Ultrasound-Based Selection: Pitfalls and Rewards

Ultrasound has become widely used by the seedstock industry as a selection and evaluation tool. Ultrasound estimates of Ribeye Area, or REA, Intramuscular fat, or %IMF (marbling), and Rump Fat have been used to develop several EPD’s for many breed associations. Despite widespread use by seedstock producers, there is still some apprehension by commercial producers. Additionally, the use of ultrasound for commercial herd replacement decisions, used by some producers, is worth discussing. There are both benefits, as well as cautions, to using ultrasound generated information in a commercial beef herd

Effects of Weaning Date and Retained Ownership on Cow and Calf Performance and Forage Disappearance in Spring Calving Beef Systems

Researchers in North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming are working together to evaluate the effect of weaning calves 75 days earlier than normal and are following the calves through finishing. This report summarizes accomplishments so far. Briefly, weaning calves 75 days early (mid-August) has improved cow weight and condition score compared to cows whose calves were weaned normally (early-November). Native range forage disappearance has tended to be lower when calves were weaned early. After weaning, backgrounded early weaned steers grew faster and were more efficient. However, early weaned steers required 61 more days on feed to reach final harvest

A nationwide study of adults admitted to hospital with diabetic ketoacidosis or hyperosmolar hyperglycaemic state and COVID‐19

AimsTo investigate characteristics of people hospitalized with coronavirus-disease-2019 (COVID-19) and diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) or hyperosmolar hyperglycaemic state (HHS), and to identify risk factors for mortality and intensive care admission.Materials and methodsRetrospective cohort study with anonymized data from the Association of British Clinical Diabetologists nationwide audit of hospital admissions with COVID-19 and diabetes, from start of pandemic to November 2021. The primary outcome was inpatient mortality. DKA and HHS were adjudicated against national criteria. Age-adjusted odds ratios were calculated using logistic regression.ResultsIn total, 85 confirmed DKA cases, and 20 HHS, occurred among 4073 people (211 type 1 diabetes, 3748 type 2 diabetes, 114 unknown type) hospitalized with COVID-19. Mean (SD) age was 60 (18.2) years in DKA and 74 (11.8) years in HHS (p < .001). A higher proportion of patients with HHS than with DKA were of non-White ethnicity (71.4% vs 39.0% p = .038). Mortality in DKA was 36.8% (n = 57) and 3.8% (n = 26) in type 2 and type 1 diabetes respectively. Among people with type 2 diabetes and DKA, mortality was lower in insulin users compared with non-users [21.4% vs. 52.2%; age-adjusted odds ratio 0.13 (95% CI 0.03-0.60)]. Crude mortality was lower in DKA than HHS (25.9% vs. 65.0%, p = .001) and in statin users versus non-users (36.4% vs. 100%; p = .035) but these were not statistically significant after age adjustment.ConclusionsHospitalization with COVID-19 and adjudicated DKA is four times more common than HHS but both associate with substantial mortality. There is a strong association of previous insulin therapy with survival in type 2 diabetes-associated DKA

31st Annual Meeting and Associated Programs of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC 2016) : part two

Background The immunological escape of tumors represents one of the main ob- stacles to the treatment of malignancies. The blockade of PD-1 or CTLA-4 receptors represented a milestone in the history of immunotherapy. However, immune checkpoint inhibitors seem to be effective in specific cohorts of patients. It has been proposed that their efficacy relies on the presence of an immunological response. Thus, we hypothesized that disruption of the PD-L1/PD-1 axis would synergize with our oncolytic vaccine platform PeptiCRAd. Methods We used murine B16OVA in vivo tumor models and flow cytometry analysis to investigate the immunological background. Results First, we found that high-burden B16OVA tumors were refractory to combination immunotherapy. However, with a more aggressive schedule, tumors with a lower burden were more susceptible to the combination of PeptiCRAd and PD-L1 blockade. The therapy signifi- cantly increased the median survival of mice (Fig. 7). Interestingly, the reduced growth of contralaterally injected B16F10 cells sug- gested the presence of a long lasting immunological memory also against non-targeted antigens. Concerning the functional state of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), we found that all the immune therapies would enhance the percentage of activated (PD-1pos TIM- 3neg) T lymphocytes and reduce the amount of exhausted (PD-1pos TIM-3pos) cells compared to placebo. As expected, we found that PeptiCRAd monotherapy could increase the number of antigen spe- cific CD8+ T cells compared to other treatments. However, only the combination with PD-L1 blockade could significantly increase the ra- tio between activated and exhausted pentamer positive cells (p= 0.0058), suggesting that by disrupting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis we could decrease the amount of dysfunctional antigen specific T cells. We ob- served that the anatomical location deeply influenced the state of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. In fact, TIM-3 expression was in- creased by 2 fold on TILs compared to splenic and lymphoid T cells. In the CD8+ compartment, the expression of PD-1 on the surface seemed to be restricted to the tumor micro-environment, while CD4 + T cells had a high expression of PD-1 also in lymphoid organs. Interestingly, we found that the levels of PD-1 were significantly higher on CD8+ T cells than on CD4+ T cells into the tumor micro- environment (p < 0.0001). Conclusions In conclusion, we demonstrated that the efficacy of immune check- point inhibitors might be strongly enhanced by their combination with cancer vaccines. PeptiCRAd was able to increase the number of antigen-specific T cells and PD-L1 blockade prevented their exhaus- tion, resulting in long-lasting immunological memory and increased median survival

Feeding and Managing Cows on High Grain Diets

Increasing land prices, rising lease rates, restrictive grazing leases, intensified operations, as well as drought-related hay availability have all led to an increase in the use of alternative wintering programs for beef herds. While limit-fed grain rations have the potential to reduce wintering costs provided the programs are closely managed, additional herd management and feeding precision is needed to help ensure success. Several recent University studies have investigated different scenarios for limit-feeding high concentrate diets to heifers and adult cows. In addition, there have been several fact sheets, newsletters, and research reports discussing limit-fed high grain wintering rations for adult beef cows. All would suggest that if managed appropriately, limit-fed high grain wintering programs can be a low-cost alternative worth considering

Determining the Best Time to Wean

Production analysis and survey data suggests that the greatest contribution to annual cow production costs in the Northern Plains is harvested and purchased feed (Taylor and Field, 1995). Harvested hay is not only expensive to purchase, but it is expensive to put up and feed. Dunn (2002) showed that interest and depreciation on capital (required to handle hay) were major factors limiting profitability of ranching operations. Profit margins in cow/calf production are slim due to high production costs (Taylor and Field, 1995) and lost opportunity to capture value from marketable ranch products (NASS, 1999). Low input systems, or systems that reduce hay feeding, may add profitability to producers. Systems that rely more on grazing and less on harvested and purchased feedstuffs have a higher potential to be profitable (Adams et al., 1994). Early weaning practices may be beneficial when forage supplies are low and supplemental feed is costly. Work done by Meyers et al. (1999a, b) and Fluharty et al. (2000) showed early-weaned steer calves when compared to those calves weaned at traditional ages may have comparable average daily gains and improved feed efficiency during the postweaning period. While it is clear that reduced-input systems have a greater potential for positive returns, management of cattle becomes increasingly important on these low- or reduced-input systems. Management of calving dates, weaning dates, supplementation programs and monitoring and managing cow condition at critical times throughout the production year, are key elements in achieving good performance in the herd

Povećanje dugolančanih n-3 masnih kiselina u mesu dobivenom od goveda tovljenih na paši uz dodatak kalcijevih soli iz ribljeg ulja

Two experiments were conducted to determine the effects of dietary fish oil Ca salts supplementation on the muscle deposition of fatty acids, with the major focus on eicosapentaenoic (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acids (DHA) in beef cattle. For Experiment 1, thirty-eight grazing LowLine Angus steers were divided into three groups and supplemented either control, fish oil (FO)- or palm oil (PO)-based fatty acid Ca salts, supplemented individually in dry form. In Experiment 2, 14 Angus heifers and 14 Angus steers were fed free-choice harvested forage and supplemented either PO or FO Ca salts, delivered as a suspension within dried molasses lick tubs. Growth performances, sensory characteristics and the concentrations of EPA and DHA of the M. Longissimus thoracis (LT) were evaluated. M. Longissimus thoracis fatty acid concentrations of EPA and DHA were greater (P<0.001) for cattle fed FO; whereas C18:2 n-6 and the ratio of n-6 to n-3 were greater (P<0.001) for cattle fed PO in both experiments. Sensory evaluation of LT steaks obtained from the carcasses of the LowLine steers of Experiment 1 did not reveal any adverse effects of the FO supplementation (P≥0.2695). We conclude that supplementing FO Ca-salts to forage-fed beef cattle increases muscle deposition of EPA and DHA, with no adverse effects on flavor. Supplementing fish oil to beef cattle is a way to meet the omega fatty acid requirements of humans.Provedena su dva pokusa kako bi se procijenili učinci dodatka kalcijevih soli iz ribljeg ulja na nakupljanje masnih kiselina u mišićima, s posebnim naglaskom na eikozapentanoičnu (EPA) i dokozaheksanoičnu kiselinu (DHA) u goveđem mesu. U prvom je pokusu ukupno 38 pašnih goveda, kastriranih junaca pasmine angus (linija malog uzrasta) podijeljeno u tri pokusne skupine, uključujući i kontrolnu skupinu. U pokusnim su skupinama u prehranu životinja kao suha tvar uvedene kalcijeve soli masnih kiselina iz ribljeg ulja (FO) i palmina ulja (PO). U drugom je pokusu 14 junica i 14 kastriranih junaca pasmine angus hranjeno po volji krmnim biljem kojemu su dodane kalcijeve soli palmina ili ribljeg ulja. Soli ulja su kao suspenzija u osušenoj melasi ponuđena u blokovima za lizanje. Procijenjeni su pokazatelji rasta, senzoričke značajke i koncentracije EPA-e i DHA-a mišića m. longissimus thoracis (LT). Koncentracije masnih kiselina EPA i DHA u m. longissimus thoracis bile su veće (P<0,001) u goveda hranjenih FO-om, dok su C18:2 n-6 i omjer n-6 prema n-3 bili veći (P<0,001) u goveda hranjenih u oba pokusa. Senzorička procjena LT odrezaka dobivenih od trupova kastriranih junaca (linija malog uzrasta) iz prvog pokusa nije otkrila štetne učinke FO suplementacije (P≥0,2695). Na temelju rezultata ovih pokusa zaključujemo da dodatak kalcijevih soli ribljeg ulja u prehranu goveda hranjenih krmnim biljem povećava odlaganje EPA-e i DHA-a u mišićima bez štetnih učinaka na okus. Dodatak ribljeg ulja goveđem mesu može biti način da se zadovolje potrebe ljudskog organizma za omega-3 masnim kiselinama

The Effect of Early versus Normal Calf Weaning on Feedlot Performance and Herd Management: A Northern Plains Case Study

A two-year study of early vs. normal weaning of steer calves was conducted in the western Dakotas in 2003-04. The analysis concludes that early weaning improves feedlot production efficiency and reduces per-day and per-pound feedlot production costs. However, early weaned steers are lighter at slaughter; therefore, early weaning lowers carcass revenue relative to normal weaning. The early weaning effect on the profitability of retaining calves through the feedlot stage was not statistically significant. However, the analysis indicates that early weaning does have a positive effect on cow health, pasture utilization rates, and that it therefore has the potential to be an effective drought management tool for grazing cattle during periods of inadequate precipitatio

Dimeric modulators of ENaC for the treatment of cystic fibrosis

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