Commercial yogurt powder has to go through drying process which kills the yogurt culture, so the health benefit of the yogurt culture bacteria are lost. Also, upon reconstitution commercial yogurt powder does not taste like yogurt, it is sour and off flavored. The hypothesis of this study was that yogurt cultured milk powder would have better culture bacterial counts, better physico-chemical and sensory characteristics than commercial yogurt powder currently available. Commercial yogurt powder (CYP) was the control and yogurt cultured milk powder (YCMP) was the treatment. Freeze-dried yogurt starter culture (Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus at ratio 1:1) was added to milk powder at 107 cfu/g upon reconstitution. Microbial and physico-chemical characteristics of the reconstituted CYP and YCMP were analyzed daily for the first week and then weekly for a period of 8 weeks (at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, 42, 49 and 56 days) after reconstitution. Three replications of each treatment were conducted. Sensory consumer testing of CYP and YCMP upon reconstitution was conducted with 100 panelists. Data were analyzed by Proc GLM of Statistical Analysis System. YCMP had 5 log cfu/ml higher counts of Streptococcus thermopilus compared to the control (CYP) at 56 days. Also, Lactobacillus bulgaricus counts of YCMP at 28 days was 6.55 log cfu/ml and at 56 days was 5.35 log cfu/ml while the CYP at 28 days onwards had no counts. YCMP had significantly higher apparent viscosity, pH, L*, appearance, sensory color, aroma, taste, thickness, overall liking, consumer acceptability and purchase intent compared to CYP.

Numerous studies have contributed to the induction of pluripotency in an abundance of cell types; however, transfection techniques and efficiency have yielded undesirable outcomes. Traditionally, the use of viral vectors as a mode of transmission has proven to be efficient in the induction of pluripotency transcription factors in mammalian cells. The increasing concern is random insertion of viral components within the host genome due to the viral mode of replication. The delivery of messenger RNA by cationic lipid delivery vehicles circumvents the viral concerns and provides an efficient and safe mode of reprogramming. Synthetic mRNA can be used to initiate endogenous gene expression while maintaining cellular viability in bovine somatic cells. In this study, bovine fetal fibroblast cells were initially transfected with In Vitro Transcribed (IVT) RNA expressing Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) to determine adequate transfection parameters. Mammalian expression vectors, encoded with either GFP or pluripotency associated transcription factors OCT4, SOX2, c-MYC, or KLF4, were obtained from a plasmid repository and used as IVT templates. The mRNA was produced in vitro to include a 5 cap as well as a 3 polyA tail in order to mimic in vivo mRNA packaging. Primary cultures of bovine fetal fibroblasts were transfected with ivtRNA by way of a cation lipid delivery vehicle, Lipofectamine, for endocytotic uptake. This process allows the mRNA to bypass the phospholipid bilayer and enter the cell. The incorporation of modified bases during the in vitro transcription process was adopted to reduce cell immune response. Addition of small molecules to enhance the reprogramming process was evaluated as well. The success of ivtRNA transfection in bovine fetal fibroblast cells was determined through the measurement of cellular viability, mean fluorescence by flow cytometry under different concentrations of mRNA, and gene analysis measured by quantitative PCR.

The cryopreservation of equine expanded blastocysts (>300 um) has been largely unsuccessful primarily due to the low permeability to cryoprotectants and the large size of the equine embryo. Mechanical alternatives may provide means to overcome the capsule barrier and the relative large embryo size. In this regard, multiple experiments were performed in this study to evaluate different approaches of capsule puncture and blastocoele fluid extraction with the objective to develop a cryopreservation protocol for Day 8 equine expanded blastocysts. In the first experiment, twenty-four Day 8 expanded blastocysts were exposed to standard equine embryo vitrification solutions following one- or two-punctures. Mean pre-treatment embryo volume was not different across treatments. A reduction of 67% of embryo volume was achieved within 5 min of embryo puncture, blastocoele fluid extraction and exposure to VS1 for both treatments. Mean embryo volume was not different for one- and two-puncture treatments during exposure to VS1, VS2, VS3, DS and culture medium. Mean embryo volume was not different during in vitro culture at 24, 48 and 72 hours. Embryo growth rate at 72 hours culture was not different for one- or two puncture treatments (75 and 50%, respectively) (P=0.21). Capsule loss was not different for one- or two-puncture treatments (25% and 50%, respectively) (P=0.21). In the second experiment, twenty-six Day 8 expanded blastocysts were subjected to either capsule puncture, cryoprotectant injection and blastocoele fluid extraction (direct treatment) or capsule puncture and blastocoele fluid extraction (indirect treatment) prior to cryopreservation. Mean pre-vitrification embryo diameter for direct and indirect treatment groups was not different. A difference between the initial embryo volume and the embryo volume following warming of vitrified embryos in both indirect and direct introduction treatments was detected. Following in vitro culture there was no difference in mean embryo volume at 24, 48 and 72 hours. Re-expansion rate and subsequent growth at 72 hours of culture was not different for one- or two puncture treatments (69.2%). However, partial or total capsule loss was different (P=0.049) across treatments, with 69% of direct treatment embryos and 30.8% of indirect treatment embryos losing the capsule. A pregnancy rate of 83.3% was obtained following transfer of vitrified expanded blastocyst subjected to the indirect introduction technique.

Weaning, one of the first major stressors encountered by the calf, has a negative effect on the immune system and increases the likelihood of infection of novel pathogens such as those that cause bovine respiratory disease. Fenceline contact at weaning has been shown to reduce the stress on the calf during the time following maternal separation. Preconditioning programs have been shown to reduce feedlot morbidity and mortality. Combining these two management practices could reduce the length of time calves need to be held in a preconditioning program. A multi-year study was conducted to evaluate if fenceline weaning will allow for a 21-d preconditioning (PRECON) period rather than a 45-d PRECON period. Two-hundred ninety-one cross-bred steer calves from two locations (Central Research Station, Baton Rouge, LA and Hill Farm Research Station, Homer, LA) were used over a two-year period. Both locations were managed independently following the same protocol. Each year, calves were stratified by BW into four treatments: 1. fenceline weaned, PRECON 21 days (FL21); 2. fenceline weaned, PRECON 42 days (FL42); 3. abrupt weaned, PRECON 21 days (S21); and 4. abrupt weaned, PRECON 42 days (S42). Calf was the experimental unit. After the initial 7 d weaning period, all calves were placed on pasture for the assigned PRECON treatment. Calves were fed an 18% CP commercial preconditioning ration at 1.5% of BW during the entire PRECON treatment period. Weight change and ADG were not different (P > 0.05) between all treatments during this period. Steers were transported to and managed by a commercial feedlot in Guymon, OK, until harvest. Morbidity and mortality during the feedlot period were not different (P > 0.05). Entry weight and ADG were not different between treatments, but FL42 and S42 calves were heavier (P = 0.005) and were on feed longer (P < 0.0001) than FL21 and S21 calves. Heavier HCW (P = 0.005) and greater backfat (P = 0.001) were observed in FL42 and S42, but YG, marbling score, and LM area were not different among treatments. These results are indicative that fenceline weaning does not aid in shortening the preconditioning period, and further research is needed to validate these findings.

The primary lines of defense in preventing any exotic species from becoming endangered or extinct should be the protection of their habitat and from poaching. For wildlife conservationists, these primary measures are often not feasible, and thus cannot be the only means to prevent extinction. The objective of this research was to identify a semen extender that contained little to no egg yolk and could still effectively freeze domestic cat epididymal spermatozoa, for the purpose to sort spermatozoa into X and Y, using flow cytometry. In the first experiment we compared a TesT (Tes + Tris) 20% egg yolk extender (control) to a modified human sperm preservation medium (HSPM) and a Tris citrate extender that contained bovine serum albumin (TCBSA) to compare their effectiveness of preserving feline epididymal spermatozoa in relation to control spermatozoa. Results from this one experiment showed no significant difference among any of the treatments when measuring membrane integrity or acrosomal status. There was significant difference when comparing the pre-cool motility value between the control and the human sperm preservation medium extender (HSPM), but this difference was not detected in either of the post-thaw evaluations. In the second experiment, an attempt was made to determine what concentration could egg yolk be reduced to, and still exhibit cryoprotection. Three egg yolk concentrations (10%, 5% and 2%) were evaluated. It was determined that even at the lowest concentration, 2% egg yolk was not significantly different from the 10% or the 5% when comparing motility, membrane integrity and acrosomal status. In the third series of experiments, a TesT 2% egg yolk extender was evaluated to determine if exposure of the spermatozoa, before and after freezing, to 0nM, 1nM and 5nM of pentoxifylline (a motility stimulant) would have an effect on the post-thaw parameters measured. It was determined that there was no significant in post-thaw sperm motility, membrane integrity or acrosomal status when the epididymal sperm were exposed to the pentoxifylline both before and after freezing. In the last series of experiments TesT 2% egg yolk extender was compared with the BioXCell® and Biolife® extenders (neither containing egg yolk, and predominantly used for cool liquid sperm storage) on their effectiveness to maintain feline epididymal spermatozoa at 4°C for 72 hours. Although no significant difference was noted, the TesT 2% egg yolk and the BioXCell® extenders showed the most promising results for cooled liquid storage up to 72 hours. These experiments have shown that viable epididymal cat sperm can be collected from the epididymides of castrated toms, cryopreserved in extenders that contain little to no egg yolk and thawed, resulting in acceptable post-thaw values sufficient enough for IVF, possibly for AI and most certainly for ICSI. Finally, sperm were frozen in the TesT extender with and without egg yolk and frozen from room temperature and after cooling to 4°C. The TesT without egg yolk, frozen from room temperature, consistently had lower sperm motility and membrane integrity then sperm frozen in one or both of the extenders frozen after cooling to 4°C. There was no difference between the two TesT extenders frozen after cooling to 4°C for any of the parameters measured.

This study was designed to determine whether kefir accentuates the positive health benefits assessed by measures in fitness and/or body composition, as a measure of cardiovascular disease risk as well as the biomarker c-reactive protein. Sixty-seven adult males and females aged 18-35 years were assigned to one of four groups: 1) endurance training + control beverage, 2) endurance training + kefir beverage, 3) active control + control beverage or 4) active control + kefir beverage. The exercise groups completed 15 weeks of structured endurance training while the active control groups maintained their usual exercise routine. Baseline physiological and exercise measurements were collected pre-intervention and post-intervention. Blood and saliva samples were analyzed for C-reactive protein, tumor necrosis factor-alpha and secretory immunoglobulin A. Instances of sickness and illness throughout the intervention were also examined. Additionally, each group was assigned to either a kefir or a calorie/macronutrient matched placebo beverage that was consumed twice per week. The endurance training protocol was effective as demonstrated by a significant improvement (p<0.05) in the 1.5-mile times of the endurance training groups. The endurance training groups also experienced a significantly higher (p<0.05) number of sicknesses than the active control groups. There were no significant interactions among groups with respect to physiological outcome variables with the exception of serum C-reactive protein. The endurance training group receiving a control beverage demonstrated a significant increase (p<0.05) in C-reactive protein following the 15 week training program while the endurance training group receiving a kefir beverage had no significant change in C-reactive protein. Although the reported sickness was not significantly different between the endurance training group + kefir beverage and the endurance training group + control beverage, kefir supplementation may have been a factor in attenuating the increase in C-reactive protein that was observed over the course of the intervention period. This preliminary study suggests that kefir may be involved in improving the risk profile for cardiovascular disease as defined by C-reactive protein.

The available supply of domestic goat meat has not matched the increased demand for goat meat. High cost of production is a concern of goat producers, with feed being a major factor in input expenses. Increasing slaughter weight of kid meat goats would increase the available goat meat, but requires added nutrition beyond that obtained from typical forage based systems for goat production. Savannah bucklings (n=31) and Boer bucklings (n=28) were stratified by weight and breed and were randomly assigned a treatment of 0 (T1), 15 (T2), 30 (T3), or 45 (T4) percent dried distillers grain with solubles (DDGS). One goat from each pen was harvested on day 0 (H1), and every 21 days (H2, H3, H4) so that equal numbers of goats from each breed were sacrificed each harvest time. Bucklings and feed refusal were weighed weekly. Data was analyzed for ANOVA using Proc Mixed for fixed effects of treatment, harvest time and breed. There were no significant interactions for any traits measured. Breed did not affect (P>0.05) live performance, carcass traits, or cutability. Average daily gains (ADG) tended to linearly decrease with inclusion of DDGS, but significant difference were only observed in the second 21 days with T4 goats having the lowest (P<0.05) ADG. Treatment had no effect on feed efficiency. Goats in H4 had the highest (P<0.05) 1 and 3-hour temperatures and goats in H1 had the lowest (P<0.05) 1 and 3-hour pH values. The H4 carcasses had the largest ribeye areas and heaviest weights for most primal cuts. Carcasses and most primal cut weights of T4 goats were lighter (P<0.05) than those of goats in T1 and T2. Percentage of primal cuts in relation to the cold carcass did not differ (P>0.05) for treatments, but were influenced by harvest time. Warner-Bratzler shear force did not differ (P>0.05) for treatments and harvest time. The level and length of time feeding DDGS can affect goat carcass characteristics. This study found no differences in live traits, carcass characteristics, or meat from Boer- and Savannah-cross buckling kid goats.

Distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) is a common byproduct of the ethanol industry and is used in animal feeds. Carotenoids (xanthophylls) are already present in the human eye, and increasing the amount of carotenoids in the eye can help prevent eye diseases. The purpose of this research was to confirm that adding DDGS to standard corn and soybean meal hen diets may increase the amount of lutein available in egg yolks. An experiment was conducted with Hy-Line W-36 hens to evaluate the effects of DDGS in corn-soybean meal diets. Three hundred fifteen hens were fed one of seven treatment diets with five replications of nine hens per replicate in a completely randomized design. This was a 56-d trial. The treatment diets were: 1) Control (no DDGS), 2) 10% DDGS processed with heat treatment (DDGS+H), 3) 10% DDGS processed without heat treatment (DDGS-H), 4) 20% DDGS+H, 5) 20% DDGS-H, 6) 30% DDGS+H, and 7) 30% DDGS-H. Average daily feed intake, feed efficiency, egg specific gravity, egg mass, yolk color, and Haugh units were determined on three consecutive days at the end of each 28-d period. The eggs collected on the last three days of each 28-day period were stored either at room temperature or under refrigeration. Half of the stored eggs were broken out after three days of storage while the other half were broken out on day seven of storage, and measurements were collected. Throughout the trial, there was no effect of dietary treatment on average daily feed intake, feed efficiency, hen day production, egg weight, specific gravity, or hen weight. At the end of both 28-d periods, yolk redness (a*) was increased in eggs from hens fed DDGS-H or DDGS+H. Yolk yellowness (b*) was increased in hens fed diets with 20% of either DDGS+H or DDGS-H at the end of the second 28-d period. Storage method did affect egg quality. Eggs stored in refrigeration were higher in quality. The inclusion of any level of DDGS in hen diets did not affect hen egg production or egg quality but did increase yolk redness (a*) and yellowness (b*) which could be an indicator of increased lutein content.

Seventy-one Holstein calves were used to evaluate the effects of milk replacer (MR) feeding management alone or in combination with a multivitamin-electrolyte supplement on growth and mitigation of heat stress. Milk replacer treatments consisted of Land OLakes Herdmaker Supreme (20% CP, 20% fat) and Land OLakes Warm Front (27% CP, 10% fat). Calves received either 0 or 20 ml Palamountains Calf Boost® in MR once daily. Calves were offered treatments beginning on day 4. Calves on 27% CP : 10% fat MR were fed 2.72kg MR twice daily for the first three weeks of life, and 3.86kg twice daily until weaning. Beginning on day 42, MR feeding was reduced to 1 time per day to decrease MR intake by 50%. On day 49 calves were weaned. Water and calf starter (20% CP) were offered ad libitum beginning on day 4. Body weight, hip height, wither height, hip width, and body length were recorded weekly, and grain and water intakes were measured twice daily. Blood was collected on days 14, 28, 42, and 56 for analysis of plasma urea nitrogen (PUN), glucose, and â-hydroxybutyrate (BHBA), as well as rumen fluid for analysis of volatile fatty acids (VFA) and pH. There was a main effect of MR, with calves fed 27% CP: 10% fat MR showing greater body weights and increased hip height, wither height, and body length (P<0.05). Calves fed 27% CP: 10% fat MR consumed less grain than 20% CP: 20% fat MR calves (P<0.05) until the end of week 7, but showed no difference at week 8). Calves fed 27% CP: 10% fat MR had greater PUN concentrations (P < 0.05) than 20% CP: 20% fat. Glucose concentrations decreased (P < 0.05) as calves aged. There was no treatment effect (P > 0.05) on plasma BHBA or VFA concentrations; however, concentrations increased (P < 0.05) as calves aged. No effects of treatment or time were observed (P > 0.05) for rumen pH. These data indicate that MR feeding management may improve growth performance in neonatal dairy calves, but multivitamin mineral supplements may not provide any additional benefit.

Histone proteins are proteins found in eukaryotic cells that associate with DNA to form the most basic structural unit of chromatin, called nucleosomes. The post-translational modifications of histones regulate developmental competence in bovine oocytes and early embryos. The difference in developmental competence between in vitro matured oocytes and in vivo matured oocytes was used to investigate the accumulation of transcripts for histone methyltransferases (HMTs) during oocyte maturation. Methyltransferases ASH1L, EHMT2, SUV39H1 and KDM6B were selected as genes of interest. Transvaginal ultrasound-guided aspiration (TUGA) was used to collect immature and in vivo matured bovine cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs). Immature COCs collected via TUGA were randomly assigned to either the immature or the in vitro mature treatments. Transcriptome analysis was performed in COCs, oocytes, and cumulus cells. Results showed no differences in transcriptome levels between immature and in vivo treatments, suggesting that there are no major accumulations of transcripts for HMTs during the antral phase of oocyte maturation in vivo. Higher accumulations of transcripts for the EHMT2 and ASH1L genes were found in the in vitro maturation Treatment for COCs and oocytes (p = 0.005 and p = 0.001, respectively). Immunocytochemistry was used to investigate the consequences of this increase in transcripts accumulation for HMTs during in vitro maturation of oocytes. Methylation levels of lysine 9 in histone 3 measured in both oocytes at the metaphase II stage and early embryos showed that the increase in the accumulation of transcripts coding for HMTs during in vitro maturation correlates with a decrease in the level of methylation of lysine 9 in histone 3 in oocytes at the metaphase II stage, as well as a decrease in the levels of methylation of lysine 9 in histone 3 in the blastomeres of early cleaving embryos. The decrease in the levels of tri-methylation of lysine 9 in histone 3 potentially affect the capacity of the oocyte and early embryo to silence gene and stabilize heterochromatic regions and potentially compromise the developmental potential of the embryo.