Effects of herd origin, AI stud and sire identification on genetic evaluation of Holstein Friesian bulls

The purpose of this study was to estimate the effects of herd origin of bull, AI stud and sire identification number (ID) on official estimated breeding values (EBV) for production traits of Holstein Friesian proven bulls. The data included 1,005 Italian Holstein-Friesian bulls, sons of 76 sires, born in 100 herds and progeny tested by 10 AI studs. Bulls were required to have date of first proof between September 1992 and September 1997, to be born in a herd with at least one other bull and to have sire and dam with official EBV when bull was selected for progeny testing. Records of sires with only one son were also discarded. The dependent variable analyzed was the official genetic evaluation for a “quantity and quality of milk” index (ILQ). The linear model to predict breeding values of bulls included the fixed class effects of herd origin of bull, AI testing organization, birth year of bull, and estimated breeding values of sire and dam, both as linear covariates. The R2of the model was 45% and a significant effect was found for genetic merit of sire (P < 0.001) and dam (P < 0.014), for herd origin of bull (P < 0.01) and for birth year of bull (P < 0.001). The effect of AI testing organization was not sig- nificant. The range of herd origin effect was 872 kg of ILQ. However, in this study, the causes of this result were not clear; it may be due to numerous factors, one of which may be preferential treatment on dams of bulls. Analyses of resid- uals on breeding value of proven bulls for ILQ showed a non significant effect of sire ID, after adjusting for parent aver- age, herd origin effect and birth year effect. Although the presence of bias in genetic evaluation of dairy bulls is not evi- dent, further research is recommended firstly to understand the reasons of the significant herd origin effect, secondly to monitor and guarantee the greatest accuracy and reliability of genetic evaluation procedures

CMS physics technical design report : Addendum on high density QCD with heavy ions

Peer reviewe

Alignment of the CMS muon system with cosmic-ray and beam-halo muons

This is the Pre-print version of the Article. The official published version of the Paper can be accessed from the link below - Copyright @ 2010 IOPThe CMS muon system has been aligned using cosmic-ray muons collected in 2008 and beam-halo muons from the 2008 LHC circulating beam tests. After alignment, the resolution of the most sensitive coordinate is 80 microns for the relative positions of superlayers in the same barrel chamber and 270 microns for the relative positions of endcap chambers in the same ring structure. The resolution on the position of the central barrel chambers relative to the tracker is comprised between two extreme estimates, 200 and 700 microns, provided by two complementary studies. With minor modifications, the alignment procedures can be applied using muons from LHC collisions, leading to additional significant improvements.This work is supported by FMSR (Austria); FNRS and FWO (Belgium); CNPq, CAPES, FAPERJ, and FAPESP (Brazil); MES (Bulgaria); CERN; CAS, MoST, and NSFC (China); COLCIENCIAS (Colombia); MSES (Croatia); RPF (Cyprus); Academy of Sciences and NICPB (Estonia); Academy of Finland, ME, and HIP (Finland); CEA and CNRS/IN2P3 (France); BMBF, DFG, and HGF (Germany); GSRT (Greece); OTKA and NKTH (Hungary); DAE and DST (India); IPM (Iran); SFI (Ireland); INFN (Italy); NRF (Korea); LAS (Lithuania); CINVESTAV, CONACYT, SEP, and UASLP-FAI (Mexico); PAEC (Pakistan); SCSR (Poland); FCT (Portugal); JINR(Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan); MST and MAE (Russia); MSTDS (Serbia); MICINN and CPAN (Spain); Swiss Funding Agencies (Switzerland); NSC (Taipei); TUBITAK and TAEK (Turkey); STFC (United Kingdom); DOE and NSF (USA)

Alignment of the CMS muon system with cosmic-ray and beam-halo muons

This is the Pre-print version of the Article. The official published version of the Paper can be accessed from the link below - Copyright @ 2010 IOPThe CMS muon system has been aligned using cosmic-ray muons collected in 2008 and beam-halo muons from the 2008 LHC circulating beam tests. After alignment, the resolution of the most sensitive coordinate is 80 microns for the relative positions of superlayers in the same barrel chamber and 270 microns for the relative positions of endcap chambers in the same ring structure. The resolution on the position of the central barrel chambers relative to the tracker is comprised between two extreme estimates, 200 and 700 microns, provided by two complementary studies. With minor modifications, the alignment procedures can be applied using muons from LHC collisions, leading to additional significant improvements.This work is supported by FMSR (Austria); FNRS and FWO (Belgium); CNPq, CAPES, FAPERJ, and FAPESP (Brazil); MES (Bulgaria); CERN; CAS, MoST, and NSFC (China); COLCIENCIAS (Colombia); MSES (Croatia); RPF (Cyprus); Academy of Sciences and NICPB (Estonia); Academy of Finland, ME, and HIP (Finland); CEA and CNRS/IN2P3 (France); BMBF, DFG, and HGF (Germany); GSRT (Greece); OTKA and NKTH (Hungary); DAE and DST (India); IPM (Iran); SFI (Ireland); INFN (Italy); NRF (Korea); LAS (Lithuania); CINVESTAV, CONACYT, SEP, and UASLP-FAI (Mexico); PAEC (Pakistan); SCSR (Poland); FCT (Portugal); JINR(Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan); MST and MAE (Russia); MSTDS (Serbia); MICINN and CPAN (Spain); Swiss Funding Agencies (Switzerland); NSC (Taipei); TUBITAK and TAEK (Turkey); STFC (United Kingdom); DOE and NSF (USA)

Effect of crossbreeding on market value of calves from dairy cows

Market values (/kg) of calves obtained from six paternal breeds, Brown Swiss (BS), Holstein Friesian (HF), Simmental (SI), Alpine Grey (AG), Limousin (LI) and Belgian Blue (BB), and four maternal breeds (BS, HF, SI, AG), were studied in order to estimate the crossbreeding effects. A total of 58,877 calves sold during 143 weekly auctions from 2003 to 2005 in Bolzano in Italy near the Austrian border, were analyzed using ANOVA procedure according to a linear model that included the effects of cross, sex and age of the calf, year and month of the auction. Coefficient of determination (R-2) was 0.84; cross and sex effects resulted the most important. The BBxSI calves showed the highest commercial value (7.01 /kg), while the BS purebreds the lowest one (2.74 /kg). The LI and BB breeds used as sire breeds showed the greater commercial prices when crossbred with SI and AG respect to BS and HF. However, BB resulted the best sire breed. On average male calves showed greater commercial values than female ones (5.16 vs. 4.44 /kg), but in HF and BS purebreds the commercial value of males and females was similar

Milk coagulation ability of five dairy cattle breeds

Samples of herd milk (506) were analyzed to assess sources of variation for milk coagulation properties (MCP) for 5 different dairy cattle breeds. Data were recorded in 55 single-breed dairy herds in the Trento province, a mountain area in northeast Italy. The 5 cattle breeds were Holstein-Friesian (8 herds), Brown Swiss (16 herds), Simmental (10 herds), Rendena (13 herds), and Alpine Gray (8 herds). Herd milk samples were analyzed for the MCP traits, milk rennet coagulation time (RCT), curd-firming time, and curd firmness (a30), as well as protein and fat percentages, somatic cell count, Soxhlet-Henkel acidity, and bacterial count. An ANOVA was performed to study the effect of breed, herd within breed, DIM, month of lactation, protein and fat percentages, somatic cell score, titratable acidity, and log bacterial count within breed on MCP. Breed was the most important source of variation. In particular, the Rendena breed showed the best MCP traits at 13.5 min and 27.0 mm for RCT and a30, respectively. The Holstein-Friesian breed had the worst coagulation properties at 18.0 min and 17.5 mm for RCT and a30, respectively. The other 3 breeds showed intermediate coagulation properties. The RCT values were better at the beginning of lactation, whereas RCT and a30 values were better in September and October (14.3 min and 25.7 mm, respectively). Among the composition traits, only the titratable acidity affected MCP traits of herd milk positively