The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that a combination of induced estrus (IE) and melatonin (MEL) would increase reproductive performance in breeds characterized by late maturity more than either IE or MEL alone. Spring-born Columbia (C; n = 161; 188 to 222 d range of age at breeding; 49 to 80 kg range of BW at breeding) and Targhee (T; n = 166; 183 to 210 d range of age at b...

The mid-winter development of refractoriness to melatonin (Mel) triggers recrudescence of the atrophied reproductive apparatus of rodents. As a consequence, over-wintering animals become reproductively competent just before the onset of spring conditions favorable for breeding. The neural target tissues that cease to respond to winter Mel signals have not been identified. We now report that the...

The polyamines putrescine, spermidine, and spermine have been implicated in the regulation of both cell proliferation and differentiation. We have monitored the relationship of intracellular polyamine levels with proliferation and differentiation of murine Friend erythroleukemia (MEL) cells. The ornithine decarboxylase inhibitor, alpha-difluoromethylornithine, has been used to inhibit MEL proli...

Many animals show seasonal changes in adiposity that are triggered by changes in the photoperiod. For example, in short "winterlike" days, the nocturnal duration of pineal melatonin (MEL) secretion increases ultimately resulting in body fat decreases by Siberian hamsters. These decreases in body fat are mediated through increases in the sympathetic drive on white adipose tissue (WAT). The centr...

In this paper, the performance of several algorithms for the quantization of the mel-generalized cepstral coe cients is studied. First, the objective and subjective performance of two-stage vector quantization (VQ) is measured. It is shown that subjective quality for the mel-generalized cepstral coe cients is higher than that for LSP. Secondly, interframe prediction is introduced in the encodin...

Dr. Mary Ellen Avery, affectionately known as “Mel,” was a woman of courage, with a sense of humor and deep humanity. She was an intellectual powerhouse, highly creative, and productive, similar to many leaders. Yet she became the most beloved mentor for many. Here, I share some personal memories hoping to inspire others juggling life and career responsibilities. I first met Mel in 1977 when sh...

Little is known of the neural sites of action for the pineal hormone, melatonin. Thus, we developed an in vitro autoradiographic method using 125I-labeled melatonin (I-MEL) to study putative melatonin receptors in rodent brain. We first determined optimal in vitro labeling conditions for autoradiographic detection of I-MEL binding sites in rat median eminence, the most intensely labeled area in...