Modern protocols for timed artificial insemination and embryo transfer have been developed after a deep understanding of the endocrine control of the bovine estrous cycle. With such understanding, it became possible to control the specific phases of follicular development, namely, recruitment, selection and ovulation, with the strategic use of specific pharmaceuticals. Pharmacological control o...

STUDY QUESTION What is the effect of artificial shrinkage by laser-induced collapse before vitrification on the implantation potential after transfer of vitrified-warmed blastocysts? SUMMARY ANSWER The artificial shrinkage by laser-induced collapse did not significantly increase the implantation rate per transferred collapsed blastocyst (37.6%) compared with non-collapsed blastocysts (28.9%) ...

Cyclic timetabling for public transportation companies is usually modeled by the periodic event scheduling problem. To deduce a mixed-integer programming formulation, artificial integer variables have to be introduced. There are many ways to define these integer variables. We show that the minimal number of integer variables required to encode an instance is achieved by introducing an integer v...

Knowledge Management is a discipline that investigates how to consolidate and augment individuals’ expertise and know-how and how to make them part of a corporate knowledge asset. We believe that this goal can not be achieved without defining a structured representation of the enterprise knowledge asset, that should act as the explicit context inside which each individual matches and augments h...

The present study was carried out to investigate the effect of different seasons on length and duration of estrus as well as to observe the behavioral changes and physiological peculiarities during estrus period. Three climatic seasons and age groups were considered: summer (March-June), rainy (July-October) and winter (November-February); A (6-9 month), B (9-12 month) and C (>12 month). Estrus...

Gold price forecasting has been a hot issue in economics recently. In this work, wavelet neural network (WNN) combined with a novel artificial bee colony (ABC) algorithm is proposed for this gold price forecasting issue. In this improved algorithm, the conventional roulette selection strategy is discarded. Besides, the convergence statuses in a previous cycle of iteration are fully utilized as ...

Mononucleated striated muscle of an anthomedusa can be isolated and cultivated in artificial sea water. When treated with bacterial coUagenase the isolated muscle can transdifferentiate autonomously into several cell types and regenerate the entire sexual and feeding organ of the medusa, the manubrium. Whereas transdifferentiation from striated to smooth muscle is direct, formation of a glandul...

Mitochondria are the source of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in plant cells and play a central role in the mitochondrial electron transport chain (ETC) and tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA) cycles; however, ROS production and regulation for seed germination, seedling growth, as well as mitochondrial responses to abiotic stress, are not clear. This study was conducted to obtain basic information on...

Apoptosis plays a significant role in differentiation of many organs and helps to maintain homeostasis. The occurrence of apoptosis (using the apoptotic index) and expression of regulation protein Bcl-2 in the human endometrium was evaluated within the secretory phase of both the natural cycle, and an artificial one. Oral hormonal substitution used in this design induced similar, but more marke...