Potential effects of hormonal synchronized breeding on genetic evaluations of fertility traits in dairy cattle: A simulation study

About 30% of producers use hormone protocols to synchronize ovulation and perform timed artificial insemination (AI) in Canada. Days from calving to first service (CTFS) and first service to conception (FSTC) become masked phenotypes leading to biased genetic evaluations of cows for these fertility traits. The objectives of this study were to (1) demonstrate and quantify the potential amount of bias in genetic evaluations, and (2) find a procedure that could remove the bias. Simulation was used for both objectives. The proposed solution was to identify cows that have been treated by hormone protocols, make their CTFS and FSTC missing, and perform a multiple trait analysis including traits that have high genetic correlations with CTFS and FSTC, and which are not affected by the hormone protocols themselves. A total of 12 scenarios (S1–S12) were tested, changing the percentage of herds and cows that were randomly selected to be under timed AI. Cows that were given hormone protocols had CTFS of 86 d and FSTC of 0, which were used in genetic evaluation. Four criteria were used to indirectly measure the presence of bias: (1) the correlation between true (TBV) and estimated (EBV) breeding values (accuracy); (2) the differences in the mean EBV of top 25, 50, and 75 sires; (3) changes in correlation between TBV and EBV rankings; and (4) the changes in mean EBV over the simulated generations. All criteria changed unfavorably and proportionally to the increased use of timed AI. The accuracy within each class of animals (cows, dams, or sires) decreased proportionally with increased use of timed AI, varying from 0.32 (S12) to 0.52 (S1) for bull EBV for CTFS. The average EBV of the top sires (best 25, 50, 75, or 100 sires) approached population average EBV values when increasing the number of treated animals. The sire rank correlation between EBV and TBV within simulated scenarios was smaller for scenarios with more synchronized animals, going from 0.38 (S12) to 0.67 (S1). The long-term use of hormonal synchronized cows clearly decreased the mean EBV over generations in the population for CTFS and FSTC. The inclusion of genetically correlated traits in a multiple trait model was effective in removing the bias due to the presence of hormonal synchronized cows. However, given the constraints within the simulation, it is important that further investigation with real data is conducted to determine the true effect of including timed AI records within genetic evaluations of fertility traits in dairy cattle.     

Estimated genetic parameters for all genetically evaluated traits in Canadian Holsteins

Genetic improvement is a crucial tool to deal with the increasing demand for high quality, sustainably produced dairy. Breeding programs are based on genetic parameters, such as heritability and genetic correlations, for economically important traits in a population. In this study, we estimated population genetic parameters and genetic trends for 67 traits evaluated on heifers and first-lactation Canadian Holstein cows. The data consisted of approximately 500,000 records with pedigree information collected from 1980 to 2019. Genetic parameters were estimated using bivariate linear animal models under a Bayesian approach. Analyses for the 67 traits resulted in 2,211 bivariate combinations, from which the estimated genetic parameters are reported here. The most highly heritable traits were fat percent (0.66) and protein percent (0.69), followed by stature (0.47). Lowest heritabilities (0.01) were observed for disease-related traits, such as lameness and toe ulcer, and calf survival. The genetic correlations between gestation length, calf size, and calving ease measured on both heifer and cows were close to unity. On the other hand, traits such as body condition score and pin width, cystic ovaries and sole ulcer, rear teat placement, and toe ulcer were genetically unrelated. This study reports genetic parameters that have not been previously published for Canadian Holstein cows, and provides updates of those previously estimated. These estimates are useful for building new indexes, updating existing selection indexes, and for predicting correlated responses due to inclusion of novel traits in the breeding programs.     

Phase locked loop-based clock synthesizer for reconfigurable analog-to-digital converters

Analog Integrated Circuits and Signal Processing - This paper presents the complete design of a phase locked loop-based clock synthesizer for reconfigurable analog-to-digital converters. The...     

Safety Watchdog for universally safe gaseous high pressure hydrogen fillings

The fast filling time for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles makes them a user-friendly zero emission alternative to fossil fuel powered vehicles. The filling, by compressing gas into the vehicle tanks, produces heat that can be damaging. There are different protocols, standardized or the intellectual property of station operators, dedicated for different specific applications taking into account the specificity of the vessel and customer requirements. Standard protocols are developed for worst case conditions across a broad range of vehicle tank sizes and configurations. These worst case conditions do not result in the most economical equipment solution for hydrogen fueling. To ensure safety for different existing and future potential protocols a new “Safety Watchdog” approach is suggested in the current paper. This “Safety Watchdog” monitors the fueling process boundary conditions independently from the main process controls. The decoupling between the watchdog and the protocol allows use of protocols that are more economically beneficial while ensuring full safety conditions. The current paper provides a mathematical formulation of the Safety Watchdog as well as its validation versus modeling and field experimental data.     

Enhancing the rheological,technological, textural and microstructural characteristics of set yoghurt using certain nano-stabilisers

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of adding nano-stabilisers on some properties of yoghurt. Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), sodium alginate (SA) and kappa-carrageenan (K-C) were used at 0.2%, 0.2% and 0.02% in their original forms and 0.15%, 0.15% and 0.015% in nano-form, respectively. The effects of these additives on yoghurt pH, titratable acidity, viscosity, syneresis, texture, colour, starter culture bacterial count, mould and yeast count, coagulation time and microstructure were studied. The use of nano-stabilisers increased viscosity, hardness and coagulation time; reduced syneresis and Streptococcus thermophilus count; and improved colour. Results indicated that nano-stabilisers improved the rheological and technological characteristics of yoghurt.     

Effects of Sc Addition and Direct Aging Treatment on Microstructure and Hardness of AlSi10Mg Alloy

Cu-mold centrifugal cast processing is employed as a rapid solidification method for producing samples with and without Sc. The Al–Si–Mg and Al–Si–Mg–Sc alloy samples are exposed to direct aging treatments varying temperature and time to verify the microstructural changes. Both rapidly solidified samples and as-aged samples are characterized by a number of methods, including optical microscopy, SEM–EDS, transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM)–EDS, TEM–HAADF, X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and Vickers hardness. At first, the results point to a strong precipitate-related hardening effect formed as a result of the Sc addition to the alloy. All samples containing Sc show a higher hardness value when compared to their respective treated samples without Sc. Second, when comparing the Al–10Si–Mg–0.4Sc alloy samples among themselves after being treated at different conditions, high temperatures, and excessive treatment times are recognized as detrimental to the hardness. This is due to the growth of larger Sc-bearing precipitates of approximately 1 μm in size under such conditions, having lower efficiency in pinning dislocations during loading. The best aging condition is 255 °C for 60 min, which produces a very fine dispersion of Mg and Sc intermetallics (200 nm in size) with a peak hardness of 110 HV.     

Biologically active polymers. IV. Synthesis and antimicrobial activity of tartaric acid polyamides

New bactericidal polyamides with quaternary ammonium or phosphonium salts were prepared, and their antimicrobial activities were explored. The polyamides were synthesized by the polycondensation of diethyl‐l‐tartrate or chloromethylated diethyl‐l‐tartrate with ethylenediamine in dry absolute ethanol. The polyamides were modified to yield polymers with either quaternary ammonium or phosphonium salts. The polymers were characterized with elemental microanalysis and ¹H‐NMR and IR spectra. The antimicrobial activity of the polymers bearing onium salts was studied against Gram‐negative bacteria (Escherichia coli, Pseudomones aeruginosa, Shigella sp., and Salmonella typhae), Gram‐positive bacteria (Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus cereus), and a fungus (Trichophytum rubrum) by the cut‐plug and viable‐cell‐count methods. Although all the polymers showed high antibacterial activity, some had no antifungal activity. The tributyl phosphonium salt of the polyamide was more effective against both Gram‐negative and Gram‐positive bacteria than the triethyl ammonium and triphenyl phosphonium salts of the polyamide. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 102: 4780–4790, 2006     

An investigation on machinability assessment of Al-6XN and AISI 316 alloys: an assessment study of machining

This work presents machinability assessment of AL-6XN super austenitic stainless steel alloy. Cutting forces, surface roughness, work hardening tendency and tool wear were analyzed. The assessment was conducted based on a comparison between the AL-6XN alloy and the well-known alloy in the machining field AISI 316. Finite element analysis (FEA) study was also conducted and used in this assessment. Experimental results showed maximum increase of 70% and 57% in the feed and normal forces of the AL-6XN alloy, respectively. Maximum increase in the work hardening tendency of 59% was recorded for the AL-6XN alloy while only 29% was recorded for the 316 alloy. The roughness analysis recorded an increase of 186% for the AL-6XN alloy compared to the 316 alloy. Tool wear analysis revealed the build-up edge formation, severe chipping, flank and crater wear (CW) during cutting AL-6XN alloy whereas small chipping, flank and CW were noticed during cutting 316 alloy. FEA study showed when the AL-6XN alloy machined using 65 and 94?m/min cutting speeds, the increases (compared to the 316 alloy) were: 12% and 8% in plastic strain; 20% and 20% in stresses; 48% and 100% in residual tensile stresses; 22% and 92% in residual compressive stresses, respectively.     

Modification of coconut fibers with polyaniline for manufacture of pressure‐sensitive devices

This article studies the modification of coconut fibers with polyaniline (PAni) with help of statistical experimental design techniques. The main factors studied here were the techniques used for particle dispersion (sonication vs. magnetic stirring) and the type of initiator (ammonium persulfate, APS, vs. ammonium cerium sulfate dihydrate, Ce(IV)). The obtained materials were characterized through low field nuclear magnetic resonance, small‐and wide‐angle X‐ray scattering, scanning electron microscopy, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy. Additionally, the electrical resistivities and respective sensitivities to variations of the applied pressure were evaluated for all obtained samples, with help of standard volume resistivity measurements and electro‐mechanical tests. The materials prepared through magnetic stirring with APS presented the best electrical and electromechanical properties, although materials prepared through sonication with Ce(IV) also presented good electrical and electromechanical properties and could be prepared much faster. As a consequence, modification of coconut fibers with PAni, using sonication as the particle dispersion technique and Ce(IV) as initiator, constitutes a very promising procedure for manufacture of pressure‐sensitive devices. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 54:2887–2895, 2014. © 2014 Society of Plastics Engineers