites (rs10199388, P = 8.4 × 10(-4)), in LITAF among Blacks (rs13333308, P = 6.0 × 10(-6)), and in NEFL among Hispanics (rs17763685, P = 5.6 × 10(-6)). Susceptibility to d4T/ddI-associated neuropathy is not explained by a single genetic variant with a marked effect

Measurement of the Bottom-Strange Meson Mixing Phase in the Full CDF Data Set

We report a measurement of the bottom-strange meson mixing phase \beta_s using the time evolution of B0_s -> J/\psi (->\mu+\mu-) \phi (-> K+ K-) decays in which the quark-flavor content of the bottom-strange meson is identified at production. This measurement uses the full data set of proton-antiproton collisions at sqrt(s)= 1.96 TeV collected by the Collider Detector experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron, corresponding to 9.6 fb-1 of integrated luminosity. We report confidence regions in the two-dimensional space of \beta_s and the B0_s decay-width difference \Delta\Gamma_s, and measure \beta_s in [-\pi/2, -1.51] U [-0.06, 0.30] U [1.26, \pi/2] at the 68% confidence level, in agreement with the standard model expectation. Assuming the standard model value of \beta_s, we also determine \Delta\Gamma_s = 0.068 +- 0.026 (stat) +- 0.009 (syst) ps-1 and the mean B0_s lifetime, \tau_s = 1.528 +- 0.019 (stat) +- 0.009 (syst) ps, which are consistent and competitive with determinations by other experiments.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, Phys. Rev. Lett 109, 171802 (2012

Spatializing the Ecological Leviathan: Territorial Strategies and the Production of Regional Natures

This paper explores a dual absence – the absence of the state within contemporary geographical analyses of nature; and the absence of nature within contemporary explorations of state power. We argue that the modern state continues to play a crucial role in framing social interactions with nature, while nature is still vital to states within their realization of different forms of material and ideological power. In order to reconnect analyses of the state and nature, this paper combines work on the production of nature and state strategy with Lefebvre’s recently translated writings on state space and territory. By focusing on the production of territory (or state space), we explore the interaction of the state and nature in the context of the political management of social and ecological space. We unravel the spatial entanglements of the state and nature through an analysis of the British state’s territorial strategies within the West Midlands region. By considering three key historical periods within the history of the West Mid-lands we reveal how the emergence of the regional space called the West Midlands is a product of the ongoing spatial dialectics of state and nature therein