This paper employs the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth in the US to study the birth process. We develop a simultaneous equations model with seven endogenous variables: four birth inputs (maternal smoking, maternal drinking, first trimester prenatal care, and maternal weight gain), three birth outputs (gestational age, birth length, and birth weight), and twenty-four exogenous variables. T...

(Co) variance components and genetic parameters for growth traits in Arman sheep were estimated, using data collected during an 11-year period (1999-2010), by applying the restricted maximum likelihood (REML) procedure under univariate and bivariate animal models. The studied traits were body weight of lamb at birth (BW), body weight at 3 months of age as weaning weight (WW), body weight at 6 m...

There is growing evidence that sex determination in a wide range of organisms is determined by interactions between maternal-effect genes and zygotically expressing genes. Maternal-effect genes typically produce products (e.g., mRNA or proteins) that are placed into the egg during oogenesis and therefore depend upon maternal genotype. Here it is shown that maternal-effect and zygotic genes are ...

Maternal smoking during pregnancy (SDP) is associated with increased risk of externalizing and internalizing behaviors in offspring. Two explanations (not mutually exclusive) for this association are direct causal effects of maternal SDP and the effects of genetic and environmental factors common to parents and offspring which increase smoking as well as problem behaviors. Here, we examined the...

Variance components were estimated for maturing age, first litter size, and animal size in Finnish minks. The fitted animal models had direct genetic and maternal genetic effects, litter effects, and maternal environmental effects. Multivariate analysis was performed to determine covariances between the traits. Maternal effects represented a significant source of phenotypic variance in the matu...

BACKGROUND Maternal smoking and low socioeconomic status are known to be associated with each other and with longstanding respiratory problems in childhood but their interrelation has received little attention. In this paper, the interrelations is studied using a conceptual hierarchical framework among children aged 0-11 years in a representative sample of British households with children. ME...

Direct and maternal components were estimated for birth weight and weaning weight in a multibreed cattle population. Data consisted of 20840 records of calves with varying levels of British (B), Charolais (C), Simmental (S) and Afrikaner (A) breeds. It included several F1, backcrosses, threebreed and fourbreed crosses, having an approximate average composition of /8B : /8S : /8C : /8A. The numb...