The Effect of Breeding Herd Parity Structure on Genetic Improvement of the Sow Herd

This study focuses on the value of the genetic lag associated with maintaining sows for additional parities in a commercial swine herd. Three traits were included in this study: number born alive (NBA), 21 day litter weight (W21), and days to market (D250). The economic values assigned to these traits were $22.00/pig,$0.70/lb., and $0.17/day, respectively. The genetic improvement per generation made for each trait was assumed to be 0.3 pigs, 3.0 lbs., and 3.0 days, respectively. It was estimated that the value of the genetic lag associated with retaining a sow to P3, P5, and P7 was$24.80, $46.89, and$73.97 in a herd whose seedstock supplier has a generation interval of 1.5 years. This minimal loss does not justify the costs of developing a gilt and decreased P1 production. Therefore, sows should remain in the breeding herd until culling for non-voluntary reasons or inferior production becomes necessary

Inhibition of monocyte complement receptor enhancement by low molecular weight material from human lung cancers

We have studied the effect of dialysates from lung cancer homogenates to alter both the expression of complement (C3b) receptors per se and also to inhibit leucoattractant-induced enhancement of complement rosettes on monocytes from healthy individuals. Enhancement and enhancement-inhibition by tumour extracts were compared with material derived from normal lung excised from distance from the tumour. There was no significant difference between tumour homogenate (TH) and normal lung homogenate (NLH) in terms of enhancement of complement rosettes per se. In contrast, TH produced a dose- and time-dependent inhibition of leucoattractant-induced enhancement of C3b rosettes which was significantly different from that obtained with NLH. This enhancement-inhibition was observed with four undifferentiated, four squamous and three adenocarcinomas of lung. The degree of enhancement-inhibition was not related to the type of tumour or varying accompanying histological features such as necrosis and the degree of infiltration with inflammatory cells. Following gel filtration on Sephadex G-50 each type of cancer gave a major peak of inhibitory activity which eluted with molecules having an apparent molecular size of approximately 3,000 daltons. A second larger peak (8,000-10,000 daltons) was also detected with extracts from the undifferentiated and adenocarcinomas. These results support previous findings, mainly from experimental animals, indicating that 'anti-macrophage/monocyte principles' are elaborated from certain tumour types

A development of logistics management models for the Space Transportation System

A new analytic queueing approach was described which relates stockage levels, repair level decisions, and the project network schedule of prelaunch operations directly to the probability distribution of the space transportation system launch delay. Finite source population and limited repair capability were additional factors included in this logistics management model developed specifically for STS maintenance requirements. Data presently available to support logistics decisions were based on a comparability study of heavy aircraft components. A two-phase program is recommended by which NASA would implement an integrated data collection system, assemble logistics data from previous STS flights, revise extant logistics planning and resource requirement parameters using Bayes-Lin techniques, and adjust for uncertainty surrounding logistics systems performance parameters. The implementation of these recommendations can be expected to deliver more cost-effective logistics support

Fast symplectic map tracking for the CERN Large Hadron Collider

Tracking simulations remain the essential tool for evaluating how multipolar imperfections in ring magnets restrict the domain of stable phase-space motion. In the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, particles circulate at the injection energy, when multipole errors are most significant, for more than 10^{7} turns, but systematic tracking studies are limited to a small fraction of this total time—even on modern computers. A considerable speedup is expected by replacing element-by-element tracking with the use of a symplectified one-turn map. We have applied this method to the realistic LHC lattice, version 6, and report here our results for various map orders, with special emphasis on precision and speed

Clusters and Superclusters in the Las Campanas Redshift Survey

Two-dimensional high-resolution density field of galaxies of the Las Campanas Redshift Survey (LCRS) with a smoothing length 0.8 Mpc/h is used to extract clusters and groups of galaxies, and a low-resolution field with a smoothing length 10 Mpc/h to find superclusters of galaxies. Properties of these density field (DF) clusters and superclusters are studied and compared with the properties of Abell clusters and superclusters, and LCRS loose groups. We calculate the DF-cluster luminosity function, and show that most luminous clusters in high-density environments are about ten times brighter than most luminous clusters in low-density environments. We present a catalogue of DF-superclusters and show that superclusters that contain Abell clusters are richer and more luminous than superclusters without Abell clusters. A pdf file of the paper with high-resolution figures is available in Tartu Observatory web-site (http://www.aai.ee/~maret/cosmoweb.html)Comment: 19 pages LaTeX text, 15 PostScript Figures, submitted to Astronomy and Astrophysic

Behavioral correlates between daily activity and sociality in wild and captive origin African lions

Study of behavioral correlations within and across populations has long been of interest to ethologists. An exploration of behavioral correlations between sociality and behavior of African lions (Panthera leo) was undertaken to examine if this approach is better able to reveal important aspects of lion behavior not easily discernible by looking at these behaviors separately. Resting behavior and received play interactions were correlated in 2 captive-origin prides and one wild pride, attributable to the involvement of cubs and sub-adults. Direct and exploratory movement was negatively correlated with groom centrality in 2 of the 3 prides, due to adults engaging in high levels of both of these activities. Exploration of these behavioral correlations highlighted the differences between age-groups in activity and sociality, facilitating the understanding of the complex behavior and interactions of lions. In addition, the finding of similar behavioral correlations between captive-origin and the wild prides provides confidence in the suitability if captive-origin candidates for ex-situ release. This is imperative to ensure the success of sub-groups and prides under an ex-situ reintroduction program

Luminous superclusters: remnants from inflation

We derive the luminosity and multiplicity functions of superclusters compiled for the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (Data Release 4), and for three samples of simulated superclusters. We find for all supercluster samples Density Field (DF) clusters, which represent high-density peaks of the class of Abell clusters, and use median luminosities/masses of richness class 1 DF-clusters to calculate relative luminosity/mass functions. We show that the fraction of very luminous (massive) superclusters in real samples is more than tenfolds greater than in simulated samples. Superclusters are generated by large-scale density perturbations which evolve very slowly. The absence of very luminous superclusters in simulations can be explained either by non-proper treatment of large-scale perturbations, or by some yet unknown processes in the very early Universe.Comment: 6 pages, 3 Figures, submitted for Astronomy and Astrophysic

Parental absence in early childhood and onset of smoking and alcohol consumption before adolescence.

BACKGROUND: Parental absence, due to death or separation from a parent, has been associated with smoking and alcohol consumption in adolescence and adulthood. The aim of this study was to investigate whether parental absence in early childhood was associated with smoking and alcohol uptake before adolescence. METHODS: Data on 10 940 children from the UK's Millennium Cohort Study were used. Logistic regression was used to test associations between parental absence (0-7 years) and reports of smoking and alcohol consumption at age 11. RESULTS: Children who experienced parental absence were more likely to have smoked (OR=2.58, 95% CI 1.88 to 3.56) and consumed alcohol (OR=1.46, 95% CI 1.25 to 1.72). No differences were found by child sex or age, or parent absent. Children who experienced parental death were less likely to have drunk alcohol but those who had were more likely to have consumed enough to feel drunk. CONCLUSIONS: Parental absence was associated with early uptake of risky health behaviours in a large, nationally representative UK cohort. Children who experience parental absence should be supported in early life in order to prevent smoking and alcohol initiation.European Research Council [Grant IDs: ERC-2011- StG_20101124, ERC-StG-2012-309337_Alcohol-Lifecourse], Economic and Social Research Council International Centre for Lifecourse Studies in Society and Health (ICLS) [Grant ID: ES/J019119/1], Medical Research Council/Alcohol Research UK [Grant ID: MR/M006638/1]This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from BMJ Publishing Group via http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/archdischild-2016-31044

Photometric validation of a model independent procedure to extract galaxy clusters

By means of CCD photometry in three bands (Gunn g, r, i) we investigate the existence of 12 candidate clusters extracted via a model independent peak finding algorithm (\cite{memsait}) from DPOSS data. The derived color-magnitude diagrams allow us to confirm the physical nature of 9 of the cluster candidates, and to estimate their photometric redshifts. Of the other candidates, one is a fortuitous detection of a true cluster at z~0.4, one is a false detection and the last is undecidable on the basis of the available data. The accuracy of the photometric redshifts is tested on an additional sample of 8 clusters with known spectroscopic redshifts. Photometric redshifts turn out to be accurate within z~0.01 (interquartile range).Comment: A&A in pres

The AMIGA sample of isolated galaxies. V. Quantification of the isolation

The AMIGA project aims to build a well defined and statistically significant reference sample of isolated galaxies in order to estimate the environmental effects on the formation and evolution of galaxies. The goal of this paper is to provide a measure of the environment of the isolated galaxies in the AMIGA sample, quantifying the influence of the candidate neighbours identified in our previous work and their potential effects on the evolution of the primary galaxies. Here we provide a quantification of the isolation degree of the galaxies in this sample. Our starting sample is the Catalogue of Isolated Galaxies (CIG). We used two parameters to estimate the influence exerted by the neighbour galaxies on the CIG galaxy: the local number density of neighbour galaxies and the tidal strength affecting the CIG galaxy. We show that both parameters together provide a comprehensive picture of the environment. For comparison, those parameters have also been derived for galaxies in denser environments such as triplets, groups and clusters. The CIG galaxies show a continuous spectrum of isolation, as quantified by the two parameters, from very isolated to interacting. The fraction of CIG galaxies whose properties are expected to be influenced by the environment is however low (159 out of 950 galaxies). The isolated parameters derived for the comparsion samples gave higher values than for the CIG and we found clear differences for the average values of the 4 samples considered, proving the sensitivity of these parameters. The environment of the galaxies in the CIG has been characterised, using two complementary parameters quantifying the isolation degree, the local number density of the neighbour galaxies and the tidal forces affecting the isolated galaxies. (Abridged)Comment: 10 pages, 12 figures, proposed for acceptance A&