OBJECTIVE: Varicocele is the most common treatable cause of male infertility and is associated with progressive decline in testicular function. Varicocelectomy, a commonly performed operation, is indicated in infertile males with varicoceles who have oligospermia, asthenospermia, teratospermia or a combination of these factors. It is not clear if varicocelectomy is ...

The aim of this study was to determine the development time of embryos and to estimate the hatching rates of resting eggs of cladocerans found in the sediment of Guanabara Bay, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, under experimental conditions. Eggs were sorted by species (Penilia avirostris--Sididae; Pleopis polyphemoides and Pseudevadne tergestina--Podonidae) ...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Successful cryopreservation of bryophytes is linked to intrinsic desiccation tolerance and survival can be enhanced by pre-treatment with abscisic acid (ABA) and sucrose. The pioneer moss Ditrichum plumbicola is naturally subjected to desiccation in the field but showed unexpectedly low survival of cryopreservation, as well as a ...

Waterborne copper exposure can exert a variety of physiological effects in fish, including the disruption of sensory system function, which has wide-reaching implications for fish behaviour. In developing fish larvae, copper is known to affect key parameters, such as survival and growth and more recently has been shown to interfere ...

The current understanding of Xenopus laevis development provides a comparative background for the analysis of frog developmental modes. Our analysis of development in various frogs reveals that the mode of gastrulation is associated with developmental rate and is unrelated to egg size. In the gastrula of the rapidly developing embryos ...

The spotted salamander Ambystoma maculatum breeds in shallow freshwater pools and imbeds its eggs within a common outer jelly matrix that can limit oxygen availability. The eggs are impregnated with the unicellular alga Oophilia amblystomatis, which produces oxygen during the day but consumes oxygen at night. This daily cycle of ...

Goat ovaries were collected from the slaughterhouse and categorized as right, left, corpus luteum (CL)-present and -absent group and evaluated on the basis of weight (g), length (cm), width (cm), number of follicles, follicles aspirated and number and state of cumulus-oocyte-complexes (COCs). Comparatively higher weight [(0.66+/-0.02) vs (0.64+/-0.02) g], length ...

Information on the spatial relationships between disease vectors and environmental factors is fundamental to vector-borne disease control. Although it is well known that mosquito abundance is associated with the amount of rainfall and thus the number of larval breeding sites, the spatial relationship between larval habitat availability and adult mosquito ...

In this work we report a relatively simple and fast method for analysing oxygen consumption and therefore mitochondrial functionality, in individual human ejaculates. This oxygraphic method requires a low number of cells, is highly reproducible and linearly correlates with sperm concentration. Our results have shown that oxygen uptake by mitochondria ...

© Reproductive Healthcare Ltd.

The blowfly, Lucilia cuprina Wiedemann (Diptera: Calliphoridae), is the primary myiasis (strike) fly of sheep in Australia. Most strike occurs in the anal-perineum area (crutch), but strike to the neck, shoulders, back and withers (body) is also important. Regression analysis was used to determine the extent to which the weekly ...

The Libyan jird (Meriones libycus) is a nocturnal Saharan Rodent submitted to a seasonal cycle of reproduction characterized by a short active period during spring and beginning of summer, and a long phase of sexual quiescence from the end of summer until the end of winter. During this cycle, the ...

The objectives of this experiment were to compare estrous synchronization responses and AI pregnancy rates of beef heifers using protocols that included either CIDR or MGA as the progestin source. The hypotheses tested were that: (1) estrous synchronization responses after (a) progestin removal, and (b) PGF(2alpha); and, (2) AI pregnancy ...

An improvement in the rate of gain of broilers during the past 20 yr has made the incubation period a larger percentage of the overall growth period for commercial poultry and has played a larger role in improving growth efficiency. Recently, hatchery managers have observed concomitant decreases in hatchability and ...

Selection by inbreeding depression should favour mating biases that reduce the risk of fertilization by related mates. However, equivocal evidence for inbreeding avoidance questions the strength of inbreeding depression as a selective force in the evolution of mating biases. Lack of inbreeding avoidance can be because of low risk of ...

We studied the temporal patterns of macroinfaunal distribution in the estuarine portion of Pando Stream, Uruguay. We found a very low number of species and a high dominance of the polychaete Heteromastus similis. There were clear seasonal patterns in abundance with almost all species peaking in autumn, coinciding with the ...

Our aim was to evaluate if loading prepubertal ovine oocyte with trehalose would impact on their further developmental potential in vitro and if it would improve their survival to vitrification procedures. COCs matured in vitro with (TRH) or without (CTR) 100mM trehalose were tested for developmental potential after in vitro ...

Reciprocity constitutes the prevalent mating mechanism among simultaneous hermaphrodites. Yet, when copulations in the female role confer fitness costs through male manipulation, it becomes advantageous sometimes to mate unilaterally in the male role only. In the sea slug Siphopteron quadrispinosum, acting males stab their partner with a bipartite penis, which ...

GC-MSE analysis of the essential oil of fresh fruit peel of Citrus sinensis var. balady recognized two main natural toxic compounds, limonene (83.28%) as hydrocarbon compound and linalool (3.97%) as oxygenated compound. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate its effect on different egg-ages of Hyalomma dromedarii at ...

The presence of melatonin and the enzymes (transcripts and activities) involved in its synthesis, i.e. arylalkylamine N-acetyltransferase (AA-NAT) and hydroxyindole-O-methyltransferase (HIOMT), was investigated in the eggs and early embryos of Japanese quail at Hamburger-Hamilton stages 1-10. Melatonin was present in the egg yolk (approximately 70 pg/g) and albumen (approximately 20 ...

Incomplete Freund's adjuvant (IFA) is used as standard adjuvant for the production of specific antibodies. In this study, we evaluated the ability of supplementation of IFA with 1alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D(3) [1alpha,25(OH)(2)D(3)] or C-phosphate-guanosine-oligodeoxynucleotide (CpG-ODN) to enhance the quantity of specific IgY found in the eggs of hyperimmunized laying hens. In this ...

In Drosophila, localized activity of oskar at the posterior pole of the oocyte induces germline and abdomen formation in the embryo. Oskar has two isoforms, a short isoform encoding the patterning determinant and a long isoform of unknown function. Here, we show by immuno-electron microscopy that the two Oskar isoforms ...

Ultraviolet-B (UVB) radiation is a global stressor with potentially far-reaching ecological impacts. In the first quantitative analysis of the effects of UVB on aquatic organisms, we used meta-analytic techniques to explore the effects of UVB on survival and growth in freshwater and marine systems. Based on the large body of ...

Adaptations in aquatic invertebrate resting eggs that confer protection from natural catastrophic events also could confer protection from treatments applied to ballast water for biological invasion vector management. To evaluate the potential efficacy of physical ballast water treatment methods, the present study examined the acute toxicity of heat (flash and ...

The more individuals hypothesis (MIH) postulates that productivity increases species richness by increasing mean equilibrium population size, thereby reducing the probability of local extinction. We tested the MIH for invertebrates colonizing microcosms that simulated tree holes by manipulating productivity through additions of leaf or animal detritus and subsequently determining the ...

The objective of this study was to optimize the protocols for bovine oocytes activation through comparing the effectiveness of different treatments on the activation and subsequent development of oocytes and examining the effects of two combined activation treatments on the blastocyst apoptosis and ploidy. Cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) were recovered from ...

Trypanosomosis caused by Trypanosoma vivax has been a constraint for cattle production in the Bolivian lowlands, since it was introduced in 1996. Flooded areas like the Bolivian Pantanal have a suitable environment for the presence and transmission of Salivarian trypanosomes and farmers from that region often report trypanosomosis-like problems on ...

The toxicity of the alternative antifouling compound Sea-Nine to the early developmental stages of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus was investigated. The inhibition of the fertilization rate and the induction of transmissible damages to the offspring, measured as inhibition of embryonic development and larval growth, were studied by preexposure of ...

The ability of Boophilus microplus strains to be susceptible (-) or resistant (+) to amidines (Am), synthetic pyrethroids (SP), and/or organo-phosphates (OP) (or acaricide profiles) was investigated in 217 southeastern Mexican cattle ranches (located in the states of Yucatán, Quintana Roo, and Tabasco). Three questions were asked: (1) whether acaricide ...

Growing evidence suggests that among the causes which deteriorate qualitative and functional characteristics of semen after freezing and thawing, there are those linked to oxidative stress and decrease detoxification of antioxidants present in the cells and seminal plasma. Overall, cryopreservation reduces the spermatozoal GSH content. In the present study we ...

OBJECTIVE: To test the impact of long-lasting insecticide-treated netting, fitted to cover the eaves and ceilings of refugee shelters, on the incidence of nighttime mosquito biting. METHOD: Entomological surveys in night-dwelling shelters at three camps for internally displaced persons in Kitgum, Uganda during August and November 2004: The impact of ...

Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectra of human spermatozoa and seminal plasma were recorded and analyzed. The procedure that was established for sample preparation enabled acquisition of reproducible spectra. The parameter I(1087)/I(966) for controlling spectra reproducibility was defined. The assignment of bands was carried out using an empirical approach and the ...

For most domestic animals, the responses to superovulation treatments are not controlled as a consequence of the lack of knowledge on exogenous gonadotrophins effects on the ovarian function. The role of luteinizing hormone (LH) on the number and quality of embryos produced was evaluated on rabbit does superovulated with porcine ...

The effect of lactose and glycerol concentration, as well as the equilibration time with glycerol was studied on motility, normal apical ridge (NAR), and chromatin state of boar spermatozoa after the freezing and thawing process. In the first experiment, samples were frozen in first and second extenders containing different concentrations ...

In birds, gonadal size varies between fully functional and maximally sized during reproduction and a regressed state with limited function during the non-reproductive periods. Recent findings show that testicular mass of the long-distance migratory garden warbler begins to increase during spring migration. Therefore, we sampled garden warblers during spring migration ...

Organochlorine pesticides, PCBs, total mercury and selenium were measured in eggs of thick-billed murres, northern fulmars and black-legged kittiwakes collected from Prince Leopold Island in the Canadian High Arctic between 1975 and 2003. The primary organochlorines found were SigmaPCB, p,p'-DDE, oxychlordane, and hexachlorobenzene (HCB). Most of organochlorines analyzed showed either ...

The aim of the present study was to monitor endometrial distribution and concentrations of oestrogen receptors alpha (ER alpha) and progesterone receptors (PR) by immunohistochemistry in Nelore cows (Bos taurus indicus) during the oestrous cycle. Blood samples were collected for progesterone measurement and endometrial samples were taken from the uterine ...

The present study compared the distribution and steroid composition of 3-, 4- and 5-8-mm follicles on the surface of prepubertal and adult ovaries, and determined the relationship between follicle size and developmental competence of oocytes following parthenogenetic activation. The effect of 1 mm dibutyryl cAMP (dbcAMP) for the first 22 ...

Synchronized maturation of ascospores of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum is desirable for establishing a transformation system, conducting genetic analyses of the pathogen, defining the precise epidemiological roles of ascospores and screening plant germplasm for resistance. In general, fresh apothecia collected from germinated sclerotia contained primarily immature or discharged asci. This study was ...

AIMS: Follicular drug delivery is the prerequisite for an effective treatment of androgenetic alopecia or other reasons of premature hair loss. METHODS: The follicular penetration of caffeine, applied topically in a shampoo formulation for 2 min, was measured with highly sensitive surface ionization in combination with mass spectroscopy, a selective ...

It is generally assumed that biting performance trades off with suction performance in fish because both feeding types may place conflicting demands on the cranial musculo-skeletal system. However, the functional consequences of morphological adaptations enhancing biting on the mechanics and performance of suction feeding in fish remain obscure. In this ...

Cnidarians are unique organisms in the animal kingdom because of their unequalled potential to undergo reverse development (RD). The life cycle of some species can temporarily shift ordinary, downstream development from zygote to adult into the opposite ontogenetic direction by back-transformation of some life stages. The potential for RD in ...

The egg type of Lymnaea acuminata was determined as iso-lecithal and the cleavage is spirally holoblastic type. The development of L. acuminata was observed in details. Uncleaved zygote just after laying was found to contain a relatively yolk-free zone, the animal pole and the yolk-rich region, the vegetal pole. No ...

Cross-fostering of marsupial young between species can potentially facilitate propagation of endangered or rare marsupial species by artificially increasing the number of progeny produced. The present study compares the growth and development of normal and cross-fostered tammar and parma wallabies. Tammars cross-fostered into the pouches of parmas grew at a ...

Field-trapping experiments with synthetic 2,7-nonadiyl dibutyrate, the female-produced sex pheromone of the orange wheat blossom midge, Sitodiplosis mosellana (Géhin), demonstrated that pheromone traps were highly attractive to males and caught very few non-target organisms. Different formulations of pheromone were tested to identify the optimum release rate and dispenser type for ...

The spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC) ensures correct separation of sister chromatids in somatic cells and provokes a cell cycle arrest in metaphase if one chromatid is not correctly attached to the bipolar spindle. Prolonged metaphase arrest due to overexpression of Mad2 has been shown to be deleterious to the ensuing ...

Research on the environmental risks of gene flow from genetically modified (GM) crops to wild relatives has traditionally emphasized recipients yielding most hybrids. For GM rapeseed (Brassica napus), interest has centred on the 'frequently hybridizing' Brassica rapa over relatives such as Brassica oleracea, where spontaneous hybrids are unreported in the ...

Organochlorine compounds and their metabolites bioaccumulate and have been detected in follicular and genital tract fluids of humans and animals. This study was designed to investigate the effect of a metabolised organochlorine mixture, extracted from plasma of sows treated with an environmentally relevant organochlorine mixture in the course of a ...

The influence of the timing for the ablation of dominant follicle(s) prior to superovulatory treatment, and its effect on ovarian follicular growth and embryo yield, still remain elusive in cattle. The present study was designed to evaluate the effects of: (1) the day of the estrous cycle, at mid-diestrus, for ...

This study evaluated the influence of chemical activation of oocytes in cases with abnormal sperm morphology and previous low intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) fertilization rate. Fertilization, early cleavage and embryo quality were assessed according to individual abnormal sperm morphology with or without chemical activation of oocytes after ICSI in 56 ...