Variance component estimates, phenotypic characterization, and genetic evaluation of bovine congestive heart failure in commercial feeder cattle.

The increasing incidence of bovine congestive heart failure (BCHF) in feedlot cattle poses a significant challenge to the beef industry from economic loss, reduced performance, and reduced animal welfare attributed to cardiac insufficiency. Changes to cardiac morphology as well as abnormal pulmonary arterial pressure (PAP) in cattle of mostly Angus ancestry have been recently characterized. However, congestive heart failure affecting cattle late in the feeding period has been an increasing problem and tools are needed for the industry to address the rate of mortality in the feedlot for multiple breeds.

Comparison of economic returns among genetic evaluation strategies in a 2-tiered Charolais-sired beef cattle production system.

The objective of this study was to estimate economic returns and costs associated with 4 scenarios of genetic evaluation that combine genotypes, phenotypes, and pedigree information from a vertically integrated purebred (PB) and commercial (CM) beef cattle system. Inference was to a genetic evaluation for a production system producing Charolais terminal sires for 10,000 CM cows. The first genetic evaluation scenario, denoted PB_A, modeled a genetic evaluation in which pedigree information and phenotypes are available for PB seedstock animals.

Num1 anchors mitochondria to the plasma membrane via two domains with different lipid binding specificities.

The mitochondria-ER cortex anchor (MECA) is required for proper mitochondrial distribution and functions by tethering mitochondria to the plasma membrane. The core component of MECA is the multidomain protein Num1, which assembles into clusters at the cell cortex. We show Num1 adopts an extended, polarized conformation.

Site-directed mutagenesis and phylogenetic comparisons of the Escherichia coli Tus protein: DNA-protein interactions alone can not account for Tus activity.

The Tus protein of Escherichia coli is capable of arresting DNA replication in an orientation-dependent manner when bound to specific sequences in the bacterial chromosome called Ter sites. Arrest of DNA replication has been postulated to occur either by a barrier mechanism, where Tus acts as a physical block to replication fork progression, or through protein-protein interactions between Tus and some component of the replication fork. A previous mutational analysis of Tus suggested that the amino acids in the L1 loop might play a role in replication arrest.

[Intraoperative radiotherapy in gastrointestinal tumors].

Intraoperative radiotherapy has proved its worth for curative and palliative treatment of gastrointestinal tumors. IORT indications comprise cancer of the stomach, of the pancreas and colorectal carcinomas. Most authors are cautious to apply it to carcinoma of the esophagus, of the small intestine and of the hepatobiliary system.