6,119 research outputs found
Nishiyama et al. Chara braunii genome, alignment underlying phylogenetic trees & data for Fig. 3
No full textAdditional datasets for Nishiyama et al
Fluorescence Spectroscopy Study of Protoporphyrin IX in Optical Tissue Simulating Liquid Phantoms
No full textFluorescence spectroscopy has been extensively investigated for disease diagnosis. In this framework, optical tissue phantoms are widely used for validating the biomedical device system in a laboratory environment outside of clinical procedures. Moreover, it is fundamental to consider that there are several scattering components and chromophores inside biological tissues and the interplay between scattering and absorption may result in a distortion of the emitted fluorescent signal. In this work, the photophysical behaviour of a set of liquid, tissue-like phantoms containing different compositions was analysed: phosphate buffer saline (PBS) was used as the background medium, low fat milk as a scatterer, Indian ink as an absorber and protoporphyrin IX (PpIX) dissolved in dimethyl formamide (DMF) as a fluorophore. We examined the collected data in terms of the impact of surfactant Tween-20 on the background medium, scattering effects and combination of scattering and absorption within a luminescent body on PpIX. The results indicated that the intrinsic emission peaks are red shifted by the scattering particles or surfactant, whilst the scattering agent and the absorbent can alter the emission intensity substantially. We corroborated that phantoms containing higher surfactant content (>0.5% Tween 20) are essential to prepare stable aqueous phantoms
Cultural Factors in Complex Decision Making
No full textComplex decision-making is conceptualised as the process of problem solving in meaningful and important, but complex, dynamic and partially opaque situations. This process is open to a number of cultural influences, among them educational practices, environmental predictability, and power distance. Two empirical studies that explore into the cultural relativity of this type of decision making use interactive computer simulations of complex problems as research instruments. There are a number of behavioural differences between participants from India and Germany which can be explained within a culture-theoretical framework and give reason for the plea to include cultural factors in theories on human decision making
The genetic structure of longevity in dairy cows
No full textLongevity of dairy cows is determined by culling. Previous studies have shown that culling of dairy cows is not an unambiguous trait but rather the result of several reasons including diseases and selection decisions. The relative importance of these reasons is not stable over time, implying that genetic background of culling may vary over lifetime. Data of 7.6 million German Holstein cows were used to assess the detailed genetic correlation structure among 18 survival traits defined for the first 3 parities. Differences of genetic factors which determine survival of different production periods were found, showing a pattern with 3 genetically distinct periods within each parity: early lactation (calving until d 59), mid lactation (d 60 to 299), and late lactation (d 300 until next calving). Survival in first and later parities were found to be slightly genetically different from each other. The identified patterns were in good accordance with distributions of reasons for disposal, and correlations of estimated breeding values of survival traits for different periods to production and functional traits were generally plausible compared with literature regarding effects on the risk of culling. The study shows that genetic background of survival is variable not only across but also within parities. The results of the study can help developing more accurate models for routine genetic evaluations of longevity that account for nonunity genetic correlations between survival of different periods.German national FBF (Forderverein Biookonomieforschung e.V.
How economic weights translate into genetic and phenotypic progress, and vice versa
No full textAbstract
Background
This paper highlights the relationships between economic weights, genetic progress, and phenotypic progress in genomic breeding programs that aim at generating genetic progress in complex, i.e., multi-trait, breeding objectives via a combination of estimated breeding values for different trait complexes.
Results
Based on classical selection index theory in combination with quantitative genetic models, we provide a methodological framework for calculating expected genetic and phenotypic progress for all components of a complex breeding objective. We further provide an approach to study the sensitivity of the system to modifications, e.g. to changes in the economic weights. We propose a novel approach to derive the covariance structure of the stochastic errors of estimated breeding values from the observed correlations of estimated breeding values. We define ‘realized economic weights’ as those weights that would coincide with the observed composition of the genetic trend and show, how they can be calculated. The suggested methodology is illustrated with an index that aims at achieving a breeding goal composed of six trait complexes, that was applied in German Holstein cattle breeding until 2021.
Conclusions
Based on the presented results, the main conclusions are (i) the composition of the observed genetic progress matches the expectations well, with predictions being slightly better when the covariance of estimation errors is taken into account; (ii) the composition of the expected phenotypic trend deviates significantly from the expected genetic trend due to the differences in trait heritabilities; and (iii) the realized economic weights derived from the observed genetic trend deviate substantially from the predefined ones, in one case even with a reversed sign. Further results highlight the implications of the change to a modified breeding goal based on the example of a new index comprising eight, partly new, trait complexes, which is used since 2021 in the German Holstein breeding program. The proposed framework and the analytical tools and software provided will be useful to define more rational and generally accepted breeding objectives in the future.Open-Access-Publikationsfonds 202
Stefan Morawski’s Critique of Postmodernism
No full textThe matter under consideration is Stefan Morawski’s criticism of postmodernism. The author presents Morawski’s main arguments against postmodernism and analyzes their accuracy for the Richard Rorty’s and Francois Lyotard’s theories. In addition to this the author considers the impact of the art on the possibility of integration consumer society
Ep. #044 - Stefan Helmreich
No full textThis recording and transcript form part of a collection of podcasts conducted by the Cultures of Energy at Rice University. Cultures of Energy brings writers, artists and scholars together to talk, think and feel their way into the Anthropocene. We cover serious issues like climate change, species extinction and energy transition. But we also try to confront seemingly huge and insurmountable problems with insight, creativity and laughter.On this week’s podcast, Dominic and Cymene continue to process election aftermath and offer thoughts on how to escape the dungeon. Then (14:20) things get wavy when Stefan Helmreich from MIT—author of Alien Ocean (U California Press, 2009) and Sounding the Limits of Life (Princeton U Press, 2016)—joins the conversation and we talk about his recent work on waves and water. We start with the submarine trip that got him interested in the sound of fieldwork underwater and these strange entities known as “waves.” He then introduces us to the world of wave science and explains how it can be viewed as anthropology by other means given its constant attention to social concerns like coastal infrastructure, shipping, recreation, and insurance. Stefan discusses why the problem of the 21st century is the problem of the waterline—rising sea level, changing sea surface, and wavy dynamics that modulate sea level. He also explains that even though current models of wave action are based on northern ocean data, it looks increasingly likely that the future will belong to southern ocean dynamics. We visit the largest tsunami simulation basin in the world, learn what “rogue waves” are, and come to understand how, with the coming of wave energy, waves are being reimagined not as enemies but rather as allies whose labor can be harnessed in the struggle against climate change. Stefan offers some reflections on “blue humanities,” the shipwreckocene and Haraway’s Chthulucene. Finally, we turn toward his current research in the Netherlands with its long and complex relationship to water. And, yes, Cymene asks him about surfing and his answer is the best. Listen on
Macroeconomic imbalances and comparative advantages in the Euro Area
No full textThe emergence of macroeconomic imbalances among EU member states is often seen as a major underlying factor of the recent European debt crisis. In order to identify and tackle these imbalances, the European authorities established, in 2011, a new surveillance tool incorporating rules to prevent future imbalances and labelled the Excessive Imbalance Procedure (EIP).
Stefan Collignon argues that the premises of the Excessive Imbalance Procedure are in fact wrong, and its implementation therefore misguided, in that they take for granted the policy framework of the nation state whereas the Euro Area economy is, in reality, integrated into a single market with a single currency, such that so-called ‘foreign’ debt is, effectively, debt to other residents in the Euro Area.
The author demonstrates, furthermore, that strict adherence to the EIP could, in conjunction with other new economic governance instruments, entail devastating consequences for peripheral countries in the European Union.
Following his observation that current indicators used by the Commission fail to provide a correct or accurate assessment of imbalances in the Euro Area, the author devises a new ‘Competitive Index’, calculated as the difference between actual and equilibrium unit labour costs, which he recommends as an alternative and better indicator in the context of the Alert Mechanism Reports to be issued by the European Commission in the future
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