Impact of ovarian and uterine conditions on some diagnostic tests output of endometritis in postpartum high-yielding dairy cows

The effect of ovarian predominating structures and uterine condition on the result of some diagnostic tools for the evaluation of endometritis was studied in postpartum (pp) Holstein-Friesian dairy cows (n = 58). Endometrial cytology (EC) and the evaluation of vaginal mucus by vaginoscopy or Metricheck were performed weekly from week 3 to 7 pp. The ovarian studies involved the predominating structures including cystic follicles with plasma progesterone (P(4) ; more or <1 ng/ml; >23 mm), corpus luteum (CL), pre-ovulatory follicles (10-23 mm) and small follicles (<10 mm). The uterine conditions comprised uterine involution, tonicity and fluid in uterus (FIU) regarding echogenicity extent. During week 5, the percentage of polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN%) was higher (p < 0.05) in animals with pre-ovulatory follicles (mean ± SEM, 26.3 ± 7.6%) than animals having CL (11.0 ± 3.6%). In cystic ovaries, during week 5, PMN% was higher (p < 0.05) in follicular cysts with low progesterone (P(4) < 1 ng/ml; 9.3 ± 2.6%) than those with high P(4) (P(4) ≥ 1 ng/ml; 1.5 ± 1.1%). Moreover, PMN% was higher (p < 0.01) in animals with non-involuted uterus (11.5 ± 7.4%) than those with involuted uterus (2.7 ± 0.6%) during week 7 pp. The animals that had abnormal mucus determined by Metricheck was higher in animals with atonic uterus than those with tonic uterus during week 6 (82.6% vs 51.5%; p < 0.05) and 7 (71.4% vs 25.7%; p < 0.01) pp. In addition, by vaginoscopy, the prevalence of animals with abnormal discharge showing small follicles (100%, 5/5) during week 3 pp and pre-ovulatory follicles (40.0%, 8/20) during week 5 pp was higher (p < 0.05) when compared to those having CL during week 3 (33.3%; 1/3) and week 5 pp (7.7%; 2/26), respectively. In conclusion, endometrial cytology, Metricheck and vaginoscopy were influenced by the predominating various ovarian structures and uterine condition in early pp high-yielding dairy cows.     

Assessment of the factorial structures of the C-BARQ in Japan

In order to introduce the Canine Behavioral Assessment and Research Questionnaire (C-BARQ), which is a standardized system for evaluating the behavioral traits of dogs, to Japan, where the environment with respect to dog ownership is thought to differ from those of the United States and Europe, we compared demographic information on dogs in the United States and Japan and examined whether similar factors could be extracted from both countries using questionnaire items of the C-BARQ. The C-BARQ was completed by 11,410, and 734 dog owners respectively in the United States and Japan, and some demographic differences were found, such as breed and neuter status. Data from completed questionnaires were subjected to factor analysis, and the resulting factors were tested for reliability. In the United States, factor analysis yielded 11 factors from 63 items that accounted for 52.9% of the common variance. In Japan, 15 factors were extracted, and these accounted for 57.0% of the common variance. The present factors for the United States were almost identical to the factors identified in a previous study, and similar factors were extracted in both countries. Therefore, the C-BARQ can function effectively as a fundamental behavioral evaluation system for dogs in Japan.     

Experimental infection of early pregnant cows with bovine viral diarrhea virus: Transmission of virus to the reproductive tract and conceptus

The objective of this study was to chronologically investigate the effect of bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) infection on early pregnant cows before placenta formation. Six cows were intravenously inoculated with either BVDV (treated, n = 4) or growth medium (control, n = 2) (day 0) at day 26 of pregnancy. Two treated cows and one control cow were euthanized on day 3 post-infection and the remaining animals were euthanized on day 6. BVDV was isolated from maternal tissues such as lymphoid or reproductive tissues of treated animals on days 3 and 6 post-infection. Additionally, one treated cow autopsied on day 6 post-infection had evidence of infectious BVDV in the allantoic membranes, allantoic fluid and embryos. In three treated cows, a significant decline in progesterone concentration was also observed post-infection while in control cows they remained constant. Therefore, BVDV can infect bovine embryos before placenta formation and may affect progesterone profiles in cows during early pregnancy.     

Analysis of expressed sequence tags in developing secondary xylem and shoot of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Acacia mangium</Emphasis>

Acacia mangium is a fast-growing tree widely planted in tropical countries because of its rapid growth, high wood density, high fiber quality, and good adaptability. Despite its importance as a fiber source in the pulp and paper industry, a large-scale analysis of expressed sequence tags (ESTs) has not been performed in A. mangium. In this study, we sequenced 10 752 clones of a normalized complementary DNA (cDNA) library prepared from A. mangium developing secondary xylem and shoot, and obtained a total of 8963 ESTs. The ESTs were assembled into 6220 unigenes comprising 1614 contigs and 4606 singletons. The unigene set was then subjected to various bioinformatic analyses. BlastN searches of the unigene set against the Gene Index Databases of soybean, Medicago truncatula, Lotus japonicus, grape, poplar, spruce, and pine demonstrated that the largest number of unigenes shared homologies with the soybean Gene Indices. BlastX searches against the TAIR9 peptide database enabled us to annotate the unigenes. Based on the annotation, we discussed whether the unigenes involved in the cell cycle, cell growth, shoot apical meristem development, and cell wall biosynthesis were present. This new genomic resource will accelerate the functional genomics of wood formation and molecular breeding to improve the wood properties of A. mangium.     

Toxaphene insecticide: a complex biodegradable mixture

Adsorption and gas-liquid chromatography separate toxaphene into at least 175 polychlorinated 10-carbon compounds including Cl(6), Cl(7), Cl(8), Cl(9), and Cl(10) derivatives. One toxic component is 2,2,5-endo,6-exo,8,9,10-heptachlorobornane. Rats metabolically dechlorinate toxaphene, removing about half of the chlorine from the technical insecticide and from each of seven subfractions of varying composition and toxicity.     

Instrumental neutron activation analyses of lunar specimens

Ten Apollo 11 specimnens were divided into 24 samtples. Sodillim contents of 8 diverse specimens clluster tightly abolit 0.3 percent. Plagioclase separated from sample 10044 contains aboltt 1.09 percent Na; barium is not enriched in the plagioclase separate. Contents of the rare earths are strikingly high, and relative abtmndances resemble those of calcium-rich achondrites or abyssal basalts but are depleted in Eu by factors of 2 to 3 and in La by about 20 percent. The plagioclase separate is enriched in Eu and pyroxenes (and opaqtte minerals are Eu-depleted. Fine fractions of 10044 are abotit 20 to 40 percent richer in most rare earths (50 percent for Eu) than coarse fractions, probably becaitse of the presence of small grains in which rare earths are mnarkedly concentrated. "Microgabbro" 10045 is imnpoverished, relative to the soil, in rare eartlhs and Hf. Ratios by mass of Zr to Hf are comlparatively low. Abttndances of Mn, Co, Fe, Sc and Cr stiggest systematic differences between igneous rocks on one hanid and breccias and "soil" on the other. Fromn the Co abuindances, no more than about 3 percent of the present "soil" can consist of chondritic mleteorite conitamination.     

A seasonal behavior of surface soil moisture condition in a reclaimed tropical peatland

Soil moisture condition is essential to regulate the release of soil carbon from a drained peatland since aerobic microbial activities can be encouraged through oxygen supply associated with dewatering the soil layer while they may be discouraged under too dry conditions. Aiming to characterize the soil moisture condition in a reclaimed tropical peatland, we monitored the volumetric water content at 5?cm depth (θ _5?cm), groundwater level (GWL) and rainfall for 20 months from March 2010 to November 2011 in an oil palm field in Nakhon-Si-Thammarat, Thailand. We also measured the soil water retention curve and the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity (k) for a series of matric potential (h) to simulate the moisture condition monitored in the field by using the Buckingham-Darcy's flux law. During the dry season in 2010, the θ _5?cm consistently stayed lower than 0.35?m³?m^–3 with the GWL lower than a depth of 30?cm. In the transition from the dry season to the rainy season in 2010, the GWL rose to the land surface with peaks and dips across the time for about one month with the θ _5?cm increasing toward saturation. During the rainy season where the GWL stayed near or above the land surface, the θ _5?cm remained the field-saturated value of 0.58?m³?m^–3 on average, less than the laboratory-saturated value of 0.63?m³?m^–3, suggesting the development of a significant amount of entrapped air-phase. Hysteretic behavior in the measured θ _5?cm–GWL relation also supported that the top soil layer refuses to absorb water in wetting processes. The simulated θ _5?cm based on the measured k(h) and soil water retention curves demonstrated that the ease with which the top soil dries during a dry season was due mainly to the low k(h) value in the dried condition, while the slope of the θ(h) curve was so moderate that the soil layer could retain moisture for maintaining liquid water supply to the surface from the dropped GWL. Sensitivity analyses while varying the magnitude of both k(h) and evaporation rate (E) suggested that the k(h) function was more deterministic than the value of E in making the land surface easily dried. As the GWL stayed lower than 30?cm in depth for a total of 187 days out of the year monitored, while surface-ponding conditions took place for 120 days of the year, it was concluded that either the extremely dried condition or the saturated-moisture condition had dominantly occurred in the study site through a year and, thus, there may only be a limited time when soil organic matter near the land surface is in favorable moisture conditions for aerobic decomposition.     

Influences of metabolic traits on subclinical endometritis at different intervals postpartum in high milking cows

Seventy pluriparous high‐yielding cows were used to investigate the impact of metabolic traits and body condition score (BCS) during early lactation on subclinical endometritis diagnosed at weeks 5, 6 and 7 postpartum (pp). Blood samples were collected from animals with no peripartum problems from the second (W2) to seventh (W7) weeks pp to estimate some blood metabolites including non‐esterified fatty acids (NEFA), β‐hydroxybutyric acid (BHBA), blood glucose, total cholesterol (T‐chol) and blood urea nitrogen (BUN). Reproductive tract examination was carried out at weeks 5, 6 and 7 pp by endometrial cytology (percentage of polymorphonuclear cells; PMN%). Based on PMN%, animals having <5% were defined as subclinical endometritis group (ENDM group) while animals unaffected by endometritis were defined as no subclinical endometritis group (NOENDM group). Animals with endometritis during week 5 were identified as ENDM5, during week 6 identified as ENDM6 and during week 7 identified as ENDM7 or animals with no endometritis during weeks 5 (NOENDM5), 6 (NOENDM6) and 7 (NOENDM7) pp. Animals diagnosed at week 5; BUN and BCS were lower p < 0.05 in ENDM 5 than NOENDM5 group at W2, W4, W6 and W7. Cows diagnosed at week 6; T‐chol was significantly higher (p = 0.05) in ENDM6 group (279.2 ± 12.5 mg/dl) than NOENDM6 group (246 ± 9.5 mg/dl) at W7. Moreover, blood glucose was significantly low (p < 0.05) in ENDM6 group when compared to NOENDM group at W4 pp (49.2 ± 1.8 vs 53.8 ± 1.3 mg/dl). BCS was significantly lower (p < 0.001) in animals suffered from endometritis during week 7 when compared to NOENDM7 cows at W3, W4, W5, W6 and W7. In conclusion, lower blood glucose, BUN and BCS could be a risk factor for cytologically diagnosed endometritis at weeks 5, 6 and 7 pp.     

Evaluation of reproductive tract infection during early post-partum period and its relationship with subsequent reproductive performance in high milk producing dairy cows

Clinically normal Holstein‐Friesian cows (n = 43) were used to establish a relationship between the evaluations of the uterine condition by vaginoscopy, Metricheck, endometrial cytology (EC) and ultrasonography (US) during post‐partum period (pp), and subsequent reproductive performance. The uterine status of the selected cows was evaluated by EC, Metricheck, US and vaginoscopy on a weekly basis from the third week (W3) to the seventh week (W7) pp. The animals were bred after a voluntary waiting period of 45–60 days pp and diagnosed for pregnancy status at 45 days after breeding by US. First service conception rate (FSCR) of bred animals was 32.6% (14/43). There was no significant difference in polymorphonuclear leucocyte percentage between conceived and non‐conceived cows during different weeks post‐partum. First service conception rate in animals with normal vaginal discharge as detected by Metricheck was significantly low when compared to those of abnormal discharge during W3 (2.3% vs 30.3%; p < 0.001) and W4 (4.7% vs 29.7%; p < 0.01) post‐partum. Using US, the number of pregnant cows having fluid in uterus (FIU) during W6 (p < 0.01) and W7 (p < 0.001) post‐partum was significantly lower (2/34, 4.7% and 1/43, 2.3%, respectively) than those that had no FIU (12/43, 27.9% and 13/43, 30.3%, respectively). Using vaginoscopy, FSCR in animals having abnormal discharge was significantly (p < 0.01) low when compared to that of normal discharge (2.4% vs 30.2%) during W5 and W6 post‐partum. In conclusion, Metricheck during W3 and W4 and detection of FIU by US and vaginoscopy during W6 and W7 pp can be used as good predictive tools to anticipate the future reproductive performance of dairy cattle.     

Suppression of feline coronavirus replication in vitro by cyclosporin A

ABSTRACT: The feline infectious peritonitis virus (FIPV) is a member of the feline coronavirus family that causes FIP, which is incurable and fatal in cats. Cyclosporin A (CsA), an immunosuppressive agent that targets the nuclear factor pathway of activated T-cells (NF-AT) to bind cellular cyclophilins (CyP), dose-dependently inhibited FIPV replication in vitro. FK506 (an immunosuppressor of the pathway that binds cellular FK506-binding protein (FKBP) but not CyP) did not affect FIPV replication. Neither cell growth nor viability changed in the presence of either CsA or FK506, and these factors did not affect the NF-AT pathway in fcwf-4 cells. Therefore, CsA does not seem to exert inhibitory effects via the NF-AT pathway. In conclusion, CsA inhibited FIPV replication in vitro and further studies are needed to verify the practical value of CsA as an anti-FIPV treatment in vivo.