Economic weights of maternal and direct traits of pigs calculated by applying gene flow methods

Multiple trait selection indexes in pig breeding programmes should take into account the population structure and time delay between parent selection and expressions of traits in all production levels next to the trait impacts on economic efficiency of production systems. Gene flow procedures could be used for the correct evaluation of maternal and direct traits of pig breeds involved in breeding or crossbreeding systems. Therefore, the aim of this study was to expand a previously developed bioeconomic model and computer program to calculate the marginal economic values by including a gene flow procedure to calculate the economic weights for maternal and direct traits in pig breeds. The new program was then applied to the three-way crossbreeding system of the Czech National Programme for Pig Breeding. Using this program, the marginal economic values of traits for dam breeds Czech Large White in the dam position and Czech Landrace in the sire position, and for the sire breed Pietrain were weighted by the number of discounted gene expressions of selected parents of each breed summarised within all links of the crossbreeding system during the 8-year investment period. Economic weights calculated in this way were compared with the approximate economic weights calculated previously without a gene flow procedure. Taking into account the time delay between parent selection and trait expression (using discounting with half-year discount rates of 2% or 5%) and including more than one generation of parent progeny had little impact on the relative economic importance of maternal and direct traits of breeds involved in the evaluated three-way crossbreeding system. These results indicated that this gene-flow method could be foregone when estimating the relative economic weights of traits in pig crossbreeding systems applying artificial insemination at all production levels.     

Effects of sodium glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors on serum uric acid in type 2 diabetes mellitus: A systematic review with an indirect comparison meta-analysis

To describe the effects of sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors on serum uric acid (SUA) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). PubMed, EMBASE, and CENTRAL were searched for randomized controlled trials of SGLT2 inhibitors in patients with T2DM up to Aug 10, 2017, without language or date restrictions. Thirty-one studies totaling 13,650 patients were included. SGLT2 inhibitors significantly decreased SUA levels compared with placebo, canagliflozin WMD –37.02?μmol/L, 95% CI [–38.41, –35.63], dapagliflozin WMD –38.05?μmol/L, 95% CI [–44.47, –31.62], empagliflozin WMD –42.07?μmol/L, 95% CI [–46.27, –37.86]. The drug class effect of SUA reduction suggesting SGLT2 inhibitors might be beneficial for diabetic patients with hyperuricemia.     

Inbreeding trends and genetic diversity in purebred sheep populations

Monitoring the rate of change in inbreeding and genetic diversity within a population is important to guide breeding programmes. Such interest stems from the impact of loss in genetic diversity on sustainable genetic gain but also the impact on performance (i.e. inbreeding depression). The objective of the present study was to evaluate trends in inbreeding and genetic diversity in 43 066 Belclare, 120 753 Charollais, 22 652 Galway, 78 925 Suffolk, 187 395 Texel, and 19 821 Vendeen purebred sheep. The effective population size for each of the six breeds was between 116.0 (Belclare population) and 314.8 (Charollais population). The Charollais population was the most genetically diverse with the greatest number of effective founders, effective ancestors, and effective founder genomes; conversely, the Belclare was the least genetically diverse population with the fewest number of effective founders, effective ancestors, and effective founder genomes for each of the six breeds investigated. Overall, the effective population sizes and the total genetic diversity within each of the six breeds were above the minimum thresholds generally considered to be required for the long-term viability of a population.     

Variability and Representativness of Lake Variables

This paper summarizes results from extensive field work in 95 Swedish lakes. It discusses four years (1986–1989) of monthly data on pH, Secchi depth, temperature, alkalinity, total-P, conductivity, Fe, Ca, hardness and colour. These variables vary both temporally and areally. The focus here is on such variations and patterns in variations, and how to express lake-typical values, not for specific sites and sampling occasions, but for entire lakes and longer periods of time (months-years). This is of importance in monitoring and validating models. A definition of total variability (TV), expressing variability between adjacent months within the year, and between the same month for different years, is presented. Selected results: An important pattern emerges for total-P with marked increases in TV during the summer and minimum values in winter. The pattern for colour shows lower TV during summer and higher TV during fall. The TV-values for pH are low and stable thoughout the year and no clear seasonal pattern can be seen. A seasonal pattern exists for conductivity, alkalinity, hardness, and Ca with higher TV during spring. The results concerning the variability within and between lakes show that the greatest differences exist for conductivity and Fe; the smallest (except temperature) for pH and alkalinity.     

Isolation and characterization of pLS 1 plasmid mutants with increased copy numbers

Abstract Streptococcus pneumoniae genetic systems designed for isolation of plasmid mutants with copy-up phenotypes have been developed. The target plasmids have the pLS1 replicon, and two different strategies have been followed: (i) selection of clones exhibiting augmented resistance to antibiotics, or (ii) obligatory co-existence of incompatible plasmids. We have isolated 23 plasmid mutants exhibiting increased number of copies. All the mutations corresponded to four different alleles of the copG gene of plasmid pLS1. These strategies could be used with other plasmids.     

A Data Base for Scaling up from the Leaf to the Canopy

A data base was generated for quantifying effects of thermal time (degree-days) on the appearance of new leaves, the expansion of such leaves to maximum area, their death, the appearance of new internodes below the node associated with such leaves, and the extension of these internodes to maximum length. The data base for a list of crop (agronomic and horticultural), weed, and native Tallgrass Prairie plants has been summarized, with equations for the above events as a function of degree days, with appropriate base temperatures and maximum cut-off temperatures, in a Java applet which is available at a website with the URL . Associated graphical plots such as shown in this paper are also given. Branching behavior was accounted for. These events predict the effect of thermal time on leaf age and its height in the plant canopy, both important factors needed for upscaling functions for leaf behavior to those for behavior of the plant canopy. The data base is evolving to include coefficients for other species. Coefficients are used to predict the leaf area index of the canopy, which is important for predicting evapotranspiration from the crop and the protection of the soil from erosion.     

红花檵木与檵木花数性表型变异研究

红花木与木花的数性结构有很大差异 ,木 4数性花占 96 2 %(花瓣、雄蕊、退化雄蕊、萼片均为 4数 ) ;野生红花木 4数性花约占 5 0 %;红花木栽培类型以 5数性花居多 ,不同类型品种花的数性结构亦有差异 ,总体变异规律为 :近期栽培品种双面红类 5数性花 >中期栽培品种透骨红类 >早期栽培品种嫩叶红类。利用花的数性表型变异探讨了品种的演化历史和新品种选育的前景。     

Group defense by colony-founding queens in the fire ant Solenopsis invicta

Mutualistic associations among nonkin can form when animalsin groups have a greater chance of overcoming challenges presentedby the environment than do solitary animals. Colony foundingby small groups of unrelated queens, a habit documented in severalspecies of ants, is often interpreted as a mutualistic interactionselected by intense competition among incipient colonies. However,many new colonies in these species are founded in areas wheretheir chief enemies are mature ant colonies, rather than othernewly founded colonies. In this study, we tested whether groupnest-founding in the fire ant Solenopsis invicta improved theability of queens to survive attacks by mature colonies. Inthe laboratory, queens in groups of three were more likely thansolitary queens to survive attacks by workers of the nativefire ant Solenopsis geminata. When newly mated queens were establishedexperimentally in the field, workers from mature S. invictacolonies caused the majority of queen deaths. Queens in groupsof two, but not in groups of four, had higher survival ratesthan did solitary queens during the period between colony establishmentand the appearance of the first workers. The advantage of cooperativedefense approximately counterbalanced the disadvantages causedby competition within foundress associations of two to threequeens. Previous studies have shown that colonies founded bymultiple queens produce larger worker populations than coloniesfounded by solitary queens; however, experimentally increasingworker number in incipient colonies had no effect on colonysurvival in the field.     

中国熊类资源数量估计及保护对策

我国熊类资源丰富,是多熊的国家之一．历史上,我国对熊类资源的猎捕利用,一直维持着较高的水平．然而,近百年来,特别是近５０年来,由于人口增多,森林采伐,熊类的栖息条件发生了很大的变化,资源数量显著减少,分布区亦大大缩小,许多原来有熊地区现在已经无熊了,尤其是近１０年来活熊取胆汁技术试验成功之后,城乡各地养熊取胆事业一时曾出现高潮,亦给野生种群带来很大的压力,因而,尽快查明熊类资源数量的现状已是急待解决的问题．依据近年的调查及若干重点产区的实地踏查,估计我国棕熊约有５９００～７２００只,黑熊１７５００～１９５００只,马来熊１４０只左右,本文讨论了数量分布特点、栖息地变化及保护对策     

Using flowering times and leaf numbers to model the phases of photoperiod sensitivity in Antirrhinum majus L

A model has been developed that can be used to determine the phases of sensitivity to photoperiod for seedlings subjected to reciprocal transfers at regular intervals between long (LD) and short day (SD) conditions. The novel feature of this approach is that it enables the simultaneous analysis of the time to flower and number of leaves below the inflorescence. A range of antirrhinum cultivars were grown, all of which were shown to be quantitative long-day plants. Seedlings were effectively insensitive to photoperiod when very young (juvenile). However, after the end of the juvenile phase, SD delayed flowering and increased the number of leaves below the inflorescence. Plants transferred from LD to SD showed a sudden hastening of flowering and a decrease in leaf number once sufficient LD had been received for flower commitment. Photoperiod had little effect on the rate of flower development. The analysis clearly identified major cultivar differences in the length of the juvenile phase and the photoperiod-sensitive inductive phase in both LD and SD.