Life history of yellow baboons: Physical development,reproductive parameters,and infant mortality

Longitudinal data from a population of yellow baboons,Papio cynocephalus, in the Amboseli National Park, Kenya, provide life history parameter estimates. Females reached menarche at approximately four-and-a-half years of age and then cycled for approximately a year before first conception. Postpartum anestrum averaged 12 months but ranged from six to 16 months. In cases of still births or infant death during postpartum amenorrhea, females commenced cycling after approximately one month. In mature females the time spent cycling before conception was five months on the average with a range from one to over 18 months. Only half of all full-term pregnancies resulted in infants who survived the first year of life; only a third, in infants who survived until the birth of their mother’s next infant. In comparison with data from laboratory colonies, our data indicate that female baboons in Amboseli are older at birth of first infant. They have, on the average, a somewhat shorter interbirth interval than was estimated from earlier crossectional field data, and therefore spend a larger portion of their adult life pregnant, but have a much longer interval—at least three years on the average—between the birth of an infant and the birth of that infant’s next older surviving sibling. A number of morphological changes in immature baboons are described.     

Factors associated with birth rate and live birth rate in multi-male breeding groups of rhesus monkeys

Reproductive records of 284 female rhesus monkeys housed in six multimale corrals at the California Primate Research Center were examined for the birth seasons 1977–1982 to determine possible associations between the probability of birth or live birth and female age, parity, origin, parturition in the previous season, infant birth date, and infant birth date in previous season. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to identify and quantitate the effects of factors on the probability of birth or live birth, while controlling for the possibly confounding effects of other factors in the model. Females who had infants early in the previous season were 2.5 times as likely to give birth as those who had infants late in the previous season. Females with two or three previous births were 2.1 times as likely to give birth, and those with four or five previous births were 6.7 times as likely to give birth as were females with no or one previous birth. Controlling for other factors (age, parity, and timing of birth in the previous season), corralborn females were 3.3 times as likely to give birth as either wild-caught or domestic-born monkeys not native to the corrals. Domestic-born females who were not corral natives were 0.3 times as likely to have live births as wild-caught females. Births late in the season were 1.8 times as likely to result in live infants as births early in the season.     

Congenital Syphilis in Newborn

In six cases of congenital syphilis in newborn at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center over a seven-month period the clinical findings fell into two categories related to the time of onset of symptoms. Infants ill in the nursery presented evidence of transplacental infection; infants who became ill later showed the “classic” findings of rash, rhinorrhea and pseudoparalysis.No single clinical symptom was present in all cases but all symptomatic infants had radiographic evidence of bone disease. Respiratory distress was present at the onset of symptoms in three of four infants with neonatal disease, and all three had evidence of interstitial pneumonia in chest radiographs.Serologic testing may be difficult to evaluate in the newborn period, but more recent and specific tests are helpful in diagnosis. Penicillin remains the drug of choice. The only death occurred at five hours of life in a premature infant. Growth and development in surviving infants appeared normal.     

Social structure and dynamics of wild chimpanzees at Bossou,Guinea

A small population of wild chimpanzees was studied at Bossou, Guinea, for six months from November 1976 to May 1977. All the chimpanzees except dependent infants were identified without artificial feeding and were observed from within 20 m almost every day. The population size of 21 chimpanzees was little changed from 1967. Although the sex ratio (male/female) of immatures (infants, juveniles, and adolescents) was 0.833 in January 1977, the adult sex ratio was 0.429. More than half of the males must therefore have disappeared. No desertion of males from the Bossou group was confirmed during the study period but two emigrated males from other groups did come to join the Bossou group for a short period. Four out of six mothers had two or three children. From the age discrepancy of brothers/sisters, the mean birth interval from a mother was estimated to be about four years. An elder sister of two infants who had an age-gap of only three years, or perhaps less, disappeared without receiving sufficient care from her mother. Mothers who had infants aged about 1 year or more showed swelling of their sexual skin and were confirmed to mate with males.     

Immunisation of neonates at high risk of hepatitis B in England and Wales: national surveillance.

The results of a voluntary programme of immunisation against hepatitis B in neonates at high risk (mother being positive for hepatitis B surface antigen and without hepatitis B e antibody or having had acute hepatitis B late in pregnancy) are reported. The programme was offered in England and Wales from November 1982. Passive immunisation alone was available in the first six months of life until 1985, after which infants received passive and active immunisation from birth; in addition, some infants received passive immunisation for six months followed by a course of hepatitis B vaccine. All but a few infants received the first immunising dose within 48 hours after birth. Blood samples for analysing markers of hepatitis B virus were available at 1 year from 147 of the 223 infants given passive immunisation, 54 of the 72 given passive followed by active immunisation, and 102 of the 155 given passive and active immunisation at birth. At 1 year 11 of the 127 (9%) infants given four or more doses of specific hepatitis B immunoglobulin were positive for hepatitis B surface antigen compared with four of the 20 given three or fewer doses; 11 had levels of hepatitis B surface antibody greater than 50 IU/l. Only one of the 54 infants given passive then active immunisation was positive for hepatitis B surface antigen at 1 year and four infants had low (less than or equal to 50 IU/l) levels of hepatitis B surface antibody. Four of the 102 infants who received passive and active immunisation at birth were positive for hepatitis B surface antigen. Two had received the fill course of vaccine, whereas in the other two vaccination was incomplete or unstated. In 79 of the 89 infants who received a complete course of vaccination the level of hepatitis B surface antibody was known, and 70 had levels at 1 year greater than 100 IU/1. Reactions to immunisation were not severe at any age. The incidence of side effects was 8% for the immunoglobulin, 11% for the vaccine, and 9% when immunoglobulin and vaccine were given together. Wider collaboration in the programme is requested.     

Maternal transmission of SIVsmm in rhesus macaques

Fifteen SIV-infected rhesus monkeys delivered 13 livebirths and two stillbirths; one livebirth died at three days of age. While all infants were culture-negative for SIV at birth, nine had maternal antibodies that disappeared by six months of age. Three infants subsequently seroconverted and became virus positive at 9–15 months. Milk samples from all mothers were virus-negative at parturition but samples from four animals were virus-positive at nine and 12 months. This study documents maternal transmission of SIV and suggests transmission by breast-feeding.     

Long-term outcomes in patients with metastatic melanoma vaccinated with melanoma peptide-pulsed CD34+ progenitor-derived dendritic cells

Between March 1999 and May 2000, 18 HLA-A*0201⁺ patients with metastatic melanoma were enrolled in a phase I trial using a dendritic cell (DC) vaccine generated by culturing CD34⁺ hematopoietic progenitors. This vaccine includes Langerhans cells. The DC vaccine was loaded with four melanoma peptides (MART-1/MelanA, tyrosinase, MAGE-3, and gp100), Influenza matrix peptide (Flu-MP), and keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH). Ten patients received eight vaccinations, one patient received six vaccinations, one patient received five vaccinations, and six patients received four vaccinations. Peptide-specific immunity was measured by IFN-γ production and tetramer staining in blood mononuclear cells. The estimated median overall survival was 20 months (range: 2–83), and the median event-free survival was 7 months (range: 2–83). As of August 2005, four patients are alive (three patients had M1a disease and one patient had M1c disease). Three of them have had no additional therapy since trial completion; two of them had solitary lymph node metastasis, and one patient had liver metastasis. Patients who survived longer were those who mounted melanoma peptide-specific immunity to at least two melanoma peptides. The present results therefore justify the design of larger follow-up studies to assess the immunological and clinical outcomes in patients with metastatic melanoma vaccinated with peptide-pulsed CD34-derived DCs.Joseph W. Fay and A. Karolina Palucka have equally contributed to this work     

Protective effect of breast feeding against infection.

OBJECTIVE--To assess the relations between breast feeding and infant illness in the first two years of life with particular reference to gastrointestinal disease. DESIGN--Prospective observational study of mothers and babies followed up for 24 months after birth. SETTING--Community setting in Dundee. PATIENTS--750 pairs of mothers and infants, 76 of whom were excluded because the babies were preterm (less than 38 weeks), low birth weight (less than 2500 g), or treated in special care for more than 48 hours. Of the remaining cohort of 674, 618 were followed up for two years. INTERVENTIONS--Detailed observations of infant feeding and illness were made at two weeks, and one, two, three, four, five, six, nine, 12, 15, 18, 21, and 24 months by health visitors. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE--The prevalence of gastrointestinal disease in infants during follow up. RESULTS--After confounding variables were corrected for babies who were breast fed for 13 weeks or more (227) had significantly less gastrointestinal illness than those who were bottle fed from birth (267) at ages 0-13 weeks (p less than 0.01; 95% confidence interval for reduction in incidence 6.6% to 16.8%), 14-26 weeks (p less than 0.01), 27-39 weeks (p less than 0.05), and 40-52 weeks (p less than 0.05). This reduction in illness was found whether or not supplements were introduced before 13 weeks, was maintained beyond the period of breast feeding itself, and was accompanied by a reduction in the rate of hospital admission. By contrast, babies who were breast fed for less than 13 weeks (180) had rates of gastrointestinal illness similar to those observed in bottle fed babies. Smaller reductions in the rates of respiratory illness were observed at ages 0-13 and 40-52 weeks (p less than 0.05) in babies who were breast fed for more than 13 weeks. There was no consistent protective effect of breast feeding against ear, eye, mouth, or skin infections, infantile colic, eczema, or nappy rash. CONCLUSION--Breast feeding during the first 13 weeks of life confers protection against gastrointestinal illness that persists beyond the period of breast feeding itself.     

Nephroblastoma in infants, 1969-75: variations in treatment and survival.

In a series of 79 infants aged under 1 year with nephroblastoma diagnosed during 1969-75 all the patients underwent nephrectomy, 33 (42%) received a course of radiotherapy, and 49 (62%) received chemotherapy. The overall three-year survival rate for patients who survived at least one week after diagnosis was 65%. The corresponding rate for infants with stage I tumours was 76%. The survival rate in children with early-stage tumours was significantly higher in those who were treated by nephrectomy and chemotherapy alone compared with those who also received radiotherapy. In a large proportion of cases nephrectomy and chemotherapy together constituted sufficient treatment for the cure of infants with nephroblastoma, and in some instances nephrectomy alone proved adequate. There was no general tendency for children under 1 year old to be unable to withstand chemotherapy.     

Chimpanzee triplets born in captivity

A female chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) gave birth to triplets at the Lincoln Park Zoological Gardens, Chicago, Illinois. Of the three infants born, only one survived. The other two, both sexed as males, were dead when they were discovered. When pathology was done on these infants, it was found that aside from being underweight, chimpanzee No. 1 was 930 g and chimpanzee No. 2, 630 g, the animals had never developed a brain. The female nursed the surviving male infant for six days till it was taken for hand-rearing. The infant was in a weakened condition and weighed 890 g. He died on the next day. This is possibly the first birth of triplet chimpanzees in a North American zoological garden.     

Mother-infant cannibalism in thick-tailed bushbabies (Galago crassicaudatus umbrosus)

Mother-infant cannibalism in species of galagos as in several other species of non-human primates is a common phenomenon. In non-human primates kept in laboratory conditions many of the observed cases of cannibalism were not associated with starvation and with infanticide. Cannibalism in galagos was observed in at least five different species. In several laboratories, like the Duke University Primate Center, the frequencies of cannibalism in galagos species in captivity have been reduced by the isolation of pregnant female before the parturition from her companions, especially adult males. At the Primate Behaviour Research Group (University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa) three cases of cannibalism were observed in twoGalago crassicaudatus umbrosus' mothers before the end of the third day after birth. To understand the reasons why the mothers cannibalize their own infants, it was decided to analyze the mother-infant interaction which preceded the death of the infants. InGalago crassicaudatus twin and triplet births are very common. In one of our two observed mothers who cannibalized their infants, there was one triplet birth. In this study the two pregnant females were isolated in two separated cages ten days before giving birth. One of the two observed mothers gave birth to triplets, the other had a single birth. At the end all four infants were cannibalized. In all cases the cannibalization started after the infant's death. The infants' deaths were caused by lack of maternal care which caused them to starve. The results show that the triplet's mother differed in some of her behaviour towards her infants. In one of the cannibalized infants behaviours such asNipple andMother Passive Prevent were never seen before death. In our cases it seems that cannibalism was probably due to the laboratory condition that for generation to generation caused stress to the mothers and changed their maternal behaviours, which lead to the death of the offspring which after death became a consumable resource.     

Selective head cooling with hypothermia suppresses the generation of platelet-activating factor in cerebrospinal fluid of newborn infants with perinatal asphyxia

Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) remains one of the most important neurologic complications in the newborn. Several experimental and clinical studies have shown that hypothermia is the most effective means known for protecting the brain against hypoxic-ischemic brain damage. Furthermore, recent data have suggested that platelet-activating factor (PAF) could play a pathophysiologically important role in the progression of hypoxic-ischemic brain injury. The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of head cooling combined with minimal hypothermia in short-term outcome of infants with perinatal asphyxia. In addition, we have examined the effect of head cooling combined with minimal hypothermia on PAF concentrations in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) after hypoxic-ischemic brain injury. The group of asphyxiated infants (Group 1) consisted of 21 full-term (gestational age >37 weeks). These infants were randomized and divided into either a standard therapy group (Group 1a; n=10) or cooling group (Group 1b; n=11). Head cooling combined with minimal hypothermia (rectal temperature 36.5-36 degrees C) was started as soon as practicable after birth. The infants were cooled for 72h and then were rewarmed at 0.5 degrees C/h. The control group (Group 2) consisted of seven full-term infants and none of these infants showed any sign of asphyxia. To measure PAF concentration in CSF, CSF with lumbar puncture was collected into tubes immediately before the cooling (1-3h after birth) and again after 36h. We had no evidence of severe adverse events related to hypothermia. In Group 1a, two infants died after 72h of life; however, all newborn infants in Group 1b survived. Convulsion required treatment in three infants of standard therapy group (1a); none of the infants in Group 1b had clinical seizure activity. Abnormal EEG patterns were found in four infants of Group 1a; no EEG abnormalities were noted in Group 1b (P<0.05). On admission (before cooling), PAF concentration in CSF of asphyxiated infants was found to be significantly higher when compared with that of control (P<0.001). Mean PAF concentration before initiation of the study was similar in the two asphyxiated groups (Group 1a vs. 1b) (P>0.05). Obtained PAF level in CSF after 36h, showed a profound decline in cooling group of infants compared to Group 1a infants (P<0.01). In conclusion, the present study suggests that cerebral cooling with minimal hypothermia started soon after birth has no severe adverse effects during 72-h cooling period and that short-term outcome of infants are encouraging. Our results also support the hypothesis PAF an important mediator in hypoxic-ischemic brain injury and demonstrate that head cooling combined with minimal hypothermia reduces the normal increase in PAF following hypoxic-ischemic brain injury in full-term infants.     

新生儿巨细胞病毒感染的检测

建立了用ELISA检测巨细胞病毒(HCMV)IgA抗体的方法,並用于检测北京地区100对母婴的HCMV抗体,母血、脐带血、母乳中HCMV-IgG抗体的阳性率分别为83％,75％和38％,HCMV-IgA抗体的阳性率分别为19％,15％和58％,对其中的16名婴儿半年后追踪观察,5名出生时母、脐血全为阴性的,有2名抗体阳转。8名出生时母、脐血均阳性的,有1名IgA仍阳性並检查发现肝大肋下二指。另1名IgG持续阳性,其他6名婴儿抗体转阴。3名出生时母血HCMV-IgG阳性者中,1名婴儿IgA和‘gG转阳,此时母亲IgA也阳转。随访的16名婴儿中有3名可能是生后半年内受HCMV感染。     

Postnatal development of the oviduct of intact and ovariectomized rabbits

The length of the oviduct, the thickness of its wall, and the height of its mucosal epithelium and cilia were measured in (a) 0-, 2-, 4- and six-month-old rabbits, (b) rabbits ovariectomized at birth and (c) ovariectomized, estrogen-treated rabbits. The length and external diameter of the oviduct increased progressively until four months of age, after which their rates of increase declined. The thickness of the oviductal wall at the uterotubal junction was twice as large as that of the isthmus at two months of age and six times as large at four and six months of age. The height of the mucosal epithelium in the fimbriae was less than that in other oviductal segments at birth, but exceeded that in other segments at six months of age. Ciliated cells and motile cilia were absent 24 hours after birth; they were first observed two months after birth. The cilia of fimbriae were shorter than cilia elsewhere in the oviduct. Neonatal ovariectomy retarded the development of the oviduct and the mesotubarium and caused pyknosis of ciliated and non-ciliated cells of the oviductal mucosa. Cells with scarcely motile cilia were present five and one-half months after neonatal ovariectomy.     

Growth curves of body weight and their relationship to sexual maturity in laboratory-bred male African green monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops)

Nonlinear growth models having a three- or four-parameter family were applied to individual body weight data of 5 male African green monkeys for estimating their growth patterns. Body weight was measured from birth to six years of age and 58 to 114 data items per monkey were collected. The average body weight at birth was 360g with the standard deviation of +/- 25g, 4.54 +/- 0.29 kg at five years of age, and 4.50 +/- 0.12 kg at six years of age at which point body weight was judged to have reached a plateau. Five growth models (Gompertz, Logistic, Richards, Bertalanffy and Brody) were applied to the growth data in this study. As a result, two (Gompertz and Logistic) of the five models were found applicable to all data from the five monkeys. However, the coefficient of determination (R2) obtained by application of the two models were not so large (0.919 +/- 0.05 in Gompertz, 0.889 +/- 0.01 in Logistic). Therefore the data were divided into two groups according to monkey age: the first group being from monkeys between birth and 2 years 10 months of age and the second group was from monkeys older than 2 years 10 months of age. The Gompertz model fitted best the data of the first group in four of the five animals (R2 = 0.982 +/- 0.011). The age at the inflexion point in the Gompertz model nearly corresponded to the age of weaning. The Logistic model was most suitable for the date of the second group in all five animals (R2 = 0.955 +/- 0.038).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Incidence of low birth weight infants born to mothers with multiple risk factors

Low birth weight (LBW) is associated with a large number and variety of risk conditions during pregnancy. The number and types of risk conditions per pregnancy were determined in 1,864 white and 872 black mothers delivered at the University of Kansas Medical Center between 1975 and 1978. The incidence of LBW infants increased steadily among white and black mothers as the number of risk factors increased from none to three or four per pregnancy. Among pregnancies without spontaneous premature rupture of membranes (PROM), 51 percent of the LBW infants were born to mothers who had multiple risk factors associated with their pregnancies, even though only 18 percent of these pregnancies were associated with multiple risk factors. Among pregnancies with PROM, 72 percent were associated with multiple risk conditions, and 31 percent resulted in LBW infants. About 90 percent of LBW infants from PROM pregnancies had mothers with multiple risk factors. For all numbers of risk conditions, black mothers had a higher incidence of LBW infants than white mothers. Among black mothers without spontaneous premature rupture of membranes (PROM), the incidence of LBW infants increased from 3.2 percent (10/308) in low (zero)-risk condition pregnancies to 33 percent (16/49) among mothers with three or four risk conditions during the pregnancy. Among white mothers without PROM, the incidence of LBW infants increased from 1.7 percent (12/708) in low (zero)-risk condition pregnancies to 30 percent (19/64) in pregnancies with three or four risk conditions.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Pregnancy toxemia in the European ferret (Mustela putorius furo).

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Pregnancy toxemia may lead to appreciable mortality among jills and their offspring. The objective of this report was to increase awareness of the disease, its likely cause, and practical prevention and treatment measures. METHODS: Ten cases of pregnancy toxemia were evaluated. Jills were in late gestation (mean, 38 days; range, 34 to 42 days) and had large litters (mean, 11.5 kits; range, 7 to 15 kits). RESULTS: The most common clinical signs of disease were lethargy, inappetence, dehydration, and excess shedding. Hematologic and clinical biochemical abnormalities included anemia (4 of 8 jills tested), hypoproteinemia (5 of 7), azotemia (7 of 7), hypocalcemia (5 of 6), hyperbilirubinemia (3 of 3), and high liver enzyme activities (6 of 6). Two jills were found dead; two jills were euthanized, six received supportive treatment, and cesarean section was performed on five. The three jills that survived tended to have less pronounced azotemia, hypoproteinemia, and liver enzyme activity increases and were not anemic. Hepatic lipidosis was observed grossly in all jills that died and was confirmed by histologic examination in four jills. CONCLUSIONS: Pregnancy toxemia in ferrets resembles metabolic diseases in several other animal species and requires aggressive treatment, including supportive care, nutritional supplementation, and cesarean section. Maintaining adequate nutrition and avoiding stress late in gestation may prevent the disease.     

Virological and immunological characteristics of fatal virus-associated haemophagocytic syndrome (VAHS)

We report three infants and one teenager with fatal virus-associated haemophagocytic syndrome (VAHS). Two infants were admitted to our hospital because of cardio-pulmonary arrest (CPA). The third infant was admitted to our department because of fever and liver dysfunction, and he was diagnosed as combined immunodeficiency with predominant T cell defect. The teenager was diagnosed as systemic lupus erythema (SLE) when she was 10 years old and admitted to our department because of fever and thrombocytopenia . The histological findings for the four patients' organs revealed many haemophagocytic cells . The patients were infected by Parainfluenza virus type 2 (PIV2), Enterovirus (EV), Cytomegalovirus (CMV), and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), respectively. Their laboratory data revealed elevated levels of ferritin and IL-6, which also suggested virus-associated haemophagocytic syndrome (VAHS). Although aggressive therapies were performed in all cases, the outcome was fatal. Further investigation would be needed to clarify the mechanism of VAHS and an effective therapeutic regimen is needed.