Selection for litter size components: a critical review

The measurement of component variables such as the number of ova shed (OR) and its inclusion in a linear index with litter size (LS) or prenatal survival has been suggested in order to accelerate genetic progress for LS. Despite optimistic theoretical predictions, however, in no selection experiment has the advantage of including OR in an index as compared to direct selection for LS been convincingly demonstrated. A literature survey shows no clear evidence of changes in genetic parameters with selection. By contrast, genetic drift may suffice to explain the less than expected usefulness of measuring OR, although it is not necessarily the sole cause. It is shown that an approximate figure of how much can be gained by measuring OR relative to direct selection for LS is given by (voir formule piece-jointe)1/2 with mass selection, where(voir formule piece-jointe) is the phenotypic variance. Nonetheless, the size of the experiment needed to test this prediction is likely to be very large.Plusieurs auteurs ont proposé de mesurer le taux d’ovulation (TO) et de l’inclure avec la taille de la portée (TP) dans un indice de sélection (IX) afin d’accroître l’efficacité de la sélection pour TP. Malgré des prédictions théoriques optimistes, aucune expérience de sélection n’a pu démontrer de façon convaincante l’avantage d’une sélection sur l’indice IX par rapport à une sélection directe sur TP. Une revue des expériences de sélection disponibles dans la littérature montre que la réponse plus faible qu’attendue à une sélection sur IX ne peut être expliquée par un changement des paramètres sous l’effet de la sélection, mais pourrait l’être par les effets de la dérive génétique. De façon générale, la formule (voir formule piece-jointe) est la variance phénotypique, donne une estimation réaliste de l’avantage relatif de la sélection sur IX par rapport à la sélection directe sur TP. Malheureusement, des expériences sur un grand nombre d’animaux seraient nécessaires pour vérifier cette prédiction

NOR2O: a Library for Transforming Non-Ontological Resources to Ontologies

With the goal of speeding up the ontology development pro- cess, ontology engineers are starting to reuse and transform as much as possible available non-ontological resources, such as classication schemes, thesauri, lexicons, etc. Within the NeOn project we propose a method for re-engineering non-ontological resources into ontologies. This method is based on the so-called re-engineering patterns. This paper presents the description of the software library, that implements the transformations suggested by the patterns

An extension of SPARQL for expressing qualitative preferences

In this paper we present SPREFQL, an extension of the SPARQL language that allows appending a PREFER clause that expresses "soft" preferences over the query results obtained by the main body of the query. The extension does not add expressivity and any SPREFQL query can be transformed to an equivalent standard SPARQL query. However, clearly separating preferences from the "hard" patterns and filters in the WHERE clause gives queries where the intention of the client is more cleanly expressed, an advantage for both human readability and machine optimization. In the paper we formally define the syntax and the semantics of the extension and we also provide empirical evidence that optimizations specific to SPREFQL improve run-time efficiency by comparison to the usually applied optimizations on the equivalent standard SPARQL query.Comment: Accepted to the 2017 International Semantic Web Conference, Vienna, October 201

Genetic improvement of litter size in sheep. A comparison of selection methods

The objectives of this work were to examine the usefulness of measuring ovulation rate (OR) in order to improve genetic progress of litter size (LS) in sheep and to study different selection criteria combining OR and prenatal survival (ES) performance. Responses to selection for 5 generations within a population of 20 male and 600 female parents were compared using Monte-Carlo simulation techniques with 50 replicates per selection method. Two breeds with low (Merino) and medium (Lacaune) prolificacy were considered. Records were generated according to a bivariate threshold model for OR and ES. Heritabilities of OR and ES in the underlying scale were assumed constant over breeds and equal to 0.35 and 0.11, respectively, with a genetic correlation of -0.40 between these traits. Four methods of genetic evaluation were compared: univariate best linear unbiased prediction (BLUP) using LS records only (b-LS); univariate BLUP on OR records (b-OR); bivariate BLUP using OR and LS records (b-ORLS); and a maximum a posteriori predictor of a generalised linear model whereby OR was analysed as a continuous trait and ES as a binary threshold trait (t-ORES). Response in LS was very similar with b-LS, b-ORLS and t-ORES, whereas it was significantly lower with b-OR. Response in OR was maximum with b-OR and minimum with b-LS. In contrast, response in ES was maximum with b-LS. This study raised the question as to why selection based on indices combining information from both OR and ES did not perform better than selection using LS only.Cet article discute l’intérêt du taux d’ovulation (OR) pour accroître le progrès génétique sur la taille de portée (LS) et étudie à cet effet divers critères de sélection combinant OR et le taux de survie embryonnaire (ES). On a examiné par simulation les réponses à la sélection en 5 générations dans une population de 20 et 600 reproducteurs mâles et femelles avec 50 réplications par méthode. On a considéré 2 races, de prolificité faible (Mérinos) et moyenne (Lacaune). Les performances ont été générées à partir d’un modèle bicaractère à seuils. Les héritabilitiés d’OR et ES ont été supposées constantes sur l’échelle sous-jacente dans les 2 races et prises égales respectivement à 0,35 et 0,11 avec une corrélation génétique entre ces 2 caractères de - 0,40. Quatre méthodes d’évaluation génétiques ont été comparées : i) Blup unicaractère basé sur LS (b-LS) ; ii) Blup unicaractère basé sur OR (b-OR) ; iii) Blup bicaractère basé sur OR et LS (b-ORLS) ; iv) Prédicteur du maximum a posteriori bicaractère d’un modèle linéaire généralisé où OR est traité comme un caractère continu et ES comme un caractère à seuils (t-ORES). Les réponses observées étaient très voisines avec b-LS, b-ORLS et t-ORES, alors que b-OR donne une réponse significativement inférieure. La réponse sur OR était maximum avec b-OR et minimum avec b-LS, tandis que la réponse sur ES était maximum avec b-LS. Cette étude pose la question de savoir pourquoi la sélection basée sur des indices combinant OR et ES ne donne pas de résultats significativement supérieurs à la sélection sur LS

Long-term ecological changes in Mediterranean mountain lakes linked to recent climate change and Saharan dust deposition revealed by diatom analyses

Anthropogenic climate change and the recent increase of Saharan dust deposition has had substantial effects on Mediterranean alpine regions. We examined changes in diatom assemblage composition over the past ~180 years from high-resolution, dated sediment cores retrieved from six remote lakes in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of Southern Spain. In all lakes, changes in diatom composition began over a century ago, but were more pronounced after ~1970 CE, concurrent with trends in rising regional air temperature, declining precipitation, and increased Saharan dust deposition. Temperature was identified as the main predictor of diatom assemblage changes, whereas both Saharan dust deposition drivers, the Sahel precipitation index and the winter North Atlantic Oscillation, were secondary explanatory variables. Diatom compositional shifts are indicative of lake alkalinization (linked to heightened evapoconcentration and an increase in calcium-rich Saharan dust input) and reduced lake water turbulence (linked to lower water levels and reduced inflows to the lakes). Moreover, decreases in epiphytic diatom species were indicative of increasing aridity and the drying of catchment meadows. Our results support the conclusions of previous chlorophyll-a and cladoceran-based paleolimnological analyses of these same dated sedimentary records which show a regional-scale response to climate change and Saharan dust deposition in Sierra Nevada lakes and their catchments during the 20th century. However, diatom assemblages seem to respond to different atmospheric and climate-related effects than cladoceran assemblages and chlorophyll-a concentrations. The recent impact of climate change and atmospheric Saharan deposition on lake biota assemblages and water chemistry, as well as catchment water availability, will have important implications for the valuable ecosystem services that the Sierra Nevada provides

Rectification of electronic heat current by a hybrid thermal diode

We report the realization of an ultra-efficient low-temperature hybrid heat current rectifier, thermal counterpart of the well-known electric diode. Our design is based on a tunnel junction between two different elements: a normal metal and a superconducting island. Electronic heat current asymmetry in the structure arises from large mismatch between the thermal properties of these two. We demonstrate experimentally temperature differences exceeding $60$ mK between the forward and reverse thermal bias configurations. Our device offers a remarkably large heat rectification ratio up to $\sim 140$ and allows its prompt implementation in true solid-state thermal nanocircuits and general-purpose electronic applications requiring energy harvesting or thermal management and isolation at the nanoscale.Comment: 8 pages, 6 color figure

Optical modeling of four Fresnel-based high-CPV units

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via the DOI in this recordHigh Concentrator Photovoltaic (HCPV) units are typically based on the use of Fresnel lenses, refractive secondary optical elements (SOE), and triple-junction (TJ) solar cells. In this work, a detailed optical modeling is applied to analyze the performance of four Fresnel-based HCPV units equipped with different refractive SOEs while considering the subcells current density generation. Wavelength-dependent material properties are utilized while simulating the optical performance. The spectral response of a typical TJ solar cell is also included. This modeling allows to establish the subcell current limitation and the spectral matching ratio, SMR, values in each case. The following SOEs have been used for simulating the HCPV units: (i) Dielectric-cross compound-parabolic-concentrator (DCCPC), (ii) (SIngle-Lens-Optical element) SILO-Pyramid, (iii) Refractive truncated pyramid (RTP) and, (iv) Trumpet. Results show that the HCPV units with SOEs RTP and Trumpet, exhibit bottom subcell current limitation and lowest optical polychromatic efficiency, this is partly due to the irradiance absorption in the bottom cell spectral region and longer optical path length of the concentrated rays within the SOE material. In the case of the HCPV unit with the DCCPC SOE, top and bottom subcells limit the current generation alternatively depending on the misalignment angle of the HCPV unit respect to the simulated sunrays. None of the SMR parameters are equal to 1 under normal alignment of the HCPV units. The short-circuit current density distributions for each subcell in each case are studied under normal alignment and under 1° of misalignment angle.European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and Spanish Economy Ministry (ENE2013-45242-R and ENE2016-78251-R); Universidad de Jaén (UJA) and Caja Rural de Jaén (UJA2015/07/01). Financial support provided by the Universidad de Jaén Doctoral School