Rodent Estrous Cycle Monitoring Utilizing Vaginal Lavage: No Such Thing As a Normal Cycle.

The current methodology establishes a reproducible, standardized, and cost-effective approach to monitoring the estrous cycle of female Sprague Dawley (SD) adolescent rats. This study demonstrates the complexity of hormonal cycles and the broad spectrum of understanding required to construct a reliable and valid monitoring technique. Through an in-depth examination of principal experimental design and procedural elements, this description of the cycle and its fundamental principles provides a framework for further understanding and deconstructs misconceptions for future replication.

Sex Differences in Neurophysiological Changes Following Voluntary Exercise in Adolescent Rats.

Adolescence is a period of time characterized by the onset of puberty and is marked by cognitive and social developments and gross physical changes that can play a role in athletic performance. Sex differences are present with differences in body size, height, physiology and behavior which contribute to differences in athletic performance as well. Pre-clinical studies representing this active group are lacking.

The bereavement gap: grief, human dignity and legal personhood in the debate over Zoe's law.

A Bill before the New South Wales Parliament attempted to re-frame harm to late-term fetuses as grievous bodily harm to the fetus itself rather than (under the existing law) grievous bodily harm to the mother. To achieve this, the Bill extended legal personhood to the fetus for a limited number of offences. The Bill was brought on behalf of Brodie Donegan, who lost her daughter Zoe at 32 weeks' gestation when Donegan was hit by a drug-affected driver.

Mode of action of human pharmaceuticals in fish: the effects of the 5-alpha-reductase inhibitor, dutasteride, on reproduction as a case study.

In recent years, a growing number of human pharmaceuticals have been detected in the aquatic environment, generally at low concentrations (sub-ng/L-low μg/L). In most cases, these compounds are characterised by highly specific modes of action, and the evolutionary conservation of drug targets in wildlife species suggests the possibility that pharmaceuticals present in the environment may cause toxicological effects by acting through the same targets as they do in humans. Our research addressed the question of whether or not dutasteride, a pharmaceutical used to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia, may cause adverse effects in a teleost fish, the fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas), by inhibiting the activity of both isoforms of 5α-reductase (5αR), the enzyme that converts testosterone into dihydrotestosterone (DHT).

Endocrine disruption due to estrogens derived from humans predicted to be low in the majority of U.S. surface waters.

In an effort to assess the combined risk estrone (E1), 17β-estradiol (E2), 17α-ethinyl estradiol (EE2), and estriol (E3) pose to aquatic wildlife across United States watersheds, two sets of predicted-no-effect concentrations (PNECs) for significant reproductive effects in fish were compared to predicted environmental concentrations (PECs). One set of PNECs was developed for evaluation of effects following long-term exposures. A second set was derived for short-term exposures.

Predicting concentrations of trace organic compounds in municipal wastewater treatment plant sludge and biosolids using the PhATE™ model.

This article presents the capability expansion of the PhATE™ (pharmaceutical assessment and transport evaluation) model to predict concentrations of trace organics in sludges and biosolids from municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). PhATE was originally developed as an empirical model to estimate potential concentrations of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) in US surface and drinking waters that could result from patient use of medicines. However, many compounds, including pharmaceuticals, are not completely transformed in WWTPs and remain in biosolids that may be applied to land as a soil amendment.

Exposure assessment of 17alpha-ethinylestradiol in surface waters of the United States and Europe.

An evaluation of measured and predicted concentrations of 17-ethinylestradiol in surface waters of the United States and Europe was conducted to develop expected long-term exposure concentrations for this compound. Measured environmental concentrations (MECs) in surface waters were identified from the literature. Predicted environmental concentrations (PECs) were generated for European and U.

Environmental risk assessment of paroxetine.

Paroxetine hydrochloride hemihydrate (the active ingredient in Paxil) is a pharmaceutical compound used for the treatment of depression, social anxiety disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, panic disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder. Paroxetine (PA) is extensively metabolized in humans, with about 97% of the parent compound being excreted as metabolites through the urine and feces of patients. Therefore PA and metabolites have the potential to be discharged into wastewater treatment systems after therapeutic use.