Agriculture Commons^™

Profitability Of Developing Beef Heifers On Stockpiled Winter Forages, Zachary David Mcfarlane, Chris Boyer, J. Travis Mulliniks

Journal of Applied Farm Economics

We estimate the profitability of developing heifers on one stockpiled cool-season grass and two stockpiled warm-season grasses during the winter months by comparing distributions of net present value (NPV) over an 11-year useful life. Furthermore, distributions of payback period and the break-even price for each calf over the heifer’s production life were generated for each forage species. These results are compared across forages as well as to a simulated drylot system for heifer development. Data comes from a grazing experiment in Tennessee, where heifers grazed big bluestem and Indian grass combination (BBIG), switchgrass (SW), or endophyte-infected tall fescue (TF) pastures. …

Evaluation Of Negative Energy And Mineral Balance In Periparturient Holstein-Friesian Cattle, Ameer Ahmed Abdelhameed

Open Access Dissertations

Most cows experience a state of negative energy and mineral balance during the periparturient period. This imbalance is a major problem in the dairy industry and it is more frequently seen in multiparous cattle due to their high milk production. A large amount of fat and protein is mobilized in order to address the energy deficit during the periparturient period. The ability to accurately monitor energetics and electrolytes status using accurate, rapid, and low cost point-of-care instruments will assist in optimizing animal health and productivity.

This dissertation contains three studies that evaluated point-of-care instruments for measuring blood and plasma glucose, …

Propionate Induces Gluconeogenesis In Dairy Cattle Through Direct Activation Of The Bovine Cytosolic Phosphoenolpyruvate Carboxykinase Gene Promoter, Qian Zhang

Open Access Dissertations

Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PCK, GTP; EC4.1.1.32) catalyzes the conversion of oxaloacetate (OAA) to phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP), a critical reaction for gluconeogenesis. The two isoforms of PCK, namely cytosolic PCK (PCK1), and the mitochondrial PCK (PCK2) are abundantly expressed in liver and kidney. Increased PCK1 activity and mRNA expression in liver is observed as feed intake recovers during early lactation in dairy cows, a condition linked to increased ruminal propionate production. The central hypothesis of this dissertation is that propionate regulates its own metabolism in liver of dairy cattle through regulation of the PCK1 gene. The objectives of this dissertation were to determine: …

Show Horse Welfare, Melissa A. Voigt

Open Access Dissertations

In recent years there has been an increase in the public's attention to situations where trainers, owners, and handlers have compromised the well-being of show horses for the sake of winning. These situations may be due to training negligence or naivety of individuals working with the horse. Either way, due to these incidents, increasing pressure has been placed on the horse industry to address show horse welfare. The purpose of this research was to expound on the welfare of stock-type show horses through the perspective of those directly involved; considering the understanding of welfare, the value placed on welfare, and …

Investigating The Amino Acid Digestibility Of Alternative Protein Sources And Determining The Impact Of Dietary Fiber On Energy, Nitrogen, And Amino Acid Digestibility In Growing Pigs, Bradley M. Cotten

Open Access Theses

Three experiments were designed to quantify the nitrogen (N) and amino acid (AA) digestibility of various protein sources fed to growing pigs. The protein ingredients were sunflower meal, cottonseed meal, canola meal, camelina meal, egg albumen, casein, blood meal, plasma meal, potato protein concentrate, soy protein concentrate, soy protein isolate, and linseed meal, which were fed as the sole source of amino acids for the animals and were included in semi-purified, corn starch-based diets. A semi-purified, nitrogen-free diet (NFD) was used to estimate endogenous losses of AA. In each experiment, pigs were surgically fitted with a simple T-cannula at the …

The Role Of Adiponectin And The Adipocyte In Energy Metabolism And Inflammation, Sheila Kay Jacobi

Open Access Dissertations

A series of experiments were conducted to characterize the autocrine role of adiponectin in modulating fatty acid metabolism and inflammation in the pig. In the first study, we cloned and sequenced the porcine adiponectin open reading frame and evaluated the regulation of adiponectin, in vitro and in vivo. The porcine sequence shares approximately 88, 86, 85 and 83% homology with the dog, human, cow and mouse adiponectin, respectively, and 79–83% similarity with dog, human, cow and mouse proteins at the amino acid level, based on the translated porcine sequence and GenBank submissions for the other species. Analysis of serum from …

Adipogenic And Myogenic Stem Cells In Brown Fat: A Study Of Progenitors And Regenerative Capacity, Xin Yang

Open Access Theses

Brown adipose tissue (BAT) utilizes stored lipids to generate heat, therefore reducing body fat content and favoring a leaner body composition. Recent identification of metabolically active BAT in adult humans has sparked broad interests in understanding the developmental origin and postnatal homeostasis of BAT. However, the stem cell population that gives rise to BAT during development and maintains BAT mass at postnatal stage has not been characterized. In addition, whether adult BAT has the capacity to regenerate after injury or to proliferate in response to cold is flargely unknown. Furthermore, although BAT and skeletal muscle are known to share a …

Prediction Of Parturition And Dystocia In Holstein-Friesian Cattle, And Cesarean Section In Dystocic Beef Cattle, Wen Han Mark Hiew

Open Access Dissertations

Dystocia is a major problem in the dairy industry as it causes livestock and economic loss. It is more frequently seen in primiparous cattle compared to their multiparous counterparts due to their smaller stature and the slow maturation of pelvic dimensions. In some instances, human intervention of the parturition process is imperative to avoid pain, injury, and mortality of the neonate and the dam. The ability to accurately predict dystocia and the time of parturition will ensure that timely assistance can be given to animals that are of high risk of dystocia.^ The present thesis contains four studies that explore …

Cellular And Molecular Regulation Of Skeletal Muscle Regeneration, Chunhui Jiang

Open Access Dissertations

Skeletal muscle regeneration provides a powerful model to study the cellular and molecular mechanism governing stem cell function since the whole process is mediated by a population of muscle-resident stem cells called satellite cells. The overall aim of this dissertation is to explore the roles of Notch signaling and a novel gene (Bex1) in satellite cell function and skeletal muscle regeneration. ^ The first part of this thesis is to examine how the Notch signaling pathway regulates the satellite cell self-renewal in a disease model. The MDX mouse is a well-established model for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and characterized by …

New Insight Into The Effects Of Small Heat Shock Proteins On Callipyge Lamb Meat Tenderness, Traci Cramer, Yuan H Brad Kim, Danyi Ma, Jolena N. Waddell, Moriah Penick

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Callipyge lambs are a type of sheep that are genetically known to produce tough meat. High expression of calpastatin, which inhibits proteolytic activity of µ-calpain, has been identified as the main factor behind the toughness of callipyge lamb meat. Another group of proteins called small heat shock proteins (sHSP) has recently been suggested for its possible involvement in tenderness development of meat, where up-regulation of sHSP may be associated with toughness. However, the role of sHSP in meat tenderization of callipyge lambs has never been investigated; therefore, the objective of this study is to determine possible involvement of sHSP in …

Genes With Physiological Roles In Callipyge Muscle Hypertrophy, Hui Yu

Open Access Dissertations

Callipyge sheep is an excellent model to study genes regulation in muscle growth since the up-regulation of DLK1 and/or RTL1 results in extreme postnatal muscle hypertrophy in loin and hindquarters. DLK1 and/or RTL1 are the primary inducers of muscle hypertrophy due to the inheritance model for the callipyge phenotype. The overall aim of this dissertation is to study the physiological pathways responding to the up-regulation of DLK1 and / or RTL1 in the hypertrophied muscles. Microarray analysis of gene expression identified 375 genes that were differentially expressed in callipyge semimembranosus. Twenty-five transcripts were further verified by quantitative PCR in two …

Animal Housing Legislation, Kelli Kirtley

Student Papers in Public Policy

Legislation relating to animal housing has been a recent topic of interest in the policy arena. Relatively speaking, it is considered a novel issue; however, this legislation has existed for several years. It is only recently that public outcry has turned the attention of policymakers to confined animal housing.

Analysis Of Sources Of Variation And Relationships Among Sow Productivity Traits, Richard L. Cutshaw

Open Access Theses

The swine industry has witnessed major changes in the past three decades in terms of selection tools and implementation of effective selection. As the pork industry continues to consolidate, it is increasingly important to be able to accurately predict and direct future performance toward increased overall profitability. Overall, sow productivity greatly affects a pork producer's ability to be profitable in the industry and have sufficient knowledge of production levels to improve the likelihood of remaining profitable into the future.

The relationships among sow productivity traits including total number born, litter birth weight, number weaned, preweaning survival, mean piglet birth weight, …