Diphallia in a mixed-breed dog with multiple anomalies

Complete diphallia was detected in a six-month-old Poodle cross dog. Duplication of the urinary bladder, right renal hypoplasia, bifurcation of the descending colon and bilateral cryptorchidism were also present. The left urethra was patent, and emptied the left urinary bladder; the right urethra ended blindly at a point 2.5 cm from the tip of the right penis. The left urinary bladder was joined medially to a right urinary bladder with no interbladder communication; however, the right bladder opened caudally into a blind sac which drained into the left prostatic urethra. Pyelonephritis of the left kidney was present, and was suspected to be due to ascending bacterial infection of the right urinary bladder and the right segment of the bifurcated descending colon, which terminated at the apex of the right urinary bladder. Diphallia and associated urogenital anomalies are reviewed.     

Heritability of bone mass: a longitudinal study in aging male twins

Midshaft radial bone mass was first measured from 1970 through 1972 by photon absorptiometry in 42 pairs of monozygotic (MZ) and 38 pairs of dizygotic (DZ) male Caucasian twins (age 44-55 years). The MZ intraclass correlation (rMZ) of .70 was significantly larger (P less than .05) than the DZ correlation (rDZ) of .45, providing evidence for genetic influences (Smith et al. 1973). Radial bone mass measurements repeated 16 years later (1986-87) on 25 of the MZ pairs and on 21 of the DZ pairs revealed an rMZ of .61 and an rDZ of .44, but the difference was not significant (P greater than .05). The twins had an average radial mass loss of 0.49%/year between the two examinations. The rMZ (.52) and rDZ (.49) values for the 16-year loss in radial mass were both significantly different from zero, but their similar size indicated that the correlations were due to nongenetic factors. In a search for the source of genetic influences on adult radial mass, heritability was estimated by the formula 2(rMZ - rDZ) for radial width and was found to be .66 and .76 (P less than .05) for examinations 1 and 2, respectively. An index of radial density (mass/width) was calculated, and the differences between rMZ and rDZ were not significant at either examination. The intraclass correlations (rMZ = .35; rDZ = .43) were both significant for the loss of bone density between examinations but provided no evidence for genetic influences, results similar to the findings for the loss of mass.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Immunoreactivity to the pancreatic polypeptide family in the nervous system of the adult human blood fluke,Schistosoma mansoni

Summary The presence and distribution of neuropeptides belonging to the pancreatic polypeptide family have been demonstrated by an indirect immunofluorescence technique in the nervous systems of adult male and female Schistosoma mansoni. Seven antisera of differing regional specificity to pancreatic polypeptide (PP), peptide YY (PYY) and neuropeptide Y (NPY) were employed on both whole-mount and cryostat-sectioned material. Positive immunoreactivity (IR) was obtained with all antisera except an N-terminally-directed antiserum to NPY. In the CNS, immunoreactivity was restricted to cell bodies and nerve fibres in the anterior ganglia, central commissure and dorsal and ventral nerve cords of both sexes, whereas, in the PNS, positive-IR was present in the plexuses innervating the subtegumental musculature and the oral and ventral suckers. Intense immunoreactivity was observed in a plexus of nerve fibres and cell bodies in the lining of the gynaecophoric canal and in fine nerve fibres innervating the dorsal tubercles of the male. In contrast, in the female, strong immunoreactivity was evident in nerve plexuses innervating the lining of the ovovitelline duct and in the wall of the ootype, but most notably in a cluster of cells in the region of Mehlis' gland. Results suggest that molecules with C-terminal homology to the PP-family are present in S. mansoni. These peptides would appear to be important regulatory molecules in the parasite's nervous system and may play a role in the control of egg production.     

Effects of photoperiod and intermittent lighting on reproduction in pheasant hens

Forty 28-wk-old ring-necked pheasant hens were equally distributed among 5 treatment groups and exposed to the following light schedules for 36 wk: Treatment 1 - 16L:8D; Treatment 2 - 1L:11D:4L:8D; Treatment 3 - 1L:13D:2L:8D; Treatment 4 - 1L:14D:1L:8D; and Treatment 5 - 1L:14.5D:0.5L:8D. The number of days from stimulatory lighting to the first egg was significantly (P<0.05) greater under the intermittent schedules (20.3, 29.5, 40.3, 44.4, and 57.7 d, respectively) when the subjective daylength was shorter than 13 h. Despite the delay in initiation of laying, average egg production was higher under intermittent lighting (23.0, 36.0, 48.6, 43.8, and 42.3% or 58.0, 93.0, 122.5, 110.4, and 106.6 eggs). Patterns of oviposition indicated a tendency in the birds exposed to intermittent lighting to have synchronized laying, with the period opposite the longest scotoperiod provided by their light schedule; thus subjective daylengths of 13, 11, 10 and 9.5 h, respectively, were created. Fertility was significantly (P<0.05) lower under intermittent lighting and was apparently associated with a high proportion of eggs in the late stages of oviducal development at the time of insemination.     

Processing of the luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone precursor in the preoptic area and hypothalamus of the rat

The LHRH precursor is known to contain the decapeptide and a 56 amino acid peptide termed gonadotropin-releasing hormone-associated peptide (GAP). The purpose of our study was to characterize the proLHRH and its processed products from the cell body and fiber region and from the nerve terminal region of LHRH neurons. The median eminence (ME) and a tissue block containing the preoptic area and hypothalamus (POH) were dissected separately. Tissues were homogenized and peptides were separated according to mol wt. Three different LHRH antisera bound to one immunoreactive (IR) substance which eluted at approximately 1200 mol wt. Subsequently, this material coeluted with synthetic LHRH on a reversed-phase column as a single peak. There was approximately 1.6-fold more LHRH-like IR in the ME than in the POH. The four different GAP antisera recognized multiple mol wt forms of GAP-like IR at approximately 16,000 to 14,000, 8,200, 6,500, 3,500, and 2,800 mol wt. There were more of the high mol wt materials and less of the 6500 and lower mol wt materials in the POH than in the ME. The most abundant species in both regions was the 6500 mol wt form. This IR substance coeluted with synthetic rat GAP1-56 on a reversed-phase column as a single peak. These experiments demonstrate 1) that multiple IR forms of the LHRH prohormone exist in the POH of the rat and 2) that nerve terminals of the LHRH neurons contain LHRH, GAP1-56, and some lower mol wt GAP-like substances. These results provide the first information concerning the processing scheme for the LHRH prohormone in the rat brain.