What is OUR part in the BP Oilspill?
Not the most on topic post, but with all the hooplah that has been going on recently I haven’t had time to make a good quality post of lately and since the oil flow was stopped very recently it seemed appropriate to assess the damage that was caused and what it would take for our nation to cleanup the oil spill in the gulf. What I found is a bit shocking. Although this is of course only a theoretical number and does not take into many factors such as age, location, etc. It is only a small amount of oil that each of us would have to clean up in order to do our part in the gulf.
Somewhere between 94 million and 184 million gallons have spilled into the Gulf, according to government estimates. The population of the United States was 307,006,550. If you do the math, if we each gathered up 0.6 gallons of crude oil from the gulf. We would as a country effectively clean up the entire oil spill. This is of course only a theoretical number, but food for thought.
The History of Byron Thurman (The Name)
So far I have found 7 people in the world with my name, Byron Thurman. It is indeed an uncommon name. I have spent some time tracking down some of my fellow Byron Thurman’s.
Byron Thurman – ?- Obituary from February 1, 1937 – Byron Thurman, World War veteran, died Saturday at the Veteran’s hospital at Bay Pines. The body will be taken to Chatanooga, Tenn., for funeral services and burial. Arrangements are in charge of the Wilhelm Funeral home.
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=950&dat=19370201&id=Bs0LAAAAIBAJ&sjid=N1UDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2755,4187748
Looking for any information on Byron Barker Thurman who died on July 21, 1946 in Evansville, Indiana. Born in Petersburg, Indiana about 1894. Mother’s name may be Laura. Had a brother who lived in Indianapolis in the 1940′s. Fathers name possibly William.
http://boards.ancestry.co.uk/surnames.thurman/351/mb.ashx?pnt=1
Thurman, Barbara Ann 64, of El Paso died Tuesday (Sept. 12, 2000).
Memorial service will be at 10 a.m. Saturday in Hillcrest Funeral
Home-Carolina. Survivors include her son, Byron Thurman; her
daughters, Leona Burleson and Priscilla Lechuga; her mother; Florance
Sullivan; one brother; one sister; and six grandchildren. She was
preceded in death by her husband, Everett Thurman. She was a retired
bookkeeper for Terk Distributing and was a lifelong resident of El
Paso.
http://files.usgwarchives.net/tx/elpaso/obits/2000/090900.txt
There is also another Byron Thurman from Houston as well as my father Byron Thurman Sr. who last I heard resided in Rusk, Texas. The funny part is after tracing down some rental histories I found that my father and I lived withing 15 minutes of each other and didn’t even know it. Small world.
Statistical power calculations: Comment
Statistical power calculations: Comment
Clinical and pathological responses of pigs from two genetically diverse commercial lines to porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus infection
The response to infection from porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) for 2 genetically diverse commercial pig lines was investigated. Seventy-two pigs from each line, aged 6 wk, were challenged with PRRSV VR-2385, and 66 litter-mates served as control. The clinical response to infection was monitored throughout the study and pigs were necropsied at 10 or 21 d postinfection. Previous analyses showed significant line differences in susceptibility to PRRSV infection. This study also revealed significant line differences in growth during infection. Line B, characterized by faster growth rate than line A in the absence of infection, suffered more severe clinical disease and greater reduction in BW growth after infection. Correlations between growth and disease-related traits were generally negative, albeit weak. Correlations were also weak among most clinical and pathological traits. Clinical disease traits such as respiratory scores and rectal temperatures were poor indicators of virus levels, pathological damage, or growth during PRRSV infection. Relationships between traits varied over time, indicating that different disease-related mechanisms may operate at different time scales and, therefore, that the time of assessing host responses may influence the conclusions drawn about biological significance. Three possible mechanisms underlying growth under PRRSV infection were proposed based on evidence from this and previous studies. It was concluded that a comprehensive framework describing the interaction between the biological mechanisms and the genetic influence on these would be desirable for achieving progress in the genetic control of this economically important disease.
Reducing bias in maintenance energy expected progeny difference by accounting for selection on weaning and yearling weights
Maintenance energy requirements of cattle can be predicted from published equations utilizing metabolic BW and milk production potential. Metabolic BW is a function of BW at a constant fat percentage or BCS. Pedigree and performance records can be used in random regression models to predict genetic merit for metabolic BW and milk production potentials. The purpose of this study was to present a methodology for predicting mature cow maintenance energy EPD using mature cow BW and BCS and accounting for prior selection of replacement females at weaning and yearling ages. Variance components were obtained for direct and maternal effects on weaning weight, direct effects on postweaning BW gain, and direct coefficients for random regression on mature weights (MW) adjusted for BCS. These BW were transformed into metabolic BW by taking BW to the power of 0.75, variance components were estimated for metabolic BW, and were then used to predict breeding values from which cow maintenance energy EPD could be derived. Data used in this analysis were obtained from the Red Angus Association of America and limited to herds with MW and corresponding BCS observations. The data set included 52,338 BW records on 21,103 individuals. Weaning and yearling contemporaries to those with MW observations, but with no MW records themselves, were included to account for selection occurring before maturity. Heritability estimates for weaning weight direct, weaning weight maternal, and postweaning BW gain were 0.18 ± 0.02, 0.16 ± 0.02, and 0.18 ± 0.02, respectively. Mature BW observed at 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 yr of age had heritability estimates of 0.45 ± 0.03, 0.44 ± 0.03, 0.49 ± 0.03, 0.66 ± 0.04, and 0.62 ± 0.05, respectively. Correlations between weaning weight direct and MW ranged from 0.65 ± 0.07 to 0.82 ± 0.04, and correlations between MW at different ages ranged from 0.95 ± 0.03 to 0.99 ± 0.01. The genetic correlations between postweaning BW gain and MW ranged from 0.48 ± 0.06 to 0.59 ± 0.06. The 15-yr genetic increase in metabolic BW was 3.6 kg0.75, greater than the value of 0.23 kg0.75 obtained from the same data ignoring weaning and yearling contemporaries with unobserved MW, the approach currently used in the derivation of cow maintenance EPD published by the Red Angus Association of America.
Quantification of factors affecting semen traits in artificial insemination boars from animal model analyses
The objective of this study was to investigate individual fixed effects in an animal model for breeding value estimation for semen traits of pig sire breeds. Data (151,755 ejaculates collected from 2000 through 2007 from 2,077 Duroc, sire line of Large White, Piétrain, and single cross boars between these breeds) were from 20 AI centers in the Czech Republic. Traits considered per ejaculate were semen volume, sperm concentration, motility, percentage of abnormal sperm, total number of sperm, and number of functional sperm. Fixed effects in the animal model were month of collection, age of the boar at collection, interval between subsequent collections, combined effect of AI center and year, and breed or crossbred combination. Semen volume was greatest from October through December and was least in March and April. Sperm concentration was greatest in winter and early spring and least in late summer and early autumn. Both total sperm number and number of functional sperm were greatest in winter and least in summer. Semen volume increased until about 2 yr of age and remained relatively constant thereafter. Sperm concentration increased sharply until 11 mo of age, followed by a long-term moderate decrease until 3 yr of age and stabilization thereafter. Motility decreased steadily with age, whereas the percentage of abnormal sperm increased over the entire productive lifetime of the boar. There were initial steep increases with advancing age in total sperm number and number of functional sperm, both reaching their maxima at about 2 yr of age and then dropping slightly to the end of the time scale investigated. The interval between subsequent collections had a large effect on sperm concentration. Motility tended to decrease and the percentage of abnormal sperm tended to increase with lengthening time interval between collections. Both total sperm number and number of functional sperm rose as the interval between collections increased to 10 d. Although boars will continue to be selected mainly for their breeding values for production and female reproduction traits, AI centers should also place economically optimal emphasis on boars with favorable estimated breeding values for semen traits.
Influence of early postweaning traits on genetic improvement of meat productivity in purebred Berkshire pigs
The objective of this study was to estimate genetic parameters for growth and body composition traits at 60 d of age and at finish in a population of Berkshire pigs and to evaluate the effectiveness of selection at 60 d of age for meat productivity. A total of 4,548 purebred Berkshire (2,344 males and 2,204 females) pigs born between December 1994 and January 2005 were used in this study. The traits analyzed were BW at 60 d of age; daily BW gain from birth to finish, from weaning to 60 d, from weaning to finish, and from 60 d to finish; age at finish; backfat thickness at 60 d of age and at finish; loin eye area at 60 d of age (LEA60) and at finish; and the number of teats. The heritability estimates for BW at 60 d of age, daily BW gain from weaning to 60 d, backfat thickness at 60 d of age, and LEA60 were 0.22, 0.25, 0.49, and 0.22, respectively. The estimated common environmental effect for BW at 60 d of age, daily BW gain from weaning to 60 d, backfat thickness at 60 d of age, and LEA60 were 0.12, 0.13, 0.18, and 0.21, respectively. Therefore, the common environmental effect should be included in the model to analyze traits at 60 d of age. The positive genetic correlation between LEA60 and loin eye area at finish and the negative genetic correlation between LEA60 and backfat thickness at finish indicated that improvement of the ultrasonic loin eye area at 60 d of age may result in favorable correlated responses to the traits at finish, an increase in loin eye area, and a decrease in backfat thickness. In addition, genetic correlations of backfat thickness at 60 d of age with backfat thickness at finish and loin eye area at finish were found to be favorable, indicating that improvement of ultrasonic backfat thickness at 60 d of age may result in greater correlated responses to the traits at finish: an increase in loin eye area and a decrease in backfat thickness. Therefore, constructing a selection scheme that includes body composition traits at 60 d and traits at finish is practical for gaining a greater selection response.
Genetic background and phenotypic characterization over two farrowings of leg conformation defects in Landrace and Large White sows
A Bayesian threshold animal model was applied to evaluate the prevalence over 2 farrowings and genetic background of overall leg conformation score and the presence or absence of 6 specific leg defects (abnormal hoof growth, splay footed, plantigradism, straight pasterns, sickle-hocked legs, and the presence of swelling or injuries) in purebred Landrace and Large White sows. Data sets contained phenotypic records from 2,477 and 1,550 Landrace and Large White females, respectively, at the end of the growing period. Leg conformation data from first and second farrowings were available for 223 and 191 Landrace sows and 213 and 193 Large White sows, respectively. Overall leg conformation deteriorated with age, with statistically relevant differences between females at the end of the growing period, first farrowing (FF), and second farrowing (SF). In a similar way, the prevalence of the 6 specific leg defects increased between the end of the growing period and FF (with the exception of straight pasterns in the Landrace population). Differences between FF and second farrowing were statistically relevant for hoof growth (highest posterior density regions at 95% did not overlap), plantigradism, sickle-hocked legs, and overall leg conformation score in Landrace and for sickle-hocked leg and overall leg conformation score in Large White. The statistical relevance of the genetic background was tested through the Bayes factor (BF) between the model with the additive genetic component and the model with 0 heritability (nonheritable). Heritability (h2) was discarded (BF < 1) for sickle-hocked leg in both breeds, whereas decisive evidence (BF > 100) of genetic background was obtained for overall leg conformation score in Landrace and Large White sows (h2 = 0.27 and 0.38, respectively), hoof growth in both breeds (h2 = 0.22 and 0.26, respectively), and plantigradism (h2 = 0.34) and the presence of swelling or injuries in Landrace (h2 = 0.27). Note that a BF > 100 implies that the model with infinitesimal genetic effects was more than 100 times more suitable than the model without genetic effects, a conclusive estimate within the Bayesian framework. The remaining traits (splay footed and straight pasterns) registered BF values ranging from 11.6 to 35.1 and h2 values ranging from 0.09 to 0.19. These results indicated a moderate genetic determinism for leg conformation in Landrace and Large White sows.
Genetic diversity and pedigree analysis of the Finnsheep breed
Genetic diversity in the Finnsheep breed was analyzed by quantifying the demographic trends, the depth of known pedigree, effective population size, and the amount of inbreeding, as well as identifying candidate rams within the current population for future breeding and conservation purposes. Pedigree records of 148,833 animals with a pedigree completeness coefficient ≥0.60 and born from 1989 to 2006 were used to estimate the parameters. Mean inbreeding coefficient increased by 0.10% (P < 0.001) and 0.15% (P < 0.001) per annum in all animals and breeding (i.e., reproducing) animals, respectively. Average relationship coefficients among rams, among ewes, and between rams and ewes in breeding animals increased over time and reached 1.67, 1.45, and 1.46% in the 2005 cohort, respectively. The average for breeding rams was above the other 2 averages in almost all birth years. The observed generally low average relationship coefficients between rams and ewes indicate that no extra restrictions on the use of the breeding animals are needed in the near future. Average generation interval was 2.85 yr in the studied period, and the effective population size was estimated to be 119 and 122 using different methods. Relationship coefficients of rams with other breeding rams and rams with breeding ewes are suggested to aid in situ and ex situ conservation decisions on maintaining genetic diversity of Finnsheep.
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Yeah, you don't gotta tell me about all the improvements that need to be made. Working on them now. Damn the lost data to hell working on restoring the network to better than it was previously. Please excuse the mess. What Happened?! -
