PERFORMANCE OF ALTERNATIVE COMPONENT PRICING SYSTEMS FOR PORK

One method of implementing value-based marketing is a component pricing system. This research develops and evaluates alternative component pricing systems for pork. Two electronic technologies for estimating carcass components (optical probe and electromagnetic scanner) were evaluated on two sets of data representing different populations. Model accuracy increased as additional components were added.Carcass merit, Component pricing, Electromagnetic scanning, Pork, Marketing,

Characterization of a Homozygous Deletion of Steroid Hormone Biosynthesis Genes in Horse Chromosome 29 as a Risk Factor for Disorders of Sex Development and Reproduction

Disorders of sex development (DSD) and reproduction are not uncommon among horses, though knowledge about their molecular causes is sparse. Here we characterized a 200 kb homozygous deletion in chromosome 29 at 29.7-29.9 Mb. The region contains AKR1C genes which function as ketosteroid reductases in steroid hormone biosynthesis, including androgens and estrogens. Mutations in AKR1C genes are associated with human DSDs. Deletion boundaries, sequence properties and gene content were studied by PCR and whole genome sequencing of select deletion homozygotes and control animals. Deletion analysis by PCR in 940 horses, including 622 with DSDs and reproductive problems and 318 phenotypically normal controls, detected 67 deletion homozygotes of which 79% were developmentally or reproductively abnormal. Altogether, 8-9% of all abnormal horses were homozygous for the deletion, with the highest incidence (9.4%) among cryptorchids. The deletion was found in 4% of our phenotypically normal cohort, 1% of global warmblood horses and ponies, and 7% of draught breeds of general horse population as retrieved from published data. Based on the abnormal phenotype of the carriers, the functionally relevant gene content, and the low incidence in general population, we consider the deletion in chromosome 29 as a risk factor for equine DSDs and reproductive disorders

Conservation successes and challenges for wide-ranging sharks and rays

Overfishing is the most significant threat facing sharks and rays. Given the growth in consumption of seafood, combined with the compounding effects of habitat loss, climate change, and pollution, there is a need to identify recovery paths, particularly in poorly managed and poorly monitored fisheries. Here, we document conservation through fisheries management success for 11 coastal sharks in US waters by comparing population trends through a Bayesian state-space model before and after the implementation of the 1993 Fisheries Management Plan for Sharks. We took advantage of the spatial and temporal gradients in fishing exposure and fisheries management in the Western Atlantic to analyze the effect on the Red List status of all 26 wide-ranging coastal sharks and rays. We show that extinction risk was greater where fishing pressure was higher, but this was offset by the strength of management engagement (indicated by strength of National and Regional Plan of Action for sharks and rays). The regional Red List Index (which tracks changes in extinction risk through time) declined in all regions until the 1980s but then improved in the North and Central Atlantic such that the average extinction risk is currently half that in the Southwest. Many sharks and rays are wide ranging, and successful fisheries management in one country can be undone by poorly regulated or unregulated fishing elsewhere. Our study underscores that well-enforced, science-based management of carefully monitored fisheries can achieve conservation success, even for slow-growing species

Comparison of the Commercial Color LCD and the Medical Monochrome LCD Using Randomized Object Test Patterns

Workstations and electronic display devices in a picture archiving and communication system (PACS) provide a convenient and efficient platform for medical diagnosis. The performance of display devices has to be verified to ensure that image quality is not degraded. In this study, we designed a set of randomized object test patterns (ROTPs) consisting of randomly located spheres with various image characteristics to evaluate the performance of a 2.5 mega-pixel (MP) commercial color LCD and a 3 MP diagnostic monochrome LCD in several aspects, including the contrast, resolution, point spread effect, and noise. The ROTPs were then merged into 120 abdominal CT images. Five radiologists were invited to review the CT images, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was carried out using a five-point rating scale. In the high background patterns of ROTPs, the sensitivity performance was comparable between both monitors in terms of contrast and resolution, whereas, in the low background patterns, the performance of the commercial color LCD was significantly poorer than that of the diagnostic monochrome LCD in all aspects. The average area under the ROC curve (AUC) for reviewing abdominal CT images was 0.717±0.0200 and 0.740±0.0195 for the color monitor and the diagnostic monitor, respectively. The observation time (OT) was 145±27.6 min and 127±19.3 min, respectively. No significant differences appeared in AUC (p = 0.265) and OT (p = 0.07). The overall results indicate that ROTPs can be implemented as a quality control tool to evaluate the intrinsic characteristics of display devices. Although there is still a gap in technology between different types of LCDs, commercial color LCDs could replace diagnostic monochrome LCDs as a platform for reviewing abdominal CT images after monitor calibration

Obesity, Metabolic Factors and Risk of Different Histological Types of Lung Cancer: A Mendelian Randomization Study

Background Assessing the relationship between lung cancer and metabolic conditions is challenging because of the confounding effect of tobacco. Mendelian randomization (MR), or the use of genetic instrumental variables to assess causality, may help to identify the metabolic drivers of lung cancer. Methods and findings We identified genetic instruments for potential metabolic risk factors and evaluated these in relation to risk using 29,266 lung cancer cases (including 11,273 adenocarcinomas, 7,426 squamous cell and 2,664 small cell cases) and 56,450 controls. The MR risk analysis suggested a causal effect of body mass index (BMI) on lung cancer risk for two of the three major histological subtypes, with evidence of a risk increase for squamous cell carcinoma (odds ratio (OR) [95% confidence interval (CI)] = 1.20 [1.01–1.43] and for small cell lung cancer (OR [95%CI] = 1.52 [1.15–2.00]) for each standard deviation (SD) increase in BMI [4.6 kg/m2]), but not for adenocarcinoma (OR [95%CI] = 0.93 [0.79–1.08]) (Pheterogeneity = 4.3x10-3). Additional analysis using a genetic instrument for BMI showed that each SD increase in BMI increased cigarette consumption by 1.27 cigarettes per day (P = 2.1x10-3), providing novel evidence that a genetic susceptibility to obesity influences smoking patterns. There was also evidence that low-density lipoprotein cholesterol was inversely associated with lung cancer overall risk (OR [95%CI] = 0.90 [0.84–0.97] per SD of 38 mg/dl), while fasting insulin was positively associated (OR [95%CI] = 1.63 [1.25–2.13] per SD of 44.4 pmol/l). Sensitivity analyses including a weighted-median approach and MR-Egger test did not detect other pleiotropic effects biasing the main results. Conclusions Our results are consistent with a causal role of fasting insulin and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in lung cancer etiology, as well as for BMI in squamous cell and small cell carcinoma. The latter relation may be mediated by a previously unrecognized effect of obesity on smoking behavior

Overfishing Drives Over One-Third of All Sharks and Rays Toward a Global Extinction Crisis

The scale and drivers of marine biodiversity loss are being revealed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List assessment process. We present the first global reassessment of 1,199 species in Class Chondrichthyes-sharks, rays, and chimeras. The first global assessment (in 2014) concluded that one-quarter (24%) of species were threatened. Now, 391 (32.6%) species are threatened with extinction. When this percentage of threat is applied to Data Deficient species, more than one-third (37.5%) of chondrichthyans are estimated to be threatened, with much of this change resulting from new information. Three species are Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct), representing possibly the first global marine fish extinctions due to overfishing. Consequently, the chondrichthyan extinction rate is potentially 25 extinctions per million species years, comparable to that of terrestrial vertebrates. Overfishing is the universal threat affecting all 391 threatened species and is the sole threat for 67.3% of species and interacts with three other threats for the remaining third: loss and degradation of habitat (31.2% of threatened species), climate change (10.2%), and pollution (6.9%). Species are disproportionately threatened in tropical and subtropical coastal waters. Science-based limits on fishing, effective marine protected areas, and approaches that reduce or eliminate fishing mortality are urgently needed to minimize mortality of threatened species and ensure sustainable catch and trade of others. Immediate action is essential to prevent further extinctions and protect the potential for food security and ecosystem functions provided by this iconic lineage of predators