Sire mating advice framework for cattle to recommend which beef bull to mate to individual dairy females.

A decision support tool or system is a computerized information system used to support decision-making in a business; one central component to profitable dairy cattle production systems is the appropriate mating of bulls and females. While tools have been described to aid mating decisions between dairy bulls and dairy females, or between beef bulls and beef females, there is a void of such tools that recommend which beef bull to mate to individual dairy females. The objective of the present study was to develop and validate a framework, founded on linear programming, to aid herd-level mating decisions where the bull-female mating is tailored based on complementarity and compatibility of both mates; consideration in the process was given to the genetic merit of both mates for a series of traits as well as the life history of the female herself.

Physicochemical and Microbiological Stability of Ursodiol Oral Compounded Suspensions.

Objective: In the United States, ursodiol is commercially available as solid dosage forms, which represents a problem for children who cannot swallow capsules or tablets. There is a lack of an age-appropriate formulation for ursodiol, and the extemporaneous preparation of an oral suspension with an extended beyond-use-date (BUD) may represent a good therapeutic alternative for the pediatric population. However, all pharmacists need validated stability studies to prepare oral liquids with high quality and safety.