Browsing by Subject "Brahman"
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Item An Exploration of Biological Mechanisms that Impact Intake and Feed Efficiency in the Grazing Animal(2013-05-21) Wiley, LeanneBiological mechanisms that potentially contribute to residual feed intake (RFI) have not been fully understood in the grazing animal. The objective of this study was to determine the differences of RFI measured in confinement (RFIc) or grazing (RFIg) on animal performance. Animals were previously classified in confinement as high RFI (HRFIc), or low RFI (LRFIc) and subsequently under grazing as high (HRFIg) or low (LRFIg). Effects of forage quantity on dry matter intake (DMI), and biological mechanisms that contribute to variations in RFI were investigated using ultrasound, carcass traits and bacterial populations. Bulls were allotted to replicate bermudagrass pastures at low (LSTK) or high (HSTK) stocking intensities and heifers grazed one Ryegrass pasture. Ruminal microbial content was collected and profiled using bacterial tag-encoded FLX amplicon pyrosequencing technique. In 2009, bulls were harvested directly off the pasture and ultrasound and carcass measurements were determined. Data were analyzed using PROC GLIMMIX of SAS. Linear regressions were obtained using PROC REG to estimate RFI. In 2009, there was a difference for LRFIc bulls in F:G (P=0.032), and HRFIg bulls on LSTK had an interaction for ADG (P=0.043). HRFIg bulls had greater intakes regardless of STK (P=0.003). In 2010, HRFIc bulls remained heavier throughout with the greatest DMI (P=0.0095). There were no differences for any traits for 2010 RFIg bulls. At a LSTK, HRFIg bulls tended (P>0.05) to have a lighter gastrointestinal tract (GIT) weight (P=0.093) while liver weight (P=0.072) tended to be heavier for all bulls. The small intestine was heavier for LRFIg bulls (P=0.09) on a HSTK. There was an interaction for microbial bacteria identified in the rumen in 2009 on hemicellulolytic (P=0.048), starch (P=0.025), and pectinolytic (P=0.057) degrading bacteria. HRFIg bulls at a LSTK had a greater percentage for amylolytic and pectinolytic degrading bacteria (P=0.008 and P=0.051, respectively) in the large intestine. There were no interactions for any substrates in 2010. DMI (P<0.0001) was greater each year for HRFIc heifers and was greater (P=0.0168, P=<0.0001, P=<0.0001) each year respectively for LRFIg heifers. No differences were found for initial BW, final BW, MetBW, and ADG in the RFIc or RFIg classes. HRFIg bulls with the greatest forage availability consumed more and had heavier GIT, but it is still unclear how the microbial fauna affected the efficiency among RFI phenotyped bulls.Item Conflict, identity and narratives : the Brahman communities of western India from the seventeenth through the nineteenth centuries(2010-12) Patil, Urmila Rajshekhar; Olivelle, Patrick; Talbot, Cynthia; Hyder, S. Akbar; Brereton, Joel; Deshpande, MadhavPopular perception and analyses of Hinduism and Indian society tend to focus on a largely monolithic image of the Brahmans. They emphasize the supremacy of Brahmans over other classes in social and religious domains, and attribute this supremacy mainly to their superior ritual status as members of the priestly class, as well as to their traditional access to learning and literacy. This dominant image has received most attention in scholarly approaches to Hindu-Indian society and religion. Scholars of religious studies have offered various theories to explain the ritual supremacy of Brahmans, while struggles of lower castes against Brahmans have been a persistent theme in historical studies. By stressing the dominance of Brahmans in the hierarchy of power, the theoretical and historical studies have adopted a generalized and hackneyed view of Brahmans. While doing so, they have largely ignored the power struggles within the larger Brahman class. History notes the emergence of various Brahman communities in different regions at different times; it also indicates the dynamism and fluidity inherent in the formation of these communities through continually evolving affiliations with distinct factors such as region, language, sects, occupation, rituals, and ritual texts. Despite the transformations and complexities taking place within this class, the perception of their supremacist identity has persisted. How did multiple Brahman communities that shared space and prominence within a particular region engage one another? Were there any disputes among them as they shared claims to the highest social ranking in the societies of which they were a part? If any such conflicts indeed occurred, did the disputing communities create any hierarchy among themselves just as they have been positing a hierarchy between themselves and other classes? Finally, how did they define their identities as a response to these conflicts and hierarchies, and how do these identities relate to the monolithic and essentialist identity attributed to the Brahman class as such? These questions – despite their critical significance – have surprisingly escaped the scholarly gaze of the specialists in religious studies and historians. This dissertation explores this largely uncharted area by focusing on the interrelationship and identities of the four Brahman groups situated in what we know today as states of Maharashtra and Goa, in the time period from the seventeenth century through the nineteenth century. During this period the four communities – the Chitpavans, the Karhadas, the Sarasvats, and the Deshasthas – engaged in intense mutual rivalry centered on gaining greater prominence in social, political and religious domains. This rivalry was largely due to contemporary political conditions under the Marathas in the early-modern/pre-colonial period, and later under the British in the colonial period. This dissertation examines five narratives composed during this period that reflect the responses of these four communities to their mutual conflicts. The Sahyadrikhanda, the Sataprasnakalpalatika, the Syenavijatidharmanirnaya, the Konkanakhyana, and the Dasaprakarana contain portrayals by a particular group of itself and its rivaling groups. This dissertation analyzes the discursive and the historical aspects of these narratives to understand the identities of these communities; it identifies the key notions that were integral to their identities and the socio-political circumstances under which they were articulated. Within the discursive aspect, I compare the narratives using the principle of intertextuality and explore how they relate to one another, the common themes they invoke and their textual modes that had a crucial bearing upon the ways in which they affected the identities of the four Brahman groups. Within the historical aspect I study the general and specific contexts within which the Brahmans produced and used the narratives to define their identities in the early modern and colonial eras. This dissertation is divided in two parts; the first deals with the early modern period and the second part focuses on the colonial period. The early modern period was an exceptional period for the Brahmans in western India as they experienced unprecedented social and occupational mobility under the regional polities, in particular under the Maratha rulers. The Marathas offered great opportunities of patronage and employment to regional Brahmans, as well as encouraged them to take precedence in social, political, and religious realms as a way to consolidate their claims to Hindu kingship. As the Brahman class rose to prominence, various Brahman groups, in particular these four prominent Brahman groups, competed against one another to obtain a greater share in patronage and employment. Asserting their own superior Brahmanical status while simultaneously denigrating the status of others was the prime means through which each of these groups staked claims to a greater social standing. These intra-Brahmanical rivalries and the attempts of these groups to project a hierarchy of ideal Brahmanhood found expression in the Sahyadrikhanda, the Sataprasnakalpalatika, the Syenavijatidharmanirnaya, and the Konkanakhyana. These narratives are essentially historical inasmuch as they contain accounts of origins and the pasts of these communities. This suggests that history was the chief site upon which these intra-Brahmanical rivalries were articulated. My analysis indicates that within this overarching scheme of history, the narratives invoked certain key themes in their accounts, which they used to project a superior status of the community that they endorsed and an inferior status of the community they wished to denigrate. These themes include diet, modes of occupation, right to sannyasa, regional affiliation, right to the Satkarma, and a patron deity or an emblematic figure. I argue that these themes define a distinct set of criteria for ideal Brahmanhood such as a vegetarian diet, religious modes of occupation, entitlement to sannyasa and to Satkarma, affiliation to a sacred region, and validation of status by an authoritative figure. These criteria define a frame of reference within which the Brahman communities projected a hierarchy of ideal Brahmanhood among themselves. I demonstrate that these criteria had a strong correlation with actual practices (diet, occupation) and associations (regions, deities) of the Brahman communities, and were embedded within distinct socio-political conditions. This suggests that unlike the monolithic, static, and ahistorical notion of Brahmanhood projected in the ideological world of classical texts and ‘Orientalist’ studies, the Brahmanhood to which a Brahman in early-modern Maharashtra subscribed was a pluralistic and fluid notion embedded within a distinctly regional and temporal context. This dissertation also illustrates that far from being restricted to the discursive domain, this notion (and the narratives that constructed it) asserted its relevance and influence in the practical realities of the early modern era in various ways. In other words, the narrative discourse of Brahmanhood had a tangible impact on the identities of the Brahmans in question. The second part of the dissertation examines the colonial period during which this pluralistic, fluid, and distinctly regional notion of Brahmanhood continued be invoked and redefined in debates among the Brahman communities. Triggered by contemporary social and political transformations, these debates mark the continuation of certain elements from the previous era, as well as the introduction of new elements drawn from the changing social and political order. In particular, the ways in which the narratives from the previous era were called upon and redefined in these debates reflect some of the crucial modalities in which a unique synthesis of the new and the old elements was constructed and adapted to these new disputes. By drawing attention to the discursive and the practical fluidities of Brahmanical rivalries and identities through its focus on the narratives, this dissertation calls for more nuanced attention to Brahman communities than they have received thus far.Item Evaluation of F1 Cows Sired by Brahman, Boran, and Tuli Bulls for Reproductive and Maternal Performance Traits and Cow Longevity(2011-08-08) Muntean, CarlBirth (BWT) (n = 1,335) and weaning weight (WWT) (n = 1,246), pregnancy rate (PR) (n = 1,513), calf crop born (CCB) (n = 1,504), calf crop weaned (CCW) (n = 1,500), cow weight at palpation (CW) (n = 1,662), and cow body condition score (BCS) (n = 1,666) were evaluated from 1994 to 2010 in 143 F1 females sired by Brahman (B), Boran (Bo), and Tuli (T) bulls and out of Angus and Hereford cows. Mouth scores (MS) (n = 253) were assigned to the remaining cows from 2004 to 2009, excluding 2008. Pregnancy rate, CCB, CCW, CW, and BCS were evaluated using a model that consisted of sire of cow breed, dam of cow breed, and calf's birth year/age of cow as fixed effects. Cow within sire of cow within sire breed of cow and sire of cow within sire breed of cow were used as random effects. Birth weight and WWT were evaluated including sex of calf in the same model. Mouth scores were evaluated with two models. When broken and solid mouths were scored 1 and smooth 0, B- and Bo-sired cows (0.87 and 0.83) had higher scores (P < 0.05) than T-sired females (0.65). When solid mouths were scored 1 and smooth and broken scored 0, B-sired cows (0.40) were higher than T (0.07) (P < 0.05), and Bo (0.30) sired cows were not different from either (P > 0.05). The model for MS only included sire of cow breed and calf's birth year/age of cow as fixed effects. Two-way interactions were tested for significance. Calf's birth year/age of cow was important for all traits (P < 0.05) except the first MS model. Adjusted means (LSM) for BWT for calves out of cows by B, Bo, and T sires were 34.1, 34.0, and 34.1 kg respectively, and were not different from one another (P > 0.05). Least squares means for WWT for calves out of cows by B, Bo, and T sires were 236.7, 217.5, and 197.2 kg, respectively, and were significantly different. For both BWT and WWT, male calves were heavier (P < 0.05) than females, by 2.13 kg and 10.39 kg, on average. Least squares means for PR for females sired by B, Bo, and T bulls were 0.900, 0.930, and 0.912, and were not different (P > 0.05). Adjusted means for CCB for females sired by B, Bo, and T sires were 0.872, 0.944, and 0.892 respectively, and Bo was higher (P < 0.05) than B and T. Calf crop weaned ranked the same as CCB with adjusted means of 0.805, 0.894, and 0.843 for cows by B, Bo, and T bulls, with Bo being higher (P < 0.05) than B. Cow weight adjusted means for cows by B, Bo and T sires were 537.1, 468.9, and 462.6 kg, respectively, with B-sired females being heavier (P < 0.05) than both Bo and T sired cows. Body condition scores for B, Bo, and T sired cows were 5.19, 5.43, and 5.15, respectively, with Bo-sired cows being the highest (P < 0.05). Higher reproductive rates were found for Bo-sired cows, but B-sired cows weaned heavier calves.Item Heterosis and heterosis retention for reproductive and maternal traits in Brahman - British crossbred cows(Texas A&M University, 2005-02-17) Key, Kelli LorenReproductive, maternal, and weight traits were analyzed for Angus (A), Brahman (B), and Hereford (H) straightbred cows; F1 and F2 BA and BH cows; and 3/8 B 5/8 A first (Bn) and second (Bn2) generation cows in Central Texas. Heterosis was estimated for calf crop born (CCB), calf crop weaned (CCW), and cow weight at palpation (PW) by linear contrasts within cow breed groups. F1 BA cows expressed heterosis (P<0.01) for CCB (0.10) and CCW (0.11), while F2 BA cows expressed negative heterosis (P<0.10) for CCB (-0.06) and CCW (-0.07). F1 BH cows expressed heterosis (P<0.001) for CCB (0.15) and CCW (0.16), and F2 BH cows retained F1 heterosis (P<0.001) for CCB (0.13) and CCW (0.15). Bn2 cows expressed heterosis (P<0.01) for CCB (0.14), but Bn cows did not express heterosis (P>0.10) for CCB or CCW. Only the F1 BA (22.9 kg) and F2 BH (42.1 kg) groups expressed heterosis (P<0.10) for PW. Bn2 cows (-65.7 kg) expressed negative heterosis (P<0.01) for PW. Heterosis for calf survival (CS), birth weight (BW), and weaning weight (WW) was estimated by linear contrasts within calf breed groups for B- and H-influenced calves. F1 BH (0.11) and F2 BH (0.14) calves expressed heterosis (P<0.01) for CS. None of the groups expressed heterosis (P>0.10) for BW, but B-sired F1 BH calves were 5.5 kg heavier (P<0.01) than H-sired F1 calves at birth. F1 BH (22.4 kg) and F2 BH (26.2 kg) calves expressed heterosis (P<0.001) for WW, and H-sired F1 BH calves were 20.7 kg heavier (P<0.10) than B-sired F1 calves at weaning.Item Heterosis and Heterosis Retention for Reproductive and Maternal Traits in Brahman x Hereford Crossbred Cows(2012-02-14) Boenig, LydiaCalf crop born, calf crop weaned, calf birth weight, calf weaning weight, and cow weight at weaning were evaluated from 1996 to 2009 in Brahman (B) and Hereford (H) straightbred and crossbred cows (n = 1,515). The objective of these analyses was to estimate heterosis for F1 and F2 females for these reproductive and maternal traits. Breed groups included B, H, F1 Hereford-sired (HB) and Brahman-sired (BH) cows (n = 114 purebreds, 55 F1, 52 F2). Second generation breed groups included cows sired by HB and out of HB dams (F2HB) and BH dams (HBxBH); and cows sired by BH and out of HB dams (BHxHB) and BH dams (F2BH). Least squares means were calculated for calf crop born, calf crop weaned, and calf birth and weaning weights, using numerous different models, where the trait was the dependent variable. Previous research and these preliminary analyses showed that the effects of year and cow age are real as is their interaction each other and with breed type. In each attempted model designed to remove these effects, different breed groups received excessive adjustments, rendering the resultant heterosis estimates inappropriate. To more clearly assess differences, presentation and visual evaluation of unadjusted means were conducted. The model for mature cow weight (cows at 6 years of age) included breed group as fixed effects and cow within breed group and year as random effects. F2 cows appeared to retain approximately 39% of F1 heterosis for calf crop born and approximately 50% for calf crop weaned. HB x BH cows delivered the lightest calves at 33.9 (4.74) kg and F2BH had the heaviest calves at birth at 36.6 (5.37) kg. BH cows weaned the heaviest calves at 240.9 (38.1) kg and F2BH cows weaned the lightest calves at 208.4 (31.9) kg. Sire breed of calf and age of cow appear to be important factors regarding weight traits. Retained heterosis for cow weight at weaning was higher than expected at 73%. Sire breed group differences (HB vs. BH) for these traits in F2 cows may merit further investigation.Item Investigation of Genetic Effects on Birth Weight in Brahman-Simmental Crosses(2013-12-04) Dillon, Jasmine AshleyBrahman cross calves exhibit unusual inheritance of birth weight: Brahman-sired crossbreds out of Bos taurus females are heavier with greater difference between sexes than calves of the reciprocal cross. The objective of this work was to investigate genetic effects that may influence differences in Brahman (B) ? Simmental (S) crosses. 5,102 calves produced by embryo transfer (ET) (n = 2,914) and natural service/artificial insemination (n = 2,188) were born from 1983 ? 1991 . Data were analyzed using an animal model. Fixed effects investigated included contemporary group (n = 87; combinations of ET status, birth year, month, and location), sex, recipient breed, and linear covariates of direct breed effects, maternal breed effects, expected breed heterozygosity of the calf (HET) and the dam, mitochondrial origin, Y chromosome effects, X chromosome effects (XCHR), genomic imprinting (GI), non-random X inactivation by breed of origin, and non-random X inactivation by parent of origin (NONRP). ET calves were constrained to 0 for maternal breed and breed heterozygosity effects. Random effects included direct and maternal additive genetic. The regression coefficient for HET (4.09 ? 0.96 kg) (P < 0.001) The regression coefficient for GI was ?4.24 ? 0.95 kg (P < 0.001). XCHR has a probable role but was antagonized by the presence of NONRP in the model. This is likely due to insufficient data and structure available to partition the effects. Direct and maternal breed and breed heterozygosity effects estimated from models not including GI and XCHR are not straightforward to interpret in Bos indicus-Bos taurus crosses.