In vitro maturation of bovine cumulus enclosed primary oocytes and their subsequent in vitro fertilization and cleavage

Cumulus enclosed primary oocytes from 2 to 4-mm bovine follicles were matured in vitro in Minimum Essential Medium containing follicle-stimulating hormone (0, .1, 1, 10, 50, or 100 micrograms/ml) or human chorionic gonadotropin (0, .1, 1, or 10 IU/ml) for 48 h at 37 degrees C under paraffin oil. Cumulus mass expansion comparable to that seen in vivo occurred in 18% of the control oocytes, 39% of those cultured in human chorionic gonadotropin, and 56% of those cultured in follicle-stimulating hormone. The optimum follicle-stimulating hormone concentration for cumulus expansion was 1 microgram/ml, and this was then used to mature oocytes individually or in groups of 5 for in vitro fertilization. Ejaculated bovine semen, extended 1:10 with yolk-TES-Tris extender and stored 24 to 48 h at 4 degrees C, was warmed, washed once with Minimum Essential Medium, and 500,000 motile sperm/ml were used to inseminate the matured oocyte-cumulus cell complexes. Criteria for fertilization was cleavage to the two-cell stage 48 h after insemination. Oocytes, inseminated individually, cleaved with a frequency of 5%, whereas 15% of those inseminated in groups of 5 cleaved, perhaps as the result of cumulus factors enhancing capacitation. The cleavage rate for the parthenogenetic control with killed spermatozoa was 0%. Therefore, primary oocytes matured in vitro to secondary oocytes were successfully fertilized in vitro and cleaved to at least the two-cell stage in the Minimum Essential Medium. Individual differences between bulls in ability to fertilize in vitro were noted.     

Partitioned and prioritized access to timesharing services: The reserved availability method

The Reserved Availability Method is a software mechanism for allocating a non-sharable machine resource such as multi-access ports according to different user catagories and priorities. The method avoids the queuing of user requests for allocation. Instead, some of the available resources are reserved for allocation to high-priority, or particular categories of users. The resources reserved vary with machine usage in order to optimize machine utilization with user demand. The method is applied to the partitioning of a machine's ports between different user groups, and to access according to user priority.     

Individual variation in immunosuppressive activity of bovine seminal plasma on concanavalin A-stimulated bovine T lymphocytes in vitro

Individual dialyzed seminal plasma samples from 21 bulls in routine artificial breeding service were tested for their immunosuppressive activity on in vitro induced blastogenesis of bovine lymphocytes from 3 nonpregnant cows. Concanavalin A was used to induce blastogenesis and thymidine uptake was monitored. Dialyzed seminal plasma from 15 of 21 bulls inhibited deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis response to concanavalin with cow A lymphocytes, and 21 of 21 were immunosuppressive to lymphocytes from cows B and C. Degree of immunosuppression varied according to bull and cow, ranging from 0 to 100%. The lower the percentage response of the lymphocytes to concanavalin stimulation, the less their inhibition by dialyzed seminal plasma. The degree of immunosuppression produced by a bull's dialyzed seminal plasma was not highly related either to amount of protein in the seminal plasma or to the bull's 60 to 90-d nonreturn rate.     

Relative effects of cultivar, heat-treatment and sucrose content on the sensory properties of blackcurrant juice

The effects of processing treatments (heat, sucrose addition) on the sensory quality of blackcurrant juices prepared from two genetically diverse cultivars (Ben Lomond and Ben Alder) were examined using sensory profiling. Sucrose level had the largest effect on the sensory profile, with heating and cultivar having smaller but still significant effects. Some interaction between sucrose level and heating of the juices was observed in the sensory profile. The results indicate that selection of preferred genotypes remains an important breeding objective in blackcurrant improvement programmes, since the sensory attributes associated with genotype persist, despite processing effects, in the extracted juice.     

Effect of washing and capacitating media pH on bull sperm motility, acrosome integrity, and ability to penetrate zona-free hamster oocytes

Bovine-ejaculated sperm were washed thrice in bovine serum albumin-saline media, pH 7.2 to 8.4, and incubated at 37 degrees C in Ca++-free Tyrode's media. pH 7.2 to 8.4, for 0, 2, 4, 6, and 8 h. Motility was highest when sperm were washed in pH 7.2 medium and incubated in pH 8.0 or 8.4 media. Motility remained above 50% until 8 h. Washing in pH 7.6, 8.0, or 8.4 media induced more acrosome reactions after incubation than washing at pH 7.2. Percentage of acrosome-reacted sperm increased at each successive time period. Sperm penetrated more oocytes at 4, 6, and 8 h when wash medium pH was fixed at 7.2 and capacitating media pH was raised at .4 unit increments from 7.2 to 8.4. When sperm were washed in pH 7.2 medium, the postincubation penetration rates peaked at 8 h. With wash media of pH 7.6, 8.0, or 8.4, the postincubation penetration rates peaked at 4 h and then gradually declined. In conclusion, the most effective system for capacitating bull sperm was a pH 7.6 wash followed by capacitation in pH 7.6 medium for 4 to 8 h and this system resulted in the highest penetration rates. Wash media pH hastened capacitation but was not a capacitating agent.     

The use of modeling and role playing to increase social interaction among asocial psychiatric patients.

Studied 87 psychiatric inpatients, all of whom consistently displayed minimal social interaction behavior, in a 2 * 2 * 2 covariance design involving 3 treatment variables. The major variable was presence vs absence of structured learning therapy (modeling plus role playing plus social reinforcement) aimed at increasing social interaction behavior. Presence vs absence of psychotherapy and patient status (acute-chronic) were also examined. Several significant main and interaction effects emerged on social interaction criteria for structured learning therapy. Interaction effects for structured learning therapy and psychotherapy suggested primarily a "mutual inhibition" of treatment effectiveness. Implications for further studies of structured learning therapy and specific skill enhancement are examined. (34 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Using health status surveys in medical consultations

The goal of this research was to identify patients' preferences for physician inquiry into various aspects of health status and to examine whether the preconsultation availability of health status data (collected from the SF-36 Health Status Questionnaire) influenced the physician's conduct during the consultation. Results from 58 prenatal patient visits yielded the following findings. First, patients expressed strong preferences for physicians to ask about the patient's perceptions of health in general and about physical dimensions of health status such as pain, vitality, and role limitations due to physical functioning. Patients also were more satisfied when doctors were perceived as having asked about these issues. Second, patients varied considerably in their preferences for physician inquiries into psychosocial issues such as social functioning, mental health, and role limitations due to emotional problems. Approximately half the patients wanted these matters discussed, whereas the remainder either did not care or preferred that doctors not ask about these topics. Third, the preconsultation availability of health status information had little effect on the degree to which physicians asked about the patient's health-related quality of life. Clinical implications are discussed.     

Cell Type-Specific Induction of Inflammation-Associated Genes in Crohn’s Disease and Colorectal Cancer

Based on the rapid increase in incidence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), the identification of susceptibility genes and cell populations contributing to this condition is essential. Previous studies suggested multiple genes associated with the susceptibility of IBD; however, due to the analysis of whole-tissue samples, the contribution of individual cell populations remains widely unresolved. Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) provides the opportunity to identify underlying cellular populations. We determined the enrichment of Crohn’s disease (CD)-induced genes in a publicly available Crohn’s disease scRNA-seq dataset and detected the strongest induction of these genes in innate lymphoid cells (ILC1), highly activated T cells and dendritic cells, pericytes and activated fibroblasts, as well as epithelial cells. Notably, these genes were highly enriched in IBD-associated neoplasia, as well as sporadic colorectal cancer (CRC). Indeed, the same six cell populations displayed an upregulation of CD-induced genes in a CRC scRNA-seq dataset. Finally, after integrating and harmonizing the CD and CRC scRNA-seq data, we demonstrated that these six cell types display a gradual increase in gene expression levels from a healthy state to an inflammatory and tumorous state. Together, we identified cell populations that specifically upregulate CD-induced genes in CD and CRC patients and could, therefore, contribute to inflammation-associated tumor development.