External stimuli help restore post-partum ovarian activity in Pelibuey sheep

Post-partum anestrus is a problem on farms, and its duration depends on the frequency and intensity of suckling which affects reproduction and production efficiency to become a determining economic factor. The aim of this study was to determine the post-partum reproductive response in ewe to a "male effect" with an ovulation induction protocol of five days using progesterone and the application of a metabolic restorative (MR; Metabolase ®). One hundred and twenty females were randomly assigned to one of four treatments: T1: Continuous suckling (CS; n = 29), T2: CS + MR (n = 29), T3: CS + Male Effect (ME; n = 32), and T4: CS + MR + ME. The percentage of females in ovulation, weight changes among females and lambs, the onset of estrus, calving, fecundity, and prolificacy were also determined. The ovulation percentage was higher in CS + ME and CS + MR + ME (75.0 and 73.3%) than in the other treatments. Weight changes in females and lambs were different among periods. The onset of estrus was similar for CS and CS + MR (25.9 ± 1.9 and 25.7 ± 0.7 h, respectively). The calving percentage was higher for CS + MR (86.2%) than other treatments. Male presence positively affected the postpartum cyclic ovarian re-establishment and the metabolic restorative could even improve the fertility of hair ewes in continuous suckling with similar hormone protocolKeywords: Male effect, metabolic stimulation, post-partum anestru

Administration of royal jelly in estrus synchronization protocols for wool and hair sheep

Objetive: To know the most representative results of the use of royal jelly in reproductive protocols in wool and hair sheep,Desing/methodology/approach: A review of studies referenced in scientific databases published in the livestock sector was carried out. Results: In sheep, the administration of royal jelly in conjunction with reproductive management protocols improves the response to oestrus timing, oestrus onset time and duration, number of large follicles, ovulatory rate, and gestation rate. Study limitations/implications: Royal jelly is a substance that has beneficial effects on sheep reproductive variables, however the cost can be a limitation for its incorporation into the synchronization protocols, in addition to being necessary to elucidate the active metabolites that exert the action and the most effective route of administration.Findings/conclusions: Royal jelly can be an alternative to be incorporated in the estrous synchronization programs in sheep in order to replace some hormonal and without reducing reproductive variables.Objective: To assess the most relevant results on the usage of royal jelly in reproductive protocols of wool and hair sheep. Design/methodology/approach: A review of studies referenced and published in scientific databases regard the livestock sector. Results: In ewes, administration of “royal jelly” in addition to reproductive management protocols improves the response to estrus synchronization, time of onset and duration of estrus, number of large follicles, ovulatory rate and gestation rate. Study limitations/implications: Royal jelly is a substance with beneficial effects on reproductive variables in ewes; however, the cost may be a limitation for its incorporation in synchronization protocols. Additionally, it is necessary to clarify the active metabolites that exert the action and the most effective route of administration. Findings/conclusions: Royal jelly can be an alternative incorporated to estrus synchronization programs in ewes to substitute some hormones without decreasing reproductive variables

The community engagement course and action network: strengthening community and academic research partnerships to advance health equity

BackgroundHistorically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority Serving Institutions are uniquely positioned to implement community-campus research partnerships based on a history of service, the pursuit of community trustworthiness and student demographics often similar to surrounding marginalized communities. The Morehouse School of Medicine Prevention Research Center collaborates with members of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Minority Serving Institutes, and community organizations on the Community Engaged Course and Action Network. This network is the first of its kind and aims to strengthen members’ ability to implement Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) principles and partnerships. Projects address public health priorities including mental health among communities of color, zoonotic disease prevention, and urban food deserts.Materials and methodsTo assess the effectiveness of the network, a Participatory Evaluation framework was implemented to conduct process evaluation which included review of partnership structures, operations, project implementation processes, and preliminary outcomes of the research collaborations. A focus group of Community Engagement Course and Action Network members (community and academic) was also conducted to identify benefits and challenges of the network with emphasis on key areas for improvement to further enhance the relationships between partners and to facilitate their subsequent community-campus research.ResultsNetwork improvements were tied to themes strengthening community-academic partnerships including sharing and fellowship, coalition building and collaboration, and greater connections and awareness of community needs through their current community-academic partnerships. The need to conduct ongoing evaluation during and after implementation, for determining the early adoption of CBPR approaches was also identified.ConclusionEvaluation of the network’s processes, infrastructure, and operation provides early lessons learned to strengthen the network. Ongoing assessment is also essential for ensuring continuous quality improvement across partnerships such as determining CBPR fidelity, assessing partnership synergy, and dynamics, and for quality improvement of research protocol. The implications and potential for advancing implementation science through this and similar networks are great towards advancing leadership in modeling how foundations in community service can advance to CBPR partnership formation and ultimately, health equity approaches, that are local defined and assessed

Assaying Environmental Nickel Toxicity Using Model Nematodes

Although nickel exposure results in allergic reactions, respiratory conditions, and cancer in humans and rodents, the ramifications of excess nickel in the environment for animal and human health remain largely undescribed. Nickel and other cationic metals travel through waterways and bind to soils and sediments. To evaluate the potential toxic effects of nickel at environmental contaminant levels (8.9-7,600 µg Ni/g dry weight of sediment and 50-800 µg NiCl2/L of water), we conducted assays using two cosmopolitan nematodes, Caenorhabditis elegans and Pristionchus pacificus. We assayed the effects of both sediment-bound and aqueous nickel upon animal growth, developmental survival, lifespan, and fecundity. Uncontaminated sediments were collected from sites in the Midwestern United States and spiked with a range of nickel concentrations. We found that nickel-spiked sediment substantially impairs both survival from larval to adult stages and adult longevity in a concentration-dependent manner. Further, while aqueous nickel showed no adverse effects on either survivorship or longevity, we observed a significant decrease in fecundity, indicating that aqueous nickel could have a negative impact on nematode physiology. Intriguingly, C. elegans and P. pacificus exhibit similar, but not identical, responses to nickel exposure. Moreover, P. pacificus could be tested successfully in sediments inhospitable to C. elegans. Our results add to a growing body of literature documenting the impact of nickel on animal physiology, and suggest that environmental toxicological studies could gain an advantage by widening their repertoire of nematode species

Preneoplastic lesions of the lung

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide. If we can define and detect preneoplastic lesions, we might have a chance of improving survival. The World Health Organization has defined three preneoplastic lesions of the bronchial epithelium: squamous dysplasia/carcinoma in situ; atypical adenomatous hyperplasia; and diffuse idiopathic pulmonary neuroendocrine cell hyperplasia. These lesions are believed to progress to squamous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma and carcinoid tumors, respectively. In this review we summarize the data supporting the preneoplastic nature of these lesions, and delve into some of the genetic changes found in atypical adenomatous hyperplasia and squamous dysplasia/carcinoma in situ

Algorithms solving the Internet shopping optimization problem with price discounts

The Internet shopping optimization problem arises when a customer aims to purchase a list of goods from a set of web-stores with a minimum total cost. This problem is NP-hard in the strong sense. We are interested in solving the Internet shopping optimization problem with additional delivery costs associated to the web-stores where the goods are bought. It is of interest to extend the model including price discounts of goods. The aim of this paper is to present a set of optimization algorithms to solve the problem. Our purpose is to find a compromise solution between computational time and results close to the optimum value. The performance of the set of algorithms is evaluated through simulations using real world data collected from 32 web-stores. The quality of the results provided by the set of algorithms is compared to the optimal solutions for small-size instances of the problem. The optimization algorithms are also evaluated regarding scalability when the size of the instances increases. The set of results revealed that the algorithms are able to compute good quality solutions close to the optimum in a reasonable time with very good scalability demonstrating their practicability

Exact and heuristic approaches to solve the Internet shopping optimization problem with delivery costs

Internet shopping has been one of the most common online activities, carried out by millions of users every day. As the number of available offers grows, the difficulty in getting the best one among all the shops increases as well. In this paper we propose an integer linear programming (ILP) model and two heuristic solutions, the MinMin algorithm and the cellular processing algorithm, to tackle the Internet shopping optimization problem with delivery costs. The obtained results improve those achieved by the state-of-the-art heuristics, and for small real case scenarios ILP delivers exact solutions in a reasonable amount of time