Search

IntroductionLa surveillance des maladies cardiovasculaires (MCV) au Québec et dans le reste du Canada est effectuée à l’aide de fichiers médico-administratifs, parmi lesquels on retrouve, au Québec, le fichier des services médicaux rémunérés à l’acte. La présence d’actes facturés sans diagnostic peut entraîner une sous-estimation du nombre de cas de MCV. L’objectif de cette étude est d’estimer la proportion de diagnostics de MCV et de cas de MCV possiblement manquants dans ces fichiers. MéthodologieL’étude a été réalisée en utilisant une cohorte prospective comprenant 8 781 participants de la région de Québec. L'accès aux fichiers médico-administratifs a été obtenu pour l’ensemble des 28 années de suivi. Nous avons d’abord effectué des analyses de fréquence afin d’estimer la proportion de diagnostics de MCV manquants. Nous avons ensuite utilisé des algorithmes validés afin d’identifier les cas de MCV et d’estimer la proportion de cas de MCV possiblement manquants sur 28 ans. RésultatsEnviron un cinquième (22,1 %) des diagnostics du fichier des services médicaux rémunérés à l’acte était manquant. La proportion de cas de MCV manquants a été estimée à 12,7 % pour la période 1991-2018, avec des variations selon la période (1991-1996 : 15,5 %; 1997-2013 : 10,7 %; 2014-2018 : 16,3 %). ConclusionEnviron 1 cas de MCV sur 10 n’est pas identifié en raison des diagnostics manquants. Cette sous-estimation constitue une limite potentielle dont il faut tenir compte lors de l’utilisation des fichiers médico-administratifs québécois pour l’identification des cas de MCV dans un contexte de travaux de surveillance et d’études épidémiologiques.

Abstract Background Linear models that are commonly used to predict breeding values in livestock species consider paternal influence solely as a genetic effect. However, emerging evidence in several species suggests the potential effect of non-genetic semen-mediated paternal effects on offspring phenotype. This study contributes to such research by analyzing the extent of non-genetic paternal effects on the performance of Holstein, Montbéliarde, and Normande dairy cows. Insemination data, including semen Batch Identifier (BI, a combination of bull identification and collection date), was associated with various traits measured in cows born from the insemination. These traits encompassed stature, milk production (milk, fat, and protein yields), udder health (somatic cell score and clinical mastitis), and female fertility (conception rates of heifers and cows). We estimated (1) the effects of age at collection and heat stress during spermatogenesis, and (2) the variance components associated with BI or Weekly aggregated BI (WBI). Results Overall, the non-genetic paternal effect estimates were small and of limited biological importance. However, while heat stress during spermatogenesis did not show significant associations with any of the traits studied in daughters, we observed significant effects of bull age at semen collection on the udder health of daughters. Indeed, cows born from bulls collected after 1500 days of age had higher somatic cell scores compared to those born from bulls collected at a younger age (less than 400 days old) in both Holstein and Normande breeds (+ 3% and + 5% of the phenotypic mean, respectively). In addition, across all breeds and traits analyzed, the estimates of non-genetic paternal variance were consistently low, representing on average 0.13% and 0.09% of the phenotypic variance for BI and WBI, respectively (ranging from 0 to 0.7%). These estimates did not significantly differ from zero, except for milk production traits (milk, fat, and protein yields) in the Holstein breed and protein yield in the Montbéliarde breed when WBI was considered. Conclusions Our findings indicate that non-genetic paternal information transmitted through semen does not substantially influence the offspring phenotype in dairy cattle breeds for routinely measured traits. This lack of substantial impact may be attributed to limited transmission or minimal exposure of elite bulls to adverse conditions.

Accurately estimating reference evapotranspiration (ETo) is fundamental for calculating crop water needs, supporting irrigation programs, climate change studies, and many analysis and mapping applications. Whenever data are lacking for calculating ETo by the Penman-Monteith (PM) method, FAO-UNESCO advises using the Hargreaves-Samani (HS) method. These two methods were assessed for ETo estimation at 20 locations distributed over the Portuguese territory. Normal monthly data (1971-2000) and monthly and daily data from two years (2019 and 2020) were the datasets used. Monthly and daily estimates of ETo obtained by the HS method were very good predictors of those obtained by the reference method (PM method), even when linear regressions were forced through the origin. Even so, correlations were always better with monthly data (R2≥0.97) than with daily data (R2»0.90). These results thus make the HS equation easy to calibrate, regardless of the time base used. The corrected values of the adjustment coefficient (Krs) depend more on the annual mean values of wind speed ) or thermal amplitude ) than on elevation. Good correlations (R2» 0.80) were also obtained when Krs-values were plotted against pairs of and allowing the calibration of the HS equation as a function of these variables (multiple regression). This approach can be useful in the local calibration of the Hargreaves-Samani equation whenever it replaces the PM method.

In order to understand the hydrological changes of groundwater in karst areas, the Xiangxi River Basin in the western Hubei karst area was selected for water sample collection and monitoring. A carbon flux estimation model was established by combining support vector machine regression and sparrow search algorithm to achieve groundwater carbon flux estimation. The results show that the average range of dissolved oxygen in karst groundwater is 9.65~10.79mg · L−1, with an overall high content. The anions in groundwater are mainly HCO3−, and the cations are mainly Ca2+. The pH value of the water sample is mainly between 7.28 and 8.16, showing weak alkalinity. The mineralization value of the water sample is distributed between 81.36~323.41mg/L, and the groundwater hydrochemical types are mainly HCO3 Ca type and HCO3 Ca · Mg type. The carbon flux estimation model for karst groundwater has reduced the regression error value by 43.6% compared to the unimproved support vector machine. This indicates that improving the model can improve the accuracy of carbon flux estimation. By analyzing the hydrochemical characteristics, the resource characteristics, environmental effects, and ecological significance of karst groundwater can be understood, providing scientific basis for management and decision-making in related fields..

Abstract Background There is a burgeoning interest in using insects as a sustainable source of food and feed, particularly by capitalising on various waste materials and by-products that are typically considered of low value. Enhancing the commercial production of insects can be achieved through two main approaches: optimising environmental conditions and implementing selective breeding strategies. In order to successfully target desirable traits through selective breeding, having a thorough understanding of the genetic parameters pertaining to those traits is essential. In this study, a full-sib half-sib mating design was used to estimate variance components and heritabilities for larval size and survival at day seven of development, development time and survival from egg to adult, and to estimate correlations between these traits, within an outbred population of house flies (Musca domestica), using high-throughput phenotyping for data collection. Results The results revealed low to intermediate heritabilities and positive genetic correlations between all traits except development time and survival to day seven of development and from egg to adulthood. Surprisingly, larval size at day seven exhibited a comparatively low heritability (0.10) in contrast to development time (0.25), a trait that is believed to have a stronger association with overall fitness. A decline in family numbers resulting from low mating success and high overall mortality reduced the amount of available data which resulted in large standard errors for the estimated parameters. Environmental factors made a substantial contribution to the phenotypic variation, which was overall high for all traits. Conclusions There is potential for genetic improvement in all studied traits and estimates of genetic correlations indicate a partly shared genetic architecture among the traits. All estimates have large standard errors. Implementing high-throughput phenotyping is imperative for the estimation of genetic parameters in fast developing insects, and facilitates age synchronisation, which is vital in a breeding population. In spite of endeavours to minimise non-genetic sources of variation, all traits demonstrated substantial influences from environmental components. This emphasises the necessity of thorough attention to the experimental design before breeding is initiated in insect populations.

Canopy height is a fundamental parameter for describing forest ecosystems. GEDI is a spaceborne LiDAR system that was designed to measure vegetation’s vertical structure at a global scale. This study evaluates the accuracy of GEDI-derived canopy height estimates over complex tropical forests in Mayotte Island (Overseas France) characterized by moderate height and biomass levels as well as a relatively steep terrain. The influence of GEDI signal and environmental parameters (canopy height, beam sensitivity and slope) on height estimates was assessed. Linear as well as non-linear approaches were implemented using the GEDI L2A product to estimate canopy height. Empirical models were trained on reference data derived from airborne LiDAR scanning. The results showed that using regression models built on multiple GEDI metrics yielded improved accuracies compared to a direct estimation from a single GEDI height metric. Canopy height, beam sensitivity and terrain slope were found to have a significant impact on the height metrics derived from GEDI waveforms. Conversely, both linear and non-linear regression models produced unbiased and stable estimates.

As sea-ice cover is shrinking, polar bears (Ursus maritimus, Phipps, 1774) face decreased access to seals, their primary prey, resulting in a greater dependence on terrestrial food sources. Whether polar bears can benefit from these terrestrial food sources, however, depends on their ability to find and capture prey items without expending more energy than is acquired. Here, we report one of the northernmost observations of polar bear predation on adult birds. The bear used a dive-hunting technique, which consisted of submerging itself, approaching underwater, and catching flightless greater snow geese (Anser caerulescens caerulescens (Linnaeus, 1758)) from beneath the surface of a tundra pond. After evaluating energy expenditures during swimming and energy intakes from consuming geese, we estimated that this rarely documented dive-hunting technique could be energetically profitable for a certain range of pursuit durations. This observation highlights the behavioral plasticity that polar bears can deploy to punctually exploit land-based food sources.

IntroductionDes recherches antérieures ont suggéré que le mode de rémunération des médecins peut avoir une influence sur l’exhaustivité des demandes de remboursement lors de l’estimation des maladies chroniques. Le but de cette étude est d’estimer l’exhaustivité des données sur la facturation des médecins dans l’optique de déterminer des cas de diabète. MéthodologieNous avons utilisé les données administratives de huit provinces canadiennes pour la période du 1er avril 2014 au 31 mars 2016. Nous avons divisé la cohorte de patients en deux groupes mutuellement exclusifs en fonction du mode de rémunération de leur médecin : médecins rémunérés à l’acte pour ceux payés uniquement de cette façon et médecins non rémunérés à l’acte pour les autres. À l’aide des données sur les ordonnances de médicaments hypoglycémiants (source de nos données de référence), nous avons évalué si les cas de maladie avaient été déterminés avec la même exactitude en fonction du mode de rémunération. Nous avons ensuite corrigé les taux d’incidence du diabète afin d’optimiser l’exhaustivité des cas déterminés. RésultatsLa cohorte comprenait 86 110 patients. Dans l’ensemble, des proportions égales de patients ont reçu leurs médicaments hypoglycémiants de la part de médecins rémunérés à l’acte et de médecins non rémunérés à l’acte. Globalement, le mode de rémunération des médecins a eu peu d’effet sur le pourcentage de cas de diabète omis (14,8 % chez les médecins rémunérés à l’acte contre 12,2 % chez les médecins non rémunérés à l’acte). Toutefois, la différence de cas omis entre les médecins rémunérés à l’acte et ceux non rémunérés à l’acte était très variable d’une province à l’autre, allant de -1,0 % en Nouvelle-Écosse à 29,9 % à Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador. La différence entre les taux observés d’incidence de la maladie et les taux corrigés était également variable d’une province à l’autre, allant de 22 % à l’Île-du-Prince-Édouard à 4 % en Nouvelle-Écosse. ConclusionLa différence entre le nombre de cas omis selon le mode de rémunération des médecins est variable d’une province à l’autre. Cette perte de données contribue probablement à une sous-estimation de l’incidence de la maladie. Il serait possible d’appliquer la méthode que nous avons utilisée à d’autres maladies chroniques pour lesquelles des données de traitement pharmacologique pourraient servir de données de référence.

Abstract Background Effective population size (N e ) is a crucial parameter in conservation genetics and animal breeding. A recent method, implemented by the software GONE, has been shown to be rather accurate in estimating recent historical changes in N e from a single sample of individuals. However, GONE estimations assume that the population being studied has remained isolated for a period of time, that is, without migration or confluence of other populations. If this occurs, the estimates of N e can be heavily biased. In this paper, we evaluate the impact of migration and admixture on the estimates of historical N e provided by GONE through a series of computer simulations considering several scenarios: (a) the mixture of two or more ancestral populations; (b) subpopulations that continuously exchange individuals through migration; (c) populations receiving migrants from a large source; and (d) populations with balanced systems of chromosomal inversions, which also generate genetic structure. Results Our results indicate that the estimates of historical N e provided by GONE may be substantially biased when there has been a recent mixture of populations that were previously separated for a long period of time. Similarly, biases may occur when the rate of continued migration between populations is low, or when chromosomal inversions are present at high frequencies. However, some biases due to population structuring can be eliminated by conducting population structure analyses and restricting the estimation to the differentiated groups. In addition, disregarding the genomic regions that are involved in inversions can also remove biases in the estimates of N e . Conclusions Different kinds of deviations from isolation and panmixia of the populations can generate biases in the recent historical estimates of N e . Therefore, estimation of past demography could benefit from performing population structure analyses beforehand, by mitigating the impact of these biases on historical N e estimates.

Soft bending actuators show high adaptability for applications such as rehabilitation or grasping. Although constant curvature assumption has been extensively used for free motion modeling, these actuators do not bend circularly when interacting with the environment. In such situation, conventional bending sensors cannot provide useful information on their shape. In this paper, the Finite Rigid Elements approach is utilized to model the behavior of a soft pneumatic bending actuator in free motion and contact. With this method, the variable curvature configuration under different external loads can be modeled. Then, the contact force between the actuator and an object located in a specific position is estimated utilizing the Gradient Descent optimization method. Experimental results verified the combinatorial proposed approach for both force estimation and structure deformation.

The recommended equation to estimate the value of glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) among children is Schwartz equation updated in 2009. However, it is few frequently used because involves height, a factor rarely documented for laboratories, especially hospital laboratories. The FAS (Full Aged Spectrum) formula developed by a European group, allows to get away from this factor. We compared CKD-EPI (Chronic Kidney Disease-EPIdemiology collaboration) and FAS formulas to Schwartz equation to estimate GFR in children. We realized a retrospective study included 1.668 children between 2 and 14 years old, whose serum creatinine had been measured during their hospitalization stay. We showed that FAS formula is correlated to Schwartz (r = 0.88), with a mean underestimation of eGFR at 6.2% versus CKD-EPI which has a correlation coefficient equal to 0.45 and overestimates eGFR to approximatively 42.0% compared to Schwartz formula. Furthermore, concordance at 30% is 99% with FAS whereas it’s only 35% with CKD-EPI. Thus, we recommend using the FAS formula to estimate GFR in children between 2 and 14 years old when their height is not available.

Depuis 2014, le réseau Vigicrues a mis en place des outils et des méthodes pour estimer et expertiser l’incertitude associée à la prévision des crues. Les incertitudes liées à la modélisation hydrologique sont estimées par le logiciel OTAMIN, qui analyse statistiquement les écarts entre les observations et les débits simulés par les modèles à l’issue de leur calage. Un logiciel permettant l’expertise de scénarios hydrologiques avec incertitudes, l’EAO, a également été développé. Ces outils ont rendu possible la diffusion de prévisions expertisées assorties d’un intervalle d’incertitude (10–90%) dès 2017. Le projet stratégique du réseau Vigicrues prévoit de renforcer le service rendu sur les secteurs à fort enjeu. L’objectif est de publier des prévisions quantitatives assorties d’incertitudes à 24 heures d’échéance et avec un pas de temps suffisamment fin pour représenter la dynamique de la crue, y compris sur des cours d’eau à réaction rapide. Pour réaliser cet objectif, des évolutions sont nécessaires sur les outils et les pratiques opérationnelles, notamment par la construction de chaines de prévision forcées par des modèles d’ensemble météorologiques, l’amélioration de la quantification des autres sources d’incertitude et une réflexion sur le rôle du prévisionniste et la communication des incertitudes.

L’évaluation des ressources fourragères est un élément clé de la gouvernance des crises alimentaires du bétail au Burkina Faso. Cette étude visait l’évaluation, pour la première fois, de la possibilité d’estimer les rendements fourragers des pâturages dans les espaces climatiques du Burkina Faso via l’utilisation de modèles statistiques linéaires uni et multivariés construits à partir de données de biomasse végétale fourragère collectées sur le terrain en 2017, 2018 et 2019, de variables satellitaires phénologiques (indice de végétation de la différence normalisée [NDVI] et fraction de rayonnement photosynthétiquement actif absorbé [FAPAR]) et agroclimatiques (précipitations, humidité du sol, évapotranspiration, température de surface). Une recherche exhaustive des meilleurs modèles statistiques linéaires comportant une à quatre variables a été réalisée et les meilleurs modèles selon le critère d’information bayésien (BIC) identifiés. La performance des modèles uni à quadrivariés obtenus s’est avérée assez faible avec, pour l’ensemble des espaces climatiques excepté l’espace sahélien, des RRMSE press variant de 55 % à 61 % (R² press de 0,07 à 0,36), et pour l’espace climatique sahélien des RRMSE press variant de 42 % à 49 % (R² press de 0,59 à 0,69). La baisse de corrélation de la majorité des variables avec la biomasse végétale fourragère selon le gradient nord-sud résulte en une baisse de performance des modèles selon ce gradient. Les variables agroclimatiques se sont révélées inutiles, et celles issues du FAPAR sont globalement plus performantes que celles issues du NDVI. Une très faible plus-value des modèles multivariés comparés aux modèles univariés a été observée, excepté pour l’espace sahélien. Les modèles développés sur des espaces climatiques plus homogènes se sont montrés plus performants. Une série de recommandations a été identifiée pour améliorer le couplage entre données de biomasse végétale fourragère collectées sur le terrain et variables extraites des images satellitaires, et ainsi améliorer la performance des modèles.

To address the challenge of recognizing and estimating the position of untextured stacked parts, which are common in industrial environments, this study proposes an integrated approach that incorporates the YOLOv7 target detection algorithm and point cloud alignment techniques. First, the YOLOv7 algorithm is utilized to quickly identify and locate the 2D position of the part, followed by a mapping technique to transform the 2D region of interest (ROI) into the corresponding 3D point cloud region. In the point cloud processing stage, depth threshold segmentation and Euclidean clustering segmentation methods are used to separate the target part from the background and other interfering objects. The pose estimation stage uses the SAC-IA algorithm for coarse alignment, followed by an improved ICP algorithm that introduces an adaptive weighting mechanism and a global optimization strategy for fine alignment to obtain the final 6D pose of the part. The improved strategy significantly optimizes the point-pair selection and alignment process and enhances the robustness and accuracy of the algorithm. Through experimental validation on publicly available part piece datasets, the results show that the part identification and pose estimation method proposed in this study can realize fast and accurate identification and pose estimation of different shapes, non-textured, and scattered stacked parts, where the position error can reach up to 1mm and the angular error within 1°, which meets the requirements of practical applications.

Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is estimated from equations based on serum or plasma concentrations of endogenous markers (creatinine and/or cystatin C), and demographic data (age, sex, ± ethnicity). These equations are accurate at the population level, but often inaccurate at the individual level. The creatinine-based Chronic Kidney Disease-Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD-EPI) equation published in 2009 (CKD-EPIcr-2009), and the CKD-EPI equation published in 2012 based on creatinine and cystatin C, were recalibrated in 2021 to remove their dedicated race correction factors for black American subjects. All creatinine-based CKD-EPI equations overestimate true GFR in subjects younger than 30 years. The Full Age Spectrum (FAS) equation, applicable across the entire age spectrum (pediatrics to old age), solved this problem, but remained suboptimal at low GFR values. The European Kidney Function Consortium (EKFC) equation published in 2021 was an improvement of the FAS equation, which also includes the Q factor (median creatinine in the general population). EKFC is applicable across the age spectrum and is efficient at low and normal GFR values. The new creatinine-based CKD-EPI equation (CKD-EPIcr-2021) underestimates GFR in Black Americans and overestimates it in non-Black Americans. In European and African subjects, CKD-EPIcr-2021 overestimates true GFR and should not be adopted. The EKFC equation, which performs well in this population, also performs well in European Black subjects and in African subjects, provided dedicated Q factors are used.

This paper presents a simple high-gain observer to detect water leak in a pipeline system. The estimation scheme was developed based on the nonlinear model of the pipeline system. A simulation was conducted to illustrate the potential of the proposed method.

We propose a Bayesian approach to estimating the parameters of a Generalized Long-Memory Stochastic Volatility (GLMSV) model, a versatile framework designed to address both persistent (long-memory) and seasonal (cyclic) behaviors across various frequencies. This provides an alternative method incorporating prior information about the model parameters, and allows for relatively computationally efficient sampling from the posterior distribution by a reparametrization of the model parameters. The practical applicability of this methodology is demonstrated through the analysis of intraday volatility in Microsoft stock prices.

In Belgium, having a home address allows access to fundamental rights through registration in the national register. The national register centralises all of the data collected by the municipalities. Administrative invisibilisation therefore has a direct impact on the take-up of social rights. It has three distinct origins: failure to register, deregistration and removal of persons from the national register. Based on an analysis of national register data, this article looks at the phenomenon of "administrative invisibilisation", i.e. the voluntary or involuntary disappearance or removal from administrative registers. The article begins with an anthropological analysis of administrative practices with respect to people's home addresses, followed by a quantification and spatialisation of the phenomenon of administrative invisibilisation. Finally, a sociological survey of victims of administrative invisibilisation sheds light on their pathways to exclusion.

Comprehension of foundational but fairly complex statistical theories may require assistive interactive tools to understand underlying equations and theory. We provide a collection of interactive web applications to demonstrate or explore some of the fundamental yet complex item response theory concepts such as estimation, scoring and multidimensionality. Interactive web applications were developed via shiny R package. Users can access to these applications through irtDemo R package or links provided in this article. We hope that these applications give a head-start to emerging practitioners and researchers interested in advanced measurement topics.

Excess ice, found as massive ice and within icy sediments, is an important variable to quantify as it is a dominant control on the terrain and geotechnical response to permafrost thaw. A large amount of permafrost borehole data are available from the Tuktoyaktuk Coastlands; however, field geotechnical assessments typically only involve the estimation of visible ice. To add significant value to these data sets, a cryostratigraphic data set collected along the Inuvik–Tuktoyaktuk Highway (566 boreholes) is used to develop a beta regression model which predicts the excess ice content of icy sediments based on interval depth, visible ice content, material type, and Quaternary deposits. The resulting predictions are compared to recorded massive ice intervals and show that ground ice within icy sediments can contribute up to 65% of the excess ice and potential thaw strain within the first 10 m from the surface in this area. This study shows the general applicability of this approach and indicates that comparable, quantitative data on ground ice conditions should be collected with drilling programs to derive geotechnical variables and reduce modelling uncertainties so that ground ice data are available for quantitative analysis.

Une gestion durable des ressources en eau nécessite une bonne maîtrise de l’évaluation quantitative des termes du bilan hydrologique, tel que l’évapotranspiration, qui constitue un paramètre relativement difficile a estimé, surtout en présence de plusieurs expressions empiriques, le choix devient délicat. Dans la région aride de Béchar (Sud-ouest Algérien), qui souffre de la rareté des précipitations et d’une demande en eau sans cesse croissante sous l’effet de la pression de la démographie et de l’activité agricole, l’évapotranspiration constitue le facteur de perte hydrique le plus important. L’évapotranspiration est estimée, par un ensemble de méthodes (Turc, Thornthwaite, Blaney-Criddle, Penman, Penman-FAO et ANRH), sur une série de 1978 à 2010 (33 ans), des données climatiques (température, humidité relative, précipitation, durée insolation et la vitesse du vent). Les résultats montrent que dans la région de Béchar à l’échelle mensuelle, les valeurs de l’évapotranspiration potentielle (ETP) obtenues par le modèle de TURC, représentent la meilleure estimation quantitative de cette composante climatique.

Abstract Background Maternal effects influence juvenile traits such as body weight and early growth in broilers. Ignoring significant maternal effects leads to reduced accuracy and inflated predicted breeding values. Including genetic and environmental direct-maternal covariances into prediction models in broilers can increase the accuracy and limit inflation of predicted breeding values better than simply adding maternal effects to the model. To test this hypothesis, we applied a model accounting for direct-maternal genetic covariance and direct-maternal environmental covariance to estimate breeding values. Results This model, and simplified versions of it, were tested using simulated broiler populations and then was applied to a large broiler population for validation. The real population analyzed consisted of a commercial line of broilers, for which body weight at a common slaughter age was recorded for 41 selection rounds. The direct-maternal genetic covariance was negative whereas the direct-maternal environmental covariance was positive. Simulated populations were created to mimic the real population. The predictive ability of the models was assessed by cross-validation, where the validation birds were all from the last five selection rounds. Accuracy of prediction was defined as the correlation between the predicted breeding values estimated without the phenotypic records of the validation population and a predictor. The predictors were the breeding values estimated using all the phenotypic information and the phenotypes corrected for the fixed effects, and for the simulated data, the true breeding values. In the real data, adding the environmental covariance, with or without also adding the genetic covariance, increased the accuracy, or reduced deflation of breeding values compared with a model not including dam–offspring covariance. Nevertheless, in the simulated data, reduction in the inflation of breeding values was possible and was associated with a gain in accuracy of up to 6% compared with a model not including both forms of direct-maternal covariance. Conclusions In this paper, we propose a simple approach to estimate the environmental direct-maternal covariance using standard software for REML analysis. The genetic covariance between dam and offspring was negative whereas the corresponding environmental covariance was positive. Considering both covariances in models for genetic evaluation increased the accuracy of predicted breeding values.

A kernel conditional quantile estimate of a real-valued non-stationary spatial process is proposed for a prediction goal at a non-observed location of the underlying process. The originality is based on the ability to take into account some local spatial dependency. Large sample properties based on almost complete and $L^{q}$-consistencies of the estimator are established.