Genetic heterogeneity of residual variance in broiler chickens

Aims were to estimate the extent of genetic heterogeneity in environmental variance. Data comprised 99 535 records of 35-day body weights from broiler chickens reared in a controlled environment. Residual variance within dam families was estimated using ASREML, after fitting fixed effects such as genetic groups and hatches, for each of 377 genetically contemporary sires with a large number of progeny ($>$100 males or females each). Residual variance was computed separately for male and female offspring, and after correction for sampling, strong evidence for heterogeneity was found, the standard deviation between sires in within variance amounting to 15–18% of its mean. Reanalysis using log-transformed data gave similar results, and elimination of 2–3% of outlier data reduced the heterogeneity but it was still over 10%. The correlation between estimates for males and females was low, however. The correlation between sire effects on progeny mean and residual variance for body weight was small and negative (-0.1). Using a data set bigger than any yet presented and on a trait measurable in both sexes, this study has shown evidence for heterogeneity in the residual variance, which could not be explained by segregation of major genes unless very few determined the trait

Participants' perspective on maintaining behaviour change: a qualitative study within the European Diabetes Prevention Study.

BACKGROUND: The European Diabetes Prevention Study (EDIPS) is an RCT of diet and exercise interventions in people with impaired glucose tolerance. We undertook a qualitative study, nested within the EDIPS in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK, aiming to understand the experience of participants who maintained behaviour change, in order to inform future interventions. METHODS: Participants were purposively sampled, according to success criteria for diet and physical activity change maintenance, and invited to attend individual semi-structured interviews. Fifteen participants completed an interview and reflected on their experience over three to five years. We used the Framework method to analyse the transcribed data. RESULTS: Main themes were identified as factors that help (props) and those that hinder (burdens) behaviour change maintenance at different organisational levels: individual (both physical and psychological), social and environmental. Pre-existing physical conditions (such as arthritis) and social demands (such as caring for an ageing relative) hindered, whereas the benefits of becoming fitter and of having social and professional support helped, participants in maintaining behaviour change. Participants' long term experiences highlighted the salience of the continuous change in their physical, social and environmental conditions over time. CONCLUSION: The construct of props and burdens facilitates a holistic view of participants' behaviour. Efforts to encourage behaviour change maintenance should take account of context and the way this changes over time, and should include strategies to address these issues. The experience of participants who maintain behaviour change highlights the challenges for the wider implementation of diabetes prevention strategies. TRIAL REGISTRATION: (ISRCTN 15670600).The European Diabetes Prevention Study in Newcastle was funded by the Wellcome Trust

The Radio Spectrum of TVLM513-46546: Constraints on the Coronal Properties of a Late M Dwarf

We explore the radio emission from the M9 dwarf, TVLM513-46546, at multiple radio frequencies, determining the flux spectrum of persistent radio emission, as well as constraining the levels of circular polarization. Detections at both 3.6 and 6 cm provide spectral index measurement $\alpha$ (where S$_{\nu} \propto \nu^{\alpha}$) of $-0.4\pm0.1$. A detection at 20 cm suggests that the spectral peak is between 1.4 and 5 GHz. The most stringent upper limits on circular polarization are at 3.6 and 6 cm, with $V/I <$15%. These characteristics agree well with those of typical parameters for early to mid M dwarfs, confirming that magnetic activity is present at levels comparable with those extrapolated from earlier M dwarfs. We apply analytic models to investigate the coronal properties under simple assumptions of dipole magnetic field geometry and radially varying nonthermal electron density distributions. Requiring the spectrum to be optically thin at frequencies higher than 5 GHz and reproducing the observed 3.6 cm fluxes constrains the magnetic field at the base to be less than about 500 G. There is no statistically significant periodicity in the 3.6 cm light curve, but it is consistent with low-level variability.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa

CO-PARENTING FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO ACADEMIC SUCCESS

This study assessed factors contributed from parents who live in two different households and that lead to academic success. Data were collected from undergraduates enrolled in a Midwestern satellite university. Academic success was defined by university enrollment, grade point average, and standardized testing scores. Co-parenting factors that were hypothesized to lead to academic success included the distance between parents homes (which further influenced time spent with the child, participation in child‘s activities, and participation in decision making) and financial stability (which also influenced participation in decision making and the level of conflict within the family). The original structural equation model revealed that the relationship linking the distance between homes and the time spent with the child was accurately described. Added to the model, after the Lagrange test, was a path from finances to participation in child‘s activities and time spent with the child. The financial stability of a family predicted the participation of the non-custodial parent in the child‘s activities, in the decision-making for the child, conflict, and the time spent with the child. Implications for practitioners who work with families with co-parenting responsibilities are discussed

CO-PARENTING FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO ACADEMIC SUCCESS

This study assessed factors contributed from parents who live in two different households and that lead to academic success. Data were collected from undergraduates enrolled in a Midwestern satellite university. Academic success was defined by university enrollment, grade point average, and standardized testing scores. Co-parenting factors that were hypothesized to lead to academic success included the distance between parents homes (which further influenced time spent with the child, participation in child‘s activities, and participation in decision making) and financial stability (which also influenced participation in decision making and the level of conflict within the family). The original structural equation model revealed that the relationship linking the distance between homes and the time spent with the child was accurately described. Added to the model, after the Lagrange test, was a path from finances to participation in child‘s activities and time spent with the child. The financial stability of a family predicted the participation of the non-custodial parent in the child‘s activities, in the decision-making for the child, conflict, and the time spent with the child. Implications for practitioners who work with families with co-parenting responsibilities are discussed

Adolescents’ use of purpose built shade in secondary schools: cluster randomised controlled trial

Objective To examine whether students use or avoid newly shaded areas created by shade sails installed at schools

Seroprevalence, Blood Chemistry, and Patterns of Canine Parvovirus, Distemper Virus, Plague, and Tularemia in Free-ranging Coyotes (\u3ci\u3eCanis latrans\u3c/i\u3e) in Northern New Mexico, USA

Wildlife diseases have implications for ecology, conservation, human health, and health of domestic animals. They may impact wildlife health and population dynamics. Exposure rates of coyotes (Canis latrans) to pathogens such as Yersinia pestis, the cause of plague, may reflect prevalence rates in both rodent prey and human populations. We captured coyotes in north-central New Mexico during 2005–2008 and collected blood samples for serologic surveys. We tested for antibodies against canine distemper virus (CDV, Canine morbillivirus), canine parvovirus (CPV, Carnivore protoparvovirus), plague, tularemia (Francisella tularensis), and for canine heartworm (Dirofilaria immitis) antigen. Serum biochemistry variables that fell outside reference ranges were probably related to capture stress. We detected antibodies to parvovirus in 32/32 samples (100%), and to Y. pestis in 26/31 (84%). More than half 19/32 (59%) had antibodies against CDV, and 5/31 (39%) had antibodies against F. tularensis. We did not detect any heartworm antigens (n = 9). Pathogenprevalence was similar between sexes and among the three coyote packs in the study area. Parvovirus exposure appeared to happen early in life, and prevalence of antibodies against CDV increased with increasing age class. Exposure to Y. pestis and F. tularensis occurred across all age classes. The high coyote seroprevalence rates observed for CPV, Y. pestis, and CDV may indicate high prevalence in sympatric vertebrate populations, with implications for regional wildlife conservation as well as risk to humans via zoonotic transmission

Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Stroke Outcomes: A Scoping Review of Post-Stroke Disability Assessment Tools

Purpose: To identify how post-stroke disability outcomes are assessed in studies that examine racial/ethnic disparities and to map the identified assessment content to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) across the time course of stroke recovery. Methods: We conducted a scoping review of the literature. Articles published between January 2001 and July 2017 were identified through Scopus, PubMed, CINAHL, and PsycINFO according to predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Results: We identified 1791 articles through database and hand-searching strategies. Of the articles, 194 met inclusion criteria for full-text review, and 41 met inclusion criteria for study inclusion. The included studies used a variety of outcome measures encompassing domains within the ICF: body functions, activities, participation, and contextual factors across the time course of stroke recovery. We discovered disproportionate representation among racial/ethnic groups in the post-stroke disability disparities literature. Conclusions: A wide variety of assessments are used to examine disparities in post-stroke disability across the time course of stroke recovery. Several studies have identified disparities through a variety of assessments; however, substantial problems abound from the assessments used including inconsistent use of assessments, lacking evidence on the validity of assessments among racial/ethnic groups, and inadequate representation among all racial/ethnic populations comprising the US. Implications for Rehabilitation An enhanced understanding of racial/ethnic disparities in post-stroke disability outcomes is inherently important among rehabilitation practitioners who frequently engage with racial/ethnic minority populations across the time course of stroke recovery. Clinicians should carefully consider the psychometric properties of assessment tools to counter potential racial bias. Clinicians should be aware that many assessments used in stroke rehabilitation lack cultural sensitivity and could result in inaccurate assessment findings

Gestational and Chronic Low-Dose PFOA Exposures and Mammary Gland Growth and Differentiation in Three Generations of CD-1 Mice

Background: Prenatal exposure to perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a ubiquitous industrial surfactant, has been reported to delay mammary gland development in female mouse offspring (F1) and the treated lactating dam (P0) after gestational treatments at 3 and 5 mg PFOA/kg/day

More than a whistle: Automated detection of marine sound sources with a convolutional neural network

Publication history: Accepted - 14 September 2022; Published online - 04 October 2022The effective analysis of Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) data has the potential to determine spatial and temporal variations in ecosystem health and species presence if automated detection and classification algorithms are capable of discrimination between marine species and the presence of anthropogenic and environmental noise. Extracting more than a single sound source or call type will enrich our understanding of the interaction between biological, anthropogenic and geophonic soundscape components in the marine environment. Advances in extracting ecologically valuable cues from the marine environment, embedded within the soundscape, are limited by the time required for manual analyses and the accuracy of existing algorithms when applied to large PAM datasets. In this work, a deep learning model is trained for multi-class marine sound source detection using cloud computing to explore its utility for extracting sound sources for use in marine mammal conservation and ecosystem monitoring. A training set is developed comprising existing datasets amalgamated across geographic, temporal and spatial scales, collected across a range of acoustic platforms. Transfer learning is used to fine-tune an open-source state-of-the-art ‘small-scale’ convolutional neural network (CNN) to detect odontocete tonal and broadband call types and vessel noise (from 0 to 48 kHz). The developed CNN architecture uses a custom image input to exploit the differences in temporal and frequency characteristics between each sound source. Each sound source is identified with high accuracy across various test conditions, including variable signal-to-noise-ratio. We evaluate the effect of ambient noise on detector performance, outlining the importance of understanding the variability of the regional soundscape for which it will be deployed. Our work provides a computationally low-cost, efficient framework for mining big marine acoustic data, for information on temporal scales relevant to the management of marine protected areas and the conservation of vulnerable species.This work was supported by the Natural Environmental Research Council [grant number NE/S007210/1]. The COMPASS project has been supported by the EU’s INTERREG VA Programme, managed by the Special EU Programmes Body. The views and opinions expressed in this document do not necessarily reflect those of the European Commission or the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB)