Alternative Feedstuffs and Changing Coproducts for Cowherd

The combination of decreasing acres available for crop production, an increasing world population, increased utilization of grain for fuel and increased input costs (fuel, transportation, and fertilizer) have resulted in limited feed supplies and higher feed costs. Additionally, the recent drought in much of the United States has further reduced the available feed supply driving feed costs dramatically higher. Historically, feed costs have represented 50D70% of the cost of production for beef enterprises. This past year, the high prices for corn and hay have driven that percentage over 80% for many operations. CowDcalf producers have been forced to investigate alternative feedstuffs to lower the cost of production. Ideally, the cowherd is grazing a significant portion of the year. Grazing days varies drastically throughout different regions of the United States and is greatly impacted by year to year differences in weather patterns. Drought limits summer grazing. Snow and ice can limit winter grazing. Harvested and stored feeds represent the majority of feed costs for cowDcalf producers. With hay supplies low and hay costs high, producers need to consider alternative feeds for winter feeding and for emergency drought relief

Gene-expression patterns reveal underlying biological processes in Kawasaki disease

Background: Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute self-limited vasculitis and the leading cause of acquired heart disease in children in developed countries. No etiologic agent(s) has been identified, and the processes that mediate formation of coronary artery aneurysms and abatement of fever following treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) remain poorly understood. Results: In an initial survey, we used DNA microarrays to examine patterns of gene expression in peripheral whole blood from 20 children with KD; each was sampled during the acute, subacute, and convalescent phases of the illness. Acute KD was characterized by increased relative abundance of gene transcripts associated with innate immune and proinflammatory responses and decreased abundance of transcripts associated with natural killer cells and CD8+ lymphocytes. There was significant temporal variation in transcript levels during the acute disease phase and stabilization thereafter. We confirmed these temporal patterns in a second cohort of 64 patients, and identified additional inter-individual differences in transcript abundance. Notably, higher levels of transcripts of the gene for carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecule 1 (CEACAM1) were associated with an increased percentage of unsegmented neutrophils, fewer days of illness, higher levels of C-reactive protein, and subsequent non-response to IVIG; this last association was confirmed by quantitative reverse transcription PCR in a third cohort of 33 patients, and was independent of day of illness. Conclusion: Acute KD is characterized by dynamic and variable gene-expression programs that highlight the importance of neutrophil activation state and apoptosis in KD pathogenesis. Our findings also support the feasibility of extracting biomarkers associated with clinical prognosis from gene-expression profiles of individuals with systemic inflammatory illnesses

Results of survey of stakeholders regarding knowledge of and attitudes towards feed intake, efficiency and genetic improvement concepts

Individual animal feed efficiency plays a key role in the profitability and sustainability of the US beef industry. During the growing and finishing phase of production, a 10% improvement in feed efficiency has a two-fold greater impact on profit than a 10% increase in rate of gain (Fox et al., 2001). The traits that beef producers routinely record are outputs which determine the value of product sold and not the inputs defining the cost of beef production. The inability to routinely measure feed intake and feed efficiency on large numbers of cattle has precluded the efficient application of selection despite moderate heritabilities (h2 = 0.16-0.46; Archer et al., 1999). Feed costs in calf feeding and yearling finishing systems account for approximately 66% and 77% of costs, respectively (Anderson et al., 2005).Feed costs account for approximately 65% of total beef production costs. Of the metabolizable energy required from conception to consumption of a beef animal, 72% is utilized during the cow-calf segment of production while 28% of calories are utilized in the calf growing and finishing phases of production (Ferrell and Jenkins, 1982). Of the calories consumed in the cow-calf segment, more than half are used for maintenance which presents a large selection target

Matrix metalloproteinase haplotypes associated with coronary artery aneurysm formation in patients with Kawasaki disease.

Aneurysms of the vascular wall represent a final common pathway for a number of inflammatory processes, including atherosclerosis and idiopathic vasculitis syndromes. Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute, self-limited vasculitis in children and the leading cause of acquired coronary artery aneurysms. We sought to identify shared molecular mechanisms of aneurysm formation by genotyping eight polymorphisms in matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-1, 3, 7, 12 and 13 in the gene cluster on Chr.11q22, whose gene products have been implicated in aneurysm formation or are known to have elastase activity. We genotyped 482 US-UK KD patients (aneurysm+: n=111, aneurysm-: n=371) and tested our findings in an independent cohort of 200 Japanese KD patients (aneurysm+: n=58, aneurysm-: n=142). Analysis of the five MMP genes identified modest trends in allele and genotype frequencies for MMP-3 rs3025058 (-/T) and haplotypes containing MMP-3 rs3025058 (-/T) and MMP-12 rs2276109 (A/G) (nominal P=2 to 4 × 10(-5)) that conferred increased risk of aneurysm formation in US-UK subjects. This finding was validated in Japanese subjects and suggests the importance of this locus in aneurysm formation in children with KD. The region encompassing these risk haplotypes is a prime candidate for resequencing to look for rare genetic variation that may influence aneurysm formation

Effects of dam prepartum supplement level on performance and reproduction of heifer progeny

Objectives were to determine the effect of dam prepartum supplement level on growth performance, feed efficiency and reproductive performance of female progeny (127 heifers in year 1, 138 heifers in year 2). Mature, multiparous, fall-calving, Angus × Simmental cows (initial age = 5.6 ± 1.9 years, BW = 623 ± 70 kg, BCS = 5.7 ± 0.7) were used in a completely randomised design that included three supplement levels: no supplement (NS), low supplement, 2.16 kg·cow−1·d−1 (LS), or high supplement, 8.61 kg·cow−1·d−1 (HS). Cows grazed endophyte-infected tall fescue/red clover pastures and were bunk-fed supplement (70% dried distiller’s grains plus solubles [DDGS] and 30% soybean hulls) 103 ± 11 d prepartum to 2 ± 11 d postpartum. Dam prepartum supplementation did not affect (p ≥ .60) heifer progeny BW at weaning, breeding, nor at pregnancy verification. Dam prepartum supplementation did not affect (p ≥ .18) heifer progeny AI conception rate, overall pregnancy rate, nor calving rate. Calving date, calf birth BW, percentage of unassisted births, milk production and calf BW at 73 ± 16 d of age were not different (p ≥ .24) among heifer progeny, regardless of dam supplement level. In conclusion, these data suggest within a fall-calving, fescue-based production system, supplementing dams with 2.16 or 8.61 kg·cow−1·d−1 of a DDGS-based supplement does not affect growth performance and reproductive performance of subsequent female progeny

Effects of supplements differing in fatty acid profile to late gestational beef cows on cow performance, calf growth performance, and mRNA expression of genes associated with myogenesis and adipogenesis

Abstract Background Maternal nutrition during gestation affects fetal development, which has long-term programming effects on offspring postnatal growth performance. With a critical role in protein and lipid metabolism, essential fatty acids can influence the development of muscle and adipose tissue. The experiment investigated the effects of late gestation supplements (77 d prepartum), either rich in saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids (CON; 155 g/cow/d EnerGII) or polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA; 80 g/cow/d Strata and 80 g/cow/d Prequel), on cow performance and subsequent calf growth performance as well as mRNA expression in longissimus muscle (LM) and subcutaneous adipose tissue at birth and weaning. Results There was no difference (P ≥ 0.34) in cow body weight (BW) or body condition score from pre-supplementation through weaning. Relative concentrations of C18:3n-3 and C20:4n-6 decreased (P ≤ 0.05) to a greater extent from mid-supplementation to calving for PUFA compared with CON cows. Cow plasma C20:0, C20:5n-3, and C22:6n-3 were increased (P ≤ 0.01) in PUFA during supplementation period. At birth, PUFA steers had greater (P = 0.01) plasma C20:5n-3. No differences (P ≥ 0.33) were detected in steer birth BW or dam milk production, however, CON steers tended (P = 0.06) to have greater pre-weaning average daily gain and had greater (P = 0.05) weaning BW compared with PUFA. For mRNA expression in steers: MYH7 and C/EBPβ in LM increased (P ≤ 0.04) to a greater extent from birth to weaning for PUFA compared with CON; MYF5 in LM and C/EBPβ in adipose tissue tended (P ≤ 0.08) to decrease more from birth to weaning for CON compared with PUFA; SCD in PUFA adipose tissue tended (P = 0.08) to decrease to a greater extent from birth to weaning than CON. In addition, maternal PUFA supplementation tended (P = 0.08) to decrease MYOG mRNA expression in LM and decreased (P = 0.02) ZFP423 in adipose tissue during the pre-weaning stage. Conclusions Late gestation PUFA supplementation decreased pre-weaning growth performance of the subsequent steer progeny compared with CON supplementation, which could have been a result of downregulated mRNA expression of myogenic genes during pre-weaning period