On the Breeds of Cattle—Historic and Current Classifications

Classification of cattle breeds contributes to our understanding of the history of cattle and is essential for an effective conservation of genetic diversity. Here we review the various classifications over the last two centuries and compare the most recent classifications with genetic data. The classifications devised during the 19th to the late 20th century were in line with the Linnaean taxonomy and emphasized cranial or horn morphology. Subsequent classifications were based on coat color, geographic origin or molecular markers. Several theories were developed that linked breed characteristics either to a supposed ancestral aurochs subspecies or to a presumed ethnic origin. Most of the older classifications have now been discarded, but have introduced several Latin terms that are still in use. The most consistent classification was proposed in 1995 by Felius and emphasizes the geographic origin of breeds. This is largely in agreement with the breed clusters indicated by a biochemical and molecular genetic analysis, which reflect either groups of breeds with a common geographic origin or single breeds that have expanded by export and/or crossbreeding. We propose that this information is also relevant for managing the genetic diversity of cattl

Neuronal diversity of the amygdala and the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis

The amygdala complex is a diverse group of more than 13 nuclei, segregated in five major groups: the basolateral (BLA), central (CeA), medial (MeA), cortical (CoA), and basomedial (BMA) amygdala nuclei. These nuclei can be distinguished depending on their cytoarchitectonic properties, connectivity, genetic, and molecular identity, and most importantly, on their functional role in animal behavior. The extended amygdala includes the CeA and the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST). Both CeA and the BNST share similar cellular organization, including common neuron types, reciprocal connectivity, and many overlapping downstream targets. In this section, we describe the advances of our knowledge on neuronal diversity in the amygdala complex and the BNST, based on recent functional studies, performed at genetic, molecular, physiological, and anatomical levels in rodent models, especially rats and mice. Molecular and connection property can be used separately, or in combinations, to define neuronal populations, leading to a multiplexed neuronal diversity-supporting different functional roles. © 2020 Elsevier B.V

Characteristics of chemical compositions of atmospheric aerosols in Hong Kong: spatial and seasonal distributions

Chemical compositional data of respirable suspended particulate (RSP) measured at 11 stations of the Hong Kong Air Quality Monitoring Network between 1990 and 1994 were analyzed for their seasonal and spatial variations. The concentration of atmospheric aerosols was low in Hong Kong compared to some large cities located in East Asia. RSP and most of the chemical species show seasonal variations which reflect the weather conditions: low concentrations in the rainy season of summer and high concentrations for the rest of the year. Carbonaceous aerosols accounted for approximately half of the mass and dominated the seasonal and spatial variations of RSP concentrations. SO42-, NH4+ and NO3-, accounting for a quarter of RSP mass, were mainly from long distance transport as their spatial distributions throughout Hong Kong were quite even. Marine aerosols, found throughout Hong Kong, accounted for 5.7\% of RSP mass. Their seasonal variations in both the marine aerosols and the SO42-, NH4+ and NO3- aerosols were controlled by the East Asian monsoons. The equivalent concentration ratio of Cl-/Na+ indicated the presence of the chloride loss reaction and had a minimum ratio in September. Ca, K+, Al and Mn from moving road dusts and construction and reclamation works follow the same seasonal distributions as RSP. Their spatial distributions reflect the presence of a large reclamation project on western Kowloon. The percent mass abundance of C, Zn, Pb, Br- and Ni observed in the roadside station to monitoring vehicle emission pollution were similar to the values in Phoenix, US MW5050 PM2.5 vehicle source profile. Cu was predominantly found in industrial and mixed areas where many small scale printed circuit board factories and ship repairing industries were located. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V

Real-SOFC – A Joint European Effort in Understanding SOFC Degradation

The Integrated Project Real-SOFC joins 26 partners from throughout Europe active in planar SOFC technology. The project is funded by the European Commission within the Sixth Framework Programme and aims at improving the understanding of degradation in SOFC stacks and extending the durability of planar SOFC devices such that they become viable for stationary applications. The project consortium comprises of universities, research institutions and industrial companies. The project concept is based on improving materials and materials processing by the provision of extensive test results allowing the identification of degradation mechanisms, and then to supply industrial components of enhanced quality for repeated testing analysis. An iterative programme of component development is employed resulting in the production of ‘2nd’ and ‘3rd’ generations of SOFC components/stacks. This paper offers some recent results on the degradation issues and covers selected aspects of other projectrelated output such as testing conditions, environmental impact assessment and educational activities

Unordnung in der internationalen Handelsordnung: Befunde, Gründe, Auswirkungen und Therapien

In the past, many WTO member states have liberalized their trade policies unilaterally. However, they were decreasingly prepared to guarantee these measures multilaterally, that is to "bind" themselves. This paper analyzes the background of this development by resorting to three political economy arguments pro multilateral binding: the terms of trade externality argument, the "tying hand" argument, that is to protect a government which is prone to liberalize against domestic lobby groups, and finally the argument that trade policies are instruments for general political targets. For all three arguments, it is shown why an important driving force of mercantilistically motivated trade negotiations has become weaker: the reciprocity requirement. The paper recommends narrower negotiation issues and mandates to prevent a further rising heterogeneity of issues and negotiation partners. Copyright 2010 die Autoren Journal compilation 2010, Verein für Socialpolitik und Blackwell Publishing Ltd.