Reflection of Genomic Selection in Practice – use of Genomic Brown Swiss Bulls in Slovenia

For seven years Slovenia has been collaborating in international genomic Brown Swiss cattle evaluation - InterGenomics project. Th is research aimed to provide an estimation of practical contribution of genomic selection. For that purpose, data records of routine breeding value evaluations (EBV12) for Slovenian Brown Swiss cattle were used. Th e data for years 2013 – 2016 were obtained for up to 877 herds. Region (P = 0.0032) and year (P = 0.0063) significantly affected percent of genomically evaluated bulls used in herd. Th is percent most greatly and significantly decreased with an increase of the average parity (b = -3.93%, P < 0.0001). Although these effects had no statistically significant effect, the increase in the estimated value for herd based on a test day milk yield evaluation breeding value and the total merit index for dual purpose justifies the use of genomically evaluated bulls to some extent (about 25% of all bulls). Results did not confirm connection between greater genetic gain and breeders’ choice of genomically evaluated bulls

Reflection of Genomic Selection in Practice – use of Genomic Brown Swiss Bulls in Slovenia

For seven years Slovenia has been collaborating in international genomic Brown Swiss cattle evaluation - InterGenomics project. Th is research aimed to provide an estimation of practical contribution of genomic selection. For that purpose, data records of routine breeding value evaluations (EBV12) for Slovenian Brown Swiss cattle were used. Th e data for years 2013 – 2016 were obtained for up to 877 herds. Region (P = 0.0032) and year (P = 0.0063) significantly affected percent of genomically evaluated bulls used in herd. Th is percent most greatly and significantly decreased with an increase of the average parity (b = -3.93%, P < 0.0001). Although these effects had no statistically significant effect, the increase in the estimated value for herd based on a test day milk yield evaluation breeding value and the total merit index for dual purpose justifies the use of genomically evaluated bulls to some extent (about 25% of all bulls). Results did not confirm connection between greater genetic gain and breeders’ choice of genomically evaluated bulls

Discovering Strategic Behaviour of Multi-Agent Systems in Adversary Settings

Can specific behaviour strategies be induced from low-level observations of two adversary groups of agents with limited domain knowledge? This paper presents a domain-independent Multi-Agent Strategy Discovering Algorithm (MASDA), which discovers strategic behaviour patterns of a group of agents under the described conditions. The algorithm represents the observed multi-agent activity as a graph, where graph connections correspond to performed actions and graph nodes correspond to environment states at action starts. Based on such data representation, the algorithm applies hierarchical clustering and rule induction to extract and describe strategic behaviour. The discovered strategic behaviour is represented visually as graph paths and symbolically as rules. MASDA was evaluated on RoboCup. Both soccer experts and quantitative evaluation confirmed the relevance of the discovered behaviour patterns

Intelligent System for Playing Tarok

We present an advanced intelligent system for playing three-player tarok card game. The system is based on alpha-beta search with several enhancements such as fuzzy transposition table, which clusters strategically similar positions into generalised game states. Unknown distribution of other players’ cards is addressed by Monte Carlo sampling. Experimental results show an additional reduction in size of expanded 9-ply game-tree by a factor of 184. Human players judge the resulting program to play tarok reasonably well

Protocol of the STRess at Work (STRAW) project : how to disentangle day-to-day occupational stress among academics based on EMA, physiological data, and smartphone sensor and usage data

Several studies have reported on increasing psychosocial stress in academia due to work environment risk factors like job insecurity, work-family conflict, research grant applications, and high workload. The STRAW project adds novel aspects to occupational stress research among academic staff by measuring day-to-day stress in their real-world work environments over 15 working days. Work environment risk factors, stress outcomes, health-related behaviors, and work activities were measured repeatedly via an ecological momentary assessment (EMA), specially developed for this project. These results were combined with continuously tracked physiological stress responses using wearable devices and smartphone sensor and usage data. These data provide information on workplace context using our self-developed Android smartphone app. The data were analyzed using two approaches: 1) multilevel statistical modelling for repeated data to analyze relations between work environment risk factors and stress outcomes on a within- and between-person level, based on EMA results and a baseline screening, and 2) machine-learning focusing on building prediction models to develop and evaluate acute stress detection models, based on physiological data and smartphone sensor and usage data. Linking these data collection and analysis approaches enabled us to disentangle and model sources, outcomes, and contexts of occupational stress in academia

Long-term effect of minor genetic changes of milk components on somatic cell count

Selection pressure on protein content (PC), and thus milk composition changes have manifested as an increasingly narrow fat - protein ratio (FPR). In addition, higher somatic cell count (SCC) in milk has been observed in recent years, and that is why it is hypothesized that milk composition changes affect cow’s immune response resulting in higher SCC. 2,459,250 test day (TD) records of 127,499 Slovenian Simmental (SIM) cows from years 2004 to 2017 were used for this study. For the estimation of (co)variance components two multiple trait animal TD models were used (M1, M2). M1 included SCC and FPR while M2 included SCC, fat content (FC) and PC. For comparisson of results parameters from the routine single-trait national genetic evaluation were used. Heritability estimates (h²) for SCC, FC and PC from M2 (0.34, 0.29 and 0.38, respectively) were very similar to those form national evaluation; h² for FPR was lower than for the other traits (0.22). Both, estimated genetic correlation ("r" _"g" = 0.1) and estimated phenotypic correlation ("r" _"p" = 0.007) among SCC and FPR in M1 were negative and low. "r" _"p" in M2 were positive, but low for all three trait pairs (0.062 0.076) and "r" _"g" for SCC PC was similar (0.069). Conversely, FC PC "r" _"g" (0.502) was positive and moderate whereas SCC FC "r" _"g" ( 0.046) was negative and low. Results confirm the hypothesis by suggesting the possibillity of unpredicted and unwanted long term cumulative effect of seemingly irrelevantly small genetic changes of individual trait

Competitive Live Evaluation of Activity-recognition Systems

In order to ensure the validity and usability of activity recognition approaches, an agreement on a set of standard evaluation methods is needed. Due to the diversity of the sensors and other hardware employed, designing and accepting standard tests is a difficult task. This article presents an initiative to evaluate activity recognition systems: a living-lab evaluation established through an annual competition − EvAAL-AR (Evaluating Ambient Assisted Living Systems through Competitive Benchmarking − Activity Recognition). In the competition, each team brings their own activity-recognition system, which is evaluated live on the same activity scenario performed by an actor. The evaluation criteria attempt to capture the practical usability: recognition accuracy, user acceptance, recognition delay, installation complexity, and interoperability with ambient assisted living systems. The article also presents the competing systems with emphasis on two best-performing ones: (i) a system that achieved the best recognition accuracy, and (ii) a system that was evaluated as the best overall. Finally, the article presents lessons learned from the competition and ideas for future development of the competition and of the activity recognition field in general

EFFECT OF SEX, AGE AT SLAUGHTER AND AGING PERIOD ON WATER-HOLDING CAPACITY AND TENDERNESS OF MEAT OF POSAVINA HORSE BREED

Cilj ovog rada bio je utvrditi sposobnost zadržavanja vode (kalo odmrzavanja – TL i kalo kuhanja – CL) i mekoću mesa (Warner-Bratzler sila presijecanja, WBSF) posavskog konja obzirom na spol, dob pri klanju i dužinu zrenja. U istraživanje je sveukupno bilo uključeno 12 životinja (6 muških i 6 ženskih) pasmine posavski konj. Prosječna dob životinja bila je 18 mjeseci (od 6 do 36 mjeseci). Uzorci mesa potrebni za daljnju analizu izuzeti su s najdužeg leđnog mišića (M. longissimus dorsi) nakon zrenja od 14, odnosno 28 dana. Dobiveni podaci analizirani su pomoću SAS/STAT softverskog paketa verzija 9.4. Utvrđene srednje vrijednosti za TL, CL i WBSF su bile kako slijedi: 8,41%, 19,24% i 26,04 N. Rezultati istraživanja ukazuju da spol, dob pri klanju i dužina zrenja značajno ne utječu na sposobnost zadržavanja vode i mekoću mesa posavskog konja (p>0,05). Istraživanjem su dobivene nove spoznaje o kakvoći mesa posavskog konja koje bi svakako trebale pridonijeti budućim istraživanjima u svrhu potpunijeg razumijevanja kakvoće konjskog mesa.The aim of this study was to determine water-holding capacity (thawing loss – TL and cooking loss – CL) and tenderness (Warner-Bratzler shear force, WBSF) of meat of Posavina horse breed considering sex, age at slaughter and aging period. Altogether, 12 animals of Posavina horse breed (6 males and 6 females) were involved in the study. The average age of the animals was 18 months and ranged from six to 36 months. Muscle samples for the analysis were taken from the M. longissimus dorsi of each carcass after the aging period of 14 days and 28 days. Water-holding capacity and tenderness of meat of Posavina horse breed were analyzed using the SAS/STAT software package version 9.4. The mean values for TL, CL, and WBSF were 8.41%, 19.24%, and 26.04 N, respectively. The results showed that TL, CL, and WBSF of meat of Posavina horse breed are not significantly affected by sex, slaughter age or aging period (p>0.05). This study gave a new insight into the meat quality traits of Posavina horse breed which could contribute to further necessary research to complete an understanding of horse meat quality

Proof-of-concept trial results of the HeartMan mobile personal health system for self-management in congestive heart failure

This study tested the effectiveness of HeartMan—a mobile personal health system offering decisional support for management of congestive heart failure (CHF)—on health-related quality of life (HRQoL), self-management, exercise capacity, illness perception, mental and sexual health. A randomized controlled proof-of-concept trial (1:2 ratio of control:intervention) was set up with ambulatory CHF patients in stable condition in Belgium and Italy. Data were collected by means of a 6-min walking test and a number of standardized questionnaire instruments. A total of 56 (34 intervention and 22 control group) participants completed the study (77% male; mean age 63 years, sd 10.5). All depression and anxiety dimensions decreased in the intervention group (p &lt; 0.001), while the need for sexual counselling decreased in the control group (p &lt; 0.05). Although the group differences were not significant, self-care increased (p &lt; 0.05), and sexual problems decreased (p &lt; 0.05) in the intervention group only. No significant intervention effects were observed for HRQoL, self-care confidence, illness perception and exercise capacity. Overall, results of this proof-of-concept trial suggest that the HeartMan personal health system significantly improved mental and sexual health and self-care behaviour in CHF patients. These observations were in contrast to the lack of intervention effects on HRQoL, illness perception and exercise capacity