We tried to quantify the ecotoxicity of three industrial soil samples contaminated by different metals, using the Collembolan Folsomia candida as a biological model and mortality, growth and reproduction as parameters. The observed ecotoxicities are rather normal for the first such soil sample (aluminum factory) but are high for the second sample (ore treatment) and relatively low for the third...

Genetic parameters from both single-trait and bivariate analyses for prolificacy, weight and wool traits were estimated using REML with animal models for Columbia sheep from data collected from 1950 to 1998 at the U.S. Sheep Experiment Station (USSES), Dubois, ID. Breeding values from both single-trait and seven-trait analyses calculated using the parameters estimated from the single-trait and ...

BACKGROUND High dietary fat consumption may alter oocyte development and embryonic development. This prospective study was conducted to determine the relation between dietary fat consumption level, its food sources and the assisted reproduction parameters. METHODS A prospective study was conducted on 240 infertile women. In assisted reproduction treatment cycle, fat consumption and major food...

The life histories of holo-anhydrobiotic animals differ from those of all other organisms by a regular or irregular entrance into an ametabolic state induced by desiccation. Such ametabolic periods will arrest growth and reproduction completely and thus affect primary life history parameters dramatically. The selective forces and the genetic and physiological trade-offs acting on anhydrobiotic ...

The influence of copper upon some physiological parameters and reproduction in ewes was studied. Four groups of animals were investigated: 1/ control ewes (untreated); 2) ewes receiving copper as a supplement over the recommended amount of copper in food (10, 25 or 50 mg Cu/ewe/day); 3/ control, superovulated ewes; and 4) ewes treated with 50 mg copper during one month and then superovulated. A...

To determine the effect of the removal of the tube on ovarian function we studied 52 artificial reproduction technology cycles in 26 women before and after undergoing laparoscopic salpingectomy for ectopic pregnancy. Ovarian response was measured by the duration and quantity of human menopausal gonadotrophins used in the cycle, the pre-ovulatory concentrations of oestradiol, the number of oocyt...

The role of crossover and mutation in Genetic Programming (GP) has been the subject of much debate since the emergence of the field. In this paper, we contribute new empirical evidence to this argument using a rigorous and principled experimental method applied to six problems common in the GP literature. The approach tunes the algorithm parameters to enable a fair and objective comparison of t...

production, reproduction, management and economic parameters resulted from recordings of 5 flocks comprised of 720 heads of native goats during annual cycle of reproduction in transhumance, village and farming systems were employed to determine the performance of traits, cost-profit analysis as well as breeding objective. the overall mean for number of salable kid per goat in transhumance, vill...

OBJECTIVE Describe the overall transmission of malaria through a compartmental model, considering the human host and mosquito vector. METHODS A mathematical model was developed based on the following parameters: human host immunity, assuming the existence of acquired immunity and immunological memory, which boosts the protective response upon reinfection; mosquito vector, taking into account ...

Fungi are a diverse group of organisms with a huge variation in reproductive strategy. While almost all species can reproduce sexually, many reproduce asexually most of the time. When sexual reproduction does occur, large variation exists in the amount of in- and out-breeding. While budding yeast is expected to outcross only once every 10 000 generations, other fungi are obligate outcrossers wi...