Interactive effects of task difficulty and personality on mood and heart rate variability

Susceptibility to stress would presumably be different from person to person and be affected by the cause of the given stress. The purpose of this study was to investigate the interactive effects of task difficulty and subject's personality on mood and autonomic nervous function when stress was induced experimentally by tasks involving 3 degrees of difficulty: easy (Task A), difficult but controllable (Task B), and very difficult and uncontrollable (Task C). Twelve healthy female subjects volunteered for the experiment. We assessed their personalities using the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) questionnaire. Mood states were evaluated by a profile of mood states and a frontal alpha laterality ratio (FALR). Autonomic nervous function was estimated by a spectral analysis of heart rate variability (HRV). Repeated measures analysis of variance applied to two groups (low- and high-) divided by a median split of MMPI clinical scales, revealed significant interactions of time course x task difficulty x Hs (hypochondriasis) in FALR and time course x task difficulty x Pt (psychasthenia) in a low-frequency component and in a high-frequency component of HRV, and in FALR. The differences between low- and high-Hs, and low- and high-Pt were more obvious in Task B session. High-Hs group, whose members tend to place overemphasis on existing physical disorders, showed more negative FALR throughout the session, which would indicate prolonged negative mood possibly due to the task. High-Pt group, whose members tend to be susceptible to stress, showed sympathetic predominance during task period and parasympathetic predominance after task period, which would imply a tendency to overreact. These results suggest that task difficulties would affect mood states assessed by FALR and/or autonomic nervous function differently depending on the subject's personality, especially on Hs and Pt.     

Curriculum for education and training of Medical Physicists in Nuclear Medicine: Recommendations from the EANM Physics Committee,the EANM Dosimetry Committee and EFOMP

PurposeTo provide a guideline curriculum covering theoretical and practical aspects of education and training for Medical Physicists in Nuclear Medicine within Europe.Material and methodsNational training programmes of Medical Physics, Radiation Physics and Nuclear Medicine physics from a range of European countries and from North America were reviewed and elements of best practice identified. An independent panel of experts was used to achieve consensus regarding the content of the curriculum.ResultsGuidelines have been developed for the specialist theoretical knowledge and practical experience required to practice as a Medical Physicist in Nuclear Medicine in Europe. It is assumed that the precondition for the beginning of the training is a good initial degree in Medical Physics at master level (or equivalent). The Learning Outcomes are categorised using the Knowledge, Skill and Competence approach along the lines recommended by the European Qualifications Framework. The minimum level expected in each topic in the theoretical knowledge and practical experience sections is intended to bring trainees up to the requirements expected of a Medical Physicist entering the field of Nuclear Medicine.ConclusionsThis new joint EANM/EFOMP European guideline curriculum is a further step to harmonise specialist training of Medical Physicists in Nuclear Medicine within Europe. It provides a common framework for national Medical Physics societies to develop or benchmark their own curricula. The responsibility for the implementation and accreditation of these standards and guidelines resides within national training and regulatory bodies.     

The Physician and His Practice—1980 to 2000 Sixth Progress Report of the Committee on Role of Medicine in Society

Members of the Committee on the Role of Medicine in Society, together with medical student representatives of the medical schools in California worked for a period of close to two years preparing this Sixth Progress Report. Names of the committee members, ex-officio members, consultants and medical student members who served during the discussions and the drafting of the report are listed on the final page.     

尿道下裂不同术式疗效的比较

目的：探讨不同手术方式对尿道下裂的临床疗效。方法：对我院收治的尿道下裂患者根据其不同手术方式将其分为A组、B组以及C组,其中A组采用Ducker术进行治疗,B组采用Snodgrass术进行治疗,C组患者采用阴囊中线皮肤岛状皮瓣法进行治疗。结果：A、B两组患者手术成功率比较无统计学差异性（P〉0．05）;阴囊中线皮肤岛状皮辫法术其出现并发症的机会明显低于其他两组（P〈0．05）。结论：不同术式对尿道下裂进行治疗,各术式各具有点,在临床运用中应当考虑患者的综合情况进行制定相应的手术方式进行治疗,从而有效改善患者预后。     

Plants for Food and Medicine: Proceedings of the Joint Conference of the Society for Economic Botany and the International Society for Ethnopharmacology

Plants for Food and Medicine: Proceedings of the Joint Conference of the Society for Economic Botany and the International Society for Ethnopharmacology. H. D. V. Prendergast. N. L. Etkin. D. R. Harris. and P. J. Houghton. eds. Kew, Richmond, UK: Scientific Publications Dept., Royal Botanic Gardens, 1998. 438 pp.     

Closing the gaps in genetics legislation and policy: a report by the new york state task force on life and the law

The New York State Task Force on Life and the Law, a state bioethical policy commission, recently completed a project addressing the ethical, legal, and social concerns surrounding the predictive uses of genetic testing. Its report, Genetic Testing and Screening in the Age of Genomic Medicine, makes legislative, public policy, and practice recommendations on a host of issues. As part of this project, the Task Force reviewed the current policy and legislative landscapes related to confidentiality protections for genetic information and the use of genetic information by insurers. It also assessed requirements for informed consent to clinical genetic testing and for the use of clinical samples for genetics research. The Task Force considered gaps and unintended consequences of relevant genetic testing legislation and assessed its flexibility to address new uses of genetic testing, such as pharmacogenetic testing, and new ways of offering tests, such as multiplex testing panels. The Task Force also considered the relevance of the pleiotropic characteristic of genes for issues of informed consent to genetic testing and the confidentiality of genetic information. The Task Force's recommendations, presented here, seek to promote the appropriate uses of clinical genetic testing and research while preventing potential harms.     

胰岛素对糖尿病兔牙槽骨缺损修复的影响

目的：探讨胰岛素对糖尿病兔牙槽骨缺损修复治疗的效果,为糖尿病所致的牙周炎提供临床治疗的依据,方法：40只大耳白兔随机分为4组：A组制备健康兔的牙槽骨缺损;B组为胰岛素组,制备健康兔牙槽骨缺损后,用胰岛素治疗;C组为糖尿病组,制备糖尿病兔牙槽骨缺损;D组为糖尿病胰岛素治疗组,制备糖尿病兔牙槽骨缺损后,用胰岛素治疗。每组10只,缺损制备后4、8周各处死5只,对各组成骨情况进行组织学观察及测定。结果：组织学观察A、B、D组修复区可见大量新骨形成,以B组为显著;C组仅见少许成骨,多为纤维组织。新生骨面积比和成骨细胞数在4、8周时均为D组大于c组,B组大于A组,组间差异有统计学意义（P〈0．05）。证明应用胰岛素促进糖尿病兔缺损牙槽骨形成新骨的效果明显。结论：胰岛素能够促进糖尿病兔牙槽骨缺损的戍骨,为,临床上治疗糖尿病并发牙周炎提供一种新的手段。     

The cytologic criteria of malignancy

Cytology and cell biology are two separate fields that share a focus on cancer. Cancer is still diagnosed based on morphology, and surprisingly little is known about the molecular basis of the defining structural features. Cytology uses the smallest possible biopsy for diagnosis by reducing morphologic “criteria of malignancy” to the smallest scale. To begin to develop common ground, members of the American Society of Cytopathology Cell Biology Liaison Working Group classify some of the “criteria of malignancy” and review their relation to current cell biology concepts. The criteria of malignancy are extremely varied, apparently reflecting many different pathophysiologies in specific microenvironments. Criteria in Group 1 comprise tissue‐level alterations that appear to relate to resistance to anoikis, alterations in cell adhesion molecules, and loss of apical–basal polarity. Criteria in Group 2 reflect genetic instability, including chromosomal and possibly epigenetic instability. Criteria in Groups 3 are subcellular structural changes involving cytoplasmic components, nuclear lamina, chromatin and nucleoli that cannot be accounted for by genetic instability. Some distinct criteria in Group 3 are known to be induced by cancer genes, but their precise structural basis remains obscure. The criteria of malignancy are not closely related to the histogenetic classification of cancers, and they appear to provide an alternative, biologically relevant framework for establishing common ground between cytologists and cell biologists. To understand the criteria of malignancy at a molecular level would improve diagnosis, and likely point to novel cell physiologies that are not encompassed by current cell biology concepts. J. Cell. Biochem. 110: 795–811, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Gray zones around diffuse large B cell lymphoma. Conclusions based on the workshop of the XIV meeting of the European Association for Hematopathology and the Society of Hematopathology in Bordeaux, France

The term “gray-zone” lymphoma has been used to denote a group of lymphomas with overlapping histological, biological, and clinical features between various types of lymphomas. It has been used in the context of Hodgkin lymphomas (HL) and non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL), including classical HL (CHL), and primary mediastinal large B cell lymphoma, cases with overlapping features between nodular lymphocyte predominant Hodgkin lymphoma and T-cell/histiocyte-rich large B cell lymphoma, CHL, and Epstein–Barr-virus-positive lymphoproliferative disorders, and peripheral T cell lymphomas simulating CHL. A second group of gray-zone lymphomas includes B cell NHL with intermediate features between diffuse large B cell lymphoma and classical Burkitt lymphoma. In order to review controversial issues in gray-zone lymphomas, a joint Workshop of the European Association for Hematopathology and the Society for Hematopathology was held in Bordeaux, France, in September 2008. The panel members reviewed and discussed 145 submitted cases and reached consensus diagnoses. This Workshop summary is focused on the most controversial aspects of gray-zone lymphomas and describes the panel’s proposals regarding diagnostic criteria, terminology, and new prognostic and diagnostic parameters.     

Nuclear Medicine: Bone Pain and Radionuclide Therapy

The Council on Scientific Affairs of the California Medical Association presents the following epitomes of progress in nuclear medicine. Each item, in the judgment of a panel of knowledgeable physicians, has recently become reasonably firmly established, both as to scientific fact and clinical importance. The items are presented in simple epitome, and an authoritative reference, both to the item itself and to the subject as a whole, is generally given for those who may be unfamiliar with a particular item. The purpose is to assist busy practitioners, students, researchers, and scholars to stay abreast of progress in medicine, whether in their own field of special interest or another.The epitomes included here were selected by the Advisory Panel to the Section on Nuclear Medicine of the California Medical Association, and the summaries were prepared under the direction of Dr Lyons and the panel.     

免疫球蛋白辅助高流量鼻导管湿化氧疗对重症肺炎患儿血气分析指标和免疫球蛋白水平的影响

目的:探讨免疫球蛋白辅助高流量鼻导管湿化氧疗(HHFNC)对重症肺炎患儿血气分析指标和免疫球蛋白水平的影响。方法:选取2017年6月到2018年9月期间在河北省儿童医院接受治疗的重症肺炎患儿93例,根据治疗方式的不同将93例重症肺炎患儿分为A组、B组和C组,A组给予经鼻持续气道正压通气(NCPAP),B组给予HHFNC,C组给予免疫球蛋白辅助HHFNC。比较三组患儿的临床疗效、血气分析指标、免疫球蛋白、临床症状改善情况、住院情况和并发症情况。结果:三组患儿的临床疗效整体比较差异无统计学意义(P0.05);通气后24 h,C组和B组患儿的二氧化碳分压(PaCO2)水平低于A组(P0.05);C组患儿的发绀消失时间、肺部哕音消失时间短于B组和A组(P0.05),治疗7 d后,C组患儿的免疫球蛋白G(Ig G)水平高于B组和A组(P0.05),C组和B组患儿的鼻损伤发生率均低于A组(P0.05)。结论:与NCPAP相比,HHFNC可更有效地改善重症肺炎患儿二氧化碳潴留的现象,且可降低鼻损伤的发生率,联用免疫球蛋白可有效改善患儿的体液免疫功能,促进患儿的康复。     

Embryo development of prepubertal goat oocytes fertilised by intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) according to oocyte diameter

The aim of this study was to evaluate embryo development of prepubertal goat oocytes fertilised by ICSI according to their diameter. Three experiments were carried out to achieve this objective. In all experiments, oocytes were matured in TCM199 supplemented with hormones, cysteamine and serum for 27 h at 38.5 degrees C. In Experiment 1, we studied the nuclear stage of goat zygotes produced by conventional ICSI and IVF using 20 nM ionomycin plus 10 microM heparin as sperm treatment. A group of Sham-injected oocytes was used as control. Results showed differences in the percentage of 2 PN (zygotes with male and female pronuclei) between ICSI, IVF and Sham (40.9, 26.6 and 3.0%, respectively; P<0.05). In Experiment 2, we evaluated the embryo development of prepubertal goat oocytes produced by ICSI and IVF after 192 h of culture in SOF medium. The percentage of morulae plus blastocysts obtained was higher in the ICSI than in the IVF group (13.4 and 5.1%, respectively; P<0.05). In Experiment 3, IVM-oocytes were classified in four groups depending on their diameter (Group A: <110 microm; Group B: 110-125 microm; Group C: 125-135 microm; Group D: >135 microm), fertilised by ICSI and cultured for 192 h. Results showed a positive correlation between oocyte diameter and embryo development (morulae+blastocysts: Group A: 0%; Group B: 6.2%; Group C: 46.4% and Group D: 33.3%). In conclusion, sperm treatment with ionomycin plus heparin using the conventional ICSI protocol improved fertilisation rates in comparison to IVF. Oocytes smaller than 125 microm were unable to develop up to blastocyst stage.     

The Golden Anniversary of the Society of Protozoologists (1947-1997)1

ABSTRACT The history of the Society of Protozoologists is traced from its birth, half a century ago, to the present time. Emphasis is placed on events of the formative years, since data from the scattered records and memories of those times need to be assembled in one place before they are entirely forgotten or “misremembered.” As is true in the establishment of any new association, the people involved are responsible for its later success. Thus tribute is especially paid to the original founding fathers and the early charter members who worked so hard and so unselfishly to assure the permanence—and long—lasting usefulness-of their Society in a specialized branch of biology. An obvious value of a new scientific organization lies in its production of a scholarly journal. In the present case, such a publication was launched early, and it rapidly became known worldwide as a protozoological research outlet of the highest quality. The aims and goals of the founders seem to have been well met over the past 50 years, but the international Society of Protozoologists faces new challenges and obligations in the years ahead.     

中西医结合治疗慢性盆腔炎102 例临床观察

目的：观察中西医结合治疗慢性盆腔炎的临床疗效．方法：将102例患者随机分为2组,治疗组52例,中药＋抗生素治疗;对照组50例;用抗生素治疗。两组均治疗10天为1个疗程。结果：治疗组总有效率86．54％;对照组总有效率50．00％（两组总有效率比较,差异有显著性意义（P〈0．05）。结论：中西医结合治疗慢性盆腔炎疗效显著。     

Guidelines for the emergency management of asthma in adults. CAEP/CTS Asthma Advisory Committee. Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians and the Canadian Thoracic Society.

OBJECTIVE: To develop a set of comprehensive, standardized evidence-based guidelines for the assessment and treatment of acute asthma in adults in the emergency setting. OPTIONS: The use of medications was evaluated by class, dose, route, onset of action and optimal mode of delivery. The use of objective measurements and clinical features to assess response to therapy were evaluated in relation to the decision to admit or discharge the patient or arrange for follow-up care. OUTCOMES: Control of symptoms and disease reflected in hospital admission rates, frequency of treatment failures following discharge, resolution of symptoms and improvement of spirometric test results. EVIDENCE: Previous guidelines, articles retrieved through a search of MEDLINE, emergency medical abstracts and information from members of the expert panel were reviewed by members of the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians (CAEP) and the Canadian Thoracic Society. Where evidence was not available, consensus was reached by the expert panel. The resulting guidelines were reviewed by members of the parent organizations. VALUES: The evidence-based methods and values of the Canadian Task Force on the Periodic Health Examination were used. BENEFITS, HARMS AND COSTS: As many as 80% of the approximate 400 deaths from asthma each year in Canada are felt to be preventable. The use of guidelines, aggressive emergency management and consistent use of available options at discharge are expected to decrease the rates of unnecessary hospital admissions and return visits to emergency departments because of treatment failures. Substantial decreases in costs are expected from the use of less expensive drugs, or drug delivery systems, fewer hospital admissions and earlier return to full activity after discharge. RECOMMENDATIONS: Beta2-agonists are the first-line therapy for the management of acute asthma in the emergency department (grade A recommendation). Bronchodilators should be administered by the inhaled route and titrated using objective and clinical measures of airflow limitation (grade A). Metered-dose inhalers are preferred to wet nebulizers, and a chamber (spacer device) is recommended for severe asthma (grade A). Anticholinergic therapy should be added to beta 2 agonist therapy in severe and life-threatening cases and may be considered in cases of mild to moderate asthma (grade A). Aminophylline is not recommended for use in the first 4 hours of therapy (grade A). Ketamine and succinylcholine are recommended for rapid sequence intubation in life-threatening cases (grade B). Adrenaline (administered subcutaneously or intravenously), salbutamol (administered intravenously) and anesthetics (inhaled) are recommended as alternatives to conventional therapy in unresponsive life-threatening cases (grade B). Severity of airflow limitation should be determined according to the forced expiratory volume at 1 second or the peak expiratory flow rate, or both, before and after treatment and at discharge (grade A). Consideration for discharge should be based on both spirometric test results and assessment of clinical risk factors for relapse (grade A). All patients should be considered candidates for systemic corticosteroid therapy at discharge (grade A). Those requiring corticosteroid therapy should be given 30 to 60 mg of prednisone orally (or equivalent) per day for 7 to 14 days; no tapering is required (grade A). Inhaled corticosteroids are an integral component of therapy and should be prescribed for all patients receiving oral corticosteroid therapy at discharge (grade A). Patients should be given a discharge treatment plan and clear instructions for follow-up care (grade C). VALIDATION: The guidelines share the same principles of those from the British Thoracic Society and the National Institutes of Health. Two specific validation initiatives have been undertaken: (a) several Canadian centres have been involved in the collection of comprehensive administrative data to assess compliance and outcome measures and (b) a survey of Canadian emergency physicians conducted to gather baseline informaton of treatment patterns, was conducted before development of the guidelines and will be repeated to re-evaluate emergency management of asthma.     

Provision of preventive care to unannounced standardized patients

OBJECTIVE: To examine the relation between physician, training and practice characteristics and the provision of preventive care as described in the guidelines of the Canadian Task Force on the Periodic Health Examination. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Family practices open to new patients within 1 hour''s drive of Hamilton, Ont. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 125 family physicians were randomly selected from respondents to an earlier preventive care survey. Of the 125, 44 (35.2%) declined to participate, and an additional 19 (15.2%) initially consented but later withdrew when they closed their practices to new patients. Sixty-two physicians thus participated in the study. INTERVENTION: Unannounced standardized patients posing as new patients to the practice visited study physicians'' practices between September 1994 and August 1995, portraying 4 scenarios: 48-year-old man, 70-year-old man, 28-year-old woman and 52-year-old woman. OUTCOME MEASURES: Proportion of preventive care manoeuvres carrying grade A, B, C, D and E recommendations from the Canadian Task Force on the Periodic Health Examination that were performed, offered or advised. A standard score was computed based on the performance of grade A and B manoeuvres (good or fair evidence for inclusion in the periodic health examination) and the non-performance of grade D and E manoeuvres (fair or good evidence for exclusion from the periodic health examination). RESULTS: Study physicians performed or offered 65.6% of applicable grade A manoeuvres, 31.0% of grade B manoeuvres, 22.4% of grade C manoeuvres, 21.8% of grade D manoeuvres and 4.9% of grade E manoeuvres. The provision of evidence-based preventive care was associated with solo (v. group) practice and capitation or salary (v. fee-for-service) payment method. Preventive care performance was unrelated to physician''s sex, certification in family medicine or problem-based (v. traditional) medical school curriculum. CONCLUSIONS: Preventive care guidelines of the Canadian Task Force on the Periodic Health Examination have been incompletely integrated into clinical practice. Research is needed to identify and reduce barriers to the provision of preventive care and to develop and apply effective processes for the creation, dissemination and implementation of clinical practice guidelines.     

Nuclear Medicine: Use of Thallium 201 in Tumor Evaluation

The Council on Scientific Affairs of the California Medical Association presents the following inventory of items of progress in nuclear medicine. Each item, in the judgment of a panel of knowledgeable physicians, has recently become reasonably firmly established, both as to scientific fact and important clinical significance. The items are presented in simple epitome, and an authoritative reference, both to the item itself and to the subject as a whole, is generally given for those who may be unfamiliar with a particular item. The purpose is to assist busy practitioners, students, researchers, or scholars to stay abreast of these items of progress in nuclear medicine that have recently achieved a substantial degree of authoritative acceptance, whether in their own field of special interest or another.The items of progress listed below were selected by the Advisory Panel to the Section on Nuclear Medicine of the California Medical Association, and summaries were prepared under its direction.     

Practice advisory on liposuction

COMMITTEE STATEMENT: At the 69th annual meeting of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) in October of 2000, the ASPS Board of Directors convened the Task Force on Patient Safety in Office-Based Surgery Facilities. The task force was assembled in the wake of several highly publicized patient deaths involving plastic surgery and increasing state legislative and regulatory activity of office-based surgery facilities. In response to the increased scrutiny of the office-based surgery setting, the task force produced two practice advisories: "Procedures in the Office-Based Surgery Setting" and "Patient Selection in the Office-Based Surgery Setting." Since the task force's inception, professional and public awareness of patient safety issues has continued to grow. This heightened interest resulted in an increased need for plastic surgeons to communicate their views on the topic. To meet this challenge, the task force evolved into the Committee on Patient Safety, allowing the committee to address topics affecting the safety and welfare of plastic surgery patients, regardless of the facility setting. The "Practice Advisory on Liposuction" is the first advisory developed since the committee was formed. It was a lengthy and painstaking process for the committee, which included representatives from related plastic surgery organizations as well as the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA). Committee members included Ronald E. Iverson, M.D., chair; Jeffery L. Apfelbaum, M.D., ASA representative; Bruce L. Cunningham, M.D., ASPS/Plastic Surgery Educational Foundation (PSEF) Joint Outcomes Task Force representative; Richard A. D'Amico, M.D., ASPS representative; Victor L. Lewis, Jr., M.D., ASPS Health Policy Analysis Committee representative; Dennis J. Lynch, M.D., ASPS representative; Noel B. McDevitt, M.D., ASPS Deep Vein Thrombosis Task Force representative; Michael F. McGuire, M.D., The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) representative; Louis Morales, Jr., M.D., American Society of Maxillofacial Surgeons representative; Calvin R. Peters, M.D., Florida Ad Hoc Commission on Patient Safety representative; Robert Singer, M.D., American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery Facilities representative; Thomas Ray Stevenson, M.D., American College of Surgeons representative; Rebecca S. Twersky, M.D., ASA representative; Ronald H. Wender, M.D., ASA representative; and James A. Yates, ASAPS representative. The authors thank members of the committee for the insights they brought to this process. The final document represents their significant contributions to these efforts. They would also like to recognize DeLaine Schmitz and Pat Farrell of the ASPS staff for their work on and support of this project.     

Hormonal stimulation and oocyte maturational competence in prepuberal Mediterranean Italian buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis)

The objective of this study was to determine the best combined hormonal treatment to utilize in order to obtain a high number of good quality in vivo and in vitro matured oocytes from prepuberal Mediterranean Italian buffalo calves (Bubalus bubalis). Transvaginal ultrasound follicular aspiration was employed to recover oocytes from antral follicles. Fifteen barn housed buffalo calves, between 5 and 9 months of age were used in this study and randomly divided into control (Group A) and treated groups. A commercially available preparation of 2000 IU eCG was administered to animals in the treatment groups, followed by 2000 IU of hCG given either 12 h (Group B), or 24 h (Group C) before ovum pick up (OPU). From the time of administration of eCG treatments, the best timing for hCG administration before OPU was determined and integrated with the administration of 500 IU of FSH-LH in a decreasing dosage protocol over 4 days (Group D). Expanded cumulus oocyte complexes (COCs) recovered from all groups were immediately fixed for later aceto-orcein staining. All other COCs were processed for in vitro maturation using standard procedures and then fixed and stained for assessment of nuclear maturation. Collectively, hormonal stimulation did not increase the number of ovarian antral follicles available compared to the control group (P > 0.05), but did result in higher output of medium (Group B: 9.8 +/- 7.1; Group C: 3.4 +/- 6.7; Group D: 15.6 +/- 4.9 versus Group A: 1.6 +/- 2.2) and large follicles (Group B: 44.8 +/- 22.9; Group C: 8.7 +/- 6.1; Group D: 70.2 +/- 10 versus Group A: 6.1 +/- 6.3). Administration of hCG 12 h before follicle aspiration proved to be the best strategy to obtain high numbers of immature and mature oocytes from antral follicles (P < 0.05; Group B: 70.8 +/- 12 and Group D: 82 +/- 12.6 versus Group A: 43.6 +/- 13.9 and Group C: 27.2 +/- 13.9). A significantly higher number of expanded COCs was obtained from hormonally stimulated groups compared to the control group (P < 0.05; Group B: 28.7 +/- 16.8, Group C: 16.3 +/- 5.9 and Group D: 27.1 +/- 16.9 versus Group A: 6.2 +/- 6). A higher oocyte maturational competence (P < 0.05) was found in Groups A, B and D (80.8 +/- 7.9, 87.5 +/- 8.2, and 86.5 +/- 4.3, respectively) compared to Group C (60 +/- 26.2). In conclusion, in prepuberal buffalo calves combined gonadotrophin stimulation protocols yielded higher numbers of medium to large size follicles compared to a control group. A high number of good quality oocytes were recovered by transvaginal ultrasound follicle aspiration, and a high rate of metaphase II progression was reached after in vivo and in vitro maturation.     

Nuclear DNA content estimates in multicellular green, red and brown algae: phylogenetic considerations

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Multicellular eukaryotic algae are phylogenetically disparate. Nuclear DNA content estimates have been published for fewer than 1 % of the described species of Chlorophyta, Phaeophyta and Rhodophyta. The present investigation aims to summarize the state of our knowledge and to add substantially to our database of C-values for theses algae. METHODS: The DNA-localizing fluorochrome DAPI (4', 6-diamidino-2-phenylindole) and RBC (chicken erythrocyte) standard were used to estimate 2C values with static microspectrophotometry. KEY RESULTS: 2C DNA contents for 85 species of Chlorophyta range from 0.2-6.1 pg, excluding the highly polyploidy Charales and Desmidiales with DNA contents of up to 39.2 and 20.7 pg, respectively. 2C DNA contents for 111 species of Rhodophyta range from 0.1-2.8 pg, and for 44 species of Phaeophyta range from 0.2-1.8 pg. CONCLUSIONS: New availability of consensus higher-level molecular phylogenies provides a framework for viewing C-value data in a phylogenetic context. Both DNA content ranges and mean values are greater in taxa considered to be basal. It is proposed that the basal, ancestral genome in each algal group was quite small. Both mechanistic and ecological processes are discussed that could have produced the observed C-value ranges.