[en] In large-bowel intussusceptions, several US signs are known to indicate a lower likelihood of reducibility by enema. US can demonstrate echogenic dots or lines (foci) in the bowel wall, which might indicate an ischemic bowel. To determine the presence of echogenic intramural and subserosal foci in large-bowel intussusceptions and to evaluate the degree of correlation with reducibility. Between 2001 and 2008, 74 consecutive US examinations were retrospectively evaluated by two pediatric radiologists for intramural and subserosal echogenic foci, or trapped gas, in the intussusception. The degree of correlation between the sonographic findings and reducibility was evaluated. Of 73 intussusceptions examined by US, 56 (76%) were reducible and 17 (23%) were not reducible. Out of 10 intussusceptions with intramural gas, 11 with subserosal gas, and 14 with intramural and subserosal gas, 8 (80%), 6 (56%), 9 (64%), respectively, were not reducible. The presence of intramural gas or subserosal gas or both predicted a lower chance of reduction, but with regard to the effect of these findings together, intramural gas was the only significant predictor. Having intramural gas in large-bowel intussusception significantly decreases the chance of reduction. (orig.)

[en] Ovulatory dysfunction is a group of disorders with variable clinical presentations occasionally having serious long-term adverse effects. It accounts for 30% of female fertility problems. Evidence suggests an association between an individual's weight and disorders of ovulation. The objective of our study was to describe the clinical and hormonal profile of subfertile women with ovulatory dysfunction in relation to their body mass index (BMI). Methods: This prospective, descriptive study was carried out in Mother and Child Health Centre, PIMS, Islamabad and Railway hospital, Rawalpindi from April 2001 to March 2007. One hundred and thirty eight infertile patients with ovulatory dysfunction were included. The clinical data including BMI of each patient was recorded in addition to reports of investigations comprised of cervical smear, pelvic ultrasound and hormonal profile. Results: Primary infertility was found in 61% while secondary in 39% of the patients. The mean age was 29 years and mean duration of infertility was 6 years. Menstrual pattern was normal in 56.5%. BMI was normal in 30.4% while most patients were overweight and obese. Prolonged cycles, history of systemic endocrine disorders, abnormal vaginal discharge, hirsutism, polycystic ovarian morphology and hormonal abnormalities were more frequent in patients with increased BMI. During the study period, 21.7% of the women conceived. Conclusion: Infertile patients with ovulatory dysfunction present more frequently with primary infertility. They usually have higher than required BMI. Oligomenorrhoea amenorrhoea, hirsutism and hormonal abnormalities are more frequent in overweight than infertile patients with ovulatory dysfunction having a normal BMI. (author)

[en] Highlights: • Gonadal zona pellucida subtypes (zpb and zpc5) were cloned from female gray mullets. • Gonadal abnormality was induced by oral 17α-ethinylestradiol administration. • Gonadal zpb levels increased in conjunction with testis-ova induction. • Gonadal zpc5 levels decreased in conjunction with severe gonadal abnormality. • Hepatic vitellogenin levels increased in the presence of 17α-ethinylestradiol. The subtypes of zona pellucida (zp), primarily expressed in female gonads, are considered novel molecular markers for testis-ova (or intersex), a type of gonadal abnormality caused by environmental estrogens (EEs) in Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes). However, the association between testis-ova and the expression of gonadal zp subtypes is unclear in other teleost species, particularly in species studied in field surveys. In this study, 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2) was orally administrated at 4–4000 ng/g body weight (BW)/day for 28 days to gray mullets (Mugil cephalus), and gonadal abnormalities were studied using histological analysis. The expression profiles of gonadal zp subtypes (zpb and zpc5) were analyzed to evaluate their suitability as gonadal abnormality markers by comparing with a hepatic vitellogenin (vtg) subtype (vtgAb). The oral administration of EE2 40 and 400 ng/g BW/day for 28 days induced significant gonadal zpb expression, and the gonads showed moderate abnormality (testis-ova). Conversely, the gonadal zpc5 levels decreased significantly in response to the oral administration of EE2 at 4000 ng/g BW/day for 28 days, and the gonads exhibited severe abnormalities. The hepatic vtgAb levels increased upon EE2 treatment regardless of gonadal abnormality. Therefore, the gonadal zpb levels and hepatic vtgAb levels served as appropriate markers for testis-ova and EE2 presence, respectively. However, the diagnosis of severe gonadal abnormality using gonadal zpc5 was moderately accurate. The findings suggest that the combination of vtgAb, zpb, and zpc5 is a potential marker for gonadal abnormality caused by EE contamination in gray mullet. That said, the potential of zpc5 should be reconsidered to determine if it shows greater accuracy in a larger or more diverse population.

[en] The productive and reproductive behavior of 3 herd of cattle is studied of Cebu cattle located in Savannah of Torres, Giron and Lebrija to the northwest of Santander, with heights of 118 to 160 m.s.n.m, temperatures of 25 to 27 centigrade degrees, relative humidity of 65 to 80 percent and plane topography with waves and acid soil. The exploitation system evolved from the continuous shepherding in native prairies to the rotational with improved prairies and mineral supplementation. The system of it mounts it was continuous and oscillate among 35 cows/bull to the beginning and 25-30 cows/bull at the end. Due to the location and different handling, the 3 herds were analyzed independently. 1, 1843 observations were analyzed to measure the interval between childbirths and 478 for the weight to the birth and the weaning (270 days). An analysis was used by minimum squares with unequal subclasses. The weight to the weaning was adjusted by covariance, due to the dispersion of the age to the weaning. For the natality rate they were processed and they analyzed for high X to the 2 3175 herds. The prevalence of infectious illnesses of the reproduction was studied in 156 blood samples and it was analyzed by the pattern 1 of Cavanzo. The intervals among childbirths for the herds 1, 2 and 3 were: 466 days (C V same 24 percent), 458 days (C V same 29 percent) and 513 days (C V same 31 percent), respectively. When studying the effect of the month of the childbirth on the interval among childbirths, the months of low precipitation (December to March and July) they diminished the interval the bull it also influenced in the duration of the interval among childbirths; in all the herds, the effect of the reproducer increased or it diminished the interval significantly. In the herd 1, the weight average to the birth was of 32 but or less 1.9 kg and the males weighed 3.8 kg more that the females. The weight to the weaning was of 219.4 but or less 16.9 kg (C V similar to 8.0 percent) and it was influenced significantly alone for the year of childbirth and for the reproducer. The distribution of the sex was lightly superior for the females (52 percent) the half rate of natality for the 3 was 78.4 percent. The herd 3 presented the rate low (74.5 percent) and the 2, the high (81.6 percent). Regarding illnesses, the 3 herd were free of brucellosis, with a very low incidence, 22 percent, of bovine viral diarrhea (DVB) and 1 parainfluenza-3 percent (PI-3) and a high prevalence (54 percent) of infectious bovine rinotraqueitis (RBI)

[en] Adult virgin ectoparasitic wasps, Habrobracon juglandis Ashmead, were exposed to 8 or 16 hours of 44 ppm of ozone, modification of reproduction paralleled those after exposure to ionizing radiation. The cytological investigation of the polytrophic ovarioles suggested that the adverse effects on productivity were due to malfunctions of the nurse cells per se and not to effects on the oocytes. Exposure to ozone upset the physiology of vitellogenesis

[en] The obstetrician-gynecologist is frequently the only physician to attend women during their reproductive years. Malignant disease outside the pelvic organs is a fairly frequent occurrence in this age group. Certain findings in the patient's history and physical examination can suggest malignant disease. The routine laboratory examination can also provide indications of the presence of a neoplastic process. Once this process is suspected, histologic proof of malignancy must be obtained before further staging and therapy are considered. The extent of the disease is important for the planning of therapy, i.e., whether it is to be surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy or some combination of the three. Adjuvant chemotherapy is recognized as a form of treatment designed to eradicate micrometastases, prevent the occurrence of subsequent clinical metastatic disease and, as a result, improve survival

[en] Five dairy cattle, cattle A: 6^th parity; cattle B: 7^th parity; cattle C: 2^nd parity; cattle D and F: 3^rd parity, were used in this study. According to Health Extension and Artificial Insemination Technicians anamneses and according to farmers who own the animals, these cattle were showing reproductive failure, and RIA technique was used to study the symptoms. For this purpose, milk progesterone sample were collected twice a week for five weeks to follow the biological reproductive status of every animal. Result from the analysis were plotted for each individual animal and shows that cattle A and B were acyclic, which indicated that no reproductive activity post partum have occurred in both animals; cattle C in the status of prolonged oestrus cycle post partum; and cattle D and F were in the status of recovery of oestrus cycle post partum. With the availability of historical record of the cattle and confirmation of biological status by Health Technicians, the reproductive disorder, which leads to the failure of AI in dairy cattle, can be monitored by RIA Progesterone technique. (author)

[en] Fallopian tube recanalisation (FTR) for proximal fallopian tube obstruction (PFTO) is considered a good treatment option for tubal infertility. The aim of this study was to assess the safety and the technical and clinical success rates of FTR using a dedicated radiographic tubal assessment set (FluoroSet®) in the angiography suite. This study is a retrospective analysis of data prospectively collected between February 2007 and June 2011 at King Abdullah University Hospital, Irbid, Jordan. During this period, 61 patients affected by PFTO underwent FTR using FluoroSet® at our institution. The mean age of patients was 34 years (range 20-45 years), and the mean duration of infertility was 4 years (range 2-14 years). The procedure was performed with conscious sedation under fluoroscopic guidance in the angiography suite. The obstructed tube was accessed with a 5-Fr multipurpose catheter, and the obstruction was crossed with a 0.35-Fr hydrophilic guide wire until the wire coiled freely into the peritoneal cavity. Patency of the tube was then confirmed by selective salpingiogram. Technical success rate was recorded, and patients were followed up for evidence of pregnancy over 12 months. The procedure was technically successful in all patients. Minor bleeding and postprocedural pain occurred in most patients; however, there were no major complications encountered. Twenty-five patients (41%) became pregnant. Successful deliveries of full-term infants were reported in 21 patients (84%). Miscarriage was reported in four patients (16%). No ectopic pregnancies were detected, and all deliveries were full-term. The technical success rate was 100% and the clinical success rate was 41%. Selective salpingography and FTR using FluoroSet® is a safe and effective method. FTR is recommended as the first intervention in patients with PFTO. In experienced hands with dedicated equipment and in an appropriate setting, the success rate is high, and this treatment should be offered to infertile women with PFTO before other, more complex techniques are attempted.

[en] Milk for progesterone determination was taken from cows picked out for insemination, cows following insemination and cows with reproduction disorders. The samples were taken in test tubes containing potassium dichromate. Progesterone was determined by RIA of skimmed milk and the results were transmitted to the DISKOT system in the data processing centre. The use of the DISKOT system output and the monitoring of progesterone in milk by the RIA laboratory improved reproduction indexes of the herd under study. (E.J.). 2 tabs

[en] Full text: Brucella abortus S-19 is the most commonly used attenuated live vaccine to prevent bovine brucellosis. The vaccine induces good levels of protection in cattle, preventing premature abortion. Although B. abortus S-19 is the most used vaccine in eradication campaigns worldwide, it has two major problems: (i) it produces abortion when administered to pregnant cattle and is fully virulent for humans and (ii), the presence of smooth lipopolysaccharide interferes with the discrimination between infected and vaccinated animals during immunescreening procedures. In our laboratory we have previously cloned, sequenced and disrupted the gene coding for the enzyme phosphoglucomutase (pgm), responsible for the interconversion of glucose-6P to glucose-1P. The mutant does not synthesize the sugar nucleotide UDP-glucose and/or ADP-glucose and thus is unable to form any polysaccharide containing glucose, galactose or any other sugars whose synthesis proceeds through a glucose-nucleotide intermediate. The mutant has a rough phenotype, is avirulent in mice but retains the ability to multiply inside HeLa cells, although it shows a delay of the exponential intracellular replication. These characteristics prompt us to evaluate the potential use of this strain as a new live rough vaccine. We generated an unmarked deletion mutant of pgm. Western blot analysis of purified lipopolysaccharide from Δpgm indicated that it is devoid of O-antigen, however Δpgm whole cell extracts contained detectable amounts of O-antigen with a MW of 45 kDa, indicating that mutant strain is able to synthesize O-antigen but incapable to assemble a complete LPS probably due to the presence of an altered core structure. When administered intraperitoneally in Balb/C mice, the number of viable Δpgm recovered from spleens were, at all tested times, significantly lower than those inoculated with the parental virulent strain S2308 and was completely cleared at 8 weeks p.i., thus indicating a severe virulence reduction. These results indicate that even at high doses, strain Δpgm is cleared from the animal in a short period of time. The antibody response against O-antigen was evaluated using Fluorescence Polarization Assay with FITC-coupled O-antigen as a tracer. Mice receiving S2308 developed antibodies to the O-antigen that reached its maximal value at 49 days p.i (152.71±27.65 mP). In contrast, Δpgm-vaccinated mice failed, as the saline control mice, to elicit antibodies against O-antigen at any tested time (92.33±3.66 mP and 92.20±7.10 mP at 49 p.i. respectively). These results indicate that the O-antigen present in Δpgm is incapable to elicit a detectable specific antibody response. It is well established that for intracellular pathogens like Brucellae, cellular immunity plays a central role in protection. To investigate the cellular immune response induced by Δpgm, we analyzed the proliferative splenocytes response of vaccinated and non-vaccinated mice upon stimulation with heat-inactivated S2308 whole cells. At 8 weeks post inoculation, splenocytes recovered from mice vaccinated with Δpgm proliferated upon stimulation in a specific manner, in contrast to the non-vaccinated control group (60,142 ± 7,443 c.p.m. vs 20,855 ± 2,541 c.p.m., P<0.001). All immunized animals responded equally to the nonspecific mitogen Concanavalin A. The spleen cells from Δpgm vaccinated animals were induced to secrete high levels of IFN-γ (112.0 ng/ml) after stimulation. A significant induction was also observed upon stimulation with ConA (53.8 ng/ml). In contrast, the splenocytes from PBS-inoculated control animals only released IFN-γ upon stimulation with ConA. IL-4 was not detected in the supernatants of splenocytes obtained from both immunized and non-immunized animals. These results indicate that vaccination with Δpgm induce a classical ThI cellular proliferative response. In order to examine the protection induced by Δpgm, a vaccine-challenge experiment was performed. Groups of five mice were vaccinated intraperitoneally with 10⁷ CFU of Δpgm, saline or 10⁵ CFU of B19. Eight weeks post-vaccination animals were challenged with 105 CFU of strain S2308. Protection was defined as the difference between the numbers of viable bacteria recovered from spleens of immunized mice compared to those receiving saline. Vaccine efficacy was expressed as log₁₀ units of protection. Δpgm generated a significant protection 2 and 4 weeks post challenge, with 2.25 and 1.93 protection units, respectively. As expected B. abortus strain S19 induced also a significant protection at 4 weeks (1.78 protection units). These results, together with the ability of the mutant to generate a strong cellular Th1 response without eliciting specific O-antigen antibodies, emphasize the potential use of this mutant as a new live vaccine for cattle. (author)