Transplantation of fetal hematopoietic stem cells in utero: the creation of hematopoietic chimeras

Transplantation of normal, immature, fetal hematopoietic cells into a preimmune fetal recipient with a congenital hemoglobinopathy may allow partial reconstitution of normal hemoglobin production without the complications associated with postnatal bone marrow transplantation (immunosuppression and the occurrence of graft versus host disease). In order to test this hypothesis the naturally occurring polymorphism at the beta-hemoglobin locus of the sheep was used as a marker for engraftment and hematopoietic chimerism. Intraperitoneal injection of allogeneic fetal stem cells into normal fetal lambs resulted in hematopoietic chimerism in three of four surviving recipients. This chimerism has been sustained for 6 months after birth and 9 months after engraftment, without evidence of graft versus host disease, and without the use of immunosuppressive therapy.     

A long-snouted predatory dinosaur from africa and the evolution of spinosaurids

Fossils discovered in Lower Cretaceous (Aptian) rocks in the Tenere Desert of central Niger provide new information about spinosaurids, a peculiar group of piscivorous theropod dinosaurs. The remains, which represent a new genus and species, reveal the extreme elongation and transverse compression of the spinosaurid snout. The postcranial bones include blade-shaped vertebral spines that form a low sail over the hips. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that the enlarged thumb claw and robust forelimb evolved during the Jurassic, before the elongated snout and other fish-eating adaptations in the skull. The close phylogenetic relationship between the new African spinosaurid and Baryonyx from Europe provides evidence of dispersal across the Tethys seaway during the Early Cretaceous.     

Application of the relevance vector machine to canal flow prediction in the Sevier River Basin

This work addresses management of water for irrigation in arid regions where significant delays between the time of order and the time of delivery present major difficulties. Motivated by improvements to water management that will be facilitated by an ability to predict water demand, it employs a data-driven approach to developing canal flow prediction models using the relevance vector machine (RVM), a probabilistic kernel-based learning machine. A search is performed across model attributes including input set, kernel scale parameter and model update scheme for models providing superior prediction capability using the RVM. Models are developed for two canals in the Sevier River Basin of southern Utah for prediction horizons of up to 5 days.     

Epithelial-stromal tumor of the seminal vesicles in the transgenic adenocarcinoma mouse prostate model

The transgenic adenocarcinoma mouse prostate (TRAMP) model, designed for researching human prostatic cancer, was genetically engineered to harbor a transgene composed of the simian virus 40 Large-T/small-t antigen promoted by the rat probasin gene. In addition to prostatic neoplasms, the TRAMP mouse develops tumors in the seminal vesicles. This study was conducted to evaluate the pathology and histogenesis of TRAMP seminal vesicle neoplasms. Tissues of accessory sex organs harvested from 72 TRAMP mice of various ages (11-40 weeks of age) were fixed in neutral buffered formalin and stained with hematoxylin and eosin, desmin, 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU, treated animals only), and SV40 Large-T antigen (SV40-Tag). In the seminal vesicles, we found neoplastic stromal cells that emerged multicentrically just beneath the epithelium, densely packed between the epithelium and the smooth muscle layer. These stromal cells frequently exhibited mitotic figures and showed BrdU incorporation and SV40-Tag protein expression in the nuclei and immunopositivity for desmin. The proliferative mesenchymal cells were lined by cuboidal to columnar epithelium. Some of the larger papillary, polypoid lesions exhibited a phyllodes pattern resembling that seen in mixed epithelial-stromal tumors of the breast, prostate, and seminal vesicles of humans. Although the epithelium was negative for SV40-Tag and showed only occasional incorporation of BrdU, it clearly participated in the biphasic proliferation, forming papillary, cystic, and tubuloglandular structures. No conclusive evidence of malignancy (invasion or metastasis) was identified. Our recommended diagnosis of this lesion in the seminal vesicles is epithelial-stromal tumor.     

Corpus Luteum Development and Function after Supplementation of Long‐Acting Progesterone During the Early Luteal Phase in Beef Cattle

Strategic supplementation of P4 may be used to increase conception rates in cattle, but timing of supplementation in relation to ovulation, mass of supplementary P4 and formulation of the P4‐containing supplement has not been determined for beef cattle. Effects of supplementation of long‐acting progesterone (P4) on Days 2 or 3 post‐ovulation on development, function and regression of corpus luteum (CL) were studied in beef cattle. Cows were synchronized with an oestradiol/P4‐based protocol and treated with 150 or 300 mg of long‐acting P4 on Day 2 or 3 post‐ovulation (6–7 cows/group). Colour‐doppler ultrasound scanning and blood sample collection were performed from Day 2–21.5. Plasma P4 concentrations were greater (p < 0.05) from Day 2.5–5.5 in the Day 2‐treated groups and from Day 3.5–5.5 in the Day 3‐treated cows than in the control group. CL area and blood flow during Day 2–8.5 did not differ (p > 0.05) among groups, suggesting no effect of P4 treatment on luteal development. The frequency of cows that began luteolysis before Day 15 was greater (p < 0.04) in cows treated with 300 mg than in the controls, but there were no differences between non‐treated and 150 mg‐treated cows. The interval from pre‐treatment ovulation to functional and structural luteolysis was shorter (p < 0.01) in the combined P4‐treated groups than in the control cows. In conclusion, was showed for the first time that long‐acting P4 supplementation on Day 2 or 3 post‐ovulation increases P4 concentrations for ≥3 day, has no effect on luteal development, but anticipates the beginning of luteolysis in beef cattle.     

Two Calorimetrically Distinct States of Liquid Water Below 150 Kelvin

Vapor-deposited amorphous solid and hyperquenched glassy water were found to irreversibly transform, on compression at 77 kelvin, to a high-density amorphous solid. On heating at atmospheric pressure, this solid became viscous water (water B), with a reversible glass-liquid transition onset at 129 +/- 2 kelvin. A different form of viscous water (water A) was formed by heating the uncompressed vapor-deposited amorphous solid and hyperquenched liquid water. On thermal cycling up to 148 kelvin, water B remained kinetically and thermodynamically distinct from water A. The occurrence of these two states, which do not interconvert, helps explain both the configurational relaxation of water and stress-induced amorphization.     

Investigation of the association between the interval from internal teat sealant administration to calving and early lactation clinical mastitis in New Zealand dairy heifers

AIMS: To examine the association between the interval from internal teat sealant (ITS) administration to calving and the incidence of farmer-recorded clinical mastitis in the first 30 days of lactation in pasture-based dairy heifers.

METHODS: Heifers that were administered an ITS by a single veterinary business in the South Island of New Zealand over the winter of 2014 were enrolled in a cross-sectional observational study. ITS was administered to all heifers on each participating farm on a single calendar day. The dates of calving and farmer-diagnosed clinical mastitis were recorded by farm staff. The interval from ITS administration to calving was categorised into four approximately evenly sized groups: <35, 35–48, 49–69 and >69 days. The quartile of the farm’s calving period in which each heifer calved was also investigated as a potential confounding variable. A hierarchical logistic regression model was constructed to determine the association between the interval from ITS administration to calving with the odds of clinical mastitis in the first 30 days of lactation.

RESULTS: Analysis was performed on 7,126 eligible heifers from 31 farms, with ITS administered between 9 May and 11 July 2014. The mean interval from ITS administration to calving was 52.9 (SD 24.4, min 1, max 137) days. Clinical mastitis was diagnosed in 420/7,126 (5.9 (95% CI=5.4–6.5)%) heifers between calving and day 30 of lactation. In the final multivariable model, which included calving period quartile, interval from ITS administration to calving was not associated with the odds of clinical mastitis (p=0.516). Compared to an interval from ITS administration to calving of <35 days, the adjusted OR of clinical mastitis for intervals of 35–48, 49–69 and >69 days were 0.83 (95% CI=0.59–1.17), 0.71 (95% CI=0.45–1.11) and 0.68 (95% CI=0.36–1.29), respectively.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Within the range of intervals from ITS administration to calving observed in this study, there was no association with the odds of clinical mastitis in the first 30 days of lactation in dairy heifers. This study suggests that veterinary clinics may be able to extend their ITS administration service and treat dairy heifers earlier than the current recommendation of approximately 4 weeks before the planned start of calving.