Population structure and effects of inbreeding on milk yield and quality of Murrah buffaloes

To provide data for conservation, selection, and expansion programs of buffalo herds, this study evaluated the history of a population of Murrah buffaloes based on population structure and the effect of inbreeding on accumulated 305-d milk yield (MY), fat yield (FY), protein yield (PY), mozzarella production (MProd), and somatic cell score (SCS). The usefulness of including the individual inbreeding coefficient (F) or individual increase in inbreeding coefficient (Delta F) in the model to describe inbreeding depression was evaluated. Pedigree information from 8,054 animals born between 1976 and 2008 and 4,497 lactation records obtained from 12 herds were used. The realized effective population size was 40.10 +/- 1.27, and the mean F of the entire population was 2.14%. The ratio between the number of founders and ancestors demonstrated the existence of a bottleneck in the pedigree of this population, which may contribute to a reduction of genetic diversity. The effect of F on MY, FY, PY, MProd, and SCS was -1.005 kg, -0.299 kg, -0.246 kg, -1.201 kg, and -0.002 units, and the effect of Delta F transformed to equivalent F (%) for a mean of 2.57 equivalent generations was -4.287 kg, -0.581 kg, -0.383 kg, -2.001 kg, and -0.007 units, respectively. The inbreeding depression observed may have important economic repercussions for production systems. The Delta F can be considered the better of the two indicators of inbreeding depression due to its properties that prevent underestimation of this effect. A designed mating system to avoid inbreeding may be applied to this population to maintain genetic diversity.

Test-day milk yield as a selection criterion for dairy buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis Artiodactyla, Bovidae)

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Genetic and environmental effects on sexual precocity traits in Nellore cattle

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Folic acid supplementation during early hepatocarcinogenesis: cellular and molecular effects

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Sperm Organelle Morphologic Abnormalities: Contributing Factors and Effects on Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection Cycles Outcomes

OBJECTIVE To (1) analyze possible relationships between motile sperm organelle morphology examination (MSOME) and sperm chromatin status, aneuploidy incidence, and patient's age; (2) determine the effects of sperm morphologic abnormalities on intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) outcomes; and (3) identify the benefits of intracytoplasmic morphologically selected sperm injection (IMSI) in patients with high DNA fragmentation rate.METHODS The study was performed in 50 patients undergoing ICSI cycles. The MSOME, sperm DNA fragmentation, and sperm aneuploidy incidence were performed in 200 sperm cells of each patient. Regression models were used to assess the relationships among sperm morphology and sperm aneuploidy, sperm DNA fragmentation, patient's age, and ICSI outcomes. In cycles with patients showing a high incidence of DNA fragmentation, oocytes were split into 2 groups according to the sperm selection method: Standard-ICSI (n = 82) and IMSI (n = 79). Fertilization and high-quality embryo rates were compared between the groups.RESULTS A close relationship between sperm DNA fragmentation and the presence of vacuoles in the MSOME was noted. The patient's age was correlated to the presence of vacuoles. No correlation between sperm aneuploidy and IMSI was observed. Vacuolated cells were negatively correlated with fertilization, pregnancy, and implantation. In patients with a high incidence of sperm DNA fragmentation, fertilization and high-quality embryo rates were similar when comparing IMSI and Standard-ICSI.CONCLUSIONS Our data demonstrate a correlation between paternal age and the incidence of nuclear vacuoles, as well as an effect of large and small vacuoles on late embryo development. UROLOGY 78: 786-791, 2011. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V.

Genetic parameter estimates and response to selection for weight and testicular traits in Nelore cattle

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Partitioning the relative fitness effects of diet and trophic morphology in the threespine stickleback

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Effect of chronic treatment with Clomipramine on food intake, macronutrient selection and body weight gain in rats

Long-term treatment with clomipramine (CMI), a tricyclic antidepressant, induces food craving and body weight gain in patients. The present study investigated the effects of chronic treatment with CMI on total food intake, macronutrient selection, and body weight gain in rats. Male Wistar rats were maintained on a dietary self-selection regime with separate sources of protein, fat and carbohydrate. Animals received i.p. injections of CMI (0, 3, 10, 30 mg/kg) during 27 consecutive days. Food consumption and body weight were recorded daily and results were calculated as average of three consecutive days, namely during pre-treatment (3 d before pharmacological treatment), treatment (7th-9th; l6th-l8th and 25th-27th days), and post-treatment (28th-33rd days). Results showed that CMI (30 mg/kg) significantly decreased energy intake during all treatment period, an effect that was related to a decrease in both carbohydrate-rich diet intake and body weight gain. At dose of 3 mg/kg CMI increased the total energy intake in the 16th-18th days, suggesting an apparent biphasic effect of chronic treatment with CMI on caloric intake. Chronic administration with CMI (27 d) did not alter protein-rich or fat-rich diet consumption. The main result of this study indicated that chronic treatment with CMI decreases rather than increase food consumption and body weight gain in rats exposed to a macronutrient self-selection procedure.

Selection of radio transmitter and attachment method for post-release monitoring of captive-bred reintroduced Red-billed Curassow Crax blumenbachii, Brazil

Long-term monitoring of reintroduced individuals is a central component of many endangered species reintroduction programs. Radio-telemetry techniques are rarely used to monitor reintroduced captive-bred Cracids and few data exist regarding possible adverse effects of radio-tagging Cracids. In this study, we identify an appropriate radio transmitter design and develop a suitable attachment method that minimizes anthropogenic influence and enables long-term, post-release monitoring (2-3 years) of reintroduced captive-bred Red-billed Curassows in the Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest. We also review studies about the effects of different VHF radio transmitter models on survival, reproduction, behavior, and physiology of Galliformes.

Selection of alfalfa cultivars adapted for tropical environments with repeated measures using PROC MIXED of SAS (R) System

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

The antibacterial effects for Salmonella Enteritidis phage type 4 of different chemical disinfectants and cleaning agents tested under different conditions

A selection of commercially available disinfectants, sanitizers and water sanitizers based on iodophor, quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) and phenolic compounds were tested for their activity against a phage type 4 strain of Salmonella serotype Enteritidis in the presence of a variety of organic materials. In general the phenolic preparations were the most effective followed by the QACs and the iodophors. They were all inactivated to different degrees by chick fluff, chicken faeces, feed and wood shavings. The inactivation was greatest when Salmonella organisms were pre-dried in feed. Under these conditions formaldehyde and glutaraldehyde were still active. There was some evidence that induced resistance to stress conditions including culture at 42°C and anaerobic culture increased resistance to one of the water sanitizers.

Two-Way Selection for Daily Gain and Feed Conversion in a Composite Rabbit Population

We conducted a two-way selection experiment in a composite rabbit population to investigate the responses to selection for postweaning ADG and feed conversion (FC). Two generations of crossing, followed by four generations of random pair matings, preceded three generations of selection. Selection was practiced within four lines: high-feed conversion (HFC), low-feed conversion (LFC), high gain (HG), and low gain (LG). Data on 1,446 rabbits from the random mating and selection generations were fitted to an animal model to estimate heritabilities of and the genetic correlation between ADG and FC. The two-trait model included rabbit and common litter random effects and line, generation, and sex fixed effects. Estimates of heritability of ADG and FC were .48 and .29, respectively, and the genetic correlation between them was -.82. Common litter environmental effects accounted for a proportion of .11 and . 13 of the phenotypic variation of the two traits, respectively. For ADG (in g/d) the regressions of mean breeding values on generation number during the selection period were 1.23 ± .12 (P < .01) in the HG line and -.86 ± .12 (P < .01) in the LG line; the regressions for FC (in g feed/g gain) were -.07 ± .01 (P < .01) in the HFC line and .03 ± .01 (P < .05) in the LFC line. Selection for ADG was effective in improving ADG and FC.

Economic viability and selection of irrigation systems using simulation and stochastic dominance

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Path analysis and expected response in indirect selection for grain yield in soybean

This study aimed to determine the best auxiliary trait for indirect selection of soybean grain yield, through path analysis and in avoidance of the adverse effects of multicollinearity and expected response. Seventy-nine F5 soybean genotypes from the cross FT-Cometa x Bossier were used. The populations were distributed on the field was the families inserted with replicated controls. Primary and secondary traits of grain yield were evaluated in four phenotypically superior plants per family. The traits number of pods, height and number of nodes were considered as the most important, showing the best combination of direct effect and genotypic correlation. The number of pods achieved the highest expected gain through the estimation method based on the selection differential. On the other hand, plant height, by the method based on selection intensity, was not a good indicator of the most productive plants.

An effective wavelet method to detect and mitigate low-frequency multipath effects

To ensure high accuracy results from GPS relative positioning, the multipath effects have to be mitigated. Although the careful selection of antenna site and the use of especial antennas and receivers can minimize multipath, it cannot always be eliminated and frequently the residual multipath disturbance remains as the major error in GPS results. The high-frequency multipath from large delays can be attenuated by double difference (DD) denoising methods. But the low-frequency multipath from short delays is very difficult to be reduced or modeled. In this paper, it is proposed a method based on wavelet regression (WR), which can effectively detect and reduce the low-frequency multipath. The wavelet technique is firstly applied to decompose the DD residuals into the low-frequency bias and high-frequency noise components. The extracted bias components by WR are then directly applied to the DD observations to correct them from the trend. The remaining terms, largely characterized by the high-frequency measurement noise, are expected to give the best linear unbiased solutions from a least-squares (LS) adjustment. An experiment was carried out using objects placed close to the receiver antenna to cause, mainly, low-frequency multipath. The data were collected for two days to verify the multipath repeatability. The ground truth coordinates were computed with data collected in the absence of the reflector objects. The coordinates and ambiguity solution were compared with and without the multipath mitigation using WR. After mitigating the multipath, ambiguity resolution became more reliable and the coordinates were more accurate.