APPLICATION OF THE NON-SURGICAL BOVINE EMBRYO TRANSFER TECHNIQUE IN A DAIRY FARMIN THE LIMA MILKSHED

El estudio tuvo como objetivo evaluar la respuesta superovulatoria y la tasa de concepción al aplicar la técnica no quirúrgica de transferencia de embriones en vacas lecheras de un establo comercial de la cuenca de Lima. Se utilizaron ocho vacas donadoras, distribuidas en dos años de trabajo. Estas fueron sincronizadas con estrógenos, progestágenos y agentes luteolíticos, superovuladas con 400 mg de FSHe inseminadas con dos dosis de semen congelado. Se utilizaron 28 receptoras, también distribuidas en dos años. En el primer año se sincronizaron con el protocolo Pre-synchy en el segundo año con el protocolo CIDR-synch. Se hizo coincidir el día esperado del celo de las donadoras y receptoras. Los embriones fueron recolectados en el día siete del servicio, se clasificaron y se transfirieron de inmediato a las receptoras. Eldiagnóstico de gestación se realizó mediante ultrasonografía transrectal al día 28 postransferencia. Se obtuvieron 23 embriones, siendo la tasa de recuperación de 36.5% con gran variación entre años. Se transfirieron 17 embriones obteniéndose una tasa de concepción de 40.0%, con gran variación entre años (22.2 y 66.7%). La variada respuesta individual de las donadoras afectó la tasa de recuperación de embriones y el protocolo de sincronización afectó la tasa de concepción.The study aimed to evaluate the superovulatory response and conception rate byapplying the technique of non-surgical embryo transfer in dairy cows of a commercialfarm in the Lima milkshed. Eight donor cows were used and distributed in two workingyears. Donors were synchronized with estrogens, progestagens and luteolitic agents,superovulated with 400 mg of FSH, and inseminated with two doses of frozen semen. Therecipient animals (n=28) were also distributed in two years. The Pre-synch protocol wasused for estrus synchronization in the first year and the CIDR-synch protocol in thesecond year. The expected day of heat presentation coincided for both donors andrecipients. The recovery of embryos was done seven days post service where embryoswere classified and immediately transferred. Pregnancy diagnosis by transrectalultrasonography was done at day 28 post transfer. A total of 23 embryos were obtained.The embryo recovery rate was 36.5% with high variation between years. Seventeenembryos were transferred and the conception rate was 40% with high variation betweenyears (22.2 and 66.7%). The varied individual response of the donors affected the embryorecovery rate and the synchronization protocol affected conception rate

CEERS Epoch 1 NIRCam Imaging: Reduction Methods and Simulations Enabling Early JWST Science Results

We present the data release and data reduction process for the Epoch 1 NIRCam observations for the Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science Survey (CEERS). These data consist of NIRCam imaging in six broadband filters (F115W, F150W, F200W, F277W, F356W and F444W) and one medium band filter (F410M) over four pointings, obtained in parallel with primary CEERS MIRI observations (Yang et al. in prep). We reduced the NIRCam imaging with the JWST Calibration Pipeline, with custom modifications and reduction steps designed to address additional features and challenges with the data. Here we provide a detailed description of each step in our reduction and a discussion of future expected improvements. Our reduction process includes corrections for known pre-launch issues such as 1/f noise, as well as in-flight issues including snowballs, wisps, and astrometric alignment. Many of our custom reduction processes were first developed with pre-launch simulated NIRCam imaging over the full 10 CEERS NIRCam pointings. We present a description of the creation and reduction of this simulated dataset in the Appendix. We provide mosaics of the real images in a public release, as well as our reduction scripts with detailed explanations to allow users to reproduce our final data products. These represent one of the first official public datasets released from the Directors Discretionary Early Release Science (DD-ERS) program.Comment: 27 pages, 14 figures, submitted to ApJ. Accompanying CEERS public Data Release 0.5 available at ceers.github.io/releases.htm

Conserved Role of unc-79 in Ethanol Responses in Lightweight Mutant Mice

The mechanisms by which ethanol and inhaled anesthetics influence the nervous system are poorly understood. Here we describe the positional cloning and characterization of a new mouse mutation isolated in an N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU) forward mutagenesis screen for animals with enhanced locomotor activity. This allele, Lightweight (Lwt), disrupts the homolog of the Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) unc-79 gene. While Lwt/Lwt homozygotes are perinatal lethal, Lightweight heterozygotes are dramatically hypersensitive to acute ethanol exposure. Experiments in C. elegans demonstrate a conserved hypersensitivity to ethanol in unc-79 mutants and extend this observation to the related unc-80 mutant and nca-1;nca-2 double mutants. Lightweight heterozygotes also exhibit an altered response to the anesthetic isoflurane, reminiscent of unc-79 invertebrate mutant phenotypes. Consistent with our initial mapping results, Lightweight heterozygotes are mildly hyperactive when exposed to a novel environment and are smaller than wild-type animals. In addition, Lightweight heterozygotes exhibit increased food consumption yet have a leaner body composition. Interestingly, Lightweight heterozygotes voluntarily consume more ethanol than wild-type littermates. The acute hypersensitivity to and increased voluntary consumption of ethanol observed in Lightweight heterozygous mice in combination with the observed hypersensitivity to ethanol in C. elegans unc-79, unc-80, and nca-1;nca-2 double mutants suggests a novel conserved pathway that might influence alcohol-related behaviors in humans

Global assessment of marine plastic exposure risk for oceanic birds

Plastic pollution is distributed patchily around the world’s oceans. Likewise, marine organisms that are vulnerable to plastic ingestion or entanglement have uneven distributions. Understanding where wildlife encounters plastic is crucial for targeting research and mitigation. Oceanic seabirds, particularly petrels, frequently ingest plastic, are highly threatened, and cover vast distances during foraging and migration. However, the spatial overlap between petrels and plastics is poorly understood. Here we combine marine plastic density estimates with individual movement data for 7137 birds of 77 petrel species to estimate relative exposure risk. We identify high exposure risk areas in the Mediterranean and Black seas, and the northeast Pacific, northwest Pacific, South Atlantic and southwest Indian oceans. Plastic exposure risk varies greatly among species and populations, and between breeding and non-breeding seasons. Exposure risk is disproportionately high for Threatened species. Outside the Mediterranean and Black seas, exposure risk is highest in the high seas and Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) of the USA, Japan, and the UK. Birds generally had higher plastic exposure risk outside the EEZ of the country where they breed. We identify conservation and research priorities, and highlight that international collaboration is key to addressing the impacts of marine plastic on wide-ranging species

Global assessment of marine plastic exposure risk for oceanic birds

Plastic pollution is distributed patchily around the world’s oceans. Likewise, marine organisms that are vulnerable to plastic ingestion or entanglement have uneven distributions. Understanding where wildlife encounters plastic is crucial for targeting research and mitigation. Oceanic seabirds, particularly petrels, frequently ingest plastic, are highly threatened, and cover vast distances during foraging and migration. However, the spatial overlap between petrels and plastics is poorly understood. Here we combine marine plastic density estimates with individual movement data for 7137 birds of 77 petrel species to estimate relative exposure risk. We identify high exposure risk areas in the Mediterranean and Black seas, and the northeast Pacific, northwest Pacific, South Atlantic and southwest Indian oceans. Plastic exposure risk varies greatly among species and populations, and between breeding and non-breeding seasons. Exposure risk is disproportionately high for Threatened species. Outside the Mediterranean and Black seas, exposure risk is highest in the high seas and Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) of the USA, Japan, and the UK. Birds generally had higher plastic exposure risk outside the EEZ of the country where they breed. We identify conservation and research priorities, and highlight that international collaboration is key to addressing the impacts of marine plastic on wide-ranging species