Milk progesterone as a tool to improve fertility in dairy cows

Milk progesterone offers an opportunity to objectively study fertility in dairy cows, in contrast to traditional measures of dairy cow fertility, which in general are highly influenced by on-farm management decisions. The aim of this thesis was to study how milk progesterone could be used as a genetic and management tool to improve fertility in dairy cows. Progesterone-based measures were influenced by different systematic factors, e.g. breed, parity, season, housing and lameness, studied in a dataset from a Swedish experimental herd. The repeatabilities were higher for progesterone-based measures compared with traditional measures of fertility based on insemination data. If a cow had an atypical progesterone profile in one lactation, the risk of an atypical profile in the next lactation was increased. Genetic parameters for progesterone measures based on different milk sampling intervals were estimated in a British dataset. Heritability estimates were moderate, but decreased with increased sampling intervals. It was shown that progesterone analysis of monthly milk samples, resembling milk sampling as in the current Swedish milk recording system, could be used to increase the accuracy of genetic evaluation for an earlier start of cyclical ovarian activity after calving. Inclusion of monthly milk sampling for progesterone analysis in predictive models could also be used to identify cows with delayed ovarian cyclicity with a high accuracy already two months after calving. This enables an earlier treatment of ovarian dysfunction and therefore, probably, a shorter calving interval. In conclusion, this thesis shows that milk progesterone may be used for improved management and genetic evaluation of dairy cow fertility

Rapid automatized naming and reading performance: a meta-analysis

Evidence that rapid naming skill is associated with reading ability has become increasingly prevalent in recent years. However, there is considerable variation in the literature concerning the magnitude of this relationship. The objective of the present study was to provide a comprehensive analysis of the evidence on the relationship between rapid automatized naming (RAN) and reading performance. To this end, we conducted a meta-analysis of the correlational relationship between these 2 constructs to (a) determine the overall strength of the RAN-reading association and (b) identify variables that systematically moderate this relationship. A random-effects model analysis of data from 137 studies (857 effect sizes; 28,826 participants) indicated a moderate-to-strong relationship between RAN and reading performance (r = .43, I-2 = 68.40). Further analyses revealed that RAN contributes to the 4 measures of reading (word reading, text reading, non-word reading, and reading comprehension), but higher coefficients emerged in favor of real word reading and text reading. RAN stimulus type and type of reading score were the factors with the greatest moderator effect on the magnitude of the RAN-reading relationship. The consistency of orthography and the subjects' grade level were also found to impact this relationship, although the effect was contingent on reading outcome. It was less evident whether the subjects' reading proficiency played a role in the relationship. Implications for future studies are discussed

Eye-movements in implicit artificial grammar learning

Artificial grammar learning (AGL) has been probed with forced-choice behavioral tests (active tests). Recent attempts to probe the outcomes of learning (implicitly acquired knowledge) with eye-movement responses (passive tests) have shown null results. However, these latter studies have not tested for sensitivity effects, for example, increased eye movements on a printed violation. In this study, we tested for sensitivity effects in AGL tests with (Experiment 1) and without (Experiment 2) concurrent active tests (preference- and grammaticality classification) in an eye-tracking experiment. Eye movements discriminated between sequence types in passive tests and more so in active tests. The eye-movement profile did not differ between preference and grammaticality classification, and it resembled sensitivity effects commonly observed in natural syntax processing. Our findings show that the outcomes of implicit structured sequence learning can be characterized in eye tracking. More specifically, whole trial measures (dwell time, number of fixations) showed robust AGL effects, whereas first-pass measures (first-fixation duration) did not. Furthermore, our findings strengthen the link between artificial and natural syntax processing, and they shed light on the factors that determine performance differences in preference and grammaticality classification tests.Max Planck Institute for PsycholinguisticsDonders Institute for Brain, Cognition and BehaviorVetenskapsradetSwedish Dyslexia Foundatio

Distinguishing cause from effect - many deficits associated with developmental dyslexia may be a consequence of reduced and suboptimal reading experience

The cause of developmental dyslexia is still unknown despite decades of intense research. Many causal explanations have been proposed, based on the range of impairments displayed by affected individuals. Here we draw attention to the fact that many of these impairments are also shown by illiterate individuals who have not received any or very little reading instruction. We suggest that this fact may not be coincidental and that the performance differences of both illiterates and individuals with dyslexia compared to literate controls are, to a substantial extent, secondary consequences of either reduced or suboptimal reading experience or a combination of both. The search for the primary causes of reading impairments will make progress if the consequences of quantitative and qualitative differences in reading experience are better taken into account and not mistaken for the causes of reading disorders. We close by providing four recommendations for future research

On the relevance of the neurobiological analogue of the finite-state architecture

We present two simple arguments for the potential relevance of a neurobiological analogue of the finite-state architecture. The first assumes the classical cognitive framework, is well-known, and is based on the assumption that the brain is finite with respect to its memory organization. The second is formulated within a general dynamical systems framework and is based on the assumption that the brain sustains some level of noise and/or does not utilize infinite precision processing. We briefly review the classical cognitive framework based on Church-Turing computability and non-classical approaches based on analog processing in dynamical systems. We conclude that the dynamical neurobiological analogue of the finite-state architecture appears to be relevant, at least at an implementational level, for cognitive brain systems

Predictability modulates the affective and sensory-discriminative neural processing of pain

Knowing what is going to happen next, that is, the capacity to predict upcoming events, modulates the extent to which aversive stimuli induce stress and anxiety. We explored this issue by manipulating the temporal predictability of aversive events by means of a visual cue, which was either correlated or uncorrelated with pain stimuli (electric shocks). Subjects reported lower levels of anxiety, negative valence and pain intensity when shocks were predictable. In addition to attenuate focus on danger, predictability allows for correct temporal estimation of, and selective attention to, the sensory input. With functional magnetic resonance imaging, we found that predictability was related to enhanced activity in relevant sensory-discriminative processing areas, such as the primary and secondary sensory cortex and posterior insula. In contrast, the unpredictable more aversive context was correlated to brain activity in the anterior insula and the orbitofrontal cortex, areas associated with affective pain processing. This context also prompted increased activity in the posterior parietal cortex and lateral prefrontal cortex that we attribute to enhanced alertness and sustained attention during unpredictability. (c) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.This study was supported by grants from The Swedish Research Council (2003-5810), The family Hedlund Foundation and Karolinska Institutet. The project was finished in the context of Stockholm Brain Institute.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The Neuropharmacology of Implicit Learning

Two decades of pharmacologic research on the human capacity to implicitly acquire knowledge as well as cognitive skills and procedures have yielded surprisingly few conclusive insights. We review the empirical literature of the neuropharmacology of implicit learning. We evaluate the findings in the context of relevant computational models related to neurotransmittors such as dopamine, serotonin, acetylcholine and noradrenalin. These include models for reinforcement learning, sequence production, and categorization. We conclude, based on the reviewed literature, that one can predict improved implicit acquisition by moderately elevated dopamine levels and impaired implicit acquisition by moderately decreased dopamine levels. These effects are most prominent in the dorsal striatum. This is supported by a range of behavioral tasks in the empirical literature. Similar predictions can be made for serotonin, although there is yet a lack of support in the literature for serotonin involvement in classical implicit learning tasks. There is currently a lack of evidence for a role of the noradrenergic and cholinergic systems in implicit and related forms of learning. GABA modulators, including benzodiazepines, seem to affect implicit learning in a complex manner and further research is needed. Finally, we identify allosteric AMPA receptors modulators as a potentially interesting target for future investigation of the neuropharmacology of procedural and implicit learning

Assessing Measurements for Feed-Forward Control

A method is presented for assessing disturbances in SISO loops.The method indicates if the SISO loop under consideration will benefit from an addition of feed forward control from a measured disturbance. The method uses minimal process knowledge and is based on measurement from normal operation

Disruption of order information by irrelevant items: A serial recognition paradigm

irrelevant speech effect (ISE) is defined as a decrement in visually presented digit-list short-term memory performance due to exposure to irrelevant auditory material. Perhaps the most successful theoretical explanation of the effect is the changing state hypothesis. This hypothesis explains the effect in terms of confusion between amodal serial order cues, and represents a view based on the interference caused by the processing of similar order information of the visual and auditory materials. An alternative view suggests that the interference occurs as a consequence of the similarity between the visual and auditory contents of the stimuli. An important argument for the former view is the observation that ISE is almost exclusively observed in tasks that require memory for serial order. However, most short-term memory tasks require that both item and order information be retained in memory. An ideal task to investigate the sensitivity of maintenance of serial order to irrelevant speech would be one that calls upon order information but not item information. One task that is particularly suited to address this issue is serial recognition. In a typical serial recognition task, a list of items is presented and then probed by the same list in which the order of two adjacent items has been transposed. Due to the re-presentation of the encoding string, serial recognition requires primarily the serial order to be maintained while the content of the presented items is deemphasized. In demonstrating a highly significant ISE of changing versus steady-state auditory items in a serial recognition task, the present finding lends support for and extends previous empirical findings suggesting that irrelevant speech has the potential to interfere with the coding of the order of the items to be memorized. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved