Efficacy of estradiol or GnRH in combination with progesterone intravaginal devices to control the follicular wave dynamics and resulting fertility in lactating dairy cows.

This study was conducted to compare efficacy of treatments with EB or GnRH and different quantities of exogenous progesterone (P) for synchronization of time of ovulation on follicular growth and pregnancy in lactating dairy cows. In Experiment 1, 40 cows were treated with EB or GnRH and 1.9 or 3.

Should we consider IgG hypogammaglobulinemia a risk factor for severe complications of Ludwig angina?: A case report and review of the literature.

Rationale: Cervical necrotizing fasciitis (CNF) and descending necrotizing mediastinitis (DNM) are rare forms of complication of Ludwig angina. These potentially lethal infections are difficult to recognize in early stages and are often associated with predisposing factors like diabetes and immunocompromised states. Moreover, IgG hypogammaglobulinemia (hypo-IgG) is considered to be a risk factor of mortality in patients with septic shock; however, it is not routinely quantified in patients with extremely serious infections, particularly in cases with no history or evidence of immunocompromising disorders.

Intracellular cytokine expression in peritoneal monocyte/macrophages obtained from patients with cirrhosis and presence of bacterial DNA.

Background: The detection of bacterial DNA in serum and ascitic fluid from patients with cirrhosis and ascites is interpreted as molecular evidence of intestinal bacterial translocation and considered sufficient to activate the cellular immune response. In vitro studies on ascitic fluid culture have shown a close relationship between the synthesis of several cytokines and nitric oxide and the presence of bacterial DNA. Since different cell types give rise to cytokines, flow cytometry becomes a powerful tool to discriminate between populations involved in a bacterial challenge.

Factors associated with non-fatal heroin overdose: assessing the effect of frequency and route of heroin administration.

Aims: To examine risk factors associated with non-fatal heroin overdose, particularly frequency and route of heroin administration.

Design: Data from cross-sectional surveys were analysed as a case-control and as a case cross-over design.

Setting And Participants: 2556 subjects treated for heroin dependence in 164 outpatient facilities in Spain.

The taenia solium glucose transporters TGTP1 and TGTP2 are not immunologically recognized by cysticercotic humans and swine.

Cysticercosis caused by the metacestode of the tapeworm Taenia solium causes economic losses in pork meat production, as well as being a human health hazard in some parts of the world. In order to determine if the glucose transporters TGTPI and TGTP2 are recognized by antibodies in the sera from cysticercotic humans and pigs, western blot assays were carried out using membrane fractions of insect cells expressing the two T. solium glucose transporters.

Taenia solium metacestode viability in infected pork after preparation with salt pickling or cooking methods common in Yucatán, Mexico.

The cestode parasite Taenia solium is an important cause of foodborne infection throughout tropical and subtropical regions. Ingestion of pork meat infected with T. solium larvae can lead to taeniasis infection in humans.

Beauveria bassiana as a pathogen of the Mexican fruit fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) under laboratory conditions.

Bioassays were carried out under controlled conditions (27 +/- 2 degrees C, 80 +/- 5% RH, and a photoperiod of 12:12 [L:D] h) to evaluate the effect of eight strains of the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana upon larvae, pupae, and adult females of the Mexican fruit fly, Anastrepha ludens (Loew). Mortality of the immature stages was low, 2-8% in larvae and 0% in pupae. However, very high levels of mortality were obtained for adult flies, with values of 100, 98, and 98% for the strains Bb16, Bb24, and Bb26, respectively.

Body composition and pulmonary function in obese type 2 diabetic women.

Most patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are overweight and their fat-distribution pattern shows more truncal and less peripheral subcutaneous fat. Obesity also influences the respiratory system by mechanical effects on the diaphragm and chest wall depending on the distribution and size of excess adipose tissues. To determine if the impairment of pulmonary function in T2DM is associated with truncal fat distribution, we performed dynamic spirometric tests and body composition analysis, by dual X-ray absorptiometry, in 12 non-smoker mildly obese T2DM women and in an equal number of control normoglycaemic females, matched for age, body mass index and smoking habits.

Postprandial and short-term effects of dietary virgin olive oil on oxidant/antioxidant status.

It is generally believed that virgin olive oil consumption has beneficial effects, but little is known about its effects postprandially on oxidant/antioxidant status. The aim of this study was to determine changes in oxidative stress biomarkers and lipid profile after a single dose of virgin olive oil and after 1 wk of daily consumption. Sixteen subjects (9 men, 7 women) ingested 50 mL of virgin olive oil in a single dose.

Changes in the antioxidant content of mononuclear leukocytes from mice with endotoxin-induced oxidative stress.

Oxidative stress, associated with a high production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by immune cells, is involved in the endotoxic shock caused by endotoxin. This oxidative stress is linked to the inability of the immune cells to maintain adequate levels of antioxidants with free radical-scavenging action. Glutathione (GSH) and ascorbic acid (AA) are intracellular and extracellular antioxidants (ROS scavengers) that improve the leukocyte functions.

Comparative target site pharmacokinetics of immediate- and modified-release formulations of cefaclor in humans.

Optimal dosing of beta-lactam antibiotics aims at maximizing the time at which drug levels in the interstitial space fluid (ISF)--the fluid that surrounds the causative microorganisms at the target site--exceed the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC). One potentially attractive strategy to achieve this goal is to administer antibiotics as oral sustained-release formulations. The present study was designed to test the hypothesis that sustained-release formulations could lead to a more suitable pharmacokinetic profile in the ISF at the relevant target site.

Structuring the genetic heterogeneity of the Basque population: a view from classical polymorphisms.

In this study we analyze 18 classical polymorphisms (ABO, Rh, MNSs, Lewis, P, Duffy, Kell, ADA, ESD, PGM1, PGD, AK1, ACP1, GLO1, HP, GC, TF, and PI) in over 2000 autochthonous individuals from 14 natural districts in three provinces of the Basque Country (Alava, Guipuzcoa, and Biscay). Heterogeneity analysis via the chi2 test and a calculation of F(ST) indicate that there is significant genetic heterogeneity between the Basque districts. The R matrix informs us that this heterogeneity is not significantly concentrated in a single district or in the districts of a single province, but is rather distributed among several districts belonging to the three provinces analyzed.

Association between weather conditions and the number of patients at the emergency room in an Argentine hospital.

The aim of this paper is to study the relationships between hospital emergencies and weather conditions by analysing summer and winter cases of patients requiring attention at the emergency room of a hospital in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Hospital data have been sorted into seven different diagnostic groups as follows: (1) respiratory, cardiovascular and chest-pain complaints; (2) digestive, genitourinary and abdominal complaints; (3) neurological and psychopathological disorders; (4) infections; (5) contusion and crushing, bone and muscle complaints; (6) skin and allergies and (7) miscellaneous complaints. In general, there is an increase of 16.

Influence of mastication on gastric emptying.

The role of mastication on digestion efficiency remains to be demonstrated. This study investigates whether masticatory function influences gastric emptying rate. Twelve normal volunteers were studied on two occasions after ingestion of the same test meal containing ham cubes, crackers, and egg (mixed with 13C-octanoic acid), chewed, in random order, either with 50 masticatory cycles or with 25 cycles, swallowing ham cubes whole.

Cooperative inhibitory effect of ZD1839 (Iressa) in combination with trastuzumab (Herceptin) on human breast cancer cell growth.

Background: Co-expression of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and of ErbB-2 is found in a subset of primary human breast cancer.

Materials And Methods: The antiproliferative effects of anti-EGFR and anti-ErbB-2 agents were evaluated using a monolayer assay. The effects of these agents on the activation of EGFR, ErbB-2, AKT and p42/p44 MAP kinases (MAPK) were investigated by western blot analysis.

Postanaesthetic cerebral necrosis in five horses.

After being anaesthetised for between one hour 40 minutes and seven hours, five adult horses developed acute neurological signs and extensive cerebrocortical necrosis. Four of them had had abdominal surgery for colic and one had had repeated orthopaedic interventions. Between five hours and seven days after the surgery, all five horses suddenly developed severe signs of a predominantly prosencephalic disturbance: bilateral blindness with normal pupillary light responses, abnormal behaviour varying from propulsive pacing to head pressing profound lethargy and generalised seizures.

[Immunity against measles in mother-child binomials].

The persistence of passively adquired measles hemagglutination-inhibition (HI) antibody, was studied in a group of 50 mother-child binomials. In this longitudinal study, serial samples of blood were obtained from each infant during the first eight months of life. There was a high correlation between the level of the antibody titer in mothers and in their newborns.