The breeder thermal performances under a purge line break have been analyzed for two blanket design options: a blanket design using a packed breeder bed and a blanket design using a sintered breeder product. Under a purge line break open to a vacuum environment, the packed bed breeder temperature exceeds its operating temperature limit at a faster rate than that of the sintered breeder blanket ...

Detailed three-dimensional neutronics analysis has been performed for ITER with the U.S. solid breeder blanket utilizing sintered product materials for both the breeder and multiplier. The overall tritium breeding ratio is 0.81 with two outboard breeder zones and 0.89 for the three outboard breeder zone design option. The total reactor thermal power is 1150 MW in the technology phase.

Breeder turnover can influence population growth in social carnivores through changes to group size, composition and recruitment. Studies that possess detailed group composition data that can provide insights about the effects of breeder turnover on groups have generally been conducted on species that are not subject to recurrent annual human harvest. We wanted to know how breeder turnover affe...

We tested whether subordinate helper males of the Lake Tanganyika cooperatively breeding cichlid Neolamprologus pulcher show elevated excretion levels of the stress hormone cortisol and reduced levels of 11-ketotestosterone and testosterone when living in groups with a small breeder male, compared to similar helper males living in groups with a large breeder male, in a full-factorial repeated m...

Intraguild predation of Neoseiulus cucumeris Oudemans (Phytoseiidae) by soil-dwelling predators, Dalotia coriaria Kraatz (Staphylinidae) may limit the utility of open rearing systems in greenhouse thrips management programs. We determined the rate of D. coriaria invasion of N. cucumeris breeder material presented in piles or sachets, bran piles (without mites), and sawdust piles. We also observ...

In recent years, the commercial broiler breeder industry has reported problems of male aggression towards females [Millman, S.T., 1999. An investigation into extreme aggressiveness of broiler breeder males. Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Guelph]. Although this aggression is shown by the males and is apparently a defect in their behaviour [Millman, S.T., Duncan, I.J.H., 2000. Strain diffe...

Ceramic foam or cellular ceramics are proposed as a new solid breeder material configuration. Such cellular breeder materials would have an open cell structure consisting of a network of three-dimensional interconnected ligaments. Ceramic breeder foams could address some of the challenges facing packed breeder beds and potentially enhance thermal performance, increase breeding ratio, and improv...

Recently, it has been shown that group-living subordinate clownfish Amphiprion percula increase their growth rate after acquiring the dominant breeder male position in the group. Evidence was found for strategic growth adjustments of subordinate fishes depending on the threat of eviction, i.e. subordinates adjust their growth rates so they remain smaller than the dominant fish and thereby limit...

Fertility reduction due to sub-fertile males is a major concern in breeder flocks. Phenotypic traits of broiler breeder males and their relationships with fertility can be used as reliable indicators for identification and removal of sub-fertile males from the breeder flocks. This study was conducted to investigate semen traits (semen volume, sperm motility, sperm viability and sperm count) and...

Recent trends occurring in broiler primary breeding companies are described. The structure and operation of broiler primary breeder companies are described from pedigree elite populations, through great-grandparent and grandparent generations, down to the parent stock. The relatively low value of fertility and hatchability, compared with yield and feed efficiency as selection traits, is assesse...