Seven single nucleotide polymorphisms in six genes (LEP, IGF2, MC1R, PMCH, CAPN1, and CAST) which had been shown to affect traits of economic importance were used to compare the allele frequencies and diversity of a Canadian population of Angus cattle and an International population. Genetic diversity was also measured using 22 microsatellite markers that were assumed not to be affected by selection.<p> The Canadian population consisted of 107 cows and 57 bulls, while the Canadian Angus Associations International Embryo Program population consisted of 26 calves. Black and red animals were represented in each population. Although the bulls of the Canadian population represent Angus from 16-17 years ago, and the cows of the Canadian population represent Angus from 2006-2007, no difference was observed in either the set of microsatellite genotypes nor the SNP genotypes.<p> A significant difference was found between the Canadian and International populations at CAST, with the Canadian population exhibiting a higher frequency of the favorable A allele than the International population. This allele is positively correlated with tenderness. No significant differences were found for the other genes. Both populations were in Hardy Weinburg equilibrium for all genes except MC1R, which affects coat color.<p> Using microsatellites, the total genetic variability of the two Angus populations was measured, showing that 93% of total variability was attributed to differences within, and not between, populations. Randomly chosen cattle could also be assigned to the correct population 97% of the time, based on microsatellite genotypes, and 75% of the time based on SNP genotypes.<p> Mean heterozygosity was 0.578 based on microsatellites and 0.332 based on SNPs. The proportion of genetic variability between the two populations was 3% based on microsatellites and 7% based on SNPs. It is possible this reflects the results of indirect selection differences in various countries.<p> Finally, Neis genetic distance was measured between the Canadian and International populations. The Canadian and International populations had a pairwise genetic distance of 0.097. In comparison, the genetic distance of Canadian Angus was 0.135 to Blonde dAquitaine, 0.251 to Simmental, 0.258 to Gelbvieh, 0.281 to Limousin, 0.305 to Holstein, 0.334 to Belgian Blue, and 0.452 to Hereford based on microsatellite markers.<p> The results of this study show that the Angus breed contains as much or more genetic diversity than other cattle breeds. Greatest genetic differences exist between individual animals, not between populations of cattle in Canada and other countries.

Dark (Microdipodops megacephalus) and pallid (Microdipodops pallidus) kangaroo mice are ecological specialists found in arid regions of the Great Basin Desert of the southwestern United States. Historical and current habitat alterations have resulted in disjunct distributions and severely diminished abundance of both species. Phylogenetic and phylogeographic research has discovered unique mitochondrial clades within M. megacephalus (eastern, central, western, and Idaho clades) and M. pallidus (eastern and western clades). Population-genetic analyses targeting the same mitochondrial markers also have found low amounts of maternal gene flow among the clades. However, little is known about population structure and genetic demography (historical and current migration rates, historical and current effective population sizes) within each mitochondrial clade. Herein, nuclear-encoded microsatellite loci were isolated to evaluate the underlying processes that may have molded kangaroo mouse relationships and distributions. Results from population-genetic analyses support previous findings that there are at least three genetically distinct clades within M. megacephalus and two such clades within M. pallidus. Three clades of M. megacephalus appear to have undergone different demographic histories, with little to no migration among clades. The two clades of M. pallidus also appear to have experienced varying demographic change although there has been small but recent migration between them. Additionally, the contemporary effective population sizes of all clades within Microdipodops appear to be low, suggesting that these populations may have difficulty coping with environmental pressures and hence are at risk of extinction. Results of this study are consistent with the recommendation that each Microdipodops clade should be managed as separate units and continually monitored in an effort to conserve these highly specialized taxa.

Since 1949 Taiwan and China have been governed by different political regimes. Nevertheless, after more than fifty years, research shows that women in both societies now enjoy significantly higher social status and have lower fertility rates. Despite well-documented literature on the relationship between fertility and women??s status in Taiwan and China, no systematic empirical research has compared the two. This dissertation was designed to investigate the effects of women??s status on fertility and sterilization behaviors in China and Taiwan by means of multi-level analysis focusing on women??s education levels and employment status as predictors at both the individual and aggregate levels. To examine the influence of enforced policy, in China??s models, variables were added about whether the participants had a government-issued one-child certificate or had complied with the childbirth quota set by local authorities. Most results are consistent with our hypotheses. At the macro level, female college graduation rate is significant in Taiwan but not in China. One-child certificate rate is significantly correlated with provincial-level number of Child Ever Born (CEB). At the micro level of Poisson and logistic models, women with status are significantly more likely to have smaller numbers of CEB and lower sterilization usage. Survival analysis that simultaneously analyzed time duration and event occurrence showed dynamic effects of women??s status on the probability of a first, second and third childbirth. The Hierarchical Generalized Linear Models (HGLM) method shows both some direct and some interactive effects of contextual variables on fertility and contraceptive behaviors. In both countries, wives?? educational levels showed the greatest numbers of significant correlations with the dependent variables. Both Western socioeconomically based demographic transition theory and Asian planned demographic transition theory in China receive empirical support in the findings. Methodological and policy implications for future studies are discussed. The findings of this dissertation, particularly the micro-macro linkages, contribute to an explanation of how higher women??s status and lower fertility rates across the two regimes emerged from both common and disparate processes. This dissertation also illustrates how multi-level investigations of fertility and women??s status could be implemented in other parts of the world.

Diss.--Freiburg (Breisgau), 2003. / Résumé en anglais et en allemand. Bibliogr. p. 231-240.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Uppsala : Uppsala universitet, 2009. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

Thèse de doctorat : Sciences économiques : Paris 12 : 2004. / Titre provenant de l'écran-titre.

Reproduction de : Thèse de doctorat : Sciences économiques : Cergy : 2006. / Titre provenant de l'écran titre. Bibliogr. p.122-123. Index.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 50-61). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon State University, 2010. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 111-121). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 165-179).