The accumulation of inbreeding and the loss of genetic diversity is a potential problem in the modern dairy cattle breeds. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to analyze the pedigrees of Canadian Holstein and Jersey cattle to estimate the past and current rates of inbreeding and genetic diversity, and to identify the main causes of diversity loss. Completeness and depth of the pedigrees were good for both breeds. For Holsteins, the average rates of inbreeding per generation showed a decreasing trend in recent years when compared with the 1990s. The estimated current effective population size was about 115 for Holsteins and is not expected to significantly change in the near future if generation intervals stay at current value, as rates of increase in inbreeding and coancestry showed decreasing trends. For Jerseys, the estimated effective population size was about 55 and it is expected to decrease in the near future due to the observed increasing rates of coancestry and inbreeding. Ancestors with the highest marginal genetic contributions to the gene pool in current years and with the highest contributions to inbreeding were identified. The 2 most heavily used and represented ancestors in the Holstein pedigree (i.e., Round Oak Rag Apple Elevation and his son Hanoverhill Starbuck), accounted for 30% of inbreeding. Analyses revealed that the most important cause of genetic diversity loss in both breeds was genetic drift accumulated over nonfounder generations, which occurred due to small effective population size. Therefore, a need exists in both breeds, particularly in Jerseys, for managing selection and mating decisions to control future coancestry and inbreeding, which would lead to better handling of the effective population size.

Background: As an ever-growing popular service, telehealth catered for better access to high-quality healthcare services. It is more valuable and cost-effective, particularly in the middle of the current COVID-19 pandemic. Accordingly, this study aimed to systematically review the features and challenges of telehealth-based services developed to support COVID-19 patients and healthcare providers.Methods: A comprehensive search was done for the English language and peer-reviewed articles published until November 2020 using PubMed and Scopus electronic databases. In this review paper, only studies focusing on the telehealth-based service to support COVID-19 patients and healthcare providers were included. The first author's name, publication year, country of the research, study objectives, outcomes, function type including screening, triage, prevention, diagnosis, treatment or follow-up, target population, media, communication type, guideline-based design, main findings, and challenges were extracted, classified, and tabulated.Results: Of the 5,005 studies identified initially, 64 met the eligibility criteria. The studies came from 18 countries. Most of them were conducted in the United States and China. Phone calls, mobile applications, videoconferencing or video calls, emails, websites, text messages, mixed-reality, and teleradiology software were used as the media for communication. The majority of studies used a synchronous communication. The articles addressed the prevention, screening, triage, diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up aspects of COVID-19 which the most common purpose was the patients' follow-up (34/64, 53%). Thirteen group barriers were identified in the literature, which technology acceptance and user adoption, concerns about the adequacy and accuracy of subjective patient assessment, and technical issues were the most frequent ones.Conclusion: This review revealed the usefulness of telehealth-based services during the COVID-19 outbreak and beyond. The features and challenges identified through the literature can be helpful for a better understanding of current telehealth approaches and pointed out the need for clear guidelines, scientific evidence, and innovative policies to implement successful telehealth projects.

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The magnetic properties of neutral cation vacancies in II-VI semiconductors are examined using first principles calculations and group theory. A molecular cluster model of a single vacancy in II-VI semiconductors is developed to explain the observed chemical trend. We show that a single Zn vacancy in ZnO yields a total spin ST=1 in agreement with experiments. But for the other less ionic Zn-based II-VI semiconductors ZnA (A=S, Se, Te) this spin triplet state is nearly degenerate with a nonmagnetic spin singlet state.