Mixed model procedure for the unification of within herd evaluations through national beef sire evaluation

A mixed model is developed for the unification of beef cattle within herd evaluations and national beef sire evaluation. The model accounts for both sire and dam effects and is used to obtain predictors of individual animal genetic merit for traits of economic importance. The prime purpose of the unification is to provide a link between herds in order that best linear unbiased predictors of expected progeny differences (EPDs) can be determined for yearling bulls and heifers which are comparable across herds. The methodology is extended to include predicting sire material EPDs for weaning weight, within herd dam direct and maternal EPDs for weaning weight, and development of within herd phenotypic, genetic, and environmental management trend lines;The method of unification is to build within herd mixed model evaluation equations for herd dams, contemporary groups, and sires on a herd by herd basis. Dams and contemporary group equations are absorbed into sire equations for each herd. After absorption, the sire equations are consolidated from all herds to form a set of national sire evaluation equations. Best linear unbiased predictors are determined for the sires and used in back solving for within herd contemporary group estimates and dam predictors. Young animal EPDs for traits of interest are computed as a function of parent EPDs plus their own performance

A Carcass EPD for Percentage of Retail Product

A new carcass EPD has been developed for the American Angus Association’s National Carcass Evaluation Program. A percentage of retail product EPD combines the traditional carcass traits (hot carcass weight, fat thickness, ribeye area and KPH) into a composite EPD. Although the heritabilitty for this trait (.25) is not the highest for the carcass traits, it is high enough for breeders to make significant change

Database Issues in Ultrasound Imaging

The Beef Quality Research projects in the Animal Science Department of Iowa State University have seen a lot of growth in the last few years. Due to the substantial amount of data accumulated over the past few years, there is a need for systematic organization

Observations and modelling of a large optical flare on AT Microscopii

Spectroscopic observations covering the wavelength range 3600--4600\AA are presented for a large flare on the late type M dwarf AT Mic (dM4.5e). A procedure to estimate the physical parameters of the flaring plasma has been used which assumes a simplified slab model of the flare based on a comparison of observed and computed Balmer decrements. With this procedure we have determined the electron density, electron temperature, optical thickness and temperature of the underlying source for the impulsive and gradual phases of the flare. The magnitude and duration of the flare allows us to trace the physical parameters of the response of the lower atmosphere. In order to check our derived values we have compared them with other methods. In addition, we have also applied our procedure to a stellar and a solar flare for which parameters have been obtained using other techniques.Comment: 11 pages, 8 tables, accepted by A&

Intraarticular injection of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells enhances regeneration in knee osteoarthritis.

PURPOSE: This review aimed to evaluate the efficacy of intra-articular injections of bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) for the treatment of knee osteoarthritis (KOA). METHODS: This narrative review evaluates recent English language clinical data and published research articles between 2014 and 2019. Key word search strings of ((("bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cell" OR "bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cell" OR "bone marrow stromal cell")) AND ("osteoarthritis" OR "knee osteoarthritis")) AND ("human" OR "clinical"))) AND "intra-articular injection" were used to identify relevant articles using PMC, Cochrane Library, Web Of Science and Scopus databases. RESULTS: Pre-clinical studies have demonstrated successful, safe and encouraging results for articular cartilage repair and regeneration. This is concluded to be due to the multilineage differential potential, immunosuppressive and self-renewal capabilities of BM-MSCs, which have shown to augment pain and improve functional outcomes. Subsequently, clinical applications of intra-articular injections of BM-MSCs are steadily increasing, with most studies demonstrating a decrease in poor cartilage index, improvements in pain, function and Quality of Life (QoL); with moderate-to-high level evidence regarding safety for therapeutic administration. However, low confidence in clinical efficacy remains due to a plethora of heterogenous methodologies utilised, resulting in challenging study comparisons. A moderate number of cells (40 × 106) were identified as most likely to achieve optimal responses in individuals with grade ≥ 2 KOA. Likewise, significant improvements were reported when using lower (24 × 106) and higher (100 × 106) cell numbers, although adverse effects including persistent pain and swelling were a consequence. CONCLUSION: Overall, the benefits of intra-articular injections of BM-MSCs were deemed to outweigh the adverse effects; thus, this treatment be considered as a future therapy strategy. To realise this, long-term large-scale randomised clinical trials are required to enable improved interpretations, to determine the validity of efficacy in future studies. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: IV

Building Partnerships to Promote Economic and Social Wellbeing and Learning

The paper describes, three initiatives that illustrate ways in which governments can intervene to promote social objectives are described in this paper: Raploch Urban Regeneration in Scotland; the Drugs Round Table in St Kilda, Vic; and Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park in Scotland. The paper discusses the conditions that are necessary to achieve effective partnership formation

Using Carcass EPDs to Produce for Target Windows

The beef cattle industry is moving in the direction of a value-based marketing system. Within such a system, carcasses will be individually in value based on the amount of waste fat, salable lean meat, and quality attributes such as marbling and tenderness. The beef cattle industry has come to rely on growth and maternal EPDs as valuable tools in bull selection. In the future, more emphasis will be placed on using only bulls that will get a producer’s calves into target carcass windows. An understanding of how to apply EPDs beyond just predicting sire differences and into predicting target windows of acceptability will become important. The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which carcass expected progeny differences (EPD) can be used to predict progeny phenotype

Integrating sustainable concepts with the ISU Beef Feedlot Performance Projects Program

Farmer-feeders who feed homegrown crops to feeder cattle as a marketing alternative for these crops must evaluate the impact of their cropping patterns and feeding on the whole farm operation. This project developed a tool for beef cattle producers to make more conscientious decision