Body linear measurements, and specifically heart girth (HG), have been shown to be useful predictors of cattle liveweight. To test the accuracy of body linear measurements for predicting liveweight, crossbred dairy cattle of different genotypes were measured and weighed. A total of 352 mature cows and 100 heifers were weighed using an electronic weighing scale and measurements of HG, body lengt...

The recent experimental data obtained by the OBELIX group on p̄D and p̄He total annihilation cross sections are analyzed. The combined analysis of these data with existing antiprotonic atom data allows, for the first time, the imaginary parts of the S-wave scattering lengths for the two nuclei to be extracted. The obtained values are: Im a 0 = [−0.62±0.02(stat)±0.04(sys)] fm for p̄D and Im a 0 = [...

The objectives of this study were to examine whether sustained exercise training at four water velocities, i.e. nearly still water (control), 1 body length (BL) s-1, 2 BL s-1 and 4 BL s-1, has effects on swimming performance and digestive metabolism in juvenile black carp (Mylopharyngodon piceus). The results demonstrated that fish subjected to sustained training at 2 and 4 BL s-1 showed signif...

The present investigation was undertaken to study the physical and morphometric characteristics in indigenous cattle of Assam. The data pertain to 339 indigenous cattle of different categories. The physical characteristics included colour pattern of body coat, muzzle, tail switch, hoof and horn. Body length, height at wither, heart girth, pouch girth, length of tail, switch, neck, ear and head ...

Predator-induced phenotypic plasticity is the ability of prey to adapt to their native predator. However, owing to environmental changes, encounters with unknown predators are inevitable. Therefore, study of prey and non-native predator interaction will reveal the primary stages of adaptive strategies in prey-predator interactions in the context of evolutionary processes. Here, Xenopus tadpoles...

Ragworms Nereis diversicolor live in burrows which, if deeper than 5 to 10 cm, offer a safe refuge from most of their predators. Burrow depth must be ca 15 cm before they live out of reach of all predators. Burrow depth increases with body slze, levelling off at ca 15 cm, when the depth refuge is reached. Worms live at greater depths in sand than In mud, but this effect disappears if worms with...

Phenotypic variation in body size can result from within-cohort variation in birth dates, among-individual growth variation and size-selective processes. We explore the relative effects of these processes on the maintenance of wide observed body size variation in stream-dwelling brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis). Based on the analyses of multiple recaptures of individual fish, it appears that...

Prolonged observations of children severely malnourished in early life suggested that permanent stunting in body length and head size resulted (1, 2). Studies with small laboratory animals lent support to these observations (3). Besides the obvious species differences, there were other important distinctions between the two types of studies. Whereas the experimental animals after the early insu...

The fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is the most avoidable handicap of newborns. It describes prenatal damages which result from the alcohol consumption of the mother. These can be: reduced body length and weight (pre- and postnatal), microcephaly, musculoskeletal, mental and statomotoric developmental retardations and impaired coordinative ability. There are preventive measures of which the effici...

Fish fast-starts are rapid events caused by the simultaneous onset of muscle activity along one side of the body. Spine curvature and the strain and electromyographic activity in white muscle were measured for fast-starts in the common carp Cyprinus carpio. The first bend of the fast-start was powered by muscle on the concave side: muscle fibres on this side were activated and began shortening ...