Victorian scholar William Knight remains one of the most prolific Wordsworth scholars of the nineteenth century. His many publications helped establish Wordsworth's positive Victorian reputation that twentieth and twenty-first century scholars inherited. My particular focus is how Knight's 1889 inclusion of "Home at Grasmere" in his Life of William Wordsworth, rather than in his chronological sequencing of the poems, establishes a way to read the poem as a biographical artifact for his late-Victorian audience. Knight's detailed account of the poet's life, often told through letters and journal accounts, provides more contexts-including Dorothy's journal entries and correspondence of the early 1800s-to understand the poem than MacMillan's 1888 stand-alone edition of the poem (whose pre-emptive publication caused a small debate in 1888-89). Knight presents "Home at Grasmere" as a document of Wordsworth's personal experience and development as grounded in the Lake District. Analyzing the ways Knight's editorial decisions-both for his biography as a whole and his placement of "Home at Grasmere" within it-shape the initial reception of "Home at Grasmere" allows me to enrich the conversation about Wordsworth and the Victorian Age. Currently scholarship connecting Knight and Wordsworth remains sparser than other areas of Wordsworth commentary. However, several scholars have explored the connections between the two, and I augment their arguments by showing how Knight's invention of the poem creates an essential part of the "Home at Grasmere" archive-a term Jacques Derrida uses to describe a place or idea that houses important artifacts and determines the power of the knowledge it preserves. I argue this by showing that Knight's editorial decisions embody the characteristics of an archon-keeper or preserver of archival material-as he creates the way to read the poem as a biographical artifact while also responding to Wordsworth's own beliefs about the poetry and biographical theory. Knight's archival contribution allows Victorians to view the poem as a product of Wordsworth's developing poetic genius and helps establish Wordsworth as the great Romantic poet.

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In this experiment, grazing and nursing behavior of approximately 30 cow/calf pairs was examined in two years. Sires of the Polled Hereford x Angus cows had been selected for above (+) or below (-) average expected progeny difference for yearling weight and maternal weaning weight. Calves were sired by Angus bulls of United States (US) or New Zealand (NZ) origin. Observations from dawn to dusk were conducted on five days each year, spaced throughout lactation. All nursing episodes were recorded, and every ten minutes it was noted whether each cow and calf was or was not grazing. Periods of maximum grazing activity were early in the morning and late in the afternoon. The growth genotype of the cow did not affect her grazing time. Calves of maternal (+) cows grazed longer than calves of maternal (-) cows (P< 0.10), and their grazing time was not affected by the growth genotype of their dams. In year 1, US-sired calves spent 3% more time grazing than NZ-sired calves; whereas in year 2, NZ-sired calves grazed 4% longer than US-sired calves (interaction P <.10). Also in year 1, NZ-sired calves tended to graze during several intervals of time while US-sired calves tended to graze in longer continuous bouts. This tendency was reversed during the second year (interaction P<.10). As the grazing season progressed, time spent by calves grazing increased from < 20% to approximately 60%. Cows with (+) genetic merit for maternal weaning weight were nursed a similar number of times per day as cows with (-) genetic merit. Sire origin likewise did not affect nursing behavior. / Master of Science

It has been observed beef breed herd of Aberdeen Angus cattle in the foothills area of Novohradské mountains in 1992 - 2007. The base of herd was consisted of 117 dams and 814 pieces of calves in total. The parameters of beef production of calves and the reproduction of dams were monitored. For the parameters of growth of calves were found significant effects of the year, the month of birth, sex, the order of calving, the method of reproduction and the sire.

The objective of the current study was to compare tick loads, growth, carcass characteristics and meat quality of Nguni, Bonsmara and Angus steers raised on natural pasture. A total of 30, 7-month old steers each of Bonsmara and Angus, and 40 Nguni steers were kept at the University of Fort Hare Farm till slaughter at 18 months. Monthly weights of the steers were recorded. Carcasses were electrically stimulated. The m. longissimus thoracis et lumborum was sampled for the measurement of meat colour, pH, drip loss, sarcomere length (SL), water holding capacity (WHC), cooking losses, myofibrillar fragmentation length (MFL), Warner Bratzler shear force (WBSF), fatty acid profiles and sensory characteristics of the steers. Urine samples were collected at the slaughter line for the determination of stress hormone concentrations. The Nguni had the lowest tick load (P < 0.05) while the Angus had the highest tick load (P < 0.05). Tick load did not affect the growth rate and carcass characteristics of the steers. Bonsmara and Angus steers had higher (P < 0.05) carcass weight and dressing percentage than the Nguni steers. Meat quality characteristics were similar (P > 0.05) among all the breeds, except that Nguni meat was darker (L*) (P < 0.05) than meat from the other two breeds. The Bonsmara had the highest (P > 0.05) concentrations while the Nguni had the lowest (P > 0.05) concentrations of stress hormones. There were significant (P < 0.05) correlations between WB values of meat aged for two and 21 days in Nguni and Bonsmara, but not in Angus. The correlations among stress responsiveness hormones and meat quality were breed-dependent. Except monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) and the n-6/n-3 ratio, fatty acid profiles among the breeds were similar (P > 0.05). Cholesterol levels among the breeds were similar (P > 0.05). The Nguni had the best (P < 0.05) sensory characteristics, such as flavour and tenderness. It can be concluded that while the Nguni is a small framed breed, its meat quality is similar to that of Bonsmara and Angus and has the best meat taste when raised on natural pasture.

Total weaning weight records of 29,832 Angus and 15,765 Hereford calves born during 1953 through 1983 in Virginia were used to evaluate phenotypic and genetic trends for adjusted weaning weight (AWWT), weaning weight ratio (WWR) and deviation of AWWT from the mean AWWT of the contemporaries (DEVN). Two approaches, namely the regression techniques and maximum likelihood (ML) procedure were taken to estimate the above trends. The estimates of annual phenotypic trend for AWWT in the Angus and Hereford breeds were .96 and .82 kg/yr, respectively. The sire and dam genetic trends obtained from both approaches for the traits of interest were positive and significant; however, the estimates from the regression analyses were slightly higher than those- from the ML procedure. The estimates of one-half of the sire genetic trends obtained from ML procedure for WWR and DEVN were .40 ± .04 ratio units/yr and .72 ± .07 kg/yr in the Angus breed and the corresponding values for the Hereford breed were .25 ± .06 ratio units/yr and .45 ± .12 kg/yr. The estimates of one-half of the darn trends for the corresponding traits were .32 ± .02 ratio units/yr and .55 ± .04 kg/yr for Angus and .21 ± .03 ratio units/yr and .30 ± .07 kg/yr for Herefords. The application of adjustment factors (to eliminate the bias due to non-random mating and culling levels) to estimates of sire genetic trends in the regression analyses produced estimates more similar to the estimates obtained from the ML procedure. The average annual genetic trends over the study period from the ML procedure for AWWT were 1.27 kg/yr for Angus and .75 kg/yr for Herefords. / Ph. D.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the value of systematic thoracic ultrasonography (TUS) for detecting bovine respiratory disease (BRD) related lung damage in Holstein x Angus crossbred calves. Because the dairy industry is known to operate on small profit margins, it is important to assess the potential of this technology to help prevent the main source of financial loss related to calf production that dairy producers face. Studies have shown that BRD may impact nearly a fourth of all dairy calves before weaning. In an industry that is currently growing and evolving, it is important that producers have all the necessary resources to operate efficiently. TUS is known to be a quick and accurate predictor of BRD related lung damage, but this study focuses on the financial implications of BRD related lung damage on calf growth and efficiency—average daily gain (ADG) and milk-to-gain (M:G)—and the value of implementing TUS information to make sound management decisions. TUS along with BRD diagnosis information give producers a unique perspective on future growth and development of calves and could be part of the solution to promote larger profit margins for dairy producers. We find that the value associated with TUS and BRD diagnosis information is between $0.88/head and $13.44/head and depends on BRD incidence rate, feed price, and feeder price. Depending on the cost to the farm, it may be beneficial to implement this as a way to manage BRD damage, which we know to influence calf growth and efficiency.

<p>Breeding for improved animal welfare is paramount for increasing the long-term sustainability of the animal food industry. In this context, the main objectives of this dissertation were to understand the genetic and genomic background of welfare indicators in livestock and evaluate the feasibility of single-step Genomic Best Linear Unbiased Prediction (ssGBLUP) for performing genomic selection in beef cattle. This dissertation includes five studies. First, we aimed to test and identify an optimal ssGBLUP scenario for crossbreeding schemes. We simulated multiple populations differing based on the genetic background of the trait, and then we tested alternative models, such as multiple-trait weighted ssGBLUP. Even though more elaborated scenarios were evaluated, a single-trait ssGBLUP approach was recommended when genetic correlation across populations were higher than 0.70. The goal of the second study was to identify genomic regions controlling behavior traits that are conserved across livestock species. We systematically reviewed genomic regions associated with behavioral indicators in beef and dairy cattle, pigs, and sheep. The genomic regions identified in this study were located in genes previously reported controlling human behavioral, neural, and mental disorders. In the third study we used a large dataset (675,678 records) from North American Angus cattle to investigate the genetic background of temperament, a behavioral indicator, recorded on one-year-old calves, and provide the models and protocols for implementing genomic selection. We reported a heritability estimate equal to 0.38 for yearling temperament, and it was, in general, genetically favorably correlated with other productivity and fertility traits. Candidate genomic regions controlling yearling temperament were also identified. The fourth study was based on temperament recorded on North American Angus cows from 2 to 15 years of age (797,187 records). The goal was to understand the genetic and genomic background of temperament across the animal’s lifetime. By fitting a random regression model, we observed that temperament is highly genetically correlated across time. However, animals have differential learning and behavioral plasticity (LBP; changes of the phenotype overtime), although the LBP heritability is low. In our last study we evaluated foot scores (foot angle, FA; and claw set, CS) in American (US) and Australian (AU) Angus cattle aiming to assess the genetic and genomic background of foot scores and investigate the feasibility of performing an across-country genomic evaluation (~1.15 million animals genotyped). Foot scores are heritable (heritability from 0.22 to 0.27), and genotype-by-environment interaction was observed between US and AU Angus populations (genetic correlation equal to 0.61 for FA and 0.76 for CS). An across-country genomic prediction outperformed within-country evaluations in terms of predictivity ability (bias, dispersion, and validation accuracy) and theoretical accuracies. We have also identified genes associated with FA and CS previously reported in human’s bone structure and repair mechanism. In conclusion, this dissertation presents a comprehensive genetic and genomic characterization of welfare indicators (temperament and foot scores) in (inter)national livestock populations. </p>