Your period and your pregnancy, a cohort study of pregnant patients investigating the associations between menstruation and birth outcomes in Australia: study protocol.

Introduction: Early pregnancy care involves the screening and identification of women with risk factors for adverse pregnancy outcomes, including stillbirth or preterm birth, to tailor pregnancy care and interventions accordingly. Most stillbirths and approximately two-thirds of preterm births, however, occur in the absence of evident risk factors. The majority of stillbirths occur in the preterm period, yet there are few interventions targeting this period, and progress to reduce stillbirth rates remains slow.

Associations of Body Condition Score, Body Condition Score Change, and Hyperketonemia with Mastitis, Reproduction, and Milk Production.

Body condition score (BCS) and hyperketonemia (HYK) have been associated with diseases, fertility, and culling but data are contradictory about their association with pregnancy loss. Our objective was to conduct a retrospective cohort study to investigate associations between BCS, BCS change (ΔBCS), blood β-hydroxybutyrate (BHB), and HYK with mastitis, pregnancy/artificial insemination (P/AI), pregnancy loss (PGL), milk yield, and risk of leaving the herd on a Michigan dairy farm that uses an automated milking system (AMS). We recorded BCS for cows prepartum (14 d before calving), postpartum (14-21 DIM), and multiparous cows were evaluated for HYK between 3 and 7 DIM.

On-farm supplementation of rumen-protected niacin: A randomized clinical trial.

B vitamins, including niacin (vitamin B), are synthesized by rumen microbes, but supplementation may provide additional benefits for ruminant health and productivity. Supplementing rumen-protected niacin (RPN) during the transition period can reduce lipolysis after calving and, consequently, may improve health and fertility of dairy cattle later in lactation. Our objective was to determine if supplementing RPN during the first 21 DIM would improve the health of dairy cows on a commercial dairy farm.

The effect of a dominant kinase-dead Csf1r mutation associated with adult-onset leukoencephalopathy on brain development and neuropathology.

Amino acid substitutions in the kinase domain of the human CSF1R protein are associated with autosomal dominant adult-onset leukoencephalopathy with axonal spheroids and pigmented glia (ALSP). To model the human disease, we created a disease-associated mutation (Glu631Lys; E631K) in the mouse Csf1r locus. Previous analysis demonstrated that heterozygous mutation (Csf1r) had a dominant inhibitory effect on CSF1R signaling in vitro and in vivo but did not recapitulate human disease pathology.

Evaluation of a portable fluorometer for the quantification of vitamin E in blood at key physiological stages of dairy cattle.

Vitamin E is essential in mitigating the impact of oxidative stress on periparturient dairy cows and neonatal calves. Therefore, it is essential to measure circulating vitamin E concentrations accurately. Currently, the only reliable method is an expensive and time-consuming procedure using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS).