Juice-extracted grass pellets and sodium bicarbonate for cows fed timothy silage of two chop lengths

Eighteen multiparous Holstein cows in midlactation were used in a switchback design trial to evaluate the effect of chop length (3 or 30 mm) of timothy grass silage, containing less than 30% ADF and treated with formic acid, on DMI and cow performance. Within chop length, addition of NaHCO3 (2% of DMI) or the replacement of 30% of silage DM with juice-extracted grass pellets was also evaluated. Cows were fed a TMR composed of 90% silage and 10% concentrate. Silage preservation characteristics were not different between chop lengths. The DMI and apparent digestibility were similar among treatments. Yields of 4% FCM (24.9 vs. 22.7 kg/d), fat (1.03 vs. .93 kg/d), and protein (.83 vs .77 kg/d) were higher with the short chopped silage. Milk protein, milk NPN content, and serum urea were higher for cows fed long chopped silage. Yields of milk and milk constituents were not affected by the addition of juice-extracted grass pellets or NaHCO3. Fat percentage and fatty acid composition of milk remained unchanged by treatments. Reduction of particle size, from 30 to 3 mm, of timothy grass, treated with formic acid at harvest and using compaction at ensiling in bag silos, did not affect silage conservation characteristics but did improve milk, fat, and protein yields when cows were fed high silage diets.     

Inaccuracies in estimates of life expectancies of patients with bronchial cancer in clinical decision making

Cell cultures were derived from adult human brain biopsies [from cortical gray (cultures 9-HB-G and 33-HB-G) and white (culture 14-HB-W) and stroke-injured white matter (culture 33-HB-IW)]. The morphology and growth rate of cultured cells were examined and correlated with the presence of vimentin and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). The cultures from various brain matters differed in cell morphology and rate of growth but not in GFAP and vimentin staining. Cells of primary and rapidly proliferating cultures were GFAP-negative and vimentin-positive. Spontaneous growth deceleration occurred in culture 14-HB-W within passages 5 to 10 and in cultures 9-HB-G, 33-HB-G, and 33-HB-W within passages 17 to 20. This deceleration, as well as the successive complete growth arrest, were accompanied by an appearance of GFAP-positive cells and an elevated intensity for vimentin staining. We propose that GFAP-positive astrocytes originate from glial precursor cells that migrate from the explants and differentiate under prolonged subcultivation.     

A Monte Carlo model for bone mineral measurement using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry

We discuss the surgical approach used for and outcome in 11 infants (< or =3 years) who were treated at our institution for ependymomas arising in the cerebellar-pontine (C-P) angle. The median age of the group was 19 months (range: 6-26 months). Of these 11 patients, the initial surgery for 8 was performed at our center and achieved a gross total resection (GTR) in 4 patients and a subtotal resection (STR) in the remaining 4. The 3 patients who had tumor debulking performed elsewhere were subsequently referred to our institution and had definitive surgery after receiving 3-4 courses of chemotherapy; one of these children had a GTR, whereas the remaining 2 had an STR. During the immediate postoperative period, 9 patients had cranial nerve deficits that necessitated placement of a tracheostomy and a gastrostomy feeding tube; these were discontinued in 6 of the 9 patients as the deficits resolved. The majority of the permanent cranial nerve deficits involved the sixth and seventh cranial nerves. Of the 11 patients, 4 have died (progressive disease, n = 1; accidental death, n = 2; withdrawal of life support, n = 1); the remaining 7 patients are alive, with a median follow-up of 37 months (range: 20-73 months). Aggressive surgical resection for tumors arising in the C-P region is associated with postoperative deficits, which resolve over time with appropriate supportive care. This approach may increase the number of children in whom GTR is achieved, thereby potentially increasing the cure rate for these patients.     

The minimum dosage of praziquantel in the treatment of Taenia saginata, 1986-1993

Patients who have a unicornuate uterus with a noncommunicating rudimentary horn that contains an endometrial cavity are at risk for endometriosis and obstetric complications. As in this case, resection of the rudimentary horn can be performed laparoscopically without increased risk to the patient and with some potential benefit.     

Immunity to Cryptosporidium muris infection in mice is expressed through gut CD4+ intraepithelial lymphocytes

The role of gut intraepithelial lymphocytes (IEL) in immunity to cryptosporidial infection was investigated with a murine infection model involving Cryptosporidium muris. Oocyst shedding was monitored in severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) mice infected with C. muris following intravenous injection of mesenteric lymph node (MLN) cells or intestinal IEL from BALB/c donor mice which were naive or previously infected with C. muris. SCID mice receiving no lymphoid cells developed chronic infections and excreted large numbers of oocysts until the end of the experiment. SCID mice injected with IEL from immune animals, however, were able to overcome the infection, and furthermore, these animals produced fewer oocysts and recovered sooner than ones which received IEL or MLN cells from naive BALB/c donors. Similar levels of protection were obtained in SCID mice injected with either 2 X 10(6) IEL or MLN cells from immune donor mice. Depletion of CD4+ cells from immune IEL, however, abrogated the ability to transfer immunity to SCID mice, while depletion of CD8+ cells only marginally reduced the protective capacity of immune IEL. Finally, control SCID mice which received no lymphocytes had < or = 1% CD4+ cells in the IEL from the small intestine, whereas the IEL from SCID mice recovered from infection, as a result of injection with immune IEL, contained 15% CD4+ cells. Thus, the ability to control C. muris infection correlated with the presence of the protective CD4+ cells in the gut epithelium.     

Synthesis, estrogen receptor binding, and tissue distribution of a new iodovinylestradiol derivative (17alpha,20E)-21-[123I]Iodo-11beta-nitrato-19-norp regna-1,3,5 (10),20-tetraene-3,17-diol (E-[123I]NIVE)

We have synthesized and evaluated E-11beta-nitrato-17alpha-iodovinylestradiol (E-NIVE; E-3c) and its 123I-labelled form, as a new potential radioligand for imaging of estrogen receptor (ER)-positive human breast tumors. E-[123I]NIVE was prepared by stereospecific iododestannylation of the E-tri-n-butylstannylvinyl precursor (E-2c), obtained from reaction of 11beta-nitrato-estrone (8) with E-tributylstannylvinyllithium. In competitive binding studies, E-NIVE proved to have high binding affinity for both the rat and the human ER (Ki 280-730 pM), without significant binding to human sex hormone binding globulin. Distribution studies in normal and mammary tumor-bearing rats showed specific ER-mediated uptake of E-[123I]NIVE in the estrogen target tissues, i.e., uterus, ovaries, pituitary, and hypothalamus, but not in the mammary tumors. Selective retention in these target tissues, including tumor tissue, resulted in significant increases over time for the target tissue-to-muscle uptake ratios, but not for the target tissue-to-fat uptake ratios. The tumor-to-fat uptake ratio even appeared constantly below 1. In the primary estrogen target tissues, E-[123I]NIVE displayed high specific ER-mediated uptake and retention, which resulted in moderate target-to-nontarget tissue uptake ratios. In contrast, in tumor tissue, E-[123I]NIVE uptake appeared to be rather low and not ER-specific. As a consequence, E-[123I]NIVE appears to be a less favorable radioligand for ER imaging in breast cancer than the previously studied stereoisomers of 11beta-methoxy-17alpha-[123I]iodovinylestradiol (E- and Z-[123I]MIVE; [123I]E- and [123I]Z-3b).     

Single photon emission computed tomographic blood flow and magnetic resonance volume imaging of basal ganglia in Huntington''s disease

During oogenesis in Drosophila, germ cells appear in sequential clusters of 16 interconnected cells. The events surrounding the differentiation of these cells are not fully understood. Here we present genetic and morphological analysis of mutations in the gene stand still (stil). Through complementation analyses we have refined the location of this gene to cyological region 49B-C. Our analyses of ovaries from ethylmethane sulfonate (EMS)-induced mutant alleles of this gene suggest that mutations in the stil gene produce a wide range of phenotypic abnormalities, from the absence of germ cells in the most severe alleles, to egg chambers with cytoskeletal defects in the less severe alleles. Our results suggest a role for this gene in specifying or maintaining a cytoskeletal component, with consequences during oogenesis and possibly during germ line sex determination.