QTL for feed intake and associated traits

The document attached has been archived with permission from the World Congress on Genetics Applied to Livestock Production.In typical beef cattle production systems, the breeding herd accounts for 65-85% of the total feed requirements (Ferrell and Jenkins, 1984 ; Montaldo-Bermudez et al., 1990) and 65-75% of this is used for maintenance. Primarily, the very large maintenance requirement is because cattle are a large, slowly maturing species with a low annual reproductive rate. Furthermore, only a single product is harvested (meat). Any improvement in the efficiency with which breeding cows maintain body weight, will result in an increase in total meat production for a given amount of feed. The key to selection for increased efficiency is to be able to accurately measure feed intake, a trait that is both difficult and expensive to measure. A less expensive alternative would be to use a DNA test for markers of genes affecting intake. This approach has the potential to significantly reduce the generation interval. The aim of this project is to locate regions (quantitative trait loci, QTL) in the cattle genome that contain genes affecting intake.W.S. Pitchford, M.L. Fenton, A.J. Kister and C.D.K. Bottem

Mechanophore-linked hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene for the remote detection and quantification of mechanical stress

Polymers containing chromophores often exhibit mechanoresponsive behaviour, allowing the remote detection of stress in components such as rocket motors without taking the rockets out of service. Here we describe a polymer comprising a difunctional spiropyran chromophore and methyl methacrylate cross-linked with hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB). This polymer was developed as a sensor for the non-destructive monitoring of mechanical stress by using the force-induced colour changes as a quantitative readout. After about 40 N of load was applied there was a gradual colour changes proportional to the compressive forces on the sample, as revealed by in-situ monitoring using a video camera and UV–Vis spectrometry. The tests highlighted a gradual decrease in the transmitted light intensity at 675 nm with increasing load, due to the opening of the spiropyran rings and their conversion to the coloured merocyanine forms. A reversible change to the initial colour occurred 72 h after the load was removed, but only under artificial fluorescent lighting, confirming that visible light is required for the ring-closing reaction. This new polymer is an ideal candidate for the remote detection of stress-induced damage in inaccessible structures or essential equipment that cannot be withdrawn from service for testing

Free subgroups of the homeomorphism group of the reals

After proving the known result that the homeomorphism group () of the reals has a free subgroup of rank equal to the cardinality of the continuum, we apply similar techniques to give criteria for the existence of many (a comeager set in a natural complete metric topology) homeomorphisms independent of a given subgroup of ().Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/25950/1/0000016.pd

МОДЕЛЮВАННЯ СТРАТЕГІЇ ФОРМУВАННЯ ВИТРАТ У ПОЛЬСЬКИХ ЛІКАРНЯХ У КОНТЕКСТІ ІНСТИТУЦІОНАЛІЗАЦІЇ

The activities of medical institutions are subordinated to the institutionalenvironment in which there are laws, rules and regulations. A duty to regulate patterns of development for all important areas of the country has been imposed on the state; health care is no exception. The research suggests that managers of health facilities, regardless of their form of ownership, strive to provide quality medical services to the population. Such striving is possible with successful implementation by medical institutions of regulated system of rules, principles and guidelines of the medical field, and provided satisfaction of actual and potential patients by high level of service. While the execution of the first condition is possible through regular control by higher and regulatory authorities, the implementation of the second condition requires exceptional talent from managers to regulate the activities of their institutions so that scarcefinancial resources would be sufficient to ensure the quality of medical services. This problem can be solved with the help of strategic management tools such as costs strategy, used by managers. Деятельность медицинских учреждений зависит от институциональнойсреды, в которой существуют определенные законы, нормы и правила.На государство возложена обязанность регулирования закономерностей развития всех важных для страны сфер деятельности; не являютсяисключением и учреждения здравоохранения. Исследования показали,что руководители учреждений здравоохранения независимо от формыих собственности стремятся предоставлять населению качественныемедицинские услуги. Успешно реализовать такие стремления становится возможным при условии соблюдения медицинскими учреждениямирегламентированной системы правил, принципов и установок, действующих в медицинской сфере, а также при условии достижения высокогоуровня удовлетворенности реальных и потенциальных пациентов получаемыми услугами. Если выполнение первого условия возможно путемпроведения регулярного контроля со стороны вышестоящих и контролирующих органов, то реализация второго условия требует такого незаурядного таланта от руководителя, который позволит ему урегулиро-вать деятельность своего заведения таким образом, чтобы для обеспечения надлежащего качества медицинских услуг хватало всегда дефицитных финансовых ресурсов. Решение указанной проблемы возможно при использовании руководителями инструментов стратегического управления, в частности стратегии формирования расходов.Діяльність медичних закладів підпорядкована інституціональному середовищу, в якому існують певні закони, норми та правила. На державупокладено обов’язок регулювання закономірностей розвитку всіх важливих для країни сфер діяльності; не виключенням є і заклади охорониздоров’я. Дослідження показали, що керівники закладів охорони здоров’я не залежно від форми своєї власності прагнуть надавати населенню якісні медичні послуги. Успішно реалізувати такі прагнення стає можливим за умови дотримання медичними закладами регламентованої системи правил, принципів та настанов, що діють у медичній сфері, а також за умови досягнення високого рівня вдоволеності реальних і потенційних пацієнтів отримуваними послугами. Якщо виконання першої умови можливе через проведення регулярного контролю з боку вищестоящих і контролюючих органів, то реалізація другої умови вимагає неабиякого таланту від керівника, аби мати змогу врегулювати діяльність свого закладу таким чином, щоб для забезпечення належної якості медичних послуг вистачало завжди дефіцитних фінансових ресурсів. Вирішення цієї проблеми можливе при використанні керівниками інструментів стратегічного управління, зокрема стратегії формування витрат

Counting topological manifolds

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/32762/1/0000133.pd

Estrogen signaling impacts temporomandibular joint and periodontal disease pathology

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.Women experience a higher incidence of oral diseases including periodontal diseases and temporomandibular joint disease (TMD) implicating the role of estrogen signaling in disease pathology. Fluctuating levels of estrogen during childbearing age potentiates facial pain, high estrogen levels during pregnancy promote gingivitis, and low levels of estrogen during menopause predisposes the TMJ to degeneration and increases alveolar bone loss. In this review, an overview of estrogen signaling pathways in vitro and in vivo that regulate pregnancy-related gingivitis, TMJ homeostasis, and alveolar bone remodeling is provided. Deciphering the specific estrogen signaling pathways for individual oral diseases is crucial for potential new drug therapies to promote and maintain healthy tissue

Suicide Attacks or "Martyrdom Operations" in Contemporary Jihad Literature

Martyrdom operations are a factor in contemporary radical Islam. These operations have their roots in classical jihad literature, but fundamentally are a by-product of widespread frustration and perceived humiliations on the part of Muslims. The attacks of 11 September 2001 are rooted within this tradition

Syzygies in equivariant cohomology for non-abelian Lie groups

We extend the work of Allday-Franz-Puppe on syzygies in equivariant cohomology from tori to arbitrary compact connected Lie groups G. In particular, we show that for a compact orientable G-manifold X the analogue of the Chang-Skjelbred sequence is exact if and only if the equivariant cohomology of X is reflexive, if and only if the equivariant Poincare pairing for X is perfect. Along the way we establish that the equivariant cohomology modules arising from the orbit filtration of X are Cohen-Macaulay. We allow singular spaces and introduce a Cartan model for their equivariant cohomology. We also develop a criterion for the finiteness of the number of infinitesimal orbit types of a G-manifold.Comment: 28 pages; minor change

GRAVITY: metrology

GRAVITY is a second generation VLTI instrument, combining the light of four telescopes and two objects simultaneously. The main goal is to obtain astrometrically accurate information. Besides correctly measured stellar phases this requires the knowledge of the instrumental differential phase, which has to be measured optically during the astronomical observations. This is the purpose of a dedicated metrology system. The GRAVITY metrology covers the full optical path, from the beam combiners up to the reference points in the beam of the primary telescope mirror, minimizing the systematic uncertainties and providing a proper baseline in astrometric terms. Two laser beams with a fixed phase relation travel backward the whole optical chain, creating a fringe pattern in any plane close to a pupil. By temporal encoding the phase information can be extracted at any point by means of flux measurements with photo diodes. The reference points chosen sample the pupil at typical radii, eliminating potential systematics due differential focus. We present the final design and the performance estimate, which is in accordance with the overall requirements for GRAVITY.Comment: Proceedings of SPIE, Vol. 8445, Paper No. 8445-58, 201