Improvement cross-breeding of Hungarian Merinos for increased prolificacy and milk yield

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Model experiments for developing sheep populations. II. Increase of prolificacy per lambing

International audienc

Model experiments for developing sheep populations. II. Shortening of the interlambing period

International audienc

Buckling instability in a chain of sticky bubbles

A slender object undergoing an axial compression will buckle to alleviate the stress. Typically the morphology of the deformed object depends on the bending stiffness for solids, or the viscoelastic properties for liquid threads. We study a chain of uniform sticky air bubbles in an aqueous bath that rise due to buoyancy. A buckling instability of the bubble chain, with a characteristic wavelength, is observed in the absence of a bending stiffness. If a chain of bubbles is produced faster than it is able to rise, the dominance of viscous drag over buoyancy results in a compressive stress that is alleviated by buckling the bubble chain. Using low Reynolds number hydrodynamics and geometric arguments, we predict the critical buckling speed, the terminal speed of a buckled chain and the amplitude of the buckles.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure

Breeding possibilities of Booroola Merino in East-Europe

Booroola Merino (BM)rams and ewes were imported from New Zealand to Hungary and Czechoslovakia in the 1980’s. Part of the imported animals were proved to be homozygous for the F gene. Frozen semen of these has been used for spreading this gene to Hungarian (HM) and Czechish (CM) Merinos. The crossbred lambs were 4—7 % lighter at birth and at 30 d.,6—24 % lighter at 100 d. and 5—10 % lighter at 1-yr than HM. The 1-yr weight was 10—22 % lighter than that of CM. Greasy fleece weights were 5—10 % higher, staple lengths 7—11 % longer than in HM or CM, while fibres were finer. The litter size of BM x HM ewes at 1 st lambing was 1.42, at 2nd 1.52 and at 3rd 1.69, while the last figure for HM ewes was 1.15. The % of twins born to the BM x HM ewes was ca. 35 %, when HM ewes had 12%. The corresponding figures for triplets were 9 and 0.2 %. The BM x HM crosses had shorter anestrus periods after lambing than HM ewes, except after the first lambing. The BM x HM ewes produced 2.4 lambs/yr. in a continuous lambing system, while HM ewes gave 1.9 lambs

Can contrast-enhanced MR imaging predict survival in breast cancer?

PURPOSE: To investigate the value of pre-operative contrast-enhanced MR imaging (CE-MRI) in predicting the disease-free and overall survival in breast cancer. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study population consisted of 50 consecutive patients with histopathologically verified primary breast cancer who pre-operatively underwent CE-MRI examination between 1992 and 1993. A three-time point MR examination was performed where the enhancement rates (C1 and C2), signal enhancement ratio (SER=C1/C2) and washout (W=C1-C2) were calculated. The relation of these MR parameters to disease-free and overall survival was investigated. The median follow-up for surviving patients was 95 months. Univariate and multivariate statistical analyses were performed to evaluate the impact of different factors on prediction of survival. RESULTS: Of the MR parameters examined at univariate analysis, increased C1 (p=0.029), W (p=0.0081) and SER values (p=0.0081) were significantly associated with shorter disease-free survival, and only C1 (p=0.016) was related significantly to overall survival. Multivariate analysis for disease-free survival showed that the SER (p=0.014) and tumor size (p=0.001) were significant and independent predictors. Age (p=0.003), lymph node status (p=0.014), tumor size (p=0.039) and proliferating cell nuclear antigen index (p=0.053) remained independently associated with overall survival at multivariate analysis. C1 was not confirmed as an independent predictor of overall survival. CONCLUSION: Our findings support the presumption that CE-MRI is useful in predicting the disease-free survival in patients with breast cancer

Secondary Prevention Through Cardiac Rehabilitation: Position Paper of the Working Group on Cardiac Rehabilitation and Exercise Physiology of the European Society of Cardiology

The purpose of this statement is to provide specific recommendations in regard to evaluation and intervention in each of the core components of cardiac rehabilitation (CR) to assist CR staff in the design and development of their programmes; the statement should also assist health care providers, insurers, policy makers and consumers in the recognition of the comprehensive nature of such programmes. Those charged with responsibility for secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease, whether at European, at national or at individual centre level, need to consider where and how structured programmes of CR can be delivered to the large constituency of patients now considered eligible for C

Zootechnical and genetic aspects of a Prolific Merino Program

In a Prolific Merino nucleus herd of 200 ewes the ovulation rate (OR) test results obtained in 169 animals between 1988 and 1993 were compared with those of 113 ewes from the same herd in 1996. Whereas earlier the ratio of individuals showing an OR ≥ 4 was only 32%, that of the group checked in 1996 was 59%. This increase could be attributed to 40 ewes, both of whose parents had proven to be homozygous carriers of the prolific gene. To develop the Prolific Merino breed, 21 Booroola Merino rams were imported from New Zealand, and mostly their frozen semen was used. Of these rams, one was not a prolific gene carrier, 8 were homozygous carriers, 10 were heterozygous carriers and two had not been identified yet. Of the 36 home-bred rams, 9 proved to be homozygous by parents, 11 heterozygous, 8 homozygous, one proved to be a non-carrier, and 7 rams and their frozen semen were to be progeny tested. Six thousand doses of frozen semen from a total of 33 animals (16 imported rams and their 17 home-bred offspring) are stored in plastic straws. Sixty-three % of this is semen reserve from rams of the FecBFecBgenotype, belonging to 10 ram lines. The remaining 37% is gene reserve intended for creating homozygous ram lines. Only one ram (no. 3244) was bought for the nucleus herd, the other ram lines were introduced into the herd by assortative mating, using intrauterine insemination. The average conception rate found after 472 intrauterine inseminations was 53% with large (occasionally 10-100%) individual ram differences