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Summary ― An in vitro system for the incubation of mediobasal hypothalami (MBH) of cockerels and a radioimmunoassay for chicken luteinising hormone-releasing hormone-I (cLHRH-1) were developed. The size of the hypothalamic fragment (MBH including the median eminence) and the incubation conditions used (40°C, under constant shaking and gassing) preserved the physiological properties of the tissue. It was possible to maintain the MBH in vitro and to study the LHRH release for several hours. The assay proved sensitive enough (ED BO = 0.794 pmol/tube, ie 4.59 pg/ml) and sufficiently precise (within-assay coefficient of variation = 4.4% and between-assay coefficient of variation = 10.2%) to measure the amounts of peptide released in the incubation medium. The use of this incubation system provided the first evidence of the stimulating effect of the excitatory amino acids glutamate, NMDA and kainate on the secretion of cLHRH-1 in birds. Our results suggest that the effect on the NMDA receptor is predominant.

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The emergence of networks of rural surgical and obstetrical care in British Columbia has been built on established and effective referral patterns developed over time. The Rural Surgical and Obstetrical Network (RSON) project was in part established to formalise and optimise these referral patterns in identified geographies as a way of ensuring quality outcomes by supporting safe and appropriate surgery, operative delivery and maternity care closer to home for rural communities. 1,2 To achieve sustainable care in these rural and regional communities, procedures