Maternal exposure to environmental pollutants could affect fetal brain development and increase autism spectrum disorder (ASD) risk in conjunction with differential genetic susceptibility. Organohalogen congeners measured in maternal midpregnancy blood samples have recently shown significant, but negative associations with offspring ASD outcome. We report the first large-scale maternal and feta...

Weaning weights from nine sets of Angus field data from three regions of the United States were analyzed. Six animal models were used to compare two approaches to account for an environmental dam-offspring covariance and to investigate the effects of sire x herd-year interaction on the genetic parameters. Model 1 included random direct and maternal genetic, maternal permanent environmental, and...

Estimates of direct and maternal genetic parameters in beef cattle were obtained with a random regression model with a linear spline function (SFM) and were compared with those obtained by a multitrait model (MTM). Weight data of 18,900 Gelbvieh calves were used, of which 100, 75, and 17% had birth (BWT), weaning (WWT), and yearling (YWT) weights, respectively. The MTM analysis was conducted wi...

Data from a multibreed composite beef cattle population, managed under intensive irrigated grazing conditions, were used to estimate direct additive heritabilities (ha), maternal heritabilities (h 2 m) and maternal permanent environmental effects (c) for birth weight (BW) and weaning weight (WW) of the calf and cow efficiency of the dam (CE: WW/dam weight x 100). Calves born between 1968 and 19...

As part of an ongoing study on all limb reduction defects occurring among 1,213,913 consecutive live births in the province of British Columbia, Canada, during 1952-1984, cases with documented maternal drug exposure and chronic maternal diseases were analyzed separately. This population-based study was made possible through the existence of an ongoing Health Surveillance Registry, which documen...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Maternal stress can depress birth weight and gestational age, with potential health effects. A growing number of studies examine the effect of maternal stress caused by environmental disasters on birth outcomes. These changes may indicate an adaptive response. In this study, we examine the effects of maternal exposure to wildfire on birth weight and gestational age, hy...

OBJECTIVE The objective of the study was to assess relative maternal and paternal genetic influences on birth timing. STUDY DESIGN Utilizing The Netherlands Twin Registry, we examined the correlation in birth timing of infants born to monozygotic (MZ) twins and their first-degree relatives (dizygotic twins and siblings of twins). Genetic models estimated the relative influence of genetic and ...

BACKGROUND In China, and in Shandong province, the proportionate contribution of birth defects to infant mortality has increased, and congenital heart disease (CHD) is now the most common cause of birth defects. The cause of approximately 90% of cases of congenital heart disease is multifactorial. Little is known about modifiable environmental risk factors or regional differences. We investigat...

Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and symmetric differences squared (SDS) methods were used to estimate additive genetic and environmental variances and covariances associated with weaning weight. The two methods were applied to 503 beef records collected over 19 yr from a relatively unselected university Angus herd. The SDS methodology was used with four models. The first model included direct (g) ...

introduction kurdish sheep breed is one of the most important native breeds of iran. they are fat-tailed, large-sized, well adapted to the mountainous regions in northern khorasan province and mainly raising for meat production under pastoral production system (28). feed efficiency is a major component in the profitability of the small ruminant enterprise, because quality of range and pasture i...