scholarly journals Assessment of viability and acrosomal status of Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) sperm after treatment with calcium ionophore and heparin

Author(s):  
M. Sa-ardrit ◽  
N. Thongtip ◽  
K. Kornkaewrat ◽  
T. Faisaikarm ◽  
Y. Kitiyanant ◽  
...  

Knowledge about the acrosomal status of Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) sperm is extremely limited. The objective of this study was to evaluate the viability and acrosomal status of Asian elephant sperm following induction by calcium ionophore and heparin using propidium iodide (PI) and fluorescein isothiocyanate conjugated peanut agglutinin (FITC-PNA). Semen samples were collected from elephant bulls by manual stimulation. Semen was diluted with extender, cooled to 4°C and transported to a laboratory for the experiment. Sperm cells were incubated in modified Tyrode's medium containing either 1mM calcium ionophore or 10 mg/mℓ heparin for 5 h at 39°C. Sperm recovered at the onset (0 h), 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 h of incubation were simultaneously assessed for the viability and acrosomal status using dual staining of FITC-PNA and PI. Results were confirmed by transmission electron microscopy. A progressive increase in the proportion of live-acrosome reacted sperm was observed within 3 h of incubation in both treatment groups which slightly decreased at 4 to5 h of incubation. At 1 to 3 h of incubation, the percentage of live-acrosome reacted sperm induced by calcium ionophore was higher (P < 0.05) than those induced by heparin and the control. However, there were no statistical differences at 4 to 5 h of incubation. A progressive reduction of the percentage of motile sperm was observed in the control as well as both treatment groups. Sperm motility decreased sharply when they were incubated in calcium ionophore compared with incubation in heparin and control groups. These results indicate that the occurrence of live-acrosome reacted sperm in the Asian elephant was induced by calcium ionophore at a rate higher than that induced by heparin.

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 226-235
Author(s):  
Afnijar Wahyu ◽  
Liza Wati ◽  
Murad Fajri

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of AIUEO therapy on the speech ability of stroke patients who have motor aphasia in Raja Ahmad Thabib Hospital Tanjungpinang. The research design used was quasi experiment with the Nonequivalent Control Group Design approach to 9 respondents who were divided into 9 treatment groups and 9 control groups. The results showed that there were significant differences in the functional ability of communication between the control and treatment groups with a value of p <0.05 (p = 0.007 at a = 0.05) using the Wilcoxon Test statistical test. Conclusion, the influence of AIUEO therapy on the speech ability of stroke patients with motor aphasia in the treatment and control groups at Ahmad Thabib Hospital Tanjungpinang.   Keywords: Speech Ability, Motor Aphasia Stroke, AIUEO Therapy


2000 ◽  
Vol 176 (3) ◽  
pp. 249-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Max Marshall ◽  
Austin Lockwood ◽  
Caroline Bradley ◽  
Clive Adams ◽  
Claire Joy ◽  
...  

BackgroundA recent review suggested an association between using unpublished scales in clinical trials and finding significant results.AimsTo determine whether such an association existed in schizophrenia trials.MethodThree hundred trials were randomly selected from the Cochrane Schizophrenia Group's Register. All comparisons between treatment groups and control groups using rating scales were identified. The publication status of each scale was determined and claims of a significant treatment effect were recorded.ResultsTrials were more likely to report that a treatment was superior to control when an unpublished scale was used to make the comparison (relative risk 1.37 (95% C11.12–1.68)). This effect increased when a ‘gold-standard’ definition of treatment superiority was applied (RR 1.94 (95% C11.35–2.79)). In non-pharmacological trials, one-third of ‘gold-standard’ claims of treatment superiority would not have been made if published scales had been used.ConclusionsUnpublished scales are a source of bias in schizophrenia trials.


2000 ◽  
Vol 83 (6) ◽  
pp. 629-635 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Joan Bassey ◽  
Julie J. Littlewood ◽  
M. Claire Rothwell ◽  
David W. Pye

Randomized controlled trials of the effects of the dietary supplement Efacal® (Scotia Pharmaceuticals Plc, Guildford, Surrey, UK) v. Ca only on total body bone mineral density (BMD) and markers of bone turnover were conducted in healthy pre- and postmenopausal women separately. Total daily dose for 12 months for the Efacal® groups was: Ca 1·0 g, evening primrose oil 4·0 g and marine fish oil 440 mg; and for the control groups was: Ca 1·0 g. Reported compliance was better than 90 % in both age groups. For the forty-three premenopausal women (age range 25–40 years), initial mean total body BMD values were similar for Efacal® and control groups and both groups showed highly significant mean increases of about 1 %; however, there were no significant between-group differences for the changes in BMD or markers of bone turnover. For the forty-two postmenopausal women (age range 50–65 years), initial mean total body BMD values were again well-matched across treatment groups. Both Efacal® and control groups showed highly significant decreases in total body BMD of about 1 %, but again there were no significant between-group differences in total body BMD or markers of bone turnover. Possible confounding variables such as initial total body BMD were explored but had no effect on the outcome in either age group. Nail quality improved in both age groups and in both Efacal® and control groups. Again, there was no significant difference between treatment groups. No evidence was found to support a beneficial effect of Efacal® on BMD in these women.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (01) ◽  
pp. 103-109
Author(s):  
Dinesh Mahto

Gastrointestinal parasitic infected ewes and does were kept almost parasite free for about 3 months using Albendazole alone or supplemented with mineral mixture. The Hb (g/dl) level ranged from 8.83±0.08 to 8.96±0.03 in ewes and does was 8.78±0.02 to 8.95±0.24 before treatment. The level of Hb increased significantly (P less than 0.01) in both the treatment groups after treatment on day 20.The Serum level of Ca, P, Cu and Zn in ewes and does increased significantly after treatment on day 20 in both the treatment groups as comparison to control group. Although they did not vary significantly among themselves except the level of Cu which was significantly (P less than 0.01) higher in group II than the group I in ewes and does. The level of Zn was higher in group I than group II in does. The minimum interval from treatment to onset of estrus were recorded in group II , 41 days in ewes and 43 days in does which was followed by group I 44 days in ewes and 46 days in does and control group 55 days in ewes and 52 days in does. The average required number of services per conception in does were 1.33, 1.00 and 2.00 for I, II and control groups, respectively. The corresponding values in ewes were 1.67, 1.17 and 2.17, respectively. The pregnancy rates in the three groups were 66.66, 83.33 and 33.33%, respectively in case of does. The corresponding values in ewes were 50.00, 66.66 and 33.36%, respectively.


1989 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise Gaston ◽  
Jean-Charles Crombez ◽  
Jacques Joly ◽  
Sheilagh Hodgins ◽  
Marc Dumont

Using a dismantled time-series design, eighteen subjects were randomly assigned to three groups: meditation ( N = 5); meditation and imagery ( N = 4); waiting list ( N = 5). Treatment lasted twelve weeks, while pre- and post-baseline periods were of four weeks. An assessment control group control was also used during baseline periods ( N = 4). The severity of psoriasis symptoms was reliably rated by dermatologists. While controlling for extraneous factors influencing psoriasis symptoms, a time-series multivariate regression analysis revealed a significant difference between the mean psoriasis ratings of treatment and control groups after treatment (partial r = .30, p < .01). No additional impact was associated with the use of the imagery technique (partial r = − .06, p > .05). Four subjects in the treatment groups, two in each condition, succeeded in clinically improving their psoriasis symptoms, and none deteriorated. The practice of mediation may be clinically effective for some patients in reducing their psoriasis symptoms.


1992 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 235-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Connie L. Blakemore ◽  
H. Gill Hilton ◽  
Joyce M. Harrison ◽  
Tracy L. Pellett ◽  
James Gresh

Mastery learning is an instructional strategy that embraces the philosophy that almost any student can learn what is being taught given sufficient time and help. Through Bloom’s group-based, teacher-paced model, 71 seventh-grade boys were taught basketball skills. Students in two treatment groups (mastery and nonmastery) and a control group were compared on the performance of psychomotor skills in isolation and in a competitive game situation before, midway through, and following their training. Students in the mastery group were not taught new skills until 80% had mastered the present skills. The mastery group performed significantly better on isolated skills than did the nonmastery and control groups. There was no significant difference between groups in the performance of skills in a competitive game situation.


2018 ◽  
Vol 105 (3) ◽  
pp. 210-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
R Indriawati ◽  
S Aswin ◽  
R Susilowati ◽  
G Partadiredja

Prenatal hypoxia–ischemia (HI) is a major cause of mortality and chronic neurological diseases in newborns. HI contributes to the emergence of several neurological disorders such as cognitive and behavioral deficits due to the atypical brain development. This study aimed at assessing the effects of prenatal HI on the spatial memory and aggression of rats during adolescence. Pregnant rats were divided into treatment and control groups. The rats of the treatment groups underwent unilateral ligation of the uterine artery on pregnancy day 7, 12, or 17. The offspring of these rats were tested for spatial memory and aggression when they reached 33 days of age. It has been found that the percentages of alternations in the Y-maze and the number of crossings in the Morris water maze tests of the HI groups were lower than those of the control groups. The total offense and defense aggression scores of the HI groups were higher than those of the control groups. In conclusion, the longer the duration of HI, the more deficits it causes in the spatial memory and aggression of rats during adolescence.


2002 ◽  
Vol 282 (6) ◽  
pp. H2060-H2065 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benedek Erdös ◽  
Allison W. Miller ◽  
David W. Busija

Insulin resistance (IR) impairs vascular responses in peripheral arteries. However, the effects of IR on cerebrovascular control mechanisms are completely unexplored. We examined the vascular function of isolated middle cerebral arteries (MCAs) from fructose-fed IR and control rats. Endothelium-dependent vasodilation elicited by bradykinin (BK) was reduced in IR compared with control MCAs. Maximal dilation to BK (10−6 M) was 38 ± 3% ( n = 13) in control and 19 ± 3% ( n = 10) in IR arteries ( P < 0.01). N ω-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester (l-NAME; 10 μM) decreased responses to BK in control arteries by ∼65% and inhibited the already reduced responses completely in IR MCAs. Indomethacin (10 μM) reduced relaxation to BK in control MCAs by ∼40% but was largely ineffective in IR arteries. Combined l-NAME and indomethacin treatments eliminated the BK-induced dilation in both groups. Similarly to BK, endothelium-mediated and mainly cyclooxygenase (COX)-dependent dilation to calcium ionophore A23187 was reduced in IR arteries compared with controls. In contrast, vascular relaxation to sodium nitroprusside was similar between the IR and control groups. These findings demonstrate that endothelium-dependent dilation in cerebral arteries is impaired in IR primarily because of a defect of the COX-mediated pathways. In contrast, nitric oxide-mediated dilation remains intact in IR arteries.


2012 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 411 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith J. Betteridge ◽  
Rudolf O. Waelchli ◽  
Heather L. Christie ◽  
James I. Raeside ◽  
Bette A. Quinn ◽  
...  

To advance the understanding of early pregnancy and pregnancy failure in horses, this study determined how luteolysis induced by cloprostenol (an analogue of prostaglandin F2α) affects conceptus development. Mares were injected on Days 12, 14, 16 or 18 of pregnancy with either cloprostenol (treatment groups, total n = 83 pregnancies) or saline (controls, n = 81), and growth of the conceptuses was monitored and compared by daily ultrasonography until they were collected transcervically on Days 15–22, 1–4 days after the injections. The comparisons were extended in the recovered conceptuses by counting somites, measuring the volume and osmolality of yolk-sac fluid and its concentrations of proteins, estrone sulfate and progesterone, and by assessing the morphology of the capsule and vascular system. When luteolysis was initiated on or before Day 16, most pregnancies survived until the time of collection and the conceptuses in respective treated and control groups on Days 15–20 were very similar except for some effects of treatment on the capsule and vascular development. In contrast, after luteolysis was initiated on Day 18, abortion often ensued within 3 days and most conceptuses collected had degenerated, therein constituting a predictable system in which to study the pathogenesis of a particular cause of pregnancy failure.


Zygote ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 203-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hisayo Nakasaka ◽  
Shuji Yamano ◽  
Kenji Hinokio ◽  
Koji Nakagawa ◽  
Midori Yoshizawa ◽  
...  

Freshly ovulated mouse oocytes exposed to 5 mM calcium ionophore A23187 for 5 min and controls (not exposed) were cultured in TYH medium with 10 μg/ml puromycin (the puromycin group) or 2 mM 6-dimethylaminopurine (DMAP; the DMAP group) for 4 h. Among the controls, few oocytes were activated even if they were treated with DMAP or puromycin. In the oocytes exposed to A23187, in contrast, the activation rate, i.e. the rate of oocytes showing at least one pronucleus (PN) after the treatment, was 46.2% (48/104) in the DMAP group and 90.0% (118/131) in the puromycin group. Activation rate in the puromycin group was significantly higher than in the DMAP and control groups (p < 0.0001, respectively). Furthermore, 82.4% (108/131) of the activated oocytes in the puromycin group showed one PN with extrusion of the second polar body (PB). In the puromycin group, the DNA content of the PN of parthenogenones with 1PN2PB was half that of a set of metaphase II chromosomes. Chromosomal analysis was possible in 14 parthenogenones with 1PN2PB in the puromycin group. The parthenogenones possessed a normal set (n = 20) of haploid chromosomes. The combination of A23187 and puromycin proved to be an effective method of producing haploid parthenogenones.


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