Technical note: Direct enzyme immunoassay of progesterone in bovine milk whey.

A simple extraction-free or direct quantitative ELISA for progesterone in bovine milk whey was developed. Whey samples are easy to collect, transport, and store. This method also allows for monitoring progesterone levels in cattle, which is important in reproductive management. The assay was designed to cover the concentration range 0.05 to 2 ng/mL, and the sensitivity of the method was 1.5 pg/mL. The intra- and interassay coefficients of variation were 8 and 12%, respectively. A high correlation (r = 0.90) between ELISA and radioimmunoassay measurements of progesterone in the same milk whey samples was obtained. The method can be easily applied in practice because samples can be stored at room temperature (22 to 26 degrees C) for 4 d. Moreover, because analysis requires milk coagulation, that process can be initiated during transport by standard mail services to the laboratory. Upon arrival at the laboratory, whey can be kept refrigerated for 1 wk before analysis. This tool is useful for monitoring luteal activity of dairy cows.

First night effects in good sleepers and sleep-maintenance insomniacs when recorded at home.

Home sleep recordings were conducted over four consecutive nights with 12 good sleepers and 12 sleep-maintenance insomniacs. Good sleepers showed decreased sleep efficiency and increased min awake after sleep onset on night 1. Insomniacs showed extended latency to onset of the first REM period and decreased REM in the first third of the initial recording night. Good sleepers and insomniacs reported no significant differences in adequacy of sleep between the first and subsequent sleep nights.

What do insomniacs do, think, and feel during the day? A preliminary study.

Ten sleep-maintenance insomniacs and 11 good sleepers were issued electronic pagers. They activated their devices during their waking hours and completed the Marchini Monitoring Inventory (MMI) when paged at random intervals throughout the day. The insomniacs spent significantly more time shopping, watching television, and relaxing, whereas good sleepers spent significantly more time talking to people, working, and studying. Good sleepers thought more about their day's routine, everyday problems, work, and their interpersonal relationships with family members; insomniacs thought more about their immediate physical environment and numerous forms of passive relaxation. Good sleepers appeared busier, more active, and more involved in their work and with other people. Insomniacs seemed more preoccupied with self. Insomniacs might benefit from treatment strategies that entail increased activity and involvement with other persons and external events.

Cytogenetic biomonitoring of an Italian population exposed to pesticides: chromosome aberration and sister-chromatid exchange analysis in peripheral blood lymphocytes.

Chromosome aberrations (CA) and sister-chromatid exchanges (SCE) were measured in lymphocytes of (A) 32 healthy individuals working in the flower industry and exposed to pesticides, (B) 32 individuals exposed as above and hospitalized for bladder cancer, and (C) 31 controls. Compounds to which floriculturists were exposed included 18 nitro-organic herbicides and fungicides, 9 nitro-organic fungicides, 12 organophosphate and organothiophosphate insecticides, 4 hydrocarbon derivative herbicides and 5 inorganic fungicides and insecticides. 150 and 70 metaphases per individual were scored for CA and SCE, respectively. A significant increase in the incidence of CA and SCE was observed in both exposed groups. Cancer patients showed the presence of rare rearrangements (dicentrics, rings and quadriradials) that were not observed in controls and were present at a lower frequency in healthy exposed people. Hyperdiploid and polyploid metaphases were also significantly increased in the 2 exposed groups compared to controls. Stratifying for age or smoking habits, although affecting the significance of individual data, did not change the substance of the results.

Sperm retrieval for direct intraperitoneal insemination in a diabetic with retrograde ejaculation. A case report.

Retrograde ejaculation is an uncommon form of male infertility. It may occur in diabetics from neuropathy involving the sympathetic fibers innervating the bladder neck. Treatment of infertility in these cases is with artificial homologous insemination. Several techniques for semen recovery from the bladder have been proposed. This paper describes a case of twin pregnancy following direct intraperitoneal insemination (DIPI) of semen retrieved from a diabetic man with retrograde ejaculation. Retrieval of semen was performed in this case by spontaneous voiding of urine after the introduction of a suitable medium into the bladder and before ejaculation. The quality of the semen was examined after spontaneous urination before DIPI. The poor quality of the spermatozoa induced us to introduce into the bladder a suitable medium before ejaculation and sperm recovery.

Discriminating good sleepers from insomniacs using all-night polysomnograms conducted at home.

Twelve good sleepers and 12 insomniacs were recorded over three nights in their homes. Subjective assessment of sleep indicated minimal disruption due to sleep recording procedures. A cut point of 88 per cent sleep efficiency resulted in correct classification of nine poor sleepers and 10 good sleepers. Multiple discriminant function analyses, using variables related to rapid eye movement sleep, resulted in the same number of correct classifications. The two indices combined resulted in 100 per cent exclusion of false positives for good sleepers and insomniacs. Insomniacs also showed more night-to night variability in sleep and greater difficulty in returning to sleep once aroused. These results show that good sleepers and insomniacs can be distinquished with a high degree of resolution using variables derived from the home all-night sleep recording.