University of Guelph

About: University of Guelph is a education organization based out in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Gene. The organization has 26542 authors who have published 50553 publications receiving 1715255 citations. The organization is also known as: U of G & Guelph University.

Differing conceptions of moral exemplarity: just, brave, and caring.

Abstract: People's conceptions of different types of moral exemplarity were examined in an attempt to augment the current emphasis on moral rationality with a fuller understanding of moral personality In Study 1 (with 805 adults), a free-listing procedure was used to generate the attributes of 3 types of moral exemplars (just, brave, and caring) In Study 2 (with 401 undergraduates), prototypicality- and personality-rating procedures were used to generate a personality profile for each type of moral exemplar and to examine the relations among them In Study 3 (with 240 undergraduates), a similarity-sorting procedure was used to identify the typologies implicit in people's understanding of these different types of moral exemplarity The findings indicate that moral excellence can be exemplified in rather divergent ways and that understanding of moral functioning would be enhanced by attention to this wider range of moral virtues

Validity and reliability of SCREEN II (Seniors in the community: risk evaluation for eating and nutrition, Version II).

Abstract: Nutrition risk screening for community-living seniors is of great interest in the health arena However, to be useful, nutrition risk indices need to be valid and reliable The following three studies describe construct validation, test–retest and inter-rater reliability of SCREEN II Study (1) seniors were recruited from the general community and from a geriatrician's clinic to complete a nutritional assessment and SCREEN II 193 older adults provided medical and nutritional history, 3 days of dietary recall and anthropometric measurements A dietitian reviewed all information collected and ranked seniors on risk: 1 (low) to 10 (high risk) Receiver operating characteristic curves were completed An abbreviated SCREEN II was developed through statistical analysis and expert ranking of the 17 items Studies (2) and (3) seniors were recruited from the community to self-administer (n=149) or be interviewed (n=97) using SCREEN II twice within 2 weeks For self-administration one index was completed via mail Interviewer administration was completed via telephone with two interviewers Intra-class correlations were calculated (1) Total and abbreviated SCREEN II have increased sensitivity and specificity as compared to SCREEN I in identifying seniors at nutritional risk (2) Test–retest reliability was adequate (intra-class correlation (ICC)=083) (3) Inter-rater reliability was adequate (ICC=083) SCREEN II appears to be a valid and reliable tool for the identification of risk for impaired nutritional states in community-living older adults, and is an improvement over SCREEN I

The predator-prey power law: Biomass scaling across terrestrial and aquatic biomes

Abstract: Ecosystems exhibit surprising regularities in structure and function across terrestrial and aquatic biomes worldwide. We assembled a global data set for 2260 communities of large mammals, invertebrates, plants, and plankton. We find that predator and prey biomass follow a general scaling law with exponents consistently near ¾. This pervasive pattern implies that the structure of the biomass pyramid becomes increasingly bottom-heavy at higher biomass. Similar exponents are obtained for community production-biomass relations, suggesting conserved links between ecosystem structure and function. These exponents are similar to many body mass allometries, and yet ecosystem scaling emerges independently from individual-level scaling, which is not fully understood. These patterns suggest a greater degree of ecosystem-level organization than previously recognized and a more predictive approach to ecological theory.

DNA barcoding Indian marine fishes

Abstract: DNA barcoding has been adopted as a global bio-identification system for animals in recent years. A major national programme on DNA barcoding of fish and marine life was initiated in India by the authors during 2006 and 115 species of marine fish covering Carangids, Clupeids, Scombrids, Groupers, Sciaenids, Silverbellies, Mullids, Polynemids and Silurids representing 79 Genera and 37 Families from the Indian Ocean have been barcoded for the first time using cytochrome c oxidase I gene (COI) of the mtDNA. The species were represented by multiple specimens and a total of 397 sequences were generated. After amplification and sequencing of 707 base pair fragment of COI, primers were trimmed which invariably generated a 655 base pair barcode sequence. The average Kimura two parameter (K2P) distances within species, genera, families, orders were 0.30%, 6.60%, 9.91%, 16.00%, respectively. In addition to barcode-based species identification system, phylogenetic relationships among the species have also been attempted. The neighbour-joining tree revealed distinct clusters in concurrence with the taxonomic status of the species.

Methane and nitrous oxide emissions from Canadian animal agriculture: A review

Abstract: Considerable evidence of climate change associated with emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) has resulted in international efforts to reduce GHG emissions. The agriculture sector contributes about 8...