1,085 research outputs found
Effect of ovarian superstimulation on COC collection and maturation in alpacas
The objective of the present study was to compare the ovarian follicular response, cumulus-oocyte complex (COC) collection rate, and maturational status of COC collected from alpacas subsequent to treatment with two different superstimulatory protocols. Alpacas (n = 7 per group) were treated with: (1) 200 mg of FSH im divided bid for 3 d, plus a single i.v. dose of 1000 IU hCG 24 h after the last FSH treatment, or (2) 1200 IU of eCG as a single i.m. dose, plus a single i.v. dose of 1000 IU of hCG on day 3 after eCG treatment (day 0 = start of superstimulatory treatment). At 20-24 h post-hCG treatment, the ovaries were surgically exposed and COC were collected by needle aspiration of all follicles ≥6 mm. The FSH and eCG treatment groups did not differ with respect to the number of follicles ≥6 mm at the time of COC collection (20.0 ± 7.5 versus 27.0 ± 3.3; P = 0.5), the number of COC collected (26.2 ± 8.4 versus 23.3 ± 3.7; P = 0.7), or the collection rate per follicle aspirated (89% versus 87%; P = 0.7). No differences were detected between FSH- and eCG-treated alpacas in the number of expanded COC collected per alpaca (11.5 ± 2.9 versus 8.8 ± 2.8; P = 0.54), the number of expanded COC in metaphase II (8.5 ± 1.9 versus 6.0 ± 2.1; P = 0.1), or the number of compact COC with ≥3 layers of cumulus cells (12.5 ± 4.3 versus 14.3 ± 2.6; P = 0.72). A greater proportion (P < 0.05) of compact COC collected after FSH treatment matured in vitro to the metaphase II stage than after eCG treatment. Eight expanded alpaca COC were fertilized in vitro with llama sperm, three of which were fixed and stained 18 h after exposure to sperm and five were cultured in vitro. Two of the three stained oocytes were in the pronuclear stage, and all five of the cultured oocytes developed to the two-cell and morula stages at 2 and 7 days, respectively, after in vitro fertilization. In summary, FSH and eCG treatments were equally effective for ovarian superstimulation and oocyte collection. Cumulus-oocyte complexes were collected from more than 80% of follicles aspirated during laparotomy. Nearly one third of the COC collected after superstimulation were in metaphase II, and more than 70% of the remaining COC progressed to metaphase II after in vitro maturation for 26 h, bringing the mean number of oocytes available for in vitro fertilization to 16 per alpaca. Preliminary results support the hypothesis that alpaca oocytes obtained after superstimulation in the absence of progesterone are developmentally competent since morulae developed from all five COC fertilized and cultured in vitro
A Short Review on Jet Identification
Jets can be used to probe the physical properties of the high energy density
matter created in collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC).
Measurements of strong suppression of inclusive hadron distributions and
di-hadron correlations at high have already provided evidence for
partonic energy loss. However, these measurements suffer from well-known
geometric biases due to the competition of energy loss and fragmentation. These
biases can be avoided if the jets are reconstructed independently of their
fragmentation details - quenched or unquenched. In this paper, we discuss
modern jet reconstruction algorithms (cone and sequential recombination) and
their corresponding background subtraction techniques required by the high
multiplicities of heavy ion collisions. We review recent results from the STAR
experiment at RHIC on direct jet reconstruction in central Au+Au collisions at
GeV.Comment: Proceedings for the invited talk of Hot Quarks 2008, Estes Park, CO
18-23 August 200
Flavor Singlet Axial Vector Coupling of the Proton with Dynamical Wilson Fermions
We present the results of a full QCD lattice calculation of the flavor
singlet axial vector coupling of the proton. The simulation has been
carried out on a lattice at with dynamical
Wilson fermions. It turns out that the statistical quality of the connected
contribution to is excellent, whereas the disconnected part is
accessible but suffers from large statistical fluctuations. Using a 1st order
tadpole improved renormalization constant , we estimate .Comment: 13 pages, 5 eps figures, minor changes to text and citation
Nuclear shadowing at low Q^2
We re-examine the role of vector meson dominance in nuclear shadowing at low
Q^2. We find that models which incorporate both vector meson and partonic
mechanisms are consistent with both the magnitude and the Q^2 slope of the
shadowing data.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures; to appear in Phys. Rev.
Chaos and flights in the atom-photon interaction in cavity QED
We study dynamics of the atom-photon interaction in cavity quantum
electrodynamics (QED), considering a cold two-level atom in a single-mode
high-finesse standing-wave cavity as a nonlinear Hamiltonian system with three
coupled degrees of freedom: translational, internal atomic, and the field. The
system proves to have different types of motion including L\'{e}vy flights and
chaotic walkings of an atom in a cavity. It is shown that the translational
motion, related to the atom recoils, is governed by an equation of a parametric
nonlinear pendulum with a frequency modulated by the Rabi oscillations. This
type of dynamics is chaotic with some width of the stochastic layer that is
estimated analytically. The width is fairly small for realistic values of the
control parameters, the normalized detuning and atomic recoil
frequency . It is demonstrated how the atom-photon dynamics with a
given value of depends on the values of and initial
conditions. Two types of L\'{e}vy flights, one corresponding to the ballistic
motion of the atom and another one corresponding to small oscillations in a
potential well, are found. These flights influence statistical properties of
the atom-photon interaction such as distribution of Poincar\'{e} recurrences
and moments of the atom position . The simulation shows different regimes of
motion, from slightly abnormal diffusion with at to a superdiffusion with at that
corresponds to a superballistic motion of the atom with an acceleration. The
obtained results can be used to find new ways to manipulate atoms, to cool and
trap them by adjusting the detuning .Comment: 16 pages, 7 figures. To be published in Phys. Rev.
Ovarian response and embryo production in llamas treated with equine chorionic gonadotropin alone or with a progestin-releasing vaginal sponge at the time of follicular wave emergence
The objective of the study was to compare the ovulatory response and embryo production in llamas (Lama glama) treated with a single dose of equine chorionic gonadotropin (eCG) alone or combined with intravaginal medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) at the time of follicular wave emergence. Llamas with a growing follicle ≥7 mm in diameter were assigned to one of the following groups: (1) Control (n = 28): Nonstimulated llamas were mated and embryos were collected 7 d after mating. (2) eCG (n = 32): Llamas were given 5 mg luteinizing hormone (LH) (Day 0) to induce ovulation, 1000 IU eCG on Day 2, a luteolytic dose of prostaglandin F2α on Day 6, mating on Day 7, and embryo collection on Day 14. (3) eCG+MPA (n = 34): Llamas were treated as those in the eCG group, but a sponge containing 60 mg MPA was placed intravaginally from Days 2 to 6. Llamas that did not respond to synchronization or superstimulation were excluded, leaving data from n = 26, 26, and 27 in the control, eCG, and eCG+MPA groups, respectively, for statistical analysis. The mean (±SD) number of follicles > 7 mm at the time of mating was greatest in the eCG group, intermediate in the eCG+MPA group, and lowest in the control group (16.6 ± 5.3, 12.9 ± 3.7, and 1.0 ± 0.0, respectively, P < 0.001). The number of corpora lutea was similar between eCG and eCG+MPA groups (10.1 ± 2.9 and 8.6 ± 3.7, respectively); both were higher (P < 0.001) than in controls (0.9 ± 0.3). The number of embryos did not differ significantly between the eCG and eCG+MPA groups (4.8 ± 2.8 and 3.5 ± 3.0, respectively), but both were higher (P < 0.001) than in the controls (0.7 ± 0.4). In conclusion, eCG, with or without MPA effectively induced a superovulatory response and multiple embryo production in llamas. © 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved
Jet Reconstruction in Heavy Ion Collisions
We examine the problem of jet reconstruction at heavy-ion colliders using
jet-area-based background subtraction tools as provided by FastJet. We use
Monte Carlo simulations with and without quenching to study the performance of
several jet algorithms, including the option of filtering, under conditions
corresponding to RHIC and LHC collisions. We find that most standard algorithms
perform well, though the anti-kt and filtered Cambridge/Aachen algorithms have
clear advantages in terms of the reconstructed transverse-momentum offset and
dispersion.Comment: 31 pages, 17 figure
Global regularity criterion for the 3D Navier-Stokes equations involving one entry of the velocity gradient tensor
In this paper we provide a sufficient condition, in terms of only one of the
nine entries of the gradient tensor, i.e., the Jacobian matrix of the velocity
vector field, for the global regularity of strong solutions to the
three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations in the whole space, as well as for
the case of periodic boundary conditions
Subprocess Size in Hard Exclusive Scattering
The interaction region of hard exclusive hadron scattering can have a large
transverse size due to endpoint contributions, where one parton carries most of
the hadron momentum. The endpoint region is enhanced and can dominate in
processes involving multiple scattering and quark helicity flip. The endpoint
Fock states have perturbatively short lifetimes and scatter softly in the
target. We give plausible arguments that endpoint contributions can explain the
apparent absence of color transparency in fixed angle exclusive scattering and
the dimensional scaling of transverse rho photoproduction at high momentum
transfer, which requires quark helicity flip. We also present a quantitative
estimate of Sudakov effects.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figures, JHEP style; v2: quantitative estimate of Sudakov
effects and more detailed discussion of endpoint behaviour of meson
distribution amplitude added, few other clarifications, version to appear in
Phys. Rev.
In vitro fertilization and development of cumulus oocytes complexes collected by ultrasound-guided follicle aspiration in superstimulated llamas
The objective was to evaluate the developmental competence of cumulus-oocyte complexes (COC) collected by follicular aspiration in llamas treated with FSH or eCG. Llamas were assigned randomly to two groups (n = 16 per group) and treated, at the time of ovarian follicular wave emergence, with either: 1) 25 mg of FSH im, twice daily for 4 d; or 2) 1000 IU of eCG as a single i.m. dose. The start of gonadotropin treatment was considered Day 0. Both groups were given 5 mg of Armour Standard LH im on Day 6, and COC were collected by follicle aspiration on Day 7. Expanded COC collected from FSH- (n = 157) and eCG-treated llamas (n = 151) were fertilized in vitro using epididymal sperm, and presumptive zygotes were in vitro cultured in SOF medium for 8 d. The FSH and eCG treatment groups did not differ with respect to: the number of follicles 7 mm (16.0; 2.7 vs 14.0; 1.9, respectively; P = 0.5); the number of COC collected (11.5; 1.9 vs 9.7; 1.2; P = 0.4); the number of expanded COC (9.8; 1.4 vs 9.4; 1.2; P = 0.8); or the percentage of presumptive zygotes which developed into 2 to 8 cell stage embryos (65.3 vs 63.1), morulas (46.2 vs 42.5), or blastocysts (23.1 vs 20.5; P > 0.05). In conclusion, FSH and eCG treatments were equally effective for recovery of a high number of expanded COC which were used directly for in vitro fertilization. Furthermore, rate of embryo development was not significantly affected by the gonadotropin treatment used. © 2011 Elsevier Inc
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