Replacement of the First GnRH Administration in the Ovsynch Protocol by Selecting Cows According to the Stage of Follicular Development

The aim of the study was to replace the first GnRH in the Ovsynch protocol by selecting cows bearing corpus luteum as well as follicles in a defined stage of development at PGF2α administration. Additionally, various terms of GnRH administration after PGF2α were tested. Seventy five non-pregnant cows bearing corpus luteum were divided into groups according to the phase of follicular development on D 0 (day of PGF2α administration)-growth (GR, follicles 3.0-7.9 mm in diameter), early dominance (ED, dominant follicle 8.0-14.9 mm) and late dominance (LD, dominant follicle 15.0-23.0 mm). In addition, the cows were divided into groups according to the terms of GnRH administration (24, 48 or 72 h after PGF2α). In this way, groups GR 48 (n = 5), GR 72 (n = 6), ED 24 (n = 10), ED 48 (n = 12), ED 72 (n = 12), LD 24 (n = 10), LD 48 (n = 10) and LD 72 (n = 10) were established. Growth of ovulatory follicle, term of ovulation, insemination and conception rates as well as relation of the size of preovulatory follicle (day of ovulation) to the size of following corpus luteum (day 14) were evaluated. The highest level of synchronization of ovulation (100% on D 3) as well as conception rate (50%) was achieved in group ED 48. This protocol gives an opportunity of timing artificial insemination to 18-24 hours after GnRH administration, as ovulation occurs with a high probability within 24 - 48 hours after GnRH administration

A critical appraisal of appendage disparity and homology in fishes

Fishes are both extremely diverse and morphologically disparate. Part of this disparity can be observed in the numerous possible fin configurations that may differ in terms of the number of fins as well as fin shapes, sizes and relative positions on the body. Here, we thoroughly review the major patterns of disparity in fin configurations for each major group of fishes and discuss how median and paired fin homologies have been interpreted over time. When taking into account the entire span of fish diversity, including both extant and fossil taxa, the disparity in fin morphologies greatly complicates inferring homologies for individual fins. Given the phylogenetic scope of this review, structural and topological criteria appear to be the most useful indicators of fin identity. We further suggest that it may be advantageous to consider some of these fin homologies as nested within the larger framework of homologous fin‐forming morphogenetic fields. We also discuss scenarios of appendage evolution and suggest that modularity may have played a key role in appendage disparification. Fin modules re‐expressed within the boundaries of fin‐forming fields could explain how some fins may have evolved numerous times independently in separate lineages (e.g., adipose fin), or how new fins may have evolved over time (e.g., anterior and posterior dorsal fins, pectoral and pelvic fins). We favour an evolutionary scenario whereby median appendages appeared from a unique field of competence first positioned throughout the dorsal and ventral midlines, which was then redeployed laterally leading to paired appendages.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151971/1/faf12402_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151971/2/faf12402.pd

Changes to the Fossil Record of Insects through Fifteen Years of Discovery

The first and last occurrences of hexapod families in the fossil record are compiled from publications up to end-2009. The major features of these data are compared with those of previous datasets (1993 and 1994). About a third of families (>400) are new to the fossil record since 1994, over half of the earlier, existing families have experienced changes in their known stratigraphic range and only about ten percent have unchanged ranges. Despite these significant additions to knowledge, the broad pattern of described richness through time remains similar, with described richness increasing steadily through geological history and a shift in dominant taxa, from Palaeoptera and Polyneoptera to Paraneoptera and Holometabola, after the Palaeozoic. However, after detrending, described richness is not well correlated with the earlier datasets, indicating significant changes in shorter-term patterns. There is reduced Palaeozoic richness, peaking at a different time, and a less pronounced Permian decline. A pronounced Triassic peak and decline is shown, and the plateau from the mid Early Cretaceous to the end of the period remains, albeit at substantially higher richness compared to earlier datasets. Origination and extinction rates are broadly similar to before, with a broad decline in both through time but episodic peaks, including end-Permian turnover. Origination more consistently exceeds extinction compared to previous datasets and exceptions are mainly in the Palaeozoic. These changes suggest that some inferences about causal mechanisms in insect macroevolution are likely to differ as well

Online adaptace akustického modelu na řečníka s využitím systému pro rozpoznávání obličejů

We have proposed and evaluated a novel approach for online speaker adaptation of an acoustic model based on face recognition. Instead of traditionally used audio-based speaker identification we investigated the video modality for the task of speaker detection. A simulated on-line transcription created by a Large-Vocabulary Continuous Speech Recognition (LVCSR) system for online subtitling is evaluated utilizing speaker independent acoustic models, gender dependent models and models of particular speakers. In the experiment, the speaker dependent acoustic models were trained offline, and are switched online based on the decision of a face recognizer, which reducedWord Error Rate (WER) by 12% relatively compared to speaker independent baseline system

Český senior COMPANION: získávání dat metodou Wizard of Oz a nahrávání a anotace korpusu pro expresivní syntézu řeči

Tato práce popisuje proces získávání dat pro potřeby projektu COMPANIONS, jehož cílem je vytvoření dialogových systémů, které budou fungovat jako virtuální společníci pro lidské uživatele. Jeden z těchto dialogových systémů, který je vyvíjen i pro český jazyk, je navržen jako společník pro starší osoby, jehož úkolem bude povídat si o jejich fotografiích. Článek detailně popisuje nahrávání přirozených rozhovorů mezi staršími osobami a počítačem za použití metody Wizard of Oz. Dále je v článku popsáno využití těchto nahraných rozhovorů během nahrávání expresivního korpusu, který bude využit v českém expresivním TTS systému.This paper presents part of the data collection efforts undergone within the projectCOMPANIONS whose aim is to develop a set of dialogue systems that will be ableto act as an artificial "companions"' for human users. One of these systems, being developed in Czech language, is designed to be a partner of elderly peoplewhich will be able to talk with them about the photographs that capture mostlytheir family memories. The paper describes in detail the collection of natural dialogues using the Wizard of Oz scenario and also the re-use of thecollected data for the creation of the expressive speech corpus that is plannedfor the development of the limited-domain Czech expressive TTS system