Short Horn Research Articles

Formation and phenotypic performance of the new breed POGASI Agrinak cattle

To increase domestic meat production is needed beef cattles which can be cultivated in marginal areas with feed conditions that are limited in quality and quantity. The new breed of POGASI (PO Grati Hasil Seleksi) Agrinak cattle is formed to have optimal productivity in provision of low-quality feed. Ongole Crossed (OC) cattle from selection at farmers in 2002– 2003, are developed in experimental stall at Beef Cattle Research Station by gradually selected and regulation of mating into optimum excellence in providing low quality feed (low crude protein and energy but high crude fiber, made from agricultural by-products and by-products of processing agricultural products), continuously extorting for 14 years. In 2017, the new breed beef cattle, POGASI Agrinak, is formed which is the fourth generation. POGASI cattle has penotypic performance specific, likes body color is yellowish white, short and large horns, hump grows upward, screw is small but wide, body weight and size are greater and ability to utilize feed nutrients is better than compared to OC cattle. POGASI cattle are suitable to be cultivated in marginal areas where feed availability is limited in quality and quantity.

The Mutation of the Ap3b1 Gene Causes Uterine Hypoplasia in Pearl Mice.

The pearl (pe) mouse mutant has been identified as a model for Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome and bears a mutation in the beta3A subunit of the AP-3 complex, which has a core function in the biogenesis and function of various lysosomal-related organelles. Through large-scale mating, we found that female pearl mice also displayed reduced fertility with a smaller litter size. Abnormal uteri in both 1-month-old and 3-month-old mice were observed as having short and thin uterine horns, indicating abnormal development. Histological studies revealed that the endometrial epithelium and endometrial stoma of the uterus were both thinner than those in the normal controls. We examined some key factors in uterine development, including the Hoxa10, Hoxa11, and Wnt5a genes, and found that they all presented lower mRNA and protein levels. The pearl mouse could serve as a model for uterine hypoplasia, a common problem in female infertility.

Target sequencing reveals genetic diversity, population structure, core-SNP markers, and fruit shape-associated loci in pepper varieties

BackgroundThe widely cultivated pepper (Capsicum spp.) is one of the most diverse vegetables; however, little research has focused on characterizing the genetic diversity and relatedness of commercial varieties grown in China. In this study, a panel of 92 perfect single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) was identified using re-sequencing data from 35 different C. annuum lines. Based on this panel, a Target SNP-seq genotyping method was designed, which combined multiplex amplification of perfect SNPs with Illumina sequencing, to detect polymorphisms across 271 commercial pepper varieties.ResultsThe perfect SNPs panel had a high discriminating capacity due to the average value of polymorphism information content, observed heterozygosity, expected heterozygosity, and minor allele frequency, which were 0.31, 0.28, 0.4, and 0.31, respectively. Notably, the studied pepper varieties were morphologically categorized based on fruit shape as blocky-, long horn-, short horn-, and linear-fruited. The long horn-fruited population exhibited the most genetic diversity followed by the short horn-, linear-, and blocky-fruited populations. A set of 35 core SNPs were then used as kompetitive allele-specific PCR (KASPar) markers, another robust genotyping technique for variety identification. Analysis of genetic relatedness using principal component analysis and phylogenetic tree construction indicated that the four fruit shape populations clustered separately with limited overlaps. Based on STRUCTURE clustering, it was possible to divide the varieties into five subpopulations, which correlated with fruit shape. Further, the subpopulations were statistically different according to a randomization test and Fst statistics. Nine loci, located on chromosomes 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 12, were identified to be significantly associated with the fruit shape index (p < 0.0001).ConclusionsTarget SNP-seq developed in this study appears as an efficient power tool to detect the genetic diversity, population relatedness and molecular breeding in pepper. Moreover, this study demonstrates that the genetic structure of Chinese pepper varieties is significantly influenced by breeding programs focused on fruit shape.

Egg morphology of &lt;i&gt;Mydaea lateritia&lt;/i&gt; (Rondani, 1866) (Diptera: Muscidae)

Several specimens of Mydaea lateritia (Rondani, 1866) were collected during studies of arthropod succession on pig carrions in western Poland. This is the first record of this species in Poland and the northernmost occurrence of the species. Scanning electron microscopy documentation of egg morphology of M. lateritia is presented for the first time. Hexagonal chorionic network, foliate hatching pleats, short lateral respiratory horns, dorsomedian flange and median area with smooth hexagonal network and craters are described. The egg could be classified as Mydaea-type with short respiratory horns.

Sporidesmiella corniformis sp. nov. from China

A new species, Sporidesmiella corniformis, is described and illustrated from specimens collected on decaying branches in China. This fungus is characterized by clavate to cuneiform, 2-distoseptate, pale brown conidia with 4–8 short horns.

Compensating for oblique ear-probe insertions in ear-canal reflectance measurements.

Measurements of the ear-canal reflectance using an ear probe require estimating the characteristic impedance of the ear canal in situ. However, an oblique insertion of the ear probe into a uniform waveguide prevents accurately estimating its characteristic impedance using existing time-domain methods. This is caused by the non-uniformity immediately in front of the ear probe when inserted at an oblique angle, resembling a short horn loading, and introduces errors into the ear-canal reflectance. This paper gives an overview of the influence of oblique ear-probe insertions and shows how they can be detected and quantified by estimating the characteristic impedance using multiple truncation frequencies, i.e., limiting the utilized frequency range. Additionally, a method is proposed to compensate for the effects on reflectance of an oblique ear-probe insertion into a uniform waveguide. The incident impedance of the horn loading is estimated, i.e., were the uniform waveguide anechoic, which replaces the characteristic impedance when calculating reflectance. The method can compensate for an oblique ear-probe insertion into a uniform occluded-ear simulator and decrease the dependency of reflectance on insertion depth in an ear canal. However, more research is required to further assess the method in ear canals.

Feasibility study for the implementation of community-based breeding program for cashmere goats in Erdeneburen Sum (Village), Khovd Province, Western Mongolia

Aim of this survey was to reveal the feasibility to develop the Community (Village level) based breeding program in Khovd province. Erdeneburen sum was selected due to the most affected area with the degradation of pasture in this province (Report of Green Gold Project, 2015), where 34 goat herders were interviewed from 4 bags. According to the educational level of herders, the larger proportion of the respondents had lower secondary (56%) and higher level. The remaining 11.7% of them were finished the primary school. This result revealed that the herders were very knowledgeable, so that potential opportunity seen for the recording of goats by them. Total of 150; 50 bucks, 3 castrated males and 97 female goats were used for the baseline survey of quantitative and qualitative traits. In the studied flocks, the large proportions of goats were red (59%) and black (67%) , but white , grey and combination with other colours were few or 4, 4.7, 7.3% respectively, all observed goats had short coarse hairs and with short spiry horns. Sex and age strongly influenced (P&lt;0.001) body weight, other linear body measurements and cashmere fineness. Chest girth has high correlation to cashmere yield and cashmere fineness. There was a strict seasonal mating with control and avoidance of inbreeding by keeping bucks in the same flock for 2 years and practiced the buying bucks from east and north regions. Therefore, the genetic structure of goats should be clarified at first, then appropriate breeding program need to be designed in this sum.

W ideband high‐gain circularly polarized F abry‐ P erot antenna feeding a conical short‐horn

In this article, a novel wideband high-gain circularly-polarized (CP) antenna is developed. It is based on a Fabry-Perot (FP) resonant cavity with a small footprint and a small slot-fed CP antenna designed to achieve wideband high gain CP performance. This is then used to feed a short conical horn to enhance the overall gain without compromising the radiation performance. Simulations and measurements are in good agreement and validate the predictions. The measurement of the antenna prototype demonstrates a more than 3 dB gain enhancement when the conical horn is used.

KERAGAMAN SIFAT KUALITATIF DAN KUANTITATIF SAPI KUANTAN PADA BERBAGAI TINGKATAN UMUR DIKECAMATAN BENAI

This research aims to know the diversity of the nature of qualitative and quantitative kuantan cows age on many levels in Benai District of Kuantan Singingi regency. The number of samples was observed 88 cows kuantan which consists of 71 cows female and 17 male cows with levels 0-6 months, 6-12 months, 12-18 months and 18-24 months. The parameters observed in the qualitative nature of hair and skin color is, horns shape and color away, while the nature of quantitative measurements of the body namely chest circumference, length, shoulder height, in the chest and hip height. The results showed that the qualitative nature of the cows kuantan females include the dominant hair color that is the color of tanned 35,21% white, curved Horn shape up and short horns and small alike 29.5% and the dominant leg color is 68% white and male cow whereas in kuantan, the dominant hair color that is the color of tanned 35,30% white, horned 53% not horned and short small 29% , and the dominant leg color is white 76%. Quantitative trait cow kuantan females include the dominant length is age 18-24 months 96,28 ± 10.70 cm, chest circumference: 20,71 ± 12.52 cm, in the chest: 43,28 ± 0.14 cm, shoulder height: 96,57 ± 7.25 cm and a height of hips: 101,71 ± 9.94 cm and while the average body size of cow kuantan males include the dominant length is aged 6-12 months 87 ± 6.05 cm, chest circumference of 6-12 months ± 16,52 112,75 cm chest, in 12-18 months 41,33 ± 1.53 cm shoulder height, age 18-24 months orders of 4.16 ± 91,67 cm high hip and age 12-18 months of 6.08 ± 101 cm.

Haematology of N’Dama and West African Short Horn cattle herds under natural Trypanosoma vivax challenge in Ghana

Background: Animal trypanosomosis is a major cause of economic loss in livestock production in Africa. A suggested control measure is to use breeds with traits of trypanotolerance. The study examines the effect of natural Trypanosoma vivax challenge on haematological parameters in two trypanotolerant cattle [N’Dama and West African Short Horn (WASH)] herds. Methods: T. vivax-specific primers were used to diagnose T. vivax infection in an N’Dama herd at Cape Coast in southern Ghana and a WASH herd at Chegbani in northern Ghana from May to July 2011 in a cross-sectional study. Levels of haematological parameters comprising packed cell volume (PCV), haemoglobin (Hb) concentration and total red blood cell (RBC) and white blood cell (WBC) counts; differential WBC counts (neutrophils, lymphocytes, eosinophils, monocytes and basophils); and RBC indices of mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH) and mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC) were determined in blood samples and then compared between infected and uninfected cattle. Results: We found that haematological indices for infected and uninfected animals in both breeds were within the normal range. However, the mean PCV values for T. vivax-infected WASH and N’Dama were lower in infected compared to uninfected animals. The difference was significant (p&lt; 0.05) in N’Dama but not in WASH. The RBC indices were higher in infected N’Dama compared to infected WASH with a significant difference in total RBC (p &lt; 0.05). Conclusion: We conclude from our findings that despite the presence of infection by T. vivax, N’Dama and WASH cattle maintained their haematological parameters within acceptable normal ranges, and this underscores the need for routine diagnosis and treatment so that such trypanotolerant cattle do not serve as potential reservoirs of trypanosome parasites.

A new dinoflagellate species, Protoperidinium smithii H. Doan-Nhu, L. Phan-Tan et L. Nguyen-Ngoc sp. nov., and an emended description of Protoperidinium defectum (Balech 1965) Balech 1974 from the Ross Sea, Antarctica

The Ross Sea is one of the most well studied marginal seas in Antarctica. However, information of phytoplankton and in particular dinoflagellate diversity is limited. In this present study, samples at the surface and depth of the chlorophyll maximum at 40 stations during summer (2011–2012) were investigated for Protoperidinium species. A new species has described: Protoperidinium smithii H. Doan-Nhu, L. Phan-Tan et L. Nguyen-Ngoc sp. nov. This species belongs to subgenus Minusculum and have all of the features of this group. The new species is similar to Protoperidinium bipes (Paulsen) Balech 1974 and Protoperidinium defectum (Balech) Balech 1974. However, it is clearly differentiated from both species by its cell body shape, very short right antapical spine, a short apical horn, and the largest 1′′′ plate among species in subgenus Minusculum. Protoperidinium defectum is also amended by several characteristics including detail plates tabulation since the first description in 1965.

English

The study was conducted in Erob district eastern Tigray, Ethiopia to phenotypic characterize Maefur goat based on physical body feature and linear body measurements. Six hundred (297 male and 303 female) goats were randomly selected and grouped into four age groups of 0, 1, 2 and &ge;3 PPI. General Linear Model (GLM) procedure of SPSS version 16.0 and descriptive statistical analysis were were used to summarize the collected data. Short ear size (12.3 cm for male and 11.8 cm for female), long and thick horn, medium body size (42.8 kg for male and 32.7 kg for female), and large heart girth (82.1 cm for male and 73.4 cm for female) are the major body characteristics of Maefur goat breed. There was a significant (P&lt; 0.05) effect of sex and age on live body weight and linear measurements. Mean&plusmn; SE of live body weight, heart girth, body length and height at wither in male were 34.7&plusmn;0.57 kg, 75.3&plusmn;0.53 cm, 64.3&plusmn;0.61 cm and 64.7&plusmn;0.46 cm, respectively while in female 28.9&plusmn;0.35 kg, 70.0&plusmn;0.33 cm, 60.0&plusmn;0.40 cm, and 59.3&plusmn;0.31 cm, respectively. For heart girth in these age groups were 61.1&plusmn;0.53, 69.4&plusmn;0.33, 70.6&plusmn;0.4 and 77.7&plusmn;0.39 cm, respectively while body length were 50.3&plusmn;0.43, 56.8&plusmn;0.42, 59.3&plusmn;0.58 and 68.2&plusmn;0.42 cm, respectively. For height at wither in these age groups were 54.0&plusmn;0.45, 59.1&plusmn;0.35, 58.4&plusmn;0.32 and 66.5&plusmn;0.40 cm, respectively. Heart girth and height at wither were significantly (P&lt;0.05) different among the age groups except between 13-18 and 19-24 months. The study revealed that large heart girth is a unique characteristic of the Maefur indigenous goat. The study concluded that Maefur goat breed is identified as one of the potential goat breed in Tigray, Ethiopia. &nbsp; Key words: Indigenous goat, Maefur goat, phenotypic characterization, body measurement.

Coaxial Feed Pyramidal Horn Antenna with High Efficiency

ABSTRACTIn this paper, a short pyramidal horn antenna with coaxial feed has been designed and fabricated with 52% bandwidth, which covers CDMA and GSM 900 bands. The total length of the antenna including coaxial feed is approximately 0.85λ at the lowest usable frequency. The effect of coaxial probe length, probe radius, and its location from the short wall of the waveguide on the resonance frequency, impedance matching, and bandwidth of the horn antenna have been analysed using CST Microwave studio software. Also, parametric analyses have been done by varying the horn length and aperture dimensions to study radiation characteristics of the horn antenna. The horn length has been optimized to obtain maximum efficiency for a fixed aperture. Simulation results show that as the frequency increases from 700 to 1130 MHz, the gain monotonically increases from 8.4 to 12.6 dBi with maximum efficiency of 80% at 850 MHz and it varies between 72% and 80% over this band. The pyramidal horn antenna has been fabricated and measured results are in good agreement with the simulated results.

Determination of Genetic Structure and Signatures of Selection in Three Strains of Tanzania Shorthorn Zebu, Boran and Friesian Cattle by Genome-Wide SNP Analyses.

BackgroundMore than 90 percent of cattle in Tanzania belong to the indigenous Tanzania Short Horn Zebu (TSZ) population which has been classified into 12 strains based on historical evidence, morphological characteristics, and geographic distribution. However, specific genetic information of each TSZ population has been lacking and has caused difficulties in designing programs such as selection, crossbreeding, breed improvement or conservation. This study was designed to evaluate the genetic structure, assess genetic relationships, and to identify signatures of selection among cattle of Tanzania with the main goal of understanding genetic relationship, variation and uniqueness among them.Methodology/Principal findingsThe Illumina Bos indicus SNP 80K BeadChip was used to genotype genome wide SNPs in 168 DNA samples obtained from three strains of TSZ cattle namely Maasai, Tarime and Sukuma as well as two comparative breeds; Boran and Friesian. Population structure and signatures of selection were examined using principal component analysis (PCA), admixture analysis, pairwise distances (FST), integrated haplotype score (iHS), identical by state (IBS) and runs of homozygosity (ROH). There was a low level of inbreeding (F~0.01) in the TSZ population compared to the Boran and Friesian breeds. The analyses of FST, IBS and admixture identified no considerable differentiation between TSZ trains. Importantly, common ancestry in Boran and TSZ were revealed based on admixture and IBD, implying gene flow between two populations. In addition, Friesian ancestry was found in Boran. A few common significant iHS were detected, which may reflect influence of recent selection in each breed or strain.ConclusionsPopulation admixture and selection signatures could be applied to develop conservation plan of TSZ cattle as well as future breeding programs in East African cattle.

Differentially Fed Wideband Rectangular DRA with High Gain using Short Horn

A differentially fed rectangular dielectric resonator antenna (DRA) is presented. The DRA is excited by a microstrip gap between two identical transmission lines carrying a differential signal. It is shown that this new method can be adopted to excite the fundamental TE1δ1 mode in a rectangular DRA. Furthermore, by adding a stub to each transmission line, an additional nonradiating resonance is obtained that results in bandwidth enhancement. A conventional hybrid (rat-race) coupler is used for a single-end operation. A common ground plane is shared between the DRA (placed in + z -plane) and the hybrid coupler (placed in –z -plane) to preserve the footprint of the antenna. For | S 11| ≤ –10 dB, a wide impedance bandwidth of 30% is measured from 2.27 to 3.07 GHz. Additionally, a surface-mounted short horn (SMSH) is incorporated to enhance the boresight gain throughout the band. In measurements, an optimum boresight gain of 12.2 dBi with an improvement of 5.8 dB is obtained at 2.6 GHz using the proposed DRA with SMSH.

Andraca yauichui sp. n., a new species endemic to mid elevation forests of Taiwan (Bombycidae sensu lato, Lepidoptera).

A new endemic, montane species of the genus Andraca, A. yauichui sp. nov., in Taiwan is described. It can be separated well from a lower montane, notable tea tree pest A. theae (Matsumura, 1909), based on morphological characters of adult, e.g. larger wingspan size, head vertex white rather than brown, valval apex truncate rather than bifurcate, and final instar larva, e.g. the presence of a pair of white spot on lateral part of each abdominal segment and a distinct short anal horn rather than the absence of two characters. The subgeneric placement of this new species in Andraca is also discussed.

Exploiting Intrinsic Dispersion of Metamaterials for Designing Broadband Aperture Antennas: Theory and Experimental Verification

The intrinsic frequency dispersion has usually been considered as a relevant drawback of metamaterials, limiting their application to narrowband microwave components. However, we have recently demonstrated that a particular metamaterial-based lens, consisting of a combination of an epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) material and air, is able to enhance the gain of short horn antennas over a broad frequency range. This result was achieved by exploiting the dispersive nature of ENZ metamaterials. In this communication, we further discuss the latter aspect, giving more details about the physical mechanism enabling broadband operation of shortened horns loaded with ENZ–air lenses. The discussion is supported by a set of experimental results obtained on a fabricated prototype.

Front‐to‐back ratio improvement of a short pyramidal horn antenna using metal strips/rods in LTE/cellular band

This study presents a very short pyramidal horn antenna for monitoring the radiation characteristics of mobile base-station (BS) antennas operating in the long-term evolution (LTE)/cellular band. The proposed short pyramidal horn is integrated with metal strips/rods to overcome deficiencies of the shortened horn, especially in its front-to-back (F/B) ratio. The proposed short horn antenna improves the average F/B ratio by at least 8 dB in the frequency range from 690-960 MHz by controlling the edge diffraction. The total length of the antenna, including a waveguide flange, is only approximately 0.6 λ at 800 MHz. The proposed antenna also retains good characteristics such as a monotonically increasing gain, wide bandwidth, and a good purity of polarisation. The proposed antenna can replace the dipole antenna as a reference gain antenna for both indoor and outdoor measurement systems below the L-band.

A High-Gain Wideband Low-Profile Fabry–Perot Resonator Antenna With a Conical Short Horn

A compact wideband high-gain antenna is proposed and developed by using various performance enhancement structures. First, a Fabry–Perot resonator antenna (FPRA) is investigated with a single truncated superstrate that achieves increased reflection phase, low profile, compact size, and wide bandwidth. A conical horn is then incorporated with the FPRA to enhance its gain without compromising other performances such as input impedance matching and gain bandwidth. Both simulations and experiments were carried out to validate the designs, and good agreements are obtained. A final antenna with a peak gain of 19.1 dBi and a 3-dB gain bandwidth of more than 26% is developed.

The indigenous Somba cattle of the hilly Atacora region in North-West Benin: threats and opportunities for its sustainable use.

The objective of this study was to characterize the declining Somba cattle population in its production system context. Two-hundred-twenty-four (224) cattle farm-households were surveyed in the Boukombe district, the natural habitat of the breed in North-West Benin. Information on their socioeconomic characteristics and on their herd management practices were recorded using a semi-structured questionnaire. In addition, 15 body measurements were recorded from 102 adult cattle. Three types of breeders were distinguished: the owners-herders (54.0%); the absentee owners (40.2%) and the professional herders (5.8%). The average cattle herd sizes were 4.7 ± 3.70 and 58.6 ± 22.83 heads for owner-managed and entrusted herds, respectively. Offtakes were more associated with sociocultural purposes (75.5%) than market. While crop farming was the main occupation and income source of their owners, the Somba cattle were used for ploughing during the rainy season. In contrast to the widely accepted belief that this indigenous genetic resource is mainly threatened by crossbreeding and/or replacement, our findings suggest high mortalities due to diseases, feed and water shortages and poor reproduction management as the main causes of the decline of this cattle population. Somba cattle generally have short horns and a small body size. However, bulls have significantly (P ≤ 0.05) longer horns (21.2 ± 16.44cm against 13.9 ± 7.21cm), higher height at withers (99.7 ± 6.97cm against 95.9 ± 5.76cm) and body length (149.7 ± 12.87cm against 146.8 ± 11.01cm) than cows. All surveyed farmers expressed their willingness and readiness to participate in and contribute materially or financially to any program towards a sustainable use and preservation of this breed which they perceived as hardy and embedded in their culture. We therefore argue that strategies for its sustainable use and conservation should consist of simultaneously improving general herd management practices, organizing farmers and involving them in participatory breed improvement programs.