Effects of birth weight and standardized litter size on growth performance of boars and subsequent reproductive performance

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of birth weight and rearing litter size on growth and reproductive performance of boars. One hundred and forty male piglets were allotted to two groups, based on litter size: a smaller litter (SL) (8 piglets/litter, 70 boars) and a larger litter (LL) (12 piglets/litter, 70 boars). The boars in these litters were separated into two birth weight subgroups: lower birth weight (LBW) (mean: 1.15 kg, 70 boars) and greater birth weight (GBW) (mean: 1.59 kg, 70 boars). Testes volume, sexual activity and semen quality of boars at 180 days old were evaluated. The males in the GBW group, when compared with the LBW group, had greater bodyweight at 21, 28, and 63 days old (P <0.01) and 180 days old (P <0.05), greater testes volume and semen volume (P <0.05), greater sperm concentration and total number of sperm in the semen (P <0.01) and a longer ejaculation time (P <0.05). The boars in the SL group had greater (P <0.01) bodyweight at 21 and 28 days old, greater (P <0.05) sperm concentration and total number of sperm in the semen than boars in the LL group. These results indicate that birth weight is a good predictor of sperm production in adult boars and suggest the possibility of increasing sperm production in adult boars by reducing the litter size in which they are reared.Keywords: Boars, bodyweight, piglets, reproduction, seme

Efficacy of B-cell-targeted therapy with rituximab in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

BACKGROUND: An open-label study indicated that selective depletion of B cells with the use of rituximab led to sustained clinical improvements for patients with rheumatoid arthritis. To confirm these observations, we conducted a randomized, double-blind, controlled study. METHODS: We randomly assigned 161 patients who had active rheumatoid arthritis despite treatment with methotrexate to receive one of four treatments: oral methotrexate (> or =10 mg per week) (control); rituximab (1000 mg on days 1 and 15); rituximab plus cyclophosphamide (750 mg on days 3 and 17); or rituximab plus methotrexate. Responses defined according to the criteria of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) and the European League against Rheumatism (EULAR) were assessed at week 24 (primary analyses) and week 48 (exploratory analyses). RESULTS: At week 24, the proportion of patients with 50 percent improvement in disease symptoms according to the ACR criteria, the primary end point, was significantly greater with the rituximab-methotrexate combination (43 percent, P=0.005) and the rituximab-cyclophosphamide combination (41 percent, P=0.005) than with methotrexate alone (13 percent). In all groups treated with rituximab, a significantly higher proportion of patients had a 20 percent improvement in disease symptoms according to the ACR criteria (65 to 76 percent vs. 38 percent, P< or =0.025) or had EULAR responses (83 to 85 percent vs. 50 percent, P< or =0.004). All ACR responses were maintained at week 48 in the rituximab-methotrexate group. The majority of adverse events occurred with the first rituximab infusion: at 24 weeks, serious infections occurred in one patient (2.5 percent) in the control group and in four patients (3.3 percent) in the rituximab groups. Peripheral-blood immunoglobulin concentrations remained within normal ranges. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with active rheumatoid arthritis despite methotrexate treatment, a single course of two infusions of rituximab, alone or in combination with either cyclophosphamide or continued methotrexate, provided significant improvement in disease symptoms at both weeks 24 and 48

Effect of RYR1T Gene Polymorphism on the Initial Growth and Fattening and Slaughter Values of Polish Synthetic Line 990 Pigs Reared in Standardized Litters

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of the ryanodine receptor gene - RYR1T polymorphism on the initial growth and fattening and slaughter values of Polish Synthetic Line 990 pigs reared in standardized litters. The study was carried on 276 offspring of hyperprolific sows. The sows gave birth to at least 12 live-born piglets. On the first day after birth, litters were equalised to 12 piglets in litter. The body weight was examined on the 21st (21BW), 28th (28BW), 63rd (63BW) and 180th (180BW) days of life. During evaluation, the live average daily gain (LADG) from birth to day 180 of life and the average daily gain (ADG) from day 63 to day 180 of life were determined. The percentage meat content (PMC), backfat thickness (BFT) and loin eye thickness (LET) was determined using PIGLOG 105 ultrasound apparatus. Two alleles of the RYR1 gene (RYR1C, RYR1T) and three genotypes (C/C, C/T and T/T) were identified. The 21BW and 28BW of the T/T genotype were significantly lower than that of the C/C and C/T. The highest PMC was characteristic of the T/T genotype, whereas the lowest one of the C/C genotype (p ⪬ 0.05). The T/T genotype had a higher LET than the C/C genotype (p ⪬ 0.05). No significant differences with respect to LADG, ADG and BFT between RYR1 genotypes were found. It can be stated that early identification of homozygous animals with respect to the RYR1T gene may allow the prediction of the body weight of animals in the initial period of their rearing

Magnetoelectricity at room temperature in Bi0.9-xTbxLa0.1FeO3 system

Magnetoelectric compounds with the general formula, Bi0.9-xRxLa0.1FeO3 (R =Gd, Tb, Dy, etc.), have been synthesized. These show the coexistence of ferroelectricity and magnetism, possess high dielectric constant and exhibit magnetoelectric coupling at room temperature. Such materials may be of great significance in basic as well as applied research.Comment: 11 pages of text and figure

Planets around stars in young nearby associations *** radial Velocity searches: a feasibility study, and first results

Stars in young nearby associations are the only targets allowing giant planet searches at all separations in the near future, by coupling indirect techniques such as radial velocity and deep imaging. These stars are first priorities targets for the forthcoming planets imagers on 10-m class telescopes. Young stars rotate more rapidly and are more active than their older counterparts. Both effects can limit the capability to detect planets using RV. We wish to explore the planet detection capabilities of a representative sample of stars in close and young associations with radial velocity data and explore the complementarity between this technique and direct imaging. We observed 26 such targets with spectral types from A to K and ages fromComment: submitte

Magnetoelectric ordering of BiFeO3 from the perspective of crystal chemistry

In this paper we examine the role of crystal chemistry factors in creating conditions for formation of magnetoelectric ordering in BiFeO3. It is generally accepted that the main reason of the ferroelectric distortion in BiFeO3 is concerned with a stereochemical activity of the Bi lone pair. However, the lone pair is stereochemically active in the paraelectric orthorhombic beta-phase as well. We demonstrate that a crucial role in emerging of phase transitions of the metal-insulator, paraelectric-ferroelectric and magnetic disorder-order types belongs to the change of the degree of the lone pair stereochemical activity - its consecutive increase with the temperature decrease. Using the structural data, we calculated the sign and strength of magnetic couplings in BiFeO3 in the range from 945 C down to 25 C and found the couplings, which undergo the antiferromagnetic-ferromagnetic transition with the temperature decrease and give rise to the antiferromagnetic ordering and its delay in regard to temperature, as compared to the ferroelectric ordering. We discuss the reasons of emerging of the spatially modulated spin structure and its suppression by doping with La3+.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures, 3 table

Effect of zinc nanoparticles on embryo and chicken growth, and the content of zinc in tissues and faeces

The hypothesis was that owing to their high bioavailability, zinc oxide nanoparticles (NanoZnO) can effectively replace (Zn) salts and reduce Zn excretion with faeces. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of NanoZnO on the development of chicken embryos, the growth of broiler chickens, and Zn excretion with faeces. At day 1 of incubation, 120 eggs were randomly divided between a control group (not injected) and groups injected with a hydrocolloid of NanoZnO in increasing concentrations (50, 100, 500 mg/L). At day 19 of incubation, no differences were observed in the bodyweight, but 100 and 500 mg/L affected liver and heart weights, indicating that high levels of NanoZnO may induce differential organ development. In the subsequent experiment, 308 chickens were randomly divided into six groups. The control diet was supplemented with 55 mg Zn/kg (standard level), the 0 group received no Zn supplement, and groups fed NanoZnO received 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% of the standard level. The 100% replacement of ZnO with NanoZnO increased the chickens’ bodyweight compared with the standard level of ZnO, but to the same level as the diet without ZnO supplementation. Furthermore, NanoZnO did not reduce the content of Zn in faeces, which was only significantly lower in the group without ZnO supplementation in comparison with other groups. The results indicate that the replacement of ZnO with NanoZnO had no negative effects on chicken growth. Compared with ZnO, NanoZnO did not reduce Zn excretion with faeces. Keywords: broiler, development, excretion, mineral, nanonutritio

The CORALIE survey for southern extrasolar planets. XVI. Discovery of a planetary system around HD 147018 and of two long period and massive planets orbiting HD 171238 and HD 204313

We report the detection of a double planetary system around HD 140718 as well as the discovery of two long period and massive planets orbiting HD 171238 and HD 204313. Those discoveries were made with the CORALIE Echelle spectrograph mounted on the 1.2-m Euler Swiss telescope located at La Silla Observatory, Chile. The planetary system orbiting the nearby G9 dwarf HD 147018 is composed of an eccentric inner planet (e=0.47) with twice the mass of Jupiter (2.1 MJup ) and with an orbital period of 44.24 days. The outer planet is even more massive (6.6 MJup) with a slightly eccentric orbit (e=0.13) and a period of 1008 days. The planet orbiting HD 171238 has a minimum mass of 2.6 MJup, a period of 1523 days and an eccentricity of 0.40. It orbits a G8 dwarfs at 2.5 AU. The last planet, HD 204313 b, is a 4.0 MJup -planet with a period of 5.3 years and has a low eccentricity (e = 0.13). It orbits a G5 dwarfs at 3.1 AU. The three parent stars are metal rich, which further strengthened the case that massive planets tend to form around metal rich stars.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in A&

Magnetic structures and reorientation transitions in noncentrosymmetric uniaxial antiferromagnets

A phenomenological theory of magnetic states in noncentrosymmetric tetragonal antiferromagnets is developed, which has to include homogeneous and inhomogeneous terms (Lifshitz-invariants) derived from Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya couplings. Magnetic properties of this class of antiferromagnets with low crystal symmetry are discussed in relation to its first known members, the recently detected compounds Ba2CuGe2O7 and K2V3O8. Crystallographic symmetry and magnetic ordering in these systems allow the simultaneous occurrence of chiral inhomogeneous magnetic structures and weak ferromagnetism. New types of incommensurate magnetic structures are possible, namely, chiral helices with rotation of staggered magnetization and oscillations of the total magnetization. Field-induced reorientation transitions into modulated states have been studied and corresponding phase diagrams are constructed. Structures of magnetic defects (domain-walls and vortices) are discussed. In particular, vortices, i.e. localized non-singular line defects, are stabilized by the inhomogeneous Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions in uniaxial noncentrosymmetric antiferromagnets.Comment: 18 pages RevTeX4, 13 figure