Analysis of curved reinforced concrete beam in fire conditions

In the paper a novel strain-based finite-element numerical model for the fire analysis of curved reinforced concrete (RC) beams is presented. In addition, the effect of load level and boundary conditions on fire resistance of the curved RC beam is observed

The content of calcium, phosphorus and magnesium in the blood serum of sheep depending on the season and physiological state

The large number of sheep, especially the ones that spend the majority of time on pastures, is been fed with the meals, which do not contain all the necessary mineral substances. The level of calcium, phosphorus and magnesium on natural pastures is too low in relation to the needs of sheep. Therefore, the irregularity in the feeding of sheep occurs because of the absence of the other food sources. These irregularities are in the range from the acute mineral deficit or illness to the mild temporary forms, which could hardly diagnose, but they affect the level of production. The content of calcium, phosphorus and magnesium in the blood serum of sheep, as one of the indicators of the supplementation of sheep with these substances, has given in this paper. The average level of calcium in the blood serum of the control group of sheep was 2.61 mmol/l, phosphorus 1.04mmol/l and magnesium 1.31 mmol/l of serum. In the blood serum of the tested group, the average contents of calcium was 2.33 mmol/l, phosphorus 0.92 mmol/l and magnesium 1.37 mmol/l

Productive characteristics and body measurements of alpine goats raised under smallholder production systems in central Serbia

The purpose of this study was to evaluate present level of productivity and determine linear body traits of Alpine goats raised in Serbia on smallholder farms. Data were collected from 22 smallholder farms located in Belgrade district, with total of 330 purebred Alpine does 2-9 years of age, 145 yearling does and 476 kids. Traits measured were: body weight of does, body weight of kids at birth, 30 days of age and at weaning (90-120 days), prolificacy of mature and yearling (primiparous) does, six linear body traits of does (wither height, body length, hearth girth, chest depth, chest width, pelvic width) and milk production (milk yield, milk fat and milk protein content). The analysis showed the average body weight of does to be 54.96 kg, while the average body weight of kids at birth, 30 days of age and weaning was 2.73 kg, 8.7 kg and 18.3 kg., respectively. Prolificacy was 144% in mature and 125% in yearling does. Measurements of linear body traits were: wither height 67.87 cm, body length 71.92 cm, hearth girth 81.79 cm, chest depth 32.93, chest width 21.49 cm and pelvic width 17.63 cm. Among dairy production traits, following results were obtained: lactation length 220.73 days, total milk yield 531.66 kg, milk fat content 3.33% and milk protein content 3.16%. It was concluded that the overall productivity of Alpine goats raised under smallholder production systems in Serbia is satisfying. Giving the fact that these animals are usually kept under poor conditions, many of these productive traits are very good

Effect of genetic and environmental factors on the phenotype characteristics of lambs

The aim of this study was to determine the influence of environmental factors affecting body weight variability of lambs in two crossbreed groups: Pirot x Württemberg and Sjenica x Württemberg. Both populations were managed under the same farm conditions. The data were analyzed to determine the effect of age of the dam, weight of dam, birth type, sex, year and season, on the birth weight and weaning weight of crossbreed lambs. Statistical analysis was performed by GLM procedure using the SPSS statistical package program. The average birth weight of Pirot x Württemberg lambs was 3.56 kg while Sjenica x Württemberg lambs was slightly higher at 3.69 kg. The difference on birth weight between the two crosses was not statistically significant (P>0.05). The average weaning weight of Pirot x Württemberg lambs was 23.54 kg while Sjenica x Württemberg lambs had higher weight at 24.37 kg. The difference of 0.83 kg on weaning weight was statistically significant (P <0.05). Body weight, depending on the environmental factors, ranged from 3.17 to 3.96 kg at birth and from 22.12 to 24.18 kg at weaning in Pirot x Württemberg lambs. Body weight of Sjenica x Württemberg lambs ranged from 3.39 to 3.99 kg at birth and from 22.69 to 25.44 kg at weaning. Statistical analysis showed that the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05) and highly significant (P<0.01)

Linked selection and recombination rate variation drive the evolution of the genomic landscape of differentiation across the speciation continuum of Ficedula flycatchers

Speciation is a continuous process during which genetic changes gradually accumulate in the genomes of diverging species. Recent studies have documented highly heterogeneous differentiation landscapes, with distinct regions of elevated differentiation (“differentiation islands”) widespread across genomes. However, it remains unclear which processes drive the evolution of differentiation islands; how the differentiation landscape evolves as speciation advances; and ultimately, how differentiation islands are related to speciation. Here, we addressed these questions based on population genetic analyses of 200 resequenced genomes from 10 populations of four Ficedula flycatcher sister species. We show that a heterogeneous differentiation landscape starts emerging among populations within species, and differentiation islands evolve recurrently in the very same genomic regions among independent lineages. Contrary to expectations from models that interpret differentiation islands as genomic regions involved in reproductive isolation that are shielded from gene flow, patterns of sequence divergence (dxy and relative node depth) do not support a major role of gene flow in the evolution of the differentiation landscape in these species. Instead, as predicted by models of linked selection, genome-wide variation in diversity and differentiation can be explained by variation in recombination rate and the density of targets for selection. We thus conclude that the heterogeneous landscape of differentiation in Ficedula flycatchers evolves mainly as the result of background selection and selective sweeps in genomic regions of low recombination. Our results emphasize the necessity of incorporating linked selection as a null model to identify genome regions involved in adaptation and speciation.Peer reviewe