Genetic parameters of live body weight, body measurements, greasy fleece weight, and reproduction traits in Makuie sheep breed

Genetic parameters of production and reproduction traits were estimated using 39,926 records from 5,860 individual progenies of 163 sires and 1,558 dams. The data were collected at Makuie Sheep Breeding and Raising Station (Maku, Iran) from 1989 through 2013. Nineteen traits were classified in four main groups: a) live body weight traits, b) body measurement traits, c) greasy fleece weight traits, and d) reproduction traits. Year of birth, lamb sex, age of dam, and birth type were considered as fixed effects in the animal model. Four different animal models that are differentiated by including or excluding maternal effects were fitted for each trait. The Akaike information criterion was used to determine the most appropriate model for each trait. Parameters were overestimated substantially when maternal effects, either genetic or environmental, were ignored from the models. By ignoring the maternal effects, the traits could be classified into three main groups: body live weight traits with high heritability (0.34-0.46), body measurement and greasy fleece weight traits with medium heritability (0.11-0.27) and reproduction traits with low heritability (0.03-0.20). The genetic correlations among the traits ranged from-0.41 to 0.99. The estimated genetic parameters may be used to set up short/long term breeding program for the selection purpose of Makuie sheep breed

Distributive Leadership Style: A New Approach for Spontaneous Behaviors in Hospitals

Background: Considering the fast changing conditions of hospitals and their necessity of effectiveness, employees with voluntary behavior towards the organization and customers are required. Distributive leadership as one of the modern styles in leadership tries to change the single-leadership framework and replace it with a teamwork approach. The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between distributive leadership style and organizational citizenship behavior among the employees of Tehran medical science hospitals.&nbsp; Methods: This correlational and cross-sectional study was conducted in the summer of 2015. The target population (n = 10089) included all employees of hospitals affiliated to Tehran University of medical sciences. Later, the sample population was reduced to 374 through the Morgan and Krejcie table. The Gordon (2005) distributive leadership standard questionnaire and Organ organizational citizenship behavior questionnaire were applied for data collection. The questionnaires' reliability was supported based on the Cornbrash's Alpha and their validity was confirmed by specialists' point of view. For data analysis, both descriptive statistics and inferential statistics (Pearson correlation and Regression) were applied. The data were then analyzed using SPSS 21. Results: The correlation between distributive leadership and organizational citizenship behavior was significant (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Considering the significant correlation between distributive leadership style and organizational citizenship behavior, hospitals can improve their employees' behavior significantly. This can be achieved by supporting individual- and team- works and giving employees more power

Genetic parameters of live body weight, body measurements, greasy fleece weight, and reproduction traits in Makuie sheep breed

Genetic parameters of production and reproduction traits were estimated using 39,926 records from 5,860 individual progenies of 163 sires and 1,558 dams. The data were collected at Makuie Sheep Breeding and Raising Station (Maku, Iran) from 1989 through 2013. Nineteen traits were classified in four main groups: a) live body weight traits, b) body measurement traits, c) greasy fleece weight traits, and d) reproduction traits. Year of birth, lamb sex, age of dam, and birth type were considered as fixed effects in the animal model. Four different animal models that are differentiated by including or excluding maternal effects were fitted for each trait. The Akaike information criterion was used to determine the most appropriate model for each trait. Parameters were overestimated substantially when maternal effects, either genetic or environmental, were ignored from the models. By ignoring the maternal effects, the traits could be classified into three main groups: body live weight traits with high heritability (0.34-0.46), body measurement and greasy fleece weight traits with medium heritability (0.11-0.27) and reproduction traits with low heritability (0.03- 0.20). The genetic correlations among the traits ranged from-0.41 to 0.99. The estimated genetic parameters may be used to set up short/long term breeding program for the selection purpose of Makuie sheep bree