The introduction of reindeer to Brøggerhalvøya, Svalbard: grazing preference and effect on vegetation

In 1978 after about 100 years of absence, 15 Svalbard reindeer, Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus were reintroduced to Brøggerhalvøya, a peninsula on the north-western coast of Svalbard. This stock had increased to about 200 animals in 1989. Studies of reindeer grazing behaviour were carried out in 1979-1980 and 1988¬1989. Highly prefered lichen species such as Cetraria nivalis had almost completely disappeared by 1989, whereas a less prefered species, Cetraria delisei, was still abundant. Year round dietary intake of grasses, lichens and herbs e.g. Oxyria digyna, had decreased by 1989, whereas that of mosses had increased. Essentially reindeer showed a more opportunistic grazing behaviour with more balanced utilization of all types of plant associations in 1989. The grazing behaviour of the reindeer on Brøggerhalvøya is therefore similar to that observed for Svalbard reindeer in general

Effect of indomethacin on S. typhimurium and cholera toxin-induced fluid accumulation in pig jejunum

We have investigated the influence of prostaglandins (PGs) on the Salmonella typhimurium (St) and cholera toxin (CT)-induced fluid accumulation in jejunum of 9-10 weeks (18-20 kg) old female pigs. St (1010 colony forming units) and CT (56/ig) were instilled in separated tiedoff loops for 8 hours. Before instillation, and again after 4 hours, pigs were given an intravenous dose of the cyclooxygenase and prostaglandin synthesis inhibitor, indomethacin, or saline alone (control). In the St-loops indomethacin had no effect on the fluid accumulation, 9.1 ± 1.3 vs 8.2±0.5 mg fluid/mg loop dry weight, whereas in CT-Ioops, indomethacin reduced fluid accumulation significantly from 35±2 to 22±3 mg fluid/mg loop dry weight (P\u3c0.05). Our preliminary results indicate that PGs are not involved in St-induced fluid accumulation in pig jejunum, which is in contrast to the case in CT -induced fluid accumulation

Genetic variation for sensitivity to a thyme monoterpene in associated plant species

Recent studies have shown that plant allelochemicals can have profound effects on the performance of associated species, such that plants with a history of co-existence with “chemical neighbour” plants perform better in their presence compared to naïve plants. This has cast new light on the complexity of plant–plant interactions and plant communities and has led to debates on whether plant communities are more co-evolved than traditionally thought. In order to determine whether plants may indeed evolve in response to other plants’ allelochemicals it is crucial to determine the presence of genetic variation for performance under the influence of specific allelochemicals and show that natural selection indeed operates on this variation. We studied the effect of the monoterpene carvacrol—a dominant compound in the essential oil of Thymus pulegioides—on three associated plant species originating from sites where thyme is either present or absent. We found the presence of genetic variation in both naïve and experienced populations for performance under the influence of the allelochemical but the response varied among naïve and experienced plant. Plants from experienced populations performed better than naïve plants on carvacrol soil and contained significantly more seed families with an adaptive response to carvacrol than naïve populations. This suggests that the presence of T. pulegioides can act as a selective agent on associated species, by favouring genotypes which perform best in the presence of its allelochemicals. The response to the thyme allelochemical varied from negative to neutral to positive among the species. The different responses within a species suggest that plant–plant interactions can evolve; this has implications for community dynamics and stability

Prognostic impact of urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) and its inhibitor (PAI-1) in cytosols and pellet extracts derived from 892 breast cancer patients

To evaluate the clinical relevance of urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) and its type-1 inhibitor (PAI-1) measured by a recently developed enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), we analysed both components in samples derived from 892 patients with primary breast cancer (median follow-up 99 months). The assays were performed in cytosolic extracts as well as in corresponding detergent extracts of pellets obtained after ultracentrifugation, which was carried out when preparing the cytosolic fractions for routine steroid hormone receptor determination. Statistically significant correlations were found between the cytosolic levels and those determined in the pellet extracts (Spearman correlation coefficient rs = 0.60, P < 0.0001 for uPA and rs = 0.65, P < 0.0001 for PAI-1). Furthermore, strong correlations were found between the levels of both uPA (rs = 0.85, P < 0.0001) and PAI-1 (rs = 0.90, P < 0.0001) in the cytosols and their levels previously measured with ELISAs based on commercial reagents. In both Cox univariate and multivariate analysis, high cytosolic levels of uPA or PAI-1 were significantly associated with increased rates of relapse and death. The levels of uPA and PAI-1 in the pellet extracts also provided prognostic information, although to a lesser extent compared with the cytosolic extracts. The prediction of prognosis on the basis of uPA and PAI-1 assessed by an alternative ELISA once again emphasizes the established prognostic role and usefulness of these parameters in selection of breast cancer patients at high or low risk of recurrence. © 1999 Cancer Research Campaig

Is paternal age associated with transfer day, developmental stage, morphology, and initial hCG-rise of the competent blastocyst leading to live birth?:A multicenter cohort study

In this study we investigated whether age of men undergoing assisted reproductive technology (ART) treatment was associated with day of transfer, stage, morphology, and initial hCG-rise of the competent blastocyst leading to a live birth? The design was a multicenter historical cohort study based on exposure (age) and outcome data (blastocyst stage and morphology and initial hCG-rise) from men whose partner underwent single blastocyst transfer resulting in singleton pregnancy/birth. The ART treatments were carried out at sixteen private and university-based public fertility clinics. We included 7246 men and women, who between 2014 and 2018 underwent controlled ovarian stimulation (COS) or Frozen-thawed Embryo Transfer (FET) with a single blastocyst transfer resulting in singleton pregnancy were identified. 4842 men with a partner giving birth were included, by linking data to the Danish Medical Birth Registry. We showed that the adjusted association between paternal age and transfer day in COS treatments was OR 1.06, 95% CI (1.00;1.13). Meaning that for every increase of one year, men had a 6% increased probability that the competent blastocyst was transferred on day 6 compared to day 5. Further we showed that the mean difference in hCG values when comparing paternal age group 30–34, 35–39 and 40–45 with the age group 25–29 in those receiving COS treatment, all showed significantly lower adjusted values for older men. In conclusion we hypothesize that the later transfer (day 6) in female partners of older men may be due to longer time spent by the oocyte to repair fragmented DNA of the sperm cells, which should be a focus of future research in men

Growth rate, health and welfare in a dairy herd with natural suckling until 6–8 weeks of age: a case report

Over a period of two years, growth rate and health were measured for dairy calves allowed to suckle their mothers up to 6–8 weeks of age. Thirty-one calves were weighted weekly, and the mean daily growth rate was 1.2 ± 0.03 kg from birth up to 13 weeks of age. Illness in calves and young stock was not observed. In the cows, the mean incidences of ketosis, displaced abomasum, puerperal paresis, mastitis, teat injury and retained placenta were 0, 0, 8, 22, 1 and 1%, respectively, during a 6-year period. The mean daily gain of 56 growing bulls was 1.4 kg when slaughtered at 15 months of age, which is higher than the mean daily gain of 0.95 kg in the population. Probiotics, hormones and vaccines were not used, and antibiotics were only used for treating illness. The present study indicates many advantages and few problems when dairy calves are penned together with the cows and allowed natural feeding up to 6–8 weeks of age. This production system was easy to manage, preferred by the farmer, and may satisfy the public concern regarding the practice of immediate separation of cow and calf in commercial milk production

Prognostic value of tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) and its complex with the type-1 inhibitor (PAI-1) in breast cancer

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EUPRON: nurses’ practice in interprofessional pharmaceutical care in Europe. A cross-sectional survey in 17 countries

Abstract Objectives Safe pharmaceutical care (PC) requires an interprofessional team approach, involving physicians, nurses and pharmacists. Nurses’ roles however, are not always explicit and clear, complicating interprofessional collaboration. The aim of this study is to describe nurses’ practice and interprofessional collaboration in PC, from the viewpoint of nurses, physicians and pharmacists. Design A cross-sectional survey. Setting The study was conducted in 17 European countries, each with their own health systems. Participants Pharmacists, physicians and nurses with an active role in PC were surveyed. Main outcome measures Nurses’ involvement in PC, experiences of interprofessional collaboration and communication and views on nurses’ competences. Results A total of 4888 nurses, 974 physicians and 857 pharmacists from 17 European countries responded. Providing patient education and information (PEI), monitoring medicines adherence (MMA), monitoring adverse/therapeutic effects (ME) and prescribing medicines were considered integral to nursing practice by 78%, 73%, 69% and 15% of nurses, respectively. Most respondents were convinced that quality of PC would be improved by increasing nurses’ involvement in ME (95%), MMA (95%), PEI (91%) and prescribing (53%). Mean scores for the reported quality of collaboration between nurses and physicians, collaboration between nurses and pharmacists and interprofessional communication were respectively <7/10, ≤4/10, <6/10 for all four aspects of PC. Conclusions ME, MMA, PEI and prescribing are part of nurses’ activities, and most healthcare professionals felt their involvement should be extended. Collaboration between nurses and physicians on PC is limited and between nurses and pharmacists even more