• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.567-570
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• 1992

Variance components were estimated for calf daily gain from birth to 45 days of age in small (S), medium (M) and large (L) lines of beef cattle. Analyses involved records collected on 682 (S), 510 (M) and 228 (L) calves in Iowa, USA from 1978 to 1986. Cytoplasmic lines were determined based on the foundation female in the maternal lineage of each animal. Data were analyzed separately by size line using a derivative-free restricted maximum likelihood procedure under an animal model including additive direct (a), additive maternal (m), cytoplasmic lineage effects and covariance (a, m). The heritabilities for direct and maternal, and the cytoplasmic effects, were 0.13, 0.35 and 0.00 for S, 0.14, 0.32 and 0.00 for M, and 0.05, 0.33 and 0.03 for L. Genetic correlations (a, m) for S, M and L were -0.33, -0.57 and -1.00, respectively. The maternal genetic effect was the most important for calf growth between birth and 45 dyas of age and cytoplasmic variances were not important in any line.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.18 no.9
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• pp.1231-1236
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• 2005

Genetic parameters for first lactation milk production based on test day (TD) records of 56319 Iranian Holstein cows from 655 herds that first calved between 1991 and 2001 were estimated with restricted maximum likelihood method under an Animal model. Traits analyzed were milk yield and milk fat percentage. Heritability for TD records were highest in second half of the lactation, ranging from 0.11 to 0.19 for milk yield and 0.038 to 0.094 for milk fat percentage respectively. Estimates for lactation records for these traits were 0.24 and 0.26 respectively. Genetic correlations between individual TD records were high for consecutive TD records (>0.9) and decreased as the interval between tests increased. Estimates of genetic correlations of TD yield with corresponding lactation yield were highest (0.78 to 0.86) for mid-lactation (TD3 to TD8). Phenotypic correlations were lower than corresponding genetic correlations, but both followed the same pattern. For milk fat percentage no clear pattern was found. Results of this study suggested that TD yields especially in mid-lactation may be used for genetic evaluation instead of 305-day yield.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.575-579
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• 2000

First lactation records of 683 Murrah buffaloes maintained at NDRI, Karnal which were progeny of 84 sires used for comparing the heritability estimates of age at first calving, first lactation milk yield and first service period under single and multiple trait models using restricted maximum likelihood (REML) method of estimation under an individual animal model. The results indicated that the heritability estimates may vary under single and multiple trait models depending upon the magnitude of genetic and environmental correlation among the traits being considered. Therefore, a single or multiple trait model is recommended for estimation of variance components depending upon the goal of breeding programme. However, there may not be any advantage of considering a trait with zero or near zero heritability and having no or very low genetic correlation with other traits in the model. Lower heritability estimates of part lactation yield (120-day milk yield) implied that there may not be any advantage of considering this trait in place of actual 305-day milk yield, whereas, comparable heritability estimates of predicted 305-day milk yield suggested that it could be used for sire evaluation to reduce the cost of milk recording under field conditions.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.9-14
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• 2011

This paper presents a new fast motion estimation method where search ranges are determined by the probabilities of motion vector differences (MVDs), which is an adaptive/dynamic search range (ASR) method. The MVDs' distribution is investigated and its parameter is estimated by the maximum likelihood estimator. With the estimated distribution, we show that the search ranges can be efficiently restricted by a prefixed probability for MVDs. Experimental results showed that the performance of the proposed method is very similar to that of the full search algorithm in PSNR but it enables significant reduction in the computational complexity. In addition, they revealed that the proposed method determine the search ranges much more efficiently than the conventional ASR methods.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.459-466
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• 2019

Objective: This study assessed the possible existence of genotype by environment interactions for milk, fat and protein yields in Holstein cattle raised in one of the most important milk production basins in Brazil. Methods: Changes in the genetic parameters and breeding values were evaluated for 57,967 animals from three distinct regions of southern Brazil, divided according to differences in climate. The genotype by environment interaction was determined by genetic correlations between regions, estimated by the restricted maximum likelihood, considering the animal model. Bull rankings were investigated to verify the ratio of coincident selected animals between regions for each trait. Results: The estimates of heritability coefficients were similar between two regions, but were lower in the third evaluated area, for all traits. Genetic correlations between regions were high, ranging from 0.91 to 0.99 for milk, fat and protein yields, representing the absence of a genotype by environment interaction for productive traits. The percentage of selection error between regions for the top 10% of animals ranged from 0.88% to 2.07% for milk yield, 0.99% to 2.46% for fat yield and 0.59% to 3.15% for protein yield. Conclusion: A slight change in genotype between areas was expected since no significant genotype by environment interactions were identified, facilitating the process of selecting Holstein cattle in southern Brazil.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.633-639
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• 2008

The genetic relationship of gestation length (GL) with birth and weaning weight (BW, WW) was investigated using data collected from the Hanwoo Experiment Station, National Institute of Animal Science, RDA, Republic of Korea. Analytical mixed models including birth year‐season, sex of calf, linear and quadratic covariates of age of dam (days) and linear covariate of age at weaning (days) as fixed effects were used. Corresponding restricted maximum likelihood (REML) and Bayesian estimates of variance components and heritability were obtained with two models; Model 1 included only direct genetic effect and Model 2 included direct genetic, maternal genetic and permanent environmental effect. All the genetic parameter estimates from REML were corresponding to the Bayesian estimates. Direct heritability estimates for GL, BW, and WW were 0.48, 0.33 and 0.25 by Model 1. From Model 2, direct and maternal heritability estimates were 0.38 and 0.03 for GL, 0.14 and 0.05 for BW, and 0.08 and 0.05 for WW. Genetic correlation estimates between direct and maternal effects were 0.05 for GL, 0.59 for BW, and 0.52 for WW. Estimates of direct genetic correlation between GL and BW (WW) were 0.44 (0.21). Positive genetic correlation of GL with BW and WW imply that selection for greater BW or WW would lead to prolonged gestation length.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.478-483
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• 2008

Records of a Northeastern Thai indigenous cattle line population were used to estimate genetic parameters and annual trends for calf weights. The data set comprised records of 1,922 and 1,489 animals for birth and weaning weight, respectively born from 1993 to 2004. A bivariate analysis was carried out for variance and covariance components estimations using average information restricted maximum likelihood procedure. Average estimated breeding value and maternal breeding value of the animals born in 1993 were set to zero as a base group. Genetic trends of each trait were calculated by regressing average estimated breeding values and maternal breeding values on birth year of calves. Phenotypic trends for each trait were calculated by regressing the yearly adjusted weight on birth year of calves. The results revealed that the estimate of direct heritability, maternal heritability and maternal permanent environmental variance as a proportion of phenotypic variance for birth and weaning weight was 0.40, 0.14 and 0.04; 0.27, 0.05 and 0.23, respectively. Direct heritability was moderately heritable and genetic improvement through selection can be achieved. The estimate of phenotypic, direct genetic, maternal genetic and maternal permanent environmental correlation between birth and weaning weight was 0.48, 0.65, 0.98 and 0.73, respectively. The phenotypic trend, genetic trends of estimated breeding value and maternal breeding value for birth weight was 0.18, 0.04 and 0.01 kg/year, respectively. The phenotypic trend, genetic trends of estimated breeding value and maternal breeding value for weaning weight was -1.36, 0.32 and 0.03 kg/year, respectively. As maternal genetic effect was considerably less important than direct genetic effect, selection for improved weaning weight of this Northeastern Thai indigenous cattle line can place more emphasis on the direct genetic effect.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.25 no.9
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• pp.1216-1222
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• 2012

Somatic cells count (SCC), milk yield (MY) and pedigree information of 2,791 first lactation cows that calved between 1990 and 2010 on 259 Thai farms were used to estimate genetic parameters and trends for SCC and its genetic association with MY. The SCC were log-transformed (lnSCC) to make them normally distributed. An average information-restricted maximum likelihood procedure was used to estimate variance components. A bivariate animal model that considered herd-yr-season, calving age, and regression additive genetic group as fixed effects, and animal and residual as random effects was used for genetic evaluation. Heritability estimates were 0.12 (SE = 0.19) for lnSCC, and 0.31 (SE = 0.06) for MY. The genetic correlation estimate between lnSCC and MY was 0.26 (SE = 0.59). Mean yearly estimated breeding values during the last 20 years increased for SCC (49.02 cells/ml/yr, SE = 26.81 cells/ml/yr; p = 0.08), but not for MY (0.37 kg/yr, SE = 0.87 kg/yr; p = 0.68). Sire average breeding values for SCC and MY were higher than those of cows and dams (p<0.01). Heritability estimates for lnSCC and MY and their low but positive genetic correlation suggested that selection for low SCC may be feasible in this population as it is in other populations of dairy cows. Thus, selection for high MY and low SCC should be encouraged in Thai dairy improvement programs to increase profitability by improving both cow health and milk yield.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.798-803
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• 2018

Objective: The objective of this study was to estimate the genetic parameters for milk ${\beta}$-hydroxybutyrate (BHBA), acetone (Ac), fat protein ratio (FPR), and energy balance (EB) using milk test day records and investigate the effect of early lactation FPR and EB on milk ketone body concentrations. Methods: Total 262,940 test-day records collected from Korea Animal Improvement Association during the period of 2012 to 2016 were used in this study. BHBA and Ac concentrations in milk were measured by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). FPR values were obtained using test day records of fat and protein percentage. EB was calculated using previously developed equation based on parity, lactation week, and milk composition data. Genetic parameters were estimated by restricted maximum likelihood procedure based on repeatability model using Wombat program. Results: Elevated milk BHBA and Ac concentrations were observed during the early lactation under the negative energy balance. Milk FPR tends to decrease with the decreasing ketone body concentrations. Heritability estimates for milk BHBA, Ac, EB, and FPR ranged from 0.09 to 0.14, 0.23 to 0.31, 0.19 to 0.52, and 0.16 to 0.42 respectively at parity 1, 2, 3, and 4. The overall heritability for BHBA, Ac, EB and FPR were 0.29, 0.32, 0.58, and 0.38 respectively. A common pattern was observed in heritability of EB and FPR along with parities. Conclusion: FPR and EB can be suggested as potential predictors for risk of hyperketonemia. The heritability estimates of milk BHBA, Ac, EB, and FPR indicate that the selective breeding may contribute to maintaining the milk ketone bodies at optimum level during early lactation.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.30 no.9
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• pp.1239-1244
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• 2017

Objective: This study was conducted to estimate breed-specific variance components for total number born (TNB), number born alive (NBA) and mortality rate from birth through weaning including stillbirths (MORT) of three main swine breeds in Korea. In addition, the importance of including maternal genetic and service sire effects in estimation models was evaluated. Methods: Records of farrowing traits from 6,412 Duroc, 18,020 Landrace, and 54,254 Yorkshire sows collected from January 2001 to September 2016 from different farms in Korea were used in the analysis. Animal models and the restricted maximum likelihood method were used to estimate variances in animal genetic, permanent environmental, maternal genetic, service sire and residuals. Results: The heritability estimates ranged from 0.072 to 0.102, 0.090 to 0.099, and 0.109 to 0.121 for TNB; 0.087 to 0.110, 0.088 to 0.100, and 0.099 to 0.107 for NBA; and 0.027 to 0.031, 0.050 to 0.053, and 0.073 to 0.081 for MORT in the Duroc, Landrace and Yorkshire breeds, respectively. The proportion of the total variation due to permanent environmental effects, maternal genetic effects, and service sire effects ranged from 0.042 to 0.088, 0.001 to 0.031, and 0.001 to 0.021, respectively. Spearman rank correlations among models ranged from 0.98 to 0.99, demonstrating that the maternal genetic and service sire effects have small effects on the precision of the breeding value. Conclusion: Models that include additive genetic and permanent environmental effects are suitable for farrowing traits in Duroc, Landrace, and Yorkshire populations in Korea. This breed-specific variance components estimates for litter traits can be utilized for pig improvement programs in Korea.