Genetic Improvement of Livestock for Organic Farming Systems

Organic farming which experienced a constant rise over the last two decades is a system based on sustainability and on a concept tending towards functional integrity. Legislation as well as the wish to produce separately from conventional farming raise the question whether organic farming should be conducted completely apart from conventional farming or not. This paper discusses the aspects that affect animal breeding under these circumstances, e.g., maintaining genetic diversity by using local breeds and possible G×E interactions which might occur when breeds adapted to conventional farming systems are used in organic farming. Ways of modelling G×E are presented, moreover examples of G×E in dairy cattle, swine, and poultry are given. Trends in selection index theory–designing multi-trait breeding goals including functional traits on one hand, and developing methods for using customised selection indices on the other hand–support breeding work for organic farming systems. It is concluded that before the technical issues can be addressed, all parties involved, farmers, consumers as well as legislators, have to agree on the socio-cultural conditions under which organic farming should be conducted

PhD Attainment of Graduates of Selective Private Academic Institutions

[Excerpt] It is therefore important to understand the forces that have caused a decline in the PhD attainment rate of American college graduates. The fraction of bachelor\u27s recipients who go on to receive PhDs nationwide is influenced by many factors, including high school graduation rates, college enrollment rates of high school graduates, college graduation rates for college enrollees, the distribution of undergraduate majors, and the academic backgrounds of college students. PhD attainment also depends upon changes in the economic rewards to pursuing PhD study relative to entering the workforce or pursuing study for other professional occupations, such as law, medicine, and business. In this article we focus on a homogeneous set of thirty-one highly selective private colleges and universities. The academic aptitudes and preparations of students attending these institutions are among the highest in the nation, and historically students from these institutions have been much more likely to go on to PhD study than the average college graduate nationwide; therefore, the behavior of students from these institutions is of special interest

Declining PhD Attainment of Graduates of Selective Private Academic Institutions

[Excerpt] On average, the typical American citizen who received a PhD during the last 40 years did so approximately 9 years after she received her bachelor’s degree. Thus, if we divide the number of American citizens receiving PhDs in a year by the number of American citizens receiving bachelor’s degrees 9 years earlier, we obtain an estimate of the fraction of American citizen college graduates in the earlier year who ultimately receive PhDs. This fraction rose from .042 for 1954 bachelor’s recipients (1963 PhDs) to about .07 for 1962 bachelor’s recipients (1971 PhDs). The fraction then plummeted over the next decade falling to .026 for 1973 bachelor’s recipients (1982 PhDs) and has been relatively stable, fluctuating between .025 and .028, since then. Of course changes in the probability that bachelor’s recipients go on to receive PhDs nationwide are influenced by many changing demographic trends including changes in high school graduation rates, changes in college enrollment rates of high school graduates, changes in college graduation rates for college enrollees, changes in the distribution of undergraduate majors, and changes in the academic backgrounds of college students. In this paper we focus on a more homogenous set of 31 highly selective private colleges and universities. The academic aptitudes and preparations of students attending these institutions are among the highest in the nation and make this group’s students’ behavior of special interest

Entanglement genesis by ancilla-based parity measurement in 2D circuit QED

We present an indirect two-qubit parity meter in planar circuit quantum electrodynamics, realized by discrete interaction with an ancilla and a subsequent projective ancilla measurement with a dedicated, dispersively coupled resonator. Quantum process tomography and successful entanglement by measurement demonstrate that the meter is intrinsically quantum non-demolition. Separate interaction and measurement steps allow commencing subsequent data qubit operations in parallel with ancilla measurement, offering time savings over continuous schemes.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures; supplemental material with 5 figure

Partial-measurement back-action and non-classical weak values in a superconducting circuit

We realize indirect partial measurement of a transmon qubit in circuit quantum electrodynamics by interaction with an ancilla qubit and projective ancilla measurement with a dedicated readout resonator. Accurate control of the interaction and ancilla measurement basis allows tailoring the measurement strength and operator. The tradeoff between measurement strength and qubit back-action is characterized through the distortion of a qubit Rabi oscillation imposed by ancilla measurement in different bases. Combining partial and projective qubit measurements, we provide the solid-state demonstration of the correspondence between a non-classical weak value and the violation of a Leggett-Garg inequality.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, and Supplementary Information (8 figures

From Children's Arithmetic To Medical Problem Solving An Extension of the Kintch-Greeno Model

It has been found that expert physicians use forward reasoning in diagnostic explanations of clinical cases. This paper shows that the Kintsch-Greeno model for solving arithmetic word problems, which assumes a forward chaining process, can be extended to explain this phenomena. The basic approach is to modify the lexicon and the schema structure of the existing simulation program while retaining the basic control structure. The principle modifications are in the structure of the schemata which make use of three slots: indicator,abnormality and consequence. As with the Kintsch-Greeno theory,the model proceeds by using these schemata to build super-schemata from the propositional representation of the problem text

Viewpoint: filovirus haemorrhagic fever outbreaks: much ado about nothing?

The recent outbreak of Marburg haemorrhagic fever in the Democratic Republic of Congo has put the filovirus threat back on the international health agenda. This paper gives an overview of Marburg and Ebola outbreaks so far observed and puts them in a public health perspective. Damage on the local level has been devastating at times, but was marginal on the international level despite the considerable media attention these outbreaks received. The potential hazard of outbreaks, however, after export of filovirus from its natural environment into metropolitan areas, is argued to be considerable. Some avenues for future research and intervention are explored. Beyond the obvious need to find the reservoir and study the natural history, public health strategies for a more timely and efficient response are urgently needed