Immunogenetics in dairy cattle : somatic cell count and natural antibody levels

There remains is a lot to be learned about the interpretation of genetic parameters and the biology of disease resistance and SCS. This PhD thesis aimed to obtain additional insight in disease resistance and SCS by: 1) quantifying the impact of genetics on innate immunity, represented by natural antibodies (NAb), through estimation of heritabilities and genetic correlations; 2) identifying the genomic regions involved in SCS and NAb levels; 3) quantifying the impact of genetics on environmental sensitivity for SCS. Natural antibody levels are heritable with heritabilities ranging from 0.06 to 0.55 and in general, heritabilities for NAb isotypes were higher than heritabilities for total NAb levels, the latter making no distinction between isotypes. Genetic correlations suggest that isotypes IgA and IgM have a common genetic basis, but that the genetic basis for IgG1 differs from that for IgA or IgM. An additional genome-wide association study for NAb levels showed that information can be gained when total NAb levels are further subdivided into isotype levels. A region on chromosome 23 was significantly associated with genetic variation in isotype IgM levels. The bovine major histocompatibility complex (MHC) is located near this region, making this a region of candidate gene(s) involved in NAb expression in dairy cows both from a functional and positional perspective. Results from the study on genetic parameters and the genome-wide association study suggest that NAb isotypes may provide a better characterization of different elements of the immune response or immune competence and enable more effective decisions when breeding programs start to include innate immune parameters. A genome-wide association study was not only performed for NAb levels, but also for SCS. Relatively few associations, however, were found, which suggests that SCS is controlled by multiple loci, each with a relatively small effect, distributed across the genome. Somatic cell score is partly under genetic control, but is also affected by the environment. Sensitivity to respond to environmental factors, however, can have a genetic origin. Environmental factors can be divided into known and unknown factors, referred to as macro- and micro environment, respectively. Macro-environmental sensitivity can be expressed as genetic variation in the slope of a reaction norm, whereas micro-environmental sensitivity can be expressed as differences in residual variance that have a genetic origin. Both macro- and micro-environmental sensitivity were found for SCS and these sensitivities were positively correlated. Knowledge on both forms of sensitivity can aid in optimization of selection as correlations between the additive genetic variance in intercept, slope and environmental variance were all away from unity. Selection for reduced environmental sensitivity has the potential to reduce variability in animal performance due to environmental factors and herewith increase predictability of performance across and within environments. Knowledge on disease biology is important to fully understand the processes involved when selecting for increased disease resistance, as a better understanding enables a better prediction of the consequences. In this context, the general discussion involved the phenotype definition and statistical modeling, influence of maternal effects and genetic variation in the MHC region. The discussion contained three conclusions: 1) analyses of cell types (detailed phenotypes) rather than SCS can provide further insight in the genetic control of SCS and mastitis; 2) no evidence was found for maternal genetic effects on NAb levels in milk. Maternal environmental effects, however, could play a role in NAb levels; 3) genetic diversity in the MHC region is maintained by natural selection. Selective breeding and farm management practices may affect this genetic diversity, which could bring about negative effects on animal fitness, such as fertility problems. Selective breeding for specific MHC haplotypes may therefore impose a risk for negative effects on animal health.</p

Reported versus measured body weight and height of 4-year-old children and the prevalence of overweight

Background: In adults, body weight tends to be underestimated when based on self-reported data. Whether this discrepancy between measured and reported data exists in healthy young children is unclear. We studied whether parental reported body weight and height of 4-year-old children corresponded with measured body weight and height. In addition, we studied the determinants and the consequences of differences between reported and measured data. Methods: Data on body weight and height of 864 4-year-old Dutch children born in 1996/1997 enrolled in the Prevention and Incidence of Asthma and Mite Allergy (PIAMA) birth cohort study were collected via a questionnaire and a medical examination. Overweight was defined according to standard international age and gender specific definitions. Results: Mean differences between measured and reported body weight, height, and body mass index (BMI) were small. Parents of children with a low BMI tended to over report body weight while parents of children with a high BMI tended to underreport body weight. Whereas 9.5% of the children were overweight according to reported BMI, the prevalence of overweight was 13.4% based on measured BMI. Over 45% of the overweight children according to measured BMI were missed when reported BMI was used. Conclusion: These findings suggest that overweight prevalence rates in children are underestimated when based on reported weight and height

Значенння орієнталізма в музичній творчості Ц.А. Кюі і М.П. Мусоргського

Целью статьи является анализ ориентального творчества композиторов Ц.А. Кюи и М.П. Мусоргского. Исходя из целей статьи, были поставлены следующие задачи: 1. Анализ и оценка ориентального творчества Ц.А. Кюи. 2. Анализ и оценка ориентального творчества М.П. Мусоргского

М.К. Янгель біля витоків вітчизняного ракетобудування

Висвітлено життєвий шлях академіка М.К.Янгеля, його внесок у розвиток вітчизняного ракетобудування, забезпечення обороноздатності СРСР.Освещены жизненный путь академика М.К.Янгеля и его вклад в развитие отечественного ракетостроения, обеспечение обороноспособности СССР.An account of the life path of the academician М. К. Yangel, his contribution in the national spacecraft and of defense capacity building of the USSR is contained

Внебрачный секс и его психопрофилактика

Описана предложенная автором поэтапная система психопрофилактики супружеской дезадаптации, ведущей к внебрачному сексу.The original staged system of psychoprevention of spouse deadaptation causing extramarital sex is described

Метаморфозы философской иронии: от Сократа к постмодерну

В статье исследуется генезис иронии как специфического метода философствования в контексте смены социокультурных парадигм. Показана связь между конкретно-историческими условиями развития философских идей и характером и направленностью иронизирования. Выявляются эвристическая, гносеологическая, аналитическая, медиационная и другие функции иронии в философском дискурсе.У статті досліджується генезис іронії як специфічного методу філософування в контексті зміни соціокультурних парадигм. Показано зв’язок між конкретно-історичними умовами розвитку філософських ідей і характером й спрямованістю іронізування. Виявляються евристична, гносеологічна, аналітична, медіаційна та інші функції іронії у філософському дискурсі.In the article genesis of irony is probed as a specific method of philosophizing in the context of changing of sociocultural paradigms. Intercommunication is shown between the concretely-historical terms of development of philosophical ideas and character and orientation of mocking. The heuristic, gnosiological, critical, analytical, mediational function of irony in philosophical discourse are revealed

Distinguishing Asthma Phenotypes Using Machine Learning Approaches.

Asthma is not a single disease, but an umbrella term for a number of distinct diseases, each of which are caused by a distinct underlying pathophysiological mechanism. These discrete disease entities are often labelled as asthma endotypes. The discovery of different asthma subtypes has moved from subjective approaches in which putative phenotypes are assigned by experts to data-driven ones which incorporate machine learning. This review focuses on the methodological developments of one such machine learning technique-latent class analysis-and how it has contributed to distinguishing asthma and wheezing subtypes in childhood. It also gives a clinical perspective, presenting the findings of studies from the past 5 years that used this approach. The identification of true asthma endotypes may be a crucial step towards understanding their distinct pathophysiological mechanisms, which could ultimately lead to more precise prevention strategies, identification of novel therapeutic targets and the development of effective personalized therapies

BMI Development of Normal Weight and Overweight Children in the PIAMA Study

Background: There is evidence that rapid weight gain during the first year of life is associated with overweight later in life. However, results from studies exploring other critical periods for the development of overweight are inconsistent. Objective: The objective was to investigate BMI development to assess at what ages essential differences between normal weight and overweight children occur, and to assess which age intervals the most strongly influence the risk of overweight at 8 years of age. Methods: Longitudinal weight and height data