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Fat supplements are well known for their multiple beneficial effects on ruminant health, reproduction and productivity, and as a source for certain bioactive compounds in ruminant products. On the other hand, numerous phytochemicals have demonstrated the potential to improve rumen fermentation through modifying the volatile fatty acid (VFA) pattern to favour those with greater energy efficiency, boosting microbial protein synthesis, and decreasing methane emission and ruminal ammonia concentration. Savory is an aromatic plant rich in various phytochemicals (mainly carvacrol and flavonoids) that can alter ruminal metabolism of dietary fatty acids, potentially increasing the production of some bioactive compounds such as conjugated linoleic acids (CLAs). This study aimed to investigate combined effects of oil type (fish oil (FO) versus soybean oil (SO)) and the inclusion of savory (Satureja khuzistanica) plant (SP) in the diet on total tract digestibility of nutrients, rumen fermentation, milk yield and milk fatty acid profile in dairy cattle. Eight multiparous lactating Holstein cows were used in a replicated 4 × 4 Latin square design experiment with four diets and four 21-d periods. During each experimental period consisted of 14 days of adaptation and a 7-day sampling period, cows were randomly assigned to one of the four dietary treatments: the diet supplemented with 2% (DM basis) fish oil (FOD) or soybean oil (SOD), the FOD or SOD plus 370 g DM/d/head SP (FODs, SODs, respectively). The experimental diets were arranged in a 2 × 2 factorial design, with the fat sources as the first and SP as the second factor. The FO-supplemented diets had lower dry matter intake (DMI) and higher total tract digestibility than SO-supplemented diets (P < 0.05), and including SP in the diet improved total tract digestibility of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), ether extract (EE), and non-fibrous carbohydrates (NFC) (P < 0.05) without negatively affecting DMI. Rumen pH was lower with SO than with FO diets (P < 0.01) and increased with SP inclusion in the diet (P < 0.05). Total protozoa count and ruminal ammonia concentration decreased, and the branched-chain VFA (BCVFA) proportion increased with SP inclusion in the diet (P < 0.05). Milk production, as well as the concentration and yield of milk components (except lactose concentration) were higher with SO than with FO diets (P < 0.05), but these variables remained unaffected by SP. The milk concentrations of both non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) and beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB) were lower with SO compared to FO diets, and these variables were reduced by SP (P < 0.01). The proportions of both mono- and polyunsaturated FA (MUFA and PUFA, respectively) in milk were higher with FO than with SO diets (P < 0.01), and their proportions increased by SP at the expense of saturated FA (SFA) (P < 0.01). Including SP in the diet increased the proportions of all the milk n-3 FA (C18:3c, C20:5, and C22:6) by 21%, 40%, and 97%, respectively, and those of conjugated linoleic acids (C18:2 (c9,t11-CLA) and C18:2 (t10,c12-CLA)) by 23% and 62%, respectively. There was no interaction between oil type and SP for the assessed variables. Fish oil, despite reducing milk production and milk components, was more effective than soybean oil in enriching milk with healthy FA. These findings also show promise for SP as a feed additive with the potential to improve total tract digestibility, rumen fermentation and milk FA composition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This experiment was designed to investigate the effects of different levels of copper-methionine chelates and alfalfa powder on egg yolk cholesterol content, egg quality, and performance in laying hens. In this experiment, a total of 100 laying hens (Nick Chick strain, from 109 to 117 weeks of age) were arranged into five experimental treatments, consisting of 2 different dietary alfalfa powder and 2 different copper chelate levels in a (2x2) factorial completely randomized design (CRD). The treatments groups included: T1 Control (Corn and soybean meal), treatments T2 (3% alfalfa powder+50 mg/kg copper-methionine chelate), T3 (3% alfalfa powder+100 mg/kg copper-methionine chelate), T4 (6% alfalfa powder+50 mg/kg copper-methionine chelate) and T5 (6% alfalfa powder+100 mg/kg copper-methionine chelate). The results of this study have shown that, different levels of alfalfa powder and copper-methionine chelate in laying hens diet except feed conversion ratio and shell-less eggs, other performance parameters were not substantially affected by the level of 3% alfalfa powder throughout of experimental period (P>0.05). Moreover, different levels of alfalfa powder and coppermethionine chelate except egg yolk color had no significant effect on internal and external egg quality traits during the whole experimental period (P>0.05). As well as, the egg yolk color index was significantly increased by increasing the level of alfalfa powder in the laying hens' diet (P<0.001). The highest egg yolk color index was observed in treatment 5 which (containing 6% alfalfa powder+ 100 mg / kg copper-methionine chelate in per kg of diet). Meanwhile, the treatment group that received (6% alfalfa powder+100mg/kg copper-methionine chelate) the egg yolk cholesterol concentration was significantly decreased compared to the control group (P<0.001). Therefore, addition of alfalfa powder and copper methionine chelate to the diet of laying hens reduced egg yolk cholesterol and increased egg yolk color. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim was to study the effect of the threshold number on the accuracy of genomic evaluation of the threshold traits using support vector machine (SVM), genomic best linear unbiased prediction (GBLUP) and Bayesian method B (BayesB). For this purpose, a genome consisting of three chromosomes was simulated for 1000 individuals on which 3000 bi-allelic single nucleotide polymorphism markers were evenly distributed. Genomic breeding values were predicted in different scenarios of threshold number (1–6 thresholds), QTL number (30 and 300 QTLs) and heritability level (0.1, 0.3 and 0.5). By increasing the number of thresholds from 1 to 6 thresholds, especially at higher levels of heritability, the accuracy of genomic evaluation increased; however, the increase in accuracy was not linear so that it was much more noticeable when the number of thresholds increased from 1 to 2 thresholds. In the most studied scenarios, SVM showed a very poor performance compared to other methods. BayesB ranked first regarding prediction accuracy, though in some cases the observed differences with GBLUP was not significant. While increase in heritability increased the accuracy of genomic evaluation, change in the QTL number had a slight effect on the prediction accuracy. According to the results, the SVM is not recommended for genomic evaluation of threshold traits, especially those which have only one threshold and instead, use of GBLUP and BayesB is recommended. For traits with more than one threshold, fortunately we can achieve accuracy similar to continuous traits by applying traditional genomic evaluation methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study was conducted to evaluate the effects of fennel hydroalcoholic extract and chelated manganese-glycine on performance and bone status in broiler chickens. A total of 360 of day-old Arbor Acres broilers were randomly arranged according to a completely randomized experimental design (CRD) in a 2 × 3 factorial management with 6 treatments 6 replicates and 10 birds each. Treatments consisted of basal diets as control (include corn and soy bean meal), three levels of fennel (0, 100, or 200 mg/kg diet), and two levels of chelated manganese-glycine (0 or 150 mg/kg diet). Two similar weight of broilers were selected in each replicate and sacrificed by neck dislocation then tibia bones were removed, and freezedried and carcass yield and relative weights of internal organs were expressed as the percentages of live body weight. The results have shown that broiler performance was not affected (P>0.05) by the supplementation of fennel extract and chelated manganese glycine (150 mg/kg) in broilers diet but increased the tibia manganese content in this respect. However, the bone manganese reduced significantly (P<0.05) by fennel hydroalcoholic extract at 42 days of age. The result of this study has suggested that improved broiler tibia manganese content by manganese chelated-glycine supplementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of different levels of restaurant residuals (RR) on blood parameters, intestinal morphology, eggs characteristics and performance of layers Japanese quails. This experiment included 300 layers Japanese quails (age 10-18 weeks) arranged in 5 treatments, 4 replicates and 15 quails in each in a completely randomized design. The treatments consist of control diet (cornsoybean meal) and supplementation of control diet by 5, 10, 15 and 20% RR, respectively. Feed intake was significantly higher by 5% RR than 20% RR treatment (P<0.05). Egg weight was increased by receiving 20% RR compared with control group (P<0.05). Also, yolk weight of treatments containing 10, 15 and 20% of the RR were significantly higher than control (P<0.05). The serum cholesterol concentration of control group was significantly higher than 5, 10 and 15% RR-fed groups (P<0.05). However, quail egg yolk cholesterol increased significantly by treatments 15 and 20% RR. At the end of the experiment, intestinal contents viscosity was significantly higher by 10 and 15% RR group than control. Based on this study, RR could be replaced by some parts of the quail diet without adverse effects on egg quantity and quality with reducing effect on the diet cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Serum protein profile could be considered as a useful indicator of physiological and pathological conditions, but several factors may interfere with the interpretation. This study was conducted to evaluate serum protein fractions in association with age, body weight, birth type and birth season in a meat-type sheep. Blood samples were randomly taken from 96 healthy Lori-Bakhtiari ewes in the Shooli breeding station in Iran. The sampled animals randomly belonged to different age, birth type, birth season and body weight groups. Total protein and other fractions were determined by Biuret and electrophoresis methods, respectively. IgG levels were measured by ELISA method. Total protein, albumin, total globulins, albumin/globulins ratio, a1, a2, ß and γ globulins and IgG levels averages were 5.82, 2.35, 3.47, 0.69, 0.06, 0.42, 0.15, 2.82 and 1.56 g/dL, respectively. Total protein had high correlations with total and γ globulins, while albumin and IgG were almost independent from other fractions. Levels of serum protein fractions in adults were also independent from body weights at different ages. Serum protein profile was significantly affected by age and birth season (P<0.05), where by older ewes had lower levels of a2, γ and total globulins and higher albumin/globulin ratios. The winter-born ewes significantly had higher γ globulins levels and probably more immune system activities, compared to the spring-born ewes. Body weight and birth type did not have any significant effect on the studied serum protein fractions. This study suggested that the age and birth season should be considered for interpretation of the serum protein profiles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Serum protein levels are related to physiological and pathological status of animals and could be affected by both genetic and environmental factors. This study aimed to evaluate genetic variation of serum protein profile in sheep. Blood samples were randomly collected from 96 Lori-Bakhtiari ewes, a heavy meat-type breed. Total protein, albumin, globulin, α1, α2, β and γ globulins and IgG levels were measured in blood serum. The samples were genotyped using the Illumina OvineSNP50 BeadChip. The studied traits adjusted for age, birth type, birth season and estimate of breeding value for body weight were considered as pseudo-phenotypes in genome-wide association analysis. In the GWAS model, the first five principal components were fitted as covariates to correct the biases due to possible population stratification. The Plink, R and GCTA software were used for genome-wide association analysis, construction of Q-Q and Manhattan plots and estimation of genetic variances, respectively. Noticeable genomic heritabilities ± SE were estimated for total and γ globulins (0.868 ± 0.262 and 0.831 ± 0.364, respectively), but other protein fractions had zero or close to zero estimates. Based on the Bonferroni adjusted p values, four QTLs located on 181.7 Mbp of OAR3, 107.7 Mbp of OAR4, 86.3 Mbp of OAR7 and 83.0 Mbp of OAR8 were significantly associated with α1, β, β and γ globulins, respectively. The results showed that the PKP2, IGF2R, SLC22A1 and SLC22A2 genes could be considered as candidate genes for blood serum proteins. The present study showed significant genetic variations of some blood protein fractions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abortion is an important trait with noticeable impacts on economic profit of dairy herds. This study was conducted to estimate variance components and genetic, environmental and phenotypic trends for abortions in Iranian Holstein Friesian cows. The data used were 247230 calving and abortion records of 84421 Holstein cows, collected during years 1991-2016, from 51 herds in Iran. Variance components and genetic parameters were estimated using a logit link function, fitting an animal mixed model by ASReml software. In this model, parity and milk yield were fixed, while direct additive genetic, herd-year-season and permanent environment effects were considered as random factors. Genetic, phenotypic and environmental trends were estimated as weighted regression coefficients of breeding values, phenotypic values and environmental deviations averages on birth year, respectively and the number of observations was considered as the weighting factor. Generally, abortion risk in the first parity was lower than the later parities and in autumn was lower than the other seasons. Abortion risk also increased by increase in milk yield level. Heritability and repeatability estimates for abortion were both 0.165 ± 0.010. A significant positive genetic trend (0.038 rate/year) and a significant negative environmental trend (-0.033 rate/year) were estimated for abortion, which indicated significant increase of genetic predisposition to abortions and improvement of environmental conditions to prevent abortion incidence. A significant positive phenotypic trend (0.002 rate/year) was also estimated, which showed overall increase of abortion rate during the studied years. Overall, it could be concluded that genetic predisposition to abortion is increasing in Iranian Holstein cows, but inclusion of abortion risk in bull proofs and selection indices may help to reduce abortion incidence and increase economic profit of dairy cattle industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Birth weight is the earliest available growth trait with considerable impacts on lamb survivability and growth performance traits. This study was conducted to perform a genome-wide association study of birth weight in a meat-type sheep. A total of 132 Lori-Bakhtiari sheep were selected based on estimated of breeding values (EBVs) for BW analyses. The selected animals were genotyped using Illumina Ovine SNP50 Bead Chip. After quality control, a total of 41 323 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and 130 sheep were used for subsequent analyses. Plink 1.90 beta software was used for the analyses. Seven SNPs on chromosomes 1, 16, 19 and 22 were detected based on genome-wide unadjusted P -values (P <10−6), which jointly accounted for 1.2% of total genetic variation. However, based on Bonferroni-adjusted P -values, only three SNPs on chromosome 1 had significant associations with EBVs for birth weight (P <0.05), which jointly explained 0.8% of total genetic variation. A total of seven genes were found in 50 kb intervals from the three significant SNPs on chromosome 1, but only three genes, including RAB6B (a member of RAS oncogene family), Tf serotransferrin and GIGYF2 (a GRB10 interacting GYF protein 2), could be considered as candidate genes for birth weight in future studies. The results of this study may facilitate potential use of the genes involving in growth and production traits for genetic improvement of productivity in sheep. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Composite reproductive traits are a combination of growth and reproductive traits. They have the advantage of being better attuned to the market drivers since producers are paid on a per kilogram basis and not on a per head basis. In this study, 124 Lori--–Bakhtiari ewes were genotyped using the medium-density Illumina Ovine SNP50 array. A genome-wide association study was performed on estimated breeding values of four composite reproductive traits and genetic parameters were also estimated. The traits were litter mean weight at birth, litter mean weight at weaning, total litter weight at birth and total litter weight at weaning. Several suggestive and associated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were identified. Neighbouring the top SNPs there were five genes, inhibin β E subunit (INHBE), inhibin β C subunit (INHBC), testis expressed 12 (TEX12), β-carotene oxygenase 2 (BCO2) and WD Repeat Domain 70 (WDR70) identified as possible candidate genes for composite reproductive traits of the Lori–Bakhtiari sheep. These genes are in pathways known to be relevant to fertility and growth characteristics. The results provide new information for the functional annotation of genes associated with fertility traits and add new evidence towards a consensus of quantitative trait loci associated with reproductive traits in sheep. Composite reproductive traits are rather interesting traits since they combine both growth and reproductive traits into a single phenotype. The aim of this study was to identify candidate genes associated with composite reproductive traits in sheep with a genome-wide association study (GWAS) and attempt to elucidate how selection for growth and reproduction is balanced out at the genomic level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Several causative mutations in candidate genes affecting prolificacy have been detected in various sheep breeds. A genome‐wide association study was performed on estimated breeding values for litter size in Lori‐Bakhtiari sheep. Prolific ewes with twinning records and others with only singleton records were genotyped using the medium‐density Illumina Ovine SNP50 array. Four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with litter size were identified on chromosomes 3, 6 and 22. The region on sheep chromosome 3 between 75 739 167 and 75 745 152 bp included two significant SNPs (s52383.1 and OAR3_80038014_X.1) in high linkage disequilibrium with each other. The region that surrounds these SNPs contains a novel putative candidate gene: luteinizing hormone/choriogonadotropin receptor (LHCGR), known to be involved in ovarian steroidogenesis and organism‐specific biosystem pathways in sheep. Known prolificacy genes BMPR1B, BMP15 and GDF9 were not associated with litter size in Lori‐Bakhtiari sheep, suggesting that other biological mechanisms could be responsible for the trait's variation in this breed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Previous studies have highlighted that narrative skill is critical to the development of the literacy skills by children. Children with cochlear implants (CI) and hearing aids (HA) may have problems in narrative development compared to peers with healthy hearing (HH). There is no exact data about the narrative writing ability of Persian‐speaking students who are hearing‐impaired. This study was undertaken to compare the microstructure and macrostructure scores for narrative writing of Persian‐speaking students who are hearing‐impaired and peers with HH. Design: This was a cross‐sectional descriptive‐analytical study. Setting: The subjects were recruited from elementary schools in the city of Tehran. Participants: A total of 144 elementary school students were participated. Outcome measures: The written narratives were elicited using a wordless pictorial storybook story. Three‐way ANOVA with post hoc adjusted Bonferroni test was applied to determine the main effects and interactions of grounded variables on the microstructure and macrostructure components of narrative writing. Results: No significant differences were observed in the macrostructure components of narrative writing between hearing‐impaired and HH students. Factors analysis showed that the 4th grade HH students had significantly the highest scores, and the 3rd grade HA students had significantly the lowest scores in microstructure components of narrative writing. Conclusion: The findings revealed that hearing‐impaired students similarly to their HH peers can transmit the main idea (macrostructure) of narrative writing, but show critical difficulties when using complete grammatical elements (microstructures) to form sentences to convey the idea in the narrative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. A study was conducted to study direct dominance genetic and maternal effects on genetic evaluation of production traits in dual-purpose chickens. The data set consisted of records of body weight and egg production of 49 749 Mazandaran fowls from 19 consecutive generations. Based on combinations of different random effects, including direct additive and dominance genetic and maternal additive genetic and environmental effects, 8 different models were compared.2. Inclusion of a maternal genetic effect in the models noticeably improved goodness of fit for all traits. Direct dominance genetic effect did not have noticeable effects on goodness of fit but simultaneous inclusion of both direct dominance and maternal additive genetic effects improved fitting criteria and accuracies of genetic parameter estimates for hatching body weight and egg production traits.3. Estimates of heritability (h2) for body weights at hatch, 8 weeks and 12 weeks of age (BW0, BW8 and BW12, respectively), age at sexual maturity (ASM), average egg weights at 28–32 weeks of laying period (AEW), egg number (EN) and egg production intensity (EI) were 0.08, 0.21, 0.22, 0.22, 0.21, 0.09 and 0.10, respectively. For BW0, BW8, BW12, ASM, AEW, EN and EI, proportion of dominance genetic to total phenotypic variance (d2) were 0.06, 0.08, 0.01, 0.06, 0.06, 0.08 and 0.07 and maternal heritability estimates (m2) were 0.05, 0.04, 0.03, 0.13, 0.21, 0.07 and 0.03, respectively. Negligible coefficients of maternal environmental effect (c2) from 0.01 to 0.08 were estimated for all traits, other than BW0, which had an estimate of 0.30.4. Breeding values (BVs) estimated for body weights at early ages (BW0 and BW8) were considerably affected by components of the models, but almost similar BVs were estimated by different models for higher age body weight (BW12) and egg production traits (ASM, AEW, EN and EI). Generally, it could be concluded that inclusion of maternal effects (both genetic and environmental) and, to a lesser extent, direct dominance genetic effect would improve the accuracy of genetic evaluation for early age body weights in dual-purpose chickens. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Several mathematical models have been proposed for describing particle-size distribution ( PSD) data, but their characteristics and accuracy have not been investigated for the < 0.002, 0.002-0.05 and 0.05-2.0-mm fractions separately. Therefore, the primary objective of this study was to examine the characteristics of various PSD models and to evaluate the accuracy of fitting to the entire PSD curve and to each of the three fractions separately. Thirty-six PSD models were fitted to the experimental data of 160 soil samples from Iran. The beerkan estimation of soil transfer ( BEST), Fredlund unimodal and bimodal, two- and three-parameter Weibull, Rosin- Rammler and van Genuchten models provided the best fit to the experimental data of the three size fractions above, but with a different order of performance for the different fractions. For all textural fractions, the following models performed substantially less well than the other models: the offset-non-renormalized lognormal, simple lognormal, S-curve, Schuhmann, Yang, Turcotte and Gompertz models. A comparison of the overall accuracy and simplicity of the models indicated that the BEST, two- and three-parameter Weibull and Rosin- Rammler models provided the best fit to the experimental data for the entire curve, which is similar but does not correspond fully to the findings of a similar, earlier study. We found that the number of model parameters and the type of equation did not explain the models' fitting capabilities. We also found that the iterated function system ( IFS) model performed better than the PSD models for all fractions. Comprehensive comparisons of PSD models will be of value to future model users, but it is important to note that such comparisons will remain dataset dependent. This is likely to continue until they are tested on a near-infinite synthetic dataset that covers all possible data options. Highlights Evaluation of accuracy of fitting and characteristics of PSD models to each of the three textural fractions., Different models provided the best fit to the experimental data of the different fractions., The number of model parameters and type of equation did not explain the models' fitting capabilities., Comprehensive comparison of PSD models will guide future model users, but will depend on the dataset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses issue of sensitivity of efficiency classification of variable returns to scale (VRS) technology for enhancing the credibility of data envelopment analysis (DEA) results in practical applications when an additional decision making unit (DMU) needs to be added to the set being considered. It also develops a structured approach to assisting practitioners in making an appropriate selection of variation range for inputs and outputs of additional DMU so that this DMU be efficient and the efficiency classification of VRS technology remains unchanged. This stability region is simply specified by the concept of defining hyperplanes of production possibility set of VRS technology and the corresponding halfspaces. Furthermore, this study determines a stability region for the additional DMU within which, in addition to efficiency classification, the efficiency score of a specific inefficient DMU is preserved and also using a simulation method, a region in which some specific efficient DMUs become inefficient is provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contents Ovulation rate and litter size are important reproduction traits in sheep and are of high economic value. Reproduction traits typically have low to medium heritabilities and do not exhibit a noticeable response to phenotypic selection. Therefore, inclusion of genetic information of the genes associated with reproductive ability could efficiently enhance the selection response. The most important major genes affecting prolificacy and their genetic diversities in different sheep breeds were reviewed. Different causative mutations with major effects on reproductive traits including ovulation rate and litter size have been found in various sheep breeds around the world. A general overview of the studies on main prolificacy genes showed that some alleles may express different phenotypic effects in different breeds, and thus, further studies on epistatic effects are necessary for more understanding of genetic control of reproductivity in sheep. Regarding the polygenic control of fertility traits, application of new high-throughput technologies to find new variants is essential for future studies. Moreover, genomewide association studies and genomic best linear unbiased predictions of breeding values are likely to be effective tools for genetic improvement of sheep reproductive performance traits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

TheBMP15gene is a growth factor and a member of the transforming growth factor β (TGFβ) superfamily, specifically expressed in oocytes. In the present study, polymorphism ofBMP15gene exon 1 was studied using single strand conformational polymorphism (SSCP) and direct DNA sequencing methods in 170 Mehraban and Lori sheep ewes. A 231-bp fragment inBMP15exon 1 was amplified by PCR reactions. Two genotypes (GG and AG) with a new point mutation at position 121 bp of the studied fragment (c.379G>A in reference GenBank number AF236078.1 sequence), deducing an amino acid exchange in the codified amino acid sequence (p.Glu41Lys) were identified in the studied populations. The AG and GG frequencies were 74.4% and 25.6% in Mehraban and 44.7% and 55.3% in Lori sheep, respectively. Frequencies of the A and G alleles were 37.2% and 62.8% in Mehraban and 22.4% and 77.6% in Lori sheep, respectively. Two different secondary structures of protein were predicted for encoded precursor protein. The genotypes GG and AG did not have any significant association with the studied reproductive traits, but the AA genotype is likely to have a lethal or sterility effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. The aim of the present study was to compare different models to estimate variance components for egg weight (EW) in laying hens. 2. The data set included 67 542 EW records of 18 245 Mazandaran hens at 24, 28, 30, 32 and 84 weeks of age, during 19 consecutive generations. Variance components were estimated using multi-trait, repeatability, fixed regression and random regression models (MTM, RM, FRM and RRM, respectively) by Average Information-Restricted Maximum Likelihood algorithm (AI-REML). The models were compared based on Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) and Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC). 3. The MTM was the best model followed by the Legendre RRMs. A RRM with 2nd degree of fit for fixed regression and 3rdand 2nddegrees of fit for random regressions of direct additive genetic and permanent environmental effects, respectively, was the best RRM. The FRM and RM were not proper models to fit the data. However, nesting curves within contemporary groups improved the fit of FRM. 4. Heritability estimates for EW by MTM (0.06–0.41) were close to the estimates obtained by the best RRM (0.09–0.45). In both MTM and RRM, positive genetic correlations were estimated for EW records at different ages, with higher correlations for adjacent records. 5. The results suggest that MTM is the best model for EW data, at least when the records are taken at relatively few age points. Though selection based on EW at higher ages might be more precise, 30 or 32 weeks of age could be considered as the most appropriate time points for selection on EW to maximise genetic improvement per time unit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The periodic trimming of the long hairs growing at the distal end of the tail -switch trimming- is humane alternative of tail docking. The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of switch trimming on somatic cell count (SCC), California mastitis test (CMT) and udder cleanliness of lactating cows in a freestall dairy farm. In the present study, 219 healthy, pregnant Holstein cows were enrolled. All cows were randomly allocated to either trimmed (T) (n=107) or control (C) groups (n=112) prior to entering the calving pen. The long hair in the tail switch of the cows enrolled in group T was removed completely by a hair clipper machine, while the tail hair of the animals enrolled in group C remained intact. After two months, all studied cows were evaluated for udder cleanliness and health. Udder cleanliness scores (UCS) were significantly associated with switch trimming of the tail (P=0.0129). Both trimmed and control cows showed significant difference in UCS of 2 and 3 (P=0.05), though the difference in other UCS was not significant. No significant difference (P≤0.41) in SCC between groups was identified. Comparing the CMT scores of front, rear, or all udder quarters showed that the frequency of a CMT score of 0 in group T was significantly higher than in group C (P≤0.05). Reversely, the frequencies of Trace and 2 scores of CMT for rear and all udder quarters in the control group were significantly higher than the group T (P<0.05). The results of this study show that switch trimming may be suggested to improve cleanliness and udder health of dairy cows in free-stall housing systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the present study was the estimation of (co) variance components and genetic parameters for body weight of Moghani sheep, using random regression models based on B-Splines functions. The data set included 9165 body weight records from 60 to 360 days of age from 2811 Moghani sheep, collected between 1994 to 2013 from Jafar-Abad Animal Research and Breeding Institute, Ardabil province, Iran. Random regression models were employed to analyze the data. Contemporary groups (year-season of birth - sex-birth type-dam age at the birth) and fixed regression of body weight on age were considered as fixed parts of the models. Random regressions of direct additive genetic, permanent environment, maternal additive genetic and maternal environment were random parts of the models. Linear and quadratic B-Spline functions with two or three coefficients were fitted for fixed and random regressions of the models. A heterogeneous structure of residual variance was considered in five age classes. Variance components were estimated by average information algorithm of restricted maximum likelihood (AI-REML). Different models were compared based on Akaike information criterion (AIC) and Schwarz Bayesian information criterion (BIC). According to both criteria, the best model was a model with quadratic B-Spline functions with 3, 3, 3, 2 and 2 coefficients for fixed regression and random regressions of direct additive genetic, permanent environmental, maternal additive genetic and maternal environmental effects, respectively. According to this model, low to moderate estimates of direct heritability (0.135 to 0.330) and moderate to high estimates of coefficient of permanent environmental effects (0.229 to 0.613) were obtained, while estimates of maternal heritability (0.05 to 0.14) and coefficient of maternal environment (less than 0.01) were low or negligible in all ages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the current study was to evaluate the replacement effect of soybean meal (SBM) at different levels (0 as D1, 33 as D2, 67 as D3 and 100% as D4 based on crude protein (CP) content) by guar meal (GM) on ruminal gas production kinetics, ruminal digestibility and fermentation characteristics of a fattening diet for lambs. Three experiments were conducted. The first experiment of 144-h incubations was aimed to determine comparatively the gas production kinetics of SBM and GM. The gas production kinetics and the ruminal digestibility and fermentation of the fattening diet, containing different proportions of SBM and GM, were also studied by the incubations of 144-h and 24-h in the second and last experiments, respectively. The results of the first kinetic experiment indicated a higher asymptote of gas production (a), half time to asymptote of gas production (T1/2) and metabolizable energy (ME) and a lower fractional rate of gas production (µ) for SBM than GM (P <0.001). Replacing SBM with GM had no effect on gas production kinetics of the fattening diet at any substitution levels in the second kinetic experiment (P>0.05). However, the gas produced after 24-h of incubation (GP24), in vitro true dry mater degradability (IVTDMD), in vitro true organic matter degradability (IVTOMD), partitioning factor (PF), microbial biomass production (MBP) and total volatile fatty acids (TVFA) concentration increased with D2 compared to D1 and D3 in the last experiment. The ammonia concentration decreased with D2 and D3 compared to D4 (P<0.05), nevertheless, the ruminal volatile fatty acids (VFA) pattern was not affected by the treatments (P>0.05). These results demonstrated that the protein from SBM might been replaced by that from GM in fattening diets for lambs at the levels up to 67%, but the 33% substitution is recommended because of its beneficial effects on ruminal digestibility and fermentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aims: Linguistic factors can decrease or increase the children's speech disfluencies. One of these factors is the type of linguistic tasks presented to the child. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of two tasks of sentence imitation and sentence modeling on severity of speech disfluencies in preschool children with stuttering. Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive-analytic study performed on 58 children with stuttering (29 subjects with mild stuttering and 29 subjects with moderate stuttering) and on 58 children with fluent speech aged 4-6 years old. The severity of speech disfluencies was measured by two separate tasks (sentence imitation and sentence modeling), and the results of two tasks were compared. Results: The mean stuttering severity score in boys with moderate stuttering in two tasks of sentence imitation and sentence modeling was 23.79±1.26 & 29.00±1.87 respectively and significant difference was observed (P=0.004). The mean stuttering severity score in girls with moderate stuttering was 25.27±1.93 & 33.18±2.32 respectively and significant difference was observed (P=0.007). The score of speech disfluencies in both sexes of non-stutter children and mild stuttering had no significant difference between two tasks (P>0.05). Conclusion: In preschool children with mild stuttering and peer non-stutters, performing two tasks of sentence imitation and sentence modeling could not increase the severity of stuttering. In preschool children with moderate stuttering, doing the task of sentence modeling increased the stuttering severity score. It is suggested that speech therapists apply the findings of this study to develop linguistic tasks with various levels of difficulty for children with stuttering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Molecular genetics selection on individual genes is a promising method to genetically improve economically important traits in livestock. The insulin like growth factor-I (IGF-I) gene may play important roles in growth of multiple tissues, including muscle cells, cartilage and bone. The objectives of the present study were the estimate the haplotype frequencies of the IGF-I gene polymorphisms in Iranian Mehraban sheep and to determine associations between polymorphisms and carcass traits in 439 individuals. Polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformational polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) and DNA sequencing methods were employed in screening for genetic variation. Two single nucleotide polymorphisms (C114G and G116A) and two amino acid exchange (S5T and G6S) with three patterns were found in IGF-I gene fragment. Associations of IGF-I patterns with blood cholesterol and blood triglycerides were significant (P<0.05) and tended to be significant (P<0.1) for dorsal fat thick and carcass weight. The other studied traits were not significantly affected by different patterns of IGF-I. This finding indicates that IGF-I polymorphisms may be used as DNA markers for selection in the breeding process of Mehraban sheep. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of supplementation different levels of pomegranate seed pulp (PSP) on performance and blood parameters in laying hens. A total of 96 layers hens (Hy-line W-36) at 24 week of age were randomly assigned into 4 treatments including 0 (control), 5, 10 and 15% of PSP, with 4 replicates containing 6 layers in each. Results showed no significant effect of PSP levels on feed intake, egg mass, egg weight, feed conversion ratio and body weight gain. Supplementation of PSP at 5% increased egg production and is significantly different (P<0.05) to 15% PSP but not in control group, suggesting negative effect of high level PSP in layers diet .Haugh unit, yolk and albumen indexes as well as eggshell weight, eggshell ratio and breaking strength were not significantly affected by dietary PSP. There was no significant effect of PSP on serum triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein and total antioxidant. In contrast, the serum malondialdehyde was significantly (P<0.05) increased using 5% PSP in diet, with cholesterol level significantly (P<0.05) increased in all inclusion level of PSP compared to the control. The results shown that supplementation of PSP up to 15% improve egg production but higher concentration has detrimental effects on laying performance. Supplementation of PSP increased (P<0.05) cholesterol in the layers blood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Application of chemical pesticides has increased significantly worldwide and has raised serious concerns about environmental pollutions. One of the encouraging trends to minimize pesticide risk is production of resistant plants containing toxic proteins against insect pests. Considering the importance of purification and characterization of digestive enzymes in the production of resistant plants, in this study an α-glucosidase from the Naranga aenescens Moore's midgut was purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation, ion exchange chromatography on DEAE-sepharose, and concentrating through ultrafiltration. The apparent molecular mass of the enzyme was 48 kDa determined by SDS-PAGE. The optimum pH and temperature of the enzyme were 6.0 and 45°C, respectively. The irreversible thermoinactivation of the enzyme showed that it was highly stable at 35ºC but moderately stable at 40 and 45ºC. Zn2+, Hg2+, Co2+ at 10 and 20 mM, and Ba+2 only in 20 mM strongly inhibited the _-glucosidase activity. Ba2+ and Ca2+ only at 10 mM, EDTA and Hg2 2+ only at 20 mM and Mg2+ at 10 and 20 mM significantly increased the enzyme activity. The Km values for the α-glucosidase were 0.54 mM and 3.62 min-1, respectively, when p-Nitrophenyl-α-D-glucopyranoside (pNαG) was used as a substrate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]cat values for the α-glucosidase were 0.54 mM and 3.62 min-1, respectively, when p-Nitrophenyl-α-D-glucopyranoside (pNαG) was used as a substrate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The toxicity of chlorpyrifos to three Iranian populations of two-spotted spider mite, collected from Isfahan (ISR), Yazd (Yz) and Guilan (GUS2) Provinces were surveyed using the residual contact vial bioassay. The bioassay results showed that resistance ratios of ISR and Yz populations were 176.90 and 9.78 fold compared to the GUS2 population, respectively. Determination of esterase and glutathione-S-transferase activity and their kinetic parameters showed that ISR population had the highest specific activity and specificity constant among the studied populations. Besides, the content of mixed function oxidases in ISR population was the highest. However, synergistic effects of Piperonyl Butoxide, Diethyl Maleate and Triphenyl Phosphate showed that metabolic enzymes did not play an important role in resistance to chlorpyrifos in ISR and Yz populations and enhanced activity of esterase, glutathione-S-transferase and content of mixed function oxidases in these populations were probably due to resistance to some other acaricides. To determine the role of acetylcholinesterase insensitivity in resistance mechanisms, kinetic parameters and inhibitory effect of chlorpyrifos-oxon on this enzyme were investigated. The Km value of acetylcholinesterase was determined as 0.036, 0.04, and 0.050 mM using acetylthiocholine iodide for GUS2, Yz, and ISR populations, respectively. In addition, the insensitivity ratios of chlorpyrifos-oxon on acetylcholinesterase activity were estimated at 23.30 and 2.96 for ISR and Yz populations, respectively. These results confirmed amino acid substitutions in active site of this enzyme and also indicated that resistant population possed qualitatively altered AChE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gas (CO2 and CH4) and ammonia production in the rumen represent major sources of lost carbon and nitrogen, respectively. The essential oils of some plants have been shown to decrease gas and ammonia production by selectively inhibiting rumen microbes. Particularly, those of Zataria multiflora (ZEO; thymol 21%, carvacrol 32%) and Mentha spicata (SEO; carvone 55%) were evaluated in vitro as ruminant-feed additives. The experiments employed mixed rumen microbes and a hyper-ammonia-producing bacterium (HAP) isolated from the rumen of a Mehraban sheep. Both ZEO and SEO decreased in vitro fibre digestibility and also gas production by mixed rumen microbes that were fermenting a typical growing-lamb diet. ZEO decreased ammonia concentration in mixed culture of rumen microbes, but SEO exerted the opposite effect. A bacterial isolate (MT8) was obtained from the rumen of a Mehraban sheep, and the 16S rRNA gene sequence indicated that it was most closely related to Clostridium bifermentans. Isolate MT8 exhibited rapid ammonia production when peptides were the growth substrate, which indicated that MT8 was a HAP. Both oils inhibited the growth and ammonia production of isolate MT8. However, ZEO decreased ammonia production at lower doses, and to a greater degree, than did SEO. These results indicated that both essential oils could potentially be used to modulate rumen fermentation. The detrimental effects on fibre digestion could be problematic in high-forage diets, and this requires further investigation. Isolate MT8 is the first described HAP from the Mehraban sheep rumen. Results on ammonia production by isolate MT8 and mixed rumen microbes indicate differential mode of action of each oil on this parameter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Serum level of zinc, copper, β-carotene, vitamin A, and concentrations of Zn and Cu in hoof of 97 multiparous Holstein dairy cows with different locomotion scores (LSs) were evaluated. Simultaneously, Zn and Cu concentrations of close up, fresh and high yielding cattle rations were 77, 94, 75 and 31, 28, 22 ppm, respectively. Based on LSs, despite normal serum copper levels in all three groups, with increasing degree of lameness serum and hoof Cu concentrations of the severe lame group were significantly lower than healthy and moderate lame groups (P=0.0178) and (P=0.0002), respectively. Serum β-carotene and vitamin A level of the three groups were sub-optimal. Significant negative correlations were observed between LSs with serum vitamin A level (r=-0.246, P=0.0145), LSs with hoof Cu concentration (r=-0.323, P=0.0150) and serum Zn concentration and Cu (r=-0.281, P=0.032). The results suggest that the deterioration of hoof tissue may be associated with reduced copper hoof content. Our findings demonstrated that lame group was at risk of subclinical vitamin A deficiency, which could be established from the healthy stages. Possibly, excess consumption of Zn could conflict with Cu absorption and utilization. Furthermore, vitamin A supplementation may have assisted in reduction of lameness in experimental animals. In conclusion, the serum and hoof concentrations and dietary intake of copper, zinc and vitamin A can have an impact on degrees of lameness and their interactions should be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, the polymorphism of myostatin gene (MSTN) in native chickens of Western Azerbaijan Rearing and Breeding Institute was investigated. The blood samples were collected from eighty two randomly selected hens. Genomic DNA was extracted from blood samples and a fragment of myostatin including 599 bp in promoter and exon 1 was amplified using PCR method. Breeding values for body weight and carcass traits were predicted by univariate animal mixed model analysis, using WOMBAT software. The effects of different SSCP genotypes on breeding and phenotypic values of the studied traits were evaluated by general linear model analysis. Three different single strand conformational polymorphism (SSCP) genotypes as AA, AB and AC were identified, with frequencies of 0.244, 0.549 and 0.207, respectively. Shannon and Nei gene diversity indices and number of effective alleles in the studied population were 0.88, 0.53 and 2.2, respectively, which indicated a high diversity of the studied population. Moreover, the studied population was not in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The effect of the SSCP genotypes on breeding and phenotypic values was significant only in the case of breeding value for body weight at 12 weeks of age, whereas, the AC genotype individuals, significantly (P<0.05) had the lowest breeding value for body weight at 12 weeks of age. Based on the results obtained, it could be concluded that the studied fragment of myostatin gene is polymorphic in native chickens of Azerbaijan and could be used for marker assisted selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some factors affecting crude protein balance (CPB), as a measure of efficiency, were studied using 2824 records of 501 lactating Holstein cows. The CPB (kg d-1) was calculated as crude protein (CP) intake (kg) minus CP yield (kg). Two different statistical methods including principal components (PCs) and general linear model analyses were used to study the effects of different factors. Crude protein balance had a moderate correlation with PCs 1 (-0.206), 2 (0.318) and 3 (-0.281), which accounted for 65.6% of total variations. Age, parity, lactation stage, pregnancy stage, dry matter intake (DMI), milk yield (MY), fat corrected milk yield (FCM), milk fat percentage (F%), milk lactose percentage (L%), milk fat yield (FY), milk protein yield (PY), milk lactose yield (LY), dietary levels of net energy for lactation (NEL), CP, ruminally undegradable protein (RUP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and ether extract (EE) and income over feed cost (IOFC) were correlated to CPB, at least, in one of PCs 1, 2 or 3. In general, linear model analysis CPB was significantly affected by parity and lactation stage and had significant partial linear regression coefficients on DMI (kg d-1), F%, FY (kg d-1), PY (kg d-1), NEL (Mcal kg-1) and dietary levels of CP (%), RUP (%), NDF (%) and EE (%). The quadratic partial regression coefficients of CPB on NEL, CP, RUP and NDF were also significant. The estimates for optimum dietary levels of NEL, CP and RUP for minimizing CPB in the studied population were 1.49 Mcal/kg, 11.29% and 7.58%, respectively. In comparison to NRC's estimates, it seems that, more NEL, RUP and NDF and less CP are needed to minimize protein balance in lactating dairy cows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to assess the effect of several doses of spearmint essential oil (SEO; 0, 250, 500, 750 or 1,000 μg ml-1 buffered rumen fluid) on the fermentation kinetic and digestibility using in vitro gas production technique. A total mixed ration (30% roughage: 70% concentrate) was incubated with buffered rumen fluid. In vitro gas production, asymptotic gas production (A), rate of gas production (μ), partitioning factor (PF), microbial biomass (MB), ammonia concentration and digestibility were determined. Increasing the dose of SEO decreased the parameters A and μ. Adding SEO, however, increased PF, ammonia concentration, apparent in vitro dry matter digestibility and true in vitro organic matter digestibility at the lower levels of SEO (250 and 500 μg ml-1). But, at the level of 1,000 μg ml-1, a decrease was observed for these parameters. The increment in PF and digestibility illustrate that SEO has a potential to modulate the rumen fermentation, which may be beneficial (at low doses) for improving nutrient utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some factors affecting crude protein balance (CPB), as a measure of efficiency, were studied using 2824 records of 501 lactating Holstein cows. The CPB (kg d-1) was calculated as crude protein (CP) intake (kg) minus CP yield (kg). Two different statistical methods including principal components (PCs) and general linear model analyses were used to study the effects of different factors. Crude protein balance had a moderate correlation with PCs 1 (-0.206), 2 (0.318) and 3 (-0.281), which accounted for 65.6% of total variations. Age, parity, lactation stage, pregnancy stage, dry matter intake (DMI), milk yield (MY), fat corrected milk yield (FCM), milk fat percentage (F%), milk lactose percentage (L%), milk fat yield (FY), milk protein yield (PY), milk lactose yield (LY), dietary levels of net energy for lactation (NEL), CP, ruminally undegradable protein (RUP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and ether extract (EE) and income over feed cost (IOFC) were correlated to CPB, at least, in one of PCs 1, 2 or 3. In general, linear model analysis CPB was significantly affected by parity and lactation stage and had significant partial linear regression coefficients on DMI (kg d-1), F%, FY (kg d-1), PY (kg d-1), NEL (Mcal kg-1) and dietary levels of CP (%), RUP (%), NDF (%) and EE (%). The quadratic partial regression coefficients of CPB on NEL, CP, RUP and NDF were also significant. The estimates for optimum dietary levels of NEL, CP and RUP for minimizing CPB in the studied population were 1.49 Mcal/kg, 11.29% and 7.58%, respectively. In comparison to NRC's estimates, it seems that, more NEL, RUP and NDF and less CP are needed to minimize protein balance in lactating dairy cows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to assess the effect of several doses of spearmint essential oil (SEO; 0, 250, 500, 750 or 1,000 μg ml-1 buffered rumen fluid) on the fermentation kinetic and digestibility using in vitro gas production technique. A total mixed ration (30% roughage: 70% concentrate) was incubated with buffered rumen fluid. In vitro gas production, asymptotic gas production (A), rate of gas production (μ), partitioning factor (PF), microbial biomass (MB), ammonia concentration and digestibility were determined. Increasing the dose of SEO decreased the parameters A and μ. Adding SEO, however, increased PF, ammonia concentration, apparent in vitro dry matter digestibility and true in vitro organic matter digestibility at the lower levels of SEO (250 and 500 μg ml-1). But, at the level of 1,000 μg ml-1, a decrease was observed for these parameters. The increment in PF and digestibility illustrate that SEO has a potential to modulate the rumen fermentation, which may be beneficial (at low doses) for improving nutrient utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chickens were chosen by a factorial 2×2 and random design. Methionine levels of 1.2 and 0.45% were adjusted to 2800 and 3200 kcal/kg metabolisable energy (ME) in starters and 0.9 and 0.33% to 2800 and 3200 kcal/kg ME in grower period, respectively. Antibody titres and IgG in chickens by 1.2 and 0.9% methionine were significantly higher than low levels of methionine. Significant increases of total leukocyte, percentage of lymphocytes and heterophils were observed in chickens fed by high methionine levels. Significant weight changes of bursa and spleen were found in this case at 42 days of age. Chicken body weights were significantly increased by a high level of methionine and low level of energy. Higher feed intake was obtained at high methionine and low energy. It is concluded that inclusion of high levels of methionine and energy in broilers diet have a beneficial effect on humoral immunity and performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genetic parameters for birth weight (BW), weaning weight (WW) and pre-weaning daily gain (PWDG) in Iranian Mehraban sheep were estimated using restricted maximum likelihood (REML) procedure. Six different animal models were fitted, differentiated by including or excluding maternal effects, with and without covariance between maternal and direct genetic effects. The estimates for direct heritability ranged from 0.26 to 0.53, 0.18 to 0.32 and 0.15 to 0.33 for BW, WW and PWDG respectively. The estimates were substantially higher when maternal effects, either genetic or environmental, were ignored in the model. The results of this study show that full models with maternal genetic and environmental effects gave the most accurate estimates for early growth traits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Instrument Site Selection and deployment for the upcoming Mars InSight (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) Lander is highly dependent on image products, particularly mosaics, created from the Instrument Deployment Camera (IDC) and Instrument Context Camera (ICC). When data are downlinked, the Multimission Image Processing Lab (MIPL) at JPL will process image and instrument data to aid in the deployment and monitoring of these instruments. MIPL's functions include raw telemetry processing, stereo correlation, mosaic generation, terrain mesh generation, radiometric correction, pointing correction (bundle adjustment), and the creation of products such as instrument deployment maps, surface normal products, slope products, XYZ point clouds, and roughness map layers. A software pipeline performs systematic, automated execution of the programs that create these products on every image and stereo pair received, while the pointing correction and most mosaics are hand-generated by the MIPL team members for testing and surface operations. Several mission operations software packages are used to view, query, and analyze the processed images and mosaics for placing the main science instruments for the mission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Pregnancy is a new and unique situation in which the pregnant women experience many changes both in terms of psychological and physiological. The aim of this research was aninvestigation on the effect of spiritual intelligence training on decreasing pregnancy anxiety inShiraz. Materials and Methods: The statistical population included of pregnant women who attendedantenatal care between August to October 2013. 45 persons were selected in an elective way and after excluding those who had gone to psychological doctor due to some mental illnesses and those who had using drugs background or those who left their job because of pregnancy, finally 20 persons remained in an experimental group and 22 persons assigned to control group. Before beginning the spiritual intelligence training program, spiritual sensitivity questionnaires of (TIRI, Noklain and Obani), and Wendenburg Pregnancy Anxiety Questionnaire were distributed between them. Then, experimental group received (10 90th minutes sessions) Spiritual intelligence training based on Tiri Noklain and Obani's models, but the control group received no treatment. Results: ANCOVA showed that receiving Spiritual intelligence training causes a very significant difference about pregnancy reduction rate and its components between the experimental andcontrol group.It means that spiritual intelligence program had a positive effect on pregnancy anxiety. Conclusion: Spiritual intelligence is one of the most important components that can reducenegative emotions such as pregnancy anxiety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Pregnancy is a new unique situation in which pregnant women have many changes both in terms of psychological and physiological experience. The aim of this research was to investigate the relationship between pregnancy anxiety, spiritual intelligence and the quality of life among infertile women in Shiraz. Materials and Methods: In a descriptive cross-sectional study, 263 pregnant women in Shiraz City were selected using convenient sampling. The women were evaluated using Pregnancy Related Anxiety Questionnaire (PRAQ), Spiritual Sensitivity Scale, and WHO Quality of Life Questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation coefficient, and stepwise regression analysis. Results: Pearson correlation test showed a significant relationship between pregnancy anxiety, spiritual intelligence and the quality of life. Pregnancy anxiety subscale also correlated with five subscales of spiritual intelligence and quality of life scores. Stepwise regression of analysis showed that pregnancy anxiety has significant association with the feeling of sociality, feeling valued, and the quality of life. Conclusion: Spiritual intelligence and quality of life are the important strategies which can reduce negative emotions such as pregnancy anxiety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving a cow's biological efficiency for converting feed to milk is an important goal for dairy industry. This study was conducted to estimation of genetic variation in gross energy efficiency of lactation (GEE) and its association with some of other traits in Holstein dairy cattle. 3503 monthly records of individual feed intake and composition and milk yield and composition were collected from 906 Holstein lactating cows in 3 herds. Energy content of milk (out put energy) was estimated according to National Research Council's model. GEE calculated as energy content of milk yield over net energy intake. Genetic parameters were estimated using Derivative Free approach of Restricted Maximum Likelihood procedure based on multi-trait animal models, with fixed effects of herd-year-season, parity number, lactation stage (months after parturition) and random effects of animal additive genetic and permanent environment. GEE was weakly heritable (0.09). Dry matter intake (DMI) and milk fat yield (FY) had low heritabilities (0.12 and 0.15, respectively) and milk yield (MY) fat corrected milk (FCM) and milk protein yield (PY) were moderately heritable (0.26, 0.29 and 0.34, respectively). GEE had high positive correlations with FY (0.80) and PY (0.57), high negative correlation with DMI (-0.32) and moderate positive correlations with MY and FCM (0.13 and 0.15, respectively). The results of this study showed that GEE is not a worthwhile criterion for direct selection in breeding programs, but can be improved by indirect selection through correlated response to protein yield, FCM or milk yield selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]