Pregnancy success of lactating Holstein cows after a single administration of a sustained-release formulation of recombinant bovine somatotropin

Background

Results regarding the use of bovine somatotropin for enhancing fertility in dairy cattle are variable. Here, the hypothesis was tested that a single injection of a sustained-release preparation of bovine somatotropin (bST) during the preovulatory period would improve pregnancy success of lactating dairy cows at first service.

Results

The first experiment was conducted in a temperate region of Mexico. Cows inseminated following natural estrus or timed artificial insemination were given a single injection of bST or a placebo injection at insemination (n = 100 cows per group). There was no significant difference between bST and control groups in the proportion of inseminated cows diagnosed pregnant (29 vs 31% pregnant). The second experiment was performed during heat stress in Florida. Cows were subjected to an ovulation synchronization regimen for first insemination. Cows treated with bST received a single injection at 3 days before insemination. Controls received no additional treatment. As expected, bST did not increase vaginal temperature. Treatment with bST did not significantly increase the proportion of inseminated cows diagnosed pregnant although it was numerically greater for the bST group (24.2% vs 17.8%, 124–132 cows per group). There was a tendency (p = 0.10) for a smaller percent of control cows to have high plasma progesterone concentrations (≥ 1 ng/ml) at Day 7 after insemination than for bST-treated cows (72.6 vs 81.1%). When only cows that were successfully synchronized were considered, the magnitude of the absolute difference in the percentage of inseminated cows that were diagnosed pregnant between bST and control cows was reduced (24.8 vs 22.4% pregnant for bST and control).

Conclusion

Results failed to indicate a beneficial effect of bST treatment on fertility of lactating dairy cows.

     

Effects of β-adrenoceptor blocker pindolol, calcium antagonist verapamil and their combination on retention in step-down- and shuttle-box-trained rats and on brain biogenic monoamines

The effects of the β-adrenoceptor blocker pindolol and the calcium antagonist verapamil administered alone or in combination on retention in step-down- and shuttle-box-trained rats and on the biogenic monoamine levels in the frontal cortex and hippocampus were examined. The chronic oral treatment with pindolol impaired retention in step-down- and shuttle-box-trained rats, decreasing the dopamine (DA) and noradrenaline (NA) levels and increasing the serotonin (5-HT) levels in the cortex and hippocampus. Verapamil did not influence retention in step-down- and shuttle-box avoidance situation and the biogenic monoamine levels in the frontal cortex and hippocampus. It should, however, be noted that the chronic oral treatment with verapamil completely abolished the retention-impairing effect of pindolol, restoring to normal DA, NA and 5-HT levels. These findings might be of interest to clinical practice and suggest the necessity for using a combination of β-blockers with Ca²⁺ antagonists in case of prolonged treatment of cardiovascular diseases.     

Solvent-induced free energy landscape and solute-solvent dynamic coupling in a multielement solute

Molecular dynamics simulations using a simple multielement model solute with internal degrees of freedom and accounting for solvent-induced interactions to all orders in explicit water are reported. The potential energy landscape of the solute is flat in vacuo. However, the sole untruncated solvent-induced interactions between apolar (hydrophobic) and charged elements generate a rich landscape of potential of mean force exhibiting typical features of protein landscapes. Despite the simplicity of our solute, the depth of minima in this landscape is not far in size from free energies that stabilize protein conformations. Dynamical coupling between configurational switching of the system and hydration reconfiguration is also elicited. Switching is seen to occur on a time scale two orders of magnitude longer than that of the reconfiguration time of the solute taken alone, or that of the unperturbed solvent. Qualitatively, these results are unaffected by a different choice of the water-water interaction potential. They show that already at an elementary level, solvent-induced interactions alone, when fully accounted for, can be responsible for configurational and dynamical features essential to protein folding and function.     

Diversity and paleoenvironmental significance of Middle Triassic ostracods (Crustacea) from northern Thailand: Pha Kan Formation (Anisian,Lampang Group)

The Pha Kan Formation that crops out at the Phra That Muang Kham section, south of Lampang city, was measured and sampled for ostracod analysis. We here report the occurrence of 29 species distributed among 14 genera. Four new species are described: Triassocypris phakanella Forel nov. sp., Leviella lampangensis Forel nov. sp., Bektasia yawella Forel nov. sp. and Hungarella poli Chitnarin nov. sp. The present data represent the first detailed report of Middle Triassic (Anisian) ostracods from the Sukhothai terrane and the first insight into diversity dynamics following the end-Permian extinction in this area. The ostracod assemblages of the Phra That Muang Kham section are discussed and document an important shift from siliciclastic to carbonate conditions, from a protected to an open marine environment, followed by a slight regressive trend up-section associated with repeated salinity fluctuations. This fauna illustrates the post-crisis recovery during the Middle Triassic and some hypothesis are issued on the distribution pathways of several taxa.     

Precocious sexual dimorphism and the Lilliput effect in Neo‐Tethyan Ostracoda (Crustacea) through the Permian–Triassic boundary

The Elikah River section spanning the Lopingian (Late Permian) to the Griesbachian (Early Triassic) time interval in the Central Alborz Mountains (north Iran) was sampled for ostracod analysis. We report 79 species distributed among 38 genera. Four new species are described: Acratia? pervagata Forel sp. nov., Microcheilinella alborzella Forel sp. nov., Basslerella superarella Crasquin sp. nov. and Cavellina nesenensis Crasquin sp. nov. The ontogeny of 13 species is described and sexual dimorphism in the genus Microcheilinella is here undoubtedly recognized for the first time. Six species show precocious sexual dimorphism of their carapace as early as A‐5 juvenile. The Lilliput effect is for the first time recorded and quantified for two species. Rare long‐time span Palaeocopida species, known throughout the entire Permian, document relatively long‐term evolution, including the size and growth rate modifications associated with the earlier appearance of carapace sexual dimorphism through time. These patterns might be related to the Guadalupian–Lopingian events and/or to climatic modifications occurring during the Permian interval.     

Posters

Introduction  Fine needle aspiration (FNA) cytology of the thyroid is a well-established test in the clinical work-up of patients with solitary nodules of the thyroid. Thyroid FNA does however have limitations and audit of diagnostic performance is important.
Methods  The histopathology archives of the Royal Victoria Hospital were searched for all thyroid resections and the histopathological diagnosis was correlated with the pre-operative cytological diagnosis, where available. Special emphasis was placed on the accuracy of tumour diagnosis.
Results  A total of 173 cases were identified during the 2-year period, of these 93 had available pre-operative FNA. A total of 57 tumours were identified. A small number (six of 57) of significant discrepancies were identified. These included a malignant lymphoma diagnosed as Hashimoto's thyroiditis, a metastasis which the FNA had suggested was a medullary carcinoma and an insular carcinoma diagnosed as medullary carcinoma on FNA. False positives included a colloid cyst diagnosed as suspicious of malignancy and a cytological diagnosis of papillary carcinoma not confirmed on histology.
Discussion  At present, the majority of thyroid FNAs in our clinics are performed by surgeons and material is not routinely available for immunocytochemistry. In spite of these limitations, there were few major discrepancies. These might be reduced if pathologist aspirators were able to perform FNAs and collect material for further studies, where necessary. This would allow identification of medullary carcinomas and malignant lymphomas.
Conclusion  FNA of thyroid lesions is a useful investigation in our clinical setting, however, some areas of potential for improvement have been identified.