Poor reproductive efficiency is a worldwide problem that has affected the dairy industry during the last several decades. In an attempt to explain the changes in reproductive physiology caused by high milk production, a model of elevated steroid metabolism in lactating dairy cows has been proposed. A slow increase in levels and low peak levels of estradiol (E₂) and progesterone (P₄) characteriz...

Biased operational sex ratios (OSRs) can drive sexual selection on members of the over-represented sex via competition for mates, causing higher variance and skew in reproductive success (RS) among them if an individual's quality is a persistent characteristic. Alternatively, costs of reproduction may degrade breeding performance, creating the opportunity for members of the limiting sex to swit...

Tritium behavior in the breeder/coolant plays a crucial role in keeping the tritium loss under an allowable limit and realizing high tritium recovery efficiency. In this paper, progress toward the development of a comprehensive 3D predictive capability is discussed and presented. The sequence of transport processes leading to tritium release includes diffusion and convection through the PbLi, t...

In this study, we test whether patterns of territory inheritance, social mate choice and female-biased natal dispersal act as inbreeding avoidance mechanisms in the cooperatively breeding Seychelles warbler. Our results show that Seychelles warblers do not reduce the likelihood of inbreeding by avoiding related individuals as mates. The occurrence of natural and experimentally induced territory...

NPIP-mandated serological screening of a multiplier breeder flock detected possible Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) exposure. The flock was quarantined and further samples including blood and choanal swabs were collected and sent to a research facility for independent testing and confirmation. Subsequent analyses included diagnosis by Serum Plate Agglutination (SPA), MG-specific Polymerase Chain ...

A numerical approach using the discrete element method (DEM) has been applied to study the thermo-mechanical properties of ceramic breeder pebble beds. This numerical scheme is able to predict the inelastic behavior observed in a loading and unloading operation. In addition, it demonstrates that the average value of contact force increases linearly with overall pressure, but at a much faster ra...