SHEEP BODY WEIGHT INFLUENCE ON REPRODUCTIVE PARAMETERS WHILE UNDER THE INCREASED DOSAGE OF GONADOTROPIC HORMONE DURING INDUCTION AND SYNCHRONIZATION OF ESTRUS IN ANESTRUS SEASON

Aim of this paper is to determine if there are differences in sexual reaction of mature Il d'france sheep depending on body weight of ewes that were treated with increased dosage of gonadotropic hormone by 250IU compared to usual dosage of 500IU that is given during induction and estrus synchronization during anestrus season. Total number of 99 ewes were treated, divided in to three weight groups depending on their body mass. First group were sheep whose body weight was within 40-50 kg limit, second group was between 50-60 kg and third group was sheep that had higher body weight than 60 kg (control group). All animals of all groups received intra vaginal sponges containing 30mg of fluorgestone acetate which remained within for 12 days. At the day of sponge removal each sheep received one dosage 750IU of gonadotropic hormone. Two days later “offhand” mating was done.Obtained results show that from first group 49,06%; II 50,00% and III 65,50% of treated ewes had kids. Average fertility of sheep per treatment I, II and III was 134,61% for I group, which was close to lower expected fertility limit for this breed, however fertility of second group was 157,89% and third group 160,00% was within limits of expected fertility for this breed when it is kept in optimal conditions. Conclusion was that sheep of II and III group reacted better on applied treatment and therefore achieved satisfying fertility

Efficient and realistic device modeling from atomic detail to the nanoscale

As semiconductor devices scale to new dimensions, the materials and designs become more dependent on atomic details. NEMO5 is a nanoelectronics modeling package designed for comprehending the critical multi-scale, multi-physics phenomena through efficient computational approaches and quantitatively modeling new generations of nanoelectronic devices as well as predicting novel device architectures and phenomena. This article seeks to provide updates on the current status of the tool and new functionality, including advances in quantum transport simulations and with materials such as metals, topological insulators, and piezoelectrics.Comment: 10 pages, 12 figure

Salvage of failed free flaps used in head and neck reconstruction

Free flap success rates are in excess of 95%. Vascular occlusion (thrombosis) remains the primary reason for flap loss, with venous thrombosis being more common than arterial occlusion. The majority of flap failures occur within the first 48 hours. With early recognition and intervention of flap compromise salvage is possible. Successful salvage rates range from 28% to over 90%. Rapid re-exploration in this clinical setting is crucial to maximise the chances of flap salvage. If salvage is not feasible or unsuccessful then non-surgical methods of salvage may be employed with some possibility of success. The purpose of this article is to review the causes of free flap failure and to highlight the available options for salvage

Swallowing and laryngeal complications in lung and heart transplantation: Etiologies and diagnosis.

Despite continued surgical advancements in the field of cardiothoracic transplantation, post-operative complications remain a burden for the patient and the multidisciplinary team. Lesser-known complications including swallowing disorders (dysphagia), and voice disorders (dysphonia), are now being reported. Such disorders are known to be associated with increased morbidity and mortality in other medical populations, however their etiology amongst the heart and lung transplant populations has received little attention in the literature. This paper explores the potential mechanisms of oropharyngeal dysphagia and dysphonia following transplantation and discusses optimal modalities of diagnostic evaluation and management. A greater understanding of the implications of swallowing and laryngeal dysfunction in the heart and lung transplant populations is important to expedite early diagnosis and management in order to optimize patient outcomes, minimize allograft injury and improve quality of life

Experimental verification of calculated lattice relaxations around impurities in CdTe

We have measured the lattice distortion around As acceptor and Br donor in CdTe with fluorescence detected X ray absorption spectroscopy. We could experimentally verify the lattice relaxation with a bond length reduction of 8 around the As atom as inferred indirectly from ab initio calculations of the electric field gradient performed with the WIEN97 package in comparison with the measured value in a Perturbed Angular Correlation experiment as recently reported. We have complemented our own calculations of relaxation with WIEN97 with calculations using the FHI96md pseudo potential program which allows the use of larger super cell sizes. Encouraged by the good agreement between experiment and model calculation for As in CdTe as well as similarly for the isovalent Se in CdTe, we extended our investigation to Br in CdTe, where the electric field gradient has also been measured, and could not only verify the derived lattice expansion around Br with our EXAFS analysis but additionally observe fractions of Br in the A center as well as in a DX center configuratio

The effects of maternal anxiety during pregnancy on IGF2/H19 methylation in cord blood

Compelling evidence suggests that maternal mental health in pregnancy can influence fetal development. The imprinted genes, insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2) and H19, are involved in fetal growth and each is regulated by DNA methylation. This study aimed to determine the association between maternal mental well-being during pregnancy and differentially methylated regions (DMRs) of IGF2 (DMR0) and the IGF2/H19 imprinting control region (ICR) in newborn offspring. Maternal depression, anxiety and perceived stress were assessed at 28 weeks of pregnancy in the Barwon Infant Study (n = 576). DNA methylation was measured in purified cord blood mononuclear cells using the Sequenom MassArray Platform. Maternal anxiety was associated with a decrease in average ICR methylation (Delta = -2.23%;95% CI = -3.68 to -0.77%), and across all six of the individual CpG units in anxious compared with non-anxious groups. Birth weight and sex modified the association between prenatal anxiety and infant methylation. When stratified into lower ( 3530 g) birth weight groups using the median birth weight, there was a stronger association between anxiety and ICR methylation in the lower birth weight group (Delta = -3.89%;95% CI = -6.06 to -1.72%), with no association in the higher birth weight group. When stratified by infant sex, there was a stronger association in female infants (Delta = -3.70%;95% CI = -5.90 to -1.51%) and no association in males. All the linear regression models were adjusted for maternal age, smoking and folate intake. These findings show that maternal anxiety in pregnancy is associated with decreased IGF2/H19 ICR DNA methylation in progeny at birth, particularly in female, low birth weight neonates. ICR methylation may help link poor maternal mental health and adverse birth outcomes, but further investigation is needed

Bacteriological contamination of egg products after thermal preservation processes

Research was carried out to define the hygienic propriety of thermally treated eggs, i.e. eggs treated at pasteurization temperatures and those stored frozen. The average values of the number of the bacteria in the pasteurized yolk and egg white were log 4.9 and 5.1, respectively, those in the frozen-pasteurized yolk and egg white were log 5.5 and 4.8 and in the frozen yolk and white were log 7.0 and 5.9. The contaminants Salmonella spp., Proteus spp., Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Clostridium spp., Clostridium perfringens, Pseudomonas spp., Campylobacter jejuni and Yersinia enterocolitica were tested for 306 samples of pasteurized, frozen and pasteurized and frozen products of eggs, egg-yolks and egg-whites. Presence of Salmonella spp. in the pasteurized yolk was 12%, Clostridium spp. 16%, E. coli 16% and Proteus spp. 14%, but in the pasteurized egg white those bacteria were present in 10.8%, 15.3%, 13.8% and 10.0%. Staphylococcus aureus was isolated in yolk at 4.6 and in white 4.0% and Clostridium perfringens 4.0 and 1.5%, respectively. The bacteriological flora indicated that the degree of contamination of egg-products depends directly on the degree of initial contamination and correlates with the technological egg-treatment processes applied

The emerging role of the FKBP5 gene polymorphisms in vulnerability-stress model of schizophrenia: further evidence from a Serbian population

Increased reactivity to stress is observed in patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders and their healthy siblings in comparison with the general population. Additionally, higher levels of neuroticism, as a proposed psychological measure of stress sensitivity, increase the risk of schizophrenia. HPA axis dysregulation is one of the possible mechanisms related to the vulnerability–stress model of schizophrenia, and recent studies revealed a possible role of the functional genetic variants of FK506-binding protein 51 (FKBP5) gene which modulate activity of HPA axis. The purpose of the present study was to investigate impact of FKBP5 on schizophrenia in Serbian patients and to explore relationship between genetic variants and neuroticism by using the case–sibling–control design. In 158 subjects, we measured psychotic experiences, childhood trauma and neuroticism. Nine single-nucleotide polymorphisms (rs9295158, rs3800373, rs9740080, rs737054, rs6926133, rs9380529, rs9394314, rs2766533 and rs12200498) were genotyped. The genetic influence was modeled using logistic regression, and the relationship between genetic variants and neuroticism was assessed by linear mixed model. Our results revealed genetic main effect of FKBP5 risk alleles (A allele of rs9296158 and T allele of rs3800373) and AGTC “risk” haplotype combination (rs9296158, rs3800373, rs9470080 and rs737054, respectively) on schizophrenia, particularly when childhood trauma was set as a confounding factor. We confirmed strong relationship between neuroticism and psychotic experiences in patients and siblings and further showed relationship between higher levels of neuroticism and FKBP5 risk variants suggesting potential link between biological and psychosocial risk factors. Our data support previous findings that trauma exposure shapes FKBP5 impact on schizophreni

Insulin, Ascorbate, and Glucose Have a Much Greater Influence Than Transferrin and Selenous Acid on the In Vitro Growth of Engineered Cartilage in Chondrogenic Media

The primary goal of this study was to characterize the response of chondrocyte-seeded agarose constructs to varying concentrations of several key nutrients in a chondrogenic medium, within the overall context of optimizing the key nutrients and the placement of nutrient channels for successful growth of cartilage tissue constructs large enough to be clinically relevant in the treatment of osteoarthritis (OA). To this end, chondrocyte-agarose constructs (phi4x2.34 mm, 30x106 cells/mL) were subjected to varying supplementation levels of insulin (0× to 30× relative to standard supplementation), transferrin (0x to 30x), selenous acid (0x to 10x), ascorbate (0x to 30x), and glucose (0x to 3x). The quality of resulting engineered tissue constructs was evaluated by their compressive modulus (E-Y), tensile modulus (E+Y), hydraulic permeability (k), and content of sulfated glycosaminoglycans (sGAG) and collagen (COL); DNA content was also quantified. Three control groups from two separate castings of constructs (1x concentrations of all medium constituents) were used. After 42 days of culture, values in each of these controls were, respectively, E-Y=518 plus or minus 78, 401 plus or minus 113, 236 plus or minus 67 kPa; E+Y=1420 plus or minus 430, 1140 plus or minus 490, 1240 plus or minus 280 kPa; k=2.3 plus or minus 0.8x10-3, 5.4 plus or minus 7.0x10-3, 3.3 plus or minus 1.3x10-3 mm4/N times s; sGAG=7.8 plus or minus 0.3, 6.3 plus or minus 0.4, 4.1 plus or minus 0.5%/ww; COL=1.3 plus or minus 0.2, 1.1 plus or minus 0.3, 1.4 plus or minus 0.4%/ww; and DNA=11.5 plus or minus 2.2, 12.1 plus or minus 0.6, 5.2 plus or minus 2.8 μg/disk. The presence of insulin and ascorbate was essential, but their concentrations may drop as low as 0.3x without detrimental effects on any of the measured properties; excessive supplementation of ascorbate (up to 30x) was detrimental to E-Y, and 30x insulin was detrimental to both E+Y and E-Y. The presence of glucose was similarly essential, and matrix elaboration was significantly dependent on its concentration (p less than 10-6), with loss of functional properties, composition, and cellularity observed at less than or equal to 0.3x; excessive glucose supplementation (up to 3x) showed no detrimental effects. In contrast, transferrin and selenous acid had no influence on matrix elaboration. These findings suggest that adequate distributions of insulin, ascorbate, and glucose, but not necessarily of transferrin and selenous acid, must be ensured within large engineered cartilage constructs to produce a viable substitute for joint tissue lost due to OA