Evaluation of Feeding Alternative Feedstuffs Including Hydroponic Barley Sprouts and Carinata Meal to Dairy Cattle

The purpose of this dissertation research was to examine alternative feed ingredients not typically found in dairy cattle diets. In total, four studies were conducted to evaluate feedstuffs such as hydroponic barley sprouts and carinata meal and how they affect cattle performance. To determine how feeding hydroponic barley sprouts would affect growing dairy heifer and lactating cow performance two feeding studies were conducted. In the first study, inclusion of 14 % (DM basis) hydroponic barley sprouts (HYD) was evaluated in an ad libitum total mixed ration (TMR) compared to a control (CON) diet on dairy heifer performance during a 12 wk randomized complete block design study using 24 growing heifers. Results indicated that replacing ground corn and some soybean meal with hydroponic fresh barley sprouts maintained rumen fermentation, metabolic profile and heifer body frame growth with slightly decreased gain: feed. To further evaluate barley sprouts 20 mid-lactation Holsteins were used in a 6 wk randomized complete block design study. Milk production, metabolic profile, rumen fermentation, and nutrient utilization were evaluated. The HYD treatment consisted of a typical mid-lactation TMR with 8 % (DM basis) hydroponic barley sprouts and the control (CON) had corn and soybean meal as major concentrates. Lactation performance was not affected by supplementing HYD and plasma cholesterol and digestion of dry matter and organic matter tended to be greater for the HYD cows. Hydroponic barley sprouts can replace a portion of the grain mix and maintain rumen fermentation and lactation performance. As hydroponic barley sprouts are not available for commercial purchase and must be grown by the dairy producer, efforts were refocused in evaluating carinata meal, a potential alternative protein source in the dairy industry in the third and fourth studies. Carinata meal (CRM) is a brassica oilseed that is newly developed in the United States. In study three, 10 % (DM basis) carinata meal was fed in dairy heifer diets for ad libitum consumption. A randomized complete block trial conducted with 24 heifers evaluated a control treatment (CON) and a 10 % CRM treatment. Feeding CRM decreased dry matter intake; however, growth was similar between treatments. Metabolic profile, thyroid hormone concentration, rumen fermentation and total tract digestion of nutrients were not affected by feeding CRM. Overall, CRM could potentially serve as an alternative protein source for growing dairy heifers. For the fourth study, the first lactation trial in the U.S. was conducted to determine effects of CRM. It was found that cows fed 10 % CRM maintained milk production, composition, and fatty acid profile comparable to the control (CON) diet using 10 % canola meal. Metabolic profile and rumen fermentation were not altered when CRM was fed in a lactating TMR, similarly, thyroid hormone concentration did not differ between treatments. Amino acid composition of treatment diets and plasma was evaluated, and no differences were found. Solvent extracted carinata meal is a viable protein source for the dairy industry, for use in both lactating cow and growing heifer diets

A 300-year geochronological assessment of atmospheric mercury depostition in California

Aquatic mercury (Hg) contamination and subsequent bioaccumulation pose a threat to human and ecosystem health. The mitigation of contaminated water bodies requires an understanding of natural baselines of metal concentrations and fluxes. In this study, six age-dated sediment cores were analyzed to assess temporal and spatial variability of atmospheric Hg deposition from remote natural lakes throughout California. Geochemical proxies, including 210Pb, particle size, magnetic susceptibility, organic carbon and organic nitrogen, were measured to apportion Hg concentrations between atmospheric deposition, anthropogenic and watershed processes. Anthropogenic Total Hg (HgT) lake sediment concentrations increased by factors of 2 to 10 times that of historic (pre-1850) HgT concentrations in all four lakes studied. Results support the hypothesis that atmospheric Hg deposition, and its subsequent flux to lake sediments, was the cause of elevated Hg levels and that regional sources, from both abandoned mine sites and industrial emissions, were a major source of biologically available Hg to aquatic ecosystems in California. Hence, the past biotic exposure, if scaled relative to the measured deposition, would have been 2, 5, and 10 times lower than present day levels for coastal, Central Valley, and Coastal Range aquatic systems, respectively. These values may be useful benchmarks for the development of site-specific mitigation strategies for contaminated watersheds

Strict Compliance with Marine Insurance Contracts: Conflicting Rules in the Ninth Circuit

Under the federal admiralty strict compliance rule, a policy of marine insurance is voided by an insured vessel owner\u27s failure to comply with express policy terms or warranties. Although recognized and applied by a majority of the federal circuits, the strict compliance rule has been improperly ignored by a handful of district courts within the Ninth Circuit. Instead, by misapplying the holding of Wilburn Boat v. Fireman\u27s Fund Insurance Co., a 1955 Supreme Court case, and by ignoring the Ninth Circuit\u27s interpretation of Wilburn Boat in Bohemia, Inc. v. Home Insurance Co., these district courts have turned to state insurance law, requiring a causal or other relationship between a breached policy warranty and the loss before voiding coverage. This Comment describes these current inconsistencies among marine insurance cases in the Ninth Circuit and the importance of maintaining uniformity in admiralty law and in uniformly applying the well-established strict compliance rule

Laser diode ordnance design

The topics are presented in viewgraph form and include the following: characteristics, system description, laser firing unit, fiber optic cables, and initiators

How heavy can dark matter be? Constraining colourful unitarity with SARAH

We describe the automation of the calculation of perturbative unitarity constraints including scalars that have colour charges, and its release in SARAH 4.14.4. We apply this, along with vacuum stability constraints, to a simple dark matter model with colourful mediators and interesting decays, and show how it leads to a bound on a thermal relic dark matter mass well below the classic Griest-Kamionkowski limit.Comment: 21 pages, 4 figure

Associations Between Phonology and Syntax in Speech-Delayed Children

Interactions between phonology and syntax are inspected in continuous speech samples from 30 speech-delayed children. Two types of interactions are examined: The co-occurrence of speech and language delay and the effects of phonological reduction on the realization of phonetically complex morphophonemes. Four possible patterns of association between the phonological and syntactic systems are outlined, and subjects are assigned to these patterns based on their phonological and syntactic performance. Results indicate that two-thirds of the subjects display evidence of overall syntactic delay, whereas half show some limitation in the use of phonetically complex morphophonemes, their performance in that area being below the level of their syntactic production. Implications of these findings for a theory of speech delay and for management programming are discussed

An examination of training on the VertiMax Resisted Jumping Device for improvements in lower body power in highly trained college athletes

Training to develop superior muscular power has become a key component to most progressive sport conditioning programs. Conventional resistance training, plyometrics, and speed/agility modalities have all been employed in an effort to realize superlative combinations of training stimuli. New training devices such as the VertiMax resisted jump trainer are marketed as a means of improving lower body reactive power. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the VertiMax, in combination with traditional training modalities, for improvements in lower body power among highly trained athletes. Forty men and women Division I collegiate athletes representing the sports of baseball, basketball, soccer, gymnastics, and track completed a 12-week mixed-methods training program. Two groups were constructed with both groups performing the same conventional resistance training and strength training exercises. The training control group performed traditional plyometric exercises while the experimental group performed similar loaded jump training on the VertiMax. Lower body power was measured before and after the training program by the TENDO FiTROdyne Powerlizer and statistically compared for differences between groups. Data analyses identified a significant (p < 0.05) and meaningful difference between power development among the 2 groups, with the VertiMax eliciting a greater treatment effect (effect size = 0.54) over conventional resistance and plyometric training alone (effect size = 0.09). These data convincingly demonstrate that the VertiMax represents an effective strategy for developing lower body power among trained college athletes, when combined with traditional strength and conditioning approaches

Construction and Analysis of Two Forced-Choice Questionnaires Measuring Attitudes Toward Absenteeism

Psycholog

Dynamic reorganization of the genome shapes the recombination landscape in meiotic prophase.

In meiotic prophase, chromosomes are organized into compacted loop arrays to promote homolog pairing and recombination. Here, we probe the architecture of the mouse spermatocyte genome in early and late meiotic prophase using chromosome conformation capture (Hi-C). Our data support the established loop array model of meiotic chromosomes, and infer loops averaging 0.8-1.0 megabase pairs (Mb) in early prophase and extending to 1.5-2.0 Mb in late prophase as chromosomes compact and homologs undergo synapsis. Topologically associating domains (TADs) are lost in meiotic prophase, suggesting that assembly of the meiotic chromosome axis alters the activity of chromosome-associated cohesin complexes. While TADs are lost, physically separated A and B compartments are maintained in meiotic prophase. Moreover, meiotic DNA breaks and interhomolog crossovers preferentially form in the gene-dense A compartment, revealing a role for chromatin organization in meiotic recombination. Finally, direct detection of interhomolog contacts genome-wide reveals the structural basis for homolog alignment and juxtaposition by the synaptonemal complex