The variation of skeletal maturity about chronological age is a sensitive indicator of population health. Age appropriate or advanced skeletal maturity is a reflection of adequate environmental and social conditions, whereas delayed maturation suggests inadequate conditions for optimal development. There remains a paucity of data, however, to indicate which specific biological and environmental...

Catch quotas for walleye pollock Gadus chalcogrammus, the dominant species in the groundfish fishery off Alaska, are set by applying harvest control rules to annual estimates of spawning stock biomass (SSB) from age-structured stock assessments. Adult walleye pollock abundance and maturity status have been monitored in early spring in Shelikof Strait in the Gulf of Alaska for almost three decad...

Fifty-two Angus x Gelbvieh rotationally crossed virgin, ovariectomized, or single-calf heifers were slaughtered after 100 d on a high-concentrate diet. Heifers from each treatment were approximately 31, 33, or 35 mo of age, and they produced 31 A, 5 B, and 16 C maturity carcasses. Because of the small number, B maturity carcasses were not included in this study. Number of A maturity carcasses d...

The Norwegian spring-spawning herring (Clupea harengus) population collapsed to the state of commercial extinction in the late 1960s; the stock remained at extremely low levels for over two decades, but has recovered fully since the 1980s. It is known that the collapse coincided with strong changes in maturation characteristics. However, the long-term patterns of maturation in this stock have r...

Two experiments were conducted to determine the effect of carcass maturity on meat palatability using concentrate-fed cattle of known history and to determine the relationship of chronological age to carcass maturity scores. Yearling heifers (n = 28) and 2-yr-old cows (n = 25) of similar breed groups were fed a high-energy-density diet for 90 d before slaughter. Longissimus muscle Instron peak ...

Age determination plays a great role in forensic medicine, pediatric endocrinology and is of particular interest in orthodontic and pedodontic treatment planning. The classical and most widely used method for skeletal-age evaluation is the highly reliable hand-wrist bone analysis performed by radiographs. However, this analysis entails exposure to ionizing radiation in addition to the routine r...