Body development, carcass, and meat quality of confined lambs fed increasing levels of whole rice meal.

The objective of this trial was to evaluate the effect of whole rice meal (WRM) inclusion in the concentrate upon body development, carcass traits, and meat quality of lambs. Twenty-four castrated lambs with an average initial body weight of 17.90 ± 2.

Access to barrier perches improves behavior repertoire in broilers.

Restriction of behavioral opportunities and uneven use of space are considerable welfare concerns in modern broiler production, particularly when birds are kept at high densities. We hypothesized that increased environmental complexity by provision of barrier perches would help address these issues by encouraging perching and enhancing use of the pen space across a range of stocking densities. 2,088 day-old broiler chicks were randomly assigned to one of the following barrier and density treatment combinations over four replications: simple barrier, complex barrier, or control (no barrier) and low (8 birds/m(2)), moderate (13 birds/m(2)), or high (18 birds/m(2)) density.

Hardiness, depression, and emotional well-being and their association with appetite in older adults.

Objectives: To examine the associations between hardiness (defined as the ability to manage stress), depression, and emotional well-being and appetite in older adults.

Design: Cross-sectional.

Setting: Assisted-living facilities and senior centers in the Washington/Baltimore area.

Liquid semen storage in elephants (Elephas maximus and Loxodonta africana): species differences and storage optimization.

Artificial insemination plays a key role in the genetic management of elephants in zoos. Because freshly extended semen is typically used for artificial insemination in elephants, it has become imperative to optimize conditions for liquid storage and semen transport. The objectives of this study were to examine the interactions between different extenders and storage temperatures on sperm total motility, progressive motility, and acrosomal integrity in Asian (Elephas maximus) and African (Loxodonta africana) elephants.

A large-sample QTL study in mice: III. Reproduction.

Using lines of mice having undergone long-term selection for high and low growth, a large-sample (n approximately to 1000 F2) experiment was conducted to gain further understanding of the genetic architecture of complex polygenic traits. Composite interval mapping on data from 10-week-old F2 females (n = 439) detected 15 quantitative trait loci (QTLs) on 5 chromosomes that influence reproduction traits characterized at day 16 of gestation. These QTL are broadly categorized into two groups: those where effects on the number of live fetuses (LF) were accompanied by parallel effects on the number of dead fetuses (DF), and those free of such undesirable effects.