Experiments were conducted to determine effects of feeding whole cottonseed (WCS), expander solvent cottonseed meal (CSM), or a combination of these, as well as other factors on blood gossypol concentrations in cattle. In an 84 d trial, lactating cows were fed zero, 900 or 1800 ppm total gossypol (TG) in diets from WCS and/or CSM. Plasma gossypol (PG) in cows receiving 1800 ppm TG plateaued at 3.28 μg/ml after 28 d. However, by 28 d, erythrocyte fragility increased for cows receiving WCS diets. Plasma chemistry, vitamin A, body temperatures, and respiration rates were within normal ranges. Serum vitamin E levels increased with cottonseed in diets. Milk yield and FCM higher (P < 0.05) for cows fed 13.5% WCS and 7% CSM diet than controls. Feed efficiency and milk fat and protein percentages were not influenced by diets. In another study, young Holstein steers were fed diets during five consecutive treatment periods of 28 d each. The following was shown: (1) A basal diet with 15% Upland WCS resulted in average TG intakes of 9.08 g/d. (2) When varying concentrations of dietary iron (5 treatments) were fed with 15% WCS, PG and plasma total gossypol response (PG/TG intake) decreased as iron in diets increased. (3) Five diets with 15% cottonseed in the whole, cracked, roasted, roasted and cracked, or extruded forms showed that roasting or excluding WCS reduced FG in seed up to 86%. The PG concentration was higher (P < 0.05) for the whole and cracked diets, but plasma total gossypol response (PTGR) increased over controls for the cracked and roasted treatments. (4) When varying amounts of WCS and CSM (6 treatments) were fed up to 14 and 9% of the diet, respectively, PG concentration was higher (P for diets with 14% than 7% WCS. The PTGR was not affected by CSM supplementation for the 7% WCS treatments. (5) When feeding of four diets with 15% cottonseed as whole Upland, cracked Upland, whole Pima, or cracked Pima seed, PG and PTGR were higher for the Pima than Upland diets. Performance for the 28 d periods was not altered by treatments.

Recent declines in the availability of large marine shrimp reinvigorated the market for the freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii. Simultaneously, pressures to find more lucrative and water efficient crops are increasing in arid regions. The integration of a highly valuable crop such as Macrobrachium with irrigated agriculture could be of benefit to arid land farmers. Using a specific farming region in Arizona as a model of arid land systems, the objectives of my research were to: (1) Determine if the physical conditions for prawn culture occur in Arizona. (2) Investigate the feasibility of inland larvae culture. (3) Raise to maturity and spawn M. rosenbergii. (4) Assess the utility of a new species evaluation protocol. To meet these objectives, I reviewed physical conditions in Central Arizona and compared them to known requirements for culture of M. rosenbergii, developed a model larvae culture method and stocked postlarvae from the larvae culture experiments into ponds where they could grow to maturity and spawn. After spawning, the larvae were collected and the fecundity of the adult females determined. My results suggest M. rosenbergii likely can be cultured seasonally in ponds filled with surface water within the representative region. Constraints to culture include high source water pH, hardness, alkalinity, contaminants and low winter water temperatures. Larvae culture is possible within the representative region. However, successful mass culture will require refinement of techniques used in my study. Constraints to culture include high ambient pH of surface waters, periodic high hardness and alkalinity levels and low winter temperatures. Improved filtration techniques in the incubator and a consistent availability of Artemia for food are also issues of concern. Prawns hatched and grown in Arizona spawned readily, were as fecund as other cultured stocks and produced viable larvae up through stage 2. The protocol I used was appropriate for evaluating a species for aquaculture at a new location. Overall, M. rosenbergii shows potential as a candidate for integration with irrigated agriculture systems within arid farming regions.

Growing beef steers were used in completely randomized block designs to evaluate effect of processing method, dry-rolled (DR) versus steam-flaked (SF) sorghum, and degree of processing (flaking density) of corn and sorghum grain on nitrogen (N) digestion and post-absorptive N metabolism. In experiments (Exp.) 1 and 2, seven duodenally and ileally cannulated steers were used to investigate N digestibilities. Experimental diets contained 77% grain: Exp. 1, DR or SF sorghum at densities of 437, 360 and 283 g/L (SF34, SF28, SF22); Exp. 2, corn at two flake densities (SF34 and SF22). Nitrogen intakes by steers fed sorghum (142 g/d) and corn (149 g/d) diets were similar among treatments. Steers fed SF compared to DR, increased ruminal (P =.04) DM digestibility. Microbial protein flow to the duodenum averaged 10% greater for SF vs DR. Reducing flaking density of sorghum grain linearly increased (P .05) ruminal DM and tended to increase linearly ruminal feed N (P =.11), total tract DM and N digestibilities and microbial efficiency (P .08). Unexpectedly, flake density did not affect DM or N digestibilities of SF corn diets by steers. In Exp. 3, eight steers implanted with indwelling catheters were used to measure blood flow, net absorption and uptake of ammonia-N, urea-N (UN) and alpha-amino N (AAN) across portal-drained viscera (PDV), hepatic and total splanchnic tissues. Experimental diets were the same as those in Exp. 1. Six arterial, portal and hepatic blood samples were collected per day at 2 h intervals for each diet and steer. Daily DM and N intakes averaged 7.0 kg and 142 g, respectively. Decreasing flake density of SF sorghum linearly increased net absorption of AAN (P =.04) and UN recycling to the gut (P =.02). Net UN recycling to the gut averaged 38% of N intake across treatments. Steers fed SF compared to DR decreased (P =.03) net splanchnic UN output (33 vs 50 g/d). The improved N retention and lower splanchnic UN output, contingent with greater ruminal microbial protein synthesis and flow to intestines may explain in part the observed higher performance of cattle fed SF compared to DR sorghum. Based on improved total tract N digestibilities and greater net absorption of AAN and UN recycling to the gut, optimum flake density for SF sorghum grain was 283 g/L (SF22).

Lactating Holstein dairy cows, fitted with appropriate blood vessel catheters, were used in two cross-over experiments to investigate effects of feeding diets with 40% steam-flaked (28 lb/bu; SF) vs dry-rolled (DR) sorghum (experiment 1; 8 cows), or 40% steam-flaked corn grain (experiment 2; 6 cows) of different flake densities, 38 lb/bu (SF38) vs 28 lb/bu (SF28), on postabsorptive nutrient fluxes. Net uptake or output of glucose, L-lactate, volatile fatty acids (VFA) and β-hydroxybutyrate (BHBA) was measured across portal-drained viscera (PDV), hepatic, splanchnic and mammary tissues. Compared to DR, feeding cows SF sorghum increased net PDV absorption of propionate by 25% (P =.08), tended to increase splanchnic output of glucose (+16%) and L-lactate (+80%; P ≤ .20), but did not alter mammary glucose or L-lactate uptake. Sorghum processing did not affect net splanchnic or mammary metabolism of acetate and butyrate. Splanchnic output of BHBA was greater (P =.08), but mammary uptake was lower (P =.09) for cows fed DR vs SF diets. For cows fed corn diets, hepatic synthesis of glucose was higher (3.0 vs 2.8 kg/d; P =.04) for SF28 vs SF38. Flake density did not affect net splanchnic or mammary metabolism of acetate. For cows fed SF38, higher (P =.03) net PDV absorption of butyrate possibly inhibited hepatic gluconeogenesis from propionate, which might explain a higher (P =.10) hepatic uptake of L-lactate. Processing of corn or sorghum did not alter estimated total net PDV absorption or total splanchnic output of energy. Net total PDV absorption of VFA tended to be greater for cows fed SF than DR (+17%; P =.17), and for SF38 than SF28 (+10%; P =.15). Total mammary uptake of energy was not different for DR vs SF, but was greater for cows fed SF28 vs SF38, due mainly to increased uptake of glucose (+25%; P < .01). In both experiments, hepatic glucose synthesis was more than adequate for milk lactose production. These changes in partitioning of nutrients and estimated energy across portal-drained viscera, liver, total splanchnic, and mammary tissues may partially explain increased milk protein synthesis (in longer term lactation studies) by dairy cows fed more extensively processed corn (SF28) and sorghum (SF) grain.

Beef production in the arid Southwest depends on range forages. Forage quality and quantity primarily results from amount, intensity and timing of precipitation. Twenty-three years (1978-2000) of precipitation and animal production data were evaluated. Two major questions addressed were: Does rainfall timing affect number and weight of calves weaned? Does grazing system reduce immediate drought impact on calf production? Three grazing systems were evaluated: Year-round grazing, Savory rotational grazing and Santa Rita rotational grazing (50-60hd, 80-150hd and 50-65hd/year respectively). Winter (P < 0.05), summer (P < 0.01) and previous fall (P < 0.01) precipitation affected calf crop. Only summer precipitation (P < 0.01) had a significant effect on weaning weight. Calf crop did vary between grazing systems (P < 0.01). Savory system had the heaviest weaning weight, total production, and lowest maintenance cost; followed by Santa Rita and year-round respectively (P < 0.01). Maintenance cost per kg calf weaned was similar between rotational systems, but higher in year-round (P < 0.01).

Four lipogenic enzymes were measured in liver and adipose tissues of 2-, 6-, 18- and 27-month-old male Fischer 344 rats. Adipose ATP-citrate lyase (EC 4.1.3.8; ATP-CL) activity increased 1.8-fold between 2 and 6 months of age. Hepatic ATP-CL activity underwent an overall 84% reduction between 2 and 27 months of age with maximum activity at 18 months. Adipose tissue fatty acid synthase (FAS) activity exhibited a linear 54% reduction between 2 and 27 months of age; while hepatic FAS activity declined, biphasically, to 14.2 IU/g protein by 27 months. Opposing age-related patterns of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.49; G6PD) activity were observed in adipose tissue and liver. Adipose activity decreased between 2 and 6 months to 132.9 IU/g protein, and was unchanged thereafter; whereas liver G6PD activity increased to a maximum of 149.0 IU/g protein at 27 months. Malic enzyme (EC 1.1.1.40; ME) activity decreased between 2 and 6 months of age in both tissues. These data suggest diminished lipogenic capacity with age.

No description available.

<p>Among rhesus macaques, bi-directional aggression may occur between animals with shifting or ambiguous ranks, or between those whose relative ranks are well established. Factors that influence the latter case (here termed "insubordinate aggression") are not well understood. These factors are of interest because insubordinate aggression may be associated with stability in dominance relationships, and stability in dominance relationships is critically related to group stability. We hypothesized that in well-established female dominance relationships, the likelihood of insubordination during conflicts is influenced by characteristics of both opponents. Multivariate analysis of 11,591 dyadic conflicts among females in six captive rhesus groups shows that dyadic and individual characteristics related to weight, rank, age, and access to social support affect the likelihood of insubordinate aggression. As expected, insubordinate aggression is less likely to occur among dyads with high disparity in weight. The effects of age, rank, and access to social support are more complex. Increasing subordinate age is associated with increased modulation of insubordinate aggression according to opponent age. Age-based deference, i.e. suppression of insubordination associated with opponent age, decreases with increasing age of the lower-ranking opponent. Similarly, dyadic rank disparity has different effects on insubordination rate according to the age of the subordinate opponent. As females age, their likelihood of insubordination is less dependent on the degree to which they are outranked by their opponent. Also, the lower-ranking opponent's level of social support significantly affects her likelihood of insubordination, but the dominant animal's level of social support does not affect her likelihood of receiving insubordination. We predicted that for the lower-ranking opponent, having many maternal kin would promote insubordinate behavior, whereas for the higher-ranking opponent, having many maternal kin would inhibit insubordination. However, our results show that the dominant's matriline size has no effect on her likelihood of receiving insubordination. Further, matriline size has the opposite of the predicted effect for subordinates--subordinates with many maternal kin are significantly less likely to be insubordinate than those with few kin. We propose some possible explanations for this, which will require further investigation. Taken together, this research suggests that females gauge their degree of deference to dominants based on their own characteristics relative to their opponent's, taking into account size, age and weight differences as well as their own access to social support. Features of subordinate animals emerge as more important than those of dominants in determining the likelihood of insubordinate aggression in dyadic conflicts. Understanding determinants of insubordination will contribute to management practices aimed at maintenance of group stability, as the ultimate act of insubordinate aggression, social overthrow, poses a major welfare and management problem.

<p> Study objectives were to determine the effectiveness, reproducibility, and repeatability of dental evaluation for estimating cattle age. Cattle (n = 400) aged 1.5 to 20 yr were evaluated by 3 technicians for estimated age via dentition. A subset (n = 383) was aged again 4 wk later by the same observers. Age estimations were most accurate in YOUNG (&le; 5 yr old) cattle with at least 95.7% rate of accuracy within 2 yr across all observers and observation events. For MIDDLE (6 to 10 yr old) and OLD (> 10 yr old) cattle, these accuracies were 81.5 and 62.1%, respectively. Reproducibility proved high, with all observers consistently assigning age estimates within 1 yr of one another for more than 9 out of 10 YOUNG animals; all observers agreed on at least every 8 out of 10 estimations for all age groups within 3 yr. Repeatability was less consistent.</p>

No description available.