Stability of clinically relevant depression symptoms in old-age across 11 cohorts: a multi-state study.

AIMS: To study the temporal dynamics of depression symptom episodes in old-age and the related influence of risk factors. METHODS: Data from 41 362 old adults (54.61% women; mean age = 75.30, SD = 6.20) from the Ageing Trajectories of Health - Longitudinal Opportunities and Synergies (ATHLOS) project were used. Depressive symptoms were followed over an 18-year period. A multi-state model, comprising three statuses (no depression, new clinically relevant episode of symptoms and episode persistence), was fitted. Multinomial regression was used to study the role of risk factors in status transition. RESULTS: Almost 85% of participants showed no depression, but prevalence became lower over time (B = -0.25, P < 0.001). New episode point prevalence was over 5.30% with a significant probability of moving to persistence status (transition probability = 0.27). Episode persistence became evident in 9.86% of episode status transitions, with increasing rate over time (B = 0.54, P < 0.01). Loneliness was proven to be the strongest predictor of episode emergence (OR = 17.76) and persistence (OR = 5.93). CONCLUSIONS: The course of depression tends to become chronic and unremitting in old-age. This study may help to plan interventions to tackle symptom escalation and risk factor influence.

Cognitive reserve in bipolar disorder: relation to cognition, psychosocial functioning and quality of life.

OBJECTIVE: Cognitive reserve (CR) is a concept that was postulated as a protective factor for some clinical symptoms after the observation that there is not a direct relationship between the degree of brain damage and its clinical manifestation. This study aimed to explore the association between CR and the main outcomes in bipolar disorder (BD): cognitive functions, psychosocial functioning and perceived quality of life. METHOD: A sample of 224 euthymic bipolar patients was assessed with a neuropsychological battery, the Functioning Assessment Short Test and the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36). CR was calculated through three proxies: estimated premorbid Intelligent Quotient, educational level and occupational attainment. Relationships between CR and cognitive functions, psychosocial functioning and quality of life were assessed by multiple linear regression models. RESULTS: Higher CR was associated with better cognitive functioning (P < 0.001 in processing speed, working memory, verbal and visual memory, and executive function; P = 0.026 in attention) and better psychosocial functioning (P = 0.008). For quality of life, CR was positively associated with the physical component of the SF-36 (P = 0.016) but negatively associated with the mental component (P = 0.004). CONCLUSION: The results suggest that CR may play an important role in the course and prognosis of bipolar patients and it should be considered in both clinical and research settings related to BD.

Is reduced vancomycin susceptibility a factor associated with poor prognosis in MSSA bacteraemia?

OBJECTIVES: The known data about the influence of vancomycin MIC on Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia are contradictory. Our objective was to study the possible impact of vancomycin MIC ≥1.5 mg/L on short- and medium-term mortality. METHODS: A prospective cohort study was carried out from March 2008 to January 2011 on adult patients with MSSA bacteraemia admitted to a tertiary hospital located in Seville (Spain). We studied the relationship between vancomycin MIC, accessory gene regulator (agr) type and absence of δ-haemolysin and poor prognosis. All isolates were genotyped by PFGE. Multivariate analysis, including a propensity score for having a vancomycin MIC of ≥1.5 mg/L, was performed by Cox regression. RESULTS: One hundred and thirty-five episodes of bacteraemia due to MSSA were included in the analysis. Twenty-nine (21.5%) isolates had a vancomycin MIC of ≥1.5 mg/L by Etest. There were no differences in agr distribution or absence of δ-haemolysin between isolates with reduced vancomycin susceptibility (RVS) and those without. RVS was not more frequent in specific clones; RVS was not associated with higher 14 or 30 day crude mortality (relative risk = 0.44, 95% CI = 0.14-1.35; and relative risk = 1.01, 95% CI = 0.52-1.96) rates, and it did not show higher rates of complicated bacteraemia (14.2% versus 13.8%, P = 0.61). Cox regression analysis did not significantly modify the results for 14 day mortality (HR = 0.39, 95% CI = 0.11-1.34) or 30 day mortality (HR = 0.89, 95% CI = 0.39-2.04). CONCLUSIONS: Contrary to previously published data, we did not find a relationship between RVS and higher mortality in patients with MSSA bacteraemia and we did not find a link with higher complicated bacteraemia rates.

Bone mineral density and bone turnover in non-cirrhotic patients with chronic hepatitis C and sustained virological response to antiviral therapy with peginterferon-alfa and ribavirin.

UNLABELLED: Patients with chronic hepatitis C have low bone mineral density and increased bone resorption related to serum transaminase levels. Elevated serum soluble tumor necrosis factor (sTNFR-55) receptor levels may play a role in the bone mass loss in these patients. Bone mass is improved and bone turnover normalized in patients who respond to antiviral therapy with interferon and ribavirin. INTRODUCTION: Low bone mineral density (BMD) has been described in patients with chronic hepatitis C (HCV). The study objective was to evaluate the effect of antiviral therapy on BMD and bone metabolism in non-cirrhotic HCV patients with sustained virological response. METHODS: We conducted a prospective study in 36 consecutive outpatients from the general community with non-cirrhotic HCV and an early and sustained virological response to peginterferon-alfa and ribavirin therapy. Determinations of BMD (dual X-ray absorptiometry at lumbar spine and femoral neck) and biochemical measurements of bone metabolism and sTNFR-55 were made at baseline, after 24 and 48 weeks of antiviral therapy, and at 48 weeks after the end of treatment. RESULTS: Patients had a significantly reduced BMD, which significantly increased during the follow-up. Serum levels of sTNFR-55 and bone turnover markers were increased at baseline and significantly reduced at all subsequent time points. We found an inverse correlation between BMD and both serum aminotransferase levels and urine deoxypyridinoline (D-pyr) and a positive correlation between serum aminotransferases and both urine D-Pyr and serum sTNFR-55. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with chronic hepatitis C have low bone mass associated with increased bone resorption, and some relationship can be expected between serum aminotransferase levels and the degree of bone mass loss. Bone mass may be improved and bone turnover normalized in patients who respond to antiviral therapy. Elevated serum sTRFR-55 levels may play a role in the bone mass loss of these patients.

Computational Synaptic Modeling of Pitch and Duration Mismatch Negativity in First-Episode Psychosis Reveals Selective Dysfunction of the N-Methyl-D-Aspartate Receptor.

Mismatch negativity (MMN) to pitch (pMMN) and to duration (dMMN) deviant stimuli is significantly more attenuated in long-term psychotic illness compared to first-episode psychosis (FEP). It was recently shown that source-modeling of magnetically recorded MMN increases the detection of left auditory cortex MMN deficits in FEP, and that computational circuit modeling of electrically recorded MMN also reveals left-hemisphere auditory cortex abnormalities. Computational modeling using dynamic causal modeling (DCM) can also be used to infer synaptic activity from EEG-based scalp recordings. We measured pMMN and dMMN with EEG from 26 FEP and 26 matched healthy controls (HCs) and used a DCM conductance-based neural mass model including α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionic acid, N-methyl-D-Aspartate (NMDA), and Gamma-aminobutyric acid receptors to identify any changes in effective connectivity and receptor rate constants in FEP. We modeled MMN sources in bilateral A1, superior temporal gyrus, and inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). No model parameters distinguished groups for pMMN. For dMMN, reduced NMDA receptor activity in right IFG in FEP was detected. This finding is in line with literature of prefrontal NMDA receptor hypofunction in chronic schizophrenia and suggests impaired NMDA-induced synaptic plasticity may be present at psychosis onset where scalp dMMN is only moderately reduced. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of impaired NMDA receptor activity in FEP found through computational modeling of dMMN and shows the potential of DCM to non-invasively reveal synaptic-level abnormalities that underly subtle functional auditory processing deficits in early psychosis.

The development and validation of a new simulator for endourology.

INTRODUCTION: Simulation in medicine has developed a lot in the last few decades. There is a broad range of simulators available, above all for training in surgical procedures. Endourology can benefit much from simulation because the minimally-invasive procedures of endourology frequently have long learning curves, which can be reduced by training with simulators. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A low-fidelity simulator was designed for practicing endourology techniques that use cystoscopy. The process of validation involved 5 experts and 19 non-experts. Experts comprised medical professionals working in a department of urology who had performed at least 100 flexible cystoscopy procedures. Non-experts were residents in internal medicine without experience in any type of endoscopy. Information about face and content validity was collected by means of Likert scales from 1 to 5. To evaluate construct validity, we measured the time to complete two tasks, for which the procedure was evaluated by means of the OSATS global evaluation scale. RESULTS: New simulator was successfully built according to its design. For all evaluated aspects of construct validity, there was a significant difference (p<0.05) between the group of experts and the group of non-experts. Content validity was scored 4.66 (standard deviation ±0.56) by the experts and 4.41 (±0.71) by the non-experts. In the face validity questionnaire, the average score was 4.14 (±0.94), the question receiving the highest score: 4.6 (±0.84) concerned immersion in the procedure. CONCLUSION: The simulator presented is valid both for training up new urologists in endourology technique and for experts seeking to perfect their skills.

Small-bowel atresias: a case series with review of the disease and imaging findings.

Small-bowel atresias are among the most common causes of intestinal obstruction in newborns, and they often require urgent surgical treatment. Imaging techniques play a very important role in their diagnosis, which is often suspected on prenatal obstetric ultrasound and confirmed on postnatal plain-film X-rays. Abdominal ultrasound's lack of ionizing radiation, wide availability, low cost, and high resolution is making this technique increasingly important in confirming atresias and in detecting possible complications in newborns. This review analyzes a series of cases seen at our center. It summarizes the different types of small-bowel atresias, focusing on the clinical presentation, imaging findings on different modalities, presence of associated disease, management, clinical course, and outcomes.

[Adaptation of headache units in Andalusia to the COVID-19 pandemic. Analysis of the Andalusian Neurology Society's Headache Study Group]. / Adaptación de las unidades de cefalea de Andalucía a la pandemia por COVID-19. Análisis del Grupo de Estudio de Cefaleas de la Sociedad Andaluza de Neurología.

INTRODUCTION: The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has given rise to a major change in healthcare and brought teleconsultation to the forefront. In neurology, headaches are the most frequent reason for visits. AIM: To assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the structure of headache units in Andalusia and the adaptations made to healthcare that are potentially useful innovations that can continue to be developed when the pandemic is over. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cross-sectional observational study using an online survey of neurologists responsible for headache units and specialised consultations in Andalusia. RESULTS: During the state of alarm, all respondents used teleconsultation. The vast majority (92.8%) maintained some face-to-face activity, mostly for invasive techniques and new patients, using individual protection measures and as a way to avoid crowds. Half of them (50%) maintained botulinum toxin administrations at the scheduled times and 78.6% continued to prescribe monoclonal antibodies against calcitonin gene-related peptide. Altogether 78.5% are generally satisfied with the use of teleconsultation and 57.1% think it could be quite useful in the future. The main advantages reported were avoiding the need for the patient to travel and time savings; the disadvantages were the absence of physical examinations and difficulties in communicating. The most frequently expressed need for improvement was the use of video-calls. CONCLUSIONS: Some of the changes adopted during this time could continue to be useful in the future and, in the case of headaches, teleconsultation could be used as an option for following up patients who have already been diagnosed and do not require any invasive techniques.

TITLE: Adaptación de las unidades de cefalea de Andalucía a la pandemia por COVID-19. Análisis del Grupo de Estudio de Cefaleas de la Sociedad Andaluza de Neurología.Introducción. La pandemia por SARS-CoV-2 ha supuesto un gran cambio en la atención sanitaria y ha dado protagonismo a la teleconsulta. En neurología, las cefaleas constituyen el motivo más frecuente de consulta. Objetivo. Evaluar el impacto de la pandemia por COVID-19 en la estructura de las unidades de cefaleas de Andalucía y las adaptaciones asistenciales potencialmente útiles tras ella. Materiales y métodos. Estudio observacional transversal mediante encuesta en línea a los neurólogos responsables de las unidades y consultas monográficas de cefaleas de Andalucía. Resultados. Durante el estado de alarma, todos los encuestados usaron teleconsulta. El 92,8% mantuvo alguna actividad presencial, fundamentalmente para técnicas invasivas y pacientes nuevos, utilizando medidas de protección individual y para evitar aglomeraciones. El 50% mantuvo las administraciones de toxina botulínica en los tiempos adecuados y el 78,6% siguió prescribiendo anticuerpos monoclonales frente al péptido relacionado con el gen de la calcitonina. El 78,5% se encuentra globalmente satisfecho con el uso de la teleconsulta y el 57,1% considera que podría ser bastante útil de cara al futuro. Las principales ventajas expresadas fueron evitar el desplazamiento de los pacientes y el ahorro de tiempo; los inconvenientes, la ausencia de exploración física y la dificultad de comunicación. La necesidad de mejora más expresada fue el uso de videollamada. Conclusiones. Algunos de los cambios adoptados en este tiempo podrían seguir siendo útiles en el futuro y, en el caso de las cefaleas, la teleconsulta se podría emplear como opción para el seguimiento de pacientes ya diagnosticados y que no requieran técnicas invasivas.

Small-bowel atresias: a case series with review of the disease and imaging findings. / Atresias de intestino delgado. Revisión de la patología y hallazgos radiológicos asociados a distintos casos.

Small-bowel atresias are among the most common causes of intestinal obstruction in newborns, and they often require urgent surgical treatment. Imaging techniques play a very important role in their diagnosis, which is often suspected on prenatal obstetric ultrasound and confirmed on postnatal plain-film X-rays. Abdominal ultrasound's lack of ionizing radiation, wide availability, low cost, and high resolution is making this technique increasingly important in confirming atresias and in detecting possible complications in newborns. This review analyzes a series of cases seen at our center. It summarizes the different types of small-bowel atresias, focusing on the clinical presentation, imaging findings on different modalities, presence of associated disease, management, clinical course, and outcomes.

Validation of the PDMS-2 scale in the Spanish population. Evaluation of physiotherapy intervention and parental involvement in the treatment of children with neurodevelopmental disorders. / Validación de la PDMS-2 en población española. Evaluación de la intervención de fisioterapia y la participación de los padres en el tratamiento de niños con trastornos del neurodesarrollo.

AIM: Cross-culturally adapt the PDMS-2 scale from Spanish-Mexican to Spanish-Spanish and evaluate its validity. To determine the efficacy of physiotherapy treatment (number of physiotherapy sessions and activities proposed by the physiotherapist and performed by the parents) in children with neurodevelopmental disorders between the ages of 0 and 3 years. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A first prospective descriptive study of validation of the PDMS-2 scale including 74 subjects with neurodevelopmental disorder with aged from 0 and 3 years old. A second randomized clinical trial to evaluate the physiotherapy (Bobath concept) intervention in the experimental group (EG) (n = 37) who received unique 30-minute weekly sessions for 8 weeks against the control group (CG) (n = 37) that did not receive physiotherapy using the PDMS-2 scale for evaluation. RESULTS: An adequate inter-rater reliablity was found (ICC = 0.76). The scale showed also a very good internal consistency (alpha = 0,99). Significant differences between both groups at 8 weeks. EG obtained better scores in the postest after administrating the physiotherapy treatment (p < 0.001) Moderate and significant correlation coefficients were found between the number of physiotherapy sessions and Total Motor Quotient (TMQ) (r = 0.38; p < 0.05) and the home actitvities with TMQ (r = 0.46; p = 0.005). CONCLUSIONS: The Peabody PDMS-2 scale is a valid and reliable instrument to measure gross and fine motor development in children with neurodevelopmental disorder aged from 0 and 3 years old. Physiotherapy is useful for helping children with delayed neurodevelopment improve. The number of physiotherapy sessions and the activities proposed by the physiotherapist and performed at home by the parents show a direct and positive relationship with the results obtained in motor development.

TITLE: Validación de la PDMS-2 en población española. Evaluación de la intervención de fisioterapia y la participación de los padres en el tratamiento de niños con trastornos del neurodesarrollo.Objetivo. Adaptar transculturalmente la escala del desarrollo motor de Peabody, segunda edición (PDMS-2), del español mexicano al español de España y evaluar su validez. Determinar la eficacia del tratamiento fisioterápico (número de sesiones de fisioterapia y actividades propuestas por el fisioterapeuta y realizadas por los padres) en niños con trastornos del neurodesarrollo de 0 a 3 años. Sujetos y métodos. Un primer estudio descriptivo prospectivo de validación de la PDMS-2, que incluyó a 74 sujetos con trastorno del neurodesarrollo con edades comprendidas entre 0 y 3 años. Un segundo ensayo clínico aleatorio para evaluar la intervención de fisioterapia (concepto Bobath) en el grupo experimental (n = 37), que recibió sesiones únicas de 30 minutos semanales durante ocho semanas frente al grupo de control (n = 37), que no recibió fisioterapia y utilizó la PDMS-2 para su evaluación. Resultados. Se encontró una adecuada confiabilidad interagente (coeficiente de correlación intraclase = 0,76). La escala mostró también una muy buena consistencia interna (alfa = 0,99). Hubo diferencias significativas entre ambos grupos a las ocho semanas. El grupo experimental obtuvo mejores puntuaciones en el postest después de administrar el tratamiento de fisioterapia (p menor de 0,001). Se encontraron coeficientes de correlación moderados y significativos entre el número de sesiones de fisioterapia y el cociente motor total (r = 0,38; p menor de 0,05) y las actividades realizadas en casa con el cociente motor total (r = 0,46; p = 0,005). Conclusiones. La PDMS-2 es un instrumento válido y fiable para medir el desarrollo motor grueso y fino en niños con trastorno del neurodesarrollo de 0 a 3 años. La fisioterapia es útil en la mejoría en niños con retraso del neurodesarrollo. El número de sesiones de fisioterapia y las actividades propuestas por el fisioterapeuta y realizadas en casa por los padres muestran una relación directa y positiva con los resultados obtenidos en el desarrollo motor.

The role of ageing in the wish to be dead: disentangling age, period and cohort effects in suicide ideation in European population.

AIMS: To investigate potential age, period and birth cohort effects in the prevalence of suicide ideation in European ageing population. METHODS: A total of 50 782 community-dwelling adults (aged + 50) from 20 different European countries were collected in the Survey Health Ageing and Retirement study. A multilevel logistic regression model of repeated measures was modelled to assess the effects of age and other variables, including the variability of observations over three levels: birth cohort groups, time period assessment and individual differences. RESULTS: The larger effect of variability was attributed to individual-level factors (57.8%). Youngest-old people (65-79 years) showed lower suicide ideation than middle-aged people (50-64 years). No significative differences were found for suicide ideation between middle-aged people and oldest-old (80 + years). Only 0.85% and 0.13% of the total variability of suicide ideation accounted for birth cohort and period effects, respectively. Cohorts born between 1941 and 1944 possessed the lowest estimates of suicide ideation. Conversely, suicide ideation started to rise with post-War generations and reached a significant level for people born from 1953-1957 to 1961-1964. Regarding the time period, participants assessed in 2006-2007 showed a lower likelihood of suicide ideation. The rest of the cohorts and period groups did not show any significant effect on the prevalence of suicide ideation. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that age and suicide ideation relationship is not linear in middle and older age. The European Baby boomers born from 50s to mid-60s might report higher suicide ideation than their ancestors. This scenario would imply a greater need for mental healthcare services for older people in the future.

Distributed abstraction and verification of an installed optical fibre network.

The management of wavelength routed optical mesh networks is complex with many potential light path routes and numerous physical layer impairments to transmission performance. This complexity can be reduced by applying the ideas of abstraction from computer science where different equipment is described in the same basic terms. The noise-to-signal ratio can be used as a metric to describe the quality of transmission performance of a signal propagated through a network element and accumulates additively through a sequence of such elements allowing the estimation of end-to-end performance. This study aims to explore the robustness of the noise-to-signal ratio metric in an installed fibre infrastructure. We show that the abstracted noise-to-signal ratio is independent of the observers and their location. We confirm that the abstracted noise-to-signal ratio can reasonably predict the performance of light-paths subsequently set in our network. Having a robust network element abstraction that can be incorporated into routeing engines allows the network management controller to make decisions on the most effective way to use the network resources in terms of the routeing and data coding format.

Health questionnaire analysis and development of satisfaction questionnaire for patients treated with extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (SATISLIT). / Análisis de cuestionario de salud y desarrollo de cuestionario de satisfacción en pacientes tratados con litotricia extracorpórea por ondas de choque (SATISLIT).

INTRODUCTION: Due to the absence of specific instruments to study the psychosocial sphere of patients undergoing extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (SWL), the objective of this study is to develop a satisfaction questionnaire regarding the SWL treatment from a health questionnaire which was already designed and had been previously validated. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The design of the satisfaction questionnaire was carried out in 5 phases, based on a previously validated health scale in patients treated with SWL (ESPTL), including a total cohort of 135 patients treated at our center who received a phone interview. Phase 1: descriptive analysis of the series and scores of the 8 items of ESPTL. Phase 2: U-Mann Whitney comparison of ESPTL based on the patients' sex. Phase 3: study of ESPTL correlation with age using Spearman's Rho. Phase 4: grouping by factors of ESPTL, comparison by sex and correlation with age, as performed in phases 2 and 3 with the global score. Phase 5: obtaining the satisfaction subscale -SATISLIT-, descriptive analysis, comparison according to sex, correlation with age and linear regression model of SATISLIT with respect to ESPTL. RESULTS: 135 patients, 85(63%) men, 50(37%) women. Median (minimum-maximum) age 56 (27-79) and ESPTL score 31 (8-39). Differences in global ESPTL score between men and women (p <.001), as well as in items 1 (p =.029), 3 (p =.002), 6 (p =.006), 7 (p =.005) and 8 (p =.025). Non-significant correlation of ESPTL regarding age. Significant correlation in items 2, 4, 5 and 8 but, very weak (<0.2). 4 factors, each one with 2 items, with statistically significant differences regarding sex in F2 (p =.001), F3 (p =.007) and F4 (p =.001). Significant correlation with age only in F1 and F3, but very weak (<0.2). Median (minimum-maximum) SATISLIT 18 (4-20). Statistically significant differences regarding patients' sex (p =.001). Non- significant correlation with age (p =.836). Significant linear regression of SATISLIT with respect to ESPTL (p <.001). CONCLUSIONS: Based on validated health questionnaire, the present work has provided a new instrument called SATISLIT for assessing patients' satisfaction after treatment with SWL. Future studies with external and temporal validation will be necessary to contrast its real clinical usefulness.

Inducing ovulation with hCG in a five-day progesterone-based fixed-time AI protocol improves the fertility of anestrous dairy cows under heat stress conditions.

This study compares the fertility effects of inducing ovulation using human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) versus gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) at the end of a 5-day progesterone(P4)-based protocol for fixed-time artificial insemination (FTAI) in heat-stressed and non-heat stressed anestrous lactating dairy cows. Heat stress (HS) was defined as an environmental temperature-humidity index (THI) > 72. A P4 intravaginal device (CIDR) was fitted for five days and GnRH administered upon CIDR insertion and a double dose (24 h apart) of prostaglandin F2α upon CIDR removal. Cows then received either GnRH (GnRH group; n = 506), or hCG (hCG group; n = 493) 36 h after CIDR removal and were inseminated 50-56 h after CIDR removal. Ovulation failure was investigated in a subset of 425 cows: 223 and 202 receiving GnRH and hCG, respectively. Based on odds ratios, the interaction between treatment and HS had a significant effect on the ovulation failure rate (P = 0.01). This meant that compared to the rates recorded in non-heat-stressed, GnRH-treated cows (13%), ovulation failure in heat-stressed GnRH-treated cows (25.3%) was more likely by a factor of 2.3 (P = 0.04), in non-heat-stressed hCG-treated cows (2.3%) was less likely by a factor of 0.16 (P = 0.02) and was not significantly different in heat-stressed hCG-treated cows (7%). Interactions between treatment and HS and between treatment and parity had a significant effect on the pregnancy rate (P = 0.0001 and P = 0.001, respectively). The treatment-HS interaction determined that compared to the rates recorded in non-heat-stressed, GnRH-treated cows (30.5%), pregnancy in heat-stressed GnRH-treated cows (17.6%) was less likely by a factor of 0.48 than the remaining cows (P = 0.001), whereas because of the treatment-parity interaction, compared to the rates recorded in primiparous, GnRH-treated cows (31.4%), pregnancy in GnRH-treated multiparous cows (18.9%) was less likely to conceive by a factor of 0.51 than the remaining cows (P = 0.002). No significant effects of treatment on the rates of pregnancy loss or twin pregnancy were identified by binary logistic regression. In conclusion, hCG treatment given at the end of a 5-day P4-based protocol for FTAI improved ovulation and pregnancy rates in anestrous cows under conditions of HS and also had a beneficial impact on the pregnancy rate in anestrous multiparous cows throughout the year.

Chemisorption-repulsion energies of H2 on surface (110) of Mg1-xMx alloys (M = Al, Ni, Zn; 0.0 ≤ x ≤ 0.20) as a function of temperature.

In recent years, the popularity of metal hydrides has increased considerably for hydrogen storage and their applications in hydrogen fuel cells. Their potential applications for clean energy are promissory. However, the temperatures required for adsorption and desorption are extremely high, which range between 500 and 700 K, making their use impractical. To overcome these difficulties, the following work considers using three hydride alloys: magnesium-aluminum (MgAl), magnesium-nickel (MgNi), and magnesium-zinc (MgZn). The Mg concentrations were set to be between 80 and 100 wt% in order to reduce the temperatures of adsorption and desorption in contrast with the temperatures of pure magnesium. The chemisorption and repulsion energies of the hydrogen molecule on the surface (110) of the different metallic alloys were studied at 0, 200, 400, 600, and 700 K, respectively. The study was based on the density functional theory (DFT), with the module DMol3 of the molecular simulation program Materials Studio, which was used to obtain these energy values. The results confirm that adding aluminum, nickel, or zinc into magnesium matrix increases the chemisorption and decreases the energy repulsion values on surfaces of the metallic alloys, improving the effectiveness of the hydrogen storage.

Method for the development of topical medicinal aerosols using liquified hydrocarbon gas.

Low chain liquid hydrocarbons (LH) at room temperature and atmospheric pressure can be used to simulate the effect of gas hydrocarbons (GH) in aerosol systems without the need of using pressured flasks. Samples of different tetracycline formulations were tested with LH and GH in order to study their behaviour and physicochemical stability in the system. The results showed a similar behaviour between samples when LH or GH were used, suggesting the use of LH to simulate the effect of GH introduction in the system, as a useful predictive method for the development of pressured aerosol formulations without using pressured containers in early steps of the process, such as pre-formulation studies.

Influence of the solvent system on the stability of doxycycline solutions.

Concentrated solutions of doxycycline are often added to drinking water of animals for oral antibiotic therapy. However, stability concerns of doxycycline in solution involve an accurate selection of the solvent system to ensure that the active substance will remain within the acceptance range during the product shelf-life and to avoid sub-therapeutic dosage. Different solvent systems have been evaluated in order to determine their influence on the stability of concentrated doxycycline solutions. The results showed differences in the degradation kinetics of doxycycline depending on the co-solvent used and they permitted to select a solvent system for liquid doxycycline hyclate formulations with low rate of degradation even after several months of storage. So, the inclusion of ethanol together with propylene glycol as main excipient was found to be beneficial, while no benefit was observed concerning the addition of citric acid. Once administered to drinking water, the solutions were stable for 24 h with no influence of the solvent system.

Reproductive performance of lactating dairy cows after inducing ovulation using hCG in a five-day progesterone-based fixed-time AI protocol.

This study compares the effects of inducing ovulation using human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) or gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) at the end of a 5-day progesterone(P4)-based protocol for fixed-time artificial insemination (FTAI) in lactating dairy cows on ovarian dynamics and fertility. A P4 intravaginal device (PRID) was fitted for five days and GnRH administered upon PRID insertion and a double dose (24 h apart) of prostaglandin F2α upon PRID removal. Cows received either GnRH (GnRH group; n = 98), 1000 IU hCG (hCG-1 group; n = 97), or 3000 IU hCG (hCG-2 group; n = 104) 36 h after PRID removal and were inseminated 50-56 h after PRID removal. Based on Tukey-Kramer tests, cows in hCG-1 and hCG-2 showed a larger follicle diameter at AI than cows in GnRH (P < 0.05). HCG-2 treatment increased corpus luteum (CL) size on Day 7 post-AI compared with the GnRH and hCG-1 treatments (P < 0.05). Based on odds ratios, the likelihood of ovulation failure decreased with increasing follicle diameter at AI (P = 0.002). Cows in hCG-1 or hCG-2 that did not become pregnant were more likely to return to estrus than cows in GnRH (P < 0.01). A larger CL size post-AI was related to an increased conception rate at FTAI (P = 0.003). Cows given hCG-2 treatment showed a 1.9-fold cumulative pregnancy rate after two rounds of AI compared to cows receiving GnRH. Our results indicate that hCG treatment hCG treatment used to induce ovulation at the end of a short protocol for FTAI improves follicular/luteal dynamics compared to GnRH treatment. Of the two hCG treatments tested, better results were obtained with the 3000 IU dose.