Medical technology development: limiting regulation

The medical technology industry is one of the most innovative sectors of the US economy. The paper considers how the US federal government, in a variety of roles as promoter, protector and payer, is involved in every stage of the innovative process for medical technology. It discusses the influence of government policies on medical innovation     

Sperm numbers inseminated in dairy cattle and nonreturn rates revisited

Three experiments were conducted to test fertility when sperm numbers per insemination ranged from 10 x 10(6) to 40 x 10(6) total sperm. All semen was from Holstein bulls that were on a regular schedule of semen collection. The semen was extended with heated homogenized whole milk, cooled, glycerolated, and frozen according to standard procedures. Semen was distributed to a large group of inseminators to minimize differential field effects on treatment. All experiments were a randomized block design, including a split plot in Experiment 2. In Experiment 1, data for 31,399 first inseminations distributed among treatments of 20 x 10(6), 25 x 10(6), 30 x 10(6), and 40 x 10(6) total sperm resulted in 69.8, 70.0, 70.1, and 70.1% nonreturns at 59 d, respectively. In Experiment 2, data for 18,197 first inseminations divided over treatments of 12 x 10(6), 16 x 10(6), and 20 x 10(6) total sperm resulted in 70.2, 72.4, and 70.8% nonreturns at 59 d, respectively. In Experiment 3, 38,890 first inseminations distributed over treatments of 10 x 10(6), 13 x 10(6), 16 x 10(6), and 20 x 10(6) total sperm resulted in 70.5, 72.2, 73.1, and 71.5% nonreturns at 59 d, respectively. Bull nonreturns ranged from 64 to 76% in the three trials. These results indicate that, under good conditions, total sperm numbers per straw can be reduced to 10 x 10(6) total sperm with a reduction of nonreturn rates at 59 d, for most bulls, of about 1 percentage unit from the maximum when professional inseminators are use.     

Surface alterations of the bovine oocyte and its investments during and after maturation and fertilization in vitro

Surface characteristics of the bovine oocyte and its investments before, during, and after maturation, and fertilization in vitro were evaluated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Oocyte diameters were also measured during SEM analysis of the oocyte. The cumulus cells manifested a compact structure with minimal intercellular spaces among them in the immature oocytes. These became fully expanded with increased intercellular spaces after maturation in vitro, but contracted again after fertilization. The zona pellucida (ZP) showed a fibrous, open mesh-like structure in the maturing and matured oocytes. The size and number of meshes on the ZP decreased dramatically after fertilization. The vitelline surface of immature oocytes was characterized by distribution of tongue-shaped protrusions (TSPs) varying in density. After 10 and 22 hr of maturation incubation, oocyte surface microvilli (MV) increased to become the predominant surface structure, and TSPs decreased substantially. The vitelline surface of fertilized oocytes (at 6 and 20 hr) was similar to that of the matured oocytes, but unfertilized oocytes had less dense MV than did fertilized oocytes (at 20 hr). The diameter of the oocytes decreased from 99 to 80 microns during maturation and increased to 106 microns after insemination (P < 0.05). Membrane maturation was characterized by surface changes from a TSP-predominant pattern to a MV-predominant pattern. Thus, the bovine oocyte maturation process was found to involve the expansion of cumulus cells and the maturation of the ZP, which changes dramatically upon fertilization. Also, volumetric changes occurred in ooplasm processed for SEM following oocyte maturation and insemination.     

Effect of zeranol on bull muscle fibre composition

Two trials are reported in which bulls were implanted with zeranol and slaughtered at 18 months. There was no significant change in carcass weight due to zeranol in either trial. Samples of the longissimus dorsi (LD) and splenius (Sp) were cross-cryosectioned, stained for myofibrillar ATPase and examined by conventional light microscopy. The stain resolved three fibre types: I, slow contracting with an oxidative metabolism, IIA, fast-oxidative-glycolytic and IIB, fast-glycolytic. In the LD from treated bulls, the occurrence of IIB fibres was increased, apparently at the expense of IIA fibres, as the occurrence of I fibres was unchanged. These occurrence changes parallelled previously reported effects of castration. Changes in Sp were less dramatic. In one trial IIB fibres were absent from all Sp muscles, but, in the other, some of the Sp muscles from treated animals contained these fibres whereas they were absent from the Sp of the control group. If the changes in fibre type occurrence due to zeranol extend to skeletal muscles other than LD and Sp, there is likely to be a subtle change in the musculature's metabolism. Fibre areas were largely unaffected by zeranol. In this respect zeranol did not mimic castration.     

Further studies on bovine muscle composition

The average occurrences of fibre types, I,IIA and IIB in the longissimus dorsi (LD) of female cattle were 18%, 59% and 23%, respectively. The IIB occurrence lay between that for bulls and steers, reported in Young & Bass (1984). Since IIB fibres were absent from the splenius (Sp) of females, its composition was more akin to that of bulls than steers. However, the relative area of I and IIA fibres in female Sp was more like that of steers than bulls since IIA fibres were not disproportionately large in females. Evidence suggests that the occurrence of type I (or II) fibres in the LD is rather static and that changes in the occurrence of IIA fibres, reciprocal to IIB, are more common, irrespective of sexual status-bull, steer or female. The route by which IIA and IIB fibres interconvert is discussed. In animals where both the LD and Sp were sampled, the fibre composition of one muscle was a poor predictor of the other's composition. The correlation between the occurrence of I fibres in Sp and succinate dehydrogenese activity in whole muscle was poor, and reasons are advanced to explain this unexpected result. When dark-cutting muscles were excluded from analysis, the average ultimate pH of LD muscles was lower than that of Sp. This result was consistent with the higher type II fibre content of the LD. Ultimate pH of Sp muscles was correlated with occurrence of I fibres, but in the LD a similar relationship could not be established. A link between occurrence of IIB fibres and proneness to the dark-cutting condition is suggested.     

Designing a Collaborative Visual Analytics Tool for Social and Technological Change Prediction

This paper discussed about GreenOracle which an interdisciplinary team designed and developed. GreenOracle is a collaborative visual analytics tool for predicting global climate change's impact on US power grids and its implications for society and national security. These future scenarios provide critical assessments and information to help policymakers and stakeholders formulate a coherent and unified strategy toward shaping a safe and secure society.     

Large batch freezing of bull semen: effect of time of freezing and fructose on fertility

Large-scale batch freezing of bull semen should be done in a processing schedule that yields the highest fertility and when it can be fitted efficiently into the work schedule. Conflicting reports have appeared on survival and fertility of bull sperm frozen within a few hours of semen collection or on the next day. To study this problem, a factorially arranged experiment with semen from 10 bulls was conducted, comparing whole milk-glycerol semen extender with and without fructose, and semen frozen in 0.5-ml straws after 4 versus 18 h of equilibration at 5 degrees C. Both fructose and 18 h of equilibration resulted in a small but significant improvement in freeze-thaw survival of sperm. A field trial followed with replicated semen collections from nine bulls processed in a whole milk-glycerol control extender frozen after 4 h of equilibration versus the addition of 1.25% (wt/vol) fructose to whole milk glycerol divided to freeze sperm after 4 and 28 h of equilibration. Semen from these bulls was used to inseminate 14,775 first-service cows. The 56-d nonreturn rates obtained for these three treatments were 74.7, 74.3, and 73.9%, respectively. As there was no difference in fertility, it would appear that programs to freeze sperm in whole milk extenders the same day of collection or the day after semen collection should yield equivalent results.     

Consent, disclosure, and waiver for the forensic psychological evaluation: Rethinking the roles of psychologist and lawyer.

The duty to obtain consent from a litigant before beginning a forensic evaluation has fallen to the forensic psychologist. Guidelines, ethical standards, and commentators have made this assumed duty mandatory. Unfortunately, psychologists are not able to provide accurate and detailed legal information concerning the forensic evaluation. Only a person trained in the law would be qualified, and the litigant's lawyer has the legal duty to properly inform the litigant about the legal parameters of the forensic evaluation. This article discusses the psychological and legal aspects of consent for forensic evaluation and proposes a model in which both the lawyer and the psychologist collaborate in a process initiated by the psychologist to inform the litigant about the evaluation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Moderating effects of client attachment on the counselor experience–working alliance relationship.

The authors predicted that client attachment status would moderate the relationship between counselor experience and client-perceived working alliance. Forty clients from 2 university counseling centers completed measures of attachment and the working alliance. Their counselors were classified according to experience level. Client comfort with intimacy was related to a stronger alliance with the counselors. However, counselor experience was unrelated to client-rated working alliance. Client attachment, specifically comfort with intimacy, moderated the relationship between counselor experience and working alliance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)