The trend of breeding value research in animal science: bibliometric analysis.

This study aims to identify trends and hot topics in breeding value to support researchers in finding new directions for future research in that area. The data of this study consist of 7072 academic studies on breeding value in the Web of Science database. Network visualizations and in-depth bibliometric analysis were performed on cited references, authors, countries, institutions, journals, and keywords through CiteSpace. VanRaden (2008) is the most cited work and has an essential place in the field. The most prolific writer is Ignacy Misztal. While the most productive country in breeding value studies is the United States, the People's Republic of China is an influential country that has experienced a strong citation burst in the last 3 years. The National Institute for Agricultural Research and Wageningen University are important institutions that play a critical role in connecting other institutions. Also, these two institutions have the highest centrality values. "Genomic prediction" is the outstanding sub-study field in the active clusters appearing in the analysis results. We have summarized the literature on breeding value, including publication information, country, institution, author, and journal. We can say that hot topics today are "genome-wide association", "feed efficiency", and "genomic prediction". While the studies conducted in the past years have focused on economic value and accuracy, the studies conducted in recent years have started to be studies that consider technological developments and changing world conditions such as global warming and carbon emission.

Reassessing the length of labour in healthy Turkish women: a retrospective and descriptive study.

This study aims to use the partograph among Turkish women to (a) assess birth curves, (b) define the phase duration of labour, and (c) identify the factors that affect labour. This study was conducted with 496 women and features a retrospective descriptive analysis and a cross-sectional design. The mean duration for the active phase was 5.75 hours (minimum: 0.92 to maximum: 20.00) in nulliparous women and 3.50 hours (minimum: 0.42 to maximum: 20.00) in multiparous women. The length of the active phase was significantly longer for infants with a length greater than 50 cm according to bivariate analyses. Lastly, according to multivariate analyses, the gestational age was the only covariate that was significantly associated with a prolonged labour (OR: 1.29, 95% CI: 1.03-1.62). This study demonstrated that the duration of the active phase for Turkish women lasted longer than Friedman's study both for nulliparous and multiparous women. Prospective studies are necessary in order to create the birth curves of Turkish women. Impact statement What is already known on this subject? Friedman was the first researcher to describe the curve and phases of labour in 1954. However, the demographic data of women has changed over the past 50 years. Furthermore, it has been reported that race may influence the duration of labour. There is only one previous study that examined the duration of labour among Turkish women. This study's results suggest a shorter duration of labour in comparison to Friedman's sample. What do the results of this study add? The mean duration for the active phase was 5.75 hours (minimum: 0.92 - maximum: 20.00) in the nulliparous and 3.50 hours (minimum: 0.42 - maximum: 20.00) in multiparous healthy Turkish women. The duration of the active phase in this study was longer than that observed in Friedman's study, both for nulliparous and multiparous women. Also, the nulliparous length of the second stage of labour was higher in this study than it was observed to be in Friedman's study. In addition, the length of the active phase was significantly longer for infants with a length greater than 50 cm according to bivariate analyses. Lastly, according to multivariate analyses, gestational age was the only covariate that can be significantly associated with a prolonged labour (OR: 1.29, 95% CI: 1.03-1.62) in nulliparous women. In other words, a higher gestational age tended to prolong the active phase of labour. What are the implications of these findings for clinical practice and/or further research? The results of this study can be used to reduce the number of unnecessary interventions used in labour management. Further research is needed to confirm the current findings in other races. For instance, additional research should examine the correlation between the labour models and the women's length of labour.

Psychometric properties of the critical care family needs inventory-emergency department.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to test the reliability and validity of the Turkish version of the Critical Care Family Needs Inventory-Emergency Department (CCFNI-ED) in Turkey. METHODS: This study used a cross-sectional survey design. The questionnaire was administered to 400 family members of patients with a critical illness in an emergency department. The 40-item English version of the CCFNI-ED was translated into Turkish following the standard back-translation methodology. Confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses (CFA and EFA, respectively) were carried out using principal component analysis with varimax rotation to test the scale's construct validity. We used Cronbach's alpha to examine the CCFNI-ED's internal consistency reliability. RESULTS: The CFA failed to confirm the original Australian factor structure for our sample. The original scale was then modified based on the EFA and the best possible fitting model was obtained for the Turkish family member sample. The Cronbach's alpha of the modified scale was 0.91 and those for the subscales ranged from 0.68 to 0.87. CONCLUSIONS: The psychometric evaluation showed satisfactory validity and reliability estimates, supporting the use of the Turkish version of the CCFNI-ED with a sample of family members of critically ill patients in an emergency department.

Genetic parameter estimates of growth curve and reproduction traits in Japanese quail.

The goal of selection studies in broilers is to obtain genetically superior chicks in terms of major economic traits, which are mainly growth rate, meat yield, and feed conversion ratio. Multiple selection schedules for growth and reproduction are used in selection programs within commercial broiler dam lines. Modern genetic improvement methods have not been applied in experimental quail lines. The current research was conducted to estimate heritabilities and genetic correlations for growth and reproduction traits in a Japanese quail flock. The Gompertz equation was used to determine growth curve parameters. The Gibbs sampling under a multi-trait animal model was applied to estimate the heritabilities and genetic correlations for these traits. A total of 948 quail were used with complete pedigree information to estimate the genetic parameters. Heritability estimates of BW, absolute and relative growth rates at 5 wk of age (AGR and RGR), ß0 and ß2 parameters, and age at point of inflection (IPT) of Gompertz growth curve, total egg number (EN) from the day of first lay to 24 wk of age were moderate to high, with values ranging from 0.25 to 0.40. A low heritability (0.07) for fertility (FR) and a strong genetic correlation (0.83) between FR and EN were estimated in our study. Body weight exhibited negative genetic correlation with EN, FR, RGR, and IPT. This genetic antagonism among the mentioned traits may be overcome using modern poultry breeding methods such as selection using multi-trait best linear unbiased prediction and crossbreeding.

Cultural Validation of the Turkish Version of the Infertility Self-Efficacy Scale-Short Form (TISE-SF).

PURPOSE: To translate and test the psychometric properties of the Turkish version of the Infertility Self-Efficacy Scale-Short Form (TISE-SF). METHODS: The convenience sample consisted of 120 infertile women. A psychometric research design was used with content and construct validity and reliability. RESULTS: Cronbach's alpha of .78 showed moderate reliability, whereas item-total correlations ranged from .30 to .54. Factor analysis extracted a single component, explaining 40.3% of the variance. Kendall W showed agreement with each expert regarding the appropriateness of the items, confirming the content validity of the translated TISE-SF. CONCLUSION: The results supported the construct validity and reliability of the TISE-SF for measuring infertility self-efficacy in a population of Turkish women. IMPLICATIONS: Evaluating infertile women's perception of self-efficacy with the TISE-SF may be useful in clinical studies in Turkey. TISE-SF can be used by professionals as a counseling tool to help guide women in managing their treatments at infertility centers.

Japanese quail meat quality: characteristics, heritabilities, and genetic correlations with some slaughter traits.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the genetic parameters of several breast meat quality traits and their genetic relationships with some slaughter traits [BW, breast yield (BRY), and abdominal fat yield (AFY)]. In total, 1,093 pedigreed quail were slaughtered at 35 d of age to measure BRY, AFY, and breast meat quality traits [ultimate pH (pHU), Commission Internationale d'Eclairage color parameters (L*, lightness; a*, redness; and b*, yellowness), thawing and cooking loss (TL and CL, respectively), and Warner-Bratzler shear value (WB)]. The average pHU, L*, a*, and b* were determined to be 5.94, 43.09, 19.24, and 7.74, respectively. In addition, a very high WB average (7.75 kg) indicated the firmness of breast meat. High heritabilities were estimated for BW, BRY, and AFY (0.51, 0.49, and 0.35). Genetic correlations of BW between BRY and AFY were found to be high (0.32 and 0.58). On the other hand, the moderate negative relationship between BRY and AFY (-0.24) implies that selection for breast yield should not increase abdominal fat. The pHU was found to be the most heritable trait (0.64), whereas the other meat quality traits showed heritabilities in the range of 0.39 to 0.48. Contrary to chickens, the genetic correlation between pHU and L* was low. The pHU exhibited a negative and high correlation with BW and AFY, whereas L* showed a positive but smaller relationship with these traits. Moreover, pHU exhibited high negative correlations (-0.43 and -0.62) with TL and WB, whereas L* showed a moderate relationship (0.24) with CL. This genetic study confirmed that the multi-trait selection could be used to improve meat quality traits. Further, the ultimate pH of breast meat is a relevant selection criterion due to its strong relationships with either water-holding capacity and texture or low abdominal fatness.

Nonlinear mixed effects modeling of growth in Japanese quail.

The aim of this study was to examine the use of a nonlinear mixed modeling approach to growth studies of Japanese quail. Weekly BW measurements of 89 female and 89 male quail were used in the study. A well-known logistic growth function was used in the analysis. The function was expanded to include a sex effect and random bird effects in ß0 and ß2 parameters. Analyses were performed via SAS 9.2 software. The performance of 3 models, a fixed effects model (model 1) including only sex effect, a mixed effects model (model 2) including sex effect in ß0 and ß2 parameters and random bird effect in ß0, and a mixed effects model (model 3) including sex and random bird effects in ß0 and ß2 parameters, was compared. The minimized value of -2 times the log-likelihood, Akaike information criterion, corrected version of Akaike information criterion, and Schwarz information criterion values indicated a better fit of model 3 relative to other competitive models. Furthermore, the error variance reduction in model 2 and model 3 compared with model 1 was 60 and 65%, respectively, indicating the better fit of the mixed effect models. Significant differences between sexes were also determined in ß0 and ß2 parameters, in which the males, on average, had lower ß0 and higher ß2 parameters than females.

Investigation of nonlinear models to describe long-term egg production in Japanese quail.

In this study, long-term egg production was monitored in a Japanese quail flock, which had not undergone any genetic improvement, for 52 wk as of the age of sexual maturity. The study aimed to detect some traits with respect to egg production, to determine the cumulative hen-housed egg numbers, and to compare goodness of fit of different nonlinear models for the percentage of hen-day egg production. The mean age at first egg was 38.9 d and the age at 50% egg production was 45.3 d. The quail reached peak production at 15 wk of age (wk 9 of egg production period) when the percentage of hen-day egg production was found to be 94%. The cumulative hen-housed egg number for 52 wk as of the age of sexual maturity was 253.08. The monomolecular function, a nonsigmoid model, was used in the nonlinear regression analysis of the cumulative egg numbers. Parameters a, b, and c of the monomolecular model were estimated to be 461.70, 473.31, and 0.065, respectively. Gamma, McNally, Adams-Bell, and modified compartmental models, widely used in hens previously, were used in the nonlinear regression analysis of the percentages of hen-day egg production. The goodness of fit for these models was compared using the values of pseudo-R², Akaike's information criterion, and Bayesian information criterion. It was determined that all the models are adequate but that the Adams-Bell model displayed a slightly better fit for the percentage of hen-day egg production in Japanese quail than others.

Evaluation of eNOS gene polymorphisms in relation to BMD in postmenopausal women.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the relations between T(-786)C and Glu298Asp polymorphisms of the endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) gene and BMD in postmenopausal Turkish women. METHODS: The T(-786)C and Glu298Asp polymorphisms were genotyped by PCR-RFLP method in 311 postmenopausal osteoporotic women (OP) and in 305 age-matched postmenopausal females (CG) with normal BMD. RESULTS: None of the SNPs of the eNOS gene was significantly associated with BMD at the lumbar spine, femoral neck, Ward's triangle and femoral trochanter in the combined group. Mean BMD values were therefore found to be similar across the genotypes in postmenopausal Turkish women. However, there was a significant association between the T(-786)C polymorphism and BMD values at the lumbar spine in the normal control group (P=0.005), and at the femoral trochanter in the osteoporotic patients (P=0.046). The mean value of the lumbar spine BMD in the normal controls was significantly higher in women with the TC genotype of the T(-786)C polymorphism than in women with the TT genotype (P=0.0012). Women with the CC genotype of the T(-786)C polymorphism in the osteoporotic patients had significantly higher BMD value at the femoral trochanter than those with the TC (P=0.018) and TT genotypes (P=0.024). Frequencies of the TC heterozygotes for T(-786)C polymorphism were significantly higher among osteoporotic subjects than normal controls. Also, the CC and TT genotype frequencies of control group were significantly higher than those of the osteoporotic group at the femoral neck. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that, although the biological role of the nitric oxide synthases is well established, our study does not suggest that eNOS gene polymorphisms, T(-786)C and Glu298Asp, are major contributors to adult bone mineral density in the postmenopausal Turkish women.

No association between bone mineral density and transforming growth factor beta gene T(861-20)-C polymorphism in Turkish postmenopausal women.

The aim of the study was to examine whether the TGF-beta1 T(861-20)-C gene polymorphism might be useful in identifying individuals with increased susceptibility to postmenopausal bone loss within the Turkish women population. T(861-20)-C polymorphism was genotyped in 616 postmenopausal women selected from the Turkish population: 311 postmenopausal osteoporotic women (OP) aged 45-65 years (mean age 58 years) and a control group (CG) of 305 postmenopausal women in the same age range (mean age 53 years) with normal bone mineral density. We have not found any significant differences in the frequency of the individual genotypes between the osteoporotic and control groups. The distribution of the T(861-20)-C genotypes was for Lumbar spine, CC, 74.0% in OP, 75.1% in CG; TC, 24.1% in OP, 23.9% in CG; TT, 1.9% in OP, 1.0% in CG; and for femoral neck, CC, 76.8% in OP, 72.8% in CG; TC, 22.1% in OP, 25.5% in CG; TT 1.1% in OP, 1.7% in CG. T(861-20)-C polymorphism was not found to be associated with bone mineral density in postmenopausal Turkish women. It was argued that this will be a pioneering study for the future research and therapies.