BioTracking (United States)

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of parity on early embryonic development and placentation in Holstein cattle. Pregnant cows were classified as nulliparous (n = 16), primiparous (n = 7), or multiparous (n = 8) after estrous synchronization for timed artificial insemination (d 0 = day of timed AI). Pregnancy was confirmed on d 28 after AI via transrectal ultrasonography. Cervical epithelial cells were collected daily from d 14 to 20 to assess ISG15 and MX2 mRNA abundance. Blood samples were collected on d 0, 4.5, 7, 10, and 12 and daily from d 14 to 30; additional samples were collected every 12 h from d 18 to d 24 to assess circulating pregnancy-associated glycoproteins (PAG) concentration. Data were analyzed using mixed-effects models for repeated measures, one-way ANOVA, and Pearson correlation, with Tukey-adjusted comparisons and significance set at P < 0.05. There was only an effect of time for MX2 abundance peaking on d17 and decreasing thereafter. For ISG15, mRNA abundance was greater in primiparous and multiparous compared with nulliparous on d 17, and greater in primiparous than nulliparous on d 18. Concentrations of PAG started to increase earlier in nulliparous heifers (d 18.9 ± 0.1; ±SEM) compared with primiparous (d 20.0 ± 0.3) and multiparous cows (d 20.6 ± 0.3). Overall, PAG was greater in nulliparous than primiparous from d 20 to 21.5 and in nulliparous than multiparous from d 19.5 to 22. Concentrations of progesterone (P4) were greater in nulliparous heifers from d 4.5 to 12, and greater P4 concentration was associated with earlier increase in PAG. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that parity influences early embryonic development, with earlier trophoblast differentiation and acquisition of PAG secretory capacity in nulliparous compared with primiparous and multiparous lactating cows.

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of the timing of presumptive conceptus attachment (pCA) and its relationship with subsequent pregnancy loss (PL) in lactating dairy cows following timed artificial insemination with conventional (TAI-C) or X-sorted (TAI-S) semen or timed embryo transfer (TET) with frozen-thawed in vitro-produced (IVP) embryos. Lactating cows (n = 417, predominantly Holstein-Friesian) located in 3 herds were blocked based on parity, calving date, and economic breeding index and randomly assigned to receive TAI-C (n = 136), TAI-S (n = 136) or TET with a single, grade-1 frozen-thawed IVP blastocyst (n = 145). Cows were synchronized with a 10-d Progesterone-Ovsynch protocol, and were either inseminated (TAI-C, TAI-S) 16 h after the second GnRH or received TET on d 7 after presumptive estrus. Serum progesterone was measured in all cows on d 7 after expected ovulation. For all cows that had not returned to estrus, serum pregnancy-specific protein B (PSPB) was measured on d 7, 17, and daily from d 19 through 28 after expected ovulation to characterize the timing of pCA. The day of pCA was defined as the first day of an increase in PSPB of ≥12.5% from baseline (d 17) followed by 2 more consecutive days of ≥12.5% increase from the previous day. Pregnancy was diagnosed in cows that had not returned to estrus via ultrasound examination on d 32, 62, and 120 postovulation, and calving data were recorded. Day of pCA (mean; 95% CI) was earlier for TAI-C (20.0; 19.7, 20.3) compared with TET (20.6; 20.3, 20.9), and TAI-S (20.3; 19.9, 20.6) was not different from the other 2 treatments. Calving/service event (C/SE) was greater (83.2% vs. 54.4%) and PL during the interval from pCA to expected calving date was less (16.8% vs. 45.6%) for cows with early pCA (≤d 20; 23/137) compared with cows that had late pCA (≥d 21; 36/79). The incidence of PL was greater for cows assigned to TAI-S (30.7%) and TET (33.8%) than TAI-C (16.4%). Consistent with previous studies, measuring time to pCA provides new insights into understanding early pregnancy establishment and PL in lactating dairy cows. The timing of pCA was later for TET compared with TAI-C and may be associated with increased risk of PL. Further research into the regulatory mechanisms underlying conceptus attachment is warranted.

Reproduction, Fertility and Development is an international journal publishing original research , review and comment in the fields of reproduction and developmental biology in humans, domestic animals and wildlife

Increasing progesterone (P4) during early conceptus development may be crucial for establishment of pregnancy in dairy cattle. The objective of this study was to determine if human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) at various times after ovulation will increase serum P4 during elongation and increase the chances for, and reduce variability to, initial increase in pregnancy-specific protein B (PSPB) following artificial insemination (AI). Time to PSPB increase was defined as the first day of increase in concentrations of PSPB between d 18 and 28 after ovulation in cows with ≥12.5% increases for 3 consecutive days compared with baseline. Lactating cows (n = 368) synchronized to Double-Ovsynch (first service) or Ovsynch (second or greater service) received one of 4 treatments: no hCG (control), or 3,000 IU of hCG on d 2 (D2), 2 and 5 (D2+5), or 5 (D5) after ovulation. All cows were examined via ultrasound on d 5 and 10 postovulation to determine percentage of cows with hCG-induced accessory CL (aCL) and to quantify and measure all luteal structures. Samples for serum P4 were collected on d 0, 5, 19, and 20 postovulation. The P4 was increased in D2, D2+5, and D5 groups compared with control. The D2+5 and D5 treatments increased aCL and P4 compared with D2 and control. The D2 treatment increased P4 on d 5 after ovulation compared with control. Serum PSPB samples were collected daily from all cows on d 18 through 28 after ovulation for determination of d of PSPB increase. Pregnancy diagnoses were performed via ultrasound examination on d 35, 63, and 100 after ovulation and AI. The D5 treatment reduced percentage of cows with, and increased the time to, PSPB increase. Primiparous cows with ipsilateral aCL had reduced pregnancy loss before d 100 postovulation compared with cows with contralateral aCL. Cows that had PSPB increase >21 d postovulation had 4× greater chances of pregnancy loss compared with cows that had PSPB increase on d 20 or 21. The highest quartile of P4 on d 5, but not on d 19 and 20, was associated with reduced time to PSPB increase. Time to PSPB increase appears to be an important measurement to understand reasons for pregnancy loss in lactating dairy cows. Increasing P4 utilizing hCG after ovulation did not enhance early pregnancy or reduce pregnancy losses in lactating dairy cows.

In this study, we investigate the ability of automated performance metrics (APMs) and task-evoked pupillary response (TEPR), as objective measures of surgeon performance, to distinguish varying levels of surgeon expertise during generic robotic surgical tasks. Additionally, we evaluate the association between APMs and TEPR. Participants completed ten tasks on a da Vinci Xi Surgical System (Intuitive Surgical, Inc.), each representing a surgical skill type: EndoWrist® manipulation, needle targeting, suturing/knot tying, and excision/dissection. Automated performance metrics (instrument motion tracking, EndoWrist® articulation, and system events data) and TEPR were recorded by a systems data recorder (Intuitive Surgical, Inc.) and Tobii Pro Glasses 2 (Tobii Technologies, Inc.), respectively. The Kruskal-Wallis test determined significant differences between groups of varying expertise. Spearman's rank correlation coefficient measured associations between APMs and TEPR. Twenty-six participants were stratified by robotic surgical experience: novice (no prior experience; n = 9), intermediate (< 100 cases; n = 9), and experts (≥ 100 cases; n = 8). Several APMs differentiated surgeon experience including task duration (p < 0.01), time active of instruments (p < 0.03), linear velocity of instruments (p < 0.04), and angular velocity of dominant instrument (p < 0.04). Task-evoked pupillary response distinguished surgeon expertise for three out of four task types (p < 0.04). Correlation trends between APMs and TEPR revealed that expert surgeons move more slowly with high cognitive workload (ρ < - 0.60, p < 0.05), while novices move faster under the same cognitive experiences (ρ > 0.66, p < 0.05). Automated performance metrics and TEPR can distinguish surgeon expertise levels during robotic surgical tasks. Furthermore, under high cognitive workload, there can be a divergence in robotic movement profiles between expertise levels.

Objectives were to evaluate the effects of administering either one or two low doses of slow-release recombinant bovine somatotropin (bST) on hormone concentrations, conceptus development, and fertility in dairy cows. Cows from two farms were detected in estrus on or after 50 days postpartum (n = 1483), inseminated, and enrolled in the study (Day 0). Within farm, cows were blocked by parity and assigned randomly to receive a single placebo injection at insemination (control), a single injection with 325 mg of bST at insemination (S-bST), or two injections with 325 mg of bST administered on Days 0 and 14 (T-bST). From a subset of cows, blood was collected twice weekly from Day 0 to 42 for determination of hormone concentrations and on Day 19 for isolation of leucocytes and analysis of transcript abundance of selected interferon-stimulated genes. Pregnancy was diagnosed on Days 31 and 66, and ultrasonographic morphometry of the conceptus was performed on Days 34 and 48 in a subset of cows. Cows that received T-bST had increased plasma concentrations of GH and IGF1 for 4 wk, increased mRNA expression of ISG15 and RTP4 in leukocytes, earlier rise in the pregnancy-specific protein B in plasma of pregnant cows, increased conceptus size, and enhanced fertility. Cows that received S-bST had increased concentrations of GH and IGF1 for only 2 wk and it was insufficient to alter conceptus development and fertility. In conclusion, supplementation with low doses of bST during the pre- and peri-implantation periods enhanced conceptus development, reduced embryonic losses, and improved fertility in dairy cows.

This study was undertaken to detect pregnancy in Iraqi riverine buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) using three different methods (rectal palpation, plasma progesterone concentration and detection of the presence of pregnancy-specific protein B (PSPB) with the BioPRYN(®) enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test. The aim of the study was to identify the most sensitive, early and accurate method for detecting pregnancy. Twenty-two female riverine buffalo that were 6.0 ± 0.93 years old were used. Four blood samples per buffalo were taken via jugular venipuncture at days 22-24, 32-34, 42-44 and 58-61 post-mating (PM) to measure the progesterone concentration (ng/ml) and to detect the presence of plasma PSPB. The rectal palpation method was employed to evaluate all buffalo on days 42-44 and 58-61 PM. The BioPRYN(®) test differed (p<0.01) from the other tests with earlier accuracy for detecting pregnant and non-pregnant buffalo. Eighty-eight percent of pregnant and 76.9% of non-pregnant buffalo were distinguished early (days 22-24 PM) using BioPRYN(®) and plasma PSPB-ELISA level (2.09 ± 0.12 ng/ml) in relation to 66.7% and 53.9% detected using the progesterone assay at similar days (4.30 ± 0.40 ng/ml). In conclusion, these results described, for the first time, the early and accurate pregnancy detection of water riverine buffalo using BioPRYN(®) technology and provided the plasma levels of PSPB using an ELISA test. These findings will improve the reproductive and productive efficiency of Iraqi riverine buffalo by adapting the recent management and reproductive strategies in Iraq and in the world.